Are we the only one who hasn't received refund?

[Biker19]

18 minutes ago, JeffT237 said:

 I still have a hard time understanding  why it takes so long to reverse an electronic charge, 30 days is more than enough time regardless of the impact this has had on RCI.  

It's not a simple reversal - the money goes into several buckets at RCI when a booking is paid and has to be pulled from those (hence not a single credit) - I assume all that is done manually. Given the increased volume, folks working from home (not as efficient and start up issues) I can see how the initial set of refunds is taking a while. I expect the process to improve over time.

 

Or, some think RCI is doing this deliberately and keeping the money because they feel like it.

[MoniMommy]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

It's not a simple reversal - the money goes into several buckets at RCI when a booking is paid and has to be pulled from those (hence not a single credit) - I assume all that is done manually. Given the increased volume, folks working from home (not as efficient and start up issues) I can see how the initial set of refunds is taking a while. I expect the process to improve over time.

 

Or, some think RCI is doing this deliberately and keeping the money because they feel like it.

I am waiting for the return of a deposit. Thats probably just one bucket.  Still haven't seen a refund.

Edited April 18, 2020 by MoniMommy

[Biker19]

Just now, MoniMommy said:

 That's probably just one bucket. 

I doubt it.

[JeffT237]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

It's not a simple reversal - the money goes into several buckets at RCI when a booking is paid and has to be pulled from those (hence not a single credit) - I assume all that is done manually. Given the increased volume, folks working from home (not as efficient and start up issues) I can see how the initial set of refunds is taking a while. I expect the process to improve over time.

 

Or, some think RCI is doing this deliberately and keeping the money because they feel like it.

 

You are correct, I have no idea how RCI's internal refund system works, and I'm willing to concede the fact that this is an unprecedented time and that is why I feel myself and most customers are being patient and waiting the promised 30 days for a refund, but speaking for myself I have some concerns.  Those that have gone over 30 days and are now being told 45 days or 30-90 days or 30 days from the date of sailing have every right to question or take action to try and speed up the process.  

 

I do hope your assumption is incorrect on cruisers money going into several buckets and someone from home having to manually figure out where it is and manually get the refunds calculated and returned.  That could take much longer and would have a high likelihood of mistakes.  I'm confident that RCI's systems are capable of handling the refunds in a timely manner, RCI has for the most part delivered good customer service, shown great technology and ingenuity with their ships and in my opinion an above average vacation experience.  Again the rest of the travel industry that I've dealt with in cancellations, refunds and credits have all come through efficiently and in a timely manner I am concerned that RCI can do the same.

 

As far as RCI keeping the money because they can, in my opinion it is not because they can it's because they need to.  From reading the business reports it sounds like they have an issue with liquidity and with little coming in they need cash on hand to operate.  They still have to pay the bills and the borrowed $2.2 billion which sounds like a lot, can only go so far when you have massive cancellations, employee payroll, new ships being constructed, private island acquisitions and other infrastructure costs.  They also probably overestimated how many would take the 125% FCC over the refund. I'm sure every dollar is being watched and accounted for, and that includes cash on hand for refunds that is still in an interest bearing account providing capital for RCI.  

Edited April 18, 2020 by JeffT237
spelling

[badvector]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Welcome to CC and you might be right. Oh and does it fell good to come out of lurk mode?

lol. Been lurking these boards a long time. There's a lot of great info on here. Have always had pretty good luck with Royal but they seem to be taking advantage of many of their loyal customers. I just wanted to share my experience so others would see they're not alone.  I'm trying to help my parents navigate through the same mess right now as well. We were supposed to be cruising with them. It's disappointing. We've always cruised solely with Royal and they like to talk about loyalty. It seems it's a one way street with them though. We're booked in August for Alaska and I'm almost hoping they cancel it so I can get my money back and be done with them after I use my credits from the last one. I'm sure there's horror stories with other cruise lines as well that are as bad or worse so I don't know what we'll do in the future. 

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, JeffT237 said:

I do hope your assumption is incorrect on cruisers money going into several buckets and someone from home having to manually figure out where it is and manually get the refunds calculated and returned.  

Most folks here who have had fare or taxes refunded (not cruise planner items) have had refunds broken up into two or more amounts which total up to the original charge, which assumes the funds were pulled from different buckets. How much intervention is needed at the RCI end to make that happen is unknown.

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, badvector said:

I'm sure there's horror stories with other cruise lines as well that are as bad or worse so I don't know what we'll do in the future. 

Like others, stay on the sidelines until things clear up.

[cruiselvr04]

I understand the bucket thing ....however if they had the money to pay us back don’t you think they’d hire more people to do the work so it could get done in a timely manner.  The reports say they don’t have enough money to pay us back.  I’m waiting 30 days after after I called to cancel and then I’m going to dispute the charges.  It will be 120 days by that time since final payment was charged so I don’t know if I can but I’ll try.

 

I hate to do it actually but I need the money.

[Biker19]

Just now, cruiselvr04 said:

however if they had the money to pay us back don’t you think they’d hire more people to do the work so it could get done in a timely manner.

No, getting someone hired and trained for a couple of months work is very unlikely to happen - they may transfer some folks from other departments, but even that is unlikely. RCI probably wants to limit the number of folks who handle their precious money.

[badvector]

8 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Most folks here who have had fare or taxes refunded (not cruise planner items) have had refunds broken up into two or more amounts which total up to the original charge, which assumes the funds were pulled from different buckets. How much intervention is needed at the RCI end to make that happen is unknown.

Even though we haven't received it, the CSR quoted ours as being 3 separate amounts for our 3 items. I assumed it was taxes for one, port fees another and internet package for the third. That made sense in my mind as those would be separate accountable items.

[steveru621]

3 hours ago, MoniMommy said:

I read one story on Elliott.org but this was a person who took a cruise, complained, received a FCC for her troubles, and still filed a credit card dispute which she lost. She was then banned. I don't know if banning customers for credit card disputes is a regular practice. I hope not, but if I am that will be a sign that we shouldn't cruise again even though it means forfeiting the $900 FCC that we have.

 

Isn't that fraud?

[MoniMommy]

6 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

Isn't that fraud?

Thats a good point. She was likely banned for trying to commit fraud rather than for filing a dispute. 

[Iamcruzin]

21 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

How many customers, hotel rooms, various hotel chains, management chains, call centers, etc does Marriott/Bonvoy have around the world? Are they likely not processing a ginormous amount of cancellations just like the cruise lines?

March 19. I cancelled my overnight stay at the EWR Marriott, March 26 full refund on my credit card.

 

Personally, I'm skeptical regarding "30 days"

I cancelled my Orlando Marriott reservation for June when my son's graduation was canceled. I paid in full and my refund hit my checking account the next day. It happened so fast that I questioned what the credit was for. 

[skywonder]

On 4/16/2020 at 11:12 PM, ARandomTraveler said:

That sounds similar to what I was told. My refund was “processed” but not sent back yet. 

Almost the same garbage story I was given. The first rep we called told us it was processed but the credit card has to release it.  The second rep said it was showing processed but was waiting for release by RCCL. They said it would be a day or two. That was over a week and a half ago. They are flat out lying!!!

[Milwaukee Eight]

1 minute ago, Iamcruzin said:

I cancelled my Orlando Marriott reservation for June when my son's graduation was canceled. I paid in full and my refund hit my checking account the next day. It happened so fast that I questioned what the credit was for. 

UCF?

[BP99]

8 minutes ago, skywonder said:

Almost the same garbage story I was given. The first rep we called told us it was processed but the credit card has to release it.  The second rep said it was showing processed but was waiting for release by RCCL. They said it would be a day or two. That was over a week and a half ago. They are flat out lying!!!

Hi,

Yes, they are using a multitude of excuses (most are lies) for not giving

refunds.

[justKirbo]

5 hours ago, MoniMommy said:

I am waiting for the return of a deposit. Thats probably just one bucket.  Still haven't seen a refund.

 

It was one bucket for us. We had a total of $1000 in deposit for four people in two rooms and when it was credited to our card, it came through as four credits of $250 each, one for each passenger. 

Edited April 18, 2020 by justKirbo

[MoniMommy]

7 minutes ago, justKirbo said:

 

It was one bucket for us. We had a total of $1000 in deposit for four people in two rooms and when it was credited to our card, it came through as four credits of $250 each, one for each passenger. 

How long did it take to get your refund?

[justKirbo]

2 minutes ago, MoniMommy said:

How long did it take to get your refund?

We are outliers and emailed our TA on March 15th to cancel our cruise set for next year in April on the Liberty. The TA canceled our cruise the following day, the 16th, and I believe the credit hit our card on March 23rd.  We'd had the cruise booked for a year. (Also, the credit went on a card that had had a zero balance and the credit card company, when I called to check on the credit, immediately gave us the option to have a check sent to us, which we had done.)

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, juvy said:

So here I am, civil suit or wait and see if I get my funds returned?

Wait and don't mention TAs in the future.

[Biker19]

Just now, Monthend said:

Who will get paid first. Our refund or 14 million to CEO Fain.

Not sure he'll get much this year, doubt much of a bonus and stock award will likely be much less than last year as well.. 

[Judyrem]

3 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I cancelled my Orlando Marriott reservation for June when my son's graduation was canceled. I paid in full and my refund hit my checking account the next day. It happened so fast that I questioned what the credit was for. 

I booked the Marriott Biscayne Bay for this week's cancelled cruise 🙄😔.  I used my Bonvoy points for the room and they immediately redeposited my points.

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, juvy said:

If you are considering booking a cruise read this. I have used for a few cruises, never had any problems and they usually had good perks. My cruise was canceled over a month ago. I contacted they assured me I would receive a full refund, but then they charged me $100. for canceling which was not my fault it was RCCL who canceled all cruises. After a few weeks and I did not receive my funds back, I contacted them again. They informed me it was RCCL who was the holdup, and my funds should be returned in 30 days. Now remember when you book a cruise they want Paid Now. So I again contacted them and now they are telling me 60 days. Just letting all cruisers know that is probably not a good choice in the future for booking a cruise. So here I am, civil suit or wait and see if I get my funds returned? Please share

 

It doesn't matter if you booked through a travel agent or directly with the cruise line. The bottom line is that Royal Caribbean is holding up the refunds because of lack of cash flow.  I don't use a travel agent but it's just not right to put the blame on them. They are being lied to the same way Royal Caribbean is lying to those who booked directly.

[Iamcruzin]

4 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

UCF?

No University of Phoenix online.  Thank God he didn't pick Hawaii for the ceremony.  The funny thing is that all of his friends were ragging on him how online school is so easy. They are singing a different tune now and ask him for help.  His classes were a full year with a week break in between here and there.

[rolloman]

So now the corporate line is..... we have all your money in little buckets and it takes so much time to get them out of the buckets? SMH....hilarious.... for starters, I cancelled a cruise back in December and I received all of my money from those "buckets" the next day..... Lets make a deal, can any of the "patience" people loan me a couple thousand....I promise I will pay you back "within 30 days".....