Booked through TA-not happy with service

[michigyrl]

I booked my cruise through a travel agent / friend of mine. Now that the cruise is booked, she's basically fallen off the face of the earth and is unreachable when I call to have her check rate drops. I have another friend who is having the same non-responsive problem with the same TA. Question...once we book through a TA, is it impossible to switch over to a PVP through Carnival? If anything, I know this is a lesson learned the hard way and I will book future cruises through a PVP, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do now for the already planned vacation? Thanks!

[newmexicoNita]

I booked my cruise through a travel agent / friend of mine. Now that the cruise is booked, she's basically fallen off the face of the earth and is unreachable when I call to have her check rate drops. I have another friend who is having the same non-responsive problem with the same TA. Question...once we book through a TA, is it impossible to switch over to a PVP through Carnival? If anything, I know this is a lesson learned the hard way and I will book future cruises through a PVP, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do now for the already planned vacation? Thanks!

You can switch to another agent, as for switching to a PVP I can't answer that. Luckily I have yet to have a cliant that upset with me. I am sure a few were not thrilled (only kidding I hope) Don't hold this experience against all TAs. Many of us work really hard for our cliants. A good TA is worth his/her weight in gold, a bad one, often referred to as an order taker isn't worth the powder it would take to blow them up but this is true with a PVP as well. NMNita

[Happy ks]

First off, make sure there are rate drops, anyone can check, there are hundreds of booking engines out there, as well as the cruise site itself. It only takes a couple of moments, probably less time than a phone call to your agent would take.

 

I've done this myself for years, although I have yet to find too many rate drops, most of the cruises we've booked only go up in price!

 

Edit to say, there are a few booking engines out there and hundreds, if not thousands, of TA's use the same ones.

[marco]

I'll probably get flamed, but if you were calling me regularly to see if the price of the cruise you booked went down, I wouldn't be callin' ya' back either.! If the price does go down, that's fine and dandy, but when you booked it, if it's the cruise you want to go for a price you thought was equitable, unless they're calling you for more money, be happy and start packing!

[julieanne]

Flamed? You should be lit on fire! :D The better the agent, the more business the agent will do with that traveler. Can you go in to see your agent? I would and I would make it known that I am not happy with the service. Now, I make my own reservations and when the price drops, I am on it! I do not have to deal with any more snotty cs reps telling me they can only speak with my "travel agent"!

[julieanne]

When are you sailing by the way? If the price has dropped and you are not in penalty, I would cancel and re-book. Nita may not like me saying that, but I have had more than my share of poor TA's and I prefer control over my vacation. I really dislike having to call someone with a question and then waiting hours or days even, until they decide to respond.......

[suzeyQ]

You can certainly switch your booking to another agent. I would do so in a heartbeat if my agent wasn't responding to my calls.

[newmexicoNita]

When are you sailing by the way? If the price has dropped and you are not in penalty, I would cancel and re-book. Nita may not like me saying that, but I have had more than my share of poor TA's and I prefer control over my vacation. I really dislike having to call someone with a question and then waiting hours or days even, until they decide to respond.......

of course I don't like it: I make my living selling travel, primarily cruises but all types; that doesn't mean you are necessarily wrong: I understand your reasoning even if I don't agree. As for waiting days to get a response this shouldn't happen. However if, like someone mentioned, the OP is calling her agent every day or so to check then I can understand the lack of response. We try to keep up with price drops, rarely do we miss them, but we are not perfect. When we get busy things happen. For me, I check on rates for all my cliants about once a week. NMnita

[Plant]

Yes, you can certainly transfer your booking to a PVP or another TA. Be sure your current TA doesn't have a cancellation charge (she should have told you this when you booked and it should be in your papers).

 

Also, talk to your new TA or PVP before you notify your current TA. I've read where some TA's have cancelled a booking and people weren't able to get the same cabin with their new TA :eek: .

 

We have a wonderful TA, but I never ask her to check prices. I check online myself and email her if I see a price drop. I know how busy she is and that's something I can do myself.

 

No matter what I email her about, or when, she gets back to me within an hour or so (unless she's cruising :)!).

[newmexicoNita]

Yes, you can certainly transfer your booking to a PVP or another TA. Be sure your current TA doesn't have a cancellation charge (she should have told you this when you booked and it should be in your papers).

 

Also, talk to your new TA or PVP before you notify your current TA. I've read where some TA's have cancelled a booking and people weren't able to get the same cabin with their new TA :eek: .

 

We have a wonderful TA, but I never ask her to check prices. I check online myself and email her if I see a price drop. I know how busy she is and that's something I can do myself.

 

No matter what I email her about, or when, she gets back to me within an hour or so (unless she's cruising :)!).

Plant, if I didn't know better I would swear you are one of my cliants, one of my favorites. I have a couple like you> I can't say I always get back within an hour, but certainly within 24, normally 3 or 4. You sound like a very reasonable person. BTW, where in Ak do you live? Our granddaughter is a JR at University of Arkansas. NMNita

[michigyrl]

Thanks for all the replies! Believe it or not, I still have not heard from her. If it wasn't for her being a friend, then I would have no issues finding another TA for this particular cruise....believe me, I will not use her any more. Unfortunately for me, I was originally going to go through a PVP, and my friend talked me into booking through her. I haven't called her daily at all. This is only my second time trying to get ahold of her to no avail. The first time is when I figured out which cruise I wanted and was ready to book. It took her a week to get back to me (there was my first sign!), and then again this week when I wanted her to check the rates for me. The only paperwork I got when I booked the cruise was my guest confirmation that Carnival had sent to her. I didn't realize I was suppose to get additional paperwork from her?? Now I'm really concerned. I'm a little naive to how TA's work since this is the first time I've used one.

 

Thanks again for your replies!

[newmexicoNita]

Thanks for all the replies! Believe it or not, I still have not heard from her. If it wasn't for her being a friend, then I would have no issues finding another TA for this particular cruise....believe me, I will not use her any more. Unfortunately for me, I was originally going to go through a PVP, and my friend talked me into booking through her. I haven't called her daily at all. This is only my second time trying to get ahold of her to no avail. The first time is when I figured out which cruise I wanted and was ready to book. It took her a week to get back to me (there was my first sign!), and then again this week when I wanted her to check the rates for me. The only paperwork I got when I booked the cruise was my guest confirmation that Carnival had sent to her. I didn't realize I was suppose to get additional paperwork from her?? Now I'm really concerned. I'm a little naive to how TA's work since this is the first time I've used one.

 

Thanks again for your replies!

yep, your first clue was 1 week before she contacted you. Do you know if she works for a store front company or, like so many others, out of her home? I am just curious. As for only getting the paper work sent via Carnival. If it had your total amount, what was owed, etc you really don't need anything else, but a good agent does send an invoice as will plus a letter explaining dress code etc. These are not things you have to have.

 

If I remember correctly you have made final payment. You should receive another statement (conformation) stating you are paid in full. Of course prior to sailing docs will be sent to you. Again, you do not have to have them, but it is nice. Just make certain you are pre-registered, you have something stating you are paid in full, take your cruise and next time, forget to call her when you are ready to cruise. LOL

[Michael Kays]

If this TA is a friend, wonder why it is so hard for you to get in touch with her? Could she possibly be ill? If not, I'd get another TA. Mine is like a good sports official..she is always there but you never see her unless she is needed.

Actually mine, like so many that shared her majic, passed away suddenly, but even with that, she trained her sister to take over without a glitch in service!!

I agree with a previous post, a good TA is priceless:)

[michigyrl]

yep, your first clue was 1 week before she contacted you. Do you know if she works for a store front company or, like so many others, out of her home? I am just curious. As for only getting the paper work sent via Carnival. If it had your total amount, what was owed, etc you really don't need anything else, but a good agent does send an invoice as will plus a letter explaining dress code etc. These are not things you have to have.

 

If I remember correctly you have made final payment. You should receive another statement (conformation) stating you are paid in full. Of course prior to sailing docs will be sent to you. Again, you do not have to have them, but it is nice. Just make certain you are pre-registered, you have something stating you are paid in full, take your cruise and next time, forget to call her when you are ready to cruise. LOL

 

Thanks for the info. She works for a store front company--but she works part-time. I haven't made my final payment yet--it's due in 2 weeks so I'll be paying it soon. Do you know if the confirmation of payment in full and the sailing docs usually go to the TA or would they come directly to me? I had thought about calling Carnival directly to see if they could be sent to me but I can't seem to locate a phone number on their website--only the PVP's phone number. Although, I honestly haven't tried too hard to look--just glanced. I'm hoping someday to become my own TA! My current job allows me to do some meeting / event planning. I love the travel industry and took some college classes in hospitality management. I'd love to do it full-time. Thanks again for all the info! Lesson learned!!

[newmexicoNita]

Thanks for the info. She works for a store front company--but she works part-time. I haven't made my final payment yet--it's due in 2 weeks so I'll be paying it soon. Do you know if the confirmation of payment in full and the sailing docs usually go to the TA or would they come directly to me? I had thought about calling Carnival directly to see if they could be sent to me but I can't seem to locate a phone number on their website--only the PVP's phone number. Although, I honestly haven't tried too hard to look--just glanced. I'm hoping someday to become my own TA! My current job allows me to do some meeting / event planning. I love the travel industry and took some college classes in hospitality management. I'd love to do it full-time. Thanks again for all the info! Lesson learned!!

Let me try to answer some of your questions and explain a couple of things: normally the docs go to the agency. This way the TA can check them to make certain they are correct. From there your TA will send them to you or call you to pick them up. In this case I hope she calls before your sailing date (shame on me)LOL

 

As for being a part time agent, this may explain part of the problem. My first experince was working for a store front, overly busy agency. We could hardly keep up with our workload . Of course the company I worked for was too cheap to hire enough help. There is still no excuse for not returning phone calls. That and booking a real vacation should be the number one concern of any agent.

 

You mention wanting to become an agent someday. Do make sure, before you take the dive you realize you will not get rich nor is the job as glanorous as some may think. I don't know about others, but the reason I enjoy my work: It is normally a happy job. I love to see others be able to relax and have a great time. Very rarely do we have unhappy experiences. I can't think of any job I would enjoy more but I know I will never get rich doing it. NMNita

[Plant]

I haven't made my final payment yet--it's due in 2 weeks so I'll be paying it soon. Do you know if the confirmation of payment in full and the sailing docs usually go to the TA or would they come directly to me?

 

I just wanted to suggest that, if you're close enough to the agency, you go there to make your final payment to make sure it goes directly to Carnival and to get a receipt. You'll probably be fine anyway, but considering what your TA's put you through...

 

As Nita said, our TA gets our doc's, makes sure everything is correct, and then calls me to pick them up. She also prints out info about each port and gives us copies of any of her correspondence with the cruiseline she thinks we may need (OBC, any pre-orders, etc.). This was helpful on our last NCL cruise as they had no info on some OBC we were supposed to have. I had her copy and we got the OBC :)

[jazzlvr57]

If you do want to transfer to another agent, I believe it must be done before the final payment is done.

 

Also, before you get too upset about not getting your paperwork, the cruise line does not send it to the agent until 2-3 weeks before the departure date. So, don't expect to get your documents immediately after making final payment - you should get some sort of confirmation stating that you are paid in full, however.

 

And as others have said - don't think all TA's are like this. I get back to my clients within a few hours of their call, unless I am vacationing myself - then I have someone to cover for me. But, like you are thinking of, I got into the travel business because of a poor travel agent and realizing that I enjoyed the planning for myself and others. And NMnita is right - you won't get rich, but it can be very rewarding in other ways.

 

Hope this helps.