I sure stepped in it this time!

[sail7seas]

Actually, Sail7 and Sher, the client always has the right to fire their travel agency. It will take a letter to the cruiseline requesting that the booking be returned to your control or to a new agency with a complete discription of why you are 'firing' the agency. Cruiselines are quite firm about needing real reasons for the bookings to be removed from an agency, but it can be done. It also leaves a black mark on the agency/agent from whom you have taken them.

 

 

 

The one time I booked with an on-line agency (I won't get into the reason), they refused to release the booking. They simply said No.

It was just coming up on final payment and for many reasons, I refused to continue dealing with them. I was forced to cancel the cruise and have 'someone' standing by ready to grab back our Suite the moment it showed back in inventory. So..... it's great what they are supposed to do etc but sometimes they simply refuse. Not all TA's are good; not all are even ethical. HAL was well advised the reasons and they were very 'real'. Because it was before final payment and because I had in writing this Agency could not charge a cancellation fee (at that time), we had no monetary loss but much aggravation.

 

We have heard of TA's who refused to release on-board bookings they got because the cruiser booked a future cruise on board and the FCC named the TA who booked the current cruise as the one who would be handling the future booking. Rev Neal had a terrible time getting that booking released....as have other CC'ers.

 

[kalliekae]

Reading all these stories makes me wonder why people use a TA when they can book directly with HAL. Do you really get a better deal than what HAL offers? We have never booked through a TA so what am I missing??

[localady]

Reading all these stories makes me wonder why people use a TA when they can book directly with HAL. Do you really get a better deal than what HAL offers? We have never booked through a TA so what am I missing??

 

It's a good question, but generally we find it is some times substantially less expensive to use a TA and in all my cruises to date I have never had this happen before.

After the wonderful help I got from Jennifer with HAL's customer service today, I may have to rethink that one!! Thank you Jennifer as you were very helpful and pleasant. Not only did she talk to Hal's accounting for me and make notes on my file that TA has the payment, but also called me back later in the afternoon to see if they had responded. :D :D

[RuthC]

Sher, I can offer nothing but tea and sympathy (you don't think you're getting my chocolate, do you? ;) ), but I send those in abundance.

I'm sure this will all work out in the end, but you're right---you don't need this stress. I hope the agency knows exactly why you're taking the future bookings away. They need to know it's a real human being they are hurting.

I'll be looking for your post on the 15th letting us know that all is well. :)

[Copper10-8]

Keeping my fingers crossed for you Sher! You're getting some good intel from posters here! Stay in touch with HAL and let them know what's happening. Hope all works out!

[localady]

Sher, I can offer nothing but tea and sympathy (you don't think you're getting my chocolate, do you? ;) ), but I send those in abundance.

 

I'm sure this will all work out in the end, but you're right---you don't need this stress. I hope the agency knows exactly why you're taking the future bookings away. They need to know it's a real human being they are hurting.

 

I'll be looking for your post on the 15th letting us know that all is well. :)

 

Thanks Ruth!

Tea and Sympathy will have to do, because as a fellow chocolate addict I'd not share mine either!!;)

 

I do assure you though, when we get onboard this cruise I will open that chocolate nightly and raise it towards the heavens and say "This one's for RuthC!!" :D :D :D

[Jemima]

Reading all these stories makes me wonder why people use a TA when they can book directly with HAL. Do you really get a better deal than what HAL offers? We have never booked through a TA so what am I missing??

 

I also book directly with HAL. I disliked having several layers between me and HAL - TA, agency, bigger agency that smaller agency went through.

[DesertDogs]

Reading all these stories makes me wonder why people use a TA when they can book directly with HAL. Do you really get a better deal than what HAL offers? We have never booked through a TA so what am I missing??

 

We always booked directly with HAL because the suites prices were generally the same, but for our upcoming cruise, we found an online TA that was $2K less than HAL so for that price I decided to go with the online TA. So far we have not had any problems.

[Susie51]

I'm sorry for your problem. I hope it is resolved quickly so you can rest at ease.

[PathfinderEss]

Wow, Localady, thanks for the info. I guess I've been lucky to use several different agency that have make my payment directly to Hal, but quite frankly I never gave it much thought, best I start paying more attention. Forewarned is forearmed, thanks, and I hope all works out for you and that particular agency makes your final payment so you take your wonderful cruise. Sorry you've had to go through all this worry.

[cruznon]

Sher,

Sure hope this resolves itself soon. Stress is not something you need to deal with!

I have heard that his kind of thing happens. Hope payment is made as promised and all works out. I don't blame you for moving future bookings.

I have info from Val if you'd like.

[SDHALFAN]

Sher,

Sure hope this resolves itself soon. Stress is not something you need to deal with!

I have heard that his kind of thing happens. Hope payment is made as promised and all works out. I don't blame you for moving future bookings.

I have info from Val if you'd like.

 

Hey Peggy, dear friend. Long time no see - I miss you and Fred. I have e-mailed Sher some of the information and am waiting to see if she wants all the details. I can promise you that you should not be disappointed,

 

Oh boy, hot here today right? Anyway, just to make this "legal" I am busy packing for my 65-day Grand adventure aboard the ms Amsterdam. I will be thinking about all my Yummer pals and wishing that you were along on this cruise with me - we would have so much fun together once again.

 

And in the Yummer spirit: HOLA!

 

Valerie:)

[Beebob1]

On my cruise we've always dealt with TA's. The payment goes to TA and passed onto the cruise line. Never had any problem. Hope you work it out soon.

 

[SDHALFAN]

Actually, Sail7 and Sher, the client always has the right to fire their travel agency. It will take a letter to the cruiseline requesting that the booking be returned to your control or to a new agency with a complete discription of why you are 'firing' the agency. Cruiselines are quite firm about needing real reasons for the bookings to be removed from an agency, but it can be done. It also leaves a black mark on the agency/agent from whom you have taken them.

 

I don't know if you are a TA or from where you got your information but I have to tell you that this has not been my experience.

 

It only happened to us one time and we did have a fantastic cruise despite the fact the that travel agent with whom we booked the cruise was a total moron. Our cruise was so great that we decided to book another cruise while onboard ship and we were adamant about the fact that we did not want to use the TA with which we had booked current cruise and would much prefer another agency we had used before. "No problem" says onboard cruise consultant. We get home, get the invoice and guess what "total moron" is listed as travel agent. My husband called HAL, ranting and raving (he was very good at thatt:D ) but still HAL was insistent that we had to call the moron and beg her to release the cruise to the agency that we by far preferred. There was no way HAL was going to bat for us despite the fact that we had told them, via onboard cruise consultant, that we would never give this Travel Agency, and especially "the moron" our business ever again. To me this would have been kind of embarassing but not my husband - he was a fairly high ranking Naval Officer and his motto was his motto: "My way or the Highway". He did get the booking released to the other agency but HAL did nothing whatsoever to help us, so I am thinking that a letter to them would have been less than useless.

 

Valerie:)

[nanocats]

We've used this TA before (had two cruises in the past with no problems, two more coming up this year) and had the same panic as you a few months ago when I realized HAL hadn't received my final payment although I had sent it out over a month before. Called the TA up, they looked into it and said it would be paid at the end of the month (which was about 50 days prior to the cruise) and it was paid just fine (we leave in 3 weeks and received our docs a couple weeks ago). HAL never emailed or called me about late payment, I had just noticed that it was past the normal final payment date. We have another booked in November which I made final payment about a month ago and hasn't been posted to HAL. I emailed them, but am not worried. I expect it to get to HAL around the end of the month. They are listed on HAL's site when you search for travel agent.

[kryos]

[quote name='localady'][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=blue]I pray this will all work out, and no doubt it will, but the stress this has caused in not knowing if our cruise will be cancelled while the cruise broker has been holding our money since August is insane.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]
Thank God you used a credit card. If the agency does not deliver the goods, simply contact your credit card company and deny payment based on non-delivery of services. Then run, don't walk, back to your previous agent and rebook the cruise through them ... or through another reputable agent. While you may not be able to snag your favorite cabin, at least you'll still be on the boat.

For what it's worth, I have NEVER had a charge put through on my credit card directly to the travel agency ... and I've used several over the years. All the charges on my card are direct payments to Holland America. And this has even been the case with group cruises. It's in the agency's best interest to do this since having HAL run the charge through means that HAL pays the credit card company services charges, and not the agency. So for any agency to run the charge through their own account would make me very suspicious to begin with.

There is probably nothing wrong here ... assuming this is a larger, more established travel agency. They may very well have a special deal with HAL. But I would still be concerned with any agency that ran the charges through their own account since if they are holding onto your money, and they go "belly up," you could wind up losing out ... especially if they are not bonded at all. Now, of course, the same thing could happen if HAL went under while holding your money, but I think there is a much higher chance of the agency going under than HAL itself.

Just file this under the "live and learn" category, and if your cruise winds up being cancelled due to the agency's non-payment of your fare, just contact your credit card company and let them deal with it.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[kryos]

[quote name='SDHALFAN']We get home, get the invoice and guess what "total moron" is listed as travel agent. [/QUOTE]

Wouldn't it have been a hoot if the invoice actually said "total moron" under the heading "travel agent?" :)

Seriously, sounds to me like being a travel agent is a wide open field where one could make a pretty decent living. I hear so many stories of poor travel agents screwing up their clients' bookings and just not taking a couple of added steps to ensure happy and satisfied clients, that it would seem like those who do could make a killing at this profession.

I cannot for the life of me understand how any person providing a service could fail to take just a few added steps, that don't even involve much work, to make sure her customers are happy. Failure to do so seems to be just a matter of extreme laziness to me ... and I can't understand it when you consider how much one could make in commissions for doing a relatively small amount of work.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[Jade13]

[quote name='kalliekae']Reading all these stories makes me wonder why people use a TA when they can book directly with HAL. Do you really get a better deal than what HAL offers? We have never booked through a TA so what am I missing??[/quote]

Yes, sometimes with HAL. We saved way over $1,000.00 (sometimes it is a perceived savings as they may have a VA at the same price as a VE Verandah - same size cabin, so it depends) on our cruise this summer and we were not in a Suite. Also received an excursion in Turkey that was first class (full day with lunch with a tour company that works a lot with Crystal Cruises) and would have cost $150.00 per person. With that said we also paid two cabins directly to HAL this year as I prefer to work with one of their PCC and will pay up to $100.00 more to do so but for a substantial savings will go elsewhere. Note that many TA's get group space and savings will be significantly more for Verandahs and Suites vs an inside on a Caribbean cruise etc.

[fann1sh]

[quote name='kalliekae']Reading all these stories makes me wonder why people use a TA when they can book directly with HAL. Do you really get a better deal than what HAL offers? We have never booked through a TA so what am I missing??[/quote]

[quote name='localady'][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=blue]It's a good question, but generally we find it is some times substantially less expensive to use a TA and in all my cruises to date I have never had this happen before.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=blue]After the wonderful help I got from Jennifer with HAL's customer service today, I may have to rethink that one!! Thank you Jennifer as you were very helpful and pleasant. Not only did she talk to Hal's accounting for me and make notes on my file that TA has the payment, but also called me back later in the afternoon to see if they had responded. :D :D[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/quote]


Sadly, HAL can do things to disappoint, too. One example would be this thread:

[URL]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=827970[/URL]

The OP's cruise was canceled because of the extended Veendam dry dock. It took the intervention of the TA for the cruiser to get an alternate ship at the same price paid.

[NetwrkEng]

We are in the same situation. I've booked two other cruises with the agency in question, I think, and had no issues but we do not usually book very early so it was probably inside the final payment date when we booked and that may have changed things.

Or, this agency has recently changed their policy and now sits on your cash for an additional 30-40 days.

Our final payment is due Friday and no payment to HAL. Worse yet emails are unanswered/ignored and mulitple phone calls have not been returned.

I guess the only cruise VALUE this agency lends to your cruise is in their favor. :mad:

[cp556]

Other posters are correct that if an agency allows HAL (or any cruise line) to process the credit card payments, HAL pays the credit card processing fee of ~2%. That saves the agency money.

BUT in that case, the cruise line then refunds the agency their commission electronically into their bank account. This can take a couple or a few weeks for the agency to receive their commission.

If a customer pays cash or check, the agency deducts their commission right away and sends the cruise line the net amount due.

I worked for an agency once that processed the credit card payments in house and sent checks to the cruise lines. The owner's thought was that he'd get his commission money right away, even thought it cost the 2% in fees. This particular owner was not very good at keeping track of such things, and it resulted in problems.

Therefore, I have a built-in fear of any agency that processes the credit cards themselves instead of allowing the cruise line to do it. I'm sure it's a silly fear, but it's there nonetheless.

[sail7seas]

[B]I don't think it a silly fear at all. I would not deal with an agency which insisted upon the charge going to them and they would then pay HAL. That is not acceptible to me.

JMHO........


[/B]

[jhannah]

Sher, that is truly bad news. I don't care where a TA advertises ... if they don't handle payments properly and on time they're not worth a penny on the pavement! Is there any way you can cancel the booking and start over? I know that's risky at this stage ... but let the agency know their business practice does not deserve your business.

Is your trip insured?

[TravelAbby]

We booked a caribbean cruise on the Noordam with this agency. Nothing went wrong but their service was lacking. It was difficult to get the simplest question answered. Many other travel agents will match their cruise VALUE.

[Grumpy1]

We used a TA that advertises here and also handles some of the CC group cruises. I think it is the same TA that Sail mentioned earlier. While onboard the Maasdam in 2006 on what was supposed to have been a CC group Cruise, we booked the Eurodam inaugural cruise. In spite of telling the Future Cruise Consultant to keep the booking with HAL, the booking was credited to the TA that had the Maasdam booking. Knowing that they had recently started charging cancellation fees I decided to let it ride. After all, they had provided a bottle of champagne and a Pinnacle dinner for us on the Maasdam cruise.

I heard nothing from the TA, so called them just before final payment was due to make sure they had my credit card info on file and would be processing it. "Yes, we'll be taking care of that by the due date" I was told, and a check of my credit card account showed a payment to HAL on the proper date.

Fast forward to about 2 weeks before the cruise. We had received our documents for the 3 day Prelude, which was a separate booking and directly with HAL, but had not seen the documents for the Inaugural. I called the TA and let them know what my deadline was for receiving the documents before we would be leaving. The TA called back, said they had located the docs and would send them out. I received them by Priority, not Express, Mail several days later. At least we got them before we left home.

Aboard the Eurodam, we expected to see something from the TA at the start of the Inaugural. Champagne from the Captain and Hotel Manager..Check. Champagne from the TA? Nope, nothing. Flowers? Nope. Pinnacle Grill Certificates? Nada.

What I did get was an email from the TA a few days after the Inagural started:[FONT=Century] [/FONT]
[LEFT][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]Welcom[/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]e Back![/LEFT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]We hope you enjoyed your cruise on [B][B]Eurodam. [/B][/B]More than ever, our guests are searching for the best value and the very best customer service to help make their cruise vacation a success. Hopefully, our efforts to meet those goals were reflected in the experience you had here at ********** and onboard. To help us better understand our performance and even your experiences onboard, we’ve developed a brief 3 minute “point & click” survey for you to take. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Please accept our invitation to take the survey now while your thoughts are fresh. We would be most grateful for your participation. As a token of our appreciation, we will be holding monthly drawings, chosen from completed surveys, for prizes (including T-shirts, ****** FCC’s, Cruise Gear, etc). If you’re a winner, we’ll be in touch with you by phone and email to confirm your reward![/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]You can well imagine my responses to the survey questions about how satisfied was I with their service, would I use them in the future, would I recommend them to a friend, etc. And there was a box to enter additional comments. Well, Grumpy let them have it with both barrels, stepped back, reloaded and fired again. Dayum, that felt good![/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]A couple of weeks later I got a phone call from the Customer Relations Manager. Obviously she had done her homework, as she had information from the telephone contacts that I had with them. What she didn't have was any plausible explanation as to why they had totally ignored my booking except when I contacted them. She was most apologetic and assured me that they do not do business that way. She said there should have been onboard gifts including an onboard credit. A few days ago I received a followup letter in the mail with a check for $500.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]That does help to take away the bad taste that I had toward that TA, but I'm still not convinced that they are deserving of my business in the future. I'm just not sure that my treatment was a onetime fluke that would never happen again. If I had to use them as the chosen TA for a group cruise I suppose I would, but I have another TA that I'd much prefer to use.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2][FONT=Arial] [/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]