MSC Stole my Money

[RedgeToo]

I've just returned from a solo Christmas cruise on MSC Bellissima.

 

When I received my invoice from MSC last November, I paid it immediately.

 

On checking the invoice, I realised MSC hadn't deducted a discount voucher given to me by MSC because of major changes to the itinerary of my first cruise with MSC (transatlantic in March 2022)

 

I contacted my travel agent and they received an email from MSC accepting the error. MSC asked if I wanted OBS or the €100 refunded to my credit card. I opted for a refund to my credit card and they promised it would be completed by the time I boarded the ship.

 

To date, 9th January 2023, I have not received my refund.

 

I emailed my TA and MSC on 1st January 2023 asking where my money was.

 

My TA confirmed they had asked MSC and said they normally get a response from MSC in 10-16 weeks!

 

MSC has not responded to my email

 

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

I'll probably cancel my October cruise with MSC due to their lack of customer service.

[JT1962]

They normally say refunds take up to 2 billing cycles on your credit card. I got a refund on an excursion I canceled prior to sailing and a duplicate payment on my May cruise that pasted twice in error. Both refunds took about 3 weeks to be credited back to my card. Apparently I got lucky since some have posted trying for 2 years to get a refund.

Edited January 9, 2023 by JT1962

[mmbcater]

As stated above it can take up to 2 billing cycles. This falls on your travel agent to track. 

[RedgeToo]

To clarify - it's 10-16 weeks for a response to my TAs email, not the refund itself

[Newleno]

1 hour ago, RedgeToo said:

To clarify - it's 10-16 weeks for a response to my TAs email, not the refund itself

I received a letter in my stateroom about receiving on board credit (due to their error), never received the credit, called MSC customer service line, they did nothing except give me wrong email to address the issue, finally got correct email, sent all documentation and have heard nothing back from them.  I believe this is typical MSC operating procedure.  "good enough" is their motto.  However the price of the cruise was dirt cheap and would book them again for that type of price but if things are basically equal between cruiselines I would not choose MSC.

[Mrdell]

Unfortunately there are many horror stories including my own…. A double billing for a cruise final payment! Took five weeks for the credit to finally come back…. Luckily most issues are resolved, but it is very annoying!

[RedgeToo]

8 minutes ago, Newleno said:

I received a letter in my stateroom about receiving on board credit (due to their error), never received the credit, called MSC customer service line, they did nothing except give me wrong email to address the issue, finally got correct email, sent all documentation and have heard nothing back from them.  I believe this is typical MSC operating procedure.  "good enough" is their motto.  However the price of the cruise was dirt cheap and would book them again for that type of price but if things are basically equal between cruiselines I would not choose MSC.

Nah, they're not good enough. I'd prefer to pay more, and cruise less, if I get a better experience

[RedgeToo]

3 minutes ago, Mrdell said:

Unfortunately there are many horror stories including my own…. A double billing for a cruise final payment! Took five weeks for the credit to finally come back…. Luckily most issues are resolved, but it is very annoying!

It's bordering on criminal!

[Fitzget]

Seems pretty typical for MSC - they charged my friend an extra $75 on her cruise because her cabin mate had to cancel. They already kept his fare of $289 - that was the penalty. But then they charged her an additional $75 penalty. Honestly, I haven't even been on our cruise yet and already know this will be my last with MSC. 

[Fitzget]

59 minutes ago, RedgeToo said:

Nah, they're not good enough. I'd prefer to pay more, and cruise less, if I get a better experience

Agreed. Will gladly pay more for a better experience. 

[diesel1973]

On my first and only cruise with MSC Guest Services onboard charged me for 2 dinners in 2 speciality restuarants Which I was to get free. The only answer I got from them was "there must be some misunderstanding" .Waste of time posting on here because the MSC cheerleaders will turn it around and make it your fault. It amazes me how these pirates keep  bending some people over but they keep coming back for more. Good luck!!!

[twangster]

Early in the restart I canceled 2 cruises and was due partial refunds.  After 2 months I gave all my documentation and screen shots to me credit card company for the dispute I eventually filed. 

 

At one point they told they had issued the refund but Amex holds refunds for 30 days.  I included this in my dispute. 

 

Amex sided with me.  It took several months to run its course after canceling but I prevailed.

 

Despite that I have more booked with MSC.  Other cruise lines have also delayed refunds since the restart.  If I hold that against a cruise line there aren't many that didn't do this so it would be hard to cruise. 

[Two Wheels Only]

My longest wait for a refund (cancelled excursion) was 5 months.

 

However, after several cancelled cruises (some by MSC, some by me), several re-booked cruise due to price drops/added discounts, and refunded YC deposits which aren't supposed to be refundable, MSC has given me every cent that they owe me. The quickest return was 11 days. Most were around 28-31 days.

[RedgeToo]

Interestingly, I've just cancelled a train ticket, airport lounge, and fast track through security, and received the refund to my credit card in 24 hours.

 

In todays electronic world, it can be done

[emmas gran]

OK as you are from UK I will add my twopenneth. I and a couple of friends have lost money sent via an agent. One £600 from Celebrity and the other a credit for £847 from MSC so I would not say MSC stole your money!! The Celebrity problem was rectified by Celebrity when our friend wrote to the CEO in Miami and the refunded her direct and dealt with the agency. After she got the refund the agency asked her to remove the bad review on Trustpilot, it is still there!!

I would contact your agent and tell them you are writing to CEO in the UK Antonio Paradiso.

[haolenate]

Payments with MSC are *very* manual (I'm a travel agent) - so I'm guessing any refunds are probably the same way.

@Fitzget - next time, do NOT tell the cruise line a cabin mate isn't going.  Let them appear as a no-show.  What happened was, whoever handled your booking (assuming NOT a travel agent, we know better), cancelled the other person and redid your friends booking as a SOLO.  $75 sounds like the 20% solo supplement charge.

[LifeonMars]

15 hours ago, RedgeToo said:

I've just returned from a solo Christmas cruise on MSC Bellissima.

 

When I received my invoice from MSC last November, I paid it immediately.

 

On checking the invoice, I realised MSC hadn't deducted a discount voucher given to me by MSC because of major changes to the itinerary of my first cruise with MSC (transatlantic in March 2022)

 

I contacted my travel agent and they received an email from MSC accepting the error. MSC asked if I wanted OBS or the €100 refunded to my credit card. I opted for a refund to my credit card and they promised it would be completed by the time I boarded the ship.

 

To date, 9th January 2023, I have not received my refund.

 

I emailed my TA and MSC on 1st January 2023 asking where my money was.

 

My TA confirmed they had asked MSC and said they normally get a response from MSC in 10-16 weeks!

 

MSC has not responded to my email

 

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

I'll probably cancel my October cruise with MSC due to their lack of customer service.

MSC will very rarely deal with with problems with the booking  if you use a TA  for that booking .

As your TA has the email from MSC confirming that they will refund you, then may I suggest that you pressure your TA to sort out the problem. 

Antonio Paradiso who is UK Managing Director may be a line to go down if you do not get any success. 

Edited January 10, 2023 by LifeonMars

[8420PR]

Did you pay the money to your TA or directly to MSC?  Just hold your TA accountable and hassle them until you get the refund - that is their job!

[Oviedo32765]

16 hours ago, RedgeToo said:

It's bordering on criminal!

Call 020 7230 1212 and report the crime.

[Markanddonna]

Oh, MSC... About a year ago, my account was frozen and when it was restored my name had my last name also as my middle name.  like Jane Doe Doe.  I knew that would cause problems as it didn't match my passport, so IT said it would reset in about a month.  

 

Nine months later, nothing has changed. MSC loves to blame the IT situations on their office in Europe.

[Homosassa]

19 hours ago, Fitzget said:

Seems pretty typical for MSC - they charged my friend an extra $75 on her cruise because her cabin mate had to cancel. They already kept his fare of $289 - that was the penalty. But then they charged her an additional $75 penalty. Honestly, I haven't even been on our cruise yet and already know this will be my last with MSC. 

This procedure is explained in the ticket contract and terms and conditions that your friend agreed to when booking the cruise.

 

If a passenger is left solo in a double cabin because of one of the passenger's cancellation or "no show," a single supplement will be changed to the remaining passenger.

 

In your friend's case, the additional $75 was the cost of the single supplement hat remained after the friend cancelled.

 

By the way, other cruise lines have now added similar terms to their ticket contracts.

[Nikita4]

You must solve the problem on the ship, then you have a refund within some hours. After the cruise its to late. Is nessecary to control den bill on bord an solve the problems on board.

All our canceld oder changed excursions we have a refund within 12 hours on the ship. The concierge made all things for us, also the money from the visas we get back within 12 hours.
I never had problems with MSC an refund, also for the canceled April 2020 cruise, we had a refund within some weeks. But we always are in den YC.

[RedgeToo]

9 hours ago, emmas gran said:

OK as you are from UK I will add my twopenneth. I and a couple of friends have lost money sent via an agent. One £600 from Celebrity and the other a credit for £847 from MSC so I would not say MSC stole your money!! The Celebrity problem was rectified by Celebrity when our friend wrote to the CEO in Miami and the refunded her direct and dealt with the agency. After she got the refund the agency asked her to remove the bad review on Trustpilot, it is still there!!

I would contact your agent and tell them you are writing to CEO in the UK Antonio Paradiso.

MSC invoiced me directly.

 

I paid MSC directly.

 

MSC has not refunded the overcharge as promised.

 

I would call that stealing.

 

Good point about the CEO, although I'm dealing with the German branch of MSC.

[RedgeToo]

9 hours ago, haolenate said:

Payments with MSC are *very* manual (I'm a travel agent) - so I'm guessing any refunds are probably the same way.

@Fitzget - next time, do NOT tell the cruise line a cabin mate isn't going.  Let them appear as a no-show.  What happened was, whoever handled your booking (assuming NOT a travel agent, we know better), cancelled the other person and redid your friends booking as a SOLO.  $75 sounds like the 20% solo supplement charge.

Fair point, but 10-16 weeks for a response and then they'll decide who's right (me) and who's wrong (MSC) is a bit much

[RedgeToo]

8 hours ago, LifeonMars said:

MSC will very rarely deal with with problems with the booking  if you use a TA  for that booking .

As your TA has the email from MSC confirming that they will refund you, then may I suggest that you pressure your TA to sort out the problem. 

Antonio Paradiso who is UK Managing Director may be a line to go down if you do not get any success. 

Thanks