American Discount Cruises, Inc. Reviews (14)
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American Discount Cruises, Inc. Rating
Description: Travel Agencies & Bureaus, Travel Agencies (NAICS: 561510)
Address: 376 Route 9, Englishtown, New Jersey, United States, 07726-8286
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Hello,We looked up this reservation and can confirm that the customer was always supposed to receive $in total Cruise Cash, so she is receiving what was displayed while she was making her reservation on our web site. Cruise Cash is calculated based on the cost of the cruise being
purchased, and $is the exact amount that someone would get booking the reservation she booked. We have attached a copy of the confirmation page that the customer saw when booking this cruise on our web site, which (as you can see) shows a $value for the Cruise Cash.We checked the service history on this reservation, as our customer service staff keeps records of all correspondence with our clients. We have found that this customer never contacted us regarding a discrepancy of the value of her Cruise Cash, so we are quite surprised that she would file a complaint about it. We certainly would have clarified any confusion regarding this. Further, we have noticed that this complaint to the Revdex.com was filed on 10/17/2014. Coincidentally, that is the same day that the customer called us to let us know that she desired to cancel the reservation as a result of being worried about the Ebola virus. She contacted us around 2:30pm and we explained to her that she would have to complete a cancellation form (which we e-mailed to her a couple of minutes later), and would be charged the $cancellation fee that she agreed to when making her reservation on our web site (per the terms and conditions that must be agreed to upon making a reservation). Further, we explained that if she cancelled she would be in penalty with the cruise line (also, per the terms and conditions of her reservation), and only the $taxes would be refunded to her. The client said that she understood, and asked to be sent the cancellation form, which we did.We did not hear from the client since that point, and we did not receive the cancellation form. So, the client did not end up cancelling her cruise.Please let us know if more details are required
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
This proves my point furtherEven when responding to the inquiry the business refuses to pay attentionI never said that I had to put in the credit card number to get the status but I had to walk through the steps to get to payment stage to get an updateI never said that I called about *** I said that was the cruise I was after when I realized I was presented with wrong informationWhen I found another cruise that could work for me - this is when I called. The biggest problem described here is dishonest approach from the repWho told me she will call *** to place a hold on those cabins she said yes hung up and called me back in hours without doing anything! She also said she will be calling back after she consults with her managers, which also never happenedThis is a consistent pattern of dishonesty and yout trying to explain this treatment confirms that this is considered acceptable customer service
Regards,
*** ***
Hello [redacted],We have reviewed our customer service records and can confirm that you contacted us with an inquiry about a [redacted] cruise, not a [redacted] cruise as was mentioned in your statement to the Revdex.com.In any case, our web site does not require a customer to get as far as providing a...
credit card to find out if a cruise is available or not. We have thousands of users a day on our web site, and have never received such an error report. Just in case, we did testing and are not seeing such an error occurring. Further, the stateroom inventory displayed on our web site is in real time. When a stateroom is listed on "step 4" of our online quoting process, that stateroom is being sent to us electronically by the cruise line at the very moment the request is made.Due to the nature of stateroom inventory being based on the live availability that the cruise line electronically sends to our web site, it is possible that the available staterooms were fluctuating while you were shopping on our web site. That is why it is not advisable to book flights prior to confirming a cruise. Of course, we cannot accept responsibility for you deciding to do so. Thankfully, it sounds like you were able to cancel the flights.It is also possible that the cruise line was experiencing a technical issue regarding the information that they send electronically to travel agent web sites (such as ours). However, such an issue has not been reported to us, and no other web site users reported such an issue to us.We did bring your experience to the attention of [redacted] and they did mention that fluctuations in inventory may have been a result of several people shopping for the same inventory on the same cruise at the same time, as the inventory is fed through to many travel sites in addition to ours (and, of course, [redacted]’s direct web site). We also brought this to the attention of [redacted], since that is the cruise line mentioned in the statement, who also did not know of any issue with their system’s stateroom availability data (although we couldn’t provide them with an exact sailing to check, as we don’t know which specific sailing you were checking on their brand).Regarding the delay in [redacted] getting back to you, we certainly apologize if you felt that the time it took her to get back to you was too long. After looking over the records, we do see that there wasquite a bit of confusion (on [redacted]’s end) because when [redacted] called [redacted] to check on the availability of the cruise you called about, she was told that the entire cruise was chartered and not available for sale. This did not make sense to [redacted], so she immediately brought this to the attention of one of her managers. The manager then called [redacted] and was told that the sailing was not chartered, but was sold out. Our manager then questioned this further, since our web site and [redacted]’s web site were both showing availability at that point in time. [redacted] then said that there was no availability at that very moment in time, but that there could possibly be staterooms that were being temporarily held by the system, as the users of the various travel web sites that are connected to [redacted] were making inquiries (resulting in theinventory fluctuating a lot during the time period that you were contacting us).Ultimately, we can assure you that the complaints you have about our web site are unique, and that we cannot replicate them. Further, the lack of quick quoting from [redacted] was a result of inconsistent information from [redacted]. We feel that our A+ rating is well deserved, as we sell cruises worldwide to thousands and thousands of satisfied customers every year, and have won numerous awards from some of the most well-known travel vendors in the world. Unfortunately, you experienced a very rare series of events that we do not anticipate recurring, but we sincerely thank you for bringing this to our attention.We would love for you to give us another chance, to show you that what you experienced was not in our control and not indicative of our company. If you would like one of our travel agents to find a cruise for you, and give you a great deal on it, you can call us toll free at [redacted] and ask to speak with our Office Manager, [redacted], or our Assistant Office Manager, [redacted], if [redacted] is not available. [redacted] and [redacted] are well aware of this situation, and will be sure to connect you with a travel agent that will take great care of you.
Thank you for providing more information.In your original complaint, that we received from the Revdex.com on 10/23/2014, you claimed that you had screen shots of the original transaction and a witness to verify the $100 offer. We thought you were referring to confirmation page (also called Step 7 on our web site), which is why we sent a screen shot of it in our response. This showed that the $75 Cruise Cash matched the invoice you received via e-mail after booking.Now that you followed up to clarify your concern, along with amore detailed description and video, we now understand that you are referring to a discrepancy between the initially advertised Cruise Cash amount (on Step 3 of our web site's booking engine) and what you ended up agreeing to and purchasing (from Steps 5 and onward). We apologize for the miscommunication, as we did not understand the full extent of the issue prior to seeing the video or receiving the additional details from you. The video that you sent was extremely helpful, and we truly appreciate the time you took to record it and submit it. We can assure you that in no way was this an intentional glitch. In fact, this was the first report of this issue that we received. After seeing this video, we immediately contacted our IT department and had them turn the sale off until it was fixed (which it now is). It was an issue related to the way that the cruise line's pricing feeds through from their system to ours when there is a single occupancy reservation (such as yours), and the way that our Cruise Cash promotion was being calculated based on that information. This issue was only affecting single occupancy reservation quotes, and only on a limited number of categories on certain sailings. So, it was only occurring in a very small number of circumstances, which is probably why it wasn't reported by anyone (until you, which we thank you for doing).The value listed on Step 5 (of $75 in your booking's example, and of $100 in the video you provided) was the correct amount. The glitch was happening only on Step 3 of the online booking process, during which too high of an amount was being offered. As you can see in the video you provided, the issue was resolving itself on Step 5 of our online booking process (prior to the customer having to provide any personal details or payment information). This means that the correct $75 value was displayed for you during Steps 5 an 6, prior to agreeing to the reservation details, and prior to putting in your credit card information. Regardless, this is still unacceptable to us, as we never want our customers to experience such a discrepancy.As a result of this new information you've provided, we will be issuing a $50 check to you immediately ($25 to cover the difference in Cruise Cash that was being quoted, plus an additional $25 for the frustration you experienced associated with this glitch).We thank you for your business, and we apologize for the inconvenience this caused. Further, we can assure you that this is not characteristic of our company, which we think our A+ Revdex.com rating supports.
We booked a cruise thru Amer.Discount and everything was perfect. It was everything they said it would be and got our extra on board credit. I will book thru them again and would recommend them to our friends and family.
Hello [redacted]Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. We were unaware of this issue, and were quite surprised when we received your compliant. We immediately got in touch with the cruise line [redacted]) to investigate it, and have been corresponding with them...
regarding it since that point. We checked our records (as we make notes of all communication that happens regarding customer service issues), and we are certain that we were never contacted by the cruise line regarding this issue, whether it be by phone or email. We have been advised that [redacted] ship employees do not contact travel agencies. Rather, they contact the [redacted] corporate office, who then contacts the travel agency. If you were told by a [redacted] representative on the ship that they attempted to contact us, it seems that there was a miscommunication somewhere, as we have no record of such a phone call or email (in addition to [redacted] saying that this is not what their staff would do on the ship). To this point, we did not refuse to take care of the $800, since we had not been contacted and, as a result, did not know there was an issue with your reservation until you filed this complaint. It is very important to us that you know this, as we value customer service and also believe you were due to receive the full $800 (please read on for details).This issue has been determined to be the result of an error in the cruise line’s system, rather than an error of our travel agency. After your made your reservation on board another [redacted] cruise, we received a confirmation from [redacted] listing a $200 per person onboard credit for your reservation of four people (coming to a total of $800 in onboard credit). The onboard credit was issued by [redacted] as a bonus for making the reservation with them while on that cruise. That means that when the representative onboard the cruise in question told you that the $200 was issued for being returned customers – that was $200 out of the $800 we listed on our invoice. That is why our invoice to you listed a $800 total onboard credit as a gift for you. All gifts for your reservation are listed there, whether they be from the cruise line or our agency. That means that since you only received $200 during your cruise, you are definitely due the other $600. To be clear, it shouldn’t be a total of $800 and then the $200 you already received. If that was the case, our invoice would of listed $1,000 onboard credit in total.[redacted] has acknowledges that they did send us the confirmation showing the $800; however, they are stating that the confirmation was issued that way in error. We always advocate for our customers, and told [redacted] that because they issued the confirmation to us showing the $800, we then issued it to you on our confirmation, so it should be honored. At this point in time, we have escalated this issue to [redacted] customer service department. They are investigating the issue on their end. Regardless, we will not accept any other resolution from the cruise line other than them issuing you the $600 in missing onboard credit back. We’re just waiting to hear back from them as to when the refund will be issued.Thanks again for bringing this issue to our attention, as we believe that you certainly deserve the $600 that you did not receive. We will advocate on your behalf for it to be issued as quickly as possible. We will contact you as soon as the cruise line gives us an update regarding when the funds will be issued to you. We will send you an update no later than the end of this week, even if they do not update us (as we will at least let you know its latest status).We thank you for your time, patience, and repeat business. We truly value you as a customer, and will make sure that your issue is resolved. This was a truly rare occurrence, as we are a recent Account of the Year winner with [redacted] and we have never seen a glitch like this in [redacted] system before. Other than this frustration, we hope that you enjoyed your cruise and that you only have stress free future vacations, which we would love to have the opportunity to continue assisting you with.Regards,Web Sales and Service DepartmentAmerican Discount Cruises & TravelYour Destination for Savings & Service[redacted]Toll Free [redacted]
Hello [redacted],We have reviewed our customer service records and can confirm that you contacted us with an inquiry about a [redacted] cruise, not a [redacted] cruise as was mentioned in your statement to the Revdex.com.In any case, our web site does not require a customer to get as far as providing a credit card to...
find out if a cruise is available or not. We have thousands of users a day on our web site, and have never received such an error report. Just in case, we did testing and are not seeing such an error occurring. Further, the stateroom inventory displayed on our web site is in real time. When a stateroom is listed on "step 4" of our online quoting process, that stateroom is being sent to us electronically by the cruise line at the very moment the request is made.Due to the nature of stateroom inventory being based on the live availability that the cruise line electronically sends to our web site, it is possible that the available staterooms were fluctuating while you were shopping on our web site. That is why it is not advisable to book flights prior to confirming a cruise. Of course, we cannot accept responsibility for you deciding to do so. Thankfully, it sounds like you were able to cancel the flights.It is also possible that the cruise line was experiencing a technical issue regarding the information that they send electronically to travel agent web sites (such as ours). However, such an issue has not been reported to us, and no other web site users reported such an issue to us.We did bring your experience to the attention of [redacted] and they did mention that fluctuations in inventory may have been a result of several people shopping for the same inventory on the same cruise at the same time, as the inventory is fed through to many travel sites in addition to ours (and, of course, [redacted]’s direct web site). We also brought this to the attention of [redacted], since that is the cruise line mentioned in the statement, who also did not know of any issue with their system’s stateroom availability data (although we couldn’t provide them with an exact sailing to check, as we don’t know which specific sailing you were checking on their brand).Regarding the delay in [redacted] getting back to you, we certainly apologize if you felt that the time it took her to get back to you was too long. After looking over the records, we do see that there wasquite a bit of confusion (on [redacted]’s end) because when [redacted] called [redacted] to check on the availability of the cruise you called about, she was told that the entire cruise was chartered and not available for sale. This did not make sense to [redacted], so she immediately brought this to the attention of one of her managers. The manager then called [redacted] and was told that the sailing was not chartered, but was sold out. Our manager then questioned this further, since our web site and [redacted]’s web site were both showing availability at that point in time. [redacted] then said that there was no availability at that very moment in time, but that there could possibly be staterooms that were being temporarily held by the system, as the users of the various travel web sites that are connected to [redacted] were making inquiries (resulting in theinventory fluctuating a lot during the time period that you were contacting us).Ultimately, we can assure you that the complaints you have about our web site are unique, and that we cannot replicate them. Further, the lack of quick quoting from [redacted] was a result of inconsistent information from [redacted]. We feel that our A+ rating is well deserved, as we sell cruises worldwide to thousands and thousands of satisfied customers every year, and have won numerous awards from some of the most well-known travel vendors in the world. Unfortunately, you experienced a very rare series of events that we do not anticipate recurring, but we sincerely thank you for bringing this to our attention.We would love for you to give us another chance, to show you that what you experienced was not in our control and not indicative of our company. If you would like one of our travel agents to find a cruise for you, and give you a great deal on it, you can call us toll free at [redacted] and ask to speak with our Office Manager, [redacted], or our Assistant Office Manager, [redacted], if [redacted] is not available. [redacted] and [redacted] are well aware of this situation, and will be sure to connect you with a travel agent that will take great care of you.
Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:Wow! I am not used to a company reacting this way when you point out a problem with their website. It is obvious that they did not even bother to check their own website before replying. If you try to purchase even now you will find instances of offering a cruise cash amount when you select the ticket and then changing the amount (always in their favor) at the last second on the final checkout page. In the instance of my purchase, on their first page it lists the different incentive types and amounts for each cabin class. With the default booking of 2 passengers it does indeed default to $75 Cruise Cash. As soon as you select 1 passenger, however, the amounts go up, in my case to $100 Cruise Cash. That is what I selected, agreed to, and insist that they honor. Somewhere along the process they reverted my incentive down to a 2-person amount, which I found when carefully going over my emailed confirmation.It is quite true that I have concerns over travelling on THE EXACT SAME ship that carried the Texas lab worker at the center of the recent Ebola scare. I and my companions are very unhappy with [redacted] lack of response to that incident, and their apparent outright false press release. It would be nice if the travel agency could help us with those concerns and provide us with more specific information. I realize that the actions of [redacted] are not entirely under the control of their agents, but ADC was unresponsive to my concerns.The public health concerns are secondary, however, to the fraud committed against me during this transaction. ADC voided the contract by not upholding their end. Before purchasing, I shopped around and chose ADC for one reason only: the $100 Cruise Cash incentive.As far as their cancellation, they made it clear during our conversation that would shake me down for another $100 to cancel through them, and they would not issue any credit or work with me in any way to ensure that I felt safe on the cruise. As you can see from their response to this complaint, they are not even admitting yet that their website has a problem with changing incentive amounts during the checkout. If it is not a mistake, then it is deliberate fraud on their part. Either way, they must take responsibility.I did receive an email dated October 17 that again stated for $100 they would process my cancellation with using the “attached form” but the email had no attachment. (As a side note, I contacted ADC on October 17, not October 22, as ADC claims in their response.) As of October 26, 2014, despite my phone call and this complaint, they still have not provided me with the form that they insist I use. Is this an oversight or deliberate? Are we seeing a pattern here?I absolutely wanted [redacted] to be able to sell my cabin and not hold it for me while I am going through this dispute process, so I notified them directly via phone and email.Regards,[redacted]
Hello [redacted]Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. We were unaware of this issue, and were quite surprised when we received your compliant. We immediately got in touch with the cruise line [redacted]) to investigate it, and have been corresponding with...
them regarding it since that point. We checked our records (as we make notes of all communication that happens regarding customer service issues), and we are certain that we were never contacted by the cruise line regarding this issue, whether it be by phone or email. We have been advised that [redacted] ship employees do not contact travel agencies. Rather, they contact the [redacted] corporate office, who then contacts the travel agency. If you were told by a [redacted] representative on the ship that they attempted to contact us, it seems that there was a miscommunication somewhere, as we have no record of such a phone call or email (in addition to [redacted] saying that this is not what their staff would do on the ship). To this point, we did not refuse to take care of the $800, since we had not been contacted and, as a result, did not know there was an issue with your reservation until you filed this complaint. It is very important to us that you know this, as we value customer service and also believe you were due to receive the full $800 (please read on for details).This issue has been determined to be the result of an error in the cruise line’s system, rather than an error of our travel agency. After your made your reservation on board another [redacted] cruise, we received a confirmation from [redacted] listing a $200 per person onboard credit for your reservation of four people (coming to a total of $800 in onboard credit). The onboard credit was issued by [redacted] as a bonus for making the reservation with them while on that cruise. That means that when the representative onboard the cruise in question told you that the $200 was issued for being returned customers – that was $200 out of the $800 we listed on our invoice. That is why our invoice to you listed a $800 total onboard credit as a gift for you. All gifts for your reservation are listed there, whether they be from the cruise line or our agency. That means that since you only received $200 during your cruise, you are definitely due the other $600. To be clear, it shouldn’t be a total of $800 and then the $200 you already received. If that was the case, our invoice would of listed $1,000 onboard credit in total.[redacted] has acknowledges that they did send us the confirmation showing the $800; however, they are stating that the confirmation was issued that way in error. We always advocate for our customers, and told [redacted] that because they issued the confirmation to us showing the $800, we then issued it to you on our confirmation, so it should be honored. At this point in time, we have escalated this issue to [redacted] customer service department. They are investigating the issue on their end. Regardless, we will not accept any other resolution from the cruise line other than them issuing you the $600 in missing onboard credit back. We’re just waiting to hear back from them as to when the refund will be issued.Thanks again for bringing this issue to our attention, as we believe that you certainly deserve the $600 that you did not receive. We will advocate on your behalf for it to be issued as quickly as possible. We will contact you as soon as the cruise line gives us an update regarding when the funds will be issued to you. We will send you an update no later than the end of this week, even if they do not update us (as we will at least let you know its latest status).We thank you for your time, patience, and repeat business. We truly value you as a customer, and will make sure that your issue is resolved. This was a truly rare occurrence, as we are a recent Account of the Year winner with [redacted] and we have never seen a glitch like this in [redacted] system before. Other than this frustration, we hope that you enjoyed your cruise and that you only have stress free future vacations, which we would love to have the opportunity to continue assisting you with.Regards,Web Sales and Service DepartmentAmerican Discount Cruises & TravelYour Destination for Savings & Service[redacted]Toll Free [redacted]
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Thank you for the kind words and offer. The $50 will be an acceptableresolution as long we are on the same page with this dispute overall, which hasto include the $1544 that I initially agreed to pay based on the entirely falseClick Bait that your site offered. So given my options by the Revdex.com, I have toclick Reject at this time, but only until the status of the larger transactionbetween us is clearly spelled out.I need to reiterate clearly here: the only reason your sitegot my business over all the competing offers was the $100 Cruise Cash offered.Period. Without that offer on step 3, we would not be communicating at all.I am very glad to read in your response that your company isnot some fly-by-night shell, which was a real concern after my web experienceand initial report. You (and the Revdex.com, as well) quite literally added insult toinjury when you refused to extend the courtesy of trying to book a single ticketthrough your own website. You replied without even looking! Although judging acustomer/business over the internet is always a challenge, I pointed you rightat the problem and you still didn’t lift a finger to check on my complaint.Now that I have established some modicum of credibility withyou, please go back and check your email records for October 17 2014, you willfind that you did not send me the cancellation form. I still have the messagein my [redacted] inbox without any attached form. Please report your findingsto the Revdex.com. If there is another technological breakdown here, let’s address itdirectly and move on from there.If your overall offer is $1544 credit towards a cruise + $75Cruise Cash + $25 cash to make up for the discrepancy + $25 cash for my troubleshootingof your website, then I think we can work this out. In contrast, of course, Iwill not be ok with losing $1594 to help fix your website issues ($1644 total promisedvalue minus $50 check)! So please be clear on the overall status of the entiretransaction: what I paid, Cruise Cash, what you are offering as payment, andthe cancellation form.To get the video of the offer changing I had to enlist thehelp of an acquaintance that does IT consulting for the federal government. Icould see exactly what was happening after spending a few hours investigating,but I did not know how to demonstrate it in the face of your refusal to followmy steps on your website. The screenshot was my own, and if the value of theoffer changed in a later step then yes, you got it past me until I got myconfirmation. That is the entire basis of my anger over this situation, beingoffered one value and given another.If we are not on the same page regarding the largest part ofour transaction, then $50 is, obviously, woefully inadequate. I will contact myconsultant this week and ask him what kind of fee he would expect forpinpointing a problem with a retail website and documenting it as carefully ashe did. He told me that he found over a dozen instances of the same changehappening while he was investigating it for me, and that was just in oneevening.I look forward to your response; your last reply gives mehope that we can work this out amicably. Regards,[redacted]
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Calibri} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Calibri; min-height: 13.0px} span.s1 {text-decoration: underline ; color: #0079cd} Hello, We have looked into the history of the reservation that [redacted] is referencing, and...
would like to take this opportunity to respond and demonstrate that we certainly do not have deceptive business practices. We have been in business for almost 15 years now, and always strive for the very best customer service, in addition to our great deals. We found that this reservation was made on our consumer web site [redacted] on February 21, 2017. On Step 6 of the booking process, the customer is required to review and agree to our company’s terms and conditions, as well as the cruise line’s cancellation policy. All of our clients who book through us online are unable to confirm a reservation through our web site without first confirming that they have read and agree to these terms. Please reference the first attached screen shot, from Step 6 of our web site’s booking process, to see what we are referring to. Within the terms and conditions of our company, we do list our cancellation policy. The specific section of our terms that refers to this reads as follows: “We charge a $100.00 cancelation fee per stateroom/room. We reserve the right to require a letter of cancelation, signed by the person(s) that paid for a reservation, in order to process the cancelation of the reservation. The credit card used to initially purchase the reservation will be automatically charged our cancelation fee, unless the canceling customer provides a new credit card to charge in their cancelation letter. If cash, money order or check was used to purchase the reservation, the customer will be invoiced for the cancelation fee (which will be due immediately). ADC will not cancel a reservation until this charge/fee has been successfully processed/received, even if the cancelation letter has been submitted by the customer.” The cancellation fee is also listed on every official invoice that our company sends to our customers. The official invoices are the invoices emailed to the customer, after the automatically generated invoice that is sent immediately after making a reservation on our web site (which also has a link whereby the customer can access our terms and conditions, along with the cruise line’s cancellation policy). Our records indicate that [redacted] was emailed official invoices on February 24, 2017 and October 12, 2017. Furthermore, the terms and conditions from our booking process are also listed on the bottom of every page of our web site, via the following link: [redacted] Our records also show that [redacted] initially contacted us on October 12, 2017 regarding cancellation of this reservation. At that point in time, the $98 deposit was already non-refundable, based on the cruise line’s cancellation policy. As listed in their cancellation policy, which the customer agreed to when booking online, the deposit paid for this cruise became non-refundable as of 89 days prior to the cruise start date. With a cruise start date of December 23, 2017, 89 days prior was September 23, 2017, which was prior to [redacted]'s call to us requesting cancellation. Please reference the second screen shot attached, to see an excerpt from our web site, disclosing this information (which the customer must state that they’ve read and agree to prior to making a reservation). We have found that our company’s cancellation fee is necessary in order to provide our customers with the generous booking bonuses that we do. We’re sure that the booking bonuses we offer are one of the reasons [redacted] has booked several cruises through us in the past. For example, this particular reservation was set to receive $240 in Onboard Credit from our agency, which the cruise line was not providing. We have found that many travel agencies charge cancellation fees, and some even charge a cruise booking processing fee (which we do not charge). Ultimately, we’ve found that customers are okay with paying the $100 cancellation fee in the rare times that they cancel, when comparing it to the high value of the booking bonuses that they benefit from when they book trips that they don’t cancel. For example, the $100 cancellation fee for this one reservation is extremely less than the savings that [redacted] benefited from on the several cruises that he did travel on. With the above in mind, we’re confident that we were not deceptive and that our business practices are fair. However, we truly appreciate [redacted], especially as a repeat customer, and will waive our cancellation fee in this particular situation, to show good faith. Further, since [redacted] did not return our cancellation form, a manager will be contacting him tomorrow (October 24, 2017) to make sure he has not changed his mind regarding the cancellation, as the reservation is still active and the balance cannot be paid later than 5pm EST tomorrow. If [redacted] chooses to cancel, or if his reservation is automatically cancelled by the cruise line, due to lack of balance payment, his deposit of $98 will be held in penalty by the cruise line (per their above-referenced cancellation policy).
Review: This website is full of incorrect information and as a results requires users to enter all the data and then when you get to enter a credit card it tells you that the cruise no longer available. Before I realized that the 12 rooms that were advertised to be available on [redacted] were actually a fluke I ordered airplane tickets to Miami. When I tried to book my trip thereafter it all became clear, the website was not updated real time and was far behind on the real data. As it turns out the real data becomes available as soon as you try to book. Even then the website continues to display rooms are available after it tells you they are not.
Now I began going through every reservation to the end to check if it is available. Finally, I found one that would work with my flight. I didn't want to risk it so I decided to call the customer service and have them book all 4 cabins at once.
I called, a rep named [redacted] picked up. She said she will call the cruise line to check on the availability and place 4 rooms on hold and when done she will call me back. I hung up and waited for an hour. Then I called the cruise line and asked if any rooms were available and was told there are 6. The deal from the website was slightly better and I decided to wait for the call from [redacted]. Twenty minutes later I called again, another rep picked up and told me she was on the phone and will get back to me. I waited for another hour and called again, another rep told me she was busy and will call me in 20 min.
[redacted] finally called. She told me she was checking the availability NOW(2.5 hrs later) and a minute later said the rooms were gone. As a result I had to cancel my vacation, the plane tickets all bc [redacted] had me on the hook for all this time. Each time I called I was told she was with the customer. When I complained, she said a manager will call me back. Never happened. This is the worsted customer service ever! This company should not have the A+ rating.Desired Settlement: Find a way to correct the problem. Which would be a way for my family to get on that cruise or similar cruises.
Business
Response:
Hello [redacted],We have reviewed our customer service records and can confirm that you contacted us with an inquiry about a [redacted] cruise, not a [redacted] cruise as was mentioned in your statement to the Revdex.com.In any case, our web site does not require a customer to get as far as providing a credit card to find out if a cruise is available or not. We have thousands of users a day on our web site, and have never received such an error report. Just in case, we did testing and are not seeing such an error occurring. Further, the stateroom inventory displayed on our web site is in real time. When a stateroom is listed on "step 4" of our online quoting process, that stateroom is being sent to us electronically by the cruise line at the very moment the request is made.Due to the nature of stateroom inventory being based on the live availability that the cruise line electronically sends to our web site, it is possible that the available staterooms were fluctuating while you were shopping on our web site. That is why it is not advisable to book flights prior to confirming a cruise. Of course, we cannot accept responsibility for you deciding to do so. Thankfully, it sounds like you were able to cancel the flights.It is also possible that the cruise line was experiencing a technical issue regarding the information that they send electronically to travel agent web sites (such as ours). However, such an issue has not been reported to us, and no other web site users reported such an issue to us.We did bring your experience to the attention of [redacted] and they did mention that fluctuations in inventory may have been a result of several people shopping for the same inventory on the same cruise at the same time, as the inventory is fed through to many travel sites in addition to ours (and, of course, [redacted]’s direct web site). We also brought this to the attention of [redacted], since that is the cruise line mentioned in the statement, who also did not know of any issue with their system’s stateroom availability data (although we couldn’t provide them with an exact sailing to check, as we don’t know which specific sailing you were checking on their brand).Regarding the delay in [redacted] getting back to you, we certainly apologize if you felt that the time it took her to get back to you was too long. After looking over the records, we do see that there wasquite a bit of confusion (on [redacted]’s end) because when [redacted] called [redacted] to check on the availability of the cruise you called about, she was told that the entire cruise was chartered and not available for sale. This did not make sense to [redacted], so she immediately brought this to the attention of one of her managers. The manager then called [redacted] and was told that the sailing was not chartered, but was sold out. Our manager then questioned this further, since our web site and [redacted]’s web site were both showing availability at that point in time. [redacted] then said that there was no availability at that very moment in time, but that there could possibly be staterooms that were being temporarily held by the system, as the users of the various travel web sites that are connected to [redacted] were making inquiries (resulting in theinventory fluctuating a lot during the time period that you were contacting us).Ultimately, we can assure you that the complaints you have about our web site are unique, and that we cannot replicate them. Further, the lack of quick quoting from [redacted] was a result of inconsistent information from [redacted]. We feel that our A+ rating is well deserved, as we sell cruises worldwide to thousands and thousands of satisfied customers every year, and have won numerous awards from some of the most well-known travel vendors in the world. Unfortunately, you experienced a very rare series of events that we do not anticipate recurring, but we sincerely thank you for bringing this to our attention.We would love for you to give us another chance, to show you that what you experienced was not in our control and not indicative of our company. If you would like one of our travel agents to find a cruise for you, and give you a great deal on it, you can call us toll free at [redacted] and ask to speak with our Office Manager, [redacted], or our Assistant Office Manager, [redacted], if [redacted] is not available. [redacted] and [redacted] are well aware of this situation, and will be sure to connect you with a travel agent that will take great care of you.
Consumer
Response:
Review: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
This proves my point further. Even when responding to the inquiry the business refuses to pay attention. I never said that I had to put in the credit card number to get the status but I had to walk through the steps to get to payment stage to get an update. I never said that I called about [redacted] I said that was the cruise I was after when I realized I was presented with wrong information. When I found another cruise that could work for me - this is when I called. The biggest problem described here is dishonest approach from the rep. Who told me she will call [redacted] to place a hold on those cabins she said yes hung up and called me back in 2.5 hours without doing anything! She also said she will be calling back after she consults with her managers, which also never happened. This is a consistent pattern of dishonesty and yout trying to explain this treatment confirms that this is considered acceptable customer service.
Regards,
Review: Hello, I chose to book through this company for one reason, they offered $100 in Cruise Cash for the specific room I booked. When I received my confirmation, the value was changed to $75. I have screenshots of the original transaction and a witness to verify the $100 offer. I have no confidence in this agent after pulling this switch and wish to take my business elsewhere.Desired Settlement: A full $1544.44 refund so that I may re-book a cruise through an honest agency.
Business
Response:
Hello,We looked up this reservation and can confirm that the customer was always supposed to receive $75 in total Cruise Cash, so she is receiving what was displayed while she was making her reservation on our web site. Cruise Cash is calculated based on the cost of the cruise being purchased, and $75 is the exact amount that someone would get booking the reservation she booked. We have attached a copy of the confirmation page that the customer saw when booking this cruise on our web site, which (as you can see) shows a $75 value for the Cruise Cash.We checked the service history on this reservation, as our customer service staff keeps records of all correspondence with our clients. We have found that this customer never contacted us regarding a discrepancy of the value of her Cruise Cash, so we are quite surprised that she would file a complaint about it. We certainly would have clarified any confusion regarding this. Further, we have noticed that this complaint to the Revdex.com was filed on 10/17/2014. Coincidentally, that is the same day that the customer called us to let us know that she desired to cancel the reservation as a result of being worried about the Ebola virus. She contacted us around 2:30pm and we explained to her that she would have to complete a cancellation form (which we e-mailed to her a couple of minutes later), and would be charged the $100 cancellation fee that she agreed to when making her reservation on our web site (per the terms and conditions that must be agreed to upon making a reservation). Further, we explained that if she cancelled she would be in penalty with the cruise line (also, per the terms and conditions of her reservation), and only the $86.44 taxes would be refunded to her. The client said that she understood, and asked to be sent the cancellation form, which we did.We did not hear from the client since that point, and we did not receive the cancellation form. So, the client did not end up cancelling her cruise.Please let us know if more details are required.
Consumer
Response:
Review: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:Wow! I am not used to a company reacting this way when you point out a problem with their website. It is obvious that they did not even bother to check their own website before replying. If you try to purchase even now you will find instances of offering a cruise cash amount when you select the ticket and then changing the amount (always in their favor) at the last second on the final checkout page. In the instance of my purchase, on their first page it lists the different incentive types and amounts for each cabin class. With the default booking of 2 passengers it does indeed default to $75 Cruise Cash. As soon as you select 1 passenger, however, the amounts go up, in my case to $100 Cruise Cash. That is what I selected, agreed to, and insist that they honor. Somewhere along the process they reverted my incentive down to a 2-person amount, which I found when carefully going over my emailed confirmation.It is quite true that I have concerns over travelling on THE EXACT SAME ship that carried the Texas lab worker at the center of the recent Ebola scare. I and my companions are very unhappy with [redacted] lack of response to that incident, and their apparent outright false press release. It would be nice if the travel agency could help us with those concerns and provide us with more specific information. I realize that the actions of [redacted] are not entirely under the control of their agents, but ADC was unresponsive to my concerns.The public health concerns are secondary, however, to the fraud committed against me during this transaction. ADC voided the contract by not upholding their end. Before purchasing, I shopped around and chose ADC for one reason only: the $100 Cruise Cash incentive. As far as their cancellation, they made it clear during our conversation that would shake me down for another $100 to cancel through them, and they would not issue any credit or work with me in any way to ensure that I felt safe on the cruise. As you can see from their response to this complaint, they are not even admitting yet that their website has a problem with changing incentive amounts during the checkout. If it is not a mistake, then it is deliberate fraud on their part. Either way, they must take responsibility.I did receive an email dated October 17 that again stated for $100 they would process my cancellation with using the “attached form” but the email had no attachment. (As a side note, I contacted ADC on October 17, not October 22, as ADC claims in their response.) As of October 26, 2014, despite my phone call and this complaint, they still have not provided me with the form that they insist I use. Is this an oversight or deliberate? Are we seeing a pattern here?I absolutely wanted [redacted] to be able to sell my cabin and not hold it for me while I am going through this dispute process, so I notified them directly via phone and email.Regards,[redacted]
Business
Response:
Thank you for providing more information.In your original complaint, that we received from the Revdex.com on 10/23/2014, you claimed that you had screen shots of the original transaction and a witness to verify the $100 offer. We thought you were referring to confirmation page (also called Step 7 on our web site), which is why we sent a screen shot of it in our response. This showed that the $75 Cruise Cash matched the invoice you received via e-mail after booking.Now that you followed up to clarify your concern, along with amore detailed description and video, we now understand that you are referring to a discrepancy between the initially advertised Cruise Cash amount (on Step 3 of our web site's booking engine) and what you ended up agreeing to and purchasing (from Steps 5 and onward). We apologize for the miscommunication, as we did not understand the full extent of the issue prior to seeing the video or receiving the additional details from you. The video that you sent was extremely helpful, and we truly appreciate the time you took to record it and submit it. We can assure you that in no way was this an intentional glitch. In fact, this was the first report of this issue that we received. After seeing this video, we immediately contacted our IT department and had them turn the sale off until it was fixed (which it now is). It was an issue related to the way that the cruise line's pricing feeds through from their system to ours when there is a single occupancy reservation (such as yours), and the way that our Cruise Cash promotion was being calculated based on that information. This issue was only affecting single occupancy reservation quotes, and only on a limited number of categories on certain sailings. So, it was only occurring in a very small number of circumstances, which is probably why it wasn't reported by anyone (until you, which we thank you for doing).The value listed on Step 5 (of $75 in your booking's example, and of $100 in the video you provided) was the correct amount. The glitch was happening only on Step 3 of the online booking process, during which too high of an amount was being offered. As you can see in the video you provided, the issue was resolving itself on Step 5 of our online booking process (prior to the customer having to provide any personal details or payment information). This means that the correct $75 value was displayed for you during Steps 5 an 6, prior to agreeing to the reservation details, and prior to putting in your credit card information. Regardless, this is still unacceptable to us, as we never want our customers to experience such a discrepancy.As a result of this new information you've provided, we will be issuing a $50 check to you immediately ($25 to cover the difference in Cruise Cash that was being quoted, plus an additional $25 for the frustration you experienced associated with this glitch).We thank you for your business, and we apologize for the inconvenience this caused. Further, we can assure you that this is not characteristic of our company, which we think our A+ Revdex.com rating supports.
Consumer
Response:
Review: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Thank you for the kind words and offer. The $50 will be an acceptableresolution as long we are on the same page with this dispute overall, which hasto include the $1544 that I initially agreed to pay based on the entirely falseClick Bait that your site offered. So given my options by the Revdex.com, I have toclick Reject at this time, but only until the status of the larger transactionbetween us is clearly spelled out.I need to reiterate clearly here: the only reason your sitegot my business over all the competing offers was the $100 Cruise Cash offered.Period. Without that offer on step 3, we would not be communicating at all.I am very glad to read in your response that your company isnot some fly-by-night shell, which was a real concern after my web experienceand initial report. You (and the Revdex.com, as well) quite literally added insult toinjury when you refused to extend the courtesy of trying to book a single ticketthrough your own website. You replied without even looking! Although judging acustomer/business over the internet is always a challenge, I pointed you rightat the problem and you still didn’t lift a finger to check on my complaint.Now that I have established some modicum of credibility withyou, please go back and check your email records for October 17 2014, you willfind that you did not send me the cancellation form. I still have the messagein my [redacted] inbox without any attached form. Please report your findingsto the Revdex.com. If there is another technological breakdown here, let’s address itdirectly and move on from there.If your overall offer is $1544 credit towards a cruise + $75Cruise Cash + $25 cash to make up for the discrepancy + $25 cash for my troubleshootingof your website, then I think we can work this out. In contrast, of course, Iwill not be ok with losing $1594 to help fix your website issues ($1644 total promisedvalue minus $50 check)! So please be clear on the overall status of the entiretransaction: what I paid, Cruise Cash, what you are offering as payment, andthe cancellation form.To get the video of the offer changing I had to enlist thehelp of an acquaintance that does IT consulting for the federal government. Icould see exactly what was happening after spending a few hours investigating,but I did not know how to demonstrate it in the face of your refusal to followmy steps on your website. The screenshot was my own, and if the value of theoffer changed in a later step then yes, you got it past me until I got myconfirmation. That is the entire basis of my anger over this situation, beingoffered one value and given another.If we are not on the same page regarding the largest part ofour transaction, then $50 is, obviously, woefully inadequate. I will contact myconsultant this week and ask him what kind of fee he would expect forpinpointing a problem with a retail website and documenting it as carefully ashe did. He told me that he found over a dozen instances of the same changehappening while he was investigating it for me, and that was just in oneevening.I look forward to your response; your last reply gives mehope that we can work this out amicably. Regards,
Review: I booked a cruise through this agency. They offered $800 onboard credit as a special gift.
On-board, when I asked the customer service desk about this, they said we don't have anything, except the $200 shipboard credit, issued by the cruise c/o itself for us as a returned customers.
After I showed them the email from the agency, they called and emailed them regarding this, but the agency refused to take care of the $800 and rejected to pay it.
I spent the money during the cruise in truly knowledge of this $800 credit. Therefore, at the end of the cruise, I had to pay $700 extra directly to the cruise company.Desired Settlement: Completely refusal.
Business
Response:
Hello [redacted]Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. We were unaware of this issue, and were quite surprised when we received your compliant. We immediately got in touch with the cruise line [redacted]) to investigate it, and have been corresponding with them regarding it since that point. We checked our records (as we make notes of all communication that happens regarding customer service issues), and we are certain that we were never contacted by the cruise line regarding this issue, whether it be by phone or email. We have been advised that [redacted] ship employees do not contact travel agencies. Rather, they contact the [redacted] corporate office, who then contacts the travel agency. If you were told by a [redacted] representative on the ship that they attempted to contact us, it seems that there was a miscommunication somewhere, as we have no record of such a phone call or email (in addition to [redacted] saying that this is not what their staff would do on the ship). To this point, we did not refuse to take care of the $800, since we had not been contacted and, as a result, did not know there was an issue with your reservation until you filed this complaint. It is very important to us that you know this, as we value customer service and also believe you were due to receive the full $800 (please read on for details).This issue has been determined to be the result of an error in the cruise line’s system, rather than an error of our travel agency. After your made your reservation on board another [redacted] cruise, we received a confirmation from [redacted] listing a $200 per person onboard credit for your reservation of four people (coming to a total of $800 in onboard credit). The onboard credit was issued by [redacted] as a bonus for making the reservation with them while on that cruise. That means that when the representative onboard the cruise in question told you that the $200 was issued for being returned customers – that was $200 out of the $800 we listed on our invoice. That is why our invoice to you listed a $800 total onboard credit as a gift for you. All gifts for your reservation are listed there, whether they be from the cruise line or our agency. That means that since you only received $200 during your cruise, you are definitely due the other $600. To be clear, it shouldn’t be a total of $800 and then the $200 you already received. If that was the case, our invoice would of listed $1,000 onboard credit in total.[redacted] has acknowledges that they did send us the confirmation showing the $800; however, they are stating that the confirmation was issued that way in error. We always advocate for our customers, and told [redacted] that because they issued the confirmation to us showing the $800, we then issued it to you on our confirmation, so it should be honored. At this point in time, we have escalated this issue to [redacted] customer service department. They are investigating the issue on their end. Regardless, we will not accept any other resolution from the cruise line other than them issuing you the $600 in missing onboard credit back. We’re just waiting to hear back from them as to when the refund will be issued.Thanks again for bringing this issue to our attention, as we believe that you certainly deserve the $600 that you did not receive. We will advocate on your behalf for it to be issued as quickly as possible. We will contact you as soon as the cruise line gives us an update regarding when the funds will be issued to you. We will send you an update no later than the end of this week, even if they do not update us (as we will at least let you know its latest status).We thank you for your time, patience, and repeat business. We truly value you as a customer, and will make sure that your issue is resolved. This was a truly rare occurrence, as we are a recent Account of the Year winner with [redacted] and we have never seen a glitch like this in [redacted] system before. Other than this frustration, we hope that you enjoyed your cruise and that you only have stress free future vacations, which we would love to have the opportunity to continue assisting you with.Regards,Web Sales and Service DepartmentAmerican Discount Cruises & TravelYour Destination for Savings & Servicewww.AmericanDiscountCruises.comToll Free [redacted]