Check your credit card bill carefully

[sweep]

Last week we received our bill from our credit card company. We checked the amount from our Celebrity Sea Pass account and found that Celebrity had overcharged us by almost $50. I emailed Celebrity straight away but over a week later I have not had a reply.

 

Any suggestions as to what I can do to get this corrected?

 

In the meantime I advise everyone to check their credit card statements against their ship accounts.

[varoo]

Last week we received our bill from our credit card company. We checked the amount from our Celebrity Sea Pass account and found that Celebrity had overcharged us by almost $50. I emailed Celebrity straight away but over a week later I have not had a reply.

 

Any suggestions as to what I can do to get this corrected?

Just call them.

Something that commonly happens, not only with Celebrity but with other cruise lines too, is that the overcharge turns out to be a minibar charge.

 

That is one reason why many of us who have been burned that way in the past ask to have our minibars emptied and the entire contents removed on the first day of the cruise.

 

If that is what caused the overcharge and you call them, they apologize and take it right off, immediately issuing you a credit for the amount.

 

[20pluscruises]

Just call them.

Something that commonly happens, not only with Celebrity but with other cruise lines too, is that the overcharge turns out to be a minibar charge.

 

That is one reason why many of us who have been burned that way in the past ask to have our minibars emptied and the entire contents removed on the first day of the cruise.

 

If that is what caused the overcharge and you call them, they apologize and take it right off, immediately issuing you a credit for the amount.

 

 

On my last cruise (Equinox) they said they could NOT remove the items from the room...it all sat on top of the mini cooler / counter.

[Fouremco]

Last week we received our bill from our credit card company. We checked the amount from our Celebrity Sea Pass account and found that Celebrity had overcharged us by almost $50. I emailed Celebrity straight away but over a week later I have not had a reply.

 

Any suggestions as to what I can do to get this corrected?

 

In the meantime I advise everyone to check their credit card statements against their ship accounts.

Our first Celebrity cruise is scheduled for February, but on HAL we receive a full statement the night before disembarkation. On our last cruise there was, as Varoo suggests, a minibar charge which I immediately had removed and a new statement printed. In my experience, it's much easier and quicker to rectify an issue like this onboard than to do so later.

 

I hope it all works out for you.

[SusieV]

We have this issue nearly every cruise. I called Corporate Guest Relations and they fixed the problem for us. We had incorrect charges on both legs of our B2B last month.

 

Fortunately, we pay off our account in cash at the end of every trip, so if I see any charge at all on my credit card, I know there is an error. This time it totalled nearly $70.

[Ruthk]

It's easy - here is what you have to do (this has happened to me several times). Call your charge card company and tell them there is a dispute with the Celebrity bill. You will have to fill out a simple form where you would send a photocopy of your bill and detail the difference in the invoice. You will not pay any of the Celebrity bill since it is in dispute and it might take up to 1/2 year to have your Charge Card company and Celebrity figure it out. Eventually you will get the correct charge sent to you. That is the best part of the charge cards - they do the fighting for you. Good luck.

[sweep]

Our first Celebrity cruise is scheduled for February, but on HAL we receive a full statement the night before disembarkation. On our last cruise there was, as Varoo suggests, a minibar charge which I immediately had removed and a new statement printed. In my experience, it's much easier and quicker to rectify an issue like this onboard than to do so later.

 

I hope it all works out for you.

 

We did receive a statement on the final night of the cruise and it was correct and automatically paid with the credit card we registered at the start of the cruise. The discrepancy happened later when we received our credit card statement and saw it was for a different amount.

[Feelin' Nauti']

We did receive a statement on the final night of the cruise and it was correct and automatically paid with the credit card we registered at the start of the cruise. The discrepancy happened later when we received our credit card statement and saw it was for a different amount.

You have a copy of the receipt, so you shouldn't have a problem correcting it with your charge card. ;)

[Fouremco]

We did receive a statement on the final night of the cruise and it was correct and automatically paid with the credit card we registered at the start of the cruise. The discrepancy happened later when we received our credit card statement and saw it was for a different amount.

Ah, interesting to know. I'll bear that in mind.

[Lsimon]

I've had this happen two or three times over the years. A phone call to Celebrity has always taken care of the problem. They will research the late charge and tell you what it was for. When I've told them it was incorrect they've reversed it without further hassle. Once when they told me what it was for I realized it was a valid charge and I apologized to them.

 

I've never tried to address this type of issue via email but have emailed them about different issues. Email responses from them on cruise issues sometimes take several weeks to get a response. I'd want quicker response on issues of this type which is why I'd recommend a phone call.

 

As for disputing a charge: I think that is an avenue that is really designed either for a dispute which you've been unable to resolve on your own or a fraudulent charge. I would recommend trying to resolve this via a phone call before disputing the charge with your CC company.

[Fouremco]

As for disputing a charge: I think that is an avenue that is really designed either for a dispute which you've been unable to resolve on your own or a fraudulent charge. I would recommend trying to resolve this via a phone call before disputing the charge with your CC company.

I agree. My financial institution has a "how to dispute a charge" webpage and it is all based on you first trying to resolve the issue with the merchant.

[varoo]

It's easy - here is what you have to do (this has happened to me several times). Call your charge card company and tell them there is a dispute with the Celebrity bill. You will have to fill out a simple form where you would send a photocopy of your bill and detail the difference in the invoice. You will not pay any of the Celebrity bill since it is in dispute and it might take up to 1/2 year to have your Charge Card company and Celebrity figure it out. Eventually you will get the correct charge sent to you. That is the best part of the charge cards - they do the fighting for you. Good luck.

I totally agree that is what should be done if you really have a dispute with a merchant who is contesting your claim.

 

But in this situation where there is no "fighting" to be done, there is no need to bother wasting one's time filling out forms or sending out photocopies or waiting up to 1/2 year, or waiting at all.

(That would be like the old saying about using an elephant gun to kill an ant. ;) )

 

Instead it is so quick and easy just to pick up the phone, call them, and have the matter resolved immediately. :)

 

 

[sweep]

Thanks for all your help. I will give Celebrity a call in the morning.

[April29]

In the past, this has happened to me both on a Celebrity & NCL cruise.

 

When I called Celebrity accounting, they said they would issue a refund cheque ( never received it ).

 

With NCL, I called my credit card company & told them that the charge on my credit card statement did not match the statement I received onboard.

 

They said they would dispute the charge with NCL & applied an automatic credit for the difference to my credit card.

[cruisecrasy]

Have had similar experiences.

May not work for some but I solved it by paying in cash (easy & safe to carry travel cheques) rather than w/ the credit card (I always register it in case I do need to use it however)..and always have the mini-bar cleared out so no chance of a charge :)

[Ruthk]

Well, being a Canadian, but using a U.S. fund charge card, every year I go through foreign exchange mistakes made by Celebrity. I had tried the telephone route and Celebrity never made the corrections and repaid me - therefore I started to dispute using the office of my Charge Card company. I certainly don't mind waiting a 1/2 year until they resolve it and one year, I'm guessing Celebrity didn't want to bother with the paperwork, but I never got re-charged my amount. Good luck with trying to get the issue resolved with their office, hope it works for you, but if it doesn't, you can always fall back on the Charge Card dispute, it always works for me.

[wwcruisers]

This might be a good time to bring up the fact that, in the last year, many Celebrity ships have stopped delivering account statements to the cabins, on departure morning (or the night before). If you don't receive this statement, go down to Guest Relations and have them print one out for you. We have had to do this on our last two cruises. Think about it: when you leave the ship, this is really your only proof of what you charged on your cruise, versus what they say you charged. I do applaud those folks who take a picture of their account screen-shot (on the stateroom TV) on the last morning. But, if afterwards I have to prove my side of the ledger, I want an official print-out from that ship's GR desk. :cool:

[RickT]

Is it possible the charge is for something purchased after the bill was prepared. This past summer we received our final bill late in the evening on he last night. The bill did not include drinks we had late that night and our final charge to our credit card reflected that.

 

I don't recall receiving a bill that early before but perhaps it's something they are trying to avoid the rush that normally occurs the day of departure.

 

Please remember to come back to this thread and let us know the outcome.

[Tiggertastic]

Our last one was wrong by $4 but worked out it would cost me more than that in phone calls to get it rectified - so they made an extra profit from us

[wwcruisers]

Our last one was wrong by $4 but worked out it would cost me more than that in phone calls to get it rectified - so they made an extra profit from us

 

Jan, I can understand that a $4.00 overcharge would not be worth the time and $$ to some. But, for me, it's just the principle of the thing. I would have invested in a 50-cent stamp, and sent a letter to Corporate in Miami -- with (of course) a daytime phone number where they could reach me. :cool:

[Scrappytraveller]

My credit card was charged an extra $22 after my recent Solstice cruise. I called to ask why and was told it was an "amenity" charge and she'd have to contact someone to find out what it was specifically. She called me back a couple of days later and said 2 pairs of binoculars were missing from the room. Funny, never saw any binoculars, never even knew we were supposed to have binoculars in a balcony cabin. The charge was reversed on my next credit card statement.

 

Not the end of the world, but I've read a few threads on CC about this type of thing so it does seem pretty common. Given I didn't find my cabin attendant very good to begin with and didn't leave any extra tip, it makes me wonder if it was intentional on her part.

(As an aside, she also refused to empty my mini bar.)

[MR_T]

My credit card was charged an extra $22 after my recent Solstice cruise. I called to ask why and was told it was an "amenity" charge and she'd have to contact someone to find out what it was specifically. She called me back a couple of days later and said 2 pairs of binoculars were missing from the room. Funny, never saw any binoculars, never even knew we were supposed to have binoculars in a balcony cabin. The charge was reversed on my next credit card statement.

 

Not the end of the world, but I've read a few threads on CC about this type of thing so it does seem pretty common. Given I didn't find my cabin attendant very good to begin with and didn't leave any extra tip, it makes me wonder if it was intentional on her part.

(As an aside, she also refused to empty my mini bar.)

 

22 dollars for 2 pairs of binoculars... Might give that a go...

[Lsimon]

22 dollars for 2 pairs of binoculars... Might give that a go...

 

Clearly you haven't seen the binoculars they supply as a cabin ammenity in CC cabins and above. They are toy like and built very poorly. I tried Googling the model just for the fun of it and only came up in listings for companies that sell custom imprinted corporate promo items - the type of item that companies buy imprinted with their name as give aways.

 

If you think you'll want binoculars to use on your cruise then you better bring your own.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Lsimon

[20pluscruises]

Clearly you haven't seen the binoculars they supply as a cabin ammenity in CC cabins and above. They are toy like and built very poorly. I tried Googling the model just for the fun of it and only came up with a company that sold them as chotskies - the kid of cheap plastic stuff company's buy to stamp their name on and then give away by the hundreds or thousands at promotional events.

 

If you think you'll want binoculars to use on your cruise then you better bring your own.

 

They were free on our Alaska cruise several years ago.

[GreatLakes]

Our first Celebrity cruise is scheduled for February, but on HAL we receive a full statement the night before disembarkation. On our last cruise there was, as Varoo suggests, a minibar charge which I immediately had removed and a new statement printed. In my experience, it's much easier and quicker to rectify an issue like this onboard than to do so later.

 

I hope it all works out for you.

 

Had the same thing happen to us. We caught the extra charge before we disembarked and had it corrected.