Open letter to Orland Ashford, CEO HAL - where are our refunds?

[nyceve]

Mr. Ashford, where are our refunds?

 

Based on what I read, it seems that almost no one who booked and paid for a cruise on HAL which was cancelled has yet received a refund.

 

Many of us are senior citizens living on a fixed income.  HAL has not communicated with us by email or otherwise, and your woefully stressed customer service representatives are reduced to giving rote responses about long delayed refunds. This is unacceptable.

 

You are holding our money.  Your guests are not a bank for Holland America.

 

This is the worst corporate debacle I have ever encountered. With each passing day, you risk losing your loyal customers due to this egregious behavior.

 

Mr. Ashford, we need our refunds NOW!

[Mosaic]

Good Luck

[DeeniEncinitas]

6 minutes ago, Mosaic said:

Good Luck

Sounds like a saying from one of my favorite movies TAKEN!! LOL. On a different note, maybe Ashford will respond. Time will tell! As a lot of you know 

we were on Rotterdam 3/11, and told to disembark sent hone from Puerto Vallarta 3/15. I was STILL TOLD by Risa my PCC 
60 days so May 15 will see.

Did receive my return air fare on United from HAL in a check.

Denise😊

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

Yet another thread...here is the most recent one...all re-hashed there:

 

 

[ontheweb]

4 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Yet another thread...here is the most recent one...all re-hashed there:

 

 

They're basically quoting The Doors, "We want the world, and we want it now!".

[summer slope]

We are still waiting for our airfare to be returned from our travel from Puerto Vallarta.  Wish something would come.

[iancal]

If I was waiting for a refund past thirty days I would be initiating a credit card dispute process with my credit car issuer.  Far easier to deal with them than with a cruise line.  

 

If you have not got a refund in 60 days, why would you think it would arrive in 90 days or any time before the apparently mandatory 120 day refund time frame in many cruise contracts?

 

It is called cash flow management.  Theirs.....not yours.  

Edited May 2, 2020 by iancal

[FlaMariner]

Should we just dispute with our credit card company and be done with this?

 

[DFD1]

25 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

Should we just dispute with our credit card company and be done with this?

 

Yes.

[CJcruzer]

you can dispute with your credit card company - however, the first thing they will ask you is when were you told the credit would be coming.  They use this information to corroborate when they investigate with the merchant.  If HAL told you up to 60 days (which is the current blurb I am receiving) then the card company will tell you to wait until the 60 days is past.

 

However, you could ask them to document this information on file  for now - so it has been noted already at the 30 day mark, or whatever point you are atin the waiting period. 

 

 Then follow up once 60 days has passed and you have not yet received compensation.

 

Carol

[AtlantaCruiser72]

These same sentiments and statements are being shared on ALL the message boards - almost universally people are waiting for, and not getting, refunds from any of the cruise lines.  Royal and Celebrity seem to be moving a tad faster than others averaging about 30-45 days to process refunds.  Others like NCL are telling customers it will be a minimum of 90 days for refunds to be processed.

 

The whole industry is in mass chaos and consumers are caught in the lurch

[Krazy Kruizers]

There are tons on all the boards concerning refunds -- or lack there of them.

 

Good Luck OP.

[atexsix]

<giggling at sight of another refund thread>

 

We've doubled the time estimate to 120 days and moved it to late summer in our personal bookkeeping records.  I think it's more realistic given the slow trickle of the actual refunds, unless people are not coming back to the forums and reporting receipt of them.

 

HAL should have offered a 3rd hybrid refund/FCC as a middle option for those not interested in an outright FCC but willing to wait longer for a refund with a little bit of an incentive, we would have been okay with that.  

[bouhunter]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

They're basically quoting The Doors, "We want the world, and we want it now!".

The cruise lines (and those seeking refunds) are now the "Riders on the Storm" 🙂

[dave34]

1 hour ago, CJcruzer said:

you can dispute with your credit card company - however, the first thing they will ask you is when were you told the credit would be coming.  They use this information to corroborate when they investigate with the merchant.  If HAL told you up to 60 days (which is the current blurb I am receiving) then the card company will tell you to wait until the 60 days is past.

 

However, you could ask them to document this information on file  for now - so it has been noted already at the 30 day mark, or whatever point you are atin the waiting period. 

 

 Then follow up once 60 days has passed and you have not yet received compensation.

 

Carol

What we are being told is a minimum of 60-90 days, they are not really giving a time. I think they are buying time to get their act together to file bankruptcy. Will the credit card refund after that? 

[Flying-Dragon]

2 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

Should we just dispute with our credit card company and be done with this?

 

 

Yes - I did and 11 days later I had the full amounts credited on my Visa - 2 cruises and shore excursion prepayments.  As I explained to the Visa disputes advisor, the warning bells for me were:  

 

1.  no communications from HAL as this evolved (port closures, border closures, flight cancellations, yet no decision or updates);  

2.  heavy emphasis on future credit instead of cash refund; and  

3.  long 60 day time frame for a cash refund.  

 

I told them this is what one sees when a business is going under, and whether that happens or not, I wasn't going to get caught in the middle.  They advised me that I was completely right to call Visa, and they would deal with it.

[JT1962]

These same sentiments and statements are being shared on ALL the message boards - almost universally people are waiting for, and not getting, refunds from any of the cruise lines.  Royal and Celebrity seem to be moving a tad faster than others averaging about 30-45 days to process refunds.  Others like NCL are telling customers it will be a minimum of 90 days for refunds to be processed.

 

The whole industry is in mass chaos and consumers are caught in the lurch

 

I received a full Refund from Royal Caribbean as a credit back to my American Express card within 7 days of requesting it, so it can be done.

 

The online cruise website emailed us on April 21 and asked if we wanted a refund or future cruise credit for our May 27 cruise that was canceled. I replied back the same day and the credit was on my card the morning of April 28.

 

From some of the postings I have seen, it does appear that the larger cruise agencies are getting the refunds processed faster. I’m not sure if they have a way to submit multiple refunds electronically so that they get processed faster or they are getting preference from the cruise lines. Either way, that may be something to remember when booking in the future.

[DeeniEncinitas]

We were to go on after our cruise on The Rotterdam on Oceania 3 days later 3/31 doing a TA to the Med and then another cruise on her !!

On 4/15 we received all our refund monies 

back on our American Express card and 125% FCC! We booked again with them for 2/2022!

Denise😊

[Kfrech]

6 hours ago, iancal said:

If I was waiting for a refund past thirty days I would be initiating a credit card dispute process with my credit car issuer.  Far easier to deal with them than with a cruise line.  

 

If you have not got a refund in 60 days, why would you think it would arrive in 90 days or any time before the apparently mandatory 120 day refund time frame in many cruise contracts?

 

It is called cash flow management.  Theirs.....not yours.  

I did exactly this. Much less stressful.

[Boatdrill]

3 hours ago, dave34 said:

What we are being told is a minimum of 60-90 days, they are not really giving a time. I think they are buying time to get their act together to file bankruptcy.  

Or, they're doing they best they can, while working on 10s of thousands bookings, which has to be done manually.  

[KirkNC]

5 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

Or, they're doing they best they can, while working on 10s of thousands bookings, which has to be done manually.  

So hire more help or transfer and train someone from other positions in the company.  It’s not hard to figure out if you want to.

[Boatdrill]

Just now, KirkNC said:

So hire more help or transfer and train someone from other positions in the company.  It’s not hard to figure out if you want to.

Maybe they've done that.  Next ?

[KirkNC]

Just now, Boatdrill said:

Maybe they've done that.  Next ?

You really think so???  Thats why the refund s are coming back with such blazing speed.  

[Boatdrill]

1 minute ago, KirkNC said:

You really think so???  Thats why the refund s are coming back with such blazing speed.  

It was your idea, not mine. 

You realize if they hire more people as you suggested, they'd have to pay them (but what about my refund ???)

Your refund would be further delayed because it will take some time before the new hires are fully trained, and working at 100% efficiency.  

 

Often it's best to let people do their job, and trust they're doing it the best they can with what they have.    

 

 

 

 

[KirkNC]

Just now, Boatdrill said:

It was your idea, not mine. 

You realize if they hire more people as you suggested, they'd have to pay them (but what about my refund ???)

Your refund would be further delayed because it will take some time before the new hires are fully trained, and working at 100% efficiency.  

 

Often it's best to let people do their job, and trust they're doing it the best they can with what they have.    

 

 

 

 

Yea, spoken like someone who has $0 at risk.

 

Personally, there's not  lot I trust about HAL's ability to run an efficient and effective company.