princess booked me without my permission.. what the.....

[luckyinpa]

i just signed up for newsletters yesterday. today i get email from one of their salesmen. i decided to write back for a quote for an upcoming sailing. she said they need a 2nd name in order to do that. i wrote back with a 2nd name

 

they sent me a full booking confirmation and choose a room for me and dining options and everything

 

what kind of shady crap is this. do they think they can bully someone into booking with them. i was gonna go with them unless my TA could give me perks but this has totally soured them to me.

 

this is what i asked for "What would your price be" and they go ahead and book me? ***!!!!

she got a nasty gram back for sure.

[Chunder Worthy]

Wow - that's taking the 'do-it-now-and-apologize-later dictum a bit far, huh? Probably, 1 in 20 just go with the flow and accept the reservation and these snake-oil salesmen "steal" a rezzie every now and then that way. Gotta love capitalism.

[goofy559]

Take a deep breath. This is called a cruise hold - they do the booking to show what the rate would be were you to book If you aren't interested it will disappear - no harm no foul. You could have checked the price yourself online as well. I

[skynight]

I have three questions

Were you really speaking with Princess Cruise Line or some T.A.? This does not sound like something Princess would allow it's staff to do.

Did you make a deposit? If not your booking should be cancelled in 24 hours.

Was this all on line? If yes, call Princess and find out what is going on.

[luckyinpa]

Take a deep breath. This is called a cruise hold - they do the booking to show what the rate would be were you to book If you aren't interested it will disappear - no harm no foul. You could have checked the price yourself online as well. I

 

 

there is nothing on this booking confirmation to indicate this is the case. even if it is the case, writing back that this is XX dollars sure is the more professional way of doing it. not making an entire booking

 

and yes this is a PCC from princess. i signed up to receive emails yesterday and i'm ok with the contact but NOT the booking of a room i have not even chosen myself

 

also i only responded to the email because they said I wanted to let you know about a fantastic new promotion I have for you today that offers significant savings.

so i wanted significant savings. thats why i wrote back

[pompeii]

If you didn't put down a deposit, I don't think you're booked. It is almost for certain a courtesy hold that will expire in a couple of days if you don't apply a deposit.

[luckyinpa]

Fare

:

 

 

904.00

 

 

904.00

 

 



 

 



 

 

1,808.00

 

Taxes, Fees & Port Expenses

:

 

 

125.00

 

 

125.00

 

 



 

 



 

 

250.00

 

Total Fare

:

 

 

1,029.00

 

 

1,029.00

 

 



 

 



 

 

2,058.00

 

 

 

 

 

Total Amount Received:

 

 

0.00

 

 

 

 

 

Net Due:

 

 

2,058.00

 

Payment Details

 

 

Deposit of

362.00

is due by

August 7, 2017

. If the deposit due date falls on a weekend, booking will not cancel until the next business day.

Final payment of

2,058.00

is due

 

 

its also wrong. if you do a deposit of 362 your final payment isnt 2058

[luckyinpa]

If you didn't put down a deposit, I don't think you're booked. It is almost for certain a courtesy hold that will expire in a couple of days if you don't apply a deposit.

 

wouldnt the words 'COURTESY HOLD' be more appropriate rather than booking confirmation? seriously. i'm a somewhat informed cruiser and i think a booking confirmation is a booking confirmation. there's zero on it about it being a hold

[cherylandtk]

That is not a final booking, it is a courtesy hold. Re-read the deposit and cancel line. That's why the total due is still the full amount, no deposit has been paid. While you may not care for this, there is a good reason for it. If you are quoted a fare, and no hold is placed, your quote expires the minute it is quoted. It's out of date by the time you see it. And then, if you want to book that price, it may be gone. The only way to keep the quoted price is to place a hold.

 

So relax, without the deposit, your hold will expire on August 7.

 

If you do not want this to happen again, do not ask for a quote. Check the pricing yourself and only ask for a quote or price when you are on the phone and ready to book that moment. Your choice on how to proceed.

Edited August 4, 2017 by cherylandtk

[Coveguy4]

In order to give you a quote in writing they have to do a mock booking. If the price goes up tomorrow and you call back to get their quoted price, unless an actual booking process went thru, you would be SOL... and then be complaining you didn't get a fair chance to book at the quoted price. It disappears if deposit is not made in time.

[waltd]

As you must know pricing can change from day to day. I'm sure if you had liked the price and called back to take it and they would not have given it to you would you have also called it a shady deal? As others have said it's only a hold just in case you want to book. Without a Credit Card number it will disappear in about 24 hours. I have had my own travel agents do the same thing and some times I have not called back quick enough to confirm the deal and lost it.

[WVBill]

If you did not pay a deposit, you were not "booked". As someone pointed out, they created a "cruise hold" for you. It's the only way to get an actual all-inclusive price quote for the exact cabin class you want.

 

Not "shady" at all.

[cherylandtk]

there's zero on it about it being a hold

The format doesn't quite show up the way it does on the Princess documents, but it states at the bottom that the booking cancels unless the deposit is received by a certain date. That is just how Princess phrases it. When it comes via a TA, yes, most do use the phrase 'courtesy hold'. But when booking direct or using the PCC, it does not. Either way it shows up in Princess' system with a booking number until it is either deposited or cancels.

[waltd]

wouldnt the words 'COURTESY HOLD' be more appropriate rather than booking confirmation? seriously. i'm a somewhat informed cruiser and i think a booking confirmation is a booking confirmation. there's zero on it about it being a hold

Did you give them a credit card number? If Not how are they going to bill you for this?

[WVBill]

....

its also wrong. if you do a deposit of 362 your final payment isnt 2058

 

But you haven't done the deposit yet, have you? Thus the whole price of $2058 is still "due".

[Lady Arwen]

Oh my goodness, all this drama! You did not give them any money for this booking. As it shows on your hold you have until August 7th to do so. After that date, all disappears. This is normal practice. From now on if you want prices on your own, do it online and do a mock booking. Nothing shady happened here.

[RDC1]

Talk about an over reaction over nothing.

 

As others have already mentioned the only way that Princess can provide an accurate quote is to set up a booking with a courtesy hold for 24 hours. Otherwise the price can change from the time they run it, until it is booked, even if the person says almost immediately to go ahead and book the cruise.

 

A courtesy hold will expire on its own within a few days, with the expiration date provided in the hold notification. It is lets one know exactly how long they have to act at the provided price.

[luckyinpa]

wow they wanted my birthday to talk to a supervisor. really. just wow. the fake booking number wasnt enough lol

 

this is almost funny. and yes i do think they should explain that this isnt a real booking. i wouldnt be here on this thread if i thought it was a courtesy hold.

 

and i'm ok with the you snooze you lose thing. i'm well aware pricing changes and i had monitored pricing on my other cruise daily to call in about pricing changes etc.

 

truly if they just would have said "In order to lockin your pricing, I will be forwarding a booking confirmation which acts as acourtesy hold. If you do not wish to book, then just ignore the confirmationand it expires." then all would be well and us uniformed newbies wouldnt assume it's a real booking.

[luckyinpa]

Oh my goodness, all this drama! You did not give them any money for this booking. As it shows on your hold you have until August 7th to do so. After that date, all disappears. This is normal practice. From now on if you want prices on your own, do it online and do a mock booking. Nothing shady happened here.

 

the consultant stated "I wanted to let you know about a fantastic new promotion I have for you today that offers significant savings. "

so i wanted her to give me fantastic savings. these were promised to me in writing!!! so of course id write to her and ask her to give me a quote. i figured they had special pricing that i didnt see online

if they cannot give you special pricing then why do they even exist?

[luckyinpa]

Talk about an over reaction over nothing.

 

As others have already mentioned the only way that Princess can provide an accurate quote is to set up a booking with a courtesy hold for 24 hours. .

 

how would a newbie to princess know this? try to think about it from a newbies perspective

 

i believe the agent should tell people this since we are not all experts

[luckyinpa]

The format doesn't quite show up the way it does on the Princess documents, but it states at the bottom that the booking cancels unless the deposit is received by a certain date. That is just how Princess phrases it. When it comes via a TA, yes, most do use the phrase 'courtesy hold'. But when booking direct or using the PCC, it does not. Either way it shows up in Princess' system with a booking number until it is either deposited or cancels.

 

can you do multiple courtesy holds? maybe this is a good way to lock up some cabins while you are deciding? or at least hold the pricing every 3 days. :) could do overlapping bookings while hoping for a price drop . maybe this isnt so bad after all.

 

so my next question is, when u do a mock booking is there a box for a courtesy hold?

[beg3yrs]

how would a newbie to princess know this? try to think about it from a newbies perspective

 

i believe the agent should tell people this since we are not all experts

 

You absolutely correct, a newbie wouldn't know this and you aren't the first. I didn't the first time it happened to me but now I just go with the flow as I understand the process and its benefits. Even some travel agents do this. You are also correct that the agents should inform you there's a courtesy hold set up for you to accept or ignore. If that were done then these kerfuffles wouldn't happen any more.

 

Take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds and let it out slowly.

[luckyinpa]

thanks for the understanding instead of the mob mentality

 

now if the prices go up tomorrow. who do i talk to about getting the pricing reinstated :evilsmile:

 

maybe my new consultant can offer me some fantastic savings.

[geoherb]

I understand the OP's alarm because I was similarly concerned when a booking showed up for me after I had requested a price from a TA. Once I understood it was just a courtesy hold, I calmed down. It did disappear from my Princess page after I did not follow through finalizing the booking the next day.

[freetocruise]

can you do multiple courtesy holds? maybe this is a good way to lock up some cabins while you are deciding? or at least hold the pricing every 3 days. :) could do overlapping bookings while hoping for a price drop . maybe this isnt so bad after all.

 

so my next question is, when u do a mock booking is there a box for a courtesy hold?

 

When you do a booking online, on the payment page, there is a check box to hold the quote. Within minutes, you will receive an email with a "Booking Confirmation" that will confirm the details of your booking/hold. If you make no payments, the "booking" will expire in a few days.