FCC refunds from Bottomline are legit

[JF - retired RRT]

Envelope one was from a bank and it had a new credit card inside it with my name on it and a welcoming letter thanking me for opening an account for a credit card with an appliance chain located in the South. The account indicated that I had a $5000 credit limit and that there was already $4995 already charged to the account! To make a long story short, I called the bank and told them I never opened the account and got the account closed at that point. Luckily, it was an easy matter to get straightened out and the bank was very helpful in reporting the fraudulent action to the credit reporting agencies. After about a month and a half, my credit history was all straightened when the investigation was completed.

 

Envelope two was from another bank and that bank was a little bit more cautious in their approach to opening a credit account and their letter said that they needed to verify some information that had been given on a credit application that had been given to them. As with the first situation, the bank was located in the South and I had never heard of the bank or made any such credit application. A call to that bank squelched that application and they were very happy that I had called and notified them of the fraudulent application.

 

Needless to say, my wife no longer laughs at my opening of all envelopes addressed to me, regardless of whether I recognize the bank/company/whatever that sent it to me. She now opens all her mail also! ;)

 

Tom

There's a way to prevent anyone opening an account without your knowledge/permission...freeze all 3 credit bureaus. Then when you want to open an account, you have to first unfreeze the relevant credit bureau. Freezing/unfreezing is anywhere from free to $10/account, depending on where you live (state laws vary).

[freetocruise]

For the first time we had refundable OBC from a cruise & after about 6 weeks received our refund check & statement.

 

Included was a notification that after 4/30/16 refunds by check will have a $4 fee assessed. Refunds can be received electronically without any fee: http://www.paymode.com/commissionpayments

 

Also included in bold print is that checks delivered will be valid for 30 days from check issuance date.

 

I'm not giving my personal info for a very rare refund of unused refundable OBC and I don't think that Princess should use a company who charges us a fee to receive our refunds by check. :(

 

Just a quick followup. We often receive checks for refundable OBC after cruises and I was concerned about the upcoming fee for checks. I talked to a rep from PaymodeX/Bottomline and he checked and said it didn't apply to refundable OBC checks to individuals - it is mostly for commission checks. He said, unfortunately, that wording was going out on every check. The 30 day validity appears to be real and it is so stated on the check itself

[Astro Flyer]

Just a quick followup. We often receive checks for refundable OBC after cruises and I was concerned about the upcoming fee for checks. I talked to a rep from PaymodeX/Bottomline and he checked and said it didn't apply to refundable OBC checks to individuals - it is mostly for commission checks. He said, unfortunately, that wording was going out on every check. The 30 day validity appears to be real and it is so stated on the check itself

 

Thanks for researching the fee & expiration date and sharing the info.

[cadburysmom]

Just had to deal with this...

 

On the last day of my recent Regal Princess cruise, there was a line at the passenger services desk of folks asking about refunds. One of the reps made an announcement that all refunds under a certain amount, I think $25 or less, would get a cash refund that day and all others would be refunded to their credit card on file in the next few weeks. When no refund appeared on my credit card, I contacted Princess who mentioned others from my sailing thought the same and that passenger services would be advised.

 

Thank goodness my niece, aka "Queen of the Shredder" had not gotten around to my junk mail yet. ;) Not only did the envelope look like junk mail but included the aforementioned Bottomline Tech/Paymode X policy info and then finally a page that said Princess, easily missed.

 

I agree with others...adding Princess to the outer envelope would help a great deal.

[satxdiver]

Earlier this year we had converted points on our Princess credit card to OBC and we had not spent it all when the cruise ended. We too got the junk mail looking letter that contained the check for the refunded amount. It was a little strange but I open all letters and check the contents finding the refund. Always check all your mail as there could be surprises in there both good (check) and bad (credit card you did not apply for).

[Crzn-Life]

We received an OBC refund from Princess via Bottomline a couple of weeks ago. The envelope had two windows: one with the pay to info, i.e. my name and address and the other with the return address for the sender and this clearly stated from Bottomline for Princess Cruises. No way would the envelope have been mistaken for junk mail. Perhaps the message got to them after enough checks had to be reissued that Princess name should appear on the envelope.

[cadburysmom]

We received an OBC refund from Princess via Bottomline a couple of weeks ago. The envelope had two windows: one with the pay to info, i.e. my name and address and the other with the return address for the sender and this clearly stated from Bottomline for Princess Cruises. No way would the envelope have been mistaken for junk mail. Perhaps the message got to them after enough checks had to be reissued that Princess name should appear on the envelope.

Good to hear. I'm glad they're now including the Princess name.

 

Thanks for posting!

[caribill]

A little asterisk somewhere to remind people not to close their credit cards would solve that problem if the refund was quick.

 

 

o Unless the bank issues you a new card with a different number due to suspected fraud on the old card.

 

o Unless the bank issues you a new card with a different number due to a data breech at the bank or a vendor.

[Colo Cruiser]

o Unless the bank issues you a new card with a different number due to suspected fraud on the old card.

 

o Unless the bank issues you a new card with a different number due to a data breech at the bank or a vendor.

 

 

I am assisting my son following up on an FCC that expired in March of this year. Princess says they sent out a check in April from Bottomline.

Check was never received.

 

As far as the examples you list above we had example #1 happen and the credit still made it back to the original card # that was compromised.