Did Princess just pull a quickie financial game with extra charges?

[RocknRoll22]

We just got off the Caribbean Princess on Sunday. The last time I checked our Folio, we had a credit balance of around $400, due to a gift card being submitted as OBC and a credit from Princess for cancelling our excursion at Princess Cay, since they decided not to allow tenders that day.

 

So, customer service told us earlier in the week, that any unspent OBC will be refunded to us, either back to the original credit card, or they will send a check. Like I said, last time I checked the folio on Saturday, we had a credit.

 

Well, besides our flight home being cancelled at the last minute (a whole different clusterfark by Spirit), I get a email from Princess with the final folio totals. Apparently, since they saw the credit balance, they decided to add two different WiFi charges of $104 and $62 (I already paid for the Plus package before sailing, so WiFi was included), they added some sort of folio to folio charges from my wife's account, then to use up all the rest of the credit, they added a "Referred to Corporate Finance" charge of $238, which then zeroed out all the credit balance.

 

Anyone experience these type of "games" in the past? Of course, I tried to call them, and got some foreign CS person who we really couldn't understand, and they said they couldn't help me, but to go the the "Help" section on the web site, and file a concern through  "Post Cruise" drop down comments.

 

Anyone else have them play these type of last minute games/charges before?

[missymerv]

In my experience "Referred to Corporate Finance" means that they are processing a check for you BUT don't expect to see it for at least 6 weeks.  The envelope it comes in does not say Princess on it.  If I remember correctly it comes from Bottom Line Technology.  Always take a screen shot of your folio prior to disembarkation.

[PescadoAmarillo]

The WiFi charges are troubling and you are going to have to go after them to get them reversed. Princess makes these kinds of last minute, erroneous charges too often, and they are usually hard to disprove (like drinks or massages), but with the Plus package, it should make it easier. The “referred to corporate finance” amount is Princess accounting-ese for “you’ll eventually be getting a check in the mail for that amount”. 

[RocknRoll22]

1 hour ago, missymerv said:

Always take a screen shot of your folio prior to disembarkation.

Yeah, I didn't do that, and it's so nice, that you can't access any past charges on the App or website after you disembark... everything just disappears... isn't that handy...

 

Note to others, screen shot your folio on the app every chance you get, before it evaporates.

1 hour ago, missymerv said:

In my experience "Referred to Corporate Finance" means that they are processing a check for you BUT don't expect to see it for at least 6 weeks.

I'm in no hurry for the refund, but it appears to me, adding on almost $170 of WiFi charges the final morning seems a bit fraudulent, considering I paid for the Plus package for the week.

[startedwithamouse]

@HBCcruiser maybe the glitches are fleetwide?

[HBCcruiser]

3 hours ago, RocknRoll22 said:

We just got off the Caribbean Princess on Sunday. The last time I checked our Folio, we had a credit balance of around $400, due to a gift card being submitted as OBC and a credit from Princess for cancelling our excursion at Princess Cay, since they decided not to allow tenders that day.

 

So, customer service told us earlier in the week, that any unspent OBC will be refunded to us, either back to the original credit card, or they will send a check. Like I said, last time I checked the folio on Saturday, we had a credit.

 

Well, besides our flight home being cancelled at the last minute (a whole different clusterfark by Spirit), I get a email from Princess with the final folio totals. Apparently, since they saw the credit balance, they decided to add two different WiFi charges of $104 and $62 (I already paid for the Plus package before sailing, so WiFi was included), they added some sort of folio to folio charges from my wife's account, then to use up all the rest of the credit, they added a "Referred to Corporate Finance" charge of $238, which then zeroed out all the credit balance.

 

Anyone experience these type of "games" in the past? Of course, I tried to call them, and got some foreign CS person who we really couldn't understand, and they said they couldn't help me, but to go the the "Help" section on the web site, and file a concern through  "Post Cruise" drop down comments.

 

Anyone else have them play these type of last minute games/charges before?

Yup! Just off Discovery. We had the Premiere Package and they tried to charge me for drinks and Gigi’s. We were also in a suite and tried to get refunded for 360. We finally did but it was on the last day! Too late to spend it! When I looked at my invoice before we walked off the ship it was different from the final emailed one. Now the invoice shows something different. Also, it is not crediting us for the pre-paid shore excursions. It makes zero sense. I must be missing something.

 

Before leaving ship: You’ll see the bar charge before I had it removed. 
 

 

Today emailed to me. 
 

 

[RocknRoll22]

1 hour ago, HBCcruiser said:

When I looked at my invoice before we walked off the ship it was different from the final emailed one. Now the invoice shows something different.

Wow, they are really different.

 

Just wondering, were they both for the same person or another in your cabin? I know my wife's was different then mine.

[cruzsnooze]

Gift card balance will go back to the gift card not refunded as a check.

Did you use more then one device per person which was the allotment on your plus package causing the extra charges?

[HBCcruiser]

58 minutes ago, RocknRoll22 said:

Wow, they are really different.

 

Just wondering, were they both for the same person or another in your cabin? I know my wife's was different then mine.

No both are just for me. 

[PacnGoNow]

Do you know what your GC balance was?  Does it make any sense if you take the GC balance and the left over amount would be refunded by check?  Was the full amount owed you on a GC?

 

I’m wondering if they had a new employee putting in codes for refunds left over?  Or, just a big error.

 

Check the gift card that you

used and see if any refund appears.  May be a while, as I don’t know how long it takes.

 

Your check may be anywhere from 2-8 weeks reaching your home.  
 

Let us know.

 

 

[Yehootu]

8 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

Gift card balance will go back to the gift card not refunded as a check.

Did you use more then one device per person which was the allotment on your plus package causing the extra charges?

Not exactly correct. I've had it both ways depending on type of Gift Card used. The only time I've had money returned to gift cards was refunds on AARP bought cards during Covid for full cruise refund. I've gotten checks for gift cards I've deposited for OBC that came from Barclays Princess card.

[RocknRoll22]

12 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

Gift card balance will go back to the gift card not refunded as a check.

Did you use more then one device per person which was the allotment on your plus package causing the extra charges?

I hope not. They took the gift card and I don't have it. It took the Rep at Guest Services a while to figure out how to apply the gift card to my account (it was a standard Princess gift card). He even had to check and talk with an associate to figure it out. Then he said he had to take the card to a different deck to apply it, so I don't have the card.

 

We just used two devices (one each) as part of the Plus package. I didn't see any type of pop up warning about billing for an additional device.

[RocknRoll22]

3 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Do you know what your GC balance was?  Does it make any sense if you take the GC balance and the left over amount would be refunded by check?  Was the full amount owed you on a GC?

We never even touched the gift card balance, which was $250. We also received an OBC for the cabana that I prepaid for, when they cancelled the Princess Cay stop. So, as of Saturday, we had an over $400 credit balance on the account.

 

I asked about refund of the credit, and a GS person said that it will either be credited back to my credit card (in case of the prepaid cabana), or they would mail a check after we got home. No one said they would put it back on the gift card, which they too and I don't have.

[tonit964]

This is why I only use cash for OB expenses now. Too many errors and difficult to do anything about after you disembark.

Interesting how few errors there are when you use cash as opposed to a CC.

[PacnGoNow]

17 minutes ago, RocknRoll22 said:

We never even touched the gift card balance, which was $250. We also received an OBC for the cabana that I prepaid for, when they cancelled the Princess Cay stop. So, as of Saturday, we had an over $400 credit balance on the account.

 

I asked about refund of the credit, and a GS person said that it will either be credited back to my credit card (in case of the prepaid cabana), or they would mail a check after we got home. No one said they would put it back on the gift card, which they too and I don't have.

If that GC was a Princess GC, then hopefully, they will issue a check to you.  The prepaid cabana should go back to your Credit card.  Their billing and accounting departments have been processing refunds in different ways, so can’t comment for sure.

 

Do let us know how they

handle this.

Edited February 21 by PacnGoNow

[BamaVol]

4 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

This is why I only use cash for OB expenses now. Too many errors and difficult to do anything about after you disembark.

Interesting how few errors there are when you use cash as opposed to a CC.

How do you handle that?  Do you have CS remove your credit card from your account and give them a deposit?  Or no deposit and they track you down on the last day?

 

I do try not to leave a credit balance on my account as I disembark.  If they charge me something fishy and don’t fix it, I can always dispute it. We had a small credit at the end of our first cruise with Princess and never got a check. I had refundable and nonrefundable OBC and assumed they would consume the nonrefundable first. Either way, I wasn’t chasing 10 bucks.

 

 

Edited February 21 by BamaVol

[tonit964]

Just now, BamaVol said:

How do you handle that?  Do you have CS remove your credit card from your account and give them a deposit?  Or no deposit and they track you down on the last day?

 

 

Yes, I go to GS when I board and tell them I'm using cash for my account and to remove the card. They have me sign a paper stating that and then hand them $500. I settle my account late the last evening of the cruise as I won't be purchasing anything after that. Easy Peasy and no surprises.

[jagoffee]

2 hours ago, tonit964 said:

This is why I only use cash for OB expenses now. Too many errors and difficult to do anything about after you disembark.

Interesting how few errors there are when you use cash as opposed to a CC.

Interesting approach.  Princess only requires you to maintain a cash balance/deposit on your account?

 

Or are you suggesting that Princess does not require any charge card information or for you put any cash into your account?

[donaldsc]

Have you ever noticed that these financial "errors" are always in the cruise line's favor.  When was the last time they forgot to charge you for something?  If they were true "errors" half should be in their favor and half in yours.

 

Do I detect a sneaky way for them to get money out of you assuming that most people would not notice the "mistake" or would not bother to complain about a small "error".

 

DON

[tonit964]

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

Interesting approach.  Princess only requires you to maintain a cash balance/deposit on your account?

 

Or are you suggesting that Princess does not require any charge card information or for you put any cash into your account?

You have the option to do either. Credit card or cash. If you start getting close to using up your cash on your account, they notify you to go to GS to add more. 
 

For me, it’s just easier to do cash. 

[DiRonT]

1 hour ago, tonit964 said:

You have the option to do either. Credit card or cash. If you start getting close to using up your cash on your account, they notify you to go to GS to add more. 
 

For me, it’s just easier to do cash. 

So if you don't use all of the cash deposit, do you get the remaining balance back in cash or do they send you a check?

[RocknRoll22]

3 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Do I detect a sneaky way for them to get money out of you assuming that most people would not notice the "mistake" or would not bother to complain about a small "error".

That's an interesting concept. A few bucks here, a few bucks there, and before long, you're looking at some serious dollars "extracted".

 

What I found out, they added some last minute charges on Sunday morning as we were disembarking, and not checking the folio. Then, I noticed with the new Princess App, all your data from the week gets wiped out after you leave the ship, so you can't even check your folio account on the app to see the charges. The surprised came the next day, when they emailed my current folio with all the different charges.

 

People need to do a screen shot of their folio the last day, to compare to the email version sent after you leave.

[tonit964]

2 hours ago, DiRonT said:

So if you don't use all of the cash deposit, do you get the remaining balance back in cash or do they send you a check?

Yes, you get it back in cash right on the spot and that's the same for every cruise line.

It's nice knowing I won't have any surprises once I'm home and have to try and hassle with it if there do happen to be charges on my account.

After learning the hard way, I've done this on my last 12 or so cruises.

[coo359a2]

2 hours ago, RocknRoll22 said:

That's an interesting concept. A few bucks here, a few bucks there, and before long, you're looking at some serious dollars "extracted".

 

What I found out, they added some last minute charges on Sunday morning as we were disembarking, and not checking the folio. Then, I noticed with the new Princess App, all your data from the week gets wiped out after you leave the ship, so you can't even check your folio account on the app to see the charges. The surprised came the next day, when they emailed my current folio with all the different charges.

 

People need to do a screen shot of their folio the last day, to compare to the email version sent after you leave.

You also need to get a copy of your folio either at the kiosk located near Guest Services on most ships or at the Guest Service's.desk.    I get one about every 2 or 3 days to check what has been charged and have any errors corrected right then.  I also get a copy of my folio the night before disembarkation and also  early morning (around 6AM) on disembarkation day. So far, have had no problems. 

[coo359a2]

2 hours ago, tonit964 said:

Yes, you get it back in cash right on the spot and that's the same for every cruise line.

It's nice knowing I won't have any surprises once I'm home and have to try and hassle with it if there do happen to be charges on my account.

After learning the hard way, I've done this on my last 12 or so cruises.

Interesting and might  try it on our upcoming cruises..  How much does Guest Services usually require for a deposit on B2Bs booked as separate bookings?  With Princess Plus and sufficient OBC, we haven't owed Princess money at the end of our cruises.in a long time.