How to dispute the charge with NCL

[nidnoi]

We took Norwegian Sun for Baltic cruise on May23,2012 and ended on May 31,2012. On the final night we paid the shipboard bill(final statement) in cash and we received the reciept mark paid in full. A month later we received a charge from NCL on our credit card. We disputed the charge with our CC company. NCL sent the credit card company transaction information saying the charge was for minibar use. At the beginning of the cruise we asked the room attendant to remove everything from minibar so I can put my medicine in, which she did. The transaction date on the transaction information was dated June 9,2012 which we already back in Bangkok on that date.

We've got charged back the amount of $23.58 plus international fee for the investigation! If anyone knows e mail address of who should I contact at NCL to clear this problem up...I know this is not a lot of money, it's just the principle of the matter. Thanks Nidnoi

[toby517]

I had a similar situation on a previous cruise with NCL. a small charge was added after I returned home for something from the MiniBar. I just called them on the phone. Told them we don't drink and never used anything from the minibar. The charge was removed immediately.

[SeaShark]

We took Norwegian Sun for Baltic cruise on May23,2012 and ended on May 31,2012. On the final night we paid the shipboard bill(final statement) in cash and we received the reciept mark paid in full. A month later we received a charge from NCL on our credit card. We disputed the charge with our CC company. NCL sent the credit card company transaction information saying the charge was for minibar use. At the beginning of the cruise we asked the room attendant to remove everything from minibar so I can put my medicine in, which she did. The transaction date on the transaction information was dated June 9,2012 which we already back in Bangkok on that date.

We've got charged back the amount of $23.58 plus international fee for the investigation! If anyone knows e mail address of who should I contact at NCL to clear this problem up...I know this is not a lot of money, it's just the principle of the matter. Thanks Nidnoi

 

Did you ask that the minibar be emptied, or did you ask that the contents of the minibar be removed from the room completely? Also...which did the room steward actually do?

[NYGirl1002]

This mini bar thing seems to be very common with NCL and it makes me nervous. There's a good percentage of cc posters that it happens to so imagine what the real percentage is (counting people that don't post on here).

 

What can we do to avoid this? It seems like the OP did everything right and STILL got charged.

[nidnoi]

She just emptied and piled on some shelf above

[nidnoi]

From overseas which we live in Bangkok. We can't call 800 no in US if we call outside US. Do you happened to know what NCL tel. no. or what department to call?

[fergusonvt]

Two cruises with NCL and have never had any charges from the mini-bar that we did not use.

[mpk218]

Just tell your credit card company that they are not your charges and you wont be paying for them. Should end there.

I have never had a problem where my cc company did not take care of the issue. ;)

[mpk218]

Or if you'd rather try NCL .. publicrelations@ncl.com

 

if that does not work let me know....

[MR NW GUY]

Just tell your credit card company that they are not your charges and you wont be paying for them. Should end there.

I have never had a problem where my cc company did not take care of the issue. ;)

Maybe... Maybe not.... OP is from Bangkok. I don't know what consumer rights exist there.

 

I wonder if he/she used a DEBIT CARD or an actual MC / VISA or AM EXP?

[SeaShark]

This mini bar thing seems to be very common with NCL and it makes me nervous. There's a good percentage of cc posters that it happens to so imagine what the real percentage is (counting people that don't post on here).

 

What can we do to avoid this? It seems like the OP did everything right and STILL got charged.

 

See below...

 

She just emptied and piled on some shelf above

 

Sorry to have to say this, but that was your mistake. When you have the minibar emptied, you have to INSIST that the items be removed completely from the room. Don't allow the steward to place items on a shelf, in a drawer, under the bed, etc...

 

YOU are responsible for all items in the minibar as long as they are in the room. The only way to cover yourself is to have the items removed from the room.

 

Sorry that this happened to you, for the next time, remember to have the items removed from the room. It saves you the responsibility of having to pay if an item turns up missing from the shelf, from the drawer, from under the bed, etc...

[njhorseman]

This mini bar thing seems to be very common with NCL and it makes me nervous. There's a good percentage of cc posters that it happens to so imagine what the real percentage is (counting people that don't post on here).

 

What can we do to avoid this? It seems like the OP did everything right and STILL got charged.

 

I believe two people posted about it recently. Beyond that I don't recall seeing much about it in recent months.

 

In 25 years of cruising on 7 or 8 different lines, including many cruises on NCL, I've never been charged for something I didn't use.

 

Please remember that the only people who will post something are those who have a complaint! No one has ever started a thread titled "I Wasn't Charged for Minibar Items I Didn't Use".

 

Give that some thought before getting nervous about a problem that doesn't occur very often.

[njhorseman]

Just tell your credit card company that they are not your charges and you wont be paying for them. Should end there.

I have never had a problem where my cc company did not take care of the issue. ;)

 

Maybe... Maybe not.... OP is from Bangkok. I don't know what consumer rights exist there.

 

I wonder if he/she used a DEBIT CARD or an actual MC / VISA or AM EXP?

 

The OP clearly said in the original post that they disputed the charge with their CC company, but the dispute was denied and they were charged a fee for the investigation: "We disputed the charge with our CC company" and subsequently in the post:"We've got charged back the amount of $23.58 plus international fee for the investigation!".

[njhorseman]

Post cruise feedback can be submitted using this form. It might be worth a try:

 

http://www2.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/recent-cruiser-survey

[OceanDreaming2]

From overseas which we live in Bangkok. We can't call 800 no in US if we call outside US. Do you happened to know what NCL tel. no. or what department to call?

 

Corporate office's number is 305-436-4000.

[nidnoi]

Maybe... Maybe not.... OP is from Bangkok. I don't know what consumer rights exist there.

 

I wonder if he/she used a DEBIT CARD or an actual MC / VISA or AM EXP?

I used actual credit card Visa from Citi Bank. Believe me rules are very different from US.

[nidnoi]

Maybe... Maybe not.... OP is from Bangkok. I don't know what consumer rights exist there.

 

I wonder if he/she used a DEBIT CARD or an actual MC / VISA or AM EXP?

 

See below...

 

 

 

Sorry to have to say this, but that was your mistake. When you have the minibar emptied, you have to INSIST that the items be removed completely from the room. Don't allow the steward to place items on a shelf, in a drawer, under the bed, etc...

 

YOU are responsible for all items in the minibar as long as they are in the room. The only way to cover yourself is to have the items removed from the room.

 

Sorry that this happened to you, for the next time, remember to have the items removed from the room. It saves you the responsibility of having to pay if an item turns up missing from the shelf, from the drawer, from under the bed, etc...

Even if I keep everything in the MiniBar and I didn't drink it, they charged me anyway. I disembark on May 31, but the transaction date is June 9 which that date we were back home in Bangkok.

[umpy10]

See below...

 

 

 

Sorry to have to say this, but that was your mistake. When you have the minibar emptied, you have to INSIST that the items be removed completely from the room. Don't allow the steward to place items on a shelf, in a drawer, under the bed, etc...

 

YOU are responsible for all items in the minibar as long as they are in the room. The only way to cover yourself is to have the items removed from the room.

 

Sorry that this happened to you, for the next time, remember to have the items removed from the room. It saves you the responsibility of having to pay if an item turns up missing from the shelf, from the drawer, from under the bed, etc...

 

I'm having trouble with your explanation concerning the contents of the minibar? If the OP removed and consumed the item(s) from the minibar then the op should pay,end of story.

But the items were never consumed or for that matter removed from the cabin. This is where you lose me. What is the difference of having the room steward move the items to a shelf from the minibar or removing them from the cabin altogether?

It seems like no matter what the steward did with the contents, the OP was going to get charged. We informed our steward that we had placed all the items on the shelf with glass doors in our mini-suite on the Sun. No problem there, we never got charged. Maybe because I put everything back in its place before we left at the end of our cruise.

Who's to say that the room steward put everything back when the OP left.

Once the items leave the cabin, you lose TOTAL control of their return to your minibar intact. Please help me in understanding your logic with this prob.

 

cheers...the Ump...:D

 

p.s. as there are no minibars on the Spirit (if you're not in a suite) then I will not have this prob. next year lol

[KansasCityGuys]

It also happened to us once! I just simply called the NCL Post Cruise number and they credited my credit card the amount in question!

[willysgrandma]

It seems lately that the room stewards don't take them out of the room - they DO just put them on a shelf and if people don't know to insist in them being removed from the cabin, this is what can happen.

 

I had the same thing happen to me twice on NCL. Luckily I was never charged for anything. But now even I know to make sure they take it out of the cabin, not put them on a shelf.

 

I'm having trouble with your explanation concerning the contents of the minibar? If the OP removed and consumed the item(s) from the minibar then the op should pay,end of story.

But the items were never consumed or for that matter removed from the cabin. This is where you lose me. What is the difference of having the room steward move the items to a shelf from the minibar or removing them from the cabin altogether?

It seems like no matter what the steward did with the contents, the OP was going to get charged. We informed our steward that we had placed all the items on the shelf with glass doors in our mini-suite on the Sun. No problem there, we never got charged. Maybe because I put everything back in its place before we left at the end of our cruise.

Who's to say that the room steward put everything back when the OP left.

Once the items leave the cabin, you lose TOTAL control of their return to your minibar intact. Please help me in understanding your logic with this prob.

 

cheers...the Ump...:D

 

p.s. as there are no minibars on the Spirit (if you're not in a suite) then I will not have this prob. next year lol

[MeHeartCruising]

It has happened to me on both NCL and Royal Caribbean. Both times, it was less than $10 each, so I wrote it off as being "not worth the effort". I NEVER consume anything from the mini-bar and I always forget to ask them to remove the contents.

[daffodiliaz]

This mini bar thing seems to be very common with NCL and it makes me nervous. There's a good percentage of cc posters that it happens to so imagine what the real percentage is (counting people that don't post on here).

 

What can we do to avoid this? It seems like the OP did everything right and STILL got charged.

 

I would also suggest an inventory check when you first get to your cabin. Our minibar list listed peanuts but there were none. When I asked the steward to empty the fridge I was sure to stress this.

[JMHAM1]

Maybe I am a little OCD but I typically check off on the price sheet the contents of the fridge and note any discrepancies. Then I put the items up on the top shelf. I let the room steward know where we put them and if there is anything that is different from the list on day 1. Before we disembark, I put everything back in. We have never been charged.

 

I'm thinking this may be a simple mistake.

[SeaShark]

I'm having trouble with your explanation concerning the contents of the minibar? If the OP removed and consumed the item(s) from the minibar then the op should pay,end of story.

But the items were never consumed or for that matter removed from the cabin. This is where you lose me. What is the difference of having the room steward move the items to a shelf from the minibar or removing them from the cabin altogether?

It seems like no matter what the steward did with the contents, the OP was going to get charged. We informed our steward that we had placed all the items on the shelf with glass doors in our mini-suite on the Sun. No problem there, we never got charged. Maybe because I put everything back in its place before we left at the end of our cruise.

Who's to say that the room steward put everything back when the OP left.

Once the items leave the cabin, you lose TOTAL control of their return to your minibar intact. Please help me in understanding your logic with this prob.

 

cheers...the Ump...:D

 

p.s. as there are no minibars on the Spirit (if you're not in a suite) then I will not have this prob. next year lol

 

 

It is actually quite simple...

 

1) Lets say you just leave all of the items in the minibar. After the cruise, the Steward can report that a number of the items were missing since the beginning of the week. You will be charged for these items.

 

2) Lets say you have the Steward remove the items from the minibar and he/she simply places them inside one of the drawers in your room. After the cruise, the Steward can report that a number of the items were missing since the biginning of the week. You will be charged for these items.

 

 

As you see, it makes no difference if the items are inside the minibar or not. If they are in the room, YOU are responsible for them.

 

3) Now lets say you have the Steward remove the items from the minibar AND from the room. Now it no longer matters if all of the items are there or not. Once they are out of your room, they are out of your control. If an item is missing you have nothing to do with it because the items weren't even in your room. Your defense against the charge is the fact that you directed and ensured that the Steward remove all of the items from the room.

[Mrs. Squirrel]

3) Now lets say you have the Steward remove the items from the minibar AND from the room. Now it no longer matters if all of the items are there or not. Once they are out of your room, they are out of your control. If an item is missing you have nothing to do with it because the items weren't even in your room. Your defense against the charge is the fact that you directed and ensured that the Steward remove all of the items from the room.

 

And to add to SeaShark's post, when you have the items removed from the room completely, you are asked to sign a log that verifies the removal of those items. . .that they are out of your room and out of your control. Have done this on all 10 of my cruises with RCI, Celebrity, Carnival and NCL.

 

Does the steward have you sign the log if they just move them from the mini fridge to a shelf or drawer?