American Discount Cruises Reviews (%countItem)
American Discount Cruises Rating
Address: 200 Craig Road Suite 201, Manalapan, New Jersey, United States, 07726
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I recently booked a cruise (*** to Alaska on 8/24/19) through this travel agency on the condition of getting a $200 onboard credit if I used my ***. This was the promotion being offered, I confirmed this over the phone with a travel agent at this agency, and I followed up with an email specifically to make sure I would get this promotion (I have email records from April 2019). Unfortunately after the cruise, the travel agency said I was 'misinformed' and that they would be unable to apply the promotion to my sailing. I followed up with them today and they said there was nothing they could do except offer a $25 onboard credit if I booked with them again.
Anything you guys could do to help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure what to do next.
To whom it may concern,
We are writing in response to *** complaint about his cruise on the *** that he booked with our agency. Management has reviewed this further and found that this reservation absolutely would have qualified for the *** promotion. *** contacted us in April 2019 and had requested us to apply the promotion to his booking via email. Unfortunately, this request was overlooked while we were servicing a different request on his reservation. That is certainly not typical of our agency, and as soon as it was brought to our attention that it was overlooked we did immediately look into seeing if we could apply it at that time. Unfortunately, because he had already sailed, Norwegian would not allow us to apply the promotion to his reservation retroactively.
However, since our agency failed to complete this request before he sailed and ultimately have Norwegian apply the promotion, we will be honoring the promotion directly from our agency. Since the *** promotion would have provided an additional $200 onboard credit to the reservation, we will be sending a rebate check in the amount of $200. This rebate check will be sent following this post.
We apologize again for any frustration this may have caused and we hope he wishes to book with us going forward. We certainly wish him well on his future travels!
Best Regards,
The Customer Service Team
American Discount Cruises & Travel
Got me a very good price. Saved hundreds compared to other sites.
Thanks Todd! We look forward to giving you great deals in the future as well.
On February 24, 2019, I placed a deposit on a cruise with American Discount Cruises (ADC) in the amount of $120. Due to the possibility that I might later have to cancel my reservation, I studied carefully those portions of ADC's website that displayed the applicable cancellation penalty. Those disclosures stated that I would forfeit my deposit of $120 if I canceled my reservation before early October 2019. I was okay with that potential penalty and, on that basis, proceeded with reserving my cabin.
One week later, on March 4, 2019, I received a fulfillment email from ADC stating that in the event I canceled my cruise reservation, ADC would charge me “$100” per “cabin.” The referenced $100 penalty was inconsistent with the $120 penalty that I had found on ADC's website at the time of booking, so I called their customer service number for clarification and was informed that there are actually two cancellation penalties: A $120 cancellation penalty PLUS a $100 cancellation penalty!
The additional $100 cancellation penalty was surprising. At the time of booking my cruise with ADC, I consulted a conspicuous link on their website entitled “Cruise Line’s Cancellation Policy,” which described the $120 cancellation penalty. The additional $100 cancellation penalty was apparently buried deep the ‘click-wrap' agreement that I had accepted, where it was easily overlooked due to its inconspicuousness and the fact that I would never have expected to incur two separate cancellation penalties in connection with a single transaction.
I attempted to resolve this issue through multiple phone conversations with ADC, to no avail. I even walked ADC through ways in which they could make their double cancellation penalty conspicuous to future customers and not confusing. However, ADC is apparently more interested in $100, even though have agreed to waive the same penalty before for other former customers, as shown, e.g., their response to another complaint on this Revdex.com page
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Calibri} span.s1 {color: #1f497d} Hello,
Our company’s cancellation fee is disclosed prior to making a reservation. It is listed in our web site’s terms and conditions, which are provided for all users via a link at the bottom of all pages on our web site, as well as on step 6 of our online booking process. We require that all users read and agree to the terms in order to make a reservation on our web site. We have electronic record that you indicated that you did so, as you would not have been able to make a reservation had you not done so.
On step 3 of the booking process, you select the particular category and fare that you would like to book. At that point in time we do disclose if the fare you’ve selected has a vendor-imposed non-refundable aspect to it. Just because we explain that the fare you selected has a non-refundable aspect per the vendor it does not mean that we cannot disclose our company’s cancellation fee at a later point in the booking process (prior to processing the reservation and charging you). We continually do market research and have found that the flow of our booking engine, as it relates to such disclosures, is very common.
We do value your feedback, so we have a couple of options for you:
Option 1: We can put in a request with the cruise line that they allow us to transfer your reservation directly to them. If they accept this request, you will no longer be booked with our company. As a result, you will not receive the $75 in onboard credit that we were going to provide you as a booking bonus. The benefit to you here is that, after the transfer has been done, your reservation will no longer be subject the terms and conditions specific to our company that you agreed to when making your reservation. Further, we would normally charge our cancellation fee to a customer that transfers their reservation away from our company (also, per our terms and conditions). We will waive our cancellation fee if you select this option.
Option 2: You don’t transfer your reservation directly to the cruise line, keeping everything as is. If you end up wanting to cancel your reservation in the future we can review your reason for cancelation regarding us waiving our fee. Our cancellation fee is not usually waived. We will not consider waiving our fee at this point in time as you have indicated that you do not currently wish to cancel.
We’ve found that a cancellation fee is quite common in the travel industry, both among travel agencies and vendors. We’ve found that the fee varies by company (as far as its amount, and when it would be charged), but is often a possibility. We have found that our company’s cancellation fee is necessary and below average in amount. It is a revenue source that helps us provide our customers with the generous booking bonuses that we do, and also helps offset lost revenues from servicing reservations that do not end up traveling. We have found that many travel agencies charge a cruise booking processing fee (which we do not charge), in addition to their cancellation fees. Ultimately, we’ve found that customers are okay with paying a cancellation fee in the rare times that they cancel and aren't booking a new trip in its place, when comparing it to the high value of the booking bonuses that they benefit from when they book trips that they don’t cancel.
Please bear in mind that besides providing our customers with outstanding deals (always giving a better deal than booking directly with the vendor), we also provide extensive customer support services to our customers – examples of our service include providing our experience and expertise in relation to planning excellent vacations, as well as advocating for our customers if an issue surfaces that the customer would otherwise have to advocate for themselves regarding (if they were booked directly with the vendor). The term of the service we may provide on a single reservation can potentially be months, or even years long, depending on how far in advance the reservation is initially made.
We feel that our cancellation fee is quite reasonable and fair, and our over 16 years of successful operations in our industry speaks to that. As you alluded to, we do try to be flexible regarding the fee when a customer is in a situation that we feel warrants it, but simply making the reservation on our web site, agreeing to those fees, and then saying you don’t want to be subject to them is not fair. You chose to make the reservation with our company and indicated that you agreed to our terms. Ultimately, you are asking us to waive a fee that you are not currently facing. You have not requested for your reservation to be cancelled, so a cancel fee has not been charged.
We hope that you consider the above and give us the opportunity to continue servicing your reservation, but in good faith we are proposing option 1 as a way for you to not be subject to the terms and conditions that you agreed to.
Please let us know how you would like to proceed. If we do not hear back from you within the next 5 business days, we will assume you are choosing option 2 as that option does not really require action on your part (aside from paying your balance once that comes due). We will not offer option 1 after 5 business day from the time we have posted this reply, as we are making a one-time exception for you.
Complaint: ***
Thank you for the opportunity to address American Discount Cruise’s (ADC’s) response.
Unfortunately, ADC’s response represents the proverbial Hobson’s choice:
ADC’s Option 1 is no option at all. As ADC knows or should have known when offering Option 1, Pullmantur does not permit the transfer of bookings from U.S. travel agents to Pullmantur, as Pullmantur’s headquarters stated to me this morning (12 March 2019). Therefore, my family would have to cancel our existing booking with ADC, pay the cruise line’s $120 cancellation fee, re-book with Pullmantur, and face a further cancellation penalty of $120 if we were subsequently unable to find reasonable airfare to Dubai and needed to cancel the rebooking. ADC’s Option 1, in effect, actually increases our potential exposure to Pullmantur’s cancellation penalties, from $120 to $240 in total, not to mention the fact that we would lose our anticipated $75 in on-board credit by having to re-book directly with Pullmantur, etc.
ADC’s Option 2 is likewise not a proper offer. Basically, ADC is saying that my family can keep our current booking with ADC, and if we later cancel that booking, ADC may choose -- or may not choose -- to charge us ADC's disputed $100 cancellation penalty. That is an equivocal offer at best. In other words, Option 2 offers the same scenario that my family has faced to date and, therefore, does nothing to address the crux of our complaint.
Given that Pullmatur does not permit ADC's proposal to transfer our existing booking, and given further that Option 2 represents no meaningful change in ADC’s position, we are compelled, regrettably, to decline ADC Options 1 and 2.
If ADC is willing to cancel our booking now and not charge its $100 cancellation fee (i.e., we would pay Pullmantur’s $120 cancellation fee only), we are open to that possibility. Quite simply, our experience with ADC to date has been so disappointing that we feel driven down that path and compelled to forfeit our existing booking, to pay Pullmantur's one-time $120 cancellation fee, and to go in an entirely different direction with our vacation planning. Again, this is not the result that we had hoped for or expected when we booked with ADC, nor is it an outcome that ultimately pleases us, but we do not perceive another good option at this stage, given the time and energy already expended in trying to resolve this dispute, etc.
We will await ADC’s further response.
Regards
I've been booking with American Discount for years now. They always have the best deal, and are so easy to work with. I usually book with them over the phone as their agents are really helpful, but I have booked on their web site a couple of times as well and that's gone good too.
Very easy to make a cruise booking with. Just got back from our vacation and would go with them again for sure. Highly recommend.
Hello,
It's been a long time coming for this review and my first review with the Revdex.com. This is my immediate families second purchase with this company to use them as our Travel Agent. First one was two years ago in 2017 for a cruise and second was recently (about 4 months ago) for upcoming travel this year. Our first experience was not the best, but not horrible. Most of American Discounts customers they get through their online bookings for cruises are for one reason and one reason only - they provide perks that the direct cruise line doesn't. Biggest one is Onboard Credits. The reason my review comes now is because it has been the absolute WORST experience with this company since we booked our Anniversary Trip with them to the point I told my spouse I want to cancel and not go anymore.
Here it is... Purchased a cruise with MSC. Paid in full, on same day of booking, as well purchased their version of "travel insurance" on top of the cruise fare. Only got one perk which was HUGE to us as we had to save for a few years to go on this Anniversary Trip and that was $250 onboard credit. Really for 12 days this was very low for them considering some being $400 and up for most cruises that are even less days than ours. Received receipt and confirmation for payment and all details/terms/conditions and so on. First MSC Cruise so we did the status match program and I was matched to Silver and my spouse was matched to Classic based on our loyalty and time with Princess Cruises. With that match your Travel Agent has to complete and make sure anything that you qualify for is taken care of. In this case each passenger in this booking received 5% discount as well as a few other small perks such as a fruit basket and one free cocktail (welcome back drink), etc. When I contacted American Discount about getting the 5% discount, the First Lady argued with me and advised they don't apply discounts (which is 100% not true). Called back again and got someone else on the phone who couldn't wait to get me off the phone and was super pushy and rushed me off the phone. I then decided I would send an email - got an email back stating I could either have the discount, but they would cut my Onboard Credit down to $125 from $250? WHAT??? Asked for a manager to call me. Spoke to a young lady who said that was a typo and its actually $225. They punish the customer for being loyal customers and their response is we only have so much we can work with in terms of funding. Im sorry but what is $25 to them. Its a heck of a lot to the customers.
Next, signed a form that had all of our personal information on it ALL including passport numbers, addresses, and so on. This company is responsible to enter the information (or pass it along to the cruise line) and complete your on-line check in for you by communicating with MSC. They sent me an email stating this request was completed, I logged into our MSC profile online and they literally entered someone's else info into my profile and entered my info into my spouses profile. Complained of course because this is extremely worrying and they said oh it was just small typo (same answer for the onboard credit being only $125). They didn't care at all, just treated it like no big deal. I was worried because if I go to get own the ship, there is no way we would have made it very far with our passport info being incorrect and for the wrong person. Really glad I caught it. Check this out, American Discount has now deleted all the passport info from my spouses profile and just left it blank. They didn't even update it to the correct information. Pretty sure this is a huge legal matter for any Travel Agent to insert others passport info into another profile.
Lastly, in between all of this we had other questions about our cruise and NO ONE from this company could answer them. Also, at one point when I called to follow up, the agent couldn't even find our booking and I literally got off the phone and broke down in tears it was so stressful. Most of the time they would guess and we would find out through just contacting the cruise line directly that they were incorrect and provided us with false information. One big thing to mention is they are a robotic based business - when you ask for someone to call you or they tell you someone will be contacting you, MOST of the time you will not get a call back but an email. It is so unprofessional you feel like you are always talking to a robot when you see the emails come through. I understand a Travel Agent is not going to be able to provide answers all the time and may make human error as we all do, but to the extreme of our situation its just unacceptable.
Bottom line I have spent numerous hours between being on the phone with customer service, support and "managers", emailing, trying to get things sorted out, it has caused a lot of anxiety and emotions for us because we do not trust this company at all. Communication is HORRIBLE, the departments and people at this company do not communicate with one another or read though profiles to see what has gone on before they provide you answers, they have excuses for everything and blame the cruise line for most mistakes, they care more about their money, than making you the customer happy, $25 - it has cost me more than this in my time, but they will punish the customer if you do any kind of loyalty match with a cruise line which means they do not price match as they advertise because this is pretty much the same if not similar scenario. If they do actually price match, you better believe whatever perks you had will be removed. We have friends and family that purchased vacations through them and have recently canceled due to seeing what has gone on with us and the reviews from other sites. We are super easy going people in our early 30's, don't have high expectations at all, just want we paid for and saw advertised and have NEVER experienced anything of this sort. Im terrified as to what is going to happen next, I don't have a good feeling about this Anniversary Trip. Lesson learned for my family. Save yourself and family the hassle and DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!!
Hello,
We are truly sorry that you are dissatisfied with our services. We have read over your concerns and would like to take this opportunity to address them.
First, we want to say that we certainly did make mistakes with your reservation, which we are truly sorry for. We are always striving to be error free, and our staff is constantly receiving training towards such a performance level. Feedback like yours is very important to us, and we appreciate it.
As far as us emailing you, we will put a note on your client profile advising our staff to only call you (not sending emails in response to your inquiries), as that seems to be your preferred form of contact. We do not have a policy of only emailing customers, but have found that most of our customers prefer that method of communication. We usually respond to a customer in the manner that they initiated the communication, but we don’t have a firm policy regarding it – as long as we respond to the customer (whether it be by phone or email), that has historically worked for our customers.
We did make a typo in an email that was sent to you, stating that you’d only get a $125 credit for the reservation, while we actually had in our records that it would be $225. This matter was reviewed with you via phone by one of our managers in February, and it was our understanding that your concerns were addressed to your satisfaction during that conversation. Regardless, we truly apologize for any frustration you experienced as a result of that. You have been invoiced for the correct amount of onboard credit and we can assure you that you will be receiving it. We also understand that you are not happy that your onboard credit was reduced from $250 to $225 when your price was dropped. Most of the gifts that we provide our customers with are based on the cost of the vacation, as is explained within our company’s terms and conditions. That being said, if we promise you a certain onboard credit and then your cost lowers (after the fact), we do have to lower the value of the gift we are promising. While we know this is not what you want to have happen, we simply cannot afford to keep gift values at their original values if prices lower. We think it’s reasonable, and have found that most of our customers understand. In addition, as we explained in February, should your cost increase our gift value can also increase in relation to the price as well.
Regarding the negative tone that you explained regarding the phone call you made, we will absolutely look into this and if we find that the staff member that spoke with you needs additional training, we will do so immediately. We apologize for any frustration you felt as a result of any interaction with that representative. It is absolutely not feedback that we are used to receiving, and it is also not acceptable to us for it to ever occur.
As far as the passport concerns you have shared, we can assure you that we did not delete any information from your or your spouse’s profiles. If there was any incorrect information input in there by us, it did not belong to someone else and instead was simply a typo. We apologize for any concerns that this has resulted in for you. However, it is also our understanding that these errors have already been corrected.
We really feel bad that you are feeling so much anxiety about the trip. We have looked over your reservation and do not see anything that would lead to a problem at this time. Your reservation is paid in full, and you will absolutely be able to go on this cruise (provided that you bring the appropriate identification needed to travel, of course).
Please let us know if you have any further concerns. We believe that you already have the name, extension, and direct email address of one of our managers, and would appreciate it if you would reach out directly to them with future concerns or needs via phone or email (however you prefer). This will help to ensure that your concerns are being addressed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
I will try and keep this as short and sweet as possible - I can provide additional details or information anywhere possible.
On my 3rd cruise booking with American Discount Cruise(ADC) I came across a serious issue - which has resulted in me losing $1,465.50 of my $2,668.50 successfully charged by ADC.
The situation on my end and why I am writing this complaint is quite simple on my end and why I feel it unjust and unfair for me to accommodate the $1,465.50 loss due to their error.
As previously stated this is my 3rd booking with this company. Everytime has been very straight forward until this time.
What I did:
1. Selected cruise package for two people. -> System provides grand total as $2,668.50
2. Add offered trip insurance by checking a box that says "YES, include the Chioce Plus Travel insurance for a total of only $129"
3. Page literally relaods, gives me my new "Grand Total: $2797.50"
4. Click the circle - and ONLY option - "Pay in full now: $2,797.50"
5. Enter credit card information
6. Click "Complete your Reservation"
7. Get confirmation e-mail titled: "Confirmed - Your Cruise Booking : 1DJF62" to include one of the first sentences being: Your cruise has been confirmed and paid in full with the cruise line. Then followed by information on the rate INCLUDING showing the $129 trip insurance as a line item in our grand total.
NO where in my wildest dreams - especially since I have used them before - did I anticipate, or expect ANYTHING other than being a confirmed cruise passenger with trip insurance.
Contrary to me correctly following their system prompts and choosing trip insurance, then what I thought was providing payment, then being confirmed that all of this happened - I some how ended up WITHOUT trip insurance due to a self-admitted system glitch on THEIR end.
Of course, this is the one and only time I have ever had to attempt to use the insurance that I purchased.
They refuse to offer any resolution other than "Sorry". I feel dupe
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} p.p3 {margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Calibri} li.li1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Calibri} span.s1 {color: #275d90} span.Apple-tab-span {white-space:pre} ol.ol1 {list-style-type: decimal} Hello,
We have reviewed *** complaint regarding this unfortunate situation and found that there are important aspects that were omitted, which we feel help explain what happened.
*** made a cruise reservation through our web site, and selected option to purchase travel insurance. The cruise reservation was confirmed, but the travel insurance did not process. The client was notified four times that the insurance was not processed, and he was advised of what actions were necessary to complete the purchase.
On 1/26/2018, the cruise confirmation page specifically stated “not purchased yet” in the travel insurance section. Also, on this page there was a cruise reservation number listed but no travel insurance policy On 1/26/2018, *** received an email (at the time he made his reservation) that listed the details of his cruise reservation, and also stated that the travel insurance was not successfully processed. On 2/1/2018, one of our customer service representatives called the phone number that *** provided (for contact purposes regarding this reservation) when making his cruise reservation on our web site, but his voicemail answered. Our representative left a very clear message, informing him that the travel insurance purchase didn’t go through (as was already indicated to him when he attempted to purchase it online), and further stated that we do need to confirm if he was still interested in the purchase before we could attempt to process it again. The call was ended with a request for the customer to contact us if he’d like to have the travel insurance purchased. As the customer has acknowledged, he did not contact us to do so. While the customer is correct that he did express a desire to purchase travel insurance while making the cruise reservation on our web site, it is our company’s policy to confirm that a customer still wants to make a purchase if they are presented with a message stating that a purchase attempt has failed. There are several reasons that we do this – among the reasons are that we do not know if after the customer was presented with the message stating that the travel insurance wasn’t purchased, if the customer then either changed their mind or purchased the insurance elsewhere. Both of those are very realistic possibilities, and if a customer did decide to do either of those things, it would be their right since our web site and the email our system automatically sent both said that a policy was not purchased. Our calls may be recorded for quality assurance, and the customer has been provided with a recording of the aforementioned call that our staff member made to him, as proof that it was definitely his voicemail, and also as proof that the message was clear as to the fact that we advised him that a policy wasn’t purchased and that we required his consent to attempt to purchase a policy again. On 2/1/2018, *** was also emailed a quote for the travel insurance, which further indicated that it was not purchased yet. There was a link in that email that would allow him to purchase the insurance. Our system shows that this email was definitely sent. In fact, our Web Sales Department was copied on that email, so we have time-stamped a copy of it. We don’t know why the policy didn’t purchase at the time that the customer attempted to purchase it. It could have been a glitch on the travel insurance company’s end, or it could have been a credit card issue. Regardless, *** had many opportunities, as noted above, to purchase the policy, and we clearly advised him of the lack of purchase several times. As *** indicated, the cruise line did provide him with a partial refund, which they did not have to do based on their terms and conditions. *** then asked us to ask the cruise line for a larger refund, which we did. The cruise line would not further increase the refund, despite us escalating his request to supervisors at the cruise line.
In addition to the above, we feel it’s relevant to point out that *** did successfully purchase travel insurance through our web site for a cruise that he purchased last year. In that instance, he was provided with a confirmation message at the time of purchase, including a policy number (which he did not receive in this instance, since the insurance was not purchased). He also received an email of the policy directly from the travel insurance provider (for the previous trip’s insurance), which he did not receive in this situation (since the insurance was not purchased). These could have been additional ways for him to realize that the insurance was not purchased.
With all of the above in mind, we truly believe that our agency made every effort to communicate with *** about his failed travel insurance purchase, and clearly articulated that in order to move forward with the purchase we would need to receive his authorization. Since he did not provide us authorization to purchase the insurance after we contacted him via phone and email, we did not proceed with purchasing the travel insurance. We are disappointed to hear that *** is dissatisfied with the service we have provided. As a returning customer of our agency, who enjoyed his previous travel planning experiences with our company, we hope that he understands that our agency strives to provide the best customer service whenever possible. We hope despite the outcome of this situation that he continues to contact our agency for his future travel plans, after considering the above explanation. Booking a reservation through our agency is beneficial for a customer because, in addition to our outstanding customer service, it can give them access to additional discounts and/or bonus offers that are not accessible through the cruise line directly. For example, in the case of *** reservation, we were offering to pre-pay the gratuities for his reservation. This is a promotion that was not offered by the cruise line. Regardless, we wish him the very best in his future travels.
Complaint: ***
t customer service, and an inability to do the job you were paid to do. I am sure I will not be the last complaint when you have a company like yours that cannot properly do their job.
I am rejecting this response because:
The facts are this, they were requested by me to purchase trip insurance and failed to do so due to a system error on their end. I additionally never received their e-mail and I think quite frankly that their "forward" of their email to me after the fact is fabricated. As an example, my name is spelled incorrectly - or maybe they pay that little of attention to caring for their customers.
The reality is that the e-mail I did receive, after "successfully" reserving my reservation has one little line item in it that says "not purchased successfully" Mind you that is after verbiage such as:
"Your cruise has been confirmed and paid in full with the cruise line."
And
PricingPassenger Cruise Fare Airfare Taxes/Fees Total#1) *** $1,203.00 -- $131.25 $1,334.25#2) *** $1,203.00 -- $131.25 $1,334.25Subtotal $2,406.00 -- $262.50 $2,668.50Travel Insurance: $129.00Grand Total $2,797.50
No I didn't read every little line item - I didn't see the purpose? I followed check out procedures, and their system didn't work.
Mind you I went on a trip 5 months earlier, using them, followed IDENTICAL procedures both times - and got TWO DIFFERENT results.
It is quite a process to add trip insurance during their checkout process, it repopulates your total - etc - and there is no version of me that thought I didn't purchase it.
Regarding the phone call, I don't answer random phone numbers, I don't live in NJ - so I didn't answer yours.
They should simply be asking themselves the following:
A customer requested and attempted to purchase trip insurance as they had previously successfully done. Our system SCREWED UP, how should we address this. Assuming like they said they caught it on Feb 1st (purchased Jan 26th) - just a few days later - why didn't they purchase the trip insurance per my request. OR why didn't they actually follow up via phone, email etc multiple times? I have looked back and I received ONE phone call - never any emails.
So when toying around with $1,000s of dollars of your customers money, and your system breaks, you put forth the amount of effort of 1 phone call?
This error was not made on my end. This error was due to your system failure. I did everything EXACTLY the same as I did 5 months prior. One time, I had trip insurance. One time I didn't. The DIFFERENCE was your system failure.
Also the fact you kept hanging your hat on "We can't just charge your card without authorization" is literal crap. I had to go through the check out process, select I want trip insurance, agree to the extra $129, agree to paying the grand total of $2797.50 which included the trip insurance - and you think you didn't have authorization to charge my card? The reality is you had a lapse in judgement and failed to properly execute what I - your customer - requested of you, WHICH IS YOUR JOB.
I have attached my emailed receipt, photos of the check out process you actually have to go through to even get trip insurance, and their months later "forwarded" to me email which was never even sent by them, but apparently sent by some other company "*** to my e-mail, WHICH I NEVER RECEIVED, and contains false information (name) in it.
Also I have attached the step by step process in which you would select trip insurance and pay for it via their website. How anyone would think this just 'wouldn't work' after going through the process is beyond me.
You can try and blame this situation on me, but it is a direct result of you providing s
Regards
I’ve been working to resolve 2 refunds of $528.02 1st refund dated 12/30/17 and 2nd 01/06/18. I booked cruises for 4 people 2 had cancelled. Since I used my credit cards to make all my payment the refunds went back to the credit cards. I booked the cruises Jan 2017 and since then had closed those credit cards initially used. I did get refunds from the other closed account but nothing from what is currently owed. As mentioned the accounts are closed so I have no way to find out where these outstanding refunds went? I’m still out the money, was told RC sent a refund (only referenced 1) and I need to check with the credit card co??? I called and was repeatedly told I need to contact credit card co. And none of this is their fault it’s the cruiseline with whom I’m not able to speak to since I booked through them?? Over 3 months to heat what I’ve already heard months ago and no resolution or any attempt to assist but to call the credit card co from which I’ve said I don’t have any details or access too anymore.
Hello,
We truly apologize for the inconvenience that you have gone through. The cruise line processed the charge to your credit card and is responsible for refunding you. If we could control the cruise line's refund process, we certainly would have done it for you right away. We understand your frustration, and as a result have continuously followed up with the cruise line regarding your refund. We truly are advocating for you.
Things would have gone smoothly had your account not closed. Even though it is rare, this is absolutely a situation that does happen. Typically, the cruise line issues the refund to the card that was charged (even if the account was closed) and the bank (that issues the credit card) issues the customer the refund via check (since there is no account to post the refund to), or transfers the refund to another account if a new account has been linked to the closed account. While we know your account is closed, there are laws and regulations which still ensure that there is a bank or organization (even if it is now a different bank) for you to communicate with about pending transactions on a closed account, and this information is usually provided to you by the bank at the time that you closed your account. Since this might expedite things, we would be happy to help you research what number to call and would even join you on your phone call to the bank via conference call. For example, with your permission, we could explain to the bank the situation and ask them how they would handle the funds if the cruise line issues the refund to the closed account.
Since you have expressed that you did not or were not able to call your bank and did not want your refund going back to the closed account, we have asked the cruise line to issue a refund for your differently. We wanted to be responsive to your request. Unfortunately, this complicated things and the cruise line has given us some conflicting information about your refund (specifically the method of refund and the processing time), which has been very frustrating. We absolutely agree that you deserve to be refunded your funds as soon as possible. We are confident that this situation would have occurred regardless of which travel agency you used, or if you booked directly with the cruise line, since it is the cruise line that is responsible for charging and refunding your funds. We take pride in the level of customer service we give to our clients and will continue to advocate on your behalf to ensure that your refund is processed. Your reservation is a top priority for our service team and they will be in touch with you to discuss this further.
I made a deposit of $1,652 for a balcony stateroom w/American Discount Cruise & was notified via email that I had until 4/5/18 to cancel my reservation. I sent a letter to cancel 4/5 via email with reservat# and card info explicitly cancelling my reservation while speaking to ADC agent. On 4/6, an agent called again and I indicated that I cancelled reservation via email. I called ADC, spoke to ADC agent Melissa, and was told she would call Disney for my refund. When she was unable to, I asked to speak with sup. That's when I spoke to Katie and she said I didn't cancel in time. I gave her the date & time I sent email to cancel. Then she said she would call Disney to request the refund of my deposit explaining that I sent a cancellation letter 4/5. I explained to Katie that I had emailed my cancellation letter 4/5 & explicitly requested ADC to cancel reservation while speaking to agent. Another agent called on 4/6, and again, I confirmed positive cancellation. At no time did either of the ADC agents say my letter sent via email was insufficient.
On 4/11 I received an email from ADC stating my deposit was nonrefundable from Disney Cruise Line due to "lack of payment". On 4/12 ADC sent email stating, "...on behalf of Disney my deposit was nonrefundable due to "lack of payment". I called Disney 4/13 & was told they spoke to ADC agent, (Melissa) and Katie explaining that ADC was NEGLIGENT for not calling DISNEY by 4/6 to cancel. On 4/13 I called Disney (Claudia, supervisor: Isabel) directly & was told it wasn't cancelled due to "lack of payment". Disney (Claudia) further indicated that "there was no reason I should not have received my deposit back because it was noted that ADC received my request 4/5 and ADC neglected to cancel before auto cancellation 4/6.
Hello,
We first felt it important to point out that our final payment due date was March 26, 2018. This due date was listed for the customer prior to making a reservation on our web site, and was also listed on all invoices sent to the customer (via email) from that point forward. While the vendor does have their own due date, which was April 5, 2018, when booking with a travel agency rather than directly with the vendor, this is the date that the agency must send the funds to the vendor by, not the date that the customer must send the funds to our agency by. By requiring payment earlier, we are protecting our customer’s reservation from auto-cancellation (should they make payment a few days late). Several emails were sent listing the due date, and we have on record several calls and emails that we made and sent to the customer to ensure that they could either pay the balance, or of course let us know if they had any other need (such as cancellation).
As disclosed on our phone system, our phone calls may be recorded for quality assurance purposes. We have reviewed the call recording from April 5, 2018, when the customer called us to inform us that she would like to cancel the reservation. During that call, our customer service representative clearly stated that in order to process the cancellation we would be emailing the customer a Letter of Cancellation within a few minutes and that it would need to be filled out, signed by the cardholder, and returned to us prior in order to give us authorization to process the cancellation. The customer was also advised that the cancellation could be processed as long as we did it that very day (April 5, 2018), which would avoid the cruise line’s penalties. The customer said okay to this and said she would be sending us the form back. Unfortunately, the form was not sent back to us (via email) until April 6, 2018, which was past the cruise line’s cancellation deadline. Further, the form that was returned to us was returned to us blank (not filled out and without signature), which wasn’t a factor anyway since it was sent to us past the aforementioned deadline. The email that was sent to us regarding the cancellation was not acceptable, as it did not comply with our terms and conditions (referenced below), nor did it contain the terms listed in our cancellation letter, nor a written signature from the cardholder. The reason we require our Letter of Cancellation form to be read and signed, is to ensure that the customer is fully aware of the terms contained within. There have been situations in the past where a customer would simply send an email saying that they wanted to cancel, but then (at a later point in time) argue that they never signed our Letter of Cancellation and didn’t actually want to cancel. As a result, we must stand by the terms that we have in place.
In addition, within the terms and conditions listed on our web site, which the customer indicated that they read when making their purchase, it includes the following: “We reserve the right to require a letter of cancellation, signed by the person(s) that paid for a reservation, in order to process the cancellation of the reservation.” As you can see, it says a “letter of cancellation, signed by the person(s) that paid for a reservation…” It does not say an email would be accepted, and this was further confirmed during the above mentioned phone call, prior to the customer sending the email that we could not accept (per these terms).
With the above in mind, we do not see negligence on our company’s part. Over the course of a week, via both email and phone, we continually followed up with the customer to remind them that their payment was due. The customer did not indicate the desire to cancel the reservation until the last day possible, which is totally acceptable, but they unfortunately did not return the Letter of Cancellation form in time, despite us advising that we needed to receive it that very same day.
We did (as we mentioned to the customer) reach out to the cruise line to ask that they refund the customer, and explained the situation. We had our request escalated to a supervisor at the cruise line, but they would not make an exception to their policy. We truly wish that the cruise line would refund the funds to the customer, but just as we have policies, procedures, and terms and conditions, so do they.
We wish the customer the very best with their future travel plans, and hope that with the above in mind they can see that we truly did not have a lapse in service but rather were responsive and advocated on their behalf with the cruise line.
Deceptive business practice.
I placed a $98.00 deposit on a cruise January 2017.
October 2017 the cruise line changed the itinerary of the cruise.
The cruise does not depart until 12/22/17 and I am still in the allowed refund time frame.
I attempted to cancel with American Discount Cruises and have the $98.00 deposit returned.
They stated in order to have my deposit returned I must pay them $100.00 as their " fee".
This "fee" is NOT disclosed upon the initial reservation process on their web site.
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 *** 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 *** 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 *** 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: *** Our records also show that *** 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 ***'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 *** 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 *** 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 ***, especially as a repeat customer, and will waive our cancellation fee in this particular situation, to show good faith. Further, since *** 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 *** 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).