How long will the refund take?

[sofmall]

On 6/19/2020 at 4:22 AM, opa&oma said:

Ha!  I've got you beat, have been waiting since early April for our refund.

 

We've been waiting since the 18 March!

[Muffinz]

8 hours ago, sofmall said:

 

We've been waiting since the 18 March!

Same - 18 March for us

last week celebrity said the refund has been processed and will be paid to the wholesaler, then the wholesaler will pay our travel agent then the TA will pay us......

next time we book a cruise we will book directly with celebrity 

6 mconths is far too long to wait for a refund 

[sofmall]

46 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

Same - 18 March for us

last week celebrity said the refund has been processed and will be paid to the wholesaler, then the wholesaler will pay our travel agent then the TA will pay us......

next time we book a cruise we will book directly with celebrity 

6 mconths is far too long to wait for a refund 

 

I feel we'll be waiting another 5 months! Celebrity has to and fro'd with our TA each time a query is made. He's had to re-submit via a different channel 3 times, and most recently they claim they didn't receive his re-submitted refund request sent 3 weeks ago and to submit yet again AND via a different channel again. They also tried to say we were eligible for a FCC not a refund, which we had to scramble to disprove as when the refund request was submitted Celebrity stated in their Cruise with Confidence document that a refund was an option. So now I feel we're no closer than on the 18 March.

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, Muffinz said:

Same - 18 March for us

last week celebrity said the refund has been processed and will be paid to the wholesaler, then the wholesaler will pay our travel agent then the TA will pay us......

next time we book a cruise we will book directly with celebrity 

6 mconths is far too long to wait for a refund 

A wholesaler puts a huge additional layer in communications.  A good reason to use a TA (a group booking on a block booked by the TA is not a wholesaler) or Celebrity.

My refunds and FCCs were promptly handled by my TA along with a certificate for an additional discount my next booking.  My TA also moved my almost $1500 of perks to my 2021 cruise.

[chrisinaz]

we had booked direct with celebrity on 10/5 equinox trip. celebrity cancelled on 8/5 I called on 8/5 for a cash refund to card got part of the money yesterday 8/20 and the balance today 8/21  

I think basically 2 weeks is very reasonable so maybe things are improving.

Wanted to reach out to other posters since I know there have been major issues with this process.

Good luck to all

 

 

[Blue_Flame]

Celebrity canceled our April 11th cruise in the second round of cancellations in March. Our payments were spread over four credit cards. Two of the refunds came in May and June. It was a struggle to get the last two refunds. Each time a call was placed by us or our TA, we were told, "I see the amount. I will send it to Finance. Wait "x amount" of days (anywhere from 7 to 45 days)." Nothing seemed to work.

 

After getting a supervisor at our TA involved three weeks ago, the final two refunds posted this week: 140 days after the initial cancellation and request for refund.

 

So there is still hope for those with the early cancellations, the ones that seemed to be taking the longest.

 

 

[airlink diva]

When my August 15th cruise was cancelled, it took less than two weeks for the non deposit portion to return to my account.

I forgot that I paid my deposit for both my room and parents on my credit card and that took 3 weeks.

It seems those who cruise cancel when it first started having longer wait time than those down the road

[Jane2357]

We recently cancelled our cruise for Oct. 2021.  Fully refundable, $1,800 deposit.  I've had heart surgery and won't consider cruising for a few years till the vaccine is proven and things are under control.  I waited to cancel as I felt X was over whelmed with rebooking, cancellations when Covid first started.

 

I am please to say that from cancellation to refund - 5 DAYS!  Way to go Celebrity!!!!!

[holidaylover10]

I have waited 60 days so far without refund. Have just sent a email to travel agent for update.

[rustycruzr]

We had about 8k tied up into 2 cruises. One cruise was in March, the other in May. When Celebrity announced cruise cancellations in March, we immediately notified our TA that under no circumstances would we accept FCC. I also submitted refund requests on line per the email from LLP-the CEO of Celebrity (the e mail had a link that allowed a passenger to submit a refund request on line). I figured why not do both…(you know, belt and suspenders—it couldn’t hurt).

I received everything but $300.00 by mid May. It baffled me why they kept the $300.00. But the customer rep promised we would see that in 30 days, so in other words, by mid June.

Well, not so much. We contacted them no less than 7 times requesting the remaining $300.00 and each time they said they would initiate workflow because the prior customer rep never submitted workflow.

In late July, being quite ticked off about this whole process, I finally did two things: I wrote a pointed letter to Celebrity’s SVP and head of customer service AND I requested a charge-back via the credit card company. We had plenty of documentation showing how we worked with Celebrity to obtain the full refund and we submitted this to the credit card company.

About 2 ½ weeks after filing the complaint with the credit card company, we were finally made whole—we received a $300 credit. So it took over 120 days to be made whole.

Lessons learned:

-Document every contact made with Celebrity. Get a name and identifying number (they won't give their surname) of the customer representative. Keep all of the emails sent by LLP and/or other Celebrity officials so you can use them as leverage in the quest to obtain a refund (in the emails, they promised us a refund within 30-45 days. In reality they greatly exceeded that--120+ days). The emails and press releases help you build your case when Celebrity neglects to issue you a refund.

-IGNORE those Celebrity apologists on Cruise Critic who say to cut Celebrity a break. I had someone on this site state that the communications from Celebrity were not binding…they had no legal value, so to their thinking I had no leverage in getting a refund. However, you’re not trying to start a class action suit. You’re just trying to get a refund. If I had listened to him, I would have gotten zero $$$. You need your $$$. Celebrity is using your $$$ as an interest free loan. The longer they keep your $$$ the longer you are funding their risk. If they were to go out of business, your $$$ goes with them. You’ll see cents on the dollar about 10 years from now when bankruptcy proceedings are settled. And NONE of those Celebrity apologists will be anywhere in sight to make you whole.

-Your goal is to get your $$$ back as quickly as possible. No need to be unreasonable but tolerate no delay. They promised a service and didn’t deliver. Use your leverage. After a reasonable period of time (30-45 days after cruise date) if they haven’t refunded your $$$, use your points of leverage. Call the Celebrity customer service line. Be sure to get name and identifying number of the rep you speak to. After the 3^rd attempt to obtain a refund via customer service, write a registered letter to the SVP in charge of customer service asking for her to expedite the refund. Outline your efforts to work with customer service and ask directly for her help in moving the refund process along. That letter becomes part of the documentation that you’ll send to the credit card company that demonstrates that you attempted to work with Celebrity.

-After giving Celebrity a reasonable period to respond (2 weeks) contact your credit card company and file a claim for failure to deliver services. Give them all of the documentation on how you’ve contacted them and the number of times you’ve reached out to them. Show what they promised to do and how they failed to deliver on said promise. You’re entitled your $$$ back. You shouldn’t have to wait until Celebrity decides when you should get your $$$ back. They take your $$$ right away…they don’t wait 30-120 days to take your $$$. You should not have to endure an unreasonable wait to obtain a refund. Thirty days is reasonable. Anything beyond that strains credulity.

-As mentioned, we finally got our refund in late July. This whole experience left a bad taste so Celebrity will not be seeing us again. We’ll do a bunch of land trips stateside and IF we decide to cruise again, we’ll choose another provider. Between the covid risks and the angst that we experienced with Celebrity, cruising has lost its attraction to us.

Hope this was helpful to those still awaiting a refund…good luck!

Edited August 23, 2020 by rustycruzr

[Muffinz]

Well my wife has made friends via facebook with someone else who was booked on the cruise before ours.... and this lady has free calling to the USA, so has made calls for us and has confirmed with Celebrity that our refund has been processed.

The TA keeps saying they are waiting for the wholesaler to get paid from Celebrity, then the wholesaler will pay the TA who will then pay us.

Wife spoke to TA last week and urged them to phone the wholesaler again and chase them, but the TA just said they (wholesaler) are very busy, often don't or can't answer the phone.... so the TA said they would flick the wholesaler an e-mail....

 

Wife phoned the wholesaler and got through to them easy and the wholesaler said they were waiting for the TA to phone them.

On Monday wife phoned up the TA and spoke to the manager of the branch - who told her off for contacting the wholesaler.... and said to my wife that "people like you are being a pain in the a$$ ringing all the time" and just told her to be patient and others are still waiting for refunds from Celebrity / Princess cruises..... my wife was in tears when I got home from work

 

I told her to leave it for a week then call the TA again next week for an update.... if there is no progress then we will take it further

 

There is a consumer watchdog TV program here in NZ called 'fair go' - and we are very tempted to tell them our story....

[davekathy]

19 hours ago, Muffinz said:

Well my wife has made friends via facebook with someone else who was booked on the cruise before ours.... and this lady has free calling to the USA, so has made calls for us and has confirmed with Celebrity that our refund has been processed.

The TA keeps saying they are waiting for the wholesaler to get paid from Celebrity, then the wholesaler will pay the TA who will then pay us.

Wife spoke to TA last week and urged them to phone the wholesaler again and chase them, but the TA just said they (wholesaler) are very busy, often don't or can't answer the phone.... so the TA said they would flick the wholesaler an e-mail....

 

Wife phoned the wholesaler and got through to them easy and the wholesaler said they were waiting for the TA to phone them.

On Monday wife phoned up the TA and spoke to the manager of the branch - who told her off for contacting the wholesaler.... and said to my wife that "people like you are being a pain in the a$$ ringing all the time" and just told her to be patient and others are still waiting for refunds from Celebrity / Princess cruises..... my wife was in tears when I got home from work

I told her to leave it for a week then call the TA again next week for an update.... if there is no progress then we will take it further

 

There is a consumer watchdog TV program here in NZ called 'fair go' - and we are very tempted to tell them our story....

What a PITA!! 

[Roger88]

On 8/23/2020 at 11:44 PM, holidaylover10 said:

I have waited 60 days so far without refund. Have just sent a email to travel agent for update.

Usually the process is taking about 60 days.. roughly 60-90 days. Usually take much less time, it depends on the circumstances the refund was demanded. If its somehow connected with the all-known situation, then its like a casino. You might get it super early or you will have to wait like 120 days.. or even more 

[Muffinz]

3 hours ago, davekathy said:

What a PITA!! 

Yes - so far I have let my wife handle this.... as she is good with words

but 6 months is getting ridiculous.... I told her to wait a week before contacting them again and if there is no news on the refund I will phone them the following week and give them a piece of my mind!!!! - that's if my wife will let me

[K.T.B.]

My cruise, that was to have sailed on August 9th, was canceled on June 23rd.  We received our FCC on August 18th.  Still waiting for taxes and fees to be refunded though.  Just recently got the FCC for our excursion on that cruise on Aug. 24th.

 

 

[Muffinz]

Well we have a good news update

the TA finally e-mailed to say the Wholesaler has been refunded from Celebrity..... but it could take their (Wholesalers) finance team 2 weeks to process the payment to the TA - who will then refund us.

I'm not going to celebrate yet until the money is our bank account.... but at least we're getting close!

[K.T.B.]

The final bit of my refund should be hitting up in the next 5-7 business days.  The taxes and fees.  And then I'll have everything back or turned into FCC from 3 cruises.  Two I cancelled well before final payment and one Celebrity canceled after final payment.

[A Sixth?]

Just cancelled three cruises for this December into January through a TA.

 

Waiting to see how long it takes to get my 3 x $200.00 deposits back 

[fizzy1]

Yes - so far I have let my wife handle this.... as she is good with words
but 6 months is getting ridiculous.... I told her to wait a week before contacting them again and if there is no news on the refund I will phone them the following week and give them a piece of my mind!!!! - that's if my wife will let me

Why carry on back and forth ? Enough is enough . Charge back on your credit card. We did this on hotel accom that was cancelled by the hotel . Said we weren’t entitled to refund which we were . Gave then 1 week to respond. They didnt , so took it to our credit card company . No prob .


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Banjo]

Finally! My refund for our April 24th Reflection Trans-Atlantic came in today. I originally cancelled my cruise end of March for FCC. Got the FCC letter in mid-April with the amount with a Dec 31st 2021 expiration date. After we thought about it taking in consideration this virus may not be over or we would have to settle on a cruise just to get it in, we decided on the refund. Called our big box TA and he called for the refund. He did note he was surprised that Celebrity agreed so easily but it would take 90 days. Well we in the process of selling a house and did not give much consideration till last week when we called the TA. Celebrity was notified and they said they get it right out. I did get taxes and port charges for this cruise early June. Celebrity still owes us for tours and when the TA spoke to them about the fare they said allow 4 weeks for the tours to be reimbursed. Also I had a Apex October, 2020 trans-Atlantic booked and the deposit on that came quickly. 

 

Nice seeing that credit on the credit card. 🙂

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Banjo

[lasekeye]

Oh my goodness!!!! 

Carnival refund department really stepped up!!

 

We booked through a big box store.....C——O, our refund was back to my 2 different credit cards in 8 calendar days!!!!

[Muffinz]

Well I am pleased to report that we finally got our refund.....

 

The TA had the cheek to take $100 off for 'providing professional services' - they were anything BUT professional in our opinion

 

as we won't be cruising or going away anytime soon we decided to go out and get a new TV with some of the money!

 

but we are pleased that it is all over now and we can move on

[Arizona Wildcat]

24 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

Well I am pleased to report that we finally got our refund.....

 

The TA had the cheek to take $100 off for 'providing professional services' - they were anything BUT professional in our opinion

 

as we won't be cruising or going away anytime soon we decided to go out and get a new TV with some of the money!

 

but we are pleased that it is all over now and we can move on

Rules are different in Australia/NZ from other countries.  Unfortunate your refund took so long.  Know in the UK rules are again different from North America.  UK bookings have protections for missed activities.

This is an unprecedented time.  I think most TAs are working hard to handle the avalanche of refunds and credits dealing with systems not set up for anything like we have seen.  I also strongly suggest people vet their TA.  Some are wonderful and others not so good.  Exactly the same with Celebrity.  Their representatives are mostly working from home under difficult circumstances.

[NJ Gal]

For our April Apex cruise, it took 2 months to get a refund. Now waiting 6 weeks for another refund.  It takes 5 minutes to charge a credit card, why does it takes months to get a refund? 

[Mr&MrsBee]

48 minutes ago, NJ Gal said:

For our April Apex cruise, it took 2 months to get a refund. Now waiting 6 weeks for another refund.  It takes 5 minutes to charge a credit card, why does it takes months to get a refund? 

Celebrity keeps the money to make their financial sheet look better at your expense.  If our cruise is cancelled we do not want cruise credit.  Just give us our money back.  fed up with X and our problems on our last cruise.  Certainly not the same as it was in the past.