Sea Pass Account Issues

[Dragster racer]

Really unhappy with Royal Caribbean. We cruised with them in late April / early May. On return home I found that they had taken an additional payment of over £750 in addition to our onboard spending.

 

 

It turned out that they had assigned my credit card not only to my room, but to that of another customer, and I realistically paid for their holiday spending. Mistakes happen I thought, but it took nearly a month and a half to get my money back, and that included more and more mistakes and I had to chase them every step of the way.

 

 

Initially they told me it was a hold and would not actually be taken and would disappear from my banking over the next couple of weeks, so I contacted my bank and found that it had already gone, and was not a hold. I got back in touch, they found the issue and said they would need to contact the other guest to recoup their money first... I'm sorry but that really isn't my problem - the error is yours.

 

 

We then lost time while people were away from work, I had a to chase regularly. Then I was warned there would be issues relating to the change in currency from USD to GBP. They then entered the wrong credit card number in the refund process and it went to someone else.

 

 

I contacted and they thought that I was just not spotting it in my account, but that was not the case, and they had to cancel and refund again to myself.

 

 

Then they refunded me twice for a lesser amount. I got in touch to let them know that they had refunded to me twice, and they then cancelled one, and put through a final refund for the difference in currency. So finally - 39 days after I reported the problem - I did finally receive my refund.

 

 

I was told during the process that they wanted to "Do something nice for me", and that they would make up for all the problems. There was a massive amount of inconvenience and stress as this is a sizeable amount of money, and caused issues and embarrassment with myself having to find help to make ends meet with my balance being unnecessarily and unexpectedly lower than it should have been. I have received no form of compensation for this - something that I truly believe I am fairly due.

 

 

There customer service rep told me that he would like to be my contact with Royal Caribbean moving forward. I have tried contacting him, and others, since then but have had no return contact. I wouldn't mind but I was investigating a possible other cruise for the future. This is an example of not only really bad customer service, but shows at best problems with Royal Caribbean's systems for handling credit card payments, and resolving problems with credit card payments.

 

 

I took an understanding from my conversations with RC that this is not an isolated incident, and have seen posts from other customers who have had issues with payments. Given the ease with which I was told that this was a hold I do wonder if that line is used to get people to just ignore the incorrect payments taken.

 

 

I'm absolutely gutted that this has gone so badly as myself and my wife really enjoyed our cruise, but the stress and embarrassment has really spoiled it for me, and I find it really hard to see how I can trust RC again. I':eek:m certainly not in a position to recommend RC to others, and have warned people I know who are cruising with RC to at least keep a good eye on their bank account and record of their spending, but to even consider using another cruise line.

[cb at sea]

Never, EVER use your debit/bank/check card as a form of payment. A credit card would have stopped the erroneous charges....a bank will not!

[molly361]

Welcome to Cruise Critic

[mom2tcdx2]

Never, EVER use your debit/bank/check card as a form of payment. A credit card would have stopped the erroneous charges....a bank will not!

 

That is not quite accurate information, as you can dispute charges to your debit card and they will be removed while the bank investigates with the vendor. I have several times had my bank remove charges billed to my debit card in error.

 

I wonder however if for some reason this person is in Europe and not the US if they don't have the same things we have with disputing charges? As they do mention it was their credit card.

[trojan3000]

poster says three times he used a credit card

[bouhunter]

poster says three times he used a credit card

 

Also mentioned money being "gone from the bank".

[njkruzer]

Sounds like OP didn't check his account while onboard and/or he agreed to pay other party''s expenses at checkin. That would explain why RCI was trying to reach the other party. That being said it should have been resolved quicker. Also sounds like a debit card. The money comes right out of your account as opposed to a credit card, which is easier to dispute prior to paying.

[cruisinfanatic]

Never, EVER use your debit/bank/check card as a form of payment. A credit card would have stopped the erroneous charges....a bank will not!

Where did the OP say they did?

[broberts]

Sounds like OP didn't check his account while onboard and/or he agreed to pay other party''s expenses at checkin. That would explain why RCI was trying to reach the other party. That being said it should have been resolved quicker. Also sounds like a debit card. The money comes right out of your account as opposed to a credit card, which is easier to dispute prior to paying.

 

The more obvious and simpler explanation is what the OP said, the cruise line made an error. This is buttressed by the fact that the cruise line did eventually refund the overcharge. The fact that the cruise line wanted to contact the other party first, is simply an indication of how tight fisted it is.

 

The OP repeatedly indicated a credit card was used. "... so I contacted my bank and found that it had already gone," simply means that the charge was not a hold, the bank (cc company) had already sent the funds to the merchant.

[Grandma Dazzles]

To OP welcome to cruise critic. Truly sorry that you had so many problems. Hope it does not deter you from cruising in the future.

 

Obviously you are not in the US and therefore hard to comment. You are operating under different banking/credit card rules. It seems like the main difference is that you are dealing with your bank, that's perhaps why people are asking if you are sure you used a credit card and not a debit card. For example, if I use my Visa or American Express I deal with that company, not my bank. Not sure if I am explaining that in an understandable way. Credits are posted to my credit card here within 7 business days as a general rule. Nothing goes through my bank.

 

Also, did you check your on-board bill on the TV set in your cabin? It might have been easier to discuss on board with guest services seeing as they were doing the billing to your account.

 

Hopefully you will cruise again.

[Desert Cruizers]

While on our cruises, my husband would save all receipts and get regular print outs then check against the receipts. Even though I started buying his beer package we would still regular check our on board expenses. I am really sorry you had to go through this but looks like royal finally got it resolved. i am a little confused however how another customer's bill got to your credit card. Was this other customer a family member and in doing your Online Check In your credit card was checked to pay for another person on your booking.

[SRF]

Yeah, under US rules, I would have disputed the charge mount, had it removed from my statement, and let RCI try to justify getting it back.

[Bloodgem]

Hi, sorry to about your problems. Just remember that with any company you can have both good and bad customer service, depending on who answers your call.

I would cruise again with RC, as you enjoyed the cruise. Just learn from your experience, by checking your on-board account on the TV in your cabin every couple of days.

[Dragster racer]

Hi, Here in the UK the main banks also have their own brand of Credit Cards - so you would contact the bank about both debit and credit card transaction queries-hope this clarifies - they linked my credit card to both mine and the other parties sea pass account.

[Paulxyz2004]

While it´s too late now, I really don´t understand, why you did the runaround with RCI here. I would have disputed the charges with your bank / credit card company and have them sort it out.

 

I know they usually ask you to contact the seller first, but soon after you got a runaround I´d have been done with it.

 

 

I do understand your feelings towards RCI, but to be honest I don´t share them and I have no problem to trust them.