CJinSF

21 hours ago, suzyed said:

Asking if you had any luck with the folks you contacted.

Yes, I did. After I tracked down those emails for the Princess execs and wrote them, I got a call from someone who said she represented the exec team. We walked through all 3 of the refunds I was due, and the amounts. That was when I learned for the first time that they had NO RECORD of my airfare reimbursement request, which 2 other reps told me had been received. I was able to send it again to her attention.

I don't know if this exchange sped up my cruise fare and OBC refunds any, but it sure helped on the airfare reimbursement, which I otherwise might still be waiting for. I now have all 3 of my refunds in hand, but it took 112 days to get them all.

34 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Have any luck? 

Are you asking me or @mackley1956, whose question I was answering?

On 8/6/2020 at 10:35 AM, mackley1956 said:

Does anyone on this forum know of other avenues for getting any response to this -- other phone numbers, email addresses, other agencies, that one can contact?

I, too, was on an interrupted voyage for which no clear status info was available. Here are the emails of the executive team that I wrote to and didn't bounce back. These emails did produce a phone call from a rep who had some real info for once.

Jan Swartz, CEO, jswartz@princesscruises.com

Collin Steinke, Director of Customer Relations, csteinke@princesscruises.com
Negin Kamali, Director of Public Relations, NKamali@princesscruises.com

I also got a direct number for Customer Relations from another Cruise Critic member: 661-753-0000 x 44411. The rep who answered the day I called was "Patty," but she's not the only one who answers that number.

Good luck!

On Day 112, I have finally received my airfare/baggage reimbursement for our cancelled-in-transit world cruise on Pacific Princess that began Jan 20 and ended Mar 21.

Although I was told multiple times to expect this as a check in the mail, it showed up as a credit on a card that was a) not the card I used to purchase the airfare, b) not the card on file to pay my onboard account, c) not the card I last used to pay cruise fare, and d) not the card to which my cruise fare was previously refunded.

Instead, it was a card I had once used in 2019 to make a payment on cruise fare, and never used with Princess again.

So the moral of this story is, if you're expecting money from Princess, check all your credit cards! You never know where the Magic 8 Ball they're spinning over there has told them to put your refunds.

Still waiting on my OBC refund.

11 hours ago, caribill said:

 

It seems there are two important steps.

 

a) Process the booking refunds

b) Release the money from the processing. This step seems to happen on a Friday.

What I learned was that if a Princess rep says your cruise fare refund has been "processed," all it means is that Step A has been completed. You need to ask "when will it be released" to get an idea when you will see it. For my cruise fare refund, it was processed on the 19th and not released until the 26th. As far as I can tell from other experiences I've seen, though, you can't count on just a one week gap. At times, refunds have been processed and then not released for two weeks or possibly more.

After 102 days, it has finally happened! Three of our credit cards are showing credits from Princess that add up to the amount of cruise fare that we are owed as a refund.

Ship: Pacific Princess

Departure Date: Jan 20, 2020

34 minutes ago, hpeabody said:

 

Surprise, surprise.  Sorry CJ

Thanks for the sympathy, Holly! Here's the "later development" I referred to earlier. It appears that all you need to do to get Princess to take action on your refunds is get interviewed by CNN, USA Today, and file a complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission. 🤣 I've been working on those angles for some time, and they all coalesced yesterday, when CNN and USA Today published their stories, and the FMC forwarded me the Princess response to my complaint.

Late yesterday, I received a phone call from a rep at the Princess Executive Office. Anyone who has been on this board for a while knows how unusual THAT is. She walked through each one of the 3 refunds I am due, told me when it had been processed, the exact amount, and when and how I should expect to receive it. Lest you think it was coincidence that my refunds had all been processed recently, the date when my cruise fare refund was released by Princess was the same date CNN contacted Princess for comment and also the same day the response from Princess to my FMC complaint was issued. And, my airfare reimbursement wasn't processed until the day the CNN and USA Today articles came out. The rep who called me said she approved it herself. That's a little too much coincidence for me, after waiting 101 days for something to happen. 😁

So... if anyone else wants to light a fire under Princess, I can't promise you'll be able to land a media story, but you CAN file a complaint with the FMC, which is currently investigating cruise refunds to see if they need to implement new requirements about them. Here's the info about how you file: https://www.fmc.gov/commission-advisory-for-cruise-passengers-june-17-2020/ The FMC replied with an email asking me to fill out a form, so you don't have to put too much detail in the initial email.

Good luck, everyone. I'll post again when I actually receive any of the promised refunds.

34 minutes ago, tpbrownec said:

It appears that today would be 7 business days...Any news

It appears that the PR rep who talked to the reporters was not telling the truth. What a surprise! In a later development, Princess informed me that while my refund was "processed" on June 19, it wasn't released by Princess until June 26. So I should wait ANOTHER 5-7 business days before I'll see it on my credit card...

I mentioned here a while back that I was interviewed by CNN for a story about cruise refunds. A bit later, I was also interviewed by USA Today. Both articles were published today:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/cruise-refund-cancellation-coronavirus/index.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/06/29/cruise-passengers-have-been-waiting-months-refunds-canceled-trips/3202473001/

FYI, Princess claimed to both reporters that we had been kept informed by email and "sent" a "letter." Never once in the past 100 days have I been sent an email or letter by Princess regarding refunds, except as an auto-reply in response to my requests. Everyone else on my voyage reports the same. Their June 22 "letter" was posted on Facebook and their site, but not sent to any of us. I'm very much looking forward to seeing if their other claim -- that I will be receiving my refund 5-7 business days from June 19 -- turns out to be true.

57 minutes ago, SunLakesBob said:

Allen, Congratulations. Can you provide the specifics on how to file with the FMC? I went out to their web site which appears to focus on shipping.

I also filed a complaint with the FMC. Here's the instructions for what to do: https://www.fmc.gov/commission-advisory-for-cruise-passengers-june-17-2020/

They replied with an email asking me to fill out a form, so you don't have to put too much detail in the initial email. After I filled out and returned the form, I was assigned a case worker and case number. Nothing else has happened, though.

They currently have an open investigation of the cruise lines regarding refunds. You can read about it, and also provide input: https://www.fmc.gov/fact-finding-30/

15 minutes ago, Coral said:

You may want to try to cover up your Credit ID #. See if a moderator will help.

Thanks, Coral. But haven't we all been told many times that FCCs aren't transferable?

13 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

It's both book and sail by 5/1/22.  Here's mine

 

Apparently, it varies. Here's mine:

16 hours ago, tpbrownec said:

That is good new, I was also on that cruise. Did you select option 1 or 2?  I picked option 2, but now I don't remember what that actually meant I was supposed to get.  Anybody know What the options for the World Cruise mean?

Here's the last of the 3 different letters they gave us onboard, which shows the final compensation offer.

Final Comp Offer from Princess 2020-03-19.pdf

27 minutes ago, hpeabody said:

Well, the first step has finally happened ..........

This just now appeared in my Captains Circle account

Used For Goodwill Fccs 06/22/20 Book By 05/01/22 Active $$$$$$$$$ (USD)

They are finally getting to us "In-Transit" passengers.

Details:

Pacific Princess.

Embarked Jan 20, 2020

Cruise Official End March 1, 2020

Disembarked Fremantle, Australia March 21, 2020

Refund Choice Form Submitted Apr 5, 2020

Still awaiting cash $$$$$$$ refund to credit card and Bottomline check for "refundable" OBC from my folio

Congratulations, Holly! I received my FCC for this voyage today as well, and so have 2 others I've heard from. Still awaiting all forms of cash: cruise fare refund, OBC refund, and airfare reimbursement. Day 93 since we disembarked.

2 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

I would be interested to hear what others think about the situation!

I have all of your questions and more. So does the Federal Maritime Commission, one of the few U.S. government agencies that have any jurisdiction over cruise ships. See this story about what they're investigating: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/fmc-investigation-hones-cruise-line-refund-policies

If anyone would like to add your own experience to this investigation, you can do so in 2 ways:

1. Email Commissioner Sola at ff30@fmc.gov with your personal story and what you think should be done about cruise line refund practices.

2. File a consumer complaint with the agency, asking them to help resolve your issue. You can do so by emailing a brief description of your issue to complaints@fmc.gov . You don't need to share all details in your initial email, as they will send you back a form to fill out.

I have done both of these things, as well as file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission and California Attorney General. My patience ran out a long time ago.

15 hours ago, tpbrownec said:

When I spoke to them last week, they said that the Pacific Princess would be processed LAST since it was the last ship to return to port with passengers aboard.

Also not true. I was on this ship also (and for others reading this, we CANNOT charge back to credit cards, due to our situation).

Two passengers from our voyage were told last week by Princess "we are processing your voyage at the end of this week or the beginning of next." I personally was told this week by Customer Relations "we are processing your voyage now." I am aware of ONE passenger from our voyage who has received a refund of her partial cruise fare (although not of her OBC), and of 3 passengers who have received their airfare/baggage reimbursement. I have received nothing at all.

Sadly, I have to say we can believe NOTHING we are told by Princess. We are being lied to because the people answering the phones are being lied to.

For anyone who is still waiting patiently for a refund after 30, 60, or even 90 days, read this interview with the CEO of Carnival Corp (owner of Princess) and see if it doesn't make your blood boil: https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-ceo-admits-i-dont-know-when-well-sail-again/

In this interview, CEO Arnold Donald calls their decision to announce new cruises "a mistake," "confusion" (on the part of passengers!) and a "miscommunication." Really? They SOLD the cruises they announced. And now they're telling anyone who bought them to get in line for refunds behind the thousands of people already owed.

It couldn't be any clearer that Princess and Carnival are using OUR money to operate. They are slow-walking our refunds until they sell enough future cruises to improve their balance sheet. And they're doing this with full knowledge that the cruises they are selling may never sail.

I will no longer believe the ever-changing excuses that the blameless customer service reps are being handed to give us. They are being lied to also and just trying to keep their jobs.

11 minutes ago, TNTLAMB said:

Are you aware of what lead to the cancellations? Or the continuing problems because of it Hire and train temps? How and where from? Which contracting firm?  Sounds like a great solution. How do you implement?  California is still in Phase 2 of reopening. They can't even bring in all of their existing staff let alone more. Washington isn't much better and Florida just entered Phase 2.

Of course I'm aware. No one has to be brought anywhere to solve problems like this. All the needed information is available electronically and could be handled by remote workers, trained remotely. I've had an executive assistant for 10 years who lives in another state and I've never met in person. Same thing for hiring a contracting firm. This is exactly how businesses have been continuing to operate worldwide for the past 3 months. It's how Princess has continued to sell cruises all this time.

All it takes is the willingness to spend the money to make it happen. And that's exactly where the problem lies. Princess has chosen not to spend their money, and to instead keep as much of OUR money as they can. Carnival Corp, who of course owns Princess, is already under investigation by the Federal Maritime Commission and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for delayed refunds (and other bad corporate behavior).

To everyone who was on a voyage already underway when Princess paused operations, you may have submitted reimbursement requests for airfare, excess baggage, or other costs of getting home. Be aware of the following situation.

Now that I've been waiting 81 days for my refunds, FCC, and reimbursement from the Pacific Princess voyage that departed FTL on Jan 5 and LA on Jan 20, I sent emails to multiple members of the Princess executive team recently. This got me a callback from Kimberly Baldwin with Customer Relations, who told me she was speaking for the executive team. After the usual apologies, excuses, and promises that everything was in process, we discussed my specific refund and reimbursement requests. She told me they had NO RECORD of my request to be reimbursed for airfare and baggage.

That's right, after my receiving an email confirmation that my request had been received (on March 22!), and after being told by more than one Princess staffer that my airfare reimbursement was in process along with the other amounts I'm due, today I was told they had no record of it, and could I please send it again.

So if you, too, have a reimbursement coming, I highly recommend you send your request again now, with a note of the date when it was first submitted. Send it to customerrelations@princesscruises.com with your booking number in the subject line.

BTW, I firmly believe all these refunds are being deliberately slow walked by Princess to improve their cash flow. Meanwhile, they continue to sell cruises in order to bring more cash in the door. It's a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme.

If this weren't the case, they would simply have hired temporary help instead of laying off huge portions of their workforce and cutting their call center hours. Or contracted with an outside firm to handle this process their own systems weren't set up for. 

For those of you who haven't been able to get past the front line reps to get answers specifically about your situation instead of the generic replies... I was able to reach Customer Relations at the corporate offices today by using the direct phone number supplied by @nho9504, which is (661) 753-0000 x44411. They were finally able to tell me that my request for an Option 2 refund, submitted Mar 22, had been received.

Like @clpughrn, @hpeabody and others, I am unable to file a credit card dispute because our cruises were halted in process, not cancelled before boarding. And, I am also owed amounts that were never charged by Princess to begin with, such as the balance of my onboard credit account and air fare reimbursement.

I do have news for anyone else who was aboard the Jan 5 or Jan 20 sailing of Pacific Princess, obtained from Customer Relations today. "Patty" says that this Pacific Princess voyage is being "processed" at the end of this week or the beginning of next. After processing is complete, refunds will begin to be issued. We will first see cruise fare refunds posted to our credit cards. Somewhat later, we will see checks in the mail for airfare reimbursement and onboard credit account refunds. She was unable to give me any estimates for when any of this might happen. But this is the first time I've been told that our voyage is being "processed," so perhaps it actually means something.

13 minutes ago, SJunie said:

That makes sense. I thought the same, too, as it's a bonus FCC on top of what I have requested for as a refund to my credit card under Option 2. But this CS phone rep insists that I could get it back as a cheque if my dad doesn't use his FCC. Either she has no clue what she is talking about, or Princess has decided to be generous with us. I have a feeling it's the former.

And sadly, my past experience with Princess tells me that unless you get it in writing, any promises are meaningless. Even when Guest Services promises you something on board. ☹

16 hours ago, nho9504 said:

 

The Customer Relations tel is 661-753-0000  X44411.

 

Need to listen to all the prompts to finish before you punch the extension.  Else you would be thrown into a loop and may eventually be disconnected.

Thank you! I will definitely give this a try on Monday.

16 hours ago, nho9504 said:

 

 

If you dont mind the trouble you can file a claim at your state's Small Claims Court to sue Princess for them holding your money without providing a service.

Each state has its own statue and regulation on how Small Claims Court works.  You will need to do some research to see how your state's are and how to proceed.

 

Besides, the email Princess sent on Mar 12 on its voluntarily suspend operation that covers your sailing period, would / should be a proof that the cruiseline canceled your cruise and not the government regulations to cancel.  That came later.

Sadly, Princess owes me over 3 times too much to file in Small Claims Court. The upper limit in California is $10,000.

On 5/26/2020 at 6:27 PM, nho9504 said:

 

Indeed.  I have to be very assertive to finally get transferred to Customers Relationship, where I got a very helpful and very knowledgeable rep.  He quickly saw the FCD was refunded - to that I said it showed up a week or more already but what about the remaining elements?  He went into the account and then said,  Ah, I see why the refund not being issued - there is one missing step not being done, and without that step,  I cannot act further.   He at first tried to explain what is missing, but then resorted to say "it is behind the scene step",  assured me it was not caused by either me or the travel agency, even though when I said I filed the Option instead of the TA because Princess told me it did not matter.  He at first said, that might be related to that missing step, but quickly told me who filed it did not matter.  My gut feeling is, someone who handled the refund on this booking, forgot to check an area as the request was made by the passengers already, no need to go thru agency again... or something in similar nature... 

 

He then said he would send an email to "nudge" it to move as "this is in Pause 1 period"  that should have been handled by now.

 

So,  No, that missing step would not self-corrected according to the Customer Relations rep,  He said eventually it would be one of those falling into crack for those people who are at Pause 1 still not seeing anything.  

 

My advice to anyone is,  YOU are the ONLY PERSON who Cares the Most of YOUR OWN MONEY.  Nobody would pay more attention than yourself.  You can claim you have not done anything but still receive everything you should have -

 

Well, count your lucky star that everything lines up at the end.  However if there is anything goes wrong during the process, it will NOT get corrected, until much later - most likely when customers are calling to find out WHY they still not get refunds.

 

The guy actually said that he was glad to see I called because else that missing step would not be detected until someone asked to take a look at the refund status!   He also gave me the Customer Relations number to call in 10 business days, so I dont need to go thru the regular number again.   This is the 3rd time I called Princess - the 1st time was to make sure they received the correct option, that was back in late March.  The 2nd time was last week when more than 60 days have passed and we finally saw the FCDs back to our accounts.  My mistake on that call was NOT to ask to talk to Customer Relations and just took the words of the front line agent that the Refund is still "In Process".   Thanks to a few posters here mentioning about the need to talk to the Customer Relations,  this evening I INSISTED to be transferred to the CR dept and finally got a good rep to go over our booking, saw the problem, and told me he would try his best to request it being fixed.

 

He did say if the booking is not in Pause 1, nothing he could help because Pause 1 must be finished before Pause 2 gets looked at. 

 

I feel very bad for those of you who are being classified as "In Transit" and then would not be dealt with until all suspension caused cancellations are handled.  That is NOT right!

Hi, would you please share with us all the Customer Relations phone number? I have been unsuccessful at getting past the front line folks.