Why are online TAs so dishonest and incompetent

[owl61]

I have cruised 3 or 4 times a year for the past 15 years. For the most part I have used online TAs because they get best price. Lately I have used a service that allows many TAs to submit competing bids so that I can really get a competitve price.

What I have found is that these online TAs are uniformly incompetent and often downright dishonest. They will sometimes fail to disclose upfront a cancellation fee quite separate from the cruiseline cancellation fees. It may be described as an administrative fee, but it is never mentioned as part of the original price offer. They will sometimes submit an invoice with the cancellation fee prominantly mentioned and then have a waiver of it in small print - which I perceive as an attempt to mislead customers into not cancelling for fear of suffering an agency cancellation fee.

Quite apart from this hidden cancellation/admin fee ruse it is practically impossible to get a reasonably prompt reply to questions that arise during the life of the booking. I suspect profit margins are so thin that these TAs hire young, inexperienced phone order takers who never stick around long enough to get business experience or who are just unequipped to provide a reasonable standard of service. Whatever the cause, getting decent service is invariably unattainable.

And the TAs out there who are offended by this can go pound sand as far as I am concerned. My experience has been deep and bad. I continue to use the compete method to get best pricing, but now I am forewarned and thus forearmed for the shenanigans, delays, and bad service. Maybe the TAs who take offense can tell me what recourse wronged customers have - other than a complaint board on an industry association? The latter is akin to having the fox guard the hen house. The TA industry is woefully unregulated aside from some consumer protection statutes found on a state by state basis. Most people don't know what, if anything, they can do to right wrongs.

The internet is a wonderful business tool, but it gives rise to a whole new set of issues in the travel industry.

[Andee]

I have also used that service to find a TA, and our experience has varied. All of the agents from the different agencies were seasoned professionals, but some were better to deal with than others. I was always able to get timely responses to my questions.

 

One TA was quite rude, and called me to literally yell at me because I had contacted Princess on my own to ask about something, and had found out that he hadn't submitted the final payment within the cruiseline's guidelines, putting our booking in jeopardy. I wouldn't use that particular agency again, but wouldn't condemn all online TAs.

[WEELYNCRUZER]

You get what you pay for.

[leoandhugh]

Yes, that is the price you pay for when you are dealing with incompetent TAs who misrepresent the facts either by omission or not telling the full story. But why do you continue to go to them, when you already know what you are probably going to be dealing with? Is all that hassle really worth the lower price you may end up paying? I don't know of any internet TAs who offer fares that much below the cruise lines to be worth going through all that C**P. My time alone is more valuable than what I might save.

[cherylandtk]

...My experience has been deep and bad. I continue to use the compete method to get best pricing, but now I am forewarned and thus forearmed for the shenanigans, delays, and bad service...

While I understand your frustration with your recent TA experiences, I think it is unfair to label ALL internet TA's with that incompetent label.

 

I have looked into that compete site as well, but I also have two other internet TA's that I regularly check and they not only beat the quotes of the competing agents, they don't have hidden fine print fees and they respond quickly to my queries. I think you just need to look around at some other internet TA's. And stop using the ones that frustrate you so much; you can still get equivalent pricing and better service and do not have to settle for the service you are now receiving.

[cb at sea]

Why would you use an online TA when there are probably hundreds in your town (or nearby) that you can go to, sit in front of, and look right in the eye?

[RetireeWannabee]

Why would you use an online TA when there are probably hundreds in your town (or nearby) that you can go to, sit in front of, and look right in the eye?

Exactly what I was thinking!!! If your online experiences have been so negative, yet you cruise so frequently, it would really benefit you to have a regular trusted TA.

[AllieInMD]

I have used an online TA for both cruises - 1 in 2006 and one I've booked in Jan 2009. Why? Well - I had never cruised before and to me it was an alternate universe (didn't find these boards til just a few months ago). I was booking my family to go with friends who have 30+ cruises on multiple lines under their belts. She was their exclusive TA for cruises.

 

Although she couldn't offer prices any cheaper than RCCL website, she did give me OBC to match my friends on the first cruise. Due to some error/issue (can't remember what it was) - the OBC was not on our accounts while on ship. My friend did contact her from the Purser's Desk and she tried to straighten it out. We didn't get it resolved - but shortly after I got home, I got a check in the mail from the agency for the OBC - and more. I contacted her - and the excess figure was an error - I sent the check back and they sent me a corrected one.

 

I was honest with her about the wrong amount - and even tho I had done only 1 cruise with her - when I started looking at this cruise - she called me within minutes of my emailing her. When I found a better cabin on the website, she grabbed it for me - and thanked me for staying with her rather than booking direct. She always answers my calls and emails immediately - I'll get an OBC with her this trip. And she doesn't charge any cancellation fees.

 

I did look at other TAs that offer all sort of 'freebies' - but when reading the fine print - it was just too much hassle - cancel fees - restrictions - don't honor price drops (my TA does) etc. With her - it doesn't cost me anything to use her services - and I don't have a TA that is trying to make up lost profit from teaser freebies by adding cancellation fees or not honoring price drops.

 

 

I have cruised 3 or 4 times a year for the past 15 years. For the most part I have used online TAs because they get best price. Lately I have used a service that allows many TAs to submit competing bids so that I can really get a competitve price.

What I have found is that these online TAs are uniformly incompetent and often downright dishonest. They will sometimes fail to disclose upfront a cancellation fee quite separate from the cruiseline cancellation fees. It may be described as an administrative fee, but it is never mentioned as part of the original price offer. They will sometimes submit an invoice with the cancellation fee prominantly mentioned and then have a waiver of it in small print - which I perceive as an attempt to mislead customers into not cancelling for fear of suffering an agency cancellation fee.

Quite apart from this hidden cancellation/admin fee ruse it is practically impossible to get a reasonably prompt reply to questions that arise during the life of the booking. I suspect profit margins are so thin that these TAs hire young, inexperienced phone order takers who never stick around long enough to get business experience or who are just unequipped to provide a reasonable standard of service. Whatever the cause, getting decent service is invariably unattainable.

And the TAs out there who are offended by this can go pound sand as far as I am concerned. My experience has been deep and bad. I continue to use the compete method to get best pricing, but now I am forewarned and thus forearmed for the shenanigans, delays, and bad service. Maybe the TAs who take offense can tell me what recourse wronged customers have - other than a complaint board on an industry association? The latter is akin to having the fox guard the hen house. The TA industry is woefully unregulated aside from some consumer protection statutes found on a state by state basis. Most people don't know what, if anything, they can do to right wrongs.

The internet is a wonderful business tool, but it gives rise to a whole new set of issues in the travel industry.

[firefly333]

You get what you pay for.

 

thats what I was kinda thinking lol. That you get their commission down to $20 or whatever, very low, so they are barely making any money on the deal and then expect great service... :rolleyes:

 

OP you do know they cut into their commission to undercut others right?

[Jade13]

Some are good and I think if you cruise a lot it is better to form a relationship with 1 or 2 vs competing and changing TA's each and every cruise. I even book direct for cheaper cruises or anything where the OBC or pre-paid gratuties or any amenities are $100.00 or less per stateroom.

 

Btw, the online Agent I have used several times does have a $75.00 cancelation fee per person. But their discounts on the lines where discounting is allowed can be huge. This is cleary written on their web site well as their booking paperwork.

 

Also, I know at least one agent who advertises on CC and has NO PHONE. I would never deal with this type of company. What if their e-mail goes down?

[montekat]

 

Also, I know at least one agent who advertises on CC and has NO PHONE. I would never deal with this type of company. What if their e-mail goes down?

 

I have used the agency that is strictly internet and advertises on this website. I have booked at least 4 cruises through them and have been very, very pleased each time, especially with the customer service. No, they don't have a phone contact, but there is always a prompt response to the e-mails, even after "regular business hours". I have had several cruises booked with brick & mortar agencies where I needed to make changes, only it was after hours or on a week-end. I was out of luck until they reopened and by then was unable to get the drop in price or the more desirable cabin that just came open.

[ORV]

I've had good luck with an Online Vacation agency that advertises on this site. Very good follow up. I've booked through the same agent for our last 3 cruises and received and unexpected OBC on our last Princess cruise. I don't know how long this agent has been with the company but she has been there since January of 07 at least. Great prices also. Don't see the problem.

[sk8teacher]

I also use one of the advertised online agencies here, and have booked all of our cruises through them. I have a personal agent, with phone number and he is great about returning calls if not in, and finding the best price possible.

 

He also has sent small gifts to us (i.e. a couple of bottles of wine etc.), and bent over backwards to assist us with any questions etc.

 

As we live in a relatively small town, there really isn't any decent TA's nearby so the internet is our best resource.

 

Cheers,

[chj]

I also use one of the advertised online agencies here, and have booked all of our cruises through them. I have a personal agent, with phone number and he is great about returning calls if not in, and finding the best price possible.

 

He also has sent small gifts to us (i.e. a couple of bottles of wine etc.), and bent over backwards to assist us with any questions etc.

 

As we live in a relatively small town, there really isn't any decent TA's nearby so the internet is our best resource.

 

Cheers,

 

Of course he sent you gifts, he earned a huge commision selling you that cruise ;)

[chj]

I have cruised 3 or 4 times a year for the past 15 years. For the most part I have used online TAs because they get best price. Lately I have used a service that allows many TAs to submit competing bids so that I can really get a competitve price.

What I have found is that these online TAs are uniformly incompetent and often downright dishonest. They will sometimes fail to disclose upfront a cancellation fee quite separate from the cruiseline cancellation fees. It may be described as an administrative fee, but it is never mentioned as part of the original price offer. They will sometimes submit an invoice with the cancellation fee prominantly mentioned and then have a waiver of it in small print - which I perceive as an attempt to mislead customers into not cancelling for fear of suffering an agency cancellation fee.

Quite apart from this hidden cancellation/admin fee ruse it is practically impossible to get a reasonably prompt reply to questions that arise during the life of the booking. I suspect profit margins are so thin that these TAs hire young, inexperienced phone order takers who never stick around long enough to get business experience or who are just unequipped to provide a reasonable standard of service. Whatever the cause, getting decent service is invariably unattainable.

And the TAs out there who are offended by this can go pound sand as far as I am concerned. My experience has been deep and bad. I continue to use the compete method to get best pricing, but now I am forewarned and thus forearmed for the shenanigans, delays, and bad service. Maybe the TAs who take offense can tell me what recourse wronged customers have - other than a complaint board on an industry association? The latter is akin to having the fox guard the hen house. The TA industry is woefully unregulated aside from some consumer protection statutes found on a state by state basis. Most people don't know what, if anything, they can do to right wrongs.

The internet is a wonderful business tool, but it gives rise to a whole new set of issues in the travel industry.

 

 

Shop around and do some research, there are some really good discount TAs. I wouldn't call them internet TA's but they are a good 10-20% cheaper then the posted rates at the cruise sites. You can easily compare those against the many interenty. If you don't get at least 10% cheaper then you haven't found the cheapest yet!

 

And yes they offer refund, pick your room and minimum down till 90 days before too!

[Jade13]

If you don't get at least 10% cheaper then you haven't found the cheapest yet!

 

!

 

Note that not all cruise lines allow dscounting. RCCL/Celebrity do not, but the TA's can usually offer OBC or pre-paid gratuities.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I have cruised 3 or 4 times a year for the past 15 years. For the most part I have used online TAs because they get best price. Lately I have used a service that allows many TAs to submit competing bids so that I can really get a competitve price.

What I have found is that these online TAs are uniformly incompetent and often downright dishonest. They will sometimes fail to disclose upfront a cancellation fee quite separate from the cruiseline cancellation fees. It may be described as an administrative fee, but it is never mentioned as part of the original price offer. They will sometimes submit an invoice with the cancellation fee prominantly mentioned and then have a waiver of it in small print - which I perceive as an attempt to mislead customers into not cancelling for fear of suffering an agency cancellation fee.

Quite apart from this hidden cancellation/admin fee ruse it is practically impossible to get a reasonably prompt reply to questions that arise during the life of the booking. I suspect profit margins are so thin that these TAs hire young, inexperienced phone order takers who never stick around long enough to get business experience or who are just unequipped to provide a reasonable standard of service. Whatever the cause, getting decent service is invariably unattainable.

And the TAs out there who are offended by this can go pound sand as far as I am concerned. My experience has been deep and bad. I continue to use the compete method to get best pricing, but now I am forewarned and thus forearmed for the shenanigans, delays, and bad service. Maybe the TAs who take offense can tell me what recourse wronged customers have - other than a complaint board on an industry association? The latter is akin to having the fox guard the hen house. The TA industry is woefully unregulated aside from some consumer protection statutes found on a state by state basis. Most people don't know what, if anything, they can do to right wrongs.

The internet is a wonderful business tool, but it gives rise to a whole new set of issues in the travel industry.

 

Your efforts to secure the "lowest price" result in TAs discounting commission. When they do so, TAs are far less likely to go the extra mile in providing excellent service.

 

If you chose to work with a professional travel agent, perhaps you would find their service worthwhile and be less inclined to put your hands in their pockets. (And to borrow the OP's verbiage, if anyone is offended by this, they can just "go pound sand" as far as I'm concerned.)

[GottaLuvCruising]

Of course he sent you gifts, he earned a huge commision selling you that cruise ;)

 

EARNED

[blindrid]

I only useonline TA's. I have used the site you indicated and have found that a lot of the bids are either quoting wrong cabin class or some don't even quote a price selling you on the concept that they are a "Chistian" TA and will donate a percentage towards a charity of your choice. You really had to pay attention. When they started allowing that, that's when I went away. I was OK with having to compare bids, but when I want to donate to charity, I do and don't need a solicitation when all I want to do is book a cruise.

 

I go directly to their sites and shop accordingly and still continue to have good luck. I have not had necessarily good luck with some of the advertisers here as I have found better prices and comparable service elsewhere. What I have found typically that the ones I use have a brick and mortar agency with an internet department so it's really not much different than using a local agency as I still would not meet face to face with them.

 

Before I book, I do make a phone call to get an overall feel. IMO, there are so many so called "TA's" that have no training, experience and pay an annual fee to call themselves travel agents. I stay away from those that you run into and they say they are now a TA.

 

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

[qorc]

we never use them. I don't believe them. We do much better doing our own bookings. Heard too many horror stories.

 

why do they do what they do? because their industry is in a meltdown- the advent of the Internet pretty much killed the travel agent biz. We don't need them anymore.

 

Their profit margins are slim and for those that are left, the competition is fierce

[owl61]

Why would you use an online TA when there are probably hundreds in your town (or nearby) that you can go to, sit in front of, and look right in the eye?

 

There are not. I live in Rio de Janeiro and bookings here are totally different than in the US available only with US agents.

 

Your efforts to secure the "lowest price" result in TAs discounting commission. When they do so, TAs are far less likely to go the extra mile in providing excellent service.

 

If you chose to work with a professional travel agent, perhaps you would find their service worthwhile and be less inclined to put your hands in their pockets. (And to borrow the OP's verbiage, if anyone is offended by this, they can just "go pound sand" as far as I'm concerned.)

 

To the best of my knowledge the agents I have "worked" with via the net have all been licensed so in that sense at least they are all professionals. I don't require the extra mile. I just require competence to complement the low price. I don't understand why you accuse me of putting my hands in the TA's pockets - you wouldn't be a TA , would you? The way I see it - if a businessman sets a price I think it is reasonable for me to expect to get that price together with an acceptable minimum level of competence. Moreover, it seems to me that only TAs who have an issue with their underselling brethren would admonish me for not working with a "profesional" when, in fact, all licensed TAs are supposedly professional.

 

Maybe I just have had bad luck. I sure would be willing to accept references going forward. Unfortunately, when I posted my email, my post was removed by the powers that be.

[GottaLuvCruising]

There are not. I live in Rio de Janeiro and bookings here are totally different than in the US available only with US agents.

 

 

 

To the best of my knowledge the agents I have "worked" with via the net have all been licensed so in that sense at least they are all professionals. I don't require the extra mile. I just require competence to complement the low price. I don't understand why you accuse me of putting my hands in the TA's pockets - you wouldn't be a TA , would you? The way I see it - if a businessman sets a price I think it is reasonable for me to expect to get that price together with an acceptable minimum level of competence. Moreover, it seems to me that only TAs who have an issue with their underselling brethren would admonish me for not working with a "profesional" when, in fact, all licensed TAs are supposedly professional.

 

Maybe I just have had bad luck. I sure would be willing to accept references going forward. Unfortunately, when I posted my email, my post was removed by the powers that be.

 

The agencies have to be licensed, but many of the "agents" working for them are only representatives of that company, they are absolutely, positively NOT professional travel agents. The same can be said for most "agents" who work directly for the cruise lines. Yes, I am a TA - began this career working for a cruise line, then got my certification and license as an independent. But I'm over the cut-throat nature of the business as a direct result of the online agencies who, in exchange for a portion of the commission, provide no service, but are just a booking entity.

 

In this industry, the "businessman" does not set the price, the cruise lines do. God bless RCI, CEL, DCL and Oceania for taking steps to enforce their own fares. They do the clients a service by minimizing the impact of those online entities.

 

You and I each have our own issues with online agencies, just from different perspectives.

[owl61]

You and I each have our own issues with online agencies, just from different perspectives.

 

Yes, it seems we both agree that the service is too often shoddy and that the principle reason is the fierce competition generated by the internet. You don't like the low margin providers because they impact your livelihood. I don't like them because they are too often incompetent. I can still try to find one that combines low price with a modicum of service. You can opt to serve a different clientele, but don't accuse me of putting my hands in "your pockets" simply because I take advantage of low price offers. As Tessio ( Abe Vigoda) said to consiglieri, Mike Hagen ( Robert Duval) tell Michael not to take it personally "it was only business."

[GottaLuvCruising]

Yes, it seems we both agree that the service is too often shoddy and that the principle reason is the fierce competition generated by the internet. You don't like the low margin providers because they impact your livelihood. I don't like them because they are too often incompetent. I can still try to find one that combines low price with a modicum of service. You can opt to serve a different clientele, but don't accuse me of putting my hands in "your pockets" simply because I take advantage of low price offers. As Tessio ( Abe Vigoda) said to consiglieri, Mike Hagen ( Robert Duval) tell Michael not to take it personally "it was only business."

 

My point was that in looking for them to discount their commission, you are essentially "putting your hands in their pockets". But when they discount their commission, you should expect a less competent "agent" and a lower level of service. These "agents" give people a poor impression of professional travel agents (as they did you) because clients expect full service but don't get it.

 

I cannot tell you how many times I have received follow-up calls from folks who booked with some discounter. "I'm so sorry, I just have one question, but I've been on hold with them for 45 minutes..."

[montekat]

For what's worth, I have had better experiences with online TA's than local. Several times I have been given wrong information from local brick & mortar TA's and received less than great service. Granted, I do a lot of research online and keep up with things, but the TA should know more than me (thanks to CC!).