Sail & Sign Billing Error

[Kingtro]

I just completed a 4-day cruise aboard the Ecstasy and look at my bank statement and saw I was charged for more than my sail & sign statement indicated. I called the Guest Relations Dept. and come to find out I was charged for "In-Cabin Beverage Service" $23.00. I quickly disputed this as I know darn well I did not drink any of the beverages in the stateroom. My friend and I took ouy own 'PEPSI' product drinks for that very own reason. The representative from Guest Relations filed a complaint on my behalf and stated I should hear something back in 24-48 hours.

Have any of you had a similar problem like this?

This was my 3rd cruise with carnival and a 4th one scheduled in January. True, $23.00 is a small amount but the truth is the truth and I know darn well I did not touch those in cabin drinks and my friend did not either. Any suggestions how to combat this if it does not turn in my favor?

I am not a happy camper with Carnival right about now!

[Carolin]

It happens all the time, which is why I check my bill everyday. One way to avoid what happened to you is to have the steward empty out the fridge completely as soon as you can get into your cabin and tell them not to refill it.

[forwardcabin]

We've seen this happen when the cabin steward mistakes your beverage containers for those supplied by Carnival. We always keep ours out of sight and leave theirs unopened on the counter.

[firefly333]

Why didnt you check your S&S account before you left the ship? Id bet most of the posters on CC check it often while onboard. If you cant check it on the tv, go to the purser's desk and if you didnt do those things ... they put it in your mailbox outside your door or slip it under your door the last day... compare what they billed you to your S&S account.

[tea4ular]

On our last cruise in Sept. we asked the steward to empty the fridge and take the stuff off the counter top (as we always do). He assured us there would be "no problem" but we insisted telling him we needed the extra space. He removed the items, no issue. It seems that having the co-mingling of products would be the easiest way to have issues. What is the $23 for specifically? That's a lot of product.

[cruisin' again]

We had a charge on our last cruise that posted the day of debarkation. We did not purchase anything and they credited the amount very quickly for us.

[UpstateCruizer]

We bring a soft sided cooler that the stewards keep filled with ice. When we arrive in our cabin and meet the steward for the first time we ask that he/she locks the fridge. We tried using the fridge on the Liberty and nothing got cold enough to really enjoy without ice so now we don't bother with it.

[G'ma]

It's always a good idea to check your bill everyday....and reconcile to the receipts you have.

It is extremely important that you go over the final bill line by line to make sure all is correct. It's not unusual for there to be errors and it's better to find them while you're still on the ship.

I've found a few errors here and there over the years and they've always corrected them aboard......

I'm sure if you didn't use the minibar, the charge will be removed. However, by the time the final bills are delivered, the minibar is usually locked by the room steward to avoid this type of thing.

Perservere.

Another good tip is to leave the minibar locked...don't even have it unlocked when you get toyour cabin. The room steward won't automatically give you a key, you have to request it. Many folks who want to use the 'fridge will have the steward empty all contents the first day...thereby eliminating and errors.

[uppitycats]

Errors do happen, which is why it's important to check the bill before you leave the ship. And indeed, if you're going to bring on your own beverages, or have other uses for the refrigerator (I keep my meds in it), then have the steward EMPTY it the first day. That way there can be no confusion as to who owns or pays for what!

I hope they settle this without an issue for you.

[NYGirl1002]

When I cruised on the Miracle in June we rented a cabana on HMC. With it came a couple of large bottles of water. When we went back to the ship we were able to take them with us. They happened to be the same brand that is put in your cabin each day. Don't you know they charged us for those extra bottles? We had already paid for them when we paid for the cabana.

I went down to the purser and explained the problem and she said she'd check with the steward. All in all at the end I still ended up getting charged for 4 bottles. No it wasn't a lot of money but it was just a small annoyance which is why I didn't put up a second fuss about it.

[crusinpsychRN]

Heck, I complained about a .50 charge I didn't make! They removed it right away, they couldn't tell me what it was for.

[Kingtro]

I received my sail & sign folio on the last day of the cruise. The only charge was for an internet plan which I attest to. I accidently went over because I failed to read the part where it says it will not log you off if you are on a plan, it will just charge you the per minute fee so I was expecting a couple of extra dollars which was posted.

The in-cabin beverage charge was not posted until I left the ship and exited my cabin the morning of debarkation. There were only 6 sodas if I remember correctly but no more than 8 for sure. There was no alcohol. Oh, and there was a bottled water. I cannot see how those sodas would have amounted to the $23.00 even if I did drink them.

The other thing, we only had Pepsi and Mountain Dew...both Pepsi products and not Coke products...

The only thing I can figure is someone went in the room after we left and must have taken something but that would not be our fault because the room stewards leave the cabin room doors wide open on debarkation day. I should not be responsible what happens after I leave.

The charge was posted after I left the ship. One last thing, at the time of the call to guest relations, they were unable to provide me with an itemized list of the $23.00 charge.

I am confident that I will get a refund but this worries me for my future cruise(s)...

Thanks to all that have replied so far!

[aggieastrosfan]

I had a $6 + change charge put on our bil the day before we left. We didn't touch anything in the fridge, especially the mini liquor bottles, which is the only thing it could've been when I took out the 15% grat to find out the base charge.

The line at the purser's desk was so long, I didn't want to wait in line for 45 minutes to get $6 back, so I left it alone and mentioned it in my snail mail letter I always write to Guest Relations after every cruise. About a week before I got a response back from them, I had received a credit on my CC for the $6. I wasn't expecting it, so it was nice of them to do it, but it should've never been there in the first place.

[big_duck]

Originally Posted by Kingtro

I
The only thing I can figure is someone went in the room after we left and must have taken something but that would not be our fault because the room stewards leave the cabin room doors wide open on debarkation day. I should not be responsible what happens after I leave.

More likely, the Steward just recorded the wrong room number on the re-fill sheet.

Seems strange though that all that was in the fridge was soft drinks, usually there is little liquor bottles and a few beer too.

[bplazo]

I once had a charge for about $1.50 on the last day since it was such a small amount I did just let it go because I did not feel like standing in line. If they did this to everyone they could rack up quite a bit of profit.

[kew1031]

We were on the Ectasy last week, our room did not have a fridge. Maybe some of the cabins have them, but not on the Riviera deck.
There was one large bottle of water and 6 sodas on the vanity, plus a small ice bucket.
We never touched the drinks, but had a soft side cooler in the bathroom with small water bottles, Coke Zero, and root beer. Steward kept the cooler full of ice for us.
In hindsight, I should have had him remove all the drinks just to have more room on the counter, but we didn't get charged for anything.

[Colorado Kat]

Last year on Freedom, when we asked the steward to remove the fridge contents, all he did was put them on a shelf in our room. So the only thing accomplished was to cut into our already limited storage space in our cabin (3 adults there). It's true, the fridge really doesn't keep things very cold.
Kathy