Phantom Room Charges

[Shooraq]

I've had mysterious room charges on my bill twice in one cruise on Royal Caribbean. First one was mid-week for a coke, questioned it to guest relations, they said it would be researched and dealt with. The night before the end of the cruise, found not only that the charge wasn't removed but that a second one came on. Both DH and I had to go to guest relations to complain that this wasn't handled appropriately. Like seriously, I would "steal" 2 Coke cans (I drink diet coke anyways). It actually took a supervisor to finally apologize and remove the charges. Didn't ruin my cruise at all, but I was a little surprised to see them contesting me about the charges. :rolleyes:

[WELSH WIZARDS]

Well someday I hope that comes true.

 

Send me the money. :D

It's on it's way...I have to wait for it to dry. ;):D

 

[momofmeg]

Personally we've never had this problem on any of our 9 cruises on 4 cruise lines and I scrutinize all my bills, even at the grocery and the gas pump to be sure I'm getting what I pay for. :D

 

My question is if this seems to be a problem on X then what about other lines? Has anyone noticed this problem on other lines? Is this a common problem d/t human error or is it more prevalent on x?

 

 

As for the steward who stored the minibar contents on the floor under the bed:eek:

 

It happened to us on carnival a long time ago-and as others said-they took it off the bill when we complained. This was before we had fridges in regular rooms (only suites had fridges back then)when they would leave a coke, sprite and diet coke on your dresser.

[momofmeg]

Actually, that procedure, or a similar one, is exactly what they do when you ask to have the fridge emptied. They bag the contents up and stash them at the top of the closet, or under the bed, or somewhere out of the way. They generally remain in the room at all times during the cruise, and will be used to re-stock the fridge for the next passenger.

 

I understand their doing that with extra sheets,etc-I don't mind that-but no I would insist the food be removed. That was a lazy steward wanting to save a few steps. After all -if food turned up missing I would be blamed.

[momofmeg]

2 05-AUG-12 09:56 20013746 Stateroom Private Bar $ 2.70 $ 21.96 as shown on the bill after I had to call up for a copy of my charges (not $27.00 like I stated previously).

 

It was resolved (I hope) but that is not the point, nobody at Celebrity can explain why it was on there and why it happens so often. A guest should not have to dispute the charges to begin with. Let alone not get copies of their bills. It makes a guest wonder.

 

When something happens too often I get suspicious also. I realize there can be errors-but if it is too often-not so sure.

 

Here is a weird thing that happened to us several years ago. A $5 charge showed up on our checking account from a restaurant that we had not eaten in 4 months (not only that but nothing on the menu was that cheap) I called my bank and questioned it-and they put in a dispute to get the $5 back and told me to keep an eye on our account to make sure our account number had not been stolen. I thought no more about it-except to tell hubby if we went there we should pay CASH. Less than 6 months later that chain went bankrupt and all of their restaurants were closed down.

 

I really think that someone at the head office was doing that supposing most would not even notice a $5 charge whereas if more had been charged people would notice.

[cruisestitch]

The fridge doesn't really contain food -- it is pre-stocked with cans and bottles of beverages -- and if you ask to have them removed so you can put your own beverages in, you'll find them somewhere in the room, nine times out of ten. Whether they are in the room , or in the fridge, errors can still happen when they are doing the inventory at the end of the cruise, which is one reason why they often do their count and then lock the fridge the night before the cruise ends, unless you are storing medicine or baby food in it. Some have complained, though, that they don't like seeing the locked fridge, it makes them feel like "here's your hat, what's your hurry". The staff really don't want the liquor and soft drinks in their storage areas -- that isn't good practice either -- so having them hidden away in the room is probably what will happen if you ask for the fridge to be emptied.

[CaptData]

I had a 0 bill when I left. When I got home there was a charge for 28.80 on my card. I phoned and they removed it from my cc.

[inforem]

I had a 0 bill when I left. When I got home there was a charge for 28.80 on my card. I phoned and they removed it from my cc.

 

Understandable that is exactly what happened to me. But like one of the poster said "it makes you suspicious". didn't change my mind about the cruise, but was just wondering. It sounds like a problem if you are charged phantom charges and they don't dispute your concerns. They must be use to it. Well I think they should fix the problem before they are investigated. How many people don't realize they have been charged incorrectly....just saying.

[wwcruisers]

Well, we've never had a problem on X, but on two different RC cruises, we had after-the-fact minibar charges -- that were not on our last on-board statement. Of course, we called and had the charges removed. Strange thing, was that one of the charges occurred after we had our room steward empty out the minibar. And, it seemed like it was getting harder and harder to get our minibar emptied, on our last few RC cruises. :rolleyes:

 

On both of our X cruises, we have requested to have the minibar emptied. The room stewards are happy to oblige, but usually ask if there is a cupboard or storage area that we don't plan to use -- so they can store the items in our stateroom. I don't think that even putting the items under the bed would be a problem, as long as they were in a sealed bag. (After all, nobody wants dust-bunnies in their Fresca! ;))

[momofmeg]

Well, we've never had a problem on X, but on two different RC cruises, we had after-the-fact minibar charges -- that were not on our last on-board statement. Of course, we called and had the charges removed. Strange thing, was that one of the charges occurred after we had our room steward empty out the minibar. And, it seemed like it was getting harder and harder to get our minibar emptied, on our last few RC cruises. :rolleyes:

 

On both of our X cruises, we have requested to have the minibar emptied. The room stewards are happy to oblige, but usually ask if there is a cupboard or storage area that we don't plan to use -- so they can store the items in our stateroom. I don't think that even putting the items under the bed would be a problem, as long as they were in a sealed bag. (After all, nobody wants dust-bunnies in their Fresca! ;))

 

I do-that is where I put my luggage

[fleckle]

Personally we've never had this problem on any of our 9 cruises on 4 cruise lines and I scrutinize all my bills, even at the grocery and the gas pump to be sure I'm getting what I pay for. :D

 

My question is if this seems to be a problem on X then what about other lines? Has anyone noticed this problem on other lines?

Yes, on HAL. Our credit card charge was higher than our final invoice.

 

I called and they immediately issued a credit, saying that the overcharge was a mini-bar charge. I pointed out that our minibar had been emptied at our request immediately upon embarkation.

I received an apology, but of course no explanation of how or why it happened.

[Trainer]

I was once charged for a golf simulator lesson (on RCCL I think, but might have been Princess). I don't play golf and certainly did not use the simulator. Had to have a

'discussion' before it was removed. but they checked the bill and it was my name but not my signature. So it does pay to check.

[Tara Jane]

I have always wondered how on earth people keep track of their drinking on board. Being non alcoholic drinkers and basically water coffee people we know exactly what we have charged to our account, last cruise was something like $23 for a cappucino and souveniers for the grandkids.

We have sat and watched passengers down drink after drink and shouting rounds and think to ourselves what hope would they have of knowing if their account is correct even if they check each night on the tv. How do you big drinkers keep tabs or do you just not care and say its a holiday and just trust the company not to overcharge?

[Cruising Domer]

How do you big drinkers keep tabs or do you just not care and say its a holiday and just trust the company not to overcharge?

 

I wouldn't say that I'm a big drinker, but I have been known to enjoy a a few drinks! Before I started signing up for the drink packages, I kept the slips that I needed to sign when placing my orders and compared them to my final bill. It wasn't a difficult process.

[jacketwatch]

Yes, on HAL. Our credit card charge was higher than our final invoice.

 

I called and they immediately issued a credit, saying that the overcharge was a mini-bar charge. I pointed out that our minibar had been emptied at our request immediately upon embarkation.

I received an apology, but of course no explanation of how or why it happened.

Thank you. Based on the replies it seems to happen on many cruise lines. :)

[Redtravel]

I do not open the minibar. After I got home from my last cruise, i got my credit card bill. It had a charge from Celebrity. Since I check my account daily, I knew that there should not be any additional charges. When I. Called Celebrity, I was told that it was for items taken from the minibar. They said that it happens all the time. I did get a credit. What annoyed me was the time that it took to take care of this matter. I was redirected and placed on hold many times before I got a rep to handle the problem. I was also annoyed that the rep toldme that it happens ALL THE TIME. Check your credit charges often during and after a cruise.