Wrong charges on bill..how often does this happen ?

[COLLEYBERRY]

Just curious, again.:) How often, if ever, have you found wrong charges on your on board cruise bill.?

Another thread on the board has prompted me to ask this question.

It happened to us on two of our three cruises with Hal..not significant amounts. Just wondering if this happens more often than not.

[Bippie]

Just curious, again.:) How often, if ever, have you found wrong charges on your on board cruise bill.?

Another thread on the board has prompted me to ask this question.

It happened to us on two of our three cruises with Hal..not significant amounts. Just wondering if this happens more often than not.

 

This has also happened to me. They take care of it right away when brought to their attention but it does somewhat detract from the enjoyment of the cruise. I was recently charged for a Pinnacle grill fee even though I had paid in advance and even presented the pre-payment card when seated. Again, this charge was taken off. Mistakes do happen so keep an eye on your account.

[kazu]

Just curious, again.:) How often, if ever, have you found wrong charges on your on board cruise bill.?

Another thread on the board has prompted me to ask this question.

It happened to us on two of our three cruises with Hal..not significant amounts. Just wondering if this happens more often than not.

 

Good question Colleyberry. This will be interesting to see. We've only had one on all of our cruises. and it was quickly rectified.

[paganwoman]

I have taken four cruises with HAL. So far no problems. But I do check carefully when I get the bill.

[taxmantoo]

Had never happened to us before but happened 3 times on our last Oosterdam cruise PLUS one more time on the final bill before disembarkation.

The three occurences on board were quickly remedied by the Neptune Lounge concierge and the error on the final bill corrected after one e-mail to HAL headquarters. While they were all corrected quickly, they are irritating errors and should not happen in the first place. :eek:

[Pete Jackson]

The minibar is one source of erroneous billing. With all that needs to be done in disembark-embark, it's easy for the person who checks the minibar to be late in their duties, so that drinks consumed by the previous occupant of your cabin just before disembarkation get charged to you.

[Two@Sea]

I was charged for a coke from the cabin fridge on our last HAL cruise... so I just took one out and enjoyed it. Easier and less frustrating than wasting time to get such a small charge removed. :D

[Amuse Bouche]

I think it's probably pretty common, and sooo much goes unnoticed. With the common usage of ATM cards, it would be so easy to assume that the charges on your ship card would be tracked as diligently as an ATM, but I'm sure they probably aren't.

 

Our last cruise, we had an insane amount of bar charges. And I don't recall being drunk even one second! :p

 

I plan to bring along a little notebook and keep track of my bar charges this time. And I'll check my account daily. If DH and I really spend $600-$700 on drinks, I think we should get a fair buzz from it :D

 

I'm sure it's impossible to get bar charges reversed at the end of the cruise. How are you going to prove that? :eek:

[Krazy Kruizers]

For the last few cruises we have had items appear on our bill that we never purchased -- mostly from the mini-bar which we never touch.

[Tiggertastic]

We've had something on every cruise. Last one was a charge for something out of the mini bar and we never touch the mini bar.

 

We ring guest services and they remove it immediately, every time

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

It has happened twice to us in the past year - one minibar charge and one bar charge. We always get a copy of our bill half way through the cruise to check for these. In both cases, told the front desk and they argued with us over the charge. And neither were taken off. Charge minimal so did not argue after the fact. If it happens again, and we are in a suite, I'll take it to the Concierge instead of the front desk.

[pms4104]

Happened to us at least once ... after we returned home, there was a mysterious HAL charge on our credit card. Called and eventually got it removed, tho the person I spoke with implied that I just didn't recall drinking those two bottles of water in our cabin. Pretty tacky attitude. The other time, also a bottle of water, it showed up on our onboard account, and we were able to phone the Front Desk and get it taken off.

 

For the mini-bar and in-cabin bottled water ... wouldn't it be nice if HAL removed all that crap and distributed a beverage menu either before sailing or on embarkation day? Order from the beverage menu, and it's charged to your onboard account ... otherwise, no stocked mini-bar. Seems it would save some staff time and energy both onboard and in Seattle ... but, then there wouldn't be the impulse purchases, would there?.

 

As for bar and other onboard purchases ... maybe HAL should move into the 21st century and make sure to scan passenger's cabin card for each and every purchase. Or, perhaps, use two- or three-part carbonless forms for passengers to sign ... everybody gets a receipt for everything. Signatures don't lie.

[Cruising-along]

We've had it happen only once. We were charged for someone's large bar tab one night. No problem having it removed. I worried they wouldn't believe us, but there were no questions about it. I guess they could see that we aren't big drinkers, and our bar tabs normally were a glass of wine with dinner, that kind of thing.

 

It seems, from reading all the responses, that unhappily these erroneous charges are happening more and more. :(

[sail7seas]

I can't remember any erroneous charges on our HAL shipboard bills. DH scans it at the end of the cruise and while he doesn't study it, he would notice a wrong mini bar charge as we never take anything from cabin stock.

 

[COLLEYBERRY]

 

I plan to bring along a little notebook and keep track of my bar charges this time. And I'll check my account daily. If DH and I really spend $600-$700 on drinks, I think we should get a fair buzz from it :D

 

I agree :D:D...me I probably would need to be air lifted:D Two glasses of wine ..well actually one and a half ..is the perfect buzz for me.:)

[IRL_Joanie]

We have received 5 bills and never been overcharged or charged for something we did not purchase.

 

We have also kept close eyes on our credit card statements months after returning home and never seen any additional charges.

 

HAL has been great for us:)

 

Joanie

[trophy_23]

We have had this happen on each of our last 2 cruises. The last day we were charged for a mini bar item which we did not use. The lineup at the front desk was too long, so I called HAL once we arrived home and they took care of it. It never quite works out the same due to the ever changing dollar exchange, but its close enough.

[whogo]

Am I the only one that keeps all the onboard receipts and checks them against the bill? I never had a problem, never had a mini-bar.

[Cruising-along]

Am I the only one that keeps all the onboard receipts and checks them against the bill? I never had a problem, never had a mini-bar.

 

I'm sure you aren't the only one. We throw all our onboard receipts into a drawer and check them against the bill. Only found a problem the one time.

[judy3972]

Am I the only one that keeps all the onboard receipts and checks them against the bill? I never had a problem, never had a mini-bar.

You are not the only person who keeps all receipts. I keep them and check them off against the bill. The beverage card helps with the bar tabs and I check the receipts to the balance there also. As to the mini bar if it is a problem, tell the front desk (or your cabin stewart) to remove everything so you can't be charged.

[AZNative2000]

Had never happened to us before but happened 3 times on our last Oosterdam cruise PLUS one more time on the final bill before disembarkation.

The three occurences on board were quickly remedied by the Neptune Lounge concierge and the error on the final bill corrected after one e-mail to HAL headquarters. While they were all corrected quickly, they are irritating errors and should not happen in the first place. :eek:

 

For the last few cruises we have had items appear on our bill that we never purchased -- mostly from the mini-bar which we never touch.

Same thing happened to us as taxmantoo ... aboard Oosterdam. We were charged for mini-bar items (like KK) and we'd had the mini bar cleared out upon embarkation so we'd have room for our own beverages. It happened two or three times and the concierge wiped it off each time. As someone else said, that could be very lucrative if it happens often and to many cabins.:eek:

 

I, also, keep all receipts to check against the bill.

 

Cheers!

[RuthC]

Am I the only one that keeps all the onboard receipts and checks them against the bill? I never had a problem, never had a mini-bar.

Not at all! I faithfully keep all my receipts, and check them against the bill. Using the beverage card has helped make that task even easier, since there's only the one charge showing for all those drinks.

 

Only once have I had an inaccurate charge on my bill. There was a fairly small charge at the Shops on Board. Now since I don't normally enter the shops, and were I to make a purchase there it would be a pricy piece of jewelry, I went to have the charge removed. The shop attendant searched and searched, but couldn't find any record, so removed the charge.

Thank goodness we were still getting preliminary bills, as the shop would have been closed on disembarkation morning. Now that preliminary bills are a thing of the past I will plan on getting one a day or so before leaving the ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am one of those people who keeps all my receipts and check my bill about every 3 or 4 days.

I have to agree that now we are using the Beverage Cards -- I have far less bills to keep track of. Even being able to use the Beverage Cards to buy the occasional bottle of wine that we drink is just one less bill.

As someone lese mentioned -- I also wish HAL would do away with stocking the mini-bar.

[CowPrincess]

I cannot recall any incorrect charges on our onboard account. We usually request a preliminary bill the last or 2nd last day of a cruise.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I think the errors are made when the bar folks use the manual slips. When your card is swiped, there shouldn't be an error unless, the wine steward has two cards and swipes one person's for two different person's charges. Now that I think of it , that is probably the case for the dining room wine charge and why the front desk wouldn't take it off our bill.