Cancellation Penalties
Murphy
a TA?
I am at 102 days before sailing and we have decided to cancel our
cruise. When putting down a deposit there were 2 charges to my card,
$100 to the TA and $500 to Royal Caribbean. Since then, we have paid
the cruise in full. I fully expected to lose the $100 dollars, but was
told by my TA that the agency is charging me $370 in cancellation
penalties. (10%)
Now as I see it, Royal Caribbean will credit my account and then the
TA is going to have to charge my credit card the additional $270. - is
this correct?
I realize they spent time with us and RCCL, but $370 seems a little
steep in my opinion. Any Advice or is this just an expensive lesson
learned?
E. Murphy
Joe
by the cruiseline...
Joe
"Murphy" <emu...@NOSPAMmediaone.net> wrote in message
news:k4s8tt0m45vjbde0i...@4ax.com...
Sheree
cancellation period. (60-75 days)
my TA doesn't charge a cancellation fee but I know of one or 2 agencies that
may. I steer clear of them!
--
Sheree
"Murphy" <emu...@NOSPAMmediaone.net> wrote in message
news:k4s8tt0m45vjbde0i...@4ax.com...
Soozin
refunded by Royal Caribbean. We never pay in full until it is required by
the cruise line - usually 60 days before the sailing date, 90 days for
holiday cruises, I believe. Although my TA has a policy of charging $25 for
changes or cancellations, this was waived. $370.00 seems like a lot, but I
suppose if it was in writing and you agreed to it there wouldn't be much you
could do IMO.
"Murphy" <emu...@NOSPAMmediaone.net> wrote in message
news:k4s8tt0m45vjbde0i...@4ax.com...
Ray Goldenberg
>I'd be curious why the TA has a charge on your card. Usually the charge is
>by the cruiseline...
Hi Joe,
Due to the cuts by cruise and airlines in commissions many travel
agencies have started charging booking and cancellation fees to make
up for their loss in revenue. This is usually a separate charge on
your credit card. BTW, before someone jumps on me, <g> Lighthouse
Travel does not charge these fees. Neither do most of the other
agents that freely contribute to r.t.cruises, as far as I know.
Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Lunyma
>steep in my opinion. Any Advice or is this just an expensive lesson
>learned?
>
A VERY expensive lesson! You have been screwed. First of all, no charges
should have EVER gone to the TA. The cruiseline takes all charges and THEY pay
the TA a commission. Secondly, your TA has lots of nerve to charge you such a
high cancellation fee. A *GOOD* TA will charge none, but I have heard of some
that charge $25-$50 a person. I personally will not book with a TA that charges
a cancellation fee for their agency. If you are 102 days out of your cruise,
you should not be in a period of cancelletion fees from the cruiseline
themselves. I could be mistaken, since you paid in full though. Why DID you
pay in full so far in advance???
Did you pay by credit card? If you did, you may be able to avoid those fees.
Do you have a signed contract with the agency that states those cancellation
fees? If you do, you f***** up. Lesson learned...
Pam : )
Official Virtual Cruise Director
http://allcruiseauction.atinfopop.com/
http://www.allcruiseauction.com/html/categories.htm
Kevin and Sue
rebook it credited to us...if it were up to the individual agents they
would not do this with customers they know, but that is what the agency
does.
sue
Joe
"Ray Goldenberg" <r...@lighthousetravel.com> wrote in message
news:0eu8tt0b2g6cc8sng...@4ax.com...
Ermalee
charges cancellation fees. This is something that I never thought to ask
in the past.
Ermalee <---doesn't want to pay either booking fees or cancellation fees
CRUISECO
>may. I steer clear of them!
My old agency has a cancellation policy of $25 per person. Here's why:
We provided lots of info prior to getting the booking. No charge for this.
We always did our best to get the best deal for anyone booking with us. No
charge for this.
If any client had a good reason for cancelling we ALWAYS waived the cancel fee.
No charge for all the work we did.
But there's a lot of TW's out there (that's a travel whore, not a travel agent.
Think John Szeto) that will try to steal a booking by offering a $3 better
deal.
Once a booking is deposited we've put out our time and things like invoices,
envelopes, postage, etc. to finalize the booking. If the client paid by check
we've had to write a check to the cruise line and if they cancel we'll also
have to write a check to them for the refund. If someone wants to cancel to
move their booking over to a TW they had better be saving more than $25/pp
because that's how much we felt our time and expenses were worth at that point.
And that's how much we'll charge them.
Becca
> may. I steer clear of them!
The only agency I am familiar with who charges fees, is Cruise Value
Center. Stay away from them.
Unless you signed papers agreeing to pay 10% (outrageous!), I would deny
payment to my credit card. I pay by check, they would have a hard time
getting that money out of me.
Becca <-----there are too many good TA's, to deal with bad ones...
Tom Gauldin
you're going on it. Taking up the TA's time on idle speculation isn't fair
to the TA.
Tom
"Ermalee" <erm...@home.com> wrote in message
news:3BD482FA...@home.com...
Ray Goldenberg
>The only agency I am familiar with who charges fees, is Cruise Value
>Center.
Hi Becca,
I read an industry report that said over 80% of their membership was
charging fees on all bookings including cruises. I found this hard to
believe until I started asking my fellow travel agents at various
meetings and events. That figure may be low in light of recent air
and cruise commission cutbacks.
Beth Peace
> charging fees on all bookings including cruises. I found this hard to
> believe until I started asking my fellow travel agents at various
> meetings and events. That figure may be low in light of recent air
> and cruise commission cutbacks.
Didn't someone post recently that RCI increased their commission? I know the
airlines are screwing the TA's, but I thought cruises were one thing that is
still worth while for the agent.
Beth
Ray Goldenberg
<bethfu...@nc.rr.com.invalid> wrote:
> I know the
>airlines are screwing the TA's, but I thought cruises were one thing that is
>still worth while for the agent.
Hi Beth,
Some of the cruise lines bumped commissions for sailings booked AND
sailed before the end of year. The cruises already booked (vast
majority) don't qualify. Almost all of the cruise lines recently cut
commissions for the travel agents on the air portion of the bookings.
Robocop
You should have never booked with this T/A to start with but you can't
change the past so here is what you need to do. Contact your CC immediately
and dispute the T/A charge, it should have never been there in the first
place as the cruiseline pays the commission and not you up front. Cancel the
cruise and let your CC company know what you have done and have them be on
the lookout for a refund from them, Also notify the CC that the T/A is NOT
authorized to make ANY charges to your account.
Lesson learned, always check the T/A policy before dealing with them
and IMHO and my personal policy is not to book with any T/A that has
cancellation fees when outside of the cruieline timeframe. Even then I would
only accept a small fee like $25. The T/A you have now is not worth the
powder to blow him to Hades as far as I can see.
Jim
"Murphy" <emu...@NOSPAMmediaone.net> wrote in message
news:k4s8tt0m45vjbde0i...@4ax.com...
Sue Whitfield
impose them BUT there is some circumstances, that we have imposed them and I
see in the future they will stick... there is allot of time, Phone calls,
and paperwork done... like the other person said, so that someone can take
the booking to save $3, If there is a real legit reason someone is ill or
they are continual clients no problem... but there are some that put a $25
deposit on a group down and then they back out after they called 15 or so
times, I love my job do not going out of my way for anyone, but with times
the way they are, I bet you will see that 80% figure rise to 95% real soon
if not already. and there are very very few agencies that do not charge a
fee for Airline Tix.
--
Susette Whitfield-ACC
www.cruiseoutlets.com - A Vacation.com agency
(800) 853-9515
Murphy
I canceled this morning. I called back tonight to try and reason with
them over the amount of the penalties to find out that they already
charged my card for the amount of the penalty (the wrong amount I may
add) BEFORE I even have a credit from Royal Caribbean!
If I lived on a tight budget that could have been embarrassing if I
had been over my limit.
The TA said that they recently had a meeting and were told they had to
assess the max penalty because so many people are cancelling. TA also
says she does not agree with the policy as she knows they are losing
clientele over this. She is right. This was the fourth cruise we have
booked with them. We have never canceled, always paid in full ahead of
time and tried often to get others to go with us.
Anyways, its not the end of the world. Lesson learned. Will be more
careful when we book our next cruise. Hope someone benefits from my
mistakes.
Anyone know a good TA they could recommend ? <-- just kidding 8^)
E. Murphy
koko...@hotmail.com
>
> Even better, Ermalee. . . don't book a cruise unless you feel positive
> you're going on it. Taking up the TA's time on idle speculation isn't fair
> to the TA.
>
> Tom
Excellent advice. If you don't book a vacation unless you plan to go,
cancellation penalties are a non-issue.
Sheree
cancelling 102 days out is way before any ship cancellation policies take
effect.
--
Sheree
<koko...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:3BD4B5...@hotmail.com...
Sheree
If you did not sign anything they can't just have a meeting and start
charging.
--
Sheree
"Murphy" <emu...@NOSPAMmediaone.net> wrote in message
news:bed9tt8ots104nb5u...@4ax.com...
Murphy
honest intention when I paid off the cruise so far in advance. The
cruise was booked in April, it is now October and the cruise was for
Feb 3, 2002 on Voyager of the seas. I am not unreasonable, I already
resigned myself to losing $50 per person not realizing the fine print
said "or 10%, whichever is greater". After forfeiting $100 I would
have used them again. Now I realize I should have been more careful to
begin with.
As a side question to TA's and others: I like to plan my vacations
anywhere from 6 to 12 months in advance.This is the first time my
plans have ever changed. How far in advance do others plan their
vacations?
----------------------------
On Mon, 22 Oct 2001 22:36:40 GMT, "Tom Gauldin" <TGAU...@nc.rr.com>
wrote:
Fred Lanyard
I know your reports are usually reputable but surely you would not doubt the
word of one of our resident industry experts, especially one whose
objectivity and sources are beyond reproach and has no vested interest in
any one agency here on rtc.
--
Fred Lanyard
Cruise Value Center
Toll Free (888) 735-7447
"Ray Goldenberg" <r...@lighthousetravel.com> wrote in message
news:h1b9ttce3i1f5cpcv...@4ax.com...
koko...@hotmail.com
>
> I'm assuming that this is a general statement as I think I showed
> honest intention when I paid off the cruise so far in advance. The
> cruise was booked in April, it is now October and the cruise was for
> Feb 3, 2002 on Voyager of the seas. I am not unreasonable, I already
> resigned myself to losing $50 per person not realizing the fine print
> said "or 10%, whichever is greater". After forfeiting $100 I would
> have used them again. Now I realize I should have been more careful to
> begin with.
>
> As a side question to TA's and others: I like to plan my vacations
> anywhere from 6 to 12 months in advance.This is the first time my
> plans have ever changed. How far in advance do others plan their
> vacations?
>
The farthest in advance I have planned a vacation was for New Years
2000. I stayed on St. Martin for 4 days and then did a cruise on
Windjammer Polynesia. I booked the cruise and hotel about two years in
advance. Most of my cruises and other "out of the US" vacations have
been booked 3 to 6 months in advance. About two weeks ago I went to
Cancun and booked about a week before the trip, but I usually don't
travel with such short lead time.
JopMo
"Murphy" <emu...@NOSPAMmediaone.net> wrote in message
> As a side question to TA's and others: I like to plan my vacations
> anywhere from 6 to 12 months in advance.This is the first time my
> plans have ever changed. How far in advance do others plan their
> vacations?
I doubt I am the norm but I always try to book far in advance. I currently
am booked for September 2002, and am currently working on a possible booking
for March 2003. Although, I have booked as "early" as 8 months. :)
JopMo
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Ermalee
Ermalee <---Booked 20, Cancelled 3
Chapman
waiting!
JOHN
Linsifer
<<How far in advance do others plan their
vacations?>>
Sometimes a year or more in advance. This goes for a cruise or land vacation.
Unfortunately, things can happen before the actual date arrives. When we booked
the Radiance earlier this year for NEXT August, I had no idea that we would
suddenly need to make home repairs necessitating our need to cancel that
cruise. I made certain when I booked that there would be no penalty other than
the one the cruiseline enforces.
Sheilasmithwick
>vacations?
Anything over 4 nights, we plan 3-12 months in advance. 4 nights or less could
get only a 2 week notice- or just enough to clear everyone's work schedule.
Sheila<-------------------feels lucky to be able to go
Cruisinsoon
>Just for the record, I think $25 per person is certainly very
>reasonable,
Buy from Freddy Lannard. He charges cancel fees even if someone dies in you
family. I know. You will feel right at home dealing with scum like him.
www.freddy's-cancel-fees-suck.com
Cruisinsoon
>high cancellation fee. A *GOOD* TA will charge none, but I have heard of
>some
>that charge $25-$50 a person.
Stay away from Funnyman Freddie at Cruise No-Value Center. He is a rip-off and
won't ever answer questions about cancel fees.
www-cruise-valu-rip-off-center.com
Cruisinsoon
What would you know about being reputable you rip-off artist. You steal all the
time with your cancellation fees. If you have to cancel cruise because someone
is sick or dead Funnyman Freddy forces you to pay him cancel fees before they
process your refund from the cruise line. Calls and emails to him get ignored.
He'll never get the chance to screw me again.
www.rip-off-travel-agents-r-us.com
Cruisinsoon
>told by my TA that the agency is charging me $370 in cancellation
>penalties. (10%)
Sounds like Freddy Lannard is at it again. His agency is known for ripping
people off with cancellation fees. Call your credit company and tell them you
were ripped off. www.cruise-no-value-center.com
Lunyma
Personally, I do most of my travel research myself, and only use a TA to book
for me. Yes, I understand that it takes time and work on their part. When I
book travel, however, I am booking under the assumption that I am going to
follow through with my plans and take my trip. I would only cancel under an
emergency situation.
*IF* an agency has to have a cancellation policy, I guess I could live with
$25, but 10%!!!!??? That's just insane.
As for a booking fee? There are enough agents out there that DON'T charge one,
so why use one that does?
OTOH... I know that there are many people out there that continuously book,
cancel, rebook, change plans, or whatever. I DO feel sorry for the TAs that do
TONS of work for them and get little or no compensation.
Ian wrote:
>I'm just curious, Pam (and other, for that matter) ....the concept of
>a cancellation fee by the cruiseline is certainly a long standing and
>well-known practice. Do you not feel the agency should receive some
>minimal compensation to cover the expenses (time, labor, postage,
>accounting, etc.) that they've incurred in booking your cancelled
>cruise? They've still provided the bulk of the services they normally
>provide and will recieve NOTHING for their efforts.
>
>Just for the record, I think $25 per person is certainly very
>reasonable, not the insane amount the poster was facing.
Pam : )
Official Virtual Cruise Director
http://allcruiseauction.atinfopop.com/
http://www.allcruiseauction.com/html/categories.htm
George Leppla
"Lunyma" <lun...@aol.com> wrote
> *IF* an agency has to have a cancellation policy, I guess I could live
with
> $25, but 10%!!!!??? That's just insane.
I have never charged cancellation fees and I am not alone. Ray Goldenberg,
Lori Cunningham, Sue Whitfield and many other reputable agents also do not
charge cancellation fees.
What I find to be worse than cancellation fees are agencies that do not
disclose these fees up front at the time of booking. I have heard tales of
people not finding out about agency imposed cancellation fees until they had
to cancel.
One way to avoid these fees is to send a written note to the agency stating
that only the cruise line has authorization to place a charge on your credit
card. Then if the agency charges a separate cancellation fee on your card,
you can contest the transaction as being an unauthorized charge.
George in PA
--
Countryside Travel: www.CruiseMaster.com
Join us on the GGC2002: www.ggc2002.com
Tom Gauldin
We've had to cancel two cruises in our own history, and both were handled
very graciously by our TA. However, I suspect that there are some folks who
book a cruise on the spur of the moment, speculating that they might go, but
not view it as any form of commitment on their part. These folks are not
unlike those who would take up a real estate agent's time with endless of
house hunting, only to purhase a home from another agent or deal direct with
a seller. While it is technically "OK," it is a breaking of a trusting
relationship and shows little honor.
There was an old joke in the real estate industry about a couple that went
out almost every weekend with a real estate agent to view homes. Despite
showing them tens of different home styles and locations, the agent could
never find anything they would make an offer on. Finally, he decided to
take another tact: he asked them what their hobby was. The reply was,
"Looking at houses on the weekends." <grin>
Tom
"Sheree" <sher...@mail.com> wrote in message
news:7x3B7.39301$wS2.4...@news02.optonline.net...
Sue Whitfield
it! I mean $25 for their trouble is one thing but $370 no way!
Did you sign knowing this?
Charlie at Just Cruisin' Plus
T/A still can't make a living. Example - Majesty of the Seas, 4 night
November 12 to end of December has a lead-in rate of $50.00 plus fees. So
now the T/A makes $10.00 instead of $5.00-$7.50. Oh, by the way, port fees
and taxes are $124.45 for the $50.00 cruise.
--
Charlie Funk
Just Cruisin' Plus
800 888-0922
615 833-0922
cha...@justcruisinplus.com
"Beth Peace" <bethfu...@nc.rr.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:3p2B7.28285$%B6.10...@typhoon.southeast.rr.com...
Murphy
comfortable. It was my understanding that it was a $50 fee per person.
MY mistake. Originally there were three couples in three cabins
booked. One of the couples backed out in August and was charged $100.
To make matters worse yesterday, they jumped the gun and immediately
charged my card $270 (the difference) without taking in account that
we had not booked their air and motel package. I pointed that out last
night and they are removing those charges.
When we made the deposit they sent a form in the mail for us to
authorize the $600 down payment. We signed and faxed it right away.
When we paid in full the same was repeated. I think I will challenge
the latest charge and show the CC Co. where I authorized and where I
haven't. Anyway you look at it they have lost us as clients. Sometimes
I paid a little more with them because I thought we had a good
relationship.
Obviously this is partly my fault for not knowing all the details up
front but when you feel comfortable with someone you sometimes
overlook "little" details. I will try one more time to reason with
them today, if they keep their position I might be willing to release
their name to anyone interested so that they don't get caught in this
trap.
Kevin and Sue
cancelation fee. If I do cancel it is due to an emergency situation and
I will rebook something in the near future and get a credit on my new
booking. This protects my travel agent from people who book and cancel
on a regular basis...sue
Sheree
!!!
I can't tell you how many times I have rushed to do a pre-approval on
someone, credit etc because they were putting in an offer and needed it now.
Then after weeks of communication, they go to 800-loan-now to save $50! Of
course they wind up getting ripped off, but oh well!
Realtors in this area are making buyers sign buyer broker agreements. Wish
I could charge for my time!
But back to cruisin, I'm sure there are some who book for the heck of it,
then cancel, I just can't imagine doing that. There's got to be a good
reason to cancel. I cancelled one time, but booked a different ship,
different time period while I cancelled the original!
--
Sheree
"Tom Gauldin" <TGAU...@nc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:PIdB7.30539$%B6.10...@typhoon.southeast.rr.com...
Mona
fee, cancellation fee ect it would be illegal to pop this on someone..any
legal beings out their in cyberland know?
--
Laura
Lee Schwartzberg
(CRUISECO) wrote:
> But there's a lot of TW's out there (that's a travel whore, not a travel
agent.
> Think John Szeto)
I think this was totally uncalled for. We all know how most people feel
about this particular Travel Agent, but slander is not the way to go.
You're picking a fight and deserve everything you get. Inexcusable, imho.
Lee
Kcm0984
>agent.
>deal.
Extremely unfair, and uncalled for. John has been my TA for some time, has
always found extremely good prices for us, has taken care of various problems,
and by the way, when I had to cancel a cruise for 5 that we could not take this
coming April , charged us NOTHING. You don't like him, fine, but can't you be
civil? I cannot believe that you would be that rude and dismissive in person -
only while hiding behind a keyboard and a monitor.
My name is Kate Charlesworth-Miller, and if you want my phone number, you can
have it. I am sick to death of these anonymous bashing posts. And don't start
with me about ISP's or any other crap. The Internet is the last refuge of
discourtesy and boorish behavior.
sheesh.
Upderon
for my husand any myself on the Spirit in December. He has gone out of his way
to be helpful He is always polite and returns our emails/phonecalls is a verly
timely manner.
He are now trying to book a trip to Hawaii with him. Give him credit where it
is due. Going to school and working as a travel agent and I bet he is doing a
good job at both.
We lie in the central Fl. area and haven't found an agent as good as John in
our area. He is giving us more of his time and attention than two different
agents we have used at the local Cruises Only and better prices too.
I enjoy this message board, but not the rude behavior.
Upderon
still abit fuzzy.
Howard Baldini
What if department stores started charging a 10% restocking fee if you wanted to
exchange something? The salespeople at many stores work on commision, should the
guy at Nordstroms charge you for returning your shoes? Not good business practice.
Howard
Charles
<upd...@aol.com> wrote:
> I enjoy this message board, but not the rude behavior.
Does that include John's rude behavior? Many examples have been posted.
--
Charles
Sheree
--
Sheree
"Howard Baldini" <ho...@oco.net> wrote in message
news:3BD6172B...@oco.net...
Tom Gauldin
> What if department stores started charging a 10% restocking fee if you
wanted to
> exchange something? The salespeople at many stores work on commision,
should the
> guy at Nordstroms charge you for returning your shoes? Not good business
practice.
>
FWIW, many lumber yards and building supply stores (not retail stores like
Lowe's and Home Depot) charge a restocking fee in the 10-15% range. I don't
like it, but it's a fact of life in some industries.
Tom
Mona
item - a restocking type fee.
--
Laura
"Tom Gauldin" <TGAU...@nc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:XNzB7.29578$Hw3.7...@typhoon.southeast.rr.com...
Susette Whitfield
"Howard Baldini" <ho...@oco.net> wrote in message
news:3BD6172B...@oco.net...