TA Demanding Final Balance

[ToxM]

37 minutes ago, blacksmith said:

Sounds like a TA getting ready to go out of business. I’d contact Oceania to see what they think. Perhaps you could deal directly with Oceania on this one.


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I was going to suggest that as well. 

[Paulchili]

2 hours ago, blacksmith said:

Sounds like a TA getting ready to go out of business. I’d contact Oceania to see what they think. Perhaps you could deal directly with Oceania on this one.


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In fact, I would discuss the possibility of transferring the booking to Oceania.

I know It would be hard to transfer to another agent at this point as the new agent would not earn the comisssion.

Oceania may not care about this.

[Hokapontas]

8 hours ago, GeorgesGal said:

I used to have a TA who wanted final pay a month before due to the cruise line.  I refused to give him my CC # until the day before final pay.  Nothing he could do about it either.

 

Donna

 

TAs keep credit card info on file for those who pay the deposit by cc - like me. Sometimes the T&C allows them to make the payment from that when necessary. You are in a better position than I would be. 

Pays to check the T&Cs. 

[Wuzzle10]

We are in U.K. going on a Regent cruise end of February, our TA wants the balance 17th November

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

3 hours ago, Wuzzle10 said:

We are in U.K. going on a Regent cruise end of February, our TA wants the balance 17th November

Not sure what Regents policy is re final payment, the same as Oceania's I imagine, but at a guess I'd say they have asked for payment 28 days before Regent......

[blacksmith]

It’s not the same. Our January cruise with Regent requires final payment 120 days in advance. I don’t have all the breakdown and differences in front of me, but I know that Oceania terms are better regarding payments.


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[Rosroz]

British T/As always ask for the balance well before its due to the Cruise Co, it helps with their cash flow, but 100 days come on,  that is ludicrous! Why not try and contact Martin Lewis or Simon Calder if ABTA can’t help. In the U.K. we can’t cancel , without a penalty , get a lower price when prices drop and swap around willy nilly, but we do have some of the best consumer protection laws in the world here in the UK , I’m sure someone will be able to assist . 

[ORV]

1 hour ago, blacksmith said:

It’s not the same. Our January cruise with Regent requires final payment 120 days in advance. I don’t have all the breakdown and differences in front of me, but I know that Oceania terms are better regarding payments.


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Here are the Oceania terms. As you can see it's dependent on the length of the voyage. 

 

Bookings require a per person deposit of 20% of the applicable fare for Owner's, Vista and Oceania Suites and $750 for all other suite/stateroom categories. For Grand Voyages, the per person deposit is $1,500. Bookings must deposit within 7 days of booking for bookings made more than 120 days from sailing, within 3 days of booking for bookings made between 91 and 120 days from sailing, and by the end of the booking day for bookings within 90 days of sailing. Unless otherwise noted, final payment must be received by Oceania Cruises 90 days prior to cruise departure for voyages less than 15 days and 150 days prior for voyages 15 days or longer.

Edited July 10, 2020 by ORV

[wripro]

23 hours ago, nigelc said:

 

Payment to them - still will not explain why they want the balance so far advance of the sailing.

Run don’t walk from this TA

[LHT28]

3 minutes ago, wripro said:

Run don’t walk from this TA

in the UK things  work differently  

 They lose  their deposit  if they cancel unlike in N.A.

[Hawaiidan]

On 7/9/2020 at 8:31 AM, Glenndale said:

It’s a pity that we can’t name and shame these TAs
 

Well , Fool me once...shame on YOU.............fool me twice, shame on ME.. 

 

 I do agree only UK people can relate to this as they have very different rules, fares and requirements.

It is however, something we all can understand and remember for our own futures...  

[welshfamily]

I agree with all the Uk posts. Our TA always has been upfront about the 120 day payment date but 100 days is plain silly particularly giving the present UK Gov. no cruise advice. What date was given when u booked? 

I would 

1. Find out if you can transfer your booking to Oceania direct.

2. Check the position with your travel insurance 

3. Raise the issue with ABTA.

4. Get in touch with Martin Lewis or the like. I have read most of his blogs / media posts etc and cruses have barely been mentioned so you may have a good chance of success here.

please let us know how u get on.

[cynalan]

On 7/9/2020 at 9:55 AM, nigelc said:

 

I am sure that they want my money to ease their cash flow problems. 

 

I am an avid cruiser and also own a home based travel agency. I can assure you that your assumption is wrong concerning cash flow. Any funds paid prior to a trip go into a trust. Travel agents are not paid their commission until after your cruise has been completed. 

[LHT28]

12 minutes ago, cynalan said:

 

Any funds paid prior to a trip go into a trust. Travel agents are not paid their commission until after your cruise has been completed. 

The OP is in the UK  where  the payment in most cases goes to the TA   then they transfer to the cruise line

 Unlike  how it is done in Canada

Many Brits pay in cash/debit  then the TA takes their cut before passing on the balance to the cruise line

 

regional differences

[nigelc]

Well we have a conclusion, but no real answer to why the TA wanted the full balance so far in advance of when Oceania required it. Despite asking the question numerous times, both by e-mail and on the phone, the only answer that they have provided is "because they want the balance on that date". Yes, not because it is in their terms & conditions, or that Oceania require it, its just a case of they want it then. Indeed, when I first questioned it, they simply moved the date back a month, but offered no reason to how/why the old or new date was calculated.

  

Anyway, over the past few weeks its been an argument over whose contract terms I am bound by - Oceania or the TA's. Given that this particular TA clearly wants to avoid any legal lability for the services/product that they sell, particularly in relation to the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, they finally agreed that it is Oceania's terms that take precedent. Given this, they now state that I can pay the balance just before it is due to Oceania or, and I am amazed at this, I can cancel and get a full refund of the deposit that I paid. This really is very surprising because their T & Cs state that the initial 20% is none refundable. Given my cruise is scheduled to spend most of the time in Brazil, I await my refund.  

Edited August 5, 2020 by nigelc
text change

[ToxM]

2 minutes ago, nigelc said:

Well we have a conclusion, but no real answer to why the TA wanted the full balance so far in advance of when Oceania required it. Despite asking the question numerous times, both by e-mail and on the phone, the only answer that they have provided is "because they want the balance on that date". Yes, not because it is in their terms & conditions, or that Oceania require it, its just a case of they want it then. Indeed, when I first questioned it, they simply moved the date back a month, but offered no reason to how/why the old or new date was calculated.

  

Anyway, over the past few weeks its been an argument over whose contract terms I am bound by - Oceania or the TA's. Given that this particular TA clearly wants to avoid any legal lability for the services/product that they sell, particularly in relation to the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, they finally agreed that it is Oceania's terms that take precedent. Given this, they now state that I can pay the balance just before it is due to Oceania or, and I am amazed at this, I can cancel and get a full refund of the deposit that I paid. This really is very surprising because their T & Cs state that the initial 20% is none refundable. Given my cruise is scheduled to spend most of the time in Brazil, I await my refund.  

 

So pleased you got a good resolution to this. 

I am hearing more and more that UK TA’s are bending rules to keep hold of deposits where they think they can get away with it. In one case I heard about a company that had been sitting on a full refund for over a month and kept telling the customer that they had not yet received the refund.

 

Guessing you won’t be using this TA again? 

[nigelc]

2 hours ago, ToxM said:

 

So pleased you got a good resolution to this. 

I am hearing more and more that UK TA’s are bending rules to keep hold of deposits where they think they can get away with it. In one case I heard about a company that had been sitting on a full refund for over a month and kept telling the customer that they had not yet received the refund.

 

Guessing you won’t be using this TA again? 

100% will stay away from this TA. While they have confirmed they will refund my deposit, its not yet in my bank so there may be a part 2. 

 

In relation to another UK TA, I was interested in booking a 2021 cruise, but after this issue I checked their T & C   

Cancellation Charges:

140 days or more            Deposit only (20%)

139 to 58 days                 50% of holiday

57 to 0 days                      100%

 

As you can imagine, I will not be booking through them either, 

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by nigelc
add word

[ToxM]

32 minutes ago, nigelc said:

100% will stay away from this TA. While they have confirmed they will refund my deposit, its not yet in my bank so there may be a part 2. 

 

In relation to another UK TA, I was interested in booking a 2021 cruise, but after this issue I checked their T & C   

Cancellation Charges:

140 days or more            Deposit only (20%)

139 to 58 days                 50% of holiday

57 to 0 days                      100%

 

As you can imagine, I will not be booking through them either, 

 

 

I think it is exactly this type of shenanigans that will cause an overhaul of TA T&C’s in the UK once things settle down. 

[Medeba]

On 8/5/2020 at 7:09 PM, nigelc said:

100% will stay away from this TA. While they have confirmed they will refund my deposit, its not yet in my bank so there may be a part 2. 

 

In relation to another UK TA, I was interested in booking a 2021 cruise, but after this issue I checked their T & C   

Cancellation Charges:

140 days or more            Deposit only (20%)

139 to 58 days                 50% of holiday

57 to 0 days                      100%

 

As you can imagine, I will not be booking through them either, 

 

When attempting to cancel my December Oceania cruise back in March, I was initially told by my TA that I would lose my deposit.  I then wrote to Oceania and discovered that they were happy to refund the deposit as I was well within the cancellation timeframe for a full deposit.  My TA then agreed with this and I subsequently received my refund but not until more than 3 weeks after Oceania had refunded my TA.

 

After this experience, I carried out some research on a few UK TA T&Cs and discovered that they all had cancellation charges which involved a loss of deposit if you cancel.  However, I've come to the conclusion that repayment of the deposit does depend on the cruise line policy regardless of the TA T&Cs.  Oceania clearly returns the full deposit (or part thereof) if you meet their cancellation criteria.  Other lines are often non-refundable deposits.  A TA's T&Cs cover all cruise lines and other types of holidays but they don't make it clear that there may be exceptions based on the 'Principal's' own T&Cs with regard to cancellations.  I for one will be checking very closely all the T&Cs for any future cruise bookings I may make and check with the TA their policy with regard to my cruise booking before I hand over any money. I once cancelled an Azamara cruise a few years ago and lost the deposit after talking with my TA but I never checked Azamara's policy; lesson now learned.

[Jay23]

My British TA adhered to Oceania's Ts&Cs.  If cruise is cancelled 120 days before the cruise date, the full deposit is refunded.

This is what we did for a cruise which would have started tomorrow 9th August 😞 😞  and received the full deposit refund 23 days after we canceled.   Very pleased with both our TA and Oceania.   If the OP is being asked for the final payment 190 days out from the cruise date that is much longer than the 120 days so he/she can cancel without penalty.  A thought.   J

 

[Ladys Mom]

I have (had) a US travel agent.  It is a very large agency that used to give me wonderful service until they laid off almost all of their staff at the start of the pandemic.  I had a reservation on the Dec. 5, 2020 back to back SA cruise.  The agent charged my credit card in early July that was not due to Oceania until late August.  By the time I saw it on my credit card account online it was too late to do anything about it.  In the meantime, Oceania changed the final payment date to 60 days prior to sailing, but again there was nothing I could do.  I finally cancelled the cruise because there is no way it is going to SA in December, 2020.  Had the agent not taken my final payment so early I would have been sitting on a deposit and it would have been easy to get my money back.  Instead I am sitting on a FCC that has become more and more difficult to use.  I am furious but I have no recourse. Needless to say we will no longer be using that TA.

[LHT28]

50 minutes ago, Ladys Mom said:

Had the agent not taken my final payment so early I would have been sitting on a deposit and it would have been easy to get my money back.  Instead I am sitting on a FCC that has become more and more difficult to use.  I am furious but I have no recourse. Needless to say we will no longer be using that TA.

Can you not request a refund ?

Sounds like you are within the cancellation period for refunds

[jo-b]

5 hours ago, Jay23 said:

My British TA adhered to Oceania's Ts&Cs.  If cruise is cancelled 120 days before the cruise date, the full deposit is refunded.

This is what we did for a cruise which would have started tomorrow 9th August 😞 😞  and received the full deposit refund 23 days after we canceled.   Very pleased with both our TA and Oceania.   If the OP is being asked for the final payment 190 days out from the cruise date that is much longer than the 120 days so he/she can cancel without penalty.  A thought.   J

 

Ours too. Such a pity we can’t share details on the site. 

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, Ladys Mom said:

I have (had) a US travel agent.  It is a very large agency that used to give me wonderful service until they laid off almost all of their staff at the start of the pandemic.  I had a reservation on the Dec. 5, 2020 back to back SA cruise.  The agent charged my credit card in early July that was not due to Oceania until late August.  By the time I saw it on my credit card account online it was too late to do anything about it.  In the meantime, Oceania changed the final payment date to 60 days prior to sailing, but again there was nothing I could do.  I finally cancelled the cruise because there is no way it is going to SA in December, 2020.  Had the agent not taken my final payment so early I would have been sitting on a deposit and it would have been easy to get my money back.  Instead I am sitting on a FCC that has become more and more difficult to use.  I am furious but I have no recourse. Needless to say we will no longer be using that TA.

Next time as soon as you see the unauthorized charge from the TA, call them back ASAP and have them reverse the charge as you did not approve it. If they won't do it you can then dispute the charge as illegitimate.

[Hawaiidan]

2 hours ago, Ladys Mom said:

I have (had) a US travel agent.  It is a very large agency that used to give me wonderful service until they laid off almost all of their staff at the start of the pandemic.  I had a reservation on the Dec. 5, 2020 back to back SA cruise.  The agent charged my credit card in early July that was not due to Oceania until late August.  By the time I saw it on my credit card account online it was too late to do anything about it.  In the meantime, Oceania changed the final payment date to 60 days prior to sailing, but again there was nothing I could do.  I finally cancelled the cruise because there is no way it is going to SA in December, 2020.  Had the agent not taken my final payment so early I would have been sitting on a deposit and it would have been easy to get my money back.  Instead I am sitting on a FCC that has become more and more difficult to use.  I am furious but I have no recourse. Needless to say we will no longer be using that TA.

Was this agency  by any chance in Texas?  Near Houston.     I had the same if it is.  I booked a cruise  for Sept 2021 and  used them...  and had the experience of Oceania  taking a full payment 1.2 years early.... The agency got it corrected .     So  it might not have been the agent as  the agent gives my CC to O and they charge...  not the agency....which just acts for the cruise line.      None of my dealings has the Agency charged a dime on my card