Suspicious Mini-bar charges

[Moo Cow]

We had this minibar fake charge on two of our four RCI cruises: 11-20-2016 on the Anthem and 2-11-2017 on the Harmony. The latter, we never had ship-provided bottled water present in our room to start with.:(:(

[Moo Cow]

We received fake mini bar charges on 11-20-16 on Anthem and 2-11-17 on Harmony. We will hold this grudge against RCI in picking our next cruises, about four times a year.

[Moo Cow]

We were hit twice so far. Will disfavor RCI in the future.

[txcruserServiceDogMom]

This just happened to me on 3/3/17. Same amount, same items on Majesty of the Seas. When I called RC they advised there is a "process" to get my money back, it takes 5 to 7 business days. -- I won't vent further. I was more than a little upset. The statement given to me at 6:15 AM showed a credit balance. 9:15 AM I leave my stateroom with both bottles of water still there. Midnight upon my return home I find they have been charged to my debit card.

[beachgoddess]

Happens in Carnival too. Last year they charged me for drinks at midnight in the Library Bar, or whatever bar it was. Never stepped foot in the bar they referred to. Guest services wouldn't refund our money til they checked with the waiter. WTH??!! The next day they refunded the charge. I don't know how they could mix up my card with someone else's card.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

[zebra36]

Had this happen also but what galls me is that after speaking with a rep at RCI she said "as a courtesy" they would reverse the charge. Courtesy my foot, charge should never have been made in the first place.

[grapau27]

Had this happen also but what galls me is that after speaking with a rep at RCI she said "as a courtesy" they would reverse the charge. Courtesy my foot, charge should never have been made in the first place.

In UK it is a premium telephone number to ring which often costs more than the overcharge so myself and probably many more don't bother ringing.Maybe if we all get the cabin steward to sign a paper saying drinks are left might discourage this practice as there seems to be some sort of racket going on and the cases reported are just the tip of the iceberg.

 

 

love sailing with RCCL

[island lady]

That scam has been going on for some time now. And I guarantee you that RCI knows all about it. Not that they implement it....could be the crew members trying to adjust shortages (hoping you won't notice or won't bother to deal with it) or simply other passengers or crew walking into your now vacated and open cabin to help themselves.

 

Has happened to me many times, and each time I call CS to have it refunded, reminding them that this has been happening far too many times, and I am certainly not the only one.

 

I was thrilled to see the new policy of not filling the mini bar now, except why leave those bottles in there? If you are dying of thirst, you can ask the cabin attendant to keep fresh glasses and ice in your cabin for free. I guess it was a last ditch attempt to keep the scam going somehow. :mad:

 

When I left Serenade last month, I put a note in the fridge next to the bottles that were untouched in there. "Did not use these, never touched them, please....no mysterious charges after I leave". And there wasn't. ;)

[Cruiser-M]

That scam has been going on for some time now. And I guarantee you that RCI knows all about it. Not that they implement it....could be the crew members trying to adjust shortages (hoping you won't notice or won't bother to deal with it) or simply other passengers or crew walking into your now vacated and open cabin to help themselves.

 

Has happened to me many times, and each time I call CS to have it refunded, reminding them that this has been happening far too many times, and I am certainly not the only one.

 

I was thrilled to see the new policy of not filling the mini bar now, except why leave those bottles in there? If you are dying of thirst, you can ask the cabin attendant to keep fresh glasses and ice in your cabin for free. I guess it was a last ditch attempt to keep the scam going somehow. :mad:

 

When I left Serenade last month, I put a note in the fridge next to the bottles that were untouched in there. "Did not use these, never touched them, please....no mysterious charges after I leave". And there wasn't. ;)

I like that idea, I'm going to leave a note also and see what happens! We were charged for water once during the cruise, talked to GS twice and said they would reverse the charges and never did.

[grapau27]

Great idea,which brings me back to a post on tipping when I said we always tip cabin steward on top of prepaid gratuities because they are in close contact all cruise with your personal items and if there are scams hopefully our cabin steward will vouch for us that we were kind to him and have a word with room service not to scam us.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[island lady]

Trouble is....if it is indeed the crew or other passengers taking the water out of your cabin

when you leave....the DH reminded me they will just laugh at the note. :o:rolleyes:

 

But if it is the mini bar crew checking....maybe they will think twice....maybe. ;p

 

Still going to keep leaving that note until these scam charges stop totally anyway. ;)

[txcruserServiceDogMom]

Maybe you should actually read the thread before you respond. I got off Oasis 5 Feb 2017 (less than two weeks ago) and was charged an after-disembarkation mini-bar charge, so how is it a non-issue now?

 

It is true that the fridge is no longer stocked with soft drinks, etc, but there are two 1 liter bottles of Evian on the desk that despite being untouched are resulting in many "mini-bar charges".

 

This happened to me last week on RCI "Majesty of the Seas." Two bottles on desk when I checked in and on desk when I left. Charged $12.32. Refunded BUT-- It is taking 7 business days to get my $ back! NOT A NON-ISSUE as far as I am concerned. It was a good way to ruin the cruise.

[grapau27]

True.In our JS on Vision out of Dubai the two 1 litre bottles were on the small drawers between the front and bathroom doors so they could easily be taken but we didn't leave cabin until 8.30 when most people were off,fortunately we were not charged.Maybe we need to tell cabin steward on the first day to take the bottles away or go to GS on the last night with a photo of the bottles or even the bottles themselves and tell them about this thread and tell them we do not want to be charged for them.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[island lady]

As I mentioned. This has, unfortunately been going on for years. It was always a bottle of soda that showed up for me with this scam. Now all they have left is the bottles of water to charge you "mistakenly"....for whatever caused it. Theft...extra bucks to be made by someone...inventory adjustment..."honest" mistakes, but the charges are happening way too often for honest mistakes. :(

 

What needs to be done....is eliminate those bottles of water along with the rest of the stuff. Done deal. Situation solved. Then if you really feel the need for those 6 buck bottles of Evian (which I don't like anyway) you can ask for them on the mini bar request form...like all the rest of the items.

 

Come on RCI...get real. :mad:

[txcruserServiceDogMom]

Good ideas. I wish they would ask people if they want a mini bar in the first place. I had no need for one and would be glad to remove any doubt that I did not take items from it.-- There were only 2 bottles of water there. I don't see the point anyway, you could easily ask for water if you want it. This was my first cruise and the whole attitude when I talked to RCI by phone has left me with a bad feeling towards them.-- "Oh well it's the process." I see other cruise lines have done the same.

[Husney]

We have had these charges twice show up. One time they were removed;this last time I made at least three calls to have the charges removed and nothing was done. Gave up, my time more valuable than the $9 charge. But if done fleet wide this would amount to quite a bit of revenue. They should completely do away with the mini bar and just have the empty fridge for people to use as they like.

[island lady]

We have had these charges twice show up. One time they were removed;this last time I made at least three calls to have the charges removed and nothing was done. Gave up, my time more valuable than the $9 charge. But if done fleet wide this would amount to quite a bit of revenue. They should completely do away with the mini bar and just have the empty fridge for people to use as they like.

 

 

Totally agree!! If they want to eliminate the mini bar, as they have for the most part...eliminate it all!! Why hang on to offering two overpriced bottles of water?

 

Last ditch attempt for "mysterious charges". :mad:

 

So many pax getting these nefarious charges, it puts some bad light on RCI here on CC especially.

 

Save money RCI...take the fridges out completely. Use that space for much needed storage, and getting rid of the cost of the fridges, and the maintenance on them totally?

[grapau27]

We have had these charges twice show up. One time they were removed;this last time I made at least three calls to have the charges removed and nothing was done. Gave up, my time more valuable than the $9 charge. But if done fleet wide this would amount to quite a bit of revenue. They should completely do away with the mini bar and just have the empty fridge for people to use as they like.

I agree totally. We ordered a pack of 6 sparklingly water to put in the fridge and had a coffee maker and kettle in our JS so no need for 2 one litre bottles of water so now question why they are there.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[Thetrail]

My toll free call to get the charge reversed COST me 20 minutes of my life. Other than as a protest against this continual crap screwing me and lots of other customers, getting back $6.16 which never should have been charged in the first place is not worth 20 minutes of my life. Damn right it costs me and other passengers.

Wow, glad you don't ever have real issues!

[grapau27]

It is a 50p a minute 0844 call in the UK not toll free and usually you are on the phone around 10 minutes costing £5 or about $6 to get $5-6 dollars back

 

love sailing with RCCL

[baileybrad]

Sincerely sorry for all those that have had to deal with this inconvenience after their cruises. It does smack of a way for RCCL to dip into one's pocket in a somewhat nefarious way; that or just plain incompetence.

 

My gripe about the mini-fridges is that I wish the dang things would actually provide some cold air. It would be nice to stick a couple of milks in there to have at night. In the past when we have done so the darn things soured because of the lack of coldness. I just head up to the coffee shop and grab a carton but would prefer to have the darn thing actually produce some cold air.

[grapau27]

My milk left from breakfast keeps nice and cold.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[Kdiamond55]

My two theories:

 

Sinister Theory

Some evil genius in their IT department got baked one night watching "Office Space" and coded something into the system to add these extra charges in a pseudo random manner and funnel the funds to their Swiss account. He is currently sitting next to Milton on a beach, both sipping Mai Tais.

 

Innocent Theory

With the mini bars being emptied, their IT department was supposed to code:

If Room Steward records bottled water consumed

Charge

Else

No Charge

End If

 

But instead he coded or was given a spec that said to code:

If Room Steward records bottled water not consumed

No Charge

Else

Charge

End If

And no one told the room stewards they have to specifically list the water as still there and officially report it as still there.

 

I love the Office Space theory. I'm rolling with it.

 

But in all seriousness, I bet it is more of a mistake by the overworked stewards than an evil conspiracy to extract more money from unsuspecting consumers. I always order a case of waters to the room, but I've definitely utilized those extras in the past - I'd bet if they stopped putting them in there everyone would complain about that.

[MrsP_29]

We st pay enough to get a room with a mini-frig. Last cruise the room steward brought us ice at night to keep night's milk cold. And we learned that you can get milk at any time by asking. Frig would be nice but saving money is nicer.

Sincerely sorry for all those that have had to deal with this inconvenience after their cruises. It does smack of a way for RCCL to dip into one's pocket in a somewhat nefarious way; that or just plain incompetence.

 

My gripe about the mini-fridges is that I wish the dang things would actually provide some cold air. It would be nice to stick a couple of milks in there to have at night. In the past when we have done so the darn things soured because of the lack of coldness. I just head up to the coffee shop and grab a carton but would prefer to have the darn thing actually produce some cold air.

[grapau27]

We st pay enough to get a room with a mini-frig. Last cruise the room steward brought us ice at night to keep night's milk cold. And we learned that you can get milk at any time by asking. Frig would be nice but saving money is nicer.

You would soon complain if there was no fridge,I like NY drinks kept cold.

 

love sailing with RCCL