Refunds - lesson learned

[greenbeanie]

I am due two refunds - one from Princess ($1765.80 cabin downgrade) and one from HAL ($600.00 refundable deposit).  I'm frustrated and learned a lesson ... follow up.  And wonder if their "method" is a business practice.

 

The backstory - 

 

On 1-22-24 I booked a December R/T San Diego HAL Hawaii cruise, first time HAL booking, and done on the phone with a HAL planner who popped up in my e-mail (at a prior time I signed up for an account on line).  Looking at Zaandam on line, I became concerned the ship/cabin would be too small and perhaps not enuf entertainment for ten sea days, so I did some more research and stumbled on a Princess cruise (didn't know they went R/T Los Angeles) on Grand Princess.  Liking this better, I set out to find a travel agent (I currently hold my first Princess booking, which has been a PCL call center disaster, and would not do another booking without a TA.)

 

So on 1-23 I cancelled, via e-mail to "my" HAL planner, who said she'd cancel it and the refund would be ten days.  Then I booked the PCL Hawaii trip through my newly found TA. To be frugal we decided that a balcony cabin would do.  (Side note:  PCL balcony cabin was $1,000 less than HAL, mini-suite a tiny bit less than HAL).

 

Then I had a brainstorm!  My current first time sailing PCL booking is on Discovery, Pacific Coastal, mini-suite, 7-day.  So, why not downgrade that 7-day to a balcony, and take the savings towards a mini-suite on the Hawaii 16 day.  Off I set to do that on 1-24, encountering another call center person, who could not explain why his balcony fare did not match the on-line fare I was seeing, his being $130 each higher.  Frustrated, I ended the phone call, but then I thought ... no, I'm going to follow this up.

 

On 1-26 I called PCL again, got - for the first time of five or six frustrating call center calls (that's another story) - a knowledgeable and OK English speaker - who not only corrected the fare, but who used a "promotion" to reduce each fare $300.  This gave me hope for PCL.  So the refund went from my 1-24 phone call - $828, to a refund of $1765, to be returned on the credit card used.

 

So, I'm happy. Reduced Discovery Princess by $1765.   Made Grand Princess Hawaii a mini suite and cancelled the likely unsatisfying HAL Zaandam, and at a tiny bit less price.

 

Checked my credit card daily - this is a lot of money, and I'd like to put it into our savings account which is paying some nice interest.  

 

Like a good doobie, I wait the 10-12 days.  No refund from either line.

 

So on 2-5  I email  "my" HAL planner - where's the refund, can you check.  Receive an e-mail back from her that says " This message has no content."  Hmm.  Today, 2-6 I follow up with HAL call center, and ten minutes in to the call the agent puts me on hold to "check on something", and five minutes later my call is dropped.  I call back two times, give all the information to the "voice" and each time I hold for two minutes and then get "Code 2 no staff" and my call is dropped.  Now I am thinking something is wrong, so I call "my" planner, (it's not "my" Sarah, ha ha it's like a mini call center) who advises the reservation was cancelled just yesterday 2-5.  My input evidently initiated the cancellation. What, seriously?  I asked for an expedited return.  Ha Ha on that.

 

Following up with Princess on the evening of 2-5 I chatted on line with an agent.  The agent advised they initiated the refund.   My input evidently initiated the refund.  What, seriously?  I called PCL call center today, 2-6, to verify the chat agent did initiate the refund, and yes they did.  I asked for an expedited return.  Ha Ha on that.

 

Lot of detail above to say I've learned a lesson - follow through ... immediately ... on refunds.

 

Could this be a business model the cruise lines use to hold our money for even a tiny bit longer?  Or hold forever by maybe never issuing refunds; on small refunds some people may not even notice.

 

My husband suggests, after receiving the refunds, lodge a complaint with the BBB.

 

 

 

 

[jagoffee]

A lot of changes over a short period of time. What could possible go wrong?

 

My suggestion would  be to put a priority on getting (emails) with  all the changes and double check that everything is as you expected.  IMO that should be your focus.  You want written proof and confirmation,

 

Then you can focus on the actual refunds with the appropriate written documentation.  

 

From my experience, initial charges are made fairly quickly and refunds take a while.  30 days is certainly not unusual.

 

Once you have received your final written confirmation concerning the cancelled HAL cruise, you can try disputing the charge after a couple of weeks.  
 

Seems like all factors considered, you have saved a significant amount of money.

 

Good luck.

[startedwithamouse]

52 minutes ago, greenbeanie said:

I am due two refunds - one from Princess ($1765.80 cabin downgrade) and one from HAL ($600.00 refundable deposit).  I'm frustrated and learned a lesson ... follow up.  And wonder if their "method" is a business practice.

 

The backstory - 

 

On 1-22-24 I booked a December R/T San Diego HAL Hawaii cruise, first time HAL booking, and done on the phone with a HAL planner who popped up in my e-mail (at a prior time I signed up for an account on line).  Looking at Zaandam on line, I became concerned the ship/cabin would be too small and perhaps not enuf entertainment for ten sea days, so I did some more research and stumbled on a Princess cruise (didn't know they went R/T Los Angeles) on Grand Princess.  Liking this better, I set out to find a travel agent (I currently hold my first Princess booking, which has been a PCL call center disaster, and would not do another booking without a TA.)

 

So on 1-23 I cancelled, via e-mail to "my" HAL planner, who said she'd cancel it and the refund would be ten days.  Then I booked the PCL Hawaii trip through my newly found TA. To be frugal we decided that a balcony cabin would do.  (Side note:  PCL balcony cabin was $1,000 less than HAL, mini-suite a tiny bit less than HAL).

 

Then I had a brainstorm!  My current first time sailing PCL booking is on Discovery, Pacific Coastal, mini-suite, 7-day.  So, why not downgrade that 7-day to a balcony, and take the savings towards a mini-suite on the Hawaii 16 day.  Off I set to do that on 1-24, encountering another call center person, who could not explain why his balcony fare did not match the on-line fare I was seeing, his being $130 each higher.  Frustrated, I ended the phone call, but then I thought ... no, I'm going to follow this up.

 

On 1-26 I called PCL again, got - for the first time of five or six frustrating call center calls (that's another story) - a knowledgeable and OK English speaker - who not only corrected the fare, but who used a "promotion" to reduce each fare $300.  This gave me hope for PCL.  So the refund went from my 1-24 phone call - $828, to a refund of $1765, to be returned on the credit card used.

 

So, I'm happy. Reduced Discovery Princess by $1765.   Made Grand Princess Hawaii a mini suite and cancelled the likely unsatisfying HAL Zaandam, and at a tiny bit less price.

 

Checked my credit card daily - this is a lot of money, and I'd like to put it into our savings account which is paying some nice interest.  

 

Like a good doobie, I wait the 10-12 days.  No refund from either line.

 

So on 2-5  I email  "my" HAL planner - where's the refund, can you check.  Receive an e-mail back from her that says " This message has no content."  Hmm.  Today, 2-6 I follow up with HAL call center, and ten minutes in to the call the agent puts me on hold to "check on something", and five minutes later my call is dropped.  I call back two times, give all the information to the "voice" and each time I hold for two minutes and then get "Code 2 no staff" and my call is dropped.  Now I am thinking something is wrong, so I call "my" planner, (it's not "my" Sarah, ha ha it's like a mini call center) who advises the reservation was cancelled just yesterday 2-5.  My input evidently initiated the cancellation. What, seriously?  I asked for an expedited return.  Ha Ha on that.

 

Following up with Princess on the evening of 2-5 I chatted on line with an agent.  The agent advised they initiated the refund.   My input evidently initiated the refund.  What, seriously?  I called PCL call center today, 2-6, to verify the chat agent did initiate the refund, and yes they did.  I asked for an expedited return.  Ha Ha on that.

 

Lot of detail above to say I've learned a lesson - follow through ... immediately ... on refunds.

 

Could this be a business model the cruise lines use to hold our money for even a tiny bit longer?  Or hold forever by maybe never issuing refunds; on small refunds some people may not even notice.

 

My husband suggests, after receiving the refunds, lodge a complaint with the BBB.

 

 

 

 

Did you pay off the Princess cruise prior to final payment being due? 

[SCX22]

All the more reason to work with a reputable CVP when booking directly with Princess.  On 02/02, I refared my EZAir which resulted in an overpayment of around $800 on my booking .  I contacted my CVP to initiate a refund for the overpayment the same day and got an e-mail response from her confirming that the refund was initiated.  Being proactive, I logged into my credit card's online banking and the refund had posted on my account, today 02/06. 

 

Unfortunately with Princess, it matters who you work with.

[MacMadame]

1 hour ago, greenbeanie said:

My husband suggests, after receiving the refunds, lodge a complaint with the BBB.

Princess is not a member of the BBB so this will accomplish nothing. You might consider a Yelp review or a review on a cruise website -- like this one! 😄 

 

10 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

Unfortunately with Princess, it matters who you work with.

I have learned from all you nice people who post about your experiences to *never* call the Call Center number. I called the CVP number and have been pleased with the result. Will call them again if I ever need anything changed.

[greenbeanie]

2 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Did you pay off the Princess cruise prior to final payment being due? 

Yes, I'd made final payment.  Was due January 21, I paid on January 19.

 

On the princess website my payments due shows negative $1765, so I know that the "books" are correct.

[greenbeanie]

How does one get a CVP?

[cjpj]

19 minutes ago, greenbeanie said:

How does one get a CVP?

You can call the CVP line and ask for one, but what you need is a GOOD one!. On your next cruise ask everyone you strike up a conversation with if they have a good CVP or travel agent and if they will share.

[Outerdog]

3 hours ago, greenbeanie said:

My husband suggests, after receiving the refunds, lodge a complaint with the BBB.

 

No one cares about the BBB. It's not 1952 anymore.

 

[jwattle]

1 hour ago, Outerdog said:

 

No one cares about the BBB. It's not 1952 anymore.

 

My customers do; a lot of people care if you're an online business...

 

[azbirdmom]

4 hours ago, MacMadame said:

Princess is not a member of the BBB so this will accomplish nothing.

 

Well they do have a BBB rating and it isn't pretty - screenshot from Elliott . org :

 

[SCX22]

The BBB is an antiquated organization that younger generations don't care about.  It mattered more when there were mom and pop businesses, but now that most businesses are large corporations, the organization has lost clout and relevance.  It also mattered more before Yelp and TripAdvisor and social media.  People can write as many bad reviews as they want about a business to the BBB, but at the end of the day member businesses aren't bound to mediate a resolution nor is the resolution binding since the BBB isn't a government mandated regulating body.  

[MacMadame]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

The BBB is an antiquated organization that younger generations don't care about. 

Not just the younger generation. 😄 

 

2 hours ago, jwattle said:

My customers do; a lot of people care if you're an online business...

Are your customers senior citizens? Because my Millineal and Gen Z kids don't even know what the BBB is!

[AZjohn]

3 hours ago, greenbeanie said:

How does one get a CVP?

I strongly suggest you get a good TA.

 

A CVP only works for Princess and couldn’t help with HAL or any other cruise line.

 

A good TA works with all cruise lines and likely could of handled all the issues you had without you wasting any time on the phone trying to reach some customer service foreign rep that knows very little.

 

Cheers

Edited February 7 by AZjohn

[greenbeanie]

Just now, AZjohn said:

I strongly suggest you get a good TA.

 

A CVP as they only work for Princess.

 

A good TA works with all cruise lines and likely could of handled all the issues you had without you wasting any time on the phone trying to reach some customer service foreign rep that knows very little.

 

Cheers

Yes, I did get a TA, who booked the Princess Hawaii trip.  Before the pandemic we had an excellent husband/wife TA, but she had to shut down shop when her husband died in an accident and the pandemic began at the same time.

[AZjohn]

2 minutes ago, greenbeanie said:

Yes, I did get a TA, who booked the Princess Hawaii trip.  Before the pandemic we had an excellent husband/wife TA, but she had to shut down shop when her husband died in an accident and the pandemic began at the same time.

Sorry you lost your good TA.

I think most of us had a good TA that ended up out of the business for a million reason. And then the search goes on for a replacement😊.

 

My post was just inform you a CVP is employed by Princess only.

 

I hope you’re current TA works out but please be careful booking with a cruise line directly (either online or by one of their reps).

 

Cheers

[jwattle]

53 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

Not just the younger generation. 😄 

 

Are your customers senior citizens? Because my Millineal and Gen Z kids don't even know what the BBB is!

I'm a TA so my clientele runs the gamut.

[BamaVol]

10 hours ago, jwattle said:

My customers do; a lot of people care if you're an online business...

 

Almost no one looks at the BBB website until they have a problem. Of course by then it’s too late.

[jwattle]

2 hours ago, BamaVol said:

Almost no one looks at the BBB website until they have a problem. Of course by then it’s too late.

With online customers ask if you are accredited with BBB so they know they're not sending thousands to a scam. At least that's been my experience as TA.

[Ombud]

Just like @SCX22 and @MacMadame reported, after I refare my ezair or refare I notify my CVP where I want the refund to go: my credit card or another already booked cruise. If my credit card then it shows pending on the bank app the next day, if another cruise it's credited immediately. Can a TA do  that or they would have to contact Princess as well?

[Steelers36]

One of the basic overall lessons to be learned in this Princess Forum, especially since PCL has outsourced call center support overseas to an organization that has no real cruising experience, is to get connected with at least a decent Cruise Vacation Planner (and hopefully a good one) if you are going to be booking directly with Princess.  Of course, I think using a good discount TA is better, but if going to deal with Princess, the internal agents (CVP) are the best route to take care of booking issues.

[Lady Arwen]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

One of the basic overall lessons to be learned in this Princess Forum, especially since PCL has outsourced call center support overseas to an organization that has no real cruising experience, is to get connected with at least a decent Cruise Vacation Planner (and hopefully a good one) if you are going to be booking directly with Princess.  Of course, I think using a good discount TA is better, but if going to deal with Princess, the internal agents (CVP) are the best route to take care of booking issues.

Spot on!

[Ombud]

@greenbeanie cutting to bottomline: call 1-800-901-1172 or 1-661-753-0303. You will be assigned a CVP (who you don't ever have to use again) and ask to have the refund processed.  I did a test run on a $449.41 overpayment due to flight cost decrease. It was still showing an overpayment over a month later. So I called my CVP and she transferred it immediately to my Sept voyage. In the same call I had a much smaller overpayment on another voyage which I asked to have refunded. Yep. Showed up next day at USAA. 

 

Bottom line: I think the refund process is broken so call the correct office!

 

THEN AND ONLY THEN stay there or ask at the next Meet and Greet for a good TA

[Rick&Jeannie]

6 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

One of the basic overall lessons to be learned in this Princess Forum, especially since PCL has outsourced call center support overseas to an organization that has no real cruising experience, is to get connected with at least a decent Cruise Vacation Planner (and hopefully a good one) if you are going to be booking directly with Princess.  Of course, I think using a good discount TA is better, but if going to deal with Princess, the internal agents (CVP) are the best route to take care of booking issues.

I keep meaning to deal with a CVP that has emailed me on numerous occasions...she actually helped me on one FCC item that she had not even booked.  I just get carried away in the heat of the moment in researching the cruise and before I know it I've clicked "Book It!"

[coopco]

On 2/7/2024 at 4:59 AM, BamaVol said:

Almost no one looks at the BBB website until they have a problem. Of course by then it’s too late.

I always check BBB when hiring a high cost business (construction, home improvement, etc.) Sometimes we hire companies not BBB accredited but usually it’s if we have a favorable past experience with them or they come recommended by someone we know). If I’m choosing between a company without a BBB rating and one with an A+ rating and I have not dealt with either in the past, I will chose the A+ rating. I have had really good result with BBB with resolving conflicts (normally all I have to do is mention I’m going to file a complaint with BBB and poof, I’m connected to a supervisor who resolves my conflict as long as I’m being reasonable about my request for resolution).