March promotion terms not being adhered to

[Dr Alan]

I've been following the prices on a particular cruise in August and noticed that they went up by £100 per person today. I phoned P&O to query this: the terms and conditions of the current "cabin upgrade" promotion say that the price shown for a particular cabin will be the same as the February price for a lower category cabin.

 

If that is the case then prices can't go up - they are pegged to February prices. The customer service guy said that prices could have gone up in February but they don't know old prices so he couldn't be certain of that. He came to the conclusion that the Ts and Cs are "badly worded".

 

Not overly satisfied with the result - clearly P&O are following fluid pricing but if that is the case then why not admit it and remove the pretence of an offer.

 

Incidentally the OBC also halved overnight to £45pp.

 

Overall the price of a cruise has gone up significantly this month (£800 OBC is now £180 with about £100 drop in cruise price) and it is no longer competitive with other cruises at the same time from other companies. Seriously rethinking our plans.

 

Welcome your thoughts and comments...

 

For those who are going to say "should have booked in February" you are quite right but we were not in a position to then.

[jeanlyon]

Perhaps should have booked last year. Our cruise this april has never been cheaper than we booked and are still £500 pp more than we paid.

[the english lady]

This promo is not across all the cruises across all the fleet.

Does it actually state that the promo applies to your cruise.

If it does when you do a dummy booking it will state its included.

What is the cruise number?

Edited March 5, 2015 by the english lady

[tom_uk]

The price is whatever the price is, at a given moment in time. If the price seems to offer value for money, for a cruise that you want to do, in the circumstances that you are in, then book it; if it doesn't, don't.

 

I think there's no point in continually looking for the best deal; you have to accept a price that seems OK to you, at that moment. There are no 'rules'; the cruise line (*all* cruise lines) will endeavour to make as much money as possible. If it looks worth it to you then it is worth it, even though when you get on the cruise you will always find that there will be someone who has paid less. That's just the way it is.

 

We have to book well in advance, for domestic reasons. From 2011 to 2013 we know that we paid a lot more than many other people for similar cabins on the same cruise, but that was irrelevant - we had to make the bookings we made. Then last year we found that the price had actually increased in the 15 months between booking and cruising, and for once we found ourselves at the better end of the price range. This year? - I don't know, and I haven't looked. we were and are happy with the price we've agreed for this year's cruise.

[Dr Alan]

It's cruise A521 and the offer does apply.

 

I accept all the points about booking when the deal suits you and not worry about what happens afterwards.

 

My point though is they shouldn't say that the price is the same as in February if it isn't. The terms and conditions state this so the price shouldn't change in the same way. If they want to change the prices then don't commit to matching February's prices. Simples!!

[itf]

Complain to them on social media (their FB for example) and make yourself a nuisance until they either correct their promotion or honour it.

 

Last month they were advertising OBC and refusing to honour it - everyone told me they wouldn't and I should give up. They did honour it.

[Dr Alan]

Thanks. Good advice.

[Dr Alan]

The latest twist in this exciting saga :-) the prices have gone back down again!!

[kruzseeka]

The latest twist in this exciting saga :-) the prices have gone back down again!!

 

Perhaps they've been reading this! ;)

[Dr Alan]

That would be great.