Mystery increase in amount due for existing booking

[m134]

Seven weeks ago, I booked a 7-day cruise on Nieuw Statendam, with the final payment due in September. A couple of days ago, while visiting the manage booking page, I noticed that the amount due was $70 larger than the amount due shown on my original invoice .

 

All that happened since the booking was made was that I purchased the HIA package for both people on the booking. I paid for the package with my credit card at the time of purchase and that amount has been correctly added to the "Amount received" line on the manage booking page. So this purchase should have had no effect on the total I still owe for the cruise. I am actually not sure if it had anything to do with it, and yet, the total due now shows $70 higher than it was.

 

I called my "personal cruise consultant" who made the original booking and he told me to call Guest Relations. Weird, but ok. I call guest relations, and they have no clue. Told me to contact the cruise consultant. I left him a message, even emailed the original invoice and a screenshot of the current payment page, so far -- crickets.

 

Any idea what may be going on and who should I contact? 

 

Frankly, the $70 is hardly worth the amount of frustration and time I have already spent on this nonsense, but it is infuriating that a business thinks they can jack up the amount due relative to the original invoice without bothering to let me know or offering any explanation for the increase. 

 

I am a three-star mariner (about to turn four), if this matters, so clearly like the cruise line overall. 

[Suzanne123]

Did you perhaps purchase the cruise insurance?  That cost would go up if you added HIA.

[m134]

Nope, no insurance.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

If you are looking at the first confirmation and the new one, did you go line by line.

I take it this is for 2 people, the first line is Booking total which you state the total is $70.00 more so,35.00 per person.

That amount sounds like transfers to me and that happens when every there is any small change on the reservation, the system automatically adds them which is very frustrating.

But compare your Cruise/Journey Fare, that she be higher on the new on that includes the HIA, Make sure the increase is the amount of the HIA that you paid.. then the next like is Est'd Taxes, that should have remained the same. The next line is expenses that is often where the transfers are. Do you see a separate amount showing $35.00 per person.

I am guessing that it is transfers added, sad that your PCC could not figure that out if that is the case Those can be removed.

 

[Lido deck main]

7 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

If you are looking at the first confirmation and the new one, did you go line by line.

I take it this is for 2 people, the first line is Booking total which you state the total is $70.00 more so,35.00 per person.

That amount sounds like transfers to me and that happens when every there is any small change on the reservation, the system automatically adds them which is very frustrating.

But compare your Cruise/Journey Fare, that she be higher on the new on that includes the HIA, Make sure the increase is the amount of the HIA that you paid.. then the next like is Est'd Taxes, that should have remained the same. The next line is expenses that is often where the transfers are. Do you see a separate amount showing $35.00 per person.

I am guessing that it is transfers added, sad that your PCC could not figure that out if that is the case Those can be removed.

 

That is a very good idea of why the price increased the $70.00.  I had that one time I did not ask for transfers and the transfer were added without my knowledge, finally figured it out and had them removed. 

[m134]

Thanks, that's an interesting idea.

 

As part of HIA, I got $100 pp excursion credit. I used it to book "Everglades Airboat Ride & Transfer to Miami Airport" for $84.95 pp. According to the purchase confirmation, the price was deducted form the credit, so we each now have $15.05 left. So this shouldn't be it. I did not book any other transfers and don't see any showing up on the manage booking page. 

 

Also, I just checked and the HAL airport transfers between Port Everglades and FLL/MIA are $34 pp, not $35.

 

Doesn't seem to explain the mystery.

[m134]

51 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

If you are looking at the first confirmation and the new one, did you go line by line.

I take it this is for 2 people, the first line is Booking total which you state the total is $70.00 more so,35.00 per person.

That amount sounds like transfers to me and that happens when every there is any small change on the reservation, the system automatically adds them which is very frustrating.

But compare your Cruise/Journey Fare, that she be higher on the new on that includes the HIA, Make sure the increase is the amount of the HIA that you paid.. then the next like is Est'd Taxes, that should have remained the same. The next line is expenses that is often where the transfers are. Do you see a separate amount showing $35.00 per person.

I am guessing that it is transfers added, sad that your PCC could not figure that out if that is the case Those can be removed.

 

Problem is I have not received any updated booking confirmations since the original booking was made. The original confirmation shows everything as it should be, with the due amount of $1506. The current payment summary online shows no detailed breakdown of charges, just how much I have already paid (including HIA, and that total is correct) and the due amount, which has mysteriously become $1576.

[Haljo1935]

My gut also tells me it could be transfers even though the amount appears to be off by $1pp. As someone else mentioned, changes frequently trigger transfers added - happens to me every time and if the agent making the changes doesn't catch it, I have to call them back to remove it.

 

Sorry you're going through this, but I hope you enjoy your cruise.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

43 minutes ago, m134 said:

Problem is I have not received any updated booking confirmations since the original booking was made. The original confirmation shows everything as it should be, with the due amount of $1506. The current payment summary online shows no detailed breakdown of charges, just how much I have already paid (including HIA, and that total is correct) and the due amount, which has mysteriously become $1576.

Since you are booked directly with HAL you have every right to have them send you an updated confirmation. It sounds like your PCC is not necessarily on the ball, I would just call HAL's regular customer line and just request an updated confirmation. That way you can go line by line and compare the difference.

[m134]

41 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Since you are booked directly with HAL you have every right to have them send you an updated confirmation. It sounds like your PCC is not necessarily on the ball, I would just call HAL's regular customer line and just request an updated confirmation. That way you can go line by line and compare the difference.

Thanks for this suggestion, this is what I intend to do. I want to give my "cruise consultant" another day to respond. If I do not hear from him, I will call HAL, request a copy of the current confirmation and ask to be assigned to a new consultant. I am actually about to book another cruise and would rather not deal with my current unresponsive person.

[shadow 123]

2 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

If you are looking at the first confirmation and the new one, did you go line by line.

I take it this is for 2 people, the first line is Booking total which you state the total is $70.00 more so,35.00 per person.

That amount sounds like transfers to me and that happens when every there is any small change on the reservation, the system automatically adds them which is very frustrating.

But compare your Cruise/Journey Fare, that she be higher on the new on that includes the HIA, Make sure the increase is the amount of the HIA that you paid.. then the next like is Est'd Taxes, that should have remained the same. The next line is expenses that is often where the transfers are. Do you see a separate amount showing $35.00 per person.

I am guessing that it is transfers added, sad that your PCC could not figure that out if that is the case Those can be removed.

 

That happened to me once. Transfer fees were added and I never asked for them. It was quickly taken care of.

[Mary229]

Check on your roll call if others had a similar increase.  It could be a port fee/tax increase

[POA1]

I'm with @LAFFNVEGAS

 

Get an updated booking confirmation. You can get that from anyone who answers the phone. You don't have to wait for your PCC.

[TiogaCruiser]

A little off topic: Would the booking confirmation include all OBC (including military/first responder/shareholder)?

[sunviking90]

4 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

A little off topic: Would the booking confirmation include all OBC (including military/first responder/shareholder)?

It will show them as totals for each passenger. They’re not broken down though. I usually ask for a new confirmation to be sent after we’ve added our shareholder OBC.

Edited August 8 by sunviking90

[BermudaBound2014]

39 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

A little off topic: Would the booking confirmation include all OBC (including military/first responder/shareholder)?

 

35 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

It will show them as totals for each passenger. They’re not broken down though. I usually ask for a new confirmation to be sent after we’ve added our shareholder OBC.

 

You can ask for an itemized list of all obc. I do this right before sailing because often the OBC is wrong onboard and it's very difficult to get it fixed once onboard. Sometimes it's coded strange so I've had my TA send the code key. 

 

PS: this isn't just a hAL problem. I've had issues with OBC transferring on several main stream lines. 

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

 

You can ask for an itemized list of all obc. I do this right before sailing because often the OBC is wrong onboard and it's very difficult to get it fixed once onboard. Sometimes it's coded strange so I've had my TA send the code key. 

 

PS: this isn't just a hAL problem. I've had issues with OBC transferring on several main stream lines. 

HAL seems to have multiple problems with their onboard accounting system and it is nothing new.  We have never had any accounting issues, pre-cruise, but we always use very good cruise agencies who quickly notify us of any changes to our bookings.  I do agree, that with HAL and any cruise line, it is wise to bring along (on the cruise) hard copy print-outs of any of the cruise-related correspondence, Statements that show OBC and other amenities (this is always available from our cruise agencies), etc.  When we find an accounting discrepancy, onboard, we simply visit the Guest Services folks with any applicable back-up hard copy stuff.  On HAL, the usual Guest Services (I sometimes call them Guest Non-Services) response is "we will send an e-mail to blah blah blah."  Usually, the issues are resolved within a few days.  

 

We will also repeat our old advice, which is to check your onboard account on a daily basis and deal with issues ASAP.  This is especially true for those with the HIA package or any drink package.  When it comes to dealing with Guest Services, we have found that going early in the morning or late at night will usually avoid the queues.  

 

Hank

[Lido deck main]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

HAL seems to have multiple problems with their onboard accounting system and it is nothing new.  We have never had any accounting issues, pre-cruise, but we always use very good cruise agencies who quickly notify us of any changes to our bookings.  I do agree, that with HAL and any cruise line, it is wise to bring along (on the cruise) hard copy print-outs of any of the cruise-related correspondence, Statements that show OBC and other amenities (this is always available from our cruise agencies), etc.  When we find an accounting discrepancy, onboard, we simply visit the Guest Services folks with any applicable back-up hard copy stuff.  On HAL, the usual Guest Services (I sometimes call them Guest Non-Services) response is "we will send an e-mail to blah blah blah."  Usually, the issues are resolved within a few days.  

 

We will also repeat our old advice, which is to check your onboard account on a daily basis and deal with issues ASAP.  This is especially true for those with the HIA package or any drink package.  When it comes to dealing with Guest Services, we have found that going early in the morning or late at night will usually avoid the queues.  

 

Hank

Yes check onboard statement daily.  No need to go to guest services, if there is a discrepancy using the let us know in the navigator app is the way to go. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I am sure it will work out.