Received Balcony upgrade with new room assignment. 5 hours later NCL reneged on the upgrade. Has this happened to anyone?

[BigPapaGato]

Sailing on our cruise in 3 days. We submitted a bid offer from an interior cabin to a regular balcony. I received my confirmation email today that our offer was accepted. We were charged for the upgrade and assigned a new balcony cabin. 5 hours later I receive the following email from NCL:

 

"Dear Valued guest,

We sincerely regret to inform you that for your reservation mentioned above, the “Offer Upgraded” email was sent in error,  the reservation has been reverted to its original cabin and the charge for the upgrade will be refunded. Your bids will all still be considered should inventory become available between now and the close of the program.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience."

 

The best part is that when I go to the upgrade page. All of my upgrade offers are gone and the page says that I am no longer eligible to upgrade. 

 

Anyone been in a similar situation?

[Middleager]

We have had two successful upgrade bids, but that was in the earlier days of cruises resuming from the pandemic.  Of course there were other unsuccessful bids.

 

NCL said they sent to you the successful upgrade in error.  That is not right.  If they found out they have no room to upgrade you to (after other cascading upgrades), then they cannot offer you an upgrade room, but should provide some compensation, at least some OBCs.   But if they do have room to upgrade you to, that's very bad of NCL.

[BigPapaGato]

Well that's the weird part. I received the email but I was also assigned the new room. I received the email confirmation for that part and on my account it showed that I was in a new cabin. That's the fishy part regarding the whole situation. 

 

I asked for some follow up and specifics as to how this could have occurred. I'm not asking for a handout but I agree that I should be given some sort of compensation. 

[shof515]

they might be some issues between NCL and the 3rd party company that process these upgrades 

[Longstockingpippi1]

When you board, board early and go to guest services ASAP. 

[MeHeartCruising]

Gosh.  Mistakes happen.  They put you back in your original cabin.  They have reversed the charges.  They notified you promptly.  All done in a matter of hours.  I don't see this as bad business by a company.  

 

Now if you had lost the original cabin or if they haven't reversed your charges in a timely fashion, that would be a different story.

[FLAHAM]

You deserve compensation for a promptly corrected error?

[scooter6139]

I'd call the NCL number to ask some questions on this or call your PCC/TA if you have one.

 

A separate company does the bidding and upgrade process, not NCL.

[SeaHunt]

53 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Now if you had lost the original cabin or if they haven't reversed your charges in a timely fashion, that would be a different story.

 

1 hour ago, BigPapaGato said:

Well that's the weird part. I received the email but I was also assigned the new room. I received the email confirmation for that part and on my account it showed that I was in a new cabin. That's the fishy part regarding the whole situation. 

 

I think you missed this - he did lose his original cabin. Though he doesn't say if the new one is better (or not). That could make a lot of difference in the "miffed" factor. 😉

 

 

[scooter6139]

1 minute ago, SeaHunt said:

 

 

I think you missed this - he did lose his original cabin. Though he doesn't say if the new one is better (or not). That could make a lot of difference in the "miffed" factor. 😉

 

 

 

Need confirmation on this from the OP, as I read it to clarify that was part of the bid they won for the balcony upgrade.  

[MeHeartCruising]

1 hour ago, SeaHunt said:

 

 

I think you missed this - he did lose his original cabin. Though he doesn't say if the new one is better (or not). That could make a lot of difference in the "miffed" factor. 😉

 

 

I don’t read it that way at all.  It sounds to me that they were fully assigned to the new cabin.  Even saw it on their account.  Then they got the email telling them of the mistake and notifying them they were back in the original cabin.  

[BigPapaGato]

2 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Gosh.  Mistakes happen.  They put you back in your original cabin.  They have reversed the charges.  They notified you promptly.  All done in a matter of hours.  I don't see this as bad business by a company.  

 

Now if you had lost the original cabin or if they haven't reversed your charges in a timely fashion, that would be a different story.

Mistakes do happen, that doesn’t mean that NCL shouldn’t be held accountable for them. 
 

They reversed everything (except the charges which are still pending) in a timely manner as you put it but I’ve been waiting for months hoping for the last minute upgrade - 5 hours, 5 days or 5 months… the disappointment is still the same. It feels like a bait and switch.
 

Additionally now it looks like there’s some sort of error with my account and none of my upgrades are eligible now. This contradictory information adds to our frustration and raises further questions about the integrity of the process.
 

I did get the original cabin back. 

[BigPapaGato]

1 hour ago, FLAHAM said:

You deserve compensation for a promptly corrected error?

Would I deserve compensation if the error was corrected after 3 months? 

[SeaHunt]

22 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

I don’t read it that way at all.  It sounds to me that they were fully assigned to the new cabin.  Even saw it on their account.  Then they got the email telling them of the mistake and notifying them they were back in the original cabin.  

 

Ugh so sorry! I guess my reading comprehension goes down when my Chardonnay glass goes up LOL. 😁

[zelliott]

18 minutes ago, BigPapaGato said:

They reversed everything (except the charges which are still pending) in a timely manner as you put it but I’ve been waiting for months hoping for the last minute upgrade - 5 hours, 5 days or 5 months… the disappointment is still the same. It feels like a bait and switch.

Have I been wrong in thinking that a bait and switch is criminally fraudulent advertising practice? It seems to me that the CC definition, based on at least three recent postings in different threads, is “something changed and I don’t like the way it changed.” Which is fine, I guess, but probably merits a different term that doesn’t imply fraud. 

[BigPapaGato]

14 minutes ago, zelliott said:

Have I been wrong in thinking that a bait and switch is criminally fraudulent advertising practice? It seems to me that the CC definition, based on at least three recent postings in different threads, is “something changed and I don’t like the way it changed.” Which is fine, I guess, but probably merits a different term that doesn’t imply fraud. 

 

I looked up the definition in Webster's Dictionary for you. Neither mentions fraud and I'm leaning towards the second definition being more related to my current situation 😉

bait and switch

noun

 

Synonyms of bait and switch

1

: a sales tactic in which a customer is attracted by the advertisement of a low-priced item but is then encouraged to buy a higher-priced one

2

: the ploy of offering a person something desirable to gain favor (such as political support) then thwarting expectations with something less desirable

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bait and switch

Edited June 12, 2023 by BigPapaGato

[scooter6139]

6 minutes ago, BigPapaGato said:

 

I looked up the definition in Webster's Dictionary for you. Neither mentions fraud and I'm leaning towards the second definition being more related to my current situation 😉

bait and switch

noun

 

Synonyms of bait and switch

1

: a sales tactic in which a customer is attracted by the advertisement of a low-priced item but is then encouraged to buy a higher-priced one

2

: the ploy of offering a person something desirable to gain favor (such as political support) then thwarting expectations with something less desirable

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bait and switch

 Nope.  Doesn't apply to your situation at all.

[n4w]

No bait a switch, you still have exactly what you contracted for, there's no switching to something less desirable.

 

Compensation may be a consideration if there is harm or loss, none seems to apply here.

[zelliott]

This is likely the worst “ploy to gain favor” ever since all it led to is a disappointed customer and a negative thread on CC. 

Edited June 12, 2023 by zelliott

[MoCruiseFan]

3 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Gosh.  Mistakes happen.  They put you back in your original cabin.  They have reversed the charges.  They notified you promptly.  All done in a matter of hours.  I don't see this as bad business by a company.  

 

Now if you had lost the original cabin or if they haven't reversed your charges in a timely fashion, that would be a different story.

 

Absolutely 100% correct in all aspects.

[BigPapaGato]

26 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

 Nope.  Doesn't apply to your situation at all.

 

24 minutes ago, n4w said:

No bait a switch, you still have exactly what you contracted for, there's no switching to something less desirable.

 

Compensation may be a consideration if there is harm or loss, none seems to apply here.

 

23 minutes ago, zelliott said:

This is likely the worst “ploy to gain favor” ever since all it led to is a disappointed customer and a negative thread on CC. 

Ok

[Longstockingpippi1]

My intention in telling you to go to guest services was not to raise hell but to say to them “ Hey guess what happened, I got this letter…. Yada yada…..Do you happen to have any upgrades available?” You have a good conversation starter 😀😀

[MoCruiseFan]

1 hour ago, BigPapaGato said:

Mistakes do happen, that doesn’t mean that NCL shouldn’t be held accountable for them. 
 

They reversed everything (except the charges which are still pending) in a timely manner

 

1) It was more than likely NOT an NCL error but an error bt Upgrade Advantage.

2) The refunds still being pending is a bank issue not an NCL (nor even an Upgrade Advantage) issue.

[MoCruiseFan]

52 minutes ago, zelliott said:

Have I been wrong in thinking that a bait and switch is criminally fraudulent advertising practice? It seems to me that the CC definition, based on at least three recent postings in different threads, is “something changed and I don’t like the way it changed.” Which is fine, I guess, but probably merits a different term that doesn’t imply fraud. 

yes you have.

[BigPapaGato]

4 minutes ago, Longstockingpippi1 said:

My intention in telling you to go to guest services was not to raise hell but to say to them “ Hey guess what happened, I got this letter…. Yada yada…..Do you happen to have any upgrades available?” You have a good conversation starter 😀😀

Yup that’s the plan.