Recourse for Purchase in St. Thomas

[brazcons]

I was in St. Thomas on November 26th and purchased a watch at Royal Caribbean, one of the Princess Cruise Line's "preferred" stores in St. Thomas. Well, turns out that Amazon.com has the same watch for over $100 less than what I paid for it. Do I have any recourse? Is there someone at Princess that can help me? I might be able to file a claim with Visa because I have price protection, but they usually exclude internet advertisements and purchases made outside the US (not sure if St. Thomas, USVI falls within their definition of US).

 

Any suggestions?

[nets33]

Call your Visa card and ask... technically St. Thomas is part of the US but Visa may have rules stating that the US is the 50 states and DC. It never hurts to ask.

[nets33]

Darn... double post!

[chrysalis]

I am not sure why you want Princess to help you.......did they state that the price would be lower than you can find anywhere else? In my view you can find just about anything cheaper on the internet than you can in a "bricks and mortar" store. Your mistake was checking Amazon when you returned:confused:

[Toto2Kansas]

I am also confused. Normally, you do a price search BEFORE you make a purchase on a cruise in one of the ports. I have never seen a price guarantee, just a guarantee of workmanship from Princess recommended stores.

[Majestic]

I purchased two Ipods at Royal Caribbean in Nov. in St. Thomas. Felt comfortable doing it as Carrie the shopping host was in the store at the time!

Well, they were both $40 more than list price in the states. I got confused on the prices thinking they were 199 at home but 189 there. BUT I got 2g instead of 4 g and thus overpaid 80 dollars for these. It was my fault for not checking prices better before leaving home. I had this false sense of security with Carrie telling me I had a great deal....yea....Princess did also as that extra over recommended list price went right to Princess for recommending that store. Live and learn. Those stores pay a steep price to be advertised and recommended.

[KAYEF]

One Big Lesson:

AVOID the stores the cruise ship "pushes."

They pay big to the cruiselines.

I gave in and bought pearls at Isle de Margarita, VZ and they switched the pearls as I was checking out............put a different necklace into the bag.

It was immediately noticeable when I went to put them on for dinner that night. It took me about four months of "fighting" to get my pearls. The ones they finally sent me weighed over 4 oz. The ones they'd switched into my bag weighed a bit less than 2 oz.

That was my first and last time in a ship recommended store........we were on a tour and stopped there. There was NOwhere else to go but that store.

[JLC@SD]

I was in St. Thomas on November 26th and purchased a watch at Royal Caribbean, one of the Princess Cruise Line's "preferred" stores in St. Thomas. Well, turns out that Amazon.com has the same watch for over $100 less than what I paid for it. Do I have any recourse? Is there someone at Princess that can help me? I might be able to file a claim with Visa because I have price protection, but they usually exclude internet advertisements and purchases made outside the US (not sure if St. Thomas, USVI falls within their definition of US).

Any suggestions?

.....think of the extra 100 dollars as.......the prorated cost to have a store in an exotic place like St. Thomas.......plus the commission / salary of the sale person that sold it to you.......and ........the cost that the store had to pay to Princess to be a ......."PREFERRED":) ........store.

 

Preferred ratings are not free....:)

[JLC@SD]

.......fortunately my watch that I bought in St Thomas in 1984 was the same price at COSTCO.......so I stopped shopping in 1984 for big ticket items while on a cruise.......I shop for that stuff at home......where I can get problems fixed......without having to rely on a cruise line to guarantee my price or satisfaction.....:)

[Fuzzyape]

On the plus side 100 dollars is very inexpensive tuition. On the other hand you'll have a little something to remember your cruise by (hopefully more the positive things than this negative item).

 

Consider it a lesson learned :)

 

I do want to say I'm sorry that you had to have this experience. My DW and I do pick up trinkets on our cruises, but nothing too expensive, and I know others who do pick up expensive items and are very happy with their purchases. It's so hit and miss. We have fun and bottom line that's what it's all about.

[chasetf]

I was in St. Thomas on November 26th and purchased a watch at Royal Caribbean, one of the Princess Cruise Line's "preferred" stores in St. Thomas. Well, turns out that Amazon.com has the same watch for over $100 less than what I paid for it. Do I have any recourse? Is there someone at Princess that can help me? I might be able to file a claim with Visa because I have price protection, but they usually exclude internet advertisements and purchases made outside the US (not sure if St. Thomas, USVI falls within their definition of US). Any suggestions?

Is this a case of "buyer's remorse". Happens all the time... buy something and find it cheaper later.

 

So your past cruises were Carnival and RCCL, so I assume one of those trips is when you bought the watch. How will Princess help, other than they are your next cruise. :confused: :confused:

 

Sounds like your best luck is Visa, though I would rate your changes slim and none.

[JLC@SD]

Is this a case of "buyer's remorse". Happens all the time... buy something and find it cheaper later.

 

So your past cruises were Carnival and RCCL, so I assume one of those trips is when you bought the watch. How will Princess help, other than they are your next cruise.

...OP's next cruise on the Crown.......was 9 days ago .......according to the ticker....:)

[turbo46032]

A couple of observations.

 

First, the issue of 'parts unknown' from Amazon in terms of US warranty. There's this pesky thing called 'gray market imports' where stores do unofficial imports, and good luck with warranty. Not uncommon in cut throat mail order priced cameras and such. If the item was intended for the US, then it would have the real US warranty and not the 'world' warranty (same for many brands of watches)

 

Second, is the issue of 'sight unseen'. I will confess that I had a specific Seiko chronograph in mind. Not a very expensive one, heck, $250-300. I could have mailordered it. It looked great on Seiko's web site. Except it was too heavy.

 

In St Thomas I went thru a few stores that had lots more inventory than the typical retailer in the US and ran into something that really fit the bill and was titanium (much lighter). I saw it maybe $15-20 cheaper in the US, but for me, the ability to see the difference between titanium and steel on the same watch was well worth the extra $. Likewise, I had a couple of Citizen watches on my list only to scratch them off because they were too large.

 

In general, I would agree with the other posters, that the 'pushed shops' are not as good of a deal...

[Lynda90]

So sorry to hear of your experience. Just another example of "let the buyer beware." That's one of the great thing about these boards; we can learn from each other about the do's and don'ts. I purchased several nice pieces of jewelry several years ago. Lucky for me I didn't check on the prices when I got home. Probably would have been upset knowing what I do now.

[loveJake]

I learned a lesson years ago, from my MIL of all people. She bought a Rolex watch in Mexico and was so proud of the price she paid, also she paid cash. The stem fell out of few months after she got home. She boxed up the watch and sent it to Rolex for repair. She got a letter back from Rolex saying they were keeping the watch, seems she bought a knock off Rolex watch. I never buy anything but tee shirts and inexpensive trinkets when out of the country.

[JLC@SD]

I learned a lesson years ago, from my MIL of all people. She bought a Rolex watch in Mexico and was so proud of the price she paid, also she paid cash. The stem fell out of few months after she got home. She boxed up the watch and sent it to Rolex for repair. She got a letter back from Rolex saying they were keeping the watch, seems she bought a knock off Rolex watch. I never buy anything but tee shirts and inexpensive trinkets when out of the country.

The general rule is..........if you bought it in Mexico..........and got a good price.........it is a knock off..........usually of poor quality.

 

First tip off for Rolex Watches.....the real ones have a smoothly rotating second hand......knock offs have the jerky moving second hands.

[TinaLee]

I have to agree that these days you can almost always do better state-side on items for sale in St. Thomas (not so in the past). At this point, the only largish jewelry items we invest in are things that are unusual and that we haven't seen here, as a memento of our trips. Tanzanite years ago and Sylvia Fiore blue diamonds are 2 that come to mind as items that used to be seen solely in the Caribbean.

 

I think the trick is to go with well-established stores, whether they are ship recommended or not. We've dealt with Royal Caribbean (in St. Thomas) before and never had any problems with them. Unfortunately, finding it cheaper at home is just buyer's remorse, not the fault of the store. They don't actually guarantee the lowest prices, do they?

 

Good luck, and please come back and let us know what you decide to do and what the outcome is. I hope you can look at your purchase as a happy memento of your trip. :)

[cusyl]

I m fuzzy on this, (senior moment) but isn't there a form you can fill in before you leave the ship as some sort of guarantee about the things you have purchased in their recommended stores? I think you have to list the items on it. I've never done this but remember seeing it.

[Toto2Kansas]

I m fuzzy on this, (senior moment) but isn't there a form you can fill in before you leave the ship as some sort of guarantee about the things you have purchased in their recommended stores? I think you have to list the items on it. I've never done this but remember seeing it.

 

Yes, there is. But it doesn't guarantee pricing, it guarantees workmanship and replacement if something goes wrong, from my understanding.