Refund Status for canceled cruises: Retitled after merges

[azbirdmom]

6 hours ago, springfire said:

Chase has also done a poor job, they are impossible to speak with these days.

 

I have received an email from Chase and have also seen a notice on their website and app about extremely long wait times to speak to someone.  They are slammed with calls just like everyone else which is why they recommend doing as much as possible on line.  If I wanted to, I could dispute the charge to Princess that I made on February 4th (that Princess has partially refunded) via their app or website.  I'm not going to do that as I will wait the 60 business days but if others have credit cards issued through Chase and feel the need to dispute, try to do it on line.

Edited April 19, 2020 by azbirdmom

[ringers0815]

1 hour ago, Lyndonn said:

Credit card banks disputed credits are “conditional credits” and can be reversed if after their investigation they favor the side of the Vendor.  So I wouldn’t spend the money...because it may be charged back to the cc holder.  
Good luck

Yes they are conditional as long as the dispute is not resolved. They first suspended the disputed charge then they reversed the charge once they received the supporting documents from us (ie the total fare paid and the notice of cancellation) and presumably contacted Princess with that info. They then informed us they had resolved the dispute in our favour. 

[dog]

24 minutes ago, ringers0815 said:

Yes they are conditional as long as the dispute is not resolved. They first suspended the disputed charge then they reversed the charge once they received the supporting documents from us (ie the total fare paid and the notice of cancellation) and presumably contacted Princess with that info. They then informed us they had resolved the dispute in our favour. 

 

Yes, similar situation for me with Amex-dispute over a deposit.

Got a phone call from Amex and a letter saying matter was resolved, in my favor.

 

All credit cards do not have same conditions for dispute.

[LDVinNC]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

Regardless, if it is a deposit from a September sailing, I don't consider that a refund from a cancelled sailing. 

 

 

 

Agreed.  Whole different ball game.

[milolii]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

It is a policy I purchased for just this trip (Allianz). I purchased this through my travel agent.

 

This is on their website:

 

PLAN REFUND INFORMATION

Customers may change their plan’s effective dates to cover a new or rescheduled trip.  Alternatively, for a temporary period, we are offering refunds for the cost of your travel protection plan to customers who wish to cancel their travel protection plan if the customer’s travel supplier canceled the customer’s trip due to COVID-19, so long as no payable claim has been filed under the plan.  Please call us at the number listed on your plan and we will be happy to assist you.

 

----------------------------------------

 

My agent had said she would deal with it. Then told me to contact them. I called them and they gave me an email address to send information about the cancelled cruise. I emailed them the info they wanted. Two weeks later, I received an email saying my request was approved and my refund was issued.

 

After I told my agent that I had emailed them, she then said Allianz had changed their policy and now the agent had to send it in. I was confused but since I spoke with them and they told me to send the info in, I figured I would wait and see.

 

At first I thought my email went into a black hole but I did get a refund.

Thanks you  very much  

[dog]

2 hours ago, weberman said:

On 4/17 I posted that I received my refund on 4/16.

Glad you got your deposit back. Hope. Others start receiving their refunds for cancelled cruise soon. Hard to wait. 

[sunnysunshine]

3 hours ago, Lyndonn said:

Credit card banks disputed credits are “conditional credits” and can be reversed if after their investigation they favor the side of the Vendor.  So I wouldn’t spend the money...because it may be charged back to the cc holder.  
Good luck

It doesn’t seem to me as if Princess would have a very good argument to dispute owing the chargebacks.  Is “we’re going to pay in 60 days” a valid argument for a reversal of charges?

[mfajxc99]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

It is a policy I purchased for just this trip (Allianz). I purchased this through my travel agent.

 

This is on their website:

 

PLAN REFUND INFORMATION

Customers may change their plan’s effective dates to cover a new or rescheduled trip.  Alternatively, for a temporary period, we are offering refunds for the cost of your travel protection plan to customers who wish to cancel their travel protection plan if the customer’s travel supplier canceled the customer’s trip due to COVID-19, so long as no payable claim has been filed under the plan.  Please call us at the number listed on your plan and we will be happy to assist you.

 

----------------------------------------

 

My agent had said she would deal with it. Then told me to contact them. I called them and they gave me an email address to send information about the cancelled cruise. I emailed them the info they wanted. Two weeks later, I received an email saying my request was approved and my refund was issued.

 

After I told my agent that I had emailed them, she then said Allianz had changed their policy and now the agent had to send it in. I was confused but since I spoke with them and they told me to send the info in, I figured I would wait and see.

 

At first I thought my email went into a black hole but I did get a refund.

Wow,  Carol, Thanks for the information!!!!  Now I do not know if it is too late for me to call Allianz tomorrow about the refund, my TA did not say a thing about this (we spoke about this when Princess cancelled the cruises) 😡

Who is your TA?  I want to fire mine!!!!!😠

 

Janet at Houston, Texas

Edited April 19, 2020 by mfajxc99

[Coral]

39 minutes ago, mfajxc99 said:

Wow,  Carol, Thanks for the information!!!!  Now I do not know if it is too late for me to call Allianz tomorrow about the refund, my TA did not say a thing about this (we spoke about this when Princess cancelled the cruises) 😡

Who is your TA?  I want to fire mine!!!!!😠

 

Janet at Houston, Texas

I think agents are probably going crazy right now.

 

This is the email address they told me to use: salessupport@allianzassistance.com  

 

I basically sent them the cruise confirmation I had received from Princess (they asked for one that showed cancellation but I didn't have that) and a PDF from the Princess website that the cruises during this time period were "paused". I also included my Policy number.

 

I don't think it is too late to get a refund. When I first spoke to them, I told them I didn't have a cancellation form from Princess and asked if this was a short time frame and they said no. The info I copied from their website was from today so it is still current.

 

Worst case scenario - Allianz will transfer the coverage/money to another vacation over the next 2 years or something like that. So that is another option.

 

I hope this helps!

Edited April 19, 2020 by Coral

[waltd]

I also purchased additional medical insurance above and beyond what we had with Princess.   I did this on my own not through a travel agent.   I also went on the Allianz website and saw they were doing a refund as long as there were no claims against the insurance.   Sent them an email with all the information.   It took a bit longer to get the refund then 10 business days but I did receive a refund.    Might have taken 13 business days.   Very happy with the refund.  

[riffatsea]

I don't see a way to dispute a charge on the Chase web site. I agree that trying to reach them by phone is almost impossible at this time!,  Tgere is a Chase bank open near my home and so I may stop in to see if they can help. They actually called me last week to remind me that they are open

[mfajxc99]

5 hours ago, Coral said:

I think agents are probably going crazy right now.

 

This is the email address they told me to use: salessupport@allianzassistance.com  

 

I basically sent them the cruise confirmation I had received from Princess (they asked for one that showed cancellation but I didn't have that) and a PDF from the Princess website that the cruises during this time period were "paused". I also included my Policy number.

 

I don't think it is too late to get a refund. When I first spoke to them, I told them I didn't have a cancellation form from Princess and asked if this was a short time frame and they said no. The info I copied from their website was from today so it is still current.

 

Worst case scenario - Allianz will transfer the coverage/money to another vacation over the next 2 years or something like that. So that is another option.

 

I hope this helps!

Dear Carol,

 

Thanks so much, I will call them tomorrow.  

 

Janet

[npcl]

5 hours ago, riffatsea said:

I don't see a way to dispute a charge on the Chase web site. I agree that trying to reach them by phone is almost impossible at this time!,  Tgere is a Chase bank open near my home and so I may stop in to see if they can help. They actually called me last week to remind me that they are open

Try starting here

 

https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/dispute

 

If your dispute is related to travel, we recommend that you start with your travel provider because many airlines and hotels are being flexible about impacted areas. If your trip has been cancelled and your travel provider has not correctly applied their change/cancellation policy, you can submit a billing dispute online

Edited April 20, 2020 by npcl

[WNcruiser]

6 hours ago, riffatsea said:

I don't see a way to dispute a charge on the Chase web site. I agree that trying to reach them by phone is almost impossible at this time!,  Tgere is a Chase bank open near my home and so I may stop in to see if they can help. They actually called me last week to remind me that they are open

It’s very easy. Log in to your account and go to statements. Find the month of the charge. Just click on the Princess charge and click dispute charge. It will ask you a couple questions and the n submit it. I had my credit in 2 days.
 

The status shows merchant contacted waiting on response, that took a couple days. 

Edited April 20, 2020 by WNcruiser

[SargassoPirate]

Our April 4th sailing on the Ruby Princess was cancelled.  We were already on land in Australia - more on that below.  As soon as Princess offered their "deal" on refunds I applied.  That was over a month ago.  Not getting a good warm fuzzy feeling, last week I sent an email inquiry to the Captain's Club on the timeline for refunds.  I received a phone call yesterday and the Princess agent said the refunds were being processed in order of sailing date and were expected to take another 30-60 days.

 

I  then started a dispute with my credit card company.  I figured I'd let the credit card company and Princess slug it out.

 

Personally, I think they are stalling.

 

Australia - because of the cancelled Ruby Princess cruise, we were essentially stuck in Australia.  After the cruise was cancelled, we booked flights home from Sydney on April 4 since that was when our land travels were set to terminate.  As conditions in Australia changed and the states started to close their borders, we revised our land travels several times and ended up rebooking several legs of our trip in order to get to Sydney earlier than planned and catch the one daily flight from there to the US.  Even with the rebookings and disruptions to our schedule, we never suffered a loss that would be compensable by our travel insurance.  Why?  As we cancelled, each company stepped up and issued refunds or vouchers for future travel without question and almost immediately.  Those included:

 

Great Souther Railway - vouchers for the full cost of the trip on The Indian Pacific even though we were able to complete one leg.

Viator - immediate refunds on several tours in Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney

Murray River Cruise - immediate refund

Hawaiian Airlines  -  speedy refund

American Airlines - voucher for balance of rebooked flights.

Hilton Grand Vacations Club - immediate restoration of points and fees for cancelled booking

 

So, why is Princess taking so long?

[LDVinNC]

Impressed by all the other providers who provided quick refunds.

 

Not impressed by Princess.

[SargassoPirate]

28 minutes ago, LDVinNC said:

Impressed by all the other providers who provided quick refunds.

 

Not impressed by Princess.

 

We were so impressed with the vendors that as soon as there is a wordlwide vaccine we will return to Australia and rebook with them.  Vouchers are not as good as a full refund during uncertain times like these, but everyone I dealt with was wonderful and did what they could.  

 

A smile, even over the phone, goes a long way - along with the question I always fall back on - "What can you do for me?"

[PrincessLuver]

45 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

We were so impressed with the vendors that as soon as there is a wordlwide vaccine we will return to Australia and rebook with them.  Vouchers are not as good as a full refund during uncertain times like these, but everyone I dealt with was wonderful and did what they could.  

 

A smile, even over the phone, goes a long way - along with the question I always fall back on - "What can you do for me?"

 

This has been our experience too with other travel venders but somehow Princess is just not up to the task with their continual excuses and delayed time lines......Love Boat = No Refund Boat!

 

 It's a shame but they have lost our goodwill and trust and probably any future business too at this point....

Edited April 20, 2020 by PrincessLuver

[Pzazzz]

Thanks npcl Cool Cruiser....I filed a dispute w Chase over our cancelled cruise today.  Thanks too, WN Cruiser - info here helped get it done.

 

 

•  

Edited April 20, 2020 by Pzazzz
Missed something

[remydiva]

1 hour ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

This has been our experience too with other travel venders but somehow Princess is just not up to the task with their continual excuses and delayed time lines......Love Boat = No Refund Boat!

 

 It's a shame but they have lost our goodwill and trust and probably any future business too at this point....

I see two camps here.. those willing to be patient and those throwing in the towel and either say ‘never again’ or ‘probably never again’ as they feel Princess is too slow or downright delaying paying money refunds.

 

i invite you to pop over to read a few other cruise line boards here in CC .  I realize only a very few ,maybe 5% of all cruisers, are here on CC.
But I cannot see where other cruise lines are fairing any better than Princess. I read through Royal Caribbean and Celebrity to compare other mass market lines NOT in CCL. 

I plan to take Princess , and Jan Swartz,   at their word and give Princess the chance to make it right.

 

[mfajxc99]

17 hours ago, Coral said:

I think agents are probably going crazy right now.

 

This is the email address they told me to use: salessupport@allianzassistance.com  

 

I basically sent them the cruise confirmation I had received from Princess (they asked for one that showed cancellation but I didn't have that) and a PDF from the Princess website that the cruises during this time period were "paused". I also included my Policy number.

 

I don't think it is too late to get a refund. When I first spoke to them, I told them I didn't have a cancellation form from Princess and asked if this was a short time frame and they said no. The info I copied from their website was from today so it is still current.

 

Worst case scenario - Allianz will transfer the coverage/money to another vacation over the next 2 years or something like that. So that is another option.

 

I hope this helps!

Dear Carol,

 

I've just called the Allianz and they were extremely nice, and yes, I can still send in refund request and I have done it.   Thank you again for being so resourceful and helpful  😘

 

 

Janet at Houston

[Gracie115]

47 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

I've considered all of that very carefully a couple of weeks back.  I don't know what the finances are of the competitors, but we know CCL by their own admission will last around a year.  So what is their attitude exactly?  That enough cruisers in the entire industry will play musical chairs and we'll get others even if we lose many of our very loyal customers?  That seems stupid on its face when they can keep their loyal customers and possibly garner more in the future.  The point for me has always been, if they have the money, what are they waiting on?  If they can be transparent about that, then I'm sure many would be sympathetic and might understand.  But as it stands, it seems like virtually no refunds (5+ weeks after the mass cancellations) have occurred with no good communication on why.  HORRIBLE management. 

 

Bottom line, if you're going to pay back the money at all, why be stupid and piss so many loyal customers off in the process?  Based on what they've stated and done thus far, the only way their behavior makes sense is if they didn't pay people back, which would be even a bigger problem.  This is what I don't get.  Once again, if you're going to pay back the money at all, why be stupid and piss so many loyal customers off in the process??? 

Absolutely agree with you....there is no reason for such poor communication on what in the world is taking so long for refunds.  It's not just CCL, Celebrity is much the same...no real communication.   I'm willing to wait but tell me why I have to wait...and the excuse "we have so many to deal with is getting old"  It takes a couple of key strokes to cancel a cruise and issue a refund.....so that is a BS excuse....   

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, remydiva said:

I see two camps here.. those willing to be patient and those throwing in the towel and either say ‘never again’ or ‘probably never again’ as they feel Princess is too slow or downright delaying paying money refunds.

 

i invite you to pop over to read a few other cruise line boards here in CC .  I realize only a very few ,maybe 5% of all cruisers, are here on CC.
But I cannot see where other cruise lines are fairing any better than Princess. I read through Royal Caribbean and Celebrity to compare other mass market lines NOT in CCL. 

I plan to take Princess , and Jan Swartz,   at their word and give Princess the chance to make it right.

 

I agree - in terms of cruiselines, it is definitely not just Princess that is taking so long to refund. I am waiting on refunds from both Carnival and NCL as well and both have been silent. For the other two lines, I opted for a full refund and for Princess I opted for FCC with refund of port fees/grats/shorex/refundable air. I did this because I knew I would 100% be sailing with Princess again and even had the replacement cruise picked out ready to book. However, I won't rebook it until I see some of what they owe me come back my way.

 

I have no doubt that the refunds, both in their complexity (it's not, after all, just a straight full refund) and volume will take as long as they say. I don't believe it's just a push of a button. Since this mess started, I have been helping out the company I worked with for 13 years - it's a performing arts company and they had to cancel their shows due to the virus. They offered ticket holders either a full refund, a switch to a future performance (like an FCC?) or the option to donate the money spent on the ticket to the company. Because there were options, the refunds needed to be processed manually, one by one. For this company (and I suspect most) there are only 2 people with authority to process refunds - this is required for compliance and prevention of fraud. Both these people were working from home at the same time as having to deal with kids that are no longer at school. For "my" company, the number of ticket holders was "only" just over 6,000 - nothing like the volume Princess has. The two agents, working 7 hour shifts, 5 days a week, took just over a month to complete them. They started Match 16th and finished April 17th. This was the ONLY thing they worked on during this time. So, yes, I do believe it will take up to 90 days.

 

I am trying to be patient and will wait it out. What I find frustrating is the lack of communication. I know that they have just put a note on their website regarding the time it will take, so that's a step in the right direction. Would it be so hard to send out an automated email saying "Thanks for your patience"? Would it be so hard to give an idea of where in the process they are? They say they are processing by sailing date but then we hear of people who had sailings in April or May get refunds, while those of us in March are still waiting.....That is my only beef with Princess (and the other two lines) - just communicate a little better!

[npcl]

49 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

I've considered all of that very carefully a couple of weeks back.  I don't know what the finances are of the competitors, but we know CCL by their own admission will last around a year.  So what is their attitude exactly?  That enough cruisers in the entire industry will play musical chairs and we'll get others even if we lose many of our very loyal customers?  That seems stupid on its face when they can keep their loyal customers and possibly garner more in the future.  The point for me has always been, if they have the money, what are they waiting on?  If they can be transparent about that, then I'm sure many would be sympathetic and might understand.  But as it stands, it seems like virtually no refunds (5+ weeks after the mass cancellations) have occurred with no good communication on why.  HORRIBLE management. 

 

Bottom line, if you're going to pay back the money at all, why be stupid and piss so many loyal customers off in the process?  Based on what they've stated and done thus far, the only way their behavior makes sense is if they didn't pay people back, which would be even a bigger problem.  This is what I don't get.  Once again, if you're going to pay back the money at all, why be stupid and piss so many loyal customers off in the process??? 

What they are doing has all of the marks of an overall corporation instituting cash flow management.  What I expect is that the money raised has gone to CCL corporate.  The individuals lines are trying to manage with their finances, and do not have free access to the money raised.  At some point that money will be parceled out as the holding company determines it is needed, but very stringently.

 

[Gracie115]

5 minutes ago, npcl said:

What they are doing has all of the marks of an overall corporation instituting cash flow management.  What I expect is that the money raised has gone to CCL corporate.  The individuals lines are trying to manage with their finances, and do not have free access to the money raised.  At some point that money will be parceled out as the holding company determines it is needed, but very stringently.

 

 

 

Makes sense....BUT  in the mean time for an industry that has disillusioned many of their patrons already this is NOT a good way to expect to retain future business.