Placeholder and Other Oops - seriously DCL??

[Bruce66]

What would bringing back the future cruise desk do for you in this situation? Sounds like the issue is that you didn't understand your TA's policies, not that there wasn't a future cruise desk.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with your TA (though if that's the case I'm confused on why you said you wanted to work with them again when you bought the placeholder?). There are plenty of good TAs out there. It's your choice to work with a TA or not, but you experience is not reflective of all TAs. It's not clear to me why you don't want to work with a TA, but perhaps you can try a different agent within the same agency?

DCL doesn't need to remove the 'assign to current TA' choice because it's just that: a choice. If that happened automatically then I would agree. But people are free to choose how they want to handle their placeholder, and if it saves a step by being assigned to the TA at the time of purchase, then why not. You don't have to do it. Just like with purchasing the placeholder itself, it's on the buyer to be aware of all policies related to that purchase/transaction.

And there's no need for a cooling off period; this is not at all like buying a car. I get that you're upset; however, it's not DCL's fault as you had the choice of how to handle the placeholder, and it's not the agency's fault for following their policies.

Bringing back an cruise desk and an actual person to talk to would allow people to ask questions and the opportunity for them to explain things better than just a simple 4 step process in an app.

As for the TA, I did not have a bad experience with the TA they were fine. Being an experienced cruiser but a noob when it comes to using a TA I found I am more comfortable being in control and doing the planning and reservations myself (everybody is different and TA's are the preferred way's for some, just not me). Now that I have discovered the hard way that I am no longer in control of my reservation if I assign it to a TA is even more reason why I prefer to keep it myself.

I agree that the choice to use or not use a TA should remain in the app for like you said it saves a step or two for those that prefer a TA, I would suggest that DCL modify the app in some way to make the decision more deliberate and to explain the ramifications of each choice. Something along the lines of If you choose "yes" the TA owns the placeholder and controls it, if you choose "no" you have 30 days to assign it to a TA if you so choose, etc... This is information a person is better at explaining than in an app.

I do not blame DCL in any way other than to suggest they could refine their app (or bring back the desk) to help future cruisers. My angst is with the TA, if they have invested time and resources into a reservation at which point I fully understand the need for said policy. But for a situation where they just received an email and have not invested any time or money into the reservation, it would make better business sense to work with the customer rather than to outright say "no" resulting in discussions like this on boards.

 

[happycamper47]

I agree that the choice to use or not use a TA should remain in the app for like you said it saves a step or two for those that prefer a TA, I would suggest that DCL modify the app in some way to make the decision more deliberate and to explain the ramifications of each choice. Something along the lines of If you choose "yes" the TA owns the placeholder and controls it, if you choose "no" you have 30 days to assign it to a TA if you so choose, etc... This is information a person is better at explaining than in an app.

That is the policy for the transfer and ownership of all reservations, so that is probably why there are no specifics addressing the 30 days.

 

[RedHead0186]

Bringing back an cruise desk and an actual person to talk to would allow people to ask questions and the opportunity for them to explain things better than just a simple 4 step process in an app.

As for the TA, I did not have a bad experience with the TA they were fine. Being an experienced cruiser but a noob when it comes to using a TA I found I am more comfortable being in control and doing the planning and reservations myself (everybody is different and TA's are the preferred way's for some, just not me). Now that I have discovered the hard way that I am no longer in control of my reservation if I assign it to a TA is even more reason why I prefer to keep it myself.

I agree that the choice to use or not use a TA should remain in the app for like you said it saves a step or two for those that prefer a TA, I would suggest that DCL modify the app in some way to make the decision more deliberate and to explain the ramifications of each choice. Something along the lines of If you choose "yes" the TA owns the placeholder and controls it, if you choose "no" you have 30 days to assign it to a TA if you so choose, etc... This is information a person is better at explaining than in an app.

I do not blame DCL in any way other than to suggest they could refine their app (or bring back the desk) to help future cruisers. My angst is with the TA, if they have invested time and resources into a reservation at which point I fully understand the need for said policy. But for a situation where they just received an email and have not invested any time or money into the reservation, it would make better business sense to work with the customer rather than to outright say "no" resulting in discussions like this on boards.

The future cruise desk likely still wouldn't have helped you in this situation. Yes, they can answer questions, but only about DCL policies. The issue you had in this situation was a policy with the TA/agency, not DCL. Having a future cruise desk is no guarantee that this situation still wouldn't have occurred.

I also understand your concern with using a TA. However, if you had discovered that you were no longer in control of your reservation, I'm not sure why you checked the box to have your reservation go back to a TA in the first place? I know you thought you could reverse that later on (and found that wasn't actually the case), but if you already knew you didn't want a TA then why select that?

Again, I don't think it should be on DCL to educate people about policies that aren't their own. The policy about not releasing the booking is the agency's, not DCLs. And most people who select to assign their booking to the same TA already understand working with a TA, so I'm not sure how much education is needed.

I do agree that it would be nice for the TA to release the reservation, considering they haven't invested much into the booking yet. But again, if that's their policy then they're within their right to enforce it.

 

[Bruce66]

You can cancel the placeholders, can’t you?

Curious. Why did you use them to begin with then?

It had been 20+ years since we last used a TA so we decided to give it another try. We hear people all the time say how great it was to have a TA and it had been so long we were asking "are we missing something here?" (the OBC was a nice perk too). What we discovered (again) is we are planners and like to do the planning ourselves so using a TA is not for us. Our TA was fine and did a good job, up until we asked them to release our placeholder.

 

[Bruce66]

Actually, the PP has been fairly consistent in his report of this across multiple threads. He DID intentionally mark the box to assign the placeholder to the TA of record; he simply didn't realize it couldn't be changed later:


@Bruce66 I'm sorry you're having this issue. It would certainly be good business for the TA to release the reservation back to an unsatisfied customer, but contractually not required. It seems as though you are an experienced DCL cruiser, though maybe you never used a TA previously. I'm not sure if there was more to the story about why you used a TA for this sailing, or why you would prefer not to use them again. If they didn't do anything wrong other than not releasing the placeholder back to you, then why not keep the 10% and do a quick sailing where you can book another placeholder? If it's the principal of the matter, you do have the option of cancelling the placeholder and getting back your $250 in the near-term without waiting 2 years.

You are correct, when we purchased the placeholder we had gone back and forth on whether to click Yes or No for we didn't know to the ramifications and there was no additional information to help us decide. I evidently choose yes and I own that, even though in my memory I thought I selected no for I remember when I received the email confirmation I was surprised it had the TA assigned.

As for the TA, as I said before they did a good job, I have no complaints for the service they provided.

It is a principle matter now, I am a very strong believer in the lost art of customer service and go out of my way to support companies that demonstrate that focus. That is why we sail with DCL in the first place. When a company (any company) fails to demonstrate that policy when its needed (many 'say' it but fewer follow through), I choose to spend my money elsewhere. For me giving up a 10% discount will cost me more in the end but I will be better for it knowing who I am. I know that may be a little old fashion these days but its what I believe in.

 

[lanejudy]

It is a principle matter now, I am a very strong believer in the lost art of customer service and go out of my way to support companies that demonstrate that focus.

I get that. But you do realize that while upset, you came to a public forum and bad-mouthed the agency by name on multiple posts. If anyone quoted you, that can't be retracted even if you edit your post. Even if you thought the TA was being unreasonable, you added fuel to the fire and it sounds like the TA is digging in their heels over the fact that you did an about-face despite no complaint regarding their actual service. Releasing the placeholder back to you essentially means the TA gives up revenue. You may both be acting on principal at this point, but at the moment it doesn't look as though the TA did anything wrong other than not waiving their policy.

You apparently didn't understand the relationship with a TA even after using one. The TA "owned" your other cruise reservation. Anything related to payment, costs, stateroom, guests, pre/post-cruise transfers, etc. all had to be done through the TA. There are numerous posts on this forum asking "should I use a TA?" and there is always a response about "giving up control." Maybe a little research was needed before deciding to use a TA simply for the OBC. One thing you may want to look into is whether that TA charges any cancellation fees, because you could find yourself out-of-pocket more than just losing the placeholder discount.

 

[happycamper47]

The lost control and planning comments have me confused. Once the TA has your reservation the only thing you can't do is cancel it, make payments and schedule transfers or hotels through DCL. You still have access to all Shore Excursions and On Board activities that you can handle yourself. We always look and see what cruise(s) we want and what cabin. I email or call the TA and he takes over, it saves me from spending time on the phone or on line. If I want payments made or need transfers I just send off another email, but I'm still making the decisions. What control have I lost?

 

[Erica1016]

The lost control and planning comments have me confused. Once the TA has your reservation the only thing you can't do is cancel it, make payments and schedule transfers or hotels through DCL. You still have access to all Shore Excursions and On Board activities that you can handle yourself. We always look and see what cruise(s) we want and what cabin. I email or call the TA and he takes over, it saves me from spending time on the phone or on line. If I want payments made or need transfers I just send off another email, but I'm still making the decisions. What control have I lost?

I agree. Clearly @Bruce66 is frustrated, but I'm not sure what control is needed. I love that my TA will call and wait on the phone on opening day of booking. She knows the kind of rooms we like and already knows we want late dining, etc. If we need to change to another cruise or change rooms, she takes care of it. We still take care of our port adventures, check-in for PAT, etc. Although, she'd do it for us if we wanted.
I don't feel like there's a lot to do in general, so I don't know what control is being lost.

 

[Carohs]

What we discovered (again) is we are planners and like to do the planning ourselves so using a TA is not for us.

While there are times a TA may need to call Disney to get something done, and I feel like all I did was add a middleman, there's nothing I can do or request for my reservation that a TA can't do. I often will do all the digging and researching myself. I prefer not rely solely on my TAs input because a lot of the choices in booking a cruise are subjective. Having a TA doesn't impede you from doing all the leg work you want to do on your own. It just means they have to be the one to implement those choices. It's really not that big of a deal, unless you need something done asap, in which case having a quick to respond TA is preferable.

Sorry about their policy, and that you disagree with it to the point of causing you this frustration. One thing I learned in customer service is, the customer isn't always right, and attempting to please every customer is emotionally draining, and for companies, potentially financially unviable. Kudos for you for acknowledging your old fashioned attitude.