GatorMomInNC

7 hours ago, abbflex said:

Hi.   March 14th the TA asked me if I wanted a refund or FCC and I replied the same day, so assuming the TA would have informed MSC that day or shortly after.  Did get a credit note from TA on March 26th that confirmed that all was canceled and I could expect money to be paid out. 

Since PSmarkle's refund was cancelled, I think you may be the only person who has actually received a refund....  I am glad you got your refund, I don't begrudge it, but I don't know why you got yours and I haven't gotten mine and I requested mine 2 weeks earlier, and have been told I won't get it now for another 3 mos.    The point being, there seems to be no consistency to what MSC is doing, and certainy no transparency.  

5 hours ago, abbflex said:

Did receive refund for our 5th april cruise this week. 

Thank you for posting this information.  When did you request the refund?

On 5/21/2020 at 1:49 PM, mamaneedsavacay said:

Also posted this in the Americans' refund thread, but we got our refund today. Booked USA to sail Mar 15, which was canceled by MSC. Requested FCC on Mar 30 through online form. Pre-paid items and port fees, etc. were credited to our credit card today in the correct amounts. Have not received official FCC certificate, but it may have gone to my TA. Previous emails from MSC state that the 125% FCC is already in my account and they will apply it when I am ready to book. 

 

It was a nerve-wracking two months, but in all, they are officially within 60 days of when I submitted my online form. I'll be ready to sail with them again.

So you got refunded your on board pre paid, but didn't refund your cruise, just got an FCC?

28 minutes ago, psmarkle said:

Posted this on another thread, but finally see some good news from MSC.  My cc account now shows a "pending" credit from MSC for my final payment amount ($6K+).  Requested a refund on March 14th for an April 11th sailing.  65 days.

 

My initial deposit was on a different cc and that one is still showing nada as far as that refund, but this finally shows progress, right?!

 

Guess I can start looking at future cruises for next year now 🙂

I am happy for you but confused as to why I was told that my requested refund from March 2nd will now be given 60 days after my cruise date of June 20th - while you apparently asked for yours 12 days later and got it less than 60 days from your cruise date.  So WHAT IS the policy and why not being applied to everyone evenly???

On 5/16/2020 at 9:15 AM, cruiser man 60 said:

All cruise lines & airlines are exactly the same and taking same time for refunds, read any board and you will see same stories.

i am awaiting £3k back from Emirates for flights cancelled 21st March, i have been advised that refund approved since 16th April 

Southwest airlines has already refunded me for several trips I cancelled last week.  They actually called me to see if I was still planning on flying and then processed my refund.  With SWA, you can cancel and get a credit to use on a flight within a year of when you initially booked.  I had used points or pre-existing credits for  my flights.  They rebanked the credits and points, refunded me the extra money I had paid for early bird check in (which is normally non-refundable and I saw it immediately go on my CC) and gave me additional time to use those credits so they won't expire.   

I cancelled with Delta and American and Air France last week.  I was warned it could take a month or 2.  But I have seen a partial refund so far with Delta, American just sent an email that the refund has been processed and should appear on our CC within 2 weeks.  I have not heard from Air France yet.  

Sorry cruisingator, but I think you need to not count your chickens before they hatch.  When you dispute a charge you don't get your money back that quickly from your CC.  They may post a credit so you don't have to make a payment while they investigate, but your CC is not going to pay you the money until they get it from the business one way or another.   Otherwise they are just out the money instead of you.  The only exception would be if this is a charge you just made and the CC has not yet paid the business.  But for most of us, also, we did these charges a long time ago and the CC has given the money to MSC.  I think the chances that our CC is going to be able to get our money from MSC is about as good as ours has been - nothing.  

The only thing that is consistent with all of these posts and stories is that MSC basically just keeps moving the ball and changing their story and no one is getting any money back.  

It doesn't matter what they tell you, they are just making it up as they go along.  

15 hours ago, skiierx131 said:

Exactly how I feel too. I understand MSC has a backlog of probably hundreds of thousands of cash refunds to process and it will take some time for some people. But how have they not started to process any of the early Mid March requests? Why do they keep sitting and letting that pile grow and grow. Patience is running short.

My request was on MARCH 2ND and not only have I not received it, but they are now saying they won't even START processing it UNTIL JUNE despite having told me several times it was being processed.  And then I will have to wait at least another 2 months from then. 

MSC is so full of crap.  

So here is the update to my story.  June 20th Venice Cruise.  Prepaid in full in July 2019. 

Late February began to get nervous about cruising, cancelled all onboard prepaid activities and was refunded automatically.

March 2nd, called TA and cancelled my cruise well within time frame to receive full refund.  Was told "up to 2 billing cycles" for refund. 

Called a couple times to check in and was told by TA that they can see on MSC site that my refund was being processed. 

4/20 MSC told my TA they had processed refund, it would be 12 more days (I thought my TA told me 10 days, but they keep notes of all our conversations and their notes said 12 days).  

Called at 12 days and they said it should be anytime now. 

Called today.  75 days and counting since I cancelled.  26 days since MSC said 12 days. 

MSC has now told my TA they will not BEGIN my refund until my sail date and then it will take 2 billing cycles.  My TA argued with them, pointed out that I had cancelled within my time frame to get a full refund, no reason needed, that they had told us repeatedly they were processing and she went over all the different calls and different stories we were told.  MSC says they don't care that is what they are doing. 

So MSC is totally just lying to everyone and changing their story on a daily basis.  They have spent my money and don't have it to give back to me.   Given their dishonesty and incompetence, I fully expect they are going to declare bankruptcy and keep my money.  I have no faith in them whatsoever.

I want to book a cruise next summer before prices go up (obviously not with MSC) but they have all my money - and to be clear, by money I mean my actual cash deposit, and my reward points which have cash value. 

On 5/11/2020 at 10:28 PM, slei15 said:

Off topic a little, but I was speaking to a Carnival rep today for a client and found out the significant issues with the refund process. It applies to most cruise lines the way the systems were designed for convenience in normal operating times. The system is set up to automatically charge cancellation penalties when a cruise is canceled. Due to this, they have to manually enter every reservation, override the penalties, determine if it is FCC or refund, ensure the appropriate amount is set to refund, and have the refund processed by the revenue accounting team, which are not large teams at any of the cruise lines. Carnival at this point is not giving a timeframe for refunds, as they are so overwhelmed and they have no clue when they will get through it all. They are going cruise by cruise, while also trying to go about the necessary everyday business and keep things going for the future. All of this while dealing with significant furloughs and layoffs, which frankly are a part of how they are saving the cash to be able to refund. It is a slow process for every cruise line, but they also know that if they end up screwing thousands of customers by not refunding, they will not have anyone feel safe enough to ever book again. The refunds will happen, but they will take a significant amount of time. It is frustrating for everyone. Please also know, if you booked through a travel agent and dispute the charge on your credit card because you lose patience, the cruise line can ultimately charge the travel agent back for the full amount of the disthe pute. 

This makes sense for cancelled cruises.  My cruise was not cancelled.  I opted to cancel within my time frame to receive a full refund.  This should be a fairly simple and common occurence.   I am at 73 days and counting to get a refund.  I am way past when they told my travel agent 12 days.  I asked for my refund on March 2nd when MSC was still sailing and hadn't begun to cancel cruises.     

I cancelled my on board excursions, etc, a few days earlier (on 2/26) and refund was immediately posted to my account, in real time, obviously without any need for a real person, as I cancelled in the middle of the night (3am), got an immediate email confirmation and showed up on my credit card immediately.  So if those kind of onboard charges now take time, then they are no longer automatically refunding.  Maybe this is for some other reason but I am concerned they are doling out the refunds for prepaid packages because they don't have enough money to do them automatically, which means if they are short of those funds, they are short of funds to pay back people like myself who want their prepaid cruises back.  

But just so you know, I cancelled mine within the time frame allowed to get full refund 11 weeks ago and have yet to receive a refund, so although you SHOULD get a refund, when and IF MSC will do as they should is still an unanswered question, IMHO.

1 hour ago, aprilF said:

 

Thanks for the back up.  I do not understand the motivation of these people coming here to say that MSC is just doing what ever other line is doing.  Every other line has refunded at least someone, every other line isnt constantly moving the payment date.  Maybe these people work for MSC or are travel agents that work closely with MSC but it's bull.  People that are due money need to know that MSC is not acting like every other line right now, they are being super shady.

 

I dont have huge concerns that they will go out of business, although it would be a lie to say I have zero concerns.  I am more concerned that they will try to make me take a cruise with the credit rather than refund me.  And I am concerned they will run out the clock on when I can contest a charge with my CC company so that I am just stuck with what they will give me.

 

Ugh.  Your story give me no faith that refunds are forth coming.  You shouldnt even be in this mess at all as you arent even on a COVID affected cruise, you just cancelled well in advance. 

 

I am not laying any blame on you what so ever but I am curious as to why you would have been PIF before the PIF date.  If youve said in the past, I have forgotten.  But Im curious if there was an incentive to do so.  After this cluster---- I cant imagine any promo being good enough for me to give my money up before it's due but I am curious.

Hey April -

I'm paid in full for 2 reasons: I generally like to pay in full when I can just so I can relax and know it is done.  For our September DCL cruise I paid in full a couple months ago, even though officially PIF day is later this month (I think?).   The other reason is that I paid for this cruise primarily with points from my Chase Sapphire card.  So I put down the deposit in cash, then called Chase's travel people and had them take over the booking and paid for the balance with points.     From what I understood at the time, they will only use points one time - not subsequent payments - and I had enough points to pay the whole thing so I just went ahead and did it.

So the good news is that I have very little cash out there on this reservation.  The bad news is that my TA is my credit card company (basically).  And those points are worth money to me - not only to put towards a another cruise, but I have the option to convert those points to cash, so for me they might as well be money.   I want to book a new cruise next year with those points and I am waiting until the refund hits.  With so many people using their FCCs I suspect that I will pay more next year than this year.  Also, I am not inclined to book with MSC again after this so I will probably book with a more expensive cruise line...

I just cancelled all my hotel stays for the week before this cruise in France.  American refunded my husband's flight because they changed it.  Air France at this point will only give us a credit.   I still don't know if I can get a refund from Delta - they say they cancelled my flight on their website, but it still looks like it is on.    No matter what, I will have about $3k in credits on Delta I can use but I can't book a flight until I book a cruise and until I get the points back!!!

Surprisingly, I am having a hard time cancelling my Disneyland Paris trip that preceded this cruise.  Mainly because to save money I booked on the Paris website and I have spent hours on hold and still can't get through.  I even had insurance, but doesn't cover a pandemic.  I think that I will end up only with a credit there also. 

Sorry to go off topic, but this is how I have spent my mother's day - online and on the phone trying to cancel my trip I planned for so long and was so looking forward too.  It is very sad 😞 

I just called my TA again but I didn't ask her to call MSC again yet - I will wait until Monday or Tuesday.  She said they are seeing things take up to 3 mos.   It is very frustrating because I want to book a new cruise for next year - I am holding off on rebooking all of my flights and everything until I book the cruise.

To give you a DIFFERENT customer service experience, Southwest Airlines just called ME to find out if I still intend to travel over Memorial Day weekend since my flight was changed.  I told them that I as going to visit relatives who are self quarantining because they are in their 60s and I'm pretty sure they don't want us to come up there after a plane trip.  They refunded me the money I had paid for early bird; rebanked my points I had used on my son's flight; issued me a travel voucher for my flight (I had used a travel voucher that would have expired in September, they extended it for 2 years).  Also, they have extended my companion pass for another 6 mos.  

5 minutes ago, Nikita4 said:

I ve recived my refund for our april 4 TA in the YC, this week. No problem.

The cruise was cancelled from MSC not from us.

When did you request a refund?

It has been almost 11 weeks since I cancelled my cruise that I prepaid a year in advance and cancelled within my time to get a full refund.  I was told "2 billing cycles" at the most, which I took to mean 2 mos.    3 weeks ago on Monday MSC told my TA I0 more days (although later my TA said their notes said 12).  That deadline passed over a week ago.  Nothing.

There is no reason I should have to wait until 60 days past my sail date to wait for my refund. I don't know if my cruise has been cancelled, I assume it has been, but I cancelled well within my time frame to do so (cancelled March 3rd for a June 20th cruise).  In addition, I paid IN FULL on July 22, 2019.  So they have had my money all this time; they told me "2 billing cycles" 11 weeks ago; they told me "10 days" 19 days ago.      I have serious trust issues with MSC.

I have a cruise booked for Labor Day on DCL.  I could still cancel.  I haven't, I am considering as I am getting very pessimistic that USA will have this anywhere near under control at that point (that is a totally different discussion).  But I do think that if I at all possible I will cruise DCL again and I think they will be around and I would use the credit. 

Not so sure about MSC.

It has been almost 11 weeks since I cancelled my cruise that I prepaid a year in advance and cancelled within my time to get a full refund.  I was told "2 billing cycles" at the most, which I took to mean 2 mos.    3 weeks ago on Monday MSC told my TA I0 more days (although later my TA said their notes said 12).  That deadline passed over a week ago.  Nothing.

There should be no reason I should have to wait until after my cruise sail date.  I assume my cruise has been cancelled, but I don't know because I cancelled WHILE IN THE PERIOD OF TIME I AM ENTITLED TO A FULL REFUND! They have had my money for almost a year and now I want it back.  60 days seemed excessive to me, but understandable due to all that was going on (although I cancelled on March 3rd).  But they keep moving back the goalpost and NO ONE is getting refunds, so I am beginning to think it is BS. 

It has been almost 11 weeks since I cancelled my cruise that I prepaid a year in advance and cancelled within my time to get a full refund.  I was told "2 billing cycles" at the most, which I took to mean 2 mos.    3 weeks ago on Monday MSC told my TA I0 more days (although later my TA said their notes said 12).  That deadline passed over a week ago.  Nothing.

On 4/23/2020 at 12:05 PM, GatorMomInNC said:

It will be 2 months on Monday since I cancelled my June cruise, well within the time frame to cancel, and I am still waiting on my refund.  My TA called Monday and they said it would be 10 more days.   My situation is different as my cruise has not (yet) been cancelled and I requested refund within the time period where I should receive full refund regardless (I paid in full last year).  I will post here when (if?) I get my promised refund.

Update.  Talked to my TA.  My understanding was 10 days from when I called on 4/20, but they said they think 12, which is today.  So I should get my refund any day now???  But not yet.

3 hours ago, Bob7 said:

GatorMom you are the point of the sword, the earliest person to request a refund (March 2) after the virus hit.  Come over to the thread called "Americans, how long until you received your refund?".  If refunds after the 60 day wait period happen, you'll be the first among us to get it, around May 2.  Let us know the good news, and that you are doing the happy dance and buying us all a beer with all that refund money.

Will do.  Today is 10 days since my TA told me that MSC said I should get refund in 10 days (after initially saying 2 billing cycles over 8 weeks ago).   I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they meant 10 business days and I will call on Monday if I have not received it.  If I do receive I will post here and on the other refund thread.

Original poster here.  Has ANYONE who has cancelled in the last 2 months received a refund from MSC???  Just curious.

Cancelled 3/2 for a 6/20 cruise for which I had paid in full.  I was told 2 billing cycles.  At 7 weeks I called and my TA told me 10 more days.  I have yet to hear of anyone (except one person who posted and then never followed up when others asked questions) who has received a refund on MSC, whether cancelled within time frame, or they cancelled.  I want my $4300 so I can book a cruise for next year, as prices continue to go up.  I am afraid that MSC is playing a shell game and I will never receive my money.  

As I posted elsewhere, I cancelled my June 2020 cruise within my window to cancel, on March 2.  Was told "2 billing cycles".  I am waiting on my refund to book a new cruise for summer 2021.  Called on Monday, 7 weeks after I cancelled (keep in mind, I paid in full last summer, so MSC has had my money for 10 months).  Told 10 more days.   We will see.  I have seen ONE post of someone who actually got refunded their money.  Don't know what MSC is doing with everyone's money.