Cruise value center ran off with my final payment

[woodley]

I received a letter today from Cruise value center telling me to check with carnival to see if my cruise was paid for and if it was not to dispute the charges with my credit card company.

 

I paid Cruise value center the final balance of $3659.63 10/27/2008 for my cruise in January and I thought it was paid for. I find out today that it was never paid and Cruise value center have ceased trading taking my payment with them.

 

Carnival informed me if I want to cruise on 1/8/2008 I have to pay again by 12/3/2008. They also told me thay had hundreds of calls such as mine today.

 

I am hoping I will be ok as I paid with a credit card. If you have booked with this company you had best check with the cruise line to ensure your payment has been applied.:(

[mr jailerman]

I received a letter today from Cruise value center telling me to check with carnival to see if my cruise was paid for and if it was not to dispute the charges with my credit card company.

 

I paid Cruise value center the final balance of $3659.63 10/27/2008 for my cruise in January and I thought it was paid for. I find out today that it was never paid and Cruise value center have ceased trading taking my payment with them.

 

Carnival informed me if I want to cruise on 1/8/2008 I have to pay again by 12/3/2008. They also told me thay had hundreds of calls such as mine today.

 

I am hoping I will be ok as I paid with a credit card. If you have booked with this company you had best check with the cruise line to ensure your payment has been applied.:(

I hope it works out for you.. My Jail is Full of Dishonest people !! But we always "LEAVE THE LIGHT ON" Just in case more show up & they always do.. Good Luck..:)

[travelntreats]

CVC does not even deserve the bread and water rations they may be eligible for in jail... what they did was just plain wrong and will probably get away with it... hell they may even ask to be a part of the FEDS Bail Out Program !

[newcruiser08820]

CVC does not even deserve the bread and water rations they may be eligible for in jail... what they did was just plain wrong and will probably get away with it... hell they may even ask to be a part of the FEDS Bail Out Program !

Why would they be able to get away with what they did?

[leadout_kv]

I received a letter today from Cruise value center telling me to check with carnival to see if my cruise was paid for and if it was not to dispute the charges with my credit card company.

 

I paid Cruise value center the final balance of $3659.63 10/27/2008 for my cruise in January and I thought it was paid for. I find out today that it was never paid and Cruise value center have ceased trading taking my payment with them.

 

Carnival informed me if I want to cruise on 1/8/2008 I have to pay again by 12/3/2008. They also told me thay had hundreds of calls such as mine today.

 

I am hoping I will be ok as I paid with a credit card. If you have booked with this company you had best check with the cruise line to ensure your payment has been applied.:(

 

Sorry to hear this. Please keep us updated as to how everything works out.

[astropilot]

I received a letter today from Cruise value center telling me to check with carnival to see if my cruise was paid for and if it was not to dispute the charges with my credit card company.

 

I paid Cruise value center the final balance of $3659.63 10/27/2008 for my cruise in January and I thought it was paid for. I find out today that it was never paid and Cruise value center have ceased trading taking my payment with them.

 

Carnival informed me if I want to cruise on 1/8/2008 I have to pay again by 12/3/2008. They also told me thay had hundreds of calls such as mine today.

 

I am hoping I will be ok as I paid with a credit card. If you have booked with this company you had best check with the cruise line to ensure your payment has been applied.:(

 

 

I'm sorry to hear that you got ripped off. Hopefuly your credit card company will be able to help you. With the mess the financial worldis in now, and with companies failing left and right, I would have to think twice about using ANY online or "mom and pop" agencies. IMHO it is much better to book directly with the cruise line, airlines, hotels, ect. I may pay a bit more, but the peace of mind is worth it to me.

 

Hope everything works out for you.

[astropilot]

Double post... Sorry about that.

[BostonGrl626]

So sorry to hear about that....I hope your credit card company figures everything out....

 

After hearing a few of these stories I've decided to book directly through the cruise line, although I'm sorry it took such awful news for me to make that decision.

 

Good luck with everything!

[sunlover5]

I too am sorry that this has happened to you and many others. I make it a habit to check my credit card a day or two after a deposit and then my final payment to make sure it went to the cruiseline. Hope it all works out for you.

[misguidedangel]

Your predicament truly sucks, but the one good thing is you paid with a credit card!!!!! I do not see why Carnival can't transfer the reserevation to the PVP and take your credit card number. The agency has no right to keep the money from the credit card because the money should be going directly to Carnival, not the TA.

 

I hope all works out well, and perhaps next time work with a real person and keep using the credit card for payments!

[G'ma]

I received a letter today from Cruise value center telling me to check with carnival to see if my cruise was paid for and if it was not to dispute the charges with my credit card company.

 

I paid Cruise value center the final balance of $3659.63 10/27/2008 for my cruise in January and I thought it was paid for. I find out today that it was never paid and Cruise value center have ceased trading taking my payment with them.

 

Carnival informed me if I want to cruise on 1/8/2008 I have to pay again by 12/3/2008. They also told me thay had hundreds of calls such as mine today.

 

I am hoping I will be ok as I paid with a credit card. If you have booked with this company you had best check with the cruise line to ensure your payment has been applied.:(

 

Yeah, it's a shame. They stopped operating around the first of November and there have been several threads going since.....HAL forum has a pretty good one still up.

 

I have booked with them for over 5 years and have always been very pleased. When I heard, I checked right away to make sure my December cruise was OK. Calling Carnival it was a relief to hear that my final payment (September 15) made it and my cruise was fine...including OBC, discounts, etc.

 

My brother also booked with them for the same cruise and he wasn't so fortunate. He paid in full back in July but CVC only sent the deposit....not the full amount. He contacted his credit card company right away and they backed the charge out in 3 days. He also called Carnival and gave them the final payment by phone.

[aggieastrosfan]

This whole situation sure has made a case for booking direct with Carnival.

 

To the OP, thank goodness you paid with a CC! Since you are within the 60-day window most cards require for a dispute, I would think you should be able to get your money back. Call your CC ASAP!

[jkatzz]

I too received the document on the CVC issue. I had used them multiple times befor and had no issues. This time I made the reservations not only for myself, but for 2 other cabins (4 people who had never been on a cruise or out of the country befor, one of which has a issue and this may be her one and only trip for herself). When I got the letter I wanted to cry. I felt so bad. I was determined to fix it all myself. I called Carnival this morning to fix it all. I found out that my final payment (which I had been charged for) had not been sent to Carnival. I now need to have all 3 people dispute on their credit card. I told them I wanted to pay the final payment and everyone could then charge me. The payment for final payment was more than what CVC said it would be. I was confused and told carnival that so they looked into it, and I pointed out that the cruise was now cheaper online through ***** because of residence discount and senior discounts for some of the people. Carnival was so nice they repriced the deal and I ended up paying $100 less per person for the cruise! Thanks so much to carnival and the wonderful individual who helped me deal with this mess! I know sometimes carnival gets complaints from people who have issues, but I wanted to make sure people knew about how great they can be and helpful!. Thanks to carnival once again!

[woodley]

Well it worked out Ok in the end. Carnival transfered the booking and the credit card company have said my dispute is valid and have removed the original charge from my account.

 

Two lessons learnt, one only deal direct from now on and two, always pay with a credit card.

 

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes.

[sea_u_onboard]

The normal dispute timeline is not applied the same when it comes to services. If the service isn't rendered yet (the cruise hasn't taken place) then you are still within the dispute window. Such a shame that so many people have to deal with this.

[jkloni]

The normal dispute timeline is not applied the same when it comes to services. If the service isn't rendered yet (the cruise hasn't taken place) then you are still within the dispute window. Such a shame that so many people have to deal with this.

 

Thanks for that information! Thought it was 60 days from the date of your statement regardless of the charge or you were out of luck.

 

Kathy

[FSUPSU]

After reading this thread, as a travel agent, I have to add the following: we have VALUABLE information to offer you, we add a FREE value to the price of your cruise, and MY clients think I do a much better job than than booking direct with the cruiseline, as I fight for my clients when there are issues/changes/price drops/etc ....

It saddens me any travel agent would take your money and disappoint you. BUT PLEASE don't put us all in the same category. ASK YOUR TRAVEL AGENT IF THEY PAY THE CRUISELINE DIRECT. I am paid direct from the cruiseline, at NO cost to you, and I do NOT process any of my clients charges through my company...they pay direct.

Again, I"m very sorry you had this issue, but really most of us are pretty proud of the services we offer our clients. I know I am...and I get a million referrals. I love what I do....!

Here's to a better experience for you.

[sea_u_onboard]

Thanks for that information! Thought it was 60 days from the date of your statement regardless of the charge or you were out of luck.

 

Kathy

I say this because it actually happened to me. We were booked on a cruise on the BIG RED BOAT (anyone remember it) and they went under (bankrupt) and we were paid in full months earlier and ready to sail in 2 weeks. The credit card company refunded the money to my card immediately - so I was able to book a new reservation on Carnival right away.

 

I guess it could be different with different cc companies but this is how it worked for me.

[jkloni]

After reading this thread, as a travel agent, I have to add the following: we have VALUABLE information to offer you, we add a FREE value to the price of your cruise, and MY clients think I do a much better job than than booking direct with the cruiseline, as I fight for my clients when there are issues/changes/price drops/etc ....

It saddens me any travel agent would take your money and disappoint you. BUT PLEASE don't put us all in the same category. ASK YOUR TRAVEL AGENT IF THEY PAY THE CRUISELINE DIRECT. I am paid direct from the cruiseline, at NO cost to you, and I do NOT process any of my clients charges through my company...they pay direct.

Again, I"m very sorry you had this issue, but really most of us are pretty proud of the services we offer our clients. I know I am...and I get a million referrals. I love what I do....!

Here's to a better experience for you.

 

I agree 100%. An immediate tip off of a possible problem is if the Agency is on your CC instead of the cruiseline. There should be no intermingling of your money with the agency's when using a credit card. Always check this soon after making a payment.

 

Never has the agency we used charged our CC to themselves, the charge is always listed as the cruiseline. I have used the same TA since 1994. She has retired at 53 which saddens me greatly. She always answered emails, always answered phone calls (even if to call to say she hadn't gotten the answer yet).

 

I booked our Nov09 cruise with a totally new agency - scared to death because I have such a great relationship with my agent. We'll see how it goes. I do have to say that the deposit was charged to our CC by NCL.

 

Kathy

[WinnipegCruiser]

Well it worked out Ok in the end. Carnival transfered the booking and the credit card company have said my dispute is valid and have removed the original charge from my account.

 

Two lessons learnt, one only deal direct from now on and two, always pay with a credit card.

 

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes.

 

I would like to second the "always pay with credit card". I have merchant accounts with the credit card companies, and I know their rules. More often than not, and especially travel companies who have merchant accounts have large dollars on a 'letter of credit' just for these sort of events. That means the credit card company already has access to the money it is refunding.

 

You are protected.

 

Buck

[Stircrzy]

After reading this thread, as a travel agent, I have to add the following: we have VALUABLE information to offer you, we add a FREE value to the price of your cruise, and MY clients think I do a much better job than than booking direct with the cruiseline, as I fight for my clients when there are issues/changes/price drops/etc ....

It saddens me any travel agent would take your money and disappoint you. BUT PLEASE don't put us all in the same category. ASK YOUR TRAVEL AGENT IF THEY PAY THE CRUISELINE DIRECT. I am paid direct from the cruiseline, at NO cost to you, and I do NOT process any of my clients charges through my company...they pay direct.

Again, I"m very sorry you had this issue, but really most of us are pretty proud of the services we offer our clients. I know I am...and I get a million referrals. I love what I do....!

Here's to a better experience for you.

 

Well said, and so true.

 

I love my TA, wouldn't sail without her help!

[Vanessa L]

Well it worked out Ok in the end. Carnival transfered the booking and the credit card company have said my dispute is valid and have removed the original charge from my account.

 

Two lessons learnt, one only deal direct from now on and two, always pay with a credit card.

 

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes.

 

VERY good news, Woodley! So happy for you! Happy sailing!