not sure if we have a cabin for our cruise

[Lynda90]

What a horrible experience! I would be just livid and I certainly feel your pain. A TA is supposed to make your life easier when booking. This one sure dropped the ball. I would not give up on TA's in general, as most of them are very ethical and can get you a much better price than booking directly with cruiseline. Please keep us posted.

[CruiseBumm]

Cougar, sorry that you are being treated so poorly be that TA and Princess. I agree taht I would at leasrt report the TA to the local Better Business Bureau. And maybe place a l;etter toeditor of travel section in your local newspaper. I know its little solice, but it may help a little.:(

[mycruz]

Here is something else I would suggest. Please contact Princess Customer Service Department on Monday and ask to speak to a supervisor. Let them know what is going on and ask if you could have that supervisors direct number and call everyday to check on the status of your waitlist. I would not depend on your TA to get the message from Princess and to you within the time the cruise line gives the agency to respond to waitlist notification.

 

I had contacted the President of Carnival Corp. and they had the supervisor contact me and offered for me to call everyday to check to see if our category became available. For us, we at least were confirmed on the sailing if not the cabin we had selected, I do hope you get on the cruise in at least the category you had originally.

 

I also hope that the agency offers you some kind of compensation for all the agrevation they have put you through as well as covering any additional cost if a higher category is the only cabin that becomes available.

[cougar]

I have again completed all information...cc card # and passport info etc. and have even re-reserved shore excursions. Hopefully this will help. I think that was excellent advice Mycruz about phoning princess and talking with supervisor about daily contact for wait list since I have no faith in TA any longer. I am usually a very patient lady and tried to give TA benefit of the doubt but she just kept proving to me she is untrustworthy and I will be reporting this practice to Better Business bureau.

[Solara]

So sorry this is happening to you. Hope everything turns out OK. I know others won't agree with me but even if it costs me more, I book directly with Princess because then I'm in control of my reservation. This week I almost turned over one of my bookings to an online TA but with cougar's and all the other TA problems I've read on these boards I decided I'm happy with what I'm paying so I'm leaving my booking with Princess.

[Cruise Gypsy]

If nothing else, this is a lesson for the future for you. Always, always use a credit card when booking a cruise. The TA should call in the credit card to the cruise line directly and you should see a charge on your credit card statement with "Princess Cruises $700.00" or whatever & the date it went through. Almost all credit cards offer assistance if your card is abused in any way or if there has been some mis-handling of a charge.

 

 

Cougar,

 

I have been reading your story and I am sorry all this is happening to you - it has to be very stressful.

 

Also, I have learned to always use a credit card to make the final payment for a reservation. I track our credit card charges for our budget in Excel and looking over the last couple years even though we use a TA the final payment shows up on our statement as "Princess Cruises" or whichever cruise line we are cruising. Great lesson - thank you.:)

[Taylor_Dene]

Cougar,

I too am sorry to hear that this has happened and am keeping you in my thoughts for a happier outcome.

 

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing with the rest of us so we can be careful in the future as well.

 

I too prefer to keep with the on-line booking through Princess, although this time I went through a TA (did it to benefit a friend)... not sure yet if I want to do this in the future, as it is tough not to be in control of your destiny on these things...

 

It's one thing to loose your booking on the cruise, but as you said... when you have hotels booked, non-refundable flights arranged, other travel, and time off from work, it's a scary deal.

 

Please keep us up-dated on your progress and we'll all be hoping for the best outcome for you.

[mycruz]

Cougar, one more thing to consider. I think you mentioned earlier on that the TA you are dealing with was the "boss" of the agency. Is she also the owner? If not, get in touch with the agency owner or agency executive if it's a larger agency. They can then get in touch with the Princess sales rep or someone higher within Princess and see about getting you confirmed instead of #2 on the waitlist. Don't be afraid to insist on talking to people higher up than the TA's in the office. Don't back down until you have someone in authority that can make things happen for you. Since you have already paid in full for a particular cruise, you should not be sitting here wondering if you are going to be sailing.

 

I'm really pulling for you, I know you are going to get this resolved to your satisfaction. It's a shame you now have to do the work you hired the TA to do.

[Catnip]

What is a NSF check? :confused:

[johnmik1]

What is a NSF check? :confused:

 

Not Sufficient Funds!

[Catnip]

I think you mentioned earlier on that the TA you are dealing with was the "boss" of the agency. Is she also the owner? If not, get in touch with the agency owner or agency executive if it's a larger agency. .

 

That's what I was going to suggest, too. Good luck and please let us know what happens!!!

[Catnip]

Not Sufficient Funds!

 

I don't think I've ever heard of that. Is that a personal check the OP gave to the agency? Can you explain?

[Coral]

What is a NSF check? :confused:

 

I think it is "no sufficient funds" or something similiar. Meaning, it was a bad check.

 

To Cougar - Best of Luck!

[Are we there yet?]

It is "Non-Sufficient Funds" here in Canada. What do Americans call it just out of curiosity?:)

 

A cheque is considered non-negotiable for the following reasons:

 

* Payment stopped;

* Wrong account number;

* Inconsistency between written and figure amount;

* Signature irregular;

* Account closed/transferred;

* Insufficient funds.

[ladypalmtree]

Wow...I feel your pain. This should never of happened to you. I hope you get a great cabin and have a wonderful cruise. I really do think you just have a bad travel agent. We book through AAA and have always had wonderful TA's I like how they take care of everything for us...they have ways to get in touch with the Cruise lines etc. way faster than us. We have always been treated fairly and have gotten good cruise fares etc...One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch girl!!!Happy Cruising everyone!:rolleyes:

[Whimsy]

The checks are called Non Sufficient Funds here is America as well. The opening poster did not give a NSF check. it was the travel agency who wrote a check that was returned for NSF.

 

I booked my two upcoming cruises with a TA and my card statement shows Princess as to who the money went thru, not paying the TA who in turns deposits my money and then makes a payment from their account to the cruise line.

 

To the OP, the BBB won't do anything to the business. I still would talk to the attorney general's office or perhaps a local news station. The attorney general's office will look at what has happened and investigate. Are travel agencies licensed by the state? I have no idea if they are. If so, this should be reported to the licensing department who will investigate. The news stations around here will look into situations like this and help the consumer. I'm sure this isn't the first time this has happened from the sound of how things are going. If this agency is passing NSF checks there is a problem and there are going to be other unhappy travelers.

[Catnip]

Thanks for the explanation!!! I had never heard of it before. Hard to imagine that an agency is sending the cruise line a bad check! :eek: I think I would change to a different agency, for sure!

 

I'm so sorry you are going thru this....it sounds so stressful. Please let us know what happens!

[Are we there yet?]

The checks are called Non Sufficient Funds here is America as well. The opening poster did not give a NSF check. it was the travel agency who wrote a check that was returned for NSF.

 

I booked my two upcoming cruises with a TA and my card statement shows Princess as to who the money went thru, not paying the TA who in turns deposits my money and then makes a payment from their account to the cruise line.

 

To the OP, the BBB won't do anything to the business. I still would talk to the attorney general's office or perhaps a local news station. The attorney general's office will look at what has happened and investigate. Are travel agencies licensed by the state? I have no idea if they are. If so, this should be reported to the licensing department who will investigate. The news stations around here will look into situations like this and help the consumer. I'm sure this isn't the first time this has happened from the sound of how things are going. If this agency is passing NSF checks there is a problem and there are going to be other unhappy travelers.

 

Thanks Whimsy!:)

I think I would contact the BBB as well as your other good suggestions as they are supposed to help resolve issues are they not? The more people who know about this the better.

I really feel badly for the OP though.:(

[Whimsy]

Thanks Whimsy!:)

I think I would contact the BBB as well as your other good suggestions as they are supposed to help resolve issues are they not? The more people who know about this the better.

I really feel badly for the OP though.:(

 

I am in a business where I handle other people's money. I have to account for how thie money is handled. I don't know how travel agencies are regulated but in my business if I mishandled other people's money it could result in my business being shut down, loss of license, fines, etc. To me, if the OP paid a deposit to the travel agnecy and they did not make the deposit then it was misappropriation of funds. You can't use someone elses deposit or final payment for a cruise to pay you light bill, rent, etc. There is a serious problem going on with this agency if they have checks returned for NSF.

 

I would think that there would be a sort of "escrow" account, not general account that the clients money would go into to make their deposits. If you only use the escrow account to pay the deposits there should never be NSF.

 

IMO the BBB can contact a business and try to resolve a problem but has no authority if there is something illegal or unethical going on. If this practice of messing people's booking deposits, paying off travel by due date, etc. is happening then this agency is a threat to the public and needs the appropriate measures taken against them.

 

Does the travel industy have an "enforcable" code of ethics? My industry does. The consumer or other professionals can bring a person up on ethics violations.

 

Maybe a travel agent could chime in here and tell a little bit about how the handling of other's money is done, what they are accountable for, licenising, etc. I'm sure it would be an elightnment for quite a few of us.

[cougar]

I phoned Princess today found out we are still #2 but also #1 in certain categories, I also wanted to check to make sure TA didn't try and take us off certain categories...wouldn't put it past her at this point. Princess encouraged me to phone everyday also stated great chance to cruise:)

[mycruz]

I wouldn't expect the BBB to settle this. I filed a complaint with them when this happened to us and we did not even hear back from them until after we returned from our cruise. We received a letter stating they were closing our file since the agency did not respond to their inquiry. I also visitied the AG's office website and sent an email, to this day, I have not heard anything back from them.

 

Cougar, stay strong and keep in touch with Princess and the agency daily. Also, make sure that you have whatever the agency offers you in writing. I'm glad to hear that Princess is willing to do what they can directly with you.

[Whimsy]

I phoned Princess today found out we are still #2 but also #1 in certain categories, I also wanted to check to make sure TA didn't try and take us off certain categories...wouldn't put it past her at this point. Princess encouraged me to phone everyday also stated great chance to cruise:)

 

Thanks for the update. We're all wishing for you to get on your sailing!

[Colo Cruiser]

dup post

[Northender]

A couple of ideas.Don't tick off the TA too much until all is settled.The Internet companies will start releasing any cabins that they are holding and you should make it. Right now for the Crown sailing in April they are asking top dollar (almost twice what we paid) for balconies. If you look at Princess, everything is waitlisted.Wishing you the best of luck

[lindanick]

I am a travel agent working for a travel agency.

If Mrs B. comes in and wants to book a cruise, we find one she likes and gives us $450.00 deposit. We deposit the money in our general checking account, put in a check request to the bookkeeper, she writes out a check to the cruise lines, she puts the res # on the check. (Can mail in several deposits on one check). Usually the bookkeeper takes a copy of the check for the agents file. Then when the cruise lines receives the check they send out an invoice showing the deposit.

If Mrs. B. calls us and books a cruise, we would advise a credit card number, because there is not enough time for her to mail us a check and then we have to turn it around and get it to the cruise line. Usually there is not enough time.

She mentioned she had paid the deposit by cash then the balance by cc.?

If so she could check with her credit card and see if its posted.

I being a travel agent would never book with another travel agent that you give her a credit card she deposits it into her business account, then waits to write out a check to the cruise lines. There is absolutly no need for that. Something is very very shady here, I would be worried. Even if the waitlist clears, who's going to pay? Where is the money? Of course the rate is going to be the going rate TODAY's rate.

I hope it all gets cleared up. If I was that travel agent, I would not show up for work either. She proberly is the owner or the owner if having financal problems.

Linda