First Cunard booking not impressed

[Ontario Cruiser]

We booked the Queen Victoria for 19 day from San Francisco to Sydney on Sunday July 6th and they debited my credit card 3 times in error for the down payment of $2217CDN. They acknowledged their mistake and as of today July 17th I am still waiting for them to credit my card back. Cunard said it could take up to two weeks for the the correction to show up . It only takes one day for them to debit a card so I am very disappointed with this process.

Ontario Cruiser

Edited July 17, 2014 by Ontario Cruiser
correction of the mad sign

[alibabacruisers]

We booked the Queen Victoria for 19 day from San Francisco to Sydney on Sunday July 6th and they debited my credit card 3 times in error for the down payment of $2217CDN. They acknowledged their mistake and as of today July 17th I am still waiting for them to credit my card back. Cunard said it could take up to two weeks for the the correction to show up . It only takes one day for them to debit a card so I am very disappointed with this process.

Ontario Cruiser

 

Sorry that this happened to you. I have never understood why thy can take it so quickly and then need 1-2 weeks to credit it back.

[runner15km]

adjustments can take 30 days.

[Salacia]

We booked the Queen Victoria for 19 day from San Francisco to Sydney on Sunday July 6th and they debited my credit card 3 times in error for the down payment of $2217CDN. They acknowledged their mistake and as of today July 17th I am still waiting for them to credit my card back. Cunard said it could take up to two weeks for the the correction to show up . It only takes one day for them to debit a card so I am very disappointed with this process.

Ontario Cruiser

 

Hi Ontario Cruiser. Sorry about this error. My suggestion is that you contact your credit card company and make them aware of Cunard's error, including any documentation you might have saved. Good luck & best wishes, -S

[pepperrn]

We booked the Queen Victoria for 19 day from San Francisco to Sydney on Sunday July 6th and they debited my credit card 3 times in error for the down payment of $2217CDN. They acknowledged their mistake and as of today July 17th I am still waiting for them to credit my card back. Cunard said it could take up to two weeks for the the correction to show up . It only takes one day for them to debit a card so I am very disappointed with this process.

Ontario Cruiser

Hi Ontario Cruiser,

 

Sorry to hear about this issue, I couldn't agree more with your (highlighted) comment. I had a similar issue myself some time ago (not Cunard); despite numerous 'phone calls and even letters, I was powerless to expedite their slow process :mad: .

 

I wish you all possible luck with this.

[Cats2010]

I had the same problem once (not with Cunard, however). The truth that in practice it takes only MINUTES to do an electronic money transfer. I don't think, however, that they are legally obliged to transfer your money right away, but in the interest of good customer relations they should do so. What would be their advantage of keeping the money? The interest? Not worth it.

In my case it worked, so I wish you good luck!

Edited July 18, 2014 by Cats2010

[Yoshikitty]

As far as I know - the fact that the amount is taken from your Credit Card - does not mean that it shows up on the Cunard account the same time.

 

The processing companies of a CC transaction keep the money for days/weeks - so your deposit may not have arrived with Cunard yet.

 

Vice versa, the process takes the same time, which means that if Cunard returns the payment, it takes some time until it shows up on your creditcard.

 

I am sure that it will be the same with other cruise lines.

 

FYI, I used to work in a shop and funds from CCs have cleared 6 weeks after the initial payment.

[Cats2010]

Sorry, Yoshikitty, but according to European legislation, banks have to complete money transfers within 3 working days, so they have no right to sit on it any longer, but since the CC member seems to live in Canada, the situation might be different.

 

Anyway, since the payment from his side was credited within one day, there is no reason why this should not be possible for the return.

[southwestie]

In real terms you should see it come back faster, they cover themselves just in case it takes longer, very poor though

Edited July 18, 2014 by rob6852

[luckymal]

We booked the Queen Victoria for 19 day from San Francisco to Sydney on Sunday July 6th and they debited my credit card 3 times in error for the down payment of $2217CDN. They acknowledged their mistake and as of today July 17th I am still waiting for them to credit my card back. Cunard said it could take up to two weeks for the the correction to show up . It only takes one day for them to debit a card so I am very disappointed with this process.

Ontario Cruiser

 

I find this action by Cunard disgraceful and hope, when it is sorted out they will refund any out of pocket expenses you may have incurred. All these large Company's seem:confused: to think they can do what they want.

[luckymal]

:mad:

We booked the Queen Victoria for 19 day from San Francisco to Sydney on Sunday July 6th and they debited my credit card 3 times in error for the down payment of $2217CDN. They acknowledged their mistake and as of today July 17th I am still waiting for them to credit my card back. Cunard said it could take up to two weeks for the the correction to show up . It only takes one day for them to debit a card so I am very disappointed with this process.

Ontario Cruiser

 

I find this action by Cunard disgraceful and hope, when it is sorted out they will refund any out of pocket expenses you may have incurred. All these large Company's seem to think they can do what they want.:mad:

Edited July 18, 2014 by luckymal

[capnpugwash]

I find this action by Cunard disgraceful and hope, when it is sorted out they will refund any out of pocket expenses you may have incurred. All these large Company's seem:confused: to think they can do what they want.

 

I hardly think that it is disgraceful, it is poor administration certainly and as it was their mistake, they should try to resolve the matter. No-one died so I don't believe that we need to overreact.

[Lady49Monet]

There is no physical way for you to hurry up the process, however I would certainly be telling them in no uncertain terms that they have 'illegally' taken money from your account. Report the incident to your bank they may be able to help get your money back sooner. They also should not only compensate any incurred expenses but offering you other inducements. You might want to mention that you are considering taking legal advice. In this country the Financial Ombudsman could be contacted. Good Luck

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[MsDeva]

I hardly think that it is disgraceful, it is poor administration certainly and as it was their mistake, they should try to resolve the matter. No-one died so I don't believe that we need to overreact.

 

It is disgraceful in as much that it causes unnecessary stress at what should be an exciting time.

 

Judy

[southwestie]

I hardly think that it is disgraceful, it is poor administration certainly and as it was their mistake, they should try to resolve the matter. No-one died so I don't believe that we need to overreact.

 

 

It most certainly is disgraceful, we dont know the persons details, they may be booking the cruise of a life time and just paid the depost, for all we know this may make them overdrawn on the card and may incur charges.

 

I know for a fact that most refunds take a few days to process, yes , many will say up to 30 days, but this is Cunards fault and should sorted right away.

[gentlemancruiser]

It's just sloppy work, nothing more or nothing less.

 

A few years ago our credit card was charged 3 times for our shipboard account. After calling our credit card company and then calling Cunard's offices the matter was resolved within the month. It wasn't the end of the world, mistakes happen and I'm certianly not making excuses for Cunard, sometimes I think Cunard couldn't organize a one man parade!!!!

 

If you do not like the service provided, find another company instead of whine about it, (there are so many cruise lines to choose from).

[southwestie]

It's just sloppy work, nothing more or nothing less.

 

A few years ago our credit card was charged 3 times for our shipboard account. After calling our credit card company and then calling Cunard's offices the matter was resolved within the month. It wasn't the end of the world, mistakes happen and I'm certianly not making excuses for Cunard, sometimes I think Cunard couldn't organize a one man parade!!!!

 

If you do not like the service provided, find another company instead of whine about it, (there are so many cruise lines to choose from).

 

 

But how would you feel if you card was due for payment just at that time ?, if you had no money in the bank to cover the 3 times payents and were then charged for going over your limit etc, not everyone can afford that.

 

Its fine if the payments and refunds connect

[BlueRiband]

But how would you feel if you card was due for payment just at that time ?, if you had no money in the bank to cover the 3 times payents and were then charged for going over your limit etc, not everyone can afford that. Its fine if the payments and refunds connect

 

In the US one can formally contest and not pay erroneous credit card charges until the matter is resolved. So one would be obligated to pay the legitimate first deposit charged but not obligated to pay the duplicate charges.

 

The OP's screen name however indicates the he/she is in Canada, so I'm not sure if this also works north of the border.

[gentlemancruiser]

But how would you feel if you card was due for payment just at that time ?, if you had no money in the bank to cover the 3 times payents and were then charged for going over your limit etc, not everyone can afford that.

 

Its fine if the payments and refunds connect

 

Our payment was due within a few weeks of our return. In Canada our credit card company(BMO Mastercard) allowed the items to remain on our bill and treated it as disputed, so we were allowed to pay only what the shipboard account showed while our Mastercard contacted Cunard.

[southwestie]

Our payment was due within a few weeks of our return. In Canada our credit card company(BMO Mastercard) allowed the items to remain on our bill and treated it as disputed, so we were allowed to pay only what the shipboard account showed while our Mastercard contacted Cunard.

 

 

Thats a big help if they have this , I think many credit card companies will help all they can

[T5LHR]

I will probably be shot down in flames for daring to say this…

 

But I think people need to calm down…

 

Yes, it is unfortunate and poor administration/sales processing that has resulted in this. I can understand someone being highly annoyed if they disputed that this was the case and were telling someone that they had not done what they had. However, it appears that they have admitted responsibility and began the process to rectify it. Yes, the process may take some time (although, personally, I don't think 2 weeks maximum, is an overly long time to wait for this…), but it will be rectified.

 

Some of the comments on this thread, strongly reek of the "jump on the dumping band wagon" smell.

[Shawnino]

In Canada the vast majority (I'm guessing 90%+) of credit cards are issued by a financial institution that has other business with the person (savings/chequing account, loans or mortgages, investment products, insurance...). Credit Card companies don't issue the credit--financial institutions do. The principal exceptions are American Express, Capital One, and MBNA.

 

I am very sorry this happened to OP. OP should call his "Personal Banker" (the person to whom his accounts are nominally assigned) at his home branch, or if OP does not know who his PB is, the Branch Manager. It's been my experience that the Branch welcomes the opportunity to go to bat for good clients in an effort to maintain a relationship and earn goodwill toward retaining business.

 

Oh and if it's American Express instead, just call the 1-800 number. They'll sort it. I have no experience with MBNA or Capital One.

[T5LHR]

What I am finding odd is that people are saying to call the card issuer and get them to sort it out… Sort what out?

 

Cunard have said they have made an error and will refund the amount. Certainly in the UK, the times you can call your card issuer and request them to "sort it out" are if there is a dispute with a charge. There is no dispute with this charge. They have said it is a mistake and will rectify it.

 

Again, people need to take a breath and calm down.

[Shawnino]

I will probably be shot down in flames for daring to say this…

 

But I think people need to calm down…

 

Yes, it is unfortunate and poor administration/sales processing that has resulted in this. I can understand someone being highly annoyed if they disputed that this was the case and were telling someone that they had not done what they had. However, it appears that they have admitted responsibility and began the process to rectify it. Yes, the process may take some time (although, personally, I don't think 2 weeks maximum, is an overly long time to wait for this…), but it will be rectified.

 

Some of the comments on this thread, strongly reek of the "jump on the dumping band wagon" smell.

 

OK, I'll fire away.

 

This incident could cause OP to have to pay interest charges, could significantly impact OP's available credit (suppose OP's limit is $7500--worse, suppose it's $5,000 and OP is "overdrawn"), and even affect OP's credit report/rating. If I suffered any of those consequences, I'd be hopping mad.

 

It's incredibly convenient that the merchant who took 15 seconds to make the error somehow claims 15 days to correct it.

 

This, in my mind, is a Modest Cabin Upgrade Moment. "Ah well, give a couple weeks" doesn't cut it.

[T5LHR]

OK, I'll fire away.

 

This incident could cause OP to have to pay interest charges, could significantly impact OP's available credit (suppose OP's limit is $7500--worse, suppose it's $5,000 and OP is "overdrawn"), and even affect OP's credit report/rating. If I suffered any of those consequences, I'd be hopping mad.

 

It's incredibly convenient that the merchant who took 15 seconds to make the error somehow claims 15 days to correct it.

 

This, in my mind, is a Modest Cabin Upgrade Moment. "Ah well, give a couple weeks" doesn't cut it.

 

Either way, it still does not fall into the "disgraceful" category.

 

A time period of 10 working days is hardly excessive.