X Strikes Again....

[Navy_Chief]

Hoooorayyy Congrats for the "Light at the end of the tunnel" Brian!

[crystal808]

Brian:

 

Just a suggestion to distract you:

 

Think Yellow Cabana. :)

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Paul ;)

[cruznon]

Brian,

So glad to hear that things finally got resolved for you. Have a great weekend--you deserve it.

[K&RCurt]

Awesome news Brian. I hope you can relax and enjoy your weekend now that this stupidity isn't weighing on you.

[MumsTheWord*]

Brian,

So glad that this nightmare is behind you....:)

 

Your quote from your signature,

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance",

is truly a profound statement considering all that you've been through!

 

Now maybe you should add an additional quote like...

"A journey of 2 days on Mercury ends with___________________(you fill in the blank!):eek:

 

My Best to you Bepsf!

 

 

[tech]

It has to be a better weekend, he can now eat !

 

This has not been the kind of weight loss plan I would like to experience.:)

[mechcc]

Brian - So happy to hear everything is straightened out. About time, but at least it seems things have gotten better.

 

Do want you to know that we have also been guilty of using our debit card in the past for our shipboard account, as we are of the "if we can't pay cash for a luxury then we won't get it" club. Never ever ever ever again will we put our debit card down. It's either traveler's checks or the credit card. Sorry to say but your misery has taught at least one fellow cruiser a major lesson. We owe you at least one round in Oct.

 

Again - go have a wonderful weekend. You deserve it! And raise a toast to the X cheerleaders - they really need to get a grip!

 

HMC - CHAMPAGNE - FUN - PINNICLE GRILL - LAUGHS - GREAT BEDS - GRAND TURKS - SUN - HOLLAND AMERICA - HAL O WEEN DAM CRUISE

[MBeamTX]

I've avoided getting a debit card because I'm afraid that money could get sucked out of my account before I even knew it, and you just don't have the level of recourse that you do with a credit card. Brian's unfortunate experience just reinforces my decision to stick with cash, paper checks and plastic for now.

 

I'm glad it's been resolved for you, Brian.

 

Happy cruising,

Susan

[sail7seas]

Brian......

 

I'm so happy they finally got it worked out and refunded your money.

 

What a disgrace what they put you through to correct their error.

 

You deserve a GREAT weekend. Go find something really fun to do.

[HeatherInFlorida]

......................

And raise a toast to the X cheerleaders - they really need to get a grip! ...........

 

Oh for heaven's sake, Maggie:) . Why don't you mosey on over to Gail (Tugger's) Prinsendam Roll Call thread (Amazon Explorer) and read what happened to her on her HAL cruise. She still hasn't recovered. Talk about nightmares!!! If I had to choose, I have to say I'd take Brian's over hers.

 

I'll even help you get there: amazon explorer prinsendam april 2006 - Page 5 - Cruise Critic Message Boards (it's post #192). Gail was posting how much she was loving HAL until she became ill. Her story might lend some balance to your thinking.

[thomasale]

The X thugs can be brutal.

 

jc

 

Any thugs by definition are brutal ( a brutal ruffian or assasin per Mr. Webster)so you could leave x out of this equation and it would still be "mathematically" correct

[peaches from georgia]

I, too, am glad Brian's problem is straightened out as I know we all are. However, I have to laugh at this talk of "X cheerleaders". Let's be honest- just read any critical review of a HAL cruise or ship and you will see this HAL board has it's apologists, too. There are always posters on every board, incl. HAL's, who can find no fault with "their" cruiseline or favorite ship and blame the reviewer for everything, not just X fans. ;)

[Bramcruiser]

There are always posters on every board, incl. HAL's, who can find no fault with "their" cruiseline or favorite ship and blame the reviewer for everything, not just X fans. ;)

 

True, peaches, true! Its not like the execs and employees at HAL walk on water. Some close but not quite!:D Brian had a horrible incident on an aging ship and all the fates were just against him on that particular cruise ever since he won -didn't collect-and won finally his cruise. If this was 1912 he'd probably would have ended up on the Titanic.

 

I also think attacking a reviewer for a bad review kind of silly. Its like the cruise directors who do want everyone to fill out those comment cards but then only want good stuff reported.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Peaches, well said ... and far more delicate than I:) . But it's just all so silly when we start thinking that "our" line can do no wrong and the "other" line can do no right. Everyone makes mistakes.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I also think attacking a reviewer for a bad review kind of silly. Its like the cruise directors who do want everyone to fill out those comment cards but then only want good stuff reported.

 

Yes, but like any large corporation that does surveys they must ask for the good stuff to be reported because otherwise only the ones that are upset will fill it out and complain. I work for a Toyota Dealership like all car manufacturers they also do surveys. It is a WELL KNOW FACT that Toyota produces a good vehicle but the average consumer that is extremely happy with their car will not bother to fill out surveys and write letters complimenting them unless they are asked to.So if they did not ask for the survey from those that are happy they would only hear from the complainers or problems and then the Toyota vehicles would appear that they were bad which we know is not true. All HAL is doing is saying if you were happy with your cruise please let us know. Now truthfully how often do you write a letter complimenting a company on their outstanding job or to a restaurant that gave you good service. But if something horrible happened we all would be immediately complainingand writing those letters. Based on that most companies would look like they are failing. I frankly have no problems giving HAL a good survey and don't find anything wrong with them asking for it.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Lisa, you are so 100% right on with your post. The sad fact is that when people are contented and happy with the product and service received, they're far less likely to fill out a comment card then those who are disgruntled.

 

Having worked in customer service myself for the better part of my life (or worse;) ), I make a point of writing positive letters, filling out comment cards, etc., when I'm happy with the way things have gone ... and that's most of the time. It's very hard to make me unhappy on a cruise or anywhere else.

[NoNoNanette]

It's very hard to make me unhappy on a cruise or anywhere else.

 

BIG THUMBS UP, kiddo!

 

I've never had a "bad" vacation. Dom and I always "make our own fun". :)

[Happy ks]

I smell a made-for-TV movie here? ;) Wonder who they'll get to play Brian???

 

Never would I want to watch a saga such as this. Boring.

 

We all have our troubles in life. Many of us have had travel snafu's. I don't post mine in an open forum because I think they are.....boring and I want to forget about them and only remember the good times. We've had some wonderful memories come out of even our worst travel experiences, you just have to have a positive outlook and look for the humor in the situation.

 

Use a credit card next time. Far easier to fix the problems than a debit card.

[mechcc]

Oh for heaven's sake, Maggie:) .

 

Heather - Hopefully you misunderstood my meaning. I was referring to people on the X board who were down right ugly towards Brian and his whole ordeal. These would be the same ones that upset Brian to the point that he took a few days off from the boards. Everyline has those folks who love their line and try to minimize others problems and take up for their cruiseline no matter what. Perfectly understood. But it seems that X has several people who go beyond that and get extremely mean in their attacks on anyone who dares to complain that X may have contributed to a less then good vacation. The people are just a whole lot nicer on this site and that's why I prefer being over here.

 

I originally started posting here on HAL because we were going to do a HAL cruise. When we booked a X cruise, I ventured over there and was totally astonished of the differences in how disentions of opinions are handled. Still we are looking forward to our X cruise and hope that we have the great time you did on yours.

[dakrewser]

Use a credit card next time. Far easier to fix the problems than a debit card.

 

Excuse me??? The cruise line screws up royally, but it's the cruiser who should change?

 

And it wouldn't make it easier to "fix" at all, perhaps slightly easier to endure - but no one should have to endure it.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Everyline has those folks who love their line and try to minimize others problems and take up for their cruiseline no matter what.

I have always wondered what happens if these people have a bad experience on "their" line :rolleyes: !

 

Let's face it... All cruise lines screw up occasionally.

 

The good ones, when they do, fix it!

[RevNeal]

When the Holland America Line screws up in some area -- and, in my experience, they have from time to time -- they have always managed to make things right fairly quickly and with little fuss or muss. Once they mistakenly charged me double for a deposit (I had booked directly with them before transferring to a TA). I suppose they just thought i was booking for two and not one, but it was still very annoying. They reversed the charge for the extra amount without batting an eye and it was back in my account by the end of the first day.

[Happy ks]

A charge back is far easier to accomplish on a credit card than an atm card, that's just the way it is. Your credit card company will work with you and help, good luck with the bank, especially if you have signed a slip.

 

Did this Brian actaully "check out" of the ship, or just walk off? If he checked out, his account should have been closed.

 

Mistakes happen and we deal with them, it's just a part of life sometimes. How we cope is different for everyone, I prefer not to get my britches in a twist over things like this. Yes, this type of thing has happened to us in the past. We were once charged for someone elses cruise. A call to the credit card co. and the TA was all it took.

[sail7seas]

Did this Brian actaully "check out" of the ship, or just walk off? If he checked out, his account should have been closed.

 

 

Brian checked out. It is my impression from what he has written here that he went to the desk, informed them he was leaving and settled his bill.

 

[RevNeal]

A charge back is far easier to accomplish on a credit card than an atm card, that's just the way it is. Your credit card company will work with you and help, good luck with the bank, especially if you have signed a slip.

 

Actually, I think I made the deposit I was referencing in my prior post using my Visa Check Card, not a credit card. I usually do. Yet, HAL didn't have any trouble immediately correcting and refunding the doubled portion of the deposit ... the transfer back was completed by bank-close that very evening. It's wasn't much money ... just the amount of a 7-day cruise deposit for one person. Still ... it's not credit we're talking about, here, it's dollars. And it was dollars that Brian was upset about ... about 1500 of them which had been fraudulently kited from his account by a company which he had trusted with access to his financial instruments.

 

Did this Brian actaully "check out" of the ship, or just walk off? If he checked out, his account should have been closed.

 

Re-read the initial post on this thread. "This" Brian makes it VERY clear that he formally "checked out" of the ship at the front desk. This is PRECISELY why the entire event is just so WRONG, and why the mistake so egregious. Of course his account should have been closed when he checked out ... and it probably was. But, apparently, someone in accounting got lazy and just lumped all the charges from the same room into the primary account and billed it all to him, even though he had checked off the ship and his account "closed" a full 9 days prior to the last charges that were applied to that account. This just sounds like sloppy accounting. What amazes me, more than the error, is the obstinate unwillingness of the company to correct their error. Yes, mistakes DO happen ... but when a company makes mistakes like this it is reasonable for one to expect that they will own up to the mistake and correct it. One doesn't expect them to first deny that a mistake was made, then refuse to accept responsibility for the error, then suggest that you fix it for them so that they don't have to bother with it, then try to delay fixing the mistake once it becomes clear that no other solution is viable, then lie (twice) about having fixed it and blame the delay on another party. I mean ... making the mistake was bad enough, but to then have to be dragged kicking and screaming, lying and obfuscating, for a full business week before actually fixing the mistake is just CRAZY. It's also not professional.