Not charged for onboard account?

[Mom2B&Z]

Wow. I'm the OP. I never said anything out contesting the charges, not paying, or asking for OBC. I don't expect anything. I said I was surprised that months after I took a cruise, part of the payment had not been processed, when said company gave me a bill that had a zero balance upon departure. Yes, I should have realized it was missing from my credit card, but this cruise fell mid-billing cycle, and things sometimes take days to be posted to the account, especially international charges. Yes, I should have checked the next month's statement but I forgot. Heaven forgive me.

I'm seriously wondering why I bother coming to these forums anymore, and the behaviour in this thread illustrates my concerns perfectly.

Rant over.

To those who asked, yes I opted into the foreign currency conversion offer that they make to non-US customers at sign in. I'm assuming this is the source of the error. My main concern is how they will figure out what the exchange rate was on debarkation day, and how I'm going to have to see if I still have a copy of my on board account to ensure the charge is correct.

Perhaps those of us in this situation can continue this discussion and support each other, rather than having others speculate on how we plan on evading the charges.

 

 

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[cruisemainiac]

I look forward to hearing from the CC members who contacted NCL when they noticed their credit card hadn't been charged. Kudos to them.

[hawkeyetlse]

Yes - I just got one too!

Do you know if you were on the same sailing as the OP? Did you also opt for the dynamic currency conversion?

 

If only one sailing was affected, and only passengers who chose DCC, then I guess that's a relatively small number of cases. (I don't think it's ever a good idea to choose currency conversion, but I suppose it depends on your card.) I do think it's crazy that they took 4 months to contact the customers involved, though. I don't think it would cause me any "distress" or if I would require any "support" from this forum or compensation from NCL. It just looks incompetent.

Edited July 26, 2016 by hawkeyetlse

[punkincc]

(I don't think it's ever a good idea to choose currency conversion, but I suppose it depends on your card.) I do think it's crazy that they took 4 months to contact the customers involved, though. I don't think it would cause me any "distress" or if I would require any "support" from this forum or compensation from NCL. It just looks incompetent.

 

 

Having just gone through a Customer Service issue for a recent sailing, along with everyone else on our ship, I can tell you that the ability to talk to and compare notes and progress with others on our sailing was invaluable over the past 4 months it took for NCL to process things.

 

So let those who are actually involved carry on the conversation.

Edited July 26, 2016 by punkincc

[hawkeyetlse]

I'm not trying to stop any conversation here. In fact, unlike some others, all of my posts in this thread have actually addressed the issue at hand…

 

For the OP, it's easy enough for the credit card company (actually the DCC provider) to look up a historical exchange rate for any given day in the past. Then they will adjust that number to whatever they like, to make their profits off you.

 

It doesn't sound like NCL is giving you any further choice in the matter, and you will only discover the exchange rate applied when the charge appears on your card statement.

 

When you get the numbers, it might be interesting to go back to your roll call for this sailing and find out what sorts of exchange rates other Canadians got who did not select dynamic currency conversion.

[karoo]

I didn't opt for the currency conversion option. I wasn't even aware it was available, so unsure why it occurred. I never said I wouldn't pay either. I realise I owe NCL money. I was just unaware it hadn't been paid. NCL seems to know think I'm from Germany anyway so I hope they don't do a conversion from US to Euros, then have my bank convert it to Aus dollars- that would be two lots of conversion fees I would have to pay.

Edited July 27, 2016 by karoo

[hawkeyetlse]

Do you happen to still have the authorization slip that you signed when they ran your card at check-in? The choice of currency should be indicated there. (And the only choices should be the currency of the vendor and the currency of the card account, so euros shouldn't come into it at all.)

 

The problem with currency conversion at the point of sale is that the person running the card often makes the choice for you, in order to save time or they think they're being helpful or because they have instructions to do so. This is annoying, because by the time you notice, if they've made the wrong choice for you, it's usually too late to do anything about it. :mad:

[KeithJenner]

At the risk of upsetting anyone with a rule book as to what we are allowed to talk about or not...

 

I don't think that people have much reason to get too upset about this if it happens to them.

 

For someone to not have noticed that they hadn't been charged, one would assume it was a fairly small amount (as seems to be the case for the OP). Annoying, but unlikely to cause much of a problem.

 

If the amount is large enough to cause some issues then I'd assume that they would have noticed it not being charged so should have at least been aware of the possibility of it getting charged later.

 

I have had occasional charges (not NCL) appear on my bill weeks, or on one occasion, months later. It does happen.

Edited July 27, 2016 by KeithJenner

[DirtyDawg]

....To those who asked' date=' yes I opted into the foreign currency conversion offer that they make to non-US customers at sign in. I'm assuming this is the source of the error. My main concern is how they will figure out what the exchange rate was on debarkation day, and how I'm going to have to see if I still have a copy of my on board account to ensure the charge is correct.

Perhaps those of us in this situation can continue this discussion and support each other, rather than having others speculate on how we plan on evading the charges.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/quote']

 

OP, I hope NCL uses the proper exchange rate from when you cruised and not the current one. It won't make too much of a difference for Canadians as the exchange rate with the U.S. dollar has been fairly flat but the UK cruisers could be in for a big surprise if NCL uses the current exchange vs. the level in March.

Edited July 27, 2016 by DirtyDawg

[sparks1093]

I could forsee people being unhappy. It's the same sentiment running in several threads right now, that being that NCL is awful and we should all stick it to NCL. "NCL made an error, it was their mistake, so I'm going to hold them to it. It's not my fault that their system malfunctioned. I would have paid the charges back then, but now it's months later, and it's not right that they surprise me with this. They need to do the right thing and waive the charges. I am calling my credit card company as we speak to dispute the charges."

 

I think the people that will be unhappy will be the shareholders when they realize that the company went so long before such a major error was discovered.

Edited July 27, 2016 by sparks1093

[SteveH2508]

I think the people that will be unhappy will be the shareholders when they realize that the company went so long before such a major error was discovered.

 

It does raise a few questions about their financial control procedures. Maybe they cut a few too many back office staff who knew what they were doing?

[karoo]

I would now say it was not an error, but another Del Rio price gouge. I have checked my onboard account, I know at the time I did not agree to convert to Aus dollars and someone did explain why to not do it. Maybe an accountant on this forum can explain again why. If I am charged in US dollars, my bank's conversion fees are less than what NCL has charged. I've done all the conversions just now to work out what I should have actually paid. They have also charged me for the first 7 days twice. They left my account open as I did a b2b. I did look back at my statements and I had already paid in US dollars for the first 7 days. I also booked a b2b cruise yesterday through a US PCC and surprise, surprise they have converted it to AUS dollars, once again I've done the Math and I'm definitely paying more than what I booked for. It seems like we are not going to have the choice anymore to pay in US dollars. I've done 27 cruises with NCL and accepted all the changes that have come my way in the last few years, but this is definitely the straw for me that has broken the camel's back. What I have now paid for my next cruise isn't competitive anymore. I will contact my PCC to see if he can change it back so that I can pay what I booked for. I doubt it. Yes -I'm sure it will make the shareholders happy-more money earned by the company, but I'm not a shareholder. Basically I feel ripped off! :mad::mad:

[elruth]

I think I would notice that my credit card bill didn't have any NCL expenses on it. ( for 4 mo. after a cruise ) Even paying the daily charge for 2 people in a cabin can add up unless you paid ahead of time. We always have a fairly substantial final bill to pay since we put gambling charges on it. Hopefully the OP didn't have a HUGE bill but on the other hand, if it was a large bill he ( she ) would probably wonder why they weren't charged.

 

A few years ago, I had a test done at the hospital. A year + later, they informed me that they had failed to charge me so I had to pay them well over $1000.00. That did bother me as I thought it was paid already by my insurance.

[karoo]

Well - I didn't notice as I did 4 cruises. 3&4 I was informed would be put together. It was only for number 4 I was asked - did I want to pay in Aus dollars to which I replied no. So I was originally charged in US dollars, now Aus dollars. I've checked with my PCC today and my original invoice of a cruise paid in full 2 days ago was in US dollars for some unknown reason they've added on an extra $500. In other words the charges don't match the invoice. I've been to the bank today and basically they've said I've been scammed. How to sort it all out I don't know.

[hawkeyetlse]

It sounds like you are currently seeing a bunch of different charges from NCL on your card (the onboard folio charge from March 2016, which is the topic of this thread, and the payments for your most recent bookings), so make sure you know exactly what each one corresponds to before accusing them of scamming you.

 

Also keep in mind that an incorrect charge can also be a mistake, and not automatically a scam (taking someone's card info and charging unauthorized amounts to it is about the stupidest scam a merchant could attempt). If your bank sincerely believed you had been scammed, they would not have just sent you on your way, they would have initiated anti-fraud measures to protect themselves. I assume what they actually said was to contact the merchant in question to try to figure things out.

 

Unless you are willing to post a lot of personal details about your bookings and onboard spending, no one here is going to be able to give you any help sorting through all your numbers.

[sparks1093]

It sounds like you are currently seeing a bunch of different charges from NCL on your card (the onboard folio charge from March 2016, which is the topic of this thread, and the payments for your most recent bookings), so make sure you know exactly what each one corresponds to before accusing them of scamming you.

 

Also keep in mind that an incorrect charge can also be a mistake, and not automatically a scam (taking someone's card info and charging unauthorized amounts to it is about the stupidest scam a merchant could attempt). If your bank sincerely believed you had been scammed, they would not have just sent you on your way, they would have initiated anti-fraud measures to protect themselves. I assume what they actually said was to contact the merchant in question to try to figure things out.

 

Unless you are willing to post a lot of personal details about your bookings and onboard spending, no one here is going to be able to give you any help sorting through all your numbers.

 

All true but if NCL is charging passengers in a currency they haven't chosen then that isn't right (and I do applaud NCL for giving passengers a choice but only if they truly have a choice).

 

karoo I hope that you are able to get this sorted quickly.

[karoo]

I have three separate charges. One for my onboard account, one for the first 7 day cruise, one for the second 7 day cruise. All put on yesterday. None of these charges align with the accounts/ invoices I have. The bank offered to withdraw the cruise charges and the second onboard account bill, but that would cancel the cruises and I've already booked flights, hotels activities. I'm just unlucky that I booked the cruises a few hours prior to them stuffing up my onboard account bill. Why they've overcharged me for my two cruises I have no idea. I'm hoping my PCC can sort it out, but I haven't heard back.

Edited July 28, 2016 by karoo

[wdsted]

Kind of hard to believe that those who weren't charged for onboard costs after their cruise didn't notice that. Not that I'm suggesting they should have chased this down with NCL. time to pay the piper.

 

 

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[karoo]

Kind of hard to believe that those who weren't charged for onboard costs after their cruise didn't notice that. Not that I'm suggesting they should have chased this down with NCL. time to pay the piper.

 

 

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Yes, but I was charged, obviously not the full amount. I only had gratuities anyway and two cruise credits as I had the beverage package and didn't spend anything onboard and they were the only things on my bill. I have now been charged an additional $900 I didn't notice as I have lots of accounts due to owning several properties. When I get my CC Monthly statement I usually just quickly scan down to make sure there are no amounts that I'm unaware of. I don't remember every charge I've paid for that month. I was also away for two months in Europe and did 4 cruises during that time. It was just the last cruise where they've changed the system over. I've also booked through the US office/PCC yesterday morning, but just today I've been blocked from that site and can't login. That happened overnight. I am also receiving the NCL emails in German, since I've come back, so why that has happened I'm unsure. Their ICT department is certainly stuffing up. Particularly as none of their new charges match my invoices.

Edited July 28, 2016 by karoo

[hawkeyetlse]

Kind of hard to believe that those who weren't charged for onboard costs after their cruise didn't notice that.

I don't know how many people are affected by this, but surely more than just the 2 we've heard from in this thread. Some of them must have noticed they weren't charged, some of those people maybe called NCL to ask what was going on, most of them probably kept their fingers crossed and their mouths shut.

[karoo]

My PC has contacted me. He definitely charged me what was in the invoice. He had been in touch with his supervisors and they don't know why I've been charged so much. Been to bank and invoices don't match with amount billed to them. I think the mistake is in their new 'Dynamic Currency Conversion' system. The suggestion by bank - get them to reverse charges and charge in US - don't let their Undynamic ( as I'm now calling it ) Conversion System do it. My poor PCC is still trying to find out what he can do. Accounts were no help. They assured him they'd charged in US.

[hawkeyetlse]

karoo, thanks for keeping us in the loop. If they are having issues with charging foreign credit cards correctly, that's going to affect a lot of people…

[karoo]

So do I - I understand mistakes are made, but if a company can't fix their mistakes that's when they are a fail. I'm sure I'll enjoy my cruise as I always do - even if it's cost me over $1000 more [emoji19] I think I'll be using cash onboard - won't let them near my credit card. But I'll never have the confidence again to book another cruise with NCL. As it is they've already got another $250 US from me as I have been charged for the first 7 days twice. So all up I'm around $1300 out of pocket.

[karoo]

I am feeling a little better this morning. My son who is an IT program developer said there's been a double conversion. Either a fault with the program, or a scam, but I believe it's the former. I also rang my bank/phone service who were more helpful than my local branch yesterday. They also said there's been a double currency conversion. As the charges are still pending they will see if it's sorted out once they're not pending. If it isn't sorted by then, they will try and sort it out from this end. So hopefully it will turn out. I don't mind paying money I owe, but to overpay- not happy about that. However I think I'll still pay my onboard account using cash until the 'Undynamic Conversion System' sorts it's glitches out.

[Mom2B&Z]

I am feeling a little better this morning. My son who is an IT program developer said there's been a double conversion. Either a fault with the program, or a scam, but I believe it's the former. I also rang my bank/phone service who were more helpful than my local branch yesterday. They also said there's been a double currency conversion. As the charges are still pending they will see if it's sorted out once they're not pending. If it isn't sorted by then, they will try and sort it out from this end. So hopefully it will turn out. I don't mind paying money I owe, but to overpay- not happy about that. However I think I'll still pay my onboard account using cash until the 'Undynamic Conversion System' sorts it's glitches out.

 

 

 

Wow, what a mess!

I still haven't seen a charge on my cc for the on board account, but your experience makes me nervous that I don't have a copy of the final account balance.

We don't have any cruises booked with NCL right now, but we normally use a Canadian TA who charges us in Canadian dollars. No conversion involved in the charges, which simplifies matters greatly. I've always watched the advertised price (in USD) and the price I'm being charged carefully, your experience makes me glad I do!

 

 

 

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