Double charged for service charges

[cs]

This kind of ticks me off.

 

I prepaid the service charges 24 days in advance of our sailing (but not at the same time as final payment). That should have been enough time for NCL to let the ship know that we prepaid them. When I was on the ship, I found out that I was being charged for the DSC again. While I was still on the ship, I asked them to look into it and they said that the issue was with my travel agent. I knew I'd have to wait till I got home to resolve the problem.

 

I'm home now and just looked at my online credit card statement and there's a reference that says that the charge went through to NCL the day after I called my travel agent to prepay.

 

I thought prepaying the service charge was the smart thing to do. I guess not...

[Planer's Edge]

All you have to do is contest one of the charges and your credit card company will resolve it. Case closed.;)

 

PE

[salty dingo]

All you have to do is contest one of the charges and your credit card company will resolve it. Case closed.;)

 

PE

Before you do that, which is a last resort, call the TA and request that they resolve it with NCL. You should receive a credit promptly.

 

If not then go ahead and dispute.

[texast518]

What service charges? Tips? Why prepay anything?

[98Charlie]

All you have to do is contest one of the charges and your credit card company will resolve it. Case closed.;)

 

PE

 

Before you do that' date=' which is a last resort, call the TA and request that they resolve it with NCL. You should receive a credit promptly.

 

If not then go ahead and dispute.[/quote']

 

One of the first questions that will be asked when you put a charge in dispute is "Have you contacted the merchant and tried to resolve the problem?"

 

Drop it in the TA's lap for a couple of days and see if they can get a credit from NCL. It should be the quickest way to get a credit.

 

Using the dispute first means that the credit card company will investigate the problem and then decide if they will charge back the debit against the merchant (NCL).

 

Charlie

[Sauer-kraut]

What service charges? Tips? Why prepay anything?

 

So you don't have to pay it at the end of the cruise, makes the final amount smaller by $12 per day.

[Planer's Edge]

Before you do that, which is a last resort, call the TA and request that they resolve it with NCL. You should receive a credit promptly.

 

If not then go ahead and dispute.

All I was saying, in essence, is that this is resolvable without coming here and starting a bash NCL thread. ;) Like so many other posts about NCL screwing up and in the end everything is resolved satisfactorily.

 

What is the old saying? "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes". Not that I am saying this is a lie, as I am sure it happened. But, why stir it up here before even trying to resolve it?

PE

[SeaShark]

Did your TA not give you a confirmation showing the prepaid DSC at the time you paid it? I always get one when I prepay...without having to ask.

 

This should have shown on your invoice before you even left.

[SeaShark]

All I was saying' date=' in essence, is that this is resolvable without coming here and starting a bash NCL thread. ;) Like so many other posts about NCL screwing up and in the end everything is resolved satisfactorily.

 

What is the old saying? "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes". Not that I am saying this is a lie, as I am sure it happened. But, why stir it up here before even trying to resolve it?

[/color']

PE

 

 

Excellent, excellent points.

 

The only thing I think you missed is the "why blame NCL, when taking the money and properly prepaying...which includes verification of the prepayment...is the responsibility of the TA in this case, not NCL."

 

 

I also cannot imagine them letting the OP walk off of the ship with the DSC charges on their bill when they had a paid receipt to prove that they were prepaid. They did have a receipt, right?

[dwjoe]

All I was saying' date=' in essence, is that this is resolvable without coming here and starting a bash NCL thread. ;) Like so many other posts about NCL screwing up and in the end everything is resolved satisfactorily.[/color']

This isn't a bash NCL thread. It's a share experiences about NCL thread, and is useful for two reasons:

 

1) Let other cruisers know it happened so they're aware

2) Share how it was resolved so other cruisers can benefit

[cs]

Excellent, excellent points.

 

The only thing I think you missed is the "why blame NCL, when taking the money and properly prepaying...which includes verification of the prepayment...is the responsibility of the TA in this case, not NCL."

 

 

I also cannot imagine them letting the OP walk off of the ship with the DSC charges on their bill when they had a paid receipt to prove that they were prepaid. They did have a receipt, right?

 

Unfortuantely, I didn't think to ask the TA for a receipt because I knew the charge went through on my credit card.

 

I thought I could take care of it on the ship. They took my travel agent's information from me and said they would contact her directly and try to resolve it before I left the ship. The next day I got a letter from NCL on the mailbox thing of our cabin which said they could not honor my request for an onboard credit. Huh? I didn't request an onboard credit.

 

Back to the front desk I go. I explain that I wasn't asking for an onboard credit. I just wanted them to verify that we prepaid the DSC and to remove the DSCs that we were being charged onboard. His response was, "I know I put the letter on your door." Again, huh?

 

So once again I try to explain to him what I'm trying to resolve. He finally tells me that NCL has no record of being prepaid and that it was an issue with my travel agent. Okay, so I'll deal with the TA when I get home. When I look at my credit card statement again, I realize that the TA didn't make a mistake, NCL did get paid and the mistake is theirs.

 

Did I have to come to Cruise Critic to report this? No, of course not. I only did because I was ticked at my TA for making the mistake that has been an inconvenience to deal with when come to find out it's NCL who made the mistake.

 

NCL made a mistake and now in addition to trying to correct it while I was on the ship, now I'm going to have to deal with it on the phone tomorrow again. So I'm ticked and wanted to vent.

[98Charlie]

cs

 

I don't know where the idea came that this was a bash thread. You had a problem and let the community know. Someone has your $150 and now you have to jump through some hoops to get back that which is yours anyway.

 

I'm interested in how this plays out. Let us know.

 

Charlie

[cs]

cs

 

I don't know where the idea came that this was a bash thread. You had a problem and let the community know. Someone has your $150 and now you have to jump through some hoops to get back that which is yours anyway.

 

I'm interested in how this plays out. Let us know.

 

Charlie

 

It's actually $250 since I prepaid for all three of us in the cabin.

 

I will definitely let you know how things turn out. Thank you for understanding that I'm not bashing - just a little lover's spat between me and NCL ;)

[NMLady]

This kind of ticks me off.

 

I prepaid the service charges 24 days in advance of our sailing (but not at the same time as final payment). That should have been enough time for NCL to let the ship know that we prepaid them. When I was on the ship, I found out that I was being charged for the DSC again. While I was still on the ship, I asked them to look into it and they said that the issue was with my travel agent. I knew I'd have to wait till I got home to resolve the problem.

 

I'm home now and just looked at my online credit card statement and there's a reference that says that the charge went through to NCL the day after I called my travel agent to prepay.

 

I thought prepaying the service charge was the smart thing to do. I guess not...

 

That's why I'm bringing a copy of my paid invoice. It shows the billing and the payment for the prepaid DSC in case there's a question about it.

I always bring paperwork proof of things I've paid for since too many times Murphy's Law prevails -- if anything can go wrong it will.

[johnql]

What service charges? Tips? Why prepay anything?

 

So you don't have to pay it at the end of the cruise, makes the final amount smaller by $12 per day.

This incident just reinforces my feeling that pre-paying the DSC is not a good thing. I don't pre-pay anything unless there's a tangible benefit to be gained.

[slpdancer]

I prepaid my DSC less than 24 hours before we sailed. I did it through my NCL cruise consultant via the phone. He immediately updated my reservation confirmation paperwork and e-mailed me. I printed it and had that piece of paper with me just in case, but there was no problem with our final on-board bill. I saved every receipt throughout the voyage and double checked them against the printout. Everything came out just fine.

 

Just wanted to put out a positive experience regarding prepaid DSC.;)

[texast518]

Dont you still have to pay it , why let them use your money in advance. Why not prepay excursions, booze, resturant. Then you dont owe anything @ end of cruise.

[Starrgazer50]

That happened to me on the Gem as well.

My final bill w/TA did not show as grats prepaid. It didn't show at all:eek:

Thk God I look over my documents and receipts thoroughly before leaving the Travel Agency.

I got the travel agency to give me a receipt showing that my grats were paid in full.

Good thing I did because NCL did not have it in their system that I prepaid and they charged me daily. I went to pursers and showed the receipt and they still called the travel agency, and all was well.

[garycarla]

This incident just reinforces my feeling that pre-paying the DSC is not a good thing. I don't pre-pay anything unless there's a tangible benefit to be gained.

 

 

This is good advice for everyone that prefers a hassle free vacation. Why pay in advance.

 

As to taking your receipt from the TA, that is of course a good idea. But, if the payment to NCL by your TA did not break down the items, you have a problem with the TA, not NCL.

 

Again, why give anyone your money sooner than you need to?

[DAGVBSB]

As much as I dispise NCL Customer Service, I have to take a wait and see attitude on this one.

 

Mistakes happen. In this age of computer banking, it is important that everyone is vigilant and checks their charge card statements regularly.

 

Usually once a mistake like this is pointed out, the company's involve fix the problem and credit the card. It happens all the time with many companies.

 

Technically you are not out anything yet unless you have paid off your credit card bill. It is just a charge on the card and if you get a credit for it, it is like it never happened. No financial loss or gain for you or NCL.

 

But thank you for pointing out this problem so that others can be vigilent as well.

 

I always ask for a copy of my bill on NCL (and I did on RCCL too) a day before disembarkation. That way I can check it over and if I find any discrepencies, I can correct them before the madhouse line of the final morning. I highly reccommend it to all cruisers.

 

(of course on the POAm this year, one of my party was questioned why they wanted their bill a day early... almost as if to say "don't you trust us?" ...and my response would have been: "nope.")

[DAGVBSB]

Dont you still have to pay it , why let them use your money in advance. Why not prepay excursions, booze, resturant. Then you dont owe anything @ end of cruise.

 

Technically they don't have use of your money in advance unless you pay so early that your credit card bill comes and you pay it off in full. Until you have paid your bill, NCL does not have "your money."

[peg013]

Technically they don't have use of your money in advance unless you pay so early that your credit card bill comes and you pay it off in full. Until you have paid your bill, NCL does not have "your money."

 

Not completely true. NCL does not wait for the money until you pay your bill! Some people never pay their bill. Your credit card company is out the money until you pay it back or NCL or the CC Co. reverse the charges. I do get your point that it's not "your" money they have use of until your bill is paid.

[VonChap]

I prepaid my DSC less than 24 hours before we sailed. I did it through my NCL cruise consultant via the phone. He immediately updated my reservation confirmation paperwork and e-mailed me. I printed it and had that piece of paper with me just in case, but there was no problem with our final on-board bill. I saved every receipt throughout the voyage and double checked them against the printout. Everything came out just fine.

 

Just wanted to put out a positive experience regarding prepaid DSC.;)

 

I have had a good experience pre-paying with my NCL PCC too.

 

Why pay in advance? I did that because I wanted to pay for someone's DSC as a gift to them. I was taking my Mom on her first cruise and I wanted to make sure that I paid for her DSC. I also put OBC on the trip to cover everything else. Sure enough, she went to the reception desk and tried to put everything on her card.

 

I received receipts for the pre paid DSC and the OBC and had those with me. Everything worked perfectly.

[luddite]

This is a very good of why you should never, ever use a debit card for a cruise or a hotel.

[Crusin6]

for those that feel that they must prepay everything so that they won't come back from a cruise with a big bill

 

or say...

 

That they have the money now and just want to pay it all off before they spend it on something else

 

Here is what I do.....

 

As we cruise with 5 or 6 people..the service charges etc. do add up...but no way to we go nuts and spend heavily on drinks or the casino.

 

We might do an excursion thru the ship at times if it is reasonable and we do spend about $100 on pix and a bottle or 2 of wine.

 

Usually with tips....our sign & sail is around $700 to $1000 depending on the length of the cruise.

 

SO...instead of dealing with the possibility of mistakes or holds to a debit card...or a large credit card bill a month later....just...

 

send in the extra money you expect to spend on the cruise to your credit card company about 2 weeks prior to your cruise.

 

you have now prepaid everything you want to....have covered yourself in case of a dispute.....and have protected your debit card from having a hold put on it by the cruiseline.

 

This is a no brainer of course...however, I am fairly confident that some will certainly disagree with this approach...but it works very well for us!!

 

 

Also works in this way....since you are going to be away...you have guaranteed that you won't miss your credit card billing due date as well:D