Please help my retired parents...Planet Cruises

loops81

Oh wow that was heated! I am very hot and bothered now lol

Ok Planet Cruise are refusing to give me any information of what the £600 is for, they said that as it was a package holiday, it was various suppliers charges, like Flights, Hotels, Tours, and transfers.

I said ok, if I get my mom to call you would you give her the breakdown? she said no, even if we called ABTA (think she said that) they would say the same, they do not have to give this information out to us.

I said I would be writing a letter of complaint, and she said well if that would make you feel better than go ahead, you can right as many letters as you like.

Oh wow, didn't go to plan

No what do I do guys? xx

richardw

It is reasonable to have a breakdown of the £600, it is too much of a nice round figure to represent the sum of charges, you'd expect a total similar to some thing un round like £552.57, sounds like they're rounding it up to £600.

poet123

Ok keep calm.

Sit down and compose your thoughts.

I would write a simple letter briefly stating that your mother booked a surprise holiday for her husband on xxx departing xxx and requiring a flight of xx hours. After consideration she decided to tell him about it, and he felt he was not well enough to undertake that journey. State that you can if they wish provide medical evidence to this effect. State that you told them that you felt the best course of action was to try to secure a no fly cruise rather than cancel the holiday completely. State that you fully expected to pay an admin fee for this change but one which was reasonable and fair. Stress this was not a cancellation but a change to their original booking. (They will take the tack that it was a cancellation) State that in view of the date of departure being xx months away, and the fact that the new cruise is xxx hundreds of pounds more expensive you feel that for them to retain £600 is unfair.

Tell that if they can give you a break down of monies already paid to third parties (and their names) which account for this money you will consider the position. If they cannot do this you feel you are then left with no option but to make a complaint to ABTA, and that you also reserve the right to pursue a claim through the Small Claims Court.

End the letter by saying that at this stage you simply wish to see proof that the monies they have withheld have indeed been paid out by the company and not merely retained by them as an admin charge.

Mark it "Without Predjudice" keep a copy, and send Recorded Delivery.

You will get a letter back saying no! but don't be fobbed off, write again and give them seven days to respond or say you will go to court.


I could write the letter for you wanted although Iexpect you would prefer to do it yourself? Hope this helps! Good luck.

loops81

Ok I have calmed down, trying to eat my sandwich to calm me haha.

She also said that as a good will gesture we did not charge your mom £50 each person admin charge.

I would love you to write the letter for me :j would you mind really? Oh wow, you are such a lovely person

Loops x

ponymad_3

:beer:Great offer of help Poet123 - it raises my spirits when people are prepared to help others... A few of the forums on here are getting away from this spirit - I raised aquestion on one of the money sites the other day for a friend and was shocked at the tone of some people. I don t know what they get off on! Anyway thanks

poet123

Ok I have just written this quickly, you may want to tweak it, I better go and do some housework now!! It won't let me do the para spacing on a copy and paste from Word for some reason!

Dear Sir/Madam,

Further to our telephone conversation of xxx concerning the cruise reference xx. I wish to make a formal complaint regarding the retention of £600(from a deposit of £950) by Planet Cruise when a change of cruise itinerary was made. The background is as follows.

I write on behalf of Mrs xx who booked a cruise holiday to xxx with you on xxx, departure date xxx. This holiday was booked as a surprise for her husband (my Father.) Almost immediately after booking my Mother had certain misgivings about his health and his ability to cope with such an arduous flight, consequently, rather than keep it as a surprise she decided to discuss the matter with my father. At this point she discovered that he really felt that he was not well enough to undertake such a journey, and they turned to me for advice. I advised them that I felt the best course of action was to contact you and see if the booking could be changed to a “no fly “cruise which would better suit his health issues (evidence of which can be supplied on request) In view of these issues this is likely to be their last holiday.

We fully understood that under the circumstances they would be an admin charge for the changing of the booking. However, we expected it to be fair and reasonable, and to reflect the fact that the original cruise was not due to depart until xxx and that the changes were being made some xx months in advance and so close to the time of the original booking. The cruise itinerary was changed to a UK departure for which we were grateful.

It is also pertinent to note that the new cruise was xxx more expensive than their original choice. Taking all these factors into account I was therefore very concerned to hear that Planet Cruise had retained a sum of £600 from the original booking, and only credited my parents with £350. We do not consider this to be reasonable or fair under the circumstances I have already outlined.


To try to find out what this sum represented I telephoned you on xx and spoke to xxx. I asked that I be informed of the breakdown of the £600 costs which appeared to have already been incurred. I was told categorically that this information would not be forthcoming. I cannot accept that Planet Cruise has actually paid out this money and not simply retained it as an excessive admin charge unless I can see a list of which third party suppliers it has been paid over to. I feel that I am entitled to this information so that I can consider if the course of action you have taken is reasonable.

So, at this stage I am simply asking that you provide that information for my consideration. If this information cannot be provided I will have to assume that the monies have simply been retained by Planet Cruise and I re iterate that I find the sum concerned excessive in view of the facts of this case.

In this event I will have no alternative but to make a formal complaint to ABTA, to your parent company Co Operative Travel and if no satisfaction is gained initiate summons in the Small Claims Court for unfair terms and conditions.

Obviously, I wish to avoid such unpleasantness and hope that we can settle this in an amicable way. To that end I await your response within seven days from the date of this letter.

Yours faithfully



Without Prejudice

loops81

Thank you thank you thank you :j

I so really do appreciate you taking time out of your day to do that, I really do :kisses3:

Loops

I will let you know the response. xx

loops81

Ok posted it today 1st recorded so will let you know the reply

Thanks again xx

poet123

If my experience with them is any pointer they will come back with a letter thanking you for your comments and saying they are big on customer service etc but unfortunately they cannot do more.

I just wrote back and re stated my position, and said I would go to court and within a day or so a pink envelope (they use bright pink envelopes for some reason!) dropped on the mat and they had given me what I had asked for and more actually.

They may offer the money/or a portion of it, in the form of a future cruise voucher, which may be of no use to you unless your parents would use it again against another cruise, you would have to decide whether this was feasible. If it is of no use to them stand firm and tell them that and insist on the return of the money if they cannot show it has been paid across (which I really doubt at this stage). They were quite prompt at responding to my issue, so expect a response with the week. Fingers crossed.

loops81

Bright pink envelopes? haha how strange

Ok will let you know what they say, well, will let you know when they say no lol.

Hope you got your housework done :rotfl:

Loops x