deposit refund for a cancelled cruise

[uktog]

14 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

$75 pp

Do you realise how lucky you are - we are £250 (c$310 per person.  It looks even worse if you are booking via Switzerland, Germany and Austria

 

(Source Azamara website)

 

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by uktog

[stikr]

We canceled our March 2024 cruise on May 4th online on the website and the money was back on my credit card yesterday. So just under a week.

[Takapuna Grammer Girl]

We are very happy for you! You are one of the lucky ones. This shows that Azamara does not seem to be able to prioritize requests for refunds.

[Ithikan]

21 hours ago, uktog said:

Do you realise how lucky you are - we are £250 (c$310 per person.  It looks even worse if you are booking via Switzerland, Germany and Austria

 

(Source Azamara website)

 

 

A quick check this morning shows $75 USD = $120 New Zealand.  So, a slight advantage to NZ for an early cancellation ; )

[puppymama1]

We cancelled our October 17 cruise back on April 27... despite my continued harassment of our travel agent, they have still been unable to get anything other than a "we are working on it" and most recently the TA's sales rep is "trying to get an answer".  Our TA is a friend of ours, so I know they are doing the best they can... This is absolutely ridiculous... 

[Takapuna Grammer Girl]

Yes it is utterly absurd. So I finally emailed the Guest Services Manager a week ago but never got a reply. Yesterday I emailed the Chief Administrative and Information Officer. We’ll see what comes out of this.

Yesterday, I noticed Azamara changed their recording when you call. So I was able to talk to someone right away. The agent was surprised that the refund was taking so long. He said he would forward the refund to the cancellation department and the refund should take up to 14 days. Again, we shall see.

[puppymama1]

13 hours ago, Takapuna Grammer Girl said:

Yes it is utterly absurd. So I finally emailed the Guest Services Manager a week ago but never got a reply. Yesterday I emailed the Chief Administrative and Information Officer. We’ll see what comes out of this.

Yesterday, I noticed Azamara changed their recording when you call. So I was able to talk to someone right away. The agent was surprised that the refund was taking so long. He said he would forward the refund to the cancellation department and the refund should take up to 14 days. Again, we shall see.

I sent a message on their Facebook page yesterday but haven’t received any reply yet.  Can you let me know where you found the email addresses for the Guest Services Manager and the Chief Administrative and Information Officer?  I think I will send everyone I can find an email…probably not that it will do any good but at least I can try.  Thanks!

[Takapuna Grammer Girl]

Yes, I used Christopher Elliott’s Advocacy site. He is a wonderful consumer advocate who publishes a list of executives to contact and covers all types of companies, including cruise lines.

His website is www.elliott.org. You enter Azamara in the search field and voilà. I hope you will have better luck than me.

[john1970]

If you are waiting for a reply to a Facebook message best of luck. They still haven't replied to my 2018 and 2022 questions!

[trk_koa]

We cancelled a November cruise on April 10.
 

My TA has called Azamara 3 times in three days and got no where. They were told that the status of our deposit refund is “pending” and there is no way to escalate. Check back in 4 weeks. 

[JaneStarr]

1 hour ago, trk_koa said:

We cancelled a November cruise on April 10.
 

My TA has called Azamara 3 times in three days and got no where. They were told that the status of our deposit refund is “pending” and there is no way to escalate. Check back in 4 weeks. 

At this point I would strongly consider disputing the charge with your credit card company.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

3 hours ago, JaneStarr said:

At this point I would strongly consider disputing the charge with your credit card company.

Don't think that will work.

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, JaneStarr said:

At this point I would strongly consider disputing the charge with your credit card company.

 

1 hour ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Don't think that will work.

 

Why do you think it won't work?

[KevintheIrishDJ]

10 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

 

Why do you think it won't work?

It is my experience that they will get involved only if there was fraud. But try it,you never know.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

10 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

 

Why do you think it won't work?

Do you know the story of Al "Jazzbeau" Collins?

[uktog]

1 hour ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

It is my experience that they will get involved only if there was fraud. But try it,you never know.

Not true

[KevintheIrishDJ]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Not true

I said "in my experience"

[uktog]

2 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

I said "in my experience"

Your experience does not reflect standard credit card practice. The previous advice given to the poster was valid. If there is a delay in receiving a refund raise a claim via your credit card company 

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Do you know the story of Al "Jazzbeau" Collins?

Read my Signature - all the way to the bottom.

[JaneStarr]

53 minutes ago, uktog said:

Your experience does not reflect standard credit card practice. The previous advice given to the poster was valid. If there is a delay in receiving a refund raise a claim via your credit card company 

Often just mentioning a deadline of when you plan to open a dispute is enough to expedite the refund, in my experience.

 

An AmEx rep once explained to me that the company against whom the charge is disputed gets charged a fee even if the dispute is not upheld.  At least that’s my recollection from several years ago.  I try not to dispute charges w/o allowing the vendor reasonable time to make things right.

 

Your mileage may vary, but it can’t hurt to politely mention a potential dispute.  I don’t recall the time limits on disputing charges for future services. That would be worth investigating before waiting too long to file a dispute.

Edited May 25, 2023 by JaneStarr
Fix typo

[Rosroz]

I really don’t understand what all the fuss is about here , I would have said ,it has absolutely nothing to do with the CC company that you just changed your mind it’s not up to them to take up your dispute, the transaction is not fraudulent , Azamara has not gone bankrupt , of course it maybe different in the US , in Europe if you change your mind then it’s your responsibility to get a refund and like previous posts have said in several countries when you book a holiday you are locked into a contract. 
To much energy has been wasted on this post 🤣🤣🤣

 

[KevintheIrishDJ]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Read my Signature - all the way to the bottom.

I was fired from doing my radio program on WRHU (Hofstra U.) about 5 years ago, even though I was a volunteer. The person who fired me is no longer there. I hope to re-launch in June & my first song will be Mr. Sandman, even though it is an Irish music program (That's How I Spell Ireland).

[puppymama1]

For those of us trying to get refunds and dealing with Azamara's unresponsiveness, I don't think we feel too much energy has been wasted on this post.... In the US, according to Azamara's terms & conditions, you are entitled to cancel your cruise at any point up to 120 days prior to embarkation, and only pay $75/person cancellation fee.  At least those were the terms on my booking when I booked this cruise in 2022. 

Any reputable company would stand behind their own policies and not just refuse to answer phone calls, nor tell someone there was nothing to be done to expedite a refund.. call back in 4 weeks..   That screams of a complete lack of customer service, not caring about your customers and is, to me at least, a very big red flag.  I have worked as a Controller of several manufacturing companies during my 46 year working career and I am very familiar with the fact that thankfully there are consumer protections in place for customers to dispute credit card charges when a merchant is unresponsive.  Once you dispute the charge, the credit card company will contact the merchant regarding the chargeback, and it is up to the merchant to show why the chargeback should be reversed...and the merchant has a limited amount of time in which to respond before the chargeback is finalized.  I don't think any credit card company would look favorably on being told "check back with us in 4 weeks".

[Haljo1935]

We considered booking Azamara pre-Covid but did not do it due to a work conflict. We have very recently (this week) begun looking at specific cruises due to very attractive offers and are browsing threads here on CC to educate ourselves on Azamara since the sale in hopes of making an educated decision. 

We do not have unlimited funds available - this is a splurge for us and we want to be sure we're acting responsibly as well as getting the best value for our investment. This conversation gives me pause.

Thoughts, suggestions, recommendations? What would you do if you had an opportunity for a do over?

I feel for everyone on this thread who has not received proper treatment from Azamara and am not looking to be the next in line, but don't want to miss out on a great experience if that could be my outcome.

[Grandma Cruising]

2 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

We considered booking Azamara pre-Covid but did not do it due to a work conflict. We have very recently (this week) begun looking at specific cruises due to very attractive offers and are browsing threads here on CC to educate ourselves on Azamara since the sale in hopes of making an educated decision. 

We do not have unlimited funds available - this is a splurge for us and we want to be sure we're acting responsibly as well as getting the best value for our investment. This conversation gives me pause.

Thoughts, suggestions, recommendations? What would you do if you had an opportunity for a do over?

I feel for everyone on this thread who has not received proper treatment from Azamara and am not looking to be the next in line, but don't want to miss out on a great experience if that could be my outcome.

I’d say go for it, but book through a travel agent given the website problems. People have said that whatever the website issues, the experience onboard is as good as ever, and that was certainly our experience in March this year.