Overpayment Still Not Refunded...

[Cruiser Bruiser]

I just enjoyed my first Princess cruise, a quick 4-nighter on Crown to Catalina (:D) and Ensenada (:eek:). We ended up having an overpayment of $190 on our booking prior to sailing, and I had just assumed that the credit would be used to offset our onboard spending. Nope, we were charged in full. That's fine. However, when I called Princess the day after we debarked, the agent noted that yes, we had an overpayment of $190 (he even emailed to me another confirmation showing the credit) and that it would be refunded back to my credit card in 3-4 business days.

 

Well, it's been two business days, and still no credit. I'm holding my breath and getting more anxious by the day. As you can see by my signature, I mostly sail with Norwegian. With Norwegian, if a price drops and a booking will have an overpayment, Norwegian credits the money back to the card immediately. I don't understand why Princess does not do the same.

 

I have booked another cruise on Princess, albeit a one-night on Ruby in September. But frankly, I'm discouraged by the Princess back-of-house operation. Has a more frequent Princess cruiser had the same experience with overpayments? Thanks for any thoughts you might share.

[icat2000]

I just enjoyed my first Princess cruise, a quick 4-nighter on Crown to Catalina (:D) and Ensenada (:eek:). We ended up having an overpayment of $190 on our booking prior to sailing, and I had just assumed that the credit would be used to offset our onboard spending. Nope, we were charged in full. That's fine. However, when I called Princess the day after we debarked, the agent noted that yes, we had an overpayment of $190 (he even emailed to me another confirmation showing the credit) and that it would be refunded back to my credit card in 3-4 business days.

 

Well, it's been two business days, and still no credit. I'm holding my breath and getting more anxious by the day. As you can see by my signature, I mostly sail with Norwegian. With Norwegian, if a price drops and a booking will have an overpayment, Norwegian credits the money back to the card immediately. I don't understand why Princess does not do the same.

 

I have booked another cruise on Princess, albeit a one-night on Ruby in September. But frankly, I'm discouraged by the Princess back-of-house operation. Has a more frequent Princess cruiser had the same experience with overpayments? Thanks for any thoughts you might share.

 

Okay they say about 3-4 business days refund and after 2 business days your getting upset? At least give them the time that they said. Every company has different processes.

Edited February 10, 2015 by icat2000

[Working 2 Cruise]

Agree with poster above. It takes at least 3 to 4 business days, which Princess clearly stated. It also depends on your bank. You're jumping the gun... a little patience goes a long way.

[cherylandtk]

Princess will refund in three to four business days; your own bank is another matter entirely. Some post the pending credit which can be viewed online almost immediately. Others take nearly a full billing cycle to post the credit.

 

Assuming your bank is one where you were able to see your Norwegian credit refunds immediately, you will no doubt see the Princess refund just as soon as it is put through.

Edited February 10, 2015 by cherylandtk

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Agree with poster above. It takes at least 3 to 4 business days, which Princess clearly stated. It also depends on your bank. You're jumping the gun... a little patience goes a long way.

 

I understand this in principle, however it isn't my bank, as credits from Norwegian always post as pending transactions within minutes. I also think the "We'll give you your money when we feel like it." attitude is a particularly poor practice on Princess' part.

 

I suppose I'm particularly anxious because I had a credit of a couple hundred dollars on my now-past booking for several weeks. I became aware of it when I accepted an upsell offer and the agent indicated no payment was due for the upsell because of the credit. That's where I made the assumption that Princess had been keeping my money for weeks because it would be used against my onboard expenses. Obviously that didn't happen.

 

So is Princess refunding my money only because I asked for it? Or, does Princess routinely keep credits prior to sailing regardless of the time period involved and only return them after the cruise is over? If the latter is the case, I wonder at the rationale for keeping people's money for significant periods of time. I'm really just trying to understand what I should expect from Princess if and when I do business with them in the future. (Especially given that Norwegian's booking and accounting system is so much more responsive to me with my money.)

Edited February 10, 2015 by Cruiser Bruiser

[RDC1]

I understand this in principle, however it isn't my bank, as credits from Norwegian always post as pending transactions within minutes. I also think the "We'll give you your money when we feel like it." attitude is a particularly poor practice on Princess' part.

 

I suppose I'm particularly anxious because I had a credit of a couple hundred dollars on my now-past booking for several weeks. I became aware of it when I accepted an upsell offer and the agent indicated no payment was due for the upsell because of the credit. That's where I made the assumption that Princess had been keeping my money for weeks because it would be used against my onboard expenses. Obviously that didn't happen.

 

So is Princess refunding my money only because I asked for it? Or, does Princess routinely keep credits prior to sailing regardless of the time period involved and only return them after the cruise is over? If the latter is the case, I wonder at the rationale for keeping people's money for significant periods of time. I'm really just trying to understand what I should expect from Princess if and when I do business with them in the future. (Especially given that Norwegian's booking and accounting system is so much more responsive to me with my money.)

 

Is that the same Norwegian booking system that merged my booking information (in California), with someone in the UK. That still sends me NCL offers in British Pounds. The same booking system that charged my credit card three times for one cruise.

 

You do know that if you had asked for it back sooner you would have gotten back sooner. The reason Princess does it this way is because often people buy things for the cruise prior to the cruise which will get added to the invoice. You could have called them and used it to buy OBC for example. When you still have a balance after the cruise they process and refund it.

[CI66774]

OP - you're jumping the gun. Princess said 3 to 4 business days - it's only been two. Relax and give it two more days. Life is too short. :p

[Working 2 Cruise]

It's obvious that OP much prefers Norwegian... just because you've never had a problem with Norwegian, it doesn't mean it won't...I've never had a problem getting a refund from Princess ever. The refund will be made. If it isn't there within the next 2 days, I would call the bank. Banks also deal with different vendors differently...

[Thrak]

Just pretend you're still on the cruise and relax. :) They will refund the money.

 

 

It was a good cruise (aside from the idiotic boarding mess in LA).

[benjoon]

We have been waiting since December 29th 2024 for a very large refund from Royal Caribbean. I mean a very large amount.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Just pretend you're still on the cruise and relax. :) They will refund the money.

 

It was a good cruise (aside from the idiotic boarding mess in LA).

 

It was a really nice cruise, Thrak. :) We had a low upsell to a balcony, so that was a nice surprise for my dad. We had a superb dinner in Crown Grill, from which we could barely walk away. :rolleyes: We both loved the pub lunch, too. I couldn't decide between the bangers and mash and the steak and kidney pie, so the server just brought me both. I also really enjoyed International Cafe and the pizza counter on the Lido deck. And our bar tab was over $400; that's why I need the money! :p (But it wasn't enough to justify the all-you-can-drink package.)

 

We caught the Elton John show in the Explorer's Lounge and DISCO in the Princess Theater the last night, and we thought both were great. Catalina was a great port I would go back to many times. And I met some new friends aboard I will be sailing with again on Ruby. Finally, I spent more time with my dad than I have in 30 years, and we had the best time imaginable. So, yeah, lots of pleasant memories.

[bhopal21]

We have been waiting since December 29th 2024 for a very large refund from Royal Caribbean. I mean a very large amount.

 

Wow! Ten years in the future?

 

Mike:)

[Cruiser Bruiser]

We have been waiting since December 29th 2024 for a very large refund from Royal Caribbean. I mean a very large amount.

 

I applaud your patience. I've handled financial transactions my entire working life, so I know we are both simply waiting for someone to conduct the transaction. It's not like we're waiting for some mechanical/technological process to occur. Someone just has to push [Refund]. Good luck with RCI.

[RDC1]

I applaud your patience. I've handled financial transactions my entire working life, so I know we are both simply waiting for someone to conduct the transaction. It's not like we're waiting for some mechanical/technological process to occur. Someone just has to push [Refund]. Good luck with RCI.

 

Having run financial operations in a large company, you might be surprised.

 

There is certainly a process. At a minimum companies tend to batch their financial transactions with banks. It is not like a retail operation where you run an individual credit card transaction. For efficiency and security reasons they group transactions and send them to be processed.

 

Often in the case of refunds their is an approval process, either with automated criteria or manual, in addition to the customer service person initiating the process.

 

I would expect that there is a schedule when they run a process that looks post cruise for credits that need to be refunded. I would not be surprised if that was a weekly or even bi-weekly event.

 

Then you do have whatever schedule their credit card processor uses for processing (even retail firms tell you 3-4 days).

[caribill]

There is certainly a process. At a minimum companies tend to batch their financial transactions with banks. It is not like a retail operation where you run an individual credit card transaction. For efficiency and security reasons they group transactions and send them to be processed.

 

Often in the case of refunds their is an approval process, either with automated criteria or manual, in addition to the customer service person initiating the process.

 

 

Charges from the ship (be they holds or final settlements) are standard and are processed automatically on a daily basis.

 

Refunds from the ship are not processed on ship but must be hand processed at HQ. This is what puts the delay in getting refunds from shipboard accounts. Whether the delay time is reasonable or not is a different question. Some companies are more organized for this than others.

[mellon1]

It was a really nice cruise, Thrak. :) We had a low upsell to a balcony, so that was a nice surprise for my dad. We had a superb dinner in Crown Grill, from which we could barely walk away. :rolleyes: We both loved the pub lunch, too. I couldn't decide between the bangers and mash and the steak and kidney pie, so the server just brought me both. I also really enjoyed International Cafe and the pizza counter on the Lido deck. And our bar tab was over $400; that's why I need the money! :p (But it wasn't enough to justify the all-you-can-drink package.)

 

We caught the Elton John show in the Explorer's Lounge and DISCO in the Princess Theater the last night, and we thought both were great. Catalina was a great port I would go back to many times. And I met some new friends aboard I will be sailing with again on Ruby. Finally, I spent more time with my dad than I have in 30 years, and we had the best time imaginable. So, yeah, lots of pleasant memories.

 

My sister and I cruised with my mom many times. These times are PRICELESS...regardless of the bumps...these are memories no one can take away from you...ever. Be thankful. My mom is gone...yes we had our problems here and there; however, she is gone and I remember all the good thing and the things we can laugh at now. Just my sister and I were looking back and laughing and so thankful

[MicCanberra]

I will come, I would be willing to wait at least 14 days before going into a panic, if you have the confirmation from the TA get them to chase it for you.:D

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Thanks to all the folks who offered friendly advice concerning my original question regarding how Princess processes refunds of overpayments, rather than just telling me I was being impatient.

 

A week after debarking the beautiful Crown Princess, I still haven't received a refund of my overpayment of my cruise fare (not onboard expenses). So I called Princess again this morning. It seems that since I made payments with more than one card, the folks in "revenue control" didn't know what card to use to apply the refund. So they did nothing. Now the refund has been passed from customer service back to revenue control again so that it can be processed in another 3-4 days, I assume.

 

The big reason I asked if folks had experience with this kind of situation is so that I might be more proactive with Princess. In my experience with Norwegian, Princess, and most big organizations, it is especially important to know what should happen. That way we can nudge things along when they don't happen.

 

Perhaps my experience might be informative to anyone who has an overpayment in the future. The big take-away is that you have to tell Princess to apply overpayments to your onboard account if you want it used that way. Also, you have to request the refund if one is due post-trip. Finally, if you use multiple payment vehicles you have to tell Princess what card should be used to accept the refund. It does seem to me that the process could be a bit more elegant.

 

Cheers. :)

Edited February 13, 2015 by Cruiser Bruiser

[birdiebill]

On our November cruise on the Regal, we had some unused OBC. The final statement on board showed a credit balance after deducting on board expenses from on board credits. A note indicated it would be credited back. I did not realize that some OBC is refundable if not used. Our credit card never showed a credit post cruise, so I continued to assume the unused OBC was non-refundable. But about three or four weeks after returning home, we received a check in the mail for the credit balance. Of course, our unused OBC was less than $50, so we were not that concerned.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

On our November cruise on the Regal, we had some unused OBC. The final statement on board showed a credit balance after deducting on board expenses from on board credits. A note indicated it would be credited back. I did not realize that some OBC is refundable if not used. Our credit card never showed a credit post cruise, so I continued to assume the unused OBC was non-refundable. But about three or four weeks after returning home, we received a check in the mail for the credit balance. Of course, our unused OBC was less than $50, so we were not that concerned.

 

Thanks for sharing another piece of the puzzle. Cheers. :)

[CruisinChris]

I just went through getting a refund - a last minute switch of cruises at final payment. We were told 10 business days. At the end of 10 days - albeit through the holidays we still didn't have the refund. A quick chat with a Princess Rep and they prioritized it to Revenue Control. They did say it could be as long as another week because after Princess requests it, the request goes to their processor, then to my card/bank. I had it within 48 hours this second go around. FYI This started in late December and the refund was received in early January.

[cremes]

Wow! Ten years in the future?

 

Mike:)

 

They are Australian, Australia is years ahead of the rest of the world.

[Thrak]

They are Australian, Australia is years ahead of the rest of the world.

 

One word: Vegemite... :eek:

[Cruiser Bruiser]

I'm sure everyone will be very relieved to learn that I received my credit from Princess today, so all is well. :) As I said earlier, the confusion stemmed from my use of both my debit card and a credit card to apply payments pre-cruise. Princess didn't know which card should receive the refund.

 

But it might be useful for other Princess newbies to know that the credit appeared on my credit card account the first business day after the transaction was given to revenue control. So, the process was much faster than the 3-4 business days Princess said it would take, at least in my case.

 

Drama concluded. :rolleyes: The more you know...

Edited February 17, 2015 by Cruiser Bruiser

[CI66774]

I'm sure everyone will be very relieved to learn that I received my credit from Princess today, so all is well. :) As I said earlier, the confusion stemmed from my use of both my debit card and a credit card to apply payments pre-cruise. Princess didn't know which card should receive the refund.

 

But it might be useful for other Princess newbies to know that the credit appeared on my credit card account the first business day after the transaction was given to revenue control. So, the process was much faster than the 3-4 business days Princess said it would take, at least in my case.

 

Drama concluded. :rolleyes: The more you know...

 

Good that everything worked out. Now you can get to work applying that refund to the down payment of another cruise.:D