Using FCC When Booking

[cellfree]

I called to book a cruise today and wanted to use a FCC. According to the agent I got, my cruise is booked however the FCC has to be applied by another department. So I do not get the official MSC booking document until that is done. Oh my, I wonder how long that will take, I was told three or four days. Has anyone else used a FCC and been given the same story?

[emmas gran]

I have been waiting over 2 weeks, I think they are working on the "Sail Dates" of original cruises. Someone on a page of FB in the UK has been waiting 4 weeks

[lovetoholiday]

I waited over 3 weeks and many emails. I did initially get a booking confirmation but it showed the amount outstanding as the amount of the FCC. I had to pay a small price difference and this was all that showed as paid.  Eventually got the confirmation through that showed all paid - but now it shows that total cost of the cruise is only the shortfall amount. Oh if only we could cruise for £41 or thereabouts.

No mention on the booking of voyagers 5+5% or the OBC though.  More chasing up to do.

[cellfree]

Oh my, that’s not encouraging news. Here we go again!

[mamaneedsavacay]

I'm also still waiting to have my FCC applied to my new cruise, but have decided to wait until either US cruises restart or my PIF date approaches to push it. It will be a huge headache for my TA to make it happen and I'm not going to put her through it for nothing.

 

Meanwhile I have a cruise booked with a large outstanding balance and I have a large FCC to apply to it, so just going to hope for the best for US sailings for this year. If they don't start up, or have to shut down again, then I suppose I'll be chasing my new $98 deposit refund along with old FCC. 

[cellfree]

The agent i booked with said she could not send me a confirmation but I did talk her into sending me something with date and cabin number on it (cruising with family so wanted to make sure that info was correct) and I did receive a page that showed that info but the bottom line on that page has an incorrect price so I may have that to deal with that after FCC applied to possibly the wrong amount. Gives me something to do - ha!

[cellfree]

Update: called today to book another cruise using FCC (FCC was due to COVID19 cancellation). On Saturday I was told by the agent I got that she had to send my request to use FCC to another department and as it was the first time I tried to use FCC I simply thought that was how it had to be done. Today I called to make another booking using a different FCC and the guy I got who was amazing did everything. There was a glitch - I was trying to get the 5%+5% and he could not get it to apply and emailed someone who gave him a special Code which apparently was sent out to agents a few months ago to use for people using FCC COVID19 related. Bottom line, today everything was done with one phone call and 5%+5% was applied and FCC was applied. As well my booking from Saturday got corrected when I asked today's agent to look at it. All this to say, if you get an agent who cannot apply a FCC perhaps the agent needs to be made aware of a special Code. Now I know it is not our job to be aware of what an agent should know, but if we know something, well it might help solve some problems. Hope this is helpful!

[lovetoholiday]

Well done you!  That's how you would always like it to go. Unfortunately I must have got someone with the same training as your Saturday person.  The price was right with the 5 + 5 % as I had worked out what it should be and it came up the same. It's just getting the OBC credit added and it would be nice to have paperwork that actually showed the actual price of the cruise and the 2 payment methods - the FCC for the most part and the balance of £41.39 paid by card.  Rather than a cruise costing £41.39

Spoke to an agent today who said the OBC would show up - one of these days! Ah well.......

[Bluewake]

Applied on March 10 for FCC for a mid March cruise.   Still waiting for the FCC and tax/fee refund.  Have called numerous times and although each agent stated they can see my request and that everything looks in order, no one was able to tell me why it hadn't been processed.   Than, the last person with whom I spoke told me that it appeared to have been processed incorrectly by someone at MSC some time ago and was just sitting there unattended. I was advised to send an email to MSC to get things moving so I did...of course, no response.  Sent a second email..no response to that one either.  The two words that come to mind to describe how MSC has managed my situation are callousness and ineptness.

[KennyFla]

On 8/10/2020 at 5:57 PM, lovetoholiday said:

 Unfortunately I must have got someone with the same training as your Saturday person.  The price was right with the 5 + 5 % as I had worked out what it should be and it came up the same. 

 

I can also attest to this.  When I called a few weeks ago to verify my FCC the guy I talked to was fantastic.  He saw the credit right away and gave me the Certificate number to give to my travel agent.  I immediately hung up and called my travel agent.  She called MSC and the c/s agent she got took 30 minutes to find the same credit.  In all, the TA was on the phone with her 1 hour getting the FCC applied.

 

So, if you call MSC and the agent you are talking to is not helpful hang up and call back.

[Bluewake]

Tried again today to get my promised FCC's applied to a future sailing.  Was told by an agent in the Cruise Assurance section that everything appeared to be in order with my FCC request except for a question as to whether I was eligible for 100% or 125% and that it would be necessary to transfer me to the MSC Dispute Resolution office to take care of the matter.   I said "no problem, just give me the 100%" but was told that only Dispute Resolution could do it.  Having been in touch with that unit before, I suspected it likely would be pointless but I was told they were aware of my situation and were waiting to help me...so off I went.   The lethargic person in Dispute Resolution who answered the phone told me that there were many people in my position, that the central office in Italy was working on resolving the matter, and that nothing could be done until that central office had done it's work.  They were "hoping" it might be done by the end of August but could offer no assurance that would be the case.  I asked if there was anyone in the entire United States who had the ability to resolve the situation and was told "no".  I called the Cruise Assurance office back to tell them what had happened and the agent I reached this time said that Dispute Resolution was "higher" than them so they were the best office with which to work. Nothing can be done except to wait.  Oh well...it's only been 5 months.  What's another 5 months?

 

[dexddd]

18 hours ago, Bluewake said:

Tried again today to get my promised FCC's applied to a future sailing.  Was told by an agent in the Cruise Assurance section that everything appeared to be in order with my FCC request except for a question as to whether I was eligible for 100% or 125% and that it would be necessary to transfer me to the MSC Dispute Resolution office to take care of the matter.   I said "no problem, just give me the 100%" but was told that only Dispute Resolution could do it.  Having been in touch with that unit before, I suspected it likely would be pointless but I was told they were aware of my situation and were waiting to help me...so off I went.   The lethargic person in Dispute Resolution who answered the phone told me that there were many people in my position, that the central office in Italy was working on resolving the matter, and that nothing could be done until that central office had done it's work.  They were "hoping" it might be done by the end of August but could offer no assurance that would be the case.  I asked if there was anyone in the entire United States who had the ability to resolve the situation and was told "no".  I called the Cruise Assurance office back to tell them what had happened and the agent I reached this time said that Dispute Resolution was "higher" than them so they were the best office with which to work. Nothing can be done except to wait.  Oh well...it's only been 5 months.  What's another 5 months?

 

Central Office must be also known as Department of Lethargy DOL.