Deceitful, misleading 2020 prices from P&O?

[Heatherlea10]

I phoned P&O this morning as I'd booked 2 cruises last week and only received a 5% discount off the online prices. The person I spoke to tried to convince me that the prices had already been discounted by 5% but I pointed out that the wording when I booked said that past guests would receive a 10% discount and this discount would be applied at checkout. Eventually I asked her if I could write a letter to complain as I thought I was entitled to a 10% discount off the price displayed. She put me on hold whilst she spoke to her team leader and when she came back to me told me I could have a further 5% discount. It was definitely worth a 10 minute phone call. I notice that the wording has changed online today to say that a 5% discount is already included in the displayed prices.

[Harry Peterson]

I phoned P&O this morning as I'd booked 2 cruises last week and only received a 5% discount off the online prices. The person I spoke to tried to convince me that the prices had already been discounted by 5% but I pointed out that the wording when I booked said that past guests would receive a 10% discount and this discount would be applied at checkout. Eventually I asked her if I could write a letter to complain as I thought I was entitled to a 10% discount off the price displayed. She put me on hold whilst she spoke to her team leader and when she came back to me told me I could have a further 5% discount. It was definitely worth a 10 minute phone call. I notice that the wording has changed online today to say that a 5% discount is already included in the displayed prices.

 

An excellent result - congratulations on managing to persuade P&O to honour the price they advertised. I noticed that wording change today, too - it's what should have been there from the outset, but wasn't.

 

Delighted for you, and pleased, too, that it's now been shown that this isn't all make believe as some seem to think.

[Heatherlea10]

Yes, I was quite surprised at how relatively easy it was to get them to honour the 10% discount from the price shown online. They've obviously received many phone calls and can now see that they were wrong and have re-phrased the wording relating to the discount. I admit that I've now actually received a 15% discount from when the cruises were first shown online early September as I made a note of the prices then for the cruises we were interested in. When the booking became live last Wednesday I checked the prices again online and the prices had dropped by 5% on the 2 cruises we were going to book. As we only received a 5% discount from the online price when we booked, the price we paid was what I had anticipated paying. Their wording was quite clear though saying that past guests would receive a 10% discount at checkout and there was nothing to indicate that the prices already included a 5% discount.

 

If anyone else thinks they haven't received the correct discount that was displayed online, I would recommend they phone P&O as they can obviously see their wording was misleading.

[Eglesbrech]

I phoned P&O this morning as I'd booked 2 cruises last week and only received a 5% discount off the online prices. The person I spoke to tried to convince me that the prices had already been discounted by 5% but I pointed out that the wording when I booked said that past guests would receive a 10% discount and this discount would be applied at checkout. Eventually I asked her if I could write a letter to complain as I thought I was entitled to a 10% discount off the price displayed. She put me on hold whilst she spoke to her team leader and when she came back to me told me I could have a further 5% discount. It was definitely worth a 10 minute phone call. I notice that the wording has changed online today to say that a 5% discount is already included in the displayed prices.

 

Good that they honoured what they had advertised.

 

I have got to the point now with all holiday companies that I take a snapshot of what was advertised when I booked. In years gone by you had a brochure to rely on, now with the web they can and as you have just demonstrated do change the wording on their site in an instant.

 

In this case P&O are obviously doing so to avoid any further misunderstandings, which is fine.

 

I have recent experience with another travel company where they changed the description of a product online after I complained about it being misleading and inaccurate on arrival at the hotel. The only way I could prove what they had origionally advertised and what they had subsequently very quickly changed was as a result of having the snapshot from the day I booked. I would recommend this as a useful thing to do.

[Strawberry field]

I have just telephoned P&O after booking a cruise earlier this week and was told the old story about 5% being taken off before the price was advertised on the website. I asked her to check with her team leader and they said the same. They said if I'm not happy then my only option is to write to customer services and they would forward it to their legal department. What a waste of time that would be as they never answer anyway. I have two cruises booked with P&O with three already done and this leaves a bad taste in the mouth and in future will seriously shop around before booking P&O again. Then after shopping around probably still book with P&O as they suit us:o:)

[Heatherlea10]

I have just telephoned P&O after booking a cruise earlier this week and was told the old story about 5% being taken off before the price was advertised on the website. I asked her to check with her team leader and they said the same. They said if I'm not happy then my only option is to write to customer services and they would forward it to their legal department. What a waste of time that would be as they never answer anyway. I have two cruises booked with P&O with three already done and this leaves a bad taste in the mouth and in future will seriously shop around before booking P&O again. Then after shopping around probably still book with P&O as they suit us:o:)

 

What a shame - either I was very lucky or you were unlucky. I would definitely phone again (choose the complaints option when you phone). State the exact wording that it said online ie 'past guests booking this cruise on Select Price will receive a 10% discount if booked before 3 December 2018. Discount applied at checkout.' If you are still unsuccessful, I would write to them (post it signed for post). In my eyes, it is quite plain that they have to honour the 10% because, at the time of booking, nowhere did it state that the price already included a 5% discount.

 

I actually wrote to them to complain about an earlier cruise this year on Ventura when, due to engine problems, we arrived late in 2 ports and missed one port. They did phone me up to acknowledge the problem and gave us a small gesture of onboard credit for our next cruise.

[Rupert2251]

I have just telephoned P&O after booking a cruise earlier this week and was told the old story about 5% being taken off before the price was advertised on the website. I asked her to check with her team leader and they said the same. They said if I'm not happy then my only option is to write to customer services and they would forward it to their legal department. What a waste of time that would be as they never answer anyway. I have two cruises booked with P&O with three already done and this leaves a bad taste in the mouth and in future will seriously shop around before booking P&O again. Then after shopping around probably still book with P&O as they suit us:o:)

 

Same here, I also telephoned this morning and was told that they couldn't do anything over the phone I had to write in, so I have emailed again and at least got an acknowledgement of receipt saying it can take up to 28 days. For me it is not the cost involved but it is the principle of the matter, if P&O advertise something that is misleading then they should honour everyone who has been affected.

[majortom10]

Same here, I also telephoned this morning and was told that they couldn't do anything over the phone I had to write in, so I have emailed again and at least got an acknowledgement of receipt saying it can take up to 28 days. For me it is not the cost involved but it is the principle of the matter, if P&O advertise something that is misleading then they should honour everyone who has been affected.

 

They have obviously had many complaints by telephone and they are overloaded so they are asking you to write in. Best of luck to anyone who writes in P&O are well known for being very wriggly for poor customer service.

[showingdiva]

They have obviously had many complaints by telephone and they are overloaded so they are asking you to write in. Best of luck to anyone who writes in P&O are well known for being very wriggly for poor customer service.

 

Christopher Edgington's office phoned me today following my email to him. They acknowledged it had been misleading, and had been changed. I'm getting the difference in my fare ie the 5% back as OBC - which may not suit everyone - but I'm happy with.

[Strawberry field]

Christopher Edgington's office phoned me today following my email to him. They acknowledged it had been misleading, and had been changed. I'm getting the difference in my fare ie the 5% back as OBC - which may not suit everyone - but I'm happy with.

 

This is a step in the right direction isn't it. Could you let me know what the email address is if that's possible?

[terrierjohn]

They have obviously had many complaints by telephone and they are overloaded so they are asking you to write in. Best of luck to anyone who writes in P&O are well known for being very wriggly for poor customer service.

I think we all have experiences of the less than perfect CS that P&O offer, but why on earth does the management seem to shoot itself in the foot so often.

The idea was probably to try and make their website prices look very attractive and encourage more sales, but they always seem to underestimate how online savvy some of their customers now are.

I along with others had no such problems my TAs consultant provided me with the full fare info along with the various discounts, and confirmed that P&O had initially been showing these prices on their site despite advising TAs that they would have the 5% already deducted, which is why TA prices initially appeared higher. Maybe in hindsight that was their plan, to encourage more customers to book with them direct, clearly that backfired.

[daiB]

I think we all have experiences of the less than perfect CS that P&O offer, but why on earth does the management seem to shoot itself in the foot so often.

The idea was probably to try and make their website prices look very attractive and encourage more sales, but they always seem to underestimate how online savvy some of their customers now are.

I along with others had no such problems my TAs consultant provided me with the full fare info along with the various discounts, and confirmed that P&O had initially been showing these prices on their site despite advising TAs that they would have the 5% already deducted, which is why TA prices initially appeared higher. Maybe in hindsight that was their plan, to encourage more customers to book with them direct, clearly that backfired.

John,

 

They had a plan????

 

Which is why i use my TA.

 

Still dont understand why anyone would book any other way

 

 

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[Strawberry field]

John,

 

They had a plan????

 

Which is why i use my TA.

 

Still dont understand why anyone would book any other way

 

 

Sent from my SM-G965F using Forums mobile app

 

We all see things differently don't we. My TA offered the same price as booking direct and wasn't interested in finding out about the 10 % or 5% thing. In fact they didn't seem interested in my booking at all so I went direct again. Ok it might've been the wrong TA but I couldn't be bothered to ring companies I have no knowledge of. Each to their own

[daiB]

We all see things differently don't we. My TA offered the same price as booking direct and wasn't interested in finding out about the 10 % or 5% thing. In fact they didn't seem interested in my booking at all so I went direct again. Ok it might've been the wrong TA but I couldn't be bothered to ring companies I have no knowledge of. Each to their own

 

 

 

Correct, you were with the wrong TA. The main cruise TA’s will all give you the discounts due and will then add on their own discount on top. Usually in the 3% to 5% range.

 

 

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[Strawberry field]

Christopher Edgington's office phoned me today following my email to him. They acknowledged it had been misleading, and had been changed. I'm getting the difference in my fare ie the 5% back as OBC - which may not suit everyone - but I'm happy with.

 

Followed your lead and now have the same result as you. I'm very pleased with the outcome and the gentlemen from P&O could not have been more helpful.

[Rupert2251]

Followed your lead and now have the same result as you. I'm very pleased with the outcome and the gentlemen from P&O could not have been more helpful.

 

Strawberry field.... Did you ring or email? I need to do the same as you!!

[terrierjohn]

John,

 

They had a plan???? .

 

Which is why i use my TA.

 

Still dont understand why anyone would book any other way

 

 

Sent from my SM-G965F using Forums mobile app

I had not realised they had appointed Baldrick as CEO.

[daiB]

I had not realised they had appointed Baldrick as CEO.

 

 

 

Ah but Baldrick had a plan.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[showingdiva]

Followed your lead and now have the same result as you. I'm very pleased with the outcome and the gentlemen from P&O could not have been more helpful.

 

I'm pleased to hear you also got your outcome (apologies for only just seeing your post asking for the email address, but you've obviously got it sorted now).

 

I did book via one of the major cruise TA's and yes, I got their discount too, but on calculating what I thought the total was, it was different by the "infamous" 5% difference. The TA did phone P&O, and got no-where, to the point that they emailed me to say nothing could be done.

 

So I emailed Christopher Edgington directly, and 48 hours later, someone from his office phoned me back - ironically while I was working on board a Seabourn ship for the day - apologised for the confusion, admitted that they had had multiple enquiries about this, had now changed the wording on the P&O website and offered me the 5% difference as OBC.

 

For all the stick P&O customer services get - and I'm as guilty as the next person for being frustrated by it at times - on this occasion, they have held their hands up, so credit where it's due.

[Strawberry field]

I'm pleased to hear you also got your outcome (apologies for only just seeing your post asking for the email address, but you've obviously got it sorted now).

 

I did book via one of the major cruise TA's and yes, I got their discount too, but on calculating what I thought the total was, it was different by the "infamous" 5% difference. The TA did phone P&O, and got no-where, to the point that they emailed me to say nothing could be done.

 

So I emailed Christopher Edgington directly, and 48 hours later, someone from his office phoned me back - ironically while I was working on board a Seabourn ship for the day - apologised for the confusion, admitted that they had had multiple enquiries about this, had now changed the wording on the P&O website and offered me the 5% difference as OBC.

 

For all the stick P&O customer services get - and I'm as guilty as the next person for being frustrated by it at times - on this occasion, they have held their hands up, so credit where it's due.

 

The gentleman explained what the original price was and how it had been reduced by 5% before being published and then how it had been further reduced by 5% He did however say that the website costings had not been explained and could lead to confusion. He then offered me extra OBC which I accepted. Ten minutes later I received a new cruise confirmation email and it was showing my new OBC. It couldn't have been easier to be honest and I'm so glad I read your earlier post. All credit to P&O for this.

[Strawberry field]

Strawberry field.... Did you ring or email? I need to do the same as you!!

 

I did the same as you and emailed customer services and then received the auto reply saying it could be 28 days before I got a reply. I wasn't really happy with that and after reading another post earlier today decided to email a copy of the email I had sent to customer services to Christopher Eddington with an explanation of why I was sending it to him.

 

By the way I accidentally clicked the button to befriend you and I haven't a clue what it is! Please ignore the request :)

[Rupert2251]

I did the same as you and emailed customer services and then received the auto reply saying it could be 28 days before I got a reply. I wasn't really happy with that and after reading another post earlier today decided to email a copy of the email I had sent to customer services to Christopher Eddington with an explanation of why I was sending it to him.

 

By the way I accidentally clicked the button to befriend you and I haven't a clue what it is! Please ignore the request :)

 

Which email address did you use?

[Strawberry field]

Which email address did you use?

 

Not sure if email addresses are allowed on here but giving it a go....... christopher.edgington@pocruises.com

[Bettynomates]

I too queried my price with P and O as only 5% applied at check out.. they confirmed that online price was already discounted by 5% so I did get 10% ...but this was not mentioned anywhere on website. Very deceitful..

[Rupert2251]

Not sure if email addresses are allowed on here but giving it a go....... christopher.edgington@pocruises.com

 

Thanks for that, email has gone so we will see what happens.......will let you know!