Sonalika Rungta’s recent Bermuda cruise on the Norwegian Gem was hardly a treasured memory. At the end of her vacation, NCL presented her with two bills: one for the cabin she’d bought through a travel agency and another for the stateroom she accidentally bought through the cruise line’s Web site. Does she have to pay both?
Rungta asked me after NCL billed her for both rooms, even though she just used one.
I booked the cruise with Vacations To Go. They gave me quote for an inside cabin for one person (it was just me traveling).
I confirmed with them.
I had also asked Norwegian Cruise Lines for a quote for a ocean view cabin. When I was registering online (printing the edocs) the quote for the ocean view cabin was accidentally confirmed. I gave them my credit card number. I thought it was asking the number for purchases on board the ship.
When she boarded, an NCL representative told her she had two reservation. She was assured she’d only be charged for one.
But that didn’t happen. After returning, NCL charged her for both rooms.
I asked NCL about the case.
A company representative suggested Rungta’s account was problematic.
In researching this with our automation department we found that registering on our Web site and printing the edocs would not create a booking. She made the first booking on ncl.com and paid for it. She then booked with vacations to go at a lower price, but also a lower category stateroom
The company sent Rungta the following response.
Thank you for your recent letter. We appreciate you choosing the M/S Norwegian Gem for your vacation at sea.
We are very sorry to learn of the problems that you encountered with your reservation for your recent cruise. Our review of booking number 16058282, stateroom number 8096, oceanview stateroom, indicates that this was booked on NCL.com at 12:38pm on November 23, 2008 and payment made in full of $1478.94 on a credit card. An email confirmation was also sent to your email address confirming the reservation.
At 1:23pm also on November 23, 2008 reservation number 16058334, stateroom number 11147, inside stateroom was made with Vacations To Go and full payment also made of $1279.94. Our records indicate that you sailed in stateroom 8096, as both reservations were active and never cancelled we are unable to honor your request for a refund.
Thank you for offering us the opportunity to address your concerns. We do value your business and hope that you will consider a Norwegian Cruise Line sailing in the near future.
I’m disappointed by that answer. If a NCL representative told Rungta that she wouldn’t be billed for a second room, then the company should stand behind that promise.
I think the next step would be a dispute of the credit card charges, and, failing that, a visit to a maritime court to recover her $1,279.
Interestingly, this was Rungta’s first cruise. I’d be willing to bet it’s her last.
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Something is very fishy here. I think she knew darned right well that she made two reservations. Did NCL just guess correctly on her credit card on two sites?
The cruise line held an additional cabin and lost revenue because of her mistake. And it might be a mistake but there needs to be some common ground
Somehow I don’t think she is really owed a refund. I’m not buying the story that she thought the credit card was for onboard purchases and all she had was a quote. I checled NCL.com and it is pretty obvious she was making a reservation. The website is clear and easy to follow. The quote she wanted is clearly there every step of the way. They even sent her a confirmation email. She should have called right away to verify all of this. The fact that she showed up, then stayed in the room she didn’t realize she had booked makes me think the Cruise line is justified in not refunding her money. They had no opportunity to rebook the room and no reason to think she didn’t want both. Who knows how the conversation actually went with the NCL rep and what she told them, but that isn’t enough in my opinion. At this point any refund or credit would be a goodwill gesture as far as I’m concerned.
This is a great example of why you shouldn’t book trips online. This could have been completely avoided by booking with a competent travel agent.
I disagree with Michele. Internet sites are not intuitive, and some of them are deliberately confusing. While I haven’t made this mistake in a while, I can understand how you think you are reserving something and then realize you just purchased it. Often internet sites require your credit card information just to see the total charges.
The key thing here is that Sonalika should have gotten something in writing. The law seems to protect vendors and discriminate against consumers. I have learned the hard way to require statements to be put in writing–of course, most companies refuse to do that which means you either walk away or take a huge risk. Reading these stories, I think it is pretty obvious that every time we make a purchase we are taking a huge risk. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is.
I’m not surprised this happened. We are talking about NCL here. We just got home from sailing on NCL to the Caribbean, and we will never sail NCL again.
The dirty room, snotty staff, and inane rules were bad enough, but fact was, it was almost impossible to get the same answer from two different NCL employees.
We were told that 10-12 year old children can’t sign themselves out of the kids club. But they let my 11 year old sign himself in and out, no problem.
We were told that if one cruise card had to be remade, they all had to be remade. Another time, a single cruise card was remade, with no problems.
We were told there were available seats in the Japanese restaurant, then turned away at the door, in spite of there being several empty tables.
We were told to take photo ID onshore, even though they almost never checked them.
The list goes on and on.
So, I think you’re dreaming if you’re expecting two people from NCL to handle a situation in the same way. When I wanted to get the same outcome on NCL, I just made sure to deal with the very same person each time.
Lisa; you said “Often internet sites require your credit card information just to see the total charges.”
I’ve booked a lot of travel online, and nobody gets my CC# until I’m ready to book. If a site wanted my CC# to quote a price, it would indicate to me that they are up to no good, so I would run along to the competition, never to come back.
It would be very difficult to dispute a charge in these circumstances, as the CC company could simply say “Why did you give your card number, if not to make a purchase?”