TA won't price match??

[tsj04]

Actually, I would feel better if my TA was actually doing work but if you had read my previous posts she's obviously lacking and I'm trying to give her a chance. Irregardless if I am a first time customer with her or not I should still receive the same service as everyone else does (if it's good). Again, had you read my posts my file was transferred to her as my original TA was relocating. I did not choose her. And to correct you I'm not leaving from Miami I am leaving from Fort Lauderdale. Sucks to try to be smart and wrong, huh??

 

**I reposted to include the quote so my response would be directed to the TA that responded**

[tsj04]

speaking as a travel agent this is my thought on the matter...

first of all..i dont know what kind of service you have gotten from your ta but lets be honest like everything out there there are good ones and bad..that said

 

- the reason she is probably charging a cancellation fee is that there is an amount of work that is put into booking a file, whoever it may be for. there is paperwork involved, talking with the client, talking with the cruise line, making sure that all of your needs may be met. and to be totally honest if you are a new client to her, she may not want to put all that work into it for you to wait for a better price to come up and just cancel and leave!! do we get a plumber to come to our house and install a toilet...then look in the paper two days later after we have already give plumber 1 our business and see someone who does it cheaper and then ask for him to take it all away and go with the cheaper even if we think we have gotten good service!! NO .. would the plumber not charge you to take the toilet back out?? people dont seem to think we are doing you a service and they expect it all for free...we need to get something for dealing with people like you who want the service and dont seem to want to pay for it!!

 

- also just to let you all know we barely get paid anything from the cruiselines any more to book these cruises. to a point where it is hardly worth putting the work into it

 

with that said maybe you should appreciate the work your ta is doing for you and realise she cant do things for free, and when your .com travel agent screws up and your stranded in miami with no cruise do me a favor and dont call her!!

 

and in the future stop wasting our time, just book it online..trust me one of these days you will pay

 

Actually, I would feel better if my TA was actually doing work but if you had read my previous posts she's obviously lacking and I'm trying to give her a chance. Irregardless if I am a first time customer with her or not I should still receive the same service as everyone else does (if it's good). Again, had you read my posts my file was transferred to her as my original TA was relocating. I did not choose her. And to correct you I'm not leaving from Miami I am leaving from Fort Lauderdale. Sucks to try to be smart and wrong, huh??

[tsj04]

One experience we had...

 

With a group cruise we set up with TA we told everyone if they canceled that it was a $25 non refundable fee, well come to find out if they paid the deposit or deposits with their credit card and the TA used it to directly book with Carnival and not applied to their company account, then when you cancel TA notifies Carnival and Carnival in return credits ALL monies back to the credit card directly. If TA used their own company credit card to book directly with Carnival on your behalf then yes they can impose the cancellation fee, otherwise if your own credit card was used then you don't have to pay the fee since you get refunded directly by Carnival and TA cant hold back any fee. Check your credit card statement and see if it was charged to you by Carnival or your travel agents company. If you paid by check or cash whole or part of it then your stuck not getting all your $$ back. Just my two cents...

Cinder

 

 

Thanks for that info. I'll check on it. I used my debit card and booked over the phone directly with my old PVP.

[truecruiser]

I am booked for a cruise on the Liberty Jan.'08. This will be DH and I's first cruise so of course I'm researching and learning as much as I can. From reading some threads on here some say that their TA has price matched other quotes that they have found for a lesser price. I found a couple of lower quotes online and e-mailed my TA saying that I found a couple of lower quotes online and this was her response:

 

We do not price match with online companies because it is not the same type of service. Our rates come directly from the cruise lines because that is who we work with directly.

 

What do you guys think? If I cancel with the TA I will incure a 100.00 fee total (50.00 cancellation fee per person). Thanks!

 

p.s. we are booked for a suite at the rate of 2423.00 total. final payment due in November. I tried to get military discount (DH is NAVY) but it hasn't been available since I booked it.

 

in my exp it wld be rare for a TA to match another online TAs price unless they were trying to get you as a new client. though, i do see on here that some have been successful in this regard.

 

my TA always chips a bit off of the lowest CCL price i can get. but, if it goes lower, i won't get an adjustment having been deemed to have a "discounted sailing" already. so, lately, i have just been booking direct w/ CCL. they have never given us a problem w/ a price adjustment. so, in the end, i still have ended up a couple of dollars cheaper than booking w/ my TA.

 

my TA also charges a $50 per cabin cancellation fee. i think most TAs that shave their prices down in hopes of getting new clients will have this fee in place. TAs who do not have this fee, i wld think are selling the cabins at CCL's then going rate, if not more. this is just a guess, but i wld find it hard to believe that a TA who discounts the cabin up front wld be willing to walk away w/ zero if you cancel.

 

i have only transferred from CCL to a TA once. and, i did it to get some add'l $ shaved off. wldn't have been worth the hassel to do so otherwise. good luck!

[UpstateCruizer]

I think most people realize that when booking with an online discounted TA you are going to do most of the work on your own. When I book with the compete agent I expect that I will be watching for price changes and offers made available that might save me money on my booking. I also know that when I book a cruise that's months and months in advance I'm doing it to first secure the lower prices that are available on most advance bookings. Our last 2 cruises only went up up up and sold out so no discounts were ever given. And secondly not only booking in advance I also give the cruiseline a deposit to hold my cabin or cabins. This means for example on the 2 cruises I booked this past week I have given Carnival $1,600 of my money. They can gain interest on the money or whatever they do with deposit money. In return for booking and giving the deposit I expect per the competing TA's own statement "Best of all, you do not have to sacrifice great customer service for lower prices. Your price includes all port charges and Government taxes. If the price of your cruise drops prior to sailing, and cruise line rules permit, you can even get a lower fare! Also, do not hesitate to call or email me if you want rates on any other ship or sail date or if our quote is not the lowest. Let me earn your buiness!". Now no where in that statement does it say let me earn your business until you book then tough if you find a better deal or lower prices. It clearly encourages people to book with them and continue to watch for a better price deal. Sure it may be a hassle for the TA who may not be making alot of money on the booking but it's THEIR OFFER to get us to book with them. Back to the analogy of the plumber and expecting his services and getting a better offer weeks or days later. You can bet that if the original plumber offers that his prices can be matched or that you can call him if you find a better offer later as he wants to earn your business that is EXACTLY what people will expect and do! If a TA doesn't want to be involved in adjusting prices and simply gives you the best offer you will be allowed to take then all they need to do is so that upfront. "We offer no price adjustments after booking and a x dollars cancellation fee will apply if you chose to cancel and book elsewhere" Pretty simple and it gives the buyer a clear understanding of what to expect. But if an agent or agency offers a service AND offers to continue to work towards getting the best deal possible they should follow through on it. From a customer stand point if I do all my research and book the cruise I am most interested in and find an agent who doesn't want to at least attempt to keep my business they have also wasted MY time which is just as valuable.

[UpstateCruizer]

BS.

 

There are plenty of agents who will price match and plenty who don't charge cancellation fees. As such, I absolutely refuse to work with an agent that won't match the lowest fare I find or one who will penalize me for changing plans. It's not my fault or any other customer's fault that the cruise lines don't pay you much, and I for one won't be penalized for that fact.

 

I agree completely! Being new to cruising this year and absolutely loving it I know that we will be booking many many future cruises. I want an agent that knows my business will come back to him/her each time IF he/she provides me with satisfactory service. My first cruise the prices went up and sold out no price adjustments at all. I booked with the TA and contacted him once and only once to add our airfare and pre/post cruise hotel expenses to our travel insurance. Next cruise another agent in the smae compete department said he wasn't available and took our booking. Big mistake she was slow to return calls and a hassle to get anything done. I called the insurance myself which cost her the comission on the insurance. For the next 2 cruises I would only do business with my original guy and if he wasn't available I would have chose a different agency. Unless there is a price drop I don't expect to have to contact him again until we are ready to book 2009 cruises.

[quest2best]

I have booked several cruises with 2 online companies and also with CCL. Before I even knew about the possibilities of price adjustments after booking, I received one automatically through an online company because the price dropped at the time of final payment and I was only charged the lower rate. Since then I have watched prices and received adjustments from both online agencies I have used. I usually am booking several cabins for different family members, and have always been able to contact an agent from the online companies by phone if needed for special requests or any other issues.

[louiesowner]

I am a travel agent... if the cruiseline allows me, I always adjust my clients bookings with either a price reduction or an upgrade. Our agency doesn't charge a cancellation fee if a client cancels before final booking... but our invoices say that we can if we choose too. It is a lot of work to do a booking and then they cancel. I have never charged it to a client though. I do my best to match pricing, but I don't cut my commissions to match. We make so little money as it is, it just isn't worth it. I go through a lot of work for my clients. I do research for them, I will even deliver their tickets for them sometimes. We also usually give gifts.

 

Many cruiselines are doing their specials now as "new bookings only" and then it is hard to get the prices reduced.

 

Stefani

[gtalum]

my TA also charges a $50 per cabin cancellation fee. i think most TAs that shave their prices down in hopes of getting new clients will have this fee in place. TAs who do not have this fee, i wld think are selling the cabins at CCL's then going rate, if not more. this is just a guess, but i wld find it hard to believe that a TA who discounts the cabin up front wld be willing to walk away w/ zero if you cancel.

 

They're not that hard to find. I have dealth with several agents via quotes from cruise compete, and each time they offered both a very very low rate and no cancellation fees. As I said, I won't work with a TA who doesn't price match and allow me to change my mind for free. They're out there. To be fair, I do all the legwork and they are solely booking the specific sailing that I request.

[ldock]

Ip.s. we are booked for a suite at the rate of 2423.00 total. final payment due in November. I tried to get military discount (DH is NAVY) but it hasn't been available since I booked it.

Make sure that when you check prices with the online TA's be sure to know whats included in the price, some put up price, not inc. port fees ans Taxes, and others just not inc. taxes. If you follow through on the site ie>Travelocity, untill end like you would purchace, and then it will give you total price. Do this first and then if price is still better, minus your cancelation fees, then go for it. You cvan allways book another room, to be sure and then cancel with your TA after, as long as you know they will give you back full dep.. Also when looking at online, TA's, research and you may find some will give you OBC, they sometimes have these specific to company dure to purchacing alot of rooms, etc. Best of luck, its allways nicer to get a price break.

[cruisecruisecruise1234567]

. There is something to be said for having a TA who can help first time cruisers with any issues that might arise vs. an online agency where you may not get any personal service.

 

This is just another useless TA story.They are all starting to become crooks. If you read the OPs post,they booked with CCL direct and gave it to the TA. Now the TA who did nothing wants to charge a cancellation fee.Crook!

[travelagentgirl]

first off i apologize if you think my attitude was a little ***chy HOWEVER I am getting sick and tiered of people going on and on about how ta's will do nothing for you, how we should give you all of our knowledge and our experience for FREE!!!! How many service places do you know that will give up all of their information for free!!

 

and sorry that you are going out of fll! i just picked a city in florida that i know is popular with the cruise ships!

 

now I understand what you are saying that your ta isnt being that helpful! well maybe you should bring that issue up with her, or speak to her manager about it.

what i hate is that you people are accusing all ta's of being similar, or that we are all as one of you quoted : "CROOKS" trust me we are not making that much money to be considered a crook.

 

I just wish that you would understand that we are in the business of making money!! thats what we do! same as your car salesman makes money, weight loss institutes make money, and the same as the local mechanic! Where people figure that they can go into a ta and ask for advice and then book online because it is cheaper is beyond me!

 

but my advice to you is that if you are really that hell bent about saving a couple of dollars, go ahead and book online!!! trust me we dont care, just dont waste my time let me help someone that values my service and is actually going to book and is prepared to pay for it!

[cruisecruisecruise1234567]

what i hate is that you people are accusing all ta's of being similar, or that we are all as one of you quoted : "CROOKS" trust me we are not making that much money to be considered a crook.

 

quote]

 

In this case what would you call a TA that did absolutely nothing and then wants to charge the customer a $100 fee to cancel or won't match a lower price? Crook comes to mind.:rolleyes:

 

I can certianly understand when you do the work,put in the time and effort.

 

If this was your booking and you did nothing,would you still charge them?

[tsj04]

first off i apologize if you think my attitude was a little ***chy HOWEVER I am getting sick and tiered of people going on and on about how ta's will do nothing for you, how we should give you all of our knowledge and our experience for FREE!!!! How many service places do you know that will give up all of their information for free!!

 

and sorry that you are going out of fll! i just picked a city in florida that i know is popular with the cruise ships!

 

now I understand what you are saying that your ta isnt being that helpful! well maybe you should bring that issue up with her, or speak to her manager about it.

what i hate is that you people are accusing all ta's of being similar, or that we are all as one of you quoted : "CROOKS" trust me we are not making that much money to be considered a crook.

 

I just wish that you would understand that we are in the business of making money!! thats what we do! same as your car salesman makes money, weight loss institutes make money, and the same as the local mechanic! Where people figure that they can go into a ta and ask for advice and then book online because it is cheaper is beyond me!

 

but my advice to you is that if you are really that hell bent about saving a couple of dollars, go ahead and book online!!! trust me we dont care, just dont waste my time let me help someone that values my service and is actually going to book and is prepared to pay for it!

 

 

"Trust me we don't care"...Ok, if you don't care why do you keep responding to my post? You certainly are taking this very personal especially since it has nothing to do with you directly. How you are wasting your time is continuing to respond to my post. Maybe if you got offline from CruiseCritic you COULD get something done :rolleyes:

[Cinderose]

- also just to let you all know we barely get paid anything from the cruiselines any more to book these cruises. to a point where it is hardly worth putting the work into it

 

with that said maybe you should appreciate the work your ta is doing for you and realise she cant do things for free, and when your .com travel agent screws up and your stranded in miami with no cruise do me a favor and dont call her!!

 

and in the future stop wasting our time, just book it online..trust me one of these days you will pay

 

Who got up on the wrong side of the bed?!!! Remind me to never book with YOU. I did not twist your arm to choose the profession you did!!! Get into another line of business if its that unrewarding!!!

Its no different that a real estate person showing house after house in hopes of landing that one sale!!!

[Pegs222]

Who got up on the wrong side of the bed?!!! Remind me to never book with YOU. I did not twist your arm to choose the profession you did!!! Get into another line of business if its that unrewarding!!!

Its no different that a real estate person showing house after house in hopes of landing that one sale!!!

 

She can be a teacher and get her summers off and them come here and complain that Carnival will not give her a discount because she has to cruise in the summer months when it costs more :eek: Then if she did get the discount she would b!tch that there were to many kids on board.

[Cinderose]

In this case what would you call a TA that did absolutely nothing and then wants to charge the customer a $100 fee to cancel or won't match a lower price? Crook comes to mind.:rolleyes:

 

I can certianly understand when you do the work,put in the time and effort.

 

If this was your booking and you did nothing,would you still charge them?

 

I can sure bet you the TA did call and get the price adjustment but is not passing the savings on to the cruiser, they are keeping the savings for themself asn you just dont know about it!!!

[mytime53]

I can sure bet you the TA did call and get the price adjustment but is not passing the savings on to the cruiser, they are keeping the savings for themself asn you just dont know about it!!!

 

Maybe I'm lost...this isn't the most coherent thread going, but I believe the original poster got an online quote from an agency that is discounting cruises...I'm pretty sure her TA can't get a price adjustment and keep the savings. The only way the TA could offer a lesser fare is to cut into her own commission. A TA at an online agency probably has far more bookings and can still take home a livable salary by doing that. I think people are having fun hurling insults tonight.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I can sure bet you the TA did call and get the price adjustment but is not passing the savings on to the cruiser, they are keeping the savings for themself asn you just dont know about it!!!

 

Maybe I'm lost...this isn't the most coherent thread going, but I believe the original poster got an online quote from an agency that is discounting cruises...I'm pretty sure her TA can't get a price adjustment and keep the savings. The only way the TA could offer a lesser fare is to cut into her own commission. A TA at an online agency probably has far more bookings and can still take home a livable salary by doing that. I think people are having fun hurling insults tonight.

 

I just went back and reread the OPs first post. She booked originally with Carnivals PVP and then transferred the booking to a TA.

 

Bill

[psychboss]

I am booked for a cruise on the Liberty Jan.'08. This will be DH and I's first cruise so of course I'm researching and learning as much as I can. From reading some threads on here some say that their TA has price matched other quotes that they have found for a lesser price. I found a couple of lower quotes on-line and e-mailed my TA saying that I found a couple of lower quotes on-line and this was her response:

 

We do not price match with on-line companies because it is not the same type of service. Our rates come directly from the cruise lines because that is who we work with directly.

 

What do you guys think? If I cancel with the TA I will incur a 100.00 fee total (50.00 cancellation fee per person). Thanks!

 

p.s. we are booked for a suite at the rate of 2423.00 total. final payment due in November. I tried to get military discount (DH is NAVY) but it hasn't been available since I booked it.

 

I think that he/she is a very unscrupulous agent, I NEVER would charge a client that wanted to cancel with me. IF I cannot provide the product or service the client wants I deserve to lose the client. I also never charge a service charge. I have spent hours and hours researching a trip that a client requests and then they say never mind, without giving me a reason. For that reason some agents charge a service fee up front, and then if you book, it is deleted or becomes part of the booking commission. I would rather the person tell me why they don't want it - perhaps I could fix it - BUT that IS their right.

 

I don't think you have any choice at this point, unless the savings is more than the fee you would have to pay. In the future find out from the TA if you can change or cancel "from them" without a fee.

 

Are you sure that cruise is offering a Military discount, not many cruises do?

 

I am sorry that a bad TA is taking advantage of you - it gives all of us a bad name.

 

I hope that when you go on your cruise you can forget about that part of it and have a wonderful time!!

[suzy1212]

I really don't understand how so many of y'all can think a TA is pure evil for not being able to meet any price you find out there at the mega TA websites. It would be the same as expecting a small local store to be able to sell items for the same price as Wal-Mart.

 

If the mega site bought cabins in blocks for a discount and the small TA doesn't sell enough volume to do that, you could be expecting the small TA to work for next to nothing or lose your business. How do you think they could meet that price without cutting out most of their commission? That seems more than a little unfair if he/she had done the work to help you chose the cruise, the cabin, answered your questions, etc... If the cruise line lowers the price, by all means the TA should pass the savings along to you, but how can you expect them to work hard for you and then take your booking elsewhere when you find a better deal?

 

No wonder some of them are bitter after reading the posts here. :rolleyes:

[CruiseFever]

I agree with all of the above in one way or another...the flavor of what you need to do is very clear: kick your TA to the curb

 

In the world of TA's (I am one) there are those who give a dang about their clients and those that are in it for the money. There are very few that don't fit into one group or the other.

 

You want the ones that give a dang about their clients because you can reap GREAT rewards by using that kind. The other kind are a waste of time; you would come out better booking directly with the cruise line which savy cruisers know you have to be careful about.

 

Never should you pay brochure price that's like paying sticker price on a new car: not your best value.

 

...and value is what it is all about

 

That "low price" one might get from an online cruise broker may sound really great and compare as being the very lowest by a long shot up front. And as previously posted, if you know exactly what you want and have no need for service of any kind, that might very well be the way to go...on the surface

 

A good full-service travel agent that specializes in cruises and is in it to help others have a fabulous cruise vacation (they DO exist) can almost always beat anybody's deal when you consider "value".

 

Their inital "price" may be higher so pay careful attention. That low-ball price commonly does NOT include taxes. I think thats a stupid way to do it; we DO have to pay those taxes so why not tell us?

 

But Carnival itself is notorious for pitching the lowest price without taxes to "hook" you and grab your interest and it surely does work. Golden rule with Carnival prices: Remember, that low price is most likely a category 1A cabin with bunk beds and no tax. But that's easy to check too. Read the fine print; they're not hiding anything.

 

Some online TA's, though, do hide things like cancellation charges ($50 is a lot), charges for changes, mailing costs for documents should you choose paper docs, etc. It's like anything else: you get what you pay for.

 

The very best, wisest move you made, though, was to come here and find out for yourself.

 

Bravo!

[mytime53]

Maybe I'm lost...this isn't the most coherent thread going, but I believe the original poster got an online quote from an agency that is discounting cruises...I'm pretty sure her TA can't get a price adjustment and keep the savings. The only way the TA could offer a lesser fare is to cut into her own commission. A TA at an online agency probably has far more bookings and can still take home a livable salary by doing that. I think people are having fun hurling insults tonight.

 

I just went back and reread the OPs first post. She booked originally with Carnivals PVP and then transferred the booking to a TA.

 

Bill

 

You're right about original booking, but I think she is still wanting the same price from her TA that is offered by a large online discount agency.

 

I know that during the scheduled school spring break in our area, I can get the best price for a cruise out of LA from my local TA, because they reserve and sell a large volume of that cruise for that week. The rest of the year, I get the best price elsewhere. I don't expect it from my smalltown agency...they wouldn't be in business if they matched prices with the large agencies.

[tsj04]

Okay so here is my update...

 

I called my TA and cancelled with her. I'll lose $100.00 but I am relieved not to have to deal with her anymore. I'm calling the corporate office on Tuesday with my concerns and now know just because you use a TA doesn't mean that they are good or even useful. All of the work was done by me and if that's the case what did I need her for? She was rude and trying to rush me off the phone when I told her I wanted to cancel which me made know I did the right thing. She said that because of the weekend and holiday the accounting office is closed so she won't be able to process my cancellation until Tuesday. After our phone conversation I sent her an e-mail request as well to have something in "writing". She said that it will take about a week to post back on my card. Thanks for all of the replies (both good and not so good ;) ).

[firefly333]

Okay so here is my update...

 

I called my TA and cancelled with her. I'll lose $100.00 but I am relieved not to have to deal with her anymore. I'm calling the corporate office on Tuesday with my concerns and now know just because you use a TA doesn't mean that they are good or even useful. All of the work was done by me and if that's the case what did I need her for? She was rude and trying to rush me off the phone when I told her I wanted to cancel which me made know I did the right thing. She said that because of the weekend and holiday the accounting office is closed so she won't be able to process my cancellation until Tuesday. After our phone conversation I sent her an e-mail request as well to have something in "writing". She said that it will take about a week to post back on my card. Thanks for all of the replies (both good and not so good ;) ).

 

I think your concerns are misplaced, just my opinion. I cruised Carnival without a discount, it didnt occur to me I was due one. I used a well known site and was happy that my tickets were sent in 2 day snail mail instead of edocs and how well they took care of me. You seem upset that your TA wouldnt cut into their commission to charge you less and as I said before, maybe your TA works for someone and her share isnt enough she CAN take $100 out of it or she would. Once you are cancelling....not sure why she would want to sit on the telphone with you. You have already said you dont plan on using her again. She works on commission. Dont take it personally. Move on and hopefully you will find someone good to work with.