Vantage Deluxe World Travel

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted]. Please add your rejection comments below. 
I understand that Vantage is responding in accordance with their terms and conditions. However, a cruise on the Seine in December is even less appealing because of weather than the complimentary cruise offered over Thanksgiving. That cruise also highlights Christmas events and I do not celebrate Christmas. I will be home celebrating Hanukkah. I would enjoy being able to cruise again with Vantage; however, I do not want the terms of that cruise to be so restrictively dictated.
Regards,
[redacted]

Thank you for bringing Ms. [redacted]'s complaint to our attention.  We certainly apologize for any inconvenience our mailings may have caused.  Her name has been permanently removed from our mailing list.  We are sorry if her previous request to be removed was not successful.  She...

should see any advertising materials completely cease within the next 6-8 weeks.

We regret Ms. [redacted] is not pleased with our cancelation policies and procedures.  The passenger would have been subject to 65% of the value of the journey as cancelation fees as stated in our Tour Participation Agreement's schedule of cancelation fees.  In fact, it is out of goodwill that we are waiving the cancelation fees for her. Our accounting team has processes to be followed, and all refunds from Vantage will be processed accordingly within 30 days back in the method of payment.

With respect to the number of passengers who may travel on the trip, the trip documentation for this trip clearly and expressly provided that “While we advertise small group travel of 18 to 24 travelers, we reserve the right to occasionally exceed that amount.”  We believe that this reservation of rights is ultimately important to cost factors that benefit all customers.

The refund was still in the process.  The full refund has now been completed for both Mr. [redacted] and [redacted].  $1958 was processed back to checking account ending in [redacted].  This should complete the outstanding refund for Mr. [redacted]'s and Ms. [redacted]'s reservations. We thank you for their patience during the refund process.

Thank you for bringing the concerns of Ms. [redacted] to our attention.  Due to circumstances beyond our control, Mrs. [redacted]’s recent departure on Classic Rivers of Europe was interrupted by mechanical issues.  We made the decision to provide passengers with an alternative itinerary with...

added features, because beyond enriching experiences, travelers’ safety is our primary concern. As always, we appreciate Ms. [redacted]’s business, but want to note that unique situations like these are covered in our Terms & Conditions. As a goodwill gesture, Vantage offered Ms. [redacted] a complimentary cruise, Classic France Along the Seine in November 2016.  In addition, Ms. [redacted] was offered a future travel credit of $500 that she could use towards the airfare for the complimentary cruise. We regret to hear that Ms. [redacted] was not pleased with the complimentary cruise offered to her as a goodwill gesture.  Hence, two alternate dates have been offered for the complimentary cruise that Ms. [redacted] is able to choose from. Vantage has gone above and beyond to make it up to Ms. [redacted].   We hope she will take advantage of the offer and travel with us again.

I found the [redacted] card reimbursement for the charges.  I did not notice the charges had been refunded on Feb 28, 2016 because I was not expecting to see a refund from [redacted], I was expecting a refund from...

Vantage.  Vantage refunded part of my excursion payment because of some date changes last year and they sent it directly to my checking, so that is that I was expecting to see in this case also. Had that been communicated to me last February I think this complaint could have been avoided.  I am glad the issue was resolved.
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Thank you for bringing Mr. & Mrs. [redacted]'s concerns to our attention.  We regret that their itinerary was affected by low water on the river as well as a cargo vessel that was stranded on the Danube.  During this unforeseen circumstance which was out of Vantage's control, we did our...

best to accommodate our passengers in deluxe hotels.  The passenger did already sign a release form.  These are not hotels that were contracted out earlier as this was an emergency situation.  Of course, there are multiple websites that rate hotels.  Vantage uses the industry standard to rate the hotels we choose.  We have to, hence, respectfully decline the passengers' request for any compensation for this matter. ?

Better Business...

Bureau:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 
Regards,
[redacted]

We regret to hear that Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] experienced any difficulties with their post trip survey.  We have already spoken to the passengers to resolve this issue.  The survey has been reopened to them to resubmit their responses.  We are glad that the passengers enjoyed their...

journey and the services from their tour director, [redacted].  We hope to welcome the passengers back on another Memorable Journey with Vantage.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted].  The condition of the Elbe River did not change in a matter of hours. It was known for at least a month. Other tour operators with the same knowledge and comparable cruise ships cancelled their similar tours. Vantage just lied to a long time customer and has made no real effort to contact the customer in response.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted].  
While Vantage stated that they will be reimbursing me for the entire amount ($2398), they made a small deposit to my account of $400 on April 7 without any explanation of their action?  The complaint remains open.
Regards,
[redacted]

We regret to hear that the Customer Appreciation Cruise date offered does not work for the passengers. This was a good faith offer that was designed to go above and beyond what our Tour Participation Agreement requires.   Please note that: “We reserve the right to modify tour itineraries...

and substitute hotels and accommodations without liability to Vantage. Included features may not be available for all departures. If a vessel is not able to complete the scheduled itinerary due to low water, high water, mechanical breakdown, or other reason, we reserve the right to modify the itinerary, which right shall include the use of hotels and motor coaches where necessary” We apologize for any inconvenience the passengers experienced, but hope they can understand that Vantage went above and beyond making a good faith offer. We hope they will be able to join us in the future.

Thank you for bringing to our attention the concerns of first time traveler, Ms. [redacted].  We regret the passenger was not pleased with our pricing policies. The $250 discount she received was for being a first time traveler with Vantage, not an early booking discount. The $50 discount that she...

received was the 10% discount from her deposit of$500 because she paid early with a checking account rather than a credit card.  If the passenger had paid her remaining balance also with a checking account, she would have received a larger discount for paying early from her checking account rather than a credit card.  However, the passenger paid her remaining balance with a credit card.  As with any product, Vantage will increase or decrease its prices based upon market forces and to move inventory.  Different promotions exist at different times for passengers to take advantage of.  There have also been instances where we’ve raised a price for a tour because of very high demand.  These promotions are only valid for new bookings but come with a lot of restrictions such as not being able to earn past traveler rewards, minimal discounts for paying early, and limited choices on cabin categories and dates of departure. The price guarantee match that we offer is if a passenger finds a similar price with a competitor at the time of their reservation.  We cannot honor lower prices afterwards.  The passenger has not purchased the travel protection plan offered by Vantage.  We cannot sell the passenger the travel protection plan once she is paid in full for her journey. We hope the above sheds some light on the passenger’s inquiry on her journey price and the discounts received.

Thank you for bringing to our attention the concerns of Mr. and Mrs. [redacted].  Firstly, we apologize for any frustration with the invoice regarding the 10% discount.  That has already been adjusted for the passenger now.  With regards to the lower prices the passenger is seeing in...

our catalog, we cannot honor this unfortunately.   As with any product, Vantage will increase or decrease its prices based upon market forces and to move inventory.  Different promotions exist at different times for passengers to take advantage of.  There have also been instances where we’ve raised a price for a tour because of very high demand.  The passenger booked their journey out of a certain promotional piece, hence, the prices out of that specific promotional piece are going to apply to their reservation.  Promotions cannot be mixed and matched.  The promotion also stated that it is only for new reservations. For these reasons, we cannot apply the free extension that is now being advertised to the passengers' reservation which was made in November 2016, under a different promotion.

Thank you for bringing to our attention the concerns of Mr. [redacted] and Mrs. [redacted].  The matter has been brought to our management's attention where we confirmed that the passengers did cancel within 24 hours.  All of the cancellation fees will, hence, be waived and the passengers...

will be receiving a full refund for the monies on their reservations. All refunds from Vantage will be processed within 30 days.  The pricing of our journeys is as advertised in US dollars based on double occupancy.  The promotion out of which the passengers booked is actually [redacted] (an email promotion) that does not notate a "2 for 1"  promotion.  We do use the "2 for 1" promotion and as such specify the price the trip was being sold at which has a strike-thru line across it and the new price which is reduced by half is printed right below the old price in bold letters.  With regards to the funds that were processed at the time of booking, the passengers did authorize this to be processed from their checking account.  They called to cancel the next day at which point we cannot stop a transaction that has already been processed from our end.  The reservation would have had to be flagged to be cancelled, and then be processed by a member of our cancellations team.  After the decision is made on the refunds due to the passenger, they would only then be due for a refund which is processed within 30 days as per our terms and conditions.  We cannot reverse a bank transaction that occurred the day before.  The time frame that the reservations agent gives is to alert the passengers in case they need to make a transfer into their account to have enough funds for the transaction as it my vary depending on the day of the week and the relationship between our respective banks. We thank the passengers for their patience while the matter was resolved and apologize for any misunderstanding on their cancellation time frame.

Thank you for bringing to our attention the concerns of Mr. & Mrs. [redacted].  We are sorry for the passengers’ disappointment due the overbooking. Correct, it is indeed our policy; however, as [redacted] had described, a computer glitch can also be involved.  As noted by the passenger,...

overbooking is done by Vantage as is the industry standard. We do this because historically, some people cancel their tour after they book with us.  Overbooking is done in the best interest of our customers and Vantage.  With the revenue produced by filling spots on our tours that would otherwise go empty, we maintain exceptional value on our tours. The passenger notes that other passengers in his cabin category paid a lower price for their cabins.  There are numerous promotions Vantage has at any given time which a passenger may take advantage of when booking their journey.  We do not guarantee anywhere that any two passengers will be paying the same exact price for cabins in the same category.  This will depend on the discounts offered in the respective promotions being used.  As such, we cannot refund the passenger because other passengers may have paid a lower price for their cabins.  The passengers were refunded for the price difference of the cabin as well as offered an additional discount of $200 per person.  Also, they were offered the chance to move their departure to a different date so that they could stay in the same cabin category.  We regret the passengers were not pleased with these options.  Furthermore, we have offered the passengers an additional future travel credit as a goodwill gesture for the inconvenience.  We will increase the future travel credit offered to $300 per person.  The passengers' frustrations are understandable.  We hope they will accept the credits in the spirit they were intended and allow us a chance to arrange their future travel plans.

We apologize for any frustration caused to Mr. & Mrs. [redacted].  The $400 refund has been processed and a check has been cut to be sent to them.  They should be receiving it very soon in the mail.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that Mr. [redacted] experienced as our travel dates to Cuba changed.  We appreciate their decision to cancel the journey and will be compensating them for their out of pocket costs for their airfare arranged on their own.  We will be contacting...

the passengers to advise them accordingly.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. The facts remain, no matter which way they are spun: I didn't ask for travel insurance, that was purchased long ago., I pointed out that1. The Travel insurance was offered to me  months later for 1/2.2.The cruise price was reduced after I purchased, also with a $ 250. discount, attached to the brochure3.The matched price advertisement was not honoredIf the price match only applies to other companies, then say so (Say what you mean...)It you change your tour-prices depending upon demand, then say soThat would be an acceptable business practice.Thank you
Regards,
[redacted]