Jul
24
Cancellation fees a rip-off
Filed Under Saving money
I recently cancelled a Panama Canal cruise I had booked for January of 2009. I still want to go on a cruise through the Big Ditch, but I’ve had several friends ask if they could come along, so I decided to reschedule to a date that worked for everyone.
But when I advised the travel agency that I had booked the cruise with (I had booked this cruise before Tripharbour.ca/Tripharbor.com was launched in May of this year), I was told I would have to pay a $50 cancellation fee. “What?” I told them. “You’ve made money from my bookings in the past, and this is the first time I have ever cancelled a reservation. Why should I be charged a cancellation fee?”
“Well,” they told me, “we incur administrative expenses in booking your cruise, and we want to discourage people from randomly booking cruises without any serious intention to proceed with the booking.”
Needless to say, I was insulted. After all, I did all the research to find my cruise, I checked out all the prices, and I decided what level of cabin we wanted and when we would depart; all the travel agency did was take my reservation over the phone and make the booking—a five-minute task. So why do they deserve a $50 cancellation fee? Where’s the value?
In my view, they don’t deserve it.
Firstly, I put down a $903.88 deposit in January of this year, and the cruise line has had the benefit of my money until July – that’s seven months use of my money interest free. Secondly, I’ve made money for the travel agency in the past and this was the first time I have ever cancelled. So, in my book, the travel agency is still well ahead in the profit column.
To make matters worse, the travel agency charged my $50 cancellation fee to me in U.S. dollars through my VISA card. So the cancellation fee actually cost me $51.39 CDN. In addition, while the cruise line refunded my full deposit amount without any extra fees, I ended up getting only $880 back due to the differing exchange rates charged in buying and selling Canadian and US currency. So I’m out approximately $71.39 just for reserving a cruise and cancelling well within the cruise line’s allowable policy.
With this kind of customer service, it’s easy to understand why the majority of people in North America are now booking travel directly online as opposed to through travel agents. In fact, more than 60 per cent of leisure travel in the U.S. and 40 per cent in Canada is now booked online. And it’s expected this trend will continue as online booking sites become more consumer friendly and helpful.
These statistics and future trend are not surprising. Online sites like Tripharbour.ca and Tripharbor.com provide huge inventories of cruise sailings for travel consumers to look at and choose from – in Tripharbour/Tripharbor’s case, more than 10,000 cruises per week. In addition, they provide a community forum so that people can exchange information and share views about individual ships, ports of calls, food at sea, shore excursions, and more. And there are no cancellation fees outside of the cruise line’s policy.
So when it comes time to re-book my Panama Canal cruise, it won’t be with my old travel agency. Frankly, I’m tired of being taken for granted.
Comments
6 Comments so far
Taken for granted? It astounds me today that customers feel they can do what they want at the cost of businesses, then when they incur a charge they jump up and down saying it’s not right. Make up your mind next time! I have a small business, and I take deposits on parts orders before I will order the part for the customer. If they change their mind, they lose that deposit. There is a price for indecision. You may have only spent 5 mins on the phone booking your cruise, but you forget to understand that the majority of work is done when you hang up.
When you cancel, the agent then has to file paperwork, accountants have to issue you a refund, and someone had to spend an hour hearing your childish rant about paying a cancellation fee. I think you owe them more.
You say you’re insulted, I would hate to here the conversation you had with your travel agent. I’m sure you insulted them more then once because you feel it’s your right as a consumer. Well, it’s not! I would like you to think as a consumer on what your actions have had on that agent. Were you polite? I doubt it. You kicked and screamed at someone whom is just doing their job. Again, it was your indecision that cost you money.
Would you like some cheese with that whine? No charge, I just hope you and I aren’t on the same cruise, you’ll probably be unhappy about everything.
Hi Joe. Thanks for contributing your views to this issue. Let me respond to some of the points you raised.
If consumers book a cruise directly with the cruise line, through a online travel retailer, and through some travel agencies, there is no cancellation fee if the cancellation takes place within the period outlined by the cruise line. Cancellation fees usually begin to apply within 90 days of the cruise. The reason is that cruise lines want to encourage consumers to book the cruise as far in advance as possible, and they realize that people may need to arrange other things such as air, hotels, babysitters, holiday time, invite others to come along, etc., and that their plans may change. The deposit is made to the cruise line, not the travel agent, so there is no refund for the agency accounting department to provide. The cruise line does not charge any fee to refund the deposit, which is done directly to the consumer.
As for ranting or raving to my travel agent, I would be happy to have you call her and ask how she was treated. Travel agents are hard working people, and deserve to be treated with respect, and that’s how we dealt with ours. Frankly, individual agents don’t make their agency’s policies, and they don’t pocket the fees. I disagree with this agency’s policy, and I will not rebook with them. But I still like and respect my old travel agent.
Finally, I believe that people should make informed choices. If you want to pay cancellation fees to your agency because you think they deserve it, that’s a good choice for you to make. But you and others should know that you also have the choice not to pay those fees simply by dealing with online retailers, or with those agencies who do not charge cancellation fees. That’s what good competition is all about — driving down costs and getting consumers the best deal possible.
Once again, thanks for sharing your views. And best wishes for continued success with your business.
Unfortunately for the travel agents that serve this niche of the travel marketplace, the cruise companies themselves are the ones that set passengers’ expectations regarding early bookings and cancellations. “Book early, cancel late, no financial repercussions.”
While I understand that the travel agent is merely — and understandably — looking to get a little something for their time and effort, it’s not a great competitive strategy in the long run. All they end up doing is shooting themselves in the foot as these types of cancellation penalties simply serve to drive much-needed customers to go to an alternate service provider that marches lockstep with the broader cruising world’s planning flexibility and trip cancellation protocols.
I, for one, would never book a trip with a travel agent or other provider if they didn’t offer me customer service that was at least on par with booking directly with the cruise line. There’s just no upside for doing so.
I wouldn’t want to buy anything from Joe — sounds like he finds his clients to be an annyoyance. And God forbid what he would do to them if they changed their minds!
Everybody in business would do well to remember that the customer is king, and that we will go where ever we get the best deal.
As for Joe’s offer of cheese, it’s probably Swiss — full of holes like his attitude!
I love my travel agent, but if she charged me even $1 to cancel my cruise within the cruise line’s allowable policy, it would be the last time they ever heard from me. I don’t understand what Joe’s point is except that maybe he owns an agency that likes to charge customers extra fees for everything. I don’t see why anyone would want to pay it.
It is a touchy subject, unexpected fees from businesses with whom we deal regularly. Rules are necessary, and rules are regularly broken for good customers.
This was obviously an instance which needed the attention of the owner or manager who was apparently not present. The clerk who charged the fee was only following procedure and probably was not aware of the history with the customer.
Joe would be within his rights to keep a 50% deposit if he were taking an order for his lawn mower parts not normally stocked. That is totally different and understandable. But a travel agency booking a cruise that was not incurring a fee from the Ship for a long-in-advance cancellation is wrong in creating a $50 fee on their own that penalizes the customer.
I still want to know the name of that agency so we will not ever make the mistake of contacting them. Customer service is king in today’s recession economy, only the good ones will survive.
We shall be booking with Tripharbour from now on.