Still learning....and at my age!
Us Old dogs are set in their ways. We do things in the classic style, which is NOT the modern style. And you learn the hard way that that the way it used to be isn't how it works today.
We set off for our Italy cruise on Viking Ocean yesterday. I had booked everything through Viking, so they did the air, the ground transfers and the voyage, figuring (turns out wrongly) that if something went wrong they would make it right. Trust and Ethics.
The flight out to Amsterdam was cancelled after sitting at the airport 8 hours, due to weather.* So was every other outbound airline resulting in massive travel delays for thousands at Dulles Airport. That meant our connection flight from Amsterdam to Rome was shot, and we would not get on the ship due at Embarkation at the Rome port. We went back home after retrieving our luggage.
The airlines were of no help whatsoever. They would not rebook us or guide us. Thank you KLM and Star Alliance.
I called Viking Emergency travel help, thinking we would just take a credit for the same cruise another time, say in a month or so. "No, Mr. Collie, you didn't buy the optional insurance ($ 1,400 per ticket x 2) so you have 100% loss of your cruise and funds". Had you bought the insurance, then you could get a refund or a credit.
Really? Took me a minute to absorb that as it was $ 24,000 we paid. Viking guy said "We will rebook your air and you can catch up to the ship at one of the port stops."
So while Viking guy has me on hold to search for air, I start reading the 57 page small print cruise ticket you accept when you book and never bother to read, because it is 57 pages and reads like a commercial real estate lease.* *Yep, there it was on page 22 that they are not responsible for airline cancellations due to weather and will not refund though they will help rebook.
"What about the two days of cruise we miss and our pre-paid excursions on those two days?"* I ask. But I already knew the answer to that because its all in the ticket contract. YOU LOSE.
So we are headed back to Dulles today, catching up with the ship in Naples Italy after a very long flight which will be to Istanbul, Turkey, a five hour layover at that airport, then 2 and a half hour flight back West to Naples Fl. That's all they can find since all the other flights are booked from the East Coast to Europe due to this storm yesterday.
The cherry on top of it all was the Uber ride back home from the airport at 10 p.m. We are tooling along I-66 and the Uber Driver says "You just cancelled your ride" and pulled over on the Interstate shoulder to let us out. What the????* Apparently I failed to close the Uber App on my phone and somehow it pocket-dialed the cancellation button. After two minutes of side-of-the-road negotiations, I told him just finish the trip and I will give him $ 60 cash, which is more than he would make from Uber.
Takeaways from this experience
1) Do not trust any business to do the right thing, Integrity is gone.
2) Always buy the trip insurance on big dollar vacations
3) Always pay by credit card and do not use the Cruise line 3.5% discount for ACH Transfer. At least them you have a shot at a chargeback.
4) Always close your Uber App on your phone
Off to Istanbul at 1 p.m today.....maybe this time it will work.
I ran my little store on ethics and courtesy, as best I could. Old School respect and put yourself in your customers shoes. Try to make it right. But that's not modern business, which is set up with rules that are inflexible. I think I prefer the way it used to be.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
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