Travel Agent concerns

[Balsam12]

Just wondering if anyone has had any success getting information from cruise lines when booked through a travel agent?

 

Alternatively, has any removed a booking from a travel agent?

 

My scenario...

 

We had a booking for March 2020 which was cancelled. We took FCC and then booked another cruise for Xmas/New Year 2020 and applied the FCC to that. This cruise was then cancelled mid September 2020. The Travel agent emailed us and asked if we wanted FCC or a refund we elected to take a refund, as we have another cruise booked for October 2021, but with a different cruise line.

The Travel Agent emailed back confirming our request for a refund and the amount of the refund, and advising it could take up to 90 days. We accepted this as being "normal" at the current time.

 

Fast forward to the new year, and at 110 days, we had not received our refund, so I emailed the travel agent. They replied saying our refund had come in over the Xmas break, and would be processed in coming days. All good until I asked them HOW the refund would be processed. This raised two concerns. Firstly they were going to refund to my Debit Mastercard, which has long since expired and been replaced by a new card with a different number. Secondly, they said it would appear on my statement as "Refund - agent name - $400.00". This is only the extra cash deposit we made for the cruise, and not the full amount we are owed. They also tell me they legally have to refund to the card used for payment, and that when it bounces back, they will contact me to make alternative arrangements.

 

I then contacted them again for an explanation, and was told that the cruise line had issued FCC instead of a refund for the balance of what we have paid, and that it will now take a further 60 days to get a refund. I questioned why we have not had any communication from either the agent or the cruise line advising us of this FCC, seeing that the previous time we were emailed by both to let us know about FCC? They had no explanation.

The cruise line refuses to discuss the matter with me under any circumstances, so I now have no idea if the agent is telling me the truth. I have a definite concern that they have received our refund and are using our money to help them stay afloat, but I have no way of knowing.

 

We have a further payment for our October cruise due on 1 February, and I am very hesitant to give any more funds to this travel agent in the current circumstances. I have contacted the cruise line for the October cruise, but once again, they won't talk to me because it was booked through the agent.

 

I have raised a formal complaint with Consumer Protection in my own state, but I'm not sure if this will get a result.

 

So, in summary, does anyone have advice on:

 

1. How to find out if the travel agent is telling the truth about the FCC

2. How to remove the October booking from the agent

3. Getting the refund made by a method other than to the original expired card

 

Sorry for the long winded post, but I am fast running out of ideas, and hate the idea of being at the mercy of a travel agent, so any input is welcomed.

 

Cheers,

 

Balsam

[Aus Traveller]

1. It might be difficult to find out if the TA is telling the truth. I trust my TA, but even so, Princess said they had refunded to the TA many weeks before the TA acknowledged that they had the money. This was a sizeable amount as it was the total amount for two people on a 35 night cruise.

2. It is easy to move a booking from a TA to the cruise line. Contact the cruiseline who will outline their procedure for this.

3. I had the situation where payments for tours overseas were to be refunded. By this time I had a new card with a new number and the tour companies said they could only refund to the same card that had paid for the tour. After going to the trouble of getting a letter from the bank (which proved useless) and sending it to the tour companies, the bank told me that if the new CC is linked to the same bank account, the refund would go to that account. This is what happened. I suggest you phone your bank and ask them what will happen to your refund now that you have a new CC.

[Elorac123]

I had same issue with changed credit card (same account)

It automatically refers to your old card.

Cheers Carole 

[getting older slowly]

30 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

3. After going to the trouble of getting a letter from the bank (which proved useless) and sending it to the tour companies, the bank told me that if the new CC is linked to the same bank account, the refund would go to that account. This is what happened. I suggest you phone your bank and ask them what will happen to your refund now that you have a new CC.

I concur with this paid deposit with CC..  bank changed CC from Visa to Master Card ... cruise cancelled refund when to new CC  checked with bank first. old and new CC linked.....( not sure how long they are linked ) 

 

On another cancelled cruise TA change refund to new CC no problems......   So it seams TA's have some different options...

 

Don

[aussielozzie18]

Had a similar situation with cc last year.  Booked direct with Princess.  Deposit paid with old card.  Covid hit.  Whilat waiting for lengthy refund, card expired.  Princess said they were unable to update new card details.  Bank changed new card from visa to Mastercard.  I didnt contact my bank.  Decided to adopt a wait and aee approach Refund did eventually come through to new cc.  So they are linked in the bank system.

[NSWP]

I reckon the TA is hanging on to the refund to pay rent and wages.  One reason why I book direct with cruise line.

 

Good luck with it all Balsam. Did you use a W.A. TA? That would have some bearing on whether WA Consumer Protection can retrieve your money.  But if the TA you used is based interstate, might be a different kettle of fish.

Edited January 12, 2021 by NSWP

[Balsam12]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

I reckon the TA is hanging on to the refund to pay rent and wages.  One reason why I book direct with cruise line.

 

Good luck with it all Balsam. Did you use a W.A. TA? That would have some bearing on whether WA Consumer Protection can retrieve your money.  But if the TA you used is based interstate, might be a different kettle of fish.

Unfortunately, no. The TA is based in NSW.

I'll see what the WA people come back with and then see if I need to contact the NSW equivalent.

 

The other two future bookings we have are now direct with the cruise line. We haven't used TAs for many years, however this did a great deal on our first cruise in 2019, so we booked the next couple with them as well. Never again.

 

Cheers

[Balsam12]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

 

2. It is easy to move a booking from a TA to the cruise line. Contact the cruiseline who will outline their procedure for this.

 

 

OK, I'll try emailing the cruise line to see what they say.

 

Cheers

[Bubbeh]

I'm so sorry for your experience.  The only time I don't use a TA is our annual pilgrimage to Bali (somewhat overdue at the moment).  It's just a personal thing I know but I find I like to deal face-to-face with somebody.  Also, up until last year we were always either coming home, going away or planning a trip somewhere and I was 'known' to my local TA by face and name.  It's nice to walk in and have the agents greet you personally.   With that in mind, I can't recommend the staff of RAC in Halls Head highly enough.  Although, I accept this is a bit of a trek for you and certainly doesn't resolve your current problem.

 

Having said that, I'm currently also waiting for a refund.  We had planned to go on a Cambodia / Vietnam / Mekong River Cruise in October this year.  I booked in October 2019 getting a brilliant deal on BC air fares through Scenic.  To date I've been successful in getting a refund of the deposit via my VISA Platinum complimentary travel insurance (minus the excess, of course) but while Scenic has committed to refund the air fare component, they're taking their time.  The TA says this is standard and it will eventually arrive.  So we wait....................

[ilikeanswers]

20 hours ago, Balsam12 said:

Unfortunately, no. The TA is based in NSW.

I'll see what the WA people come back with and then see if I need to contact the NSW equivalent.

 

The other two future bookings we have are now direct with the cruise line. We haven't used TAs for many years, however this did a great deal on our first cruise in 2019, so we booked the next couple with them as well. Never again.

 

Cheers

 

I'm based in NSW and had a problem with an online business based in Victoria. I used NSW fairtrading and they were able to handle the issue. I would assume if WA fairtrading cannot they should refer you to NSW🤔.

[Chiliburn]

I think someone here advise you it’s easy to have the booking taken off the agent.

To my knowledge the agent owns the booking not you ,and it’s very rare for the cruise line to take the booking away.

 

What cruise line ? 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Chiliburn

[Balsam12]

23 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I think someone here advise you it’s easy to have the booking taken off the agent.

To my knowledge the agent owns the booking not you ,and it’s very rare for the cruise line to take the booking away.

 

What cruise line ? 

In this case, P & O Australia.

 

The booking was made on their $1 deposit offer, and as we booked as soon as the cruise was announced, we got priority boarding (if such a thing will exist when cruising resumes), OBC and some included internet. Our next payment due on 1 Feb is only a further $800, so not a huge thing. I would just rebook and forget the $2.00, but balcony cabins on the cruise are sold out.

Final payment isn't then due until August, so hopefully the other booking will be sorted by then... maybe.

[Aus Traveller]

36 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I think someone here advise you it’s easy to have the booking taken off the agent.

To my knowledge the agent owns the booking not you ,and it’s very rare for the cruise line to take the booking away.

Earlier in this thread I commented that it is easy to switch a booking from a TA to the cruise line. It isn't that the cruiseline takes the booking away, the passenger chooses to switch. I have read many times on this forum that people switch their booking either from a TA to the cruise company, or vice versa.

[Balsam12]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

Earlier in this thread I commented that it is easy to switch a booking from a TA to the cruise line. It isn't that the cruiseline takes the booking away, the passenger chooses to switch. I have read many times on this forum that people switch their booking either from a TA to the cruise company, or vice versa.

Unfortunately, this is not proving to be correct, at least not wit P & O Australia.

 

They simply refuse to discuss anything about the booking with me other than if I want to make pre cruise purchases.

[rkmw]

25 minutes ago, Balsam12 said:

Unfortunately, this is not proving to be correct, at least not wit P & O Australia.

 

They simply refuse to discuss anything about the booking with me other than if I want to make pre cruise purchases.

I thought it might be rather hard to get the TA to release the booking if they didn’t want to....might be easier to let the $2 go and book another cruise and book direct with the cruise line

[Balsam12]

Just now, rkmw said:

I thought it might be rather hard to get the TA to release the booking if they didn’t want to....might be easier to let the $2 go and book another cruise and book direct with the cruise line

We have definitely considered this, however should it go ahead, we really like the itinerary for this cruise.

[rkmw]

11 minutes ago, Balsam12 said:

We have definitely considered this, however should it go ahead, we really like the itinerary for this cruise.

Your choice but if the agent won’t release the booking and you pay the next instalment of $800 you are really committed to the agent 

[Balsam12]

14 minutes ago, rkmw said:

Your choice but if the agent won’t release the booking and you pay the next instalment of $800 you are really committed to the agent 

Yep, we understand that, and therefore have two weeks to decide if we want to risk our $800...

[icat2000]

I didn't use TA prior to COVID and I certainly wouldn't be using one at the moment or any of the online cruising agent sites. Just too risky until crusing actually starts. I rather just have bookings direct with the cruiseline. I'm only booked on one cruise with FCC.

 

As for your TA basically blackmailing you about not releasing the booking until they get $800. That just to pay their commission. I would contact the cruiseline stating what the agent is doing and ask for your booking to be transferred to the cruiseline immediately. Don;t take no for answer. Keep escalating the issue. Call back if you don't find satisfactory answer and speak to someone else. 

 

Also instruct your agent to have your refund in your account by cob of whatever date otherwise you be asking your credit card company to refund you the total amount. 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2021 by icat2000

[icat2000]

 

On 1/13/2021 at 1:32 PM, Balsam12 said:

In this case, P & O Australia.

 

The booking was made on their $1 deposit offer, and as we booked as soon as the cruise was announced, we got priority boarding (if such a thing will exist when cruising resumes), OBC and some included internet. Our next payment due on 1 Feb is only a further $800, so not a huge thing. I would just rebook and forget the $2.00, but balcony cabins on the cruise are sold out.

Final payment isn't then due until August, so hopefully the other booking will be sorted by then... maybe.

Just book another cabin directly with the cruiseline. And let the other booking lapse. 

Edited January 14, 2021 by icat2000

[Balsam12]

2 hours ago, icat2000 said:

 

Just book another cabin directly with the cruiseline. And let the other booking lapse. 

I would do exactly that, however the only cabins available now are inside ones.

[Balsam12]

16 hours ago, icat2000 said:

 

 

Also instruct your agent to have your refund in your account by cob of whatever date otherwise you be asking your credit card company to refund you the total amount. 

 

 

Unfortunately, we paid by direct bank transfer, as they charge a fee for Credit card transactions.

[Porky55]

13 hours ago, Balsam12 said:

I would do exactly that, however the only cabins available now are inside ones.

Forget the $2.
Contact P&O Aus direct by phone and talk to a Travel Planner. If you can’t get the exact cabin you want, you can take a Guarantee cabin perhaps, which will be closer to the one you want.

Rarely is a cruise totally sold out of all of a particular category, they just have them spread out with Travel Agencies, etc; until closer to cruise date; when all unsold blocks of available cabins return to Cruise Line.  

 

No harm in ringing P&O direct and asking what they have available for your cruise, without mentioning your other booking 🤔

You just might be surprised. #132 494 or 02 8326 4116

[Balsam12]

4 minutes ago, Porky55 said:

Forget the $2.
Contact P&O Aus direct by phone and talk to a Travel Planner. If you can’t get the exact cabin you want, you can take a Guarantee cabin perhaps, which will be closer to the one you want.

Rarely is a cruise totally sold out of all of a particular category, they just have them spread out with Travel Agencies, etc; until closer to cruise date; when all unsold blocks of available cabins return to Cruise Line.  

 

No harm in ringing P&O direct and asking what they have available for your cruise, without mentioning your other booking 🤔

You just might be surprised. #132 494 or 02 8326 4116

As you say, no harm in trying... stay tuned 🙂 

[Porky55]

10 minutes ago, Balsam12 said:

As you say, no harm in trying... stay tuned 🙂 

That’s the attitude - positive thoughts. Waiting for update .......

(don’t forget patience on the phone - you’ll probably need it 😉)