Crystal Refund Roll Call

[eby]

Susieqft        Lines 91-94  are the same person that is me. Line 91 is correct . Thanks

[seattleskibums]

11 hours ago, BWIVince said:

Realistically, what is Crystal supposed to say?  They’re waiting for funding that is going to come anytime in the next 1-12 months, pending their parent’s restructuring.  That funding has been trickling in as the restructuring progresses, but until the next infusion arrives there is no update.  That’s poor service, sure, but when you have no possible timeline, it doesn’t help to make up dates.

 

We totally agree that it doesn't help to make up dates.  And we hope you agree that it would be refreshing to hear Crystal say something along the lines of your statement above instead of hiding behind the smokescreen of their alleged "6-star service" standard. 

 

Even without immediate funding, a company can maintain its service standard by being open and honest with its customers.  Our point is that Crystal's service standard has fallen into the gutter because of the BS it keeps spewing on its customers.

[BWIVince]

5 minutes ago, seattleskibums said:

 

We totally agree that it doesn't help to make up dates.  And we hope you agree that it would be refreshing to hear Crystal say something along the lines of your statement above instead of hiding behind the smokescreen of their alleged "6-star service" standard. 

 

Even without immediate funding, a company can maintain its service standard by being open and honest with its customers.  Our point is that Crystal's service standard has fallen into the gutter because of the BS it keeps spewing on its customers.

 

In fairness, Crystal has said that repeatedly, that's where I got that information  The problem is, what do you say next?  That's where everyone has been getting impatient, understandably, in the months since.  When there is no update, there is really nothing else satisfying to say than "please wait, we'll give you an update when we have more information."

 

Again, I'm not apologizing for the situation, but invariably everything I hear people post they want Crystal to say is simply information that no one has.

 

Vince

[seattleskibums]

1 hour ago, BWIVince said:

 

In fairness, Crystal has said that repeatedly, that's where I got that information.  The problem is, what do you say next?  ...  Again, I'm not apologizing for the situation, but invariably everything I hear people post they want Crystal to say is simply information that no one has.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, Vince, but we're not so sure Crystal has been saying that repeatedly to disgruntled customers.  Yes, what you say surely is the case, but what you are saying sounds like info that has been gleaned from news reports about the cruise industry, not statements directly from Crystal.

 

We are some of the lucky customers who had to wait only 6 months or so for our refunds.  But at no time during that period did Crystal even come close to saying anything like what you are attributing to them now.  It was all lies and deception.

 

We never ever expected Crystal to post information that no one had.  That would be as ridiculous as trying to cover up the fact that refunds could be delayed for many months, which in effect is what Crystal did.  We don't expect Crystal to print money or manufacture information, but we do expect a service standard that shows respect for loyal customers.

 

And on that note, let us close by saying we value your posts very much.  You obviously are very knowledgeable about the cruise industry.  We appreciate your openness and we completely trust your information.  Have you ever thought about taking over the Crystal Customer Service department?

[KenzSailing]

t

Edited March 3 by KenzSailing
Forget it.

[Sdancer]

 

Travel Weekly:

How to help clients get a refund from a travel company. 

By Mark Pestronk 

Mar 03, 2021

https://www.travelweekly.com/Mark-Pestronk/How-to-help-clients-secure-refunds

This article is written for TAs with instructions for their clients on how to go about getting refunds from non-responsive cruise companies (and airlines).

If a charge-back does not work, there is a small claims route in the US.

 

 

 

Edited March 3 by Sdancer

[braxx20]

WE finally got our refund, less the expected $1000 penalty, after about six months, for the cruise that WE cancelled  for October 2021. Frankly, we cancelled because of concerns that Crystal would be an ongoing entity! IF everything is OK, we WILL cruise with them again.

ALSO, aren't they accepting deposits and payments for future cruises? They should therefor have the cash to refund those waiting.

[Roland4]

53 minutes ago, braxx20 said:

WE finally got our refund, less the expected $1000 penalty, after about six months, for the cruise that WE cancelled  for October 2021. Frankly, we cancelled because of concerns that Crystal would be an ongoing entity! IF everything is OK, we WILL cruise with them again.

ALSO, aren't they accepting deposits and payments for future cruises? They should therefor have the cash to refund those waiting.

As an FYI, Crystal has NOT been accepting deposits or final payments for a number of months. The current "deposit acceptance" date is April 5, but I would not be the least bit surprised if that gets moved out again to May, or even June.

[oakridger]

Well, well, well, the day has arrived and I just got most of (= 74%) the permanent credit on my MasterCard for the two cruises Crystal cancelled on April 28, 2020! There were three charges from June, July and August 2019.  The July and August were paid today.  I filed the credit card dispute on December 9, 2020.  

What a long and disappointing process this has been and it's still not quite finished.  I'm really hoping Crystal gets through this mess for the sake of their wonderful employees!  

 

Good Luck,

~Nancy

[TER777]

A friend who cancelled the Serenity holiday cruise last year received her refund to her credit card this week. 

[MightyQuinn]

Light at the end of the long refund tunnel?  Posted March 11 on Crystal website:

Update on Progress of Refunds

UPDATED Thursday, March 11, 2021  

While the company continues to make progress with outstanding refunds, we wanted to provide an overall update on the situation as we have pledged to do so when more information becomes available. To begin with, the entire team at Crystal understands and recognizes that those who have not yet received their refunds are frustrated, and we know that we continue to fall short of our service standard and we sincerely apologize for that.

As we noted on January 18, Crystal has refunded approximately 80 percent of canceled 2020 voyages and more than 75 percent of all 2020/2021 canceled voyages (through April 2021) and we are now at a total of $164 million refunded to date. 

We are pleased to say that during the past month, we have been able to open new channels of access to available collateral that have allowed us to process additional refunds. We expect to complete 37 percent of remaining refunds by the end of March with an additional 46 percent of all remaining refunds to be completed by the end of April for a total of 95 percent completed. After April, our efforts will continue until every refund is processed and we can return to our published refund policy thereafter. We plan to provide another update in the next 60 days.

Since July of 2020, Crystal has implemented a no-money down deposit window as well as relaxed final payment policies. This no-money-down deposit window has been extended until April 5, 2021. 

If a guest booked with a professional travel advisor, please be assured that the travel advisor is closely monitoring the status of the booking and the refund. We want to thank our travel partners for their support as they are champions for both our guests and Crystal.

[docmark]

A month ago, Crystal informed our TA that ALL refunds will be paid by the end of April. Now they are hedging again . We will continue to wait and see!!

(Meanwhile have made 5 cruise reservations on other lines , starting November 2021)

[firstcruise91]

Suzie:

 

We got an email from Crystal and from TA that our cruise departing Southampton on the Serenity on September 5, 2021, has been cancelled.  We asked TA to request a 100% refund.  Crystal very quickly acknowledged this with a reply to both us and our TA via emails.  Now the countdown begins as to when we will receive the refund.   After this all (Covid & cruise cancellations) clears up we will be  excited to make new reservations in the future.  In the mean time it is vacations here in the US as venues open up.

 

Mary

[SusieQft]

47 minutes ago, firstcruise91 said:

We asked TA to request a 100% refund

Had you paid in full yet, or just requesting a refund of your deposit?

[firstcruise91]

Oops!  Paid in full from funds paid on a canceled 2020 cruise

[Jim9310]

This consumer advocate's article about Crystal refunds is an interesting read:

 

Missing Crystal Refund

[BWIVince]

2 hours ago, Jim9310 said:

This consumer advocate's article about Crystal refunds is an interesting read:

 

Missing Crystal Refund

 

I hate to disagree with the author, but I think he focused on something incorrectly on why the dispute was invalid.  The FCBA is focused on billing disputes between you and your bank, and not you and your merchant.  The cardholder actually has _MANY_ contractual rights on a credit card charge under their cardholder agreement that extend beyond the 60 days the FCBA gives you.  It doesn't help this customer unfortunately because the charge was in 2018, but most cardholder agreements give you a LOT longer than 60 days for specific cases, like travel to be delivered in the future.

 

Visa for example gives you 120 days from the last day the merchant was to deliver services (disembarkation) not to exceed 540 days from the transaction date.

 

I'd hate for that 60 day limit to stick in everyone's head.

 

Vince

[Raptordash]

As with others who have recently posted, my travel agent just emailed me that Crystal has finally refunded the money owed to me for July 2020 cruise which I had cancelled April 1, 2020.  I had received credit from Chase Sapphire Reserve for 2/3 of the money, but because the initial money paid was so old, Chase would not refund that portion, so there was still approximately $13,500 owed to me by Crystal.  Now I am even.

Hopefully, will be able to be on board a Crystal ship in 2022 when countries are open top travel.  I have no interest in the Bahamas and even if those cruises do go in July, I would not want to risk being stuck in my cabin should an outbreak occur onboard. 

 

Marc

[rwadam]

Hello,

 

I received a refund of my deposit (less admin fees) for the cruise I canceled on April 5, 2020.  I believe it took 347 days.  I was hoping to make it before the one-year anniversary and I’m glad I did.  Thank you, SusiQft for your monitoring this thread and your work on this.

 

I have no intention of cruising any time soon, with the slow roll out of vaccines worldwide and new coronavirus variants continuing to crop up around the world.  I also would be very hesitant to commit funds to a privately held foreign company again for the foreseeable future.  Caveat emptor.  However, to those who wish to do so I wish you all the best.  I hope that your future Crystal experiences live up to your past experiences.  Cheers.

[RachelG]

So I haven’t posted about the Crystal refund issue here before, but I think now is the time.  I am a seasoned Regent and Silversea cruiser, with over 250 days on each.  I also have cruised on Oceania quite a lot. I scheduled 2 Crystal cruises before the pandemic began, one for April 2021 and the other for September 2021.  I did this mainly because friends raved about what a great product it was and how great their customer service was. 
 

I was notified months ago that our April cruise was cancelled and immediately filed for a refund.  At the same time, the final payment for the September cruise was close to due.  I could not see throwing good money after bad, so cancelled this myself.  Still waiting for a refund on both.  I filed a dispute with Chase, and got some money back, but the very hefty deposits were done so long ago that they will not help.

 

Contrast to Regent and Oceania, who both cancelled cruises.  I was refunded in less than 90 days with both.
 

  My husband, an attorney, is going to file suit against Crystal if we don’t get our money back by the end of this month.  This is ridiculous.  They need to give us back our money and now.  Needless to say, I will not be cruising on Crystal ever.

[kvilas]

Here's is my information if it is any help:

 

scheduled sail date 5/08/20

 

Crystal cancelled 3/19/20, requested 100% refund on 4/19/20

 

received full refund 3/09/2021 = 324 days

 

Edited March 22 by kvilas

[seattleskibums]

21 hours ago, RachelG said:

... I scheduled 2 Crystal cruises before the pandemic began, one for April 2021 and the other for September 2021.  I did this mainly because friends raved about what a great product it was and how great their customer service was. ...  Still waiting for a refund on both. ...  My husband, an attorney, is going to file suit against Crystal if we don't get our money back by the end of this month.  This is ridiculous.   They need to give us back our money and now.  Needless to say, I will not be cruising on Crystal ever.

 

Your friends were correct about Crystal being a great product on the sea, but from our experience, they deceived you about Crystal's customer service.  We have had problems with every one of our Crystal bookings over the years.  We have sailed on only seven cruise lines, but Crystal's customer service has been the worse by far.

 

We have said all along that we don't expect Crystal to print money, but we do expect them to be more considerate and truthful with their customers.  We're confident that you'll eventually receive your refunds -- even though you're probably in for a long wait.  We understand your frustration, but it seems like suing Crystal might only lengthen that wait.

 

It's a shame that Crystal's inept and dishonest customer service department has soured so many cruisers.  Like you and a few others who have posted here, we never will book a new cruise with Crystal.  We'll miss out on some good times at sea, but holding them accountable for their one-star customer service is more important to us even though we know it won't make any difference to Crystal in the long run. 

[rwadam]

On 3/21/2021 at 11:40 AM, RachelG said:

So I haven’t posted about the Crystal refund issue here before, but I think now is the time.  I am a seasoned Regent and Silversea cruiser, with over 250 days on each.  I also have cruised on Oceania quite a lot. I scheduled 2 Crystal cruises before the pandemic began, one for April 2021 and the other for September 2021.  I did this mainly because friends raved about what a great product it was and how great their customer service was. 
 

I was notified months ago that our April cruise was cancelled and immediately filed for a refund.  At the same time, the final payment for the September cruise was close to due.  I could not see throwing good money after bad, so cancelled this myself.  Still waiting for a refund on both.  I filed a dispute with Chase, and got some money back, but the very hefty deposits were done so long ago that they will not help.

 

Contrast to Regent and Oceania, who both cancelled cruises.  I was refunded in less than 90 days with both.
 

  My husband, an attorney, is going to file suit against Crystal if we don’t get our money back by the end of this month.  This is ridiculous.  They need to give us back our money and now.  Needless to say, I will not be cruising on Crystal ever.

Sorry to hear your experience — not unlike my own.  But I did get my refund the other day after 347 days.  People kept asking why I didn’t go through Chase, etc.  I tried.  Then some people made snarky comments about being able to afford a Crystal cruise, etc.  I can and I have taken many.  That’s not the point.  It’s about smart money management.  Well now they are about to start taking people’s money again as of April, I believe, for their 7 day Bahamas cruises and they have miraculously found money to refund people who have been waiting nearly a year.  I am so disappointed in Crystal.  Caveat emptor.

[mrlevin]

On 3/21/2021 at 1:40 PM, RachelG said:

So I haven’t posted about the Crystal refund issue here before, but I think now is the time.  I am a seasoned Regent and Silversea cruiser, with over 250 days on each.  I also have cruised on Oceania quite a lot. I scheduled 2 Crystal cruises before the pandemic began, one for April 2021 and the other for September 2021.  I did this mainly because friends raved about what a great product it was and how great their customer service was. 
 

I was notified months ago that our April cruise was cancelled and immediately filed for a refund.  At the same time, the final payment for the September cruise was close to due.  I could not see throwing good money after bad, so cancelled this myself.  Still waiting for a refund on both.  I filed a dispute with Chase, and got some money back, but the very hefty deposits were done so long ago that they will not help.

 

Contrast to Regent and Oceania, who both cancelled cruises.  I was refunded in less than 90 days with both.
 

  My husband, an attorney, is going to file suit against Crystal if we don’t get our money back by the end of this month.  This is ridiculous.  They need to give us back our money and now.  Needless to say, I will not be cruising on Crystal ever.

 

Rachel, I actually have you to credit with our getting refunded for the April cruise.  Your strong belief that the cruise would never sail led me to cancel late last year whilst still in the 540 day window to get our Chase Visa payment refunded (disputed with Chase and finalized refund within a week).  Hopefully refunds for you and the rest will be forthcoming soon.

[Jim9310]

I'm pleased to report that my OBD refund, requested 363 days ago was refunded today.