Princess pulled the bait and switch on our beverage package. Do I have any recourse?

I don't think any credible person on these boards has mentioned they were able to get money back from either Princess or their card provider for the switch from AIBP to PBP (other than cancelling the package altogether if it was purchased separately.)

 

Here's a good take on the situation from a consumer advocate:

https://www.elliott.org/thats-ridiculous-2/help-being-limited-15-booze-drinks-day-princess-cruise/

I agree, and you will most likely be banned from ever booking another cruise.

Another thread off the rails. :rolleyes:

The article link........

Not a good way to get on Princess's radar.

Interesting that OP has not been part of recent discussions - not the first time we've had a heated debate and OP does not take part.

Keith, thanks for linking that article. Very interesting take on it. I was annoyed with Princess last year for changing the package that I had purchased (not sip & sale) to something completely different but it would never cross my mind to do a charge back. I honestly can’t see how one would do that and then expect to be welcomed back on board that cruise line!

Winning a dispute with your credit card does not mean that the charges necessarily go away either. The merchant does have the legal right to sue for goods and services rendered. Not sure Princess would go that far, but it will stay in your Captain’s circle records.

U.S. consumer protection laws are exceptionally weak compared to the U.K. That's why there's a difference in pricing if a Princess cruise is booked through the U.K. Princess site or a U.K. travel agent.

You are correct. It’s not just consumer protection laws but also includes Package Tour Regs, Consumer Credit Act and basic Contract Law. That is why the Princess contract of passage looks very different in the UK.

A one sided contract that basically says ‘we can change anything at any time and tough on you’, could well be deemed to fall foul of the ‘unfair terms’ element of contract law. Clearly, any changes that are beyond the control of Princess eg itinerary changes due weather or port authorities (force majeure) would be permissible. A discretionary change eg the beverage package, would be more contentious and reputable companies tend not to change what they have contracted to provide without strong, valid reasons. JMHO as usual.

Just to clarify the changes for those who don’t remember, the change in the package was not just limited the alcoholic beverages to 15 per 24 hour period. It also changed the water bottle size to not being able to get the large bottles with the exception of being in the speciality dining rooms. As well as you could no longer have canned soda which then made it you could no longer have any soda on Princess Cay since that’s all they have there. And one of the big one for me was you no longer received 40% off a bottle of wine that cost $100 and under but you would now receive only 25% off any bottle of wine.

I guess the only recourse one has is to cancel the package that they purchased or see if the sip & sale booked last year could be changed to OBC for each person.

It’s a bait and switch whatever you say, the number of drinks per day are irrelevant. The package was changed after the op bought it. I don’t understand how you can disagree with the facts

It’s a bait and switch whatever you say, the number of drinks per day are irrelevant. The package was changed after the op bought it. I don’t understand how you can disagree with the facts

Fine: a perfectly legal "bait & switch"

Interesting that OP has not been part of recent discussions - not the first time we've had a heated debate and OP does not take part.

Oh.. I don't blame the OP from avoiding this thread.

OP posted, came back and read, and then followed up for clarification.

Most of what has followed in no way adds or helps the OP. Instead we're off in our own discussion that was hashed out a year ago when the beverage package was initially changed.

OP is probably in another line's thread planning the next cruise.

Just to clarify the changes for those who don’t remember, the change in the package was not just limited the alcoholic beverages to 15 per 24 hour period. It also changed the water bottle size to not being able to get the large bottles with the exception of being in the speciality dining rooms. As well as you could no longer have canned soda which then made it you could no longer have any soda on Princess Cay since that’s all they have there. And one of the big one for me was you no longer received 40% off a bottle of wine that cost $100 and under but you would now receive only 25% off any bottle of wine.

 

I guess the only recourse one has is to cancel the package that they purchased or see if the sip & sale booked last year could be changed to OBC for each person.

Also the price limit for drinks and wines by the glass were increased by $2 per drink from $10 to $12. No, the prices for drinks on board were not increased at the same time.

It’s a bait and switch whatever you say, the number of drinks per day are irrelevant. The package was changed after the op bought it. I don’t understand how you can disagree with the facts

The fact is that it was not switched, the terms of the program were modified. (There are not two different plans). The unlimited plan with the $10 price limit was modified to a $12 price limit plan. Personally I cannot sympathize with those upset that they can only drink 15 alcoholic drinks per day.

I am not sure the OP would be as upset if they had not understood that non alcoholic drinks are not subject to the limitation.

Since you insist that the OP will be able to successfully dispute the charge for the cruise with his credit card company, it hurts your credibility IMO.

Personally I have no issue with the modifications except I prefer canned soda. I can appreciate Princess’s attempt to reduce waste, to reduce sharing of a single package, and to moderate excessive drinking.

Keith, thanks for linking that article. Very interesting take on it. I was annoyed with Princess last year for changing the package that I had purchased (not sip & sale) to something completely different but it would never cross my mind to do a charge back. I honestly can’t see how one would do that and then expect to be welcomed back on board that cruise line!

 

Winning a dispute with your credit card does not mean that the charges necessarily go away either. The merchant does have the legal right to sue for goods and services rendered. Not sure Princess would go that far, but it will stay in your Captain’s circle records.

Completely agree that it will stay in the passenger's Captain's Circle records. I would not be surprised to see that passengers who did a charge back would be placed on Princess "No Sail" list.

There's no reason that Princess should agree to carry passengers who do charge backs. - EBC

Fine: a perfectly legal "bait & switch"

Didn’t say it was illegal, but the facts are clear

Oh.. I don't blame the OP from avoiding this thread.

 

 

 

OP posted, came back and read, and then followed up for clarification.

 

 

 

Most of what has followed in no way adds or helps the OP. Instead we're off in our own discussion that was hashed out a year ago when the beverage package was initially changed.

 

 

 

OP is probably in another line's thread planning the next cruise.

Yes

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Didn’t say it was illegal, but the facts are clear

Not uncommon in travel.

One runs into many minor changes with policies, schedules, amenities all of the time with airlines, hotels, cruise lines, tours, river cruises, etc.

With the program one would be hard to argue that the overall economic value of the current program is worse then the original. Certainly their is a limit on alcoholic drinks, but not a unreasonable one, when one considers that the program is for 1 person. They also increased the value by raising the drink price limit. Would be rather difficult for someone to claim that they were damaged by the change, unless they were violating the rules and buying for others. They would have had the chance to cancel, but I suspect they still got more value than the alternatives, especially if they were hitting the 15 drink limit.

Airlines change flights all the time. We once booked a 7 hour flight from Sacramento to Seattle to Fairbanks. Delta cancelled the flight and change it to an 18 hour flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles to Minneapolis.St. Paul to Fairbanks. Nope, nope, nope. We got it fixed but it took a fair amount of phone time. To me, this sort of thing is far worse than changing the "unlimited" drinks to "15 drinks per day" yet people put up with the weird stuff airlines do and never try to get a charge back.

Airlines change flights all the time. We once booked a 7 hour flight from Sacramento to Seattle to Fairbanks. Delta cancelled the flight and change it to an 18 hour flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles to Minneapolis.St. Paul to Fairbanks. Nope, nope, nope. We got it fixed but it took a fair amount of phone time. To me, this sort of thing is far worse than changing the "unlimited" drinks to "15 drinks per day" yet people put up with the weird stuff airlines do and never try to get a charge back.

You would got $400 compensation per person for that in Europe

Airlines change flights all the time. We once booked a 7 hour flight from Sacramento to Seattle to Fairbanks. Delta cancelled the flight and change it to an 18 hour flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles to Minneapolis.St. Paul to Fairbanks. Nope, nope, nope. We got it fixed but it took a fair amount of phone time. To me, this sort of thing is far worse than changing the "unlimited" drinks to "15 drinks per day" yet people put up with the weird stuff airlines do and never try to get a charge back.

I learned early on that when an airline notifies you that there's a change, and they ask do you accept the change? to say "No" if necessary. That's worked twice for us. One time they even rebooked us on a different airline (at no charge) for almost the identical flights they changed.

I would put the impact of this change in the same camp as ordering a special meal for a flight, only to find that it was not available on board, or arriving at a hotel only to find that the pool was closed for maintenance. Actually the last one is probably more of an impact. These kind of relatively minor issues occur all of the time. In the US not actionable.

When the spa attendant charged me a higher price than the price I booked on line for, I emailed princess customer customerrelations@princesscruises.com. They apologized and refunded me the difference. I also recall also getting a credit when the Medallion Cruise promotion fizzled out. Princess can be responsive to a bait and switch sometimes. You may want to give it a try to see

They also increased the value by raising the drink price limit.

Not really. With the old package there were only a handful of drinks that exceeded the $ limit.

Princess did increase drink prices earlier this year. The new $ limit allows the same included drinks as the old package did.

But by taking away canned sodas, they did reduce the value since canned sodas are the only kind available at Princess Cays. They also reduced the discount on bottles of wine in the dining room.

Not really. With the old package there were only a handful of drinks that exceeded the $ limit.

 

Princess did increase drink prices earlier this year. The new $ limit allows the same included drinks as the old package did.

 

But by taking away canned sodas, they did reduce the value since canned sodas are the only kind available at Princess Cays. They also reduced the discount on bottles of wine in the dining room.

Okay. I mostly have no sympathy with those who complain about the change but... I have to agree with the grievance about the soda and the wine. Reducing "unlimited" to "15 within a 24 hour period - defined as 6 AM to 6 AM" doesn't bother me. The change to the soda and wine is actually far more of a grievous change to many. I can't bring myself to ignore the feelings of those to whom these two changes have a major impact. They don't affect "me" personally but I can truly appreciate how these two changes could be of major impact to others.

Okay. I mostly have no sympathy with those who complain about the change but... I have to agree with the grievance about the soda and the wine. Reducing "unlimited" to "15 within a 24 hour period - defined as 6 AM to 6 AM" doesn't bother me. The change to the soda and wine is actually far more of a grievous change to many. I can't bring myself to ignore the feelings of those to whom these two changes have a major impact. They don't affect "me" personally but I can truly appreciate how these two changes could be of major impact to others.

It really doesn't matter what other guest think, about the changes, or if the drinks are to much or not enough. And again even the cruise contract means very little if the person paying and using a credit card to do so opens a dispute. Fraud, Bait & Switch, False Advertising whatever the person paying the bill feels has been done wrong is what a credit card company will look at. As a seller I have many of these disputes every month and almost always the buyer wins.... It is just part of taking credit cards, if the buyer feels they have been wrong or cheated most of the time the card company will agree.

It really doesn't matter what other guest think, about the changes, or if the drinks are to much or not enough. And again even the cruise contract means very little if the person paying and using a credit card to do so opens a dispute. Fraud, Bait & Switch, False Advertising whatever the person paying the bill feels has been done wrong is what a credit card company will look at. As a seller I have many of these disputes every month and almost always the buyer wins.... It is just part of taking credit cards, if the buyer feels they have been wrong or cheated most of the time the card company will agree.

If you have that many disputes, maybe it has to do with the way you do business.

If you have that many disputes, maybe it has to do with the way you do business.

Really... the industry average that is considered normal across the board is 1% or less. Being in online business the rate of chargebacks can be much higher. Our rate is 20/100 to 25/100th of 1% or about 4 chargesbacks a month. So not really sure how anyone could say we have that many that we should change business practices. If anything we are a model for very low changebacks for the industry. But still deal with about 1 per week since the mid 1980's (Online & Brick & Mortar) that means having dealt with many chargebvacks and knowing the system very well.

I was told by reception that the "Premium" package which we had, had a 15 drink max that included soft drinks, coffee, bottled water and alcohol. I asked specifically if the 15 drink max only pertained to alcohol or if the drink max included coffee, soft drinks and bottle water. The person at reception said it included everything not just alcohol. We were never denied soft drinks as we only drank them in the afternoon. We definitely were denied bottle water at the end of the night because of our 15 max limit.

It is a bit cumbersome with the 15 max limit. However some passengers get caught up in the holiday spirit and cannot hold their alcohol. They end up disruptive to passengers as well as crew.