bigboy61

58 minutes ago, ecs66 said:

My sis and I, and our husbands, cruise together.often.  A local TA was recommended to us since we were less than pleased with the one we'd had.

 

Sis and I went to her office, and started to make arrangements.  She wasn't young (not that she has to be; neither are we).  When it came time for the financial stuff, she took our credit cards and, instead of entering the info online, she took her pen and copied our CC numbers, expire dates, and 3-digit codes ... in to her DAY RUNNER notebook.  Who knew Day Runners existed 20 years into the 21st Century?

 

Sis and I looked at each other, requested to be given the page, walked out, and shredded the page at home.   Anybody could grab that thing.

 

Anyhow, no loss but, as my Sunday School teacher says, "That ain't riiight."

Yikes. Yeah, were still trying to get money back. Thankfully, we have gotten some of ours back but not all of it. 

I am sure there are lots of good TAs out there--just not mine. 

2 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

None of this sounds okay; you are right to be concerned.

It's hard to keep track of everything you wrote, and all of the "warning signs".  I'm not sure why you relied upon Reddit.  My understanding is that there is a lot of sketchy "things" that go on there (on Reddit).  (We do not ever use Reddit; I am relying only upon what I've read in several places, which is why we don't deal with them.  At all.  And one part of DH's work involves considerable "social media", but *not* Reddit.

Yes, I agree now. I think there are legitimate people out there that can help you out. Case in point, I had someone get me an awesome deal from T-Mobile via Reddit. However, there are indeed many scammers. This was my first mistake. 

4 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

This is a "bit late" (as in, "too late", unfortunately), but especially given that she did accept regular credit cards, why did you use something like Venmo?  It's probably good to learn from this just "don't use Venmo", and especially not when it is possible to use a regular charge card.

Also, if you were checking that she was licensed, was she *really* licensed or did you just accept her statement that she was?

(Current licensing can be verified through the appropriate licensing agency/etc.)

Yes, this was my second mistake. Her explanation made sense though. 

4 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Also, if you were checking that she was licensed, was she *really* licensed or did you just accept her statement that she was?

(Current licensing can be verified through the appropriate licensing agency/etc.)

Yes, she sent us copies of information including her CLIA card, her driver's license, and tax forms. 

5 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

For one thing, what/who is a "host"?  If that is a legitimate travel AGENCY where this so-called TA works, then you should be in touch with them... yesterday...

And what is this about *previous* agency?  She's worked with two of them recently?

She is with Main Street travel agency. It's a MLM, but a legitimate travel agency nonetheless. However, at the same time, she claims to be independent. Her CLIA has Main Street on it. Our original reservation was with Main Street. 

6 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Princess is a very, very large company.  If their website or app can't handle your family group, how in the world are they dealing with tens of thousands of passengers who sail on their many ships every day, every week, every month..., with each ship holding thousands of passengers!?

I work in software development and I agree. This is a joke. 

7 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

IF everything truly is fine, and the reservations are still "safe", then why in the world would she need to involve her E&O insurance, which I assume is "errors and omissions".  She's claiming there are NOT any "errors" or "omissions"!

Good point. However, she is claiming she is filing for E&O because the cruise can't be fully refunded since we're within 60 days. 

8 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

What evidence do you have, still, that the TA really does have a "legitimate business"?  That would actually be encouraging, given some protections that might be involved.  Do you know that she *really* works for an "agency"?  If so, again, there should be some protections there, but not if she was only masquerading as being affiliated there.

Her CLIA card, website, tax returns, and Venmo (watching transactions). I also continue to follow her on Reddit and it seems she has a legitimate business. I am obviously a simpleton though so I could be 100% wrong. 

9 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

And you all SHOULD file complaints with assorted regulatory agencies, including her state's Attorney General's office.  There may be other victims, but the AG/etc., can't see a pattern if victims don't report.

My Uncle has done this, and I have family working with authorities.

3 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

I'm so sorry this is happening to you.  I don't have much to offer because I've never heard of a situation like this.  One of the things posters here drummed into my head when I was a cruise newby was to be sure my deposit was charged to my credit card by the cruiseline, not the TA.  And every cruise I've booked has been with a TA and this never happened.  But that advice is too late for you.  I hope this works out for you. 

 

And don't let this discourage you from using a TA in the future.  Thousands of bookings have been made through a TA on this site and this is the first time I've heard of someone encountering this situation.  There are reasons to use or not use a TA, but this isn't one of them.  It is supremely unfair for someone to suggest that your situation is a reason to not use a TA.  And for the record, I'm not a TA.

Thanks. I am sure there are LOTS of good TAs. Sadly, there are also a few not good ones (at best) as well. 

4 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I am sorry. I hope you get your money returned.  I hope your mother lives a long  life and you find another way to gather.  I see you are in South Carolina- there are many great vacation cabins in the Smoky Mountains maybe try those but please find an agency in your home town, walk into their office and sit down and tell them what you want. 

Thanks! We still may do something with her. I think we will still try to do a cruise eventually again. Probably not this year though. 

37 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

You learned a very hard lesson. Many people think that a travel agent is a great option. Maybe, but only if you know them or they are from a reputable company. Most often, we prefer to book the cruise through the cruise line.

 

So sad to hear about this for everyone!

Yep. I wanted a TA because of the group size and because I have never cruised before. It is indeed a hard lesson. 

1 hour ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Apologies for bringing bad news…. Had a similar problem, unfortunately the agent acted as an agent only for us.  Therefore, under the agent’s terms and conditions, there was nothing we could do.  The agent just walked away unscathed 

Thanks. I never signed a contract though so I guess that's a good thing for us.

1 minute ago, hallux said:

Sorry, but this is a red flag to me.  The TA should be asking for a credit card number and permission to charge direct to the cruise line for your reservation.  That is the ONLY way I would do a reservation with a TA.

You are correct. After further research, that is what I found but too late now. To her credit, she also offered the option of paying direct to Princess by calling her with our credit card number or something like that.

Hello there!

This is my first post, so if this is in the wrong place, please move it.

Get ready for a long story.

Back last year, I started to plan a cruise for my grandmother's 80th birthday. My grandma's wish was for all her children to get together on an Alaska cruise before she passed. I have never cruised before, so I am already in over my head. 

I ask about this on the large Reddit group asking people about this. I have a couple TAs reach out to me over there, and I decide to go with one. She is licensed with CLIA and under a well reviewed host.

So we start planning. We get everything squared away and ask the family to start paying. The travel agent wants payments via Venmo or PayPal. My relatives become suspicious and so they vet her and have me vet the reservation more. They are satisfied once this is complete and we proceed. 

Everything moves along fine up until last week. The TA keeps refusing to provide booking numbers claiming that the Princess app is new and they have asked her not to let all of us into the app at once. Well, my Uncle, understandable, starts to get suspicious and fed up with the runaround. He calls Princess, and the only reservation for our group was canceled back in February! None of us are in any reservations.

The TA claims the reservation is still safe. My Uncle has had it and filed a claim with Venmo and with her previous host agency. She then cancelled our rooms (which didn't appear to exist) since my uncle submitted the claim.

She is saying she is going to refund us via her E&O insurance, but I have no idea whether to believe her or not. 

So here we are out 30k, my reputation with my family is ruined, and my grandma's 80th birthday cruise is ruined! All because this TA was, at best, playing some booking shenanigans.

I don't quite understand the angle of the TA. She seems to have a legitimate business, so not sure what was happening. I think the original cruise may have been canceled so she could book the cruise outside of the host so she could take all the commission. That's just a guess. I have no idea why we weren't rebooked.

What is her angle here? Anyone know? Anyone experienced something like this before?