P&O’s direct practice is cause for complaint

P&O’s direct practice is cause for complaint

Open letter to David Dingle,managing director of P&OCruises

I WRITE to bring the behaviour of your company to your attention.

In the past, when filling in a P&O Cruise booking form, the address of the head passenger has been entered as requested ‘as it is essential for immigration purposes’.

Now I know differently – its true purpose is for P&O to write to my clients and invite them to book direct.

Take for instance Mrs P Austen, to whom P&O sent a brochure well in advance of this office receiving a copy.

On September 27, Mrs Austen came to my office (as she has done for the last four years) to book a cruise. As she booked early she received a 20% discount or £2,356 per person (two passengers).

Mrs Austen showed me yet another brochure received from P&O offering the same cruise at 40% discount or £1,767 per person – £589 less per passenger.

She decided to change cruises and upgrade her cabin. The upgraded cabin was now £2,025 or £331 less per person – a better cabin for less money.

Your booking clerk at first refused to book the upgraded cabin on a deck for the new cruise at a figure less than the original price of £2,356.

It was only after a long argument lasting over 20 minutes on the phone (at my expense) and another consultation with her supervisor that she relented and booked the new cruise and upgraded cabin at a cost of £2,025, plus £50 transfer fee.

The bottom line of this childish and costly exercise is that P&Ohas thrown £1,178 (£589×2) down the drain and my company has lost £117.80 in commission, not to mention the cost of a 20-minute phone call and time involved.

The clients were quite happy to pay £2,356 each, so why does your company decide to give away another 20%? And why does your company write direct to my clients?

As a way of showing how well you support the trade you have now joined the swelling number of operators whose hypocrisy towards the travel trade is nothing short of sickening to say the least.

G Sazio, managing director

Brompton Travel

Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey.

&#42 Travel Weekly would welcome a response from P&O Cruises