NCL wouldn't let me pay my onboard account

[westcoastman]

I go to use my debit card the last evening to pay my account and customer service desk informs me that my card says Bill and my name is William so therefore it is rejected.

 

Having very occasionally, but only briefly, dealt with this sort of issue with a handful of teenage clerks in the US I insist the agent ask another rep. The agent proceeds to say the same thing over and over that William and Bill are two different people. Of course I'm feeling pretty heated at this point but little did I know, or did he explain, that it wasn't the desk agent that was making this determination, it was their computer system. But he seemed to imply that the card wasn't mine to use.

 

They brought out the financial manager and that guy says the same thing talking about some gibberish that his brother may go by Tito but that's not his legal name. I suspect a part of the problem with NCL is the system for credit cards it also being used for border and immigration manifests so the system may insist it be very exact. They tell me to go use the Casino ATM for $6, which I could of, BUT at this point it's the principle of the matter for me.

 

Wake up this next morning at debarkation and see the same agent who denies me again. I say speak to finance guy in the back office and hear him telling the manager right in front of me that it was already rejected and he recommends not to accept my card. The new morning manager doesn't even think twice and insists he override and accept the card.

 

As he processes my final statement I mention Bill Clinton as I am leaving to which the agent asks if he is also named William.

[cb at sea]

Lordy! I would get the name on my card changed, tho!

[westcoastman]

Lordy! I would get the name on my card changed, tho!

 

I guess it certainly makes me scared what kind of predicament I could have been somewhere else around the world. Had it that way all my life and I am no spring chicken.

[sandpiper35]

I go to use my debit card the last evening to pay my account and customer service desk informs me that my card says Bill and my name is William so therefore it is rejected.

 

Having very occasionally, but only briefly, dealt with this sort of issue with a handful of teenage clerks in the US I insist the agent ask another rep. The agent proceeds to say the same thing over and over that William and Bill are two different people. Of course I'm feeling pretty heated at this point but little did I know, or did he explain, that it wasn't the desk agent that was making this determination, it was their computer system. But he seemed to imply that the card wasn't mine to use.

 

They brought out the financial manager and that guy says the same thing talking about some gibberish that his brother may go by Tito but that's not his legal name. I suspect a part of the problem with NCL is the system for credit cards it also being used for border and immigration manifests so the system may insist it be very exact. They tell me to go use the Casino ATM for $6, which I could of, BUT at this point it's the principle of the matter for me.

 

Wake up this next morning at debarkation and see the same agent who denies me again. I say speak to finance guy in the back office and hear him telling the manager right in front of me that it was already rejected and he recommends not to accept my card. The new morning manager doesn't even think twice and insists he override and accept the card.

 

As he processes my final statement I mention Bill Clinton as I am leaving to which the agent asks if he is also named William.

 

 

 

You're so lucky. William is definitely better than "Richard".

 

Cheers.

[packer99]

Its always best to use your legal name on credit cards, debit cards, pretty much everything. I don't disagree with NCL on this. I am sure you would pretty angry if your card got stolen and was used on a cruise ship.

[boopsahoy]

I guess it certainly makes me scared what kind of predicament I could have been somewhere else around the world. Had it that way all my life and I am no spring chicken.

 

MY husband is Bill but ALL credit cards and legal paperwork say William-change your cards!! :D

[mom2tcdx2]

Its always best to use your legal name on credit cards, debit cards, pretty much everything. I don't disagree with NCL on this. I am sure you would pretty angry if your card got stolen and was used on a cruise ship.

 

Well that is pretty sad that they can't also use a little common sense either. There are a lot of people who don't have even full names on their cards. If my card says my first name is just an initial say S. - how would they verify who the card really belongs to. And yes I do have a card with my name printed that way as when hyphenated with my husbands last name the name is too long to fit on the card. So are you saying they shouldn't accept the card because it doesn't actually say Sherry?

[westcoastman]

Well that is pretty sad that they can't also use a little common sense either. There are a lot of people who don't have even full names on their cards...

 

That was my point. Not to mention it is sort of an interesting story. I know NCL has to be cautious in they are processing thousand dollar transactions and may never see the passenger again. But no one on the ship seemed to be thinking logically as I have an unusual last name. I wonder what happens to John and Johnny, Chris and Christopher. I assume that is close enough but who knows until you go to check out.

 

Part of the problem I think is I waited to pay at the end. Had I used the card for the deposit in the main terminal I am pretty sure it would have been ok and the nice agents would have understood.

[blackwing]

I agree that you should get your cards changed to match. I would assume your drivers license says William. Many land-based stores ask for ID and match the names on the credit card to the name on the drivers license. Curious if you've ever had an issue on land?

 

That said, I agree that common sense should have been employed. Everyone knows that Bill is a nickname/derivative of William. But maybe this isn't as well known as I thought. I was just wondering if the crew member that was assisting you was not from the United States... maybe they aren't as familiar with U.S. names. It can happen in the reverse as well. There's a boy in my son's class whose name is Aleksander but he goes by Sasha. His parents are Russian. I had no idea that Sasha is a diminutive of Aleksander. But I bet a Russian crew member wouldn't think twice about accepting a card in the name of Sasha when the account name is Aleksander.

 

I'm also thinking that there are quite a few Americans who wouldn't even know that Jack is sometimes used as a nickname for John, especially when John is a family name and the father and son are both named John.

[packer99]

That was my point. Not to mention it is sort of an interesting story. I know NCL has to be cautious in they are processing thousand dollar transactions and may never see the passenger again. But no one on the ship seemed to be thinking logically as I have an unusual last name. I wonder what happens to John and Johnny, Chris and Christopher. I assume that is close enough but who knows until you go to check out.

 

Part of the problem I think is I waited to pay at the end. Had I used the card for the deposit in the main terminal I am pretty sure it would have been ok and the nice agents would have understood.

 

I work in the banking industry. Fraud is huge right now. It doesn't matter if you have an unusual name. Its common sense to have your legal name on your debit cards. Its so easy to steal your identity. I applaud NCL for this actually. I was pleased when I went to the Del Sol in Nassau and the clerk asked me for my ID along with my credit card to pay. The last thing they want is a big identity theft problem like Target etc.

[mjkacmom]

My son never goes by his given name, but a common nickname. He always uses his given name for banking, school, doctors, etc. If someone writes a check out to him using his nickname, he has to cash/deposit it at the bank, and not with his cellphone, because they are different names.

[westcoastman]

I agree that you should get your cards changed to match. I would assume your drivers license says William. Many land-based stores ask for ID and match the names on the credit card to the name on the drivers license. Curious if you've ever had an issue on land?

 

That said, I agree that common sense should have been employed. Everyone knows that Bill is a nickname/derivative of William. But maybe this isn't as well known as I thought. I was just wondering if the crew member that was assisting you was not from the United States... maybe they aren't as familiar with U.S. names. It can happen in the reverse as well. There's a boy in my son's class whose name is Aleksander but he goes by Sasha. His parents are Russian. I had no idea that Sasha is a diminutive of Aleksander. But I bet a Russian crew member wouldn't think twice about accepting a card in the name of Sasha when the account name is Aleksander.

 

I'm also thinking that there are quite a few Americans who wouldn't even know that Jack is sometimes used as a nickname for John, especially when John is a family name and the father and son are both named John.

 

Well yes, no one I spoke to that night was from the US or UK so I was feeling like that could be a big part of my issue. But that Russian name is a great example of how the same issue can hit home with people here. Sure ID says Bill but not sure how Bill vs William would be a fraud issue. There are reasons my card says Bill as it is used in my business name, bank account, and is even on my college diploma. Nowadays schools make you use your full legal name.

Edited September 29, 2016 by westcoastman

[bumorgan]

Nowadays A lot of parents choose to use Larry, Bill, Jim ect. as the legal name for their sons. I work at a large college and have to constantly ask " Bill is that your legal name or is it William" and the student shows me his drivers license with Bill on it.:)

 

Dan

[westcoastman]

I work in the banking industry. Fraud is huge right now. It doesn't matter if you have an unusual name. Its common sense to have your legal name on your debit cards. Its so easy to steal your identity. I applaud NCL for this actually.

I can think of endless examples of hyphenated and extremely common durative names that you might not applaud NCL for enforcing.

[suesings]

I work in the banking industry. Fraud is huge right now. It doesn't matter if you have an unusual name. Its common sense to have your legal name on your debit cards. Its so easy to steal your identity. I applaud NCL for this actually. I was pleased when I went to the Del Sol in Nassau and the clerk asked me for my ID along with my credit card to pay. The last thing they want is a big identity theft problem like Target etc.

 

Exactly.... I am even careful with Susan and Sue when it comes to signatures, travel, etc.

William and Bill are not very common names anymore. I am not even sure my daughters (young teenagers) would know Bill was short for William as they don't know anyone personally with that name. For someone from another country, they definitely wouldn't know unless those names were common in their country. Most people born after 1980 wouldn't know Peggy was short for Margaret or Ted for Edward either.

[packer99]

Exactly.... I am even careful with Susan and Sue when it comes to signatures, travel, etc.

William and Bill are not very common names anymore. I am not even sure my daughters (young teenagers) would know Bill was short for William as they don't know anyone personally with that name. For someone from another country, they definitely wouldn't know unless those names were common in their country. Most people born after 1980 wouldn't know Peggy was short for Margaret or Ted for Edward either.

 

 

I agree, More and more William's are going by "Will" now, not Bill. I personally know 2 William's that are not Bill's but "Will".

[jg1007]

Totally agree with NCL on this one. Bill is not always short for William. There is no way for them to know for sure. My name is John, not Johnny. My card all have my legal name. I would rather them be more strict on this than less strict.

 

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[fastman86]

So here is my take on this, when I travel everything is in my legal name (I am a William that goes by Will as is more common with my generation). Do you use Bill on your plane tickets? I don't want to be denied boarding to a plane, ship or even country because my legal name on my documents don't match what they have in their system do to me putting in a preferred name. However I feel that any company worth their weight in the hospitality industry should have a an option for preferred name.

 

Now that being said their reasoning is completely ridiculous. To me the issue seems to be with NCL computers and employees not your credit card. The card will be processed on the card issuers end regardless of the name if they view the charge valid. I process several credit cards a day on accounts that have names on them and if we use the wife's card on the husbands account it would never be denied for a name issue.

Edited September 30, 2016 by fastman86

[luddite]

Never, ever use a debit card for this.

[TheDougOut]

Never, ever use a debit card for this.

 

Why's that? I seem to recall using a debit card somewhere along the way to settle an onboard account.

 

Somewhat related... we were stopped at the gangway on a Celebrity cruise due to an accounting glitch and owing < $1 on our account. We settled our bill by handing over pocket change. We never figured out what caused this.

[BirdTravels]

I go to use my debit card the last evening to pay my account and customer service desk informs me that my card says Bill and my name is William so therefore it is rejected.

 

Having very occasionally, but only briefly, dealt with this sort of issue with a handful of teenage clerks in the US I insist the agent ask another rep. The agent proceeds to say the same thing over and over that William and Bill are two different people. Of course I'm feeling pretty heated at this point but little did I know, or did he explain, that it wasn't the desk agent that was making this determination, it was their computer system. But he seemed to imply that the card wasn't mine to use.

 

They brought out the financial manager and that guy says the same thing talking about some gibberish that his brother may go by Tito but that's not his legal name. I suspect a part of the problem with NCL is the system for credit cards it also being used for border and immigration manifests so the system may insist it be very exact. They tell me to go use the Casino ATM for $6, which I could of, BUT at this point it's the principle of the matter for me.

 

Wake up this next morning at debarkation and see the same agent who denies me again. I say speak to finance guy in the back office and hear him telling the manager right in front of me that it was already rejected and he recommends not to accept my card. The new morning manager doesn't even think twice and insists he override and accept the card.

 

As he processes my final statement I mention Bill Clinton as I am leaving to which the agent asks if he is also named William.

 

You should never use a nickname on a legal document. The agent was doing their job. You should not have got heated with them.

[GUT2407]

Its always best to use your legal name on credit cards, debit cards, pretty much everything. I don't disagree with NCL on this. I am sure you would pretty angry if your card got stolen and was used on a cruise ship.

 

Totally agree.

[Julia_Jackal]

I have to add an interesting tidbit on the name thing. Our luggage came up missing on an rcl cruise in August. My husband had to go down to security and find our bag. Cruise issued tagfell iff and our personal uggage tag had Rick and Sandy, and as you can guess our names are a Richard and Sandra. They gave my husband a difficult time about it. Sandy

 

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[Cruiser Who Knows Nothing]

My name is Patricia and I go by Patty. Patricia is on everything from a ridiculous school form to my credit card. I would never not use my legal name, especially when leaving the country. I too have an unusual last name. Greek name. 11 letters. Kudos to NCL for being diligent.

 

 

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[fshagan]

I work in the banking industry. Fraud is huge right now. It doesn't matter if you have an unusual name. Its common sense to have your legal name on your debit cards. Its so easy to steal your identity. I applaud NCL for this actually. I was pleased when I went to the Del Sol in Nassau and the clerk asked me for my ID along with my credit card to pay. The last thing they want is a big identity theft problem like Target etc.

 

Well, all of the big data breeches have been because of company systems being compromised, not consumers having different names, weak passwords, etc. A clerk asking for ID doesn't provide any protection for me at all ... my liability is already limited by law. It only protects the merchant when you are using a real credit card (and not one of those fake, piece of trash Visa or Mastercard debit cards.)