Devastated! Lost my cabin (mini suite) and UBP/UDP

[smartpeach]

Background: We are a family of 4, with 2 kids (ages 11 and 8). We normally prefer to get 2 connecting balcony cabins when cruising. But with the current promo of 3rd and 4th half price, we've decided to just get a minisuite instead.

 

So I managed to nab the last minisuite on NCL Epic Mediteranean cruise from Rome last Friday, Feb. 28. It was also the last day where you have have 2 choices (not one) of UBP, UDP or OBC.. We went with UBP and UDP. Everything was fine. My TA sent my confirmation/invoice and The booking showed up on my NCL online.

 

Coincidentally, last Friday was also the Final Payment for a family reunion cruise in May. Since I'm deemed as the family cruise expert, I made all the reservations for 6 cabins and everything is charged to my card. Long story short, my card was blocked because of too many transactions all at once. Visa thought it was protecting me from identity theft. Anyway, we fixed the problem and I gave my agent a new card. I also told them to use this new card for my Final Payment for my Epic cruise since the old card that was used for down payment didn't work.

 

All along, because it was charged earlier in the day I assumed that my payment for the NCL Epic went through. I did get a confirmation invoice and the cruise was on my account on NCL.com

 

Then I got the call from my TA yesterday, 4 days after I've booked. My payment did not go through some time during the weekend. NCL cancelled my reservation without calling me or giving me the chance to offer a new card. I lost the last of the mini suite, they now only have balconies available. More importantly, since the old promo is no longer available, I only have a choice of 1: UBP or UDP. Also, it used to cover all 4 of us in the cabin. Now we can only have it for 2.

 

I am livid. Why couldn't they hold the cabin until I could give them a new card? My TA had an alternate card, why didn't they use that one instead?

 

My TA is now trying to talk with NCL to give us our perks back. But after 24 hours, they haven't anything from NCL and there no guarantees. Regardless, we've already lost the cabin that we really like.

[DMH15]

I am sorry this has happened and I have my fingers crossed that something works out for you.

[HokiePoq]

Visa should have called you, too.

I am sorry this happened to you....it is a bummer.

I hope your TA can get the perks restored. If the TA handled the bookings for all those cruises on your card, there should be motivation to solve the problem for such a good customer.

If it's any comfort, the mini-suites are only a slightly bigger balcony (no perks). The minisuite we had once would not have been too much help for two extra people....but that was on the Jade. The Epic balconies are pretty small. We had one of those.

[DevCruise]

I wonder if NCL tried to call the TA over the weekend and the system auto-cancelled for no payment....:confused:

 

Hope you get it worked out.....

Edited March 5, 2015 by DevCruise

[Out to sea!]

Sorry for what happened but if I were going to try and pay for that many cabins at one time I would have forewarned the credit card company so that there would not have been an issue to begin with. Again, sorry you lost your cabin.

[Markanddonna]

I'm really sorry that happened to you. A valuable lesson learned for all of us! Please let us know if you get that mini suite and goodies.

[JohnIreland]

I wonder if NCL tried to call the TA over the weekend and the system auto-cancelled for no payment....:confused:

 

Hope you get it worked out.....

 

That sounds correct to me. NCL want their money.

[johnsak123]

Sorry for your troubles

Did you get a confirmation invoice that said paid in full or a confirmation invoice for the trip. If the confirmation said paid in full then NCL is at fault. If not I think your TA made the error

Every time i have booked with NCL and called to pay they always run my credit card while I am on the phone to make sure it went thru.

They should have done this for the TA as well. It was the TA responsibility to make sure the payment went thru. Especially since there was suck a time sensitive issue.

I hope NCL comes thru but they usually don't bend any of their rules

[conandrob240]

Your TA is the only one at fault. She would have received email notification about the past due payment and it would not have cancelled immediately ( there is 24-48 grace period). Also, if she had been on the phone escalating with NCL, they would have reinstated it for you at her insistence.

[hawkeyetlse]

Did you get a confirmation invoice that said paid in full or a confirmation invoice for the trip. If the confirmation said paid in full then NCL is at fault. If not I think your TA made the error

Every time i have booked with NCL and called to pay they always run my credit card while I am on the phone to make sure it went thru.

If I understand correctly they only put a deposit on the Epic mini-suite, and the credit card transaction went through successfully. But that payment was cancelled by Visa after the fact.

 

Sounds like there was incomplete communication between the OP and Visa. It should have been made clear exactly which transactions had been cancelled so that the OP could take steps to contact all the merchants. Under these circumstances, the "confirmation invoice" from NCL or the TA isn't worth much, since subsequent events prevented NCL from actually receiving the money.

[LrgPizza]

It also sounds to me like a TA issue. That sucks though!

[titangas]

While everyone is saying TA issue, I do not think that is the main or only issue.

The bigger one is the cc company going back cancelling a preciously accepted charge. We know it was accepted because the cruise showed up on the myNCL account.

 

Not to sound unsympathetic, because I really am, but there is a valuable lesson to be learned here.

 

You need to notify CC companies in advance when you are make large out of the ordinary purchases, especially if there will multiple to the same vendor. It just will throw up way too many red flags.

 

It sucks but it is for the protection of not only themselves but their cardholders.

[conandrob240]

The TA would have received an email confirming the charge, she also should have checked the invoice to show paid and sent to the client. If the payment didn't go through, she would have received a notice from NCL that payment was past due. Sounds like this happened on a Fri, TA was off and didn't bother to check until she returned to work Mon or Tues. she dropped the ball big time.

[garycarla]

Sorry for what happened but if I were going to try and pay for that many cabins at one time I would have forewarned the credit card company so that there would not have been an issue to begin with. Again, sorry you lost your cabin.

 

 

We put all our personal and business expenses on a multitude of credit cards.

 

I have never called to say I am going to spend money.

I have never called to say we are out of the country.

[johnsak123]

I don't think the CC company would cancel the charge after they approved it

If that is what happened that doesn't sound correct

Whatever happened it is a shame they lost the cabin

I hope it all works out

[Paddy41]

To reiterate what another poster said, the mini suite is really not much bigger than a balcony cabin. I can understand your frustration however.

[TrumpyNor]

Isn't the credit card company also to blame in this case? They should have contacted you before they cancelled the transactions! But I agree with those who say that your TA is at fault as well - I find it unlikely that NCL didn't contact them when they didn't get their money....

 

I sincerely hope this works out for you, in your favor!

Edited March 6, 2015 by TrumpyNor

[maywell]

Isn't this situation similar to another thread where the person had the confirmation and credit card approval while waiting at the airport but when they got to the port, NCL didn't have the reservation and the credit card company refunded/ credit them back? If anything, at least 1) you were at home when it happen and your way to the port, 2) your travel agent at least told you beforehand and is trying to fix it, 3) at least NCL is trying to work with you regarding what happen.

 

 

I think the credit card company declined the charge because it was unusual or outside of your normal spending habits; i.e: You normally charge $500 or under for stuff per day or week close to home in NH / or online to Amazon and this charge was like $3,000 in Miami; that would automatic raise their red flags thinking someone stolen your CC numbers. Simple telephone call to them after making the charge could had resolved it; but I also agree that NCL or your travel agent had the entire weekend to tell you what happen. Crummy that happen to you, but at least you have the comfort of getting it resolve before heading to the ship.

[4774Papa]

Another reason I don't use TAs.

[KeithJenner]

I don't think the CC company would cancel the charge after they approved it

If that is what happened that doesn't sound correct

 

If a CC company believes that a charge is fraudulent then yes, they can cancel a charge after approving it.

 

In my experience my credit card company has always contacted me to verify the charges before doing so, but if they had been unable to contact me within a certain amount of time then I'm sure they would have cancelled the charges.

 

Whether the OP's CC company tried to contact them is unknown, but I'd be disappointed if mine reversed a previously approved charge without trying to contact me first.

[4774Papa]

If a CC company believes that a charge is fraudulent then yes, they can cancel a charge after approving it.

 

In my experience my credit card company has always contacted me to verify the charges before doing so, but if they had been unable to contact me within a certain amount of time then I'm sure they would have cancelled the charges.

 

Whether the OP's CC company tried to contact them is unknown, but I'd be disappointed if mine reversed a previously approved charge without trying to contact me first.

I have had charges denied by credit cards, particularly online charges for overseas tours. I was contacted by email, but not immediately.

[Demonyte]

I have had charges denied by credit cards, particularly online charges for overseas tours. I was contacted by email, but not immediately.

 

 

Charge being denied/rejected and charge being cancelled by the CC company are two very different things,

[Markanddonna]

I recall in making my current booking directly with NCL that they kept me online until they received confirmation that the billing went through with the credit card and then immediately sent me the confirmation right away. I will make sure that happens for sure from now on.

[KeithJenner]

I recall in making my current booking directly with NCL that they kept me online until they received confirmation that the billing went through with the credit card and then immediately sent me the confirmation right away. I will make sure that happens for sure from now on.

 

If I understand the OP correctly then this wouldn't help. The CC company rejected the payment after it had previously been approved, so they could still have received a confirmation.

Edited March 6, 2015 by KeithJenner

[smartpeach]

Clarification: My bank was informed of the upcoming charges to my visa. In fact, we even deposited thousands of dollars in advance, just to make sure all the final payments for our family reunion cruise (Princess Cruise) goes through. The bank messed up. There was a whole drama and the story is for another thread.

 

The issue is that I was not informed immediately about the cancellation to my NCL deposit. I was given an invoice and the cruise showed up on myNCL account. I was assured that my reservation was fine. At least, I should have been given the oppurtuity to give an alternate card. When the final payment for the family reunion Princess cruise was denied, I was emailed within minutes.

 

It's just a series of unfortunate events. As of now, my TA is still waiting to hear from NCL. I'm giving the oppurtunity for my TA to make this right. I've given them a lot of business over the years. I hope that this alone will give them the proper motivation to keep my business.

Edited March 6, 2015 by smartpeach