Mistake by TA! What to do???

[Nan-L]

I'm booked for a March sailing on the Emerald and was on a Dec 2nd sailing of Princess's and got a Future cruise credit to go towards the Emerald cruise. This would have given my husband and I a $200 SBC for the 10 day cruise.

I told my Ta I got it and to apply it and she said it would be no problem. The day after Christmas my Ta called and said final payment was due, but according to my papers it wasn't due till the 3rd of Jan. It caught me off gaurd and my husband needed to dlb check with work to make sure the dayes were stil ok to take off. So the next day to pay the final on the phone. With the fuel adjustment charge I didn't notice the FSC was not applied to this cruise.

Then the other day noticed on Cruise per. that the credits had not been applied.

Called the TA and found out she no longer is with the agent and left the day she called me. They said so sorry can't do asnything as it had to be applied before the final payment and it was MY fault because I didn't check or get something in writting before final payment.

So now I'm out $200 SBC because the agent didn't follow through. Had it not been as hectic with Christmas I would have caught it, and because I used this Ta before and never had any problems didn't even think about it.

My question is can I do anything about it?? I really care about the ship credit more than the $200 off the payment.

HELP!!!

[cactusrose]

I'm booked for a March sailing on the Emerald and was on a Dec 2nd sailing of Princess's and got a Future cruise credit to go towards the Emerald cruise. This would have given my husband and I a $200 SBC for the 10 day cruise.

I told my Ta I got it and to apply it and she said it would be no problem. The day after Christmas my Ta called and said final payment was due, but according to my papers it wasn't due till the 3rd of Jan. It caught me off gaurd and my husband needed to dlb check with work to make sure the dayes were stil ok to take off. So the next day to pay the final on the phone. With the fuel adjustment charge I didn't notice the FSC was not applied to this cruise.

Then the other day noticed on Cruise per. that the credits had not been applied.

Called the TA and found out she no longer is with the agent and left the day she called me. They said so sorry can't do asnything as it had to be applied before the final payment and it was MY fault because I didn't check or get something in writting before final payment.

So now I'm out $200 SBC because the agent didn't follow through. Had it not been as hectic with Christmas I would have caught it, and because I used this Ta before and never had any problems didn't even think about it.

My question is can I do anything about it?? I really care about the ship credit more than the $200 off the payment.

HELP!!!

 

The FCC should have been used as the down payment so do you have a receipt that shows your deposit was a FCC? If you do then Princess should be able to help you get the OBC associated with that FCC applied. If you made the deposit by another means I'm afraid you are probably out of luck.

[Toto2Kansas]

Check your Credit Card records. I agree, with the FCC you should not have been charged a deposit fee at all, the FCC should have been the deposit. So, if you were charged the full deposit, that should have been caught long before final payment was due that she didn't apply the FCC's.

I really doubt there is anything you are going to be able to do about this, especially with the TA you booked with no longer with the company. Sorry! :(

[Pam in CA]

I'm having a hard time understanding what happened but if the FCC wasn't applied to your March cruise, then you still have that to use for a future cruise.

[Nan-L]

I had booked the cruise in March and paid the deposit before I went on the cruise in Dec.

On board I asked if this FCC could be applied to the cruise in March and was told yes. When I got home I inform my Ta of the FCC and was told it would be taken care of. (this was in the 2nd week of Dec)

At that time my TA was suppose to apply it to the March cruise. I would then have had a little less to pay at time of last payment, but with the fuel adjustments it wouldn't have been much. With the early phone call it through me really off gaurd as I wasn't even suppose to pay final till the 3rd of Jan, almost 2 weeks from when she called me and said it was due!

I can still use it for another cruise but the point was to get it for the next one and was counting on the $200 SBC.

I feel the company the Ta worked for should do "something", as I have used then quite a bit and it was their employees mistake!

What do others feel?

N

[Toto2Kansas]

I can totally understand your frustration with this one. The only problem I can see is that you didn't catch this before final payment was made. And with the TA who actually booked you on this cruise no longer with the company, I honestly don't think there will be anything you can do about it.

I wish I had a bit of good advice you can try. But with final payment already made, about the only thing the company COULD do was to give you the $200 OBC as there is no way to apply the FCC now. But, from what you said, I would not hold my breathe on them giving it to you, sorry! :(

[ginagirl]

First of all, if it is a Mom & Pop agency, make sure you calmly discuss the entire situation with the OWNER of the agency. Make sure to mention that you are a repeat client of the agency. At that point in time, if the owner is not willing to contact his local Princess Sales Representative to correct the situation, let him know you will be pursuing this with the local Better Business Bureau and Small Claims Court. Also explain that to benefit from this OBC on your upcoming cruise is imperative because one never knows what the future holds. The simple fact is his employee dropped the ball; and if he is an upstanding business person, he will make good on the matter.

[starsjohn]

I would register this problem in the courts with Judge Judy if the owner of the agency will not correct the situation.

[rjg41]

If you booked with a faceless on line agency, good luck. If you booked with a reliable brick and morter agency, then you have a chance of getting some satisfaction. I am an agent and even if it had to come from my commission, you would get your onboard credit. If this had happened in my agency my boss would fix this somehow to maintain customer satisfaction.

[jb008]

If you can't get satisfaction by working with the Travel Agency on this one it might be worth contacting your Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if they can help you work with the Agency.

[mycruz]

I had a situation with an agency not too long ago and my advice is to work your way up the "food chain" at the agency until you get what was agreed upon with the TA. I also filed with the BBB but that really didin't do anything to help my situation, all is did was put my complaint on record for others to see that there have been complaints. In my situation they never even responded to the BBB so it was a good thing I worked directly with th executives of the agency.

[jb008]

or see if TA company can get Princess to use the $200 FCC towards your on board account to qualify you for the extra $200 SBC. No idea if they will, but it's worth asking.

[lindanick]

Maybe I can clear this up for you.

 

I know people that are booked for March, they used their fcc's for deposit, no more additional money due until final payment.

 

Now that same person is booked for October. When she goes in March she will sign up for Fcc and shipboard credit. Was told by Princess that she cannot apply any monies from signing up on board in March. That would be for a future cruise, not one that she was already signed up for.

 

So maybe the problem is not the TA, when you look at it in a logical sense, you would see, she was already signed up for this cruise in March, then went on another cruise and signed up for a future cruise. Thats like double dipping to get an extra $200.

 

Please don't flame me. I'm just giving my opinon. Just another slant.

 

Linda

[kpauley]

I booked a cruise in August for an upcoming March cruise and used a FCC. This week, out of the blue, we decided to do an Alaskan cruise in July. When I was booking the July cruise, I told the TA I'd be buying another FCC in March and if the prices were the same for the July cruise when I got back, could I cancel the July cruise and rebook to get the onboard credit. Her reply "you don't even have to do that". She said "I'll just go ahead and apply the FCC to your booking". Since I've paid full deposit for July, she said "Princess would even refund the difference from the $350 I put down last week to the $100 required with FCC". I guess I'll see what really happens when I get back in March.

[DetroitMark]

This just re-enforces my own self rule to never use a travel agent. When you put the risk of having a disinterested party in between you and a vacation as expensive as these, this kind of stuff is going to happen. If it had been a mistake you made on your own (and you obviously would not have missed this one because you were paying attention, it was your TA that wasn't), you could at least chalk it up to experience. The frustration of having it be "out of your hands' is the worst part of all. My empathies. And hopefully you'll take a crack at booking it yourself next time. It's a breeze, and frankly TA's aren't giving you anything you can't get on your own. And they're not going to babysit the reservations like a mother hen like you will, that's guaranteed.

[englishharbours]

Actually, you are incorrect. Discounts abound when you use a large enough travel agency that may be a member of a travel consortium or other network. Group space can be traded for individual space, and many times passengers will realize a much larger discount than they could obtain on their own. It's all in who you choose as your agent. A good agent will stay on top of things. You must have had a horrible experience with your agent, or perhaps, no experience at all. :confused:

[DrivesLikeMario]

I'm booked for a March sailing on the Emerald and was on a Dec 2nd sailing of Princess's and got a Future cruise credit to go towards the Emerald cruise. This would have given my husband and I a $200 SBC for the 10 day cruise.

I told my Ta I got it and to apply it and she said it would be no problem. The day after Christmas my Ta called and said final payment was due, but according to my papers it wasn't due till the 3rd of Jan. It caught me off gaurd and my husband needed to dlb check with work to make sure the dayes were stil ok to take off. So the next day to pay the final on the phone. With the fuel adjustment charge I didn't notice the FSC was not applied to this cruise.

Then the other day noticed on Cruise per. that the credits had not been applied.

Called the TA and found out she no longer is with the agent and left the day she called me. They said so sorry can't do asnything as it had to be applied before the final payment and it was MY fault because I didn't check or get something in writting before final payment.

So now I'm out $200 SBC because the agent didn't follow through. Had it not been as hectic with Christmas I would have caught it, and because I used this Ta before and never had any problems didn't even think about it.

My question is can I do anything about it?? I really care about the ship credit more than the $200 off the payment.

HELP!!!

 

In my experience, FCCs can be applied at any time. A lot of agents don't know that, but it is very simple.

 

Also, the date you had on your paperwork for the final payment IS the final payment date. Many agencies will tell clients it's much earlier to insure payment are made in time.

 

It's time for you to put your foot down with the agency & tell them they need to correct their problem. Remember that all agencies should be carrying Errors & Omissions Insurance to cover mistakes, but in this case, it should not be needed. When you're done with this booking, find a new TA.

[bthorn1108]

This just re-enforces my own self rule to never use a travel agent. When you put the risk of having a disinterested party in between you and a vacation as expensive as these, this kind of stuff is going to happen. If it had been a mistake you made on your own (and you obviously would not have missed this one because you were paying attention, it was your TA that wasn't), you could at least chalk it up to experience. The frustration of having it be "out of your hands' is the worst part of all. My empathies. And hopefully you'll take a crack at booking it yourself next time. It's a breeze, and frankly TA's aren't giving you anything you can't get on your own. And they're not going to babysit the reservations like a mother hen like you will, that's guaranteed.

 

You are soooo wrong about this. Just yesterday, I had a client call to get pricing on 2 different cruises. Because my agency had block space on both sailings, I was able to quote her prices that were over $200 less on one cruise and over $400 less on the other cruise than she was able to find on her own. Those are per person savings. To me, a savings of $400 - $800 for one cruise is substantial.

[daveco58]

In my experience, FCCs can be applied at any time. A lot of agents don't know that, but it is very simple.

 

Also, the date you had on your paperwork for the final payment IS the final payment date. Many agencies will tell clients it's much earlier to insure payment are made in time.

 

It's time for you to put your foot down with the agency & tell them they need to correct their problem. Remember that all agencies should be carrying Errors & Omissions Insurance to cover mistakes, but in this case, it should not be needed. When you're done with this booking, find a new TA.

 

 

HEAR!HEAR! You are exactly right, LadyJag, this agency can make this right, and if they don't OP should get a new agency. One of the joys of owning a travel agency is picking up the pieces when a bad agent moves on...but they will pick them up, if they want to stay in business, and if they don't, plenty of others will jump at the chance.

[lindanick]

It will be interesting to see how it pans out. You get one answer from one and another answer from another.

 

This is something that Princess is suppose to do, not the agent, however the agent should call and make sure its done.

 

If you now show in your record that you have a fcc on file, why can't they post it for your cruise in March? Or at least the SBC.

 

I guess I'm confused (Not the first time).

 

Linda

:)

ps: I am sailing 3/15, final payment was due 12-31-07.

[Pam in CA]

This just re-enforces my own self rule to never use a travel agent. When you put the risk of having a disinterested party in between you and a vacation as expensive as these, this kind of stuff is going to happen. If it had been a mistake you made on your own (and you obviously would not have missed this one because you were paying attention, it was your TA that wasn't), you could at least chalk it up to experience. The frustration of having it be "out of your hands' is the worst part of all. My empathies. And hopefully you'll take a crack at booking it yourself next time. It's a breeze, and frankly TA's aren't giving you anything you can't get on your own. And they're not going to babysit the reservations like a mother hen like you will, that's guaranteed.

You obviously have had a bad experience and that's your opinion but you couldn't be more wrong. I have a couple of TAs I use for different types of travel because for their specialties, they can get me better a better rate, whether it's for a cruise, airfare, etc. than other TAs or on my own. I wish you luck finding a consolidator who will work with you and give you consolidator rates. (You did say you could do it all on your own, right?)

[Floflegs]

I don't think you can get your FCC if this cruise was booked before your last one. This happened to us when we had booked a cruise for my DD's wedding before we sailed on another. The FC Consultant on board said we couldn't apply the FCC as the cruise had been booked before we sailed.

However we did use it for our upcoming cruise.

[daveco58]

This just re-enforces my own self rule to never use a travel agent. When you put the risk of having a disinterested party in between you and a vacation as expensive as these, this kind of stuff is going to happen. If it had been a mistake you made on your own (and you obviously would not have missed this one because you were paying attention, it was your TA that wasn't), you could at least chalk it up to experience. The frustration of having it be "out of your hands' is the worst part of all. My empathies. And hopefully you'll take a crack at booking it yourself next time. It's a breeze, and frankly TA's aren't giving you anything you can't get on your own. And they're not going to babysit the reservations like a mother hen like you will, that's guaranteed.

 

Why do you think a TA is disinterested? Do you do your own surgery, because the doc probably doesn't value your heart as much as you do? I mean, he probably doesn't, he is probably just in it for the money. On the other hand if he keeps killing patient's the money dries up, you know?

 

Most TA's are very interested in keeping their customers happy, saving them money, so they can travel more, and it is NOT "out of your hands". You simply have an expediter who can get the providers to resolve issues better than you can on your own, because most TA's send more business to the provider every month than you will in a busy and well traveled life.

And they absolutely can get you things you cannot get on your own, like group amenities, even when you are traveling on your own, discounts given to large agencies and consortia that aren't available to the general public, and personal experience on ships/planes/trains/hotels you have not had a chance to be on, yet.

[hb1491]

In my experience, FCCs can be applied at any time. A lot of agents don't know that, but it is very simple.

 

Also, the date you had on your paperwork for the final payment IS the final payment date. Many agencies will tell clients it's much earlier to insure payment are made in time.

 

It's time for you to put your foot down with the agency & tell them they need to correct their problem. Remember that all agencies should be carrying Errors & Omissions Insurance to cover mistakes, but in this case, it should not be needed. When you're done with this booking, find a new TA.

 

I think you are wrong FCC can not be applied after you make an initial down payment I am in the same boat our cruise not till 2009 did not have a FCC at time of booking I have one now cant apply would be $300.00 sbc

on a 32 day cruise.

[Coral]

I think you are wrong FCC can not be applied after you make an initial down payment I am in the same boat our cruise not 2009 did not have a FCC at time of booking I have one now cant apply would be $300.00 sbc

on a 32 day cruise.

 

I have had FCC applied after deposit but not after final payment.