Carnival FunPoints redemption experience...

[Cruise585]

This is my first post and I hope that others find it useful as I have found a wealth of information on this website that I could not find anywhere else. I just wanted to share my experience concerning the redemption process as I have noticed some people ask about FunPoints recently.

 

First and foremost, any FunPoints accumulated will not expire until 2014 due to the switch from SeaMiles to FunPoints in 2009, more on this later.

 

I began the process of booking and redeeming points to pay for a cruise (my first and fiancée’s second since ten years ago) within the last 10 days. I collected 85,500 points (after the cruise purchase of $1595 posted) since opening my Carnival MasterCard account almost five years ago. According to the redemption calculator on the website it should have been enough to cover $1420 of the cruise fare. This is where problems began to arise.

 

Two days after booking and paying in full, the charge ($1595) posted to my account which meant I would be able to log in to the card's website to redeem my points. To my surprise, I was only given an option for partial redemption of 85,000 points for $850 reimbursement. I called the redemption department and explained that according to the calculator online I should be able to cover $1420. The gentleman said that I only had the partial redemption option available because I charged more than $1420 to the card and partial redemption paid out less than full redemption. After going back on forth he said there was nothing he could do as it is all systematic. He suggested that I call Carnival to switch method of payment for the additional $175 ($1420 + $175 = $1595) and I did it that same day.

 

Fast forward to the 21st of February. The $175 reversal posted on my statement which meant I now had a net charge of $1420 on my Carnival MasterCard which would make me eligible for full redemption, NOT. The redemption part of the website never updated to show the refund and again I called. I got another gentleman who told me word for word what the first agent said about partial redemption (clearly from a script). He didn't even acknowledge the issue I called about and had to stop him to explain how my situation differed from what his script said. I counted and pointed out to him four different times he changed reasons (due to my rebutting his statements with facts shown on the redemption terms and conditions) as to why I could only redeem $850. In the end it got me nowhere as he reiterated that it was all systematic and there was nothing they could do. He said he placed a note on my account and to call back after 9:30 AM EST (I had called on my way to work that morning, 8:00 AM EST) to speak with a supervisor.

 

Frustrated with their unwillingness to assist me and worried (incorrectly) that I would begin to lose my FunPoints if I let this go on longer than March 4th (the day my billing cycle ends, also when I hit the five year mark as a Carnival MasterCard holder) I chose to take a different route.

 

Background: I worked 5 1/2 years as a retail supervisor for Sprint before starting my career as an accountant. This experience provided me with firsthand knowledge of the disconnect between different departments of large corporations. Thus the reason why Sprint's CEO welcomes his customers to write directly to him at dan@sprint.com; while he may not check all the emails himself (he does read some) he has a department dedicated to handling these messages and sometimes we would get a call from "the office of Dan Hesse" in order to solve an issue for a local customer.

 

I decided to take this route with Barclaycard US (the company who owns a huge portfolio of reward cards, including Carnival MasterCard). I googled "Barclaycard US leadership team" and found the bios of their management. After searching further, I found corporate contact information and fired off letters and emails to anyone I thought might have some "pull." My letters where concise, providing information related to what happened and asking for help given my time constraint (again, I thought my points were about to start expiring). In other words, professional in taste and not whining about how horrible their company is (which it truly isn't).

 

Lo and behold, two days later (February 23rd) I received a call from the CEO's assistant, at his request, apologizing for the issues I encountered and acknowledging that my reasoning was correct and that I would be taken care of. She made this call from her personal number as she was home taking care of her sick daughter and reassured me that steps would be taken to review and prevent what happened to me from happening again.

 

This morning (February 25th) I got a call from someone with Barclaycard US (not sure what her position is with the company) and she again apologized for the inconvenience and thanked me for giving them coaching opportunities for the agents who "helped" me prior to escalating the issue. She stated that they were wrong in blaming the system and they should have logged a case number to manually process the redemption.

 

I will close this by saying that if you would like to save yourself a headache, look at the redemption calculator, figure out how much your points will cover (take into account the points you will earn from your cruise payment), and charge exactly that (or a little less) to the card. I felt compelled to write my experience here because when I was researching the leadership's contact info I found many websites with rants about how their points were stolen, not honored, etc. Barclaycard US is a huge company and while one department may have issues, the chain of command doesn't end there. Just be persistent while keeping composure.

 

I am glad this is over and can now truly begin to prepare for my first cruise. I will be heading to the Western Caribbean on the Destiny in August (5 days). Looking forward to reading more reviews of the ship and getting timeless tips found in the 7 year old thread.

[martinchem]

I would think this is a good time to enjoy your vacation and quit using their card, seems like an awful lot of trouble just to get your promised reward.

[horse1]

Hello, sorry to hear that you had such a hard time with your points. I just wanted to say that I just got back from my 2nd free cruise using points earned. I had no trouble using the redemption feature on the website. Hopefully, by this time next year I will have enough points for another free cruise. I would keep using the card for free future cruises. Have a great time on your cruise.

[Luluwa]

I just got my card and now I'm thinking this is such a hard way to earn and redeem points. I'm not sure if I'll use the card - I like easy! :rolleyes:

[scm1063]

It's easy to redeem points. Not sure about a total cruise. I paid for the Sign and Sail with Carnival Card. I was able to use a partial payment for 85,000 for $850. Very simple.

[Bosyn]

This is a perfect example of why EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) is sometimes necessary.

 

OP I'd definately submit this one to Consumerist.

[beach410]

Good for you for working this out! we can never wait that long to cash them in and never have a problem just cashing in a credit.

[Frank12]

I just got my card and now I'm thinking this is such a hard way to earn and redeem points. I'm not sure if I'll use the card - I like easy! :rolleyes:

 

It is really very easy. You just have to go to their website and type the total amount of your cruise into their calculator thingy and it will tell you how many points you need to cover that cost. If you do not have enough points to cover it and pay the full amount, it will not let you use your points toward part of the purchase. Just wait till you have more points.

I'm taking my second free cruise this summer in the past 5 years with the card. Never had a problem.

[golfadj]

We do not use it for many things as we have a better card but do use it for Carnival stuff.

 

Have gotten credit for points twice on line and found it very easy both times.

 

For us financially do not see the point of letting the miles run and run to pay for a cruise so we take obc $ 50 per cruise.

[ibfern]

I am about to lose 52,000 points because I cannot use them toward my next Princess cruise unless I use the carnival card to pay for it (I used Barcleys Princess Visa instead), or use any credit card but I can only book a Carnival cruise and I like Princess better! No choices here.

 

I just spend 45 minutes on the phone and got the same old run around because these people are using scripts and she did not actually listen to me. Now I just want to scream and throw the points (with the credit card) away!

 

Cruise585 can you send me those contacts? Thanks for any help...

ahessoniam at gmail dot com.

[tbcruise2011]

Thank you so much for posting your experience --- now I don't feel I going through this alone and I am the only person with this logic of the redemption points.:confused:

 

I have been on the phone with all kinds of representatives for hours and given the same script...can you please provide me the contact information of the person who resolved your issue so that I can send them a letter/email so that I can explain my situation in hopes they can resolve.

 

Thanks so much in advance for your help.. :)

 

tntbass@sbcglobal.net