Crystal Refund Roll Call

[SusieQft]

1 hour ago, mskatiemae said:

SuzieQFT please remove my refund note from the spreadsheet as my TA was told today that the $$ I put as my full payment on the now cancelled Oct 2020 Serenity Caribbean voyages is NOT refundable and NOT eligible for any 25% FCC, as I thought initially. 

I am sorry to hear all of this.  Just to make sure I understand what you are saying, you are talking about the note about FCC on the 10/29/20 cruise cancelled on 9/21, right?  I removed the note, but did you mean I should remove the whole entry?  Is there any portion that is still refundable?

[DeanHenderson]

Hello Everyone,

Long time reader, first time poster in this thread.  We had our 22 May 2020 cruise cancelled on 6 April by Crystal and elected to get a 100% refund. We had our cruise paid for in full on 5 August 2019.  Like most people, we are still waiting for our refund.  After many calls to the Australian office of Crystal and getting told the same dribble each time, we decided to ask the Australian Department of Fair Trading for assistance.  We knew it was a long shot as Crystal are not based in Australia.  Fair Trading have been fantastic and today received a reply from Crystal's Miami office.  The result wasn't what we wanted, but I thought I would share a snippet of what we received from Fair Trading.  There maybe some information in there that will assist others on this thread.  

Dear Mr Henderson

I refer to your correspondence dated 12 August 2020 regarding Crystal Cruises Australia Pty Ltd.

Your concerns were brought to the attention of Jessica S Hoppe, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Crystalcruises.com based in Miami, Florida USA. Ms Hoppe advised they have reviewed your issues raised and confirm due to the ongoing global pandemic your cruise was cancelled on 6 April 2020 and the refund is in line for payment. 

Ms Hoppe stated during this pandemic and under the current circumstances in the cruise industry, Crystal continues to process refunds accordingly as dated through the chain of payment history to ensure credits/refunds are processed accordingly. 

Ms Hoppe apologised for the delay in response, but due to financial strain of the pandemic, Crystal closed its California office, and all mail was forwarded to their Miami, Florida office. Ms Hoppe stated this office has been closed to employees first due to government required closures and then out of abundance of caution as COVID-19 cases have surged in South Florida. 

Ms Hoppe notes that in any situation, cancellation by a guest would be pursuant to the Cruise General Ticket Terms and Conditions and thus timing is very relevant, and a later cancellation of the cruise would not entitle all consumers who previously cancelled of their choice. Ms Hoppe stated Crystal reserves all of its rights and remedies under the Cruise General Ticket Terms and Conditions, to which you agreed upon, at law or equity.

The email does go on further, but is irrelevant to this thread. 

 

Thank you,

Dean

 

[Stickman1990]

41 minutes ago, DeanHenderson said:

Fair Trading have been fantastic and today received a reply from Crystal's Miami office.  The result wasn't what we wanted, but I thought I would share a snippet of what we received from Fair Trading.  There maybe some information in there that will assist others on this thread.  
 

Dear Mr Henderson

....Ms Hoppe advised they have reviewed your issues raised and confirm due to the ongoing global pandemic your cruise was cancelled on 6 April 2020 and the refund is in line for payment. 

Ms Hoppe stated during this pandemic and under the current circumstances in the cruise industry, Crystal continues to process refunds accordingly as dated through the chain of payment history to ensure credits/refunds are processed accordingly. 

....

Ms Hoppe notes that in any situation, cancellation by a guest would be pursuant to the Cruise General Ticket Terms and Conditions and thus timing is very relevant, and a later cancellation of the cruise would not entitle all consumers who previously cancelled of their choice. Ms Hoppe stated Crystal reserves all of its rights and remedies under the Cruise General Ticket Terms and Conditions, to which you agreed upon, at law or equity.

What form of payment did you use to pay for the cruise? If by credit card have you considered lodging a dispute with your credit card provider? Sadly given you paid for it so long ago you may run into an issue with the amount of time that has transpired (different card providers have different time periods) - although from memory Crystal Australia weren’t accepting credit card payments when they first started up so it may have been a bank transfer 

 

Interesting they talk about being in line but give no indication of when that will be - and NSW Fair Trading just seem to have accepted that....

 

Its interesting Crystal refer to their general conditions - but I don’t believe they have any reference to the time for any refund to be made after cancellation

 

If you didn’t elect to cancel and Crystal did I struggle to see the relevance of the last paragraph above as you didn’t cancel of your choice. Did you cancel before Crystal cancelled the cruise? - if so given the relative short notice there would be penalties incurred which will impact your refund 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Stickman1990

[DeanHenderson]

5 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

What form of payment did you use to pay for the cruise? If by credit card have you considered losing a dispute with your credit card provider? Sadly given you paid for it so long ago you may run into an issue with the amount of time that has transpired (different card providers have different time periods) - although from memory Crystal Australia weren’t accepting credit card payments when they first started up so it may have been a bank transfer 

 

Interesting they talk about being in line but give no indication of when that will be - and NSW Fair Trading just seem to have accepted that....

 

Its interesting Crystal refer to their general conditions - but I don’t believe they have any reference to the time for any refund to be made after cancellation

 

If you didn’t elect to cancel and Crystal did I struggle to see the relevance of the last paragraph above as you didn’t cancel of your choice. Did you cancel before Crystal cancelled the cruise? - if so given the relative short notice there would be penalties incurred which will impact your refund 

We only had 12 months to put a credit card claim in so unfortunately we couldn't do that.  We probably should have lodged one earlier but we actually trusted Crystal .

 

No we held out and waited for them to cancel the cruise.  I had already been onto our travel insurance company and they said if we cancelled, then we wouldn't be covered, so we just waited until Crystal did it.  Yeah that last paragraph is irrelevant. 

[mskatiemae]

4 hours ago, SusieQft said:

I am sorry to hear all of this.  Just to make sure I understand what you are saying, you are talking about the note about FCC on the 10/29/20 cruise cancelled on 9/21, right?  I removed the note, but did you mean I should remove the whole entry?  Is there any portion that is still refundable?

Suzie, I meant to say please remove the entire row from the spreadsheet. I am now clear that (good news) I have not lost any $$, and (bad news) my $$ is in FCP value so it only can be spent on voyages. However this is not such bad news as it appears I can keep moving it from one to another booking and not lose $$ as long as I stay away from the penalty or admin fees (and I do have my eye on a Symphony sailing in Mar 2021).

[crickette]

On 9/22/2020 at 10:48 AM, crickette said:

I am aware of these

Stickman

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2750766-crystal-refund-roll-call/?do=findComment&comment=60216618

nfcu

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2750766-crystal-refund-roll-call/?do=findComment&comment=60243631

commedoredave

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2750766-crystal-refund-roll-call/?do=findComment&comment=60271501

TheKingD

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2750766-crystal-refund-roll-call/?do=findComment&comment=60359918

According to the Crystal Society facebook page in the last few days, 10 people have posted that they are awaiting refunds from Crystal.  In some cases the passenger cancelled; in others Crystal did.  Date of cancellation mention March most often.  For privacy reasons I will not post their names here.

[seattleskibums]

3 hours ago, crickette said:

According to the Crystal Society facebook page in the last few days, 10 people have posted that they are awaiting refunds from Crystal.  

 

Just curious, crickette, what has been the tone of those 10 posts?  Frustration, anger, acceptance, indifference ...?   Crystal continues to amaze us by their lack of skill in trying to get in front of this refund fiasco.

[seattleskibums]

10 hours ago, DeanHenderson said:

We had our 22 May 2020 cruise cancelled on 6 April by Crystal and elected to get a 100% refund. We had our cruise paid for in full on 5 August 2019.  Like most people, we are still waiting for our refund.  After many calls to the Australian office of Crystal and getting told the same dribble each time, we decided to ask the Australian Department of Fair Trading for assistance.  ...  Fair Trading have been fantastic and today received a reply from Crystal's Miami office.

 

Crystal's reply certainly is consistent with the mumbo jumbo they have been spouting for the last six months.  Our question to you:  Would you ever book a Crystal cruise again after your refund experience?

[crickette]

45 minutes ago, seattleskibums said:

 

Just curious, crickette, what has been the tone of those 10 posts?  Frustration, anger, acceptance, indifference ...?   Crystal continues to amaze us by their lack of skill in trying to get in front of this refund fiasco.

Probably safe to say all of the above.  Not much different than you read here on CC.  

 

Noteworthy to me was that I don't think I could find 10 people on CC that say they are waiting on Crystal.  I was surprised to read "we are waiting on Crystal" by at least 10 names.

Edited September 25, 2020 by crickette

[WBwriter]

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Appreciate the refund tracking spreadsheet.  Our cruise was cancelled by Crystal Cruises on 3/19/2020, we requested refund 3/19/2020.  Received a confirmation the request was received on 3/27/2020.  Cruise dates were to be 5/3-5/10/2020.  Our two payments dated back to Summer, 2019.   We only disputed charges on our credit card this week because we believed the “90 days and in some cases through the end of the Summer” promise.  Six months now, no refund.  Will post when there is a refund.

[JMARINER]

12 hours ago, DeanHenderson said:

We only had 12 months to put a credit card claim in so unfortunately we couldn't do that.  We probably should have lodged one earlier but we actually trusted Crystal .

 

No we held out and waited for them to cancel the cruise.  I had already been onto our travel insurance company and they said if we cancelled, then we wouldn't be covered, so we just waited until Crystal did it.  Yeah that last paragraph is irrelevant. 

File the dispute with your card company anyway. Use the letter that you posted as the basis of your claim.

 

I paid my very large deposit for the 2021 Crystal Endeavor cruise that they canceled in June(?). The original payment was made in January 2019, well over a year. It took only about 3-4 weeks to get a full refund posted back to my MasterCard. You have nothing to lose at this point. Good luck.

 

J

[DeanHenderson]

4 hours ago, seattleskibums said:

 

Crystal's reply certainly is consistent with the mumbo jumbo they have been spouting for the last six months.  Our question to you:  Would you ever book a Crystal cruise again after your refund experience?

No we won't book again with Crystal.  While I'm sure the experience on the ships are first class, the administrative services are appalling. 

[kitty9]

My sister and I are on the clock for the Holiday cruise we cancelled.  I’m very immuno-compromised and just can’t take the chance of not only flying but just being on board a ship.  After talking about it for quite a few weeks, we decided to cancel.  

[John Cruise]

Has anyone received a refund lately?

I'm still waiting, 6 months now.

JC

[USC Adventurer]

Yes I received my deposit refund two days ago on Thursday from Crystal I had previously received a conditional credit from Bank of America Visa about 2 weeks ago I initiated the dispute with Bank of America Visa on August 12th I'm still waiting for another deposit refund from Bank of America and Crystal which I presume is going to happen within the next couple of weeks

[seattleskibums]

1 hour ago, John Cruise said:

Has anyone received a refund lately?

 

If you are inquiring about refunds other than banking disputes, yes, we received a refund from Crystal on Sept. 23 (194 days) for one of our two cruises they canceled on March 13.  The other refund (same cancellation date) still is "pending."

 

If you are eligible to file a dispute with your credit card company, you should act ASAP.  Crystal Cruises cannot be trusted to make timely refunds without some kind of pressure.  As we have asked others, would you ever book with Crystal again after your refund debacle is resolved?

Edited September 26, 2020 by seattleskibums

[Jimmycruiser]

Why would I not cruise again with Crystal if They are Actually still in business and cruising next year AND they receive very favorable reviews as to the quality of the experience. I do not expect that to happen until very late next year or 2022 but if it does we will be booking. The refund issue will be a distant inconvenience if they survive and you did not lose any money only waited a Frustratingly long time. 

[John Cruise]

Tks Seattleskibums.

unfortunately waited to long for bank action.

still waiting.

seeing as we have 25% dep coming we probably would. sail

with them again.

😩

[seattleskibums]

3 hours ago, Jimmycruiser said:

Why would I not cruise again with Crystal if They are Actually still in business and cruising next year AND they receive very favorable reviews as to the quality of the experience.

 

There's no question in our minds that Crystal will continue to receive excellent reviews when they resume cruising.  Their level of service on the seas is first-class.  It's their deceit and slimy business practices that will keep us from ever booking with Crystal again.  Waiting 6 or 8 months for a refund is not the issue.  And we don't expect them to print money.  But we do expect them to be open and honest and not to lie to us.  We view that as unforgivable.  Obviously, you and others are more tolerant.  We simply prefer to deal with companies that are reputable on both land and sea.

[MBP&O2/O]

 
There's no question in our minds that Crystal will continue to receive excellent reviews when they resume cruising.  Their level of service on the seas is first-class.  It's their deceit and slimy business practices that will keep us from ever booking with Crystal again.  Waiting 6 or 8 months for a refund is not the issue.  And we don't expect them to print money.  But we do expect them to be open and honest and not to lie to us.  We view that as unforgivable.  Obviously, you and others are more tolerant.  We simply prefer to deal with companies that are reputable on both land and sea.

Agree whole heartedly ... it might improve things if they contacted customers and apologised. The silence is stunning!
I had a call from my TA yesterday and mentioned this lack of information. They glossed over it saying they were pushing for my refund ... and mentioned ... FIVE TIMES ... that my credit card dispute would be against them, not Crystal 🥺
Tough!
If they don’t like it they they can instigate a claim and see how they like it.

[comas]

2 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

Agree whole heartedly ... it might improve things if they contacted customers and apologised. The silence is stunning!
I had a call from my TA yesterday and mentioned this lack of information. They glossed over it saying they were pushing for my refund ... and mentioned ... FIVE TIMES ... that my credit card dispute would be against them, not Crystal 🥺
Tough!
If they don’t like it they they can instigate a claim and see how they like it.

 

Hi, we are in Essex and have had the same conversation with our TA.  They definitely do not like the idea that we may become more forceful by using the Chargeback option.  We purposely booked a ‘package’ which gives us ATOL protection if Crystal fail to refund us. We had adequate travel insurance in place, but that seems to be worthless. 
It’s six months in a few days since Crystal cancelled our back to back cruises.
We requested a full refund. This includes  flights, transfers and port taxes, which Crystal have never had to pay!!  
Our TA assured us we will get our money back, but cannot say when. Another 6 months maybe?  

[commodoredave]

On 9/22/2020 at 5:38 PM, comas said:

 

   On 8/13/2020 at 2:45 PM,  commodoredave said: 

I’m not sure why I finally got paid. It could have been my regular stream of sarcastic and irreverent posts that parodied Crystal’s inept management that they simply got tired of seeing. Perhaps the Crystal Faithful donated their own money towards my refund just to shut me up. Or maybe it was just my boyish good looks and charm that Crystal couldn’t resist!  Whatever it was, I now have my refund.
 

commodoredave,

We are both pleased and jealous that you have received your refund. 

We suspect that as our Cruise Critic name ‘comas’ is alphabetically close to yours, Crystal have mistakenly refunded our money to you!!     😂😂

Since we are now about 17 days short of a 6 month wait for a full refund for two back to back cruises last May,  a few more days, weeks or whatever won’t make much difference to our displeasure and disbelief in the way we have been treated. 

 

 

 

 

 

Comas, it is entirely within the realm of possibility that I got your refund by mistake. After all, if Crystal's management is so numerically challenged that they can't count how long 120 days is, can we expect their spelling and English comprehension to be much better?

 

 

[avalon1025]

Crystals CEO has failed miserably and his lack of communication has done harm to not only

loyal passengers,  but to the travel agent community and I am sure their vendors.  If Crystal survives,  I’d sail them as I’ve always found their shoreside operations no where near as together as the on board product.  I have a deposit with Crystal for June but in my mind have written that cash off and we are looking (along with other friends who are long time Crystal sailors) for alternative sailings on Seabourn and/or Regent.    These are stressful times and Crystals actions over the past months have just added to that,  for that they fall down a few notches in my mind.

Edited September 27, 2020 by avalon1025

[seattleskibums]

2 hours ago, avalon1025 said:

Crystals CEO has failed miserably and his lack of communication has done harm to not only loyal passengers,  but to the travel agent community and I am sure their vendors.  ...  These are stressful times and Crystal's actions over the past months have just added to that,  for that they fall down a few notches in my mind.

 

We certainly concur with your description of Crystal's CEO in hiding, but our unwillingness ever to book again with Crystal has nothing to do with stress.  It's the incompetence and lies of the "shoreside" operation that killed things for us.  Just like personal relationships that sour, sometimes you just have to move on and test the waters elsewhere. 

[John Wooden]

My daughter and husband cancelled their August 30, 2020 sailing Crystal on April 2, 2020.  They took a FCC with a 25 % bonus FCC. Of course Crystal cancelled that cruise in mid June 2020.   After seeing all of the lies and delays that we experienced trying to get the truth from Crystal and a refund,  they decided to cancel their FCC and Bonus and ask for a refund. Since their TA had been laid off, they contacted Crystal directly and tried to cancel, Crystal put them off telling that that they could not do that, they resisted and called the TA back (substitute TA).  He advised them that  the best option would be to go through  the credit card route which they did.  They received a full provisional credit from Visa in about 7 days.  Thank you VISA.  Crystal needs VISA and AMEX in order to survive.  VISA and AMEX and any other credit card company does not need Crystal to survive as they a drop in the ocean (excuse the pun) revenue wise to them.

Anyone who has the ability to go back to their credit company should do so.  Crystal will not be sailing in January 2021  and they can hold out only so long without any meaningful revenue. Their senior management is tone deaf to the damage being done to the Crystal brand and anyone who thinks that their sizable deposits/payments for future  cruises are not at a huge risk of going away  might as well invest in Genting stock on the Hong Kong exchange.  It currently trades @ .04 cents per share.  Just think with your $25,000 dollar deposit you could buy 500,000 shares.  I would look at Microsoft or Apple though as they have real products that produce real revenue and over the long term will still be in business.