Bait & Switch???

[pklein9747]

We have been looking for.a cruise for hubby and I to take later this year.  Looked at transatlantic but really didn't want to fly over to Europe.  Then we started looking at Panama Canal trips.  We've done a RT Ft Lauderdale but have always wanted to do a full transit.  We found the perfect cruise for this August traveling from LA to NY...19 days on the Emerald.  The price on the website with Princess Plus for category BD balcony on Caribe Deck shows at $2879pp before taxes and fees.  Unfortunately, as I tried to book a cabin, the website kept crashing.  So I contacted my TA to book it for me.  Imagine my surprise when he came back and told me the total price would be $8200!!!  Yes, taxes and fees for Panama Canal are high - $550pp.  We declined insurance so there was no reason the price should so high.  I won't even tell you about the cluster.... that my TA had to go through to just get this booked.  He said that he and other TA's have had nothing but problems, problems, problems with Princess customer service..

 

So, I contacted Princess via chat to confirm the price.  Yes, the rate is $3900pp for that category cabin.  WHAT??!!  Why does the website show another price?  Of course, the response is the website is going through updates and maintenance.  She advised me if I see that price online, I should book online.  Oh, if I only could.  Guess that's why I can't.

 

So disappointed 😞

[CruisinChris]

I watched a vlog on YouTube last night of a woman who is a travel agent and vlogger.  She was talking about a problem that's going on with the princess website where it is showing low fares and apparently they're wrong.  Princess will not honor those prices no matter how hard ones tries.  Apparently many people including agents have been having the exact same issue.  Hopefully they will get it fixed soon.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, pklein9747 said:

We have been looking for.a cruise for hubby and I to take later this year.  Looked at transatlantic but really didn't want to fly over to Europe.  Then we started looking at Panama Canal trips.  We've done a RT Ft Lauderdale but have always wanted to do a full transit.  We found the perfect cruise for this August traveling from LA to NY...19 days on the Emerald.  The price on the website with Princess Plus for category BD balcony on Caribe Deck shows at $2879pp before taxes and fees.  Unfortunately, as I tried to book a cabin, the website kept crashing.  So I contacted my TA to book it for me.  Imagine my surprise when he came back and told me the total price would be $8200!!!  Yes, taxes and fees for Panama Canal are high - $550pp.  We declined insurance so there was no reason the price should so high.  I won't even tell you about the cluster.... that my TA had to go through to just get this booked.  He said that he and other TA's have had nothing but problems, problems, problems with Princess customer service..

 

So, I contacted Princess via chat to confirm the price.  Yes, the rate is $3900pp for that category cabin.  WHAT??!!  Why does the website show another price?  Of course, the response is the website is going through updates and maintenance.  She advised me if I see that price online, I should book online.  Oh, if I only could.  Guess that's why I can't.

 

So disappointed 😞

I’m on the website and  see caribe deck forward $2679 pp before taxes and fees.

Emerald Aug 21, LA to NY, 19 night Panama Canal.

 

Try it again on your phone or PC.  Don’t see a problem with the website. Try different device.

 

Can’t believe the TA can’t see it. 
 

With all taxes and fees $6438.00

 

How far did you get with the booking?  I was not signed in with my Elite status, so it would be a straight fare.

 

 

Edited January 28, 2023 by PacnGoNow

[memoak]

1 minute ago, PacnGoNow said:

I’m on the website and  see caribe deck forward $2679 pp before taxes and fees.

Emerald Aug 21, LA to NY, 19 night Panama Canal.

 

Try it again on your phone or PC.  Don’t see a problem with the website. Try different device.

 

Can’t believe the TA can’t see it. 

 

The TA would not be looking at the Princess website for passengers but a separate system. I am betting you can see the rate but may not be able to book and pay

[PacnGoNow]

20 minutes ago, memoak said:

The TA would not be looking at the Princess website for passengers but a separate system. I am betting you can see the rate but may not be able to book and pay

Probably. They use Polar.  I checked different Travel agent websites and they also offer that fare.  It’s the best sale ever fare.

😁

 

Good luck to the OP.  

[dog]

C743 on that cruise is $8430 in Canadian dollars for 2 passengers - standard. I did not search plus fares.

 

BD

 

$6330 US

Edited January 28, 2023 by dog

[JimmyVWine]

The thread title is a bit misleading. This isn’t “bait and switch” which is a term applied to circumstances where you actually buy something but receive something different. Here, you go through the booking process (or your TA does) and you can see the actual price and the choice is yours to book or not. If you don’t like the price, you pass. This is a systems failure, not an attempt to defraud. Disappointing? Yes. Dirty commercial tactic designed to dupe the customer?  No. 

[dog]

The Princess website has not been working properly for bookings for some of us recently.

Try a different TA tomorrow if you can’t do it online.

[Rick&Jeannie]

With such an involved itinerary you should really consider insurance...

Edited January 28, 2023 by Rick&Jeannie

[sirclean]

My first thought was the the low, low price was the 'nothing included' price and the other price was the 'best sale ever'/Princess Plus fare.   But the Princess plus would be $60 a day more per person per day.  So for 19 days, that would be only 1140 more. (or 2280 more) before taxes and port fees.  So the original price of 2879 per person, plus 1140 is 4019 per person or 8038 total, which is now in the 8200 neighborhood.

Of course there could be other problems as others have indicated, but my first read was that they saw the low fare price and upgraded to Princess Plus.   I hope that they reply to let us know the resolution.

[pklein9747]

Around 6:30 EST Princess updated their website and the fare was increased to what was quoted to me by my TA.  We have decided to pass on this cruise.

[startedwithamouse]

4 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

With such an involved itinerary you should really consider insurance...

...we always decline insurance too through the cruise line. Less expensive when purchased separately.

[PacnGoNow]

5 hours ago, pklein9747 said:

Around 6:30 EST Princess updated their website and the fare was increased to what was quoted to me by my TA.  We have decided to pass on this cruise.

Strange.  I still show $2497 on the website this morning.

no change from last night.

[phabric]

I use an agent.  I checked my price for my booked cruise.  Princess site  showed a lower price than what I booked at.  I emailed my agent, she came back saying the priced was higher when she called Princess to inquire.

[KKB]

Funny, I am pricing a BE at $6438 total, Princess Standard. (can't get a better room on Caribe)

Wonder why you are seeing such higher prices?

 

I know when I booked on Princess last summer (1st time using online; we hadn't sailed them in 10 years), I kept seeing 2 different prices when I was researching...well, I finally snagged that great price only to find out later that it was Standard & I had wanted Plus. Just wasn't familiar with the site.

 

As posted earlier, your price difference seems to be the difference between standard & plus.

[antsp]

The usa market is always bait and switch, how a business can advertise a price and you are not able to pay that amazes me. Hotels are all plus tax and convenience fee and resort fee and tourist tax. Just advertise a price, and that's it. Everything is like this. Cruises, hire cars, hotels, flights, tickets for shows, everything in stores. 

[TN-Mountains]

I had a similar issue last fall for a sailing in June.  The website would show something like $6000 total including tax & fees, but once I would log into my account it would jump up to $8000.  I took a screen shot and tried to get Princess to honor it, but they wouldn't.  I asked my PVP to match it and called the 800 number twice.  The 2nd lady on the 800 number was the most helpful.  She wouldn't match the price, but she did offer a discounted rate around $7200.  I felt that was a nice gesture, but it was still over budget, so I declined.  The problem with the website persisted for a few weeks...sometimes showing the $6k and others the $8k.  I tried to book each time the $6k appeared but I would get an error message after typing in all the passenger information.  Besides being disappointing for not getting that good deal, it made searching for a cruise extremely frustrating because I never knew if the price I saw was REAL.  My husband was in Europe at the time.  I would send him a price and itinerary to look at within budget, but by the time I'd hear back the price had changed.  It is a shame they are having similar issues 4 months later!

 

 

[TN-Mountains]

19 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

The thread title is a bit misleading. This isn’t “bait and switch” which is a term applied to circumstances where you actually buy something but receive something different. Here, you go through the booking process (or your TA does) and you can see the actual price and the choice is yours to book or not. If you don’t like the price, you pass. This is a systems failure, not an attempt to defraud. Disappointing? Yes. Dirty commercial tactic designed to dupe the customer?  No. 

Respectfully disagree with you here.   Whether it is an intentional dirty commercial tactic or not, it has been going on since at least last October. Any system failure should have been resolved by now.  Also, Merriam Webster's definition of bait and switch:  "a sales tactic in which a customer is attracted by the advertisement of a low-priced item but is then encouraged to buy a higher-priced one"

[justafem]

I had a heck of a time getting through on a fantastic rate.  It took 4 browsers, hours and hours of time. But I was finally able to put a hold on 2 different categories at the price princess showed, one inside, other obstructed balcony.  

 

Then the problem started.  The person I booked the cruise with, was unable to go on those dates, so now I have to switch the pax.  Which means now I can't just pay for the room online, now it's a phone call with serious wait time.  Not as bad as I thought though, they'll call me back when a rep is available.  Of course when they called, I was on another call, so there that chance went.  Back to the call system to schedule another call back. Which happened.  

 

Change name.  No problem. Their system is working almost as well as ours.  Snails pace.  Then I want to apply my FCD.  Rep can't find it.  I can see it on my side, he can't.  I give him the number, he can see it, but it's attached to another booking.  No it's not, it's unassigned on my side and I have no other booking, other than the other hold, which I'm not going to utilize.  But he can't see the booking it's attached to and can't help. 

 

So now I have to transfer to another dept, and hold and hold and hold, hour and a half of elevator music and of course I'm on my home phone, not cell, so I can't just put it on speaker and wait, nope it has to be attached to my ear.  

 

The next rep could see the FCD and apply.  

 

Ultimately it took a full day.  About 10 hours full day.  

 

And now the log-in system on princess is broken AGAIN!  SIGH! 

[PacnGoNow]

19 minutes ago, justafem said:

I had a heck of a time getting through on a fantastic rate.  It took 4 browsers, hours and hours of time. But I was finally able to put a hold on 2 different categories at the price princess showed, one inside, other obstructed balcony.  

 

Then the problem started.  The person I booked the cruise with, was unable to go on those dates, so now I have to switch the pax.  Which means now I can't just pay for the room online, now it's a phone call with serious wait time.  Not as bad as I thought though, they'll call me back when a rep is available.  Of course when they called, I was on another call, so there that chance went.  Back to the call system to schedule another call back. Which happened.  

 

Change name.  No problem. Their system is working almost as well as ours.  Snails pace.  Then I want to apply my FCD.  Rep can't find it.  I can see it on my side, he can't.  I give him the number, he can see it, but it's attached to another booking.  No it's not, it's unassigned on my side and I have no other booking, other than the other hold, which I'm not going to utilize.  But he can't see the booking it's attached to and can't help. 

 

So now I have to transfer to another dept, and hold and hold and hold, hour and a half of elevator music and of course I'm on my home phone, not cell, so I can't just put it on speaker and wait, nope it has to be attached to my ear.  

 

The next rep could see the FCD and apply.  

 

Ultimately it took a full day.  About 10 hours full day.  

 

And now the log-in system on princess is broken AGAIN!  SIGH! 

Oh my!  I’d call that a semi-productive full day.  Kind of…🙃

[JimmyVWine]

16 hours ago, TN-Mountains said:

Whether it is an intentional dirty commercial tactic or not,

Sorry. But intentionality is the sine qua non of a “Bait and Switch” tactic. It cannot be done accidentally. The definition you cited to reinforces that through the use of the verbs “attracted” and “encouraged”.  Princess’ erroneous website pricing is not encouraging the purchase of something different at a higher cost. The thing for sale is the very same thing. A “Bait and Switch” requires the insertion into the transaction of a substituted item at a higher price. 

[grannyp]

On 1/27/2023 at 3:10 PM, CruisinChris said:

I watched a vlog on YouTube last night of a woman who is a travel agent and vlogger.  She was talking about a problem that's going on with the princess website where it is showing low fares and apparently they're wrong.  Princess will not honor those prices no matter how hard ones tries.  Apparently many people including agents have been having the exact same issue.  Hopefully they will get it fixed soon.

I saw this on 'Let's Go Travel Tips' as well.  They really should honor those prices.  Airlines do!

Edited January 29, 2023 by grannyp

[Mary loves to travel]

21 hours ago, TN-Mountains said:

I had a similar issue last fall for a sailing in June.  The website would show something like $6000 total including tax & fees, but once I would log into my account it would jump up to $8000.  I took a screen shot and tried to get Princess to honor it, but they wouldn't.  I asked my PVP to match it and called the 800 number twice.  The 2nd lady on the 800 number was the most helpful.  She wouldn't match the price, but she did offer a discounted rate around $7200.  I felt that was a nice gesture, but it was still over budget, so I declined.  The problem with the website persisted for a few weeks...sometimes showing the $6k and others the $8k.  I tried to book each time the $6k appeared but I would get an error message after typing in all the passenger information.  Besides being disappointing for not getting that good deal, it made searching for a cruise extremely frustrating because I never knew if the price I saw was REAL.  My husband was in Europe at the time.  I would send him a price and itinerary to look at within budget, but by the time I'd hear back the price had changed.  It is a shame they are having similar issues 4 months later!

 

 

It is beyond annoying, isn't it?

Might I suggest that when you see a price / itinerary you like, do the booking, putting it on HOLD.   That holds your price and gives you a few days to chat with your husband before you need to either put down a  deposit, or just ignore the booking and it will cancel itself (due to no deposit being paid, the HOLD expires).

 

Best,

Mary

[phabric]

53 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

It is beyond annoying, isn't it?

Might I suggest that when you see a price / itinerary you like, do the booking, putting it on HOLD.   That holds your price and gives you a few days to chat with your husband before you need to either put down a  deposit, or just ignore the booking and it will cancel itself (due to no deposit being paid, the HOLD expires).

 

Best,

Mary

Today I put  a hold on my 2024 cruise that I have already booked.  I have asked my agent to see about the price reduction on the price I saw on Princess also send screenshot of the price.

 

 In the past requests for fare reduction that I noticed on Princess site, she had said when she called Princess the price is higher than what I have.  I have even send her a screenshot of the fare I saw on Princess site. She had said she or Princess can not see the screenshot price. I have logged out, put in Princess again, logged in and I get the same price.  I can not understand why no one else can not see what I have seeing.

 

I have 2023 cruise booked, I notice a price difference. I did not do hold on this one as I have used all my OBC for excursions plus have a really good EZAir price for our flights.  Will have to wait to see if she can get a new price on this cruise.
 

My 2024 cruise I have already booked has only $100 OBC from promo and $100 OBC from FCD.  If she says she can’t see new price I will get her to cancel the one she is holding and transfer the FCD to the one on hold.

Edited January 29, 2023 by phabric

[TN-Mountains]

1 hour ago, Mary loves to travel said:

It is beyond annoying, isn't it?

Might I suggest that when you see a price / itinerary you like, do the booking, putting it on HOLD.   That holds your price and gives you a few days to chat with your husband before you need to either put down a  deposit, or just ignore the booking and it will cancel itself (due to no deposit being paid, the HOLD expires).

 

Best,

Mary

Yes, I put a hold on my most recent booking to secure it while dealing with the time difference and sorting it out with husband.   The real push to do so was when the cabin I wanted disappeared.  When it finally reappeared I snagged it.  🙂  Looking back I don't think a hold would have worked on those October prices--I probably would have gotten the error--but it would have clued me into the fact that they were "bad" prices.  Seeing all the issues with their website over the last few months makes me very leery to spend $ on wifi while at sea.  

 

Also, maybe your TA can try searching on princess' website instead of the portal she typically uses.  Maybe she can find the discounted fare there.  She probably can't book it there, but at least she'd know it isn't limited to an issue with your log in.