I HATE NCL ALREADY (and we havent even sailed!!)

[Zeno]

i'd like it all behind me excepttttt .. who's to say they wont come back later for more money. Neither NCL or the TA is willing to send me anyting IN WRITING stating this is FINAL after i pay this $80 - it's very frustrating!

 

 

This is VERY odd and unusual on the part of your TA - as Mikedw says the TA NOT NCL should be sending you an invoice and it all should be very clear what the FINAL amount is. Do not, I repeat do not, deal with this TA again - something very funny is going on and I have a feeling it has everything to do with the TA.

[canadiangirl77]

I was speaking to NCL myself and they say it's them who made the mistake not the TA ... THEY sent out the wrong invoice to me ... THEY made the error .. they are now admitting fault but wont do anything about it!!

[NCL_Cruiser]

the problem is .. the invoice came to me direct from NCL which they never should've done to begin with ... (although after reading you're comments, I probably should've got something in writing from them, shame on me considering i used to be a travel agent! lol) ..

 

Was it exactly $300, or are you just rounding? I'm wondering if the $300 was the commission your TA made on your booking.

[watchdiva]

Here's what I don't understand - whenever we've booked through a TA (NCL, HAL, etc) - ALL communication (including invoices, etc) is routed through the TA. What am I missing here?

 

It seems to me that your TA should have been sorting this out - yet it appears that you did her job for her...........isn't that why so many of us use TAs rather than handle our own bookings direct with the cruise line (I've done it both ways). Every time I've ever worked with a TA, I have had them FAX me a copy of the reservation confirmation reflecting the deposit and balance due (I've always received this within 24 hours of the credit card being charged for the deposit) - when I booked on my own this cruise, I had an e-mail from NCL within the same time period with ALL details spelled out. When we received an upsell, again, within 24 hours there was an e-mail in from NCL reflecting the updated price, cabin #, etc.

 

Rather than stating "I'll never cruise NCL again" - why not wait and see how your cruise experience is, come back and tell us about it and THEN, if you still feel the same way as pre-cruise, that's the time to reiterate your refusal to cruise the line ever again.

 

Am I sorry that you've had a tough experience - you bet! I hope that you can put it behind you and go on your cruise trusting that you will have a fabulous time.

[Cubechick]

I understand the OP’s frustration which is derived from what appears to be an endless list of customer service errors. But understand when humans are involved in a transaction, occasional and presumably unintentional errors do occur. In this instance many. I do agree with the other posters that the TA has to take some responsibility here.

 

However, after the dust has settled, the OP is walking away with a $290 credit. I have put up with inconveniences from the cruise industry and have never been offered dollar-one.

 

Perhaps I am biased, as I work in the financial industry. If a bank employee makes a mistake (and I guarantee you they do at some point in their careers) and inadvertently credits a customer with too much money, the customer has two choices: return the funds or face law enforcement action (read: potentially go to jail).

 

In this instance, I would be ecstatic that NCL did not ask for ALL their money back. If there is a concern they have not figured out the entirety of their error, the last thing I would do is publicly disclose it in this forum.

 

Mr. Cube

[KeystoneCruiser]

Typical operation for NCL Corporate. Its amazing that anyone there even knows how to tie their shoes!!! (wait, I bet they wear flip flops.........just like their answers to customers questions......)

 

NCL Corporate never ceases to amaze me.

[NCL_Cruiser]

Typical operation for NCL Corporate. Its amazing that anyone there even knows how to tie their shoes!!! (wait, I bet they wear flip flops.........just like their answers to customers questions......)

 

NCL Corporate never ceases to amaze me.

 

Why do you sail on NCL so often if you dislike the company so much?

[newmexicoNita]

Wow where to begin, basically I just need to vent, and normally, I'm pretty easy going.

 

We booked an NCL cruise through our travel agent, and made our deposit back in Feb. They lost our deposit and when we went to make our final payment, told us we owed our final payment amount PLUS our deposit. (they later found it on another reservation as we were travelling with another couple). First hurdle over with. So, we make our final payment. Simple right? Wrong!!

 

Our final payment was due March 6th. The final payment is called into NCL. We get a phone call from our credit card company flagging fraud as NCL tried to charge us $19,000.00 instead of the cost of the cruise. Inserted an extra zero somewhere? No sweat, they made an error.

 

Was left a message by NCL on March 8th, to call as our credit card was declined. Well no kidding it was. Called in, spoke to a "lovely" lady in accounting. (I wont say her name here). Told her the reason it was declined was because she tried to charge us $19k for the cruise. Her response, oh no we'd never do that. Your credit card company is wrong. Ok, whoever's wrong, not really an issue, just please try again.

 

I get an invoice in my email from NCL reservations on March 8th, stating our final payment. (which is $300 LESS then what we booked it for) YAY!! Called back the accounting dept, speak to the same "lovely lady", and asked why the difference in price?!!? (seemed too good to be true, lesson for you, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably IS!!!)

She states, oh, it's a sale. Perfect, after the mix up this is GREAT!! right?? WRONG!!!

 

So, my travel agent calls in, makes the FINAL payment on our behalf of EXACTLY the amount listed on the invoice. (to the penny) Confirms this is the FINAL AMOUNT due with the "lovely lady". Payment goes thru as they have now charged it correctly and it shows up correctly on my credit card statement. YAY we're going on a cruise.

 

Everything's perfect right?? WRONG!!!

 

A week LATER (March 16), we get a call from our travel agent, we owe another $300. PARDON? we paid our final payment in FULL, and it was confrimed with the "lovely accounting lady".

Oh no, NCL is sorry, the invoice they sent you is incorrect. WHAT?!?!?

 

So now since March 16th, our Travel agent has been going back and forth with NCL trying to get this sorted out. The conclusion today is,

we pay NCL another $80 and they will release our tickets to us. Otherwise, too bad for us. No final payment in their books (eyes) and no tickets to the customer.

 

Where did they come up with this $80 you ask? Oh, it's an amount made up from their "revenue" dept. It's just a made up amount they want us to pay to feel it's "even steven".

 

SO in short, we are being forced to pay this additional $80 to NCL or we don't receive our tickets. They are NOT honoring the invoice price. Basically we are being held hostage as we have already booked our flight, side trips, and a post cruise stay as well, and are travelling with another couple.

 

I've agreed to pay the additional $80 to END this nightmare, however basically NCL is holding us HOSTAGE!! and I'm not completely convinced the nightmare is over and they wont call back again in another few weeks DEMANDING the $220.00 owed.

 

I will NEVER book another NCL cruise again, no matter how great this experience is .. they should be paying ME at this point to go on this cruise since it's taken over a month to sort out a simple payment.

 

Their internal issues should NOT be the customer's problem. NCL sent out an invoice and then say oh sorry, it's wrong. HONOR WHAT YOU SEND

 

I can only hope the we have a much better experience on the ship.........

[i hate to say this, but something here isn't right: I am a TA, when we do a reservation via the computer or by calling the cruise line (any cruiseline) a fax is generated. We receive it and normally send it on to the client or do our own. You should have received the original invoice within a day or two of booking your reservation. This is cut and dry and they are generating the information your agent is giving them so somewhere along the way what story you are getting or passing on has holes. You said NCL notified you, and you called NCL; NCL should not have even disucussed this with you as the reservation belongs to your TA. I don't know what to tell you, but something isn't right here and I am not sure it is totally or even partly NCLs fault. NMnita

[newmexicoNita]

Once payment was called in to NCL, they immediatley send a fax showing payment in full. Your TA should have this. I had a similar situation happen with one of my clients (final payment made) then I get a call from NCL asking for more money. Spent quite some time on the phone with a supervisor and it was taken care of. If I hadn't saved the fax, I might have been lost. Call your TA and ask for the original fax from NCL.

That is exactly my point. THe fax is generated when the payment is called in. Op says NCL admits to sending the wrong invoice, again, I dont understand, NCL does not send invoices to cliants espcecially via email, they send them to TAs and whatever the price that is being quoted everything is recapped before the invoice is faxed. I still don't understand how this happened. OP, no matter what you are saying I would quiestion my TA. NO, NCL, like others do not have the best land company, but this isn't anything I have ever heard happening in many years. And for anyone who thinks TAs have gone by the waste side, I wish they would tell a few of my clients this. I am swamped. I am not complaining, just making a statement. NMnita

[newmexicoNita]

i was on the dawn on 5-26. they cancelled it and told me i would have to pay 1100 more to sail a cruise earlier or later. and it was not their problem the cruise was cancelled it was mine. they suck and and do not treat their cruisers right at all. and the people who answer the phones for them are not helpful and rude

That is a totally different situation. I had an experience today with another line: the clients were past passengers and I actually got 3 different prices for various reasons. Of course I took the lowest and got the fax within 5 minutes. No way, after that can a cruise line come back and ask for more money. If the TA in this case had sent the original fax there would be no problem. NMnita

[canadiangirl77]

I understand the OP’s frustration which is derived from what appears to be an endless list of customer service errors. But understand when humans are involved in a transaction, occasional and presumably unintentional errors do occur. In this instance many. I do agree with the other posters that the TA has to take some responsibility here.

 

However, after the dust has settled, the OP is walking away with a $290 credit. I have put up with inconveniences from the cruise industry and have never been offered dollar-one.

 

Perhaps I am biased, as I work in the financial industry. If a bank employee makes a mistake (and I guarantee you they do at some point in their careers) and inadvertently credits a customer with too much money, the customer has two choices: return the funds or face law enforcement action (read: potentially go to jail).

 

In this instance, I would be ecstatic that NCL did not ask for ALL their money back. If there is a concern they have not figured out the entirety of their error, the last thing I would do is publicly disclose it in this forum.

 

Mr. Cube

 

I work in the financial industry as well .. the thing is .. I have an INVOICE from NCL directly stating the FINAL price .. AFTER the final price is paid .. I receive ANOTHER invoice for the balance?? Do you not see something strange here??? NCL isn't asking for ALL their money back .. they are asking me to pay MORE money after a final payment is made!!

So why am I asked to pay a magic number of $80??? Why not $99? why not $50? Am I going to get slapped with a bill again next week for the remaining amount? Im wondering if I'll actually be able to board .. or if they'll stop me for more funds (ok now im being rather dramatic but you get my point)

 

Point is .. i made my final payment. should've been the end of it.. to come back to me a week later for more money is to me absurd!

[canadiangirl77]

I'm betting that the biggest mistake in this pricing issue was that your TA mistook the Agent copy of your invoice as the Client copy. When she forwarded it to you, you had no way of knowing that it wasn't the true final price, but what you would pay, minus commission that the TA would earn.

 

I'd love to say that the TA did it, but NCL DIRECT forwarded me the invoice, that clearly said guest copy. Now the problem is, they have no reasoning (that is my biggest thing, at least make up a story!) .. and so in order to get our tickets - pay us $80 dollars more or too bad.

 

It just doesnt seem right to me, there is 4 of us going and now NCL is squabbling over $80. If I was really concerned about the customer, I'd admit my error and let it be, but instead they have to squeeze any dime they can out of you, leaving me wondering if this is really the end .. *sigh*

[Elphie]

My TA did an awesome job of dealing with NCL for me. His secret? Keep calling back until you get someone who says yes. I would never have thought to do that. The TA told us originally he was booking an AD penthouse. My whole family was dancing. Then he called back and told me that NCL said that had sold the alloted amount of 4 person rooms in that category. He told me to hold tight and he would keep trying. He called back two hours later with our confirmation. We sail Sunday:D

[ts01974]

What are you complaining about? You saved close to 300 smackers.

 

Keep ragging and I hope they come back for the rest. Waaaaaaaaaa

[Host CMLA]

Hi guys...if you don't like an opinion that someone gives, disagree with them and tell them why you think they're wrong. Don't attack that member because then I have to remove your attack. OK? Thanks.

[Jana]

No way, after that can a cruise line come back and ask for more money. If the TA in this case had sent the original fax there would be no problem. NMnita

 

Nita,

 

Did you ever see the various threads on the HAL boards where HAL did just that... not once (computer pricing error, they claimed), but several times! Not only after invoicing, but after RECEIVING FINAL PAYMENT! It made it to USAToday, our editor Carolyn Spencer Brown was quoted, and HAL would not back down.

 

And then, after making the early bookers pony up another $500 or $600 for their cruise, as it got closer to departure, guess what they did? Dropped the price to equal what the "pricing error" was to begin with, only now the original bookers weren't eligible for the price drop!

 

Horrible. Unprecedented. No one can figure out their rationale and crappy business sense.

 

Jana

[canadiangirl77]

What are you complaining about? You saved close to 300 smackers.

 

Keep ragging and I hope they come back for the rest. Waaaaaaaaaa

 

 

I guess your post is not consided an attack. If you made your final payment and they came back to you for more money again before releasing your documents, I'd like to see your reaction then.

 

Remember ..what goes around comes around .. :)

Thanks to all those who responded with helpful insight.

[newmexicoNita]

Nita,

 

Did you ever see the various threads on the HAL boards where HAL did just that... not once (computer pricing error, they claimed), but several times! Not only after invoicing, but after RECEIVING FINAL PAYMENT! It made it to USAToday, our editor Carolyn Spencer Brown was quoted, and HAL would not back down.

 

And then, after making the early bookers pony up another $500 or $600 for their cruise, as it got closer to departure, guess what they did? Dropped the price to equal what the "pricing error" was to begin with, only now the original bookers weren't eligible for the price drop!

 

Horrible. Unprecedented. No one can figure out their rationale and crappy business sense.

 

Jana

Jana, you are completely right, of course I did and of course it was a total nightmare, but I just don't think this is the same type of situation. The HAL dissaster affected several infact 100s of people as there was a glitch in the system for a couple of days. Of course you do have a good point, no HAl did not back down. I guess it is obvious to most of us, many lines can do pretty much what they want. Again, I still think there is something about this case that is very different. NMnita

[canadiangirl77]

well i wish i knew why i was the lucky one .. lol

all i know is .. NCL admitted there was an error and wouldnt honor it or cough up my tickets after i made final payment until i paid more money.

i know i am only one traveller .. but there seems to be lacking some customer service in all areas here ..

[Jana]

Jana, you are completely right, of course I did and of course it was a total nightmare, but I just don't think this is the same type of situation. The HAL dissaster affected several infact 100s of people as there was a glitch in the system for a couple of days. Of course you do have a good point, no HAl did not back down. I guess it is obvious to most of us, many lines can do pretty much what they want. Again, I still think there is something about this case that is very different. NMnita

 

Yeah, I was commenting on your "...No Way" assertion, not on this case. It happens!

 

I also do believe that there is a huge disconnect between what happens shoreside with NCL and the way their ships are run. My friend also experienced a nightmare (admittedly created by NCL, just like the OP's problem) that neither she nor her travel agent could straighten out, no matter how high in the company they went. It resulted in the agent sending back every bit of reference and all of the "top seller" awards and anything else NCL-related --- to Colin Veitch, and advising that their entire agency, including all top-producing branches, were on stop-sell.

 

Canadagirl, once you get on the ship, you will experience a world of difference. Promise :)

 

Jana

[canadiangirl77]

Thanks Jana for your kind words, it's comforting to know that I'm not an isolated case. I am really looking forward to going, I just want my tickets already! :) Once they are in hand I will feel MUCH better. I am trying to keep my spirits high, and to go with an open mind! After all, a crappy day in paradise is better then a good day at work!! :)

Thanks again

[BeachBumMama]

What are you complaining about? You saved close to 300 smackers.

 

Keep ragging and I hope they come back for the rest. Waaaaaaaaaa

 

Hi guys...if you don't like an opinion that someone gives, disagree with them and tell them why you think they're wrong. Don't attack that member because then I have to remove your attack. OK? Thanks.

FOR ts01974 - I disagree with your attitude about this, and I think you're wrong in showing your maturity level so openly.:D

 

As for the topic at hand, doesn't that original invoice that was paid represent the 'contract' between buyer (OP) and seller (TA and/or cruise line)? Isn't a contract a contract, bound by law? Of course it's easy to figure it this way and fight not to pay any additional, but as you said, you are being held 'hostage' somewhere along the line. And nothing about it at all seems right.

[canadiangirl77]

That's what I thought too BeachBumMama - I guess that's why I was so bent about it. When I wrote the post I was steaming mad, I've had some time to cool off now, I still totally disagree with it, and I'm not sure how cruise lines can do whatever they feel, but at this point, I REALLY just want my tickets so we can go in May!! I'm tired of the back and forth for the past month :(

 

And I cant stop laughing at your reply .. thanks for cheering me up!

[Host CMLA]

FOR ts01974 - I disagree with your attitude about this, and I think you're wrong in showing your maturity level so openly.:D

Very nice! A much better way of showing how you feel. ;) :)

[newmexicoNita]

Yeah, I was commenting on your "...No Way" assertion, not on this case. It happens!

 

I also do believe that there is a huge disconnect between what happens shoreside with NCL and the way their ships are run. My friend also experienced a nightmare (admittedly created by NCL, just like the OP's problem) that neither she nor her travel agent could straighten out, no matter how high in the company they went. It resulted in the agent sending back every bit of reference and all of the "top seller" awards and anything else NCL-related --- to Colin Veitch, and advising that their entire agency, including all top-producing branches, were on stop-sell.

 

Canadagirl, once you get on the ship, you will experience a world of difference. Promise :)

 

Jana

Jana, I do agree with you on this. As a TA though, I have to say many of the lines have the same problem. If you noticed I mentioned my experience just last night with Carnival, I booked a couple not long ago on HAL. I had a promo code number etc, but the agent insisited it didn't exist. After calling back and getting another agent I was able to get the rate. this is not defending ncl by any means. Last weekend I was doing a couple of reservations for a group I am working with. Normally I do as much as I can via the computer, this one had to be done by phone and yes, it is an NCL booking. I won't even go into the details, but by the time I got off the phone I think my highlighten hair had turned completely gray.....It wasn't so much what the agent was saying, but the way he was saying it. I guess I shouldn't have come across quite so strong with the "NO WAY" comments, but the whole situation just isn't quite jelling in my advanced brain I guess. NMnita