Agent changed my reservation to NRD without my permission

[molly361]

4 hours ago, cruisinfanatic said:

Deleted

 

Edited December 15, 2019 by molly361

[SRF]

This is very simple.  If the TA cannot make get Royal to reinstate RD, then the TA is on the hook for the non-refundable portion.

[LMaxwell]

On 12/15/2019 at 1:14 AM, mayleeman said:

Seems pretty easy to check an invoice and notice it says NRD. The OP obviously knows the difference, does all their own work in finding bookings, and agrees to a price drop without wanting to know the details or checking the paperwork for price & payment info? Seems very strange disconnect between their usual pattern of total involvement and inattention in this case. 

 

My folks are D+, probably 85+ cruises over last 30 years for them across 5 or 6 lines.  They recently booked an RCI cruise and it was not disclosed to them about the relatively new NRD/RD and that the advertised prices are for non-refundable.  That is how I found out RCI also has a 24 cancellation policy for NRD bookings without a penalty.  

 

Let's be honest here; Royal does NOT make this information abundantly clear or accessible if you book with them, whether it be website or on the phone.  If someone is using a TA they have a reasonable presumption that the TA is a subject matter expert and will fairly and accurately disclose the terms of what they are selling.  It is entirely possible, in this case, the TA made a genuine mistake and did not realize it at the time.  Everyone makes mistakes and mistakes are OK.  It is how they are handling it that is unprofessional, and frankly, wrong.  

[LMaxwell]

28 minutes ago, SRF said:

This is very simple.  If the TA cannot make get Royal to reinstate RD, then the TA is on the hook for the non-refundable portion.

 

That is what I would logically conclude also.  

[marci22]

3 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

That is how I found out RCI also has a 24 cancellation policy for NRD bookings without a penalty.  

 

I didn't know that. Very useful information. Otherwise, refundable has been good to me.

[Clarea]

29 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

 

 ...  That is how I found out RCI also has a 24 cancellation policy for NRD bookings without a penalty. 

 

Does this apply to all NRD bookings?  I had the impression that the 24 hour policy was for NRD bookings made on board.

[Joseph2017China]

Maybe it's me but when these topics come up, it sounds like he said, she said, and I'm right while the other says they are right.  Why is the TA to blame?  Because the poster said so?   I'm not passing judgement, but it does appear at least one party of the issue made a mistake, and we will never really know.

 

[Clarea]

10 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

 ... Why is the TA to blame?  ...

 

 

Because the TA was the one who made the change without keeping a basic and very important principle of the booking the same.

[John&LaLa]

Did anyone ask if the price reduction the OP originally asked for was only for NRD bookings?

[molly361]

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Does this apply to all NRD bookings?  I had the impression that the 24 hour policy was for NRD bookings made on board.

Royal has had a 24 hour courtesy cancellation policy for as long as I can remember on all bookings regardless of where they are made  Is it in writing anywhere, who knows but I doubt it

Edited December 16, 2019 by molly361

[LMaxwell]

2 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Does this apply to all NRD bookings?  I had the impression that the 24 hour policy was for NRD bookings made on board.

Yes, these were bookings made over the phone w RCI direct. 

[LMaxwell]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

Did anyone ask if the price reduction the OP originally asked for was only for NRD bookings?

 

OP did not specify; but when asking for a price reduction the TA could/should/would have said to get XX savings it becomes NRD, or something to that effect; hence the title of the thread - it was never discussed, nor disclosed. 

[tomservo]

On 12/15/2019 at 1:14 AM, mayleeman said:

Seems pretty easy to check an invoice and notice it says NRD. The OP obviously knows the difference, does all their own work in finding bookings, and agrees to a price drop without wanting to know the details or checking the paperwork for price & payment info? Seems very strange disconnect between their usual pattern of total involvement and inattention in this case. 

 

I never received an invoice after she made the change, I'm not sure it would have made much of a difference since the change was already made. Although it may have helped reduce the time between when the error was made and seeking a resolution.

[tomservo]

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

Because the TA was the one who made the change without keeping a basic and very important principle of the booking the same.

 

Exactly. I know a lot of people are blaming me for requesting the price drop without explicitly asking her not to change the deposit type, but I assumed that it was obvious that I did not want to change the deposit/booking type.

 

 

[marci22]

I think the TA just made a mistake. I've been price checking for years and I still make that mistake when I see a price drop. Then I get to the last page and I remember oh yeah, I want it to be refundable. That being said, I request an updated invoice from RC every time I make a change to a booking and then I review it. 

[Clarea]

33 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Royal has had a 24 hour courtesy cancellation policy for as long as I can remember on all bookings regardless of where they are made  Is it in writing anywhere, who knows but I doubt it

 

9 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Yes, these were bookings made over the phone w RCI direct. 

 

Thank-you.

[tomservo]

On 12/14/2019 at 11:32 AM, tinkertwo said:

1) had the op stated he/she was looking for a better price in a RD 

 

I simply asked if the price had dropped for my booking. People do this all the time.

 

On 12/14/2019 at 11:32 AM, tinkertwo said:

2) had the TA requested clarification before looking at pricing

 

Yes, she should have clarified with me that she would be changing the booking type to get the price reduction, which she did not.

 

On 12/14/2019 at 11:32 AM, tinkertwo said:

3) had the op requested clarification before saying yes

 

She said "yes, it's xxx cheaper", I said ok go ahead, and she said it was already done. Technically she did it before I even confirmed it (which is besides the point), but I didn't think I needed to confirm that she hadn't changed the booking type.

 

On 12/14/2019 at 11:32 AM, tinkertwo said:

4) had the op perused the contract when he received it

 

She never sent me anything to peruse after making the change. I would like more information from everyone as to what I can request from her or other TA's in the future. I only have what Royal sends me via email.

[tomservo]

For everyone who blames me for not confirming that the deposit type did not change, I think it's reasonable to have expected it to remain the same, as others have stated. What if you asked if there were any prices drops, the TA said yes and updates your booking, and you find out later on they got the price drop by removing one of the passengers? The point is, the price drop was a result of changing the booking, which I did not request. It is reasonable for me to expect all aspects of the booking to remain the same.

[marci22]

1 minute ago, tomservo said:

For everyone who blames me for not confirming that the deposit type did not change, I think it's reasonable to have expected it to remain the same, as others have stated. What if you asked if there were any prices drops, the TA said yes and updates your booking, and you find out later on they got the price drop by removing one of the passengers? The point is, the price drop was a result of changing the booking, which I did not request. It is reasonable for me to expect all aspects of the booking to remain the same.

Don't want to appear that I am blaming you, but I don't think you made yourself expressly clear. I would have asked, 'is this still refundable?' That being said, I do think the TA made an error and as TA is the professional, it is up to him/her to rectify.

[tomservo]

1 hour ago, Joseph2017China said:

Maybe it's me but when these topics come up, it sounds like he said, she said, and I'm right while the other says they are right.  Why is the TA to blame?  Because the poster said so?   I'm not passing judgement, but it does appear at least one party of the issue made a mistake, and we will never really know.

 

 

I mean, sure, I could be lying, it's the internet. But there was no he said/she said in my case because all of our communications were over email, so I have the records. When this first happened I immediately reviewed our prior correspondences which confirmed everything I said to her, prior to my attempt to hold her to account.

[marci22]

7 minutes ago, tomservo said:

She never sent me anything to peruse after making the change. I would like more information from everyone as to what I can request from her or other TA's in the future. I only have what Royal sends me via email.

 

After any change in my booking, I will ask Royal to send me an updated invoice. 50/50 they offer to do it before I ask. Sometimes I forget and hang up the phone. I call them back and ask for one. 

[tomservo]

1 minute ago, marci22 said:

Don't want to appear that I am blaming you, but I don't think you made yourself expressly clear. I would have asked, 'is this still refundable?' That being said, I do think the TA made an error and as TA is the professional, it is up to him/her to rectify.

 

That wasn't directed at you, but I agree, lesson learned, and I will definitely confirm and double check going forward.

[tomservo]

OP here with a quick update on what happened.

So after some more back and forth, she claimed that Royal made the mistake of changing it from an RD to an NRD (which seems dubious but whatever) and was still trying to work something out with them. An hour later, she said the best they could do was move the deposit from the original booking the she messed up over to the new booking I made with the NRD. It's not the best resolution it could have been, but I'll take it. I guess I'd rather have 1k tied up in a cruise deposit than lose 400 bucks. I'm still not happy with her handling of the matter and her avoidance of any culpability, so I may end up looking for another TA, but I'm having a hard time finding anyone who will consistently give me anything close to 10% back as OBC, so I'll see.

[frank808]

1 hour ago, tomservo said:

OP here with a quick update on what happened.

So after some more back and forth, she claimed that Royal made the mistake of changing it from an RD to an NRD (which seems dubious but whatever) and was still trying to work something out with them. An hour later, she said the best they could do was move the deposit from the original booking the she messed up over to the new booking I made with the NRD. It's not the best resolution it could have been, but I'll take it. I guess I'd rather have 1k tied up in a cruise deposit than lose 400 bucks. I'm still not happy with her handling of the matter and her avoidance of any culpability, so I may end up looking for another TA, but I'm having a hard time finding anyone who will consistently give me anything close to 10% back as OBC, so I'll see.

Just my perspective.  For 10% back as OBC and the positive outcome of what happened in that you did not lose any money, I would stay with current TA if I can't find a comparable replacement.  How many successful cruises have you booked with her before this screw up?  She might not have taken responsibility but she at least made you whole.  Now if I lost the $400 for cancellation then I would be using a new TA regardless of the 10% obc.  

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, tomservo said:

OP here with a quick update on what happened.

So after some more back and forth, she claimed that Royal made the mistake of changing it from an RD to an NRD (which seems dubious but whatever) and was still trying to work something out with them. An hour later, she said the best they could do was move the deposit from the original booking the she messed up over to the new booking I made with the NRD. It's not the best resolution it could have been, but I'll take it. I guess I'd rather have 1k tied up in a cruise deposit than lose 400 bucks. I'm still not happy with her handling of the matter and her avoidance of any culpability, so I may end up looking for another TA, but I'm having a hard time finding anyone who will consistently give me anything close to 10% back as OBC, so I'll see.

 

When you expect your TA to give back 10%, you probably shouldn't expect stellar service. 

 

You need to let these people make a little money on the transaction