Beware of UnCruise

[croftsohana]

This was to be our very first cruise experience and UnCruise ruined it. UnCruise cancelled our Alaska cruise for May 9, 2020 and refuses to refund our $18,000+. UnCruise also did not honor trip insurance which we purchased from UnCruise. We made numerous requests for a refund and all have been rejected. (1) UnCruise falsely accused us of canceling the trip on our own before they cancelled it; (2) UnCruise faulted us for exercising our right to dispute all charges with Costco Citibank Visa, and filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau and State of Washington Attorney General’s Office; (3) UnCruise took taxpayer PPP bailout AND kept our money. Don’t believe all the glowing reviews from UnCruise customers. UnCruise has an “F” grade from the Better Business Bureau because of their refusal to refund customers for cruises the company cancelled in Alaska, the Galapagos and others. 
 

[gerryuk]

On what day did they officially cancel the cruise? On what day do they say, you cancelled the cruise?

There must be a paper trail some ware. Ask them what day they said you cancelled, if they say it was by email then they will have a copy of this email (if you have made a mistake, so will you) and it will be dated. If they say you phoned them to cancel, ask on what day you phoned them, they will have a dated record of this call and many companies record all calls, check your call records to see if you have made a mistake, to see if the dates match theirs. If you have made a mistake you will have a record some ware, if it was by email there are records on their systems and your computer, even if you hit the delete button, its still there just hidden. 

Seems to me the onus is on them to give you dates, if they don't and if it was me, my next call will be to a lawyer. 

Good luck.

[Flatbush Flyer]

44 minutes ago, croftsohana said:

This was to be our very first cruise experience and UnCruise ruined it. UnCruise cancelled our Alaska cruise for May 9, 2020 and refuses to refund our $18,000+. UnCruise also did not honor trip insurance which we purchased from UnCruise. We made numerous requests for a refund and all have been rejected. (1) UnCruise falsely accused us of canceling the trip on our own before they cancelled it; (2) UnCruise faulted us for exercising our right to dispute all charges with Costco Citibank Visa, and filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau and State of Washington Attorney General’s Office; (3) UnCruise took taxpayer PPP bailout AND kept our money. Don’t believe all the glowing reviews from UnCruise customers. UnCruise has an “F” grade from the Better Business Bureau because of their refusal to refund customers for cruises the company cancelled in Alaska, the Galapagos and others. 
 

It’s a good bet that this boils down to #1 and how it is treated by the cruise line’s T&Cs (to which you agreed by making the purchase).

So: Did YOU cancel the cruise before they did?This should be easy enough to prove with copies of emailed correspondences (I.e., the date/time on the cancel notice they sent you AND the date/time of your email cancelling the cruise or acknowledging their cancellation and your acceptance of whatever they were offering as compensation for cancelling (before you did).

In general, if the cruise line (not you) cancelled first, you’d be offered a refund or an FCC (that’s “boilerplate” in most cruise company’s T&Cs).

Of course, if they’ve got a time stamped phone recording (or your email) with you cancelling first, you are SOL for penalty phase losses which I’m assuming is 100%.

As for cruise line insurance, the line is most often - not the insurer. They just sell policies (which usually don’t include “cancel for any reason” - like fear of Covid).

In any case, you can dispute the credit card charge with your CC company, file an insurance claim with the insurer, make a complaint to the Dept of Consumer Affairs and/or Secretary of State in whatever State you purchased the cruise. However, they all will base their judgement on the provided evidence.

 

Good luck!

[shipgeeks]

What is UnCruise?

[CruiserBruce]

7 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

What is UnCruise?

Just a quick look around:

 

https://uncruise.com/

[Honolulu Blue]

This probably doesn't have anything with OP's situation, but Uncruise has implemented a vaccine requirement as of last week:  https://uncruise.com/pages/covid-travel-updates

[Top_of_the_Cube]

20 hours ago, croftsohana said:

(1) UnCruise falsely accused us of canceling the trip on our own before they cancelled it;

 

(2) UnCruise faulted us for exercising our right to dispute all charges with Costco Citibank Visa, and filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau and State of Washington Attorney General’s Office
 

I assume that the $18,000+ is money that you actually paid to UnCruise for this trip.

 

Just for clarification:

 

1)  I read this to say UnCruise just straight up cancelled the sailing, and that you did not communicate with UnCruise (before or after they cancelled) in any fashion that they could misconstrue as you cancelling or considering cancelling.  If that is the case, seems like a slam dunk with the credit card company when you provide the appropriate section of the governing T&C.

 

2)  I don't understand what "faulted" means.  Did they take some adverse action against you (beyond not giving your money back), or just say they didn't like you doing that?  Did they somehow use your dispute as some kind of "evidence" as to why they won't refund your money?

 

Not at all being critical, looks like you got robbed.

[Shmoo here]

I wonder if we'll see any answers to the questions from OP.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Just now, Shmoo here said:

I wonder if we'll see any answers to the questions from OP.

Doubtful.

[ColeThornton]

6 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

I wonder if we'll see any answers to the questions from OP.

 

Seems to me they are just venting.  It's another thread that doesn't belong on the Ask a Cruise Question forum.  The mods will probably move it.

[Shmoo here]

2 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

 

Seems to me they are just venting.  It's another thread that doesn't belong on the Ask a Cruise Question forum.  The mods will probably move it.

OP originally posted the same post on 3 different forums (the one prior to this one was in July 2020).  One of which has disappeared (don't know when that one was posted).

Edited March 23, 2021 by Shmoo here

[BoozinCroozin]

File a lawsuit if that is the case. It is your only recourse. You have done everything you can and that leaves one option remaining. You will need to be sure to have your documentation 100% accurate, pay for an attorney, let the attorney determine your documentation is accurate, then proceed with a lawsuit. Because if you don't win, you can be held liable for the defendants legal fees as well. On the other hand, you could win and still not recover your money. The business can shutter and you are at the bottom of list for what little is left. Before a small business does that, they get large one-time bonuses clearing out most of the liquid capital.