Lost towel charge - advice needed

[aussielozzie18]

Hi there

Just back from my first cruise on Rhapsody.

Whilst onboard, I was very conscious of returning towels each day as a) I didnt want wet towels in our cabin and b) I had heard from a friend about the $25 lost towel fee.

On our last sea day, I received a "clean towel" and when I went to use it in the solarium I saw that it was badly stained. I went straight back to the towel "stall" and pointed this out and requested and received a fresh one.

I was very surprised to see that I had towel fee of $25 on my final bill.

As a first time cruiser and being early in the morning of our arrival day, I decided not to challenge this fee, even though I am 100% certain I did not lose a towel and I hoped that I was not being charged for a stained towel that was not my doing.

 

My question is, on my next cruise, how do I ensure that I am not charged for a towel that is not lost and has anyone challenged a towel fee and had it easily resolved?

Edited December 29, 2013 by aussielozzie18

[Alyrica]

Hello. I am a newbie therefore I've not experienced this first hand however I am a self professed CC junky. I have read many times where people have been inaccurately charged for the lost towel or mini bar fees and have gone to Guest Services and had the charge removed. In most cases it sounded fairly easy.

[maureencruiser]

Call RC now and have them remove the charge - they will.

[COMBOY]

If you are 100% certain you returned the towel then by all means dispute the charge with guest relation in the morning. If you don't have time then by all means send a letter to guest relations at RCI's headquarters in Miami and dispute the charge. I'm sure people do it all the time. The worst thing they can say is no. I'm sure on board mistakes happen and somehow your return scan didn't take. I think refunding you the $25 is worth the good will in my opinion. Make a copy of your folio and circle the $25 charge and send with a nice letter explaining the error and ask for a refund. Simple. There no way to avoid the error in the future other then reviewing your charges on your cabin's TV on a daily basis and bringing any discrepancies to guest relation's attention ASAP.

[xxoocruiser]

Hi there

Just back from my first cruise on Rhapsody.

Whilst onboard, I was very conscious of returning towels each day as a) I didnt want wet towels in our cabin and b) I had heard from a friend about the $25 lost towel fee.

On our last sea day, I received a "clean towel" and when I went to use it in the solarium I saw that it was badly stained. I went straight back to the towel "stall" and pointed this out and requested and received a fresh one.

I was very surprised to see that I had towel fee of $25 on my final bill.

As a first time cruiser and being early in the morning of our arrival day, I decided not to challenge this fee, even though I am 100% certain I did not lose a towel and I hoped that I was not being charged for a stained towel that was not my doing.

 

My question is, on my next cruise, how do I ensure that I am not charged for a towel that is not lost and has anyone challenged a towel fee and had it easily resolved?

 

You state that a replacement towel was received but did you make a final return of towels and have the towel attendant run your sea pass card through the machine to ensure that your account was credited for returning all towels at the end of the cruise ? If you just left the towel and did not have your sea pass account credited by the towel attendant than a charge appears on your final bill.

 

If you did this than it's perplexing as to why you wouldn't have disputed this charge upon receiving your final statement while still on board the ship ?

[aussielozzie18]

You state that a replacement towel was received but did you make a final return of towels and have the towel attendant run your sea pass card through the machine to ensure that your account was credited for returning all towels at the end of the cruise ? If you just left the towel and did not have your sea pass account credited by the towel attendant than a charge appears on your final bill.

 

If you did this than it's perplexing as to why you wouldn't have disputed this charge upon receiving your final statement while still on board the ship ?

 

Yes, I did have my seapass scanned on the final return of the towel.

I didn;t dispute the charge on board because I received the bill at 6.30am, I was due to disembark fairly shortly afterwards and as I said this was my first cruise which I had thoroughly enjoyed - I didnt know how big an issue it would be to query it and I didn't want to leave the cruise on a sour note.

Edited December 29, 2013 by aussielozzie18

[xxoocruiser]

Yes, I did have my seapass scanned on the final return of the towel.

I didn;t dispute the charge on board because I received the bill at 6.30am, I was due to disembark fairly shortly afterwards and as I said this was my first cruise which I had thoroughly enjoyed - I didnt know how big an issue it would be to query it and I didn't want to leave the cruise on a sour note.

 

Suggest for future cruises that you either check your on board account daily via the TV in the cabin or go to guest services at least the day before disembarkation to review your account. This way there should be time for any discrepancies to be addressed before disembarking the ship.

[aussielozzie18]

Suggest for future cruises that you either check your on board account daily via the TV in the cabin or go to guest services at least the day before disembarkation to review your account. This way there should be time for any discrepancies to be addressed before disembarking the ship.

 

Is the onboard account shown on the tv on the Rhapsody? I never read about that anywhere while on board. I will check my bill the day before next time but does a towel fee show up then or only on the final bill?

[xxoocruiser]

Is the onboard account shown on the tv on the Rhapsody? I never read about that anywhere while on board. I will check my bill the day before next time but does a towel fee show up then or only on the final bill?

 

Never been on the Rhapsody so don't know for certain. If not available on the cabin TV, I generally check in with Guest Services several times during the cruise as don't like to be surprised the morning of disembarkation.

 

Towel credit should appear after you closed out the towel account as it's all done electronically.

[aussielozzie18]

Never been on the Rhapsody so don't know for certain. If not available on the cabin TV, I generally check in with Guest Services several times during the cruise as don't like to be surprised the morning of disembarkation.

 

Towel credit should appear after you closed out the towel account as it's all done electronically.

 

I did check my account on the 2nd last day but not the last day.

Appreciate your advice.

[wwcruisers]

I did check my account on the 2nd last day but not the last day.

Appreciate your advice.

 

Don't feel bad. Many of us have fastidiously checked our onboard account every day -- only to return home and find an erroneous charge (for a mini-bar item or pool towel) showing up on our credit card. If you follow the advice given you by other posters, a phone call (or two, at the most) to RC should clear the matter up. Glad to hear that you otherwise enjoyed your cruise. Good luck! :cool:

[Brad1185]

They make up the phoney unreturned towel charges after midnight on the last night. I'm surprised they only charged you for one usually it's for two. They will remove the charge. It's sad RCI does this for extra money out of people when all towels have been returned.

[aussielozzie18]

They make up the phoney unreturned towel charges after midnight on the last night. I'm surprised they only charged you for one usually it's for two. They will remove the charge. It's sad RCI does this for extra money out of people when all towels have been returned.

 

Hmm, this is what I was worried about. I was reading CC for a solid 6 months prior to my cruise and there were no posts about the lost towel fee in that time so thats one of the reasons why I posed the question.

[sleepless]

They make up the phoney unreturned towel charges after midnight on the last night. I'm surprised they only charged you for one usually it's for two. They will remove the charge. It's sad RCI does this for extra money out of people when all towels have been returned.

 

 

I can't agree with this statement. I honestly do not think that phoney unreturned towel charges are made up so that RCI can make extra money. Why make such an unkind remark.

 

I don't doubt that there are computer glitches, or perhaps sea pass cards are scanned improperly. Sometimes, people forget to have their card scanned.

[Paulxyz2004]

Is the onboard account shown on the tv on the Rhapsody? I never read about that anywhere while on board. I will check my bill the day before next time but does a towel fee show up then or only on the final bill?

 

It will usually only Show up on the final bill, as up until then you could still return them.

[dixieva]

A simple phone call to RCI and you will get your money back.

 

I had a drink from a bar on my final bill. Didn't notice it until I got back home and was checking my receipts to the bill. I called and they refunded the charge- no problem.

[cruisinfanatic]

Suggest for future cruises that you either check your on board account daily via the TV in the cabin or go to guest services at least the day before disembarkation to review your account. This way there should be time for any discrepancies to be addressed before disembarking the ship.

There is no towel charge until the very end so checking your account all the time will not help

[BonTexasNY]

Although I have read a few complaints on CC about folks being charged for towels they returned, I never encountered anyone on board that had that problem on previous cruises. Let's face it, folks. RCI is not known for their cutting edge and glitch free website so it stands to reason this happens.

 

Saying RCI is charging folks for towels on purpose to garner additional money is just ridiculous, reeks of sour grapes and not worth commenting. Oops, I guess I just did. :D