Billed for Mini Bar due to Celebrity Mess Up

[gfkcruiser]

Just checked my Credit Card charges and saw a charge from Celebrity dated the last day of my cruise - 12/13/19.   I knew from my final folio statement that I had a credit of $6 and change.  When I called Celebrity one touch, I was told that everybody had received this charge for total Mini Bar contents.  I used none.  Was told a "global fix" was being investigated.  Outraged that I was not notified by Celebrity of this error and the situation.  

[PTC DAWG]

They fix it, more than likely...I'll add, don't sweat the small stuff.  Outrage seems a little bit much, don't you think?  🙂

Edited December 19, 2019 by PTC DAWG

[davekathy]

And the good is you're not responsible for the charge. 

[leisuretraveler223]

18 minutes ago, gfkcruiser said:

Outraged

 

Yeah, you might be coming in a little hot with your reaction!

[OuiOnboard]

25 minutes ago, gfkcruiser said:

 Outraged that I was not notified by Celebrity of this error and the situation.  

Go ahead and vent...we hear you.

[upwarduk]

It’s about  time Celebrity provided an empty fridge as Royal do. 

They cannot charge then for nothing.

[davekathy]

13 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

It’s about  time Celebrity provided an empty fridge as Royal do. 

They cannot charge then for nothing.

Agree. Let us use the cooler for our drinks. 

Edited December 19, 2019 by davekathy

[wpgcycler]

11 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

It’s about  time Celebrity provided an empty fridge as Royal do. 

They cannot charge then for nothing.

I've seen posts on here that suggests it's not uncommon to have your steward empty the minibar to allow for personal use of the fridge. Have I got this right? Might do this on our upcoming cruise if so.

[jelayne]

1 minute ago, wpgcycler said:

I've seen posts on here that suggests it's not uncommon to have your steward empty the minibar to allow for personal use of the fridge. Have I got this right? Might do this on our upcoming cruise if so.

We have it emptied every cruise.

[bikerunner]

I always have had steward empty fridge.  Never any issues with it at all.  

[Bo1953]

14 minutes ago, wpgcycler said:

I've seen posts on here that suggests it's not uncommon to have your steward empty the minibar to allow for personal use of the fridge. Have I got this right? Might do this on our upcoming cruise if so.

w - that is correct...

 

Cheers and bon voyage

[Georgia_Peaches]

You mean every stateroom on the ship that contains a stocked minibar got this charge after the fact?  If that is really true, I agree that you should have been notified.  Glad they are "fixing" the problem.

[TFLG]

1 hour ago, upwarduk said:

It’s about  time Celebrity provided an empty fridge as Royal do. 

They cannot charge then for nothing.

 

I got tired of the phantom mini-bar charges showing up post cruise, so the first thing I do when I see my room steward is tell my him to empty the fridge.  I've not gotten a charge since I started doing this.

[fragilek]

• Hope they sort it out- but please folks  as they say "try not to sweat the small stuff" in life.  Believe me I know when it's time to feel outraged at what can happen in life and a $6 charge isn't even close.  

[Fouremco]

While many of us have at some point in the past experienced the phantom mini-bar charges (nice description, @TFLG), I can't recall anyone previously having been hit with charges for the entire contents of the mini-bar. If all cabins on the OP's sailing were hit with this charge, as indicated by Celebrity, it certainly would have been a positive step to proactively reach out to passengers and advise them.

[Mike981]

*sidebar*

 

Years ago after a family trip to Disney World we received in the mail a check for a double charge at one of the bars, $7-$8 I think. We didn't notice it at the time, but it sure made them look good and I have shared it with many.

[wwcruisers]

After battling bogus mini-bar 'after-charges' on both RC and X for years, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that RC has done away with the stocked mini-bar. When we checked-in for our March cruise on Independence of the Seas, we had the option of having the mini-fridge stocked -- otherwise it was empty, and ours to use. No waiting around to talk to the room steward, or trying to hunt down the person responsible for the mini-bars -- or trying to do it ourselves.

 

And yes -- on both lines, we have always requested (on Day 1) to have the minibar emptied, and the contents removed from our cabin. Plus, we always get a copy of our bill from the GR desk, on disembarkation morning. Even with those measures, we have still occasionally returned home, to find mini-bar charges on our credit card -- which we then had to call and have removed. Usually, the amount was under $20 -- but for us, it was the principle of the thing. The OP's post shows that this problem is NOT going away. So, my question is: Why can't X just adopt RC's current policy of only stocking the mini-bar upon request?

[varoo]

1 hour ago, TFLG said:

 

I got tired of the phantom mini-bar charges showing up post cruise, so the first thing I do when I see my room steward is tell my him to empty the fridge.  I've not gotten a charge since I started doing this.

 

Exactly the same is true for us.

 

Back in the days before we started doing this, we would sometimes get an invalid minibar charge at the end of a cruise.   It was not at all unusual for this to occur.

Whenever it happened, we would just call X and whoever answered the phone always apologized and took it right off.

 

It was a minor annoyance whenever it happened, but certainly nothing to become "outraged" about.

 

A few people claimed that they emptied their minibar themselves, but I would never do that simply because I have no desire to inventory the contents of the minibar and I certainly don't want to be the one responsible for removing anything that was in it.

 

If a bottle of XXX turns up missing, I can honesty state that I never touched that bottle of XXX, or anything else that was in the minibar when we boarded the ship.

 

For the same reason, we also ask them to remove the large bottles of water that are usually sitting out on the countertop the first day.

 

[hcat]

We tell steward to keep the bar locked.

Does not cool well and not very useful to us.

[keensie]

We noticed a $48 charge for things we didn't drink/eat. I called them up and they happily reversed the charge. 

[Lastdance]

I always ask for everything to be taken out, as soon as I see my room steward, along with asking for additional hangers.  This way I do not have to worry about it, and I can use it for other things...IMHO, this works perfectly!

[jrs101]

We just got the cheers and more package, which includes the mini bar and daily refills.  So, my mini bar will probably come empty and never be stocked.  😕

[Luvcrusn]

Has anyone who has asked their steward to empty the contents of the mini-bar ever asked for any type of receipt? I never thought to do it but DH just asked the question. It seems, on the one hand to be a good idea, but on the other hand the stewards are so busy on embarkation day I hate bothering them.

[Fouremco]

15 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

Has anyone who has asked their steward to empty the contents of the mini-bar ever asked for any type of receipt? I never thought to do it but DH just asked the question. It seems, on the one hand to be a good idea, but on the other hand the stewards are so busy on embarkation day I hate bothering them.

A good question. In our case, we've never asked for one, but if push came to shove and they were going to charge me, I'd ask them to provide a receipt signed by me accepting the contents in the first place. 

 

It would just be so much easier for all concerned if they only filled the mini-bar on request. I could be another easy check-off box when making your booking, similar to how you want your beds configured.

[wwcruisers]

53 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

Has anyone who has asked their steward to empty the contents of the mini-bar ever asked for any type of receipt? I never thought to do it but DH just asked the question. It seems, on the one hand to be a good idea, but on the other hand the stewards are so busy on embarkation day I hate bothering them.

 

You could also take pictures of what's in the fridge (with a time-stamp) before your room-steward empties the fridge. Of course, even when we've called to challenge the 'after-the-fact' minibar charges, we've never been asked for proof (from RC or X). They just apologized and reversed the charge to our credit card.