The great towel rip off

[CVU]

Glad I never use those towels.:rolleyes:

 

Or the Mini fridge, had a water charge on the last day and we never used anything.

 

Next time, and from now on, it is to be emptied ASAP.

[matj2000]

Spring here also.....

 

Louetta & TC Jester....

[critterchick]

Don't you get a "final" bill before you leave the ship. That should be the last of the charges unless you added something right before you left the ship but, I think you have to add it to your charge card.

 

It appears that the cruiselines can add anything they want to your final bill and, unless you contest it, they'll get away with it. I cruised on HAL in April, and they added about $50 extra to my bill after I disembarked. Did the same thing to my friend two doors down. We both emailed them contest and got the same response: should have been billed to a different cabin. Yes, they reversed it promptly but it always makes me wonder how many charges slip through unnoticed or uncontested by the passengers.

 

It hasn't happened to us on RCI. Not yet, anyway.

[kasi1979]

We had the additional charge problem, too, when we cruised Voyager ots this June.

I ended up with about 11 Dollar charged to my credit card in addition to what showed up on my "final" bill. I´m still in the process of getting my money back. Rccl is unable to tell me where these charges originate.

I suppose it´s water we did not drink.

I would love to have the mini-bar locked so that I´m not at fault for anything missing, and nobody else enjoys drinks on my account. To me it seems as if RCCl hopes that you don´t notice added charges after final bill, I hate that they are unable to tell you where these charges come from...

[redjockey39]

I can see the point of checking towels in and out - not only so that passengers hand them back in, but also it saves the crew collecting hundreds of used towels at the end of the day.

My gripe is the towel charge was added to my account after I disembarked - the charge was never on my final bill. Even though RC agree the charge was an error and should have been to someone elses stateroom (how was it added to my account then?) they have not yet reimbursed me, even though they said they would, and it is now over more than 30 days.

I have now opened a dispute with my card provider, who have very kindly refunded me the whole amount while they sort out the dispute with RC. Maybe RC will now hurry up and sort it out.

[Pushka]

Just like rental cars, there is most likely a clause in the 'contract' that allows them to make final charges if they find a reason.

[MyHappyfingers]

Oh well having read all this I think I'll steer clear of the towels and have the mini bar emptied and then if any stray charges appear I'll just consult directly with the credit card company, I'm not making phone calls to USA to chase stuff up

 

I think and I'm just guessing that it may be a convenient scam, the billing system may be programed to randomly select a particular percentage of accounts and add false and convenient charges, charges that are easily dismissed as a charge that was meant for another room, I've read the whole thread and that excuse seems to come up time after time

 

It's also possible that the culprit is just over yonder, right on that grassy knoll over there, and there is certainly only one culprit and not 2 despite what the grainy video playback may lead you to believe

 

You would think though if it was indeed a scam, someone from the company or the software developer would blow the whistle

 

You would think

[Red Mini Stapler]

if you're from the state and being charged in u.s dollars, then you can catch the differences.

it's kinda hard for us to tell if there's ever differences because the currency exchange. we got money taken out from our danish bank account, heck we didn't even bother trying to go over it all.

[Mainer59]

Definitely a conspiracy. I’m betting the CEO has a back door to the billing system and can tap in and divert erroneous towel charges to his offshore accounts. And because he’s a rich CEO who protects all the rich and feeds on the poor the charges don’t happen on suite accounts. Only the poor masses in the inside cabins.

 

Or maybe you’re right about that knoll thing.

[UK Cruiser2]

Can someone clear this up for me please..We haven't cruised RCCL for a couple of years,at that time they didn't swipe cards for towels. Now if I pick up a towel every day on pool deck,then hand it back at the end of the day does my card get swiped in and out ?

[EVALUATOR]

can someone clear this up for me please..we haven't cruised rccl for a couple of years,at that time they didn't swipe cards for towels. Now if i pick up a towel every day on pool deck,then hand it back at the end of the day does my card get swiped in and out ?

 

yes:)

[redjockey39]

Hi, yes, when you get a towel, they swipe your seapass, when you hand it back in they swipe it again. You need to check they swipe it properly when you hand your towel in! $25 per towel charge to your account for every missing one....

[UK Cruiser2]

Hi, yes, when you get a towel, they swipe your seapass, when you hand it back in they swipe it again. You need to check they swipe it properly when you hand your towel in! $25 per towel charge to your account for every missing one....

 

OK I'll make sure I check on that.Thanks.

[BillOh]

I did point out that it seems a clever scam to charge everyone for towels and hope they don't notice; 1500 staterooms X $50 each is a good profit - doesn't leave me too happy as a first time cruiser with them. It's not even as if anyone would want to keep the scabby towels.

 

I understand your skepticism, but if they did it 1500 times every cruise, I guarantee Geraldo Rivera would be doing a special from the ship. With 20,000 or so account settled every week a few mistakes are inevitable especially with RC's record of documentation. It is a shame you have to be careful to watch every charge, I doubt any crew member gets a percentage on towels not brought back so they have no motivation to do so.

 

Now if the person filling the mini-bar, whom is a special position who does this, its not your cabin attendant, gets a cut on items used, then I smell a real scam! ;) On our last Majesty cruise, we had no idea what was supposed to be in there the first day so we didn't notice two M&M peanut packs that were supposed to be there. But we bought the water package so we moved several bottles of stock water out of there to make room for ours, so we noticed exactly what we had, so when we got the bill the next day, we knew they weren't there on embarkation day. Fortunately, it was easy to get taken off.

[cruisinfanatic]

I love your idea Tucker. Simply take one of the towels the chair hogs have left behind and turn it in when you are done. Let them worry about it! :rolleyes:

 

If you use a credit card, one option is to contest the amount with the card issuer. You have 60 days from the time the monthly statement is sent to contest any charges in writing (don't call, send a letter and keep a copy). Let RCI argue with the card issuer and you delaying payment for several months. That may discourage their sloppy accounting methods. The only time I have had to contest a charge was on a RCI cruise when my bill showed a $90 charge in the beauty salon.

When there is a problem with a charge on a credit card, the first thing you do is contact the billing company to take care of it. Not run to the CC company.

And since RCL always takes care of the wrong charges, at least for the most part, it's unnecessary to go further.

[cruisinfanatic]

Hi, yes, when you get a towel, they swipe your seapass, when you hand it back in they swipe it again. You need to check they swipe it properly when you hand your towel in! $25 per towel charge to your account for every missing one....

As a previous reply said just exchange everyday (as I have always done too) instead of swiping your seapass.

One swipe in the beginning and one when you turn them in for good at the end.

[UK Cruiser2]

As a previous reply said just exchange everyday (as I have always done too) instead of swiping your seapass.

One swipe in the beginning and one when you turn them in for good at the end.

 

Hadn't thought of doing that.Sounds like a good idea as long as the room steward doesn't take the pool deck towel from the cabin.

[cruisinfanatic]

Hadn't thought of doing that.Sounds like a good idea as long as the room steward doesn't take the pool deck towel from the cabin.

they don't

[subtchr]

Can someone clear this up for me please..We haven't cruised RCCL for a couple of years,at that time they didn't swipe cards for towels. Now if I pick up a towel every day on pool deck,then hand it back at the end of the day does my card get swiped in and out ?

 

You don't have to swipe in and out every time. We get a towel using our seapass card at the beginning of the cruise, then throughout the cruise just trade wet ones for dry when we need to. You don't need to swipe them in and out to do that. Then the final night return the last towel and swipe the seapass for credit. I never understand why people would feel the need to swipe the pass every time.

[redjockey39]

When there is a problem with a charge on a credit card, the first thing you do is contact the billing company to take care of it. Not run to the CC company.

And since RCL always takes care of the wrong charges, at least for the most part, it's unnecessary to go further.

 

 

If only! Still waiting for them to take care of my wrong charges, over a month since they admitted they were wrong! No response to my complaint about this to them last week. No wonder I 'ran to the CC company'.

 

I have to say, all this conversation about swiping/unswiping passes, taking towels back to your cabin, exchanging wet ones for dry ones etc., this is all to use TOWELS whilst on holiday! Why does it need to be such a faff? Surely RC don't 'lose' so many towels they have to resort to these measures. I have never stayed anywhere else in the world I have to check in and out towels.

[Denese96]

Hi, yes, when you get a towel, they swipe your seapass, when you hand it back in they swipe it again. You need to check they swipe it properly when you hand your towel in! $25 per towel charge to your account for every missing one....

 

I found out the hard way that the card has to be swiped for each one. I missed the pool hours and turned in four towels at Guest Services. My credit card was charged for one towel. I contacted the post cruise department and the credit was immediately issued.

 

It is unfortunate that in this new ME era, we need to be subjected to this. And as I have watched folks have total disregard for normal social decorum, I understand. I think we could institute a "parking" fine for people who have parked their things on a chair while they go about their activities for the day. We could use the red light camera technology with timer to keep them honest. Lol

[Aquahound]

I have to say, all this conversation about swiping/unswiping passes, taking towels back to your cabin, exchanging wet ones for dry ones etc., this is all to use TOWELS whilst on holiday! Why does it need to be such a faff?

 

I will be the first to admit their towel system in inconvenient. But that said, it really isn't much of a faff and it's not as bad as it seems here on CC. It takes a whole 30 seconds out of your day to get a stupid towel and while some people have had incorrect charges, it is not nearly as common as it is made to sound. Of all my RCI cruises, we, and all the folks that cruise frequently with us, have never had this charge.

[sjb317]

You don't have to swipe in and out every time. We get a towel using our seapass card at the beginning of the cruise, then throughout the cruise just trade wet ones for dry when we need to. You don't need to swipe them in and out to do that. Then the final night return the last towel and swipe the seapass for credit. I never understand why people would feel the need to swipe the pass every time.

 

I have to say when I first heard of the new towel policy, I thought it would be a big headache. However, experience has been pleasantly different. We do exactly what you do, our seapass card gets swiped only twice during a cruise, at the beginning for checkout and at the end for return. So far, 4 cruises since change, no problem!:D I would imagine that the more you have your card swiped, the greater opportunity for error.

 

Sherri:)

[griffy116]

During our cruise in April on Monarch, my daughter got erroneously charged for 2 towels. We went to GR and they immediately, with little explanation other than to say all towels checked out were returned, deleted the charge. On our next cruise in July (FOS) we swiped them on the first day and just exchanged them until the final day when we turned them in and watched them swipe for the return. I think in some cases, they forget to clear the screen and then when the person behind you is checking out a couple of towels, your screen is still up and they get charged to you. Just a careless mistake that could be avoided, but luckiily, Guest Relations take care of it without argument. Just watch the final bill and don't leave without getting it taken care of.

[cruisinfanatic]

If only! Still waiting for them to take care of my wrong charges, over a month since they admitted they were wrong! No response to my complaint about this to them last week. No wonder I 'ran to the CC company'.

 

I have to say, all this conversation about swiping/unswiping passes, taking towels back to your cabin, exchanging wet ones for dry ones etc., this is all to use TOWELS whilst on holiday! Why does it need to be such a faff? Surely RC don't 'lose' so many towels they have to resort to these measures. I have never stayed anywhere else in the world I have to check in and out towels.

I'm with you on the credit card. I'd say a month for them to get their act together is plenty of time.

I'm bugged by the ones who want to contact the CC company without trying to resolve the overcharge with the company that issued it.

 

I think the depost for the towels is a good thing. It cuts down on chair saving for sure.

To be threatened with a $25 per towel charge makes people think twice about leaving their towels on a chair for a few hrs.

Doesn't bother me a bit to exchange for a dry one myself every day and then swipe to get the charge off at the end of the cruise