Be careful when requesting quote from online ta

[Mimg Pao]

I received an email from an online travel agency advising of a huge Princess sale. Foolishly, I called this company and asked for a quote. I was told the quote would not be sent to my email address but one of their agents would call me. Although, I felt there was something fishy as I could not understand why the info could not be emailed to me, I gave the following requested information to the agent.

 

1. My full name

2. My phone number

3. The fact that I was a past passenger (but I did not give my cc #)

4. Name of the ship and the date we were interested in

 

There was no other information given nor was any requested.

 

A short time later, the agent called me back with a price that I felt was too high. I thanked the agent and thought that this was the end of the matter.

 

Unfortunately, without my permission and my knowledge, this agent put a hold on a cabin. I have since found out that when you give a ta your name and telephone number, said agent can then access personal info from the Princess res site including past passenger number, address, etc. Even though, I did not give my husband's name, a booking was made for him as well.

 

Six days later, the booking is still showing up on my cruise personalizer. When I spoke to Princess, I was told that the booking should automatically expire within five days as no deposit was given.

 

I will now call Princess back and speak with a supervisor and hopefully the matter will be resolved.

 

HAS ANYBODY ELSE HAD THIS EXPERIENCE:confused:

 

Princess Elite Passenger

[Toto2Kansas]

If they didn't take out your FCC's to secure the booking, and you didn't give a credit card number for the depost, there is absolutely no worry for this. Agents often will hold the stateroom you are interested in to make sure it will be available if you decide to book. I would guess that tomorrow, as soon as the Princess offices open, it will go POOF! I would wait and check again late tomorrow morning, before I made another phone call. ;)

[Pia1913]

I received an email from an online travel agency advising of a huge Princess sale. Foolishly, I called this company and asked for a quote. I was told the quote would not be sent to my email address but one of their agents would call me. Although, I felt there was something fishy as I could not understand why the info could not be emailed to me, I gave the following requested information to the agent.

 

1. My full name

2. My phone number

3. The fact that I was a past passenger (but I did not give my cc #)

4. Name of the ship and the date we were interested in

 

There was no other information given nor was any requested.

 

A short time later, the agent called me back with a price that I felt was too high. I thanked the agent and thought that this was the end of the matter.

 

Unfortunately, without my permission and my knowledge, this agent put a hold on a cabin. I have since found out that when you give a ta your name and telephone number, said agent can then access personal info from the Princess res site including past passenger number, address, etc. Even though, I did not give my husband's name, a booking was made for him as well.

 

Six days later, the booking is still showing up on my cruise personalizer. When I spoke to Princess, I was told that the booking should automatically expire within five days as no deposit was given.

 

I will now call Princess back and speak with a supervisor and hopefully the matter will be resolved.

 

HAS ANYBODY ELSE HAD THIS EXPERIENCE:confused:

 

Princess Elite Passenger

 

Happens all the time. Don't worry about it. As long as you didn't give a deposit, your reservation will expire. Did you have any FCC's? If so, are you sure your reservation is NOT showing a deposit?

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes I have in the past. You are correct, when you give your phone number thats what your infor is stored under.

[cjpj]

I don't think there is anything unusual here; in fact I think it is standard practice. TA's will frequently hold a cabin - but until any money is put down, there is no commitment on your part. After all, what happens if you want to book and the quoted rate or room type is no longer available -- you'd be upset then, too. So you can't have it both ways.

[Colo Cruiser]

I don't think there is anything unusual here; in fact I think it is standard practice. TA's will frequently hold a cabin - but until any money is put down, there is no commitment on your part. After all, what happens if you want to book and the quoted rate or room type is no longer available -- you'd be upset then, too. So you can't have it both ways.

 

Not at all a standard practice when you tell them your not interested. :rolleyes:

[cactusrose]

I agree, as long as there is no deposit (and it sounds like Princess has verified that it is just a hold) the booking with expire. It's nice to know that they will hold for 5 days now. I think it used to be 72 hours, or at least that is what they have always told me when I've booked directly with Princess. Maybe they hold it longer for a TA then they do for an individual.

[Colo Cruiser]

Am I missing something here?

When did the OP ask the TA to hold a cabin for 5 days for her?

[cactusrose]

Am I missing something here?

When did the OP ask the TA to hold a cabin for 5 days for her?

 

The OP didn't ask the TA to hold the cabin for 5 days. The OP was told by Princess that the hold should expire within 5 days. I was just commenting that it was nice to know you can hold a cabin for 5 days.

 

The TA probably held the cabin when building the quote in anticipation of a booking. I don't really find anything nefarious about this as long as there was no deposit made or FCC used.

[Colo Cruiser]

The OP didn't ask the TA to hold the cabin for 5 days. The OP was told by Princess that the hold should expire within 5 days. I was just commenting that it was nice to know you can hold a cabin for 5 days.

 

The TA probably held the cabin when building the quote in anticipation of a booking. I don't really find anything nefarious about this as long as there was no deposit made or FCC used.

 

 

When the OP advised of her wish not to continue the booking process by saying thanks but no thanks the TA should have vacated the booking.

Thats all I am saying. Just holding a cabin for 5 days because thats when Princess deletes it for non payment is laziness on the TA's part and keeps it out of inventory as well. ;)

[cjpj]

I would assume the hold was placed when a quote was obtained by TA from Princess -- and it may not have even been at the TA's request but done by Princess. I know when I have phoned them directly to obtain a quote for a friend, they want as much info as they could get - probably so they could put a hold - but I wouldn't give them a name or number and I already had the cruise booked for myself.

[Colo Cruiser]

I would assume the hold was placed when a quote was obtained by TA from Princess -- and it may not have even been at the TA's request but done by Princess. I know when I have phoned them directly to obtain a quote for a friend, they want as much info as they could get - probably so they could put a hold - but I wouldn't give them a name or number and I already had the cruise booked for myself.

 

Princess will not usually post/give prices for a TA or anyone unless you input a phone number and passenger name.

The TA still should have canceled the booking.

[Mimg Pao]

If they didn't take out your FCC's to secure the booking, and you didn't give a credit card number for the depost, there is absolutely no worry for this. Agents often will hold the stateroom you are interested in to make sure it will be available if you decide to book. I would guess that tomorrow, as soon as the Princess offices open, it will go POOF! I would wait and check again late tomorrow morning, before I made another phone call. ;)

 

Thanks Toto for youir always sage advice. However, I just got off the phone with Princess. I was told that the hold would last another 48 hours as a courtesy ALTHOUGH I HAD PUT NO MONEY DOWN. I then asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor said that because of my request, the auto removal will take place at midnight tonight.

 

What troubles me most about this is an unknown (to me) travel agency can just plug into Princess res site and access my personal information. I feel it is an invasion of my personal privacy.

[Toto2Kansas]

Thanks Toto for youir always sage advice. However, I just got off the phone with Princess. I was told that the hold would last another 48 hours as a courtesy ALTHOUGH I HAD PUT NO MONEY DOWN. I then asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor said that because of my request, the auto removal will take place at midnight tonight.

 

What troubles me most about this is an unknown (to me) travel agency can just plug into Princess res site and access my personal information. I feel it is an invasion of my personal privacy.

 

Glad you got it taken care of. Seems I was about 24 hours off in my guess. ;)

[wrecks]

I received an email from an online travel agency advising of a huge Princess sale. Foolishly, I called this company and asked for a quote. I was told the quote would not be sent to my email address but one of their agents would call me. Although, I felt there was something fishy...

HAS ANYBODY ELSE HAD THIS EXPERIENCE:confused:

Princess Elite Passenger

 

I don't know why they wouldn't e-mail your price quote, but the holding of cabins seems to be a standard practice for TA's. If you are just price shopping but have a particular cabin in mind, just ask for pricing referencing the category only. When you're ready to buy then specify the cabin.

[cruise101]

The original poster stated that the price quoted was quite high, and hence he didn't bother confirming the reservation. What happens if you get another quote that is more reasonable and you ask the second TA to make a booking for you. Would Princess's system allow 2 separate bookings on the same sailing in the same name? Or is it possible that the second TA may not be able to make a booking because the 1st TA without the passenger's knowledge and approval has already made a booking. Bottom line, is that the pax should not be inconvenienced because of the original "hold".

[whatcruiseisnext]

This exact same thing happened to me a few days ago. I was checking on prices with different TA's for comparison. I told NONE of them to made the booking but clearly stated that I would get back with them and that I didn't want anything held. My usual TA had the lowest price with the most OBC, so I gave the booking to her along with which FCC I wanted to use on this booking. When I went to look into MY Princess, I had two bookings for the same cruise. One was a booking one of the TA's that I had gotten pricing from yhat finally fell off after several days. I was pretty ticked off about it since I had specifically said NOT to do a hold!

[Cruisindad]

I had a similar situation -

 

I solicited quotes through a well known site that allows multiple cruise agencies to provide competing quotes.

 

After receiving quotes, I found that none of them beat a price I had already found on my own through one specific site.

 

I proceeded to make a booking through this site. After the booking was made, I went out to the princess site to verify it. Lo and behold, I had two bookings showing.

 

At that time, I had no idea where this phantom booking came from. After a little research, I was able to determine that one of the bidding agencies put the hold out there.

 

Although I suspected that this booking was essentially a hold, and would expire, it seemed a little presumptuous for a bidding agency to put a hold on a cabin based solely on my request for multiple quotes through this site.

[Pia1913]

I had a similar situation -

 

I solicited quotes through a well known site that allows multiple cruise agencies to provide competing quotes.

 

After receiving quotes, I found that none of them beat a price I had already found on my own through one specific site.

 

I proceeded to make a booking through this site. After the booking was made, I went out to the princess site to verify it. Lo and behold, I had two bookings showing.

 

At that time, I had no idea where this phantom booking came from. After a little research, I was able to determine that one of the bidding agencies put the hold out there.

 

Although I suspected that this booking was essentially a hold, and would expire, it seemed a little presumptuous for a bidding agency to put a hold on a cabin based solely on my request for multiple quotes through this site.

 

This happens when you give too much information. The site asks you whether you're a previous cruiser with said line and then asks for your past passenger number. Once they have that you're a sitting duck. Give no info, and they haven't a clue who you are.

[cactusrose]

When the OP advised of her wish not to continue the booking process by saying thanks but no thanks the TA should have vacated the booking.

Thats all I am saying. Just holding a cabin for 5 days because thats when Princess deletes it for non payment is laziness on the TA's part and keeps it out of inventory as well. ;)

 

I don't disagree with that but I'm guessing this probably happens more often than we know.:(

[kendon]

NO credit card, NO problem. Don't worry.

[kooljamming]

The original poster stated that the price quoted was quite high, and hence he didn't bother confirming the reservation. What happens if you get another quote that is more reasonable and you ask the second TA to make a booking for you. Would Princess's system allow 2 separate bookings on the same sailing in the same name? Or is it possible that the second TA may not be able to make a booking because the 1st TA without the passenger's knowledge and approval has already made a booking. Bottom line, is that the pax should not be inconvenienced because of the original "hold".

 

Yes, you can have multiple courtesy holds but usally for 24 hours.

[West Coast]

If the TA doesn't hold the cabin the TA can't honour the price, in the event it goes up while the consumer is 'deciding' who to give the business to.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Technically, the cruise line doesn't have to honor the price unless a deposit was made. I never had an issue with a fare increase during a courtesy hold, but it can happen. I think the TA was out of line to make a booking without the client's approval; offering one is fine, advising that the fare may increase is appropriate, but going ahead without client's OK would annoy me. Reality is that the cruise line can and will see how many options you have taken without making a deposit. Some cruise lines will not allow 2nd option if another (on the same ship and sail date) is still holding. This happened when I tried to take an option for a client and it wouldn't go through. Called HAL and learned client already had a stateroom on hold through another agent. I used to work for a cruise line and when a guest called in, we could see all of the options they had held on any sailing in the past (as well as any confirmed bookings or past sailings). If a client is a chronic take-an-option and let it cancel person, cruise line will know. While there are no ramifications for that, I wouldn't want it on my profile. (I no longer work in the cruise industry.)

[Cruisindad]

If the TA doesn't hold the cabin the TA can't honour the price, in the event it goes up while the consumer is 'deciding' who to give the business to.

 

 

In my case, the TA created a booking for a category that I wasn't even inquiring about. So they weren't going to get my business in any event.

 

Plus, since it was through a "compete" website, I didn't even know who put the booking out there.