Silver Privilege Fare Guarantee Programme - It it any good?

I booked a cruise a couple of months ago and have now received the Silversea offer ref UKSELECT03 which is similar to an offer that was made to American clients some weeks ago. My booking is for a MS verandah suite on one of the cruises that qualifies for this offer.

For those that may not have seen it the offer gives you 3 chioces.

1. 2 Category upgrade (In my case on Wind this is upgrade to a MS Verandah but pay the cost of a Vista suite)

2. $500 per guest on board credit.

3. $300 per guest Air Credit.

Option 2 is of little interest and option 3 is out as I have already made arrangements. So lets look at option 1 which is clearly the most attractive as in my case the difference is £750 per person or £1,500 in total.

I spoke to my TA who was aware of the situation as other clients had been in touch and they said they would refer to SS. They came back with the reply that this only applied to new bookings and would not accept cancel and replace bookings.

My mention of the Silver Guarantee was discussed and clearly SS have been a bit smart here because the wording of the guarantee is "the difference between the Silver Privilage Fare actually paid by the guest and the Silver Privilage Fare displayed on Silversea.com the day the request is received."

So because this offer has been made by email and the prices on SS website remain unaltered - tough. So much for them creating the illusion that one should book early for the best prices.

Anyone else tried to recover under the guarantee?

Sorry to hear of your issue. I wouldn't presume your rights aren't clearer than you think.

Two pieces of new legislation came into force yesterday in the UK that beefs up existing consumer protections. They also further beef up unfair contract terms in consumer contracts with respect to exclusions. I believe they may offer you help. I'd focus on the clarity of the contract ie what you thought you were buying with respect to forward price protection and why compared with what they are actually delivering. If you have an hour or so ... and understanding your rights is always a worthwhile .. then I'd google and read.

Happy for you to bounce off ideas but I suggest you have a read and see whether you can shoehorn your issue into one of the existing or new rights. I think you can.

The two new acts are:

The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013

Consumer Rights Bill 2014

Good luck,

Jeff

Sorry to hear of your issue. I wouldn't presume your rights aren't clearer than you think.

 

Two pieces of new legislation came into force yesterday in the UK that beefs up existing consumer protections. They also further beef up unfair contract terms in consumer contracts with respect to exclusions. I believe they may offer you help. I'd focus on the clarity of the contract ie what you thought you were buying with respect to forward price protection and why compared with what they are actually delivering. If you have an hour or so ... and understanding your rights is always a worthwhile .. then I'd google and read.

 

Happy for you to bounce off ideas but I suggest you have a read and see whether you can shoehorn your issue into one of the existing or new rights. I think you can.

The two new acts are:

 

The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013

Consumer Rights Bill 2014

 

Good luck,

 

Jeff

Blimey Jeff, l admire your tenacity! I've just googled these bills and to me it's all gobbledegook!

My TA is currently in discussion with SS regarding the new solo fares, my particular voyage being now reduced by £1500 for which l have only just paid the balance.

Sophia:)

Blimey Jeff, l admire your tenacity! I've just googled these bills and to me it's all gobbledegook!

 

My TA is currently in discussion with SS regarding the new solo fares, my particular voyage being now reduced by £1500 for which l have only just paid the balance.

 

Sophia:)

It is in fact very simple. I don't know the details of your situation but the OP's situation is very straightforward.

He believed he had a general sweeping guarantee. SS have turned his request down because:

"the difference between the Silver Privilage Fare actually paid by the guest and the Silver Privilage Fare displayed on Silversea.com the day the request is received."

Unless that caveat - and the specific caveat that it was as published on their website - was made very clear at the moment he commited to book (and this does not mean imbedded in the small print in the terms and conditions) then under the UK law this constitutes an "unfair coontract clause in a consumer contract" and is therefore unfair.

This is his/her recourse.

All he has to do is to write to his TA and SS explaining that the exclusion clause under which SS is now relying was unclear when he made the booking and is therefore unenforceable. He should request that they reconsider and if the fail to agree within 14 days that he intends to reclaim the loss.

If they fail he registers through GovernmentGateway a MoneyClaim ID. This is free, done online and takes a few minutes. This allows access to the UK small claims court procedures.

He issues a money claim for a small fee citing both SS and the TA as joint defendants. He writes in the claim just a couple of sentences just summarising - but not arguing in detail - the claim with his calculation of the loss. He isn't fighting his case at this stage just initiating the legal claim. The whole process for registering to issuing a claim will take no longer than 10 minutes.

Moneyclaim issues a summons. It is presumed that this is served within 5 days from the request. SS and the TA have 14 days to pay up after that, or enter a defence or simply acknowledge the claim. If they merely acknowledge they have a further 14 days to defend or settle. If they fail to ackowledge in the first 14 days or 28 days if they acknowledge - then you complete a request (online) to have a default judgement. This will not reuqire consideration of the claim by a judge becusae it has effectively become an uncontested claim. This judgement wil be issued. They then have to pay.

That is in very simple terms what someone in the UK does.

:)

If I understand this matter correctly, the OP received a "targeted offer," directed to a specific group of possible customers. Credit card companies and airlines/hotel chains use these frequently in the USA. A group of people receive a special offer (double miles, quicker route to higher status, etc.) but only those who receive the offer are eligible. Even if someone else gets the code, the corporate computers do not allow registration.

The Silversea case seems similar. The offer in question was targeted to a specific group (British nationals?). The guarantee, however, applies only if there is a general lowering of fares, available to everyone, and publicized on the Silversea website.

Silversea's North American website shows the lower fares under the special offers section. It clearly shows the lower price for the 2 cat upgrade offer. Not sure about UK website but I would check out the NA website

Silversea's North American website shows the lower fares under the special offers section. It clearly shows the lower price for the 2 cat upgrade offer. Not sure about UK website but I would check out the NA website

The Terms/Conditions apparently state that the new fare must a) be on the website and b) be labeled as a Silver Privilege fare.

It may be that the special offer fare is not listed as a Silver Privilege fare.

Details matter, alas.

The Terms/Conditions apparently state that the new fare must a) be on the website and b) be labeled as a Silver Privilege fare.

 

It may be that the special offer fare is not listed as a Silver Privilege fare.

 

Details matter, alas.

In other words...it's completely useless then. Too bad

Anyone else tried to recover under the guarantee?

Thank you for your interesting comments unfortunately I do not have time at the moment to follow up on the suggestion of UKJeff but in a couple of weeks time I shall give this my undivided if nothing transpires from my TA in the meantime. Just to mention that my TA is making encouraging noises but nothing concrete as yet.

I have had a chance to look at both the USA and UK websites and now see that this offer is open to all and not just previous passengers and I think that this weakens the case of SS. If you look at the specific voyage then there is no change to the Silver Privilage fares. However if looking at the offer part of the website this clearly offers a MS verandah at the cost of a Vista. So my view is that the Silversea.com website does show a different fare thus triggering the guarantee.

Sorry to see Stumblefoot that you appear to have no luck with the USA SS but when I get more time I certainly intend to proceed further and will keep you posted.

Sorry to see Stumblefoot that you appear to have no luck with the USA SS but when I get more time I certainly intend to proceed further and will keep you posted.