HELP! Azamara is trying to cancel my trip because of their mistake! Horrible Cruise!

[hiccups]

4 minutes ago, laurieb said:

I have to disagree with much of what you are saying here; I believe the OP knew very well that the price was in error and that is why he was getting everything done so quickly.  May even have been booking both suites at the same time thus needing to use two different booking avenues.  We won't know and don't need to know.

I absolutely would question the price if it was too good to be true; I wouldn't want to have the possibility of having my cruise cancelled because of an error ( and for me personally it wouldn't feel ethical).

If these were booked over a Sunday when Azamara is closed, they wouldn't be able to verify anything until a few days after booking.  The bean counters aren't there on Saturdays either.  Confirmations can be emailed and printed, payments can be made online, a booking can be verified as been made, without the actual details being verified by Azamara once their offices are open again on Monday.  Just my 2 cents

And shame on the TA for not following up on the price too, if it was that low; they should know to check!

From the original post:

"On 5/31/19, I saw a great deal for a suite with Azamara. The cruise is only 2 months away so I figured they needed to fill some cabins and also needed to hit some end of the month/quarter sales numbers. I booked two suites, 1 through a 3rd party site and the other directly through Azamara. Immediately after booking, I called the third party site to confirm everything went through. I told them, the cruise is only 2 months away so I wanted to make sure everything went through so I could book my flights right away. They said, "everything is confirmed, go ahead and book your flights". They even emailed me a confirmation. The very next day I spoke to a supervisor at Azamara who also confirmed both my suites. That supervisor would later say, "I saw you got a great price but didn't think anything else of it". Over the next few days, I received 6 email confirmations, 3 verbal confirmations, and I even did the online check-in and printed my boarding tickets."

So the bookings were made on a Friday, although we don't know what time. 

If you're shaming the TA for not following up on the price, then I hope you're reserving some of that shame for Azamara, as they handled one of the two bookings.

My bottom line is still that Azamara made the mistake and needs to fix it in a manner that is acceptable to OP.   Azamara has zero incentive to do things correctly if the only one that pays the price for an error is the consumer.

 

[hubofhockey]

Online Pricing Standards

When an e-commerce website has had an incorrect price entered into its database, it can end up not only advertising that price but also accepting orders and charging customers' credit cards for that amount. The central issue here is whether retailers can void the contract created when orders were accepted.

 

The easiest way for a company to deal with such situations is to have website "terms of use" that clearly state the company can cancel orders and refund customers' money because of pricing errors (or for any reason). Otherwise, a common law doctrine known as "unilateral mistake of fact" applies. This doctrine allows a party to a contract to set aside the contract if honoring it would be "unconscionable," or if the other party could have reasonably assumed it was a mistake. A $1,000 item advertised for $10 likely would meet this definition.

 

(Copied from a legal advertising site)

 

Not only does Azamara have a Terms of Use clause, it also has this information online:

 

OUR PRICING & SAVINGS POLICY

Unless stated otherwise, all rates are average per person, based on double occupancy, cruise only, in USD, and subject to availability. Rates may vary by ship, departure date, and stateroom category. All rates, savings offers and itineraries are subject to change without notice. Savings offers may be withdrawn at any time. Azamara reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions and to change or update fares, fees and surcharges at any time without prior notice.

[rallydave]

15 minutes ago, laurieb said:

I have to disagree with much of what you are saying here; I believe the OP knew very well that the price was in error and that is why he was getting everything done so quickly.  May even have been booking both suites at the same time thus needing to use two different booking avenues.  We won't know and don't need to know.

I absolutely would question the price if it was too good to be true; I wouldn't want to have the possibility of having my cruise cancelled because of an error ( and for me personally it wouldn't feel right).

If these were booked over a Sunday when Azamara is closed, they wouldn't be able to verify anything until a few days after booking.  The bean counters aren't there on Saturdays either.  Confirmations can be emailed and printed, payments can be made online, a booking can be verified as been made, without the actual details being verified by Azamara once their offices are open again on Monday.  Just my 2 cents

And shame on the TA for not following up on the price too, if it was that low; they should know to check!

Completely disagree with you laurieb.  Like I said earlier I am not a lawyer but, during my working days wrote Contracts in the Billions of dollars and once either side met the three facets of a Contract, Offer, Acceptance, and Consideration the only way the Contract could be changed was in writing and agreed to by both sides.

 

Whether or not the OP thought th price posted in writing by Azamara in writing was too good to be true it was an offer right or wrong, correct or in error and once the consideration was paid and the acceptance (invoice) provided it was a Contract that both had to abide by unless changed in writing.

 

As to the office open or not, that doesn't matter either.  The office was open when the OP booked directly with Azamara so most likely not on Sunday.  Whether or not the booking was verified by the home office is also irrelevant as the agent represented and had the authority to confirm the contract or the confirmation would have said subject to verification.  Anyone accepting a reservation and providing a confirmation must have that authority and thus are at risk for errors.

 

This is also why Azamaras' horrid IT Department needs to be completely revamped as errors like this can bankrupt the company.  In any case none of what you say matters once a contract between the OP and an authorized representative of the company agree on a contract.

 

Don't disagree it was a mistake but, companies have to abide by them unless they are able to prove extenuating circumstances and that would be difficult.  I do remember the lady from Oz who had her cruise cancelled while in transit and somehow it was made right and free to boot and created issues with those of us who read all about it and not abiding by this contract will cost Azamara more in the long run that biting the bullet and confirming his two cruises.' 

[hiccups]

43 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

Online Pricing Standards

When an e-commerce website has had an incorrect price entered into its database, it can end up not only advertising that price but also accepting orders and charging customers' credit cards for that amount. The central issue here is whether retailers can void the contract created when orders were accepted.

 

The easiest way for a company to deal with such situations is to have website "terms of use" that clearly state the company can cancel orders and refund customers' money because of pricing errors (or for any reason). Otherwise, a common law doctrine known as "unilateral mistake of fact" applies. This doctrine allows a party to a contract to set aside the contract if honoring it would be "unconscionable," or if the other party could have reasonably assumed it was a mistake. A $1,000 item advertised for $10 likely would meet this definition.

 

(Copied from a legal advertising site)

 

Not only does Azamara have a Terms of Use clause, it also has this information online:

 

OUR PRICING & SAVINGS POLICY

Unless stated otherwise, all rates are average per person, based on double occupancy, cruise only, in USD, and subject to availability. Rates may vary by ship, departure date, and stateroom category. All rates, savings offers and itineraries are subject to change without notice. Savings offers may be withdrawn at any time. Azamara reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions and to change or update fares, fees and surcharges at any time without prior notice.

So taking your apparent interpretation that Azamara has the right to change prices AFTER booking (and payment in full, in this case), anyone that has booked a cruise where Azamara subsequently raises prices, can have their price increased?  

Guess I'd better expect a bill for our upcoming cruise, then, since our cabin is now priced over $1800 PP more than when we booked.

[hubofhockey]

2 minutes ago, hiccups said:

So taking your apparent interpretation that Azamara has the right to change prices AFTER booking (and payment in full, in this case), anyone that has booked a cruise where Azamara subsequently raises prices, can have their price increased?  

Guess I'd better expect a bill for our upcoming cruise, then, since our cabin is now priced over $1800 PP more than when we booked.

 

2 minutes ago, hiccups said:

So taking your apparent interpretation that Azamara has the right to change prices AFTER booking (and payment in full, in this case), anyone that has booked a cruise where Azamara subsequently raises prices, can have their price increased?  

Guess I'd better expect a bill for our upcoming cruise, then, since our cabin is now priced over $1800 PP more than when we booked.

 

If you book a $5,000 cruise for $500, then, yes, prepare to have it changed.

[PatG2]

4 hours ago, hiccups said:

Why should the poster (who mentioned "my wife and I") have to reveal the price?  

I'm really surprised by the number of posters trying to lay fault at OP's feet.  Azamara took the bookings and payment in full.  Considering one booking was made through a TA and one through Azamara at the same price, it certainly doesn't seem to me that OP should have suspected anything was wrong--we've all seen the fire sale prices. 

Some of you act as though OP should have said, "Hey, Azamara, certainly the price you've posted isn't correct.... would you check and see if you should be charging me a higher rate?"  How many of you would do that?

I feel once Azamara has taken the money and sent the confirmation, it's on them to make this right in some manner.  Maybe they don't have the cabins on that cruise, but they certainly ought to be offering something in light of the situation, such as a transfer to another cruise in the future.

While I would never rely on "verbal confirmations" for anything, OP has email confirmations.

Thank you Hiccups. I think some of the people responding otherwise work for the cruise line (just an opinion). 100% about the fire sales. People get fares for 50%-80% off what other people paid all the time. They need to fill a ship, guess what, someone is going to book for way less than you paid and you won't see a penny of a refund.

[PatG2]

3 hours ago, rallydave said:

Completely agree hiccups.  In addition, and I am not a lawyer, the OP has a contract and by the law of contracts, it is a valid contract.  Offer, acceptance, and consideration.  Having the contract broken by Azamara opens Azamara to a law suit.  The problem with suing cruise lines though is extremely difficult as law suits have to be filed where a company is registered or with their registered agent and that is is almost in a country other than the US. 

Thanks Dave. I thought the same thing.

[PatG2]

3 hours ago, dabear said:

You do not have a valid contract if there was not a true meeting of the minds. If someone offered to sell you a new Mercedes for $100, you would try to buy it but it would not be enforceable. If she paid $100 or even a $1,000 for a suite on a 10 day (?) or more cruise, do you think it was a mistake? Come on now. A lot of holes in this story.

Rallydave had a better response but just to be clear... I was not "offered" a cruise. I paid for one. If you "paid" $.01 for a brand new Mercedes and signed the paperwork, guess what? You would own a new Mercedes.

[PatG2]

2 hours ago, rallydave said:

Completely disagree with you laurieb.  Like I said earlier I am not a lawyer but, during my working days wrote Contracts in the Billions of dollars and once either side met the three facets of a Contract, Offer, Acceptance, and Consideration the only way the Contract could be changed was in writing and agreed to by both sides.

 

Whether or not the OP thought th price posted in writing by Azamara in writing was too good to be true it was an offer right or wrong, correct or in error and once the consideration was paid and the acceptance (invoice) provided it was a Contract that both had to abide by unless changed in writing.

 

As to the office open or not, that doesn't matter either.  The office was open when the OP booked directly with Azamara so most likely not on Sunday.  Whether or not the booking was verified by the home office is also irrelevant as the agent represented and had the authority to confirm the contract or the confirmation would have said subject to verification.  Anyone accepting a reservation and providing a confirmation must have that authority and thus are at risk for errors.

 

This is also why Azamaras' horrid IT Department needs to be completely revamped as errors like this can bankrupt the company.  In any case none of what you say matters once a contract between the OP and an authorized representative of the company agree on a contract.

 

Don't disagree it was a mistake but, companies have to abide by them unless they are able to prove extenuating circumstances and that would be difficult.  I do remember the lady from Oz who had her cruise cancelled while in transit and somehow it was made right and free to boot and created issues with those of us who read all about it and not abiding by this contract will cost Azamara more in the long run that biting the bullet and confirming his two cruises.' 

Thank you Dave, couldn't have put it better myself.

[PatG2]

1 hour ago, hubofhockey said:

 

 

If you book a $5,000 cruise for $500, then, yes, prepare to have it changed.

What about for $1,000? or $1,500? or $2,000? What's the standard? How is a consumer suppose to know? I put earlier in my thread why I thought it was valid and still stand by it.

 

More importantly, after you pay in full, after you verbally confirm once, then twice, then a third time, then you get 6 different email confirmations, then you do the online check-in, then you print your tickets... At what point after all that does a reasonable person say this is a mistake? At what point after all those confirmations does a reasonable person think this might get cancelled on me? I would have to assume that the cruise not only made a "price mistake" but also made about 10 other mistakes by confirming each time. One of the confirmations was from a Sr. Manager at Azamara!

 

And before you ask again... no, i'm not going to disclose how much I paid. Not because I think it will skew opinions (I already stated I paid about 75% off) but rather because I don't feel like it. I don't feel like it and I'm not going to let someone online bully me into it. Thanks for all your feedback and opinions, I respect your point of view but I'm done responding to your comments. Bye bye.

[SoBaycruiser]

I don’t understand why some want to make the OP’s actions as wrong or incompetent.  Who among us would not try to book this suite if we were looking for a good last minute deal?  And the fact that the OP sought confirmation that the booking was good, to me, shows good faith that he was willing to accept the cancellation before he bought air tickets.  But once getting multiple confirmations and allowing several days to pass, I too would then be in a hurry to secure airfare.  

 

As to not sharing the cruise date and amount with posters here... I wouldn’t either.  I’d want to remain anonymous on the cruise.  Allow the person some privacy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PatG2]

56 minutes ago, SoBaycruiser said:

I don’t understand why some want to make the OP’s actions as wrong or incompetent.  Who among us would not try to book this suite if we were looking for a good last minute deal?  And the fact that the OP sought confirmation that the booking was good, to me, shows good faith that he was willing to accept the cancellation before he bought air tickets.  But once getting multiple confirmations and allowing several days to pass, I too would then be in a hurry to secure airfare.  

 

As to not sharing the cruise date and amount with posters here... I wouldn’t either.  I’d want to remain anonymous on the cruise.  Allow the person some privacy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks SoBaycruiser. I think some of the people commenting either work for the cruise industry or just like debating. But I welcome all opinions. Definitely appreciate your feedback. I think even those opposed on this thread would try to buy those tickets and fight it if this happened.

[hiccups]

Because I shared my own experience with an RCI pricing glitch several years ago, I went back and found the thread.  The cabins were offered at 43% of the price they had been the day before.

Within that thread, though, two posters shared their own RCI cruise deals:

Poster 1:

Here is what we paid for an Owners Suite. 

 

Cruise Fare: 1730.00 1730.00 3460.00

Taxes & Fees: 48.53 48.53 97.06

 

$-200.00 off for Balcony Discount

$-150.00 off for Crown and Anchor Coupon

 

Total for the Cabin $3207.06

I think there was maybe 6 or 8 couples who got that deal on that sailing.

Poster 2, in response:
Got that deal and this deal beat by a long shot...woke up one day to find a RS on Oasis last June right on Royals site where they left out a 0 by mistake in a price change made that evening....making the cabin $1069/pp instead of $10,690/pp:eek::eek::D

I'm pretty shocked that RCI would have honored that RS price, but apparently they did.


Posters often comment, when someone shares frustration that their cruise price has dropped after final payment, "you wouldn't think you should have to pay more if the price had gone up, would you?"  So I guess Azamara is the house, and always wins 🙄

 

 

 

[hubofhockey]

2 hours ago, PatG2 said:

What about for $1,000? or $1,500? or $2,000? What's the standard? How is a consumer suppose to know? I put earlier in my thread why I thought it was valid and still stand by it.

 

More importantly, after you pay in full, after you verbally confirm once, then twice, then a third time, then you get 6 different email confirmations, then you do the online check-in, then you print your tickets... At what point after all that does a reasonable person say this is a mistake? At what point after all those confirmations does a reasonable person think this might get cancelled on me? I would have to assume that the cruise not only made a "price mistake" but also made about 10 other mistakes by confirming each time. One of the confirmations was from a Sr. Manager at Azamara!

 

And before you ask again... no, i'm not going to disclose how much I paid. Not because I think it will skew opinions (I already stated I paid about 75% off) but rather because I don't feel like it. I don't feel like it and I'm not going to let someone online bully me into it. Thanks for all your feedback and opinions, I respect your point of view but I'm done responding to your comments. Bye bye.

 

No need to respond and I get that you're only posting things that support your position.  Clearly, your booking was confirmed, but  maybe not your price.  They discovered the error and acted under "terms of service" and their rights under the contract.  I do believe that you detrimentally relied on that deal in purchasing your airfare and that is a real issue here.  RCI has deals with all of the airlines and can probably be covered if they pay for your plane tickets.  You should be made whole.  A better answer would be if they bumped you up to balcony cabin or at least offered that with some nonrefundable OBC,  

[dabear]

When one party obviously knows that a price is erroneously low and tries to accept it without a reasonable expectation of completion, you do not have a contract. See the law of contracts and the meaning of meeting of the minds. Some companies will honor their mistakes but that is only because of goodwill, not due to a binding contract. Again, why won't disclose more facts including price, date & length of cruise, etc. She knows that she merely is trying to get something for possibly nearly nothing.

 Agree with HoH that if op purchased air tickets, reasonably relying on this cruise, would be entitled to reimbursement.

Edited June 12, 2019 by dabear

[florisdekort]

Where is Bonnie? 

[Host Jazzbeau]

 

26 minutes ago, florisdekort said:

Where is Bonnie? 

 

See my post above

[hubofhockey]

19 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The fact that Bonnie hasn't chimed in on this thread suggests to me that there is more to this than we have been told.  Normally she would have posted that she will look into it – my guess is that she has no need to look into it because she has already been briefed.

 

Oops, totally missed this.  If I had seen it, I would have not have taken on the OP.   

 

Jazzbeau, you can remove my posts on this thread.  I had a suspicion that there was more to this than meets the eye.  

[rallydave]

11 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

 

Oops, totally missed this.  If I had seen it, I would have not have taken on the OP.   

 

Jazzbeau, you can remove my posts on this thread.  I had a suspicion that there was more to this than meets the eye.  

Jazzbeau is not the Host for this board and his comment is completely hypothetical.  He posts here because of his interest in Azamara and not as the host of this board.  His thoughts may be correct and may not be as like many of us we all have our own thoughts on the subject at hand.  There have been many times that Bonnie has not posted to a thread that has nothing to do with the home office telling her not to.   And, haven't seen any other recent posts from Bonnie although could very well have missed them.

 

And, as in most cases there are three (3) yes 3 sides to every story, yours, mine, and the whole/real story.   Very rarely are the sides described by either of the two parties the whole/real story. 

[hiccups]

9 hours ago, dabear said:

When one party obviously knows that a price is erroneously low and tries to accept it without a reasonable expectation of completion, you do not have a contract. See the law of contracts and the meaning of meeting of the minds. Some companies will honor their mistakes but that is only because of goodwill, not due to a binding contract. Again, why won't disclose more facts including price, date & length of cruise, etc. She knows that she merely is trying to get something for possibly nearly nothing.

 Agree with HoH that if op purchased air tickets, reasonably relying on this cruise, would be entitled to reimbursement.

Azamara accepted the contract when they took OP's money.  As for the "possibly next to nothing," OP stated the price was about 25% of the previous price.  Who is he to determine what Azamara should price their last-minute sales at, to assume it was an error, when the Azamara employees didn't think anything was wrong with the price and made the booking?

Frankly, I'm disgusted by the way OP is being treated here, basically being accused of being a cheat and a liar.

Edited June 12, 2019 by hiccups

[rallydave]

8 minutes ago, hiccups said:

Azamara accepted the contract when they took OP's money.  As for the "possibly next to nothing," OP stated the price was about 25% of the previous price.  Who is he to determine what Azamara should price their last-minute sales at, to assume it was an error, when the Azamara employees didn't think anything was wrong with the price and made the booking?

Frankly, I'm disgusted by the way OP is being treated here, basically being accused of being a cheat and a liar.

+100

[hubofhockey]

14 minutes ago, rallydave said:

Jazzbeau is not the Host for this board and his comment is completely hypothetical.  He posts here because of his interest in Azamara and not as the host of this board.  His thoughts may be correct and may not be as like many of us we all have our own thoughts on the subject at hand.  There have been many times that Bonnie has not posted to a thread that has nothing to do with the home office telling her not to.   And, haven't seen any other recent posts from Bonnie although could very well have missed them.

 

And, as in most cases there are three (3) yes 3 sides to every story, yours, mine, and the whole/real story.   Very rarely are the sides described by either of the two parties the whole/real story. 

 

Bonnie, in fact, liked Jazzbeau's post, meaning she and Azamara know the other side.  We don't know it, so there is too much to conjecture about this private dispute.  

 

Oh, one more thing to consider here is that, right or wrong, Royal Caribbean and all of its lines have their "poop lists" and don't look too kindly on customers taking them on like this in public.  There are times when they just put someone on their "no passenger list" and refuse to do any business with them.  

Edited June 12, 2019 by hubofhockey

[hun]

Whether the price was a mistake or not (hypothetically $500 instead of $5000), once the “offer” has been “accepted” and payment has been made, it’s valid and PatG2 should get the suites for the prices paid. If payment hadn’t been made, it would have been a different story.

 I’m amazed Azamara doesn’t step up, but Pat, if you haven’t  already done so, I’d suggest an email to the Azamara executive contacts - go to elliott(dot)org and the Azamara contacts are there. 

( FYI I do have a background in this as I was legal counsel and legal director to a large state consumer protection agency for over 30 years)

[rallydave]

27 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

 

Bonnie, in fact, liked Jazzbeau's post, meaning she and Azamara know the other side.  We don't know it, so there is too much to conjecture about this private dispute.    

Then why are you and others who are theorizing against  the OP??  The rest of us are commenting on the facts as he sees them the OP has posted,  The naysayers on the other hand are taking the opposite side of the discussion without any information from Azamara except for Bonnie's like.

 

I see that.  simply lowers any respect I might have had for Azamara and their employees.   

[dabear]

As previously stated by Hubofhockey and me (see prior posts), when there is no reasonable meeting of the minds for an unconscionable arrangement or a mistake of fact, those are exceptions to the rules of contract and it's not enforceable. If she was so sure that she had a valid contract, why did she continuously seek more confirmations. If reasonable & realistic price, one confirmation would have been enough!  FYI, I am an attorney. 

BTW, what happened to op's call with A which she was suppose to have yesterday or the day before. It surely appears that she is leaving out a lot of relevant negative facts, looking for sympathy. While I prefer to be on the consumers side, not in this situation as being presented.

I'm finished posting on this thread.

 

Edited June 12, 2019 by dabear