Problem with a US travel agent !!

[Whitechapel girl]

Good news! Finally after sending a third more business like email (ie a bit stroppy) I get a response, apologising and saying extremely busy but on checking our booking everything is fine. I get the feeling from questions asked, ie our names, addresses, dob, tele numbers, captain's club numbers that the employee who left them maybe wasn't that hot on admin. Hopefully all will be ok.

 

Happy new year everyone and happy cruising this year

[fleckle]

.......Every situation is different ;). On a well-known consumer protection programme over here, I recall seeing quite a few disgruntled travellers waiting for refunds after the last wave of TAs going bust. You take your chances and hope for a great cruise :D. Btw, I check both sides of the pond for deals/promotions etc. before deciding which way to book ;).

It looks like they may handle it differently there from the way they do it here in the USA.

 

When we use a TA, we are not taking any chances because the money is paid directly to the cruise line and we receive an updated copy of the cruise line's invoice showing proof that they received the payment and applied it to our reservation.

 

So even if the TA should go bust, we would not be waiting for refunds.

The worst that would happen would be that we could lose whatever additional perks we were expecting to get from the TA.

 

If the TA went bust before final payment, we would just make the final payment directly to the cruise line.

 

Normally the cruise line will not deal with the passenger directly if you are using a TA, but in cases where there is a serious problem with the TA, they will.

 

[Jade13]

You need the help of the agency to provide documentation to process the claim. Rarely does your confirmation paperwork fully comply with what any insurance company asks for.

 

In the event of a cancellation, a good agent will recognise the stress their client is going through anyway and most automatically generate the paperwork/ give guidance on how to claim even when the insurance when purchased independently. Sad the poster hit a lousy one that left her to it

 

We have made claims before and have never needed the assistance of our travel agent, and their cruise receipt has always been accepted. These were small claims so may have been one reason the insurer didn't ask a lot of questions.

 

Most recently a piece of luggage was damaged coming home from Singapore. We missed the 4 hour deadline in making the claim at the airport so called our insurer. I only had to email them a copy of the luggage receipt, airline receipt, cruise receipt, and email from JetBlue (last airline we took to our home town) saying they wouldn't pay since we needed to make the claim at the airport and missed the deadline. The insurance company sent us a check for the cost of the bag minus 10% depreciated value since in was purchased a year earlier.

 

We also made a small claim with the same travel insurance for costs to purchase items (some clothes and other supplies) when we had a luggage delay upon arrival in Egypt. They have always accepted our copies of the airline receipts and agents receipt. In that case I had the airline on email trying to locate our luggage, so had proof of the delay.

 

On the other hand, the company that we purchase the travel insurance from would help us out if needed.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Jade13

[Jade13]

Good news! Finally after sending a third more business like email (ie a bit stroppy) I get a response, apologising and saying extremely busy but on checking our booking everything is fine. I get the feeling from questions asked, ie our names, addresses, dob, tele numbers, captain's club numbers that the employee who left them maybe wasn't that hot on admin. Hopefully all will be ok.

 

Happy new year everyone and happy cruising this year

 

Great to hear!

[varoo]

We have made claims before and have never needed the assistance of our travel agent, and their cruise receipt has always been accepted.

Our experiences have always been the same as yours.

 

Most recently we had claims for medical expenses. We just submitted the receipts to our insurance company and were reimbursed.

 

The travel agent had nothing to do with it and was not involved at all in any way.

 

But I noticed that the poster who claims you need the help of the agency to process the claim was from Scotland, so maybe they do things differently there.

 

 

The only reason we even bother to use a travel agency at all is for the additional perks they offer, or occasionally because they can get us a better price than booking directly with the cruise line.

 

[Pushka]

I'd never buy Travel Insurance from a TA. I've had to make claims for a variety of reasons and not needed their assistance. Even if I had needed them, they should always provide the required documentation because I had booked the trip through them, and not because I'd paid for their travel insurance.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Pushka

[BosoxI]

We were promised a $70 specialty restaurant credit by our Florida agent and, indeed, in our cabin was a card saying we would get that credit. No dollar amount was shown and when I addressed the issue with Customer Relations, I was told it was included in the amount of regular OBCs. Fortunately, I had the invoice from my agent which clearly showed the restaurant credit was in addition to the OBC. The CR rep credited me the $70 but later called to say that , in fact, Celebrity had no record of the transaction. The credit stood as a courtesy. The same agent has offered the same credit on our next cruise, so I asked for clarification as I do not want to depend on the good will of a CR rep to obtain my credit. Take all notifications with you, as agency credits don't always show on Celebrity's records

[keithm]

It looks like they may handle it differently there from the way they do it here in the USA.

 

When we use a TA, we are not taking any chances because the money is paid directly to the cruise line and we receive an updated copy of the cruise line's invoice showing proof that they received the payment and applied it to our reservation.

 

So even if the TA should go bust, we would not be waiting for refunds.

The worst that would happen would be that we could lose whatever additional perks we were expecting to get from the TA.

 

If the TA went bust before final payment, we would just make the final payment directly to the cruise line.

 

Normally the cruise line will not deal with the passenger directly if you are using a TA, but in cases where there is a serious problem with the TA, they will.

 

Our TA was on vacation(in 2010)We had a Q-6, which was right next to the Commodore club. I decided to move it further down the hall, as to avoid potential noise. Cunard wanted me to go through our TA, but when I told them he was on vacation(they cruise a lot, too)Cunard made the change & e-mailed the change to our TA. So, yes they will work with you. Sometimes I wonder about booking direct with the line, but feel you may not get ALL the perks that TA's can get. Perhaps someone can verify that?

[varoo]

....... Sometimes I wonder about booking direct with the line, but feel you may not get ALL the perks that TA's can get. Perhaps someone can verify that?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

There is not one answer that applies in all situations as there are a number of variables involved.

 

We like to check for the best deal we can get if we book directly with the cruise line.

Then we compare it to what is being offered by a number of travel agencies before deciding which would be most beneficial to us.

 

When a travel agent offers perks, and/or a lower price that makes it worthwhile, we give the booking to the TA.

If they only offer a bottle of wine, or a small onboard credit, it is not worth the bother to us.

 

But sometimes people will give their booking to a TA for no perks or other benefits at all, especially if the TA is a family member or personal friend.

 

In general, the higher the price of the cruise, the greater the commission the TA will receive, so the more flexibility they have in offering you perks as incentive to give them your booking.

 

Naturally we would expect a TA to offer us much better perks when booking a suite at full price than when booking a cabin on a last-minute closeout sale at a giveaway price.

 

 

Also some of the major agencies that do high volume business with a cruise line will receive a higher commission than others and have more flexibility in what they can offer you.

 

They may include you in a "group" where they can give you the same cabin at a lower price without your even needing to know any of the other members of the "group" or have any contact with them.

 

 

As pointed out in previous threads, it is important to make sure you know which perks are actually coming from the TA and which perks are really coming from the cruise line.

 

Many times travel agencies advertise perks that are coming from the cruise line and that you would get anyway even if you didn't book with them.

 

For example, we receive offers from a number of TAs claiming that you will get a 123 drink package if you book with them, without mentioning that you can get the same drink package even if you don't book with them.

 

[Kellie Poodle]

Originally Posted by uktog

You need the help of the agency to provide documentation to process the claim. Rarely does your confirmation paperwork fully comply with what any insurance company asks for.

 

In the event of a cancellation, a good agent will recognise the stress their client is going through anyway and most automatically generate the paperwork/ give guidance on how to claim even when the insurance when purchased independently. Sad the poster hit a lousy one that left her to it

 

We have made claims before and have never needed the assistance of our travel agent, and their cruise receipt has always been accepted. These were small claims so may have been one reason the insurer didn't ask a lot of questions.

 

Most recently a piece of luggage was damaged coming home from Singapore. We missed the 4 hour deadline in making the claim at the airport so called our insurer. I only had to email them a copy of the luggage receipt, airline receipt, cruise receipt, and email from JetBlue (last airline we took to our home town) saying they wouldn't pay since we needed to make the claim at the airport and missed the deadline. The insurance company sent us a check for the cost of the bag minus 10% depreciated value since in was purchased a year earlier.

 

We also made a small claim with the same travel insurance for costs to purchase items (some clothes and other supplies) when we had a luggage delay upon arrival in Egypt. They have always accepted our copies of the airline receipts and agents receipt. In that case I had the airline on email trying to locate our luggage, so had proof of the delay.

 

On the other hand, the company that we purchase the travel insurance from would help us out if needed.

 

I had a claim for some lost articles several years ago and the TA I used at that time did all the paperwork. I expected some assistance from this TA.

 

All I wanted from them were copies of the invoices and the small refunds to my credit card. I had been very, very sick, having spent the last two weeks of September and the entire month of October in the hospital. You would think in such a situation they could email me copies of the paperwork. They knew how sick I was.

 

I had to spend the time and effort finding and making copies of the credit card bills with the necessary information. I was supposed to submit a document that showed the penalty information and the "supervisor" promised he'd get that out right away, but he never sent it.

 

I had booked B2B cruises with them and I'm certain they were going to make some nice commissions. You would think they would have a little care and concern for a client. They didn't and they have forever lost my business. Every mailing, and there are at least 5 a week, that has that little green globe with a ring on it goes immediately into the trash.

 

I was lucky, I guess, that I had covered everything else properly as the insurance company, TravelEx, sent me check for the full amount requested (over $9,000) in three weeks.