What is the worst problem you have had with a Travel Agent

[Guest maddycat]

The TA we have been using is a small, one man shop. We met via a discussion board (and several times in 3D). He is a great guy, but can be difficult to get in touch with. There was a slight problem before our last cruise but when I finally made contact with him, he fixed it in the nick of time. I didn't know that any bookings made while on a cruise are automatically put under the TA that booked the cruise you are on (that may just be RCI). We went ahead and booked to get the OBC. However, since he is small he cannot afford (or will not give) perks/incentives to book with him. He is fine for other travel...but then I do a lot or research ahead of time and he basically just books what I find.

 

I am also a helicopter customer and keep checking for discounts/price changes. We recently got a Texas resident discount on our cruise out of Galveston but I found it and it took him three days to get it in place with RCI.

 

We have decided that going forward, cruises will be booked through a VERY LARGE local agency that specialized in cruises in hopes they can do better for us...and let this guy handle other vacations.

 

When you book a future cruise while onboard RCI you can tell them not to assign the booking to your TA. It will be kept in your name. Then you will have 60 days to transfer it to a TA of your choice........if you want to.

[fatlady49]

My TA left American Express, they will not release my bkg to him, I have done several cruises with him and followed him,however they are each refusing to resolve this issue because A.E. wants the commission since he worked for them when I did my bkg. I contacted Carnival they can't do anything to help. Time is running out for final pymt (4/29/14)cruise.Airline tkts purchased,used miles for hotel.Stress out with no one to choke the crap out of .

[lady_cruiser]

We had a cruise booked through the RCL website. Then we decided to do a B2B when we realized that we could get the same cabin for the second week. We decided to give the second booking to a travel agent (now former friend) and he didn't link the two reservations even though we asked him several times, thinking he had.

 

When we realize that we weren't getting the information we needed for the transition from one week to the next, like the other B2Bers were getting, we decided to checked with Guest Services. It took the Loyalty Ambassador jumping through hopes on the last day to get us through customs and back on the ship with the other B2Bers.

 

Otherwise we would have had to pack our bags, leave the ship with everyone else, wait outside for the ship's terminal to open, go through inspections and then sit and wait while the ship was cleared to get back on the ship. We also would not have been able to get back into our same cabin until all the other cabins were ready.

 

Former friend, former travel agent.

Edited January 24, 2014 by lady_cruiser

[lrowe70]

Used once and NEVER again. :mad:

 

-She charged an additional service fee

-Got us the absolute crummiest cabin on the ship, and the ship wasn't even full. We wanted a balcony and they were sold out. So she got us a porthole cabin in the very, very front. There were tons of ocean view and midship cabins available, but being new, we didn't realize we should ask for these.

-Didn't tell us anything about the cruise, such as dress code, smoking or tipping policy.

-We were soooo confused and irritated at the end of the cruise when we were given an envelope to place tips. She had told us we would only have an extra bill for alcohol or the gift shop, we were lead to believe tips had been paid for.

 

-In a nutshell; she didn't do diddly squat, except make us pay extra $$$$

 

Just to check that it wasn't just a fluke thing because that cruise was on a luxury line, we contacted her later for our first trip on a mass market line. However this time we did all the research ahead of time so knew exactly what we were in for. I went in and watched her click around on the cruise line website and get the same result that I had already found!

So I went home and booked it myself.

I'm not paying an extra service fee for her to click "submit" on a website.

 

We only book vacations online now and have had wonderful results. I recommend TAs to no one.

[Dayenu]

On my first or 2nd cruise met a woman who was traveling with a group of relatives. They went to a TA office and made it clear: the most important thing for them is to be next to each other.

 

Only upon boarding they found out, the TA marked them for upgrade, this placed them all over the ship.

 

As I get sea sick, the cabin location is very important, and I am afraid to trust a TA with this. I've decided to learn from the mistake of that woman.

[Taxguy77]

Please believe me I am not trying to slam Travel Agents. But the question is "What is the worst Problem you have ever had with a Travel Agent and what did you do to resolve it?"

 

Booked us to leave from an airport 400 miles away. Made her find air and motel allowing us to make the cruise. Never used nor recommended the agent again.

[tigercat]

For our 1st cruise we used a well know agency with a TA that apparently was a cruise specialist. This was before I had a computer or rather I didn't get a computer until 2 weeks before our cruise.

I told her I had a lot of problems with smoking. She put us beside the cigar lounge. We wanted to go a couple of days earlier and stay a couple of days later. She booked our hotels telling us she got us a really good deal. It seemed it was a lot of money but we had not traveled before and this was our 25th anniversary so we booked it. Found out later (we went on another cruise) when I booked the hotel at the same place for a 1/4 of the price. I priced out the hotel at the other end later and the same thing. She cost us so much money. She would not answer my calls and really didn't seem to know her stuff. I ended up talking to her boss before we went but nothing really came of it. We tried to book another trip with that agency (a Disney trip) but after talking to them it turned out I knew more about Disney than they did. Did not book with them and never went back. My niece is now a TA and she is really good. I don't know if it is because I know where she lives LOL but she knows her stuff and is really good with me. I have given her name out to others and they have said good things about her as well.

tigercat

[steveweese]

What an amazing story. I would definitely report the TA. First I'd start with his supervisor, if he had one, at the travel agency. Then I go on to any professional organizations.

 

 

Problem with that is the TA was the boss!