Credit card question??

[Danno]

Just a question...how long after a transaction can you instruct your credit card company to deny or reverse the charges??

 

I must admit after reading how X has taken some liberties with onboard accounts (currency exchange for me) that I expect to be a lot more vigilant this year...

 

Great...now I have to do accounting on my vacation because RCI has allowed some pirates into it's executive offices :mad: .

 

It's a good thing the onboard experience on this line is so much better than dealing with the land based operation.

[ocngypz]

The exchange rates charged by the cruiselines have always seemed unfair to me.

 

Many of my Canadian clients just post cash in USD for their onboard acccounts.

 

I have done the same when traveling European cruiselines where USD were not the onboard currency.

 

For my Canadian clients, unless there is a special Canadian fare code which saves them $$$, I always use USD pricing.

 

Any travel vendor builds huge spreads into their exchange rates.

[Danno]

Any travel vendor builds huge spreads into their exchange rates.

 

So it's actually an INDUSTRY full of pirates...got it.

 

I usually settle my account with travellers cheques and leave a small balance for my AMEX...I guess this is why I've never noticed this legal(?)theft happening.

 

I work in automotive and ANY organized deception like this (not disclosing fees) is not legal. I think the travel business needs a good clean-up, but I guess with it being a multi-national industy, it really can't happen.

 

Buyer beware....

[Momto5]

I unfortunately missed this prior to sailing and did not check the box on our docs.

 

I have been fretting the last day or so about what my bill would amount to, allowing Celebrity to do the math.

 

It was posted to my account today. Using a Yahoo currency convertor, Celebrity charged us an extra 13 dollars. No service fee of 75 as had been mentioned.

 

Next time, I will let my credit card company do the math, but it really was not that big of a difference, thank goodness!

[j!m]

i've used my cdn visa card all over europe,caribbean,south pacific and on ships, recently on millenium and have always found the f/x rate used by visa to be about the current rate and have never been charged any fees by anyone. not sure what the problem is. we sailed on x ships and others several times and never had to complain about unauthorized charges to our account. guess we are just lucky?

[Schplinky]

We checked the box and they still used their rate instead of donig it in US.

[RB Bonzo]

Just a question...how long after a transaction can you instruct your credit card company to deny or reverse the charges??

 

I must admit after reading how X has taken some liberties with onboard accounts (currency exchange for me) that I expect to be a lot more vigilant this year...

 

Great...now I have to do accounting on my vacation because RCI has allowed some pirates into it's executive offices :mad: .

 

It's a good thing the onboard experience on this line is so much better than dealing with the land based operation.

 

Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, a consumer has the right to protest disputed charges on a credit card by informing the credit card company within 60 days after the first time that the disputed charge shows up on a bill.

 

I see, however, that you are in Canada. Different country, different rules. And, I'm afraid that I have no idea what rights you do or do not have. Sorry.

[dmk]

The exchange rates charged by the cruiselines have always seemed unfair to me.

 

Many of my Canadian clients just post cash in USD for their onboard acccounts.

.

 

What do you mean by "post cash in USD"? I would be very interested to know.

[Danno]

We checked the box and they still used their rate instead of donig it in US.

 

This is what concerns me...I had a lot to do with bringing friends along on this cruise AND I don't need the embarrassment of having the cruise line that I suggested, take advantage of these people.

 

I the end I look, and feel bad about this situation...it had better not happen!!

[dmk]

Would love to find out the answer to my question:confused:

[Schplinky]

You have a choice, as a foreigner, of having X post the charges to your account in US dollars or having them convert it and posting your credit card charges in Canadian. Their exchange rate is not very good.

[uktog]

We checked the box and they still used their rate instead of donig it in US.

 

Exactly what happened to us when we used the online check in. Interestingly, when we did not use on line, but used the form that came with the documents, and highlighted the box with a highlightpen - no problem!! Talking to others the on line ckeck in is not a good idea if you want to be sure your CreditCard bill goes through in a currency other than USD

[Schplinky]

We wanted USD as the chrge. It's when the line does the converting that you lose money. The bank's rate is always better.

[Iamboatman]

Under US law (I don't know about Canada) you have 30 - 60 days to dispute a charge...after you receive the statement from the credit card company. (Remember most people still do not use the internet for such things.) You have to make your complaint in writing unless, as with Amex, they send you a confirming written letter. With Amex they generally make the vendor support the charge rather than you defend against it.

[ocngypz]

What do you mean by "post cash in USD"? I would be very interested to know.

 

Easy, you give the Guest Relations staff member, cash (USD) and your charges are deducated from that amount. If there is anything left over at the end of the cruise, you get the change on the last night.

 

Or, you can give them your credit card... and then pay Guest Relations the last evening in USD cash.