Experiences filing credit card dispute to get refund

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, dave34 said:

You do realize when they cancel the cruise they have NO proof to prevent a timely refund . Not sure about your credit card but mine says different about bankruptcy. You are running out of ways to back HAL, if you feel good about waiting 90-180 days great, most people are not. 

The question is whether there is a valid justification for the delay.

I think it is unreasonable to think that the cruise lines can refund several months worth of cruises in a very short period of time.  

[iancal]

That would NOT be my problem.  It would be theirs.  I am not certain why I would care more about their justification than I would about the monies they owe me.

 

Yes, I do think it is unreasonable to think that they can refund in a 30  day window.  But 90-180 days is not so great either.

 

If I were owed a refund I would take the reasonable approach to MY finances.  I would initiate a dispute with my credit card issuer and have the monies refunded to  my account in a matter of days, not months.   It might even save the cruise line some work and it would certainly clear their backlog.  I am a customer, not a bank or a lending institution.

Edited May 9, 2020 by iancal

[ON cruiser]

I agree with all that Iancal has posted on this thread. As the original poster asks for our experiences with disputing a charge by credit card, I can share mine. It involves Seabourn, a sister company of HAL and part of CCL. A bit of a long story...sorry.

 

We were due to go on an Alaska cruise, roundtrip Vancouver, at the end of May. We had just made final payment about a week before the Covid situation really flared up. Subsequently, it became obvious that the cruise could not go when the Canadian (Federal) government closed Canadian ports to most cruise ships.  Not only was our embarkation/disembarkation port impacted, there was at least one other Canadian port on the trip. Finally, the state of Alaska had implemented a 14 day quarantine, meaning that once the ship arrived at the first Alaskan port, we would be stuck.

 

These details make clear that there was no way this cruise could proceed. Yet for some time after all these restrictions were imposed, Seabourn did not cancel it. It was still even for sale on the Seabourn website!  My understanding was that I could cancel the cruise, but then would be limited to FCC as it was my decision to pull the plug and cancel. So, like many others, I reluctantly got involved in a "game of chicken", or "who would blink first" with the cruise line.  

 

Finally, CCL and Seabourn threw in the towel and cancelled the cruise--amongst many others. My TA filled out the form, selecting our choice of a 100% cash refund versus a 125% FCC ("a bird in the hand").  We were told at the time 60-90 days until we get the refund.

 

Now, recall that I had made final payment on my credit card shortly before all this awfulness revved up. When it became clear that the cruise could not sail, before that months credit card bill was due, I did not want to pay the portion of my cc statement representing the cost of this cruise, and then have to wait and perhaps fight to get it refunded. So, (finally getting to the point and answering the question) I called my credit card issuer. Rather than initiating a formal dispute, the cc issuer agreed to put the monies for this cruise into a suspense account, no interest will accrue and I need not pay it until "at least" the June statement. The expectation by the cc issuer is that by then the refund should be processed. If not, the cc issuer may give CCL/Seabourn a little more time, or may ask me to then initiate a dispute. Either way, I am not out the monies for a trip that cannot happen.    

 

Like Iancal, as Seabourn cancelled the cruise, I cannot possibly think of a justification or answer they may have to not accept that the refund is owing.  Moreover, if there is an eventual bankruptcy, at least with my credit card, I am still protected. I suspect many credit cards offer that customer protection--but do check if that is a worry.

 

There is simply no downside to the consumer to at least speaking to your credit card issuer and exploring the dispute option.

 

I will say that there seems to be a difference if it is the passenger who cancelled the cruise before the cruise line did, or if the cruise line was the one to pull the plug. Not that I agree with that difference if Tuesday the passenger cancelled their trip, when on Wednesday the cruise line then announced a cancellation. Seems to be punishing customers who were pro-active.

 

In any case, my experience resorting to my cc issuer has been positive so far. I would rather keep the funds in my bank account, rather than have to fight later to get them put back. If I had already paid my credit card statement, I would also have initiated a dispute, to get a provisional credit, and then eventually have that credit confirmed.

 

Good luck to all who seek their refunds.

[Bkmat]

I cancelled a HA May 2021 cruise at the end of March.  I was told it would be at least 60 days for my refund to be credited to my credit card.  To be honest, I was afraid of the company going bankrupt and thought it best to try and get back our $1200 deposit, which we paid in early January.  After reading many of the threads on Cruise Critic regarding the difficulty getting refunds,  I send a message to my credit card company.  There was a place on the credit card website that allowed me to do this.  I basically asked what my options were if I did not receive my refund in 60 days.  Lo and behold, they answered back that the charge was in dispute and the process would take about 45 days.  There is a number to call and I plan to call and get more details about the process.  I’m thrilled that I received such a quick answer from my credit card company and am more hopeful that I will eventually receive my refund.  We also had a cruise planned for this September and I also cancelled that at the end of March.  The deposit on that cruise was with a FCC that we bought onboard during a 2018 cruise.  We have $200 in the balance with that cruise.  Who knows if we will ever see that, but a loss of that money won’t hurt as much.  I really feel for those who have LOTS of money tied up in cancelled cruises.  I know we are in better shape than many others.  Good luck to all who are awaiting refunds!  

[Nymich]

Yep its hard to trust what is going on when HAL does little to nothing in the way of communicating. I think if HAL had it together they would see far fewer credit card stops but they seem to not care.

 

Best of luck to all getting their cash back.

Edited May 11, 2020 by Nymich

[crusinbanjo]

Been thinking about this subject.  When a major airline canceled my flights to Europe, I filed for a refund.  When I filed the terms were 14 days, then it turned into 60 then 90 days.  I filed a dispute with the CC company and received a refund in less than 14 days.  So I started asking myself how and why.  What I guessed is that the big guys, HAL included, as was reported on here somewhere, don't have the manpower to look at and justify each of these cases, so the chargeback just goes through.  So, IMHO,  the CC company is really a good resource if you want a full refund and feel you are getting the run around from the company. 

[dszrew]

rather than wait for HAL to keep my money interest free (when they are giving 12.5% to investors for their funding and bonds), I disputed 6 charges on two cards last week. two $50 charges for small deposits were immediately and permanently refunded. the remaining are now "in process" and waiting for feedback from HAL, but should resolve within 45 days. 

 

HAL's primary interest is for the shareholders, not the customers. they will do what's necessary to keep the company afloat (pun intended) first, then pay out to customers as they can. disputing the charge is kind of like going to the front of the line I guess. either they address it within 45 days or it's resolved in my favor. I do not feel bad for asserting my rights to money I've paid and is due back to me. 

[Alibaster McGillicutty]

45 minutes ago, dszrew said:

rather than wait for HAL to keep my money interest free (when they are giving 12.5% to investors for their funding and bonds), I disputed 6 charges on two cards last week. two $50 charges for small deposits were immediately and permanently refunded. the remaining are now "in process" and waiting for feedback from HAL, but should resolve within 45 days. 

 

HAL's primary interest is for the shareholders, not the customers. they will do what's necessary to keep the company afloat (pun intended) first, then pay out to customers as they can. disputing the charge is kind of like going to the front of the line I guess. either they address it within 45 days or it's resolved in my favor. I do not feel bad for asserting my rights to money I've paid and is due back to me. 

When was your cruise?

When did you or HAL cancel?

Curious so I know how long to wait before contacting the cc company.

 

Does it matter that is was a Carnival cc 😁

[Jimbo59]

On 5/9/2020 at 2:56 PM, ON cruiser said:

I agree with all that Iancal has posted on this thread. As the original poster asks for our experiences with disputing a charge by credit card, I can share mine. It involves Seabourn, a sister company of HAL and part of CCL. A bit of a long story...

 

Finally, CCL and Seabourn threw in the towel and cancelled the cruise--amongst many others. My TA filled out the form, selecting our choice of a 100% cash refund versus a 125% FCC ("a bird in the hand").  We were told at the time 60-90 days until we get the refund.

 

...So, (finally getting to the point and answering the question) I called my credit card issuer. Rather than initiating a formal dispute, the cc issuer agreed to put the monies for this cruise into a suspense account, no interest will accrue and I need not pay it until "at least" the June statement. The expectation by the cc issuer is that by then the refund should be processed. If not, the cc issuer may give CCL/Seabourn a little more time, or may ask me to then initiate a dispute. Either way, I am not out the monies for a trip that cannot happen.    

 

Like Iancal, as Seabourn cancelled the cruise, I cannot possibly think of a justification or answer they may have to not accept that the refund is owing.  Moreover, if there is an eventual bankruptcy, at least with my credit card, I am still protected. I suspect many credit cards offer that customer protection--but do check if that is a worry.

 

There is simply no downside to the consumer to at least speaking to your credit card issuer and exploring the dispute option.

 

 

File a formal dispute. Legally you have 60 days to do this. Then the credit card company will deal with the cruise line.

[dszrew]

3 minutes ago, Alibaster McGillicutty said:

When was your cruise?

When did you or HAL cancel?

Curious so I know how long to wait before contacting the cc company.

 

Does it matter that is was a Carnival cc 😁

I had 2 cruises booked with HAL--one for June that I canceled 10 days before they did, and another in August. 

I do not believe it matters how long you give HAL before contacting the credit card company. there is nothing on their process that tells you to wait a certain amount of time. 

the best thing about disputing is I did get "conditional" credit for everything, so now I don't have to pay my credit card bills this month (or the next and maybe the next). sure they can take back the credit, but the cruises are really canceled and there is no reason for them to not grant the refunds permanently.

[Alibaster McGillicutty]

3 minutes ago, dszrew said:

I had 2 cruises booked with HAL--one for June that I canceled 10 days before they did, and another in August. 

I do not believe it matters how long you give HAL before contacting the credit card company. there is nothing on their process that tells you to wait a certain amount of time. 

the best thing about disputing is I did get "conditional" credit for everything, so now I don't have to pay my credit card bills this month (or the next and maybe the next). sure they can take back the credit, but the cruises are really canceled and there is no reason for them to not grant the refunds permanently.

Thanks.....

 

We used a big-online-TA so our interaction (or lack thereof) is with them so I will reach out to them to track down the status but I doubt that does any good considering the other stories.

We already paid in full in January and paid our cc and the cruise "just ended" yesterday so I guess you could say the last week has gotten me a little more anxious about seeing my $$.

I get the need to give them a reasonable amount of time to process but the fact that my cruise has come and gone and they still have my money.........not something I'm willing to be so patient about.

 

[Cusebarman]

I cancelled March 9 for the March 15 Maasdam sailing from Papeete up to San Diego.  When I cancelled I was within 12 hours of getting on a plane from Boston to Papeete.  I have not yet heard one word from HAL.  Nada!  Shameful public relations, HAL.  Not a good way to keep your customers, in my case I would have become a 4* on this cruise.  HAL says 60 days, but I am now at 63 with nary a word from them.  May be time to get a class action lawyer involved!
Has ANYBODY received a refund yet?  And if so, when was your cruise scheduled and when did you cancel?

[Kfrech]

I filed a dispute with Chase on 4/22 for a charge made on 2/10. I was credited the amount ($950) in a matter of 2 days.

 

This morning I received a letter from Chase saying that the matter had been resolved and they were sending me a check for the full amount. It took less than a month.

 

I filed a dispute with Citibank for the same cruise in the amount of $2700 (I was trying to maximize accumulating points, thus the use of different credit cards). Citibank credited the amount again within a few days, but just recently asked for substantiating paperwork.

 

I imagine every credit card company works differently.

[HamOp]

Doing some Google reading on credit card charge-backs, it seems that the credit card company charges the merchant a fee of $35.00 for each charge back that is refunded to the customer.

Now while that might not seem like a lot, consider it's $35,000 in fees alone for every 1000 charge backs. 

[Andi Land]

I canceled a 2021 cruise the first week of April. My kitchen flooded and I needed the money for kitchen repairs. I asked at that time if my refund was mixed in with all the others from the cancellation of 2020 cruises. I was assured that my request would be escalated since it didn’t require anything further for review like they are claiming with the cancelled cruises. 
 

I waited exactly 30 days and when the refund didn’t hit my card as I was assured it would, I filed with Amex to dispute the charge. 
 

Today I received an email from Amex that they have investigated the complaint and credited my account and they consider the complaint closed. 
 

So, if you have been waiting longer than 45 days (approximate time for my credit), I’d file a dispute With your CC and get your money back. I was willing to give HAL the benefit of the doubt when this all started and if someone on these boards was able to report an actual refund I’d have more faith. But with no one apparently getting a refund I don’t have faith anymore. 

[funintehsun]

21 hours ago, Kfrech said:

I filed a dispute with Chase on 4/22 for a charge made on 2/10. I was credited the amount ($950) in a matter of 2 days.

 

This morning I received a letter from Chase saying that the matter had been resolved and they were sending me a check for the full amount. It took less than a month.

 

I filed a dispute with Citibank for the same cruise in the amount of $2700 (I was trying to maximize accumulating points, thus the use of different credit cards). Citibank credited the amount again within a few days, but just recently asked for substantiating paperwork.

 

I imagine every credit card company works differently.

I had a similar experience with Chase.  I disputed the charge towards the end of March and was provisionally credited after a few days.  I just checked on their website and noticed that I had a letter dated Mid April confirming that the dispute was resolved in my favor.  It took about 3 weeks. 

[croozer]

Everybody's situation is different, but here is mine:

 

I was booked on the 3/15 sailing of the Koningsdam, doing the leg from Ft. Lauderdale to Buenos Aires. I caved and cancelled on 3/13, about 6 hours before HAL cancelled all the sailings, including mine. If I had waited those 6 hours, I would have been entitled to a refund to my credit card, a FCC of the cruise fare and reimbursements of some expenses.

 

However, since I booked so close to sailing, my trip hadn't even been paid for; in fact, payment to my credit card was not even due until after I got back home.  I waited and never heard anything from HAL, other than the day my cruise was cancelled.  I couldn't see why I should pay for a cruise that wasn't going to happen, awaiting a FCC from a company that might not be viable for a long time, if ever.  So, I contacted the credit card company and put in a dispute on the charges.  They gave me a conditional credit on the disputed amount and i paid the rest of my bill on time.

 

Just a few days ago, I got notification from my credit card that the dispute had been settled and the credit had been changed from conditional to permanent.  Kudos to my credit card company, and kudos to HAL for stepping up.  I'm sure they have bigger fish to fry than my measly cruise fare, but it is certainly a relief to me.

[Nymich]

16 minutes ago, croozer said:

Everybody's situation is different, but here is mine:

 

I was booked on the 3/15 sailing of the Koningsdam, doing the leg from Ft. Lauderdale to Buenos Aires. I caved and cancelled on 3/13, about 6 hours before HAL cancelled all the sailings, including mine. If I had waited those 6 hours, I would have been entitled to a refund to my credit card, a FCC of the cruise fare and reimbursements of some expenses.

 

However, since I booked so close to sailing, my trip hadn't even been paid for; in fact, payment to my credit card was not even due until after I got back home.  I waited and never heard anything from HAL, other than the day my cruise was cancelled.  I couldn't see why I should pay for a cruise that wasn't going to happen, awaiting a FCC from a company that might not be viable for a long time, if ever.  So, I contacted the credit card company and put in a dispute on the charges.  They gave me a conditional credit on the disputed amount and i paid the rest of my bill on time.

 

Just a few days ago, I got notification from my credit card that the dispute had been settled and the credit had been changed from conditional to permanent.  Kudos to my credit card company, and kudos to HAL for stepping up.  I'm sure they have bigger fish to fry than my measly cruise fare, but it is certainly a relief to me.

This is a great story.  We also had a cruise in March but we held our ground and HAL was forced to cancel even though they kept claiming they were doing this cruise as the World was shutting down.  

I am glad you got the money back because you deserved it!

[croozer]

35 minutes ago, Nymich said:

This is a great story.  We also had a cruise in March but we held our ground and HAL was forced to cancel even though they kept claiming they were doing this cruise as the World was shutting down.  

I am glad you got the money back because you deserved it!

Nymich, you have no idea how much your kind words mean to me.  I'm loyal to HAL and did not want to cause them problems.  But on March 11 I found out that Argentina was imposing new rules and quarantines of people entering the country, verified by the U.S. Embassy.  On March 12, I found out that American had cancelled all their long-haul flights, specifically mentioning DFW to Buenos Aires, which in reverse was my return flight.  On March 13, I called HAL to discuss this with them and they were no help, claiming they were unaware and/or unaffected by these events; I asked to speak to a supervisor and the agent kicked it up to "Resolution," which had the same response, assuring me that even though other cruise lines had put a hold on sailing, my cruise was definitely still on.  Still, I didn't dispute the charges for another two weeks.  Now I don't feel so bad.

[Nymich]

4 hours ago, croozer said:

Nymich, you have no idea how much your kind words mean to me.  I'm loyal to HAL and did not want to cause them problems.  But on March 11 I found out that Argentina was imposing new rules and quarantines of people entering the country, verified by the U.S. Embassy.  On March 12, I found out that American had cancelled all their long-haul flights, specifically mentioning DFW to Buenos Aires, which in reverse was my return flight.  On March 13, I called HAL to discuss this with them and they were no help, claiming they were unaware and/or unaffected by these events; I asked to speak to a supervisor and the agent kicked it up to "Resolution," which had the same response, assuring me that even though other cruise lines had put a hold on sailing, my cruise was definitely still on.  Still, I didn't dispute the charges for another two weeks.  Now I don't feel so bad.

Yes any of us who had those cruises booked during mid March will never forget that.  People on our roll call were self canceling and others waited it out.  It seemed like HAL when we called them didn't get the message the World was closed!  Just for putting up with all that stress is enough for me to hope people get their money back!  You were smart and took action quickly and that is the only reason your story has a good ending.  

HAL is now at the 60 day mark for those who were first impacted and while the communication or lack thereof has been terrible hopefully soon they return the cruise fares whether it is to the form of payment or it is by credit card dispute.

[Doubt It]

File a third party dispute with your CCard.

 

I have a conditional refund of my deposit for a Paul Gauguin cruise in Aug 2021.  My TA said a refund would be + 90 days. 

Not acceptable.

 

Filed the dispute, the conditional refund on my card in 2 days. PG has 45 days to submit my refund directly or the CC (Chase) will make the current refund return permanent.

 

Serious folks, why is anyone taking "refund bull" from any of the cruise lines.  

[iancal]

This was not just HAL.  I suspect that a number of cruise lines were playing silly buggers when failing to officially cancel cruises that had no hope of happening due to port/country closures etc.  They placed cash flow ahead of all else.  And still are. 

Edited May 13, 2020 by iancal

[Lido - Lanai]

14 minutes ago, iancal said:

They placed cash flow ahead of all else.  And still are. 

I wonder why ?  (SMH)

[Janet76]

Disney Cruise Line is not delaying refunds.  Our friend received their refund within two weeks.  No 60-180 days BS.

[Cruising-along]

1 hour ago, Janet76 said:

Disney Cruise Line is not delaying refunds.  Our friend received their refund within two weeks.  No 60-180 days BS.

No surprise there, as they put a ton of employees on furlough recently.  My daughter-in-law is in their Imagineer department, so no peon in the company.  She's at home collecting unemployment.