Who is liable for transactions in onboard shops on cruise ships?

steampowered

I would say it is the shop (Starboard Cruise Services) that is liable.

The cruise operator is a bit like the landlord of a shopping centre. If you bought something in WH Smith at Bluewater shopping centre, you'd go against WH Smith, not against Bluewater.

However, I don't think you have any recourse after such a long time. If English law applied, the legal limitation period under the Limitation Act 1980 is 6 years. I'm not sure what law would apply on a cruise ship though.

kazzah

Angus_Og wrote: »

I guess the point went straight over your head.

not really- I thought I would try and add a little levity into the proceedings
my mistake
sorry
won't do it again

peachyprice

McKneff wrote: »

Ive never paid more than 2 quid for a battery and they have always lasted 3 plus years

Up North, markets, fitted too

Even my jeweller, daan sarf only charges £2!

hollydays

Sounds like a question in a law students exam

Deke123

Thanks for all the comments. I realised that a statue of limitations would apply after 12 years. Also, I realised that after 12 years of good service the watch had only just needed a repair and even if I had bought it from a UK high street shop I would have no recourse. What bugged me was the fact that it had been sold as something that it was not.

The reason for the post was to clarify things for future purchases. Like others who posted I have been happy with most purchases onboard.

It is always worth checking prices. For example, on a recent P&O cruise I looked at Citizen watches in the onboard shop. I checked the internet and found that the prices they were charging were comparable with the prices being charged by UK shops. Moreover, when I returned from the cruise my local branch of H. Samuel had several of the models I had looked at, on offer at half-price. So I was glad I did not buy one. However, other things were a bargain, for example the Norlender jumper I bought at half the price being charged by Amazon.

For me the things to consider are:
1. Does the cruise company have any liability for purchases in onboard shops? If not surely they should make that clear to passengers.
2. If the company operating the onboard shops is liable then which country's laws apply? For issues relating to the ship and cruise line generally then the laws of the country where the ship is registered apply when the ship is in international waters. As someone pointed out it would be Bahamas for the Navigator.
3. Does the point in 2 apply to the onboard shops or do the laws of the country in which the company is registered apply? If so then for Starboard cruise services it would be the USA.

Deke123

finally, thanks to whomever moved this post to the correct forum.

hollydays

It would make sense to email the Cruise company and ask THEM.

Deke123

Thanks for that. I already emailed them about the issue and intend to ask them, and the company running the onboard shops, for their understanding of the issue and who is responsible.

davelewis

You can get some great bargains and the onboard shops on P&O will price match shops 'on land'. Recently on a P&O Cruise to Dubai we saw a Bluetooth speaker for around £140 in the Dubai Mall. Onboard the same speaker was £180 but we took a photo in the Dubai Mall shop and the onboard shop matched the price and gave us 7.5% loyalty discount on the purchase.

shaun_from_Africa

davelewis wrote: »

You can get some great bargains and the onboard shops on P&O will price match shops 'on land'.

I wouldn't call price matching to a land shop a great bargain.

Dixons duty free in the UK state that they will beat any UK high street or internet seller, something that they do but only by a few £s.
As their goods are being sold at duty free prices, they should be able to beat high street prices by a good margin but they don't.

As an example.
I recently purchased a Samsung S4 tablet for £509 from John Lewis and as I'm non resident in the EU and was taking this item overseas, I reclaimed some of the VAT at the airport.
After commission, I received £60 back which meant I paid £449 for the tablet.

The same item at Dixons duty free was £504 so their tax free price is only £5 less than the tax paid high street price.