Deceptive Pricing on Viking River Cruise Website

[Peregrina651]

36 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

I did check the website earlier today before I posted several hours ago, and there were available Standard cabins shown for that cruise on the Osiris at $2899, and the Veranda cabins were $4599.

 

Okay. Thanks for the update.I'm late to the party, so I didn't see those things.

 

 

[TravelingT]

12 hours ago, Daisi said:

 

More curious as to which price is inaccurate...the one on the website, or the one the OP received when they contacted Viking.  I notice Viking River didn't say...:)

 

I am curious as well.  I have submitted a request for another quote for the same date.

[TravelingT]

11 hours ago, kentchris said:

The simplest explanation is that for some reason you were quoted for a Verandah cabin rather than the Standard which you were expecting, and the confusion snowballed from there: the prices match up as a Verandah is $4599 before the Explorer discount. 

The quote I received clearly stated a standard cabin, so that couldn't explain the difference.

[TravelingT]

10 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

I do expect that this error on the part of the customer service rep at Viking is based on the Veranda cabin and that is the explanation for the difference in the price quoted. Does the quote you received show a booking for a Standard cabin, or a Veranda cabin?

 

 I also am quite certain  that the claim that the hotel stay at the start of the trip was an additional charge was totally in error. We are on the Paris to the Swiss Alps river cruise next year, and both the two night hotel stay in Paris and the hotel stay in Zurich at the end are included in the quoted price of the trip, as they are part of the itinerary, not extensions. 

 

Unfortunately, the customer service rep at Viking has created quite a mess of this. Traveling T, I do hope that someone at Viking can resolve this for you, and at the least convince you that there was no "bait and switch" involved, only basic incompetence. At least you had a very positive prior sailing experience with Viking, and if you can get beyond this you may choose to sail with them again. 

 

The quote is for a standard cabin, clearly stated.  I hope also that Viking can address this, I did enjoy my Viking river cruise and I think they have an excellent product but the agent I spoke with and received the quote from told me specifically that the price advertised on the website was for the cruise only and didn't include the hotel stay in Cairo which is part of the itinerary they advertise.  She told me that NOBODY would be able to take this trip for $2,899 per person and sent me a quote for the May 12, 2021 trip for $4,499 per person, not including air.

[TravelingT]

To clarify, the May 12, 2021 cruisetour was advertised at $2,899 both before and after I spoke with the agent.  It may be different now but the price didn't change during the time I was getting the quote from the agent.  She told me specifically that the hotel was not included in the price and that nobody could possibly take this trip with the entire hotel and cruise for $2,899.  She said that the advertised price was for the cruise only (7 nights) and not the whole trip as laid out in the itinerary on the website.  Based on what she told me, the prices were deceptive.  I don't know when I will hear from the Viking TellUs, but I have also asked for a quote from another river cruise company instead.  It is much more expensive but I am interested to see if the quote I receive from them matches their advertised price.

[TravelingT]

All the $2,899 cruises are gone this morning from the website.  Perhaps it was a mistake?

[Roz]

This is one of the main reasons I don't sail on Viking.  Their pricing is all over the place, especially for solos.  When I first started researching river cruises, I contacted Viking a couple of times when a so-called "sale" was going on, and I was always told it only applied to couples or 2 in a cabin.  Their pricing is not straightforward and transparent, IMO.

 

A TA who I had used in the past turned me on to Uniworld, and the rest is history.  To address the OP's issue, when I did a Bucharest to Budapest cruise, it included 2 nights at a hotel in Bucharest.  The hotel stay was included in the fare, as was the transfer from the airport to the hotel.

 

Roz

[kentchris]

22 minutes ago, TravelingT said:

All the $2,899 cruises are gone this morning from the website.  Perhaps it was a mistake?

The UK site is currently showing £1500 for all cabin grades on the May 12, 2021 cruise so there's obviously a big mix up going on with the prices loaded on the site. Last night the prices for that cruise looked realistic, i.e. somewhere above £3500 for the Standard which includes flights for UK customers.

 

 

[lackcreativity]

I am very curious about where this all ends up. I understand that pricing on the same cruise will vary from one time of the year to another. On this particular cruise in Egypt, I had noticed also that the price has been higher depending on which ship is booked, as the new Viking Ra is an all suite ship, so that makes sense. I wonder if Viking was literally in the process of raising the prices across the board on this cruise when the original poster happened to call for a quote. The customer service rep may have had the new pricing before the website was updated.

 

Even as a big fan of Viking cruises, this is the kind of thing that will tarnish a terrific cruise experience. It seems that Viking should be willing to honor the published price for the original poster even if the lower prices were only an early booking promotion that was ending. The screenshots shown in this thread supports the information offered in the original post. I hope Viking will make this right.

 

 

 

[kentchris]

22 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

I am very curious about where this all ends up.

It looks like a serious error in loading prices to the web site. The UK site is showing a 'from' price of £5365 on all Ra's cruises in May 2021, and £1500 for every cabin grade on all Antares and Osiris cruises during the month.

 

It's obvious that one or two people would like this all to be evidence that Viking is unethical, but until TravellingT and Viking have had a conversation about the precise circumstances of the original complaint, as suggested by Viking's comment No 6 inviting an email to tellus@vikingcruises.com, it's rather too early to draw conclusions.

[lackcreativity]

20 minutes ago, kentchris said:

It looks like a serious error in loading prices to the web site. The UK site is showing a 'from' price of £5365 on all Ra's cruises in May 2021, and £1500 for every cabin grade on all Antares and Osiris cruises during the month.

 

It's obvious that one or two people would like this all to be evidence that Viking is unethical, but until TravellingT and Viking have had a conversation about the precise circumstances of the original complaint, as suggested by Viking's comment No 6 inviting an email to tellus@vikingcruises.com, it's rather too early to draw conclusions.

Indeed, and I am not one who believes this was some intentionally underhanded plot by Viking.  Mistakes happen, and in this case it seems there are errors in the pricing that need to be reviewed on the US and the UK websites. In addition, hotel stays that are part of the published itinerary (and not pre/post extensions) are included in the cost of the trip and the customer service rep made another error in saying that there was an extra charge for that portion of the Egypt trip. 

 

I hope Viking will provide a satisfactory resolution to this for Traveling T, as it is all about how a company reacts when something goes wrong, and works to make sure things are fixed going forward.

[LeRenardrouge]

I am not going to try and explain where the errors occurred.  

What I will state is that of the eight river cruises we have done with them, three had land portions.  These were not extensions.

 

The price listed for the cruise that was on the website when I called to book the cruise was stated as a single figure for the cabin category and date the cruise “package” began.  The actual invoice showed a breakdown with the cruise porton price and then additional charge for the hotel nights listed separately.  The total of the cruise portion plus the land portion added up to the price stated on the website. 

 

The dates are listed to indicate date cruise “package” begins and ends as well as date of actual embarkation and disembarkation.

 

I have never experienced an instance of intentional deception on any of our ten cruises and one additional cruise we booked and then had to cancel. I believe some of this is a case of a person who is not aware of some standard cruise and travel idiosyncracies that a traveler needs to be aware of.  I was glad when Viking dropped the “two for one” terminology which is standard for the cruise industry.  

 

I do suspect there was an error on that price entered mistakenly on the website.  It is simply too far out of line. And indeed the Viking rep may have been seeing the correct prices broken down with the land accommodations listed separately. Had the OP actually booked and then gotten an invoice by email immediately after booking it, he would likely have seen the breakdown.

 

I happen to have the mailed booklet for the 2021 river cruises that were applicable for the July 1-31, 2019 booking window with stated Explorers’ Sale and for the 2021 May sailings on the Pharaohs and Pyramids Cruise the printed price for a Standard Cabin is $4,899.  It specifically calls it a 12 day tour and lists three nights in Cairo at the beginning and one night at the end in Cairo.  First day of a tour is also fly over day; last day is always departure day.  Thus if the cruise is said to be 12 days, subtract two for actual cruise/tour package.  Some people see this as deceptive.  

 

I for one will give Viking the benefit of the doubt on this one.

 

[TravelingT]

I spoke with a Viking agent yesterday and sent them a copy of the screenshot of the website with the prices advertised as well as a link to this thread.  The agent was very sympathetic and is going to speak with their supervisor to try and figure out what happened.  It is still too early to have a response from the TellUs folks since it is the weekend.  Based on the information posted here by others, I am inclined at this point that it was a mistake on the website coupled with a Viking agent that did not handle the situation well.  The agent I spoke with on the phone completely understood why I was frustrated with the experience and had a very helpful attitude.  I am hopeful that I will get some type of response today that will shed some light on what happened.

[mhb1757]

I saw the same $2899 price that you did on several dates. As recently as yesterday. I requested an online quote on an earlier cruise that was listed at $2999 on the website and was showing availability for standard cabins. When they called with the quote the agent stated the price was $4499 and that there was “no way” that 12 day itinerary would be advertised at that price. I suggested she might want to look at the web site because I had it pulled up and it was listed at $2999 in available standard cabins on the dates I had requested. She quasi-politely told me I was mistaken... but I was looking at it!  

I feel pretty sure this was an error in web posting but it was definitely there. 

[TravelingT]

I just heard back from the Viking representative. They will not honor the advertised price and stated that it was an honest mistake on their part.  They offered me 100 dollars onboard credit on the cruise if I book.  I have put in for quotes from other companies and I am not sure what I will do for that trip.  I am surprised that mhb1757 has had the same experience which leads me to believe that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing in Viking.  Of course it has influenced my opinion of the company as a whole.  However, I did have a good cruise on the one Viking trip I took but now I wonder what would happen if there was an issue or problem.  Had I been the one who made the decision, I would have honored the advertised price.  I think that would have been the "right" thing to do and would have ensured my loyalty to Viking and many more dollars would have been earmarked for Viking trips in the future.  

[lackcreativity]

TravelingT,

 

That is certainly a disappointing response from Viking. I hope you can find a cruise to Egypt that will suit you. I'm honestly not sure I would choose Viking if I had your experience. 

[mhb1757]

I really love Viking and have done several cruises (both river and ocean) with them in the past and have 2 others booked with them over the next year. We also cruise with other river and ocean lines. So I am not a die hard, won’t look at any other lines kind of person....i get that it was an honest mistake (I do not think there was any attempt to use deceptive pricing or bait and switch tactics, I think the wrong prices just got posted), 

That said I still think they should honor the prices posted just like airlines do when “mistakes” get posted but apparently Viking doesn’t plan to do this. 

 Do I feel any loyalty to continue to cruise with Viking after this?  not at all.

 Would I have felt more loyalty and looked to Viking first if they had honored the posted prices? Absolutely. 

Will I continue to look at what Viking has to offer and compare price point and itineraries with others (Oceania, Avalon, Emerald, etc.)?  yep. But Viking may not be my first choice in the future.

Not that I think this makes a whit of difference to Viking, but it makes me feel better 😁

[Daisi]

I will agree this was probably an honest mistake, as I noticed the prices in Canada for the trip were also quite low until after they fixed the ones for the US.  No problem there, but I'm surprised they only offered OBC and a small amount at that.  I maybe wouldn't have expected them to honour the misquoted price, but possibly a percentage of the difference?  I keep thinking back on this thread from the spring, and how another company handled the same problem.

 

 

[Squawkman]

22 hours ago, TravelingT said:

I just heard back from the Viking representative. They will not honor the advertised price and stated that it was an honest mistake on their part.  They offered me 100 dollars onboard credit on the cruise if I book.  I have put in for quotes from other companies and I am not sure what I will do for that trip.  I am surprised that mhb1757 has had the same experience which leads me to believe that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing in Viking.  Of course it has influenced my opinion of the company as a whole.  However, I did have a good cruise on the one Viking trip I took but now I wonder what would happen if there was an issue or problem.  Had I been the one who made the decision, I would have honored the advertised price.  I think that would have been the "right" thing to do and would have ensured my loyalty to Viking and many more dollars would have been earmarked for Viking trips in the future.  

I believe it was a legitimate error on Viking’s part - but I also believe they should do better than just $100 OBC. I suggest emailing tellis@vikingcruises.com and ask for a better discount to take this cruise - given your otherwise positive experience with Viking. 

 

 

[TravelingT]

12 hours ago, Squawkman said:

I believe it was a legitimate error on Viking’s part - but I also believe they should do better than just $100 OBC. I suggest emailing tellis@vikingcruises.com and ask for a better discount to take this cruise - given your otherwise positive experience with Viking. 

 

 

 

I already did, and this was the result.