Refund Status for canceled cruises: Retitled after merges

[suzyed]

53 minutes ago, Coral said:

I think they are queuing up payments and then they will all be released over a matter of days. Such as the FCC, most got those over a 3 day period (I am still waiting). I also think most at Princess who we speak to don't really know what Corporate is up to so they are just giving us the information they are given (they are not purposely lying to us).

 

I don't believe that it is taking forever to calculate each person properly or that working from home is slowing it down that much (some maybe). I do think Pause 1 should be released before Pause 2.

 

I do have to say this has also changed my perception as Princess as a cruise line. Not in a good way.

I agree with all your points with the possible exception that they are queuing  up payments to dole out over the course of 3 days.

1. We are now 2 months from when we first submitted our option choice, in the first wave, with no results.  We asked for the FCCs, which cost them $0 to put on our account.

2. A week ago we went over our folio with the Princess rep, supposedly the “only one who could help us”. We went line by line and are due several hundred dollars credit for incorrect charges that went on the credit card a week after we got off the ship (4/4).

3. I called Princess insurance 6-7 days ago asking for the premium refund for the last 18 days of our sailing. I was told “no”. A supervisor was to call me back that day... I’m still waiting.

So is Princess: corrupt? Inept? purposely stalling? Disorganized? Financially broke already? Poorly managed?
 

Edited May 12, 2020 by suzyed
Addition

[c-boy]

29 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Obviously, this is a very unique set of circumstances.  I am confident that Princess does not have any automated method for dealing with the cash refunds and FCCs.  They likely did not even have a process to deal with all this volume. Therefore each cancellation  needs to be manually (in the system) checked, confirmed, and turned over for a cash refund.  This is more difficult because people are working from home.  I suspect that at least two people are involved in each transition.  Because of the volume, Princess must be very understaffed struggling to find qualified/trained staff.  It is really not fair to expect Princess to hire more staff/ increase overhead when they have no revenue.   I recall when just one or two cancellations would cause a back up for processing refunds.

 

I suspect you will find that all high volume cruise companies are struggling with these processes.  

Perhaps not unlike each states struggling with processes and paying unemployment benefits.  The system/processes were not designed for 30 million or so applicants.

 

Although certainly possible, I doubt that Princess has completed the required steps and that Princess is just holding up the refund at the final step.  Some of you feel that this is exactly what is happening, but I seriously doubt it.
 

Each group of cancellations will probably benefit from some level of improved processes.  
 

As long as you eventually get the cash refund or FCC with a bonus, does it really matter?  If you had taken the cruise, the money would be gone.  The interest of the funds is very low anyway.  Princess has provided much joy to most of us for a long time.  We cannot take the cash refund and use it on a different kind of the vacation on the scheduled cruise date.

 

IMO

There's a good article from Aaron Saunders c c contributor  to shed light on the subject.  https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5342/

[Ereggae]

11 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

3 whole days. Wow.

With everyone now disputing with their credit card issuers, Princess will have to check to see if you've already received a reversal after putting in the time to work on your refund. This will just slow things up even more.

Understood, but they are holding thousands of dollars of my hard earned money and my trust is waning.

[BLK03GT]

20 minutes ago, Ereggae said:

Princess claims they have limited staff, working from home, who has to process each booking manually to process all refunds, which are being done in cruise departure date order and translates into thousands of passengers per cruise.  Today is my 60th day so I will give them until Friday of this week before disputing with the bank.

Be aware that some credit card companies only give you 60 days to dispute from the original date of the cancellation (services not rendered) - amex being one of them.  While I'm sure they make exceptions, especially given the circumstances, I would not risk it.  Worst case you file a dispute, get refunded from Princess during the investigation, and the dispute is closed.  By filing a dispute it puts Princess on your timeline, not the other way around.

[CineGraphic]

Just now, Ereggae said:

Understood, but they are holding thousands of dollars of my hard earned money and my trust is waning.

 

And with everyone not understanding the scope of this global crisis, I'm losing faith in humanity.

[Ereggae]

5 minutes ago, BLK03GT said:

Be aware that some credit card companies only give you 60 days to dispute from the original date of the cancellation (services not rendered) - amex being one of them.  While I'm sure they make exceptions, especially given the circumstances, I would not risk it.  Worst case you file a dispute, get refunded from Princess during the investigation, and the dispute is closed.  By filing a dispute it puts Princess on your timeline, not the other way around.

Thank you.  Appreciate your thoughts.

[CineGraphic]

2 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

Bottom line, it's NOT Princess money. And it's sickening to read your posts like their doing us some sort of favor by even considering giving it back.

 

When did I say it was Princess' money?

When did I say/imply that they are doing favors by considering giving it back

I didn't...so please, stop making %$#@ up.

[dog]

14 minutes ago, suzyed said:

3. I called Princess insurance 6-7 days ago asking for the premium refund for the last 18 days of our sailing. I was told “no”. A supervisor was to call me back that day... I’m still waiting.

So is Princess: corrupt? Inept? purposely stalling? Disorganized? Financially broke already? Poorly managed?
 

That is just terrible treatment. 

[CineGraphic]

7 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

Anytime anyone has to say something lacking any imagination such as that is obviously acknowledging the error of their ways.  Hopefully, we've opened up your eyes a good deal.

 

My eyes are open to the fact, that nobody seems to realize or care how difficult this is for Princess to handle, and that they want their refunds now. I have several friends who are TAs and they say the calls from folks demanding their refunds started just 2 days after sailings were cancelled, even after being told that they would take at least 60 days to process. Nobody cares about the scope of this, or what may be involved, they want their money NOW, and shame on anyone who thinks they are being selfish.

 

Believe me, my eyes are wide open, and I don't like what I see: Ugliness, selfishness, and desperation, and none of it is coming from Princess.

Edited May 12, 2020 by CineGraphic

[Aulanis]

I think they should have segregated claims for those who had cruises cancelled mid way.  Many of those would have have additional expenses which I guess would need to be verified by a supervisor and maybe

require more information re flights insurance etc. Even so they could have released Port fees and taxes excursions ROBC etc immediately THEY cancelled.  Those that completed the cruise ( ending within 5 days)

I dont know if they could claim anything?

Other cancellations would in comparison be pretty straightforward again Port fees and taxes excursions ROBC etc immediately FCC immediately   and if cash claimed for a cruise not sailed  def within 30 days.

As it is they will be in a real mess working out claims then finding the refund has already been claimed by credit card so duplicating the working incurring expense and losing bigstyle in customer satisfaction. 

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by Aulanis

[Coral]

21 minutes ago, dog said:

That is just terrible treatment. 

I think several of us have been poorly treated on this. I wish they would be honest and up front. I don't blame those who answer the phones. It is a corporate decision on what they tell us.

 

I can deal with honesty. If someone said 30 days, let it be 30 days. If it is 60 days, let it be 60 days. Just tell me the truth. I ask why I haven't been given FCC or when I cancelled, my port fees and less penalties were not automatically refunded like everyone else when I cancelled. I can't get an answer. This was a month vacation for me. I had quite a bit of money tied up in this. This was my most expensive vacation.

 

My TA has already found out what they plan on refunding me. So there is no dispute in this. It was easy enough for her to find out.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Coral

[dog]

3 minutes ago, Coral said:

 

My TA has already found out what they plan on refunding me. So there is no dispute in this. It was easy enough for her to find out.

yes, it makes no sense that you are in this situation 

[Cuedon]

7 minutes ago, Coral said:

My TA has already found out what they plan on refunding me. So there is no dispute in this. It was easy enough for her to find out.

(Emphasis mine.)

 

I don't think what is supposed to be refunded was ever really for debate... did your TA have anything regarding when though?

[BLK03GT]

On 5/11/2020 at 9:31 AM, Roger88 said:

I woldnt go for any disputes until the expiration of the designated refund dates. If you, say, start a dispute on 60th day of your 90 day refund, you will have to wait additional 45 days for your claim to be reviewd and then another 2-3 weeks to get your money. I would suggest waiting till those days are over and only then starting a dispute.. or on a last day just to be safe 

I typically agree but would suggest people contact their credit card agency to determine the window for dispute as some only allow for a 60 day window from services not rendered.  

[voljeep]

no 'dog' in hunt … no horse in race … yet

 

if Princess cancelled the cruise … no question, refunds and FCC should take no longer than 2-4 week - MAX

 

if you cancelled a cruise …well, get in line … a perhaps long line … but still no longer than 6-8 weeks

 

anything over 60 days in getting close to "willful gross negligence" and should be subject to punitive damages - say 'triple' the amounts in question..

[LDVinNC]

Just now, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

I just don't understand why some people have a hard time grasping how easy it is to meet those deadlines.

 

 

 

I was in IT for 35 years.  If they wanted to refund our money, they could and would be doing so.

[Sail4th]

Update. In fairness to Princess, when I reviewed my CC I did find that taxes and port charges were refunded May 1. I have had 9 cruises cancelled some booked almost 1 year ago so it’s a bit difficult to track, for Princess also as they told me last night that my tax and port refund was still pending. 

[SargassoPirate]

29 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

BS.  First off, I'm a CPA who has worked with dozens of varying accounting systems.  Refunds should have ALL been issued by now if they even remotely wanted to.  I know that 100% as fact, not opinion.  This much should be abundantly clear to you, if you say it is difficult to issue all those refunds, and hardly any of it has actually been issued in two months save for some early pre-pause stragglers, then according to your thinking, it will will take DECADES to process all of the refunds.

 

My eyes are even opened WIDER. And I don't like what I see: Ugliness, selfishness, lying, retroactively changing published corporate releases, disrespecting their customers and utter desperation; and ALL of it is coming from Princess.

 

 

 

And the fact remains that with our experiences in cancelling flights, tours, a river cruise, hotel reservations, and a partial train trip, ALL of our cancellations were handled very promptly by companies big and small.

 

If American Airlines can do it with their passenger load, why can't Princess?

[PrincessLuver]

2 hours ago, ghstudio said:

I don’t think it’s corrupt...I think it’s a business/financial decision to delay.....not a personnel/system caused delay.
Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

They sure meet the definition of corrupt to me:

 

"Having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain"

[SargassoPirate]

On 5/11/2020 at 10:31 AM, Roger88 said:

I woldnt go for any disputes until the expiration of the designated refund dates. If you, say, start a dispute on 60th day of your 90 day refund, you will have to wait additional 45 days for your claim to be reviewd and then another 2-3 weeks to get your money. I would suggest waiting till those days are over and only then starting a dispute.. or on a last day just to be safe 

 

I waited until a few days after the service had not been delivered - the cruise - and filed with my credit card company.  That way I have somebody in my corner to slug it out with Princess.  My credit card company posted a provisional credit to my account and gave Princess a deadline to respond. 

 

Princess can reset their refund clock all they want, my credit card company's clock is still running.

 

[voljeep]

40,000+ cancellations per week since the middle of March or so … week, after week, after week ...

[richsea]

Everyone here should read the article that Cruise Critic published regarding the cancellations & refunds. Then think of your own situation & multiply that by tens of thousands. Then realize that cruise line employees as well as credit card employees are processing these refunds from home. Do you really think this delay is intentional?
GET REAL!!

[PrincessLuver]

10 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

And the fact remains that with our experiences in cancelling flights, tours, a river cruise, hotel reservations, and a partial train trip, ALL of our cancellations were handled very promptly by companies big and small.

 

If American Airlines can do it with their passenger load, why can't Princess?

 

This has been our experience too with a number of travel companies and airlines when we had to cancel a 2 1/2 month European vacation beginning in June......no probably getting our monies refunded and fairly fast.

 

But with Princess.....promises, promises, promises, lies, lies, lies.....they are just not being ethical, honest or responsive like other travel companies we dealt with handling very similar problems regarding COVID-19 and travel in 2020.

 

[mthomp5]

15 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

 

And the fact remains that with our experiences in cancelling flights, tours, a river cruise, hotel reservations, and a partial train trip, ALL of our cancellations were handled very promptly by companies big and small.

 

If American Airlines can do it with their passenger load, why can't Princess?

I emailed my 3rd party insurance company and sent them my cruise cancellation and Princess 60 day pause notification and the insurance company reimbursed me for my premiums in 3 weeks.  They were quick!  

[PrincessLuver]

56 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

BS.  First off, I'm a CPA who has worked with dozens of varying accounting systems.  Refunds should have ALL been issued by now if they even remotely wanted to.  I know that 100% as fact, not opinion.  This much should be abundantly clear to you, if you say it is difficult to issue all those refunds, and hardly any of it has actually been issued in two months save for some early pre-pause stragglers, then according to your thinking, it will will take DECADES to process all of the refunds.

 

My eyes are even opened WIDER. And I don't like what I see: Ugliness, selfishness, lying, retroactively changing published corporate releases, disrespecting their customers and utter desperation; and ALL of it is coming from Princess.

 

 

Thanks for the share and I could not agree more!  

 

They are doing nothing even though some would have you believe they are laboring at home, with their fingers bleeding using calculators to get our refunds out as fast as they can.

 

Princess's actions speak louder than Princess's emails and the fact that no one from the March 12, 2020 cancelations with the Option #2 choice have received promised refunds tells me a lot about believing their words.

Edited May 12, 2020 by PrincessLuver