Promises NOT Delivered! Prince Promised Future Cruise Credits MIA

[tcbfast]

Were you a Princess Cruise passenger who was placed in isolation due to contracting COVID during a cruise?  Were you promised Future Cruise Credits for the days you missed, yet Princess has yet to deliver on those credits? Then please join in the conversation! 

Despite numerous emails and phone calls, escalation to Guest Services, a case # from the "Post Cruise Escalation Department and 104 days having elapsed since the end of my cruise where my wife and I contracted COVID and were Isolated for 6 days...Not a single FCC has been credited to our accounts.

We are Elite level in the Captains Circle, stockholders, and never...never have we experienced such lousy customer service.  Frankly, I think this is the result of the Carnival bean counters squeezing every penny they can out of the customer.   I have sent my case to the local TV Station Consumer Help desk, but I would like to know if anyone has actually found a magic trick that can get Princess to act on this.  

Tracy 



 

[reedprincess]

Yup, we tested positive aboard, were isolated on the quarantine deck, and received our FCCs about 6 weeks after disembarkation.

Then, about 5 months later, they disappeared off our account - called our TA, she got in the phone immediately and learned there was some glitch and they were wiped out. Fortunately, both she and I had copies of the emails with the info and they were reinstated within a day or so.

Used them in November for a December cruise... 

 

Our current issue is a missing refund check from our land quarantine that Princess still owes us. It's been issued and reissued about 4 times now, we're over a year since our quarantine ended and still no check - and our case manager can see it's been issued, mailed and never received, not cashed, etc. They've cancelled payment 3 times and reissued and still no sign of it. The case manager has been helpful, checks in with us ever couple weeks, etc - but we'd really like our $$$ at this point! 

 

Good luck. 

[jeromep]

1 hour ago, reedprincess said:

Yup, we tested positive aboard, were isolated on the quarantine deck, and received our FCCs about 6 weeks after disembarkation.

Then, about 5 months later, they disappeared off our account - called our TA, she got in the phone immediately and learned there was some glitch and they were wiped out. Fortunately, both she and I had copies of the emails with the info and they were reinstated within a day or so.

Used them in November for a December cruise... 

 

Our current issue is a missing refund check from our land quarantine that Princess still owes us. It's been issued and reissued about 4 times now, we're over a year since our quarantine ended and still no check - and our case manager can see it's been issued, mailed and never received, not cashed, etc. They've cancelled payment 3 times and reissued and still no sign of it. The case manager has been helpful, checks in with us ever couple weeks, etc - but we'd really like our $$$ at this point! 

 

Good luck. 

I've received refund checks from Princess for unused future cruise credit when we were not able to book a cruise in the window.  They outsource their refund process to a third party data processor.  It is basically the equivalent of corporate bill pay.  Horrible practice.

 

Our local power company, Pacific Power issues refunds to customers using a service called ClearExchange.  It is basically the great grandfather of Zelle and run by the same organization.  So, if you are registered with Zelle at your bank, Pacific Power only needs to know your email address, they issue the refund and you have it in minutes.  Biggest issue is they are doing refunds to customers who are not yet registered with Zelle, and so they have to register for Zelle with their bank.  The good news is that once registered they get their funds instantly.  I'm shocked that Princess hasn't contracted with ClearExchange to be able to bridge corporate refunds to the Zelle network.  That would be so much better than contracting some third party to write checks and mail them.

 

Electronic payments are always better than checks.

[memoak]

Contracted Covid on August cruise. FCC showed up in about 3-4 weeks. Had our CVP escalate our claim for land based quarantine in Canada and received check about 2 weeks later

[Rick&Jeannie]

13 hours ago, reedprincess said:

Our current issue is a missing refund check from our land quarantine that Princess still owes us. It's been issued and reissued about 4 times now, we're over a year since our quarantine ended and still no check - and our case manager can see it's been issued, mailed and never received, not cashed, etc. They've cancelled payment 3 times and reissued and still no sign of it. The case manager has been helpful, checks in with us ever couple weeks, etc - but we'd really like our $$$ at this point! 

 

Good luck. 

Keep in mind that many people have posted here on CC that the refund checks DO NOT come from Princess!  They come in a very non-descript envelope that can easily be mistaken for spam.  Be very careful about tossing anything before opening!

[capriccio]

9 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Keep in mind that many people have posted here on CC that the refund checks DO NOT come from Princess!  They come in a very non-descript envelope that can easily be mistaken for spam.  Be very careful about tossing anything before opening!

The return address is Bottomline Technologies.  Last year I think they had added 'for Princess Cruises' (or something similar) in smaller print.

[tcbfast]

Glad to hear Some of you are getting your FCCs.  Don't understand what the heck is going on with Princess for our cruise.  Literally 110+ days and counting regardless of how dogged I've been in keeping on top of them. 

[tcbfast]

On 1/11/2023 at 8:23 PM, reedprincess said:

Yup, we tested positive aboard, were isolated on the quarantine deck, and received our FCCs about 6 weeks after disembarkation.

Then, about 5 months later, they disappeared off our account - called our TA, she got in the phone immediately and learned there was some glitch and they were wiped out. Fortunately, both she and I had copies of the emails with the info and they were reinstated within a day or so.

Used them in November for a December cruise... 

 

Our current issue is a missing refund check from our land quarantine that Princess still owes us. It's been issued and reissued about 4 times now, we're over a year since our quarantine ended and still no check - and our case manager can see it's been issued, mailed and never received, not cashed, etc. They've cancelled payment 3 times and reissued and still no sign of it. The case manager has been helpful, checks in with us ever couple weeks, etc - but we'd really like our $$$ at this point! 

 

Good luck. 

Good luck with the refund. Our refund for the balance on our account came pretty quick except for $35 they charged me for extra device internet and haven't refunded despite saying they would. After I get my FCCs I plan on keeping them to that promise as well

 

[reedprincess]

22 hours ago, jeromep said:

I've received refund checks from Princess for unused future cruise credit when we were not able to book a cruise in the window.  They outsource their refund process to a third party data processor.  It is basically the equivalent of corporate bill pay.  Horrible practice.

 

Our local power company, Pacific Power issues refunds to customers using a service called ClearExchange.  It is basically the great grandfather of Zelle and run by the same organization.  So, if you are registered with Zelle at your bank, Pacific Power only needs to know your email address, they issue the refund and you have it in minutes.  Biggest issue is they are doing refunds to customers who are not yet registered with Zelle, and so they have to register for Zelle with their bank.  The good news is that once registered they get their funds instantly.  I'm shocked that Princess hasn't contracted with ClearExchange to be able to bridge corporate refunds to the Zelle network.  That would be so much better than contracting some third party to write checks and mail them.

 

Electronic payments are always better than checks.

The really off part is that we received two of the checks, the food reimbursement, right away. Put in the refund info first week of Feb, all approved 24 hours later and check received by first week of March! 

It's just the one for accommodation - and for whatever reason, it just refused to show up. It's 100% been approved, been reissued a couple times - I'm well aquatinted with Bottom Line, and I get very little mail as is, so it's not like I wouldn't recognize it . For whatever reason - this one just refused to show. 1+ year now - and still waiting. Last reissue was first week of December. Who knows if that one will actually show up...

 

I do wish Princess would get with the 21st century and Zelle, PayPal, Clear Exchange, bank transfer, etc. . Or even the late 20th century and refund to the original payment type!!

 

Ahh well. I know the $$$ will show up eventually, but a year plus is really pushing it... 

 

[CruisingWalter]

On 1/11/2023 at 11:17 PM, tcbfast said:

  I have sent my case to the local TV Station Consumer Help desk, but I would like to know if anyone has actually found a magic trick that can get Princess to act on this.  

Tracy 

 

Did you use a travel agent for the cruise? If so they have a BDM or Business Development Manager who is a direct contact to call. That would be your best bet at this point. I hope it all works out!

[Greyhound3]

Same with us - contracted C-19 on a September sailing and were told we would each receive $800 in FCC within two weeks. Four months later, nothing.

 

We booked through the casino department. When I called them to inquire on the refund status, I was given the name of a supervisor to email. It's been a full month with no response. 

 

Any ideas?

[tcbfast]

21 hours ago, Greyhound3 said:

Same with us - contracted C-19 on a September sailing and were told we would each receive $800 in FCC within two weeks. Four months later, nothing.

 

We booked through the casino department. When I called them to inquire on the refund status, I was given the name of a supervisor to email. It's been a full month with no response. 

 

Any ideas?

Lots of promises of help...nothing happens 

[tcbfast]

Thank you all for your Posts here.  Please, Please PLEASE keep fighting.  6 phone calls, 4 e-mails, one referral to 7 on Your Side consumer help line and 112 days and we FINALLY have our cruise credits...

Now if I can just get that $35 they wrongly charged me for Internet service! HAHAHAHAHA! I doubt it, but I'll be damned if I let them get away with this crap. The $35 isn't the point. The point is charging for something you said I wouldn't be charged for.

[Jadn13]

Just a note: Make sure all your documentation is attached to every email you send. I had to chase this up for my parents on a HAL cruise and eventually it was taken care. It wasn’t necessary for anyone to reach out for follow up information since it was all attached to the email. 
Good Luck! 

[hobbyfarmer2]

On 1/12/2023 at 1:12 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Keep in mind that many people have posted here on CC that the refund checks DO NOT come from Princess!  They come in a very non-descript envelope that can easily be mistaken for spam.  Be very careful about tossing anything before opening!

I remember pulling a Bottomline Tech envelope out of my recycle a few years ago after it was accidentally tossed as spam.  It was a cheque from Princess.

[PacnGoNow]

8 minutes ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

I remember pulling a Bottomline Tech envelope out of my recycle a few years ago after it was accidentally tossed as spam.  It was a cheque from Princess.

Yes, true.  It is a window white envelope and says

Bottomline Technology for

Princess Cruise Line

 

Good thing the FCC’s don’t come in the mail.😳

Wish they would show up though!

 

[Galesa]

FWIW, still waiting for a FCC of AUD7500 (about USD5000) for a cancelled cruise on HAL ( November) under their Covid safe program ( caught it just before the cruise). 

 

Now I know I should have read the small print but my expectation was that under these circumstances an FCC would appear within days, allowing us to book another cruise quickly ( there's not a huge amount of choice on HAL down under) using this very large FCC. Frankly had we realised it would take this long then we would have made an insurance claim. As it was, the travel insurance was very expensive and we needed to cancel it for use on a future trip. Incidentally the insurance was able to convert the cancelled policy into a credit immediately.

 

Ultimately we ended up booking a totally new cruise with Princess. We used the insurance credit on this trip.

 

To get to my point, eventually, I simply don't understand why in this electronic age that cruise companies and/ or airlines for that matter, can't refund or provide credits within days of the cancellation ( assuming of course the reason for the cancellation is not in dispute). I also don't understand why there's not some kind of widespread international consumer action on this issue.

 

But of course it's Covid!  The "Swiss Army Knife of excuses" as a popular YTBr in Australia says.

[Sunwanabe]

On the administrative front PC has been underwhelming in their attention for simple requests. Even if you eventually get confirmation of FCC's, applying the amount for a future cruise seems to a tall order for Princess to handle. Basically keeps pushing it down the road for a simple function. It prides itself as a professional co but their inactions on tasks say otherwise.    

[jwattle]

1 hour ago, Sunwanabe said:

On the administrative front PC has been underwhelming in their attention for simple requests. Even if you eventually get confirmation of FCC's, applying the amount for a future cruise seems to a tall order for Princess to handle. Basically keeps pushing it down the road for a simple function. It prides itself as a professional co but their inactions on tasks say otherwise.    

When we went to apply our FCC's to 2 future cruises, it was ridiculously simple...both times; not sure what you mean by a tall order? the FCC is there in your personalizer and you just direct the Princess rep or your TA to it...?

[Sunwanabe]

11 minutes ago, jwattle said:

When we went to apply our FCC's to 2 future cruises, it was ridiculously simple...both times; not sure what you mean by a tall order? the FCC is there in your personalizer and you just direct the Princess rep or your TA to it...?

Wish it was that easy. Credit has been acknowledged since last August, final payment for new cruise was December of 2022. They extended the final payment 2 times because someone is unable to apply cr to the balance of new cruise. You lucked out.

[PacnGoNow]

31 minutes ago, Sunwanabe said:

Wish it was that easy. Credit has been acknowledged since last August, final payment for new cruise was December of 2022. They extended the final payment 2 times because someone is unable to apply cr to the balance of new cruise. You lucked out.

Sounds like another glitch/error with the website.  They should not have a problem using FCC’s for a booking. It automatically is supposed to happen when you book or do final payment.

Crazy.  

[bmc alabama]

We finally got our FCC's for our 2 days of quarantine on our May 2022 Crown sailing last week (early January 2023)...

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, bmc alabama said:

We finally got our FCC's for our 2 days of quarantine on our May 2022 Crown sailing last week (early January 2023)...

Unreal!  8 months?

[tcbfast]

6 hours ago, Sunwanabe said:

Wish it was that easy. Credit has been acknowledged since last August, final payment for new cruise was December of 2022. They extended the final payment 2 times because someone is unable to apply cr to the balance of new cruise. You lucked out.

As I am just today trying to get a refund of a portion of my final payment for an upcoming cruise refunded and replaced with my FCCs I JUST received, I sadly, agree with you. "Oh, we can't do that here. We have to fill out a form and send it to another department!"  
Thank goodness my TA has taken hold of the reins and will stir us through this oncoming mess. 
Carnival Lines with their stock-driven dictates and nickel and diming have destroyed what used to be a good Customer Service team with a fairly flat hierarchy to deal with.  As was said, this is literally telling a computer to complete a transaction... with my background, I know this. 
Anything else is designed to slow the process down and keep the money within the company spreadsheets longer. 
Keep on top of them and push, push, push. 

[tcbfast]

4 hours ago, bmc alabama said:

We finally got our FCC's for our 2 days of quarantine on our May 2022 Crown sailing last week (early January 2023)...

And here I thought my 112 days was bad.  I am not sure what it is going to take, but I wish something would wake Carnival Cruise lines up to their unacceptable service. 
Frankly, they need look at the recent Southwest fiasco if they want to see their future.