Double charged for service charges

[cs]

I think I mentioned this before but I'll say it again to clarify. Final payment was made and then a couple of weeks later I contacted the TA to prepay the service charges. The service charges were not made at the same time as final payment.

I used my credit card to pay the service charges. My credit card statement has NCL as the party who received the money. Why NCL sent a check to my travel agent instead of crediting my card is beyond me.

And, of course, the TA says they're not going to send my reimbursement check for another 3-4 weeks. Some bull story about the owner not being in the country to sign the check till then.

[leekel619]

[quote name='cs']I think I mentioned this before but I'll say it again to clarify. Final payment was made and then a couple of weeks later I contacted the TA to prepay the service charges. The service charges were not made at the same time as final payment.

I used my credit card to pay the service charges. My credit card statement has NCL as the party who received the money. Why NCL sent a check to my travel agent instead of crediting my card is beyond me.

And, of course, the TA says they're not going to send my reimbursement check for another 3-4 weeks. Some bull story about the owner not being in the country to sign the check till then.[/QUOTE]

Ridiculous. They hope you'll forget about it probably. That's too bad you have to deal with all that. Whoever heard of sending checks to reimburse credit cards. Weird. They must be really behind on technology.

[alwalaska]

[quote name='texast518']What service charges? Tips? Why prepay anything?[/quote]

I'm prepaying mine for two reasons. 1) I get 2 points per dollar on my NCL card for NCL charges. If I prepay early enough, I can cash those points in on this trip. We are fickle cruisers, we go with the best price and itinerary for where we want to go, so I like to use up all my points each cruise if possible. 2) I like to have my vacation paid for, as much as possible, before we go so that I don't have to stress over the bills when we get back.

I am really glad the OP posted this since I will be sure to take my receipt from my TA proving that I prepaid the service charge with me in case something happens.

[newmexicoNita]

[quote name='leekel619']I agree about the jello. Bottom line here. OP paid the money and it charged to the credit card on file. This amount was above and beyond the final cost of the cruise tickets.

NCL decides to send TA a refund.

What, was the TA trying to pull a fast one and keep the money NCL sent back?

All I know is I love this thread and I'm already an eagle eye, for all the reasons mentioned. LOTS of cruisers and accounts, etc. But whatever, its all about the data entry. Information should be available with the push of a button.

Two months ago, I logged into "My NCL" account to check on something, and my 5-6-11 cruise was deleted.

I had a mystery $250 credit in my checking account added. Called TA. She called NCL.

They deleted my cruise (which had been booked for 5 months already) and sent the deposit back, because they said I was double booked??? OK.

No I wasn't. Luckily I caught it in time and they re-confirmed my sailing. A couple days later, they took the $250 BACK out of my checking(debit card).

So how do they get in and out of my checking account so easily??? They have the debit card numbers! We were never contacted or sent any emails from NCL. We didn't book thru NCL either. Believe me, they have EVERYTHING.

They can JUST AS EASILY credit OP's credit card. (and while I was typing this I see someone said the exact same thing)
Thanks for all the comments everyone. Interesting.

Still, love NCL and love cruising! Just got home from Bermuda![/QUOTE]

actually I am trying to understand what you are saying, but I will try to make what I said a little clearer. When making a final payment or any payment the amount due shows on the invoice. If gratuities are included it would have been broken down as that. When final payment was made a red flag would have appeared, if indeed, it was more than was owed so the TA would have spotted it. In fact the payment would not be accepted, but say, it was, (computer glitz) a check would not have been sent to the TA (or I have never heard of this) the incorrect amount would have been applied to the passengers CC. This is why I am saying, something is wrong here. I do not know what, but it isn't making any sense.

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

[quote name='cs']I think I mentioned this before but I'll say it again to clarify. Final payment was made and then a couple of weeks later I contacted the TA to prepay the service charges. The service charges were not made at the same time as final payment.

I used my credit card to pay the service charges. My credit card statement has NCL as the party who received the money. Why NCL sent a check to my travel agent instead of crediting my card is beyond me.

And, of course, the TA says they're not going to send my reimbursement check for another 3-4 weeks. Some bull story about the owner not being in the country to sign the check till then.[/QUOTE]

No, I never picked up on this, but still they would not be sending a check, they would simply re-emburse your CC. Someone is not be upfront with you.

Nita

[cs]

actually I am trying to understand what you are saying, but I will try to make what I said a little clearer. When making a final payment or any payment the amount due shows on the invoice. If gratuities are included it would have been broken down as that. When final payment was made a red flag would have appeared, if indeed, it was more than was owed so the TA would have spotted it. In fact the payment would not be accepted, but say, it was, (computer glitz) a check would not have been sent to the TA (or I have never heard of this) the incorrect amount would have been applied to the passengers CC. This is why I am saying, something is wrong here. I do not know what, but it isn't making any sense.

 

Nita

 

I read on the other thread that you're a TA, correct? What is your take on what probably happened?

 

Actually, now that I think about it, Royal Caribbean has the same practice of mailing a check after you use your credit card. I had to cancel a cruise with them and I received a check back for my deposit instead of a credit to my card.

[newmexicoNita]

I read on the other thread that you're a TA, correct? What is your take on what probably happened?

 

Actually, now that I think about it, Royal Caribbean has the same practice of mailing a check after you use your credit card. I had to cancel a cruise with them and I received a check back for my deposit instead of a credit to my card.

 

Holy cow, I don't know but this is what normally happens. You make your final payment, your agent either calls it in or uses the computer to register it: if the price does not match up it will not take. You say you did the gratuities after final payment, same thing. If it registered your agent would have gotten a new invoice. If she/he didin't they screwed up. I am surprised you recieved a check as all transactions done by CC and adjusted in anyway are credited back to your CC. I will give you an example: a few months ago someone had to cancel a cruise just prior to sailing: within a few days (if not hours) the cruise company had credited their CC for the amount they were to receive back. Just a gut feeling and I am not here to blast your TA because none of us are perfect. I have made my share of mistakes even though I try to be on top of everything, at worst your agent royally screwed up and didn't pay attention to any emails nor did he/she check to see if the gratuities were registered. At worst, I don't want to even think about that. Regardless, let's hope you get your refund ASAP, 4 to 6 weeks is totally out of line. That is something else I would question about your TA.

 

It is very unusual to recieve a check instead of a CC refund. I have been in the business for about 12 years and never seen that. I am not saying it doesn't happen, but it is unusual.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

My question is since all those charges be directly to NCL on the OPs credit card any overpayment would get credited to that card not sent to the TA as a check. :confused: Something is not right but at least everything will be resolved.

 

Exactly, the payments are not to the TA but to NCL, so all refunds would go to the client in the form of a credit or they should anyway.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

I can see a cheque being sent if:

 

1) the OP paid for DSC by cheque (either made out to the TA or to NCL) and the cheque was either forwarded to NCL by the TA or a cheque from the TA was sent (if OP made the cheque out to the TA); or

 

2) the OP paid the TA by credit card and the TA sent a cheque to NCL to pay for the DSC;

 

 

Otherwise, I agree if the payment was made directly to NCL (via the TA) by credit card, then I don't understand why the card wasn't credited by the overpayment.

 

The TA would have no reason to have the DSC paid to them. Yes, if a check was used, that would be a different story.

 

Nita