NEWS


Picture the scene. You have decided to buy a new car. You have a specific car in mind – let’s


say a 4x4 in black with tinted windows for privacy. You want to purchase this particular 4x4


because you need the larger boot for luggage, you want some extra legroom and you also want a specific colour, so you agree to pay a little extra to ensure you get exactly what you want. Now imagine how you would feel if you turned


Steve Dunne CHIEF EXECUTIVE, DIGITAL DRUMS


Poorly conceived T&Cs should not override good customer service


up at the car showroom only to find a beaming salesman who cheerily informs you that you have been upgraded and will now get a top-of- the-range, two-seater, open-top sports car. You would probably say that while the gesture of


an upgrade is wonderful, it’s not what you wanted, nor had indeed paid for to get the specific car you ordered. What would your reaction


be if the salesman then winced and said that unfortunately the terms and conditions of your contract don’t allow for a downgrade to a 4x4 and you are stuck with the sports car, which is unsuitable for your needs? It’s a crazy scenario, isn’t


When I called the cruise line, the man at the


end of the phone was adamant I had to have the upgrade, despite having paid for a specific cabin. I politely explained why we needed to revert to


my original purchase. After a brief pause, I was told that, as part of the terms and conditions, I must accept the upgrade. Apparently there was a box on the website I hadn’t unchecked. But here’s the thing: you can’t uncheck that box on the website.


“Apparently there was a box on the website I hadn’t


it? One you might imagine would never happen. But in the travel industry, it does. I recently booked a cruise with a well-known


Terms of disenchantment I tried, in vain, to explain that I wasn’t being downgraded, I was just sticking with my original purchase. The terms and conditions were tediously mentioned again. I then related my car purchase analogy to the official. There was silence for a few moments before a lightbulb must have lit up and he said: “I’ll speak to my manager.” After 10 minutes of


unchecked. But here’s the thing: you can’t uncheck that box”


cruise line and paid an extra fee so I could choose my cabin. I wanted a balcony on a specific deck where I knew we would have privacy whenever we needed to get away from the madness. But one morning I picked up an email from


the cruise line cheerily stating we had been upgraded to a superior suite on a different deck.


Unwelcome upgrade I am familiar with these suites and know that deck well. The suite was indeed significantly better than what I had paid for, but the location was definitely not. It was on the promenade deck itself, where fellow passengers could stroll by at all times of day, looking into my balcony and into the suite beyond. Fellow guests would sunbathe in front of my


balcony, divided only by the waist-high barrier, and to add salt to the wound, the suite was close to a whirlpool bath, which I knew could be busy and noisy well into the evenings.


14 12 FEBRUARY 2026


mundane hold music, the manager came on the line to tell me the cruise was sold out and so I must accept the upgrade. I employed the car analogy again. “I’ll speak to inventory”


came the reply as the lightbulb seemingly went out. After more back


and forth, I eventually got back my original suite – the one I had ordered and paid for. What struck me with this saga was how


T&Cs act as a barrier for staff to hide behind when a customer service issue occurs, which is of course what they are designed to do. But T&Cs are drawn up by lawyers and rarely


with common sense or the human touch in mind. That cruise line, with which I sail regularly and have made bookings with a total value comfortably stretching into six figures, came within a whisker of losing me forever to a rival brand. And if I had moved to another brand, the cruise


line would have then spent thousands trying to lure me back, when all it had to do was inject some common sense and flexibility into its T&Cs. Perhaps it’s time for travel brands to look again at their T&Cs and make them a little more human.


Read more columns by Steve Dunne: travelweekly.co.uk/comment


travelweekly.co.uk


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