I Won?

[bepsf]

(as I've also posted on the Celebrity boards)

 

As many of you may recall, mid-last summer I posted that I was quite excited that I had won a Celebrity Cruise via an online drawing through Travelocity. Although the selections of sailings and itineraries were fairly limited, I was excited about the prospect of trying the Celebrity product and taking off on one of their 10-11 day cruises for just the cost of airfare, onboard expenses (which for me can be a hefty amount ) and of course taxes on my winnings. I was also excited about the prospect of possibly meeting up w/ Gail/Tuggers again and writing a HAL/Celebrity comparison review for CC.com

 

Well, after scrambling to find a travel partner who had the time and flexibility, getting paperwork notarized, faxed and FedEx-ed back, and making our selections, we excitedly made plans and researched our travel possibilities…

…then nothing.

 

Didn’t hear back, after dates for various cruise selections came and went – made a number of phone calls to Travelocity and tried to get things organized, but as time went on my friend and I parted ways, other cruises and travels occured, and other things going in my life prevented me from pursuing my winnings, so I just let it drop.

 

 

Then around the first of the year, I got an e-mail from my contact at Travelocity again…

…she was steamed that Celebrity hadn’t gotten their act together in that her contact for this prize had left the company and nobody had notified her – so she asked me to choose dates & itineraries and let her know so she would be able to pursue collecting my prize for me.

 

Once again, I choose a few itineraries, went through finding a travel partner (this time a former romantic interest, so no breakups necessary) and he gets his paperwork notarized, etc., and we tried to make plans for being gone within a certain time frame in April when all my selections are. Even other friends have decided to book whatever cruise I'm going to be on in order to travel with me.

 

But now after several weeks of e-mails and phone calls - some returned, some not – I’m pretty much done with the whole thing. I guess I’ll probably ask that Travelocity remove my name from their website that has a listing of folks who have won cruises…

http://leisure.travelocity.com/Promo...8|main,00.html

…since I wasn’t able to collect anything despite making their deadlines and extensive follow-up. Although I’m frustrated and saddened by the whole thing, I can’t say that my Travelocity contact there could have done much more than she has with all of her other responsibilities – particularly when her business partner doesn’t bother to return e-mails or phone calls.

 

 

 

So there’s my review of my experience with Celebrity Cruises. It’s apparent to me that Celebrity truly is a part of RCCL where no commitments are kept beyond what is paid for by a credit card or made to attempt to keep RCCL out of trouble and out of the news. Although friends often come to me asking about cruises for them, I’ll never again suggest to anyone that any RCCL product might be right for their travel needs.

 

You’ve done a great job, Mr Fain. Keep up the good work.

:rolleyes:

[Bramcruiser]

Wow! What a bummer. I'd end up feeling the same way if it happened to me. What's the point of winning nothing?

[trubey]

I hope you have posted this on the Celebrity board, too. What a sad thing to happen to this well-deserving young man. susana.

[CateW]

Brian, so sorry that this happened to you; but this gives me the opportunity to post my recent experience with HAL. We were supposed to be on the Maiden Voyage of the Noordam and had to cancel at the last minute because my husband had emergency surgery days before we were supposed to leave. I didn't take the insurance:eek: mostly because neither of us had any pre-existing conditions. (I won't make that mistake again) Anyway, I got in touch with our TA who connected with HAL guest services. Initially, we were told that they would work something out but it would take some time. In less than a week later, got a call from our TA - who basically said HAL said too bad, so sad - got a form letter via e-mail from guest services. I took matters into my own hands and sent 2 detailed letters directly to the President of HAL in Seattle one week apart. At the end of the second week, we got a call directly from guest services, and although they said that they couldn't give us a refund (I wasn't looking for one) that they would upgrade us to a Suite one down from the Penthouse on our 7/30 cruise. By this time, I was so over missing the trip as I was kind of living it vicariously through all the posts, but was absolutely thrilled to get this kind of an upgrade for the Med in July! (we had a veranda to begin with but this will make the trip truly special). Now, I did have to bubble it up but it does tell me loud and clear that upper management at HAL truly cares about their customers and lives up to the Signature of Excellence tag line. BTW, I found out after the fact that I was acquainted with Stan of Jim and Stan. He works for one of my customers - small world.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry to hear about your problems over winning a free cruise.

[Titan(ic)5.6]

The link is bad.

[Titan(ic)5.6]

The Travelocity link in your post is dead.

[grest]

How disappointing, and totally unprofessional. Sorry for your experience.

[grannynurse]

Brian,

I can't imagime your getting caught in this quagmire of bad business practices.

I guess travel-savvy people can get screwed too.

Tell Celebrity that you insist on getting kissed before you're screwed,

well in essence, you were kissed with a carrot on a stick.

 

Thanks for informing us of your debacle. I guess this indicates that "free (sic) is just another word for nothing left to lose"

Sorry, babe,

Love,

GN

[bepsf]

The Travelocity link in your post is dead.

 

Sorry - Here ya go...

http://dest.travelocity.com/Promotions/0,,TRAVELOCITY|798|main,00.html

 

 

Cate--

 

So glad HAL stepped up to the plate and took care of you!

[jhannah]

I'm sure you're fed up with it all, Brian ... but this is something that one of the TV networks might like to tackle. This is fraud. There are strict laws in place regarding contests and false advertising, and they have violated them by not giving you what you "won" while saying you did. (Be sure to capture the page that shows you as a winner so you'll have the evidence to go along with a record of your e-mails and phone calls.)

 

Thanks for sharing this with us. It's a lesson for all of us.

[sail7seas]

I'm really sorry to hear this happened, Brian. What miserable PR and business practice.

 

I agree with Jim. This is more than disappointing. I wonder if an Attorney General might not be interested in hearing about it.

Surely there have to be laws against this?

 

[Pudgesmom]

Brian,

 

So sorry to hear about your troubles. It would be very interesting if you did contact some sort of investigative reporter. He or she might be able to contact the other winners on the list and to see if they were also unable to collect on their prizes!

 

Maybe you belong on HAL!:D

 

Beth

[Portolan]

I think the travel industry pays a lot of attention to Conde Nast and neither Travelocity nor Celebrity would want to see their names there.

[lougee1043]

I think the travel industry pays a lot of attention to Conde Nast and neither Travelocity nor Celebrity would want to see their names there.

 

i had a problem with a store that i made a purchase from while we were touring israel -- much correspondence and emails with no finality--- wrote to the ombotsman (sp) at conde nast and even though my letter wasnt published they contacted the store and resolved the problem to my satisfaction

[lougee1043]

CateW

 

HAL. We were supposed to be on the Maiden Voyage of the Noordam and had to cancel at the last minute because my husband had emergency surgery days before we were supposed to leave. I didn't take the insurance:eek: mostly because neither of us had any pre-existing conditions. (I won't make that mistake again)>>>>>>>>>>>

 

truly hope that the surgery was a total success and he is well on the way to recovery--------------------this is why insurance is so important- can understand your feeling that you were in good health and insurance wasnt necessary ------------- in the future at least cover the cost of the cruise and air fare and buy minimums on all the other coverage

 

i agree that hal was good to you in making an adjustment but im pretty sure you lost more money then the cost of upgrading from a verandah to a suite

[dakrewser]

Michael Finney, at KGO, would probably love to tackle this story!

 

Reminded me of a twist on an old joke -

 

I won first prize in a contest, a one-week cruise on Celebrity. 2nd prize was a 2-week cruise!

[eroller]

I'm sure it's easy to simply place blame on Celebrity. Of course there are two sides to every story. Exactly who was promoting this contest? Celebrity Cruises? Travelocity? Or co-sponsored? Did the contest appear on the Celebrity Cruises website or just Travelocity? My guess is just on Travelocity ... in which case I put the burden on Travelocity to ensure the winnings of their contest are indeed awarded (even if they ultimately have to pay for the cruise). Their dealings with Celebrity should not be your concern, it should be theirs. Travelocity is a HUGE account with Celebrity/RCI and surely they have a fair bit of clout. Maybe something fell through on their end and they didn't meet the requirements for the free cabin? Again their problem and they should just pay for one.

 

In any case, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have sponsored many "official" contests of their own, and to my knowledge they have never defaulted on any of them. If they had, I'm certain we would have heard about it.

 

Too bad you will miss out on a Celebrity Cruises. My experience with Celebrity has been nothing but superb. They are an excellent cruise line and gay friendly as well. In fact they are probably my favorite cruise line after Silversea and Cunard. Maybe it's best you don't go, as you seem to have already formed an opinion of RCI/Celebrity that may be difficult to overcome.

 

Ernie

[arzz]

I am not too fond of travelocity either -- booked one cruise with them and I was able to get what I paid for and get on board but no thanks to them -- HAL smoothed it out for us (as the one thing that they did right was to pay HAL with my charge card)-- the number of mistakes that they made with our reservation that time was amazing -- for me they are a never again

 

Reslly sorry about the "bait and switch" con game that they played on you -- I would think that legal action or a lot of noise generated in the proper direction (like Conde Nast Traveller as suggested earlier) could be extremely worthwhile.

 

Good luck and sorry you had to suffer

[K&RCurt]

Brian:

 

I am so sorry that you had to work so hard to no avail for you "free" Travelocity / Celebrity cruise. I remember when you first posted that you "won" the contest and how excited you were. I agree you should persue some follow up with a TV magazine or other media consumer advocate. As you mentioned, the ONE thing RCCL might respond to is more negative media attention.

[infopaul]

Hey Brian, That is so disheartening, so sorry you were led down that path. I feel putting it in the hands of some more public forum could net you results. An investigative reporter from a television news organization could solve your problem. It might only take a quick letter or email to find out. I don't think they should or will get away with this if you decide to pursue the matter. Who knows you might even get an upgrade!...Paul:)

[Navy_Chief]

The Travelocity link in your post is dead.

 

 

Looks like Travelocity did what you asked. :D

[RevNeal]

Dear Brian, that's is a real bummer. :( I'm very sorry. :(

[CaliforniaAC]

I hope you didn't fill out a W9 for them. They might send you a 1099 to pay income taxes for the trip you "won". Now THAT would be a real bummer!

[pbcbbc]

I don't get it. Why are you ripping Celebrity when Travelocity is the company at fault? Travelocity is the company that owes you a huge explaination. They ran the promotion and owe you a vacation. They are being incredibly rude to you by claiming this is someone else's problem. If Travelocity was a stand-up company they would have already taken care of business.