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That’s great. Glad they came through. Seems like there might be some sort of performance issues with customer service if the leadership is going to respond like that.

I mentioned to a previous responder, that it's possible that the company might have changed internal policy or something that's freed up their reimbursement budget (of course, I have no idea what I'm talking about. lol). so it might not be a bad idea to remind them that they owe you via email or phone. Good luck. There is still hope.

Ugh. That's so painful to hear. Before I got reimbursed recently (15 months later), I had begun the process for small claims court (magistrate court). You might consider either filing suit with HAL or your insurance company. For my state, CA, the process was very simple. I was to send a letter to my state's HAL office and send a form into the courts and that's it. There is some nominal court fee and lawyers are not allowed to get involved on either side of the dispute in CA so, no cost there. The case of suing HAL was tricky for me. I couldn't find any documentation where they committed to reimbursement prior to purchasing my cruise which is probably no coincidence. So, my plan was to sue them for promising reimbursement and failing to do so when I could have found a much cheaper accommodations (I could have stayed in AirBNB's for almost nothing). I was going to sue them for the difference. The case with the insurance company seems straightforward if they are not honoring their contract. While I'm happy to finally get reimbursed, I feel like HAL really let us down, This is not how an honest company does business. Best of luck to you.

That's awesome. I guess they know we're getting pretty upset if we're writing the president. lol. Great to hear.

Thanks Suzy. Maybe it might be a good idea to try calling again as futile as it might feel sometimes. Maybe there were budget policy changes or something. Good luck to you.

😃WHATTT?!!! After 15 months of waiting, I got my COVID reimbursement check from Holland America for the full amount! Thanks all for the comments and positivity. While the experience was not a good one, it was nice to develop a relationship with this forum. I look forward to more discussions with you guys!

That's great to hear. My insurance company was not so generous. Lol. I really thought that HAL would meet their commitment though so, at the time, I wasn't concerned.

I hate when people try to take advantage of companies for their own gain also, however, I don't think that is my case. HAL made the commitment to their customers to reimburse COVID related costs so their customers could cruise without exposure to high cost risk. At the time, Canada required 10 days of isolation before you could leave the country. I wouldn't have gone on the cruise if I knew this was my risk to finance. To be clear, HAL made this commitment and I'm expecting them to honor it. Regarding contracting COVID, feeling symptoms on disembarkation day suggests that I contracted COVID some time prior on the seven day cruise. Regarding my intentions, you are correct. As I indicated in the comment your quoted, had I tested after I got off the ship, I was concerned that HAL might not have felt obligated to reimburse my isolation. I didn't write this for sympathy. I wrote this to understand how my situation compared to others and to warn others that HAL did not fulfill their commitment. Hope that clarifies.

I used US postal in addition to email to deliver my reimbursement form. Even at that, I had to go on hold for three hours to verify on the phone that the form had been received. Otherwise, it's questionable if they would have ever acknowledged receipt. Clearly, standing by their commitment to reimburse is not a high priority.

That is great news. I'm very happy for you and, you are right, it does restore a smidge of hope for me. Thanks for sharing and happy cruising!

It's sounding like there are more people not getting reimbursed than those who have. Not sure what the discriminator is. Fingers crossed that they'll come around. Prior to this thread, I had given up all hope.

TA sounds like the way to go. TA might have known better which people to approach and might have had some leverage. I never thought of using one.

Sorry to hear. I agree completely. They've not been up front about this either. Nine months on, it's clear that they've been either not able or not willing to meet their commitments. I would have preferred the truth that they were unable to pay rather than the repeated empty promises month after month. As it is, the sight of a HAL advertisement or commercial evokes nothing but this aggravating memory so there's no way I could sail with them. I've switched over to RCCL and will try others. Celebrity is a new favorite of mine.

That's interesting. Sounds like they paid for both the cruise as well as the isolation in FCC(?). I'm expecting cash as my relationship with HAL may be irreparable. Glad to hear some people are getting reimbursed. Gives me hope but also makes me wonder what is different about my case.

Sounds like a similar story. I wish I had your graciousness such that I can have sympathy for HAL's situation. To add insult to injury to my story, HAL directed me to the Delta hotel in Vancouver (an unspectacular business hotel) and after my stay, when it was too late to do otherwise, said that they would be reimbursing only $3000 of the $4000 hotel bill because it exceeded their conveniently arbitrary and undocumented limit. Of course, they made this experience so painful that I would love to see any amount of money at this point. Thanks for the positive thoughts. I guess we need to remember that while we'll have to negotiate around these sort of companies, we are still very lucky to be able participate in this lifestyle. Best of luck on your reimbursement.

Very true. A lot of people cashing in their FCCs.

I just checked our accounts and no luck but a good thought. I'm glad to hear things worked out for you. The amount of stress and frustration that HAL has given me will make going back to them a very difficult. I'm really loving this community. It's been very nice hearing other's stories. So, thanks.

Thanks very much for the vote of confidence. I will keep my hope alive. The stress and frustration has been difficult but will have been worth the effort if I ever get my reimbursement.

Wow. That's great news for you and for my confidence that I'll one day be reimbursed. Lol. We were the lucky few caught in the short window of time after the hotels billed HAL directly and before the isolation restrictions were loosened so you would think they could afford to pay these debts. Thanks for the feedback and advice. These are the responses I was hoping to hear so I didn't feel like I was completely alone on this.

Haha!!! I wish they'd been up front with their actual policy, at least. I think they were very careful about documenting their commitments. I received a very clear process document but only after I contracted COVID. It sounded so supportive, it never occurred to me to do anything other than what they recommended. Had I know they had no plan to reimburse, I would have done things very differently, that is, things that would not amass a $4000 hotel bill. Back when I sailed, the thought of being somewhat protected from financial catastrophe was comforting. I never imagined that a big company like HAL would be so dishonest. Lesson learned.

Thanks for the positive thoughts. I’m hoping you’re right.

I think the best we can do at this point is to share our experiences with all who care as a way of holding the company accountable to their commitments. Otherwise, they can afford to ignore all of the unusual cases like ours knowing the number of people they alienate will be low.

Sorry about your situation but misery loves company so thanks. Adversity like this reveals the true colors of a company. We represent a minority of their customer base and they probably feel like they can afford to lose us. I just hope their prospective customers understand what they're getting into.

Glad to hear that you were able to get some FCC from them and maybe a good data point that they sometimes meet their commitments given enough arm twisting. My problem is definitely not from a shortage of effort. I've spent hours trying to get my reimbursement always followed with the guarantee that I would be reimbursed soon. Of course, after nine months I'm starting to lose hope.

Thanks HappyInVan. HAL customer service is really horrible. It takes 1-3 hours on hold to talk to someone who recites the same patronizing script. It has been repeated aggravation and stress for months now. For sure, HAL cannot be trusted to keep their word so sending them money in advance for a cruise is definitely out.