Travelagency and HAL doesnt pay my Deposit back

[Svenja66]

Hello, I m from Germany and I have a very big problem with HAL. I wanted to book a cruise with them but it was not sure if we could get a flight, because it was 3 weeks before depature. So the Travel-agency (in USA) told me that the best thing I can do is to do a reservation for 48 hours to find out if we will get flights. For this reservation they told me, that I do need a Deposit, which will payed back 100 % if we will not take the cruise. So I payed the Deposit. Because we didnt find flights I told the Travelagency that we will not do the cruise. But our Deposit was never payed back. HAL now wrote us, that the cancellation of the room was made just 3 days !!! befor Departure and thats why they didnt pay the Deposit back.

So I think the Travelagency forgot to cancel the reservation.

What can I do to get my money back? Does somebody has any ideas? Its a lot of money.

Sorry for the bad english. And thanks for help.

Svenja

[cusyl]

Did you put the deposit on your credit card? If so, I would dispute it with your bank.

The travel agency should be responsible for cancelling it and getting you back your deposit.

[Svenja66]

Yes I payed with my Credit card. We told our bank that this is not O.K. and they called Visa. But after some days visa send us a massage from HAL which they told us, that the cancellation was just 3 days before Departure. The Travel agency says that we didnt send them a massage that we doesnt want the rooms. So they say that it is our mistake.

[cusyl]

Do you have any emails or copies of correspondence, maybe phone records that might show that you did notify the agency?

You could try to see if they would consider giving you that deposit as credit on a future cruise.

[happy cruzer]

Try the HAL board. Those people are very helpful!!

 

I think you should just dispute the charge and stand firm. The credit card company should be able to help you.

[Svenja66]

Try the HAL board. Those people are very helpful!!

 

Hello and thank you very much for your answer. What is the HAL board? Is it on the Homepage of HAL ?

To write and to read in English is very diffiult for me. Thanks for help

 

Svenja

[cusyl]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=171

 

That would be the Holland America board. Try starting a new thread there to see if they have any suggestions.

[yosh12]

Do you have proof you contacted the agency (email or phone records from the day you cxld with them)? Was this an "online internet" agency, or a shop somewhere in the US. If it is online...good luck. But I'd still show them proof you contacted them.

 

HAL's cancellation policy does not allow refunds that close to sailing, so the agency lied to you from the beginning if they told you otherwise. Did you get paperwork or read the contract from the cruiseline directly? It should have been explained in there. Below is from their website directly:

 

75-57 days before commencing travel: an amount equal to deposit requirement

56-29 days before commencing travel: 50% of gross fare

28-16 days before commencing travel: 75% of gross fare

15 days or less before commencing travel: 100% of gross fare

 

Unfortunately, I doubt there is anything that can be done through your visa. It's not HAL's fault there was miscommunication between the passenger and the agency. They'll just say the cxl info was out there for you to see.

[Moeve]

Svenja that is exactly why you should reconcider booking with US agencies. Your english is not perfect so it is easy for them to say you misunderstood something or that they did not understand you and the Agency actually get away with it.

 

Then you also need to remember that consumer laws in the US are very different from the ones here.

 

Credit Card payments cannot be disputed here the same way they can be in the US.

 

You might want to reconcider booking in Europe in future since you can hold cabins for 24 hours without a deposit - while you check flights.

 

This sort of thing happens very seldom but unless you are willing to spent lots of money for a US laywer I would think you can forget the money.

[Moeve]

Svenja send me a mail to risnesundrupflin@aol.com maybe I can try to help you.....

[cruiseco]

Hello, I m from Germany and I have a very big problem with HAL. I wanted to book a cruise with them but it was not sure if we could get a flight, because it was 3 weeks before depature. So the Travel-agency (in USA) told me that the best thing I can do is to do a reservation for 48 hours to find out if we will get flights. For this reservation they told me, that I do need a Deposit, which will payed back 100 % if we will not take the cruise. So I payed the Deposit. Because we didnt find flights I told the Travelagency that we will not do the cruise. But our Deposit was never payed back. HAL now wrote us, that the cancellation of the room was made just 3 days !!! befor Departure and thats why they didnt pay the Deposit back.

So I think the Travelagency forgot to cancel the reservation.

What can I do to get my money back? Does somebody has any ideas? Its a lot of money.

Sorry for the bad english. And thanks for help.

Svenja

 

What I don't understand is how, at three weeks prior to sailing, HAL would have accepted anything less than full payment -- not just a deposit. Once past the final payment date you normally cannot pay a deposit then pay the balance at a later date.

 

If the TA told you that a courtesy hold could be put on a cabin for 48 hours that's fine -- it happens all of the time. But a credit card payment wouldn't be necessary. Once money has been applied to the booking it's no longer a courtesy hold, it's a confirmed booking.

 

HAL should be able to see from their booking records that something is screwy here. Why was only a small deposit made and accepted after the final payment date? Why, if this really was a courtesy hold, did the hold not automatically cancel after the 48 hours was up? Why was the reservation allowed to stay alive for almost three weeks with just a deposit?

 

The TA owes you the money for getting you into this mess if HAL won't back down if HAL was reasonable they would just refund the money and let it go.

[happy cruzer]

Cruiseco is right on. The reason I suggested the HAL board is that they would know about the courtesy hold particularly for HAL. I did one recently on Princess.

 

Who charged your card? HAL or your TA? I always make sure that the charge is to the cruiselines because there have been times the TA charged to their own account and stole the money any way that they could. So on your credit card statement who is shown as having made the charge??

 

I think the problem is most likely your TA.

 

Good luck

[Svenja66]

:(

Hello and thanks for all your answers.

Now I got a copy of visa card. It seems that HAL realy booked the Deposit (Not the agency). And they told visa, that they dont book it back because it was cancelled just some days before Departure. (not at the time as we told the agency that we dont need the reservation any longer).

 

Now I wrote a long letter explaining everything from the beginning and I will send it to HAL direkt. I hope they will understand my english. I think this is my last chance.

The travel agency doesnt contact us again. And they are not answering on my mails.

I dont know if it is just an Internet agency. I found them on "cruise complete" where agencys do their offer.

 

Why I wanted to book in USA? Because in Germany the American cruiseliners are very very expancive. More than 200 percent. The only cruise you can book here are the european, but there are a lot of european people on board, but we like so much the american people, that a cruise with an american cruise ship is realy vacation for us. So we have to book in the USA. I think I was very stupied to do the Deposit, but its to late to think about.

 

I thank you all for trying helping me. I will write you, if HAL will answer me.

Bye and thanks a lot

 

Svenja

[Krazy Kruizers]

Good morning Svenja. So sorry to read about all your problems here with HAL. Of course I am in the US. When we are trying to decide about a cruise, there have been times when our TA has requested a hold on a cabin for 48 hours with HAL and with no deposits required. But maybe that was because the cruise was more than 3 weeks away from departure.

 

Do let us know if you get a response from HAL. Hope you sent your letter to Stein Kruse.

[spongerob]

Svenja, I think writing a letter to HAL's corporate office might be your best hope. I doubt the agency you used will be much help. The charges go directly to the cruise line, so your only recourse would be to file a claim in US court against the agency - something that would cost more than you have already lost.

 

I suggest asking HAL to give you a credit towards the deposit for a future cruise. They might agree to this even though they are not bound to do so. The promise of future business sometimes works wonders. There would be a time limit, probably one year, for such an agreement. You should ask for the refund, but also should offer my suggestion to demonstrate that you are willing to meet them half-way.

[Svenja66]

Hello, thanks for answer.

"Hope you sent your letter to Stein Kruse" is this a employer of HAL?

I realy dont know to whom I have to send the letter. I have just the email of the homepage of HAL. Nothing direkt.

 

Thanks Svenja

[firefly333]

Iv never heard of putting down a deposit 3 weeks before a cruise that is 100% refundable, sounds to me like the TA was not honest in the first place. Your problem is with the TA not with HAL imo. That close to the date of the cruise here, your deposit on the cruise would not be refundable and if the TA waited that long to cancel....you need to handle it directly with the TA not with HAL.

 

3rd party disputes are the hardest of all. I worked for a major credit card company and used to tell people to avoid paying a 3rd party because we could not protect you, you were in effect waiving your rights to dispute. The credit card company can only contact the seller, not the person who collected your money. If the payment went to HAL but went thru a 3rd party, then you need to handle it with the TA, HAL cannot do anything if they were not told until 3 days before the cruise. Im also suspicious of the deposit 3 weeks before the cruise and them telling you that you could get back your money 100%. That sounds flakey to me too, but I am not familiar with HAL's booking policies.

[blindrid]

Agree with pp's that the TA should step up. Also agree with the point made regarding the full price required on such short notice.

 

Also about your English. I've been able to understand the posts written so you should be fine - don't worry about it. Good luck.

[cp556]

Svenja--

Your English is just fine. Much better than my German...

Stein Kruse is the president of Holland America.

If you send a letter directly to him, it will be answered by one of his "Special Advisors".

Please be sure to name the travel agency in the letter to him and tell him that they said your deposit would be returned to you if you could not find the airfare. Also, specific dates would be good to include.

 

Mr Stein Kruse

President

Holland America Line

300 Elliott Ave West

Seattle, Washington 98119

USA

 

Good luck, and please let us know what response you receive.

[takeavacation]

Can the OP please clarify what amount of money she "deposited" during the courtesy hold period? I don't believe that HAL would accept a typical deposit when the cruise was only 3 weeks out. I think the amount would have to be the full amount of the cruise.

 

So, OP - was your deposit a couple of hundred (US dollars) dollars per person -- or was it the full cruise amount?

 

If you paid the full amount -- then your TA wasn't being honest with you, because you would never get a full refund that close to sail date.

[cruiseco]

 

If you paid the full amount -- then your TA wasn't being honest with you, because you would never get a full refund that close to sail date.

 

Whether the poster paid and lost $1 or paid and lost the full amount the TA was not being honest.

 

A 48-hour courtesy hold does not involve ANY payment. For the TA to promise a courtesy hold and then ask for a credit card is, by itself, dishonest.

[Moeve]

You know what is even more confusing - HAL took the deposit!! They are the creditor on the CC account

[Svenja66]

Thanks for all your help.

Now after hours and hours I finished the letter to HAl. I hope they will understand everything. Do I have to send it my post mail or can I send it with email. If I send it with email it will be there more soon, but its difficult to send it to Mr Stein Kruse by email. But with post mail it will take 5-7 days.

What do you all mean?

Svenja :confused:

[Svenja66]

I decided to send a letter by mail. So I am still waiting for answer. I hope, that HAL will help me.

In Germany we would say " Cross your fingers for me" I dont know if this is the same in english.

Thnks for all your help. I will write when I have an answer.

 

Bye Svenja

[LADodger99]

I would also notify Cruise Compete about this travel agency and also, you have the ability to give a review of the travel agency you used through Cruise Compete. I would give the agency a terrible review so other's won't fall in to the same situation that you unfortunately have.