TA $4500 mistake, O says I have to pay anyway

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

 

But, weird how the TA cheerleaders are suddenly silent.

As a former travel agency owner I'd like to remind you that in any profession, trade, occupation or avocation its practitioners have a broad range of competency.

 

Since some physicians can be guilty of malpractice does that mean no one should go to a doctor?

 

Since some of the customer ser\vice representatives working at cruise lines are incompetent using your line of reasoning you also shouldn't book directly with the cruise lines.

 

What about plumbers, automobile mechanics or electricians? 

 

The solution is not "never use a travel agent". The solution is as @FlyerTalker says, ".use a quality agent, who knows their stuff.  Who communicates effectively, often, and completely.  And documents every step of the way.  Anything else and you are not getting true service."

[njhorseman]

16 hours ago, the more ports the better said:

 

Any suggestions on how I can resolve the situation without having to pay another $4500???

 

As a former travel agency owner, first I'm sorry to hear this happened to you. If you can identify the owner, president or other senior officer of the travel agency I would suggest you contact them via phone or email to lay out your position on this matter. I would then document the conversation via certified mail, including as much evidence as you have.

 

In order to sell travel in Florida the agent/agency must be licensed by the state, so if the agency is not responding satisfactorily I would file a complaint with the state agency responsible for licensing travel agents.

 

When I was an agency owner I always carried Errors and Omissions insurance in the event something went sideways and we were unable to come to a satisfactory resolution with the client. (BTW that never happened...we always settled any problems, which were always minor, directly with the client.) If you're not getting anywhere through any other means I would consider filing a small claims court lawsuit against the travel agency, which should be enough to get their attention and spur them into action.

 

[basor]

Assuming you have documentation in writing that you requested the cancelation and confirmation that it was received and acknowledge by the TA, you should receive your $$$ back from the TA.  This is between you and the TA and O has nothing to do with it.

[njhorseman]

7 minutes ago, basor said:

Assuming you have documentation in writing that you requested the cancelation and confirmation that it was received and acknowledge by the TA, you should receive your $$$ back from the TA.  This is between you and the TA and O has nothing to do with it.

As I read it the OP's problem is precisely that they never got anything in writing to confirm the cancellation of the cruise they intended to cancel and never made a written request, but only a telephone request. 

Frankly I'm puzzled why the OP never noticed that they didn't get a refund of the deposit on the cruise they had intended to cancel when they called the TA in December. Deposit refunds normally are processed in a few days...a couple of weeks at most. Months going by without a refund should have been a red flag.

 

[basor]

Just now, njhorseman said:

As I read it the OP's problem is precisely that they never got anything in writing to confirm the cancellation of the cruise they intended to cancel and never made a written request, but only a telephone request. 

Frankly I'm puzzled why the OP never noticed that they didn't get a refund of the deposit on the cruise they had intended to cancel when they called the TA in December. Deposit refunds normally are processed in a few days...a couple of weeks at most. Months going by without a refund should have been a red flag.

 

I agree - that is why I wrote this.....hoping OP would respond confirming she did or did not have any kind of written confirmation.

In my opinion, the OP did not do her due diligence with following up with TA on confirmation of cancelation and now wants O to take the blame.

[njhorseman]

5 minutes ago, basor said:

I agree - that is why I wrote this.....hoping OP would respond confirming she did or did not have any kind of written confirmation.

In my opinion, the OP did not do her due diligence with following up with TA on confirmation of cancelation and now wants O to take the blame.

It's clear that Oceania isn't at fault.  With cruise lines having accumulated billions of dollars in debt due to the COVID shutdown they're not about to issue a refund as a matter of customer goodwill.

 

Competent travel agencies normally require cancellation requests to be in writing just to prevent this sort of thing from happening...or also the cancellation of the wrong cruise in cases like this, where the OP was booked on two voyages.

[cruisemom42]

18 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Frankly I'm puzzled why the OP never noticed that they didn't get a refund of the deposit on the cruise they had intended to cancel when they called the TA in December. Deposit refunds normally are processed in a few days...a couple of weeks at most. Months going by without a refund should have been a red flag.

 

The OP has said twice that they asked the TA to cancel the cruise and to use the deposit as a partial payment on the remaining cruise.

 

I have done this in the past at least several times and never had a problem with it. But there would have been no refund to look for.

 

[EJL2023]

53 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

The OP has said twice that they asked the TA to cancel the cruise and to use the deposit as a partial payment on the remaining cruise.

 

I have done this in the past at least several times and never had a problem with it. But there would have been no refund to look for.

 

But there would have been an invoice indicating the one cruise had been canceled. 

[ak1004]

48 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

But there would have been an invoice indicating the one cruise had been canceled. 

 

And the cancelled cruise should disappear from their online account. This is the simplest way to confirm that it was indeed cancelled, in addition to written confirmation from the TA.

 

We all make mistakes, but in this case, without any written proof, I'm not sure what can be done. 

[MarkWiltonM]

The cruise lines are not your friend. I have found they are rarely accommodating when it comes to money if they don't have to be. And it's certainly not just Oceania. 

 

I am so sorry you are likely out a significant sum of money, but now you know that important requests such as cancellations should be made in writing. it's ultimately your money and therefore your responsibility (I know it hurts!) Even if there was a phone call first, it should be followed up in writing. Then, make a note to yourself on whatever calendar system you use to make sure you receive a confirmation of the cancellation and, if not, contact the TA or cruise line (depending on who you're working with) again. Until you see it in writing, don't be satisfied, whatever you are told.    

Edited March 14 by MarkWiltonM

[ToxM]

When I took a cruise with my mum, our TA told us on the phone that disabled friendly transfers had been booked for us. 

 

Day of embarkation - we were expected to get on a coach (my mum is in a wheelchair). We had to pay for a cab from Nice to MC - 90euros. 

 

I emailed my TA, explained the issue and they listened back to the telephone call we had found the TA to be at fault and we were refunded the cab fares. 

 

I don’t know if calls are recorded at your TA but worth checking out. 

 

For something as important as cancelling a cruise, I would always follow up with an email so you have a “paper trail”. 

 

 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

The OP has said twice that they asked the TA to cancel the cruise and to use the deposit as a partial payment on the remaining cruise.

 

I have done this in the past at least several times and never had a problem with it. But there would have been no refund to look for.

 

Even if Oceania's accounting system can accommodate the direct transfer of funds from one cruise to the other, as I stated the OP did not receive any confirmation of the transaction.  A new invoice would have been produced if the transaction had actually been processed. 

Edited March 14 by njhorseman

[cruisemom42]

7 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Even if Oceania's accounting system can accommodate the direct transfer of funds from one cruise to the other, as I stated the OP did not receive any confirmation of the transaction.  A new invoice would have been produced if the transaction had actually been processed. 

 

Yep, but a refund of their deposit wouldn't have happened, which is what you mentioned.

[the more ports the better]

I am the OP

 

I have to say, O came through as did my TA.  O gave a FCC for the penalty which was $5600 not $4500, I calculated wrong.  They applied it to the correct sailing are refunding the balance.

 

Final payment on the June 13 sailing was much less that I anticipated.  While my TA was working with the O rep, the O rep said she had worked on my account several times with my old TA and that I had a $3900 pp FCC.  That was a surprise to me.  
 

I had so many sailing booked and cancelled during COVID that it was hard to keep everything straight.  I had so much going on financially at work as I was in the middle of a private equity deal that I had to hire a CFO, keeping track of my FCC was kind of not on the top of my priority list.

 

I have to say, my TA stepped up to the plate and said she should have cancelled and O stepped up to the plate and applied the penalty to the correct sailing.

 

I use the largest TA company in the U.S.  They have a luxury division who really goes to bat for their clients and they do a ton of business with O.  Plus the suite has a long waitlist so O will sell the suite for much more than I paid plus penalties so….. everyone makes out in the end.

 

YAY!!!

[cruiserchuck]

Really glad everything worked out.  

[njhorseman]

33 minutes ago, the more ports the better said:

I am the OP

 

I have to say, O came through as did my TA.  O gave a FCC for the penalty which was $5600 not $4500, I calculated wrong.  They applied it to the correct sailing are refunding the balance.

 

Final payment on the June 13 sailing was much less that I anticipated.  While my TA was working with the O rep, the O rep said she had worked on my account several times with my old TA and that I had a $3900 pp FCC.  That was a surprise to me.  
 

I had so many sailing booked and cancelled during COVID that it was hard to keep everything straight.  I had so much going on financially at work as I was in the middle of a private equity deal that I had to hire a CFO, keeping track of my FCC was kind of not on the top of my priority list.

 

I have to say, my TA stepped up to the plate and said she should have cancelled and O stepped up to the plate and applied the penalty to the correct sailing.

 

I use the largest TA company in the U.S.  They have a luxury division who really goes to bat for their clients and they do a ton of business with O.  Plus the suite has a long waitlist so O will sell the suite for much more than I paid plus penalties so….. everyone makes out in the end.

 

YAY!!!

Glad to hear that it was satisfactorily resolved.

[osandomir]

It’s great that your TA took responsibility to make it right for you.

[ATWCruiser]

Congrats! Great to hear a happy ending!

 

"Trust But Verify" - good advice.

[fdnycruiser]

All’s well that ends well 

[TRLD]

On 3/13/2024 at 10:37 AM, njhorseman said:

As a former travel agency owner I'd like to remind you that in any profession, trade, occupation or avocation its practitioners have a broad range of competency.

 

Since some physicians can be guilty of malpractice does that mean no one should go to a doctor?

 

Since some of the customer ser\vice representatives working at cruise lines are incompetent using your line of reasoning you also shouldn't book directly with the cruise lines.

 

What about plumbers, automobile mechanics or electricians? 

 

The solution is not "never use a travel agent". The solution is as @FlyerTalker says, ".use a quality agent, who knows their stuff.  Who communicates effectively, often, and completely.  And documents every step of the way.  Anything else and you are not getting true service."

There is also responsibility on the customer side to communicate clearly and to make sure the exact details about what is being discussed.

 

Pretty clear that the OP thought the first cruise was canceled and as such assumed that the TA was talking about the second cruise.  

 

Basically incorrect assumptions by both parties.  Would not have been a problem if the TA had given the exact dates of the cruise being discussed as well as booking number or if the OP had asked for such detailed or confirmed in anyway what cruise was being discussed.

 

 

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, TRLD said:

There is also responsibility on the customer side to communicate clearly and to make sure the exact details about what is being discussed.

 

Pretty clear that the OP thought the first cruise was canceled and as such assumed that the TA was talking about the second cruise.  

 

Basically incorrect assumptions by both parties.  Would not have been a problem if the TA had given the exact dates of the cruise being discussed as well as booking number or if the OP had asked for such detailed or confirmed in anyway what cruise was being discussed.

 

 

 

You're basing your argument on what occurred at final payment time, which glosses over the real cause of the problem...the travel agent failing to carry out the OP's original instructions to cancel one of the cruises.

 

First, any competent TA would have told the OP to make the cancellation request in writing. A written request protects both parties. But even if it wasn't the TA's usual procedure to require such a request to be made in writing, if the TA had done their job and carried out the OP's oral instructions the problems arising later would never had happened. 

 

Now should the OP subsequently have done some things differently? Certainly. When the OP didn't get an invoice within a few days of the cancellation request showing the cruise had been cancelled and the deposit refunded and applied to the second cruise, the OP should have contacted the TA to ensure that their instructions were being carried out .

 

However, the OP's failure to follow up doesn't excuse the TA's failure to carry out the OP's cancellation instructions. The TA is the professional. The TA is licensed as such by the state, and the TA is the person who earned money from the client having booked the cruise. 

 

Do you want to know why the travel agency suddenly went to bat with Oceania on the OP's behalf ? Hoping to keep the OP's business? Sure. Hoping that the OP wouldn't leave scathing reviews on Yelp and Google? Sure...but the agency was in jeopardy of being held liable for the mistake if the OP chose to pursue the matter with the state licensing agency or in small claims court. I can guarantee that the agent got a good dressing down from their supervisor.

Edited March 15 by njhorseman

[TRLD]

1 minute ago, njhorseman said:

 

You're basing your argument on what occurred at final payment time, which glosses over the real cause of the problem...the travel agent failing to carry out the OP's original instructions to cancel one of the cruises.

 

First, any competent TA would have told the OP to make the cancellation request in writing. A written request protects both parties. But even if it wasn't the TA's usual procedure to require such a request to be made in writing, if the TA had done their job and carried out the OP's oral instructions the problems arising later would never had happened. 

 

Now should the OP subsequently have done some things differently? Certainly. When the OP didn't get an invoice within a few days of the cancellation request showing the cruise had been cancelled and the deposit refunded and applied to the second cruise, the OP should have contacted the TA to ensure that their instructions were being carried out .

 

However, the OP's failure to follow up doesn't excuse the TA's failure to carry out the OP's cancellation instructions. The TA is the professional. The TA is licensed as such by the state, and the TA is the person who earned money from the client having booked the cruise. 

 

Do you want to know why the travel agency suddenly went to bat with Oceania on the OP's behalf ? Hoping to keep the OP's business? Sure. Hoping that the OP wouldn't leave scathing reviews on Yelp and Google? Sure...but the agency was in jeopardy of being held liable for the mistake if the OP chose to pursue the matter with the state licensing agency or in small claims court. I can guarantee that the agent got a good dressing down from their supervisor.

As I said incorrect assumptions made by both parties.  I suspect that the TA went to bat because they were partially responsible, just as the OP should never have authorized final payment without confirming exactly what they were paying for.  As I stated poor assumptions on both parties.