Ponant expects to sail NZ in Feb...

[NumnuT]

G'day Guys,

 

Some positive cruise news which is great.

 

https://cruisepassenger.com.au/ponant-expects-to-sail-new-zealand-in-february-in-a-major-break-for-the-region/

 

Cheers

Craig

[jland]

Good luck to anyone who decides to book with Ponant. We had four holidays booked in 2020 all cancelled. Some companies were very slow to refund but only Ponant flatly refused to refund, only offered fcc. Our deposit was $14155. After months of trying to negotiate with Ponant, we contacted our federal MP who wrote to the chairman of ACCC Rod Sims. Only then did they refund our money. Ponant are very unsympathetic and arrogant to deal with. After they way they treated us hell will freeze over before they see another penny of our money. 
I have only posted this to make others aware of what will happen if you book a cruise with them and it gets canceled.

[MMDown Under]

On 12/24/2020 at 9:28 AM, jland said:

Good luck to anyone who decides to book with Ponant. We had four holidays booked in 2020 all cancelled. Some companies were very slow to refund but only Ponant flatly refused to refund, only offered fcc. Our deposit was $14155. After months of trying to negotiate with Ponant, we contacted our federal MP who wrote to the chairman of ACCC Rod Sims. Only then did they refund our money. Ponant are very unsympathetic and arrogant to deal with. After they way they treated us hell will freeze over before they see another penny of our money. 
I have only posted this to make others aware of what will happen if you book a cruise with them and it gets canceled.

Thank you for sharing your experience about getting a refund from Ponant for a cancelled cruise.  This is a good example of the power of word of mouth plus the loss of goodwill.  

I'm pleased you were able to get a refund with the help of your local Federal MP.

[MicCanberra]

Wow, good news to see cruising (smaller ships starting) up again.

Not so great that Ponant were holding back so much of peoples money, although many lines did do this as a default.

[jland]

On 12/29/2020 at 7:42 AM, MicCanberra said:

Wow, good news to see cruising (smaller ships starting) up again.

Not so great that Ponant were holding back so much of peoples money, although many lines did do this as a default.

Our contract with Ponant, at clause 11.9, stated if Ponant cancelled any cruise, for any reason, a refund was payable. We took them at their word. To us “any reason” mean just that. Ponant, at first, decided to bring force majeure into play but there was no mention of that in clause 11.9, many people around the world pointed this out to them. March 2020 French government changed the rules allowing cruise companies etc to offer FCC only, not refunds. Ponant Australia informed me the French ruling now applied to us.

Our point was if we live in Australia and book with a company with offices in Australia and that company has an ABN then we come up Australian consumer law. Ponant would not budge, their emails were terse, arrogant and lacking in compassion. So much so they made me cry.

Thats when I contacted my federal MP. He wrote to ACCC who informed Ponant they could be in breach of ACL. My refund came very quickly after that.

As I said before I am only posting this so that other people know what they could be up against if they decide to book with Ponant.

[MicCanberra]

A good result in the end, hopefully people are now aware before going into a decision without knowing.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, jland said:

Our contract with Ponant, at clause 11.9, stated if Ponant cancelled any cruise, for any reason, a refund was payable. We took them at their word. To us “any reason” mean just that. Ponant, at first, decided to bring force majeure into play but there was no mention of that in clause 11.9, many people around the world pointed this out to them. March 2020 French government changed the rules allowing cruise companies etc to offer FCC only, not refunds. Ponant Australia informed me the French ruling now applied to us.

Our point was if we live in Australia and book with a company with offices in Australia and that company has an ABN then we come up Australian consumer law. Ponant would not budge, their emails were terse, arrogant and lacking in compassion. So much so they made me cry.

Thats when I contacted my federal MP. He wrote to ACCC who informed Ponant they could be in breach of ACL. My refund came very quickly after that.

As I said before I am only posting this so that other people know what they could be up against if they decide to book with Ponant.

It is terrible that you had such difficulty in getting a refund. I am glad that it has worked out for you🙂 and thank you for posting details of your experience with Ponant.

[jland]

Thanks folks for all your kind words. I got our refund so all’s well.

Happy 2021 to all and although 2020 didn’t turn out as expected we are still very lucky to live in Australia, life is still very good. As someone who came to live in Australia nearly 50 years ago I still say thank you for having me every day. I thank my lucky stars.

[sewgood]

1 hour ago, jland said:

 As someone who came to live in Australia nearly 50 years ago I still say thank you for having me every day. I thank my lucky stars.

What a lovely thing to say.

You have such a great attitude! 🙂

 

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, jland said:

Thanks folks for all your kind words. I got our refund so all’s well.

Happy 2021 to all and although 2020 didn’t turn out as expected we are still very lucky to live in Australia, life is still very good. As someone who came to live in Australia nearly 50 years ago I still say thank you for having me every day. I thank my lucky stars.

How gracious, are you from 🇬🇧?

[jland]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

How gracious, are you from 🇬🇧?

Yes, I am from one side of London, my husband from the other side but we were very lucky to meet in Sydney and we love each other and this country very much. We are two very grateful people. Can life be any better than here, we think not.

[MicCanberra]

When people say we live in the lucky country, I disagree. The country is not lucky, as luck has had nothing to do with what makes this country great, it is the people and culture here, so it is us that are lucky.

I for one think, despite the crappy year of 2020, and all that has happened (or not happened) we are certainly lucky to live here compared to the rest of the world.