Billing dispute with Princess - Who's right?

[Megsdad]

Not an option for the OP, they have a substantial B2B in August.

 

Blackmail:p

[nmuzik2]

I disagree with casinovisitor's disagreeing with me. The letter the OP should send, IMO, should stick with the facts in as brief a way as possible. Don't bring up any threats (I'll tell everyone that Princess sucks, for example) as that will divert from the goal of getting Princess to drop the matter. Whether or not you have the ear of many people...you have to remember that of potential and current customers of Princess, only a small percentage even has heard of CC. Or may read a consumer advocate's column in any newspaper. Or have thousands of relatives.

 

I totall disagree with this...no one said you have to say that you are trying to tell everyone how much they suck, but you want to show that you are getting more help from public sources than from their own internal departments. Trust me, you want your letter to be brief, but memorable. You want them to know that they aren't living up to your expectations, and you are willing to go around them to resolve this if need be. Telling someone that you are willing to go to the CC Board, travel advocate, lawyer, etc. is a way to help motivate some people. Who cares if it is an empty threat? It shows you mean business...in a nice, productive and poilte way.

[Rollexx]

I disagree with casinovisitor's disagreeing with me. The letter the OP should send, IMO, should stick with the facts in as brief a way as possible. Don't bring up any threats (I'll tell everyone that Princess sucks, for example) as that will divert from the goal of getting Princess to drop the matter. Whether or not you have the ear of many people...you have to remember that of potential and current customers of Princess, only a small percentage even has heard of CC. Or may read a consumer advocate's column in any newspaper. Or have thousands of relatives.

 

I totall disagree with this...no one said you have to say that you are trying to tell everyone how much they suck, but you want to show that you are getting more help from public sources than from their own internal departments. Trust me, you want your letter to be brief, but memorable. You want them to know that they aren't living up to your expectations, and you are willing to go around them to resolve this if need be. Telling someone that you are willing to go to the CC Board, travel advocate, lawyer, etc. is a way to help motivate some people. Who cares if it is an empty threat? It shows you mean business...in a nice, productive and poilte way.

 

 

The OP stated she has a letter ready to send, so this is probably a moot point, however.... IMHO this dispute with Princess is not one where you need to resort to any kind of threat. It's a black and white issue with no

ambiguities. Either they have proof that the bill was not paid or they do not. You're not appealing to Princess to bend any policies to rule in your favor on a dispute so no need to add unnecessary details. Some are over thinking this. Just send one certified letter simply asking for proof. They have to provide this.. period. If they can't, as I said before,,end of story.

[bhopal21]

To us, it's the principle, not the $300.

 

My questions:

 

Who's right?

 

Are we really liable for a charge 6 months after the sail date?

 

Will our cruise in August 2010 be effected by this?

 

Honestly, we're stunned that Princess is doing this.

 

This part bothers me.

 

Sure you are liable if you never paid for it and there seems to be some doubt on the part of the OP as to whether or not it was on the final bill to me.

 

And then later on the OP states, "We paid the exact amount our bill was for."

 

Of course you did, but what if the UBD was not on the final bill??

 

It is time for someone to come up with a detailed listing of the onboard account.

 

Mike

;)

[karmacruiser]

To the OP, keep pestering them and don't give up. It seems the financial departments of large companies miss out on the customer service training. A couple of years ago I was trying to get reimbursement from an airline and it was a three month struggle but persistance paid off. Calling the financial department was a joke, they only took calls between certain hours, they never returned voicemails, and there was no way to get to a live operator. Keep demanding that copy of your cruise charges, really in this day and age we are supposed to believe that there isn't an electronic copy somewhere on a backup drive? Come on Princess! Good luck- I hope they compensate you for all the trouble you are going to and stress this has put you through.

[CALMOM]

 

I dont understand your last comment

"I don't know they could EVER that your comments as negative. Whatever.."

but the whatever seems rather rude to me

 

That comment was made by SherriffJoe and obviously is new to CC and doesn't understand how to post. I agree if was very rude of SherriffJoe to make that comment.

[livinforcruisin]

:mad:Why punish the hardworking crew members on the next cruise? How would that possibly affect The Corporation in the least???????? This is not a way forward in any shape, form or fashion!:mad::mad:

 

So sorry to have offended, to be honest it was really meant as a little tongue in cheek and to lighten things a little and not a serious suggestion to what is clearly a very distressing situation for the OP, once again apologies. I just hope the OP gets some final satisfaction. ;)

[bplazo]

So sorry to have offended, to be honest it was really meant as a little tongue in cheek and to lighten things a little and not a serious suggestion to what is clearly a very distressing situation for the OP, once again apologies. I just hope the OP gets some final satisfaction. ;)

 

If you haven't noticed we take stiffing the crew ver seriously here on Cruise Critic. :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

The OP stated she has a letter ready to send, so this is probably a moot point, however.... IMHO this dispute with Princess is not one where you need to resort to any kind of threat. It's a black and white issue with no

ambiguities. Either they have proof that the bill was not paid or they do not. You're not appealing to Princess to bend any policies to rule in your favor on a dispute so no need to add unnecessary details. Some are over thinking this. Just send one certified letter simply asking for proof. They have to provide this.. period. If they can't, as I said before,,end of story.

 

Exactly. The facts themselves should speak volumes. You don't need threats for this letter. You don't need to bring up cruising forums, newspaper columns, even lawyers. Just state that the finance department has made a mistake and if they haven't (if somehow that charge didn't make it onto the final folio onboard), they need to provide the proof that it's still unpaid. If they can't, they should state their apology and that should be that.

 

If not, a letter from a lawyer (if you have a relative who owes you a favor...else you'll be paying a couple of hundred dollars) to a higher level. If you don't want to go through a lawyer, then do go up a step and bring up the public angle (the fact that you belong to a cruising forum with ------- members) if you want. That you will contact consumer advocates. But again, I don't think you would have to go there.

 

So sorry to have offended, to be honest it was really meant as a little tongue in cheek and to lighten things a little and not a serious suggestion to what is clearly a very distressing situation for the OP, once again apologies. I just hope the OP gets some final satisfaction. ;)

[Kremmen]

Sorry about your screen name mispronunciation (is that a good word?), but for disembarkment I referred to a current dictionary not a 17th century one. In fact, I found it on several current online dictionaries. Personally I use the term disembarkation. What really irks me is the use of DEBARK, although it is acceptable it sounds like one is removing bark from a tree.

 

Neither "debark" nor "disembarkment" is in any reputable dictionary that I've seen. They're certainly not in Cambridge or Collins. Lots of non-words appear in dubious online sources. (... Yes, I'm including Webster in that last category.)

 

Three emails and calls to Princess and I'm still on hold. It's very simple to check my confirmation number through the airlines and fix it. But after giving them all the flight data, confirmation numbers, frequent flyer numbers etc they came back and said now we need a copy of you credit card bill showing the exact date you paid for the tickets.

 

OT, but FYI: Before you've flown, yes, it's simple. After you've flown, not so much. Airlines archive off booking data, including confirmation numbers, as soon as 24 hrs after your flight. Looking up flight details by PNR after the flight requires the airline to pull the data off their archive system. Even the airline internally may be reluctant to do so, let alone obtaining that lookup through a third party. Ticket numbers are about the only useful reference you have after the flight is over.

 

My advice is to just ignore it unless Princess can come up with a statement of your account for you to see. If it shows up on your CC have your CC company dispUte it until Princess can prove that you did not pay.

 

Exactly! Writing and calling seems a big waste of time. (Don't some of you value your time?) The onus is on them to do the running about if they've made a mistake, and to show it. If it were me, I'd have sent them one simple email saying, basically, "you are wrong and unless I see a copy of the bill proving otherwise within 7 days, I will assume the matter is closed".

[billie5]

I totally disagree with Nmusik's totally disagreeing with Cruising Chick's totally disagreeing with Casinovisitor. :):):)

 

In my many years of reading blogs about people fighting large corporations, the overwhelming impression I get is that the larger the corporation, the more counter-productive threats are. Large corporations may worry about their reputations, but more along the lines of governmental action, recalls, etc. The larger the corporation the more often they get the huffing and puffing letters about what the dissatisfied customer is going to do. It is in their interest to think in terms of general policy, rather than the individual customer, as so many of us have experienced.

 

I very recently saw a thread in CC where the OP, a frequent cruiser, had a reasonable, if not entirely justifiable, demand. His initial letter, copied to several of the line's bigwigs (sorry, don't remember the cruise line, probably Princess or NCL), included threats of what he was going to do if his request was not addressed, especially vis-a-vis future cruises and also Cruise Critic. I must say that when I read it, my reaction was to fervently hope that no one from the cruise line answered his letter, as he so emphasized the threats.

 

It was a great pleasure to keep returning to the thread and read all his follow-ups as to how no one at the cruise line would answer his letters.

 

Bill

[cruisin36]

Kremmen

 

quote Neither "debark" nor "disembarkment" is in any reputable dictionary that I've seen. They're certainly not in Cambridge or Collins. Lots of non-words appear in dubious online sources. (... Yes, I'm including Webster in that last category.)

 

Don't knoq what you consider a reputable dictionary unless it is one you have home from grade school, but every online dictionary I have checked (several) has both words in them - sorry. I still prefer disembarkment, what else would you call it??

[patseacruiser]

I would email all the facts to elliott.org . Chris Elliott is a consumer advocate for travel problems and I would cc Princess on it. I would list all the info as concisely as possible because no one wants to read a 10 page email and mention the link on Cruise Critic where it is being discussed so Princess knows it's going on. I have had Chris Elliott help me out on a problem once and he was very helpful. Just a suggestion.

[patseacruiser]

I'm sorry his email is: elliottc@gmail.com

[cruisin36]

Sorry, I meant to say that I prefer to use the term "disembarkation" not disembarkment, although it is dictionary acceptable.

[goose30]

I totally disagree with Nmusik's totally disagreeing with Cruising Chick's totally disagreeing with Casinovisitor. :):):)

 

I'm sorry is there someone you agree with?

[Mary in Maine]

Here's what you need to do.

1. Notify the credit card company in writing that you are disputing the charge. The cruiseline and the credit card company are not in direct communication.

2. Write a letter to Princess requesting a copy of the folio explaining that you believe that there is an error in their billing.

3. Keep copies of eveything and take notes on any telephone contact.

 

Do not do your business through e-mail or telephone.

 

Then just sit back and wait until you hear from them. In the meantime, if this is an error, trust that it will get straightened out. If you owe the money, they will provide documentation and you will need to pay the bill. A six months delay may be inconvenient but nothing more. Why put all this energy into the situation?

[bhopal21]

Here's what you need to do.

1. Notify the credit card company in writing that you are disputing the charge. The cruiseline and the credit card company are not in direct communication.

2. Write a letter to Princess requesting a copy of the folio explaining that you believe that there is an error in their billing.

3. Keep copies of eveything and take notes on any telephone contact.

 

Do not do your business through e-mail or telephone.

 

Then just sit back and wait until you hear from them. In the meantime, if this is an error, trust that it will get straightened out. If you owe the money, they will provide documentation and you will need to pay the bill. A six months delay may be inconvenient but nothing more. Why put all this energy into the situation?

 

According to the OP, the charge has never appeared anywhere. So it would be hard to dispute a charge that has not appeared on a credit card.

 

Mike:confused:

[Colo Cruiser]

According to the OP, the charge has never appeared anywhere. So it would be hard to dispute a charge that has not appeared on a credit card.

 

Mike:confused:

 

Thats what I thought. :cool:

[Times Prince]

Exactly. The facts themselves should speak volumes. You don't need threats for this letter. You don't need to bring up cruising forums' date=' newspaper columns, even lawyers. Just state that the finance department has made a mistake and if they haven't (if somehow that charge didn't make it onto the final folio onboard), they need to provide the proof that it's still unpaid. If they can't, they should state their apology and that should be that.

 

If not, a letter from a lawyer (if you have a relative who owes you a favor...else you'll be paying a couple of hundred dollars) to a higher level.....[/quote']Actually one need not engage a lawyer to get the desired effect. I was once advised by a leading criminal attorney in SF that all one needs to do is say "if a satisfactory conclusion is not reached I will be forced to consult my attorney".

 

This is a non-threatening response that does not escalate the issue into the legal realm from which there is no return. It also costs a heck of a lot less.

[TracieABD]

I hope the OP comes back to update us on their progress...:confused:

[Mimi39]

The Ombudsman column in Conda Nasta Traveler Magazine seems to get good results, maybe the op should try contacting them.

[billie5]

Sure, goose. People with a sense of humor. :p:p

 

Bill

[Fore on the Floor]

Again I say something doesn't smell right here. I emailed Princess customer service on Sunday requesting my bill from our NOVEMBER 2009 sailing (four months BEFORE the OP). They emailed it to me today. All I sent was the date and my CC number. This was sent with the file.

 

"Please be advised all questions regarding Folio charges must be addressed with our Customer Relations Department, at 1.800.774.6237."

 

So something is not right here.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Where is the OP? Did the OP get the statement like Fore on the Floor did so easily? How about an update OP?