RCIs "12/12/12" Sales a SCAM!?!?!?

[Naaaaance]

Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! I hemmed and hawed on a trip in February...and when RCI announced their 12/12/12 sales (OBC for $12/day per cabin for 7 days), I bit the bullet. My credit was supposed to be posted by 12/13/12. Well, after calling (oh, sorry...that department is not available right now), posting on FB (NO response), trying to chat live online (we're sorry...blah blah blah), I got the email:

 

"...regrettably we are unable to extend the 12/12/12 offer to your reservation, when your reservation was completed a special pricing code for RCIs Royal Sales Event was applied; this pricing code cannot be used in conjunction with the 12/12/12 onboard credit promotional offer."

 

WHAT? What "Royal Sales Event" are they talking about? The price was online, I just didn't book. I figure another $84 savings on top of the low price would seal the deal!!

 

I AM FUMING!! Bad taste in my mouth, and now I only have about 20 days to get rid of that taste before I board. Oh, this ain't over RCI...this is NOT over!!

 

Okay, sorry to vent...just curious if anyone else received their OBC. I suspect RCI is gonna try and weasle their way out. PFFT.

[mpoole3]

I agree with you that they should honor the OBC credit from that sale, but I have learned to ALWAYS read their "terms & conditions" before booking. (something similar happen to me in '09) :mad:

 

You could call theCrown & Anchor Society (800) 526-9723 and perhaps they can transfer you to the "resolution department"

 

But at the end of the day $84 will not make or break your cruise vacation.

 

Hope you have a wonderful time! :)

 

Michael

[Familygoboston]

So you booked during the promotion ( 12/12/12) but the cruise you actually picked was already on sale? I agree this is very frustrating. I also think that they use some very sketchy sales techniques. They often pull stunts like this and then plead it was ignorance on the part of one individual or rep. But it happens often enough to make you question whether its really " disorganization", or whether tacitly, they know it builds revenue to be " stupid". It seems to me the rep you called or the message you should have been given online should have said..." This is a promotional fare and the 12/12/12 OBC cannot be also applied." Sounds like that didn't happen, and now they have another unhappy customer, but you are still a customer, aren't you? See how this works!?

 

For your part, short of getting a consumer advocate to work on your behalf - try Conde naste traveler advocate, or your local paper, you won't have much luck escalating this and you'll just frustrate yourself. Good luck with even the travel advocates- guess who buys their ads at newspapers and magazines? It's a little rigged and a little Wild West in the travel world right now, very few consumer protections ( look at what the airlines get away with) buyer beware.

 

Unfortunately, In your case you were not warned and with a cruise coming up so soon, probably cannot cancel, but there is no one in the business looking out for the little guy ( unless you are fortunate to work with one of the few bricks and mortar TAs who actually knows what they are doing and is also busy enou to have some weight to throw around with the travel companies) Its a messy time for travel consumers...sorry this happened to you. :(

[papaflamingo]

Gets confusing.... I am eligible for "interline" rates (airline employee). While on Freedom, I booked Allure directly with my TA as you can't get interline directly from RCCL. Turns out I can't use my Diamond discount with interline as it's considered "deep discount." So had I booked a "regional rate" on board I would have had a $100 OBC. Turns out that it really became a wash. The rates via interline were $150 lower, so applying my $200 Diamond discount with the OBC it came out the same. Also I was able to get a better insurance policy from my TA (an important item to me). But it does point out that I need to closely watch each discount, as I am now D+ and it would have been a $25 savings doing the on board booking ($225 D+ discount).

However I will say if your additional savings is only $84, I wouldn't let that affect my enjoyment of the cruise. Keep in mind as you get on the ship, the crew didn't do this, corporate did. The crew wants you to have a good time. And $84 is really a small amount in relation to the entire cost of the vacation.

So take a deep breath, have a drink or two (you know, the ones the $84 would have paid for), and have a great cruise.

[momphoto]

We booked on 12/12/12 and the OBC is applied now....showed up just after the new year. Sailing on Explorer.

[sirk25]

We booked on 12/12/12 and the OBC is applied now....showed up just after the new year. Sailing on Explorer.

 

Where does this "show up"? I also booked on 12/12/12 for the FOS at the end of Feb, but I havn't been able to see anywhere if this OBC has been applied.

[Clarea]

Where does this "show up"? I also booked on 12/12/12 for the FOS at the end of Feb, but I havn't been able to see anywhere if this OBC has been applied.

It will only show up on Royal's Guest Copy of your booking confirmation. Ask Royal for this, or your travel agent if you used one.

[MADflyer]

I booked a 12 day cruise on 12/12/12 but have since applied a Savings Certificate that arrived 1/1/13. (took over 12 days to be posted)

 

Reading the Terms and Conditions it would seem that the $144 credit would be cancelled and replaced with the $200 Savings Certificate value.

 

That said, it even states that Next Cruise benefits can not be combined, meaning I guess that I always just had the $150 credit and not the additional $144.

 

While the terms are clear, I think they would actually benefit by being more generous with these credits as you have to spend them to use them and most outlets onboard offer very high margins, so the effective cost to the line is actually minimal.

 

Most would not complain likely, but they really would not loose that much to resolve this issue for those that are really upset.

 

If special fares were exempted it is less clear, as my cruise went down 11% on 12/11/12 with Resident discount that would have then voided the next days promotion. My $200 Savings Certificate did post with that rate and was not exempted. I had to say I was not sure considering their unclear conditions.