Hi Alli,
Thanks for the reply. I've tried Emma in the past with no reply whatsoever. When was offered the cruise earlier in the year for a price I could have bought it for on the 'net I e-mailed her and left a message on her voicemail asking to be contacted urgently because I was being pressurised into accepting but this brought nothing. I wasn't very impressed I have to say. Needless to say I didnt accept that one.
I would be interested to hear from the others who have received a letter from the DE who they contacted.
Have you tried all the following? Even if you have, these may be useful for anyone fairly new who hasn't found the link so here they are again:
Sian Jeffries, Head of Marketing works for the Express and stands in when Emma Pearce is away.
Manager of Marketing at the Express is Steven Verna, tel: 0871 520 7614.
Lara Dorrington sits next to Sian at the Express (don't know her job title, but she can help too).
Sian - 0871 520 2783.
Lara- 0871 520 7021
Cheapest option: Freephone Daily Express - 0800 376 8000 and ask to be put through to person by name.
I found I got a response after I telephoned Steven Verna and left messages on his ansaphone. Several messages, that is!!!
Alli
Somewhere on this thread there is a message to say that Emma Pearce no longer works for DE which is why no one gets a reply from her e-mail. I believe the advice was to contact Lara Dorrington instead but I think when I get some free time I will try the freephone number.
I have emailed some woman called Lara at Express with my details amd also
left message for Steven Verna on his voice mail.
Just hoping to get some response now as i have not heard a word since March when i received letter from Rise!! stating i had been allocated a Louis cruise in June
I shall keep bombarding Express until something happens
Anyone else want to join me
HI Mikey78912 I am certainly with you and I have started leaving messages on Steve Verna's voicemail he is probably Group Joint Managing Director with ------- who the letter I received was pp'd for. I expect they need two of them to deal with all of us who are still waiting. I don't know about you but I would be happy to wait until next year if they gave us something definite to look forward to. At the moment we don't even know if they are trying to sort it out do we hang in there we will get there in the end :o. Carol R
Thanks Carol, so you received a letter from the Express, thats more than me, not a word received, so now i've emailed them and left voice message, will see whats happened.
Mikey
I kept 'phoning the Express using the number on the back page. Each time I left a message and finally had a response. However, I did not get anywhere E-mailing them. Good luck.
Perhaps contacting Watchdog would be a good idea as they probably think everything is resolved.
They could always charter Easy Cruise.com .........
Maureen H.
Hi Maureen
(I've had too much wine but I know what I mean)
Hi Veronica, Craig et al it is very easy for them to ignore e-mails but letters do get answers even if they are not the ones you want and eventually you do get a response if you leave lots of voicemails. I understand exactly what you mean Veronica but that may be because I have had too much wine as well We must keep up the good fight and not give in.Cheers Carol R
Oh to heck with all this e-mailing ..wot about a "peaceful demonstration" outside the DE main office? Needs to be co-ordinated but with the red tops and others informed well in advance. I don't know about "six" people but I'm sure there are loads more out there. Bet Phil will be up for it! Ok I've had wine tonight but still feel very angry at the way people have been treated. PS I'm away in Canada 1st-12th November so please organise any demo when I'm around!
I've not seen any consumer pieces on this in rival papers, despite items on Watchdog, Radio 4 and Three Counties radio. Could this be because they run cruise promotions as well?
Last time a range of approaches helped gain cruises - for me, phone, email and fax. Those who were named by Watchdog were allocated within days, while I believe those who went through Trading Standards and their MPs also got quicker results. Early on, one forum member persuaded a senior Express manager to help her.
It's hard to know what'll work this time, but getting local Trading Standards involved can't harm. Keep us posted and we'll try to help where possible. Good luck!
Has anybody noticed any mention in the Express itself about their past MKM/Rise offers? Surely something must have been said around the time of the Watchdog report.
What happended last night I was doing a posting and it all crashed,
I did a posting on the cruise who's going where page then WHAM - are you lot trying to tell me something - well don't worry I'm off to (H) amsterdam today, just waiting for number 1 to bring back my shirts and smalls all washed and pressed having the coven read the site has changed things a little
Must dash and look helpless
I'm taking the modum with me this time
Byeeee for now
Phil
Have tried to contact Steven Verna (Left voice mail) also havv emailed Lara Dorrington twice and left voice mail, no reply as yet! ,
so i have emiled watchdog with the situation hoping this will do some good but we shall see
If not, next stop Trading Standards
Will keep you posted
Thanks
I wonder if the reason that DE have not been in touch is (as I speculated a few pages back) that they are scratching around trying to find a travel agent who will take on the onerous task of trying to sell cruises for £10 a go. I don't think that many companies will beating a path to the door of the Daily Express. There is just no profit in it.
You would think i should get some sort of reply from the Express be it good or bad, i was not even offered vouchers like some folk, not that i would of accepted them! I give the Express a
Worryingly, it only refers to compensation for readers, not the offer of a cruise for those still waiting.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,9321,1522977,00.html#article_
A rather self-congratulatry article It appears they seem to think that they are the only ones who thought that singles would see their chance ................ and I wouldn't call it a loophole! :
There must be someone at the Express dealing specifically with the offer so perhaps you should all go to the top and contact Richard Desmond himself. so at least you know what you are actually waiting for! The article worries about his reputation being damaged........ a bit late, me thinks
Hmmm ........ I'm still trying to work out which members of HT are likely candidates from the dating agency!
Alli
Yes hardly a loophole. I don't think she has caught the plot at all. The problems were caused by people being willing to travel alone and not fork out the exorbitant fee for a partner, so how would encouraging singletons to apply help? And a dating agency! Instead of being so self congratulatory she should have thought before writing.
I think getting the dating agency involved was a joky suggestion from a rival newspaper to sabotage Mr Desmond's little enterprise. It's called "spoiling" in the trade. As it turned out the agency wasn't needed . Enough readers from the Express applied for single cruises to ensure that the whole enterprise turned pear-shaped.
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