I originally registered for a vacation "giveaway" at a popular local bridal show event. The booth and representatives seemed legitimate, so I thought nothing of registering. I later received a call from an over-zealous sales representative named Randy, who managed to convince me that his one-time winning offer for a FREE vacation package was worth handing over my credit card information.
All I needed to secure the deal was $199 per person for 2 travelers, but I could not have time to consider the offer and call back... I stalled for 40 minutes before accepting. However, I later logged on to www.cruisebookingsite.com
to learn that I had a balance due of $298.00 in addition to the
original $398.00 for 2 people.
After six days of research around the internet and after reviewing my account on the company's "booking" website, I called customer service to cancel
within the Florida 30-day cancellation window -- state statute 559.933. First
call, spoke with Frederick and was informed I
would need to call back later due to high call volumes -- his
supervisor would not allow me to hold on the line.
Second call 35 minutes later, spoke with Darrius and repeatedly stated that I
want to cancel the package purchase. After approx. 50 minutes of back-and-forth regarding how great the package is and why I wanted to cancel, I was
finally transferred to a supervisor.
Vantrise, the supervisor, advised that
I did not need to call her because the cancellation information is
listed under Frequently Asked Questions on the booking website. I
logged into my account while speaking with her and searched the page
for the word "cancel" using the browser "find"
function, but with no hits/results. I informed the supervisor of
this and she grew hostile, then apologized that I am unable to understand the package
information. She maintained that the information is listed under
the website's FAQ section.
She further refused to indicate where
this information is located on the webpage because that is not her job. She would not process my
cancellation request, but maintained that she was not denying me my right to cancel (go figure on that one.. didn't quite make sense to me). After some heated debate, I finally specifically stated that my reason for
canceling is due to the horrible customer service I have received
this evening during my two phone calls and final 61-minute telephone conversation.
The entire practice of calling
drawing entrants and speed-talking them into purchasing this
"amazing" FREE vacation is deceptive and misleading. In no
case should customers be thrown around in customer service for 60 minutes solely to cancel the purchase. Supervisor
Vantrise was unreceptive to my repeated requests to simply
cancel the package. She repeated the offer details countless times
and then treated me like I am stupid for calling her in the first
place.
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