Will RCCL fix this? (purchase of drink package fiasco...)

[smplybcause]

7 hours ago, KKB said:

And the saga gets more interesting...

I am perusing the AOS's Compass from April 6.

Day 1 offers BOGO on the drink package.

It says "Buy one at $84 plus 18% tip & get the 2nd one half off"

That is worded as a legitimate BOGO.

Much better price.

Curious...

 

I just got off a cruise and it was 88 bogo half off. Which was the same price I paid pre cruise. But I don't think I'd count on the on board price staying that or them still offering the bogo half off. They know it'll get around real quick if the on board pricing is cheaper than pre cruise. 

[cindyscruise]

You are not the first to make a mistake and you won't be the last. None of us is perfect.   Sometimes we see what we want to see and sometimes just miss the print no matter how large or we just misinterpret it. Royal will probably say what others have said here but it sounds like you have found a solution that will salvage part of it.  

[topnole]

6 hours ago, KKB said:

It was for 2 July 3 cruise. 

LOL...I just noticed that the total at the top of the page is not the same as the bottom!

I couldn't see the bottom price w/o scrolling so missed it!

OK...so it's $2700. Tips add $200 so $2900.

But that is about the same at the AI price of the other 2.

That's my point--unless you don't drink AT ALL (including sodas, etc) & don't want internet AT ALL, or you are just 100% loyal to RCCL...it doesn't make sense. At least for a couple.

 

NCL wasn't loading earlier...

July 10, 7 day Caribbean on the Breakaway (a little bigger ship)

$2700 plus u will have to pay tips so $2900 including drinks & wifi.

 

So Princess, Celebrity & NCL all have a similar prince for a balcony with perks.

RCCL has a similar price for a balcony with NO perks.

 

The breakaway bigger than Liberty of the Seas?  You sure about that?   

[KKB]

53 minutes ago, topnole said:

The breakaway bigger than Liberty of the Seas?  You sure about that?   

Well...depends on the source.

According to cruiseclues, Breakaway is slightly bigger.

According to each of their sites, it is nearly the same.

[Intent2smile]

4 hours ago, baelor said:

I guess the approach is to read stuff carefully and not cancel until you see the page with the final cost.

I agree!  I personally if I see a price I think is cheaper I actually call RCI and have them do the cancel and rebook for me.  I always ask them to confirm it is cheaper before they cancel.  It takes a few minutes and a phone call but it saved me once so now I always do it that way now

[topnole]

6 hours ago, KKB said:

Well...depends on the source.

According to cruiseclues, Breakaway is slightly bigger.

According to each of their sites, it is nearly the same.

Shorter by 30-40 feet and about 10k GT smaller?  Am I missing something? 

[AndySFC]

I had a similar experience last month, the difference was that they did not state 'PRICE REFLECTS DISCOUNT' with the BOGO50. After some back and forth I did manage to get cruse credit to make up for the difference in price so when I re-booked I effectively got the same price as I had cancelled.

 

I certainly agree that the pricing structures they use are questionable. However after this they updated the prices to state 'PRICE REFLECTS DISCOUNT' so I think it would be more difficult to argue.

 

All the details are in this thread.

 

[KKB]

6 hours ago, AndySFC said:

I had a similar experience last month, the difference was that they did not state 'PRICE REFLECTS DISCOUNT' with the BOGO50. After some back and forth I did manage to get cruse credit to make up for the difference in price so when I re-booked I effectively got the same price as I had cancelled.

 

I certainly agree that the pricing structures they use are questionable. However after this they updated the prices to state 'PRICE REFLECTS DISCOUNT' so I think it would be more difficult to argue.

 

All the details are in this thread.

 

As a former owner of a retail store, one would NEVER put the discounted price of both in the signage.

When a customer sees BOGO, they automatically are thinking this the price of the 1st one & the 2nd one is half that price. 

But yes, the addition of that vocabulary probably saves their butts. 

[Computer Nerd]

On 4/23/2022 at 12:04 PM, baelor said:

Yep--and to add on, as I said above, the price also clearly says "per guest per day."

Nah, not deceptive at all. It clearly states what the cost per day is per person. 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

52 minutes ago, KKB said:

As a former owner of a retail store, one would NEVER put the discounted price of both in the signage.

When a customer sees BOGO, they automatically are thinking this the price of the 1st one & the 2nd one is half that price. 

But yes, the addition of that vocabulary probably saves their butts. 

And how many retail stores run a sale with the following verbiage (or similar):

"EVERYTHING

up to 50% off!"

 

It behooves the customer to pay attention to ALL the writing in any add.

 

[KKB]

3 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

And how many retail stores run a sale with the following verbiage (or similar):

"EVERYTHING

up to 50% off!"

 

It behooves the customer to pay attention to ALL the writing in any add.

 

100%

But I have never ever seen BOGO signage with anything but the price of the 1st item.

Reminding me to learn from this!

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

But I have never ever seen BOGO signage with anything but the price of the 1st item.

RCI marketing folks have been at it for a while - cabin pricing sometimes is even worse. The issue is not even the BOGO and %off folks have to wade through to understand pricing, but the MSRP they use as the starting point is not only made up it can change at any time.

[SG65CB]

14 hours ago, topnole said:

Shorter by 30-40 feet and about 10k GT smaller?  Am I missing something? 

 

Liberty is longer, wider, and heavier. 

[desibee]

6 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

And how many retail stores run a sale with the following verbiage (or similar):

"EVERYTHING

up to 50% off!"

 

It behooves the customer to pay attention to ALL the writing in any add.

 

Is that legal in the United States?  Because that kind of anti-consumer deceptive advertising isn't legal in other countries, that's for sure.

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, desibee said:

Is that legal in the United States?

That and worse are used by many businesses as part of their marketing every day.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

11 hours ago, desibee said:

Is that legal in the United States?  Because that kind of anti-consumer deceptive advertising isn't legal in other countries, that's for sure.

I'm curious how the law is written in the other countries.

 

Here, auto dealers have to put disclaimers on their ads.  For TV/print, the disclaimers are in a smaller font, generally at the bottom.  For radio, they'll have a voice (generally sped up so it's barely understandable) read it.  One dealership not only speeds up the voice but lowers the volume by 50-75% so it's barely audible.  If you turn it up loud enough to hear, when their "real" ad hits, it would blow you out.  

[rudeney]

There are FTC regulations against false advertisement, bait-and-switch, and perpetual sales.  RCI's Cruise Planner prices don't violate any of those because of the word "from" and the asterisk.  It's just like insurance commercials that say, "You could save up to..."  Also, there has been plenty of case law over Internet pricing so it's pretty much never going to be an FTC violation.  One Internet pricing practice that might come under scrutiny is when the seller changes the price based on the shopper's purchase and browsing history.  We know Amazon does this.  I have not seen RCI do it, but I'll bet if their IT department could figure it out, they's write algorithms that try to guess our individual price tolerance and factor that in.