Art on Royal (aka Art Actually) - out of business?

[tispwisp]

Yes, Art on Royal has laid off all of their employees. My guess is that the few ships that had Art on Royal will be switching to Park West. I believe the owner filed for bankruptcy.

[chickenlady]

I bought art on a recent RCC in January this year. Received email yesterday telling me they were out of business. Anxiously awaiting a full refund - very disappointed. I cancelled my order on arriving home, and began emailing - its been going on since early February.

So I gather Art on Royal is the same as Art at Sea?:mad:

[The-Sea-Is-Calling]

I also received a call from RCL advising that Art on Royal has gone out of business and that RCL is trying to identify the purchased art work and get it to the customers. They advised they would call me back between last Friday and Today to confirm if they will send the art work or refund the purchase price. Of course RCL never did call. I called the Credit Card company and have filed a dispute on the purchase. Credit Card company advised that they will call RCL and try to resolve but in the mean time my account has been credited the full amount.

 

I would advise all who have purchased from Art on Royal to file immediate disputes because there is a time limit for doing this.

[chickenlady]

Amazed that you received a call. I sent of 15 pages of correspondence to my bank today - (12 pages were mine), to both defunct Art at sea, and RCCL.

My bank now will start investigating, and I HOPE I get my money back. My bank will not credit me immediately :( will take 45 days to investigate.

Has anyone tried ringing the Art at Sea local number in Australia - hilarious! Its in another language and then it hangs up on you.

I will NEVER sail with RCCL again - nor will I recommend them. If they had any integrity, they would not flaunt these crooks.

[Topo Gigio]

There was no art auction on the Indy a couple of weeks ago!

 

No wonder they start charging for character breakfast:D

[Morgans]

Similar position here. Has anyone received a refund for art "purchases " yet or have they just been "promised" ? This makes RCCL look very, very poor indeed.

[BARNET]

Similar position here. Has anyone received a refund for art "purchases " yet or have they just been "promised" ? This makes RCCL look very, very poor indeed.

 

I have contacted RCCL direct both in USA and UK about this, RCCL have set up a team in the USA to deal with this problem, I have also been sent a e-mail with reclaim forms by RCCL. My understanding is that we will receive a full refund from RCCL, I also understand it is not only Art on Royal customers that are out of pocket but some of the artist as well.

 

If you have an question contact post cruise customer complaints department in the country that you live.

[Morgans]

Thanks Barnet - we have done all of this but still awaiting refund. Just was wondering if anyone has in fact actually received their refund or is it still all promises.

[BARNET]

Thanks Barnet - we have done all of this but still awaiting refund. Just was wondering if anyone has in fact actually received their refund or is it still all promises.

 

Sorry thought you where just asking a general question, question for you how long have you been waiting ??

[Barb Nahoumi]

We were recently on the Explorer, and there was no art at all.

[Morgans]

It's my daughter and husband. They ordered paintings in September while we were all on Independence and it's only through reading the message boards that we realised that there was a problem - as well as not receiving their art of course! RCCL has been very quiet and my daughter has had to do all the ringing around. I understand the customer service is now in Guatemala which doesn't help. They received claim forms only a few days ago.

[chickenlady]

Thanks Barnet - we have done all of this but still awaiting refund. Just was wondering if anyone has in fact actually received their refund or is it still all promises.

 

I was promised a refund from Art at Sea in February….. Nothing.

RCC……nothing. All hopes now pinned on my Credit Card refund, which my bank is yet to investigate.

[The-Sea-Is-Calling]

This is the email I received from RCCL after calling them. The lady who is handling the issue for RCCL is located in Oregon and she is the only person who is handling the issue. I learned a long time ago to use my American Express card to purchase all merchandise. If there is a failure to deliver, AE will immediately refund the purchase price and then they will do all the work to find out the problem, get the missing artwork and/or punish the vendor as necessary. RCCL will not want to mess with AE. So everyone, call Kelsi.

 

Email from RCCL:

 

Thank you for your recent cruise vacation with our company, Royal Caribbean International. It was truly our pleasure to welcome you onboard.

 

We appreciate that you purchased artwork from Fine Arts Auction, LLC., the onboard art concession operator during your cruise vacation. Regrettably, it has come to our attention that this service provider has experienced difficulties fulfilling the purchases made by our guests. Please note that we have suspended Fine Art Auctions’ operations throughout our fleet. We sincerely apologize for the frustration caused by these delays. As a company, we set a very high standard for the level of service provided to our guests by concession operators operating onboard our vessels and we regret that this experience did not meet those expectations.

 

We understand that guests purchase artwork during their cruise vacation to have a tangible item with which to remember their wonderful time onboard. It is important to you, and therefore , it is important to us, too. We believe it may be possible to have your purchase fulfilled and we are advocating on your behalf to try to make that happen. You can rest assured that we are making it a priority to resolve this matter for you in an expeditious manner.

 

We are happy to answer any questions or concerns that you may have regarding this process. You may contact us by standard mail at the address above, via e-mail at ArtResolution@rccl.com, or by telephone at 1-800-256-6649.

 

We truly hope this unfortunate experience does not impact your positive impression of our company. We are committed to providing all of our guests a wonderful cruise vacation in all aspects, and we hope to have the opportunity to welcome you onboard future sailings.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

Kelsi Coffman

Corporate Guest Relations

Royal Caribbean International

[The-Sea-Is-Calling]

Despite the issues with the 'Art on Royal' I will continue to sail with RCCL. This is such a small part of the cruise. Granted for us it was a large sum of money but a lesson well learned. We used our AMEX card and we feel confident the issue is being handled and will be resolved. We have purchased art in past with no problems and have been enjoying it for years. My advice is to hang in there it may take a while but I feel confident we will be taken care of. We understand "Mark West Gallery" is back on the ships and they are fantastic from our experience. Happy sailing and hope to see you all again on another cruise.

[Charger2008]

There was an art auction last year on the Indepdence when we sailed in March; however, there was no art on the ship this year.

[lillyloveselvis]

I purchased $2,610 worth of art January 2014 and am waiting still.

All my emails get generated emails telling me to email this or that department and they send emails telling me to contact the first place I contacted.

I called the U.S number of Art on Royal to find they are disconnected.

I called the resolutions number to be told they went bankrumpt and left a mess behind and someone will eventually reply??

That is a huge mess for a giant company to not rectify.

I do not want to be out of pocket that kind of money just for trusting RCCL and purchasing goods at their Auctions in good faith.

I guess I can only cross my fingers I see my money again?

[Darkwolfe]

Those that are mad at Royal, I submit that your anger is at least somewhat misplaced.

 

The ships use contractors for a number of services. Art is just one of them. Royal is as much victim in this mess as anyone that purchased a piece of art that has not/likely will not ever be delivered. They had a contract with Art Actually to provide that service and Art Actually has defaulted on that contract.

 

It's rather like saying, "I will never drive on any road in (enter location here) because someone cut me off". Ship shops are effectively shopping malls. You don't go the mall manager when your new shoes rip after ten steps, you go up the chain for the store.

 

Granted, with Art Actually, going up the chain seems to be a bit of a problem. Royal is doing what they can at least.

 

As always with high dollar items purchased abroad, "Buyer Beware".

[rlpolobear9]

Just a quick reminder of why you should not use you bank accounts for large purchases or charges. Just get a credit card makes filling disputes and getting resolution much easier than going through a bank. On a side note I'd personally never buy the junk artwork on cruise ships that are just massed produced copies made in China, you're better off just buying art in ports or from real artists.

[gkbiiii]

Those that are mad at Royal, I submit that your anger is at least somewhat misplaced.

 

The ships use contractors for a number of services. Art is just one of them. Royal is as much victim in this mess as anyone that purchased a piece of art that has not/likely will not ever be delivered. They had a contract with Art Actually to provide that service and Art Actually has defaulted on that contract.

 

It's rather like saying, "I will never drive on any road in (enter location here) because someone cut me off". Ship shops are effectively shopping malls. You don't go the mall manager when your new shoes rip after ten steps, you go up the chain for the store.

 

Granted, with Art Actually, going up the chain seems to be a bit of a problem. Royal is doing what they can at least.

 

As always with high dollar items purchased abroad, "Buyer Beware".

 

 

 

How is their anger misplaced, is it not Royal's responsibility to fully guarantee the products purchased aboard its ships, (which RCCL makes commission on) are delivered as promised??

[smokey7722]

All,

 

So after a LOT of fighting I did in fact get my money back. It took a credit card dispute, facebook and twitter public posts and calls to the Diamond desk and customer relations desks to get a call back from someone. Given the difficulty to get through to RCL, attached is the form I was provided that you need to fill out to request a refund. In addition, below is a copy of the email I was sent. Basically, fill out the attached form, then email to the email listed in the below email. The one thing to note is you can NOT have an outstanding credit card dispute open. If you do, you must cancel it and provide a copy of something saying it was canceled (a screen print of your credit card dispute status online works fine). The pdf attached is a conversion of the .doc file I was sent (it was too large to upload here, so I converted it to a pdf).

 

I was told on the phone that "we are not legally responsible for refunding you your money as per our contracts but we are doing so as a customer service to you" to which I laughed. They took my money, goods were not provided so I am owed my money back. I understand it is a contract they were dealing with but thats not my concern that their contractor was unable to fulfill their end of the deal. They also told me that no additional compensation will be given, just the exact amount on the artwork invoices.

 

One additional note is that if you have a copy of your onboard invoice, many of the artists galleries are trying their best to honor those prices. I've been told they will not work with RCL as the middle man if you are allowing RCL to try to get you your artwork but the artists will sell direct to you at the original price you paid (and with no buyers premium). I was able to get a DeRubeis piece from their gallery directly at my original price by working directly with the gallery.

 

And lastly... although the email stated it would take 4-6 weeks for a refund, on the phone I was told 48-72 hours once the form was received. I got my refund about 48 hours after I sent the form in.

 

Email from RCL:

 

Thank you for your recent cruise vacation with our company, Royal Caribbean International. It was truly our pleasure to welcome you onboard.

 

We appreciate that you purchased artwork from Fine Arts Auction, LLC., the onboard art concession operator during your cruise vacation. Regrettably, it has come to our attention that this service provider has experienced difficulties fulfilling the purchases made by our guests. Please note that we have suspended Fine Art Auctions’ operations throughout our fleet. We sincerely apologize for the frustration caused by these delays. As a company, we set a very high standard for the level of service provided to our guests by concession operators operating onboard our vessels and we regret that this experience did not meet those expectations.

 

Because you did not receive your artwork and you purchased your artwork onboard our vessels using your SeaPass account, we are happy to provide you a full refund for the purchase price of the artwork. Please complete the enclosed refund request form and return it to our corporate offices at the address provided above. You may also send the completed form to us via email to ArtResolution@rccl.com. Please allow four to six weeks for the refunds to be disbursed to the original form of payment.

 

We truly hope this unfortunate experience does not impact your positive impression of our company. We are committed to providing all of our guests a wonderful cruise vacation in all aspects, and we hope to have the opportunity to welcome you onboard future sailings.

 

Sincerely,

 

Amanda Gordon

Corporate Guest Relations Advocate

Refund Request Form.pdf

Edited May 5, 2014 by smokey7722

[cheers]

All,

 

So after a LOT of fighting I did in fact get my money back. It took a credit card dispute, facebook and twitter public posts and calls to the Diamond desk and customer relations desks to get a call back from someone. Given the difficulty to get through to RCL, attached is the form I was provided that you need to fill out to request a refund. In addition, below is a copy of the email I was sent. Basically, fill out the attached form, then email to the email listed in the below email. The one thing to note is you can NOT have an outstanding credit card dispute open. If you do, you must cancel it and provide a copy of something saying it was canceled (a screen print of your credit card dispute status online works fine). The pdf attached is a conversion of the .doc file I was sent (it was too large to upload here, so I converted it to a pdf).

 

I was told on the phone that "we are not legally responsible for refunding you your money as per our contracts but we are doing so as a customer service to you" to which I laughed. They took my money, goods were not provided so I am owed my money back. I understand it is a contract they were dealing with but thats not my concern that their contractor was unable to fulfill their end of the deal. They also told me that no additional compensation will be given, just the exact amount on the artwork invoices.

 

One additional note is that if you have a copy of your onboard invoice, many of the artists galleries are trying their best to honor those prices. I've been told they will not work with RCL as the middle man if you are allowing RCL to try to get you your artwork but the artists will sell direct to you at the original price you paid (and with no buyers premium). I was able to get a DeRubeis piece from their gallery directly at my original price by working directly with the gallery.

 

And lastly... although the email stated it would take 4-6 weeks for a refund, on the phone I was told 48-72 hours once the form was received. I got my refund about 48 hours after I sent the form in.

 

Email from RCL:

Thank you. This is most helpful!

[smokey7722]

Thank you. This is most helpful!

 

No problem. I hope it can help others who are out their cash. I had spent roughly $2600 so I was pretty eager to get my money back. And as I said, so far I have reordered one of the pieces of the three I had purchased onboard and at the same price.

[The-Sea-Is-Calling]

American Express credited my account immediately after I filed my dispute with American Express about RCCL. In about 2 weeks, RCCL did follow thru and refunded the payments (I made 3 separate purchases on-board) to my American Express account. Note, RCCL prefers that the customer not file a complaint because the credit card companies charge RCCL a fee for every credit card purchase. The card company keeps the Fee when a dispute is filed so it does cost RCCL. RCCL should have fessed up to this problem and refunded all of the money immediately. Poor business practice. We all should send letters to the Board of Directors about this problem.

[ssuccow]

I purchased art in January and heard from RCCL in about March. Filled out the paperwork and had a refund from RCCL a couple weeks later. I think RCCL did well be refunding the money even though the paperwork clearly stated it was Art Actually.

 

Granted, it was only a few hundred dollars for me. I would have been much more stressed and anxious had it been thousands.

 

I buy the art on board as a souvenir rather than an art investment.

 

I actually contacted the artist directly as I would like art, and I understand that the artists didn't fare so well with the demise of Art Actually.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[finz2u]

Just off the Independence and Park West had art auctions galore. On our first night we stopped to speak to one of the salespersons and received extra raffle tickets and special invitations to all of the art events. We have "collected" with Park West in the past with no problems. Did not "collect" this year, but, it is always a fun event to attend.