How many booked the "Special Deal"
- Thread starter PB'sMOM
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Those who do know what is going on might not want to post about it on this public forum, but I sure am curious!Maria395712
DIS cast member/DIS vet/DVC member
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waiting to hear
maria
maria
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Looks like Disney isn't the only company that does not honor its internet mistakes!
Cruise line's pricing gaffe soaks passengers
Updated 11/17/2006 11:29 AM
By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY
When US Airways accidentally listed flights last year for the ridiculously low price of $1.86, the airline honored the mistake and reaped a public relations windfall.
Not so Holland America.
The latest travel firm to make a pricing boo-boo is taking a tough stance with customers who booked the deals, prompting an outcry that is turning into a public relations debacle.
"It's very unusual for a line not to honor a pricing mistake," says Mike Driscoll, editor of the newsletter Cruise Week. "There must be some logical reason they're digging in their heels."
Driscoll suspects the line faces heavy losses if it honors the error. During a four-day window starting Sept. 8, the line accidentally sold cabins on 10 sailings aboard the Noordam from January to April for well below cost. Cabins that normally cost $1,399 a person showed up in reservation systems for $849. Now the line has required that passengers who booked the fares pay the difference or it will deny them boarding.
"This is not a situation we took lightly," says Holland America spokeswoman Rose Abello. "After fully reviewing all the facts, however, our conclusion was that we were not able to offer the mistaken rate."
Abello wouldn't say how many people are affected. But she says that as "a gesture of goodwill," the line will offer customers a $100 shipboard credit. Would-be passengers also can cancel without penalty.
Holland America's request for more money has shocked customers such as Carol Szarek, 58, of West Prospect, Ill. In September, the retired teacher paid $1,656.52 for a March cruise on the Noordam. Last month she received a notice saying she'd have to pay an additional $1,100.
"I was in total disbelief," says Szarek, noting that she had paid in full and received a confirmation. She says she cruises half a dozen times a year, often on Holland America. "Holland America didn't see the big picture. They were so smug ... that they weren't at all concerned about the consumer."
Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of cruisecritic.com, a leading online cruise forum, says the episode has left her readers aghast. It's symptomatic, she adds, of what she sees as a downward spiral in customer service at cruise lines. "As the industry keeps growing, it seems to be losing its heart."
Cruise line's pricing gaffe soaks passengers
Updated 11/17/2006 11:29 AM
By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY
When US Airways accidentally listed flights last year for the ridiculously low price of $1.86, the airline honored the mistake and reaped a public relations windfall.
Not so Holland America.
The latest travel firm to make a pricing boo-boo is taking a tough stance with customers who booked the deals, prompting an outcry that is turning into a public relations debacle.
"It's very unusual for a line not to honor a pricing mistake," says Mike Driscoll, editor of the newsletter Cruise Week. "There must be some logical reason they're digging in their heels."
Driscoll suspects the line faces heavy losses if it honors the error. During a four-day window starting Sept. 8, the line accidentally sold cabins on 10 sailings aboard the Noordam from January to April for well below cost. Cabins that normally cost $1,399 a person showed up in reservation systems for $849. Now the line has required that passengers who booked the fares pay the difference or it will deny them boarding.
"This is not a situation we took lightly," says Holland America spokeswoman Rose Abello. "After fully reviewing all the facts, however, our conclusion was that we were not able to offer the mistaken rate."
Abello wouldn't say how many people are affected. But she says that as "a gesture of goodwill," the line will offer customers a $100 shipboard credit. Would-be passengers also can cancel without penalty.
Holland America's request for more money has shocked customers such as Carol Szarek, 58, of West Prospect, Ill. In September, the retired teacher paid $1,656.52 for a March cruise on the Noordam. Last month she received a notice saying she'd have to pay an additional $1,100.
"I was in total disbelief," says Szarek, noting that she had paid in full and received a confirmation. She says she cruises half a dozen times a year, often on Holland America. "Holland America didn't see the big picture. They were so smug ... that they weren't at all concerned about the consumer."
Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of cruisecritic.com, a leading online cruise forum, says the episode has left her readers aghast. It's symptomatic, she adds, of what she sees as a downward spiral in customer service at cruise lines. "As the industry keeps growing, it seems to be losing its heart."
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