Not a happy camper

[Mr. T & Amelie]

Well, thought I would soon be taking my 1st Hal cruise...

After "lurking" on this board for some time now, I felt the need to sign-up.

Unfortunately, my initial post will be of the negative variety. After much internal debate, this past Monday I finally brought myself to book the 4 Nov. Noordam sailing. In the past, I've used both B&M travel agent and one of the big internet travel sites with good success. Frequenting CC over the past several months, I learned of internet sites unfamiliar to me which others have found pricing to be very good. So, after comparing several of these, I discovered an excellent price for the category I was certain to be happy with. It was one of those agencies that had one price for booking strictly on-line, with a higher price for call-in and speak with an agent to book. I completed the on-line process Monday, complete with credit card info, etc. Shortly thereafter, I received an e-mail from agency listing names, dates, itinerary, AND a six digit reservation code. Wanting to purchase the HAL provided motorcoach service to the pier, I attempted to contact the agency Tuesday (since I did not have the option to do this when booking. Also wanted to inquire whether this reservation code constituted a confirmed booking with HAL. Telephoned toll-free number posted on website and spoke with someone who told me that the person able to add motorcoach fare to reservation was busy, but would return my call "soon". Guess what?

Just for the heck of it, I went on the HAL website under the "Booked Guests" section, clicked on immigration form, and entered six digit code plus last name, as requested. Since I had booked an "SZ" guarantee, I did this to see if room number was yet assigned ( a tidbit I learned about on this board). YEAH, our names appeared and I had the option to complete immigration form, which I did not do at this time. Seeing our names on HAL's booked guests page, I was relieved because surely everything must be in order, now to only get the motorcoach thing squared away.

No return call from agency, so I tried the e-mail route to no avail, e-mail another time, again no response. Each day this week I went back on HAL site to see if there had been a change to room number (wishful thinking), each day is still showed GUAR. I go back on today, several hours ago, and get a message to the effect "Your Booking Has Been Cancelled". WHAT, you gotta be shi.... me! Immediately telephoned HAL, told agent what transpired, and she researched to see what had happened. After a minute or two, she informed me the cancellation took place because HAL had not received any payment towards booking. I paid full amount when booked since it was within 45 days of sail date, even called credit card company to make sure they authorized payment (since the amount was more than I had ever charged on card previously, but well within credit limit). Okay, a note was made to allow charge to go through, good, no problems there.

Bottom line - after trying all week, agency has not responded to phone calls or e-mails. Person at HAL said I would be able to rebook directly with her. I asked if price would be same as I initially(thought) I paid. Sorry, but you will have to pay current HAL rate(much more and unaffordable to me).

I'm going to start crying now. Suggestions welcome.

[hammybee]

Immediately contact your credit card company to dispute the charge.

 

Then come back here for additional suggestions.

[serendipity1499]

First of all call the Credit Card Company NOW & Ask if the charge went through & ask who put the charge through....She may have cancelled your old booking & put through a new one in order to book your motorcoach...It may have gone to HAL in the form of a new booking...If the charge went went through as an Agent charge have the credit card company reverse it immediately...You may have to send them an certified letter overnight to do this..Explain to card company that HAL always processes their charges..

 

Also the HAL booking number is an alpha numeric number..

 

Then call the agent immediately & ask to speak to a Supervisor & explain what happened..You may be able to get a new bookinjg number from them....If not start again with a new Agent..Good luck..& hope it works out for you..

[kakalina]

I am so sorry to hear of the problems you are having. This is the main reason that I book only through HAL itself. It may cost a little more in the long run but I have never had even the smallest problem with my bookings. Hope it will all work out for you.

 

Can it really be that much more that you can no longer consider the cruise? I wish I had a suggestion or solution but all I can do is wish you luck and advise you to contact your credit card company and dispute the charges to your account.

[rpach10115]

First do IMMEDIATLY:

Call your credit card co and stop the payment. They will investigate the problem.

 

Second, Go to a reputable travel agent. I am a licenced IATA member. I have heard sooooo many of these stories. If you go to a large travel company with the information you gathered on-line, the travel company should be able to get the same rates. But you MUST ask for it. They may even ask you to prove the rate you got from the internet site. There are many good internet sites that you can purchase cruise travel from. There are many more out there that will pull a stunt that you just experienced. I understand that from a convenience point, the internet is a great booking tool, but BE CAREFUL.

 

Many cruise lines have done away with selling "Blocks" of cabins to internet-only sites. Also, Carnival corp, which runs Carnival, Princess, HAL, among others, will penalize any site selling below the "Basement price" This means that you should be able to get the best rate from ANY large travel provider if you ask for it. Also, these sites cannot offer perks that are not authorized by the cruise line. Onboard credits/massages/shore excursions, etc. Pretty much the only thing that they will allow is if the travel agent wants to "BUY" a gift for their clients.

[hammybee]

I think your decision to use a credit card for your purchase of this cruise is going to be your ace. You are either going to get your cruise or your do not pay.

 

Check with several cruise agencies who sponsor these boards to determine if any of them can offer you your cruise at a compariable cost. If so, book it and be done with it. If not, accept that this whole deal looks like a potential scam be be thankful that you were on top of it and did not lose money.

 

I once "won" a cruise on another carrier on eBay at an incredible rate. The selling TA cancelled and added our booking so many times and it was a part of a pyramid scheme. I made her life a living hell-o. Out of all the "winners" I was the only one and only who had a cabin. What I saved on the cruise, got eaten up in having to pay premium for airfare cause I did not want to throw good money after bad. When a deal looks too good to be true, it usually is.

 

Please let us know how this turns out.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I agree with the others -- call your credit card company again and see if they have made the payment to that "agent".

 

If they have then explain the problem and ask for a form where you can dispute the charge.

 

Someone is making some money here!!

[kryos]

First of all call the Credit Card Company NOW & Ask if the charge went through & ask who put the charge through....She may have cancelled your old booking & put through a new one in order to book your motorcoach...

I would agree with this advice. If she was adding motorcoach transfers, she may have needed to put it through on a new booking number, though I can't understand why. Could this be another case of HAL's booking engine having the wrong prices? Maybe the agent cancelled the booking because HAL wouldn't honor the price, and a credit was put through on the OP's credit card for the amount of the initial booking? I would definitely call the online agency and speak with a supervisor. I'm sure this is just some kind of a snafu. I doubt a large, reputable online agency would try to screw the OP over ... usually it's the small "mom and pop" type agency that is more likely to do that. I'm sure there's got to be a reasonable explanation.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[serendipity1499]

I am so sorry to hear of the problems you are having. This is the main reason that I book only through HAL itself. It may cost a little more in the long run but I have never had even the smallest problem with my bookings. Hope it will all work out for you.

 

Can it really be that much more that you can no longer consider the cruise? I wish I had a suggestion or solution but all I can do is wish you luck and advise you to contact your credit card company and dispute the charges to your account.

 

I was born in Missouri & would never have believed that HAL's rate to be more than an on-line Agent, but learned my lesson two years ago...The HAL rate is always a great deal more than On-line Agents rates even when HAL has a Mariners discount..We've transfered our HAL booking to an on-line agent after speaking with a HAL Supervisor who informed me that they cannot compete with their HIGH Producers who get large discounts on HAL..

 

On our last cruise in April on the "Prinsendam" we saved $1078 for our outside cabin by releasing our booking that was originally booked through HAL to an ON-line Agent..We've booked another cruise for November through the same Agent with no problems whatsoever at a 11.5 %:) saving over HAL'S special a Mariner's fare...

 

I should have known about this as we did the same thing in the Airline Industry years ago for high producers..

[kryos]

First do IMMEDIATLY:

 

Second, Go to a reputable travel agent. I am a licenced IATA member. I have heard sooooo many of these stories. If you go to a large travel company with the information you gathered on-line, the travel company should be able to get the same rates. But you MUST ask for it.

This just doesn't sound like a scam to me, though. She got the large online agency through advice on these boards. So, obviously others here have used them with no problems. I highly doubt a large agency is going to engage in "funny business" when selling a cruise. I'd bet they quoted her a rate that HAL wouldn't honor. Maybe more troubles with HAL's booking system?

 

Also, most large agencies run the charges directly through the cruise line's accounts payable department. They never take the charge on the agency's name. I know I would be immediately suspicious of any travel agency that did it differently. Let's face it, why should the travel agency pay the credit card percentage when they can let the cruise line absorb that fee?

 

I'm very suspicious by nature, and this just does not scream "scam" out at me. What it does scream is HAL is having booking engine troubles again.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Mr. T & Amelie]

Just got off the phone with credit card company, there have been no attempts to bill my card this week. Also, just sent e-mail to actual person at agency asking what's going on. As of now, no response. Leaving work now, will try phoning agency once I get home.

[sail7seas]

:confused: I'm confused.

 

If there have been no attempts to charge your credit card this week, then how did HAL have you listed as a guest on their site and how did you find you were assigned cabin -0- ? The TA had to have put through a charge in order for HAL to enter you into their system as a booked guest.

[Mr. T & Amelie]

I'm more than confused, when our names appeared on the immigration form on HAL' s site, I made assumption charges were authorized, they were paid in full, and I would be cruising in 30 something days. Apparently not the case according to the person I spoke with at HAL. They must have accepted the reservation prior to receiving funds?

[sail7seas]

That would be a First. They will put a brief hold on a cabin but there is no firm booking until they get funds.

 

[serendipity1499]

That would be a First. They will put a brief hold on a cabin but there is no firm booking until they get funds.

 

 

Sail...Large producing On-line Agents can put a booking in without immediate payment..When you request a fare they give you a HAL booking Number & Cabin Number..Our booking was put through & held for 24 hours with our Cabin Number...I did not accept the first booking & requested a different Cabin in a different location..They then XXld our original Booking put another Booking through & gave me the new Cabin & HAL Booking Number..We accepted the booking & fare the next day & we put our Credit Card through the system..The agent always advises you that you have X number of hours before the booking will be cancelled..It's usually only held by HAL for 24 to 48 hours for payment...Betty

[KAKcruiser]

First, I would stop emailing. You have to call the agency and demand to speak to a supervisor. Tell your story and find out what is going on. Do not accept that someone will call you back. Insist you want to speak to a person in authority. You have to find out what is going on before you do anything else.

[hammybee]

I was born in Missouri & would never have believed that HAL's rate to be more than an on-line Agent, but learned my lesson two years ago...The HAL rate is always a great deal more than On-line Agents rates even when HAL has a Mariners discount..I..

 

Occasionally, sailing with HAL is competitive and when it is, it might make sense to use them. I had one of those sails. Navyman has one right now, scheduled for December, I think. ( Gets a little creepy when one remembers the cruises of others, does it not?)

[HeatherInFlorida]

I had to read the OP twice just to make sure, but clearly the problem is that the charge for the trip never went through. So it would seem the TA dropped the ball.

 

This won't help this time, but every time I make my deposit/payment on a cruise, I watch my CC online for the charge by HAL to hit. It only takes a day or 2. If it doesn't, something has gone wrong.

 

It serves no purpose to tell the OP they should book directly with HAL, not use an online TA, etc. It doesn't solve the problem. Most of us have been using TA's for our bookings for years and I've never seen anything like this happen.

 

The most important thing is for MrT&Amelie to speak directly with the TA (not email). While it's possible HAL messed up and didn't process the payment, I think it's far more likely the T/A didn't put it through.

 

I hope we'll hear from the OP that the TA can still make good on it and they can be off on their cruise in a few weeks. I just feel so badly for them.

[WNYCRUISER]

The HAL rate is always a great deal more than On-line Agents rates even when HAL has a Mariners discount..We've transfered our HAL booking to an on-line agent after speaking with a HAL Supervisor who informed me that they cannot compete with their HIGH Producers who get large discounts on HAL....

 

I would have to disagree with this. Has not been the case in my research. (Not a great deal more...more sometimes, but not always a great deal more) The only suggestion I have is to do your homework. Sometimes one is better than the other, or so close as to not make a difference. Research it, and always make sure you are comparing apples to apples with respect to taxes, port fees, etc. making sure whatever quote you get that it includes everything!

[Mr. T & Amelie]

Home from work, telephoned agency, asked to speak to a supervisor in reference to my cancelled booking. Person answering phone said she was transferring me to supervisor, she transferred me back to main menu, press 1 for new bookings, press 2 for existing bookings, etc. Tried both of these several times, after four or five rings- silence. No one will answer. Do they have caller ID and don't want to speak to me? Okay Sail, I must be the first then. Yesterday afternoon I actually printed out the immigration form page on HAL' s site which has our names listed. As far as I know, I could have completed form and printed boarding pass, not that it would have done me any good, but this was four+ days after booking.

Next move is another call to HAL asking for a supervisor to explain to me why reservation held up for four days without payment.

Where are you Rev Neal, could use a little divine intervention at this point.

[hammybee]

 

Save the Rev for a real problem. Your credit card has not been charged. You are, I assume, on record with your credit card company to bounce any charge from the TA. So why not move on and make another reservation with a different TA?

[Mr. T & Amelie]

Sorry, it was an my attempt at humor, just trying to make a funny.

[sail7seas]

Home from work, telephoned agency, asked to speak to a supervisor in reference to my cancelled booking. Person answering phone said she was transferring me to supervisor, she transferred me back to main menu, press 1 for new bookings, press 2 for existing bookings, etc. Tried both of these several times, after four or five rings- silence. No one will answer. Do they have caller ID and don't want to speak to me? Okay Sail, I must be the first then. Yesterday afternoon I actually printed out the immigration form page on HAL' s site which has our names listed. As far as I know, I could have completed form and printed boarding pass, not that it would have done me any good, but this was four+ days after booking.

Next move is another call to HAL asking for a supervisor to explain to me why reservation held up for four days without payment.

Where are you Rev Neal, could use a little divine intervention at this point.

 

The B&M TA I always (until the CC Maasdam group cruise) have booked with, always tells me that HAL will hold the cabin for sometimes one day, sometimes up to 3 and then require a deposit in order to officially have a booking.

 

It seems that on-line TA's don't have the same rules to follow with HAL?

 

I hope it all works out for you and you get to go on your cruise.

 

 

[SnorkelBear]

We are on the same Noordam 11/4 sailing. I have been tracking price and availabilty of the cabins since I booked. Twice this week all the SS and S suites were all gone. They were gone on Weds. There were 20 suites available again yesterday. This morning zero again. It may just be a coincidence, or something HAL does at this point before sailing. It seemed a bit odd to me.

[Mr. T & Amelie]

and... because the day after I booked, Hal must have pulled back the availability for on-line agencies. I checked a half dozen or more sites and the only categories shown as available were inside and oceanview, no balconies. One day there is availability in all V and S categories, the next day category C, oceanview is the highest available, where do they all go overnite?