A little dissapointed with an incident on our first cruise

[Jolimont]

[quote name='I Luv Crusin']If you if you use it correctly. Please don't bash the OP for (possibly) living without credit. Some people chose not to live with credit cards and that is great![/QUOTE]
The OP says they got money out of an ATM, so clearly they use a credit or debit card of some sort.

[Cruzin2paradise09]

[quote name='prchoudh']Whenever I have had problems with Carnival and gotten no where with the staff on the ship, I will call Carnival and explain my frustration. Some times they will resolve it right there. Other times, I have sent a letter to them.

In turn they might give you a discount voucher good towards another cruise.[/quote]

I am curious as to why you think that a discount voucher towards another cruise is an appropriate fix for a $40 "mistake" that didn't prove to be a "mistake" with the employee's drawer?

[Mommy2Cody]

[quote name='Jolimont']ATMs don't make mistakes, people do.[/quote]
Sooo not true! I once deposited 500.00 into the ATM at my bank. It was late at night after work and the bank was closed. I deposited 500.00 and just after it took in the cash, the machine started beeping, the screen said transaction canceled and my atm card spit out! I put my card back in the machine and checked my balance, of course, the money didn’t show up on my account!! I’m sure I was a lovely sight, hysterical outside the closed bank at 10:00 at night, crying on my cell phone to my husband! Thankfully my bank was wonderful. I called the 1-800 number on the back of my card and got to speak with someone! the lady on the phone calmed me down, took a report, and said it happens all the time. She made a full report over the phone and told me a bank employee would call me first thing in the morning. I was sooo worried I would never see that money again, but I went home. Didn’t sleep at all that night. As I was getting ready in the morning to head out to the bank, my phone rang. It was my bank, they found my 500.00, verified it was mine and deposited it into my checking account! I NEVER use the ATM to deposit money anymore-NEVER! ATMs do make mistakes. COUNT YOUR MONEY!


OP: It is a upsetting situation. At least it was only 40.00 though.

[Crusin6]

[quote name='mitsguy2001']I'm going to post from a different perspective. While I agree that the OP should have counted the money at the ATM and should have checked the receipt, people are completely forgetting one thing: the $40 should be completely insignificant to Carnival, while the bad customer service can be very costly. It's unfortunate that our society always screws the "little guy", in this case, the customer losing the $40. It seems that the only other option that Carnival even offered was firing that employee, again, screwing a "little guy" who really needs his/her job, and likely just made an innocent mistake.

It's frustrating how at my job, everything is always "the customer (client, in my case) is always right" (even when they are very, very obviously wrong), but whenever I'm in situations where I'm a customer, I'm always expected to just suck it up and accept that "life isn't fair". Why the double standard? Why can't Carnival just refund the $40 (insignificant to Carnival), let the customer be happy, and let the employee keep his/her job, but give him/her a reminder to be more careful about money?[/quote]
this makes sense to me and I too think CCL should have stepped up....of course we weren't there and don't have all the info at hand...there certainly may have been a reason that CCL did not do this right then and there.

On our DCL cruise, I was promised a measly $25 per cabin OBC upon booking directly with Disney and using their CCard....I didn't know to follow up..and when on board the ship, I didn't see the $50...I asked for it..more than once...and in a very businesslike manner...explaining exactly what I was told at booking...and while they had no documentaion on my account..THEY DID KNOW..about the promotion and of course I got the OBC. then again, I was entitled to it and DCL did the right thing.

[Crusin6]

[quote name='Mommy2Cody']Sooo not true! I once deposited 500.00 into the ATM at my bank. It was late at night after work and the bank was closed. I deposited 500.00 and just after it took in the cash, the machine started beeping, the screen said transaction canceled and my atm card spit out! I put my card back in the machine and checked my balance, of course, the money didn’t show up on my account!! I’m sure I was a lovely sight, hysterical outside the closed bank at 10:00 at night, crying on my cell phone to my husband! Thankfully my bank was wonderful. I called the 1-800 number on the back of my card and got to speak with someone! the lady on the phone calmed me down, took a report, and said it happens all the time. She made a full report over the phone and told me a bank employee would call me first thing in the morning. I was sooo worried I would never see that money again, but I went home. Didn’t sleep at all that night. As I was getting ready in the morning to head out to the bank, my phone rang. It was my bank, they found my 500.00, verified it was mine and deposited it into my checking account! I NEVER use the ATM to deposit money anymore-NEVER! ATMs do make mistakes. COUNT YOUR MONEY!


OP: It is a upsetting situation. At least it was only 40.00 though.[/quote]
as a former officer of a very large well known bank ...I tell you..believe this above quoted poster..to this day..even though I know for a fact that my current bank has some extra special built in safeguards...I will never deposit cash in the ATM...DH does and has been lucky so far....but he always gets my warning to not do it...

[mitsguy2001]

[quote name='Mommy2Cody']Sooo not true! I once deposited 500.00 into the ATM at my bank. It was late at night after work and the bank was closed. I deposited 500.00 and just after it took in the cash, the machine started beeping, the screen said transaction canceled and my atm card spit out! I put my card back in the machine and checked my balance, of course, the money didn’t show up on my account!! I’m sure I was a lovely sight, hysterical outside the closed bank at 10:00 at night, crying on my cell phone to my husband! Thankfully my bank was wonderful. I called the 1-800 number on the back of my card and got to speak with someone! the lady on the phone calmed me down, took a report, and said it happens all the time. She made a full report over the phone and told me a bank employee would call me first thing in the morning. I was sooo worried I would never see that money again, but I went home. Didn’t sleep at all that night. As I was getting ready in the morning to head out to the bank, my phone rang. It was my bank, they found my 500.00, verified it was mine and deposited it into my checking account! I NEVER use the ATM to deposit money anymore-NEVER! ATMs do make mistakes. COUNT YOUR MONEY!


OP: It is a upsetting situation. At least it was only 40.00 though.[/quote]

That is why I would never use an ATM to make a deposit. I only make deposits at a teller. If your work schedule never has you free during banking hours, then find a bank (as I did) that is open evenings and weekends (and holidays, but that's another story).

[kait17]

The OP claims that they're missing money, but the OP signed a receipt for $160 not $200. Mistakes are made, and it seems that the OP made the mistake. And just because Carnival can afford to give away $40 does not mean they should. If they gave in to every claim ever made they would be out of business. I am sure Carnival gives out way more compensation to undeserving people all the time, but in this instance Carnival has proof on their side (a signed receipt). I think the OP just has to chalk this up to a live and learn.

[mitsguy2001]

[quote name='Crusin6']this makes sense to me and I too think CCL should have stepped up....of course we weren't there and don't have all the info at hand...there certainly may have been a reason that CCL did not do this right then and there.

On our DCL cruise, I was promised a measly $25 per cabin OBC upon booking directly with Disney and using their CCard....I didn't know to follow up..and when on board the ship, I didn't see the $50...I asked for it..more than once...and in a very businesslike manner...explaining exactly what I was told at booking...and while they had no documentaion on my account..THEY DID KNOW..about the promotion and of course I got the OBC. then again, I was entitled to it and DCL did the right thing.[/quote]

Glad somebody agrees with me. One other thing that I should have mentioned is that another problem with our society is that it tends to operate on an "all or nothing" basis. In this case, the only options considered was refunding $40 or refunding $0, and either firing the employee or not firing him/her. I've often felt that in a he said / she said situation where there is absolutely no way to determine who is correct, sometimes the fairest way would have been to split the difference, and in this case, refund $20, and not fire the employee, but maybe give him/her a warning and maybe a little more monitoring. Obviously it isn't 100% fair, but a 100% fair solution cannot be determined, so splitting the difference seems to be the fairest solution.

This reminds me of a situation I was in many years ago, when I was in 6th grade. A student who didn't bring a pen in class tried to steal a pen from me (to avoid getting a 0 for his work that day), and when I resisted, he tried to attack me to get a pen. He then, to avoid detention, claimed that he attacked me in self-defense, falsely claiming that I tried to stab him with the pen. We both got sent to the assistant principal. There were no witnesses to me stabbing the other kid (since I didn't do it), nor were there any wounds on the other kid. It was entirely my word against his, and the assistant principal, unfortunately, chose to beleive the other kid. So I got 5 days of detention: 2 days for stabbing him, 2 days for lying about it, and 1 day for not showing any remorse. A few days later, another kid stabbed me with a pen, and was caught doing so, so he admitted to it, and got only the 2 days of detention.

My point is, the assistant principal decided, based on absolutely no other reason than one person's word, that I was 100% guilty, and that I not only desserved the punishment for my "crime", but also punishment for lying and for not showing remorse. The idea never occurred to him that in a situation like this, the fairest thing probably would have been to just give me 1 (or even 2) days of detention and to also give the other kid 1 (or even 2) days of detention, and accept the fact that it would never be known who was guilty and who was not. It seemed wrong to say I was 100% guilty (and even lied about it and showed no remorse) and that the other kid was 100 % innocent.

[StillPooh]

[quote name='mitsguy2001']
My point is, the assistant principal decided, based on absolutely no other reason than one person's word, that I was 100% guilty, and that I not only desserved the punishment for my "crime", but also punishment for lying and for not showing remorse. The idea never occurred to him that in a situation like this, the fairest thing probably would have been to just give me 1 (or even 2) days of detention and to also give the other kid 1 (or even 2) days of detention, and accept the fact that it would never be known who was guilty and who was not. It seemed wrong to say I was 100% guilty (and even lied about it and showed no remorse) and that the other kid was 100 % innocent.[/QUOTE]The two situations are nothing alike. In the OP's scenario, she or her husband signed a receipt acknowledging a $160 transaction. The cruisers are either careless, or lying, or both. There is NO proof the employee did anything wrong. End of story.

[manmtnmike]

[quote name='BeccaBecca1713']Sigh.....you are, unfortunately, SOL. Your husband signing the receipt was the binding contract that says he agreed that he gave cashier that amount.

Lesson learned, and I appreciate you sharing, as I'm often guilty of signing without looking too.[/quote]

OP...
She's right on ....yet certainly, not what you'd like to hear...

But at least it will be a reminder to all of us to pay closer attention, especially when it's so easy to be "overly-trusting" on a cruise.

Mike

[Jolimont]

[quote name='Mommy2Cody']Sooo not true! I once deposited 500.00 into the ATM at my bank. It was late at night after work and the bank was closed. I deposited 500.00 and just after it took in the cash, the machine started beeping, the screen said transaction canceled and my atm card spit out! I put my card back in the machine and checked my balance, of course, the money didn’t show up on my account!! I’m sure I was a lovely sight, hysterical outside the closed bank at 10:00 at night, crying on my cell phone to my husband! Thankfully my bank was wonderful. I called the 1-800 number on the back of my card and got to speak with someone! the lady on the phone calmed me down, took a report, and said it happens all the time. She made a full report over the phone and told me a bank employee would call me first thing in the morning. I was sooo worried I would never see that money again, but I went home. Didn’t sleep at all that night. As I was getting ready in the morning to head out to the bank, my phone rang. It was my bank, they found my 500.00, verified it was mine and deposited it into my checking account! I NEVER use the ATM to deposit money anymore-NEVER! ATMs do make mistakes. COUNT YOUR MONEY!


OP: It is a upsetting situation. At least it was only 40.00 though.[/QUOTE]
I wasn't precise enough, ATMs don't make mistakes distributing money as in they don't miscount. But they can still experience a hardware failure (power failure), but then it's easy to prove you're of good faith since there's a time stamp. I don't deposit cash in ATMs either, even checks, I'd rather go in the bank and talk to a human.

[ib4cruzn]

ROTFLMAO!

I'm just sitting here wondering how different the responses would be if it were THEIR forty bucks.

You folks are a treat!

[popsec]

[quote name='ib4cruzn']ROTFLMAO!

I'm just sitting here wondering how different the responses would be if it were THEIR forty bucks.

You folks are a treat![/quote]

On the other hand, if you can afford a cruise and the steakhouse the $40 will probably not break you.

Just sayin' I sure wouldn't let $40 stand in the way of my getting full enjoyment out of my first cruise and I sure as heck wouldn't waste so much time while on the ship going to the purser's desk and I sure wouldn't let the thought of $40 ruin my memories of the cruise. Since it's just your word against the cashier's and you signed the receipt.....

[MsTabbyKats]

[quote name='ib4cruzn']ROTFLMAO!

I'm just sitting here wondering how different the responses would be if it were THEIR forty bucks.

You folks are a treat![/quote]

If it were my $40 I'd say next time I'll count the $$$ in front of the cashier....and I'd be made at myself. I might deny myself something that cost $40...to reinforce this lesson.

I had a similar experience once...I thought I gave the clerk a $20....but only got change back for a $10. After that, I tell the clerk exactly what I'm handing them.

I wouldn't let it ruin my vacation....and this didn't ruin the OPs trip either.

I wouldn't have spent any time trying to get the money back...after all...I would have been the person stupid enough to sign the receipt without checking the cash!

[7toEleven]

Sorry this happened to you! I agree I think it is a dead horse, and thankful it wasn't more!! I also appreciate the reminder to be careful!

[raylene5]

[quote name='ib4cruzn']ROTFLMAO!

I'm just sitting here wondering how different the responses would be if it were THEIR forty bucks.

You folks are a treat![/QUOTE]

Yeah, $40 on a several thousand dollar cruise really seems like nothing to me. I'm not saying the whole situation doesn't suck. I would have made a formal complaint (that way it's on record in case this type of thing happens with that specific teller a lot) but I would have never demanded video tapes be reviewed. That seems way over the top for $40 to me. And to brew over it for days on end? Seems like an over-reaction.

[mzloolue]

[quote name='Jolimont'] I don't deposit cash in ATMs either, even checks, I'd rather go in the bank and talk to a human.[/quote]

I don't use ATMs either.
I worked in a bank for years as a teller and then in the vault.

In banking I learned to count everything in and out.
In the bank I count it with the teller and in the drive through I count it before I drive off.

About the Carnival deal...

It sounds to me like the drawer probably doesn't balance close enough to be able to tell especially if more than one person works out of the drawer.
And if there are multiple errors it can be really hard to tell what happened.

Another thought is that from the opening post it seemed that the op was made to feel that if she pursued the issue that she would endanger the employe's job.

This is a bit much to put on a customer.
And a $40 error does not mean that anyone is a thief.

I image that many of us would eat a $40 mistake if we believed that pushing the situation would cost a person's job.

And to the OP, I would write a letter but realize that Carnival will probably not do anything.
But write the letter, mail it and put it out of your mind.

[ib4cruzn]

Like I said, a treat!

Is forty bucks a lot of money in the grand scheme of things? No. When was the last time you dropped $40 in the guitar case of a "street performer"? Oh! NOW forty bucks is a LOT of money, huh?

Forty dollars is only a trifle when it is somebody elses and if ANYBODY here says they wouldn't be pissed-off if somebody stiffed them for it they lie.

discuss...

[sail-a-bration]

To the OP, do not let anyones snarky answer get to you and make you regret asking opinions. I think the concensus is, you were correct in bringing the discrepency to the attention of Carnival. They should have taken action sooner and got back to you in a timely manner. I can understand being upset enough to remove the tip, but it did take from those who help make your vacation pleasent. Your post gave others a chance to tell of things that happened to them and reminded many of us to check our charges and reciepts. Thank you for posting.

[mistshar]

[quote name='balcony bound']I'm sorry that happened to you, and that it took up so much of your time.

I never used to pay much attention to my receipts - just signed. But we had one particular cruise that we had several receipts that were totally out of whack -- we ordered two drinks and the reciept was for over $100... I had just about signed it and noticed the amount- it was fixed promptly. I also made a purchase in the ship store and had mentally calculated what I was spending - checked the reciept and saw that I was charged 3 times for 1 item. That one took a couple hours to fix since the store clerk could not fix it himself? What a pain to be stuck there hanging around.

I'm usually pretty relaxed when on the ship, but these couple of mistakes have made me pay better attention (duh). [/quote]

Thank you for your post. It has made me make sure that I pay closer attention to my receipts before I sign them.

[RaiderFaninNM]

WOW, sorry to hear about this situation, are you sure you gave them all of the money? I have at times did just that in giving out the wrong amount, I do not buy the ATM running out of money, if the machine did not have the right amount then it would have not given any out :rolleyes: Have you heard anything else from Carnival?

[ib4cruzn]

[quote name='mistshar']Thank you for your post. It has made me make sure that I pay closer attention to my receipts before I sign them.[/QUOTE]

Indeed! I'm absolutely sure that those here on CC of the opinion that forty bucks is of no consequence will be sending this amount to you or the charity of your choice post haste.

Thanks for the giggles, group!

[mohavemommy]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]I would have thought, at very least, Carnival could have waived their Steakhouse bill. They could have coded it as some sort of generic guest relations. That way it would have not pointed blame to anybody.

Yes, it is just $40, but I too would have been upset about it. Not to the point of removing my tips, but I would have made sure Guest Relations would have heard strongly from me.

The person who has a good time tells one or two people about it... the person who has a bad time tells many more than that. ;)[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[chill6x6]

[QUOTE]On the other hand, if you can afford a cruise and the steakhouse the $40 will probably not break you.[/QUOTE]

Thank you!

[ib4cruzn]

[quote name='popsec']On the other hand, if you can afford a cruise and the steakhouse the $40 will probably not break you.

..[/QUOTE]

Using this logic: if the person can afford it, it's ok to steal.

I'm sorry folks. This is just SO wrong on so many levels.

At least they weren't smuggling booze...


ETA: Your logic is disgusting!