Payments

[TheGinBoy]

On a similar topic to the OP I'm in discussion with RCI about a payment they tried to take without my authorisation recently...

 

I'm booked on the 2nd October cruise on Explorer OTS. I'm booked through a travel agent (as I always do), and I make all my payments through them, RCI then take the payment from the travel agent. The travel agent doesn't even keep my card details - I have to go through them each time I make a payment (annoying, but better security).

 

Today I got a call from by bank asking me to authorise a £800 ($1230) payment to RCI.

 

I'm sorry, what now? RCI shouldn't have my card details, and even if they did they certainly shouldn't be taking £800 payments without my permission.

 

They're yet to come back to me with an explanation.

[Sharenamichele]

Oh boy do I am not alone. Good thing the bank caught it.

[powelweb]

Wow, I am so sorry you are dealing with this, and hope it gets resolved quicker than expected.

 

I actually had a recent experience with Royal's IT dept that was the opposite - they refunded me too much $$$, and couldn't figure out how to correct it.

 

I had noticed that the refunds for my specialty dining reservations had come through at twice what I was owed, so I called them, and it took the rep a few minutes to understand what I was trying to explain(yes I understand that most people don't care about extra money, but this was messing with the visa points I was trying to cash in for our upcoming cruise), and then she had to transfer me to a supervisor as she couldn't figure out how to correct it.

 

Over a week of calls, I was suggesting to the supervisor to just charge my charge the amount I owe back due to the excess refunds so that I would be even, but he didn't want to do that since he said he didn't know where to put it- I told him to call Miami and find a suspense account for the money until IT resolved the issue.

 

Then finally another rep called me back and was ready to take my credit card info, but couldn't tell me what the problem was.

 

Long story to say, sometimes they take extra, sometimes they give extra :)

[Sharenamichele]

Good news they refunded me within 24 hours! I knew they could do it.

[Clarea]

Good news they refunded me within 24 hours! I knew they could do it.

Excellent!:) You might want to consider a credit card for certain charges.

[Sharenamichele]

Excellent!:) You might want to consider a credit card for certain charges.

 

Definitely will be doing that going forward!

[Paulette3028]

:eek::mad:

This is dreadful!

How can RCI think it's OK not to refund the overpayment immediately?

 

Unfortunately it seems fairly indicative of the level of service from the sales team.

Whilst I love sailing with RCI their booking process is a pain in the proverbial. Non-functioning websites, interminable telephone on-hold periods, insufficiently trained staff, inconsistency of answers etc.

 

END OF RANT :)

 

I can tell you from experience on the 'retailer side' (since I work for a national retailer), we make refunds to debit cards and customers lament that it takes 3-7 days to appear back in their account. We send it through immediately, and we have nothing to do with how fast it reappears in the customers account.

[Sharenamichele]

It was refunded right away.

[Desert Cruizers]

Sharen, wonderful glad you got that one resolved. A year ago, when we moved our daughter to her Aunts room and they were moving her deposit over, not sure what they did, but suddenly there is a credit on a credit card of ours, we stopped using as I changed to a differant card. To top it off, it now showed we had over payed. I went to our TA to have them check on this, as my statement showed we still had a small balance. It turned out I had to repay RCCL the money they had credited. $200 something & change. When I make a payment to the cruise lines, I call our TA who in turn calls the cruise lines to authorize them to charge the payment to my CC I then get a statement from our TA within the week.

[emeraldcity]

Good news they refunded me within 24 hours! I knew they could do it.

 

I'm so glad they resolved this quickly. That was a huge difference and certainly not one that the average person could work around.

[Cuizer2]

what if she doesnt have one?

 

Get one!

Edited May 2, 2015 by Cuizer2

[Cuizer2]

I don't use credit cards. I did call to make a 100 payment. I tried to pay online but due to a glitch in their system for the 50% reduced deposit it will not allow payments under $500.

 

Credit cards provide more protection than debit cards. I strongly recommend that you get a credit card.

[Uri1961]

Is it true that if you use the debit as a VISA if you have that feature, that you have the VISA protection?

[sky0000547]

Definitely will be doing that going forward!

 

I know a lot of people don't like having a credit card. But this is one good example a credit card is a good idea. Glad you got your money back so soon.

 

You will probably find companies like airlines too are quick to take your money but taking weeks to give your money back.

[sky0000547]

Is it true that if you use the debit as a VISA if you have that feature, that you have the VISA protection?

 

You will have some protection from VISA but it might not be as good as a VISA credit card.

 

I never make any purchases using my debit card, I always use a credit card just because of all the protections I get especially for travel tickets. My debit card is only used for ATM withdrawal.

[cincicruisers]

YEA

So happy this was corrected quickly!

[kc320]

So glad to hear you got this resolved!! I cannot imagine the sick feeling you must have had, seeing all your money gone!

[barbiellynn]

Too bad you went through that experience and glad to know it was resolved. I once read a tip for people who don't use credits cards except on very rare occasions - purchase a pre-paid VISA or MC and only load the exact amount of the payment. Yes you will pay a small activation fee upon purchase, but at least the merchant cannot charge more than the amount that is loaded onto the card.

[mightypanzer25]

Usually it takes 3-5 business days

[dacsmom]

I am glad you got it straightened out and they refunded the money. I have a separate account that I use strictly for vacations. It has its own debit card and it has worked well for me in the past.

[Sharenamichele]

I am glad you got it straightened out and they refunded the money. I have a separate account that I use strictly for vacations. It has its own debit card and it has worked well for me in the past.

 

That is another good idea.

[Sharenamichele]

I am very happy it was taken care of quickly!