Sandy of Milton, FL on Jan. 10, 2010
On 10/29/09 I cancelled my reservation for a cruise on 05/22/10 because the quote I was given was too high and I found another agent who had a cheaper rate. The owner Linda M. was unhappy about this and said if I cancelled this reservation, she would charge $50 a person for her time. There are 7 people involved, so she was charging $350 for doing her job. I told her I was never told about a fee or had anything in writing on my paperwork stating there would be a fee for her making changes at my request. She only mentioned this when I went to cancel the reservation. Each time I needed to make a change she said it was no problem. I also asked her previously if there was a charge for cancelling and she said no.
I feel, since I am the customer having to pay for my vacation, that I should be able to go with the cheapest rate. I also would like to state that because she was unhappy she had a Carnival Sales Development manager Vlad L. in Miami trying to look up my reservation I had booked with another agent. I do not feel that is very ethical for the Cruise Line to give another agent my information. I sent her an email, around 11/16/09 I believe, asking for the status of my refund. She never responded, so I called and left a message and she never returned my phone call. I then called her back on 11/18/09 and she answered the phone and I asked her about the refund and she said she sent it out yesterday, which would have been 11/17/09. I tried to ask her how much it was for and she said for the amount we discussed minus the $50 per person. She wouldn't tell me the details, then she cut me off and said she had to go because she had a customer.
Ms. M. told me she sent the $218 check out on Nov. 17th but the check was dated for Nov. 15th and the envelope was postmarked Nov. 23, which was the day Ms. M. received my complaint to the better business bureau. This led me to think if I did not make this complaint that I would never have received this refund check. It should not take 3 days to get from Pensacola to Milton. Both my sister and I spoke with two other travel agents and they said unless this fee is in my paperwork, then she has no right to charge this rate. I do not think telling you in an email the day you are going to cancel your reservation is legal. When Ms. M. emailed me this fee it was like she was threatening me to keep my reservation. None of this would have happened if Ms. M. did not give me one rate for the reservation, then when I verified the totals the next day. She told me the Carnival person who quoted her did not check to see if there was availability, so the rate increased by $660.
So I felt I had a right to check around for a cheaper rate. Each time I spoke with Ms. M. to make a change she would say it was no problem. Ms. M. stated my family cancelled twice with her; she took that upon herself to rebook our reservation, neither my sister nor I asked her to do that. Why would I have her rebook the reservation when I had already made a deposit on another reservation with another agent? Ms. M. stated this was a $50 cancellation fee but when my sister wanted to know if there would be any fee, if she decided to cancel at a later time due to finances, Ms. M. said she has up to 76 days to cancel with no penalty. Therefore, I feel I have a right to get the $350 back which Ms. M. took since it was not in her paperwork or discussed prior to my cancellation.
