TA hidden charges.

[luvs2beachit]

I though I would post my experience here so others would be aware.

The other day I received a promo from a TA that sounded fabulous: the Med this fall, 2 nights hotel, air and ten day cruise in balcony for a great price so I called. I have never used this agency but have been receiving sale emails from them for the past few years.
The agent that I spoke with was very nice and was able to answer all my questions. Everything sounded great and I was about to book 3 cabins until I asked about price drops and cancelation fees. She assured me that price drops would be honored absolutely free but did not say anything about cancelations. So I asked again about cancelation fees and it was then that she told me that upon booking the agency would charge an additional $199 "security fee"! She assured me that I would not lose this money as it would be applied to the final payment if I didn't cancel. And if I did cancel?
She responded that my travel insurance would reimburse me. I said what happens if I don't buy insurance. Silence.
Talk about a sneaky business practices!. The TA would hold my money hostage!
If I hadn't asked she probably would not have told me about this additional fee and it would have been to late by the time I saw the charge on my cc statement.
Now, in the 25 cruises we have been on we have been blessed to have never had to cancel, so canceling was not a concern, but my thoughts are that if the agency is that sneaky in the beginning, how shoddy will their service be after they have my $. It seems a tad unethical, if not dishonest, to tell to not worry about the $199 because if I did cancel the insurance would reimburse me! Needless to say I did not book.

[Krazy Kruizers]

glad you did not book with them -- who knows how many other charges may suddenly show up / be added to your bill

if you liked the agency that you used for your other cruises -- stay with them

[conquistador74]

Looking at the other side of the coin from a business perspective.....the agent has spent his or her time to arrange the trip for you, phone calls, etc....then you cancel....all that time was spent for no reason. That isn't fair to the business, either. Have you purchased an airline ticket recently? If you bought it over the internet you weren't charged a fee....if you call the airline, more than likely you are charged a fee for personal service. How is that different?

[Tricia724]

The first thing we ask any TA, before we even begin talking about any cruise, is whether they have charges and if so, just exactly what they are. At least that way if we know about the fees up front, we can take that into consideration. Sometimes it's worth paying a fee or risking a fee if the value of the cruise package is worthwhile.

There was one agency we looked into a few years ago that always had good rates. So I spent some time digging around their website looking for their fees. It was jaw dropping. They had fees for EVERYTHING.....changing your cabin, changing a name, securing a price reduction from the cruiseline, etc. The cancellation fee was a flat charge on low cost cruises....but if the total cost of the cruise went over $5,000, their cancellation fee went to 5%. For the cruise we were considering, that would have been well over $1,000 cancellation fee. We moved on.

Added fees are a way of life any more....think about your banks and credit cards.....and we're all going to have to ask a lot of questions to avoid some really unpleasant surprises.

[kazu]

My internet TA always sends you your contract in writing for you to agree to. All the terms and conditions are clearly spelled out. They do charge a $50 cancellation fee - but I have no problem with that. Their prices are good as are their obc's - so fair is fair.

You do have to check out and know who you are booking with. Sometimes if somethingt is too good to be true - it really is :eek:

[RuthC]

Looking at the other side of the coin from a business perspective.....the agent has spent his or her time to arrange the trip for you, phone calls, etc....then you cancel....all that time was spent for no reason. That isn't fair to the business, either. Have you purchased an airline ticket recently? If you bought it over the internet you weren't charged a fee....if you call the airline, more than likely you are charged a fee for personal service. How is that different?
I don't disagree with what you are saying. However, the agency needs to be upfront about it, especially when asked a direct question. To be less than forthright does not instill confidence in the agency.
If the agency were to list out all the potential extra charges, in an easy to read manner, it would go a long way toward establishing a good relationship with their customers.

[conquistador74]

@ Ruth,

I agree completely with you. I like transparency, too!

[iancal]

Many people do not understand two things that can cost you money when cancelling a cruise outside of the cancellation window. The first is the TA charges-some TA's do charge for cancellations in order to compensate them for work that they have done on your behalf. Some do not. The second is insurance. If you book HAL insurance, and subsequently cancel, the insurance portion is non refundable.

We use an on line TA who does not charge for cancellations or repricing. If we buy insurance, we only do so when we are in the 'cancellation window' and we never buy it from the cruise company, the tour operator, or the travel agency.

[Taxguy77]

I don't disagree with what you are saying. However, the agency needs to be upfront about it, especially when asked a direct question. To be less than forthright does not instill confidence in the agency.
If the agency were to list out all the potential extra charges, in an easy to read manner, it would go a long way toward establishing a good relationship with their customers.

I was going to say the same thing, but your answer is probably better worded than mine would have been.

[luvs2beachit]

I don't disagree with what you are saying. However, the agency needs to be upfront about it, especially when asked a direct question. To be less than forthright does not instill confidence in the agency.
If the agency were to list out all the potential extra charges, in an easy to read manner, it would go a long way toward establishing a good relationship with their customers.

Absolutely agree with you. Tell me up front what the fees are and let me make the decision whether or not it's worth it to go ahead and book. I also understand that the agent I am working with has spent time with me and is entitled to be compensated, however, that really boils down to who is responsible for compensating the employee, the employer who is selling a product or the person buying the product? Besides, how do you calculate that fee. By the time I call a TA I know everything I need to know about the cruise, cabin level, location etc. thanks to these boards so I don't need a lot of hand holding or involved information.
What I need to know is the benefits that the TA is offering, the specifics about the promo they just sent and the agency contract particulars. What makes me mad is that if I didn't ask the specific question about cancellation fees is that I would not have been told. What about new or infrequent cruisers who don't read these boards. Would they know enough to ask the right questions? Besides, the fee is extreme! $199 for a ten minutes of work x the 3 cabins I was planning to reserve. That's almost $600. I am so glad that I found these boards and grateful to the folks who take the time to post their experiences or else I wouldn't have known the right questions to ask.

[paulista1950]

Looking at the other side of the coin from a business perspective.....the agent has spent his or her time to arrange the trip for you, phone calls, etc....then you cancel....all that time was spent for no reason. That isn't fair to the business, either. Have you purchased an airline ticket recently? If you bought it over the internet you weren't charged a fee....if you call the airline, more than likely you are charged a fee for personal service. How is that different?

What is this different from a shop which I enter to buy clothes, the salesmen spend time with me and I decide not to buy anything?
EVERY business has this kind of "problem" otherwise I'd be charged if I enter a bank and ask them about their interest rate.

[patseacruiser]

The insurance is a non-refundable item no matter what, however, I think I disagree with a blanket statement that if you cancel and purchased the insurance then the $199 would be refunded. If I understand that correctly, the $199 would only be refunded if the cancellation was after penalty phase and it was a covered reason.

[richwmn]

What is this different from a shop which I enter to buy clothes, the salesmen spend time with me and I decide not to buy anything?
EVERY business has this kind of "problem" otherwise I'd be charged if I enter a bank and ask them about their interest rate.

Which is why small businesses are closing.

When you go into a local business and "shop" you are using their time and resources. If you then go and buy that item from a "big box" or online, you have used those services without paying for them. When that happens enough, the small business can not afford to stay in business and will close. Then you will have to buy from the "big box" or online without the benefit of seeing the item, or in the case of clothes - trying them on.

As far as banks are concerned -- have you ever looked at the added charges you pay, at least in the US, for using their services? Even 10 years ago there were accounts that required you to do all your transactions at the ATMs or have a charge for using the tellers.

Many years ago travel agents received a commission from the airlines to book air fare. The airlines beefed up their internal sales force, and took the commission away from travel agents. Now TAs charge a small fee to cover their time for booking airfare.

I don't think it will be too long until the cruise lines change to this model. Why should they pay a commission to the TA if the TA does not share the work load? Then, those who want/need a TA will pay an additional charge for that service, and cruise fares will be more consistent across the board.

JMHO - I am not a TA, don't play one on TV and didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[NMLady]

The insurance is a non-refundable item no matter what, however, I think I disagree with a blanket statement that if you cancel and purchased the insurance then the $199 would be refunded. If I understand that correctly, the $199 would only be refunded if the cancellation was after penalty phase and it was a covered reason.

You are correct. TA's are not insurance agents so they often don't know what they're talking about regarding insurance coverage.

Our TA charges $100 p/p cancellation fee and says that up front. One cruise we had to cancel. It was before final payment so we got our deposit back. Insurance did not reimburse us for the cancellation fee since we were not cancelling for a covered reason.

Also, our insurance was non-refundable but we were able to apply it to another cruise booked within six months.
[We purchase insurance from a 3rd party company at the time of booking so that my husband's pre-existing medical problems will be covered.]