Trying to get refund! Unacceptable wait time!

[karonijo]

Had to cancel a cruise 2 and a half weeks ago. ..still have not received refund after countless hours on phone and many promises of returned calls that has not happened. ..escalated to a supervisor and she assured me she would call with information from accounting...and no. .I am beyond furious. ..the issue started where one of the cc used was jeapordized and replaced...however the bank account was the same...the cruise was canceled before deadline of final payment so no issues with that. .. cruised with celebrity once and LOVED it...but if this is normal practice for this multi-billion $ company I won't sail with them again...nor rccl..I really don't know what steps to take next... any help out there? Also just got off phone with guest relations just to be promised another call back from supervisor as she got called out of office yesterday and couldn't return my call... my anxiety is rising with all this...bad bad taste for celebrity right now...

[If only]

Had to cancel a cruise 2 and a half weeks ago. ..still have not received refund after countless hours on phone and many promises of returned calls that has not happened. ..escalated to a supervisor and she assured me she would call with information from accounting...and no. .I am beyond furious. ..the issue started where one of the cc used was jeapordized and replaced...however the bank account was the same...the cruise was canceled before deadline of final payment so no issues with that. .. cruised with celebrity once and LOVED it...but if this is normal practice for this multi-billion $ company I won't sail with them again...nor rccl..I really don't know what steps to take next... any help out there? Also just got off phone with guest relations just to be promised another call back from supervisor as she got called out of office yesterday and couldn't return my call... my anxiety is rising with all this...bad bad taste for celebrity right now...

Any credit from Celebrity has only ever taken a week, they always credit back to the card given now if it was compromised the bank should send it to the correct card, have you contacted your bank as they may have it & not credited your new card.

[bEwAbG]

I was also going to suggest you contact your bank. Sounds like Celebrity is having trouble doing the refund because the card you paid with is no longer active. I know people expect instantaneous results these days, but sometimes things are more complicated than they appear. Not to excuse the lack of response from Celebrity, but it can be just as frustrating for the people who are trying to resolve the issue depending on what bank you're dealing with.

[dabear]

I've never had a problem getting a refund from X , but am now having a problem getting a refund for a cruise 1 year away from Viking River cruises. Not only have they charged me a $200 cancellation fee, they have advised that processing a refund takes 6 to 8 weeks. It sure didn't take that long to charge my credit card when I gave them a deposit.

Edited August 19, 2015 by dabear

[vkb2751]

Cancelled a cruise on 8/7 and received refund on cc on 8/13. However, the deposit was paid on a cc that has been reissued. Celebrity issued a check to the travel agent for the deposit amount. if you used a TA you should check with TA.

[takemewithyou]

never had a problem getting a refund from X or RCCL cruise, but sure had a problem getting my money back from Oceania!!! had to get my credit card company involved to get my refund!! Left a very bad taste in my mouth....especially after returning from a less than stellar cruise with O which caused me to cancel the future one on the books.

[RickT]

My guess is that you paid with one card (which I believe is the one that was compromised) and want a refund to a new card (or by cheque?). Celebrity has always been very quick to refund to my card but I understand there are more steps involved if refunding to a different card.

 

All I can say, is you WILL get your money back and spending time and engergy being "furious" won't do you any good. Relax, you'll get your money soon enough. In the meantime, as others have mentioned, call your bank to see if Celebrity processed the refund to your original card.

[Fouremco]

I once made a credit card payment to the wrong card in error. I noticed as soon as I hit the enter button, but it was too late to undo the transaction. I spoke to both banks, and they were most sympathetic, but it still took about three to four weeks for the money to be refunded. Anything out of the ordinary takes longer, and most financial institutes and big companies aren't going to put anywhere near the same priority as you do. They know you'll get your money in a few weeks, so there's no need for extraordinary measures from their perspective.

[searoses]

I cancelled a cruise booked online.....my deposit was refunded on my amex the next day....delighted and surprised after all the stories like this thread I have read over the years...

[charleysmom04]

We had to cancel a cruise just a few weeks ago. Our refund was credited back to us within 3 days. May be a cc issue more than Celebrity.

[hcat]

Bank that issued the now compromised card may help you, esp if it re-issued you a new one with a diff acct number...Would be worth a phone call to check it out,

 

Good luck!

[wales4ever]

Two and a half weeks waiting for a refund - is that all?

 

I booked a December cruise on the Summit on JUNE 2 - and I am still waiting for Celebrity to activate my future cruise certificate for the cruise. I sent it to them the same week and had confirmation that they received it...they owe me about £600 - about $1000

Edited August 19, 2015 by wales4ever
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[benjoon]

We cancelled a RCL cruise and it took 3 months of fighting to get the money back. We are in Australia and had made many calls to the US to try and solve the problem. Hopefully this was out of the norm for them.

Edited August 19, 2015 by benjoon

[LabGuy64]

What has that got to do with Celebrity?

 

I've never had a problem getting a refund from X , but am now having a problem getting a refund for a cruise 1 year away from Viking River cruises. Not only have they charged me a $200 cancellation fee, they have advised that processing a refund takes 6 to 8 weeks. It sure didn't take that long to charge my credit card when I gave them a deposit.

[WestLakeGirl]

OP its highly likely that this may be a bank problem, not a Celebrity problem, your fury might be misplaced

[jabrown40]

I cancelled one Celebrity cruise last week to do a different cruise, and the refund is on my MasterCard account today.

[benjoon]

What has that got to do with Celebrity?

 

Both the same company and people you deal with.

[cruisestitch]

dabear, what do you mean "Both the same company". ? Celebrity and Viking aren't the same company. Or did you mean that both times you used the same credit card company?

[helen haywood]

One thing to be aware of when getting a refund from Celebrity...the total amount is never just the $200 or $500 or whatever. It has always, at least for me, been two separate deposits that add up to the amount I am owed. I have no idea why they do it that way. But if I were just scanning my account looking for the exact figure I would not see it...

[cruisestitch]

I have occasionally experienced the same thing. A $100 refund, for instance, might post as two separate transactions, one for $50.10 and one for $49.90. Be sure to look for any possible credits, even if not the amount you expect.

[Fouremco]

One thing to be aware of when getting a refund from Celebrity...the total amount is never just the $200 or $500 or whatever. It has always, at least for me, been two separate deposits that add up to the amount I am owed. I have no idea why they do it that way. But if I were just scanning my account looking for the exact figure I would not see it...

 

I have occasionally experienced the same thing. A $100 refund, for instance, might post as two separate transactions, one for $50.10 and one for $49.90. Be sure to look for any possible credits, even if not the amount you expect.

I checked into that once and was told that, while you make a single deposit, Celebrity accounting breaks that down into different amounts for different corporate budgets. Rather than consolidate two or more repayments from the different budgets into a single refund, each responsibility centre refunds the appropriate amount from its budget directly to the customer.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Fouremco

[karonijo]

Well not much of an update at all. I appreciate some of the input here...I may have not mentioned. .this booking was made with 4 to a cabin... I and my DH we're booked in a different cabin...got our refund for that cabin. ..my 4 sisters were in another cabin..deposits made on 4 different cards ..which 2 deposits were on my card..hence. ..why I am inquiring...so that rules out the one card issue. .. as celebrity has told us it was one of the banks that kept denying the refund. ..they have admitted now that it is an IT problem on their end. ..so they have 2 IT supervisors on the issue and still nothing is going through ..my question still remains...how long is long enough to wait ...should they not just send out paper checks to get our money to us?

[cle-guy]

Well not much of an update at all. I appreciate some of the input here...I may have not mentioned. .this booking was made with 4 to a cabin... I and my DH we're booked in a different cabin...got our refund for that cabin. ..my 4 sisters were in another cabin..deposits made on 4 different cards ..which 2 deposits were on my card..hence. ..why I am inquiring...so that rules out the one card issue. .. as celebrity has told us it was one of the banks that kept denying the refund. ..they have admitted now that it is an IT problem on their end. ..so they have 2 IT supervisors on the issue and still nothing is going through ..my question still remains...how long is long enough to wait ...should they not just send out paper checks to get our money to us?

 

Yet again, advice is contact your credit card companies and they will process the refund to you immediately. Like the money will hit your account today if not overnight.

 

Then whine X refunds as well, the credit card company will take that money back to repay themselves.

 

It's one of the best perks of having a credit card for payments and being in North America. Credit cards side with their customers, not the business.

 

Your story here is the prime example of why the dispute resolution process exists with credit cards. Let them advocate for you.

 

 

Companies generally will not issue paper check refunds for credit card purchases, it can be viewed as money laundering in an audit situation.

Edited August 25, 2015 by cle-guy