Think twice about a chargeback...

[oceanlovinmama]

Cruiselines have been doing the best they can.  They didn’t realize that they would be shut down for so long and the amount of refunds requested.  Most of their employees are working from home and because of the levels of security that need to be in place to deal with credit cards, most cruise lines have a skeleton crew.  Now with the country opening back up that will change.  BUT when you work with an agent and do a chargeback, the cruise line can come back to the agent for that payment and any commission that was given to that agent, that was protected because the cruise line cancelled, Will now be recalled.  We work on commission only, and that money comes AFTER you travel.  We have had no income for the past two months and probably won’t for the rest of the year, now we have to give Our commission back AND possibly be on the hook for thousands of dollars we don’t have.  Please think about your agent!

[Coral]

I am going to agree and disagree with you.

 

First - agree. If you do dispute the charge, your agent will be hurt due to the commission.

 

Second - disagree. Princess agents have routinely worked from home before and taken credit card payments with out any problems. They have even done cancellations and refunds have been issued. If they are smart - they are setup with a VPN which should make the agent feel like they are "in the office". Princess has created this problem. With them being less than direct on the process and not answering our questions, they look guilty of not wanting to issue refunds. Maybe they do and maybe they don't want to issue refunds but their silence in this matter is making people feel uneasy. 

 

I have reluctantly not disputed but honestly, my patience and confidence in Princess no longer exists. Princess has not assured me of anything. I may be making a call to my credit card company on Monday.

 

I feel like I have been patient enough in this process. I was first told 30 days, then 60 days and I am probably close to 70 days now. This is unreasonable when other travel companies I have dealt with have refunded my money quickly (and they also have mass refunds to process).

 

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Coral

[indygirl99]

Cruise lines are NOT doing the best they can. They are NOT refunding the fares they said they would refund.

 

Princess told me that if I wanted my money back "you will have to do a charge back to your credit card".

 

I have to make my house payment and feed my family so I will do what Princess recommended.

 

My sister works from home processing credit card refunds and told me that what Princess claims is a  crock and that I should do what Princess themselves told me to do and contact my credit card company and do a charge back.

Edited May 16, 2020 by indygirl99

[oceanlovinmama]

But in their defense they had no idea the number of refunds they would be dealing with, and not all reps can do refunds from home, but that’s another story 😊  They didn’t realize the world would be brought to their knees with this virus.  I have other suppliers that are saying from the beginning, 60 days from your date of travel...not cancel date, date of travel.  While I sympathize with people wanting their money, I just feel we need to cut them some slack as they are hurting like the rest of us.

[oceanlovinmama]

5 minutes ago, indygirl99 said:

Cruise lines are NOT doing the best they can. They are NOT refunding the fares they said they would refund.

 

Princess told me that if I wanted my money back "you will have to do a charge back to your credit card".

 

I have to make my house payment and feed my family so I will do what Princess recommended.

 

My sister works from home processing credit card refunds and told me that what Princess claims is a  crock and that I should do what Princess themselves told me to do and contact my credit card company and do a charge back.

I find that very hard to believe...unless they were a uncaring agent, no supplier would tell you to do a chargeback.  

[indygirl99]

You keep believing the line they are feeding you if it makes you feel better. As I said my sister is doing this from home for a company with a ton more requests than Princess and said we are being feed a line from Princess and if we want our money we had better file soon or we will be waiting in line due to  bankruptcy.

[indygirl99]

6 minutes ago, oceanlovinmama said:

I find that very hard to believe...unless they were a uncaring agent, no supplier would tell you to do a chargeback.  

I can guarantee that is EXACTLY what I was told by Princess yesterday on the phone and NO it was not a phone rep this came directly from Jan's office.

 

As I said keep believing their line to you or maybe take a long hard look at all the posts on here from people upset about their LACK of refunds and caring from Princess.

Edited May 16, 2020 by indygirl99

[JT1962]

I’m amazed at how many people are still coming to the defense of the cruise lines and telling everyone to be patient. I’m guessing most of those people don’t have thousands of dollars tied up with the cruise lines or in some way benefit from the cruise lines. The fact that they have no problem demanding their money upfront, but then taking months to return the funds when they are the ones who canceled, to me means that they deserve to go out of business.

[Coral]

9 minutes ago, oceanlovinmama said:

I find that very hard to believe...unless they were a uncaring agent, no supplier would tell you to do a chargeback.  

Have you considered far more individuals fly and stay in hotels and many of these vendors are processing refunds in days and weeks (not months). These industries were also greatly affected. Probably more so than the cruise lines.

Edited May 16, 2020 by Coral

[Coral]

40 minutes ago, oceanlovinmama said:

 Our commission back AND possibly be on the hook for thousands of dollars we don’t have.  Please think about your agent!

If you are an agent, you should advise your client to do what is in THEIR best interest. Not your best interest.

 

You seem to be looking out for yourself only.

[SargassoPirate]

Of the several other cancellations that we suffered after Princess cancelled our April 4 Ruby Princess cruise - including a train trip in Australia, hotels, tours booked with Viator, two airline flights that were cancelled because of changing conditions in Australia, a river cruise in Australia, and a Hilton time share, EVERY ONE of those companies stepped up with immediate to very timely refunds.

 

The only one we are waiting on is Princess.  We filed a credit card dispute a few days after the cruise was to have departed.  We received a provisional credit in a couple of days.  

 

Princess can try to reset their refund clock all they want.  The credit card company clock is still running.

 

Tick Tick Tick 

Edited May 16, 2020 by SargassoPirate

[dog]

8 minutes ago, Coral said:

Have you considered far more individuals fly and stay in hotels and many of these vendors are processing refunds in days and weeks (not months). These industries were also greatly affected. Probably more so than the cruise lines.

Well, a couple of new threads taking away the boredom. To your point, I had numerous flights and hotels to cancel. Not a problem with refunds, credit card dispute. Two more flights to deal with. 
banning is silly in my opinion. It is all about the money for a business like Princess. Can always send TA a gratuity if you feel guilty. 

[ceilidh1]

I am an agent, also. A while back, I urged people considering a charge back to let their agents know of their intention so that they were no blindsided by it. However, I would NEVER tell my clients, or anyone else, not to proceed with a chargeback. We have no idea what people are going through right now - with so many out of work, people may need that money back just to pay their bills. Everyone needs to do what is right for their situation, and I give my clients ALL of their options. That is what a good agent should do. I am personally waiting on a refund from Princess from a March sailing - one of the first to be cancelled. I have already been refunded by Carnival for a later sailing, for the hotels I had booked, for the shuttles, and for other pre-booked things related to the trip. Princess is the only one I am waiting on. I have not yet proceeded with the chargeback route, but plan on doing so on Wednesday as that is 60 business days from cancellation. 

[PurpleUnicorns]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

 

I'm confused. Did Princess tell TAs they could keep their commissions on cruises refunded through whatever time-consuming process it claims to have in place? If so, where was it planning on getting the money for that? The full dollar amount paid by the customer would have been refunded by Princess, so the commission that the TA was allowed to keep would have to come directly out of Princess's pockets.

 

If not, then the TA was going to lose the commission either way. I guess losing it now is worse than losing it later, but I don't see what difference it makes in the grand scheme of things. However, on the customer's end, delaying a chargeback could be the difference between getting a refund and getting nothing if Princess files for bankruptcy.

[Laurie S.]

Solve the whole problem, don't use a travel agent.  

[davekathy]

When it comes to my money, me first! 🤑

[dog]

5 minutes ago, Laurie S. said:

Solve the whole problem, don't use a travel agent.  

or choose a TA that puts the client first. Mine does. 20 plus years. 

[voljeep]

48 minutes ago, oceanlovinmama said:

 While I sympathize with people wanting their money, I just feel we need to cut them some slack as they are hurting like the rest of us.

let me guess - your 'clients' pay you , and then you pay Princess, correct ?

 

so, any chargebacks would go against your bank account, then it's up to you to get "your" money back from Princess ???

[mafig]

ceilidh1,

Good for you!  👍

[PurpleUnicorns]

5 minutes ago, voljeep said:

let me guess - your 'clients' pay you , and then you pay Princess, correct ?

 

so, any chargebacks would go against your bank account, then it's up to you to get "your" money back from Princess ???

 

But then couldn't the TA just file their own chargeback against Princess? They, too, paid for something that wasn't delivered. I get that it's extra time and trouble, but it just doesn't seem like that big a problem under the circumstances.

[dog]

5 minutes ago, PurpleUnicorns said:

 

But then couldn't the TA just file their own chargeback against Princess? They, too, paid for something that wasn't delivered. I get that it's extra time and trouble, but it just doesn't seem like that big a problem under the circumstances.

That is who Princess

might  ban. 

Edited May 16, 2020 by dog

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, PurpleUnicorns said:

 

But then couldn't the TA just file their own chargeback against Princess?

yes, just like I stated … the TA can choose to either wait to get the money back from Princess, or the TA can file their own chargeback against Princess …

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, oceanlovinmama said:

But in their defense they had no idea the number of refunds they would be dealing with

Based on yesterday’s CCL press release, CCL CEO Arnold Donald stated: “It's also encouraging to note that the majority of guests affected by our schedule changes want to sail with us at a later date, with fewer than 38 percent requesting refunds to date”.

 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/carnival-corporation-announces-additional-steps-further/

 

If he’s encouraged by that lower number then don’t agree with you that they were surprised by the number of cancelations.

 

Princess has mishandled our Option 1 request by losing it & after waiting 60 days they emailed us to select an option despite them emailing confirmations with FCC & refund amounts on 3/12. These are unprecedented times for the travel industry & cruise reservations have more options than airlines. However when AA canceled our flights over a month after Princess, AA provided a chargecard credit in less than 10 days after requesting it.

 

Missed deadlines, misinformation, lost requests...this Princess loyalist has lost all trust in Princess to provided anything as promised.

Edited May 16, 2020 by Astro Flyer

[ceilidh1]

The way commission works (at least for me) is that it is paid out by the cruiseline following the final payment due date (not sailing date). That commission is protected, even if the guest cancels/doesn't sail since, under normal cancellation terms, the cruise fare is 100% non-refundable after final payment date. However, since cruiselines are now refunding rather than assessing cancellation fees, technically that paid commission should be recalled in order to make up the full cost of the cruise fare paid by the passenger. The majority of cruiselines have protected that commission and are making up the shortfall themselves. What the OP is concerned about is that if a chargeback is initiated then cruiselines could come after the agent for the paid commission. Why they would do so, I am unsure - if they were planning on paying that out of their own pockets anyway, it shouldn't make a difference whether it comes from a regular refund or a refund via chargeback. If there are commissions not yet paid out, then I guess they might withhold paying them if a chargeback is issued and then the TA would lose out on it. Again, it would be really dumb of the cruiselines to do this as they will need TAs as much as customers if they are ever going to come back from this.

[PrincessLuver]

58 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Of the several other cancellations that we suffered after Princess cancelled our April 4 Ruby Princess cruise - including a train trip in Australia, hotels, tours booked with Viator, two airline flights that were cancelled because of changing conditions in Australia, a river cruise in Australia, and a Hilton time share, EVERY ONE of those companies stepped up with immediate to very timely refunds.

 

The only one we are waiting on is Princess.  We filed a credit card dispute a few days after the cruise was to have departed.  We received a provisional credit in a couple of days.  

 

Princess can try to reset their refund clock all they want.  The credit card company clock is still running.

 

Tick Tick Tick 

 

We had a two and a half month trip planned off of the cruise we booked with Princess to Europe.  Every travel company that was involved almost immediately issued full cash refunds when requested.  Princess canceled our cruise and gave us only two options, one of which was the cash refund which was to happen within 60 days of March 12, 2020 cancelation according to their emails.

 

I no longer have any sympathy for Princess and do not believe a word they are saying about how hard they are working to return people's money.   I did not sign on to float Princess an interest free loan of over 6 months from when they requested final payment and then get screwed by them.  Sorry no empathy or compassion.....chargeback here I come!!!