grumplin

I have been told that it is only for this booking that I can't use gift cards. If I was told that I couldn't use them again, ever, then I am pretty sure that I would be giving up on Carnival. But it wouldn't just be me giving up on Carnival, but my kids too. We always book 2 cabins on family cruises, my kids ask for gift cards from their Aunts for birthday and Christmas. My 19 year old uses it as his gambling money!

 

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She put me on hold and confirmed with her manager this and the rule for future booking and payment could only be made through the accounting dept forever. You may want to call and ask this yourself. Also have you tried to pay your cruise off yet? Thats when I found out I had the block on my profile.

I know it's too late now, but perhaps if you had a PVP, they could have handled all this for you. If you decide to give Carnival a try again, I suggest using a good one. Then they can deal with the payment part. Times like these (when things go wrong) is where they are such an asset.

I am not allowed to do that. I have to book with the accounting dept and arrange payment with them. Their PVP can NOT take a payment from me ever again. Approval for booking and payment is in Accounting dept only for all of caught up in the fraud fiasco permanently. Ironically they work 9 to 5 M-F . I couldnt even call them about this until today because of work and no break between my crisis clients from 7 to 5 the last two days. Today I took the day off. So booking through them is not likely as I have long non stop work days during their hours. It really doesnt matter though. Their is a lot of competition for vacation dollars. I do plan to write a letter to carnivals big shots though. Yes the price of losing our yearly cost of our grand suites wont hurt them a bit. However a huge number of us were caught up in this and are getting this poor treatment.

This is a real shame I have to say I would probably quit cruising carnival if they blocked me from using gift cards ever again or from making payments or booking online - I mean I would chalk this one up to a lesson learned and then if it happened a second time then give the person a big ol block - I doubt most of these people will ever use gift cards again from an untrusted source so they really should rethink this and give some leniency for lesson learned

I really cant see any of it for future bookings once I sent proof I purchased them legally.

I wonder whether Carnival would treat passengers affected by this differently if they were Platinum.

Im going to say no. It really upsets me that Im branded for life. The first cruise we booked a Junior suite. Every other one we booked 1 to 2 grand Suites depending on if our kids were going or not. We have cruise yearly the last 5 years and 1 year did it twice. That is a lot of money spent with a company to now be branded a criminal for life.. Im horrified now going on the cruise that I will have further problems because of this. Will I be banned from having my CC linked to my sign and sail etc? That is on my list of questions when she calls back.

We feel for you......and completely understand how badly you feel. I hope this is resolved for you SOON and that you will enjoy your upcoming cruise!!!

Thank you. I think Carnival is making a mistake branding those of us that are victims of this scam with these broad sweeps. Im sure I am not the only one out of the thousands of us in this mess that will take their yearly cruise dollars elsewhere on principal after this.

So annoyed, never had anything like this happen. I booked a cruise back in July (12/10) on the Dream, paid my deposit for a spa balcony room, and went on my way. I decided to shop around online for carnival gift cards, as I know sometimes you can get them at a discounted rate, I found a website (reputable it seemed called card cash) where you could purchase gift cards at 10% off face value. I purchased enough to cover the entire balance of the cruise, added them to my account, cruise was paid for, before the end of July.

 

Just so happens, I checked online to see how many days until the cruise, and my cruise manager stated i owe over $1500, WHAT!? of course I call Carnival, in a panic to find out what happened (it was late night) the nice lady said I will need to call back during the day and speak to accounting to find out what happened, because all she can see is that the cards were "reversed". I call accounting the next morning, and speak to them, they state there is a scam going where basically someone uses compromised credit card information to buy gift cards, sells them to gift card brokers, the card holder sees charges, disputes charges, then the company removes the funds from the gift card, leaving the person who purchased the gift card out of luck.

 

Ok, fine, dandy, the website I purchased the cards from acknowledged the issue, promptly refunded me to my credit card I used to purchase the cards, all was fine and well, and I started making payments directly with my AMEX to Carnival (was making payments every few days as final payment is due on 9/26). Well, today I login to make a payment and I get an error stating that the company refuses my payment, so I called into Carnival, speak to a lady who states, no problem, she can take my payment, however she gets the same error. I was placed on hold for over 20 minutes as she called someone else, who advised that I am a fraudulent customer, because I used fraudulent gift cards, and the only way I can now make payments is if I send a "credit authorization form" via email EVERY time I make any type of payment.

 

I do not feel comfortable sending my credit card info via email, especially when I am splitting up payments, I had made a few payments after the gift card fiasco was resolved, has this ever happened to anyone else?? Customer service states there is nothing they can do, I am honestly tempted to request to have the booking cancelled due to Carnival refusing to let me pay for it (dare they say I will be penalized) and rebooking it (as the lady said this freeze was tied to my booking number) I asked if I could get a new booking number, I was advised no.

 

Any suggestions on where to go from here? As stated I do not feel like having my credit card number going over email multiple times.

I am caught in this crap also. I have the lady handling mine calling me back again . She has to have her boss unlock it. She took my CC number over the phone so I hope she can process it.

She also stated I have a lifetime ban on using gift cards or being able to book or pay without calling accounting to do it. So basically I am now a criminal for life after showing proof I bought the gift cards legally. This will sadly be my last carnival cruise. I could see it if I personally committed fraud instead of being a victim of fraud. I was the victim not the criminal.

I am locked out of paying for my trip still. The regular Carnival agents can not take a payment as I stated . I had to call the accounting Dept. She is working with her boss to unlock it so she can take my final payment. She will be calling back as soon as the lock is lifted. She confirmed as a victim of the fraudulent cards that :

1. I will never again be able to use a gift card on any booking

2. I will never again be able to make a payment or book online. I will have to call the accounting dept every single time

I will not elaborate on my feeling over this any more than to say I feel like a criminal and it has really changed my opinion of carnival with the restrictions placed. I showed proof I did everything legally. She confirmed this will be the case for EVERYONE who was a victim in this scam.

Ive got to ask when she calls back how this impacts the sign and sail card.

Really by this point pointing out why one should not use the sites is rather redundant after 7 pages . Im sure everyone of us caught up in this ((thousands according to the rep) knows this now. I for one thought the fact they were guaranteed 45 days was a good thing. My gift cards had a full balance. The person that held the credit card that purchased them reported fraud.

Now a little info to the other victims of this fraud ring.

I am locked out of paying for my trip. The regular Carnival agents can not take a payment. I had to call the accounting Dept. She is working with her boss to unlock it so she can take my final payment. She will be calling back as soon as the lock is lifted. She confirmed as a victim of the fraudulent cards that :

1. I will never again be able to use a gift card on any booking

2. I will never again be able to make a payment or book online. I will have to call the accounting dept every single time

I will not elaborate on my feeling over this any more than to say I feel like a criminal and it has really changed my opinion of carnival with the restrictions placed. I showed proof I did everything legally. She confirmed this will be the case for everyone who was a victim in this scam.

Obviously, dealing with a sketchy 2nd hand gift card website (where fraud is apparently rampant) in order to try and save a few dollars seems like a substantial risk to me. Sorry you got caught up in the fraud, but Carnival is well within their rights to lock up your account.

 

As others have said, there are only 3 vendors from which to buy "new" valid Carnival gift cards, stick with them and this will never be an issue for you again.

I had no idea they were sketchy. I definitely learned my lesson. I actually saw the tip here. The Carnival rep said they were dealing with hundreds per day. I'm wondering if my account being locked was an oversite. She told me I could pay online with any major credit card. I purchased my shore excursions just fine.

Actually I sold the $100 gift card I received as a CC reward since I couldn't use it on this booking. I think it might be a few years before we take another cruise. I have loved every minute of every one. However our baby graduates from college in a few months and international travel will finally be in the budget.

Please do. I'm curious.

Exact same message about not being able to change an existing booking in bright red.

Did you try PayPal? You can use your card through there.

They can't take any payment from me period according to the carnival rep until it is cleared in accounting. I feel like a criminal :) Banned from using gift cards because I bought a fraudulent one along with many others. I did show proof I bought them legally. The rep was very nice. I'm going to try the PayPal just to see quick. I'm thinking it won't work if the carnival rep said I was blocked from making a payment but who knows. I'll report back if it works.

Edit: tried it and same results

The sage continues. I bought gift cards that ended up being fraudulent. Here is the original thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2532735

I went online to pay my final balance with my credit card. The rep that helped me with the gift card fiasco said I was banned from using any gift cards on this booking from here on out so i was using a mastercard. She said I would have to pay with a major credit card. I was . I kept getting a notice that I was not allowed to change a current booking. I called Carnival and he was blocked from taking my payment either. I get to call the accounting department on Monday as the rep could not tell me why that kept popping up on both ends.

Just a heads up to the rest of you that also had the fraudulent cards. Dont be suprised if you are blocked from paying.

To me they are cold.

Except that I have an email from Carnival saying that I cannot use gift cards on is booking, that I can't use it to pay for the balance, or for on board purchases.

Same here. Plus verbal confirmation in my case.

I just received my refund from cardcash for the fraudulent gift cards... Thanks to the OP for bringing this to my attention, otherwise, I would have boarded the ship thinking we had purchased a $200 shore excursion, only to find out that they had not accepted my payment (and having exceeded the 45 day limit to request my refund from cardcash)... I was also successful in purchasing three new discounted (10% off) gift cards from AARP (the were available today)! Yeah! This Forum is awesome!!!

Im glad it helped you :)

It would seem to be time wasted since there is validation Carnival has no such ban against using valid Carnival gift cards regardless of point of purchase.

That is not time clearly wasted. I was told by the Carnival rep very clearly I was not able to use gift cards on this booking from any source. It also said it in writting in the email from the rep. That is why I sold a $100 gift card I had yet to use. I recieved it as a credit card reward.

Yum! Such good ideas !!!

I have never trusted those gift card resell sites...just seems too obvious since someone owned them before that fraud is rampant. I would rather just pay full price for my cruise and not worry about the hassle for a 10 percent discount

Having now used one I agree! I saw the tip here and thought it was a fab idea! Ill just take the travel rewards I earn with my credit cards from here on out.

I have however sold unwanted gift cards to one of the sites a few times and just assumed they made sure they were all valid. I just sold a carnival gift card I recieved as a reward from a credit card company on Craigs list since I can no longer use it with this booking on my sign and sail. It never dawned on me there would be a huge scam going and so many people were dishonest.

Thank goodness I never went down the reseller market trail with my Carnival card purchases. All of my cards were purchased through legitimate vendors (AARP, Verizon and Allstate).

 

 

 

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I think that is a good idea. We should review the sites we purchased from. I wonder how many other people purchased cards, and don't know yet. There is no way to get the word out there, but these companies that sold the cards should be contacting the people they sold them to, and let them know that there could be a problem. How many are planning to use them on the cruise to cover gratuities, etc...

Your absolutely right! I did my review on CardCash on tow sites and see many similiar hid at the bottom of course! In all honest the rep I spoke with was not in the least bit suprised. When I told him Carnival said it was a very large problem he agreed. Im sure the companies dont really care if people get past the guarantee period.

We have/had an upcoming cruise next week to Cuba. We just got an automated call that our cruise has been cancelled due to non-payment. We paid almost the entire cruise with discounted gift cards from ABC Gift Cards. We called our travel agent, and our cruise next year, (which we had paid over $4000 with gift cards) is also showing a large balance due. We have contacted our bank as well as the gift card companies at this point. Not sure what else to do. I am sick over this. Almost $6000. I did have reservations about buying them, but they went through so we thought they were okay.

I so sorry this happened to you. Im shocked Carnival didnt contact you before cancelling. I would be quite angry about that. I hope your travel agent can help you. I would contact carnival and ask them to email you proof that the gift cards were fraudulent. You will likely need the emails to file with your credit card company right away. Im assuming you are past ABC 45 day guarantee.

I think all of us that got caught up in this should definately reveiw the sites we purchased from.

I used a gift card from this vendor to pay for a shore excursion. I received confirmation of my shore excursion purchase from Carnival. After seeing this thread, I went to check my cruise docs and found that my shore excursion was no longer listed as a purchase. Thanks to this thread, I was able to make a claim to get my money back before the 45-day restriction! I am waiting to get my refund before I re-purchase my shore excursion... Ugh! What a headache this has become!!!! Thanks to the OP for bringing this to issue to our attention!!!

Im glad you took a look and found out in time.

I hope you do also! Good luck and keep me posted.

I got email from CardCash today that they are refunding for both cards. What a relief!

Below is the email that I received from Carnival. In total I had 3 gift cards, that out of the $2000, over $1600 had been applied to the cruise, between the two cabins and purchases for Cheers and a soda package for one child.

 

 

Dear Mrs. XXXXX XXXXX

I was unable to leave a voice message regarding that gift card for amount $ 280.70 were removed from your reservation due to that the gift card was reported fraud.

Below is the gift cards that were removed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX508 08/08/17 600 G -57.80

XXXXXXXXXXXXX490 08/03/17 600 G -222.90

Because of that issue that the gift card was reported fraud we are not allow any Gift card to be had added to your reservation or to be added onboard the ship.

I am requesting if you can Kindly provide proof of purchase( credit card /bank statement ) from 3rd party web site where the gift card were purchase.

If you have any question or concern place contact me at 800-4XX-XXXX Ext # XXXXX

Thank you

Yours was very simiiar to my first email about the first card. They also left me voicemail.

I'm hoping I hear something from Cashcard soon.

Did you call Carnival about the email you received?

Yes I did. I called the number and extension listed on my first email after googling and making sure it was a real Carnival phone number. She told me the second one was likely fraudulent also but she would get back to me. Hence the second email.

The email you received was so much more professional then the one I received! Yours had so much more detail. When I get to my laptop I will try to post mine. The last part about gift cards was not on my email!

 

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It was not on my first one either.

Here is what the second one said . I added XXX to all the personal info and numbers changed to XXX

Good morning Mrs XXX,

This is to inform you that the 2nd Gift card in the amount of $XXX was also reported as Fraud and we have removed from the booking # XXXXXX in the amount of $XXXX and on this Gift card you used to purchases to other order from the amount of $ XXXX for a shore excursion order that has been cancel and from a Bon Voyage order # XXXX in the amount of $XXX also that was cancel.

On your reservation you have a pending balance due in the amount of $ XXX that you would need to replace a new payment and because of that issue that the gift card was reported fraud .

This is on our Gift card website: www.carnivalgiftcards.com

Carnival Cruise Lines is not responsible for any Gift Cards bought or sold through Craigslist.com, giftcardZen.com or any website facilitating aftermarket sales of pre-gifted or pre-owned items.

Regards,

this was followed by the agents number , extension etc.

I was told that it was just for this cruise. What concerns me is that the email I received didn't have a Carnival Logo, had misspellings, had grammer errors, and an incorrect phone number in the body of the email. I also have a travel agent, and she was not notified. All of this was really concerning, because I wasn't sure that this was even legit. In fact, we have two cabins booked, and ordered Cheers with these cards, and they only reached out about one booking.

 

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Were yours removed from your booking also? All of mine were removed from my booking and my excursions cancelled. Mine doesnt have the Carnival logo either and is from their collections department. The number checks out when you search it on Carnivals site

Buying from a legitimate RETAILER (Lowe's, Verizon, AARP, Kroger, etc...) is fine... Buying from a RESELLER is where you can have issues.

 

The scam works as follows:

 

1. Crook / Thief has a stolen credit card information and buys the card from either a RETAILER, or Carnival directly, using the stolen credit card.

 

2. The crook / thief then sells the card through a RESELLER. The person who thinks they got a deal pays the RESELLER. The RESELLER holds a small fee, and pays the remaining amount to the crook / thief.

 

3. At some point, the owner of the stolen credit card files a chargeback on their credit card when they notice the charge that was made by the crook/thief.

 

4. The bank / credit card company traces the purchase and demands money back from whoever "sold" the card to the thief/crook.

 

5. If the thief "bought" the card direct from Carnival, Carnival looks up the card number, and reverses any payments made using that gift card. If the thief "bought" the card from a retailer, the retailer more often then not has to pay the bank back for the fraudulent credit card charge. The retailer may or may not ask Carnival to reverse any such purchases made on the card at that point.

That wasnt quite how this one worked according to Carnival as far as step one but close enough. This was my first and last experience with this.