Questioning Costco as credible agency...

[trampslady]

I contacted Costco travel today (after a 30 minute hold) and the first person I spoke with was very pleasant. I was inquiring about transferring my new 14-night repositioning cruise reservation to them. I do not have a current account and expressed that. The representative was friendly and explained that I must get my membership renewed. She then gave me an example of the savings we could expect by using a category 5 breakdown for the same cruise. I did not have our breakdown for a category 6 in front of me so she suggested that I call back. I did (twice) and sat on hold for thirty minutes (twice!) and the woman I spoke with was awful....awful....awful. She refused to even entertain my questions until the cruise was switched and said they NEVER give the savings until the cruise is switched. Now why would I switch it if I don't know how much I will be saving. She laughed at me and made my questions seem ridiculous. I supposedly will have a Supervisor contacting me later today....not holding my breath.

For those of you who use Costco, do you sit on that crazy hold line everytime you want assistance? And, is it the luck of the draw when it comes to getting a professional agent? I want to save money but I'm really cautious after that terrible experience.

 

[seaulater]

I'll let you know how I fare. I have been on hold 10 minutes, wait was 20-25. I am not a Costco member but thought, hey for a $45 membership fee if I can save money off my reservation with DCL I would transfer to them if it was more than the $100 per stateroom credit we are getting offered to roll it over to other TA's.

 

[trampslady]

Good luck! I'll be waiting to hear how it goes!!!! I really want to save money!

 

[webray]

Frankly, I wouldn't even be calling and wasting someones time without having a membership. Transfer to a travel agent where you don't need a membership.

 

[MamaGriz]

We used Costco to book our March 2004 cruise. The hold times were long, but the agent my husband talked to was very helpful and polite. We had nothing but good things to say about them. I'm sorry you got someone who needs remedial customer service lessons.

 

[momto2dkids]

We've used Costco travel a couple of times. While the hold times can sometimes be long (20-25 minutes depending on the time of day), I have always dealt with professional people. Since we are already members, we have always been able to give me what the savings are right away.

While I'm a Costco member, I do also look around for the best possible price. So far, they have always had the cheapest prices than anywhere else I've tried, so I keep using them. For the FL to CA repositioning cruise in May 2005, they were able to save me over $1000 for a Cat. 4 (family of 5).

Just my experience/opinion. Best of luck!!

 

[seaulater]

Okay, here's what I got:

I talked to Carrie, she was very polite and helpful. We have four staterooms booked in a Category 11, original price (2 adults in each stateroom) was $2,998 without portcharges and taxes.

I gave her one of my booking numbers, but told her I didn't want to transfer yet. She called Disney, confirmed my price and came back within two-three minutes and told me that they could give me a price of $2,877.78 per stateroom. I would save $120.22 x 4 for a total of $480.88.

I told her I didn't have a Costco membership, but would be willing to do for $45 if it was worth my while. I also asked her if Disney Visa Credit Card came up with a stateroom credit would I be eligible for that if I put all charges on my Disney Visa card and paid for all the staterooms. She said yes. She also said I only needed one Costco membership if I was making all of the payments.

The only difference I found out from her was that my final payment must be made 90 days prior to sailing instead of 60.

There you go. I will continue to check a couple of my other options I have going.

Hope that helps.

 

[trampslady]

Thanks, folks. I plan to renew my membership anyway this weekend. I'm just hopeful that I get a return phone call from the Supervisor. Customer Service (and follow through) are very important to me, and if they don't follow up on my call, I'll lose faith!

 

[DSNY FN]

We called COSTCo travel about a 3 day cruise and with the wait at 20 - 30 minutes I said forget it I do not care how good the deal is I am not waiting that long to talk to someone. I was told the price of one of our friends trips same exact category etc as what we are looking at and she went through Costco. I called another cruise specific place where I live and saved 300 dollars over what costco offered our friends so forget Costco for me I will not give them any of my time or money.

 

[trampslady]

I guess I will probably concur with DSNY FN on this one. I just heard back from them. I spoke with a nice Supervisor, Patty, who said they can absolutely not share information about the pricing until the reservation is switched over. Funny, that I was reading the above note about their friendly agent, Kerry, as she was telling me this. I didn't share...no need to get someone in trouble. I have to say that the percentage discount must vary considerably though. Based on the category six offer that I was quoted earlier, the savings were about 9 percent. Based on the quote seaulater got, their savings were only about 4 percent. If I got only 4 percent then any of the agencies offering a $200 rebate would be the same.

 

[jadejazzkayla]

how do you become a member of costco? do they have a way to do it online? thanks.

 

[seaulater]

Yes, I went online. costco.com

 

[thiscloud]

my wife just called costco (we're already members) and had to hold for probably 30 minutes as well, but the lady was very friendly and when she conference called my wife with disney, she really tried hard to get us a good deal.

our eastbound panama canal repositioning cruise in august went down from $2767.67 (cat 12, 2 adult, 1 child) to $2591.67, for a savings of $176. since we already had the costco membership, it was definitely worth it to transfer. under $2600 for a 14 day cruise for 2 adults and 1 child really can't be beat!

as seaulater pointed out, they do require full payment 90 days prior to the trip, as opposed to dcl's 60 days, but they have the same cancellation policy as dcl, 100% refund if done 60 days or earlier prior to the trip.

 

[absame]

We are long time costco members and switched our july 3 reservations over. There are 14 of us traveling in 4 families and we all piggie backed on one membership. We saved 8-10% on rooms from cat 8 to cat 3. Took the savings and upgraded the cat 8s to cat 6s. Got the same runaround on not giving prices until reservation is switched, but by what I heard on this board, I switched over one reservation as a test and then the rest, you can always switch back if you're not satisfied, but I guess they know they're cheap and dont want you using them to run back to another agent or are somehow restricted in advertising their prices, who knows.

The first time I called I waited 20 - 30 mintes, but the agent gave me her direct dial number. Now I get right to her or transfer to another agent which has only taken a few minutes or I leave her voicemail or email. Email usually works best.

As for the 90 day prepayment, as I understand it you can still get 100% back in the 60-90 day period, but they want the payment 90 days out.

Bottom line, customer service is okay, but not as good as DCL, but the savings adds up and make it worth it to me.

 

[danicaw]

We are Costco members and I called this morning to move our FL to CA cruise to Costco.
I was on hold about 30 min. and spoke with Ralph. He was great. He had to call me back to confirm because DCL has been so busy and he couldn't get through.
It took about 30 min or so for him to get back to me and it was done.
We saved about $500, Ralph told me we would save around 9% and he was pretty close. Well worth the 30 mins of my time.
I am sorry if you had to deal with someone less than friendly and professional.
I hope you have better luck in the future.

 

[Greysword]

For those COSTCO agency veterans, I have a question.

If I book a cruise onboard and get the 10% off plus $200 shipboard credit, can I then transfer to COSTCO and get another 10% off of the outstanding price?

Thanks for the help!!

 

[sitchu2]

I have booked 4 cruises with costco now plus at least 4 cruises for friends and relatives. I have always gotten great service, and the absolute lowest price for any cruised I have priced with them.

Hint: how to find out the price first. state" Hello, Im calling for the price of a cat 6 for 2 adults one child on the may 15 disney magic eastern"

They will ask you your costco number and get you a price.

Then say ok, id like to transfer my booking from dcl, you have the better price

they will reply gladly.and do a conference call transfer.

My most recent cruise booking with costco for a standard magic eastern was a savings of $400 for a party of 3 in a cat 6.

 

[DSNY FN]

Well I called and got through to costco travel got a price for the cruise I was looking at and looked at the price I allready have and the current price was 375 dollars cheaper so I am not using Costco. That and I can't stand being stuck on hold for 30 minutes to talk to a real person.

 

[sitchu2]

Yes you can get the onboard credit transferred, and they will give you their current pricing which is 10% less then currnet pricing. If you waited and the prices have risen they will not be able to give you a better price. Thats how dcl works. If you call to transfer right away after booking, you will surely save a bunch. I have my onboard $200 for july and I transferred it to costco and saved a few hundred more.

 

[piglet33]

I called Costco today and also was told that they cannot give out any info on discounts, because it depends on what the base cost of the cruise is. She told if I didn't like Costco's rate, I could always switch back to DCL, but she told me that they are always under DCL's rates. Anyway, we had a conference call with DCL and transferred my ressie. I wound up saving $422 for a Cat. 6 room for 2 adults and 1 child (2 years old) so I paid $4805.67. Not a bad deal, I think.

Renee'