What a mess...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1025166

In a nutshell the op in the above post booked a cruise, paid in full more than a year before her travel date. The travel agent involved didn't forward all the funds to the cruise company (HAL). The op didn't know anything was wrong. Three weeks after final payment was due HAL contacted the op, which is when she found out of the problems with her ta.

The ta is notorious for double charging, tripple charging, not honoring onboard credit etc.

Unfortunatley, these things happen and simply shouldn't all travellers can learn from this thread, so I thought I'd post it on fodors to make people aware of the situation.

There are 32 pages... I tried to read only Kween Karen's posts, but it takes too long to sort through the debris of pictures, signatures, lists of cruises. Partyon, nothing to do with you! Just want to know, did she finally say the name of the agency?

I know she finally said she's going on the cruise. It is my understanding, she pre-paid the full amount well in advance to get a bigger discount - a warning to all, if it sounds too good to be true... and pre-paid shore excursions.

She would get her money back from her credit cards as the 60-day term is from the date of service, not the date of payment, but it's an ordeal to close 2 credit cards. Besides, she really wanted to be on that cruise!

I feel so sorry for her! She could not possibly know that cruise company cut off that travel agency. She did call the cruise company to verify. This is what I usually do - call a business and ask if they deal with this internet company. Could get into something like this too.

There was a link posted in the thread to reviews of the online ta on Trip Advisor, the company is Ecruisestore.com.

The credit card companies would NOT let her dispute the charges because they were more than a year old.

I too feel badly for her, it's been a terrible ordeal to deal with.

There was another negative thread here on Fodors about that company. Avoid to be sure.

Protect yourself. And ask for proof for each and every transaction.

Travel Agents get an invoice at the time they hold the cabin, then another at payment time and then another each time a payment is made.

Plus after a deposit is put on a cabin the cruise line should know about the booking and you should be able to call them and double check on things if you do not get an invoice from the Travel Agent.

Many if not all of the Cruise Lines are going paperless now. So the entire booking from Deposit to sailing should be viewable online. If it is not, then question it.

Just like buying something from a store. I would not walk out without a receipt. No one should just book a trip and not get a fax, mail or emailed receipt.

Faina, you can configure your CC page not to show any of those signatures, photos, etc. You have to sign in. Let me know if you want me to walk you through it.

"Plus after a deposit is put on a cabin the cruise line should know about the booking and you should be able to call them and double check on things if you do not get an invoice from the Travel Agent." - whenever I call a cruise line, their first question is, have you booked with a travel agent? If the booking is through an agent, they wouldn't talk to you.

Betsy, thank you, I will have to register with them for this, another log-in to remember Thank you, maybe another time.

I don't book on line and I don't shop on line.

I like to support my local business community. If everyone shops online, there will be no more stores and what would happen to all the jobs that those business provides?

Faina, CC will remember you if you check that option when you log in.

Yeah, and so will my work

**"Plus after a deposit is put on a cabin the cruise line should know about the booking and you should be able to call them and double check on things if you do not get an invoice from the Travel Agent." - whenever I call a cruise line, their first question is, have you booked with a travel agent? If the booking is through an agent, they wouldn't talk to you.**

Not true, if your cruise line does this to you, ask for another phone agent at the cruise line. After the deposit is made, everything but canceling can be done by the passenger. And canceling has to be done by the agent simply because there is specific paperwork to fill out to get your deposit back.

Always check your booking with the cruise line. Heck you do not even have to call 99% of the cruise lines have some sort of online portal now.


**I don't book on line and I don't shop on line. **
This is a personal choice. Last year 51% of all travel was booked online. This year it should be more like 60%. More and more Travel Agents cannot afford to keep storefronts and businesses. So they work out of their homes, same Agent just no store front. Plus all of the Major Cruise Lines and Hotels are going paperless. Meaning no more faxed or mailed confirmations. They prefer to do it all via email or the web now. It saves money and paper. To me I simply cannot be bothered to keep to an Agents schedule. I have gone on 12 cruises in the past 15 years and have booked them all online. Heck I booked one on my IPhone last year. Being able to book travel anytime anywhere is a huge advantage. Plus at an agents office I do not get 360° views of the ship or can read reviews or even pour over deck plans looking for the perfect cabin.

I do everything with my agent on line too, via email, sometimes by phone etc. I don't do snail mail and fax. We have met our TA in person. I know who my TA is, her co-workers and the support network that they have. They are a local business that supports the local community.

They have always let me know about their group bookings and specials. Their price is always good (competitive) and their service is great. I don't find the on line agents cheaper when you put the whole package together. My point is to support your local business community.

If you do not support your local busienss, they will disappear. If everyone buys everything on line, then there is no more needs for any stores. I guess we can't go to the stores anymore and use the store staff's expertise to explain the products to us, touch, feel and see the products before we go order it on line for cheaper price.

The expert sales staff and the products on display is a cost and is part of the purchasing price. Those who go to the store and take up the staff's time, get the product demo and then buy it on line is cheating the store owners and the staff their livelihood.

When you buy on line, you don't know where you are buying from. You could be booking your cruise from a call center in China, or India, or where ever.

I used ecruises.com once. It was very stressfull. I paid the final 90 days prior with a credit card. When the documents did not arrive four weeks before the cruise I started to call. After MANY phone calls I found out that even though I had booked this myself and released the booking to ecruises, I became part of their "group". CC bill showed it was charged by "ecruises" and not the cruise line. Apparently some of the group had not paid and ecruises was waiting for their payment to pay the cruiseline all at once. The worst part is that I was leaving for Europe 12 days before the cruise (it was a European cruise). It turned out OK, but I was a nervous wreck. Ended up getting my docs three days before I departed. Now, my first question to online TA is who actually charges my credit card. If it is the cruise line and not the TA company, I'm OK with it. Of course, I alway book my own cruise with the cruise company (so I can get the cabin I want) and then release later to the online TA.

I did read the link, and boy is it looooooong. As I fully expected this had to be about ecruisestore.com. I had my own very similar experience. In my case I discovered the "non-payment" myself and I dealt with a female TA, Cathy Ireland. I never even received a final cruise "package" in the mail from them. I ended up calling Princess and they sent the "package" to me just in the nick of time. This scenario is their M.O. It is too bad they are allowed to continue to be in business.

Here are links to my story
http://www.fodors.com/community/crui...e-err-rant.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/crui...store-rant.cfm