Trip Mate

Trip Mate Contract # GR425V We followed Viking's advice to purchase their own recommended travel insurance (TripMate) so that we would be compensated for unused portions of any trip interrupted by Covid. Our 7-day luxury cruise was, unfortunately, interrupted by covid. In fact, the entire 7 days were spent in isolation either in our cabin or in an airport hotel located in Paris. Knowing we had purchased this insurance was the ONLY peace of mind during this horrific trip. Yet, 5 months after we submitted our claim, we continue to experience delay, misrepresentation, nonexistent follow-up, unfulfilled promises and months of unexplained silence re our claim against Viking policy cover-ups and insured losses by TripMate. We submitted several insurance claims to Tripmate and followed up numerous times, with more information and repeated requests for payment of our claim and closure of the matter. We contacted Vikings Customer Service Department a number of times, which has resulted in no offer to mediate, compensate or intervene in any way re its own, unannounced Covid one and done testing policy, which caused this whole debacle, or with Tripmate for coverage under the insurance policy that Viking recommended to cover this very occurrence. Tripmate continues to reject (by its silence, since there has never been a formal denial of the claim) the very insurance claims they promised to cover when we purchased the additional insurance policy. Trip Mate also blatantly ignores our numerous attempts and requests to speak with a Tripmate supervisor so that we can come to some sort of fair resolution. No supervisor has ever called us despite repeated promises that our claim was being escalated and that we would receive prompt follow-up. Trip Details and Background On April 10, 2021, we arrived for our 7-day cruise vaccinated, boosted, and armed with current negative Covid test results, as was required by Viking policies. On our first full day, a crew member shockingly informed us that (despite all the shots, negative tests and having not 1 symptom) one of us had received a positive Covid test result when we first boarded the afternoon before: a false positive result that we expected would be corrected and clarified with a second and third Covid test. Two subsequent tests were conducted after the first test and before we were removed from the boat, but the results were never revealed because of Vikings failure to consider retesting results. One oral swab test and we were done with our trip. We were told that even with no symptoms and 2 negative retests we would have to immediately quarantine in our room and leave the boat immediately as soon as they could arrange a ride to Paris for further quarantine there. What followed was 5 days of isolation, chaos, frustration, and misinformation, followed by what has now been almost 5 months of delay, misrepresentation, nonexistent follow-up, unfulfilled promises and months of unexplained silence re our claim against Viking policy cover-ups and insured losses by their carrier. Rather than cruising on a Riverboat for our 49th wedding anniversary, we spent the rest of the week in a hotel room at the Paris airport. No books. French language TV only. Not once during what was to be our luxury 7-day excursion did we experience a single element of cruising. No sitting on the deck, gazing at the view and breathing in the fresh countryside air and taking in the countryside views. No socializing or 5-Star dining experiences. Rather, we packed and unpacked twice on successive days awaiting removal from the boat and the ride to Paris we were told would be coming but didnt arrive for 2 days. During this time, we could not leave our (viewless) cabin on the boat. For most of the hours, we were tied up to a sister boat, staring directly into a cabin on that boat. The remaining days of our trip included a 7-hour car ride to Paris followed by 3 days of further isolation in an airport hotel room, which we could not leave, followed by retesting and directions by Viking to leave Paris within 24 hours. All meals on the boat awaiting our removal and at the hotel were left outside our doors. We were indeed pariahs. All over one false positive Covid test. One thought sustained us during this nightmare. We had purchased TripMate's insurance as Viking recommended. Since our trip was interrupted due to covid, we expected to be compensated, as promised by Viking and TripMate.