Debit Card Charged Twice

[Noreen411]

Hi

 

I tried another way of handling this.

 

I set up my American Express pre-cruise as the card on file.

 

During the cruise holds would appear on the American Express.

 

Near the end of the cruise I went to guest services and asked them to charge the balance to my Royal Caribbean Visa, but leave my American Express as the card on file for any final charges.

 

This kept any holds on American Express with just the last day’s charges hitting American Express.  I could have gone back to guest services and asked them to do another charge to my Royal Caribbean Visa but didn’t want to wait on line the last day.

 

This worked well for us and I will probably do this in the future.

 

Noreen

 

 

[Donray]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

I've used a variety of credit cards from a variety of banks over the past six years (and I cruised enough to become Diamond in those six years, so a fair number of cruises), and I have NEVER had a hold on my credit card, I've never been "effectively charged twice", I've never had a hold prevent me from using my account elsewhere.

I think this is much ado about nothing, personally....

 

 

 

[banzaii]

5 hours ago, brillohead said:

I've used a variety of credit cards from a variety of banks over the past six years (and I cruised enough to become Diamond in those six years, so a fair number of cruises), and I have NEVER had a hold on my credit card, I've never been "effectively charged twice", I've never had a hold prevent me from using my account elsewhere.

I think this is much ado about nothing, personally....

 

 

Are your cards issued in Australia?

Edited October 11, 2019 by banzaii

[brillohead]

2 minutes ago, banzaii said:

Are your cars issued in Australia?

No, my comment is regarding all the people who go through multiple steps of changing cards partway through the cruise, taking out cash via ATM in order to pay, etc.... those weren't all Aussies.

[klfrodo]

5 hours ago, brillohead said:

I've used a variety of credit cards from a variety of banks over the past six years (and I cruised enough to become Diamond in those six years, so a fair number of cruises), and I have NEVER had a hold on my credit card, I've never been "effectively charged twice", I've never had a hold prevent me from using my account elsewhere.

I think this is much ado about nothing, personally....

 

 

Contrary to what you may believe, this isn't about you then is it? If the system is working for you then so be it.

 

However, if I look at my account within the first few hours, I will see a "pending" charge which is essentially the "hold" or "pre-authorization" come across. If I look a couple of hours later, my bank has removed it.

 

Now, not all people are as fortunate as you and I. Some have financial institutions who don't do that. Some have secured cards which severely limits the use of the cards available limits. Some have cards with very low limits which also reduces availability. So, just because it doesn't happen to you, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

[banzaii]

8 hours ago, Biker19 said:

If you want to do that, simply buy whatever amount of OBC pre-cruise.

 

8 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Instead of what you describe, just call Royal pre-cruise and add OBC to your account.

Thanks for the helpful suggestions.  This should also allow an opportunity to choose a better exchange rate.

[RKHOOKER]

It’s very obvious the RC business model is geared to cash flow via upfront payments from deposits, final payment & the cruise planner, & there’s nothing wrong with that, business is business.  But, if they’re offering me a $500USD a day credit account as soon as I step on the boat, I’ll certainly accept it.   Finally, an instance where the customer doesn’t need to pay up front!

[brillohead]

21 minutes ago, RKHOOKER said:

It’s very obvious the RC business model is geared to cash flow via upfront payments from deposits, final payment & the cruise planner, & there’s nothing wrong with that, business is business.  But, if they’re offering me a $500USD a day credit account as soon as I step on the boat, I’ll certainly accept it.   Finally, an instance where the customer doesn’t need to pay up front!

It's not $500 a day -- it's a total of $500 per account (so $250/person if on a shared account).  Once you rack up $500 in charges, they're going to cut off your card until you come pay it down.

And with me using a credit card to secure my account, I gain a month or more of "free credit" -- not just seven days.  They bill the final amount to my card on the last day, then I have until after the credit card statement date and the payment due date on that statement to make my payment.  

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, banzaii said:

This should also allow an opportunity to choose a better exchange rate.

Realize that  the rate RCI uses  (when you buy the OBC) and the one you get on a credit/debit card (more or less the official exchange rate) can be quite different.

[RKHOOKER]

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

It's not $500 a day -- it's a total of $500 per account (so $250/person if on a shared account).  Once you rack up $500 in charges, they're going to cut off your card until you come pay it down.

And with me using a credit card to secure my account, I gain a month or more of "free credit" -- not just seven days.  They bill the final amount to my card on the last day, then I have until after the credit card statement date and the payment due date on that statement to make my payment.  

Brillo, you’re missing my point.  I’m cashed up.  I don’t need to use a credit card.  Unfortunately, with my circumstances which have been detailed in depth throughout this thread, paying by debit or credit card at the end of the cruise will leave all the daily accrued pending charges on my account for several days on the credit card & 30 days on the debit card.  For me this restricts my ability to go about my life after the cruise because my funds in those cards are tied up until RC or the bank releases them.  I could pay by credit, debit or cash.  However, due to the way RC operates their seapass accounts, there’s no way I’m going to give them our card details to keep on file again.  Hence, a cash account will now suit us best.  I’ll pay it off by debit, credit or cash whatever is easiest at the time.  As long as we don’t get any pending charges on our card accounts.  Also, we always pre-purchase the deluxe drink package & unlimited dining packages, so we usually don’t chalk up more than $1,000 on the cruise.  So $500 credit from RC on my account & $500 on the wife’s account will definitely see us through the 7 day cruise.  

 

When I recently booked a restaurant for Fathers Day lunch, I had to leave a deposit of $100, I did so with my debit card. It showed up immediately on my banking App as a pending charge. Two weeks later after dining I paid the $720 bill on the same debit card & immediately the $100 pending charge was removed by the restaurant & the new pending charge was $720.  I simply don’t understand why RC doesn’t remove the pending charges when they go to charge you the final bill.  If restaurants & hotels can remove the pending charges when you go to finalise the account, I just can’t understand why a company as big as RC can’t or won’t.  At least issue the customer with a signed letter stating the account has been settled in full & they no longer require the pending charges to be held against the account.  That way customers like me can get the pending charges removed immediately by emailing the letter to the bank.  Remember..... this is my experience & thoughts...... others may have different experiences & may well be treated differently.

 

Cheers from Australia.

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, RKHOOKER said:

Brillo, you’re missing my point.  I’m cashed up.  I don’t need to use a credit card.

I don't "need" to use a credit card for credit purposes -- I have cash on hand to pay the bill in full every month.  It's a "charge" card rather than a "credit" card, if you will.  

I use a credit card for MY OWN BENEFIT -- my cards all have cash-back rewards and no annual fee, so I MAKE MONEY by charging everything to a credit card. 

 

I charge literally everything in my life on a credit card -- groceries, gasoline/petrol, sit-down restaurants, drive-thru/fast food restaurants, online purchases, veterinary services, monthly cell phone bill, car insurance.  I honestly don't remember the last time I wrote a check for something.

Every month I pay the balance in full, and so I pay no interest.  Every year, the cash back I've earned typically pays for another cruise.  I would be losing out on that free money if I used cash on board rather than a credit card.

 

I personally haven't had daily charges/holds placed against any credit card that I've used on a Royal cruise -- not saying it never happens, but it doesn't happen to me.  At the end of the cruise, a "pending" charge in the amount of my final folio balance is processed, and within a couple days that pending charge becomes an actual charge and the pending charge disappears, just like when I use my card at a hotel, restaurant, grocery store, gas station, etc.  

Perhaps things work differently with banks in Oz... but this has been my experience using multiple different cards on multiple different RCI cruises over the course of the past 6.5 years. 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by brillohead

[123funcruiser]

14 hours ago, brillohead said:

I think this is much ado about nothing, personally....

 

I fully agree and the the OP has been lying in the thread title. 

 

I don´t care what loops they are willing to hop through in the future and what´s their personal financial Situation is. It´s their life and doesnt´t matter to me. However the thread title is still wrong - their Card as never charged twice.

[SRF]

I have never had a pre-authorization on a credit card take days to go away.  As soon as the same vendor charges the card, the pre-auth goes away.

 

The problem is with DEBIT cards and way that holds work.

 

With a debit card, it can seem that the card is charged twice.  Because of the way that holds work.  This seems to be what happened to the OP, as he got a statement from RCI, took that to the bank, and they released the hold.

 

Edited October 14, 2019 by SRF

[AlanF65]

51 minutes ago, SRF said:

I have never had a pre-authorization on a credit card take days to go away.  As soon as the same vendor charges the card, the pre-auth goes away.

 

The problem is with DEBIT cards and way that holds work.

 

With a debit card, it can seem that the card is charged twice.  Because of the way that holds work.  This seems to be what happened to the OP, as he got a statement from RCI, took that to the bank, and they released the hold.

 

 

My credit card this last may took over 10 days for all the pending authorizations  holds to clear; I received a notification of the full billing as I was going through customs to my luggage. Citibank US. I didn't need the money so it didn't matter to me but the OP was short in a foreign country with weak communication access and wasn't able to charge or clear.