Potential refund delay reason

[Ken at the beach]

I’m not sure if this could be a reason for a delay in some people’s refunds of port fees and taxes or not.

 

Royal processes everything back to the original card used for payment.  Many of us, myself included booked these cruises 2 or more years ago...if they had been moved a few times it could easily be 5 years.  If they automatically try to refund to the card on file then chances are the CC expiry date would be wrong.  I’m not sure if a refund needs to have a valid expiry date or not.  If it did that would then force Roysl into doing a manual search for the same credit card number but with an updated expiry date 

 

Just a theory.  I haven’t received mine back for March 15 but others on the sailing started getting theirs a week ago.  Mine was probably booked 4-5 years ago originally. 

[Jimbo]

Good thought.

 

I had a price drop on a cruise already paid in full because of a previous booking we switched too. Price drop money was credited to our card...........took alot longer then normal but we finally did you recieve the credit, pretty sure the card number had changed prior to that. Somehow they found the new number though I guess

Edited May 9, 2020 by Jimbo

[Ken at the beach]

@steveru621 your thoughts...I seem to recall you working in the banking industry.

[ATG]

I just got a refund from a Hilton prepaid reservation before our May 17 Galveston cruise.  Between the time I booked and prepaid and now, we had a fraud issue and got a replacement card with a new number.  Credit went through with no issues.  If changing number doesn’t matter, then I would be surprised if changed expiration date matters.

 

BTW, kudos to Hilton for the refund of a non refundable room.  I also cancelled Delta flights and that is still pending.  Waiting for FCC from RC, but it’s not a rush, so I can wait patiently.  Curious to see how it is split.  The four of us were in the villa suite.  I’m hoping it isn’t split evenly, but split based on each person’s cost.

[Ken at the beach]

3 minutes ago, ATG said:

I just got a refund from a Hilton prepaid reservation before our May 17 Galveston cruise.  Between the time I booked and prepaid and now, we had a fraud issue and got a replacement card with a new number.  Credit went through with no issues.  If changing number doesn’t matter, then I would be surprised if changed expiration date matters.

 

BTW, kudos to Hilton for the refund of a non refundable room.  I also cancelled Delta flights and that is still pending.  Waiting for FCC from RC, but it’s not a rush, so I can wait patiently.  Curious to see how it is split.  The four of us were in the villa suite.  I’m hoping it isn’t split evenly, but split based on each person’s cost.

Thanks 

 

As far as the split Royal is allowing money from the FCC to be moved around and balanced out once you apply it to a booking as long as the people are travelling. It doesn’t help if they are not travelling though. 

[island lady]

I would have thought the same thing....but I have had other non-cruise refunds coming through on a sadly cancelled land based Hawaiian islands trip.  The number on my card I used at that time was stolen, with CC company having to replace with new cards.  Those refunds still made it through to my new card.  IMHO...No worries on expiration dates...if you have a good CC company...they will make it happen.  

[bobmacliberty]

Building on that, I've had my credit card replaced a few times due to fraud.  New cards have new numbers.  It's possible that originally booked card number no longer exists and there's no place for the refund to go.  The expired and replaced credit cards would probability be a small % of all refunds so these are probably just 2 of the many factors that are causing delays.  Edit...I see several people already mentioned this as likely not an issue while I was typing.

 

I've also read a few people saying that their refunds came in several chunks of money where they couldn't reconcile the dollar amounts to what they paid.  I'm wondering if Royal's internal accounting has cruise fares flowing to different profit centers. It would be easy for a company to use the confusion of mass refunds to "cook their books", and the motivation to do so could be high if a company was in financial trouble.  To avoid even the perception of that happening, and to ensure compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Royal is likely making sure that every I is dotted and every T is crossed as they move money for refunds.  Their more automated refund processes probably can't handle the unusual refund scenarios and there's likely a lot of manual work involved.

 

My guess.  I'm sure this will make me fan boy.

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by bobmacliberty

[lovemylab]

Expiry date and card number don't matter.  The only time this would cause an issue is if someone closed the account completely.   When you get a replacement card or change the type of credit card with your bank (i.e. switching from a regular visa to a premium visa that offers points) you're not creating a new account so any refunds to old card #'s would still be processed.

[ATG]

33 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Thanks 

 

As far as the split Royal is allowing money from the FCC to be moved around and balanced out once you apply it to a booking as long as the people are travelling. It doesn’t help if they are not travelling though. 

A clarification please.  Cruise was with DH and 2 adult sons.  Son from California isn’t sure he wants to go next time.  The original fare was about $8,000.  Rounding, it was split $3,000 for me and DH and $1,000 for sons.  The 125% gives us $3,750 for DH and me and $1,250 for sons.  If Cali son doesn’t cruise we would lose his $1,250, but still be ahead $750.  Can we book the three of us?

 

You are such a nice person to take the time to answer all our questions.  Thanks!

Edited May 9, 2020 by ATG

[Ken at the beach]

4 minutes ago, ATG said:

A clarification please.  Cruise was with DH and 2 adult sons.  Son from California isn’t sure he wants to go next time.  The original fare was about $8,000.  Rounding, it was split $3,000 for me and DH and $1,000 for sons.  The 125% gives us $3,750 for DH and me and $1,250 for sons.  If Cali son doesn’t cruise we would lose his $1,250, but still be ahead $750.  Can we book the three of us?

 

You are such a nice person to take the time to answer all our questions.  Thanks!

Sure, there is no requirement that everyone must sail.

 

i had FCC’s for each of the 4 of us from a cruise in March.  I just used 1 for a cruise coming up.  The other 3 I am using on different sailings. 

[soloadventurer]

Refund from expedia within 2weeks - refund from car hire within 2wks - refund from airport parking within 10days 

 

I’ll leave it there. 

[island lady]

3 minutes ago, soloadventurer said:

Refund from expedia within 2weeks - refund from car hire within 2wks - refund from airport parking within 10days 

 

I’ll leave it there. 

 

What...you don't like the way RCI is taking advantage of the use of short term no interest loans?  😵

[soloadventurer]

3 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

What...you don't like the way RCI is taking advantage of the use of short term no interest loans?  😵

 

Is that what theyre doing ?? 

 

How long is short ? And what rate are you getting ? 

[island lady]

1 minute ago, soloadventurer said:

 

Is that what theyre doing ?? 

 

How long is short ? And what rate are you getting ? 

 

It was a joke.   They have been bugging me to make final payments on my B2B for weeks now,  which is actually not due until the 16th.  I am quite certain those two cruises will not happen. 

 

Sooo...I give them 13K.  They shortly after that... cancel that cruise...I wait months for a refund.  I turn into an interest free creditor for them....and I am most definitely not alone.  😮 😮 

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

and I am most definitely not alone.

No you're not! 🤬

[island lady]

16 minutes ago, davekathy said:

No you're not! 🤬

 

LOL...aww poor Dave.  I can smell the steam coming off your head from way down here.  😲

 

You need a drink my friend.  I have a lovely glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc sitting next to me.  It's 5:00 somewhere 🍹

[soloadventurer]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

It was a joke.   They have been bugging me to make final payments on my B2B for weeks now,  which is actually not due until the 16th.  I am quite certain those two cruises will not happen. 

 

Sooo...I give them 13K.  They shortly after that... cancel that cruise...I wait months for a refund.  I turn into an interest free creditor for them....and I am most definitely not alone.  😮 😮 

Totally agree - still fighting for missing FCC and to rebook they want another deposit 

[Snit13]

9 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Building on that, I've had my credit card replaced a few times due to fraud.  New cards have new numbers.  It's possible that originally booked card number no longer exists and there's no place for the refund to go.  The expired and replaced credit cards would probability be a small % of all refunds so these are probably just 2 of the many factors that are causing delays.  Edit...I see several people already mentioned this as likely not an issue while I was typing.

 

I've also read a few people saying that their refunds came in several chunks of money where they couldn't reconcile the dollar amounts to what they paid.  I'm wondering if Royal's internal accounting has cruise fares flowing to different profit centers. It would be easy for a company to use the confusion of mass refunds to "cook their books", and the motivation to do so could be high if a company was in financial trouble.  To avoid even the perception of that happening, and to ensure compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Royal is likely making sure that every I is dotted and every T is crossed as they move money for refunds.  Their more automated refund processes probably can't handle the unusual refund scenarios and there's likely a lot of manual work involved.

 

My guess.  I'm sure this will make me fan boy.

 

My refunds for April 9-13 came in multiple payments.  It took me some time but I eventually was able to reconcile the refunds with the charges and in the end all was well.  Got back 100% of what I paid.  

[karena1]

10 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I’m not sure if this could be a reason for a delay in some people’s refunds of port fees and taxes or not.

 

Royal processes everything back to the original card used for payment.  Many of us, myself included booked these cruises 2 or more years ago...if they had been moved a few times it could easily be 5 years.  If they automatically try to refund to the card on file then chances are the CC expiry date would be wrong.  I’m not sure if a refund needs to have a valid expiry date or not.  If it did that would then force Roysl into doing a manual search for the same credit card number but with an updated expiry date 

 

Just a theory.  I haven’t received mine back for March 15 but others on the sailing started getting theirs a week ago.  Mine was probably booked 4-5 years ago originally. 

For sure not my issue, used the same credit card for the last few years.

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

LOL...aww poor Dave.  I can smell the steam coming off your head from way down here.  😲

 

You need a drink my friend.  I have a lovely glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc sitting next to me.  It's 5:00 somewhere 🍹

Now you're talking.  Had two glass of Sauvignon Blanc this afternoon myself. Also grilled 'burgers with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Homemade shrimp dip and for dessert a couple scopes of moose tracks ice cream.  Life is good. 🍷

[island lady]

13 hours ago, davekathy said:

Now you're talking.  Had two glass of Sauvignon Blanc this afternoon myself. Also grilled 'burgers with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Homemade shrimp dip and for dessert a couple scopes of moose tracks ice cream.  Life is good. 🍷

 

Wow...yummy to the tummy for sure!!  My kind of menu!  😍  Indeed you are living the good life!!  

 

Bucky made his "simmer all day" homemade spaghetti sauce yesterday to have with the Angel Hair pasta, I made fresh homemade garlic bread.  Paired with wine...had dinner while watching the entertainment (Lots of birds at the feeder)  Sigh...supposed to be watching the waves off the balcony..but we will take what we can get.  😉  

 

Still no word on my cash refund or my FCC from another cruise.  Delays...delays...but boy they sure are bugging me to pay off my next B2B cruises!  🤑🤑

[bobmacliberty]

17 hours ago, Snit13 said:

My refunds for April 9-13 came in multiple payments.  It took me some time but I eventually was able to reconcile the refunds with the charges and in the end all was well.  Got back 100% of what I paid.  

 

This is the part that I don't get.  I can understand how it could take several weeks to process a refund (either due to legitimate reasons or because they want to hang onto our money longer), but why send the refunds back in multiple payments?  The only thing I can think of is that it's an internal accounting issue.  If it is an internal accounting issue, you'd still think that they could shuffle money within the company and then send a single refund.  

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

on 4 

Wow...yummy to the tummy for sure!!  My kind of menu!  😍  Indeed you are living the good life!!  

 

Bucky made his "simmer all day" homemade spaghetti sauce yesterday to have with the Angel Hair pasta, I made fresh homemade garlic bread.  Paired with wine...had dinner while watching the entertainment (Lots of birds at the feeder)  Sigh...supposed to be watching the waves off the balcony..but we will take what we can get.  😉  

 

Still no word on my cash refund or my FCC from another cruise.  Delays...delays...but boy they sure are bugging me to pay off my next B2B cruises!  🤑🤑

It is very frustrating. Also it has nothing to do with needing my money just I don't care to have my money tied up with RC for something I am not going to be receiving.  When they want their money... Like you I also have final payment quickly approaching for our September cruise out of Vancouver which I will pay for if Celebrity hasn't made a decision by then. I'd rather let the cruise line make the decision for us whether we're going or not.   

 

I've been getting cash refunds from our B2B Celebrity cruises they cancelled but not all at once. First credit back to my credit card was on 28 April. Second credit was made to my credit card on 4 May. In weird amounts. RC still owes me additional dollars, so maybe this coming week!:? When Celebrity cancelled our B2B cruise and I requested the cash refund option I was under the impression/assumption () the full amounts would be refunded back to mt credit card at the same time. At the time I cancelled, refunds were to be made within 30 days. But then again my useless TA added to the delay! 

 

BTW, yum, yummy on the simmer all day homemade spaghetti sauce. 

[steveru621]

On 5/9/2020 at 8:45 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

@steveru621 your thoughts...I seem to recall you working in the banking industry.

 

It's complicated.

 

Most banks, AMEX, Discover, etc... have put systems in place to trace CC numbers through identity theft replacements.  Literally millions of cards have been replaced, some two or three times.  It's just good customer service and more efficient to find a way to post credits during the card replacement problems.  Unfortunately there are still a few processors that try using your CIF number (name) which will delay the credit,  and even less that can't handle the change.

 

Processors have also put into place card expiration notifications to merchants that do regular recurring billing, like utilities, cell phone, etc... on your card.  Of course RCI wouldn't be part of that process, but having said that, most processors will post a credit using only the card number.  Again it's more efficient.

 

I can't say with absoulte certainty that all processors have implemented these systems.

[Ken at the beach]

15 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

It's complicated.

 

Most banks, AMEX, Discover, etc... have put systems in place to trace CC numbers through identity theft replacements.  Literally millions of cards have been replaced, some two or three times.  It's just good customer service and more efficient to find a way to post credits during the card replacement problems.  Unfortunately there are still a few processors that try using your CIF number (name) which will delay the credit,  and even less that can't handle the change.

 

Processors have also put into place card expiration notifications to merchants that do regular recurring billing, like utilities, cell phone, etc... on your card.  Of course RCI wouldn't be part of that process, but having said that, most processors will post a credit using only the card number.  Again it's more efficient.

 

I can't say with absoulte certainty that all processors have implemented these systems.

Thanks. Guess that shoots down ths theory.

 

Any delays that you know of processing refunds to foreign countries.I.e Canada.