Be wary of online TA!!!

[dresch25]

Be wary of online TA!!! I have a cruise booked for October 20 on the Crown and another thread talked about the October 13 sailing for a great price so I went to an online site that you can put in your request and several TA's respond with their rates, b/c my TA was closed, well to my surprise today :rolleyes: when I went to personalize my cruise on the Princess website I see that I have 2 cruises booked the October 20 which I have already paid for and the one I was looking at. I called Princess and b/c a TA booked it they could not cancel it. I had to call the online TA and she did not want to cancel it until I got a little angry. Has this happened to anyone else? If not be careful where you look for cruise prices.

 

 

Vicki

[phillipahain]

I too know of a TA when simply askeed for a price went ahead and booked it without being asked

[NOT my real name]

It is SO VERY EASY to just book the exact cruise and cabin you want at the Princess website. I would never do it another way. Then later you can transfer to a TA if you want. At that point there should be less of a chance the TA will screw up the reservation.

[Toto2Kansas]

I have read this sort of thing before here on CC. What a pity that some TA's do this sort of thing. There should be something you could do, but from previous posts here, I don't think there is. I take it they pulled your FCC's to make the second booking? I know that is what I read happened to the last person in this situation. Makes me wonder if it wasn't the same TA that did it to them?

[dresch25]

It's a shame that we are not able to discuss TA's, or at least the ones that have really created problems for us. And by problems I don't mean "they did not return my call quick enough" I mean "they booked a vacation that I was only considering without my permission" blunder.

 

 

Vicki

[honeydog714]

You are fortunate they didn't charge you a cancellation fee, before I found my new gal I used a big online (she is online too but not like the first company) anyhow when I had to cancel my cruise well in advance of penalty period they said they wouldn't do it unless i paid 75.00! Then they said to simply change the date it would be 35.00! Geez if my new TA did that she would be rich with the way I change my mind and switch all the time.

[cruiseco]

Be wary of online TA!!! I have a cruise booked for October 20 on the Crown and another thread talked about the October 13 sailing for a great price so I went to an online site that you can put in your request and several TA's respond with their rates, b/c my TA was closed, well to my surprise today :rolleyes: when I went to personalize my cruise on the Princess website I see that I have 2 cruises booked the October 20 which I have already paid for and the one I was looking at. I called Princess and b/c a TA booked it they could not cancel it. I had to call the online TA and she did not want to cancel it until I got a little angry. Has this happened to anyone else? If not be careful where you look for cruise prices.

Vicki

 

Was there mney on this second booking or was it just on hold under your name?

 

There's two points of view on making courtesy holds. I've seen many people on these boards complaining about how they got a price quote and when they called back two days later to make the deposit the price had gone up. The gosh darn stupid TA hadn't put a cabin on hold for them.

 

And then there are those that get upset when a gosh darn stupid TA does put a hold on a cabin for them. How dare they!

 

You can't win.

[dresch25]

Was there mney on this second booking or was it just on hold under your name?

 

There's two points of view on making courtesy holds. I've seen many people on these boards complaining about how they got a price quote and when they called back two days later to make the deposit the price had gone up. The gosh darn stupid TA hadn't put a cabin on hold for them.

 

And then there are those that get upset when a gosh darn stupid TA does put a hold on a cabin for them. How dare they!

 

You can't win.

 

They used the FCC I had, now lets see if they come back to me b/c the cruise is 64 days away, past final payment.

 

Vicki

[Nanatravel]

Was there mney on this second booking or was it just on hold under your name?

 

There's two points of view on making courtesy holds. I've seen many people on these boards complaining about how they got a price quote and when they called back two days later to make the deposit the price had gone up. The gosh darn stupid TA hadn't put a cabin on hold for them.

 

And then there are those that get upset when a gosh darn stupid TA does put a hold on a cabin for them. How dare they!

 

You can't win.

 

Great summation. If there was no actual deposit, how could the cruise line expect payment or the on-line TA charge a cancellation fee? Usually with a complimentary hold, the cabin would be held for 7 days or less. The customer would be contacted, if they didn't get a credit card or cash payment. Then the cabin would be released or booked, what ever applied.

 

Enjoy your Oct. 20 cruise~

[MGilly]

In the past, we, too, had TA problems. We had planned a family reunion, and because we had so many cabins booked, we'd earned two free berths. The TA only told us about one of them. He used the other to "surprise" us by coming on the cruise himself! Not a happy surprise. Since then, we've booked all of our cruises ourselves.

 

With the ease of the internet and the ability to manage any and all changes to a booking (including price drops) that one would like to make, the "perks" that TA's offer just don't compensate for the aggravation caused by what they do/don't do.

[prarie cruiser]

I am not sure why anyone bothers with a TA in this day and age. I book all my airline reservations online at the airline sites, I research the hotels online then book online, and I either book cruises online or pick up the phone and call them. I have equally great service as using a TA, don't have to worry about what the TA did or did not screw up, and find the prices are usually just as good.

 

The drawback is if there are any problems with the reservations, I can only blame myself!

[Ranger]

I am not sure why anyone bothers with a TA in this day and age.

 

Because I'm saving anywhere from 12 to 15% of what you are paying for the same cruise with Princess.

[drakes2]

The reason I use a TA is that on my upcoming cruise, I got a midship cabin on the Caribe deck for the same price as what Princess quoted me for an aft balcony room on another deck. In addition, I received a substantial obc from the TA.

Because I'm saving anywhere from 12 to 15% of what you are paying for the same cruise with Princess.

[jff50]

Be wary of online TA!!! I have a cruise booked for October 20 on the Crown and another thread talked about the October 13 sailing for a great price so I went to an online site that you can put in your request and several TA's respond with their rates, b/c my TA was closed, well to my surprise today :rolleyes: when I went to personalize my cruise on the Princess website I see that I have 2 cruises booked the October 20 which I have already paid for and the one I was looking at. I called Princess and b/c a TA booked it they could not cancel it. I had to call the online TA and she did not want to cancel it until I got a little angry. Has this happened to anyone else? If not be careful where you look for cruise prices.

 

 

Vicki

I've never used one of these sites. Don't they need financial information (i.e credit card info) in order to actaully book the cruise? Do you have to give them this information when you make your request for them to respond? I can't imagine posting my credit card information on one of those sites, or giving that information to someone before I had actually decided to book a cruise.

[Coral]

I've never used one of these sites. Don't they need financial information (i.e credit card info) in order to actaully book the cruise? Do you have to give them this information when you make your request for them to respond? I can't imagine posting my credit card information on one of those sites, or giving that information to someone before I had actually decided to book a cruise.

 

They can use a Future Cruise Credit if a passenger has one.

[Pia1913]

Be wary of online TA!!! I have a cruise booked for October 20 on the Crown and another thread talked about the October 13 sailing for a great price so I went to an online site that you can put in your request and several TA's respond with their rates, b/c my TA was closed, well to my surprise today :rolleyes: when I went to personalize my cruise on the Princess website I see that I have 2 cruises booked the October 20 which I have already paid for and the one I was looking at. I called Princess and b/c a TA booked it they could not cancel it. I had to call the online TA and she did not want to cancel it until I got a little angry. Has this happened to anyone else? If not be careful where you look for cruise prices.

 

 

Vicki

 

I am really confused. I've used this on line site many times to inquire about a cruise. Inquire, not book. You cannot get booked unless they have information. They can't have the information unless you give it to them. Without identity and specific particulars, they have no booking. Even though you have FCC's (which I have a ton of) they can't use them unless they know who you are. That said......you had to have given this agency more information than was necessary.

 

Pia

[NorcalGuy]

It is SO VERY EASY to just book the exact cruise and cabin you want at the Princess website. I would never do it another way. Then later you can transfer to a TA if you want. At that point there should be less of a chance the TA will screw up the reservation.

This is what I have started doing, thanks to advise from many on this board. I haven't actually "transfered" a booking yet, but don't expect problems. I think it save a lot of "back and forth" between the TA, the cruise line and the client". Gives me more control at the beginning of the process when I am most likely to tweak changes. I know a lovely TA gal who will most likely be happy to take my "ready to go" booking and give me a good discount over Princess when the time comes.

[Cruzin2paradise09]

First, let me start off by saying I'm not a TA and I don't play one on TV.

 

Ok, this same problem was posted here about a month or two ago. If my memory serves me right, when the person was inquiring about a specific cruise, the person put in their information for an on-line quote. The information included their Princess Guest Number (don't remember the exact terminology). Anyway, the on-line TA took the information and with the past guest number and the FCC the person had, was able to book, yes, book a cruise under this person's name.

 

From what I also understand, a courtesy hold will not show up in the personalizer, so questioning that doesn't make sense.

 

Also, again, I'm not a TA, but come on people. Some of your statements are unfair and extremely immature. For example: "...the "perks" that TA's offer just don't compensate for the aggravation caused by what they do/don't do." That's so generalized and not every TA causes aggravation - that's unfair. Here's another: "At that point there should be less of a chance the TA will screw up the reservation." Again, if you don't give someone a chance, how will you even know if they can handle your business? You don't. And TAs can offer perks that Princess or any other cruiseline doesn't and won't offer.

 

Why is it that if one person has a bad experience with one thing, person, place, etc., everything relating to that thing, person, place, etc. is terrible and nobody should use it or frequent it??

 

Unfortunately, this message board doesn't allow specific TA discussions and that's sad because there are some individual TAs and TA companies who consistently screw up. I totally agree with that. I had two! But I'm here to tell you, I have a TA now who would probably walk on water for me! And I wouldn't trade her for nothing!

 

Bottom line is that when dealing with a TA, remember that they are human - have you never screwed up? Sure you have - maybe not in the same capacity as they just did, but a screw up is a screw up.

 

Just about everything is fixable - maybe not "right now" but it's fixable.

 

Try to have a good weekend.

[cindep]

I do think there needs to be some place we can report these TAs as I also had the same problem. Also I would like to see the terms of the contract "up front", i.e. if they charge a change or cancellation fee this is revealed at the time of the pricing. The contracts are so large you can easily miss these important features or it is imbedded in their web sites so far you can't find it until it is too late!

 

Unfortunately, things have gotten a lot more complicated. I'm still in search of my great TA and I'm sure they are out there somewhere. Unfortunately I've found more of the frogs than the "princes"!

[CL-JW]

We always use a TA (not an on-line one).

 

We do this because, for us personally, we like the level of customer service we get from her. We can always call or e-mail her with requests and she gets us the info we're looking for - and fast.

 

We can let her know ahead of time about certain itinerary's and cabin choices and she is able to snag those for us too.

 

I know others have other preferences, but for us, a TA is the way to go.:)

[can786]

A courtesy hold can show up online. We are booked on the Grand Princess for next June and called the TA to inquire about the cost of upgrading our cabin. She offered to put a 24 hour hold on the higher category cabin for us until we could make up our minds. I was very surprised when I went the the "My Princess" section of the website and it showed two separate bookings for us on the same sailing. One was our original cabin and one was the upgraded cabin on hold. We did not put down any kind of deposit on the second cabin. When we decided to do the upgrade it went onto our original booking number and the second booking was cancelled.

[janetz]

I am not sure why anyone bothers with a TA in this day and age. I book all my airline reservations online at the airline sites, I research the hotels online then book online, and I either book cruises online or pick up the phone and call them. I have equally great service as using a TA, don't have to worry about what the TA did or did not screw up, and find the prices are usually just as good.

 

The drawback is if there are any problems with the reservations, I can only blame myself!

 

 

Are you serious? I would never pay prices quoted by the cruiseline. On our last cruise we had 500 obc, thanks to our "TA". :)

[cruiseco]

Where I'm confised is how did the TA get the information needed to find out about the FCC?

 

From my understanding of how ************* works, it's a double blind process.

 

#1 The client makes the quote request which goes to CC.

 

#2 CC forwards the quote request to participating agencies but without any identifying infomation on the client.

 

#3 The TA submits the quote to CC

 

#4 CC forwards the quote to the client but at this stage CC also includes the contact info of the TA so if the client is interested he/she can contact the TA directly.

 

So, until the client makes contact the TA should have no idea with whom they're offering the quote. Only one of two things could have occured. Either the OP included the past passenger number or other identifying info in the original quote request (I have no idea why someone would volunteer that) or the OP contacted the TA directly and gave them that info.

 

Am I missing something here or is there some other way for the TA to find out the OP's info that I'm not aware of.

[kendon]

I just booked a Princess cruise using that .com, and the agency that came through with the best price got my booking. They were so responsive, wonderful price, and thorough that I think I just found myself a new agent! If there was a problem with the TA, it should be reported to the .com organization. If there has been a trend of this type, they will not allow them to bid in the future.

[Cruzin2paradise09]

I do think there needs to be some place we can report these TAs as I also had the same problem. Also I would like to see the terms of the contract "up front", i.e. if they charge a change or cancellation fee this is revealed at the time of the pricing. The contracts are so large you can easily miss these important features or it is imbedded in their web sites so far you can't find it until it is too late!

 

Unfortunately, things have gotten a lot more complicated. I'm still in search of my great TA and I'm sure they are out there somewhere. Unfortunately I've found more of the frogs than the "princes"!

 

And you're right - you should know the terms up front. Those of us who are seasoned cruisers, understand most of what to ask. The problems arise for those who do not, and for those who do the online quotes and end up like the OP.

 

But, as much as we want the TA to be "responsible" most of us (not all of us) know what to ask and it's just as much our responsibility to do so.