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Viking Cancels Portraits of Southern France, poor customer service

firefightermom007

By firefightermom007,
in River Cruising

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firefightermom007

firefightermom007

Posted
Posted

We have friends booked on the 14 June 2015 departure. Just got word on 9 June cruise is cancelled. Insurance does not cover change fees or cancellation fees because Viking cancelled due to "repairs". Viking offered to rebook on the Paris and Heart of Normandy. Would cost over 4K to change airline tickets to Paris instead of Lyon..so opted to take train from Lyon to Paris. Viking will not let us use their transfers from CDG to Le Pecq because they are arriving by train. Make an exception...for gosh sakes. And from other reviews on CC this is quite a distance, and a change, from what their website which reads "Paris". Between transfers, new airline tickets and added hotel stays they are now upwards of 1000.00 out of pocket extra expenses. And Viking is not helping them out at all.

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caviargal

caviargal

Posted
Posted
Huh, Enough said!!

 

Exactly!

 

Our AMA cruise last year in France had a last minute embarkation change (from Arles to Lyon) due to high waters. They were AMAZING and we were not out of a pocket for a penny despite having to purchase new train tickets. They even arranged a special pick up for us and took us to boat and then we took off down the river to pick up the rest of the passengers.

 

Customer service was top notch.

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biker1972

biker1972

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Posted

Was air booked by Viking or independently? Transfers are generally from the airport to the boat or pre-stay hotel. Were the transfers part of Viking air or purchased along with independent air? If it was independent air was it the cheapest economy fare with many restrictions? Was there cancel for any reason insurance?

 

To blatantly say that Viking is not taking care of their guests without giving the necessary details is throwing mud. Viking may well be screwing up but how much is in the details.

 

I will not defend Viking but I am irritated when the full picture is not disclosed.

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CruisingAlong4Now

CruisingAlong4Now

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Posted

Viking "insurance" does not cover this, but if your friends had purchased insurance independent of Viking, many of these change expenses would have been covered.

 

Viking "insurance" is not insurance (except in NY which has very strict insurance laws); it is a reimbursement from Viking, many times via voucher, not cash.

 

The tripinsurancestore.com is a good source of information about the differences between cruise line reimbursements and third party insurance.

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firefightermom007

firefightermom007

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Was air booked by Viking or independently? Transfers are generally from the airport to the boat or pre-stay hotel. Were the transfers part of Viking air or purchased along with independent air? If it was independent air was it the cheapest economy fare with many restrictions? Was there cancel for any reason insurance?

 

To blatantly say that Viking is not taking care of their guests without giving the necessary details is throwing mud. Viking may well be screwing up but how much is in the details.

 

I will not defend Viking but I am irritated when the full picture is not disclosed.

This not a normal situation. Viking cancelled their cruise departing from Lyon. Viking does not provide air from Lyon to Paris, so they booked a train. The train station is right at CDG. Since Viking is not providing any sort of assistance, the people were even willing to pay for the transfer from CDG to the pier. Viking declined. To stick to what is "black and white" is not good customer service. There needs to be some flexibility in helping out the customer..it was Viking's fault they have to reschedule their whole trip.

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firefightermom007

firefightermom007

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Viking "insurance" does not cover this, but if your friends had purchased insurance independent of Viking, many of these change expenses would have been covered.

 

Viking "insurance" is not insurance (except in NY which has very strict insurance laws); it is a reimbursement from Viking, many times via voucher, not cash.

 

The tripinsurancestore.com is a good source of information about the differences between cruise line reimbursements and third party insurance.

They did have independent insurance, with Alliance. The reason it is not covered - because it is not a "covered" reason. Fixing a broken ship is not a covered reason. And why buy "cancel for any reason" when it does not give 100% back.

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DrivesLikeMario

DrivesLikeMario

Posted
Posted
In my situation, we booked air, hotels and train tix on our own and were still taken care of 100% by AMA.

 

Wow. Now that's impressive!

 

OP - I am so sorry your friends had to go through all this. Since the changes weren't due to any fault of their own, you'd think Viking would bend over backwards to rectify the situation. I hope their 'new' cruise goes well from here on out.

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JVilleGal

JVilleGal

Posted
Posted
Why was this cruise suddenly cancelled? Something similar happened concerning Viking canceling due to an accident. Same thing people left financial debts but no cruise

 

 

I'm betting the story on Vikings FB page right now is why this cruise was cancelled.... Go read! Before its gone :(

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JVilleGal

JVilleGal

Posted
Posted (edited)

It still there, 4th story down, it has been removed once before. I took a screen shot but don't know how to ImageUploadedByForums1433979717.856024.jpg.2042d54575ae2d0ffb03b414f3a7ea07.jpg attach photos but I'll try.

Easier to go over there and read it! Not clear... Sorry go read

Edited by JVilleGal
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$hip$hape

$hip$hape

Posted
Posted
It still there, 4th story down, it has been removed once before. I took a screen shot but don't know how to [ATTACH]351875[/ATTACH] attach photos but I'll try.

Easier to go over there and read it! Not clear... Sorry go read

Is this the one?:

 

Today at 4:03pm

My wife, her parents and step sister just returned on Monday, June 8th, 2015 from a Viking River Cruise in France.

Unfortunately, it wasn't what they had hoped for. The boat they were on developed mechanical problems on Day 2 of their 8 day cruise. They got no further than the second port before they were told the cruise was over. The entire ship was bussed to various excursion destinations, sometime taking as long as 2 1/2 hours each way.

The whole trip was ruined. And, to add insult to injury, we just got an email from Viking letting us know that their idea of fair compensation is 25% off the next cruise we book with them! Unbelievable!! There were people on this cruise who had saved for years to make this trip. Can you imagine being told that "fair compensation" for a ruined 8 day trip is to get a voucher for 25% off the next one? Incredible!!

If you agree that their idea of fair compensation is ridiculous, you can comment under my post on their FB site.

Viking River Cruises Travel/Leisure · 491,345 Likes Viking River Cruises's photo.

Viking River Cruises Like Page Jeff Leser Kathy Donovan Like · Comment · Share Mark Parenteau, Carol Losch Horne and 2 others like this.

View 1 more comment Alan Christensen Probably why I don't see it. Like · Reply · 5 hrs

Chip Oswalt But...apparently Viking has a reputation for doing this. Like · 5 hrs View more replies

Lahle Ehrlich It is not fair and this is why people sue. I am so sorry a planned for trip that was both anticipated and expensive turned out to be a lesson in bad customer service for them. Good for you for speaking out.

Now, from a marketing standpoint, make som...See More Like · Reply · 4 hrs Lahle Ehrlich ‪#‎VikingRiverCruises‬ rip off. ‪#‎VikingCruises‬ sucks.

There, just got ya started. (The first hashtag is being used already, I added the second to get people going!) Like · Reply · 4 hrs

Chip Oswalt so...I need to message you separately. Need to ask a few questions. I'll ping you in private message later today. Like · 4 hrs View more replies

Karen Parenteau I will definitely be boycotting Viking! Like · Reply · 1 hr

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firefightermom007

firefightermom007

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Is this the one?:

 

Today at 4:03pm

My wife, her parents and step sister just returned on Monday, June 8th, 2015 from a Viking River Cruise in France.

Unfortunately, it wasn't what they had hoped for. The boat they were on developed mechanical problems on Day 2 of their 8 day cruise. They got no further than the second port before they were told the cruise was over. The entire ship was bussed to various excursion destinations, sometime taking as long as 2 1/2 hours each way.

The whole trip was ruined. And, to add insult to injury, we just got an email from Viking letting us know that their idea of fair compensation is 25% off the next cruise we book with them! Unbelievable!! There were people on this cruise who had saved for years to make this trip. Can you imagine being told that "fair compensation" for a ruined 8 day trip is to get a voucher for 25% off the next one? Incredible!!

If you agree that their idea of fair compensation is ridiculous, you can comment under my post on their FB site.

Viking River Cruises Travel/Leisure · 491,345 Likes Viking River Cruises's photo.

Viking River Cruises Like Page Jeff Leser Kathy Donovan Like · Comment · Share Mark Parenteau, Carol Losch Horne and 2 others like this.

View 1 more comment Alan Christensen Probably why I don't see it. Like · Reply · 5 hrs

Chip Oswalt But...apparently Viking has a reputation for doing this. Like · 5 hrs View more replies

Lahle Ehrlich It is not fair and this is why people sue. I am so sorry a planned for trip that was both anticipated and expensive turned out to be a lesson in bad customer service for them. Good for you for speaking out.

Now, from a marketing standpoint, make som...See More Like · Reply · 4 hrs Lahle Ehrlich ‪#‎VikingRiverCruises‬ rip off. ‪#‎VikingCruises‬ sucks.

There, just got ya started. (The first hashtag is being used already, I added the second to get people going!) Like · Reply · 4 hrs

Chip Oswalt so...I need to message you separately. Need to ask a few questions. I'll ping you in private message later today. Like · 4 hrs View more replies

Karen Parenteau I will definitely be boycotting Viking! Like · Reply · 1 hr

Must be the same river/ship. Not good if it is a different one. Thanks for posting. They just do not get the meaning of customer service. All I hear is...thanks for your money, we do not care about how we screwed up your plans...buh-bye.

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Oceans&Rivers

Oceans&Rivers

Posted
Posted
So what ship is it. Whole thing seems strange without a ship's name

 

A quick check of Viking's website shows that the four ships that follow are the ones that do the aforementioned itinerary:

 

VIKING LONGSHIP BURI

VIKING LONGSHIP HEIMDAL

VIKING LONGSHIP HERMOD

VIKING LONGSHIP DELLING

 

 

So, it should be one of those.

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Mark_T

Mark_T

Posted
Posted
We have friends booked on the 14 June 2015 departure. Just got word on 9 June cruise is cancelled. Insurance does not cover change fees or cancellation fees because Viking cancelled due to "repairs". Viking offered to rebook on the Paris and Heart of Normandy.

 

Doesn't sound like fun at all :(

 

Just for clarity though, I assume Viking did offer a full refund if they had not wanted to transfer to the other cruise?

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