A would-be cruise passenger has garnered a lot of attention online after recounting her harrowing experience of falling victim to what she believes was a vacation scammer.
In a series of videos on TikTok, Tiffany Banks shared the events of the day her family was set to embark on a Carnival Cruise Line cruise. Early that morning she received an email from the company confirming the cancellation of their reservation.
Banks, who had reserved the ship’s Presidential Excel Suite – the largest available accommodation – a year in advance – immediately contacted the company about what she assumed was a message sent by mistake. Despite initial unanswered calls, she eventually spoke to a representative who initially informed her that the system had automatically canceled their reservation.
However, she says subsequent discovery by the manager showed that an unauthorized person had accessed the online system and canceled her booking.
“We talked for more than two and a half hours, and the only solution they were willing to offer was two interior rooms,” Banks emphasized in one of her videos. An inside room is usually the cheapest and least desirable on a cruise ship.
“I just can’t even fathom, how do they think that’s OK? Two inside rooms for the presidential suite at the Excel that we have almost $15,000 related to this vacation, including excursions,” she said, emphasizing the significant financial investment.
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Despite the company’s offer, Banks flatly rejected the alternative, claiming it did not meet their original booking standards. Additionally, she expressed frustration at the company’s refusal to issue refunds due to their policy of not refunding cancellations within 15 days of the cruise date.
“I don’t know either, you’re kidding me,” Banks exclaims in one of her posts. “It’s like we’re in a bad episode Failed now, it can’t be like this… this isn’t happening.”
Despite the canceled trip and her rejection of an alternative cruise offer, Banks and her family still traveled to Miami, where they were denied boarding at the pier and left to watch the ship depart without them.
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Picture of a cruise ship.
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Then, a few days later, Banks received a call from Carnival explaining: their reservation had been accessed by a bad actor.
In another TikTok video, Banks reveals that after further communication with the cruiser, she believes she and her husband were victims of identity fraud.
A few weeks before the cruise, the couple accidentally shared their booking reference number in a photo on Facebook. As a result, she claims someone used that information to access their booking online and canceled it 48 hours before departure.
The company discovered that the perpetrator’s IP address was from British Columbia, but other than that, no further details could be learned, she says.
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“Unfortunately, this guest did not follow well-documented and very common travel safety advice,” a Carnival spokesperson told PEOPLE.
“It’s never a good idea to post personal information about your travel plans, including your booking confirmation number, which could allow a bad actor or identity thief to use that information in inappropriate or even illegal ways,” they added.
They continued, “With the busy summer travel season underway, we’re reminding our guests of a few things to help make their trip run smoothly.”
The same advice applies to other travel documents including passports or boarding passes.
Carnival offered Banks a $10,404 credit toward future cruises, contingent, she claims, on her publicly acknowledging that the problem had been resolved. However, Banks and her family decided they were no longer interested in sailing.
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Source: HIS Education