Celebrity Disappoints Big Time

[SantaFeFan]

I don't know why cruise line cheerleaders on CC seem so eager at times to bash their fellow cruisers, but there's no call for it..

 

And I don't know why all the bleeding heart types feel they need to defend people who make stupid decisions. Doesn't the idea of personal responsibility exist any more? Or is this the result of the increasingly entitled society we now live in?

[mickeysgal]

No, they don't. And never had, to my knowledge. They have a 24 hr no deposit hold policy, but in this case, for a cruise that is past final payment, and for a stateroom category that all but sold out, I would not be surprised if that policy did not apply.

 

Sorry to the OP, but I don't know how an experienced cruiser could possibly think making full payment on a rare stateroom availability with the intent of canceling within 24 hours if they changed their minds was a wise course of action. I certainly would not have done it, no matter what the rep told me. That is way too much money to be playing with on a product I may not actually want.

 

This situation is exactly why I do research first and don't trust everything a phone rep tells me. Too many things to be misinterpreted and assumed. Too much variation in phone rep's training, knowledge and their ability to clarify important information clearly and concisely. Bottom line, you read the fine print that is published first before plunking down that kind of cash in bulk this close to sailing. I can see this happening to a novice first timer unfortunately, but not to an experienced cruiser. I don't know of any cruise line that would make such a promise so close to sail date. At this point, I'd go on the cruise with so much money sunk at this point and enjoy the heck out of it.

[Tiggertastic]

sorry it didn't work out for you but it does take miami a few weeks to refund, they took the wring amount from us in error but took weeks to give it back . suggest you research flights first in future

[Turtles06]

And I don't know why all the bleeding heart types feel they need to defend people who make stupid decisions. Doesn't the idea of personal responsibility exist any more? Or is this the result of the increasingly entitled society we now live in?

 

I am not a bleeding heart type, and if you knew me (which of course you don't), you'd know that I regularly rail against the "entitlement complex" that seems to pervade our society.

 

But unless you believe that the OP is totally lying here, then this is an issue of Celebrity being responsible for what its representatives tell people.

 

And posters here are continuing to lose sight of the fact that Celebrity has not denied that the OP is entitled to a full refund; the issue here is that Celebrity is dragging its heels.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Turtles06

[tteettimes]

My own policy is to not book anything wile drinking. :rolleyes:

[SantaFeFan]

But unless you believe that the OP is totally lying here, then this is an issue of Celebrity being responsible for what its representatives tell people.

 

I don't believe that the OP is "totally lying". I do believe that we are hearing only his side of the story, a side most likely edited to make himself look the victim. I do believe that the OP made a mistake and is angry at Celebrity/RCI for it and wants to get revenge on them by writing about what he sees as THEIR mistakes. Me, if I did something that foolish, I would be too embarrassed and would keep it to myself instead of coming onto a public forum in an attempt to take a punch at Celebrity/RCI. His last two sentences clearly shows this.

Edited December 14, 2014 by SantaFeFan

[Lsimon]

In the US we expect our cell phone companies, cable TV companies, insurance companies, airline companies, auto companies and others to lie to us. They lie when the truth sounds better.

 

We are not "Ok with that", but it is the way business is done.:mad::(...

Sad but true. Unfortunately deceptive marketing and incorrect answers by ill informed customer service reps are all too common these days.

 

Celebrity and most other cruise lines are directly engaged in deceptive marketing and have been for years. A primary example is the Port Shopping scam where they infer that the port talks, shopping consultant, and port shopping guides are in your best interests and do not disclose it is just paid advertising and commissioned sales.

 

I sure hope for OP's sake that the customer service rep was being forthright with him and that his only problem is slow processing of the refund. Hopefully they'll have a customer service department recording of the transaction to back him up if it ends up being an issue.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Lsimon

[tnfcruise]

Nope! It was a clearly meant as a political statement, which has no place on these forums - per Cruise Critic rules. :rolleyes:

 

 

An astute and succinct comeback. 👍

 

 

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[nana541]

An astute and succinct comeback. 👍

 

 

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Ditto!

 

 

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[Hammer61]

Sounds like a mistake on the part of Celebrity to me, hope you noted down the time and date of the call when you were told a full refund would be forthcoming if you couldn’t find flights at reasonable price, as I would guess that all calls are recorded as disputes about payments and quotes do arise from time to time when credit card details are taken over the phone, so most company’s have a record policy to protect themselves as much as anything, my guess though is a back office mistake, so maybe need to go directly to their accounts and payments department and speak with someone in charge

 

Personally I would have not put down a cent until I had air tickets confirmed, and don’t Celebrity hold a reservation for a couple of days anyway as not everyone pays by Credit Card, some do transfers from bank accounts which take at least 24 hours to show as cleared.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Hammer61

[fortinweb]

Personally I would have not put down a cent until I had air tickets confirmed, and don’t Celebrity hold a reservation for a couple of days anyway as not everyone pays by Credit Card, some do transfers from bank accounts which take at least 24 hours to show as cleared.

 

The OP said they would not hold the booking for 24 hours. Probably because it was within final payment time and for a stateroom that had become available due to a cancellation and was most likely in high demand.

 

I don't think it was mistake on Celebrity's part any more than it was on the OP's part. My guess is that it was a mis-communication.

Edited December 14, 2014 by fortinweb

[Hammer61]

I don't think it was mistake on Celebrity's part any more than it was on the OP's part. My guess is that it was a mis-communication.

 

Well I hope for the OP sake it is just a miscommunication and is sorted out, but also hope he is noting down, names, time and dates of people he has spoken too from celebrity who have told him he could cancel within 24 hours and that the refund was coming, seems no one has told him he wont get a refund so I hope for his sake this is all cleared up promptly and with AMEX now being involved hopefully it will, $9500 its not like it’s a small transaction.

[dileep]

I think the guy is talking about $9500 for the whole cruise and airfare. But if he booked on November 21 for a Christmas cruise that is past the due date when they will give you a full refund on the cruise.

The rules are and have been for as long as I can remember:

between 28-15 days prior to cruise you only get back 25% of the cost of the cruise.

 

It was $9500 for just the cruise for 2 people. Airfare in coach would have added another $7000, which is twice what it usually is in non-peak periods.

The deal with Celebrity was that I had to pay full amount since it was past the final due date, but I had 24 hours to cancel with a FULL refund.

 

The issue is that they have failed to process the full refund in a reasonable amount of time. Customer Service agrees that this is not right but do not seem to be able to get accounting to get the refund processed quickly.

[dileep]

Well I hope for the OP sake it is just a miscommunication and is sorted out, but also hope he is noting down, names, time and dates of people he has spoken too from celebrity who have told him he could cancel within 24 hours and that the refund was coming, seems no one has told him he wont get a refund so I hope for his sake this is all cleared up promptly and with AMEX now being involved hopefully it will, $9500 its not like it’s a small transaction.

 

There is no miscommunication. I have names of everyone who I talked to when I booked and cancelled and all subsequent calls to Celebrity confirm that I am indeed due a full refund. It is incompetence on the Celebrity side.

[dileep]

And posters here are continuing to lose sight of the fact that Celebrity has not denied that the OP is entitled to a full refund; the issue here is that Celebrity is dragging its heels.

 

At least someone got this right!

 

BTW, I told Customer Service that if the did not get they did not get the refund processed in 2 more business days (after waiting for over 12 business days) that I would post my dissatisfaction on Cruise Critic and other sites.

 

They agreed that the delay was indeed inexcusable, but they could not promise when it would be fixed.

[dileep]

The finance office is probably handling this like any normal cancellation, and applying the penalty for canceling after the final payment date per the established rules. They weren't involved with making the booking so they would not have any knowledge of the alleged "pay now and you will get a full refund" promise made by booking representative since they weren't there.

 

 

I agree that this is very likely what happened, but the booking department needed to make sure that this was a different kind of deal. Miscommunication or lack of communication between booking agents at Celebrity and Accounting at Royal Caribbean could be the culprit.

 

Fortunately, American Express stepped in yesterday and took the remaining balance of my credit card.

[jagoffee]

Dileep,

Thank you for the clarification.

[mickeysgal]

I agree that this is very likely what happened, but the booking department needed to make sure that this was a different kind of deal. Miscommunication or lack of communication between booking agents at Celebrity and Accounting at Royal Caribbean could be the culprit.

 

Fortunately, American Express stepped in yesterday and took the remaining balance of my credit card.

 

I've got to ask. How do you get Celebrity to override policy regarding refunds when it is this close to sail date? I've never been told anything other than what is policy.

[DirtyDawg]

I've got to ask. How do you get Celebrity to override policy regarding refunds when it is this close to sail date? I've never been told anything other than what is policy.

 

Well, from dileep's post, number 38, from Sunday night, it would appear that if you are willing to spend $9,500 on a cruise for two there is no set policy about refunds this close to sail date.;) Money talks, and more money talks more loudly.

 

There in a car dealership in town that advertises that it's 'policy' is no negotiating on price - it has a no haggle, low price, same price for all policy. Funny thing is , flash a wad of cash, or your high limit AMEX card at them they suddenly love to negotiate.:) Any company's 'policies', like their prices, are subject to change - for a price!

Edited December 15, 2014 by DirtyDawg

[The_Big_M]

Are YOU certain that what the OP is telling us hasn't been skewed a bit to enhance his case?

 

I didn't say it was - or wasn't. I commented on the position described, which appeared quite credible.

 

Did the rep really tell him what he claims he was told? Or, considering that the entire booking process seems to have been a rush job and in his haste to not lose the chance on the trip he misunderstood what he was told? A classic "He said, she said" scenario.

 

It seems with some people the automatic response is to always assume that the other buy is to blame. "Never take responsibility for my own actions" is their philosophy.

 

Now you're suggesting he misrepresented the situation, which is different from what I commented on, which was on observation on the situation.

 

What grounds do YOU have to support that, when Celebrity has said that they are dealing with it? This isn't a case of him assuming something, but just taking up something they offered.

 

That doesn't mean that you would necessarily do the same as he did, but I fail to see why he should be condemned - and now, accused of misrepresenting by you - just because you may not have found that offer worth taking up.

[jagoffee]

Well, from dileep's post, number 38, from Sunday night, it would appear that if you are willing to spend $9,500 on a cruise for two there is no set policy about refunds this close to sail date.;) Money talks, and more money talks more loudly.

 

There in a car dealership in town that advertises that it's 'policy' is no negotiating on price - it has a no haggle, low price, same price for all policy. Funny thing is , flash a wad of cash, or your high limit AMEX card at them they suddenly love to negotiate.:) Any company's 'policies', like their prices, are subject to change - for a price!

 

I didn't say it was - or wasn't. I commented on the position described, which appeared quite credible.

 

 

 

Now you're suggesting he misrepresented the situation, which is different from what I commented on, which was on observation on the situation.

 

What grounds do YOU have to support that, when Celebrity has said that they are dealing with it? This isn't a case of him assuming something, but just taking up something they offered.

 

That doesn't mean that you would necessarily do the same as he did, but I fail to see why he should be condemned - and now, accused of misrepresenting by you - just because you may not have found that offer worth taking up.

 

Both very good points. Furthermore I doubt anyone would even consider canceling a $9500 cruise and booking a different one on another cruise line without being 100% certain of what they were told.

 

Since most of us would never take advantage of this kind of offer and pay in full before we were 100% sure then it is hard to relate.

 

I am very confident that dileep will not use this approach in the future either given the hassle in getting the refund. The Celebrity rep was probably in error even offering the 24 hour "no questions ask" refund after the final payment date, but obviously they need to abide by the agreement.

Dileep, enjoy your cruise.

[SantaFeFan]

I didn't say it was - or wasn't. I commented on the position described, which appeared quite credible.

 

 

 

Now you're suggesting he misrepresented the situation, which is different from what I commented on, which was on observation on the situation.

 

What grounds do YOU have to support that, when Celebrity has said that they are dealing with it? This isn't a case of him assuming something, but just taking up something they offered.

 

That doesn't mean that you would necessarily do the same as he did, but I fail to see why he should be condemned - and now, accused of misrepresenting by you - just because you may not have found that offer worth taking up.

 

Keep in mind that Celebrity hasn't "said" anything. The OP has said that Celebrity told him something. We are getting only one side of the story. As any human behavior expert will tell you, the version of a story that people will tell about themselves will always avoid details that doesn't favor the story teller.

 

We all do it.

 

Have you ever read a single post by someone writing that they are disappointed with how something turned out but who defends the cruise line's side of the situation? :)

Edited December 15, 2014 by SantaFeFan

[wallie5446]

Personally, I would never put $9,500 down on a 24-hour hold for a cruise. :confused:

 

Same here, especially with it being after final pymt was due.

[nana541]

Doesn't the Cruiseline record the phone calls with people booking?

"This Conversation may be recorded"

 

 

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[Sloop-JohnB]

Doesn't the Cruiseline record the phone calls with people booking?

"This Conversation may be recorded"

 

 

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Lol, but then again they only say MAY BE

 

No guarantee that it is

 

I don't know the whole story here... None of us do. But I know as a Consumer I would have been very unlikely to put down the entire amount TO HOLD something (whole amount does not equal deposit) and a heck of a lot less liely knowing that it was after Final Payment (Knowing what Cancellation Fees look like)... And that would have been the case for me whether it was $ 100, $ 1000 or in this case close to $ 10,000

 

Guess I just don't always trust as much what I am told in life vs what is written (knowing that one has more legal clout over the other in a Court of Law)

 

In the very least... I would have had that Celebrity Phone Rep put something in writing (sent IMMEDIATELY to me by email... While we were still on the phone)

 

Cheers!