FCC not refund as full amount paid.

[nan zhou]

I canceled my cruise couple weeks ago under peace of mind policy,  yesterday when i check my family's account i found out 

the total FCC is  $300 less than i originally paid. i contacted NCL support line， they informed me that i should contact my travel agency because i booked my cruise through them,

so i reach out to my travel agency,  they said that $300 supposed to be their profit, they have no clue when NCL can release the profit money to them, 

so they can't refund that money to us either,  do i have to bear this loss? or is this just an excuse for travel agency not returning me full refund?

any info would be very helpful. thank you.

 

[boatseller]

Something is missing here.  No one would call any line item 'profit'.  That's not how it works.

 

Most likely, the cruise fare and other taxes and fees will be refunded separately.

[dexddd]

Welcome to CC.

 

Having worked with TAs it would seem it is between you and TA. I know when I make payments, some go to TA and rest to cruise line.

 

I know I've read that at least one cruise line was keeping agents whole for any cancels,  whether that included NCL, not sure.

[dexddd]

1 minute ago, boatseller said:

Something is missing here.  No one would call any line item 'profit'.  That's not how it works.

 

Most likely, the cruise fare and other taxes and fees will be refunded separately.

I took that to mean the TA commission.

[dexddd]

I should add, getting FCC in the past, it was of base fare paid, excluding fees, taxes, etc.

 

Not sure if the same this go around since so few posts of anyone getting their FCC yet.

[nan zhou]

6 minutes ago, boatseller said:

Something is missing here.  No one would call any line item 'profit'.  That's not how it works.

 

Most likely, the cruise fare and other taxes and fees will be refunded separately.

Hey by profit, it mean the amount we send to TA is different than the money TA paid to Cruise.

[All-ready2cruise]

FCC in this case, included everything I paid, including taxes, fees and grats. 

[All-ready2cruise]

Just now, nan zhou said:

Hey by profit, it mean the amount we send to TA is different than the money TA paid to Cruise.

then it is the TA that has held back some of your payment, not the cruise line. 

[dexddd]

3 minutes ago, All-ready2cruise said:

FCC in this case, included everything I paid, including taxes, fees and grats. 

If you got 125 or 150% FCC, did they give you the 125 or150% on taxes and fees too?

[Sam Ting]

Stories like these are exactly the industry has a bad reputation. Good luck!

[All-ready2cruise]

9 minutes ago, dexddd said:

If you got 125 or 150% FCC, did they give you the 125 or150% on taxes and fees too?

I didn't get the additional 25-50% b/c I cancelled the cruise days b4  NCL did, however, I did get an add'l 20% when I used the FCC to rebook the  cruises.  I still have a few hundred $$s to use on Shorex on a B2B - or to complete my payment.

[sanger727]

24 minutes ago, nan zhou said:

Hey by profit, it mean the amount we send to TA is different than the money TA paid to Cruise.

 

The way booking a cruise works through a TA is that your TA quotes the price for the cruise, and while your TA may facilitate those payments, they should be charged by the cruise line directly. Post cruise the cruise line pays your TA the commission rate they have pre-negotiated. That is the TA's profit. There shouldn't be an additional charge.

 

You need to contact your TA to figure out exactly what the $300 is for if NCL is saying that they didn't receive that money. Could it be for insurance or transfers? Some TAs do charge a booking fee but $300 is excessive. 

[zqvol]

1 hour ago, nan zhou said:

I canceled my cruise couple weeks ago under peace of mind policy,  yesterday when i check my family's account i found out 

the total FCC is  $300 less than i originally paid. i contacted NCL support line， they informed me that i should contact my travel agency because i booked my cruise through them,

so i reach out to my travel agency,  they said that $300 supposed to be their profit, they have no clue when NCL can release the profit money to them, 

so they can't refund that money to us either,  do i have to bear this loss? or is this just an excuse for travel agency not returning me full refund?

any info would be very helpful. thank you.

 

 

Your TA doesn't want to give up their commission. Time to press the issue with the TA, this is not NCL's fault.

[nan zhou]

thanks for everyone's reply, i will contact TA today see what are they going to say, what if they just refuse to return me the money? 

[Sam Ting]

29 minutes ago, nan zhou said:

thanks for everyone's reply, i will contact TA today see what are they going to say, what if they just refuse to return me the money? 

Dispute it with your credit card.  You can probably do that online. Very easy. They hate that.  Good luck!

[bluesea777]

Since you booked thru the TA, maybe the $300 is the TA's cancellation fee.

 

 

[ziggyuk]

47 minutes ago, zqvol said:

 

Your TA doesn't want to give up their commission. Time to press the issue with the TA, this is not NCL's fault.

 

Yes, this is how it sounds to me, it sounds like the TA are withholding some of the refund to cover their losses.

[julig22]

When NCL first started to cancel cruises, they specifically said that TA commissions would not be affected.  I suppose that could have changed, but it sounds like the issue is with your TA, not NCL.

 

Who actually got your payment for your cruise - NCL or the TA?  Some TA's take out the commission before they forward the payment to NCL (which is what it sounds like in your case), so either you have a charge on your card to the TA for the full amount - in which case NCL would only give FCC on the money they received- or there would be 2 charges on your card, 1 to NCL and one to the TA.

 

[casofilia]

Assume that you paid the TA $2000 for your cruise fare and so they "own" the booking.

If they are allowed, say, 15% commission by NCL they will only forward $1700 to NCL.

If NCL then allow a refund of 100% then they will return, to the "owners" of the booking what the "owners" paid; $1700.

 

You will have to "discuss" with your TA whether they are entitled to keep their commission, it is nothing to do with NCL.  You do not have any business directly with NCL.

[Sam Ting]

Too complicated. Bottom line you paid for something not delivered. You have every right to do a chargeback with the credit company and let them figure it out. You should be refunded every single penny. 

[luv2kroooz]

4 hours ago, zqvol said:

 

Your TA doesn't want to give up their commission. Time to press the issue with the TA, this is not NCL's fault.

Not true. NCL had previously announced in March that travel agent commissions are being protected. Travel agents have confirmed this.

https://www.openjaw.com/cruisenews/article/14323/cruise-lines-protecting-commissions-hailed-as-huge-lifeline-by-travel-agent

[Bowmanvilletravel]

I talked to my TA about this a couple of weeks ago. The cruise lines are supposed to be protecting the commissions. So you get your full refund and the TA keeps their commission. 

[Robinsoncruiseso]

This will only apply if the OP is in the US.  Australia, UK, Canada may have different policies.

Making the assumption you paid for the cruise with a credit or debit card.  Check your card statement to see

who processed the charge.  If the charges were processed by NCL, then your TA is not holding any of your money.

I would not advise to initiate a chargeback against NCL.  You could be banned from all NCL cruise lines, (NCL, Oceana, Regent).

Plus you would probably not win as NCL would fight it.  Since we are talking FCC, lets you should receive an FCC for everything you paid.  Note the FCC will be split across all passengers sailing. So add those all together.  From what I have heard, NCL is including the taxes and fees in the FCC.  Give it a week or so.  If it is not all there, your TA, not you, should get on the horn with NCL to reconcile.  If your TA is shady, talk to the owner of the Agency.  If still no luck, check to see if they are members of CLIA, IATA, etc and file the appropriate complaint and never use them again.

[SouthLyonCruiser]

18 hours ago, sanger727 said:

 

The way booking a cruise works through a TA is that your TA quotes the price for the cruise, and while your TA may facilitate those payments, they should be charged by the cruise line directly. Post cruise the cruise line pays your TA the commission rate they have pre-negotiated. That is the TA's profit. There shouldn't be an additional charge.

 

You need to contact your TA to figure out exactly what the $300 is for if NCL is saying that they didn't receive that money. Could it be for insurance or transfers? Some TAs do charge a booking fee but $300 is excessive. 

Kudos, this is the best and most factual post I have seen explaining the commission payment to travel agents. I have used the same travel agent for almost 20 years and that is exactly how she explained it to me.

[luv2kroooz]

6 hours ago, Robinsoncruiseso said:

 

I would not advise to initiate a chargeback against NCL.  You could be banned from all NCL cruise lines, (NCL, Oceana, Regent).

Plus you would probably not win as NCL would fight it. 

Fight it? What do you think they could say to fight it? 

 

I can't control how NCL would react, but it would be a risk I would take. Lots of options out there for cruisers.