Silversea Deceptive Marketing

If you go to the special offers page on the website, and the 3 ways to save promotion, it lists a veranda 2 cabin on the fall Spirit transatlantic for $4450 using the 2 category upgrade:

I thought, this is a really good deal, particularly since others had told me you could combine the 5% Venetian Society discount with the upgrade.

But, when you call them, they tell you the price is $4750 not $4450 and they won't do anything for you.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

If you go to the special offers page on the website, and the 3 ways to save promotion, it lists a veranda 2 cabin on the fall Spirit transatlantic for $4450 using the 2 category upgrade:

 

[ATTACH]322141[/ATTACH]

 

I thought, this is a really good deal, particularly since others had told me you could combine the 5% Venetian Society discount with the upgrade.

 

But, when you call them, they tell you the price is $4750 not $4450 and they won't do anything for you.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

I don't know when you took that snapshot, but I just looked and the website lists $4750. Your attachment did not include the Silversea statement that surely appeared on the page you viewed: "Terms & Conditions: All Silver Privilege Fares shown are cruise-only, in US dollars, per guest, based on double-occupancy. Fares are capacity controlled and subject to change at any time without notice." The fact that fares change (and generally rise!) should hardly be a surprise in this era of dynamic pricing.

PS: I now see that I looked at the website less than an hour after your posted your message.

If nothing else, it looks like I got through to them about the special offers page, it was still $4450 when I called them. A good company would have changed it when they changed the rate not after. A decent company would have given me the lower rate, on principle, and thanked me for pointing out the error.

Yes, they have the right to change rates at any time, but that does not give them the right to continue to advertise lower rates after they've been changed. And the fact that they changed it in short order after I called shows that it was simple to do, and the difficulty related to updates is not a valid excuse.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Mark,

Just buy the bleedin' holiday!

Jeff

:D

Mark,

 

 

 

Just buy the bleedin' holiday!

 

 

 

Jeff

 

 

 

:D

We really enjoyed the spring crossing on Spirit, and were looking forward to getting back the six hours we lost on her in the spring. But, I really don't appreciate getting jerked around.

At this point, I think we'll spend a week or two in Puerto Vallarta in November, and look to getting the hours back in the fall of 2015. Maybe on Silversea, but I'm suddenly more open to trying other lines. For $600 (minus 5%), they could have cemented my loyalty to Silversea, they chose not to.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

They are idiots.

I'll buy you a drink or three in Singapore in January or February if you make the trip!

:D

If you go to the special offers page on the website, and the 3 ways to save promotion, it lists a veranda 2 cabin on the fall Spirit transatlantic for $4450 using the 2 category upgrade:

 

[ATTACH]322141[/ATTACH]

 

I thought, this is a really good deal, particularly since others had told me you could combine the 5% Venetian Society discount with the upgrade.

 

But, when you call them, they tell you the price is $4750 not $4450 and they won't do anything for you.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Sorry you feel you are being treated badly, but on the other hand this voyage deal is not even offered on the UK page. So you are getting an even better deal than you think.

They are idiots.

 

 

 

I'll buy you a drink or three in Singapore in January or February if you make the trip!

 

 

 

:D

Singapore Slings?

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Singapore Slings?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Of course ... but you cannot throw the nut shells on the floor ....:D

Mark K,

I agree with you, if they changed the price after you called, shame on "S" they should have honored the price posted. Mad PR bad poor management on "S" part.

Rick

Mark K,

 

I agree with you, if they changed the price after you called, shame on "S" they should have honored the price posted. Mad PR bad poor management on "S" part.

 

Rick

I'm just putting my pith helmet on and will say that I think on this one we're being a touch unfair to SS. They haven't changed the price after Mark called.

Even if they have a real-time system it would never be completely up to date because of transactions passing through and short-term options and holding deposits etc. and the headline prices state very clearly on the pages I have seen that they are "from" that price and obviously dependant on availibility at the moment you call and enquire. If they have "sold out" of that allocation at that moment, I genuinely see no moral or legal reasons or even PR reasons for them to sell at the headline "from" price. The wording on the site I always see always clearly states "from". I understand the annoyance but SS are perfectly within their rights to say that the headline price has now sold out - if it has and offer the next best one which you can take or not as you wish. It isn't deceptive marketing and is the normal practice across many industries. Even supermarkets say in their ads "subject to stock ...."

If however they never sold any at all at that price ... that would be different! But there isn't any easy way of finding out and still not an awful lot you can do if you did .........

Sorry to disagree - I have my flame-proof gear on ...... :D

Jeff

I'm just putting my pith helmet on and will say that I think on this one we're being a touch unfair to SS. They haven't changed the price after Mark called.

 

 

 

Even if they have a real-time system it would never be completely up to date because of transactions passing through and short-term options and holding deposits etc. and the headline prices state very clearly on the pages I have seen that they are "from" that price and obviously dependant on availibility at the moment you call and enquire. If they have "sold out" of that allocation at that moment, I genuinely see no moral or legal reasons or even PR reasons for them to sell at the headline "from" price. The wording on the site I always see always clearly states "from". I understand the annoyance but SS are perfectly within their rights to say that the headline price has now sold out - if it has and offer the next best one which you can take or not as you wish. It isn't deceptive marketing and is the normal practice across many industries. Even supermarkets say in their ads "subject to stock ...."

 

 

 

If however they never sold any at all at that price ... that would be different! But there isn't any easy way of finding out and still not an awful lot you can do if you did .........

 

 

 

Sorry to disagree - I have my flame-proof gear on ...... :D

 

 

 

Jeff

Legally, they may have all the disclaimers, and they might pass muster in the US, although, likely not in the UK or OZ.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

I don't think it was a case at all of me calling at just the wrong time, right after the last $4450 deal had been made. It was akin to me ringing out at the store and being charged more for a product than what the sign next to it said. And them realizing they forgot to take down the sign advertising a special offer and refusing to honor the lower price.

 

Legally, they may have all the disclaimers, and they might pass muster in the US, although, likely not in the UK or OZ.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Yes, if you went into a store and they did that - it would be wrong, and I understand how you feel and how annoying it is - but it might look like the store scenario is identical but it isn't ..... it wasn't the same product at all.

It is exactly like buying a seat from an airline. It is the same seat but they have a limited number at different prices. They have a headline price that says "from $49" but when you call or make the booking online, those one's are gone and you take the next best price or not. No airlines show the exact price of the next seat irrespective of the headline "from" price until you make the booking. It is no different. We do it all the time with airlines and get hacked off because we always seem to pay more than the "from" price - but we all understand that this is how it works ....

I have a feeling I'm not going to convince you ... but the Singapore Sling is still on offer .....

:)

Jeff

I guess I'm kind of in the middle on this one. While I'm not sure the situation qualifies as deceptive marketing or advertising I can also see the view that the fare was published, not an obvious error, and Silversea could or should have honored it. It doesn't appear, and admittedly I could be wrong, that Silversea is guilty of the old "bait and switch". It may differ from state to state in the US and other countries but contrary to popular belief retailers are not automatically or universally legally obligated to sell a service or item at the marked price if that price can be shown to be a legitimate mistake. That said most retailers, as a good will gesture, do honor minor errors rather than potentially drive off customers. Could have Silversea done that in this case? Possibly, especially since it was a returning customer and not an extraordinary difference.

I guess I'm kind of in the middle on this one. While I'm not sure the situation qualifies as deceptive marketing or advertising I can also see the view that the fare was published, not an obvious error, and Silversea could or should have honored it. It doesn't appear, and admittedly I could be wrong, that Silversea is guilty of the old "bait and switch". It may differ from state to state in the US and other countries but contrary to popular belief retailers are not automatically or universally legally obligated to sell a service or item at the marked price if that price can be shown to be a legitimate mistake. That said most retailers, as a good will gesture, do honor minor errors rather than potentially drive off customers. Could have Silversea done that in this case? Possibly, especially since it was a returning customer and not an extraordinary difference.

As no one is currently suggesting that Silversea didn't have any on offer at the headline price, I have no doubt that the offer as it was made using a "from" price headline has not breached any consumer law. In most geographics the price is only firm once a contract has been finalised. There was no error here, no offer at a specific price, so nothing needs be honoured.

It is as much "bait and switch" as airlines and other organisations all over the world market every day and everyone here is quite use to the exact same thing happening whenever they make an airline booking and this is no different.

I find myself in the odd situation of defending Silversea, something that rarely happens these days ......:D

Jeff

Yes, if you went into a store and they did that - it would be wrong, and I understand how you feel and how annoying it is - but it might look like the store scenario is identical but it isn't ..... it wasn't the same product at all.

 

 

 

It is exactly like buying a seat from an airline. It is the same seat but they have a limited number at different prices. They have a headline price that says "from $49" but when you call or make the booking online, those one's are gone and you take the next best price or not. No airlines show the exact price of the next seat irrespective of the headline "from" price until you make the booking. It is no different. We do it all the time with airlines and get hacked off because we always seem to pay more than the "from" price - but we all understand that this is how it works ....

 

 

 

I have a feeling I'm not going to convince you ... but the Singapore Sling is still on offer .....

 

 

 

:)

 

 

 

Jeff

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

If an airline continues to advertise seats from $49 for days/weeks after they have raised the minimum seat purchase price to $59, that in my view at least, is false advertising, and deceptive marketing. This is what Silversea did.

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Mark,

With airlines the seats go up and down not just on a daily basis but on a transaction basis.

I acknowledge that there is nothing I can say that will convince you that this is not deceptive if the word FROM is clearly displayed. It is an indicator of the lowest price you might pay if you buy at the best moment and not a guarantee of a price you will pay at the moement you want them. You are not going to be misled about the price at the moment you commit yourself. It is impossible for airlines to advertise a guaranteed price unless they also say "if you buy one ticket it will be x, two tickets y ...... etc" as a tickets of more than one can often go through several fare buckets and are often charged at the highest bucket it hits. No system can cope with that. If this principle were applied to cruise suites and you required two suites, and the lower prices had now "run out" on the first suite, then dynamic pricing would increase both the first and second suite inevitably to the higher price of the second suite. This is what happens with all airline seat pricing if you buy them collectively rather than separately. This may satisfy your deception issue but would then cost you much more cash.

I fully accept that there is nothing I can say that will change your mind.

:)

Jeff

Mark K - why not have your TA call SS? If you are using an agent that regularly deals with SS and has the right contacts then there is a much greater chance of you successfully getting the pricing you want. Your agent can lobby on your behalf and leverage their relationships and the amount of business that the agent does with SS. Although SS should honor the pricing when you call yourself, but you are really at the mercy of a call center agent who will likely be "following the rules" and has no power to offer you anything. Make is easy on yourself and get your agent to deal with this.

Mark,

 

With airlines the seats go up and down not just on a daily basis but on a transaction basis.

 

I acknowledge that there is nothing I can say that will convince you that this is not deceptive if the word FROM is clearly displayed. It is an indicator of the lowest price you might pay if you buy at the best moment and not a guarantee of a price you will pay at the moement you want them. You are not going to be misled about the price at the moment you commit yourself. It is impossible for airlines to advertise a guaranteed price unless they also say "if you buy one ticket it will be x, two tickets y ...... etc" as a tickets of more than one can often go through several fare buckets and are often charged at the highest bucket it hits. No system can cope with that. If this principle were applied to cruise suites and you required two suites, and the lower prices had now "run out" on the first suite, then dynamic pricing would increase both the first and second suite inevitably to the higher price of the second suite. This is what happens with all airline seat pricing if you buy them collectively rather than separately. This may satisfy your deception issue but would then cost you much more cash.

 

I fully accept that there is nothing I can say that will change your mind.

 

:)

 

 

Jeff

So, if they offered one ticket for sale for $1, and it sold, they could advertise from $1 indefinitely, even though that price is currently not available, and likely never will be again?

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

So, if they offered one ticket for sale for $1, and it sold, they could advertise from $1 indefinitely, even though that price is currently not available, and likely never will be again?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

That would be absolutely wrong because it was a precise price without the word "from". But if they said "from $1" then there is nothing deceptive about it at all as long as they originally sold one at some point at $1.

I know you won't agree but what you are demanding is impossible on simple practicalities. You are saying that anything other than dynamic pricing is deceptive. But even if two people the saw the same price at the same time but one hit enter a thousandth of a second earlier than the other, one would have seen an "old" price.

Mark, you aren't going to agree with me on this, and you will be rarely arguing for a stronger proponent of consumer rights, as hopefully you note from my posts, but i feel that lines have to be drawn somewhere on protecting consumers from themselves and I see nothing wrong at all with this approach at all as long as the magic word "from" is clear. In the UK, we have the most aggressive consumer protection I believe world-wide, and those laws are correctly agreeing with me and are quite content that no one is being misled and I can honestly say I have never heard of anyone pursuing a complaint along the lines that concern you.

So,let us now just beg to differ!

:)

Jeff

That would be absolutely wrong because it was a precise price without the word "from". But if they said "from $1" then there is nothing deceptive about it at all as long as they originally sold one at some point at $1.

 

I know you won't agree but what you are demanding is impossible on simple practicalities. You are saying that anything other than dynamic pricing is deceptive. But even if two people the saw the same price at the same time but one hit enter a thousandth of a second earlier than the other, one would have seen an "old" price.

 

Mark, you aren't going to agree with me on this, and you will be rarely arguing for a stronger proponent of consumer rights, as hopefully you note from my posts, but i feel that lines have to be drawn somewhere on protecting consumers from themselves and I see nothing wrong at all with this approach at all as long as the magic word "from" is clear. In the UK, we have the most aggressive consumer protection I believe world-wide, and those laws are correctly agreeing with me and are quite content that no one is being misled and I can honestly say I have never heard of anyone pursuing a complaint along the lines that concern you.

 

So,let us now just beg to differ!

 

:)

 

Jeff

I called them, asked for the price as displayed, they refused to give it to me, and within an hour had changed the special offers page to reflect the current price. If they were not wrong to advertise the 'from' $4450 price, why were they so quick to change it?

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Just one more point before we agree to differ. This is not a case of someone else getting the last cabin at the lower price just before I tried to book. It is also not a case of extremely dynamic pricing like airlines. It is a case of them categorically repricing cabins (I believe weeks earlier), and failing to change that price on the special offers page.

 

I called them, asked for the price as displayed, they refused to give it to me, and within an hour had changed the special offers page to reflect the current price. If they were not wrong to advertise the 'from' $4450 price, why were they so quick to change it?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Mark,

I don't think they could have done right either way from your point of view.

If they hadn't repriced it because you had complained, they would have been in the wrong, and when they did they were also wrong.

Jeff

Mark,

 

 

 

I don't think they could have done right either way from your point of view.

 

 

 

If they hadn't repriced it because you had complained, they would have been in the wrong, and when they did they were also wrong.

 

 

 

Jeff

A decent company would have given me the lower rate, on principle, and thanked me for pointing out the error.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Sure they could have, quite easily. Like I said in my second post on this topic:

 

A decent company would have given me the lower rate, on principle, and thanked me for pointing out the error.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Good night Mark ...:D

About six years ago, we received an email offer from SS that gave a price in dollars. When we tried to book this, SS said the price should have been in pounds sterling, and when we checked the website the dollars had been changed to pounds.

We didnt book the cruise. Unfortunately all lines seem to favour the American market to the detriment of the Brits. As noted previously on this thread, you get special offers that never head east across the pond, and the Australians complain that they are even harder done to.

Regards

Master Echo