Refund Status for canceled cruises: Retitled after merges

[SCOOTERNINJA]

2 hours ago, PCWalton1 said:

First a question

What is Pause 1 and Pause 2?

 

Then my venting

Our cruise was supposed to be on Royal Princess May 2nd. Our TA submitted the Princess Booking Compensation request receipt requesting option 2 on March 16th. 

May 5 we received an email from Princess once again requesting that we reconfirm our choice (trying to talk us into the FCC) and told us if they do not hear from us by May 31 they will assume our choice has not change. Thus resetting the clock to two and a half months after our initial request for a refund.

Very disingenuous.

 

That last email from Princess makes it obvious they are just stalling until they file for bankruptcy. And the lack of anyone confirming here on CC receiving a monetary refund just confirms that. 

 

 

The nice thing about bankruptcy for a company, creditors cannot go after a company outside the bankruptcy proceeding (i.e. a creditors' remedy is limited to filing a Proof of Claim with the bankruptcy court) .  I believe that this would apply to credit card companies/banks in credit card chargeback disputes.  Also - it is certainly credit card dependent but some such as Chase have recently limited coverage for "financial insolvency of a travel supplier..."  https://thepointsguy.com/news/chase-trip-cancellation-interruption-changes/ .  My guess is that bankruptcy is the very definition of 'financial insolvency' being anticipated by Chase and others.

 

 

Food for thought for those that may prefer waiting for refunds based purely on brand loyalty rather than seeking current recourse through a credit card company.

 

 

[SCOOTERNINJA]

54 minutes ago, BigTimeCruiser said:

If this is in fact true, I suspect that the company will fold and we won't see any funds reimbursed.  If I'm wrong in my assumption, it would be nice for the highly paid executives at Princess to make their intentions known.

I'm not sure that those waiting on refunds would like this option of Princess letting the world know that it intends to file bankruptcy if that is the case.  Because...that might invoke some of these 'financial insolvency' travel industry clauses limiting the credit card company/bank from their reimbursement obligations. 

 

Certainly, everyone should review their own credit card company contracts.

[rlbeck]

I filed a dispute with AMEX yesterday. Today I have a provisional credit on my account for the final payment amount, pending a response from the cruise line (or not ?). Amex agent said our cruise deposit from January 2019 was outside their limit. I pointed out to her that it was part and parcel of this cancelled sailing so she made a note of it, and 4 others, and submitted it. Received confirmation numbers for all six disputes.  I can say my wife and I feel a whole lot better now. 🙂

[MJSailors]

   I called Princess this afternoon to cancel a cruise on the Sky Princess,Nov5,NYC cruising the Caribbean to Ft Lauderdale.

  The first agent had to read me the offer of increased OBC for a future cruise. We are not interested,we want our credit card refunded for the $200.00 deposit we made several months ago. 

       With that request being clear,the agent put me on hold. I think I may have continued to be on hold for a few hours if the conversation I had with her would indicate her ability to process the  refund request.

       So, I hung up and spoke to another rep. The request was processed in a matter of minutes as I had initially expected.This rep informed me that credit card refunds are being processed by the cruise sail date,which I can understand,given the high volume of credit requests. Since the sail date for the cruise I cancelled is early Nov,I am anticipating a long wait for the refunded deposit. Of course !I will be monitoring our credit card statement for the refund and I will call Princess again befor the final payment date in Aug. should that be necessary.

        I am not certain if this information applies to those trying to get a full refund from any cruise that Princess canceled. 

[dag144]

I was booked on the Emerald 4/14 Hawaii cruise.  I chose option 2 on 3/12 when the cancellation notification went out.  No money and just a BS e-mail from Princess since then.  I disputed by charges (down payment, final payment, and an upgrade) on May 13th.  Citibank took the info, took about 10 minutes in total.  Today May 15, I got my credit posted to my credit card.  Easy.  If Princess disputes (on what basis I can't imagine) I have all my documentation.  Life is to short to tolerate such BS from a vendor.  Re the FCC I could care less!

[Coral]

2 hours ago, remydiva said:

this just posted on the Princess Elite FB forum
 

‘I have just got all my cruise credit from the transatlantic on Regal due to leave 19th April 🍾😁’

 

I have no other details ie option 1 or 2 but I was to be on this cruise Too so it caught my eye. I chose option 2 on mar 12 and have zero.

Well - I just called to see if my refund has been processed as I was supposed to be on that same sailing.

 

It has not been processed 😞 .

[SCOOTERNINJA]

What happens to those cruise deposits for now cancelled cruises? This is certainly a question that appears to be pondered on here quite a bit.  From the stories - few appear to be receiving refunds.  Perhaps those complaining on here about having yet to receive their refunds just happen to be the small minority of people that slipped through the cracks by no fault of Princess.  But the skeptic and realist in me finds that doubtful.

 

So what is the best way to receive a refund?  Certainly you can put blind faith trust in Princess - - after all you had a nice prior cruise with them and really enjoyed the Friday desert so surely they will do the right thing. 

 

For those unwilling to believe that Princess will undoubtedly perform and refund the money with all of the perks that they promise - there may be the option of the 'Credit Card Dispute' process.   This is where a credit card company/bank basically overturns a sale on behalf of the cardholder and refunds the cardholder's money.  Often and under many cards, this should be a relatively smooth process if the cardholder can prove that they paid for a service that was ultimately not delivered (i.e. such as paying for a cruise that never takes place).  More information can be obtained here:  https://chargebacks911.com/credit-card-dispute/ and on many other sites.  Certainly, everyone should be familiar with their particular bank/credit card and the various terms and conditions. If you aren't, a simple call to a representative at said company should be beneficial.

 

But how long do I have to file a chargeback dispute?  Once again, this is relatively important and you should contact your bank/credit card company should you have any questions on your individual contract with them.  But what may be concerning is what happens if the company files bankruptcy?  Some banks/card companies have recently limited chargeback coverage for the 'financial insolvency of a travel supplier.'   See article here:  https://thepointsguy.com/news/chase-trip-cancellation-interruption-changes/ . So if a cruise company were to file bankruptcy or announce an 'ability to continue as a going concern,' this potentially could be the financial insolvency in which a card issuer declines to provide coverage.  Once again, everyone should review and be up to date on the terms of their particular card.

 

What does this all mean?  If you are inclined to go through the credit card process and if you have concerns whether Princess is actually going to issue a timely refund as it has said that it will do or if you are concerned that Princess may go a bankruptcy route, you might want to consider a credit card dispute sooner rather than later.  I am sure that a few thousand bucks of refunded money in your pockets could go a long way in this tough environment.

 

Here is to hoping you all receive your refunds!  I certainly always take what a company with cash flow problems tells me with a grain of salt.

Edited May 15, 2020 by SCOOTERNINJA

[LDVinNC]

Thank you, but all of this has been covered in the several other threads concerning refunds.

[LDVinNC]

3 hours ago, dag144 said:

I filed a dispute with Citibank on May13th and got a provisional credit for all my expenses today.  I am done fooling around with Princess.  If they go bankrupt, the trust may try for a claw-back, but Princess' records seem to be so bad that this probably is a remote possibility.

I am curious to see if Princess will dispute my claim.  In the meantime I have use of $7,200+.  I could care less about the 25% FCC I was promised.  EVERYBODY SHOULD FILE A DISPUTE!

 

I don't think they could do a claw back after bankruptcy, nor do I think Princess will dispute your claim.

 

Crossing my fingers for all of us who have filed disputes, that Princess lets it ride and all of our provisional credits become true credits.  It is OUR money!

[ghstudio]

1 hour ago, mthomp5 said:

Did you select option 2?  

yes, cash refund plus lower FCC's.  The FCC's are now in our account but we haven't seen any $'s refunded yet.

[TM]

Unfortunately the initial charge for FCDs hit my credit card last August.  My credit card company will only allow disputes for charges within the last 2 billing cycles.  So I'm SOL.  Fortunately it's only $800 which is certainly a lot less than many other posters.

[mthomp5]

6 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

yes, cash refund plus lower FCC's.  The FCC's are now in our account but we haven't seen any $'s refunded yet.

Thanks for replying.  Same here...option 2, 3/28 departure date.  Received nothing to date.

[pms4104]

28 minutes ago, LDVinNC said:

Thank you, but all of this has been covered in the several other threads concerning refunds.

Yes ... over and over and over again!

[billco]

So what happens when I get a refund posted to my CC? If the refund is greater than the balance on the CC then I have a credit. For that to be useful I need to put future purchases on the CC. That won’t help to pay the rent or other bills that require cash or check. At least by filing a dispute I get to put interest and minimum payment on hold for a while.

[Ronnieslady]

8 hours ago, LDVinNC said:

 

They sure have.  I suggest you file a cc dispute.  Your card MAY have a time limit for disputes.  I checked the 3 that I used and all of them had different timeframes.  I filed my disputes the other day and have already gotten provisional credits on one, and a partial provisional credit on another.

That’s exactly what I did yesterday.   AmEx said there is no timeframe on travel.  They said cause they realize that payments are done way ahead of actual travel.   
Now let’s see what happens.

[SCOOTERNINJA]

11 minutes ago, LDVinNC said:

Thank you, but all of this has been covered in the several other threads concerning refunds.

I apologize If that is true but I saw nothing on bankruptcy implications for refunds other than what I wrote.    

[ghstudio]

21 minutes ago, billco said:

So what happens when I get a refund posted to my CC? If the refund is greater than the balance on the CC then I have a credit. For that to be useful I need to put future purchases on the CC. That won’t help to pay the rent or other bills that require cash or check. At least by filing a dispute I get to put interest and minimum payment on hold for a while.

 

You can request that any credit balance on your account be sent to you in a check.....call your credit card company.  That does not apply to pending credits due to disputes....but once it's resolved, you can get the money.

[ghstudio]

32 minutes ago, mthomp5 said:

Thanks for replying.  Same here...option 2, 3/28 departure date.  Received nothing to date.

have you checked on Princess web site to see if you at least have FCC's in your account?  They don't notify you...it just appears.

[PCWalton1]

1 hour ago, dag144 said:

I was booked on the Emerald 4/14 Hawaii cruise.  I chose option 2 on 3/12 when the cancellation notification went out.  No money and just a BS e-mail from Princess since then.  I disputed by charges (down payment, final payment, and an upgrade) on May 13th.  Citibank took the info, took about 10 minutes in total.  Today May 15, I got my credit posted to my credit card.  Easy.  If Princess disputes (on what basis I can't imagine) I have all my documentation.  Life is to short to tolerate such BS from a vendor.  Re the FCC I could care less!

What did you tell Citibank when you went to them to dispute the charges?

 

[SCOOTERNINJA]

4 hours ago, dag144 said:

If they go bankrupt, the trust could claw back my refund, but Princess' records are so bad I doubt this will happen.

 

Do yourselves a favor.  File a dispute so you can get this behind you!

I believe that the bankruptcy trustee would

have a hard time if not an impossible time to clawback the refund.  This is because it would have to be proven that it was a preferential payment within 90 days of bankruptcy filing.  I have a hard time seeing how Princess could make that claim if the money wasn’t theirs to begin with (i.e they were basically holding your money in escrow for a future cruise not that you lent Princess money as some sort of financing transaction).  
 
But your point remains - waiting around rather than acting now seems to be risky. 

 

[Slotown]

sail date 4-11-20/ cancelled 3-5-20 (port fees refunded 3-6-20)  & filed under PVP with Aon; subsequently bounced back to Princess when they cancelled all phase one cruises and agreed to fully reimburse.  Selected option 2 March12 with their indication of 30 day time frame.  4-27-20 filed dispute with Capital One and today 5-15-20 have been told by Princess that  funds have been sent to my credit card (yesterday).  I will believe it when the money shows up!  It may take another two weeks to process or just a couple of days according to bank.

Good luck to all.  No sign of 25% FCC

[SCOOTERNINJA]

5 hours ago, bobgep said:

a little note to remember, all these cruise lines are foreign corporations, bankruptcy or insolvency will be filed in a distant land, not the US

That’s not accurate.  Foreign corporations can seek and often do seek bankruptcy protection in US courts.  There is a lot of incentive to do so based on the ‘automatic stay’ and Ch. 11 reorganization protections provided by US bankruptcy courts.  

[Ken the cruiser]

We just got our $120 refund check from the refundable OBC we had left over when we disembarked the Island back on Feb 4th. Yea!!!

[PrincessLuver]

42 minutes ago, billco said:

So what happens when I get a refund posted to my CC? If the refund is greater than the balance on the CC then I have a credit. For that to be useful I need to put future purchases on the CC. That won’t help to pay the rent or other bills that require cash or check. At least by filing a dispute I get to put interest and minimum payment on hold for a while.

 

Almost all credit card companies and banks will issue you a check if you have a surplus credit balance and request it to be paid back to you.  Usually, a simple call will do it.

[cherylandtk]

TLDR 🤷‍♀️