Overcharged on credit card once home

[redjockey39]

I cruised Grandeur of the Seas in July, my final onboard bill (timed 01.46am) showed a balance of approx £450, yet when my credit card bill arrived it was for £485 - a difference of exactly $50 at their exchange rate. I contacted RC and was informed the extra $50 was for pool towels. I explained we had not had any pool towels between 1.46am and departing the ship before 8am. They 'investigated' for a few days, then rang and told me the towels were actually someone else's and had been added to my account by mistake. They promised to refund my credit card within the next 7 - 14 days. Needless to say this has not happened. Has anyone else experienced this? Seems to me a good way to make $50 on everyones account.

[sherilyn70]

Have you called back to follow up on that?

[redjockey39]

Yes, I have. They are very sorry and are investigating, and will get back to me.

[cruiseguy1016]

There have been several reports on these boards of erroneous towel charges on accounts. Follow up and you should be reimbursed. WE had this problem once. Here's how we handle it now. We get towels on the first day and sign the "charge" slip. For the rest of the week we exchange towels only, never "sign out" fresh ones. At the end of the cruise we ask for a receipt saying we have returned our towels. On our last cruise, RCI tried to add a towel charge to our account after the last night. I called them and said "I have a receipt that proves we turned in our towels. Can you produce a charge receipt, signed by me, that says we signed more out?" Our money was refunded.

[MyHappyfingers]

thanks ill be sure to stay away from the pool towels

 

so what happens do people pinch your towel whilst you are swimming ? and then you are expected to pay for it ?

 

maybe ill just use my own towel :eek:

[Canadian Tyler]

I would hope that wouldn't happen too much since towels can be picked up right by the pool.

 

But if you need to replace stolen or missing towels, there usually are times at night that the towel bin is unattended :)

 

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[aurelius180]

I had the same thing happen this past June only it was $25US for one towel. They printed the onboard account at 2:43am on departure day for one amount. After the cruise we headed to an AI and while there I checked my CC account online and noticed the charge went through for exactly $25 more than it should have. Since I was on vacation still I started a dispute with BofA online and they refunded me the $25.

 

A couple weeks later the $25 was back on the card. I then called RCCL and asked what the charge was for. Before looking it up she said it sounded like a towel charge. I explained to her we never left the pool deck without returning our towels and that after 2:43am on departure day I didn't use the pool. She said it happens all the time that the towel attendant scans the card but it doesn't scan through and she refunded me the $25. I saw it on my account the next day.

 

I knew what it was to begin with and I told her I understand why they charge people who steal a towel but they need a receipt system if they are going to continue this process. Seems like a really easy way to get an extra $25 from a lot of people who don't pay attention to their account.

Edited August 10, 2011 by aurelius180

[crusinpsychRN]

That happened to me, getting charged for a towel I'd returned. I was still on the ship. It was raining and the towel attendant left with the clipboard. I put the towel in the bin. The charge was removed.

[Cruiseoholic000]

How does the towel system work? I have been on only one other cruise Celebrity last year and this year going on Oasis. I had towels for excursions left in my room and returned them to my bathroom. For pool use you just grab one you need and return it to the bin. I never had to sign anything.

 

Ken I like your idea. Who do you get the receipt from your room steward?

Edited August 10, 2011 by Cruiseoholic000

[Brad1185]

They did the bogus $50 towel charge on my dads account. Luckily he got a receipt each time and had them sign off that all towels were returned each time he checked out and returned the towels. He even went to the front desk at midnight the last night and checked his account, they said all towels were returned, by 6 am the last morning there was the $50 towel charge.

 

He had to go back down stand in the long last morning line to show all his towel receipts, he wad extremely frustrated, because he went to a lot of extra work trying to make sure this did not happen

 

I think the were taking advantage of a him thinking he would not notice, he wad 84 at the time. Maybe the can make a million bucks a year by making up these fake charges.

 

Celebrity and HAL don't have this nonsense, all the towels you want to use are stacked up by the pool no checking out and in, no bogus towel charges.

[SliderNc]

The towels aren't that good that they would be worth $25 either... :)

 

I think they overcomplicated this process. Why not just put them in the cabin and if they aren't there the last morning, you're charged the $50 or $25 for however many towels you are missing if you have more than 20 people in the cabin? The towel attendants can just go from room to room and check. If you take them with you, you get charged. Pretty simple to me.

[Hypo]

I find that I can always find lots of towels, lying on deck chairs around the pool around 7AM each morning. Seems some "nice" people get up early and place towels on these chairs, just for me to use.:D

[Red Mini Stapler]

we brought our own towels from home XD

[39august]

Skip the hassle. Go to the gym locker rooms and get all the towels you want.

[cruiseguy1016]

How does the towel system work? I have been on only one other cruise Celebrity last year and this year going on Oasis. I had towels for excursions left in my room and returned them to my bathroom. For pool use you just grab one you need and return it to the bin. I never had to sign anything.

 

Ken I like your idea. Who do you get the receipt from your room steward?

 

I got it from the towel attendant when I returned our towels.

[abby1257]

I returned from my cruise last week...received my sign and sail card bill...amount seemed to be spot on...upon arriving home a few days later..to my horror...carnival charged my credit card $180.00 more than my bill (there were no other charges that were not included, ie after midnight the last night)..has znyone had this happen...i will be on the phone first thing tomorrow

[Coralc]

I returned from my cruise last week...received my sign and sail card bill...amount seemed to be spot on...upon arriving home a few days later..to my horror...carnival charged my credit card $180.00 more than my bill (there were no other charges that were not included, ie after midnight the last night)..has znyone had this happen...i will be on the phone first thing tomorrow

 

Carnival must have really fancy pool towels.

 

Since you posted on the Royal Caribbean board, I'm not sure that we would know why you were overcharged on another cruise line. :D:):D

[amscene1]

As someone that has stolen hundreds of towels from cruise ships, I have yet to be charged intentionally or by mistake. I find it silly to actually pay for things in life like towels and linens.

 

 

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[islandgirl70]

I've been on a few royal cruises and never had an issues with towels. While on Allure they kept making the announcement that we would be charged if we didn't return pool towels. We signed out probably 8+ over the trip and not once did we return them. We left them in our stateroom and every time we came back our attendant had taken them. We were kind of panicked that we would be charged at the end of the cruise but weren't!

[Clarea]

I returned from my cruise last week...received my sign and sail card bill...amount seemed to be spot on...upon arriving home a few days later..to my horror...carnival charged my credit card $180.00 more than my bill (there were no other charges that were not included, ie after midnight the last night)..has znyone had this happen...i will be on the phone first thing tomorrow

Same thing has happened to us multiple times on Royal, though never as much as $180. We just call the post-cruise customer support and they remove the charge.

[cruisinfanatic]

I returned from my cruise last week...received my sign and sail card bill...amount seemed to be spot on...upon arriving home a few days later..to my horror...carnival charged my credit card $180.00 more than my bill (there were no other charges that were not included, ie after midnight the last night)..has znyone had this happen...i will be on the phone first thing tomorrow

This thread is 5 years old and isn't Carnival. You should start a new one there

[bouhunter]

Carnival must have really fancy pool towels.

 

Since you posted on the Royal Caribbean board, I'm not sure that we would know why you were overcharged on another cruise line. :D:):D

 

And they revived a 5 year old thread to do so.....

[abby1257]

my mistake...I thought I was posting on carnival