Contact/e-mail to resolve billing error.

[NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope]

Just got back from cruise on Nieuw Statendam. Despite several trips to front desk, errors were not corrected (they overcharged me and had me on two tours at the same time, I had paid for the tour before I got on the ship and it still showed up on, ugh! Can anyone point me in the right direction to resolve this, preferably via e-mail (spreadsheets are my friends) 

[POA1]

Use guest relations

 

guestrelations@hollandamerica.com

 

[NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope]

9 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Use guest relations

 

guestrelations@hollandamerica.com

 

Thanks!

[Real NHDOC]

If you booked your cruise through a HAL PCC they also can handle overcharge situations for you.  Probably not something your TA would be too eager to do since there's nothing in it for them. 

 

If you do put in a good faith effort to resolve it with guest relations and still cannot get satisfaction then as a last resort you can always calculate the overcharge and dispute that amount on your CC - you will certainly hear from them after that. 

[NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope]

21 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

If you booked your cruise through a HAL PCC they also can handle overcharge situations for you.  Probably not something your TA would be too eager to do since there's nothing in it for them. 

 

If you do put in a good faith effort to resolve it with guest relations and still cannot get satisfaction then as a last resort you can always calculate the overcharge and dispute that amount on your CC - you will certainly hear from them after that. 

Did not use a HAL PCC and, unfortunately, I had refundable OBC and a few gift cards on my account so credit card dispute won't apply. I do appreciate your input, though.

[Sea42]

6 minutes ago, NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope said:

I had refundable OBC and a few gift cards on my account so credit card dispute won't apply. I do appreciate your input, though.

That's an interesting point about using gift cards onboard that I hadn't thought about.

[Real NHDOC]

23 minutes ago, NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope said:

Did not use a HAL PCC and, unfortunately, I had refundable OBC and a few gift cards on my account so credit card dispute won't apply. I do appreciate your input, though.

I hope you get the issue resolved to your satisfaction.  I emailed guest relations only once and only received a robo-response saying I would hear back within 7 days.  Never heard anything again.  Unfortunately you have left yourself in a position where HAL has your money and now the burden is falling upon you to prove they owe it to you. 

 

I had posted elsewhere that the cruise lines will respond to complaints made to the BBB website pretty quickly so if you get no satisfaction with guest relations I would post a complaint there.

[Mary229]

34 minutes ago, NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope said:

Did not use a HAL PCC and, unfortunately, I had refundable OBC and a few gift cards on my account so credit card dispute won't apply. I do appreciate your input, though.

CCL (the corporation) has a policy of banning anyone who does a credit card dispute.  Sometimes the onboard statement is rather confusing .  Perhaps you need to have another pair of eyes look it over. 

[Real NHDOC]

12 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

CCL (the corporation) has a policy of banning anyone who does a credit card dispute.  Sometimes the onboard statement is rather confusing .  Perhaps you need to have another pair of eyes look it over. 

This is a misrepresentation of their policy.  Their policy is to ban people who file disputes that aren't valid disputes.  That's a lot different than banning people for using the dispute process to resolve a real dispute.

 

I have had to resort to disputes a couple of times with HAL, mostly after Covid cancellations.  My disputes were deemed to be justified and I continue to sail on HAL. 

[NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope]

I'm confident if I put together a spreadsheet with what they have and what it should be, it will be cleared up. Either they see the error of their ways or they can point out mine. Disheartening to hear that guest relations is good for robo-response but no follow up. We shall see.

[SeaMatesNYC]

6 minutes ago, NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope said:

Disheartening to hear that guest relations is good for robo-response but no follow up. We shall see.

Of course, if they fail to respond within the timeline THEY set, always good to follow up with a phone call. I always chuckle when I read “they said they would be in touch within x hours or x days, and I never heard from them.”  Well, did you try again in an escalated route of communication? Squeaky wheel and all that…

[Mary229]

33 minutes ago, NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope said:

I'm confident if I put together a spreadsheet with what they have and what it should be, it will be cleared up. Either they see the error of their ways or they can point out mine. Disheartening to hear that guest relations is good for robo-response but no follow up. We shall see.

I have had trouble deciphering my account on the ship and that is exactly what I did.  You also need to check for any credits to those gift cards.  It is a mess and no two ships credit the same way.  Some do an in-house transaction, some credit everything to the card on file and some credit back to the gift card.  A true mess!

 

My disputed amount was found on a gift card🤷‍♀️

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, Real NHDOC said:

This is a misrepresentation of their policy.  Their policy is to ban people who file disputes that aren't valid disputes.  That's a lot different than banning people for using the dispute process to resolve a real dispute.

 

I have had to resort to disputes a couple of times with HAL, mostly after Covid cancellations.  My disputes were deemed to be justified and I continue to sail on HAL. 

Others have not been so fortunate 

[Real NHDOC]

29 minutes ago, SeaMatesNYC said:

Of course, if they fail to respond within the timeline THEY set, always good to follow up with a phone call. I always chuckle when I read “they said they would be in touch within x hours or x days, and I never heard from them.”  Well, did you try again in an escalated route of communication? Squeaky wheel and all that…

Mine was a contact about my disappointment over the decision to discontinue the embarkation day lunch in the MDR.  I didn't feel following up after not hearing a canned response which others reported receiving was worth the time.  My point was, that my history of having guest relations follow up was less than satisfactory so don't believe them when they say they will follow up.  

[SeaMatesNYC]

1 minute ago, Real NHDOC said:

Mine was a contact about my disappointment over the decision to discontinue the embarkation day lunch in the MDR.  I didn't feel following up after not hearing a canned response which others reported receiving was worth the time.  My point was, that my history of having guest relations follow up was less than satisfactory so don't believe them when they say they will follow up.  

Yes I see. While it is regrettable that they fail to meet the expectations they set, each situation is unique and each individual has a different threshold for tolerating this. I did not mean to attack you, rather to point out, if you really expect an answer, don’t stop asking. For a matter like you raised, it may be satisfying enough to know your views were made known to HAL, even if they did not take the time to acknowledge your input.  

[Real NHDOC]

21 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Others have not been so fortunate 

The only case I have heard of on this board was a guest who cancelled an excursion after the refund period had closed and asked for a refund anyway.  When told they were not entitled to the refund they disputed the charge and were banned for abusing the dispute process.  To say the cruise line has a policy of banning anyone who disputes a charge is simply not the case, as I pointed out, I personally have disputed charges that were upheld as being justifiable disputes by the CC company, and I received the refund from the CC company and it was not held against me.  Lucky, perhaps, or more likely that those who complain about being banned as a result of abusing the dispute process then rewrite the facts and present a case saying they were banned unjustly.  When you hear only one side of a story you are likely not to hear the whole truth.

Edited April 25 by Real NHDOC

[Vict0riann]

We also had a few accounting discrepancies on the NS - finally sorted before we disembarked.  My DH intends to mention this in the survey.  

 

I miss the Night Auditor!🙄

[Boatdrill]

5 hours ago, NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope said:

Disheartening to hear that guest relations is good for robo-response but no follow up. We shall see.

Don't give up. Write them again, and copy Shore Excursions, and Reservations Accounting on  your email:  HAL_Shore_Excursions@hollandamerica.com    and  reservation_accounting@hollandamerica.com