Bait and switch perks

[nenasmum]

I have been a loyal Celebrity Customer for many years and cruises. In February I booked a 2 week cruise from Japan. It was to be a special event for my daughter’s graduation.
At the time I selected 2 perks - as part of the 2 perks offer - the cruise credit and then the on board spends money of $150 per person. 
The credit did not appear on my invoice but I assumed that it would turn up on my onboard account 
Today I decided to check the amount I would be getting and was horrified to discover that Celebrity had no record of the request. I ticked the boxes for the perks with my family watching. If the request failed to go through the website is at fault. I maintain strongly that a clerical error was made. Cathy, the girl who dealt with my issue agreed that the promotion existed and still exists but refused to give it to me even though she conceded that I was entitled to it when the booking was made.
I am a loyal customer and was anticipating many happy years ahead sailing with Celebrity. I am only asking for what I was entitled to when I made the booking, not for anything extra. 
If Celebrity has such scant regard for customer goodwill I will not be sailing with them , or RCCL, ever again. The perks offer was an important factor in my choice of Celebrity and I am really sorry now I did not choose another line.
The hundreds of dollars of credit I believed until today I had would have made an enormous difference to the quality of our holiday. To say I am devastated that this has occurred is an understatement.

Sent from my iPhone

[hcat]

If  your fare included 2 perks and they only gave you one,,that is wrong! Or did they give you a diff  second perk?  Usually you can switch your choice anyhow.,.????

 

We hound them to make sure it is on the invoice when we book it and we keep calling  if it does not appear,..Some items  do show up later  due to odd systems.

 

Suggest you call again and  escalate with X ,  and e mail the One Touch dept for help,,

Good luck

Edited November 7, 2019 by hcat

[Bo1953]

n - sorry to hear about the issue, I Am sure there is a resolution...

 

I did want to point out that here in the U.S., 'bait and switch' means being offered an item and then changing it to something less desirable, yet something is still offered.

 

In this case it appears that you signed up for something and it was never applied to your account.

 

As hcat indicated, go up the food chain at X or did you use a TA?

 

Also, per your initial booking invoice or confirmation, this will show which, if any, Perks were selected or purchased.

 

If it is not on this confirmation, it may be a bit difficult to get X to award the Perks... as this is your written proof/confirmation that the Perks are due and owing.

 

At any rate, please let us know how you fair with this...

 

Good luck and bon voyage

[twins_to_alaska]

When I got my last invoice I had called to get the captains club upgrade and clearly said no to the Vacation Protection Plan but it was on there... called right back to get it removed.

[bikerunner]

Im trying to understand what the two perks were.  You chose the OBC of 150pp and cruise credit?  Not sure what cruise credit is.  The perks offered or from everything I have seen are Drinks, OBC, Grats and Internet.  I might be reading it wrong but what is cruise credit, I have never seen that. 

 

Do you have the original email from when you booked or what was sent to you when making the reservation?  The info should be on that 

[dkjretired]

21 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

Im trying to understand what the two perks were.  You chose the OBC of 150pp and cruise credit?  Not sure what cruise credit is.  The perks offered or from everything I have seen are Drinks, OBC, Grats and Internet.  I might be reading it wrong but what is cruise credit, I have never seen that. 

 

Do you have the original email from when you booked or what was sent to you when making the reservation?  The info should be on that 

 

Agree, from past experience cruise credit and OBC are basically the same thing.   OP needs to keep taking this higher at Celebrity.    Just a side note:   this is not a bait and switch 

[vtcruising]

 

Both of these have been responsive. Good luck!

 

Captain's Club: celebrityonetouch@celebrity.com

CEO: lLutoff-Perlo@celebritycruises.com

 

 

 

 

[mayleeman]

2 hours ago, nenasmum said:

I have been a loyal Celebrity Customer for many years and cruises. In February I booked a 2 week cruise from Japan. It was to be a special event for my daughter’s graduation.
At the time I selected 2 perks - as part of the 2 perks offer - the cruise credit and then the on board spends money of $150 per person. 
The credit did not appear on my invoice but I assumed that it would turn up on my onboard account 
Today I decided to check the amount I would be getting and was horrified to discover that Celebrity had no record of the request. I ticked the boxes for the perks with my family watching. If the request failed to go through the website is at fault. I maintain strongly that a clerical error was made. Cathy, the girl who dealt with my issue agreed that the promotion existed and still exists but refused to give it to me even though she conceded that I was entitled to it when the booking was made.
I am a loyal customer and was anticipating many happy years ahead sailing with Celebrity. I am only asking for what I was entitled to when I made the booking, not for anything extra. 
If Celebrity has such scant regard for customer goodwill I will not be sailing with them , or RCCL, ever again. The perks offer was an important factor in my choice of Celebrity and I am really sorry now I did not choose another line.
The hundreds of dollars of credit I believed until today I had would have made an enormous difference to the quality of our holiday. To say I am devastated that this has occurred is an understatement.

Sent from my iPhone

 

When I booked recently, there is a button for "apply to stateroom" (or maybe "apply to booking") at the bottom of the page where you select the perks. You click on that after checking the perks you want. I obviously don't know if this happened with you, but there should have been about a number of hints that the perks were not on there, including the price.

 

In any event, if the offer still exists, you should be able to change your booking, to one with the perks, on the same cruise without losing any of your deposit. But adding the perks will change your price if you inadvertently ended up initially with a zero perks pricing.

Edited November 7, 2019 by mayleeman

[deliver42]

What is a cruise credit?

[gfkcruiser]

Very frustrating and disappointing for you.  Did you talk to the Celebrity One people?  I believe this may be the resolutions department.  They have helped me in the past with issues.

 

 I always look at the website to decide what I want and then call to reserve my cruise for this reason.  Less chance of me making an error with the website.  I then review my booking document for any errors.

Gail

[TeeRick]

As you describe yourself as a loyal Celebrity customer for years then you are likely a member of Captain's Club loyalty program.  A call to them might get this resolved for you.

[not-enough-cruising]

Another reason why I use a travel agent. This would be their problem to fix and frustration to deal with. I hope you find resolution 

[sr4mjc]

3 hours ago, deliver42 said:

What is a cruise credit?

 

Also confused about this as well.  

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I am also a long time loyal Celebrity cruiser and I have never seen a "perk" called cruise credit.  I believe a bit of clarification is in order.

[jagoffee]

21 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I am also a long time loyal Celebrity cruiser and I have never seen a "perk" called cruise credit.  I believe a bit of clarification is in order.

It does make one wonder if the OP is confused, especially since they state that new bookings currently have the same offer.  Perhaps the cruise credit is a discount to the cruise fare if no perks are selected?

Perhaps nenesmum will return and explain the cruise credit, so we might be able to help.

 

P.S.  I just checked this cruise for the current booking offer and I do not see a mention of a cruise credit perk.  Nenesmum, perhaps you have gratuities, internet, or drink package as you second perk?  Also I believe the $150 OBC is just for the first two people booked in a cabin.  Good luck coming to an understanding.  

Edited November 7, 2019 by jagoffee

[DrKoob]

44 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Another reason why I use a travel agent. This would be their problem to fix and frustration to deal with. I hope you find resolution 

 

I'm totally with you on this. A TA would have fixed the whole thing and cost you nothing. With the way the websites for all the cruise lines tend to mix up stuff, why would you not use a TA? 

 

Also, I don't know what a cruise credit is but I would say that if I were getting two perks on a 14 night cruise, OBC is the LAST thing I would take. Gratuities will be far more than the $150 if there are two people in the room. Always add up gratuities and see which is a better deal. 

 

Jim

[bEwAbG]

The main issue is assuming that something that didn't show on the booking confirmation would somehow magically appear.  The time to correct mistakes was back in February and not nine months later.  I doubt a front-line employee is going to be able to provide relief, so it will need to be escalated to a supervisor, especially if it's a nonrefundable, non-changeable booking.  Also, DO NOT tell them that you will never sail them again.  That's cutting off your nose to spite your face and will make them less likely to work with you.  I'd suggest taking a few breaths before contacting them again. 

 

Now for the hard truth: you undoubtedly clicked a button saying that you agreed to what was showing on the final screen, which is what counts.  If you're the only one reporting this problem (and this is the first time I've seen this type of problem posted), you should really come to terms with the idea that this was likely your error versus theirs.  At the end of the day, you have no way to positively prove otherwise unless you have screenshots from your booking or documents from them showing something else.  You've already said the booking confirmation you received does not support this, so I'd suggest re-framing your thinking.  If this was a known issue, we'd be the first to tell you about it because there would be others on here ranting about it.  At this point, you should understand that any concession they make will be as a goodwill gesture and not because they have to. 

 

Also, if you do a dummy booking under the current offer, how does the fare today compare to what you're paying?  If you're paying significantly less than the value of whatever perk you think is missing, they'll have less incentive to give it to you for free.  That would also point to you not booking what you thought you were booking.

[NLH Arizona]

7 hours ago, nenasmum said:

I have been a loyal Celebrity Customer for many years and cruises. In February I booked a 2 week cruise from Japan. It was to be a special event for my daughter’s graduation.
At the time I selected 2 perks - as part of the 2 perks offer - the cruise credit and then the on board spends money of $150 per person. 
The credit did not appear on my invoice but I assumed that it would turn up on my onboard account 
Today I decided to check the amount I would be getting and was horrified to discover that Celebrity had no record of the request. I ticked the boxes for the perks with my family watching. If the request failed to go through the website is at fault. I maintain strongly that a clerical error was made. Cathy, the girl who dealt with my issue agreed that the promotion existed and still exists but refused to give it to me even though she conceded that I was entitled to it when the booking was made.
I am a loyal customer and was anticipating many happy years ahead sailing with Celebrity. I am only asking for what I was entitled to when I made the booking, not for anything extra. 
If Celebrity has such scant regard for customer goodwill I will not be sailing with them , or RCCL, ever again. The perks offer was an important factor in my choice of Celebrity and I am really sorry now I did not choose another line.
The hundreds of dollars of credit I believed until today I had would have made an enormous difference to the quality of our holiday. To say I am devastated that this has occurred is an understatement.

Sent from my iPhone

Please explain how this is bait and switch, there is a legal definition if you weren't aware.

 

BTW, if I were you, I'd cancel and give my dollars to another cruise line.

Edited November 7, 2019 by NLH Arizona

[Bo1953]

Also, we must remember that the OP is in Australia and not the US, so there may be other terms for Perks of which we are not familiar?

 

Can someone from that part of the world shed some light on this situation, if it is different?

 

bon voyage

[ozsea]

7 hours ago, DrKoob said:

 

I'm totally with you on this. A TA would have fixed the whole thing and cost you nothing. With the way the websites for all the cruise lines tend to mix up stuff, why would you not use a TA? 

 

Also, I don't know what a cruise credit is but I would say that if I were getting two perks on a 14 night cruise, OBC is the LAST thing I would take. Gratuities will be far more than the $150 if there are two people in the room. Always add up gratuities and see which is a better deal. 

 

Jim

If the OP is Australian she would have had to book through Celebrity Australia. Gratuities are never offered as a perk for Australians as gratuities are built into the cost of the fare.

[helen haywood]

This gets more confusing!

[sr4mjc]

1 hour ago, ozsea said:

If the OP is Australian she would have had to book through Celebrity Australia. Gratuities are never offered as a perk for Australians as gratuities are built into the cost of the fare.

 

What would the choices be for pick 2 perks in Australia?   OBC, Internet and Drinks?

[cruise kitty]

16 hours ago, nenasmum said:

I have been a loyal Celebrity Customer for many years and cruises. In February I booked a 2 week cruise from Japan. It was to be a special event for my daughter’s graduation.
At the time I selected 2 perks - as part of the 2 perks offer - the cruise credit and then the on board spends money of $150 per person. 
The credit did not appear on my invoice but I assumed that it would turn up on my onboard account 
Today I decided to check the amount I would be getting and was horrified to discover that Celebrity had no record of the request. I ticked the boxes for the perks with my family watching. If the request failed to go through the website is at fault. I maintain strongly that a clerical error was made. Cathy, the girl who dealt with my issue agreed that the promotion existed and still exists but refused to give it to me even though she conceded that I was entitled to it when the booking was made.
I am a loyal customer and was anticipating many happy years ahead sailing with Celebrity. I am only asking for what I was entitled to when I made the booking, not for anything extra. 
If Celebrity has such scant regard for customer goodwill I will not be sailing with them , or RCCL, ever again. The perks offer was an important factor in my choice of Celebrity and I am really sorry now I did not choose another line.
The hundreds of dollars of credit I believed until today I had would have made an enormous difference to the quality of our holiday. To say I am devastated that this has occurred is an understatement.

Sent from my iPhone

 

Hi there :)  from what I can see, your cruise is past final payment, but has had huge price drops, while still retaining perk options.   An easier solution might be to pay a bit to upgrade to a higher class ( thus obtaining a little nicer cabin, & more perks)  hope it works out for you.

[Nachosdelux]

is it really that confusing to people???

 

pretty obvious that cruise credit = OBC

[jagoffee]

5 minutes ago, Nachosdelux said:

is it really that confusing to people???

 

pretty obvious that cruise credit = OBC

I would think the on board spend credit would be the OBC perk. Did you read the OP’s first post on this subject?
 The cruise credit was implied to be something different. (2nd perk)  If the OP never comes back, we will never know for sure.