Can they change the price?

[PCOGaming]

We sail Holland and always either book Neptune Suite or Pinnacle Suite when available. We just  got off of a 7 day in December and saw a great deal on a third party (well known) cruise ship travel service. We normally book directly with HAL but this was a great deal for another cruise in April. IT was advertised as 90% off (as many of their cruises are 50% - 90%). The deal was good enough that I specifically asked the rep if there were catches joking that it sounded like a Time Share presentation. The regular rate was $1700 marked down to $100 for a Vista Suite (per person). They assured me the deal was correct so I paid in full.

 

The credit card payments cleared and posted, my HAL Navigator App shows the booking and has its count-down timer to the cruise (under 90 days now). 5 days later the third party contacts me to say that HAL made an error on the price and if I didn't pay an additional $440 by 1/19 the cruise booking would be cancelled. Initially HAL told me they knew nothing about it and that the cruise was booked and paid for and all was good. NOW they are telling me (the same sentence over and over). "There was an error and the 'third party' has been sent a resolution and I have to contact them and complete the resolution." Meaning if I want to travel in April, I have to pay more. Can they do that AFTER I have paid for everything in full and payments have posted?

Edited January 8 by PCOGaming

[crystalspin]

Did you pay $100pp only? No Taxes and Port Fees?

 

It sounds like that is what HAL needs to accommodate you. 

 

I'd have to say, well-known or not -- if it sounds too good to be true...

 

ETA: Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Edited January 8 by crystalspin

[PCOGaming]

The total spent was 550 dollars, with the additional being port fees taxes etc. (200 room,  350 taxes and fees)

Edited January 8 by PCOGaming

[Sir PMP]

I don't think it was HAL that made the error.

[Bill B]

In my experience there is usually fine print to effect they will not a price if an error has been made.

 

Let me get this straight - You booked a Vista Suite cruise for two people for a total of $550? How many days was the cruise?

 

Now, they want an additional $440 for a total of $990.

 

That still sound like a hell of a deal even if it's a short cruise.

[kazu]

Yes, they can make a mistake.  Last year I had a casino offering and stupidly used the casino and my PCC (never again).  I had a B2B2B and I had two  price increases.   I don’t sweat the small stuff but one was an ouch and the other a bigger ouch.  Apologies or “I made a mistake”. The cruise ended up costing much more than I was told originally and I consider myself a relatively experienced cruiser.

 

But it was the casino and the PCC who made the mistakes and didn’t check.

I thought I would save my TA some work and little compensation for that booking.  Never again.

[Laminator]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

Yes, they can make a mistake.  Last year I had a casino offering and stupidly used the casino and my PCC (never again).  I had a B2B2B and I had two  price increases.   I don’t sweat the small stuff but one was an ouch and the other a bigger ouch.  Apologies or “I made a mistake”. The cruise ended up costing much more than I was told originally and I consider myself a relatively experienced cruiser.

 

But it was the casino and the PCC who made the mistakes and didn’t check.

I thought I would save my TA some work and little compensation for that booking.  Never again.

It's critical your PCC is familiar with booking casino deals. If they aren't you can run into issues. There are some major differences between booking email offers and cone back and sail offers. Fortunately my PCC has taken care of my casino offers since 2007 so I never had any issues. 

[PCOGaming]

Actually they just caved in. turns out if you make yourself a big enough pain in the a** they would rather just cave in than deal with the repeated phone calls.

They just sent me an email guaranteeing price protection on the package we purchased.

Edited January 8 by PCOGaming

[PCOGaming]

1 hour ago, Bill B said:

In my experience there is usually fine print to effect they will not a price if an error has been made.

 

Let me get this straight - You booked a Vista Suite cruise for two people for a total of $550? How many days was the cruise?

 

Now, they want an additional $440 for a total of $990.

 

That still sound like a hell of a deal even if it's a short cruise.

It's a 7 night cruise and that would have still been a good deal But since we just got off a cruise a couple of weeks ago I would not have booked one had it not been his cheap and even though it was an error I expect companies to take responsability For their mistakes and honor their prices.

 

In the end, it worked and Holland did stand behind it. And price protected the package tonight.

[canadianbear]

1 hour ago, PCOGaming said:

It's a 7 night cruise and that would have still been a good deal But since we just got off a cruise a couple of weeks ago I would not have booked one had it not been his cheap and even though it was an error I expect companies to take responsability For their mistakes and honor their prices.

 

In the end, it worked and Holland did stand behind it. And price protected the package tonight.

So was it HAL or the 3rd party you booked with that made the error?  Glad it worked out for you.

[PCOGaming]

Neither has confirmed but it "looks" like it may have been a HAL error. 

Edited January 9 by PCOGaming

[PCOGaming]

It's as though neither wants to admit the error but neither wants to accuse the other of the error.