CRUISE REFUND RECEIVED

[jeanlyon]

I am not expecting it to arrive until the end of this week after I gave my bank details.  

[Selbourne]

10 hours ago, No pager thank you said:

You may also be interested to know, as an aside, that your post a few days ago about Trustpilot and the succession of 1* reviews triggered the reaction I thought that it might do from a few of the "faux outrage" brigade; not likely or necessarily Cruise Critic posters I am quick to add - but others who eithe read these threads and/or similar on other social media platforms.

 

A few 5* star reviews have "suddenly popped up," spoiling the pattern, again telling the others off for having the temerity to criticize P&O, not much else to justify the highest score available.

 

They have collectively managed to increase P&O's score to 1.8/5 on my last check, although the Which! poll is still damning - based on now near 3,000 votes.  

 

Why would someone spend their time doing this is beyond me.  Just let people have their opinions in peace!

 

Not that I am suggesting for one minute that the same has happened with P&O, but I had a problem with a holiday cottage company that was refusing refunds. They were being absolutely slated on Trust Pilot, rightly saying that they were operating illegally by not providing a refund option. All of a sudden, every 1 star review (of which there were many) was suddenly counter balanced by a 5 star review saying how wonderful all the staff were and what a great job that they were doing in the crisis (no mention of the fact that they couldn’t get their money back)!. One poster pointed out that it was obviously staff members posting these fake reviews. I thought that was a bit far fetched so I made a point of reading all the reviews and it was blindingly obvious that all the positive reviews were being written by the same person (or a small group of people) all making identical gushing comments in almost identical terms and you would put money on the fact that it was employees. I got my money back in the end but it was a battle. To be fair to P&O my refund wasn’t a battle, just downright frustrating. 

[miniyorkie]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Nothing arrived overnight.

Day 66.

Same story here. I was actually expecting to see a big credit balance on my credit card when I logged in 15 minutes ago ( naïve to trust that P.O. would actually do as the T/A advised).

[bobstheboy]

18 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

I am not expecting it to arrive until the end of this week after I gave my bank details.  

I would feel a lot better if they asked for my bank details !

 

I emailed the lady at PandO and she is back in office tomorrow. 

 

Day 65.

[AndrewShooter]

I sought further advice today 18 May on my  refund now overdue on the 60 day wait time having been told a week ago the 60 days did not include weekends and bank holidays. That of course was pure waffle - but I paid the game. Todays advice was given accepting the 60 days time wait had been reached with no mention of weekends, bank holidays etc being of relevance. My call handler was again, extremely polite and explained demand for full refund, rather than the 125% scheme, had exceeded expectation and that extra staff had been deployed to deal. However, there were some who were due and should have received full refund by now, but were  regrettably, still  waiting. The lady offered to contact 'refunds' department and request an update on progress -  the results of which she would relay to me by email. Ever the optimist, I will continue to play the game.........

[mercury7289]

14 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Not that I am suggesting for one minute that the same has happened with P&O, but I had a problem with a holiday cottage company that was refusing refunds. They were being absolutely slated on Trust Pilot, rightly saying that they were operating illegally by not providing a refund option. All of a sudden, every 1 star review (of which there were many) was suddenly counter balanced by a 5 star review saying how wonderful all the staff were and what a great job that they were doing in the crisis (no mention of the fact that they couldn’t get their money back)!. One poster pointed out that it was obviously staff members posting these fake reviews. I thought that was a bit far fetched so I made a point of reading all the reviews and it was blindingly obvious that all the positive reviews were being written by the same person (or a small group of people) all making identical gushing comments in almost identical terms and you would put money on the fact that it was employees. I got my money back in the end but it was a battle. To be fair to P&O my refund wasn’t a battle, just downright frustrating. 

Selbourne

I have been suggesting something similar for some time.

 Sad really!

[No pager thank you]

New P&O poll:

 

**ML publishes a poll of 50 travel companies, based on passenger experience of cancellation and refunds.**

 

P&O comes in the bottom half (30th) place, with a net detractor score of -30, based on a more than 600 votes, within an overall sample of 27,000.

 

For balance, the best companies on there score +91 and +70, very high score in these times.  Not all companies are listed, but P&O narrowly beats TUI and comfortably comes ahead of everyones favourite low cost airline.  The worst is more than -90!

 

Best well known TA - what is eaten by some farm animals... Saga very, very easily beats P&O with a net approval rating.  Avoid booking cruises on old fashioned TV buttons by the looks of it.

 

Unfortunately, not all cruise lines are on there but interesting how they have been picked out for review; size is part of it I suppose.

 

More evidence that concerns about cancellations and refunds are broad based, and now represent a clear majority perspective.  Also, not just on a poll where people go only to vent their supposedly non-representative "faux outrage."

 

They really have slipped haven't they - dear me?

[grapau27]

32 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Not that I am suggesting for one minute that the same has happened with P&O, but I had a problem with a holiday cottage company that was refusing refunds. They were being absolutely slated on Trust Pilot, rightly saying that they were operating illegally by not providing a refund option. All of a sudden, every 1 star review (of which there were many) was suddenly counter balanced by a 5 star review saying how wonderful all the staff were and what a great job that they were doing in the crisis (no mention of the fact that they couldn’t get their money back)!. One poster pointed out that it was obviously staff members posting these fake reviews. I thought that was a bit far fetched so I made a point of reading all the reviews and it was blindingly obvious that all the positive reviews were being written by the same person (or a small group of people) all making identical gushing comments in almost identical terms and you would put money on the fact that it was employees. I got my money back in the end but it was a battle. To be fair to P&O my refund wasn’t a battle, just downright frustrating. 

I agree it definitely looks like 1 or more staff writing 5 star reviews.

Most of my TripAdvisor reviews I give a 5 star rating but on an occasion where I gave 1 star for diabolical service a couple of reviews then came slagging me off and praising the individual staff as absolutely outstanding.

[grapau27]

23 minutes ago, AndrewShooter said:

I sought further advice today 18 May on my  refund now overdue on the 60 day wait time having been told a week ago the 60 days did not include weekends and bank holidays. That of course was pure waffle - but I paid the game. Todays advice was given accepting the 60 days time wait had been reached with no mention of weekends, bank holidays etc being of relevance. My call handler was again, extremely polite and explained demand for full refund, rather than the 125% scheme, had exceeded expectation and that extra staff had been deployed to deal. However, there were some who were due and should have received full refund by now, but were  regrettably, still  waiting. The lady offered to contact 'refunds' department and request an update on progress -  the results of which she would relay to me by email. Ever the optimist, I will continue to play the game.........

Been there got no email or call back.

Hope you have more luck.

I emailed Paul Ludlow personally early Saturday morning fully explaining my then wait of 64 days was over his 60 claim and have had no reply.

[No pager thank you]

I agree Graham and Selbourne.  What is even more grating is that the companies doing this take their customers to be mugs.  Only a minority of customers complete online reviews - those that do tend to be "savvy," and comfortably able to see through such practices. 

 

Definitely take your money elsewhere if you see a firm employ such practices.  

[grapau27]

26 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

Selbourne

I have been suggesting something similar for some time.

 Sad really!

It makes a mockery of the honesty and integrity of these review platforms when people associated with a company send in fantastic reviews of their company.

[mercury7289]

21 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

It makes a mockery of the honesty and integrity of these review platforms when people associated with a company send in fantastic reviews of their company.

Or team up to change the dynamics!

Your instincts all be it from the opposite side,are the same as mine it's called gut feeling.

My gut say's all is not well!

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by mercury7289
spelling

[No pager thank you]

29 minutes ago, AndrewShooter said:

 The lady offered to contact 'refunds' department and request an update on progress -  the results of which she would relay to me by email. Ever the optimist, I will continue to play the game.........

I'm sorry that you are being messed about. 

 

I'm afraid, the "I'll email them" is one of the stonewalling tactics on the list.  Another is the looming "audit," followed by the "difficulties setting up working from home." One of the more silly put out was this idea that one member of staff was allowed to go in once a week to frank envelopes which never seemed to get posted.  Blaming the TA is another favourite.  New infrastructure another.  One of the more believable was that before "resources were increased" a full two people could authorise refunds in Finance.  

 

I'm still waiting for my "escalation" call from Guest Services some 9 days later, which I shall use to pursue my second refund in the unlikely event the phone ever rings.  There are "notes on the file," and I've been "tagged." As you will see with others, if you email them personally you get the "cheque is in the post" routine or increasingly circular discussion about BACS clearance.  This includes emailing you for details and then saying that you are getting a cheque one day, BACS the next.

 

Any others that I've missed?

 

From those I have spoken to, some come across as being genuinely upset that they don't know and are offering poor service.  Others put you on hold and then disconnect you, no matter how polite you are.  All part of the service.

 

You sound as if you are wise to this and already doing it, but keep a log of all the calls for future reference when you get tired of them playing games with you.

[AndrewShooter]

31 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Been there got no email or call back.

Hope you have more luck.

I emailed Paul Ludlow personally early Saturday morning fully explaining my then wait of 64 days was over his 60 claim and have had no reply.

Fully anticipating exactly the same response......... Can live delay etc etc.... But I just want them to be honest about what expectations can be realised

[mat5664]

12 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

Any others that I've missed?

 

 

 

I had:

"I will escalate to finance but they are closed today".  

"I will escalate to my manager"

"I will escalate to customer services" (even though I was talking to customer services}.

 

It does seem that for those over 60 days, things have started to unblock.  I have part of mine paid by credit card refunded, but the other part paid by debit card has not yet.

 

I think most of us would understand the extreme situation this has caused for the Company.  If only they had been more open and transparent, rather than saying for 2 months that refunds were being processed when it it clear from here and elsewhere that they were clearly not.

 

[pete14]

20 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

I'm sorry that you are being messed about. 

 

I'm afraid, the "I'll email them" is one of the stonewalling tactics on the list.  Another is the looming "audit," followed by the "difficulties setting up working from home." One of the more silly put out was this idea that one member of staff was allowed to go in once a week to frank envelopes which never seemed to get posted.  Blaming the TA is another favourite.  New infrastructure another.  One of the more believable was that before "resources were increased" a full two people could authorise refunds in Finance.  

 

I'm still waiting for my "escalation" call from Guest Services some 9 days later, which I shall use to pursue my second refund in the unlikely event the phone ever rings.  There are "notes on the file," and I've been "tagged." As you will see with others, if you email them personally you get the "cheque is in the post" routine or increasingly circular discussion about BACS clearance.  This includes emailing you for details and then saying that you are getting a cheque one day, BACS the next.

 

Any others that I've missed?

 

From those I have spoken to, some come across as being genuinely upset that they don't know and are offering poor service.  Others put you on hold and then disconnect you, no matter how polite you are.  All part of the service.

 

You sound as if you are wise to this and already doing it, but keep a log of all the calls for future reference when you get tired of them playing games with you.

You seem to know a great deal about alleged underhand tactics of P&O. Insider information perhaps? Either that or making regular calls that only serve to distract staff from doing other more useful work and probably demoralising them further. Maybe relying on social media for information and we all know how reliable the keyboard warriors are. 
 

I would hate to think that those who regularly bombard them with calls and emails (I am not accusing you of this), especially calls that threaten all sorts of action and escalations to get money back which possibly become abusive, are given preferential treatment and get their refunds ahead of others.

 

What I will agree on is that P&O are not doing themselves any favours over this. Maybe the delays are deliberate to assist with cash flow but I haven’t read any hard evidence for this, just supposition and rumour. Maybe, just maybe, they really are struggling to cope with an unprecedented situation. Sending regular updates by email would be helpful but no doubt they would provoke further email and phone traffic to deal with. Paul Ludlow’s video updates seem to have done just that!
 

And  finally, yes, I am patiently waiting in the queue for a refund associated with the Iona maiden cruise.

Edited May 18, 2020 by pete14

[grapau27]

3 minutes ago, AndrewShooter said:

Fully anticipating exactly the same response......... Can live delay etc etc.... But I just want them to be honest about what expectations can be realised

I can be very patient but the lies and lack of communication is extremely poor customer service.

[jeanlyon]

emailed Guest Relations last week, got a reply just now to say they know I have been in touch with Rebecca and given my bank details, so I should be receiving the refund soon.

[Pine Man]

I have just spoken to P&O and got through in less than 5 minutes.

 

The lady I spoke to couldn't have been more helpful. I spoke to her about my Arcadia cruise to the Baltic on 21 August 2020 as the final payment is due this week. I was advised to cancel with the option of having FCC for the deposit that I had paid, which i accepted and received immediate email confirmation.

 

I also queried the status of my Azura cruise on 19 April 2020, which I had paid in full, and was informed that it still showed as a 125% FCC but that, in time, this would be treated as the refund I had requested on line. She was unable to say how long the refund would take.

 

I am more than happy with the response I got.

[No pager thank you]

15 minutes ago, pete14 said:

You seem to know a great deal about alleged underhand tactics of P&O. Insider information perhaps? Either that or making regular calls that only serve to distract staff from doing other more useful work and probably demoralising them further. Maybe relying on social media for information and we all know how reliable the keyboard warriors are. 

 

Thanks for your reply, I do hope that you are refunded soon, everyone has waited a long time.

 

To answer your question, the source of my information is in my post is either the summary contents of this thread, which I have taken as being more honest than other social media outlets, or alternatively my personal, direct experience with the company.  I tend to think that where the same excuse is quoted on here multiple times by different people, it builds credibility.

 

You are right to say that I haven't contacted them persistently at all for the reason you suggest, only when they have not missed whatever deadline/response time that they suggested was reasonable at the time.

 

Hope that helps - I have seen as a positive that Iona Maiden has been refunded to others, so I trust you are close to the top of the queue 👍

[Mysticalmother]

Re Trust Pilot reviews. You may, or may not be,  aware, that a large , and to be honest rather nasty group of people on Faceache were threatening to try and take out a “winding up order” against P &O. They were also encouraging all their members to go and write a 1star review on Trust Pilot... which many of them did. The instigators were not people who were really desperate financially for their refunds...they were just troublemakers, and probably bored, & just they hadn’t got their money back. I understand that there are of course  people who are desperate for their refunds because of the current situation, and do not blame them for contacting P&O to expedite getting their money back in the correct way. For those I have sympathy.
So as a counter action,  many others on another group decided to do the opposite....and write much better reviews, and focus on the company’s cruise product, rather than just the refund issue....and I know  they are NOT P & O staff. They are also not people who necessarily think the sun shines out of PandO’s backside... they can see their shortcomings, but they are decent human beings who were somewhat appalled at the way some others ( behind the shelter of a keyboard)  were behaving. If you were one of them you ought to be ashamed at your behaviour...and indeed the stupidity of some of the suggestions you were making. And they are now claiming it is the result of their actions that have secured refunds... it’s not, they were going to start happening anyway.
The trouble here is that the 1 star reviews were almost SOLELY against the company because of the refunds situation, and I am a firm believer that a review should be balanced. Many of those writing those damming reviews had only a few months previously posted on groups and forums what wonderful holidays they had had. 
I agree that the refund situation has not been handled well... primarily the communication has been poor, and people have had to wait far longer for their money back than they should have done in ideal circumstances. I am not praising P&O for the way it has been dealt with. But I do also understand the difficulties that they have encountered in these unprecedented times, and that their existing IT system simply could not cope and needed updating. They then trialled it on the Iona Maiden Cruise, it worked and so the backlog should now follow within a week or so.  It would have been more helpful if they could Have communicated that properly . Hopefully lessons learned...although I won’t hold my breath. 
It is interesting as well, to note that many people have apparently not received their refund because they have not actually completed the online claim  form. They assumed that the refund would be automatic , instead of reading the information sent out properly . The automatic bit was the FCC. Again , no doubt it is debatable how clear the information was from P&O... but if you didn’t complete the claim form, you won’t be getting a refund anytime soon. On the plus side, you can still apply for your money back, it’s not too late.
I am sure there will be people on here who will now shoot me down in flames... go ahead if that is your wish.... my conscience is clear. And my tin hat is firmly on ....

Edited May 18, 2020 by Mysticalmother

[mercury7289]

3 minutes ago, Mysticalmother said:

Re Trust Pilot reviews. You may, or may not be,  aware, that a large , and to be honest rather nasty group of people on Faceache were threatening to try and take out a “winding up order” against P &O. They were also encouraging all their members to go and write a 1star review on Trust Pilot... which many of them did. The instigators were not people who were really desperate financially for their refunds...they were just troublemakers, and probably bored, & just they hadn’t got their money back. I understand that there are of course  people who are desperate for their refunds because of the current situation, and do not blame them for contacting P&O to expedite getting their money back in the correct way. For those I have sympathy.
So as a counter action,  many others on another group decided to do the opposite....and write much better reviews, and focus on the company’s cruise product, rather than just the refund issue....and I know  they are NOT P & O staff. They are also not people who necessarily think the sun shines out of PandO’s backside... they can see their shortcomings, but they are decent human beings who were somewhat appalled at the way some others ( behind the shelter of a keyboard)  were behaving. If you were one of them you ought to be ashamed at your behaviour...and indeed the stupidity of some of the suggestions you were making. And they are now claiming it is the result of their actions that have secured refunds... it’s not, they were going to start happening anyway.
The trouble here is that the 1 star reviews were almost SOLELY against the company because of the refunds situation, and I am a firm believer that a review should be balanced. Many of those writing those damming reviews had only a few months previously posted on groups and forums what wonderful holidays they had had. 
I agree that the refund situation has not been handled well... primarily the communication has been poor, and people have had to wait far longer for their money back than they should have done in ideal circumstances. I am not praising P&O for the way it has been dealt with. But I do also understand the difficulties that they have encountered in these unprecedented times, and that their existing IT system simply could not cope and needed updating. They then trialled it on the Iona Maiden Cruise, it worked and so the backlog should now follow within a week or so.  It would have been more helpful if they could Have communicated that properly . Hopefully lessons learned...although I won’t hold my breath. 
It is interesting as well, to note that many people have apparently not received their refund because they have not actually completed the online claim  form. They assumed that the refund would be automatic , instead of reading the information sent out properly . The automatic bit was the FCC. Again , no doubt it is debatable how clear the information was from P&O... but if you didn’t complete the claim form, you won’t be getting a refund anytime soon. On the plus side, you can still apply for your money back, it’s not too late.
I am sure there will be people on here who will now shoot me down in flames... go ahead if that is your wish.... my conscience is clear.

Sorry

Normally I look forward to your posts, however not this one.

You have managed to make extending refunds for another week or so sound reasonable

It is not!

[grapau27]

9 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

Thanks for your reply, I do hope that you are refunded soon, everyone has waited a long time.

 

To answer your question, the source of my information is in my post is either the summary contents of this thread, which I have taken as being more honest than other social media outlets, or alternatively my personal, direct experience with the company.  I tend to think that where the same excuse is quoted on here multiple times by different people, it builds credibility.

 

You are right to say that I haven't contacted them persistently at all for the reason you suggest, only when they have not missed whatever deadline/response time that they suggested was reasonable at the time.

 

Hope that helps - I have seen as a positive that Iona Maiden has been refunded to others, so I trust you are close to the top of the queue 👍

I personally have experienced everything you have posted and more.

I had one agent say she checked with her manager and a guest relations manager will ring you in the next 2 days.

2 days later I rang back and another agent told me no manager would ever be ringing me back and she confirmed this with another manager supposedly?and no mention of this was on my file.

If only all the inginuety went into sorting out refunds rather than concocting fake stories we would all be a lot happier.

[miniyorkie]

39 minutes ago, pete14 said:

You seem to know a great deal about alleged underhand tactics of P&O. Insider information perhaps? Either that or making regular calls that only serve to distract staff from doing other more useful work and probably demoralising them further. Maybe relying on social media for information and we all know how reliable the keyboard warriors are. 
 

I would hate to think that those who regularly bombard them with calls and emails (I am not accusing you of this), especially calls that threaten all sorts of action and escalations to get money back which possibly become abusive, are given preferential treatment and get their refunds ahead of others.

 

What I will agree on is that P&O are not doing themselves any favours over this. Maybe the delays are deliberate to assist with cash flow but I haven’t read any hard evidence for this, just supposition and rumour. Maybe, just maybe, they really are struggling to cope with an unprecedented situation. Sending regular updates by email would be helpful but no doubt they would provoke further email and phone traffic to deal with. Paul Ludlow’s video updates seem to have done just that!
 

And  finally, yes, I am patiently waiting in the queue for a refund associated with the Iona maiden cruise.

Pete14 - You are patiently waiting for a refund for the Iona maiden cruise and have no intention of chasing the refund as P.O. are extremely busy and do not advocate others " harassing" for their refunds either. Please therefore would you advise what I should do, or how long to wait for a refund of the Azura March 20th transatlantic cruise? I have not contacted P.O at all, mainly because, as the original poster indicated, I would not believe the answer to my request and would be even more frustrated by the fob off rhetoric.

[pete14]

13 minutes ago, miniyorkie said:

Pete14 - You are patiently waiting for a refund for the Iona maiden cruise and have no intention of chasing the refund as P.O. are extremely busy and do not advocate others " harassing" for their refunds either. Please therefore would you advise what I should do, or how long to wait for a refund of the Azura March 20th transatlantic cruise? I have not contacted P.O at all, mainly because, as the original poster indicated, I would not believe the answer to my request and would be even more frustrated by the fob off rhetoric.

I am in no position to give advice but all I can assume is that as you are around the 60 day stage, you should be able to expect your refund soon. Hopefully it will happen.