Disgraceful treatment!!!!

[Seabourn-nail]

I'm very sorry that your birthday plans have been ruined, at least until now. If I had seen a one week cruise on the Odyssey including flights for that amount, I would have booked instantly! But I would also have thought, that it couldn't be right...

I wish you good luck!

Marja

[lord of the seas]

Yes Marga,

if it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is too good to be true.

[Tillylovesseabourn]

I'm very sorry that your birthday plans have been ruined, at least until now. If I had seen a one week cruise on the Odyssey including flights for that amount, I would have booked instantly! But I would also have thought, that it couldn't be right...

I wish you good luck!

Marja[/qu

 

I know what you are saying, but the TA had checked several times with SB, on these prices and had them confirmed, so no reason to think the price was wrong!

 

Other than physically telling them they were charging too little, getting confirmation of the correct pricing from SB on several occasions is about all one can do surely??

 

And then for the booking to be acknowledged and paid for, a contract has been taken out by law, I am sure that if i had decided to back out of the deal, after final payment, SB would not have offered me a refund this close to sailing?? Cant have it both ways!!!!!

[lord of the seas]

Tilly,

 

you have played your part correctly and can only hope that Seabourn honour your legal booking and walk away, to live to fight another day.

I would be making a phone call to my lawyer to get proper advice on what I am sure will be a happy outcome.

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Update...

 

I have just recieved a call from SB UK, with no further news, but there is going to be a conference call to Seattle about this later today. I made them fully aware that I know there are lots of people involved in this farce, and that i knew of people who had,previously had SB stand by their fare when it was SB's fault, as in this situation. So we will see, I am trying to deal with SB seattle though, as I am not confident of the team in the uk.

[wripro]

In the past when they were overbooked they have always offered very generous compensation to those willing to change their plans but it was always voluntary.

[LN50]

Tilly

 

Good luck with your fight.

I have seen several ads for Seabourn cruises at around the £1400 price point for one week for this summer so it seems very strange that they want to nearly double your fare.

I do wonder if they are becoming very 'penny pinching'. :eek:

We did look into several dates ourselves but the flights did not work for us.

 

Hope you have sucess as you did check the price several times and they were happy enough to take your money at the price quoted.

 

Linda (Nottm)

[writer100]

I am so sorry this happened to you. I'm sure there is some sort of fine print somewhere that deals with this mistake, however, this a very bad business practice not to honor the price that was agreed upon.

 

Host Dan

Absolutely, Dan. (I agree, although I am still smarting from the triva drubbing you administered on Sojourn.) Some, perhaps many. will immediately attribute this unconscionable position to the merger with HAL. If Seabourn has any independence left, they will either accept passengers at the earlier fare, or at the very least, give every passenger so affected a credit for a future cruise equal to the requested additional payment.

When you announce to the world that you have a premium product, you would be foolish--nay, stupid--to threaten that marketing position in any manner. And this really does have the offensive smell of a shady package tour operator.

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Hi Folks,

 

Just to let you know, STILL no word from SB, the customer service is just getting better and better!!:mad::mad:

 

Goes down as the longest conference call ever!!!!!

[Miss Jet Set]

Good Luck - Do not give up - I had a three month dispute with them and

in the end I wrote to ABTA who in turn got in touch with SB , next came

a letter admitting they were in the wrong.

Yes -SB U.K.are a waste of time.

[merryecho]

I have been impressed with Oceania's response to cruisecritic. The president of the company realizes what an important sales tool it is, and how important it can be to solve small problems before they spread into big ones. Something like this would have been fixed quickly. I am surprised that SB doesn't seem to be aware of how much marketing is done through word of mouth here.

[Chairsin]

Tilly,

I am afraid the only words of encouragement I can offer are to keep pushing. If one person tells you know ask to speak to their superior and keep working up the line. Good luck!

[markham]

Just don't give up. Stay focused with all of your evidence at hand and press for resolution so that in turn Seabourn will recognize not only whom they are dealing with but that you are open-minded but firm, and are doing them a favor. Which you are. No one wants to deal with a backslider. Period.

 

Yes, it's a shame that this is taking so long for apparently poorly trained and managed people to come to their senses. They will do so at cost. This is the ugly face of the bureaucracy that clearly needs a shakeup (or is it shakedown?).

 

Keep up the good fight!

[lincslady]

Nil carborundum Tilly. I hope you get some resolution today.

 

Just to be sure we have all the facts - you are booked for a week on Quest. Did this include flights, and was the cost approx. £1400 to £1500? My guess judging from the Agent's offers is that it did not include flights - if it did, it was a very very good price, as SB are currently charging about £500 per person for European flights and transfers, and this could be why they are being awkward. If it did not include flights, then it seems to be a perfectly normal price for what you have booked.

 

As you can tell from the responses to your problem, everyone has their fingers crossed.

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Hi All,

 

Still no response, I have spoken to UK who know nothing and held me on the phone line for 25 mins to tell me that!

 

This looks very bad for seabourn.

 

I have emailed my complaints to Rick Meadows and Seabourn Club and Guest services seattle, I have made them all aware of the negative attention this is drawing to them.

 

This treatment is taking all of the joy out of any possible celebration I might of had, let alone costing me valuable time and money the longer it goes on!!!!!!!!

[Martita B.]

Perhaps consider having your attorney contact either Rick Meadows or Bruce Good ~ I am disappointed in Seabourn as this would have been quite simple for Seattle to have acknowledged and to'move on!

Martita B.

[JaneBP]

I agree, this is certainly leaving many of us with a sour perception of how issues are handled, the longer it drags on. All this unfavorable publicity with so many loyal cruisers which could've been solved in a few moments. Bad management decisions seem to be mounting up. Perhaps HAL really doesn't care.

[markham]

I just watched an episode of that famous US television program "Judge Judy".

 

Are you familiar with it? Can you imagine the embarrassment Seabourn's representative would face if Judge Judy asked about the cruise which was advertised, booked, paid in full, accommodated on Seabourn's own system as "already booked" and then wanted to back out due to its own errors? And then couldn't manage to explain themselves with an offer of compensation for your expenses for days and days.

 

I would pay to see that program.

 

Amazing!

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Ah yes, Judge Judy, she would certainly laugh them out of court with this one! The longer it goes on the worse it looks for them, what part of that don't they understand????:confused::confused:

[lincslady]

Ah yes, Judge Judy, she would certainly laugh them out of court with this one! The longer it goes on the worse it looks for them, what part of that don't they understand????:confused::confused:

 

Tilly - I did ask if your cruise was flight inclusive, at approx. £1400 to £1600 per person? If so, then presumably either Seabourn or your Agent have made a mistake, and flights should not have been included? And then not noticed until everything was paid up and agreed? Would love to know - as I said before, if it was cruise only then the price appears right.

 

Whatever, if it was a mistake it was not yours, and obviously your agreement should be honoured. And if it was a mistake, do you know whose mistake it was? Keep :)ing.

[Deckhandoug]

Thanks for sharing your story, I'm sure myself and a lot of others watching will take this experience into consideration when we are considering which cruise line to book our future cruises with.

[FKGirl]

Just as a point of information...TAs do NOT get free trips, and if some do it is VERY rare.

 

That being said (as a TA and as a consumer) I am truly appalled at how you are being treated. It sounds more like a car dealer's ad than a luxury cruise. I certainly hope this will work out in your favor. Keep us posted!

 

http://FloridaKeysGirl.com

[JaneBP]

At this point, from my view, no matter how it is settled for Tilly, the length of the solution-generating has already soured me. The poor process is almost worse than whatever the resolution will be. Who wants a lengthy runaround?

 

Already I am reluctant to put down a deposit on a future cruise. I will now be boarding the Sojourn in September with the attitude of 'what else might go wrong and how will they screw me?"

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Hi Lincslady,

 

Cruise was inclusive of air, and was widely advertised as so by Seabourn, this was checked and doubled checked by the TA, who were advised by SB the advert pricing was correct!

[Tillylovesseabourn]

At this point, from my view, no matter how it is settled for Tilly, the length of the solution-generating has already soured me. The poor process is almost worse than whatever the resolution will be. Who wants a lengthy runaround?

 

Already I am reluctant to put down a deposit on a future cruise. I will now be boarding the Sojourn in September with the attitude of 'what else might go wrong and how will they screw me?"

 

It has certainly put a dampener on the whole thing for me, its turned into such a fiasco.