Final statement

[erewhon]

My wife and I were on the febuary 24 cruise on the Noordam. My credit card charge was more than the final statement. I called Holland America ,got my credit but this is the third cruise in a row with HAL that this has happened. No other cruise line has this occured. They gave me all kind of excuses ,but frankly I do not buy it. Seems kind of funny to me!

 

Deleted.

[lovetocruise2020]

Too many issues for us as well.

In addition to gifting ourselves with OBC, we are also going to try the new beverage cards...

No matter what we will still watch it. We are now in the habit of checking the account daily.

[hrhdhd]

We have been charged for mini bar items we didn't use, and once I was charged for a drink on HMC even though I never left the ship.

 

Fraud is certainly a strong word, but at a minimum this consistent pattern of incorrect charges is the result of inept employees and/or poor training. And it probably does add up to a lot of money over the course of a year because a lot of people don't check their onboard statements or compare them to their credit card charges.

[jtl513]

Really, would people do that? That would be beyond petty.

You know those small "emergency lights" near the light switches by the door on Vista ships? Originally those were removable, so they could be used as flashlights. Now they are all fastened in place ... because people were taking them home! Some people will steal anything they think they can get away with. :eek:

[kazu]

Looks to me this is common practice by HAL. It may not be a lot of money but $5 here and $10 there adds up to a lot of money. Adding bogus charges after you leave the ship to your credit card is nothing but consumer fraud. It adds up to millions of dollars a year for HAL. Do the math! Not to mention the $75 charge. Wow!!!

 

 

The COMMON practice is checking the mini bar and refilling it the morning of disembarkation - because of that = you really don't have your 'final' bill until that is done and by then you are probably already off the ship.

 

I don't think there are bogus charges added by any means. Two cruises ago mine was different - I emailed HAL and they sent me a detailed list of what was out of the mini bar - and offered to reverse if I disputed it - when I looked at the list, I realized we were only charged the first time for our sodas and not for the rest of the stuff (yes I checked my on board account).

 

so, the problem is that they check the mini bars/fridges/whatever you want to call them on the last day. So, it's surprise time and I wouldn't be surprised if mistakes are made as they are recording everything.

 

There's a big rush to be ready for the next crew.

 

It just takes an email if you doubt it and they will show you the bill.

 

I don't think the charges are bogus - mistakes can happen - I don't know too many people who don't make them - but the fact that the figure differs is usually do to this.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

The Mini Bar is a real puzzle to me. We never used it until we got to be 4 star and on occasion now we will have a soft drink. But what we use is never replaced so I never know when we are charged or if. Also, I have not yet gotten a stright answer from the room steward as to who is in charge of the mini bar. I have been told by several stewards, that they are to notify the Beverage Dept when items have been used. One steward said he replaced the items and one said the Beverage Dept does. But as I said, we have never seen any replacements. I suspect the system needs some tightening up. I can see why people might get charged after the fact with the system that I have observed. Barbara

[kazu]

The Mini Bar is a real puzzle to me. We never used it until we got to be 4 star and on occasion now we will have a soft drink. But what we use is never replaced so I never know when we are charged or if. Also, I have not yet gotten a stright answer from the room steward as to who is in charge of the mini bar. I have been told by several stewards, that they are to notify the Beverage Dept when items have been used. One steward said he replaced the items and one said the Beverage Dept does. But as I said, we have never seen any replacements. I suspect the system needs some tightening up. I can see why people might get charged after the fact with the system that I have observed. Barbara

 

exactly! I saw the bill for the first one (which our steward must have done) but on the last day a totally different person came in to restock.

 

If Hal did restock them (especially on the longer cruises) it would be a big help as then you would be billed:D for at least a portion of what you had used.

[Sea42]

What I really liked about our cruise with HAL was the beverage cards. We had one for alcohol and one for sodas. Those were the only two items on our bill besides the HSC. We paid for our Pinnacle Grill reservation and our one shore excursion before sailing so going over our final statement was a breeze! A incorrect charge would be very easy to spot.

While this won't help eliminate problems discovered after you leave the ship it does make keeping track of your onboard expenditures quite easy.

OOPS! I've been informed by the family bookkeeper (DH) that we did have another charge from room service, a bucket of beer for sail-away!

Apparently you cannot use the beverage cards for room service beverages. I stand corrected!

[sail7seas]

Our last cruise was HAL after a couple of RCL ones - we loved that we could see our bill on the TV on RCL. I was certainly wishing we had it as we also had an error on our bill and of course it was on our door the morning of debarkation and I had to stand in line, then wait for the head of the department and so on. On RCL we could look daily if we wanted and it was pretty up to date.

 

You can stop by the front office (or Neptune Lounge if you are in a Suite) and ask for a print out of your bill at any time. They are happy to provide it upon request.

 

You don't have to wait until end of cruise for the whole bill. Check as you go along and get anything you think to be an error explained/corrected before the long line that forms on last night/last morning.

 

 

Yes, those $75 and $150 errors are too large to ignore. I can't guess how such an error was made but it has to be corrected.

 

 

 

[cruz chic]

You know those small "emergency lights" near the light switches by the door on Vista ships? Originally those were removable, so they could be used as flashlights. Now they are all fastened in place ... because people were taking them home! Some people will steal anything they think they can get away with. :eek:

Wow, that crazy. I guess I'm just too honest and I think everyone else is that way.

[Boytjie]

Looks to me this is common practice by HAL. It may not be a lot of money but $5 here and $10 there adds up to a lot of money. Adding bogus charges after you leave the ship to your credit card is nothing but consumer fraud. It adds up to millions of dollars a year for HAL. Do the math! Not to mention the $75 charge. Wow!!!

 

Six HAL cruises and it has never happened to us. Neither did it on the three cruises on other cruise lines.

[pms4104]

We always empty the fridge/cooler and arrange all the goodies on a shelf ... clearly visible and easy to inventory on a routine basis.

 

At least twice, our credit card statement reflected an amount that was more than the total on our final disembarkation statement. Called HAL, and while the charges for random bottles of water were reversed, the HAL staffer acted like I either didn't remember drinking the water (we bring our own) or I was trying to scam them by disputing the amounts.

 

I long have felt that HAL should consider not filling the fridge ... rather they can provide a menu of goodies/beverages for in-room consumption, along with pricing. Passengers can order what they desire and place restocking orders as needed. Well, then the revenue from impulse consumption disappears.

[redhot1]

One thing they teach you in law school is not to assume. Most of the posters state facts as to their bills and the removal. But fraud is fraud whether it's strong language or not. It could be innocent errors or a bad program but a repeat pattern says something should be done to corect a definate. In the individual matter its small potatoes but in the agrate its millions of dallars with all the ships and the weekly sailings so the comments are valid and the fact it hasn't happened to some of us doesn't attest to a major problem. Just for the record in 35 cruises we have not had this happened but that doesn't mean that it can't:)

[cruz chic]

Just for the record in 35 cruises we have not had this happened but that doesn't mean that it can't:)

Agree. I went years and year without this happening. Now, it seems to be a common occurance. I wonder when posters say it hasn't happened to them if they are suggesting that it doesn't happen or that somehow we are guilty. I agree with the poster who mentioned Hal makes out like we simply forgot that we used the items:rolleyes:.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been charged for mini bar items we didn't use, and once I was charged for a drink on HMC even though I never left the ship.

 

Fraud is certainly a strong word, but at a minimum this consistent pattern of incorrect charges is the result of inept employees and/or poor training. And it probably does add up to a lot of money over the course of a year because a lot of people don't check their onboard statements or compare them to their credit card charges.

 

A lot of errors can be made on HMC -- they don't have the machines there where they can run your ID card through.

Instead they hand write out the bills -- you sign your name and cabin number. Thus anyone can write any cabin number on the bill.

[peaches from georgia]

The only problem we ever had that we know of was one time after we got home we had a charge for a very expensive phone call made from our suite the afternoon of our disembarkation day. Since we had left the ship hours before the call was made we had no trouble getting it taken off our credit card.

[Silver sailor]

I was in the cabin when the young lady came to inventory the mini fridge

She said we had used two items I told her we did not and she said we would not be charged

When the final charge was made to our credit card there was a slight difference from the final bill

Contacted HAL and contrary to what the woman said we were charged for the items we did not use

No problem getting the chatge removed

 

Could be human error but the original poster stated they were overcharged on the last three cruises What would be the odds of this occuring ?

 

This problem seems to be occuring quite frequently

The individuals who respond here are a very small percentage of the total who cruise with HAL . Yet more and more are being overcharged

 

If HAL does pay attention to these borads maybe someone could advise why this continues to occur

[hrhdhd]

I wonder when posters say it hasn't happened to them if they are suggesting that it doesn't happen or that somehow we are guilty.

 

And these are the same posters who, on other threads that detail their singular experiences with HAL, get their backs up when people point out a similar thing hasn't happened to them.

 

Maybe I'm just unlucky. :rolleyes:

[jtl513]

A lot of errors can be made on HMC -- Thus anyone can write any cabin number on the bill.

Or someone may mis-read or mis-type the cabin number when entering the charges into the computer system once back on board.

[Boytjie]

Agree. I went years and year without this happening. Now, it seems to be a common occurance. I wonder when posters say it hasn't happened to them if they are suggesting that it doesn't happen or that somehow we are guilty. I agree with the poster who mentioned Hal makes out like we simply forgot that we used the items:rolleyes:.

 

I am not posting to say since it hasn't happened to me it did not happen to others: I am just trying to give another side of it when some posters claim it is fraudulent and widespread. :)

[cruz chic]

I am not posting to say since it hasn't happened to me it did not happen to others: I am just trying to give another side of it when some posters claim it is fraudulent and widespread. :)

Yes, but it does seem fairly widespread....at least lately.

[DaveOKC]

I doubt that HAL is commiting fraud in these cases, I think it is just someone trying to balance the books at the end of the cruise. I bet they have some charges that they cannot fully read the cabin number or name and they just make an educated guess.

 

Mistakes happen - I know this happens at hotels as well, so why should HAL be any different than their land based competitors.

 

DaveOKC

[jayjaycan]

We have taken 25 cruises (various lines) and on only one occasion did our credit card charges vary from the final acccount statement.Princess charged for bottled water that we did not use.It was a nominal amount and not worth the trouble having it reversed.

 

On the other hand,we have been mistakenly charged for bar drinks by HAL,Princess and Celebrity and spa charges on Disney.In all instances these were reversed before the final statement.

 

I have made it a rule never to use the mini bar,to request receipts for all purchases onboard and to request an interim statement for reconcilition before the final day at sea.This way any errors can be corrected with little or no hassle.Disembarkation day is leaving things too late.

 

I donbt very much that any cruise line intentionally overcharges.The mini bar is definitely a bone of contention.

[magandab]

This happened to us on our last HAL cruise. I drank one soda out of the minibar and left the empty can right above it so there would be no question. Our final bill, the night before, showed two sodas and several bottles of water. I don't remember if I called or went to the front desk. The girl had no trouble removing the second soda but her comment about the water was "Those bottles they leave in your cabin are NOT free you know." I told her I understood that and that we had not touched any of them. She did remove the charges.

 

I know I can, and will, have the minibar emptied. Can I also be removed from the "leave water bottles in the room" list. I really find it a bit, I don't know.. pushy?... for them to continually add to the collection of unopened bottles when clearly we are not using them.

[cruz chic]

The girl had no trouble removing the second soda but her comment about the water was "Those bottles they leave in your cabin are NOT free you know." I told her I understood that and that we had not touched any of them. She did remove the charges.

 

This is what bugs me.....the attitude that goes with it. Like I'm too drunk or dumb to remember that I drank $150 worth of the mini bar or that I had 5 drinks instead of 2:rolleyes:. I know that some folks think it's an accident and I'll buy that when it's a can of soda or water. When it's significant I have problems with that theory.