CRUISE REFUND RECEIVED

[Eglesbrech]

5 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Take no notice of what they say, it was never working days, then it was within 45/60 days, now it is at least... 

The truth is, they don't know and are just fobbing us off.. Not their fault, nobody is giving them true guidelines so they use what they think they can get away with.. 

Andy 

Yes fobbing off is exactly what they are doing.

 

I have only contacted them once at day 46 and have been completely ignored. Having read about all the wasted calls and contacts people on have made and the mass of messages on social media I am saving my breath to cool my porridge.

 

The responses on social media from P&O are getting more and more contemptuous, there is one where they are effectively telling the customer they should be grateful to get their money back regardless of how long it takes because other holiday companies are issuing vouchers (I’m paraphrasing but you get the gist). They are stone walling and in spite of having been asked hundreds of times which date they are up to with refunds refusing to say. 
 

The tone of how people feel about P&O is rapidly changing, there are three very distinct camps now. The first is

 

The doormats - We mustn’t grumble, P&O are marvellous and can keep my money for as long as they need to, you are all so wonderful and doing such a great job brigade 😍

 

The other extreme is the 

 

Toothless tigers - You are stealing my money, ignoring my messages, keep changing the goalposts, I’m never going to cruise with you again / I have reported you x, y z/ Im taking you to court 😡

 

A lot are somewhere in the middle but expressing their disappointment more moderately about the lack of information and ever moving target for the refund. 
 

I do think that P&O senior manager have done the company no favours by the way this has all been handled and they will lose business because of it.
 

 

 

 

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Yes fobbing off is exactly what they are doing.

 

I have only contacted them once at day 46 and have been completely ignored. Having read about all the wasted calls and contacts people on have made and the mass of messages on social media I am saving my breath to cool my porridge.

 

The responses on social media from P&O are getting more and more contemptuous, there is one where they are effectively telling the customer they should be grateful to get their money back regardless of how long it takes because other holiday companies are issuing vouchers (I’m paraphrasing but you get the gist). They are stone walling and in spite of having been asked hundreds of times which date they are up to with refunds refusing to say. 
 

The tone of how people feel about P&O is rapidly changing, there are three very distinct camps now. The first is

 

The doormats - We mustn’t grumble, P&O are marvellous and can keep my money for as long as they need to, you are all so wonderful and doing such a great job brigade 😍

 

The other extreme is the 

 

Toothless tigers - You are stealing my money, ignoring my messages, keep changing the goalposts, I’m never going to cruise with you again / I have reported you x, y z/ Im taking you to court 😡

 

A lot are somewhere in the middle but expressing their disappointment more moderately about the lack of information and ever moving target for the refund. 
 

I do think that P&O senior manager have done the company no favours by the way this has all been handled and they will lose business because of it.
 

 

 

 

That's a good summation. Like you, I am fairly and squarely in the middle sector.

I must admit that some of the posts on other social media, from the sycophantic doormats, is unbelievable. To listen to them, you would think that the sun shines out of P&O's backside!

[P&O SUE]

@Tablelamp this is what I got when I submitted my online request for a refund.

[bee-ess]

Cheer up all - if you check your P&O mail you will at least know how to make a Mint Julep

[PandNo Refund]

26 minutes ago, wowzz said:

That's a good summation. Like you, I am fairly and squarely in the middle sector.

I must admit that some of the posts on other social media, from the sycophantic doormats, is unbelievable. To listen to them, you would think that the sun shines out of P&O's backside!

Absolutely, some of the posts are unreal - and don’t dare criticise P&O. Those people are too busy polishing their little boat models to be worried about needing a refund. They talk as if we should be more understanding because they fear their precious P&O might go under (pardon the pun)

 

the condescending nature of the ‘company president’ videos is something else... 

 

Ill never give them my money again. So quick in chasing you for payments etc, but when the shoe is on the other foot, they run to the hills. 

[PandNo Refund]

You think for future cruises they will accept payment ‘a minimum of 60 days after sail date’? 
 

or do you think they’d regard that as unacceptable?

[mercury7289]

15 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

Cheer up all - if you check your P&O mail you will at least know how to make a Mint Julep

I was going to make a couple, then I remembered I am locked in, so cannot go and buy the ingredients.

Typical!

[PandNo Refund]

Perhaps it worthwhile to send P&O a copy of the ‘terms and conditions’ of them retaining our money beyond the agreed 14 day term?

‘Failure to comply with the agreed 14 day refund process will result in your implied acceptance of the following terms and conditions:

8% daily interest to be paid on monies owed for the duration of late payment’

[emoji1303]

[No pager thank you]

Hello, This is my first post on Cruise Critic.  I have been very interested in reading the information on this board and on the social media platforms, so thought it would be helpful to share my own frustrating experience.

 

We were originally due to go on Ventura on the 17th March, which was cancelled by P&O via email on 15th March.  After four hours on the phone, and three attempts we did manage to get through and receive the cancellation invoice, meaning that our then 7-14 day waiting period started, on that particular day, as it was internally "actioned".  We did receive money for on board excursions and dining about a week later, but since then absolutely nothing.  Having been cut off repeatedly by P&O and never called back, we did put an email in to Guest Relations, receiving the 45 (actual, not working) days as an "up to," in reply.

 

As appears to be the case for many people on the board, we have been loyal customers of P&O for a number of years and have the fortune/misfortune, however one sees it, of having six cruises booked, excluding this one cancelled in March, and a further one cancelled on Aurora in June.  With this rendering the future cruise credit route implausible, we had looked at whether or not financially it would make sense to cancel any of the six cruises and re-book them with the alleged 25% "bonus."  Suffice to say, even allowing for the "bonus" the touted "fluid pricing model" would have left us at least £300 out of pocket and in one case, some £1200.  P&O also helpfully declined the possibility of using the FCC towards an existing booking, as appears to have been the experience of a couple of posters on here, and the opportunity to book a cruise in April 2022 - from the current brochure, because it fell a few days outside of their timeline.

 

We did recently get through to P&O, the lady we spoke to was helpful - I can help as follows:

 

-- Day 60 will not become "refund" day - they are apparently working through March and April, but there is no new number.

-- It was acknowledged that we had waited too long - no attempt to create "working" days as an attempt to justify our wait.

-- We did advise that a claim had been made against the credit card - this got noted for the file.  This could be one route for people to follow to get their money back.

 

I do agree with the general consensus that P&O will come out badly from this - I will not be a doormat.  The reference to people being grateful for having access to their money was particularly poorly put I felt.  It appears that P&O have put to one side their ethos of valuing their customers, whether this is the new or more established ones.  We have previously recommended them and sang their praises - couldn't do the same now.  Hope all are well.

[pete14]

11 minutes ago, PandNo Refund said:

Perhaps it worthwhile to send P&O a copy of the ‘terms and conditions’ of them retaining our money beyond the agreed 14 day term?

‘Failure to comply with the agreed 14 day refund process will result in your implied acceptance of the following terms and conditions:

8% daily interest to be paid on monies owed for the duration of late payment’

This 14 day period for refunds is completely unreasonable given the circumstances of massive cancellations, many staff in isolation and many more working from home whilst answering a massively increased number of phone calls either chasing up refunds, complaining and using FCC to book a replacement cruise. I am not condoning the fact that it appeared to take a long time for refunds to start coming through and the slow rate they appear to be coming now but harping on about 14 days is unreasonable and unhelpful. 

[jeanlyon]

Yes totally agree.  It just would not be possible,

[PandNo Refund]

This 14 day period for refunds is completely unreasonable given the circumstances of massive cancellations, many staff in isolation and many more working from home whilst answering a massively increased number of phone calls either chasing up refunds, complaining and using FCC to book a replacement cruise. I am not condoning the fact that it appeared to take a long time for refunds to start coming through and the slow rate they appear to be coming now but harping on about 14 days is unreasonable and unhelpful. 

Whilst that may be the case - ‘unreasonable’ might be a way to describe the absolute silence from P&O - no confirmation of cancelling (no doubt so at a later date they can say they didn’t receive it and have converted to some unwanted cruise credit), no communication with regards to timeframe updates, and when contacted they take 4 days to reply with a pithy ‘our spreadsheets are down’ message, and then radio silence for the days after that...

The fact is, if I called tomorrow to book a cruise and pay for it, I’d imagine their staff, spreadsheets and banking facilities would all be readily available and the cash would be out of my bank before I was off the phone.

[P&O SUE]

15 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

Hello, This is my first post on Cruise Critic.  I have been very interested in reading the information on this board and on the social media platforms, so thought it would be helpful to share my own frustrating experience.

 

We were originally due to go on Ventura on the 17th March, which was cancelled by P&O via email on 15th March.  After four hours on the phone, and three attempts we did manage to get through and receive the cancellation invoice, meaning that our then 7-14 day waiting period started, on that particular day, as it was internally "actioned".  We did receive money for on board excursions and dining about a week later, but since then absolutely nothing.  Having been cut off repeatedly by P&O and never called back, we did put an email in to Guest Relations, receiving the 45 (actual, not working) days as an "up to," in reply.

 

As appears to be the case for many people on the board, we have been loyal customers of P&O for a number of years and have the fortune/misfortune, however one sees it, of having six cruises booked, excluding this one cancelled in March, and a further one cancelled on Aurora in June.  With this rendering the future cruise credit route implausible, we had looked at whether or not financially it would make sense to cancel any of the six cruises and re-book them with the alleged 25% "bonus."  Suffice to say, even allowing for the "bonus" the touted "fluid pricing model" would have left us at least £300 out of pocket and in one case, some £1200.  P&O also helpfully declined the possibility of using the FCC towards an existing booking, as appears to have been the experience of a couple of posters on here, and the opportunity to book a cruise in April 2022 - from the current brochure, because it fell a few days outside of their timeline.

 

We did recently get through to P&O, the lady we spoke to was helpful - I can help as follows:

 

-- Day 60 will not become "refund" day - they are apparently working through March and April, but there is no new number.

-- It was acknowledged that we had waited too long - no attempt to create "working" days as an attempt to justify our wait.

-- We did advise that a claim had been made against the credit card - this got noted for the file.  This could be one route for people to follow to get their money back.

 

I do agree with the general consensus that P&O will come out badly from this - I will not be a doormat.  The reference to people being grateful for having access to their money was particularly poorly put I felt.  It appears that P&O have put to one side their ethos of valuing their customers, whether this is the new or more established ones.  We have previously recommended them and sang their praises - couldn't do the same now.  Hope all are well.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Hope you continue to post.

Edited May 10, 2020 by P&O SUE

[mercury7289]

39 minutes ago, PandNo Refund said:

Perhaps it worthwhile to send P&O a copy of the ‘terms and conditions’ of them retaining our money beyond the agreed 14 day term?

‘Failure to comply with the agreed 14 day refund process will result in your implied acceptance of the following terms and conditions:

8% daily interest to be paid on monies owed for the duration of late payment’

This was going to be my approach, however got refunded, the only difference was I was going to offer them the chance to continue to benefit from the use of my money, past the 14 day lawful period, but at a cost of 3% interest per day, accumulative 

Remember we have all accepted that this is an unusual situation, and therefore have not at this stage, sort redress on the cancellation of upto 25% extra, as per the terms and conditions of cancellation

 

Could all this have been foreseen and was there any warnings. 

The Americans seem to think there was.

So are we wrong to forgo this extra payment which was part and parcel of our agreements?

i am watching how this plays out in American, as I may instigate proceedings to recover this payment myself, Why you may ask,

The answer is in response to the way they have behaved!

Edited May 10, 2020 by mercury7289
correction

[Eglesbrech]

5 minutes ago, pete14 said:

This 14 day period for refunds is completely unreasonable given the circumstances of massive cancellations, many staff in isolation and many more working from home whilst answering a massively increased number of phone calls either chasing up refunds, complaining and using FCC to book a replacement cruise. I am not condoning the fact that it appeared to take a long time for refunds to start coming through and the slow rate they appear to be coming now but harping on about 14 days is unreasonable and unhelpful. 

14 days must have been possible for some, the very first to cancel. Probably the over 70s / health conditions who cancelled straight away. I have not read about anyone who has had a refund in that period of time.

 

The level of calls is their own fault, they told people 45 days and no refunds or communication why.

 

 

[No pager thank you]

I also received a bit of information about the mysterious screenshots you get when you request a refund.  Apparently it is not unusual or abnormal to fail to receive any confirmation (or cancellation invoice) email now.  This is because only the Accounts department can action these, as opposed to the staff that you may get through to on the phone.

 

If you do ring them now you have to keep on pressing 1 - including the basis that you cannot use a computer, internet and fill in a web form.  The automated voice tells you that the responder will not be able to access your booking.  This is not correct, but if you do not keep on pressing 1 then you will get automatically cut off, irrespective of whatever you want or need to talk about, or the urgent or otherwise nature of your query.  I tried all three numbers and they seemed to be set up the same.

[No pager thank you]

1 hour ago, bee-ess said:

Cheer up all - if you check your P&O mail you will at least know how to make a Mint Julep

 

Indeed, can't wait for the Great P&O Cruises Quiz next Friday....no refund orientated questions in there I'm sure!

[PandNo Refund]

The fact they were still demanding payment (and still are) for cruises that were likely to be cancelled, shows what a group of conniving swines we are dealing with. They obviously were hoping people would forfeit their money and they could keep it all.

I dare say they’ll claim to have not received cancellation requests, and instead transferred it into ‘cruise credit’.

I would say cruising as a holiday will be so diminished as an enjoyable activity that they won’t really recover from this. The onboard adjustments necessary in the next few years are going to make it feel so removed from what it should be - I can’t see anyone in their right mind wanting to pay the amount of money required in order to experience that. Of course there are some P&O customers/fans who think they are part of a special club that means they’ll accept anything P&O throw at them to retain the feeling of being part of that special club... insanity.

[emam]

5 hours ago, Tablelamp said:

I did it online following their email  to me advising me that the cruise was cancelled. There were two options the first was “if you do nothing you will get a future cruise credit” 

The other option was to request a refund.   I did this but no acknowledgement was received.  I am wondering if I should do it again.

 

Check you history for the day you submitted you claim if you haven't already cleared it. Find where you submitted the claim and see if a thank you message came up after that.

[jeanlyon]

18 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

14 days must have been possible for some, the very first to cancel. Probably the over 70s / health conditions who cancelled straight away. I have not read about anyone who has had a refund in that period of time.

 

The level of calls is their own fault, they told people 45 days and no refunds or communication why.

 

 

Apparently not.  I cancelled on 12th March due to age and conditions, well before my cruise was actually cancelled.  Still have not been refunded although it is on the spreadsheet1!

[Eglesbrech]

Just now, jeanlyon said:

Apparently not.  I cancelled on 12th March due to age and conditions, well before my cruise was actually cancelled.  Still have not been refunded although it is on the spreadsheet1!

My point exactly Jean. There is no reason whatsoever that they could not have refunded these very early and relatively small numbers fairly quickly before the numbers began to build up.

 

I don’t understand why people try to defend the indefensible. 

[bee-ess]

21 minutes ago, PandNo Refund said:

The fact they were still demanding payment (and still are) for cruises that were likely to be cancelled, shows what a group of conniving swines we are dealing with. They obviously were hoping people would forfeit their money and they could keep it all.

I dare say they’ll claim to have not received cancellation requests, and instead transferred it into ‘cruise credit’.

I would say cruising as a holiday will be so diminished as an enjoyable activity that they won’t really recover from this. The onboard adjustments necessary in the next few years are going to make it feel so removed from what it should be - I can’t see anyone in their right mind wanting to pay the amount of money required in order to experience that. Of course there are some P&O customers/fans who think they are part of a special club that means they’ll accept anything P&O throw at them to retain the feeling of being part of that special club... insanity.

I think if you read through this thread that most contributors are not readily accepting what P&O are doing but realise that ranting and raving on here is not going to benefit them in any way. Most are just relaying their experience with the delays in refunding.

[jeanlyon]

I'm not ranting or raving.  I am having a discussion and it's very interesting.  As I don't think cruising will be viable for us until at least Autumn 2021, or there is an earlier vaccine, our future bookings are going to end up as FCCs as I will not be paying the balances.  If the Government is really going to force a 14 day quarantine if you leave the country that might make any foreign travel an absolute no-no.

[emam]

1 hour ago, P&O SUE said:

@Tablelamp this is what I got when I submitted my online request for a refund.

 

I got the same when I cancelled on the 23rd April,  but it now says:- 

 

Thank you. Please note that due to the unprecedented demand on our Customer Contact Centre and wider business, refunds may take up to 60 days to be processed. In the meantime, please do not call us but rest assured we will be working through this process as quickly as we can.

 

If anyone got one they should be able to find it in the history on their computer. Check the day you submitted your claim and they should both be together.

 

 

 

[bee-ess]

Didn't mean you Jean, Sorry, if it came over that way