CRUISE REFUND RECEIVED

[grapau27]

48 minutes ago, Manx buoy said:

Cheque in the post this morning day 70 bit disappointed really was looking forward to joining all your clubs😂 only hope now is the double refund club if they manage to pay it straight into the bank like all the others. Nothing to worry about now till they cancel our February cruise or we get bumped of it for being the poor relations in an inside cabin good luck everyone else hope you’re not waiting too much longer

Good news at last for you.

Graham

[NoFlyGuy]

Still waiting for the refund of deposit for our cancelled June cruise which we cancelled in March. As posted before part of it was my fault but an email reply from P&O last month stated they had no record of my cancellation - please fill in the refund request again!

 

As an aside we are still booked on the Aurora Christmas cruise this year. We were due to meet up with two couples who were to be our witnesses for our renewal of vows. They have both cancelled and booked the Arcadia equilivent for 2021.

 

Tried to cancel today and move the deposit to the Arcadia cruise. Originally booked via agent - think Direct Line insurance and guess the agent. Can't contact by phone and an automated email response says 'up to 28 days' to respond and our balance is due in 21 days. If P&O cancel the Christmas cruise I'm pretty sure prices for the same in 2021 will rise even further

 

Phoned P&O but they say they can't transfer the deposit because we booked through an agent.

Will probably book the Arcadia cruise tomorrow via P&O and worry about the £300 odd deposit later. Frustrating none the less.

 

This will probably get deleted as an obvious 'mention' of a cruise agent!

[scarlet ohara]

Really surprised that we had our deposit returned in early August for our Oceana cruise in January. I was expecting to wait months!

[drsel]

Still waiting for the refund of deposit for our cancelled June cruise which we cancelled in March. As posted before part of it was my fault but an email reply from P&O last month stated they had no record of my cancellation - please fill in the refund request again!
 
As an aside we are still booked on the Aurora Christmas cruise this year. We were due to meet up with two couples who were to be our witnesses for our renewal of vows. They have both cancelled and booked the Arcadia equilivent for 2021.
 
Tried to cancel today and move the deposit to the Arcadia cruise. Originally booked via agent - think Direct Line insurance and guess the agent. Can't contact by phone and an automated email response says 'up to 28 days' to respond and our balance is due in 21 days. If P&O cancel the Christmas cruise I'm pretty sure prices for the same in 2021 will rise even further
 
Phoned P&O but they say they can't transfer the deposit because we booked through an agent.
Will probably book the Arcadia cruise tomorrow via P&O and worry about the £300 odd deposit later. Frustrating none the less.
 
This will probably get deleted as an obvious 'mention' of a cruise agent!

If you book directly with P and O,
you will pay much much more.
See, it even rhymes!

[drsel]

Really surprised that we had our deposit returned in early August for our Oceana cruise in January. I was expecting to wait months!

I got refunded in 6 days because my agent didn't give the cruise line the money, but kept it with themselves.

Still my booking was confirmed, but unfortunately the ship was sold.

 

[grapau27]

7 minutes ago, scarlet ohara said:

Really surprised that we had our deposit returned in early August for our Oceana cruise in January. I was expecting to wait months!

Good news for you.

[Jules.]

I finally got my refund yesterday from the Ice House TA.
It took 140 days, a section 75, daily 1* reviews on Trustpilot, emails,  a Facebook action group, phone calls and a report to the CMA.
 

Don’t know which of these did the trick but I’m glad that it’s all over now. 

[drsel]

I would avoid the ice House like the north pole.

 

 

 

 

[drsel]

I finally got my refund yesterday from the Ice House TA.
It took 140 days, a section 75, daily 1* reviews on Trustpilot, emails,  a Facebook action group, phone calls and a report to the CMA.
 
Don’t know which of these did the trick but I’m glad that it’s all over now. 

Why did you choose it? Any specific reasons?

[Jules.]

Just now, drsel said:

Why did you choose it? Any specific reasons?
 

It saved me £50 on the Princess fare. £16.66 each for three people!

[AnnieC]

3 minutes ago, drsel said:

Why did you choose it? Any specific reasons?
 

I imagine because, like the rest of us, the unfortunate poster found out the hard way who performs well when there's a problem and who doesn't. There have been some surprises along the way.

 

So pleased it's sorted out for you now, Jules. What a nightmare.

[drsel]

I am surprised these uncaring travel agents still get business from unsuspecting, innocent customers

[drsel]

It saved me £50 on the Princess fare. £16.66 each for three people!

You should get around 10% of the basic fare (excluding port fees and taxes) as OBC or a discount.

 

Was the total basic fare for 3 people (excluding port fees and taxes) only £500 ?

 

 

 

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, drsel said:

You should get around 10% of the basic fare (excluding port fees and taxes) as OBC or a discount.

 

Was the total basic fare for 3 people (excluding port fees and taxes) only £500 ?

 

 

 

I'm not sure that any UK agent gives a discount as high as 10%. I've certainly never found one that does.

[drsel]

Some large US agents do

[Josy1953]

1 hour ago, Jules. said:

I finally got my refund yesterday from the Ice House TA.
It took 140 days, a section 75, daily 1* reviews on Trustpilot, emails,  a Facebook action group, phone calls and a report to the CMA.
 

Don’t know which of these did the trick but I’m glad that it’s all over now. 

That TA is getting a terrible reputation.  They were less use than a chocolate lifeguard when we were trying to get our refund for our June cruise that was cancelled by P&O. They then threatened us with legal action if we did not pay our balance for our planned October 31st cruise by 4th July (17 weeks before sailing) at a time when it was likely that the cruise would not go.  We cancelled and lost the deposit which was fortunately only £100 for both us.  We also reported them to CMA.  We have learned our lesson and will never again use a TA.

[Selbourne]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I'm not sure that any UK agent gives a discount as high as 10%. I've certainly never found one that does.

 

13 minutes ago, drsel said:

You should get around 10% of the basic fare (excluding port fees and taxes) as OBC or a discount.

 

Was the total basic fare for 3 people (excluding port fees and taxes) only £500 ?

 

 

 

drsel - perhaps you could state which U.K. travel agents or cruise specialists offer 10% off P&O cruise fares on top of the P&O discounts (even if in a cryptic way)? I agree with wowzz. I know of none.
 

5% seems to be the norm and with the problems and delays to getting refunds that some who used them have experienced that seems a paltry discount to add the risks of using a 3rd party (as many posters on this site have now come to realise). I can understand people using TA’s and Cruise Specialists if they have a great personal relationship with someone there and have only ever had great experiences (including refunds), or their finances are such that 5% discount makes a significant difference to them. As 5% equates to only £50 in every £1,000 I wouldn’t say that people booking direct pay “much, much more”. 
 

I am lucky that I qualify for an additional discount booking direct with P&O that equates to 5%, but even if I didn’t I think I would still book direct. I have an excellent relationship with a former Personal Cruise Specialist who works there and have always had my first choice of cabin and quite a few extra favours over the years. My cancelled cruises were refunded in 45 days (still way above the 14 days that U.K. law dictates, but about half the time of many on this thread). 

[wowzz]

34 minutes ago, drsel said:

You should get around 10% of the basic fare (excluding port fees and taxes) as OBC or a discount.

 

Was the total basic fare for 3 people (excluding port fees and taxes) only £500 ?

 

 

 

Don't forget that taxes and port fees are not shown separately when booking in the UK. 

[AnnieC]

30 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I'm not sure that any UK agent gives a discount as high as 10%. I've certainly never found one that does.

10% is roughly the commission they receive from P&O, so they'd be doing the booking for no (or very little) profit.

 

I know how much another cruise line pays in commission, as the travel agent sent me their invoice from the line showing the commission instead of the invoice I should have received.🤣 

[Adawn47]

41 minutes ago, drsel said:

I am surprised these uncaring travel agents still get business from unsuspecting, innocent customers

Because of this debacle many TA's have shown their true colours. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. 

Avril 

[Harry Peterson]

Around 5% is the normal negotiable discount from a UK agent, sharing the commission roughly 50/50.  That seems fair, and on an expensive cruise it’s a nice bonus, given that you still get all the discounts you’d get by booking direct.

 

Has to be the right agent though, and I believe many of us rate one particular non High Street specialist particularly highly.

 

There is a further advantage of course.  It’s the only way you can have any degree of certainty of getting a specific cabin or suite on advance booking. P&O, for some bizarre reason won’t allow it. Poor customer service, which results in their paying an agent around 10% of the price paid.

[Selbourne]

6 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Around 5% is the normal negotiable discount from a UK agent, sharing the commission roughly 50/50.  That seems fair, and on an expensive cruise it’s a nice bonus, given that you still get all the discounts you’d get by booking direct.

 

Has to be the right agent though, and I believe many of us rate one particular non High Street specialist particularly highly.

 

There is a further advantage of course.  It’s the only way you can have any degree of certainty of getting a specific cabin or suite on advance booking. P&O, for some bizarre reason won’t allow it. Poor customer service, which results in their paying an agent around 10% of the price paid.

Is that agent a certain cruise club based near Chesterfield Harry? If so, I had always heard that they were very good but friends of ours have had major problems with them recently. Re your last point, yes I have heard that from several people and I agree it’s daft. My contact at P&O clearly has a cunning ‘work around’ on that one, as we book at launch and have always had our first choice cabin!

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Is that agent a certain cruise club based near Chesterfield Harry? If so, I had always heard that they were very good but friends of ours have had major problems with them recently. Re your last point, yes I have heard that from several people and I agree it’s daft. My contact at P&O clearly has a cunning ‘work around’ on that one, as we book at launch and have always had our first choice cabin!

We use that "club" and have had no problems with them at all. Even in the heights of the pandemic they were easy to contact.

We are on the maiking list for another small independent cruise agency, and they have been saying that they have had considerable difficulty in dealing with a number of cruise companies,  due to the companies furloughing so many staff.  

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, Jules. said:

I finally got my refund yesterday from the Ice House TA.
It took 140 days, a section 75, daily 1* reviews on Trustpilot, emails,  a Facebook action group, phone calls and a report to the CMA.
 

Don’t know which of these did the trick but I’m glad that it’s all over now. 

At Last.

Pleased for you it is now sorted.

[grapau27]

28 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Because of this debacle many TA's have shown their true colours. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. 

Avril 

+1