Just booked, but annoyed with TA. Can we swap?

[geologygeek]

Hi everyone,

 

We booked on the Victory ex-San Juan on 3rd May on Friday:D. We got a fantastic price through a well know internet travel site (travel combined with another word for speed and voila that's the name, plus a dot com of course).

 

But, I am really disappointed with the TA I was dealing with; he was rude and I had to repeat personal details three times to him. I am still waiting for a confirmation e-mail from them (but I can see it on Carnival.com).

 

This leads me to question of whether we can swap the booking to another TA (that we've used for past cruises)? I really don't want to give the well known travel-speed site my business, I should have gone with my instincts of hanging up the phone mid-way during the booking process.

 

Cheers for your help,

 

Rob.

[cuyahoga11]

Depends on if they will release your booking (lose commission) and if they charge a cancellation fee

[Tapi]

If I only had a nickel for every person who books through a TA based solely on price and then they realize that they made a mistake.

 

To answer your question, NO. You're pretty much stuck with this TA. You can't call Carnival or another TA for help. This TA collected a commission which entitles them to be the sole handler of your reservation. With that said, why did you give your credit card to someone who you didn't feel comfortable with?? I seriously doubt that they're going to release the booking to another TA just because you don't like them.

 

That's why I stick with the same person I've dealt with for most of my Carnival sailings (A Carnival Personal Vacation Planner). She's knowledgeable, professional, with great customer service skills, NO bogus booking or cancellation fess, and provides competitive pricing. However, even if she couldn't get me the same price as some of these internet sites, I'd still book through her. The peace of mind of dealing with someone I trust is worth every extra penny....!!

 

As a last resort, you can check your TA's cancellation policy. Something tells me that you may be stuck with some bogus cancellation or non-refundable booking fee which are common for many of these internet sites, but if for some reason they don't charge you anything and you're outside of penalty, you can always cancel and re-book with the TA you really want.

 

Once again, the lowest price is not always the best, and most people learn this lesson the hard way. Hope you're not one of the statistics...