Whose Responsibility Is It to Notify Us of Payment Deadline?

[Mum2Mercury]

I've never received a final-payment reminder from the cruise line.  

 

Ways you might remember these things: 

- Write the payment date on your calendar (I use a three-year calendar -- love it). 

- Set your phone to send you a reminder about final payment. 

- Schedule the payment (for a future date) through online banking. 

- Pay the whole cost when you schedule the cruise; that option doesn't look too expensive at this moment, does it? 

 

In the long run, it doesn't matter who's to blame.  It's your vacation, and you're responsible for doing the prep work -- including making the final payment.  I hate it for you.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by Mum2Mercury

[Toofarfromthesea]

It is the cruiseline's.  On the day you book your cruise.  Anything beyond that is purely courtesy reminders.

[Dancer Bob]

Not to mention the OP was going to wait til the absolute last minute, and that on a holiday weekend. Very poor planning.

[ontheweb]

This seems to happen too often. A person comes in with their very first post, and it is a complaint and a plea for sympathy because what happened was everyone's fault but theirs. And then when no one takes up their cause, there is not a post #2 from the new poster.

[new_cruiser]

It is your responsibility and you shouldn't expect anyone else to make you whole. 

 

On the other hand, a good TA should remind you that the payment date is approaching as a backstop. I'd probably change TAs.

[dsrdsrdsr]

My travel agent (in the UK) would ring me up if I haven't paid them on time, and that means a fortnight before the due date.  Mind you, I would hope that the cruise line could be flexible and accept that a simple mistake of two days is not valid reason for grabbing the deposit and cancelling the booking.  They appear to be in the "let's screw the customer for all we can get" rather than "let's give the customer good service" line of business.

[Pyrate13]

They didn't screw the customer, the customer screwed up and screwed themselves.

Edited August 3, 2023 by Pyrate13

[sullaRaffaello]

My agent handles everything, the booking, deposit and final payment. She asks me for the credit card I want to use, and e-mails me the receipt after final payment. I've never dealt directly with the cruise line.

[navybankerteacher]

The OP should have known when payments were due.  Of course a cruise line might extend the courtesy of reminders - and a competent travel agent (if the booking was through such agent) should be expected to send reminders.  
 

It appears that the travel agent might not have been competent —- but who chose the travel agent?  
 

A tough lesson to learn, but any competent individual who enters into a contract (such as booking a cruise) should be aware of, and comply with, his obligations.

 

I can understand why OP did not come back:  hard to accept embarrassment as well as financial loss.

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, sullaRaffaello said:

My agent handles everything, the booking, deposit and final payment. She asks me for the credit card I want to use, and e-mails me the receipt after final payment. I've never dealt directly with the cruise line.

 

That is the way my TA handles it.  Any good TA should do it that way.  However in the end you as the traveler is the one responsible.

 

I assume that you made it clear to the TA that they were fired for all future cruises.  That said a good TA is worth their weight is gold.  Ours certainly is.

 

DON

Edited August 3, 2023 by donaldsc

[CorFour]

Thanks, everyone, for your input. We do appreciate the benefit of your experience.

We've always booked directly with cruise lines in the past... with the exception of this particular line, which requires that we use a TA. Our previous experience with this TA was for our first cruise with this CL, which went off w/o a hitch. And yes, he's a real flesh-and-blood person, not an online mass advertiser.

It would seem that there is no advantage, then, in using a TA. (We were one of six couples in a family group who cruised in AK last year and were the only ones to book directly with the CL rather than through a TA. The others thought we were nuts to do it that way.)

 

I know we won't ever book via this TA again, and I seriously doubt we'll ever use take a cruise on this CL again. When we can book directly it's easier and more seamless.

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, CorFour said:

Thanks, everyone, for your input. We do appreciate the benefit of your experience.

We've always booked directly with cruise lines in the past... with the exception of this particular line, which requires that we use a TA. Our previous experience with this TA was for our first cruise with this CL, which went off w/o a hitch. And yes, he's a real flesh-and-blood person, not an online mass advertiser.

It would seem that there is no advantage, then, in using a TA. (We were one of six couples in a family group who cruised in AK last year and were the only ones to book directly with the CL rather than through a TA. The others thought we were nuts to do it that way.)

 

I know we won't ever book via this TA again, and I seriously doubt we'll ever use take a cruise on this CL again. When we can book directly it's easier and more seamless.

Thanks for posting back. Happy anniversary and do enjoy your cruise !!

[Hlitner]

Personal Responsibility is an interesting concept.  As frequent travelers/cruisers, we have learned this strange behavior of making our own arrangements and accepting that the best way to accomplish most goals is to do it ourselves.  Depending on others will often leave you blaming others, when things go wrong.

 

Hank

[MCC retired]

Collecting Final Payment is your Travel Agents job and part of what they do to earn their commission . 100% TA's error.

 

[mjkacmom]

30 minutes ago, MCC retired said:

Collecting Final Payment is your Travel Agents job and part of what they do to earn their commission . 100% TA's error.

 

And the TA didn’t receive commission.

[MCC retired]

1 minute ago, mjkacmom said:

And the TA didn’t receive commission.

Everyone loses due to TA error ☹️

[Pyrate13]

Collect it, yes, remind you that you have a bill to pay, no, that's a curtesy if they choose to provide it, not a requirement. JMHO

[sparks1093]

6 minutes ago, Pyrate13 said:

Collect it, yes, remind you that you have a bill to pay, no, that's a curtesy if they choose to provide it, not a requirement. JMHO

If they never say anything how will they collect it? Seems an invoice would be warranted if they wanted to collect it.

[Pyrate13]

You should already know how much you owe and when. You either take the payment to them or send it. Again, that's my opinion and how I would expect to proceed.

[2wheelin]

29 minutes ago, Pyrate13 said:

You should already know how much you owe and when. You either take the payment to them or send it. Again, that's my opinion and how I would expect to proceed.

Do people get credit card bills? They (should) know how much they owe and when the billing date is but miraculously they get a statement every month.

[sparks1093]

46 minutes ago, Pyrate13 said:

You should already know how much you owe and when. You either take the payment to them or send it. Again, that's my opinion and how I would expect to proceed.

In a perfect world, sure, but if it is my job to collect something by a certain date I would be making sure the person that I'm collecting from hears from me at some point. (I used to deliver newspapers and folks would leave payment for me in a pre-arranged place. They knew how much was due and when it was due. But if that payment wasn't there you can bet I was knocking on their door to remind them.)

[Pyrate13]

Apples to oranges. Those are bills that may change every billing statement, the cruise balance remains the same.

[Pyrate13]

5 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

In a perfect world, sure, but if it is my job to collect something by a certain date I would be making sure the person that I'm collecting from hears from me at some point. (I used to deliver newspapers and folks would leave payment for me in a pre-arranged place. They knew how much was due and when it was due. But if that payment wasn't there you can bet I was knocking on their door to remind them.)

Again, apples to oranges. When I delivered papers, i went to the house to collect each week. A cruise is a completely different situation.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, MCC retired said:

Collecting Final Payment is your Travel Agents job and part of what they do to earn their commission . 100% TA's error.

 

100%, so the person whose cruise payment is due has no responsibility at all to keep track of when payment is due?

[CorFour]

***Not directly related to my original post, so if you aren't one of the snide ones please skip this one.***

For those of you with the snarky remarks about my not jumping right back into the thread the minute your replies began to roll in...

 

That post was my first and didn't appear until I'd been admitted to the group. It took me till the next day to get back to it b/c I was busy seeking medical treatment for severe asthma. Maybe in the future give people a day to come back to the thread before being so judgy, k?