Bait & Switch???

[Dunk]

On 1/27/2023 at 5:32 PM, JimmyVWine said:

The thread title is a bit misleading. This isn’t “bait and switch” which is a term applied to circumstances where you actually buy something but receive something different. Here, you go through the booking process (or your TA does) and you can see the actual price and the choice is yours to book or not. If you don’t like the price, you pass. This is a systems failure, not an attempt to defraud. Disappointing? Yes. Dirty commercial tactic designed to dupe the customer?  No. 

Thank you! So many people cry “bait and switch” without grasping what the concept really means. 

[phabric]

On 1/29/2023 at 2:34 PM, phabric said:

Today I put  a hold on my 2024 cruise that I have already booked.  I have asked my agent to see about the price reduction on the price I saw on Princess also send screenshot of the price.

 

 In the past requests for fare reduction that I noticed on Princess site, she had said when she called Princess the price is higher than what I have.  I have even send her a screenshot of the fare I saw on Princess site. She had said she or Princess can not see the screenshot price. I have logged out, put in Princess again, logged in and I get the same price.  I can not understand why no one else can not see what I have seeing.

 

I have 2023 cruise booked, I notice a price difference. I did not do hold on this one as I have used all my OBC for excursions plus have a really good EZAir price for our flights.  Will have to wait to see if she can get a new price on this cruise.
 

My 2024 cruise I have already booked has only $100 OBC from promo and $100 OBC from FCD.  If she says she can’t see new price I will get her to cancel the one she is holding and transfer the FCD to the one on hold.

On Saturday, I saw my 2023 and 2024 cruise fares went down.  I emailed a screenshot of the prices to my agent and on Monday, she was able to get the lower cruise fares for both cruises.

 

On Tuesday, I noticed that the same 2023 cruise fare had gone down again overnight. I emailed with a screenshot to my agent again.  She spend 3 hours on the phone with Princess and was able to get the lower cruise fare price.

 

A great agent to spend 3 hours to get a lower fare and loose her commission on the higher price.

[malba2366]

1 hour ago, Dunk said:

Thank you! So many people cry “bait and switch” without grasping what the concept really means. 

 

Not exactly.  Advertising a low price that is not available with the intent of attracting potential customers  is also bait and switch.  I am not saying this is the case in this particular situation, as I do not know for a fact whether this was an error or was deliberate.

Edited February 2, 2023 by malba2366

[JimmyVWine]

13 minutes ago, malba2366 said:

 

Not exactly.  Advertising a low price that is not available with the intent of attracting potential customers  is also bait and switch.  I am not saying this is the case in this particular situation, as I do not know for a fact whether this was an error or was deliberate.

But in your example there is an actual "switch."  If you fill out your sentence a bit more, here is what you get:

 

Advertising a low price on one product that is not available with the intent of attracting potential customers to lure them to purchase a substitute product at a higher price is also bait and switch.

 

Without the "switch" the definition does not apply.  If Princess has an unintentional, accidental, no harm intended glitch with its website that shows a BA level cabin available for $500 for a weeklong cruise, and the would-be purchase is unable to lock that cabin in at that price on the web, and calls Princess and is told over the phone that the price on the web is wrong and that the actual price is $1,100, that is not a bait and "switch."  It is a web-based error.  What WOULD be a bait and switch is if the CSR on the phone said: "Yes, that was the right price, but those cabins are all sold out.  I don't know why one is showing up as available.  But we DO have a BB level cabin that we can put you in for $900."  THAT would be a bait and switch.  It contains the necessary elements of deceit, intent and upselling to a different product than the one originally advertised. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by JimmyVWine

[Coral]

On 1/27/2023 at 9:49 PM, pklein9747 said:

Around 6:30 EST Princess updated their website and the fare was increased to what was quoted to me by my TA.  We have decided to pass on this cruise.

I ran into the same issue. The price on the website was quite a bit lower for a cruise in May. I tried to book it and it kept crashing. Going through my agent it was higher. Later that day, it was higher. I was surprised when someone on my roll call said they got the lower price and was able to book it. I tried multiple times myself and could not. It kept crashing.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Coral

[Coral]

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

But in your example there is an actual "switch."  If you fill out your sentence a bit more, here is what you get:

 

Advertising a low price on one product that is not available with the intent of attracting potential customers to lure them to purchase a substitute product at a higher price is also bait and switch.

 

Without the "switch" the definition does not apply.  If Princess has an unintentional, accidental, no harm intended glitch with its website that shows a BA level cabin available for $500 for a weeklong cruise, and the would-be purchase is unable to lock that cabin in at that price on the web, and calls Princess and is told over the phone that the price on the web is wrong and that the actual price is $1,100, that is not a bait and "switch."  It is a web-based error.  What WOULD be a bait and switch is if the CSR on the phone said: "Yes, that was the right price, but those cabins are all sold out.  I don't know why one is showing up as available.  But we DO have a BB level cabin that we can put you in for $900."  THAT would be a bait and switch.  It contains the necessary elements of deceit, intent and upselling to a different product than the one originally advertised. 

There was definitely issues with the website on Friday showing the wrong price. Though one couldn't actually book that price. I don't think it was deceit - just poor Princess technology.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Coral

[Mary loves to travel]

3 minutes ago, Coral said:

I ran into the same issue. The price on the website was quite a bit lower for a cruise in May. I tried to book it and it kept crashing. Going through my agent it was higher. Later that day, it was higher. I was surprised when someone on my roll call said they got the lower price and was able to book it. I tried multiple times myself and could not. It kept crashing.

I had to try 2 different browsers but finally got the price shown for a cruise in 2024.  Put a HOLD on it & sent to my PVP, who took care of the rebooking.   

[Coral]

1 minute ago, Mary loves to travel said:

I had to try 2 different browsers but finally got the price shown for a cruise in 2024.  Put a HOLD on it & sent to my PVP, who took care of the rebooking.   

I couldn't hold it. I tried multiple browsers, etc... I really did try.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Coral

[Mary loves to travel]

12 minutes ago, Coral said:

I couldn't hold it. I tried multiple browsers, etc... I really did try.

I think I just got lucky 

[cr8tiv1]

I just experienced this the other day.  Saw a fare for $409/7 day cruise.  Was in communications with my TA who was working with Princess.  She "warned" me that the fare I saw for a forward interior was a NON-refundable deposit.  I don't catch small "details" like that.  She does.  We quickly revised my plan and booked a refundable deposit fare aft for $439.

 

I don't consider that to be a bait and switch.  More of a buyer beware.

[dog]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

There was definitely issues with the website on Friday showing the wrong price. Though one couldn't actually book that price. I don't think it was deceit - just poor Princess technology.

Not only Princess- I am having a heck of a time with Celebrity website right now.  Princess is not offering what I want.

[lesnpatty]

When we see the price on the Princess web page I like, I book and then transfer the booking to my TA. Best of both worlds.

 

[pklein9747]

2 hours ago, lesnpatty said:

When we see the price on the Princess web page I like, I book and then transfer the booking to my TA. Best of both worlds.

 

We would definitely have booked the trip at the website price, but we couldn't get past choosing the cabin...we would just get an error message 😞. 

[dog]

Also wasted a lot of time on Princess website- and it is working fine for me. Problem is every cabin I would like in balcony- all categories are taken.  Guess that $1.00 deposit was a real incentive to tie up inventory.