I Won?

[Charliesmom]

I agree that Travelocity has some responsibility here. They advertised the free cruise that you won. They should make good even if Celebrity does not. Wouldn't it make you a firm customer if they did make good?

 

Roberta

[RevNeal]

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!

 

It would also compound their fraud, making it a felony and opening it to IRS investigation ... none of which the cruise line would want to have to deal with.

 

i.e. ... it won't happen.

[dougnewmanatsea]

I have to say, this is very disappointing to hear - and very surprising.

 

To be honest, if I were you Brian, I would not give up, but that's just me - if a company promises me something and I don't get it, I will fight with them until I have them begging for mercy ;) .

 

That said, I have to agree with Ernie in this case - I'm not sure all the blame can be placed on RCCL here. Travelocity is a very large company with a lot of clout in this business. Even if the whole thing were RCCL's fault, I have no doubt that if they applied themselves to it, Travelocity could have this business sorted out in about ten seconds.

 

So I think both RCCL and Travelocity are to blame. I've never done business with Travelocity, but I know that RCCL can, quite frankly, be a very frustrating company to deal with - one reason that I have no real desire to try X again (I sailed them several times back in the good old Chandris days) and compare with HAL is that I have always found HAL's customer service exemplary and RCCL's... Well, not so exemplary.

 

But my complaints with them have always been minor things, more to do with rudeness of customer service personnel than anything else (if they're not nice to me, I'll just as soon go book with someone else) - certainly nothing like this.

 

Either way, I'm very sorry to hear about this - and I agree with other posters, if you are up for it I'm sure you could get this straightened out... But dealing with big corporations often takes a lot of patience, and I can understand if you're just so sick and tired of this nonsense that you want to forget about it!

 

Come to thik of it, how about this - if you've given up, I'll try to get the situation rectified and thenwhen it's done, you can give me your free cruise ;) !

[cruisingagentone]

I have to agree with some of the other posters.

The cruise lines do not give free cruises for companies to run contests. Travelocity ran that contest and had to pay the cruise line for whichever cruise you picked. This is Travelocity's problem not Celebrity. Our agency gave a Celebrity cruise to a charity auction but the agency paid for it the cruise line did not give it to us. The cruise lines could not go around giving free cruises away everyone would be asking for them.

You need to go after Travelocity.

[Portolan]

Travelocity ran that contest and had to pay the cruise line for whichever cruise you picked.

 

Without the benefit of reviewing the original contest promotion, you can be quite certain that if Celebrity's name was featured prominently then it was co-sponsored. Travelocity wouldn't share the PR unless there was cost-sharing involved. My earlier point about contacting the Conde Nast Omsbudsman with all the facts mentioning both Travelocity and Celebrity is that if, in fact, Celebrity was an innocent bystander in this, 1) that fact would come out and exonerate them, 2) Celebrity would lean (heavily!) on Travelocity for dragging their name through the mud.

[kryos]

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.)

You beat me to it ... I was gonna say the same thing. There are very, very strict laws in place for this sort of thing ... what Travelocity/Celebrity is putting Brian through is downright illegal. He should also report it to his state's Attorney General's Office.

 

If you win something through a contest, the promoter has an obligation to provide what was promised. It's more than good business ... it's the law. Brian is actually ENTITLED to that cruise ... just as if he had booked it on his own and paid for it ... and he shouldn't let Celebrity or Travelocity do him out of it.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Charliesmom]

Brian,

 

I have done some thinking about this. If this had happened to me, I would be writing a letter to the President or the Chairman of the Board of Travelocity. The person you have been dealing with is pretty low down on the corporate ladder and probably powerless. You need to deal with the top echelon of the company.

 

Even better than writing a letter would be a telephone call to the secretary of the President or the Chairman of the Board. Explain what happened in a calm manner. I'll bet you get almost instant results.

 

You have done your part. Now it is time for them to do their part. But you have to talk to the right people.

 

If that doesn't work, write a letter. If that doesn't work, then, and only then, would I contact the "authorities" like the Attorney General or the Better Business Bureau.

 

We have dealt with countless thorny issues in this way and had them resolved very quickly.

 

Roberta

[kryos]

If that doesn't work, then, and only then, would I contact the "authorities" like the Attorney General or the Better Business Bureau.

Good point, and I agree.

 

However, I would think his contact at Travelocity should have already been escalating the problem up her corporate chain of command. It should have been resolved long before he was required to start writing letters.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[dougnewmanatsea]

The cruise lines do not give free cruises for companies to run contests.

They may not, but I have to back up Portolan on this one - if this was a co-branded Travelocity/Celebrity contest, then I imagine RCCL subsidised it, anyway.

 

They may tell you that it's not true, but do you really, honestly think that Travelocity gets treated the same way by the cruise lines as traditional agencies, even very large ones?

 

However, I would think his contact at Travelocity should have already been escalating the problem up her corporate chain of command.

Absolutely.

 

If, as this Travelocity contact claims, RCCL really weren't living up to their part of the bargain... Well, I have no doubt that if a high ranking executive from Travelocity called up a high ranking executive at RCCL, the whole thing would be sorted out in a split second.

 

As Ernie pointed out much earlier in this thread, Travelocity is a huge account for RCCL. There is simply no way that RCCL would allow Travelocity to get really mad at them - if Travelocity were to stop selling RCCL products (or even to feature them less prominently), RCCL would lose a huge amount of business and they would never let that happen.

[mechcc]

Brian - I really hope this whole situation gets resolved quickly. This is just a real bummer. To me not only Celebrity is the quilty party but Travelocity needs to step up and make their promotion right and do something more then blaming Celebrity for the mess up. Sounds as if both parties are wrong. Thank you for sharing and you have gotten some good advice as where to carry your legitimate complaint. Go for it!

 

(P.S. When you do get it resolved and very favorably to you - think about the Summit cruise on 14 Apr 07 from Ft Lauderdale to LA . Lots of CC'rs going and we have a nickname of Panamaniacs. We'd love to have you.)

[infopaul]

Brian,

 

I hope this helps.

 

The problem here is the sole responcibility of Travelocity. Without knowing some of the details ie. did the contest state you must take certain designated cruises, it is difficult for me to advocate in your defense. I do however sympathize and understand you have not received what was promised in a sweepstakes promotional.

 

What cruisingagentone says is almost verbatim when I spoke to Celebrity about their policy and your situation. They went on to say that Celebrity is not affiliated with Travelocity in that there is no sponcorship agreement. Travelocity is a travel agency operating seperately and individually and apart from them. To be frank with you, travelocity may be a big account with clout but if travelocity was to stop promoting Celebrity and RCCl Travelocity would lose a big source of revenue as well.

 

They also said Celebrity only gives cruises to charitable organizations. I did see a list of affiliates, organizations and sponcorships by Celebrity ("inhouse" sponcered charitable organizations) and they would not give a cruise away in conjunction to promote Travelocity. In fact they said Travelocity must pay for the cruise when self promoting and must pick and designate a cruise to sail. They went on further to say, since you did not take that particular cruise the paper work then gets a little complicated, but has nothing to do with you and should be readily taken care of by Travelocity to make good on their promotion. I am to call the Celebrity corporate office on Mon. to see if I can make an arrangement to help resolve your issue with Travelocity.

 

A VP at Travelocity will get back to me on Weds. (she is out until then and I didn't want to deal with anyone else as a substitute at this point). My hope is to put everybody on the same page and create a quick resolution for you.

 

If you want me to continue, please email me. I would like your email so that I can keep the particulars off this site. My email is efpaul57@adelphia.net

 

The person in charge of Celebrity for clarification is Daniel Hanrahan and is the president. The CEO of RCI (which owns Celebrity) is Richard Fain. The address to write them is 1050 Caribbean way, Miami, Fla. 33132

 

...Paul:)

[dakrewser]

The problem here is the sole responcibility of Travelocity.

 

What cruisingagentone says is almost verbatim when I spoke to Celebrity about their policy and your situation. They went on to say that Celebrity is not affiliated with Travelocity in that there is no sponcorship agreement.

They also said Celebrity only gives cruises to charitable organizations. I did see a list of affiliates, organizations and sponcorships by Celebrity ("inhouse" sponcered charitable organizations) and they would not give a cruise away in conjunction to promote Travelocity.

 

I don't believe anyone claimed that Celebrity was "giving away" the cruise. But they were most definitely participating in the promotion. For Travelocity to promote a cruise sweepstakes featuring Celebrity Cruise Lines without both the permission and active participation of Celebrity would leave them open to a huge trademark/servicemark violation lawsuit. Their lawyers would simply not allow it.

 

Generally, in a deal like this, Travelocity would pay Celebrity for the cruise & Celebrity would pay Travelocity for the advertising. Thus, neither is "giving away" anything (and both get tax write-offs). It might be a wash, or one side or the other could come out a little ahead. But for Celebrity to claim that this was done without their knowledge and participation is simply a bald-faced lie.

[Pudgesmom]

Brian,

 

Here's another idea. Although your post may not last too long, why not make mention of your problems on the travelocity forums?

 

I'm sure some people there, both travelers and employees, would take notice of your woes.

 

Beth

[eroller]

I don't believe anyone claimed that Celebrity was "giving away" the cruise. But they were most definitely participating in the promotion. For Travelocity to promote a cruise sweepstakes featuring Celebrity Cruise Lines without both the permission and active participation of Celebrity would leave them open to a huge trademark/servicemark violation lawsuit. Their lawyers would simply not allow it.

 

But for Celebrity to claim that this was done without their knowledge and participation is simply a bald-faced lie.

 

 

First, I don't think I've read anywhere where Celebrity Cruises claimed the contest was done without their knowledge? Even so, it may have been.

 

ANY travel agency can purchase space on a Celebrity Cruise and promote a contest for a free cabin. They don't have to get permission from Celebrity Cruises so long as they follow the advertising and copyright parameters of Celebrity Cruises. This is no different then advertising and selling a Celebrity Cruise. Again, any travel agent can advertise Celebrity Cruises WITHOUT permission provided they follow the advertising and copyright parameters set forth by Celebrity. At HAL (and maybe at Celebrity) you can even purchase a "gift certificate" that has an attached value to use on just about any cruise during the year. This could be used to promote a free cruise contest and HAL doesn't even have to know about it, once again provided the advertising parameters are followed. Many agencies will promote a free cabin (as a contest or otherwise) based on a large group they are promoting on a certain sailing. Basically if they sell 15 cabins they will receive the 16th cabin free (or the equivalent value of the cabin), and they can use the value of that free cabin as they see fit.

 

I stand by my original statement that the burden falls on Travelocity in this case, at least based on the limited information we have been provided. If we knew more details about the contest and the way it was set up, we might determine a different take on liability.

 

In any case Travelocity is a preferred supplier with Celebrity Cruises and no doubt they have a very close relationship and a lot of clout. I'm certain a call from Travelocity to Celebrity's National Accounts Manager or Director (which the head of Travelocity probably has on speed dial) could have this easily resolved. Personally I think there is more to it and possibly Travelocity has not met their end of the bargain. Bottom line, if Travelocity advertised the contest on THEIR website, they have ultimate responsibility.

 

Ernie

[infopaul]

dakrewser I understand the priciple behind what you're alluding to. The exchange of services for advertising would mean that they would enter into a partnership agreement. This is not the case.

 

It is as eroller has said. With the exception of the speed dial thing, he could've represent Celebrity's position displacing the liability on Travelocity.

 

Management at Celebrity has said this was a Travelocity self promotion to bring people to their site. The missing factors are what the contest rules are and whether Brian had complied. Given Brian's disposition I believe he is in compliance but again without the particulars it's hard to make a determination.

 

IMO, to go to the senior level of management now would be premature. Personally I think Brian's contact for this prize is a Travelocity flunky and trying to protect his 180 for the way this has been handled. He could turn into a scapegoat which would explain the finger pointing. Even if Celebrity did something in making this difficult, Travelocity only needs to book and pay, they have the financial resources which makes this seem suspious at the promotional level...Paul:)

[GMoney]

 

 

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:

 

Hi Brian - Sorry to hear about your experience; it's very unfortunate. Even so, I'm wondering why you make such harsh comments abour RCI / Celebrity when it doesn't seem you have firsthand experience sailing on either line? Granted, I've sailed a lot on RCI, and sometimes things don't go as I might hope, but I generally find that they want to do the right thing, even though it requires through typical big company bureacracy sometimes.

[bepsf]

Thanks for your thoughtful replies everyone -

 

I honestly don't recall the reasons I was told that we didn't get ticketing last year, but this year my Travelocity contact tells me that she's not been getting callbacks from her contact at Celebrity (I know she's been trying & I'm pretty certain she'd like to get this settled for me too), so I have to assume that Travelocity are not paying for the cruise - that this contest was was run in conjunction/agreement with Celebrity and that Celebrity were supposed to sponsor the prize.

 

GM--

 

I've been reading the news like everyone else about RC issues, have knowledge of a hate crime that occurred on one of the RC ships (to a friend who was a former RCCL employee) that wasn't dealt with properly, and have read published accounts of RCCL dealings on a corporate level. Combined with my personal experience with this issue, I'm left fairly unimpressed.

 

Paul--

 

Thank you for your kind offer to intercede on my behalf.

bep_sf@yahoo.com

 

After I originally posted on the Celebrity boards, I sent my contact an e-mail voicing my feelings on this w/ a link to that forum. I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow...

[GMoney]

 

GM--

 

I've been reading the news like everyone else about RC issues...

 

 

meaning george smith?

[bepsf]

meaning george smith?

 

Not him (Which as it turns out appears to truly be an accident - I've long thought RCCL actually did the best they could in that case)...

 

...but the young lady who disappeared off one of their ships in the Carib (I think?), the ship's doctors who weren't really doctors, etc. that was profiled on 20/20 or one of the other late-evening news-magazine programs...

[infopaul]

Brian,

 

Did you get my email? I think there's hope...Paul:)

[infopaul]

Administrator sent it back (address thing), I resent it, let me know if you got it...Paul:)

[bepsf]

Administrator sent it back (address thing), I resent it, let me know if you got it...Paul:)

 

Sure did - Thanks Much!

:)

[Himself]

Brian:

 

The Romans had a saying: Caviet Emptur. "Let the buyer be ware." Sorry for your troubles. I suppose this time we would say " Let the winner be ware."

[frbob]

I agree with bepsf...RCCL/Celebrity is the same (terrible) company to deal with. I had one bad experience with those corporate pinheads and it was enough for me to cross them off my cruiseline list forever. Go HAL !!!

[AAAAmerican]

Were you just then another name to have on there lists...

 

As anyone who has been on the site sees another contest is running with a choice of prizes if won...

Including a cruise with airfare included..:mad:

 

Thye even had just a few minutes ago on Network TV CBS which is Channel Two here in the Greater NYC area.. and up the street from the Passenger Ship Terminal on the Hudson River...NYC...:D

 

How about contacting them since I saw no mention of the Federal Trade Commission from you.:eek: