It appears that any contract you enter into with HAL can be changed by
them whenever they feel they've gotten the short end.
******************************************************************************************************************
Cruise line's pricing gaffe soaks passengers
Updated 11/17/2006 11:29 AM ET
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."
Tell us what you think at Gene Sloan's Cruise Log blog.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-11-16-cruise-pricing_x.htm
|