Princess offering Free cruises? Am I reading it wrong?

[caribill]

I don't know where to turn. The CR rep said the issue has gone as far as it will go within the company (up to the Customer Relations Manager).

 

OK, you have started at the bottom and worked part of your way up.

 

Time now to contact the President of Princess and work the issue down.

 

Write a calm letter/e-mail, state the facts, and include the wording of the original offer.

[cruzsnooze]

Yes he (and I) were on the same cruise as you.

He used a very small portion of his FCC on a cruise last week and had intended to use the large portion left on a longer cruise this coming year.

The Nov cruise didn't have the stipulations of applying it to one cruise only that was 7 days in 2014? I applied my whole credit to a 10 day cruise so i never encountered your issue but I owed less then my credit (but the cruise was considerably more then my credit I had paid it down ) for the Nov cruise so they refunded the $400 to my credit card. I'd be major Pi**ed to loose $1520 so I would take the suggestion to start from the top and work my way down. Edited December 18, 2013 by cruzsnooze

[Frugalist]

OK, you have started at the bottom and worked part of your way up.

 

Time now to contact the President of Princess and work the issue down.

 

Write a calm letter/e-mail, state the facts, and include the wording of the original offer.

Excellent idea. I will start working on a draft of that letter now.

 

It's also been suggested that I start a separate thread here on CruiseCritic to focus strictly on this and other issues I and others are having with Princess honoring their commitments. This will help expose Princess's shenanigans, rather than have them buried deep in this long thread. I hope to have the initial post up tonight or tomorrow.

[Frugalist]

The Nov cruise didn't have the stipulations of applying it to one cruise only that was 7 days in 2014?

When the promotion went live on Oct. 12, and when I booked our Nov. 1 cruise on Oct. 14, the Terms and Conditions did not restrict the application of the FCC to a single future sailing.

 

However, on Oct. 17, chamima posted the Terms and Condition in this thread at post #166. Sometime between Oct. 14 and Oct. 17 Princess changed the rules of the game. Sometime during that time frame they snuck in the word, "single." Someone at Princess was playing dirty pool by changing the T&C in the middle of the promotion.

[Wehwalt]

When the promotion went live on Oct. 12, and when I booked our Nov. 1 cruise on Oct. 14, the Terms and Conditions did not restrict the application of the FCC to a single future sailing.

 

However, on Oct. 17, chamima posted the Terms and Condition in this thread at post #166. Sometime between Oct. 14 and Oct. 17 Princess changed the rules of the game. Sometime during that time frame they snuck in the word, "single." Someone at Princess was playing dirty pool by changing the T&C in the middle of the promotion.

 

You might want to ask around to see if anyone has a screenshot or other dated evidence of the original offer.

[Frugalist]

You might want to ask around to see if anyone has a screenshot or other dated evidence of the original offer.

I copied and pasted the T&C into a Word document on Oct. 14 when I booked our Nov. 1 cruise. The Customer Relations rep I spoke with today asked me to email her a copy of that. Supposedly, upper management looked at it when considering their decision today. Their reasoning for refusing to apply the FCC to a second cruise is that the wording of the offer is that the FCC will be applied to a future "sailing," not "sailings."

 

Some early posts in this thread also quote the original T&C without the word "single." Those posts are all dated before chamima's Oct. 17 post quoting the T&C with the word "single."

 

If you think an actual screenshot of the original T&C would carry more weight than what we already have, I'll try to hunt one down. Thanks for your help.

[Tahoe Boater]

I have an actual screenshot of the T and C on my iPad. As soon as I figure out how to post it, I will.

[Tahoe Boater]

Here are the term and conditions in question.

 

[chamima]

Received this message from Princess today. See attachment.

 

From Princess "Above fares are based on Golden Princess® 10/21/13 and 10/28/13. Book a qualifying voyage by October 31, 2013 and 100% of the cruise fare will be available as a future cruise credit (FCC) that will be applicable to any 2013/2014 published future cruise that is 7 days or longer. Once the qualifying voyage has sailed, an FCC will automatically be applied to passengers’ Captains Circle member number. The FCC must be applied to a future sailing departing before December 31, 2014.

 

Tom:)

 

File Type: pdf princess.pdf (900.7 KB, 67 views)

 

 

fine print

 

I found 2 screen shots of the original offer.

 

EDIT: The attachments aren't copying. They are posts #60 and #115.

Both have links you can click on to see a screen shot of the original offer.

Edited December 18, 2013 by chamima

[likeadisguise]

I copied and pasted the T&C into a Word document on Oct. 14 when I booked our Nov. 1 cruise. The Customer Relations rep I spoke with today asked me to email her a copy of that. Supposedly, upper management looked at it when considering their decision today. Their reasoning for refusing to apply the FCC to a second cruise is that the wording of the offer is that the FCC will be applied to a future "sailing," not "sailings."

 

I think the key points to hit are:

 

1) If the original terms and conditions had been clear in the first place, they wouldn't have had to modify them. Clearly, the original wording left ambiguity.

 

2) Because the t&c weren't clear, you called Princess for clarification. The reps you spoke to assured you that the FCC could be split. You shouldn't be harmed (financially) because you were given incorrect information by Princess and then relied on it.

 

Good luck!

[Frugalist]

I found 2 screen shots of the original offer.

 

EDIT: The attachments aren't copying. They are posts #60 and #115.

Both have links you can click on to see a screen shot of the original offer.

Excellent! I have printed the screenshot linked to in post #60 and have added it to my pile of documents supporting my case.

[Frugalist]

I think the key points to hit are:

 

1) If the original terms and conditions had been clear in the first place, they wouldn't have had to modify them. Clearly, the original wording left ambiguity.

 

2) Because the t&c weren't clear, you called Princess for clarification. The reps you spoke to assured you that the FCC could be split. You shouldn't be harmed (financially) because you were given incorrect information by Princess and then relied on it.

 

Good luck!

Two absolutely excellent points. With respect to #2, I've been arguing that Princess should be required to honor assurances made by their front-line telephone sales reps when relying on those assurances was the basis for making the booking in the first place. If those assurances were not made, we would not have made the booking.

 

To all Princess customers: BEWARE -- Princess telephone sales reps can promise you the moon if it means making a sale. Princess seems to think they are under no obligation to honor that promise. You cannot rely on anything a Princess sales rep says unless it is unambiguously spelled out in writing.

[faiz23]

I am glad all my screenshots can help out other members. That is why I take them since all these greedy companies will change fine print and expect you not to remember the original terms. Let me know how all this turns out since I am deciding between one mini suite cruise or 2 balcony cruises if we can apply it. The original terms would allow us to apply it especially after they updated the new terms and condition updating with SINGLE in the fine print. That would mean the original deal does not have any single booking restriction. If we have to go through all this trouble than I will simple just book a single cruise and then find a different cruise line. Always answer with your wallet ;)

[chamima]

I am glad all my screenshots can help out other members. That is why I take them since all these greedy companies will change fine print and expect you not to remember the original terms. Let me know how all this turns out since I am deciding between one mini suite cruise or 2 balcony cruises if we can apply it. The original terms would allow us to apply it especially after they updated the new terms and condition updating with SINGLE in the fine print. That would mean the original deal does not have any single booking restriction. If we have to go through all this trouble than I will simple just book a single cruise and then find a different cruise line. Always answer with your wallet ;)

 

That's what we thought also.

 

So far Princess is saying "too bad". Stay tuned but I was hopeful it would be good for 2 cruises before and am becoming more pessimistic as the days go by. :(

[Working 2 Cruise]

Something that I don't understand and if you could clarify this for me:

 

The original T&C states: "...can be applied to A FURURE SAILING, would it not be obvious that this could only be applied to a single sailing? That's what I took it to mean...

 

Maybe I am wrong and if so please enlighten me. Thank you!

[cruzsnooze]

I was under the impression it was a FCC for one cruise in 2014 so i took 2 freebies and booked 2 - 7 night or longer cruises in 2014. Since the booked cruise to use your credit has to be 7 nights or longer it's easy to spend the entire credit from a 3 or 4 night cruise.

[cruzsnooze]

If we have to go through all this trouble than I will simple just book a single cruise and then find a different cruise line. Always answer with your wallet ;)

Really? They give you a free cruise and you aren't happy enough. How can you answer with your wallet when they are giving you something for free? I guess some people just can't be pleased even when it's free.

[RDC1]

Something that I don't understand and if you could clarify this for me:

 

The original T&C states: "...can be applied to A FURURE SAILING, would it not be obvious that this could only be applied to a single sailing? That's what I took it to mean...

 

Maybe I am wrong and if so please enlighten me. Thank you!

 

Having spent a number of year dealing with contracts that is how I read it as well. A future sailing, as in one.

 

The changes might be considered to clarify the language because of apparent confusion, but it does not change the original meaning.

Edited January 6, 2014 by RDC1

[Working 2 Cruise]

Having spent a number of year dealing with contracts that is how I read it as well. A future sailing, as in one.

 

The changes might be considered to clarify the language because of apparent confusion, but it does not change the original meaning.

 

I agree. Just from reading the language, I don't see how anyone would think this would apply to more than one cruise..... Someone probably did not read the terms carefully and now they try to blame Princess.

 

These persons won't have a leg to stand on with regard to any legalities...

Edited January 6, 2014 by Working 2 Cruise

[geoherb]

The cruise director (Lee Childers) on the Ruby Princess said that the December 26 cruise counted as one of the ones that would give us credit. He recorded his mistake during the "Wake Show," which played over and over again all day.

[critterchick]

I agree. Just from reading the language, I don't see how anyone would think this would apply to more than one cruise..... Someone probably did not read the terms carefully and now they try to blame Princess.

 

These persons won't have a leg to stand on with regard to any legalities...

 

If you read the entire thread, you will see that they did read the T&C carefully and then called Princess for clarification. They relied on the Princess reps' confirmation that the credit could be spread across multiple cruises. Now Princess is refusing to honor what their reps said.

 

On a happier note, I logged into my account and discovered that a 50% voyage goodwill had been added to my 2014 sailing without my calling Princess. I already had a 100% FCC added from an earlier sailing, so I am quite surprised (and pleased) because, when I asked a rep, she said that the two could not be applied to one sailing.

 

So one bottom line is that the reps need better, more consistent, training.

Edited January 6, 2014 by critterchick

[Working 2 Cruise]

I agree that the reps are unreliable. That is why I make sure to read everything and the terms of the promo were pretty clear. I think this was a very generous promo to begin with...

[candide333]

Now that I am paying for the Asia trip, I have been told that the Jan. 24th 4 day 100% FCC can not be credited to my 4/3/14 Asia sailing because it will be paid in full today. Unlike prior incentives that provided for credit card refunds, I am out of luck. This is not what I was told when I boofed the January cruise and I would not have booked this cruise without this credit.

[slc22]

Now that I am paying for the Asia trip, I have been told that the Jan. 24th 4 day 100% FCC can not be credited to my 4/3/14 Asia sailing because it will be paid in full today. Unlike prior incentives that provided for credit card refunds, I am out of luck. This is not what I was told when I boofed the January cruise and I would not have booked this cruise without this credit.

 

Oh, No. Perhaps you could ask a supervisor?

 

Or, have you purchased the Princess vacation protection where you can cancel the Jan 24 for any reason and get a FCC anyway? Just a thought….

[own]

The cruise director (Lee Childers) on the Ruby Princess said that the December 26 cruise counted as one of the ones that would give us credit. He recorded his mistake during the "Wake Show," which played over and over again all day.

 

So I've gotta ask..will what he said be honored?