NEED A FAIR REFUND POLICY DUE TO VIRUS

[resistk]

5 hours ago, loveislandlife said:

I’m not either. I just don’t know what else can be done at this point. The ‘force majeure’ language in the contract seems like their loophole out of the refunds. 

 

File a credit card dispute or try the Federal Martime Commission mediation if you are in the USA.  I think EU citizens may have remedies as well through national ombudsmans and can contact their EU parliament member  since Ponant is engaged in maritime activities across the EU.

[Seabiscuit68]

I will be filing a credit dispute and will look into the Federal Martime Commission mediation. In the meantime, I'm posting on IG.  Based on Jared's update it seems to have attracted their attention.  Lil_stormi_pug on IG.  It's the IG I use for my dog (I know!) but it has some followers who have substantial followers and they are starting to comment on my post.  If they aren't going to refund the money, at least I can make sure to warn others about Ponant and PG.

[Vesude]

Together with some other duped Ponant cruisers, we are about to send a out press release about the fact that Ponant has changed their general terms and conditions, after the Covid-19 outbreak. 

When we booked (in 2018 for a 2020 cruise) the following terms were valid.

[DSmith91]

On 4/29/2020 at 2:13 PM, Vesude said:

Together with some other duped Ponant cruisers, we are about to send a out press release about the fact that Ponant has changed their general terms and conditions, after the Covid-19 outbreak. 

When we booked (in 2018 for a 2020 cruise) the following terms were valid.

Doesn't that refer to the 'worry-free policy for new bookings made after the 9th March this year?

We are in the UK and due to cruise in August this year,  We booked 2 years ago when the T&C's stated a full refund in case of cancellation by Ponant.  Their T&C's updated in January, and available on the website still state that a full refund is due if the cruise is cancelled.

 

[Vesude]

9 hours ago, DSmith91 said:

Doesn't that refer to the 'worry-free policy for new bookings made after the 9th March this year?

We are in the UK and due to cruise in August this year,  We booked 2 years ago when the T&C's stated a full refund in case of cancellation by Ponant.  Their T&C's updated in January, and available on the website still state that a full refund is due if the cruise is cancelled.

 

We booked in 2018 also. Can you copy-paste that part of The T&C here?
I am going on with my fight! If anyone wants to join?

[DSmith91]

1 hour ago, Vesude said:

We booked in 2018 also. Can you copy-paste that part of The T&C here?
I am going on with my fight! If anyone wants to join?

These T&C's were updated on 23rd January 2020 ans still available to read on Ponant's website.  We are in the UK so I don't know if ours may be different from other countries.  I doubt it though.

 

11.9 Where CDP is the Cruise Organiser, and no matter the reason for cancellation, no compensation is due to the Traveller, who will be able to choose between the following solutions:(i) A full refund of the Contract price; (ii) Another Service at the same price; (iii) A Service at a lower price and a refund for the price difference between the two Services based on the

advertised prices. Travellers must inform CDP of their choice as soon as possible and in any event before the deadline mentioned in the cancellation documents.

[Seabiscuit68]

4 hours ago, Vesude said:

We booked in 2018 also. Can you copy-paste that part of The T&C here?
I am going on with my fight! If anyone wants to join?

I’m in.  I’ve set up another IG account and continue to make comments on Ponant and PG IG.  I noticed that some of my earlier PG comments have been deleted. Anything we can do on a coordinated basis will have more impact. 

[DSmith91]

34 minutes ago, Seabiscuit68 said:

I’m in.  I’ve set up another IG account and continue to make comments on Ponant and PG IG.  I noticed that some of my earlier PG comments have been deleted. Anything we can do on a coordinated basis will have more impact. 

Seabiscuit68.....Can you put your link up please? We don't need it yet as we aren't due to sail till August, but just in case...thanks.

[Vesude]

3 hours ago, Seabiscuit68 said:

I’m in.  I’ve set up another IG account and continue to make comments on Ponant and PG IG.  I noticed that some of my earlier PG comments have been deleted. Anything we can do on a coordinated basis will have more impact. 

Meanwhile I found out that the French law (under which Ponant is sailing) says the following (please have a look at the attachments: 1 quote from the law book and the translation)

 

 

[DSmith91]

Rights of passengers where travel is cancelled.

 

I have found the following (and bookmarked for future reference) to be very useful and written in English.

 

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=3c4d9f0f-57b5-4470-a0c9-6d298ad39f7b

Edited May 1, 2020 by DSmith91
made addition

[Vesude]

11 minutes ago, DSmith91 said:

Rights of passengers where travel is cancelled.

 

I have found the following (and bookmarked for future reference) to be very useful and written in English.

 

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=3c4d9f0f-57b5-4470-a0c9-6d298ad39f7b

Thanks for this. For me it’s clear! 

[DSmith91]

29 minutes ago, Vesude said:

Thanks for this. For me it’s clear! 

You're welcome.

[resistk]

Credit card issued a refund for my full value of Ponant cancelled cruise.

[resistk]

1 hour ago, Vesude said:

Thanks for this. For me it’s clear! 

 

"Services relating to the transport of passengers are excluded from the scope of these provisions, and are governed by international treaties and European Union legislation on passenger rights"

[jonikal]

1 minute ago, resistk said:

Credit card issued a refund for my full value of Ponant cancelled cruise.

 

 

Excellent news indeed!

[resistk]

2 minutes ago, resistk said:

 

"Services relating to the transport of passengers are excluded from the scope of these provisions, and are governed by international treaties and European Union legislation on passenger rights"

 

If your Ponant cruise was to or from an EU port -

 

Rights in the event of delays and cancellations

EU rules on ship passenger rights usually apply when you travel on most ferries and cruise ships by sea or on inland waterways (rivers, lakes or canals) and if you:

• sail from an EU port
• sail to an EU port from a port outside the EU, if the service is operated by an EU transport company\

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/ship/index_en.htm

 

Your ship's crossing was cancelled

If the ferry or cruise you are booked on is delayed or cancelled, the carrier or the body managing the terminal has to inform you of the new estimated departure and arrival times within 30 minutes of the originally scheduled departure time. They must also provide information on your passenger rights.

If the service is cancelled, the carrier must offer you a choice between:

• a refund of your ticket and where necessary a free return journey back to your initial departure point – for instance, if the delay prevents you from fulfilling the purpose of your trip

or

• re-routing under comparable conditions to your final destination at the earliest opportunity at no extra cost

[DSmith91]

14 minutes ago, jonikal said:

 

 

Excellent news indeed!

Excellent news.  Delighted to hear that.

 

 

[Vesude]

43 minutes ago, resistk said:

Credit card issued a refund for my full value of Ponant cancelled cruise.

When did you book?

[luxury-lizard]

Hum - very interesting regarding successful credit card refund - perhaps Ponant will take action before this becomes a 'landslide' - particularly when it reaches more widely read social media sites.

 

In my case - I can 'live' with a credit BUT felt the 20% extra did not sufficiently compensate me for the loss encountered - e.g. flights 'in vain' from Sydney-Cape Town - arrived in Cape Town to find the cruise was cancelled one day prior to sailing - cost $12,000. I've made a travel insurance claim for the return portion of the flights (still waiting for a response) as our original return flights (many weeks later) could not be used.

[DSmith91]

19 minutes ago, luxury-lizard said:

Hum - very interesting regarding successful credit card refund - perhaps Ponant will take action before this becomes a 'landslide' - particularly when it reaches more widely read social media sites.

 

In my case - I can 'live' with a credit BUT felt the 20% extra did not sufficiently compensate me for the loss encountered - e.g. flights 'in vain' from Sydney-Cape Town - arrived in Cape Town to find the cruise was cancelled one day prior to sailing - cost $12,000. I've made a travel insurance claim for the return portion of the flights (still waiting for a response) as our original return flights (many weeks later) could not be used.

That's outrageous!  Letting you know within a day of due travel is well out of order.

What other social media sites are people using to highlight these issues?

[luxury-lizard]

1 minute ago, DSmith91 said:

That's outrageous!  Letting you know within a day of due travel is well out of order.

What other social media sites are people using to highlight these issues?

I'm sure our situation was far from unique - when Ponant cancelled all cruises worldwide - it was effective immediately .... so many customers would have already travelled to the starting point of their cruise - maybe even been en-route.

 

OTOH - if ours would have proceeded we could have ended up floating around the Indian Ocean with no ports allowing the ship to dock .... a very real possibility.

[DSmith91]

1 minute ago, luxury-lizard said:

I'm sure our situation was far from unique - when Ponant cancelled all cruises worldwide - it was effective immediately .... so many customers would have already travelled to the starting point of their cruise - maybe even been en-route.

 

OTOH - if ours would have proceeded we could have ended up floating around the Indian Ocean with no ports allowing the ship to dock .... a very real possibility.

I was hasty in my response.  After writing it I thought the halting of all sailing due to Covid-19 was the reason why it was cancelled at such short notice.  Bobbing about in the ocean wouldn't have been a better alternative.  I hope Ponant gives us more notice if they need to cancel.

[resistk]

1 hour ago, Vesude said:

When did you book?

 

Over a year ago.

[Seabiscuit68]

23 hours ago, DSmith91 said:

Seabiscuit68.....Can you put your link up please? We don't need it yet as we aren't due to sail till August, but just in case...thanks.

lil_stormi_pug is where my original post can be found.   2nd IG is Nedklo where I’m targeting cruise influencers and commenting on their Ponant/PG posts.  I’m going to do a similar post as my original on this account soon. 

[DSmith91]

9 minutes ago, Seabiscuit68 said:

lil_stormi_pug is where my original post can be found.   2nd IG is Nedklo where I’m targeting cruise influencers and commenting on their Ponant/PG posts.  I’m going to do a similar post as my original on this account soon. 

Thanks Seabiscuit68.  I think I'll have to register for an Instagram account to keep track on what's gong on.