Travel comparison website travelsupermarket.com has “retorted to the assertion by Carrentals.co.uk” that their site features amongst online price comparators who are failing to offer consumers a true reflection of the best prices in each market. (2/7/2007)
Carrentals.co.uk, while launching a new site “with a commitment to offer a clearer, fairer price comparison tool for car hire”, stated “online price comparators are failing consumers”. It said that the new site provides impartial price comparisons on car hire deals from up to 40 different rental websites, together with independent advice and information.
For their part, travelsupermarket.com managing director, Chris Nixon said: “This statement is utter nonsense. It has been issued by this car hire comparison service as a cheap swipe to drive attention to its re-launch.”
Nixon added: “We welcome the competition because providing the customer with choice is what travelsupermarket.com is all about. That is why we value highly the feedback from millions of our users which we use to make improvements to our service. This way we ensure we give customers the experience they want as well as providing a comprehensive access to the best deals and information, which is exactly what we do.”
Gareth Robinson, marketing director of Carrentals.co.uk had said: “Everyone loves to think they are getting the best deal by visiting comparator websites – they have become recognised as offering the consumer a way to find the best deal. The reality is that sites currently in the market, such as TravelSupermarket, are just playing at being a comparator – listed companies pay to be on the sites through pay per click agreements, so the sites fail to search the entire web.”
Robinson added: “We have developed what we believe is the first genuine car hire comparator with extensive reach. It uses the latest technology to search up to 40 car hire sites for the best possible deals available at any one time. No major comparators have done this to date, meaning consumers may not be getting as good a deal as they thought. Carrentals.co.uk has always been known for low price car hire, but now we offer customers the chance to compare the best deals and availability from brands such as Alamo, EasyCar, Holiday Autos and our own Carrentals prices.”
