Why Admin Fee being charged during Tax Free promotion?

[pokerpro5]

I realize this is the final day of the so-called "Tax Free" promotion, but we've seen it twice recently, so I imagine it will be back.

 

I tried to book it today (via the casino department) and found a RUDE surprise -- I am still forced to pay the FEES portion!

 

The promotion's wording says: "Only applicable to Government taxes, port expenses & fees related to the cruise fare."

 

Okay... great.

 

Government taxes? CHECK. I get those free.

 

Port expenses? CHECK. I get those free.

 

Admin fee? FAIL!! I have to pay it in full!

 

So why am I not getting the "admin fee" for free?

 

Before you answer, "They're referring to other fees, not the admin fee", that's incorrect.

 

I am not getting ANY OTHER FEES for free. In fact, I have never seen any non-tax, non-port-charge related "fee" in any of my past cruises aside from the Admin Fee (formerly known as Non-Commisioned Fare, but referred to as "fees" in all publications).

 

So basically this promotion promises free "FEES", yet in reality we have to pay fees -- which are typically the most expensive part of these additional charges.

 

I have not gotten a straight answer from NCL on this.

 

Casinos At Sea passed the buck to "Guest Services", telling me that they did not set this policy.

 

I called "Guest Services" and they were super-confused, and in fact got cold-transferred to reservations without my permission (lol).

 

Reservations told me, "That's a mistake in the promotion. You do get government taxes and port charges for free, but not fees. It shouldn't say that."

 

LOL!!!

 

Anyone else deal with this silly situation? Did any of you try to raise issue with this?

 

Non-casino bookers probably didn't even notice, because the "admin fee" is actually built into the regular fares you see -- only the taxes are added later.

[NLH Arizona]

If you think it is a "bait and Switch" then, file a lawsuit.

[Cruiser Who Knows Nothing]

I agree.....sue!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

That was kind of a smarmy answer.

 

I don't know if its really bait & switch, or just an error.

 

As a Casino offer booker, I agree with you that the "Fees" portion is a biggie.

 

So if they didn't mean to include Fees, it shouldn't say Fees.

 

Maybe they made a mistake in wording and you are the only person to notice?

Or bring to Our attention?

 

I hope NCL corrects if before it bites somebody in the :o... again.

[pokerpro5]

If you think it is a "bait and Switch" then, file a lawsuit.

 

Come on.

 

I'm not an attorney, and I'm not going to file lawsuits over a few hundred dollars. That's a tremendous waste of my time, even if it were to be successful.

 

I just want NCL to keep their word regarding their promotions.

[NLH Arizona]

Come on.

 

I'm not an attorney, and I'm not going to file lawsuits over a few hundred dollars. That's a tremendous waste of my time, even if it were to be successful.

 

I just want NCL to keep their word regarding their promotions.

Come on.

 

If you are going to accuse a company of breaking the law, then stand up and sue them, instead of just accusing them on a public forum.

[pokerpro5]

Come on.

 

If you are going to accuse a company of breaking the law, then stand up and sue them, instead of just accusing them on a public forum.

 

So no one has the right to raise issue on a public forum regarding a non-honored promotion, unless they file a lawsuit?

 

There's no middle ground? Either shut up, or sue?

 

Funny, I thought this was a forum to discuss all things Norwegian, whether good or bad.

 

FYI, I don't believe this was intentional. I think it's something they stupidly promised and then didn't deliver, because they didn't think about what "fees" really meant.

 

Still, I know this issue was raised several times before I raised it, so they've been aware for awhile. Why didn't they at least change the promotional material and terms on the site?

 

I'm not going to sue anyone or cancel my reservation, but geez, this isn't a good look for them.

[NLH Arizona]

So no one has the right to raise issue on a public forum regarding a non-honored promotion, unless they file a lawsuit?

 

There's no middle ground? Either shut up, or sue?

 

Funny, I thought this was a forum to discuss all things Norwegian, whether good or bad.

 

FYI, I don't believe this was intentional. I think it's something they stupidly promised and then didn't deliver, because they didn't think about what "fees" really meant.

 

Still, I know this issue was raised several times before I raised it, so they've been aware for awhile. Why didn't they at least change the promotional material and terms on the site?

 

I'm not going to sue anyone or cancel my reservation, but geez, this isn't a good look for them.

You could have brought up your issue with out screaming BAIT AND SWITCH, which is accusing them of breaking the law. How about just saying in your title, that you have an issue with their promotion and you don't think it is right or fair. And if you didn't think it was intentional then why scream that they are breaking the law?

 

I sent your initial post, with title, to my CAS representative and ask him what the deal is. Haven't hear back yet, but sure I will.

[NMLady]

You could have brought up your issue with out screaming BAIT AND SWITCH, which is accusing them of breaking the law. How about just saying in your title, that you have an issue with their promotion and you don't think it is right or fair. And if you didn't think it was intentional then why scream that they are breaking the law?

 

I agree with your reply 100%. That is exactly what I was thinking.

[pokerpro5]

You could have brought up your issue with out screaming BAIT AND SWITCH, which is accusing them of breaking the law. How about just saying in your title, that you have an issue with their promotion and you don't think it is right or fair. And if you didn't think it was intentional then why scream that they are breaking the law?

 

I sent your initial post, with title, to my CAS representative and ask him what the deal is. Haven't hear back yet, but sure I will.

 

Bait and Switch can be intentional or unintentional.

 

Often it occurs because a company promotes something they don't fully understand, and then attempt to give what they thought they were promoting in the first place, even though customers are reading it differently.

 

Also notice my subject ends with a QUESTION MARK, meaning I wasn't accusing them of bait and switching, but merely asking if that's what's going on here.

 

I am truly still perplexed which "fees" people are getting back which are not government taxes or port charges.

 

And if admin fees are still being charged under this promotion, that should be clearly stated in the promotion terms, which it is not.

 

It just sucks to book believing you are getting those pesky "government taxes, port charges, and fees" for FREE, and in reality you're still paying about 50% of them.

 

Stop obsessing over my subject wording. It's unimportant.

[NLH Arizona]

Bait and Switch can be intentional or unintentional.

 

Often it occurs because a company promotes something they don't fully understand, and then attempt to give what they thought they were promoting in the first place, even though customers are reading it differently.

 

Bait and switch is against the law. A mistake that a company makes is not. There is a big difference.

[Sand and Seas]

I book through CAS too. I was ecstatic to find out I could switch a previously booked cruise to this promo. Add the fact that I was able to apply a CruiseNext certificate (250 payment, but my cost 125) to this and I am very happy with my deal. I guess I'm still excited that I'm going on a very inexpensive cruise and paying very little out of pocket for it. Hopefully CAS continues to allow us to receive whatever promos or special offers are available to the general public. This one saved us over $300 on a cruise I had already booked.

[khaide612]

I thought the CAS admin fee was the non-commissionable fare? The T&C of the tax free specifically exclude those.

 

 

Terms and Conditions:

Not applicable to categories BX or MX.

Only applicable to guest 1 & 2 on the reservation.

Not applicable on 1 & 2 night sailings. Only applicable to Government taxes, port expenses & fees related to the cruise fare. Government taxes, port expenses and fees are calculated based on the published itinerary. Offer is for new individual FIT reservations. Qualifying new individual FIT reservations can be moved into an existing speculative group and count towards tour conductor credits. Offer is not combinable with existing group block rates. Promotion cannot be held as group block. Offer not valid for affinity groups. Discretionary onboard service charges and/or gratuities are additional. Government taxes, port expenses & fees are additional for guests 3-8th on the reservation. Cancellation fees also apply based on the booking/sailing date; therefore, Norwegian Cruise Line strongly recommends the purchase of travel protection on all bookings. Not applicable to chartered dates and group types: CMI OP EVENT, CMI OP LG EVENT, INCREG & INCLARGE This is a cruise only offer. This promotion is not applicable on air, hotel, land portion of cruisetours, or bundles. Non commissionable fares, service charges and gratuities are not included or part of this offer. No components included in this offer have any monetary value, are non-refundable and non-transferable. Offer is capacity controlled and can be withdrawn at anytime. Offer and combinability with other promotional offers is subject to change at any time per Norwegian Cruise Line's discretion. Other restrictions may apply. Applicable to NCL MIAMI, NCL INTL, AUSTRALIA, NCL BRAZIL, and NCL ASIA. Not applicable to CE and UK offices. Singles paying 200% of voyage fare qualify. This is a higher level promotion.

[pokerpro5]

So I called back CAS and spoke to another rep -- one I have dealt with in the past who seems to have a clue (he happened to answer the phone).

 

I wasn't thrilled with the answer, but I understand a bit more now.

 

First off, unrelated to all this, the CAS Admin Fee has changed for the better this year. It used to be $200, but it was reduced to $20/day for 2017, which on most cruises comes out cheaper.

 

But again, that has nothing to do with this promotion.

 

He said that the Admin Fee is the same thing as NCF (non-commissioned fare), and is already built into the NCL fares published online (which I knew).

 

So just as they don't discount the online published fare with this promotion (they just don't add taxes/port charges to it), they don't waive or discount the admin fee on the casino side with this promotion.

 

The only difference is that the typical non-casino customer doesn't know the difference (because they don't see NCF/Admin Fee listed), whereas the casino customer does.

 

Okay, fine, I get that.

 

But I still didn't get a good explanation as what "fees" were being comped off as a result of this promotion.

 

Government taxes and port charges, yes.

 

Fees, no. I cannot find any "fees" that the customer normally pays which they're not paying under this promotion, other than ones already covered under the heading "Government Taxes" or "Port Charges".

 

So they're basically promising something redundant.

 

It would be like McDonald's promising a "free hamburger, fries, and bun", which would make one believe they were getting a second bun for free. Then you get there and it turns out the bun is part of the original hamburger, and you only get one of them. This would make no sense, and lead you to ask, "Why say you're getting the bun for free, separate from the hamburger, if the hamburger already includes the bun?"

 

What's especially unfortunate is the fact that the term "fees" perfectly coincides with the term "Admin Fee", which makes it frustrating when you don't get those "fees" off as promised.

 

And I still can't figure out a single FEE which is not being charged under this promotion which is normally charged.

 

Whatever. I give up. I am not going to bang my head against the wall any further, and I'll just pay the $280 and shut up.

[pokerpro5]

I thought the CAS admin fee was the non-commissionable fare? The T&C of the tax free specifically exclude those.

 

DING DING DING

 

We have our answer.

 

This is the problem when they rename things.

 

I thought Admin Fee (which was a flat $200) replaced NCF (variable), but was technically a fee and not NCF.

 

Apparently not. The CAS rep I just spoke to confirmed that Admin Fee is the NCF, albeit not the same amount of money.

 

The big problem was the use of the word "fee".

 

I still don't understand what "fees" anyone are getting taken off, but I'm not going to dig any further.

 

MODS: As this was apparently just a case of poor promotion wording, please change my thread title to:

 

"Why Admin Fee charged for NCL Tax Free Promotion?"

 

Thanks.

[khaide612]

My most recent CAS invoice lists "Admin Fee" & then "Gov Tax/Port Exp/Fees" all on one line. I would imagine if my cruise was eligible for the promo that that line would be $0.

[pokerpro5]

Yeah just unfortunate wording as they are both called "fees", and the promotional language did not mention Admin Fees at all.

 

That's what confused me, and I'm usually pretty good at deciphering this stuff. The fact that nobody could answer this well (except the last guy I spoke to, somewhat) also made it a further mess.

[All-ready2cruise]

Quite frankly, this doesn't seem so much like Bait and Switch as it does Click Bait.

 

When my sons were young, my eldest would say that I used a "hook" to make them interested in a story I was writing, in other words, I'd start by saying something like, "Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?" Hmmm, what was Mom? ... gotcha.. read on...

 

Enjoy your one minute (or less) of fame...

[BirdTravels]

I realize this is the final day of the so-called "Tax Free" promotion, but we've seen it twice recently, so I imagine it will be back.

 

I tried to book it today (via the casino department) and found a RUDE surprise -- I am still forced to pay the FEES portion!

 

The promotion's wording says: "Only applicable to Government taxes, port expenses & fees related to the cruise fare."

 

 

If you ever booked with the casino, you get charged two things

1) Gov Tax/Port Exp/Fees

2) Admin Fee

 

You get #1 for free. You do not get the Admin Fees for free. Look at your receipt. The advertisement matches exactly what you bill says. You get the Gov Tax/Port Exp/Fees for free. Nothing said anything about a Casino admin fee (which until last year was called a "Guest Fare").

[pokerpro5]

I book through CAS too. I was ecstatic to find out I could switch a previously booked cruise to this promo. Add the fact that I was able to apply a CruiseNext certificate (250 payment, but my cost 125) to this and I am very happy with my deal. I guess I'm still excited that I'm going on a very inexpensive cruise and paying very little out of pocket for it. Hopefully CAS continues to allow us to receive whatever promos or special offers are available to the general public. This one saved us over $300 on a cruise I had already booked.

 

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe CAS is the one paying for the promotions offered by NCL.

 

CAS is just comping off the fare portion of the cruise, and everything else is basically equivalent to a regular NCL booking, with main NCL paying the costs of whatever promotions there are.

 

That's also why CAS offers these promotions to the exact letter of how main NCL offers it, and will neither degrade nor improve upon them (which is totally fine, btw).

[pokerpro5]

If you ever booked with the casino, you get charged two things

1) Gov Tax/Port Exp/Fees

2) Admin Fee

 

You get #1 for free. You do not get the Admin Fees for free. Look at your receipt. The advertisement matches exactly what you bill says. You get the Gov Tax/Port Exp/Fees for free. Nothing said anything about a Casino admin fee (which until last year was called a "Guest Fare").

 

Yeah I see that now, by looking at my booking from last year.

 

As I stated in other posts, the problem occurred because of the dual use of the word "fees", which makes it sound like all fees are being waived.

 

Funny how (as usual) I am getting better answers from people here than from calling NCL.

[pokerpro5]

If you can't understand how this was confusing given the dual use of the word "fees" to mean two different things I don't know what to tell you.

 

 

But the mystery is solved.

 

End thread.

[CruisinHarvey]

Never was a mystery.. You always pay an admin fee with CAS bookings. Most people don't book through CAS, and as a result don't pay the admin fee. Why would they put anything about the admin fee in their promo's. Seems much ado about nothing to me.

[pokerpro5]

Never was a mystery.. You always pay an admin fee with CAS bookings. Most people don't book through CAS, and as a result don't pay the admin fee. Why would they put anything about the admin fee in their promo's. Seems much ado about nothing to me.

 

Why would they list such a clarification?

 

Because CAS uses these same promos, and the term "fee" is highly misleading for that reason?

[SeaShark]

 

Stop obsessing over my subject wording. It's unimportant.

 

Had to laugh at that. You start a thread to "discuss" NCL's wording, yet you have to tell people to just ignore your own wording...

 

Wording is important...or it isn't. So NCL said "fees". Stop obsessing over the wording...it's unimportant. ;p