RCI customers

[Hopes4]

I apologize in advance but I just HAVE to vent (and warn others.) Before I went on my 1st RCI cruise I had read threads about some passengers being ruder than in years past and that even bad people take vacation too. Happily, I did not encounter too many rude people and hubby and I were having a wonderful time. At one point, a waitress gave us back the wrong seapass card and after not finding the owner of it in the room we went straight to the purser to turn it in. Well, as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. The morning our cruise ended, we realised we could not find hubby's credit card. We remember using it to open the safe the night before our last at sea day so it was 100% lost (and found) on the ship. Apparently someone decided to extend their vacation by ending it with a shopping spree as soon as they got off the ship. I can only assume it was someone within driving distance of the port because I cant imagine how portable approx. $5,500 worth of items from Best Buy would be. Learn from my mistake/misfortune/idiocy. Cruise, have a great time on vacation but dont let your guard down. So much for florida being filled with sweet old grannys..............

[jakeil7]

Are you actually responsible for the charges on the card or is your card issuer taking care of you? I always thought that was the good part about credit cards....you are not responsible for fraudulent charges.

[davela2]

you are ABSOLUTELY NOT responsible for any unauthorized charges. It's federal law, not just the crdit card companies being nice to customers. BTW, just a tip to help prevent unauthorized use of credit cards: instead of signing the back of your card (no one really compres the signature anyways), write "check ID" on the back. That way the retailer should think to ask for ID. Doesn't help for online sales though. Sorry about your troubles, hope it doesn't leave a sour taste in your mouth about the whole trip

[firefly333]

Yes, make sure when you call your credit card company you tell them the card was out of your possession. Without meeting that criteria, they might not send you to fraud. So many card holders claim fraud that fraud where I worked quit allowing direct calls. This indeed meets the criteria of fraud. I worked in American Express Disputes.

[Boo Boo]

Ouch! Hope that you weren't out of pocket for that - assume you reported the card stolen as soon as you notticed?

 

I agree with you - you have to keep your guard up at all times: it may be a cruise, but theifs and opportunists take vacations and cruises like the rest of us... :(

 

We lost our digital camera on the Mariner last October. Forgot to pick it up in Studio B after the 9pm ice show. Realised within 5 to 10 minutes, RUSHED back to the studio, but the doors were already closed for the night. Went to the Pursor's desk and reported it (they have a book for reported lost property) - they said it would probably get handed in or picked up by the cleaners. It never did - we asked at the Pursor's desk MANY times and even the Concierge looked into it for us (they did an extra search of the studio)... NOTHING.

 

The odd thing was that we were on the bottom row, last aisle from the end of the room - no more than a dozen passengers would have walked past where we were sitting on the way out of the studio after us. So it was either one of those dozen passengers OR a cleaning crew member who took it (RCCL were adamant that it ouldn't be crew - lots of cameras, searches etc).

 

So it only takes a few minutes (actually a lot less) and someone will probably take the opportunity. It is a very sad world - noth everyone is as honest as you and me :(

 

Boo

[jwlane]

100% lost (and found) on the ship.

It is unfortunate this happened, but not sure what it has to do with cruising, other than being misplaced onboard. If it was noticed missing before debarkation, an immediate phone call to cancel the card would have been in order. In any case, other than filling out a form, you have no responsibility for paying the charges.

[Rudi610]

Make sure that you dispute the charges with your credit card company. You will have to write them a letter saying that you want to dispute those charges and I think you have 45 to 60 days after you receive the statement those charges were posted to dispute the charges. This information is usually found with your credit card statement either on the back or as part of an insert.

 

Hope all goes well.

[wakelover]

I am assuming that if you were given the wrong Sea Pass card, someone else must have been given yours.....more than likely the people who owned the card you handed in. Nothing would stop them using it to get into your cabin. A straight swap if you like....you might want to recall the cabin number and ask the cruise line to look into it for you.

 

So sorry you have experienced this...I have to say though I am amazed your credit card company allowed the transaction ...unless you often make purchases of $5500.:eek: My husband bought an expensive item once and the card was refused. The till screen asked the shop to call the card company and DH then had to verify over the phone that it was him as he doesnt usually make such expensive purchases. We were quite impressed!

[Hopes4]

Ouch! Hope that you weren't out of pocket for that - assume you reported the card stolen as soon as you notticed?

 

I'm sorry to hear about your lost camera Boo. The camera is replaceable (not that you wanted to replace it!!) but the photos were potentially priceless. :(

Yes, as soon as we noticed we called the credit card. They asked if it was stolen and I told them honestly, we lost it. I told them someone could have found it but we last saw it in our room and you cant use a cc on the ship. I also said I didnt think we could close our account right that second because we were leaving the ship in a few minutes and RCI would be posting all my charges that day and I did not want to have trouble with them for (seemingly) trying to not pay my onboard charges. He understood and said to call back. Which I did. When I closed the account, only $700 of fraudulent charges had been posted. (Can you believe the audacity to charge $200 at Walmart and then later return it all???)

Anyway, I have to send the cc a notorized affidavit stating which charges are not mine and I will (eventually) not be held responsible for them and supposably at some point they will even reverse all the upcoming finance charges I will be getting for that $5,500.

 

Thank you all for letting me vent!

[Cassandra]

RULE #1 ON YOUR CREDIT CARD/DEBIT - FOR EVERYONE!

 

DO NOT SIGN THE BACK - instead write on the signature line - Ask for ID.

 

90% of the time, people automatically flip the card over when you buy something at a store. I can guarantee you that if someone steals your card, they will ditch it. It's too risky.

 

Any credit card company will tell you this. And I'm really surprised that they just don't do away with the signature line & replace it with the Ask for ID instead. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They could avoid so much hassles.

[Hopes4]

I am assuming that if you were given the wrong Sea Pass card, someone else must have been given yours.....more than likely the people who owned the card you handed in. Nothing would stop them using it to get into your cabin. A straight swap if you like....you might want to recall the cabin number and ask the cruise line to look into it for you.

I guess that COULD have happened, but were were at the pursers desk pretty quickly and he cancelled our room card instantly. Also, I dont think the floor number is on the card., so they would have had to guess that.

 

So sorry you have experienced this...I have to say though I am amazed your credit card company allowed the transaction ...unless you often make purchases of $5500.:eek: My husband bought an expensive item once and the card was refused. The till screen asked the shop to call the card company and DH then had to verify over the phone that it was him as he doesnt usually make such expensive purchases. We were quite impressed!

I dont make charges that high, but at times (like christmas) I have shopped for others and run the card pretty high. Also, before we left, I called to let them know we were going on vacation and the cities/countries just so we wouldnt have a problem if we charged an item in Fl one day, Mexico the next and Belize the day after. Maybe that's why they let them all go through without question? Although after I called them, I told them I was not going to use my card and the only charge they would get from me was from RC - so who knows.

By the way, the thief didnt make 1 huge purchase, there were 5 or 6 charges ranging from $64 - $2995

[Boo Boo]

I'm sorry to hear about your lost camera Boo. The camera is replaceable (not that you wanted to replace it!!) but the photos were potentially priceless.

 

Actually we were fairly lucky - husband had just downloaded the photos to his laptop that afternoon: so we only lost two or three. The main annoyance was the inconvenience - we didn't want to rush into buying a new camera, so we didn't have any photos from the last half of our cruise.... I know, we could have bought a disposable camera or something...

 

It LOOKS as though financially you should be able to sort it all out. But I understand your annoyance about the inconvenience and hassle of it all...

 

I understand your pain. :(

 

Boo

[Boo Boo]

RULE #1 ON YOUR CREDIT CARD/DEBIT - FOR EVERYONE!

 

DO NOT SIGN THE BACK - instead write on the signature line - Ask for ID.

 

90% of the time, people automatically flip the card over when you buy something at a store. I can guarantee you that if someone steals your card, they will ditch it. It's too risky.

 

Any credit card company will tell you this. And I'm really surprised that they just don't do away with the signature line & replace it with the Ask for ID instead. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They could avoid so much hassles.

 

Ok, I am not American, but we come over two or three times a year (we have family in California, ski in Colorado and generally take a Summer holiday in Florida or California...).

 

I have notticed that a LOT of shops (for example clothes shops) don't even LOOK at the signature strip when they take payment - infact many hand your card back (without looking at the strip) before you have signed the receipt...

 

In the UK, most credit cards have moved to a "chip and pin system" - at MANY retailers you don't sign for things any more, you put your 4 digit pin into a keypad (like you are using an atm). Although that is probably open to other types of fraud... We also still have the signature strip on the back of our cards for retailers that don't have "chip and pin" terminals (and for going abroad to countries, like the US, that don't support the technology)...

 

Maybe the US will move towards that too...

 

Boo

[sandy toes]

I am glad to hear that you will (eventually) get it all taken care of and your name cleared of the debt. I understand how quickly things can vanish. My grand daughter went to Disney, had a pair of "First ears" with her name sewn on them, taken while we took her to a rush potty break IN THE DINING ROOM. Lots of eyes there (so you would think something could be safe). I also have lost Rx glasses (what good would they do someone else?). Your advise is good...don't let your guard down. I second it!

[Hopes4]

Actually we were fairly lucky - husband had just downloaded the photos to his laptop that afternoon: so we only lost two or three.

 

Boo

 

I'm glad to hear you had some of your pictures.

[Maxima81]

RULE #1 ON YOUR CREDIT CARD/DEBIT - FOR EVERYONE!

 

DO NOT SIGN THE BACK - instead write on the signature line - Ask for ID.

 

90% of the time, people automatically flip the card over when you buy something at a store. I can guarantee you that if someone steals your card, they will ditch it. It's too risky.

 

Any credit card company will tell you this. And I'm really surprised that they just don't do away with the signature line & replace it with the Ask for ID instead. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They could avoid so much hassles.

 

I've been writing "Ask for ID" for several years now. On numerous occassions, the clerk actually asked me, "Who's Id?" to which I respond, "That's my dog / cat / pet monkey, etc." Always gets a nice chuckle.

 

But in my experience, I'd say about 2/3rd of the time will they even bother to flip the card and verify anything - let alone ask for your ID, so it still leaves you pretty vulnerable.

 

In this case, I suspect the OP called their CC company and told them about the vacation, so the charges didn't bring up any flags.

 

Hope everything works out ok.

[Iamthesea]

I am sorry about your trouble. :(

 

On the last night of our cruise, we found a credit card on the carpet, just outside of the dining room. We turned it directly into the pursers. I sure hope the owner realized it was gone, before disembarkation. ;)

 

That was a good point that wakelover made. Did you ever get your correct seapass back or was another one made at the pursers?

 

Could it have been a fake seapass that was given to you by the waitress? hmmmmm That's a scam going on in restaurants here. The waitress could have given you a fake, and then take yours to enter your room. How long after this exchange did you notice you had the wrong seapass?

 

Finally, we noticed that our stateroom number was on the seapass and were not comfortable with that fact, so we guarded the card very closely. At one point during dinner, the drink steward had our card for a very long time, until my DH asked for it back. The response we got was "sorry sir, I forgot." :rolleyes: I guess it would have been hard, but he could have run to our stateroom, only one floor up from the dining room.

[sandy toes]

Our last cruise the first number of our cabin was not on the card so we had to remember which deck we were on. If that was how your card was, someone would have had to try alot of cabins on multi decks to find yours. I sail again soon and will check out that cabin number thing...We always bring an OLD gift card to use to get into the safe. The credit cards are locked up unless we go on land. Someone gave that tip (old gift card) several years back and it works great.

[wtpntigger2]

RULE #1 ON YOUR CREDIT CARD/DEBIT - FOR EVERYONE!

 

DO NOT SIGN THE BACK - instead write on the signature line - Ask for ID.

 

90% of the time, people automatically flip the card over when you buy something at a store. I can guarantee you that if someone steals your card, they will ditch it. It's too risky.

 

Any credit card company will tell you this. And I'm really surprised that they just don't do away with the signature line & replace it with the Ask for ID instead. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They could avoid so much hassles.

 

 

Actually any credit card company will tell you that unless you sign the back of your card, it is not valid. It even says so on the back of the card. The merchant does not have to accept your card if it is not signed. Now of course since hardly any merchants check for signatures anymore, it's a moot point, but don't be surprised when you get a merchant refusing your purchase because your card is not signed.

 

OP, I hope everything gets worked out for you in a timely fashion.

[CruisinMommas]

Dear OP, Sorry for your troubles. When the safe calls for a credit card to close the safe, we use a food market card or costco card and it works well, Then we do not have to worry about a misplaced credit card. There is not too much one can do with a supermarket card.

[Iamthesea]

Actually any credit card company will tell you that unless you sign the back of your card, it is not valid. It even says so on the back of the card. The merchant does not have to accept your card if it is not signed. Now of course since hardly any merchants check for signatures anymore, it's a moot point, but don't be surprised when you get a merchant refusing your purchase because your card is not signed.

 

OP, I hope everything gets worked out for you in a timely fashion.

My husband is a banker and he makes sure that we all put CID on the signature line. As long as something is written there, it's accepted. I always show my ID, even if it is not asked for.

 

On our Grandeur cruise last month, our full stateroom number was on the card.

 

We use our Food cards, also! ;)

[MIcruiser99]

On our Grandeur cruise last month, our full stateroom number was on the card.

 

It must depend on the ship because only the last two numbers of our cabin were on our seapass card.

[beachlovergirl]

I have my SeaPass card from our Radiance cruise and our cabin number does NOT appear anywhere on the card.

[Maxiecat3]

Here, at our local Walgreen's Pharmacies, after they total your purchases you swipe your card, punch credit, total appears and asks correct?, you then push yes and if the total is less than $20.00, it prints a receit with no signature required. They don't even touch the card.

Gregg

[DCPIV]

Whether it's a credit card, gift card, store card, or any sort of card, I would much rather they just kept the safes with the keypad. Things do happen on board a ship, and I do not want to lose my safe key, even if no one can do much with it. I've never had to deal with getting into those safes, but I can't imagine it's easy or fun.

 

Even on my worst nights, I can remember a four digit number to get back into the safe.

 

 

D