WARNING Katakolon Shoppers

[hulamoon]

Last May my husband and I purchased $880. worth of beautiful glass art from a shop in Katakolon. It is clear some of these shops are managed by the same company but the name that showed up on our bill was Amarantou Marianna.

 

We ordered so much we could not hand carry it home. So it was shipped with promises of insurance on the product.

 

You can probably guess what happened. It all arrived broken 2 months later, uninsured. We attemped to call the merchant and email the merchant to get replacements but they did not answer any attempts.

 

Finally we decided to file a claim with Citibank. What a mess! They tell us there is a policy that there is no refunds from Greece. So much for the policy of standing behind customers!

 

So if you are shopping in Katakolon and fall in love with glass art, hand carry it home and do not be foolish like we were. Also, check your credit card policy, Citibank is not as customer friendly as they used to be. We now have paid $880. for a box of broken glass without possibility of replacement or refund.

 

Buyer beware!

[packed&ready!]

Hulamoon,

 

What a bummer! So dishonest to do business that way. They should be put out of business! Sorry you got stuck with the bill. Hope something will be done for you.

[hulamoon]

We are still in shock. We paid 75. euros for insurance and shipping. If they had insured we could get our money back. And Citibank not standing behind purchases?

 

Personally, I know longer feel they are too big to fail.

[cberge]

I am sure you are not happy camper's,and there are those who have bought and had good luck,but rule of thumb especially traveling abroad is "if you can't carry it don't buy it".Not my words,but a well-known travel writer.A lot of shops know that you and CC co's cannot( or wil not) do anything so they can get away with what they do...they shipped so no one can go after them for goods not delivered which would have been easier.If you can't carry yourself at least mail yourself if one has the time.

[hulamoon]

We called Citibank before the trip and asked if there would be any change in policy for products purchased and they told us no. we must have spoken to a dimwit.

 

Still it seems crazy they do not just replace the products, because I will be asking anyone going through Katakolon to not purchase there.

 

Most of our travel has been the backpack variety, and we have not tried to ship products home. We had a false security because we thought the credit card company would back up the purchase the same way they make sure my businesses secure our clients.

 

I am going to call ships service tomorrow and see what they can do. Anything would be a help. Today i spoke to a HAL representative who said they can assist, so we will see.

[eh2zed]

I can't believe Citibank didn't back you up.

[hulamoon]

So far we have spoken to 4 people. We will try again in the morning. I have been double charged in South America and had charges removed, I have had false charges in other countries and had them removed. I do not get why they insist Greece is different.

 

citibank told us to return the box of broken glass, we did but to the address on the box that may not have been the business. Citibank did not furnish us with a different address and said we only needed to make the attempt to return. We have this letter in writing saying to attempt.

 

So we attempted, have a receipt and tracking number, and now they say it didn't matter at all Greece does not have a return policy?!

 

I will post back it the credit card company changes it's position. They did give us another phone number for the business so we can try again to ask the goods be resent packed well rather than poorly and INSURED.

[cberge]

I must, right off ,now that I have read more your problems will not go away re Citibank as the Co. is in a state of great flux and I am guesiing that a lot of the customer service really don't care since they could lose their jobs at any time since so many have been laid off as it is.I had a problem with them just 2 weeks ago,and I made sure to ask IF the phone call WAS being recorded and the agent's name.I was really PO'd. Anyway, I suggest,if you have not already, start higher up the chain of command when you call them and ask for a supervisor of a supervisor,ask if the call is being recorded,msate all your names of those who you have talked to,warm honey in the voice,and see if it helps at all.Good luck.

[CathyCruises]

I am sure you are not happy camper's,and there are those who have bought and had good luck,but rule of thumb especially traveling abroad is "if you can't carry it don't buy it".Not my words,but a well-known travel writer.A lot of shops know that you and CC co's cannot( or wil not) do anything so they can get away with what they do...they shipped so no one can go after them for goods not delivered which would have been easier.If you can't carry yourself at least mail yourself if one has the time.

 

We recently bought three rugs in Istabul and no way to 'carry' them home. We were very happy to see that they arrived in perfect condition via DHL one week after we returned. This was at a store that was not one of those recommended by the cruise ship. When we went to their store, they told us we would receive our purchases "after the Christmas rush". Turns out they wait until they have a huge order and put them all on a container to the US, then just ship domestically. They offer "free shipping" but of course it's just included in their price, which was much higher than the shop we used. I admit to being a tad nervous, but it worked perfectly. It is definitely a 'buyer beware' situation.

 

So sorry for the OP's loss.

 

Cathy

[seapenarth]

Last May my husband and I purchased $880. worth of beautiful glass art from a shop in Katakolon. It is clear some of these shops are managed by the same company but the name that showed up on our bill was Amarantou Marianna.

 

We ordered so much we could not hand carry it home. So it was shipped with promises of insurance on the product.

 

You can probably guess what happened. It all arrived broken 2 months later, uninsured. We attemped to call the merchant and email the merchant to get replacements but they did not answer any attempts.

 

Finally we decided to file a claim with Citibank. What a mess! They tell us there is a policy that there is no refunds from Greece. So much for the policy of standing behind customers!

 

So if you are shopping in Katakolon and fall in love with glass art, hand carry it home and do not be foolish like we were. Also, check your credit card policy, Citibank is not as customer friendly as they used to be. We now have paid $880. for a box of broken glass without possibility of replacement or refund.

 

Buyer beware!

 

Beware of Greeks baring gifts.

[hulamoon]

That is the first time I smiled about the situation, thank you.

 

Unfortunately, it was not a gift!:eek:

[tally10]

In 2006, we went on a ship's tour a glass factory in Finland. We had done a similar tour to another glass factory in Norway 2 years before but did not buy a lot of merchandise, just what we could carry. This last time, we bought a large and heavy globe. We paid for shipping and insurance and it arrived in perfect shape a day or two after we got home. Not every place is as bad as what you encountered. Hopefully you can get some resolution. Good luck!

[hulamoon]

Thanks, I am waiting to speak to HAL, just to see if they have any pull. At least they can warn others if nothing else.

[hulamoon]

Just spoke to guest relations at HAL. They do not help unless we purchase at one their recommended stores. I am not even sure there are ships going to this port until spring. The kind woman I spoke to said, that to her knowledge credit cards are taking care of purchases made in Europe. Citibank has just gone mad.

 

The post offices website is down but it appears the box of broken glass that Citibank asked us to return to Greece is on it's way back to us. We can verify this by tomorrow. This is the third time a box of broken glass has traveled between Greece and Hawaii.:o It is comical.

[kool kruiser]

Beware of Greeks baring gifts.

 

 

Do you mean those with no clothes on:D:D

[CruisinManiac]

If I were you....once that box of broken glass gets back in your hands, I'd hop on the next ship out to Katakolon (box in hand,) and march right into that store and demand replacement. If the owners bluff, make a scene! :D

 

There are some great deals on the May Noordam sailings. I am hoping to be on one of them next spring. ;) Sailed on her last June, and was not that impressed with Katakolon. I know the store you visited. I felt like a bull in a China shop in there. Very pretty merchandise. I also saw many transactions going on for shipping.:eek:

[hulamoon]

We are currently on a TA going to the other side of Europe, but I like your idea, I can get off in Copenhagen and fly to the next ship and start a new cruise. ;)

 

The box is now in NY, so we hope when the broken pieces return, citibank will reconsider. They told us to return the broken pieces to the address on the box and the store refused to take it back.:mad:

 

To answer your question Ms. Vass was dressed when she offered the discount that helped us buy so much. I have her picture somewhere I can post proof!

[cusyl]

You could set all that very expensive broken glass into resin for a coffee table. Sorry about your loss.

Several years ago we had some furniture shipped from Italy to Florida with no problems.

[OttoCal]

But Citibank should have made a note on your account of every time that you have called and spoken to customer service- perhaps you can get them to review your Cust.Serv. calls and see if you can pinpoint the call where they did say the purchase was covered? Sounds like they are being a big credit card company pain for you!.

[hulamoon]

I like coffee table idea, how do I do this? Would it be over a glass coffee table or wooden one? Assuming Citibank does not ask me to mail it back again I may as well make funiture out of it, or a giant glass horse, on rollers.:rolleyes:

[cusyl]

I like coffee table idea, how do I do this? Would it be over a glass coffee table or wooden one? Assuming Citibank does not ask me to mail it back again I may as well make funiture out of it, or a giant glass horse, on rollers.:rolleyes:

Do you have a Michaels or similar hobby shop in your city? Check with them. It seems like it would be easy to do.

[hulamoon]

There is no Michaels but I will follow up with a craft store and see what I can find.

 

So we spoke to Citibank today.... OMG!!!

 

The next manager told us the case was closed, they denied the claim and gave us a different reason.

 

First Reason...We do not give refunds for the country of Greece!

 

Second Reason... Once we close disputes we never reopen them! They gave us an an arbitrary deadline we missed to proove the Greek company recieved the product. It took us awhile to find out they refused the package. The deadline passed before we knew there was a deadline.

 

In my business credit card companies have been very strict and seem to weight the customers experience more than the business owners. This also gave us a false sense of security. So when Shane kept announcing on the Zuiderdam to only shop at their approved shops we figured we were covered if we used a credit card.

 

In these economic strange times I would not give any financial advice to people but for us we are going to use our local credit cards with a bank I can walk into talk to and not use the big company cards. This experience has opened our eyes to the insanity of a failing business. We cannot close our accounts because we do not want to affect credit scores but we may refinance our house with a different company than Citibank and their credit cards are going to be shredded if we do not close the accounts. Citibank has not lived up to it's own code of conduct.

 

As far as Amarantou Marianna and our sales person Antigone Vass, she promised if there were any problems she would reship the product and that she would send it insured. She did not do this. So I recommnend if you fall in love with her glass products you carry them home.

 

Thanks for your support and humor, it helped me stay sane though this.

[tally10]

My DH said you should write a warning on every HAL & Princess board that stops in Katakolon (Carnival is pulling their ships out of Europe after the Dream does a few Med. cruises in the fall, none of which are going there) warning people of that store. Perhaps these people will lose some business and it will teach them a lesson. Cruise Critic is a poweful tool. When we were there, the other two ships were the Prinsendam and the Grand Princess so I am thinking that Carnival, which is the parent company, has a deal with that port. It couldn't hurt, since you received no satifaction from the store. I guess Citibank has no customer service, either.

[Taxguy77]

I can't believe Citibank didn't back you up.

 

I can.:cool:

Several years ago we returned from a cruise and I checked my CC bill by phone as we were at our DD home, not ours yet. I had just 1 day to pay the bill! I asked why such a short time and was told 'since I paid when I received the bill, they reduced the time between mailing and payment by a week':eek: Two week cruise meant no chance to pay w/o BIG charges.:eek:

Canceled card and decided my comments about their policy was not fit for the mail.:cool:

[hulamoon]

Taxguy77,

 

That is terrible! They are just trying tro catch you late to get some interest?

 

I will never feel secure with a card again. Our local bank told us the problem was we should have said we never recieved the package! If we said that rather than it was broken then we would have gotten our money back. I asked to get the money back on the insurance they charged us for and the postage to send it back to Greece but we were firmly told the case was closed.

 

If anyone goes to Katakolon next spring let me know and I will send the picture of the sales person.