Should I be concerned? Travel agent question

[FloatMe]

Brief; we have been on 4 cruises, two of which were booked directly with the cruise line and the other two my parents booked and we simply paid them. So we have no real experience dealing with a travel agency.

 

Present day; we booked our next cruise with a travel agent who we had never used. He has been really helpful and offered a nice incentive. My only concern is that after having made several payments on my credit card which were charged by RCCL, the last payment and a portion of another where charged to his agency instead of RCCL? Is this normal practice?

 

The amounts seem to correlate with commissionable fare and non-comm taxes and fees. But outside of the cost of the insurance, which we did purchase from him, why would the agency collect the taxes and fees?

 

I am not terribly concerned but I've heard horror stories. Any thoughts and experience would be appreciated.

[Todd]

Why would you have any issues here. In the worst case (and I do not believe this to be true) the travel agent stole money from you. You paid on a credit card so it would be refunded by the credit card company and the agent would be banned by Royal for life. You have zero risk here now. And again I do not believe this to have happen. I believe Royal Royal is paid in full and the agent is paid in full. But if you want to check call Royal and give them the reservation number and asked them if any payment is outstanding.

 

Lots of things to worry about this is not one of them. Have a great trip.

[FloatMe]

Why would you have any issues here. In the worst case (and I do not believe this to be true) the travel agent stole money from you. You paid on a credit card so it would be refunded by the credit card company and the agent would be banned by Royal for life. You have zero risk here now. And again I do not believe this to have happen. I believe Royal Royal is paid in full and the agent is paid in full. But if you want to check call Royal and give them the reservation number and asked them if any payment is outstanding.

 

Lots of things to worry about this is not one of them. Have a great trip.

thanks! as I said, I am not terribly concerned. as much as anything, I am a curious why they do what they do? I had just assumed that all monies,minus the cost of the insurance would have been paid to Royal Caribbean.

[tgnorton]

You don't want to show up to port to find out it's not paid in full.  Call RC to see if they have received the payments.  It's possible that the TA bought so many cabins at the group (discounted) rate and is only paying the balance they owe to RC.  I think I would want to know before I show up.

[monorailmedic]

While it is a bit unusual, there are some reasons this can happen.  It ranges from group rates, to how an agent distributes commission back to guests, and other logistics I'm sure I can't think of.  So it never hurts to check w/ RCL, but I wouldn't panic either.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Why not ask the agent for an updated confirmation/receipt.

 

Every time Michelle makes a payment for me she sends me a new confirmation that shows the amount paid and the balance due.

 

There's no reason why this agent should do the same.  If he hesitates in doing this, then I would DEFINITELY go straight to Royal and insist on getting a receipt from SOMEONE.

[FloatMe]

While it is a bit unusual, there are some reasons this can happen.  It ranges from group rates, to how an agent distributes commission back to guests, and other logistics I'm sure I can't think of.  So it never hurts to check w/ RCL, but I wouldn't panic either.

Not panicking. I did however call crown & anchor and due to contractual agreements with the travel agency, Royal cannot say if the cruise is paid in full or give me any information regarding my payments. I have to communicate with the agency for all financial information. My guess, as you mentioned, is the agency gets a better group rate above their regular commissions. If the math works out the way I believe it to be the TA will collect exactly 20% of the total cruise fare plus the cost of the insurance. Which all seems completely reasonable. Having never personally worked with a TA, I kind of ASSumed RC would collect all of the funds and then pay out commission.

[Todd]

Not panicking. I did however call crown & anchor and due to contractual agreements with the travel agency, Royal cannot say if the cruise is paid in full or give me any information regarding my payments. I have to communicate with the agency for all financial information. 

 

Royal has to tell any guest if they have a balance due or not. They do not need to detail the breakdown or the travel agents deal but they need to tell you if the cruise is paid or not. If a agent on the phone told you anything else then they do not know what they are talking about. Which seems to be common these days at Royal. I would talk to a different agent or a dispute resolutions agent.  I would never accept the answer we cannot give you any information.  If the agents would not talk to me Corporate legal would give me the answer.   

[FloatMe]

Royal has to tell any guest if they have a balance due or not. They do not need to detail the breakdown or the travel agents deal but they need to tell you if the cruise is paid or not. If a agent on the phone told you anything else then they do not know what they are talking about. Which seems to be common these days at Royal. I would talk to a different agent or a dispute resolutions agent. I would never accept the answer we cannot give you any information. If the agents would not talk to me Corporate legal would give me the answer.

thanks, good to know. I only owe $100 (no idea why i wait for final payment day to pay that) for an October 30 sailing. maybe in will go ahead and pay it and call C&A back.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Actually, it's very wise of you to withhold the total amount until the very end.  Once the cruise is paid in full it significantly limits what changes can be made to the cruise.  I always leave just a small balance until the bitter end JUST in case I need to make some last-minute changes.

[DocLC]

I've worked with many travel agents over the years and my payments have always been handled by the cruise line.  I also ask for the invoice from Royal Caribbean, too. Personally, I would be concerned if an agency charged the amount to themselves rather than to the cruise line particularly when it comes to refunds should you need to cancel. Also, keep in mind that you usually only have 60 days to dispute a charge, which might be problem given how far out your cruise is.

[Todd]

. Also, keep in mind that you usually only have 60 days to dispute a charge, which might be problem given how far out your cruise is.

 

Some charge companies do use a 60 day rule but two important exceptions to this. When the purchase is for future goods or services. IE purchase a airline ticket for a year from now and two months before the flight airline goes bankrupt, even with the purchase being 10 months old still can dispute. Also if you have not paid the charge payment off you can still dispute.  We both buy $2000 dollar TV's you payoff in full, I made minimum payment, and a year later both TV's have problems, I can dispute, because still have a balance, you paid off cannot.

 

So cruises should be able to be disputed  after the cruise, regardless of when paid. I have disputed cruises after returning from them. 

[coneyraven]

Why not ask the agent for an updated confirmation/receipt.

 

Every time Michelle makes a payment for me she sends me a new confirmation that shows the amount paid and the balance due.

 

There's no reason why this agent should do the same.  If he hesitates in doing this, then I would DEFINITELY go straight to Royal and insist on getting a receipt from SOMEONE.

 

Exactly the same with my travel agent ..... As soon as the payment is applied, I receive a confirmation, almost identical as the confirmations received from Royal Caribbean Directly,  It does make me feel better watching my balance due go down.

[michelle]

FloatMe - private message me - your credit card should show Royal Caribbean for payments

[FloatMe]

Exactly the same with my travel agent ..... As soon as the payment is applied, I receive a confirmation, almost identical as the confirmations received from Royal Caribbean Directly,  It does make me feel better watching my balance due go down.

I also get a deposit confirmation after each payment.

[Galveston Steve]

My travel agent is a well known national name. The credit card charge for all down payments and final payments ALWAYS shows Royal Caribbean, not the travel agent. As DocLC mentioned above, I always ask them to send the confirmation from Royal Caribbean so I have something directly from Royal in case there is any issue at the pier or on board.

[FloatMe]

Well, we are 90 days out and I was able to check in and able to print our set sail pass! Which, I assume, means Royal Caribbean shows that I have made final payment. I still find it strange that the payments were split in the manner they were. Interestingly, we only owe $100 for an April cruise that we booked with the same agency and every payment has been to RCCL.

[Galveston Steve]

Thanks for letting us know!

[packercruising]

Why not ask the agent for an updated confirmation/receipt.

 

Every time Michelle makes a payment for me she sends me a new confirmation that shows the amount paid and the balance due.

 

There's no reason why this agent should do the same.  If he hesitates in doing this, then I would DEFINITELY go straight to Royal and insist on getting a receipt from SOMEONE.

 

I agree with this assessment. Assuming you did due diligence before choosing this TA, communicate with him/her first. A good one will send emails and be available to answer questions.