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Quandary over perceived bait & switch


rlgreg
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Sorry… This is a little long.

 

Yesterday, I went online to Princess’ website to check out the last minute deals. Right in front of me there was a listing for a 7 night Alaska cruise for $90 for an inside cabin and $91 for a mini-suite. Not believing my eyes, I decided to check it out. On two different web pages it showed that price, but when I tried to book it, the screen kept getting hung up. I called their reservation line and got a wonderful agent who about fell over when she saw that pricing on her system as well and immediately told me that if I wanted to book it I should hurry and do it right then and there. So I did. We are Platinum Elite and also got a complimentary upgrade. After we were done with the booking (and paid for 100%), I made a comment that I was going to tell my friends we travel with to see if they wanted to come too.

 

The agent was so helpful, she immediately found my friendsin the loyalty program and also said this was a “Share the Savings” cruise, sothey could get the same rate we got! Amazing! So she made areservation for them under a courtesy hold for 24 hours.

 

Needless to say a few hours later a member of “management”left me a voice mail to say the pricing was wrong and they had re-priced itbecause a “zero fare” did not exist and they were very sorry. The price went from $91pp to $1939pp.

 

Long story short, I have been round and round with“management” and they have reduced the fare to $499pp. For a mini-suite. Now, I realize that is an extraordinary farefor a 7 night cruise in a mini-suite….don’t get me wrong; and I understand thatsometimes websites have incorrect pricing, but I did my due diligence bycalling into Princess directly to verify the fare. Their booking system had this fare in it andI paid for my cruise in full at the time of booking. To me they should honor what they sold me.

 

Am I looking a gift horse in the mouth? Should I just suck it up and take their offeror should I keep fighting for what I paid for? It’s a frustrating situation, especially considering how "helpful" their agent was to book the trip in the first place. :rolleyes:

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I understand that wrong pricing happens....BUT if you called and verified and they quoted you the same price as you saw online then they should honor it! Airlines honor their mistakes as do stores when things are priced incorrectly.

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Sorry… This is a little long.

 

 

 

Yesterday, I went online to Princess’ website to check out the last minute deals. Right in front of me there was a listing for a 7 night Alaska cruise for $90 for an inside cabin and $91 for a mini-suite. Not believing my eyes, I decided to check it out. On two different web pages it showed that price, but when I tried to book it, the screen kept getting hung up. I called their reservation line and got a wonderful agent who about fell over when she saw that pricing on her system as well and immediately told me that if I wanted to book it I should hurry and do it right then and there. So I did. We are Platinum Elite and also got a complimentary upgrade. After we were done with the booking (and paid for 100%), I made a comment that I was going to tell my friends we travel with to see if they wanted to come too.

 

 

 

The agent was so helpful, she immediately found my friendsin the loyalty program and also said this was a “Share the Savings” cruise, sothey could get the same rate we got! Amazing! So she made areservation for them under a courtesy hold for 24 hours.

 

 

 

Needless to say a few hours later a member of “management”left me a voice mail to say the pricing was wrong and they had re-priced itbecause a “zero fare” did not exist and they were very sorry. The price went from $91pp to $1939pp.

 

 

 

Long story short, I have been round and round with“management” and they have reduced the fare to $499pp. For a mini-suite. Now, I realize that is an extraordinary farefor a 7 night cruise in a mini-suite….don’t get me wrong; and I understand thatsometimes websites have incorrect pricing, but I did my due diligence bycalling into Princess directly to verify the fare. Their booking system had this fare in it andI paid for my cruise in full at the time of booking. To me they should honor what they sold me.

 

 

 

Am I looking a gift horse in the mouth? Should I just suck it up and take their offeror should I keep fighting for what I paid for? It’s a frustrating situation, especially considering how "helpful" their agent was to book the trip in the first place. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

Not sure where you live but, if you are a Californian and you were sold travel by whoever, that entity needs to be licensed to sell travel in California. Travel sales are regulated by the Office of the Attorney General. There is a complaint process and the seller must respond to the AG within a set period of time. Hopefully, you created images of the price page, copies of your receipt, etc. to make your case.

Though this situation is probably a "fat fingers" error, the fine print in your T&C may mention the right of the cruise line to change pricing, add surcharges, etc. However, whether any particular modification, interpretation or application of the pricing issue at hand is legal (in California) is a matter for determination by the AG's Office.

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OP thought that something funny was going on when the screen kept getting hung up. OP had reason to believe that the price was incorrect when the call was made to the cruise line. OP can possibly push the issue and go to small claims court and get a refund after the cruise, but at what cost.

 

 

I will say that this is not bait and switch, but is an error, and based on what OP says OP knew it was too good to be true.

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I think they should honor the price you found BECAUSE you called them and the customer service rep completed the transaction. There was plenty of opportunity for them to say, "wait, that's not right, we cannot move forward at that price."

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Not sure where you live but, if you are a Californian and you were sold travel by whoever, that entity needs to be licensed to sell travel in California. Travel sales are regulated by the Office of the Attorney General. There is a complaint process and the seller must respond to the AG within a set period of time. Hopefully, you created images of the price page, copies of your receipt, etc. to make your case.

Though this situation is probably a "fat fingers" error, the fine print in your T&C may mention the right of the cruise line to change pricing, add surcharges, etc. However, whether any particular modification, interpretation or application of the pricing issue at hand is legal (in California) is a matter for determination by the AG's Office.

OP bought it over the phone directly from the cruise line. Doubt CA would have any jurisdiction.

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OP bought it over the phone directly from the cruise line. Doubt CA would have any jurisdiction.

 

 

However the purchase is made, a cruise line is a "seller of travel" in California if the buyer resides in California. The AG will investigate complaints and act accordingly. Of course, enforcement of decisions is an entire other matter. But, there is strength in numbers and enough repeated problems will not go unnoticed nor be left unaddressed.

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However the purchase is made, a cruise line is a "seller of travel" in California if the buyer resides in California. The AG will investigate complaints and act accordingly. Of course, enforcement of decisions is an entire other matter. But, there is strength in numbers and enough repeated problems will not go unnoticed nor be left unaddressed.

 

As I understand it Vermont law would also apply to an internet transaction such as this, although I'm not sure if the protection would be as great as what is afforded to California consumers. Many states have laws that protect their consumers in such a fashion.

 

With that said it sounds to me like it's a matter of an advertised price that is wrong and the "store clerk" didn't realize it. Merchants are not bound to honor a mistake in advertising and are allowed to correct it (and while the sale had been completed in this case it would be similar to a consumer ordering something at an incorrect price and the merchant realizing the error before delivery took place). Personally I would be happy with the reduced price for the mini-suite and call it a day.

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As an auction site seller I list something for $99 but then notice that I had mistakenly entered $9. Just before I can correct it somebody has jumped in and bought and paid for it at $9. Do I have to take the $90 loss? (For the record the site says that I can just cancel and refund in that situation.)

 

$91 wasn't even 5% of the real $1939 fare so it was obviously a web site error and not a bait. Cruise line agents just follow company protocol and have no authority to verify or overide the published fares.

 

Since you asked, I think the manager offering you the mini-suite for $499 is extremely generous as is a 74% discount. Pursue the $91 fare through legal channels and maybe you will prevail or maybe not. But they will pull that $499 offer off the table.

 

You wanted a great deal and you got it. You've lost nothing.

Edited by BlueRiband
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...

 

$91 wasn't even 5% of the real $1939 fare so it was obviously a web site error and not a bait. Cruise line agents just follow company protocol and have no authority to verify or overide the published fares.

 

...

 

You wanted a great deal and you got it. You've lost nothing.

 

This is it in a nutshell: "bait and switch" means intentionally luring a customer in with false advertising: clearly not the case here. Also, any reasonable statute protects merchants from penalty for good-faith errors - even if repeated by unthinking agents of such merchants. At the end of the day, OP got a far better deal than he could have hoped for if he relied on legal action.

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Whatever course you chose r to pursue, keep in mind, Princess likely has seen or will see this thread . You have stated your idea the pricing was an error. You cannot, now, plead to not have thought that could have been the case.

Edited by sail7seas
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As an auction site seller I list something for $99 but then notice that I had mistakenly entered $9. Just before I can correct it somebody has jumped in and bought and paid for it at $9. Do I have to take the $90 loss? (For the record the site says that I can just cancel and refund in that situation.)

 

$91 wasn't even 5% of the real $1939 fare so it was obviously a web site error and not a bait. Cruise line agents just follow company protocol and have no authority to verify or overide the published fares.

 

Since you asked, I think the manager offering you the mini-suite for $499 is extremely generous as is a 74% discount. Pursue the $91 fare through legal channels and maybe you will prevail or maybe not. But they will pull that $499 offer off the table.

 

You wanted a great deal and you got it. You've lost nothing.

 

Before you choose,,,,,,,, give though t to whether you will incur legal fees.

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This is it in a nutshell: "bait and switch" means intentionally luring a customer in with false advertising: clearly not the case here. Also, any reasonable statute protects merchants from penalty for good-faith errors - even if repeated by unthinking agents of such merchants. At the end of the day, OP got a far better deal than he could have hoped for if he relied on legal action.

 

 

 

While I agree that OP should quit while they are ahead, there is the reality that some airlines (United comes to mind) have, on occasion, honored "web glitch" fares that appeared albeit however briefly.

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This is it in a nutshell: "bait and switch" means intentionally luring a customer in with false advertising: clearly not the case here. Also, any reasonable statute protects merchants from penalty for good-faith errors - even if repeated by unthinking agents of such merchants. At the end of the day, OP got a far better deal than he could have hoped for if he relied on legal action.

 

Not a bait and switch, it’s called a mistake.

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Whatever course you chose r to pursue, keep in mind, Princess likely has seen or will see this thread .
I think we'd like to believe that but it is unlikely that any such connection will be made between a specific customer and some random person on the Internet.
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There are enough details for Princess to make the connection.

 

And trust me, vendors CAN make the connection.

 

Years ago, I posted about a situation with a friend and a used car they had purchased that was having difficulties. The friend was a financial manager, so not someone you want upset at your company. They figured out who it was, and made it right. And there was not as much info as the OP has given.

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I checked the US Princess site T&C and they do have a disclaimer over pricing errors including the right to refund the incorrect price if the credit card has already been charged. (Pricing laws are intended to protect customers from deliberate bait and switch tactics, not to bankrupt businesses over honest web site mistakes.)

 

OP is a first time poster and hasn't been back. He probably found this site after searching for some way to get the $91 fare despite knowing that a price that low had to be wrong. Princess is willing to give him a price that's only about 25% of the going rate but it sounds like that's not good enough for him. Those two things weaken his case.

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We'll have to agree to disagree about how likely it is.

 

It's amazing how much can be figured out from just a little information. I doubt that there is a large pool of passengers that 1) booked at a $91 rate on a 7 night sailing to Alaska, 2) that are Platinum Elite, 3) that had courtesy holds placed for their friends on said booking, and that 4) interacted with management to the point that they received a mini-suite for $499pp. If Princess did look at this thread I'm pretty sure that they would be able to ID the OP fairly quickly. And if the OP did pursue legal action this thread could potentially be something that would be brought up.

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Well, it is academic. While I believe you're mistaken, what I do believe is that it won't come to that. The provisions in the terms and conditions are more than enough for the cruise line to prevail without any need to attempt to prove that this random person on the Internet is that specific customer.

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Well, it is academic. While I believe you're mistaken, what I do believe is that it won't come to that. The provisions in the terms and conditions are more than enough for the cruise line to prevail without any need to attempt to prove that this random person on the Internet is that specific customer.

 

I doubt that it would come to that either but companies can certainly figure out who is posting what based on the details divulged in such postings. Who knows, Princess might be inclined to withdraw their generous offer based on OP's attempt to make them look bad (and accusing a company of using bait and switch tactics does that).

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OP thought that something funny was going on when the screen kept getting hung up. OP had reason to believe that the price was incorrect when the call was made to the cruise line. OP can possibly push the issue and go to small claims court and get a refund after the cruise, but at what cost.

 

 

I will say that this is not bait and switch, but is an error, and based on what OP says OP knew it was too good to be true.

 

 

 

Except when the op called princess because yes he did think something was wrong they confirmed the price and booked it for him and his friends

 

I agree princess did give him an excellent price at $499 but It would not be a stretch for them to honor the original price at all

 

I'm sure several cabins are given away free on every cruise for one reason or another...high rollers...employees...various perk programs...the next door neighbor of the CEOs cousins friend

 

 

Btw...the person(S) who is ultimately responsible would be the website programmer for not editing his work and the cs rep for not putting the pax on hold to check it out....but it wouldn't surprise me if the cs rep has instructions to honor the website price...which they did...thus princess should give it to them and their friends at the $99

 

 

I'm not in favor of frivolous requests by pax btw...but this case is different

 

 

 

 

 

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