Buyer beware... Look out for bait and switch tactics here.
Avoya's agents are "independent contractors" who work from home, and a little research makes it clear that your Avoya experience very much depends on the agent you use. If you have problems with your agent, we we did, you can be sure Avoya will tell you that your agent is an independent contractor and Avoya cannot and will not be responsible for their promises or actions. That's exactly what they told us.
Whatever you do, DO NOT use agent Sandy Phillips.
We did and here's what happened:
There were several problems, but the biggest was this: As an incentive to book an $11,300 Mediterranean cruise for two, Sandy Phillips promised my wife a $600 shipboard credit if the cruise was booked and paid for four months in advance. My wife took the bait, booked the cruise, and paid in full four months in advance.
Three weeks before leaving, my wife spoke with Sandy Phillips who confirmed that the $600 credit would be applied to our shipboard account. My wife e-mailed her, and, again, Sandy confirmed, this time in writing, that the $600 credit would be applied to our onboard shipboard account.
A few days into the cruise, we checked and found there was no onboard credit. The ship sent an email to Sandy Phillips and my wife did too. Sandy could not remember anything about a shipboard credit. She emailed us back: "$600 is a lot of money and I personally don't have it to give you. I have searched and searched and can't find any reference to a $600 shipboard credit." Bait and switch? Either that or dysfunction on the part of the agent.
When we returned home from the cruise, we provided Sandy a blow-by-blow account with dates, copies of the relevant e-mails, and more. She ducked. Wouldn't return our phone calls. Went missing.
We made contact with Avoya. "She is an independent contractor, " we were told. "Avoya cannot be responsible for what she told you."
According to their website "Avoya Travel is an American Express Travel representative" and we paid with an American Express card, so now we're taking the matter up with AmExp.
The cruise we took, on Silversea, was terrific. But the experience with Sandy Phillips and Avoya Travel leaves us with bitter memories. Don't make the same mistake we did!
Milt B
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