Crystal Refund Roll Call

[travelberlin]

In relation to the order in which refunds are being processed, it came to my mind an experience we had with bureaucracy in Germany. We had submitted an application and they say “we will call you when the decision has been taken”. We waited...and waited... and waited... no call came. We then finally after 100 days we called and they say “OH! We will take care of it and please come”. When we were there and our process was finished, we have asked why did it take so long? They say, they did not enough personal, somebody had complained about how long the decisions were taken and because of this, they had received instructions that requests had to be decided within one month. A maximum of a month was the indicator, that they were also going to use for statistics to show that there was an improved efficiency. In order to achieve this, they were working on the requests that came within the last month. Since they still did not have more capacity, older requests were not being taken into account!

Ivi

Edited October 26, 2020 by travelberlin

[DeanHenderson]

If you are from Australia Slater and Gordon are taking registration details for those people who want to be part of a class action against the ships. Go to their website and follow the links.  Have your documents ready to upload as well.  

[mrstanley]

Our October cruise was canceled the first week in June. We got tired of waiting for our refund. We contacted our credit card company and put in a claim. Got all our money credited back in less than one week.

[wearesiamese]

I just got a cancellation notice a couple of days ago from Crystal for 3 segments in January 2021 that I never even booked! Oivay

[Roland4]

40 minutes ago, wearesiamese said:

I just got a cancellation notice a couple of days ago from Crystal for 3 segments in January 2021 that I never even booked! Oivay

 

Impressive. It will be interesting to see if refunds on non-existent bookings get processed faster than the other kind!😲😁

[MBP&O2/O]

They are processing refunds ???????????????????😴

I am on waiting day 174 .... the last 69 of which have been with the bank!

As of this date the communication from Crystal has been zero! I have heard nothing at all.

 

 

[comas]

6 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

They are processing refunds ???????????????????😴

I am on waiting day 174 .... the last 69 of which have been with the bank!

As of this date the communication from Crystal has been zero! I have heard nothing at all.

 

 

 
I seem to recall we are in the same situation as you, in that our cruises were booked through a TA.  Our cruise was cancelled by Crystal on 2nd. April, so we are now at 210 days and no direct contact from Crystal. Our TA is  chasing Crystal’s London agent - Cruise Portfolio, Wells Street, London. Only yesterday the latest was that they ‘have high hopes and it’s taking longer than anticipated’. 
It’s so depressing to see on the spreadsheet that refunds are being made where the cancellation and cruise dates were later than mine or where card disputes have been raised with Crystal. There is no obvious refund system whatsoever. 

[MBP&O2/O]

In some respects the dates the refunds are showing as being received could be misleading.

 

As I understand it, my bank is chasing the TA as they are the vendor.

 

If no response is received from the TA’s bank then my bank will refund me ....not Crystal, so it may be that the ‘settled’ CC disputes on the spreadsheet are still ongoing behind the scenes. It could be that one CC company is more efficient than another? My bank seems to be as slack as a bag of spanners 😏

 

[comas]

11 minutes ago, MBP&O2/O said:

My bank seems to be as slack as a bag of spanners 😏

That’s not a saying I know here in the South!!  😂
If and when we get our refund, I’ll be posting the good news on here first !!

[Desert Cruisers]

On 10/26/2020 at 6:00 PM, mrstanley said:

Our October cruise was canceled the first week in June. We got tired of waiting for our refund. We contacted our credit card company and put in a claim. Got all our money credited back in less than one week.

You may have gotten a temporary credit while the CC company contacts Crystal for a response.

[SusieQft]

It sounds like the British system of paying the TA adds a layer of complexity that makes the whole process of getting a refund more difficult.  It is very different from the system in the US of paying Crystal directly.  There are pros and cons for both countries' system, but it does not seem realistic to look at the US results and expect the same in the UK.  It is not fair, but then again there are consumer protections for travelers in the UK that we in the US do not have.  Sometimes one is better, and other times the other.

[kool kruiser]

10 hours ago, SusieQft said:

It sounds like the British system of paying the TA adds a layer of complexity that makes the whole process of getting a refund more difficult.  It is very different from the system in the US of paying Crystal directly.  There are pros and cons for both countries' system, but it does not seem realistic to look at the US results and expect the same in the UK.  It is not fair, but then again there are consumer protections for travelers in the UK that we in the US do not have.  Sometimes one is better, and other times the other.

Absolutely.  We have consumer protection through bonding if a UK TA goes bust and is a member of the trade body ABTA. This explains why payments can safely be routed through a TA, although it does not really explain why we need to wait longer. Crystal simply has to refund the TA rather than us directly.

Our personal position is that we rebooked our cancelled cruise on the 125% FCC basis and are awaiting the refund of port charges etc on our cancelled cruise. Interestingly, in the UK a TA is permitted by Crystal to offer a cash discount on a cruise, effectively a share of the TA's commission. Crystal did not reclaim the TA commission on our cancelled cruise and so we have been able to retain our discount, together with a further cash discount on our new cruise. One cruise but two discounts ! Our TA has been very honourable and we feel that it would be inappropriate to use chargeback, as the credit card provider would be claiming against our TA.

 

[wren2]

My Christmas cruise was cancelled by Crystal on August 1 and I was told up to 90 days. I had my TA follow up ten days ago and was now told it would take an extra two weeks as this is the time it took them to process the refund request.  What lousy treatment - anything to hold on to your money.

[comas]

3 hours ago, wren2 said:

My Christmas cruise was cancelled by Crystal on August 1 and I was told up to 90 days. I had my TA follow up ten days ago and was now told it would take an extra two weeks as this is the time it took them to process the refund request.  What lousy treatment - anything to hold on to your money.

Our May back to back cruise was cancelled by Crystal on 2nd. April. 7 months ago tomorrow. Be prepared for a long wait.
We also booked through a TA in the U.K.  and no sign of a refund yet. 

Edited November 1, 2020 by comas

[SusieQft]

10 hours ago, wren2 said:

My Christmas cruise was cancelled by Crystal on August 1 and I was told up to 90 days. I had my TA follow up ten days ago and was now told it would take an extra two weeks as this is the time it took them to process the refund request.  What lousy treatment - anything to hold on to your money.

This is very bizarre.  As comas just pointed out, Crystal is way out past 90 days now, so your TA is giving you unrealistic expectations to say just add 14 days.  It sounds like the kind of thing that Crystal might say, but if your TA has other Crystal bookings they should know better.  Please let us know when you actually get your refund.

[mrlevin]

I have question about refund timing when I cancelled the cruise instead of Crystal.  The day I cancelled, I was sent a new invoice from Crystal stating that "refund pending" to the two credit cards I used.  I thought (obviously wrongly) that this type of refund would be received quickly as it is a normal course of business refund.  How long should I wait before filing claims with credit card companies?

 

thanks,

 

Marc

[Stickman1990]

7 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

How long should I wait before filing claims with credit card companies?

My advice would be don’t wait - lodge the dispute with tour credit card company

Recent experience would suggest that is your best chance to get the actual refund in a timely manner

Also be careful about the length of time between the actual charge and your raising the dispute - with Visa and MasterCard they can invoke a limit on the period to raise the dispute 

[sanne]

Second that. I waited far too long for a refund of a deposit on a cruise I cancelled for Feb 22. Did a charge back on my Amex... Crystal paid up very soon after that. 

[DeanHenderson]

Hello everyone, I sent another email to the "office of the president" the other day asking about our refunds. This was their reply.  It's a bit generic as usual. 

 

Good Day Mr. & Mrs. Henderson,

 

We sincerely appreciate your follow up and understand this has been, and continues to be, a very difficult situation. Please know I have reviewed your refund and we see it is currently pending and in queue for reimbursement. We are continuing to process refunds; however, we are not able to provide a definitive date at the moment. We are working as hard as possible to resolve refunds in queue. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

 

Best Regards,

 

Oscar Vicente

Special Assistant to the Office of the President

1501 Biscayne Boulevard | Suite 501 | Miami, FL 33132

[roger b]

13 minutes ago, DeanHenderson said:

Hello everyone, I sent another email to the "office of the president" the other day asking about our refunds. This was their reply.  It's a bit generic as usual. 

 

Good Day Mr. & Mrs. Henderson,

 

 

 

We sincerely appreciate your follow up and understand this has been, and continues to be, a very difficult situation. Please know I have reviewed your refund and we see it is currently pending and in queue for reimbursement. We are continuing to process refunds; however, we are not able to provide a definitive date at the moment. We are working as hard as possible to resolve refunds in queue. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

 

 

 

Best Regards,

 

 

 

Oscar Vicente

 

Special Assistant to the Office of the President

 

1501 Biscayne Boulevard | Suite 501 | Miami, FL 33132

 My Thoughts !!!  B*** S***  There is only one thing that seems to have any effect that is a charge back from the credit card company As you are in the U.K You can make a charge back dispute , Don't take it for granted the bank will not do this on an out of time basis .

           As Crystal have not delivered your cruise you are entitled to claim under the consumer credit act , if you need the U.K head of Crystal I have her email address write to me on shoeuk at hotmail.com.

           I am disgusted that Crystal are still holding out on payments for over a year !!!!

Edited November 5, 2020 by roger b
Miss Spelling

[Pongoed]

I paid for my Crystal cruise (supposed to leave 7/2/20 from Rome, cancelled by Crystal on May 14, asked for refund May 15) half on Bank of America credit card and half on Apple credit card which is administered through Goldman Sachs. I filed credit card disputes with both credit card companies around July 8. BOA has given me temporary credit and I think it should be final as of November 15. Goldman Sach denied my claim saying that Crystal offered me the cruise credit to use by 12/31/2023 and then I could reach out to the merchant and request a refund. I pointed out that I had not taken up the offer of the cruise credit but had requested a refund and they still denied my claim on the basis that Crystal had promised to make a refund. I have asked them how long I should have to wait for a refund,  but they have not responded. 

[Pongoed]

I also filed a claim with the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and with MasterCard but that did no good either. I sent the latest Crystal letter of October 20 to Goldman Sachs to see if that would have any impact but have heard nothing more. It is interesting how differently the two credit card companies have treated me. The person at Goldman Sachs admitted she had not even read to the bottom of the letter where I was offered a refund but seized on the offer of the future cruise credit to deny my claim. They will not reopen my claim unless I have additional info, though I think if they actually read what I submitted it should be sufficient. They do not respond to me any more. 

[oakridger]

Does anyone know if the Travel Agency still receives their commission if the client files a credit card dispute and gets the refund that way?  Crystal has told the TAs that they will still receive their commissions from cruises cancelled by Crystal even if the client requested a refund.  I'm on the brink of filing a credit card dispute after waiting six months with no refund and just wonder if/how it affects my hard working TA. 

 

Thank you,

~Nancy

[Keith1010]

7 hours ago, oakridger said:

Does anyone know if the Travel Agency still receives their commission if the client files a credit card dispute and gets the refund that way?  Crystal has told the TAs that they will still receive their commissions from cruises cancelled by Crystal even if the client requested a refund.  I'm on the brink of filing a credit card dispute after waiting six months with no refund and just wonder if/how it affects my hard working TA. 

 

Thank you,

~Nancy

Nancy, if the cruise has been cancelled it makes no difference whether you file a dispute or if you receive a refund without filing a dispute.  

 

Keith

[Roland4]

10 hours ago, oakridger said:

Does anyone know if the Travel Agency still receives their commission if the client files a credit card dispute and gets the refund that way?  Crystal has told the TAs that they will still receive their commissions from cruises cancelled by Crystal even if the client requested a refund.  I'm on the brink of filing a credit card dispute after waiting six months with no refund and just wonder if/how it affects my hard working TA. 

 

Thank you,

~Nancy

 

There have been reported instances of commission recalls as a result of credit card chargebacks, mostly from smaller suppliers. I have not heard of any recalls from the cruise lines as yet.