A 79-year-old woman is suing Viking River Cruises Inc., alleging she was denied a $2,200 refund of travel insurance even though she called off her trip more than a year before departure.
Teresa Pease’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations include elder abuse, unfair business practices, false advertisement and unjust enrichment. She seeks unspecified damages and injunctive relief.
A Viking representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Thursday.
Pease spoke with a Viking sales agent last June 3 and inquired about buying tickets for a cruise set to sail this September from Rome and was told the trip cost, including air and hotel fare, would be just over $14,000 per passenger, the suit states.
The agent recommended that Pease buy insurance in order to cover any pre-existing health conditions that could force the trip’s cancellation, the suit further states. Pease was diagnosed in 2022 with ovarian cancer and has undergone chemotherapy three times since, according to the suit.
The agent told Pease that if she did not buy insurance when she made her down payment deposit for the trip, any pre-existing condition would not be viewed as a valid reason for the voyage’s cancellation, the suit alleges.
Based on what the agent said, Pease paid $50 to cover deposits for herself and her husband and also handed over the $2,200 for the insurance, the suit states. However, Viking did not provide the terms or conditions of the insurance and when she told the company last August she was not going on the trip, she was informed that the $2,200 was not refundable, the suit states.
Pease later learned that the trip insurance was actually provided by a third party, Trip Mate travel insurance, and the Viking agent told her it would be “illegal” for Viking to return the funds, according to the suit. But Trip Mate told Pease the company had no record of her policy, the suit states.
Viking subsequently told Pease the $2,200 was being treated as a cancellation fee even though the plaintiff never paid the full amount for the cruise and the plaintiff was only offered a credit for a future trip, the suit states.