HAL not honoring tour price

[avian777]

OP: I don't know if you're cheap but I do think you're creating your own aggravation. You say you aren't trying to cheat HAL. But you knew the price was dramatically wrong when you booked it. Now you're claiming principle that they won't honor the mistaken price. Where are your principles? Do principles only work one way? It's pretty clear this was not bait and switch. You had a choice. You could have simply alerted HAL to their mistake and then felt good about doing the right thing. Instead you are putting this on the web stirring indignation.

 

If you were a business owner and you made a mistake, maybe you would honor it to the aggrieved customer. But wouldn't it make your day if someone pointed it out rather than take advantage of the situation? Wouldn't such a kind gesture renew (just a bit) one's faith in honor and integrity?

 

Right now, more than ever, we need to heed the call of integrity.

 

Sincerely,

Bruce Deveau

 

Well said, Bruce!!!

 

 

This comment for me summarizes the situation very well.

 

The O.P. knew the price was wrong, wanted to take advantage, got caught, and now claims foul.

 

It disappoints how many support that position. What ever became of honesty ? Sad, very sad.

 

Also well said, WpgCruise!!!

[avian777]

Exactly. If HAL keeps her $10, that is a penalty. Losing the chance on not having HAL catch their error is hardly a penalty. Consequently, OP has not been harmed. Just disappointment.

 

(y)(y)(y)

[sammiedawg]

I’m offended on behalf of the OP. Shocked some have questioned and insulted her honesty and integrity. This board has become a train wreck. Time for me to move on.

[Epicureangirl]

I’m offended on behalf of the OP. Shocked some have questioned and insulted her honesty and integrity. This board has become a train wreck. Time for me to move on.

 

 

I agree. Seems like values like honesty and integrity are being paraded as important, but common courtesy and politeness is not. Are there really people here acting as cheerleaders for rudeness? I hope people are more courteous in their real lives with their spoken words than written. What can be considered a lively debate (or battle of wits) by one can easily be read as a personal attack. I certainly read it that way. I have to be careful myself, I am very sarcastic and try to use emojis to convey it being in good fun, but this method of communication fails on so many levels. Sigh. [emoji17]

 

 

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[wales4ever]

The entry price for the museum is £14 - around $20 So the price is a HUGE rip off. Then again so are most ships excursions, whatever the cruise line.

[JRG]

I’m offended on behalf of the OP. Shocked some have questioned and insulted her honesty and integrity. This board has become a train wreck. Time for me to move on.

 

 

It wasn't her honesty or integrity that was questioned, it was her principles only.

 

The moral and legal arguments were compelling, and I thought the posters presenting those arguments did a good job without discrediting her and in some cases comforting the OP

[kazu]

I’m offended on behalf of the OP. Shocked some have questioned and insulted her honesty and integrity. This board has become a train wreck. Time for me to move on.

 

I agree. Seems like values like honesty and integrity are being paraded as important, but common courtesy and politeness is not. Are there really people here acting as cheerleaders for rudeness? I hope people are more courteous in their real lives with their spoken words than written. What can be considered a lively debate (or battle of wits) by one can easily be read as a personal attack. I certainly read it that way. I have to be careful myself, I am very sarcastic and try to use emojis to convey it being in good fun, but this method of communication fails on so many levels. Sigh. [emoji17]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I SO agree with you both. The OP is a long time member of these boards, contributes and by posting, also gave board members a "heads up".

 

Frankly, her post is a big help to others who might not be familiar with cruise tour pricing.

 

Ironically, I got an e from HAL today reminding me to book their shore excursions :confused::rolleyes:

[*Miss G*]

I did have the thought -- about this being a dreadful-dinnertime conversation onboard my next cruise. It scares me... I might go check my roll-call again. Shame you're not on it Miss G.

 

That would be fun!

[hrhdhd]

It wasn't an issue of honesty/dishonesty. It was an experiment, a test of HAL's organization and ability to manage themselves. I wanted to see what would happen. I booked it expecting the booking to fail right away. It took them 2 months to find this error. Whether they honor the price or not, it shows that they are sloppy. I posted here because I found it disappointing that good will has so little value to HAL.

 

<bolding mine>

 

I agree that posting a shore excursion at the wrong price is sloppy; however, who here (not just the OP) hasn't made a typo on a document or contract? Some human being made a mistake (left off a "9"!), and it took them 2 months to find the error because no one brought it to their attention. If, instead of booking and sitting back to wait, you had called or e-mailed to ask about the price, they would have corrected it sooner. I doubt that once the excursions are input that they continually return to review the information unless an error is brought to their attention. (They are busy making mistakes on subsequent cruises' excursion information. ;p)

 

It is interesting that when someone who is not "a valued member of the HAL Board community" (and the value is always placed by another individual [i have my own sense of whose postings are valuable to me {not slamming you, OP}]) posts something about how HAL handled a financial issue, the responses are something like, "well, I'm a stockholder, and that's how HAL makes money."

 

Anyhoo, as long as the poster gets her original deposit back, no harm, no foul, except in the PR sense, which each reader will have to weigh for future bookings.

[avian777]

It wasn't her honesty or integrity that was questioned, it was her principles only.

 

The moral and legal arguments were compelling, and I thought the posters presenting those arguments did a good job without discrediting her and in some cases comforting the OP

 

Spot on!!!

[navybankerteacher]

Exactly. If HAL keeps her $10, that is a penalty. Losing the chance on not having HAL catch their error is hardly a penalty. Consequently, OP has not been harmed. Just disappointment.

 

You seem to forget that, for many cruisers, feeling disappointment really means feeling damaged - and feeling damaged means being entitled to compensation.

[Tampa Girl]

You seem to forget that, for many cruisers, feeling disappointment really means feeling damaged - and feeling damaged means being entitled to compensation.

 

I did not forget anything. As an attorney, I can tell you that disappointment does not equate to monetary damages.

[3rdGenCunarder]

The entry price for the museum is £14 - around $20 So the price is a HUGE rip off. Then again so are most ships excursions, whatever the cruise line.

 

I never used to feel that excursions were so overpriced. Our experiences on Cunard have been reasonable. Even on HAL in the Caribbean or Alaska I've found excursions that were close to independent prices. By careful reading of the descriptions in the PDF, I've been able to identify tour vendors and check out their prices. Often, if I factored in the transportation from the pier to the vendor, HAL's markup was reasonable. But the tours for this European cruise are crazy. Here are two more examples. 15 pound admission to a historic house 12 miles from the port with a price of $110. Or a 14 pound steam train excursion ride 18 miles from the port for $139.

[kazu]

I never used to feel that excursions were so overpriced. Our experiences on Cunard have been reasonable. Even on HAL in the Caribbean or Alaska I've found excursions that were close to independent prices. By careful reading of the descriptions in the PDF, I've been able to identify tour vendors and check out their prices. Often, if I factored in the transportation from the pier to the vendor, HAL's markup was reasonable. But the tours for this European cruise are crazy. Here are two more examples. 15 pound admission to a historic house 12 miles from the port with a price of $110. Or a 14 pound steam train excursion ride 18 miles from the port for $139.

 

I agree on the pricing Kathy. It's nearly like HAL knows that these are rarely visited ports, more difficult to find tours and taking advantage of it.

 

I'm not trying to bad mouth HAL by any means, but I have a hard time justifying some of the prices on this cruise.

 

We usually book a couple of HAL tours on any longer cruise. So far, for this one, it's not happening, yet.

[Tampa Girl]

I never used to feel that excursions were so overpriced. Our experiences on Cunard have been reasonable. Even on HAL in the Caribbean or Alaska I've found excursions that were close to independent prices. By careful reading of the descriptions in the PDF, I've been able to identify tour vendors and check out their prices. Often, if I factored in the transportation from the pier to the vendor, HAL's markup was reasonable. But the tours for this European cruise are crazy. Here are two more examples. 15 pound admission to a historic house 12 miles from the port with a price of $110. Or a 14 pound steam train excursion ride 18 miles from the port for $139.

 

Are there independent tours available at a substantially lower price?

[navybankerteacher]

I did not forget anything. As an attorney, I can tell you that disappointment does not equate to monetary damages.

 

You know that, and I know that, but from many posts on numerous threads it is apparent that many cruisers do not know that.

[kazu]

Are there independent tours available at a substantially lower price?

 

Can't comment on this particular tour as we have something else planned there but, independent tours are definitely lower and more in depth than what HAL is offering so far.

 

We have a proactive roll call ;) Or a few proactive organisers ;)

[3rdGenCunarder]

Can't comment on this particular tour as we have something else planned there but, independent tours are definitely lower and more in depth than what HAL is offering so far.

 

We have a proactive roll call ;) Or a few proactive organisers ;)

 

Very active roll call with lots of research and sharing of info. Some of our ports are quite small and it's hard to find vendors. One port will have six calls all year. It's the sort of place people drive to on vacation because there isn't a train station and not a lot of public buses. Not a lot of taxis or independent tour guides, either. I suspect the overpriced tours in that port will sell. So if you're a stockholder, hurrah for profits. If you're a passenger, be prepared to pay.

[doublebzz]

Can't comment on this particular tour as we have something else planned there but, independent tours are definitely lower and more in depth than what HAL is offering so far.

 

We have a proactive roll call ;) Or a few proactive organisers ;)

We are sailing around the Horn (Antarctica) later this month. Have found HAL prices comparable to independent tours. We have found the big advantage of independent tours is that transport is usually in a small van of 6 to 14 persons as opposed to a bus load of 45.

[cruisemom42]

Are there independent tours available at a substantially lower price?

 

Where I've taken HAL cruises (and other mass market cruises) in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, the prices of independent tours have in many cases been substantially lower.

 

I can't comment on really obscure ports -- most of those I've visited have been on a smaller ship that includes excursions.

[JRG]

In retrospect, this thread's title should have been:

 

HAL NOT HONORING TOUR PRICE MISPRINT

 

That way readers perusing topics in this forum would have a clearer synopsis of what the real issue was.

 

Leaving off the word MISPRINT in the title creates the impression that that HAL was doing something wrong, which clearly is not the case.

 

p.s. We should stay on topic on our threads, otherwise we meander off and start talking about other topics that belong in different areas like Roll Calls and Tours. It's tempting I know, but if we try hard, we can make this forum more efficient for all, especially if you are a long time poster and frequent contributor, you know better.

Edited January 6, 2018 by JRG

[Islabeachbum]

I found this whole thread very interesting. I am surprised no one cited the times the airlines have had a mispriced flight posted. I got a round trip from my small airport to a Phoenix for $39 years ago. Saw it on the news a couple days later...tons of people took advantage of a pricing error... I have seen it reported on the news more than once. It usually gets caught within hours but the prices are honored. People who are on those price monitoring sites jump on that. Quite sure they don’t call the airlines to ask if it is true and you know they know it is a mistake. Not agreeing or disagreeing with any poster here, just pointing out another industry snafu and how it was handled...

[Toofarfromthesea]

Isn't not profiting from another's error a principle? Since this is not about the money, but the principle?

[Epicureangirl]

In retrospect, this thread's title should have been:

 

HAL NOT HONORING TOUR PRICE MISPRINT

 

That way readers perusing topics in this forum would have a clearer synopsis of what the real issue was.

 

Leaving off the word MISPRINT in the title creates the impression that that HAL was doing something wrong, which clearly is not the case.

 

 

Perhaps it is more correct or complete, but when I am the OP of a thread I think my titles should be left alone. It is not for anyone else to police my use of the English language if I am not harassing anyone or swearing, and I think someone can read the thread and judge for themselves. If my title for a thread was "Best HAL Cruise in History" you would not consider changing the title, yet I'm quite sure my title would be technically incorrect too. But apologies in advance, I think I am getting a little off-topic here by discussing the title.

[geoherb]

HAL could have come out looking better by offering the OP a reduced price on the excursion, perhaps half off. That way it would still be making money and giving the OP a break.