News: RCCL employee accused of burglarizing customers' homes while they cruised

[PrincesScuba]

Mr. Pete: Ten steps BEYOND BRILLIANT.

 

And to all of you who chastise posters who suggest that someone use the "search" function or look at the front page (for cryin' out loud!) before starting the 50th new thread on the same, current topic, ^%%#%%^.

 

So there!

 

:D

[lady_cruiser]

I am so glad that I opened the link and actually watched it before I wanted to write just because I read only the title. I was going to say, "yeah read all about the 'BAD, STEALING, RCL EMPLOYEE" :eek:. But lets not mean all RCL PVP because one of them was a bad apple."

 

Now thanks to video I can keep the above opinion to myself :p :p

 

THANKS MR PETE for reminding some of us two ask these two small questions first:

1. Have I read "everything" before posting my opinion? and

2. Have I searched before asking a new question? :p

[MrPete]

I have come to the conclusion that there are some people that just don't know what they're doing.

 

Not surprised, either.

[DEAdams]

RC Travel Planner Bethesda "Beth" Sandoval has been arrested for aiding her husband in the burglaries of RC customers' homes while they were away on RC cruises. She provided her husband with the addresses of the RC customers who then robbed multiple homes in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area.

 

Mrs. Sandoval has been my travel planner for the past 5 years and to say that I am shocked and saddened by this is an understatement; however, I have an upcoming European cruise in August in which Mrs. Sandoval arranged and I am gravely concerned that I have yet to hear from RC management on how they are addressing Mrs. Sandoval's active client list. This employee may have all of my personal information (including credit card numbers) in her possession and this is very disturbing to me.

 

I knew something was wrong last Thursday when I'd emailed Mrs. Sandoval and received an undeliverable bounce-back. My concern is that I am now receiving email reminders that my final payment is due and I paid for the cruise in its entirety. I tried calling her extension several times and the line was never answered. I finally reached a live person yesterday (before the news broke) who stated that Mrs. Sandoval was no longer with the company; I was then transferred to another Travel Planner who told me that Mrs. Sandoval was on Maternity Leave. I stated my concerns about the payment reminder emails and was placed on hold for just over 13 min's (my phone has a minute counter). Finally, the gentleman said that his shift was nearly over and that he would have another Travel Planner return my call. I did not receive a return call.

 

The news of Mrs. Sandoval's arrest was released this morning. Imagine my surprise and shock to read about it in my local newspaper. I have tried calling RC all morning and this afternoon and have sent numerous emails asking for someone, ANYone, to return my calls. Nobody from RC is returning my calls.

 

I have paid a bloody fortune for this, my 10th cruise with RC, and I am beyond furious with how RC is handling this situation.

 

Is anyone else having a similar issue?

 

UPDATE: I finally reached someone in Guest Relations who immediately stopped me in mid-sentence and gave me the customer service 1-800 number to call and she abruptly ended the call. I then spoke to another Travel Planner who was, finally, able to actually tell me something. I was told that Mrs. Sandoval's current client list with active bookings will be contacted by a RC representative on Monday. When I asked about the status of my cruise (i.e. the email reminders I am getting about my payment being due) I was told that I would know more on Monday. I then stated that I am unable to access my cruise booking on-line (I keep getting an error message) and, again, she stated that I would be given more information on Monday.

[DEAdams]

And that's exactly why he should check his cc statement. Most people can do that daily on line. If she's been using his number, he'd know it. In all likelihood, if she was using his number...or anyone was...the cc company would call him.

 

I had a paypal cc card that was really only a debit card. The number was used one time by another person. Paypal called me even though I had no money in the account. I only used that card for 3 places as a cc on file....classmates, webshots, netflix. Someone at one of those 3 places stole my number and tried to use the card in Europe on line with a toy company. The card was never ever used anywhere else by me and it was still in my possession.

 

That poster is worried wrongly. They can easily take control of the situation rather than waiting for an email response.

 

Oh...I no longer pay for products from any of those 3 services. I don't trust them to have my number and I don't need paid services from any of them.

 

Gina

 

Obviously, you have never been the victim of stolen identity. I was, nearly 10 years ago, and it was absolute he** trying to straighten it all out. I have not been assured by RC that my personal information has not been compromised and I am now having to take preventative measures to ensure my personal information will not be used in any untoward way.

 

I am sure that RC will make this right (if anything is amiss) but when I called RC yesterday and was inquiring about the status of my cruise and the travel planner I spoke with KNEW my travel planner was Mrs. Sandoval, at the very least I should have been transferred to a member of management to explain the situation to me.

 

Get off of your high horse and don't tell me not to be worried. I don't need another mess on my hands with having my identity compromised. If this woman had no qualms about giving her husband the addresses of customers homes to burglarize, I have every right to be concerned that she may also possess credit cards and other personal information.

[reallyitsmema]

Obviously, you have never been the victim of stolen identity. I was, nearly 10 years ago, and it was absolute he** trying to straighten it all out. I have not been assured by RC that my personal information has not been compromised and I am now having to take preventative measures to ensure my personal information will not be used in any untoward way.

 

I am sure that RC will make this right (if anything is amiss) but when I called RC yesterday and was inquiring about the status of my cruise and the travel planner I spoke with KNEW my travel planner was Mrs. Sandoval, at the very least I should have been transferred to a member of management to explain the situation to me.

 

Get off of your high horse and don't tell me not to be worried. I don't need another mess on my hands with having my identity compromised. If this woman had no qualms about giving her husband the addresses of customers homes to burglarize, I have every right to be concerned that she may also possess credit cards and other personal information.

There is no way the cruiseline can assure you that this rep did not write down your credit card information. You absolutely need to put a fraud watch on that card, plain and simple.

[DEAdams]

There is no way the cruiseline can assure you that this rep did not write down your credit card information. You absolutely need to put a fraud watch on that card, plain and simple.

 

Thank you. Yes, I've already put an updated Fraud Alert on my credit profile with the 3 major credit bureaus.

 

But I still want to know why I cannot access my cruise booking on RC's website, and why I am getting multiple email reminders that my payment is due (final payment is due Monday) and I've already paid for the cruise. The charge did appear on my cc statement (months ago) but why am I all of a sudden getting these email reminders about payment, no one at RC will give me the status of my cruise, and I cannot access it on their website.

 

Something is not right here.

[reallyitsmema]

Thank you. Yes, I've already put an updated Fraud Alert on my credit profile with the 3 major credit bureaus.

 

But I still want to know why I cannot access my cruise booking on RC's website, and why I am getting multiple email reminders that my payment is due (final payment is due Monday) and I've already paid for the cruise. The charge did appear on my cc statement (months ago) but why am I all of a sudden getting these email reminders about payment, no one at RC will give me the status of my cruise, and I cannot access it on their website.

 

Something is not right here.

The cruiselines run all sorts of backups and maintenance on their computer system on weekends so I would not panic about not being able to access your account. There is at least one thread every weekend about this same issue.

 

I would also wait until Monday and call the Resolutions Department and CALMLY explain your situation. They will be able to pull your account up and see what is going on. I realize this is a stressful situation but you are not going to get anywhere if you keep bombarding them with phone calls and emails. I would check that all your payments to Royal Caribbean were posted correctly to your credit card and not paid to anyone else other than Royal Caribbean.

[dougp26364]

Wow. Can't say I'm shocked, but it really stinks to read it. I have a home alarm system, but I'm guessing that cutting a hole in the glass wouldn't set off the alarm, why would it?

 

That's just awful.:mad:

 

I don't know about your alarm but the glass breaks on ours are sensitive enough that should someone open the window, they'll go off.

[mommabean]

Obviously, you have never been the victim of stolen identity. I was, nearly 10 years ago, and it was absolute he** trying to straighten it all out. I have not been assured by RC that my personal information has not been compromised and I am now having to take preventative measures to ensure my personal information will not be used in any untoward way.

 

I am sure that RC will make this right (if anything is amiss) but when I called RC yesterday and was inquiring about the status of my cruise and the travel planner I spoke with KNEW my travel planner was Mrs. Sandoval, at the very least I should have been transferred to a member of management to explain the situation to me.

 

Get off of your high horse and don't tell me not to be worried. I don't need another mess on my hands with having my identity compromised. If this woman had no qualms about giving her husband the addresses of customers homes to burglarize, I have every right to be concerned that she may also possess credit cards and other personal information.

 

There is no reason to believe this person has stolen anyone's identity. Stolen identity and a stolen credit card number are two different things. And yes, last night we just dealt with a stolen credit card number. My college age daughter freaked out when she saw 2 debits on her on line statement that she didn't make. She thought she was out that money. I told her to stop panicking and to call the cc company. She did....they told her they would reverse the charges, cancel the card and mail her a new one right away.

 

She also applied for a job with GAP in high school and was later informed by GAP that their laptops had been stolen with everyone SS#s on it. That was years ago and her identity still hasn't been stolen.

 

This RCI woman was not out to steal identities...she and her husband were out to steal electronics from cruiser's houses.

 

This is no high horse...just the reality of the situation.

 

Gina

[temple1]

Thank you. Yes, I've already put an updated Fraud Alert on my credit profile with the 3 major credit bureaus.

 

But I still want to know why I cannot access my cruise booking on RC's website, and why I am getting multiple email reminders that my payment is due (final payment is due Monday) and I've already paid for the cruise. The charge did appear on my cc statement (months ago) but why am I all of a sudden getting these email reminders about payment, no one at RC will give me the status of my cruise, and I cannot access it on their website.

 

Something is not right here.

 

To go back to your original post - and maybe another poster can answer - who calls back to the person who took the reservation? I always make my reserverations by telephone and I never call back to my original booking person after booking our first cruise. (It seems immediately upon booking our cruise he left the country never to be heard from again or something because we could never catch up with him.) When I call back with questions I just call the 1-800 number and take the luck of the draw. All of my booking info is right there on line for them to see.

 

If you made your reservation by telephone the my cruises page gives instructions on how to bring up your cruise info if you have never accessed the info previously - you didn't indicate if you ever accessed the info on line before. You do need your reservation number.

 

There has been no indication yet that the former employee stole credit card info or redirected your payment. I would not even bring her name into my phone call but give my name and reservation number and ask if everything is okay. I imagine RC has assigned a specific staff to handle all calls relating to the former employee and there have probably been one or two phone calls.

 

Good luck and I hope all is resolved shortly.

[lady_cruiser]

We have an alarm system but also a pet sitter who comes by every day - oh, and a busy-body next door neighbor as well . . . .

 

I have an alarm system but my neighbor isn't a busy-body as you call your neighbor. My neighbor is a "good neighbor" who looks after my house when I am on vacation and at work. If someone drives in my driveway and I am not at home he will go and ask who they are and what they want. If I am away for a few days he will walk around my house twice, once in the morning and once in the late evening to make sure all my screens are on the house and no windows are broken. If I am at work and there is a package on my porch he'll pick it up and bring it next door. Then either he or his wife will call me and let me know that they have it.

 

What you might call busy-body I call a good concern neighbor who looks after this 61 year old lady even though they are in their early and late 70s and older than me. I also call that grumption. :p

[mommabean]

To go back to your original post - and maybe another poster can answer - who calls back to the person who took the reservation? I always make my reserverations by telephone and I never call back to my original booking person after booking our first cruise. (It seems immediately upon booking our cruise he left the country never to be heard from again or something because we could never catch up with him.) When I call back with questions I just call the 1-800 number and take the luck of the draw. All of my booking info is right there on line for them to see.

 

If you made your reservation by telephone the my cruises page gives instructions on how to bring up your cruise info if you have never accessed the info previously - you didn't indicate if you ever accessed the info on line before. You do need your reservation number.

 

There has been no indication yet that the former employee stole credit card info or redirected your payment. I would not even bring her name into my phone call but give my name and reservation number and ask if everything is okay. I imagine RC has assigned a specific staff to handle all calls relating to the former employee and there have probably been one or two phone calls.

 

Good luck and I hope all is resolved shortly.

 

This is also how I do it. What I don't do on line myself, I call and take whoever answers. I've never had a bad personal vacation planner or customer service rep.

 

For some reason an RCI guy named Jake has picked up on me and sends me emails all the time and calls from time to time asking if he can help me. I just heard from him 2 days ago. To this day I've never done anything at all with him...but he continues with what he does. I guess he's your basic RCI telemarketer/cruise planner. He never gives up. :)

 

Gina

[bluegirlum]

Thank you. Yes, I've already put an updated Fraud Alert on my credit profile with the 3 major credit bureaus.

 

But I still want to know why I cannot access my cruise booking on RC's website, and why I am getting multiple email reminders that my payment is due (final payment is due Monday) and I've already paid for the cruise. The charge did appear on my cc statement (months ago) but why am I all of a sudden getting these email reminders about payment, no one at RC will give me the status of my cruise, and I cannot access it on their website.

 

Something is not right here.

 

I would guess that they have some sort of protocol in place to deal with this sort of situation and they are working it out. You are not the only one who has had her as a travel consultant and they want to make sure ALL of her clients are taken care of. They are not going to tell you the details of what's going on--they have most likely been advised by authorities and their own attorneys that they can't and having been the employer myself in this situation, I know that I would never tell a client, "oh, yeah, she's in jail for taking our client's information!" RCI has to follow a certain procedure and they are actually doing this to protect you and all her/their clients.

 

I can imagine this is very frustrating for you, and I'm not trying to make light of it, but I imagine RCI will contact you soon to get it figured out. You are not the only one in this situation and they want to treat everyone fairly and make sure you'll all taken care of. I deal with employees everyday who do stupid things and trying to "fix" things takes time. It's very frustrating for everyone. :(

[Ocean Boy]

To go back to your original post - and maybe another poster can answer - who calls back to the person who took the reservation? I always make my reserverations by telephone and I never call back to my original booking person after booking our first cruise. (It seems immediately upon booking our cruise he left the country never to be heard from again or something because we could never catch up with him.) When I call back with questions I just call the 1-800 number and take the luck of the draw. All of my booking info is right there on line for them to see.

 

 

Good luck and I hope all is resolved shortly.

 

I agree with you. However, for someone who has not quite caught on to how the system works I can see why they might try to get in touch with the original booking agent. They do make it sound like they are your personal vacation planner that you can contact when you have problems, questions, or want to make a booking. Back when I used to use a TA I always delt with the same agent in the company.

 

As one becomes more aware of how RCI works we know that you just call and deal with who ever answers the phone.

[temple1]

I agree with you. However, for someone who has not quite caught on to how the system works I can see why they might try to get in touch with the original booking agent. They do make it sound like they are your personal vacation planner that you can contact when you have problems, questions, or want to make a booking. Back when I used to use a TA I always delt with the same agent in the company.

 

As one becomes more aware of how RCI works we know that you just call and deal with who ever answers the phone.

 

 

From reading some of the other posts on this topic, I was beginning to think I was the only one to take the luck of the draw.

 

Fortunately on my first cruise - he just disappeared, he wasn't on the front page of the local paper. :D

[imsulin]

So, what's the deal with RCI just offering "an apology"? Any offer to pay HO deductible or future cruises? Can't find any updated info. Thanks!

[disneygoof]

'Wow" is all I can think of right now.

[CruisinManiac]

This same type "operation" happened in our town about 22 years ago. A young woman working at our veterinarians office, would print out a list of vacationers (who had left their dogs to board) and gave the list to her boyfriend. You can guess what he did with the list. :rolleyes:

[Oscar_the_Grouch's_Sis]

Her husband sounds like a real sweetheart. FTA "Lopez is being held at a Broward County jail on unrelated assault and burglary charges." Please tell me they have not reproduced. Please.

 

The video says she was pregnant at the time :eek:

 

I am confused about something : Another article I read said that surveillance caught her going to her office at 1am in the morning (it was logged because she used her electronic pass to get in) and logging into the computer. A spokesperson for RC said she had no business being there after hours and they were outraged ... but this article says she was fired after she got arrested :confused:

[bluegirlum]

The video says she was pregnant at the time :eek:

 

I am confused about something : Another article I read said that surveillance caught her going to her office at 1am in the morning (it was logged because she used her electronic pass to get in) and logging into the computer. A spokesperson for RC said she had no business being there after hours and they were outraged ... but this article says she was fired after she got arrested :confused:

 

They probably had to do some sort of investigation before they could just fire her. That's what we have to do here. It's obviously highly suspicious that she'd go in at 1am and log in, but you have to usually give them a chance to explain. I'm not sure there would be any good explanation for her doing that, but there could be. Usually, if someone is caught red-handed stealing, then you can fire them on the spot.

 

(I'm just speaking from experience in my job. RCI's policies may be different, but I don't know them.)

[MAZANDSTEVE]

:eek:

 

 

 

 

Yikes! We always have a house sitter/animal sitter while we cruise.

 

 

Me too, I have to, we have chickens that need looking after.

[ccruisequeen]

They worry about US taking soda & water on their ships & don't do better security checks on employees? They'd better get their priorities straightened out before Oct!

[Cruzaholic41]

They worry about US taking soda & water on their ships & don't do better security checks on employees? They'd better get their priorities straightened out before Oct!

 

The employee's last arrest was 16 years ago on forgery and larceny charges - likely resolved as misdemeanors, or even dropped. An employer doing a background check does not have the same access as a police organization. It is highly unlikely they even saw this, given the time lapse.

[insulationbabe]

geez keep us informed please if you hear anything from Royal - I am shocked as well that they can't tell you anything yet:)