overcharges on account

[bokicat]

just curious.... has anyone had experiences where items were charged on your SeaPass account that you didn't purchase?

 

we seem to have bad luck with it. We just got back from a RCL cruise, and we had asked our stateroom attendent to remove the items in the fridge, since we wouldn't be eating/drinking anything from it and we didn't want to get charged for moving items around in it. He assured us that the fridges are not electronically monitored anymore, so not to worry. On the second last day of the cruise, we found that he charged us for water we didn't take. After three attempts to get this resolved (a phone call to the front desk, talking to the attendent, and another trip to the front desk) it still was not removed from our account by the time we disembarked.

 

On a previous Celebrity cruise, a similar thing happened. We threw away an empty bottle (we had purchased a bottle of water while we were out on an excursion) in our stateroom, and the attendent charged us for it, even though it was a brand that Celebrity doesn't stock. This stateroom attendent refused to remove the charge.

 

I know it's only $5, and it's not a big deal, but it's the principle! We just ended up paying for it just so we wouldn't have to deal with the frustration. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this.

[missbear]

Contest it with your credit card company explaining that entire story. That it's the principle and they have had a habit of doing this. It triggers a whole slew of unpleasant paperwork to the cruiseline. They will credit you back, and if enough of us do this even for small charges, the cruiseline may become more aware of how this is a bad idea. Bad for business, the bottom line, and their reputation.

 

If you have a room attendant act like that again, go to their boss. Not just someone at the hospitality desk, but their direct supervisor, keep working up the chain, put something into writing and have it copied at the hospitality desk so you have something to send to HQ when you return. That's not okay for them to do.

 

Best wishes.

[bhughey]

YES… seems to happen on almost every RCI cruise! While the charge may be for only $4 or something, it’s still very irritating! On our 10/29 cruise aboard the Mariner, we checked our account via RCTV and saw a charge for, there was a charge for “gangway” beverage – I am assuming this was the water they sell where you debark the ship and MANUALLY write down your folio #. Well… I know better than to spend $4 + tip on a bottled water as I am leaving the ship, knowing full well that I can purchase it in port for $1. So I go down to Guest Relations and dispute the charge – the guest relations staff member says he has to refer the dispute to the bar manager…. I assume it’s taken care of. Then we receive our final seapass statement on the morning we were to depart, well what do you know – there is the $4.60 charge. So now I have to go wait in the long line at guest relations with the dozens of other passengers who also have questions/disputes. Once again, the guest relations staffer tells me they have to submit to the bar manager. I get home and of course, I am charged for the water! Again, $4.60 is by no means a great deal of money. But do the math here – let’s just say a very small # of people are charged for items they did not purchase, like 3%? That’s roughly 105 people -- 105 people multiplied by $4.60 = $483.00 multiplied by 52 cruises a year = that’s $25,116! And that is just for ONE ship?! Ok—maybe I am getting carried away, but think about it!

[csk]

This happened to me once on the Brillance, I ask the cabin attendant to remove the stuff on the first day, and on the last day he did not return it, I questioned it, but it was not on my final statement, but about a week later a charge of about $25.00 showed on my credit card statement, called Royal Caribbean, and they resolved it on the phone that day, but it took about 2 weeks to appear on my statement, so I guess it does happen all the time, now I make sure it is back before I leave.

[Cruisehappymn]

We have had more problems with bar charges. We constantly check our balance out and always find an extra drink or something. I can't figure that one out since I always check the amount before signing.

[centralcalicruzer]

We had the same thing happen on our cruise last year. We brought our own diet colas but my husband drank several of the Sprites (or whatever clear soda they have). I know I kept track of how many he drank, but sure enough on the last morning (after the room steward cleared the sodas out of the room on the last night) there was around $5.00 add'l charges for sodas. It wasn't worth it to me to fight them about it, but it bugged me. It's really your word against the room steward's, they can put down that you used however many they want if you think about it, how can you prove you didn't drink that many? It's almost like they saw we had our own sodas (diet pepsi in 20 oz bottles) and decided to charge us for a like amount of in-room beverages. Like I said, it wasn't worth it to me to stand in line and dispute it, but it did tick me off a little.

[sas80]

The best way to avoid being charged for items in the fridge is to let your stateroom attendent know that YOU are going to clear out the fridge and YOU are going to put all the items on the very top shelf in your cupboard (the one that is so high up there you really cant use it anyways) You let your stateroom attendant know that you will put everything back into the fridge the last night of the cruise.

 

Everything that is in the fridge goes on that shelf and stays on that shelf and the stateroom attendant can continuously check that shelf to see if anything is missing.

 

The one time I thought I was overcharged (for more sodas from the fridge than I actually drank) I was greeted with pleasantries and a willing spirit to help from the concierge desk. It ended up not being an over charge, but I distinctly got the impression that they would have credited me whatever I wanted.

 

Always review your bill, and contest anything you need to, before you depart the ship.

 

Good luck!