Advice needed - changing to a new TA

[lisiamc]

I have a cruise booked with a travel agent, and I no longer feel that this agent is giving me good service. I would like to move the booking to a different agent.

 

I don't want to offend them, or have them refuse to release the cruise to the new agent. I also would rather not explain in detail how I feel the service is lacking, or have to say no if they offer to do better. It's just time to move on.

 

Those who have done this, how did you go about it, and what did you say to the old agent?

[Hlitner]

I am trying hard not to laugh at the OP's post (guess that is being insensitive). The travel industry is not a social service agency. If you are not happy with your TA then you simply book with a different agency or direct with the provider. My goodness, we have our own "short list" of 4 different large online agencies and we simply shop around for the best deal on every cruise. Good service is one of our personal criteria and we appreciate that the large high volume agencies (who book more cruises in one day then most small agencies do in a year) have lots of experience and more clout with the cruise lines.

 

When you apply a term like "offend" to a simple business transaction...we think its terribly misplaced. This is a competitive industry and the spoils (and my business) go to those who can compete in the playing field.

 

Here is a tale of our own history. We used to book through a single large TA (probably gave them over 30 cruises) and then one day we wanted to make some changes to a booking (not our norm). The TA followed our instructions and made the changes and then charged me $25 for the change. I did not say a word, paid the fee, and never booked another cruise with them again. We book a lot of cruises (over 100 days last year) and this agency lost a lot of commissions. About a year after the incident I got a phone call from their manager who actually wanted to know why they had not heard from us in over a year. I told them then had lost my business because of that fee...and you could hear a pin drop over the phone. When I call my current favorite TA because we heard of a price drop they will usually put me on hold, call the cruise line, and have the cruise repriced within a few minutes. And there is no fee....and usually there are some extra amenities such as OBCs, pre paid gratuities, etc.

 

Hank

[lisiamc]

I see your point Hank, but my worry is that if I offend them, I'll be stuck with them and their lackluster service until that particular cruise is finished. All new cruises will be booked with the new agent. I'm just trying to stop dealing with them without having to cancel this one booking.

[98Charlie]

It's a business transaction. The current agency is really your employee. You are/were paying them for their service. Now, because they are not a good employee, you need to fire them. It's really that simple. Really you're afraid of offending them but they're not afraid of giving you poor service?

 

Some options as I see it:

1. Tell them that you need to transfer the booking to another agency or back to the cruise line because "state the reason". Don't sugar coat it. It's just what it is. It's a Donald Trump "You're Fired!" moment.
   If they refuse then you could cancel and rebook with another agency. Hopefully this is on a credit card and you can dispute the original and any additional cancellation fees they may try to charge.
   
2. If it is a larger agency you could contact the main office/owner and tell them your reason. Possibly have the booking transferred to another agent in the company.
   
3. Other than that you can ride it out and never book with them again.
   

 

What are the service issues you are encountering?

 

Charlie

[paul929207]

Be aware that the current agent may charge a fee to transfer the booking. They also may cancel the booking.

[LHT28]

Why not call the cruiseline & ask how you go about it ..

the 1st TA may need to sign release papers so you can transfer the booking

 

The 2nd TA may not get the commission it may still go to the 1st TA (depending on the rules of the cruiseline & cut off date for transfering) so you may not get any perks from the 2nd TA

 

Another option is to talk to the manager of the TA & tell them you are not happy with the current service & would like to deal with another person for this booking

If they do not know there is a problem they cannot fix it

 

Be business like when discussing the problem

[Doug R.]

I have a cruise booked with a travel agent, and I no longer feel that this agent is giving me good service. I would like to move the booking to a different agent.

 

I don't want to offend them, or have them refuse to release the cruise to the new agent. I also would rather not explain in detail how I feel the service is lacking, or have to say no if they offer to do better. It's just time to move on.

 

Those who have done this, how did you go about it, and what did you say to the old agent?

 

 

Without giving details, have you communicated your concerns/problems with the TA? If so, did they respond? If you did not, why not?

[Hlitner]

I see your point. Since you already have the cruise booked it might be best to just "suck it up" and live with the service problems (if that is possible). Personally, we expect very little from our TAs other then they execute our orders without hassle or delay. We will even put up with less then ideal service if the agency gives us very good deals (we sometimes save over $1000 on a single booking by carefully choosing our TA for that particular cruise). One of our "short list" favored agencies only operates M-F 9-5 which drives me nutz! But we put up with this lack of service hours because they can often deliver amazing deals for 2 specific cruise lines (yes, we sometimes use specific agencies for specific cruise lines). To us, it comes down to money and we favor agencies that offer the best deals...even if their service is far from desirable.

 

Hank

[MCC retired]

Your TA must have to release your booking .

I'm sure they will ask just what services you are missing before agreeing to that.

If they agree , you may expect a fee .

OP did not mention what service was lacking ?

If it is after Final , forget it . They have been paid comm..

 

Complaining to the CL may help if they agree that your reason has merit.

 

 

If canceling & rebooking @ current rate will cost you $ then forget it and

find a good TA next time. Friends/co-workers/family/neighbors recommendations may lead you to a good TA .

[lisiamc]

For those that are wondering why I find the service lacking, it seems to be a case of being short staffed. I rarely receive a reply to my first email. For example, I booked a cruise in January 2013 for December 2013. After several emails and a phone call, I had still not received confirmation by email of my booking. (I did receive verbal confirmation.) I let it ride for a few months, and then emailed again two weeks ago. And that's when I finally received the confirmation email. It shouldn't be so difficult.

[mizLORInj]

I agree it shouldn't be so difficult and take them so long.

I think I would start booking all new cruises with someone else and let this one go and chalk it up to the "last one with them". After that, I would let them know why I changed.

I had booked several cruises in the past with a large warehouse club TA until they hit me with the $25 charge for changing cabins and other times for price drops. Then I realized I had other options for booking and getting equally good deals, and took my future business elsewhere. If they were a mom & pop place, I'd tell them why, but they're not and they didn't care when I balked at paying the change fees in the first place.

There are other options for good service. My TA gets back to me pretty quickly and any changes are done within a day.

[Guest maddycat]

For those that are wondering why I find the service lacking, it seems to be a case of being short staffed. I rarely receive a reply to my first email. For example, I booked a cruise in January 2013 for December 2013. After several emails and a phone call, I had still not received confirmation by email of my booking. (I did receive verbal confirmation.) I let it ride for a few months, and then emailed again two weeks ago. And that's when I finally received the confirmation email. It shouldn't be so difficult.

 

After reading about the service that you are receiving from your TA I'd be concerned that your payments (both deposit and final payment) are going to the cruiseline. Payments should go directly to the cruiseline, not to the TA and then the TA transfers payment to the cruiseline.

[98Charlie]

After reading about the service that you are receiving from your TA I'd be concerned that your payments (both deposit and final payment) are going to the cruiseline. Payments should go directly to the cruiseline, not to the TA and then the TA transfers payment to the cruiseline.

Excellent point. While it is rare there have been instances with smaller agencies that are cash strapped using booking money for office expenses. Then using the money from new bookings to pay for cruises as they come close to payment time. When you have made payments has it been to the cruise line itself or to the agency?

 

If it shows on your credit card as the agency receiving the payment I would be concerned and checking with the cruise line to make sure you have a cabin booked at this time.

 

Charlie

[Treven]

... There are other options for good service. My TA gets back to me pretty quickly and any changes are done within a day.

I communicate with my TA almost exclusively by e-mail. If it's something I need done, and so far it hasn't been an immediate need, it gets done. If she isn't in town, state, or U.S. (on a cruise somewhere), she e-mails me to let me know that she isn't in town & will take care of it when she returns. That response has always been within 24 hours. If it's something, while not immediate, needs attention before she returns, she has another agent take care of it.

[lisiamc]

After reading about the service that you are receiving from your TA I'd be concerned that your payments (both deposit and final payment) are going to the cruiseline. Payments should go directly to the cruiseline, not to the TA and then the TA transfers payment to the cruiseline.

 

Excellent point. While it is rare there have been instances with smaller agencies that are cash strapped using booking money for office expenses. Then using the money from new bookings to pay for cruises as they come close to payment time. When you have made payments has it been to the cruise line itself or to the agency?

 

If it shows on your credit card as the agency receiving the payment I would be concerned and checking with the cruise line to make sure you have a cabin booked at this time.

 

Charlie

 

Yes, that is an important point. When I was initially waiting for confirmation, I did check my credit card account on line, and the deposit payment had been made to the cruise line. That was one reason I decided to wait a bit before "reminding" them to send my confirmation.

 

I was sort of hoping that everyone would say that transferring a booking to another agent is easy and happens all the time. But of course it's not really like that. I think I'm going to be non-confrontational and just let this booking remain with the current agent. I should only have to deal with them one more time for final payment, so that won't be too bad.

 

Thank you everyone for your useful input and advice.