susiesan Posted March 21, 2011 #1 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I was on the Feb. 25 sailing of Regatta to the Caribbean. It was my second O cruise with the last one in 2006. I was coming back to give O another try after 3 cruises with AZ. The cruise itself was great and I was just getting ready to write a very positive review when a check from Oceania to me bounced. When I got home March 9 there was a check for $108 in the mail from O dated Feb. 25 that said "FC charge refund". I deposited in my bank. On March 16 it was returned to my bank with a charge for bouncing. I got my bank statement today March 21 and called to see what the problem was. They told me the check was returned from O for insufficient funds. Oceania doesn't have $108 in their bank account to cover checks they write? I did not get a letter from O in the mail about this, I found out by calling my bank. I was hit with a returned check charge also. Luckily, my account did not get overdrawn at any point. Is O going to reimburse me for the returned check charge? Would I dare trying to deposit that check? The cruise was great, customer service from the office not. What a shame that my last impression of O has to be a negative one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyQuinn Posted March 21, 2011 #2 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Susiesan, I hope you get the bad check stuff sorted out. But I'm confused. You say you had a great cruise and were getting ready to write a very positive review. But now you're rethinking what you'll write. How does this business with the check affect what you experienced on-board the ship? Why would you change your review? :confused::confused: EDIT: Never mind. I cross-posted with you while you made some apparent edits to your OP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted March 22, 2011 #3 Share Posted March 22, 2011 This is scary stuff reminicent of Renaissance. We are constantly being told how well Oceania is doing so hopefully it's just a bank error of some kind.:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindrunnerII Posted March 22, 2011 #4 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I was on the Feb. 25 sailing of Regatta to the Caribbean. It was my second O cruise with the last one in 2006. I was coming back to give O another try after 3 cruises with AZ. The cruise itself was great and I was just getting ready to write a very positive review when a check from Oceania to me bounced. When I got home March 9 there was a check for $108 in the mail from O dated Feb. 25 that said "FC charge refund". I deposited in my bank. On March 16 it was returned to my bank with a charge for bouncing. I got my bank statement today March 21 and called to see what the problem was. They told me the check was returned from O for insufficient funds. Oceania doesn't have $108 in their bank account to cover checks they write? I did not get a letter from O in the mail about this, I found out by calling my bank. I was hit with a returned check charge also. Luckily, my account did not get overdrawn at any point. Is O going to reimburse me for the returned check charge? Would I dare trying to deposit that check? The cruise was great, customer service from the office not. What a shame that my last impression of O has to be a negative one. Did you call/talk to/email anyone at O to find out about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted March 22, 2011 #5 Share Posted March 22, 2011 This sounds odd to me. :confused: Was the OP entitled to a refund (for whatever an FC is?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shorton Posted March 22, 2011 #6 Share Posted March 22, 2011 The first thing I would have done is call Oceania. OP didn't say whether she had done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 22, 2011 #7 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I sailed with Susiesan on her 2006 cruise and she is a fine passenger and a great organizer of private tours! I can understand her being upset with a bounced check! OTOH, I find it hard to believe that O makes it a habit to send out bad checks. There has to be a mistake somewhere. It certainly merits further investigation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAG Posted March 22, 2011 #8 Share Posted March 22, 2011 "it was a great cruise Bob and I enjoyed meeting all of you on the cruise. I'm sure we'll meet again sometime on another ship, somewhere. I has a nice surprise waiting in the mail-a check from Oceania for $108. This was for the foreign conversion fees on the credit card. Except I didn't get charged them when I payed for the cruise with AX. I'll view it as a lovely parting gift from Oceania." You posted the above on the Regatta Roll call upon your return. Is it possible that Oceania realized they sent you the check in error and placed a stop payment on it rather than an insufficient fund check as the bank is indicating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xplrcrzn Posted March 22, 2011 #9 Share Posted March 22, 2011 If it was an erroneous check (most likely) then the OP should be compensated by Oceania for any "bad check" fees she had to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 22, 2011 #10 Share Posted March 22, 2011 And if O put a stop payment order for any reason, they should have notified Susiesan of that fact. When I get a check like that, I assume it's in order! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcpa66 Posted March 22, 2011 #11 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Even if O made a mistake issuing the check, if you weren't sure why you received it (as posted), you should have tried to find out before trying to cash it ...I just don't see the need to start a post with such a strong statement.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted March 22, 2011 #12 Share Posted March 22, 2011 When I got home March 9 there was a check for $108 in the mail from O dated Feb. 25 that said "FC charge refund". I deposited in my bank. HMMM You got a cheque you were not entitled to, deposited it, then come on cruise critic to complain it bounced :rolleyes: Better yet why not just call Oceania before you deposited it and tell them you were not charged the fee in the first place? Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr'aunt Posted March 22, 2011 #13 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Even if O made a mistake issuing the check, if you weren't sure why you received it (as posted), you should have tried to find out before trying to cash it ...I just don't see the need to start a post with such a strong statement.. Sounds like a no-brainer to me! And you are right, this was a strongly worded statement. O refunded the FTF (foreign transaction fee) that was added to our AM EX bill when we paid our deposit...THE CHECK DIDN'T BOUNCE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_uk Posted March 22, 2011 #14 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Once again anyone who bashes O must be wrong. If any of you put your hand on your hearts and had received the cheque I am pretty certain you would have paid it into your account. Susiesan has done NOTHING wrong in reporting this to this board. The cheque bounced or was not paid and she has been given the runaround....not her fault ...and she has incurred charges....not her fault. The holier than thou attitude just gets on my nerves. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3418ahl Posted March 22, 2011 #15 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Once again anyone who bashes O must be wrong. If any of you put your hand on your hearts and had received the cheque I am pretty certain you would have paid it into your account. Susiesan has done NOTHING wrong in reporting this to this board. The cheque bounced or was not paid and she has been given the runaround....not her fault ...and she has incurred charges....not her fault. The holier than thou attitude just gets on my nerves. Brian I have definitely found this true on this board. I was asked to post a comparison between our Azamara and Oceania cruise on this board, and only posted on Azamara, because I knew it would be slammed. No one on this board wants to hear anything negative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_uk Posted March 22, 2011 #16 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Hi 3418ahl I have been on both O and A each Summer for the last 5 years and have loved both cruise lines. There are certainly faults with both but on the whole we would book either again. I actually stopped posting here for 4 months because of the attitude that O can do no wrong. But hey ho there is stll freedom of speech and I applaud anyone who has anything to say either way. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted March 22, 2011 #17 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Once again anyone who bashes O must be wrong. If any of you put your hand on your hearts and had received the cheque I am pretty certain you would have paid it into your account. Susiesan has done NOTHING wrong in reporting this to this board. The cheque bounced or was not paid and she has been given the runaround....not her fault ...and she has incurred charges....not her fault. The holier than thou attitude just gets on my nerves. Brian I wonder if you read post # 8, in this thread, before you wrote this? :confused: Dollars to Donuts that cheque came back "Payment Stopped", not "Insufficient Funds", and the OP is embarrassed to contact O because she knows that she wasn't charged "The FC" in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susiesan Posted March 22, 2011 Author #18 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I wonder if you read post # 8, in this thread, before you wrote this? :confused: Dollars to Donuts that cheque came back "Payment Stopped", not "Insufficient Funds", and the OP is embarrassed to contact O because she knows that she wasn't charged "The FC" in the first place. Stan&Jim you are 100% wrong in thinking I am embarrassed at all to contact O about this bounced check. Nothing embarrasses me when it comes to expressing my displeasure with a companies' customer service. I am not shy. I had called my bank March 21 as I just I received the bank statement in the mail that day with the returned check and charge for it. I haven't had time to call O; I also had an upsell credit card payment made to O right before we sailed and have not received the credit card bill for those additional charges. Those charges may have had the foreign conversion fee on them. Until I get my next credit card bill I will not know if they were charged. I will call O today to try to straighten this out and report here when I get an answer. Who wants to bet that O will not reimburse me for the bounced check fee? Who wants to bet I don't get a straight answer? When I called the customer service number before the cruise, I was given blatantly wrong information about how many ports were tender ports and about why we were not allowed to go ashore in Samana, so I'm not expecting accurate information about the bounced check. I think I will put my review of this O cruise on the AZ boards as a comparison review like 3418ahl did since everyone here (except Mura and Brian) refuses to accept that O can make mistakes. However this plays out, it won't dampen my enthusiasm for Oceania. I will sail with them again sometime if the itinerary is right along with the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susiesan Posted March 22, 2011 Author #19 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I called Oceania and spoke with Paula in customer service. She said they stopped payment on the $108 check because it was the wrong amount. They reissued another check for $144 on March 14 and it is on the way to me. I had been charged a foreign transaction fee. She asked me to fax in a copy of my bank statement with the returned check charge and O will reimburse me for that fee. I thanked Paula for looking into this for me and suggested next time that O send an explanation to customers for what they are doing. Paula said she has worked for O for 7 years, so that is why I got very good results on my first phone call. I take back my bet. My bad. If O issued and sent a check then discovered it was less than it should have been, there would have been less problems and angst if they would have just sent a second check for the remaining amount owed along with an explanation letter or email. Susie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wannaknow Posted March 22, 2011 #20 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Susisan - I will be a 1st time Oceania cruiser in a few months. I am very glad you got this resolved. I have to say, I am surprised (to say the least) at the reactions on this post. I think you handled yourself very well in this regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWED23 Posted March 22, 2011 #21 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I read so many threads with posts about various problems and the difficultys the posters have had in solving them it makes me feel blessed to have an agency that specializes in Cruising...Getting close to our next cruise and still have never had a problem that was not handled quickly and satisfactorly....this after 55+ cruises....I have never found myself paying any more, if as much, as others who ask about our cost....Our Agency and personal Agent take all the angst out of cruising for us....Thank God for really professional cruise agents.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted March 22, 2011 #22 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I called Oceania and spoke with Paula in customer service. She said they stopped payment on the $108 check because it was the wrong amount. They reissued another check for $144 on March 14 and it is on the way to me. I had been charged a foreign transaction fee. Susie So which statement is correct:confused: I has a nice surprise waiting in the mail-a check from Oceania for $108. This was for the foreign conversion fees on the credit card. Except I didn't get charged them when I payed for the cruise with AX. I'll view it as a lovely parting gift from Oceania." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susiesan Posted March 22, 2011 Author #23 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Susisan - I will be a 1st time Oceania cruiser in a few months. I am very glad you got this resolved. I have to say, I am surprised (to say the least) at the reactions on this post. I think you handled yourself very well in this regard. If you will be a first time O cruiser and have started following on this board on CC, you will have to get used to the tone of comments here. Just brush off and ignore the nasty ones. A few regular posters will give you accurate and friendly information, and the others will carry on with their little Oceania clique. My next cruise in on Celebrity Xpedition in the Galapagos in March 2012 so that's the CC board I will be following the majority of the time. I will occasionally jump back on here to see how O is going with their disposition of one R ship and acquisition of another larger ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted March 22, 2011 #24 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Once again anyone who bashes O must be wrong. If any of you put your hand on your hearts and had received the cheque I am pretty certain you would have paid it into your account. The holier than thou attitude just gets on my nerves. Brian Sorry Brian I have to disagree If I knew I did not have the FC charge on my account I would call Oceania But that is just me Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susiesan Posted March 22, 2011 Author #25 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I read so many threads with posts about various problems and the difficultys the posters have had in solving them it makes me feel blessed to have an agency that specializes in Cruising...Getting close to our next cruise and still have never had a problem that was not handled quickly and satisfactorly....this after 55+ cruises....I have never found myself paying any more, if as much, as others who ask about our cost....Our Agency and personal Agent take all the angst out of cruising for us....Thank God for really professional cruise agents.:D I DID use a TA that specializes in cruises. The check was sent directly to me from Oceania, not to the travel agent. So I had to deal with O myself as the TA wasn't involved. I had not booked directly with O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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