Whoops. Emerald Greenland deals revoked.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 minute ago, Coral said:

There was a similar mistake a few years ago. They did not give individuals inside cabins for the price.

When I received the error message, I figured it would just get canceled and maybe they would offer a $50 onboard credit for your next cruise or something like that. Like I said before, I thought it was legit when we booked the offer and I am very pleased with the offer of an inside cabin.

[Lyndonn]

2 minutes ago, FLAlaska said:

Perhaps however this was a HUGE mistake that , slowly, many began to believe it was real. Many had called and were told it was legit. While Greenland said Casino , the Star said  COMP. More and more people booked, more and more received confirmation that it was a legit deal. 800 cabins booked! At that point , it becomes even more real

 

But the biggest issue isn't that. Its the way it was handled. A letter goes out with options to people before even the customer service reps knew. People were given limited time. Reservations were automatically changed without confirmation. Letter states if you don't call, it will be permanent and non re fundable.All on a friday night with a Monday deadline and customr service reps that didn't know what people were talking about,

 

If it wasn't for someone suggesting directing emails to Jen Wright, who knows what may have happened. Kudos to her for patiently and efficiently dealing with it all but it never should have happened and the "apology" was inept and a bit threatening

I agree, it was grossly mishandled. The sad thing is there may still be people that do not know their booking has been changed or the deadline date to respond.  Jen reached out to all that inquired and is trying to do right.  I read somewhere a post that Jen said she would still honor booking options past today, May 6th.  

[Lyndonn]

4 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

When I received the error message, I figured it would just get canceled and maybe they would offer a $50 onboard credit for your next cruise or something like that. Like I said before, I thought it was legit when we booked the offer and I am very pleased with the offer of an inside cabin.

Enjoy your cruise…keep an open eye out for the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)…the timing may just be right.  😃  we saw the lights near Iceland around the end of August.  

[MsSoCalCruiser]

4 minutes ago, FLAlaska said:

Perhaps however this was a HUGE mistake that , slowly, many began to believe it was real. Many had called and were told it was legit. While Greenland said Casino , the Star said  COMP. More and more people booked, more and more received confirmation that it was a legit deal. 800 cabins booked! At that point , it becomes even more real

 

But the biggest issue isn't that. Its the way it was handled. A letter goes out with options to people before even the customer service reps knew. People were given limited time. Reservations were automatically changed without confirmation. Letter states if you don't call, it will be permanent and non re fundable.All on a friday night with a Monday deadline and customr service reps that didn't know what people were talking about,

 

If it wasn't for someone suggesting directing emails to Jen Wright, who knows what may have happened. Kudos to her for patiently and efficiently dealing with it all but it never should have happened and the "apology" was inept and a bit threatening

I probably spent an hour on the phone with a Customer Service Rep and a Supervisor but both employees did not really know what was going on or how to handle. I was upset receiving the email at 6:15 PM on a Friday night and it telling me that I had to deal with it by Monday or lose the $200 per person deposit.
 

My amazing Princess CVP does not work the weekends so Saturday I emailed Jen Wright. I did not expect a response on a Saturday, but I received one within minutes. Ms. Wright answered every question I had asked and she was very nice while doing it. I emailed Ms. Wright again on Sunday and again within minutes my problem was taken care of. She has been wonderful to work with and I really appreciate her.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

10 minutes ago, Lyndonn said:

Enjoy your cruise…keep an open eye out for the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)…the timing may just be right.  😃  we saw the lights near Iceland around the end of August.  

Thank you! That would be amazing!

[telecheck]

50 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

I suspect if not for the Star Princess error they may have honored the Greenland bookings.  But once it became a feeding frenzy where they were handing out mini-suites for free and potentially losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue they went back and revoked everyone.

I believe it is actually the opposite. If it were not for the Greenland bookings, they might have cancelled the Star Princes bookings. The Greenland cruise is scheduled for August, so some passengers may have already bought non-refundable air tickets and hotels. Therefore, they have no choice but to honor at least inside cabins for those bookings to avoid reimbursing cancellation fees. The situation is different for the Star Princess as it is still very far off, but to be fair, they are treating it the same way.

[Mississippian]

2 hours ago, ChutChut said:

Sorry but it was too good to be true. Deep down, you must have known it was an error. Getting mad over Princess making an error and correcting it when you must have had a reasonable suspicion it was a glitch is - misguided.

Why was it too good to be true? I booked a 16-night Britain and Iceland cruise for free. It's an inside stateroom, but I'm not a huge gambler; I'm never offered more than an inside stateroom. I could have booked a 16-night Britain, Iceland, and Greenland cruise. Both of these were offered to me for two or three weeks before disappearing. I was offered the 17-day cruise to Greenland, but it is just too close in time to my Iceland cruise. These 16-night cruises weren't glitches, so why is someone to think the 17-night cruise is a glitch?

Edited May 7 by Mississippian

[edspec]

I reached out to Jen Wright earlier today and she handled the cancellation of my bookings promptly and professionally.  It is very unusual today to find the excellent customer service she demonstrated, it makes me even more of a Princess fan than I was.  

I didn't cancel because I thought the offers were unfair. I thought Princess handled a mistake...like all of us make...ethically.  For those that say Princess shouldn't have erred, Princess should this or that...let's give them some grace.  

[dog]

This thread may be useful to those who booked the casino offer.

[dog]

1 hour ago, Lakbayer. said:

I was also victimized, I am so upset. When I booked this cruise, my travel summary included all the perks and I got to choose an available obstructed ocean view room. I even asked my friend who is a frequent Princess Cruiser if this was real and she said she got the same (travel completed) deal before at Mediterranean Cruise. The only reason she said was she and her group played at the casino before, so she got the offer. My roommate played at the casino and lost $700 prior to this. Then she racked up $5000 on board expenses shopping at the jewelry store there. On December 2019 we had a cancelled Princess cruise which the insurance company never reimbursed for medical reason, giving me run around even after submitting medical reports until I gave up since pandemic came around. I figured if they gave it to my friend at Mediterranean, then it must be real since I thought maybe Princess tried giving back to some customers like they did my friend. I only read the email last night regarding the cancellation (May 6 deadline, so it was too late to cancel). I checked my website account and my Travel Summary had been changed without the comps and without assigned cabin on IF. If this has been happening for years according to message boards, this has to stop. They may even have paid trolls online to shame consumers who complain as far as I can digest from message boards. Yes consumers, we need a lawyer, and or complain to FTC.

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/penalty-offenses/bait-switch

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Bait-Switch.pdf

Keep us informed.

 

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

2 hours ago, Lakbayer. said:

I was also victimized, I am so upset. When I booked this cruise, my travel summary included all the perks and I got to choose an available obstructed ocean view room. I even asked my friend who is a frequent Princess Cruiser if this was real and she said she got the same (travel completed) deal before at Mediterranean Cruise. The only reason she said was she and her group played at the casino before, so she got the offer. My roommate played at the casino and lost $700 prior to this. Then she racked up $5000 on board expenses shopping at the jewelry store there. On December 2019 we had a cancelled Princess cruise which the insurance company never reimbursed for medical reason, giving me run around even after submitting medical reports until I gave up since pandemic came around. I figured if they gave it to my friend at Mediterranean, then it must be real since I thought maybe Princess tried giving back to some customers like they did my friend. I only read the email last night regarding the cancellation (May 6 deadline, so it was too late to cancel). I checked my website account and my Travel Summary had been changed without the comps and without assigned cabin on IF. If this has been happening for years according to message boards, this has to stop. They may even have paid trolls online to shame consumers who complain as far as I can digest from message boards. Yes consumers, we need a lawyer, and or complain to FTC.

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/penalty-offenses/bait-switch

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Bait-Switch.pdf

Send a kind email to Jen Wright at princess cruises if you have a problem with the IF category and you want to upgrade. Explain to her that you did not see the email. It will cost to upgrade, but it’s worth it in my opinion, maybe you can get a better located interior cabin without paying. Jen Wright has been wonderful to work with.

 

Yes, I am disappointed that Princess Plus was not included but we went ahead and booked it. That was pricey. 

 

I also thought it was real since I have received that type of offer before. I don’t feel that we were victimized. I’m pretty sure someone made a huge mistake and I would hate to have been that person. I’m surprised that they honored it if we moved to an interior.
 

jwright@princesscruises.com 

 

Edited Friday at 07:25 PM by MsSoCalCruiser

[dog]

My understanding is that it was a glitch. Many of those glitches with this company.  Princess did not deliberately intend to offer this casino comp to all of Captain Circle members, only to a select few.

On this thread or OMG thread someone has posted terms published in Princess website. Read them.

 

jwright@princesscruises.com has responded to many of us to offer assistance. I chose to get my non refundable deposit back. ( still waiting for a portion of it). We read the letter and saw changes to our travel summary immediately, as we suspected a glitch when we booked.

 

We would appreciate an update.

[tetleytea]

I could be wrong, but my impression is that Jen is the "good guy" in all of this in the same way that The Banker is the evil "bad guy" in Let's Make a Deal.

 

[dog]

1 hour ago, tetleytea said:

I could be wrong, but my impression is that Jen is the "good guy" in all of this in the same way that The Banker is the evil "bad guy" in Let's Make a Deal.

 

Who composed the letter- saying we had a May 6 th deadline and cancellation would result in a non refundable deposit?  ( yes, I know that was reversed).

 

[tetleytea]

25 minutes ago, dog said:

Who composed the letter- saying we had a May 6 th deadline and cancellation would result in a non refundable deposit?  ( yes, I know that was reversed).

 

 

I'm going off of a call that I got from her.

 

[TheMichael]

Listen, this was a web glitch. Not a rescinded "casino offer" nor some kind of promotion or (especially not) the website somehow recognizing that you had a rough financial issue on a previous cruise.

 

Glitches happen all the time. Every website that sells something has had them. 

 

The FTC will tell you the same, as will any lawyer. You don't believe me or think I'm a "paid troll," go ask them.

 

File it under "would have been nice if it happened." It didn't hurt to try, and if it turns out to be a glitch then oh well, life goes on. 

 

7 hours ago, Lakbayer. said:

They may even have paid trolls online to shame consumers who complain as far as I can digest from message boards.

 

Really? I mean, really? Quite an insult to your fellow CC members who have given smart guidance here. 

 

Better that maybe don't believe you're somehow aggrieved in this situation - the savvy folks among us hopped on that glitch too, but the difference is that they knew there was a very good chance it wasn't real.

 

I looked for that $0 deal myself, just in case I might "win the lottery" and end up with a free cruise, because we all would love a free cruise! If it hadn't already been fixed by the time I got to the site, I'd have taken the chance - but I understood it was just a chance, and I refuse to be a "victim" when that chance doesn't pan out. 

 

Edited Saturday at 12:20 AM by TheMichael

[Lakbayer.]

On 5/3/2024 at 9:29 PM, Lyndonn said:

 

We had an ocean view room booked and paid all the fees per their terms.  When we received the same letter today, we decided to cancel because we did not want an interior room, plus we were loosing the Princess plus and the OBC.  It felt like a “BAIT AND SWITCH” scam!  I sent off a complaint email to Customer Relations, Jan Swartz, Jon Padgett.  

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Bait-Switch.pdf

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/penalty-offenses/bait-switch

https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/

[dog]

On 5/4/2024 at 11:41 AM, californiagirl said:

Dog did you get your deposit and taxes refunded yet?  If not email Jennifer Wright (email address in your roll call thread) and she will fix it for you.  I did that last night and within 10 minutes I had my full refund.  
 

As I said in the roll call thread Dog you don’t need to apologize to any of us.  You were only sharing what seemed like an amazing deal.  Sadly it seems the Princess norm, not the exception, is poor customer service and the appearance that no one knows what is going on.  The different departments appear to be isolated, poorly functioning companies within a company.  Which in turn causes chaos and confusion when there is a problem.  Ultimately the customer is the loser.  We put up with this because the cruise itself is a decent product for the money paid.  When that changes we will move on.

Well, I’ll try to answer this again:

My FCD bought on Regal in Feb, used for this comp offer, is now applied to the Oct 20/25 Star TA that Princess cancelled in April.

Spoke to agent on phone- could not understand him. No reply to my emails about this.  Credit card $ has been refunded.

 

Hoping everyone gets this mess settled.

Lesson learned.