What's my right on liveaboard overbooking?

[steffi]

Hi Everyone,

I would like some advice as to how to deal with an issue that came up with being dumped by a liveaboard for their overbooking.

Way back in early March, I booked to be on Emperor Elite liveaboard sailing St. Johns on Aug 23-30. I booked it w Dive-the-world.com. The payment was processed and received by Dive-the-world.com on March 15, 2013.


Just last week, I got an email from Dive-the-world.com saying that the boat was overbooked and I was the last person who booked it so the boat wanted to offer me €200 to go on Emperor Superior (a less luxurious boat) sailing Classic Cruise instead.


I wrote back and said, No, since I had done north Red Sea and I knew I wasn't the last person to book the boat, as I booked it so long ago. But I said, I would be willing to go on a boat to another south Red Sea itinerary.


Two days ago, I got another email back from Dive-the-world.com saying that I was the last female reservation and they couldn't find me other southern Red Sea itineraries. So basically Sorry, going to Northern Red Sea on Superior is the only offer, EVEN THOUGH THEY ALREADY TOOK MY MONEY 3.5 MONTHS AGO!


Personally, I believe, a payment should never have been taken if a spot was not guaranteed or I should have at least been informed that this could happen when I purchased the spot. With the trip being less than a month away, it is unprofessional and unacceptable for them to cancel my trip.

Does anyone have experiences like this before? Should the boat (Emperor) or the booking agent (Dive-the-world.com) be responsible?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much.

 

[Grocio]

You should read the terms of agreement, Steffi. You might find the answer there.

I can understand your feelings. Their action seems to be unfair regardless of the terms of agreement.

 

[Rusty Roo]

agree with grocio. You're going to have to read all those T+Cs. legally, they're attempting to mitigate the issue which generally both parties should do. I would ask for a full refund and try and hop on something else. (don't quote anything i say as i'm only a second year law student. Most of the information is probably incorrect.)

 

[steffi]

The booking agent, Dive-the-world.com's T+Cs include no mentions of situation of this kind, only the opposite: a cruise being cancelled due to insufficient reservations... My payment should have guaranteed me a spot.

---------- Post added July 28th, 2013 at 04:48 PM ----------

It seems particularly odd that there are always terms on what happens and the penalties when a customer wants to change or cancel a booking, yet the agent can cancel our booking for no legit reason, even after they have taken your money.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Have you ever read the back of an airline ticket?

 

[steffi]

chillyinCanada,

Is your sarcasm meant to be some kind of advice?

 

[Grocio]

Steffi,
I've read the terms and conditions in more detail. According to this document the contract is between the operator (Emperor Fleet) and you. In principle Emperor Fleet is thus responsible.
I don't know whether they offer you a full reimbursement as well. If the alternatives are to be fully reimbursed, to get 200 Euro back and take the Northern Red Sea route, and to litigate, I would definitely not choose the last alternative because the financial and emotional costs are much higher than the benefits.
You might have to be practical in making your choice.
Good luck.

 

[Solly]

have you contacted emperor themselves?
Check their route schedule and if you find an appropriate trip for you, ask to be transferred to it if this is satisfactory for you.

 

[Quero]

Contact the operator and see what they can do for you. This booking agency is based here on Phuket, where I am also based, but the owner has relocated back to the UK to pursue other interests. Both the agency and the owner have just been expelled from PADI for quality assurance issues, as you can see here: http://www.padi.com/scuba/about-padi/quality-management/consumer-alerts/expelled-dive-shops/

 

[steffi]

Thank you guys for the advice.

I contacted Emperor Divers directly and to their credit, they are now offering me to go on the less luxurious boat, to the northern Red Sea (not the itinerary I wanted) free of charge. They are supposed to refund the money to Dive-the-world.com and Dive-the-world.com is supposed to refund me the payment. However, there has been no word from Dive-the-world. They have not responded to Emperor nor my emails. Looking at the "PADI expel list," it explains it. So the next step is to go to the credit card company for the refund...

Thanks! And I hope this doesn't happen to any of the fellow divers.