Hi ljayne73,
Can you expand a bit on the message and tell us the telephone number you used?
Is the address to write to a part of the message? If not can someone give me the address please.

Wow Liayne, do let us know if you get to the bottom of the mystery of the additional steps required to get your cruise!!! I have been racking my brain but nothing springs to mind! Perhaps they mean you have to write 27 times, phone 94 times, go on Watchdog, complain to the PM and the Minister for Consumer Affairs and crying with rage at least once a week during the last two years!

Sorry this is rushed folks but works very busy lol

Well if anyone wants the number pm me as im not sure if I can publish it here, but lets face it everytime we ring their making more money out of us but I have listened several times and basically these are the basic points - if you listened to the message please add anything I have missed........

We have made changes to the handling of this promotion.
To date we have been unable to respond to queries and apologies for any frustration caused as a result.
It is our intention to respond within 14 days to any written communication received from now on.
We are working hard to identify legitimate readers who qualify for the promotion.
Unfortunately, not every reader who applied for the cruise in 2004 qualifies for the cruise.
There were several steps to complete over and above collecting tokens from the newspaper and cruise allocation letter received from ????? (sorry not sure if I can say that bit but we all know who) does not constitute full and final confirmation of your cruise application and we apologies for any confusion.

We require you to write to us one more time with your name, address and full postcode (and we can request the status of our application!)

Address is Daily Express Cruise Promotion
10 Lower Thames Street
London
EC3R 6EN

So folks get writing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I, like many, still have every piece of documentation from this promotion INCLUDING a letter from the DE Group Joint Managing Director confirming and I quote "I will be arranging for Express Newspapers' representative to contact you shortly. You WILL still be offered a £10 cruise, but this may entail a considerable wait for availability. Alternatives will also be offered to you and these may include a cash amount, other holidays or long-haul flights"

So.....they obviously have their little get out clauses in place now but im intrigued as to how are they going to try and do it!!!!

I eagerly await the next step!!!

Lou

Well folks I've had my reply back already!

They have confirmed my claim for the cruise is valid as per their terms and conditions to the 2004 promotion. The next step is for them to prioritise my application for further investigation and action it as soon as is practicable.

Apparently I will be hearing from them in writing within the next few months (yawn) also states that they cannot be more precise at this stage as to how or when they will next be in touch (few months they said in sentence above doh! ) or confirm what offer they will make to me in settlement of this claim.

So, I am writing back to them now, I will be reasonable, as requested, give it a couple of months and then take action through the courts if my claim is not resolved!


Lx

Is it worth nominating this offer to the Guinness Book of Records as the most drawn-out and badly delayed promotion of any newspaper. The Daily Express should be ashamed of themselves for letting it get this way.

If they spent less time worrying about Princess Diana and Asylum seekers, and more about giving people what they promised ("a £10 cruise for all our readers") then they might have resolved this quicker.

Nah just remember the Hoover promotion years ago with their free trips to America................but you would think that the DE would have learnt from others experiences!
Lou

Hi
Ive now got some free time to commence my legal action. My situation has changed and im actually emmigrating within the next 3 months. As i wont be in a position to go on a cruise. Do you think i could just claim the cost of a cruise back. In addition to my numerous phone calls and time taken to get a resolution i quite fancy £1000. What do you think my chances are. I need a laugh folks as it looks like the DE are going to beat me simply because im sick of the UK.

Cheers

i havent looked in for a while.i notice you still seem to be getting the run around.!! i hope the person who is emigrating gets chance to take a cash offer.it seems unbelievable that this fiasco is still going on.i bet a lot have given up which is what they want.i hope the ones who are still fighting get results .you all deserve it!! keep at it ..

Why don't you ALL contact 'Dom' - see Holiday Complaints forum - and see what he can do for you ... this should be good BBC viewing!! Good luck.

Hi everyone,just thought i'd let you know that i have actually had a reply from DE. After reading that everyone wasn't automatically entitled to a cruise, i thought i'd best write and remind them that i was still waiting for my Carribean cruise!!! and that i would be taking legal action if they didn't reply. Anyway LO and Behold i've had a reply stating that they have validated my claim for a cruise and that they will write to me in the next few months to confirm what offer they've made in settlement of this claim!!!!!!! and for me to continue being patient whilst they deal with their backlog of queries. SO what do you think of that then ?

I had a letter on 26 October 2004 when **** allocated me a Libya cruise on 11 June 2005. I was later contacted by them who said that it was not possible to place me on that cruise and would I accept one in 2006. I said yes. Since then I heard nothing so wrote to the Express who finally replied on 12 October 2006 basically saying bugger off. I quote:

"Express Newspapers is unable to validate your claim for a cruise against the information supplied to us by *** / **** *****. Please note that not every reader who applied for a cruise in 2004 will have legitimately qualified to receive one... Any cruise allocation letters you may have received from *** / **** ***** did not constitute full and final confirmation of any cruise application. I regret that the Board of Express Newspapers has therefore decided that it cannot take your application for a promotional cruise any further. Our decision in this regard is final and we will not enter into any further correspondence in relation to this offer".

Is there anything else I can do or is legal action the only course now?

** Edit to remove company details. luci HT Mod **

In other words the DE don't care a fig for their readers or for their reputation. You would have thought that with all the money that both the owner and the newspaper group are worth they would would make a grand gesture and book a cruise for all the people who have been waiting these two years. That way they would get some good publicity and restore their reputation. I am disgusted.

i have just put my letter in the post iv heard nothing in 18 months even tho i have wrote , rung, e mailed , watchdog,you name it. i copied all my letters etc and sent those too. i await a reply .its looking like court action for me.

Dear DRWOOD

Perhaps we should compare notes and see what you done differently to me and the rest of us who has been 'validated'

Lou

Hi

Receieved letter from Daily Express on Saturday (after I sent complaint letter again 3 weeks ago) and they said they have validated my claim and its correct and that I will hear about compensation in a few months and be patient. So it sounds like to me that I wont be getting a cruise but some sort of compensation.

Anyway received a letter like that or received compensation and if so, how much?

I really want the cruise though!

Darren

Your claim has apparently been validated Darren so you should insist on the cruise promised, not some useless compensation, which will probably be vouchers for cash towards something you don't want. Quite a lot of us have already had our cruises last year and more are coming through now so hang on in there and go for legal action if you feel you are still getting nowhere. Others have done it and you can too - we are all rooting for you. The whole thing has been a fiasco from the start, though the cruise itself, when it eventually materialises, is well worth fighting for.

It seems to me that they are restarting the same proceedure all over again. We have already made our applications had them accepted, rejected the coupons and compensation, and had the be patient letter. I think they are trying to see how many non patient cruisers they have got rid of.
Well I for 1 am still here, and I want a £10 cruise.

Me to Raych, I also want my cruise, I have waited 2 years and am not giving in now!!!!!!

I have just been on my '£10' cruise which actually cost me £35 and it was worth every penny!

It was a fantastic week on the Island Star (Riverias 7th October). I had a beautiful cabin, great weather, great friendly crew, met some great people - in fact everything was wonderful, it was worth the 2 year wait.

I didn't meet anyone else who had a £10 cruise but an elderly couple I met informed me they had met someone who had and had brought his son with him but he had to do it through his solicitor.

I really hope all of you still waiting for your cruise are successful. Don't give up!

Regarding the 'extra' steps the express say must be taken to qualify - the only thing I can think of is the letter of confirmation from **** confirming acceptance of a cruise in 2006 and stating your AN**** reference no from them.

If you have already stated these then I can't think of anything different I stated in my letter to them.

Again Good Luck!



Rene