Dear All,

Thanks for the information that some of you have had a second cruise, or are still waiting. And of course huge sympathy to those who are still waiting for their first.

There is a precedent, which will be useful when my case gets to court. It is also clear to me that the T&C were clear, one application per person per envelope means they have to be in separate envelopes, otherwise the 'per envelope' bit is irrelevant.

Despite the frustration of not getting the cruises, yet, I am now enjoying the chase!

Happy hunting

Marcus

Good luck with your case Jo2802! And good luck to all still waiting too!

Would it be possible to publish the MD's name and presumably the registered office where he works. I notice some members have been sending personal letters (recorded delivery) which results in an offer for a cruise.

I am tempted by the legal route of around say £80 , but don't want an offer being made as this would defeat the object of creating a prescedent. Also the cost of the £10 cruise will have risen by "£80+" plus "Fuel surcharge" and any other hidden costs.

From memory I'm not sure if Marcus is going to dispute fuel charges which would bring DE into open court.

I am also going to look at my home insurance which provides free legal cover (could be an excess) for consumer disputes.

A flood of letters may have the desired effect to those who write in to the MD or named directors or perhaps the Editor.

We would prefer that names are not posted on the open forums as comments are often accredited to them which may be potentially libellous. However members may wish to share this information by PM.

luci

Many thanks, point taken.

I have already sent personal request, but no reply as yet. If anyone wants to send me the information, feel free and would be very much appreciated.

Dear Marcus,

There is absolutely no doubt about the T&Cs: they clearly stated (as in other DE promotions) that the same person could apply for more than one cruise - provided they had the correct number of coupons and that each batch was in a separate envelope.

Just one small point: have a look at the latest letter you had from the DE: the one I received changed the T&Cs (in my favour - so I didn't complain!).

Good luck,

Cruiser

Hello, again, Marcus,

One of the contributors to the ZDNet forum claims to have sued the DE. They didn't turn up in court and, he says, the bailiffs were sent round to the paper's offices! He got an out-of-court settlement.

Do you have a link to that site please so we can all read about it.

Here is the link to the Zdnet web-site. I would take this posting with a pinch of salt. What he says may be true but don't trust it 100%.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/talkback/?PROCESS=show&ID=20044030&AT=39165536-39020342t-10000016c

That link takes me to a posting by 'mitchell' which was about BT flights not the cruise offer. It has been on that site for months. I thought cruiser had found something new in the last few days.

This would appear to be an old BT offer throgh DE rather than
the DE Cruise offer.
Up to now it would seem DE have made a last minute offer
so not to go to court. It will be interesting to see how Marcus gets on.

If you look at the bottom of that posting you will see a list of other contributions. The one about suing is 14 up from the bottom marked "I sued them !!" by someone called Mitchell. Yes it is an old posting. Although this topic did start with the BT flights offer , it did stray into the DE cruises ( and flights) about halfway down.

Dear All,

I have sent David the contact details of the proprietor of the DE, and will happily do likewise for anyone else who wants to send me a private message.

I am of course challenging the extra fuel charge, as this was not part of the original £10 offer, and would not have been applicable if the offer had been fulfilled within the timeframe of the terms and conditions. The whole cruise for £10 was of course a crazy marketing offer in the first place, which is why so many people applied in the first place. That being said, they made the offer, and therefore have a duty to make good their side of the contract.

I have just received a court date for of June 5th. It will be interesting to to see what happens from here. It certainly would be fun if I had to send the bailiffs round to the DE as the Zdnet contributor appears to have done, it would make an interesting photo story for other papers or blogs.

I have also been getting a number of calls from the Cruise Shop trying to entice me to take a cruise to various destinations, (including trying to charge me the extra fuel charge). I have declined, as it is not an 'equivalent' offer, and also because the mater is now subject to court proceedings.

I will keep you posted

All the best

Marcus

Hi Marcus,
I suppose you would be very naive to think that you were being offered a cruise just because you had waited patiently. Much more likely to be because you are sueing. Which cruise/travel agency contacted you? Did they say if they were contacting lots of people or only you?
Good luck on 5th June.

Maureen,

Naivity isn't one of my strong points I'm afraid.

The sales reps calling me referred to the company as 'The Cruise Shop', though I didn't ask any questions as I was clear that I wasn't about to be fobbed off. Afraid I don't know if they were contacting anyone else or not. It does appear to be a strong coincidence that legal action seems to get their attention, even more so than writing directly to the proprietor of the paper that stands for "Real Values". Hmmm, I wonder if there's a case for misrepresentation??

All the best

Marcus

hi marcus
were they actually offering you a cruise for £10 or just making noises?as you say it sounds as of your action is gettingsome sort of activity.
good luck we are all behind you .
carol

Hi Marcus

Good luck for the June hearing, and thanks again for sharing on here. Assume, if they do defend, that they will say that they have offered an eqivalent alternative (Cruise Shop) that was rejected. So maybe it will all rest on being able to show that this was not the case.

When you win, no doubt you will also be seeking recovery of your expenses & court fees.

They do seem to have a record of not appearing / contesting at small claims cases, or trying to settle 'out of court' just before hearings. Maybe the significance of this case will dawn on them and they will try and defend it!

Whichever way it goes it will be exciting to see what happens - After 2 years of inaction its finally coming to a head.

Chris.

Chris.

Chris,

Thanks for the support. I'm confident that there is a case that they have not fulfilled the offer (to 1000's who applied), have not made an equivalent offer, and are clearly in breach of contract. I am of course claiming for my time (charged at my normal professional rate), and court fees. I actually would prefer it to go to court as I think the case against them is incredibly strong, (bolstered by all of the information on the forum), and sadly I think a court order against them and the subsequent publicity maybe the only way to get them to address the issue properly.

All the best

Marcus

Hi

I've not been posting to this site for months and thought I'd have a look to see what was happening and whether every one had been sorted yet.

I don't want to start any arguments but I've always felt, and stated it many times, that the terms and conditions related to one cruise per person. That is the reason I only applied for one.

I was lucky enough to get my cruise in October and had a wonderful time. I did pay more than the £10 but felt that it was worth every penny. I paid extra to fly from Manchester and extra for an upgraded cabin, both of which were worth it.

Having spoke to others on the cruise who had only paid the £10, some admitted that they wished that they had paid supplements to fly from Manchester. Although they had only paid £10, they ended up paying extra to get to London, then extra for a night in a hotel in Milan. It would have been cheaper and more convenient had they paid the supplement.

Anyway what I'm trying to say is don't cut your nose off to spite your face. The cruises are still great value, even if you have to pay a supplement. Good luck in your endeavours.

Vonmac