Disgraceful treatment!!!!

[FKGirl]

... and since you went through a TA, he/she should be handling this for you with as many calls/letters as it takes. You should not have to deal with all of this...

 

http://floridakeysgirl.com

[Seabourn-nail]

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

 

I think it will be solved Tilly... don't worry too much! They should take a look at your Cruise Critic name:(...

 

Tillylovesseabourn!

Marja

[Flamin_June]

There does seem to be a huge gulf in the quality of service between Seabourn Admin/booking and what you find on the ships. I have picked this up from several threads here and had a very poor experience myself when raising an issue with HQ (rather trivial when compared to this). Their initial response was basicaly 'take it or leave, we couldn't care less'. My civil though unhappy follow up email was simply ignored.

The attitude is in stark contrast to the service one experiences on the ships and is really letting the whole show down badly, and letting down the hard working crews. It's all about money, pay up and put up. It is only because we had such a positive experience on the ship itself that we made a booking in the end. Reading this saga and others on this board really does take some of the gloss off. We are all rooting for you - this has made me decide to get back onto their case until I get a courteous reply.

[merryecho]

Here's an option- i wonder if it is possible for you to sue them in small claims court in Seattle?

[Host Dan]

Several years ago I booked a 14 day Crystal Cruise through the Panama Canal. The advertisement was a special price for a 2 week cruise. I went ahead and booked and paid in full. Upon receiving the final docs, the dates indicated an embarkation on a Thursday and a disembarkation on a Tuesday. It was truly a 12 day cruise, not a 14 day! My TA contacted Crystal, who immediately refunded the difference per diem. They didn't have to, but obviously saw that this was a good business practice. Took an hour or so.

 

This situation with SB, however, is leaving me scratching my head on so many levels..

 

Host Dan

[wripro]

You have to wonder how differently this would have been handled if Seabourn were still operating out of Miami.

[Roxburgh]

You have to wonder how differently this would have been handled if Seabourn were still operating out of Miami.

 

I'm not sure there would be much of a difference. There have always been complaints on here about the quality of their back-office even before the consolidation with HAL.

[markham]

I don't even know if the back office is to blame- wherever it is located- Southampton, Miami or Seattle.

 

It is the responsibility of management to train and empower their staff to handle the marketing of the product, the sale of each cruise, the processing of payments, the upload of customer data, and the handling of any complaints- professionally and competently. And what do we see here? None of that. The mind boggles.

 

What a public relations mess. I am sorely disappointed; I knew things were bad in Southampton. That's what happens in reorganizations- a game of catch up if and when things get confusing- between any old (Miami) and new (Seattle) directives. Where are the managers? They are the ones who are responsible to both customers and back office personnel.

[MARIANH]

Absolutely, Dan. (I agree, although I am still smarting from the triva drubbing you administered on Sojourn.)

 

 

One does smart when one gets a drubbing especially when the issue is trivial. Goodbye Cruise Critic.

[Host Dan]

Absolutely, Dan. (I agree, although I am still smarting from the triva drubbing you administered on Sojourn.)

 

 

One does smart when one gets a drubbing especially when the issue is trivial. Goodbye Cruise Critic.

?? Huh??

 

Host Dan

[Cruise Junky]

?? Huh??

 

Host Dan

 

Glad I'm not the only one scratching my head

[Sunbubble]

This is all so sad. We have been thinking about trying SB for quite a while, since we heard/read good things about cabins/food/atmosphere/etc and the prices seemed reasonable. After reading this thread, not so much. It's just hard for me to believe that they would treat a repeat customer this way. SB will almost certainly lose far more than the additional fare. I know that they won't get our money --- for quite a while, anyway. Repeat, so sad.

[johnnycruise]

... and since you went through a TA, he/she should be handling this for you with as many calls/letters as it takes. You should not have to deal with all of this...

 

http://floridakeysgirl.com

 

I completely agree with you, FK Girl. Tilly, why is your travel agent not taking a more proactive stance on your behalf?

 

Wishing you the best,

 

johnny

[lord of the seas]

Here's an option- i wonder if it is possible for you to sue them in small claims court in Seattle?

 

No,it's a UK booking and the contract is with the UK office, which I am sure is the problem here.

The UK office is to be avoided at all costs.Even my UK agent is dealing directly with Seattle to make sure.

[MARIANH]

 

Glad I'm not the only one scratching my head

 

I return reluctantly. This is trivia . The clue is in the title of the thread. To say more would perhaps stimulate yet another censoriuos response from a known trivia expert.

 

Also,being expert in many things, Writer 100 ( to whom my comment was directed) probably " gets it".

[lord of the seas]

This is all so sad. We have been thinking about trying SB for quite a while, since we heard/read good things about cabins/food/atmosphere/etc and the prices seemed reasonable. After reading this thread, not so much. It's just hard for me to believe that they would treat a repeat customer this way. SB will almost certainly lose far more than the additional fare. I know that they won't get our money --- for quite a while, anyway. Repeat, so sad.

 

This is a very rare problem in the whole scheme of things.

very few Seabourn guests even know about CC.and only 2% of them ever post here.The experience on the ships bears no resemblance to what goes on in the land based offices.This will get better once people settle into their new jobs and get used to working in the luxury cruise industry.

Nothing has changed on the ships.

[lord of the seas]

 

I return reluctantly. This is trivia . The clue is in the title of the thread. To say more would perhaps stimulate yet another censoriuos response from a known trivia expert.

 

Also,being expert in many things, Writer 100 ( to whom my comment was directed) probably " gets it".

 

Yes MARIANH, and with four exclamation marks.;)

[NEOPHYTUS]

Was the ad for this attractively priced cruise marketed and issued directly by Seabourn to the public or was it placed by the Travel Agency who received the details from Seabourn ?

If by Seabourn directly, the OP has a very good case even though Seabourn may claim a printing error or some other fine print clause. If marketed to the public by the travel agency that received the info from Seabourn, that opens up the possibility that an honest mistake in the pricing of the offer was made during their communications and finger pointing ensues.

 

If the latter, IMO, the Travel Agency has more skin in this game than at first thought and if so, a Solomonic decision would solve the problem.

[merryecho]

Lord of the seas- my attorney friends tell me that even though it was a UK booking, Seattle is where the company does business, they think it is liable to suit there. Being a lover of underdogs, if SB fails to live up to their contract, I live near enough to Seattle that I would be willing to file the necessary paperwork and ask the judge if I could stand in for Tilly. Just filing would probably be enough to get the attention of SB's attorneys- hardly worth their time to fight it in court. And it would only cost Tilly $35.

I did this once when United Airlines pulled a similar stunt on me and ignored my protests. Their attorneys were on the phone the day they were notified, offering much more than I was asking if I would drop it.

I would also ask a friend who writes travel stories for the Seattle Times to come to the trial.

[JaneBP]

>"If the latter, IMO, the Travel Agency has more skin in this game than at first thought and if so, a Solomonic decision would solve the problem."

 

OH NO!! Slicing our Tilly in half???? Say it isn't so!!

[lord of the seas]

Lord of the seas- my attorney friends tell me that even though it was a UK booking, Seattle is where the company does business, they think it is liable to suit there. Being a lover of underdogs, if SB fails to live up to their contract, I live near enough to Seattle that I would be willing to file the necessary paperwork and ask the judge if I could stand in for Tilly. Just filing would probably be enough to get the attention of SB's attorneys- hardly worth their time to fight it in court. And it would only cost Tilly $35.

I did this once when United Airlines pulled a similar stunt on me and ignored my protests. Their attorneys were on the phone the day they were notified, offering much more than I was asking if I would drop it.

I would also ask a friend who writes travel stories for the Seattle Times to come to the trial.

 

Sounds like a good day out,now to book the restaurant for lunch:)

[lord of the seas]

>"If the latter, IMO, the Travel Agency has more skin in this game than at first thought and if so, a Solomonic decision would solve the problem."

quote]

 

Unfortunately Seabourn are not showing the wisdom of Solomon at present.

[lincslady]

It would be good if Tilly would tell us all who advertised this cruise; whether she had her airline details sent to her as or before she paid or not. If she has her airline reference number, then she (and spouse/whoever?) should indeed be booked in for this cruise, and someone has - I think- sold her a cruise which should have been cruise only as an air and transfer cruise, and only later spotted that they probably should not have done so. Normally, in the UK, if you book cruise including air you are given your flight details and airline ref. no. even before you have paid in full.

[NEOPHYTUS]

>"If the latter, IMO, the Travel Agency has more skin in this game than at first thought and if so, a Solomonic decision would solve the problem."

 

OH NO!! Slicing our Tilly in half???? Say it isn't so!!

 

Perhaps filleting would be more fitting as this is supposedly a high-end 6 star luxury cruise line. But then, the justifiably exasperated Tilly must feel like she's gone thru the bureaucratic meat grinder for the past week.

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Lord of the seas- my attorney friends tell me that even though it was a UK booking, Seattle is where the company does business, they think it is liable to suit there. Being a lover of underdogs, if SB fails to live up to their contract, I live near enough to Seattle that I would be willing to file the necessary paperwork and ask the judge if I could stand in for Tilly. Just filing would probably be enough to get the attention of SB's attorneys- hardly worth their time to fight it in court. And it would only cost Tilly $35.

I did this once when United Airlines pulled a similar stunt on me and ignored my protests. Their attorneys were on the phone the day they were notified, offering much more than I was asking if I would drop it.

I would also ask a friend who writes travel stories for the Seattle Times to come to the trial.

 

That is so kind of you, I have still not heard a thing and it really is getting beyond a joke now! I am beginning to think i may take you up on your exceedingly kind offer x