Refund Status for canceled cruises: Retitled after merges

[Ombud]

40 minutes ago, san diego sue said:

In early July I cancelled two cruises for this October. I knew that if I waited a bit I would probably get more than my deposits back from Princess if they cancelled those cruises(additional FCC). I chose to cancel first so as not to get into the mass refunds due as we had in our phase one cancellations. My credits appeared on my credit card within a week. I rather have my money quickly than get caught up in my 87 day  wait again.And Princess cancelled those cruises this week. 

It is unbelievable that people are still waiting since March for their refunds. Something is horribly wrong in Princess' processing system. We are all living with such stress right now (Covid 19) and money should not be an added stress.

In reading this thread, I feel so sorry for all that are still waiting. Now I am reading about the charge backs. What is happening with Princess, crazy. 

Smart but I cancelled September in June, about a week before Princess did because I should have enough FCC to last until 05/01/22 (sail by expiration date). Still waiting on a refund for September & balance of FCC from March 8th. Will cancel April now. 

[san diego sue]

11 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Smart but I cancelled September in June, about a week before Princess did because I should have enough FCC to last until 05/01/22 (sail by expiration date). Still waiting on a refund for September & balance of FCC from March 8th. Will cancel April now. 

Strange ,was your deposit a FCD or did you pay cash. My 4 were FCD but they expired so instead of going back in my account they were refunded to my credit card. This may be an automatic thing as we had in the past when we cancelled. I am now looking at a couple of cruises for January to cancel. This morning I went in and cancelled the EZair as well as excursions. None were paid for yet (the excursions would have been from OBC). Didn't want to get charged for anything . 

[azbirdmom]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

Let me revise this - mine is the same cost as my air refund that was done more than 45 days out. My air refund and my shore excursions were both in the $13xx range and that is what is recalled. I ran numbers all of Friday and my last night - I was the wrong information. 

 

I'll amend my prior vent to add that it is awful that folks have to spend so much time figuring out what Princess has or hasn't done with their refunds.  We've all probably spent days on this if we added up all of the hours calling and tracking.  And during a very stressful time, it's adding more angst.  I sure hope that Princess will own up to what they've done wrong and will take steps to make things right but will not hold my breath. 

[Ombud]

SanDiegoSue, Gift cards & old visa (# changed but notified USAA of expected refind)

Edited July 26, 2020 by Ombud

[ceilidh1]

15 hours ago, Carnevale said:

Yes!   They just clawed back the amount for our excursions!  

This astounds me! Is it even legal to charge someone's credit card without their permission? Isn't that fraud? I'm assuming it isn't money that you actually owe to Princess, so on what grounds are they clawing it back? Is it due to a credit card dispute? I'm asking simply because I initiated a dispute and currently have temp credits from the credit card company. Now Princess just refunded (a very small) portion of what I'm owed back to my card, so I would assume the temporary credit for that amount would just drop off so that I don't get "double" the refund...but maybe it is Princess that are taking back what they refunded? It's so confusing. Please keep us informed of what the outcome is, along with their reasoning for clawing it back!

[pca7ggr]

[Carnevale]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

This astounds me! Is it even legal to charge someone's credit card without their permission? Isn't that fraud? I'm assuming it isn't money that you actually owe to Princess, so on what grounds are they clawing it back? Is it due to a credit card dispute? I'm asking simply because I initiated a dispute and currently have temp credits from the credit card company. Now Princess just refunded (a very small) portion of what I'm owed back to my card, so I would assume the temporary credit for that amount would just drop off so that I don't get "double" the refund...but maybe it is Princess that are taking back what they refunded? It's so confusing. Please keep us informed of what the outcome is, along with their reasoning for clawing it back!

 

I have to wait until Monday to call the Visa dispute centre to find out what's happening (just noticed the problem on Friday evening).  I did a cc dispute in early May for three payments: deposit, FP, and excursions.  Visa processed all three as credits to our account (actual credits, not pending amounts).  After that, Princess came through with a refund for the deposit and FP but not the excursions.  I called Visa at that point and they reversed the two payments that Princess had refunded and left the payment for the excursions.  So, at that point, we were still made whole.  Now, there is a charge to my Visa for the amount of the excursions but no refund for them from Princess.  So I am back to having paid for excursions on a cruise that didn't happen and am not happy.  My guess is that Princess disputed the refund that Visa had made although since they haven't refunded us, I am at a loss as to why they would do that.  

 

I hope to get to the bottom of this soon!  And I am just so fed up with Princess - I was before but I am now really at the point of having had my loyalty to this company eroded.

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, Carnevale said:

 

I have to wait until Monday to call the Visa dispute centre to find out what's happening (just noticed the problem on Friday evening).  I did a cc dispute in early May for three payments: deposit, FP, and excursions.  Visa processed all three as credits to our account (actual credits, not pending amounts).  After that, Princess came through with a refund for the deposit and FP but not the excursions.  I called Visa at that point and they reversed the two payments that Princess had refunded and left the payment for the excursions.  So, at that point, we were still made whole.  Now, there is a charge to my Visa for the amount of the excursions but no refund for them from Princess.  So I am back to having paid for excursions on a cruise that didn't happen and am not happy.  My guess is that Princess disputed the refund that Visa had made although since they haven't refunded us, I am at a loss as to why they would do that.  

 

I hope to get to the bottom of this soon!  And I am just so fed up with Princess - I was before but I am now really at the point of having had my loyalty to this company eroded.

Thanks for the explanation. Ugh. I REALLY hope they don't do this with me. I will literally lose my mind! Fingers crossed you can get to the bottom of it. It still doesn't sound right that they can charge your card without permission - if anything, shouldn't it be the card issuer that would do that if Princess claims they don't owe you the refund?

[Jandaville]

19 hours ago, SFERgirl said:

YES - Similar position - confirmed in writing my request for refund (not FCC)  on 20th June.... but today received FCC in Our Princess accounts !!!!! Just two days ago I enlisted(Australian)  bank for chargeback on Credit Card under "Merchant promised refund but not received" clause. I'm going to let them sort it out. As an aside, I was thankful to learn that even though it had been about 120 days since the credit card charge, they would take on the case., had always thought it needed to be within about 60 (but perhaps that is for the "Goods not received" category). Our cruise was to be May 2020, which Princess cancelled end of March, if that helps the timeline for those of you still waiting.

 

 

Unfortunately I paid for the full fare via a bank transfer otherwise I would have filed a charge back like you have done. Never again it will always be paid using the credit card even with the 1.1% service fee.

 

Does anyone know if to get a cash refund on a customer cancelled cruise booking that was done before Princess officially cancelled the cruise that Princess first raises a FCC then pays it from there.

 

The FCCs they have given us do not even include the extra 25% that they were promised not that we want any FCCs.

[rdowney]

2 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Thanks for the explanation. Ugh. I REALLY hope they don't do this with me. I will literally lose my mind! Fingers crossed you can get to the bottom of it. It still doesn't sound right that they can charge your card without permission - if anything, shouldn't it be the card issuer that would do that if Princess claims they don't owe you the refund?

It has been my assumption that Princess could not contest a refund after the dispute was considered resolved. The cruise line had an opportunity to object, and it either agreed to the refund or did not respond. We filed five disputes, and the bank marked all of them as resolved long before the deadline for a response from Princess. The bank then issued a check for the credit balance in the account. We received 100% of our money back even though we were expecting part of it as FCC. If there is any attempt to recharge us, I will immediately contest it as an unauthorized charge. If I thought this was a serious risk, I would have the credit card number changed.

Edited July 27, 2020 by rdowney
clarification

[caribill]

7 hours ago, Carnevale said:

 

I have to wait until Monday to call the Visa dispute centre to find out what's happening (just noticed the problem on Friday evening).  I did a cc dispute in early May for three payments: deposit, FP, and excursions.  Visa processed all three as credits to our account (actual credits, not pending amounts).  After that, Princess came through with a refund for the deposit and FP but not the excursions.  I called Visa at that point and they reversed the two payments that Princess had refunded and left the payment for the excursions.  So, at that point, we were still made whole.  Now, there is a charge to my Visa for the amount of the excursions but no refund for them from Princess.  So I am back to having paid for excursions on a cruise that didn't happen and am not happy.  My guess is that Princess disputed the refund that Visa had made although since they haven't refunded us, I am at a loss as to why they would do that.  

 

 

 

My guess is that someone hit the wrong button and meant to send a refund but instead made it a charge.

[caribill]

5 hours ago, Jandaville said:

 

The FCCs they have given us do not even include the extra 25% that they were promised not that we want any FCCs.

 

Princess has said that the basic FCCs and the bonus FCCs are processed separately and thus may show up at different times.

[saintgeorge]

We have been waiting (patiently) for over 16 weeks for a refund on a cancelled cruise. When we phoned Princess last week we were told that the money had been forwarded to our TA on 13 July and it could take up to 3 weeks to reach the UK from Miami  ??

I'm thinking that they are using Carrier pigeons or are just being very economical with the truth.

If this is the way that Princess are treating their customers then I am afraid that they will not regain the trust of loyal passengers.

[PoohUnderstands]

On 7/25/2020 at 12:41 PM, richstowe said:

Had to find out if your triple guaranteed refunds came in. Yes?🤞🤞

As of 9am Monday (paperwork done by end of workday Friday), I have no refund.  But then by past experience, there has been a lag of a day or two before anything shows up online on my credit card.  This is for any refund I have been getting in past.  So I am going to be pleased if it shows up by Wed.  If not, nope, was fibbed to!  Will let you know.

 

Pooh

[cvpends]

On 7/25/2020 at 10:56 PM, caribill said:

 

---- So, has anyone who received FCCs received such an E-mail?

 

Nope.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, PoohUnderstands said:

As of 9am Monday (paperwork done by end of workday Friday), I have no refund.  But then by past experience, there has been a lag of a day or two before anything shows up online on my credit card.  This is for any refund I have been getting in past.  So I am going to be pleased if it shows up by Wed.  If not, nope, was fibbed to!  Will let you know.

 

 

 

There are two steps

a) completing the paperwork

b) releasing the funds

 

Step b does not always happen quickly after step a.

[Coral]

3 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

There are two steps

a) completing the paperwork

b) releasing the funds

 

Step b does not always happen quickly after step a.

Step B often happens on Fridays (not sure if it is every Friday or every other Friday) and includes a ton of refunds. They often hit people's credit cards the following week on varying days depending on the credit card.

[Ombud]

Spoke to a very nice lady in the gift card department and she said they are working on my September cancelation but to not do ANYTHING yet and give it a week. Problem is she's reading off gift card numbers that are different from what I've got. 

 

Still no closer on my missing March FCC

[cvpends]

On 7/11/2020 at 8:59 AM, cvpends said:

FYI, my FCC and 25% goodwell FCC for my June Star SFO-SFO to Alaska, cancelled April 14 by Princess came through yesterday, depriving me of the opportunity to join the 100-day club.  The excursion and dining refunds arrived on my credit card June 26.  No sign of taxes, port fees or gratuity refunds yet (maybe I can join the 100-day club this way, LOL.)  For the record, I have not made any calls to Princess regarding this cruise, or disputed anything on my credit card.

Yesterday, one month to the day after my excursions refunded, and two weeks after my FCC's posted, a really weird amount ($68.12) showed up as a credit to my Chase CC account.  I am assuming that this is part of the $816.12 owed to me for TFPE ($526.12) or prepaid gratuities ($290), but will feel more comfortable if the rest shows up.  I wonder if TFPE was broken up and the $68.12 is either taxes OR fees OR port expenses?

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

I've said it before, were Elite like many of you, but decided Not to wait for Princess to follow thru

on cash refunds.  It seems like a major cluster..... we didn't want to be a part of any longer.

 

Happy to say, the last of my Credit Card disputes landed in our cc today!

Were paid in full.   All 3 cruises are reimbursed now,  thanks to disputing. 

 

[Mo Jito]

My May 17 cruise was cancelled in Phase 2; I took the default option - FCC plus 25% of fare in bonus FCC, which showed up in my Circle Savings Account on July 7 (I don’t think I received an email notice). On July 23 the refund for airfare, taxes/fees and transfers/hotel was credited back to my credit card.

 

I never contacted Princess to check on the status; I was curious to see how long it would take, but planned to call if it took more than 60 days. Since the default option kicked in on May 31, I consider that to be the day the clock started on my refund. Since I received the refund before July 31, it was within 60 days.

[cltnccruisers]

Back in Phase 2 we took the FCC+ option.  Our booking was pretty straightforward and things were resolved.  We then applied the FCC to a December, 2020, booking that was a bit more complex.  Now, of course, that is canceled.  This time we took the refund option - enough is enough.  My wife is very good tracking our cruises and knows to the penny how much was paid for what.  It will be interesting to see how Princess retrofits this.  We expect some CC refunds but wouldn't be surprised to end up with some FCC that we'll probably just write off.

[cherylandtk]

56 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said:

 It will be interesting to see how Princess retrofits this.  We expect some CC refunds but wouldn't be surprised to end up with some FCC that we'll probably just write off.

Tell your wife to do the math with the original cash paid as the amount of FCC to be refunded.  The bonus FCC should remain on account for you both.  At least that is supposed to be what happens......

[cltnccruisers]

1 minute ago, cherylandtk said:

Tell your wife to do the math with the original cash paid as the amount of FCC to be refunded.  The bonus FCC should remain on account for you both.  At least that is supposed to be what happens......

We were just talking about that and she already has the numbers.  Part of the FCC issue is that it will be split across 7 passengers even though we paid for the whole darn thing.  Our original April cancellation is the first time we ever encountered FCC and we didn't quite understand how it worked.   Hopefully they've had enough practice to get things right for this phase. 🙂

[cvpends]

 On 7/11/2020 at 8:59 AM, cvpends said:

FYI, my FCC and 25% goodwell FCC for my June Star SFO-SFO to Alaska, cancelled April 14 by Princess came through yesterday, depriving me of the opportunity to join the 100-day club.  The excursion and dining refunds arrived on my credit card June 26.  No sign of taxes, port fees or gratuity refunds yet (maybe I can join the 100-day club this way, LOL.)  For the record, I have not made any calls to Princess regarding this cruise, or disputed anything on my credit card.

Yesterday, one month to the day after my excursions refunded, and two weeks after my FCC's posted, a really weird amount ($68.12) showed up as a credit to my Chase CC account.  I am assuming that this is part of the $816.12 owed to me for TFPE ($526.12) or prepaid gratuities ($290), but will feel more comfortable if the rest shows up.  I wonder if TFPE was broken up and the $68.12 is either taxes OR fees OR port expenses?

 

July 28 UPDATE:  Thanks to the folks here who suggested checking all our accounts, I woke up this morning to discover that the remaining $748 of the money owed to me was refunded overnight to an account that I had not used to pay for the TFPE or prepaid gratuities.  It was an account I had used on March 2 to pay for an upgrade to a balcony (after reading the stories of those quarantined onboard in February and March), and the amount matches the amount of the upgrade.  So while that was cruise fare for which I was given FCC and bonus FCC and not the TFPE and grats for which I was being refunded, at least the amount of money is correct -- and I simply turned around and transferred the money to the card that I had used to pay for the TFPE and gratuities (for my own bookkeeping purposes.)

 

Summary of our experience: 

• April 11 Royal Princess California Coastal received FCC's May 12 and finished refunding June 16.
• June 12 Star Princess Alaska received FCC's July 10 and started refunding June 26 (excursions and spa) and finished refunding July 28.

 

Also for the record, we did not file any credit card disputes. 

Edited July 28, 2020 by cvpends
Corrected a date