Celebrity Fraud/Scam ???

[cruisine21]

All, there IS a weird glitch in the system. As a frequent Celebrity cruiser with over a dozen, I had never had this happen....until my cruise in september. Below is the email I received after final payment. The email stated I owed money yet the balance shown in the email showed a zero dollar balance.

 

So I decided to double check my celebrity account....thats is when I discovered a balance of $ 250.00. I called Celebrity, they reissued an invoice showing I was paid and now the odd $250.00 balance is gone.

 

for those of you doubting this happened....just know it did...

 

Since this has never happened to me, I have to admit I still feel worried something is off and check my reservation daily to be sure has not been cancelled. It was odd and unnerving.

 

OP...your anger and language is a little off putting. Take a deep breath...I feel unnerved as well and understand. Just call celebrity and they will confirm that you do not owe an additional balance and it will be fixed. No fraud, no scam...darn system glitch.

 

 

Here is the email sent to me as well:

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

 

Thank you for choosing Celebrity for your upcoming cruise vacation. This is a reminder that a balance due remains on your account. Your reservation will be cancelled in less than two days if payment in full is not made.

 

To make a payment, simply open your My Celebrity account at http://www.celebrity.com/mycelebrity. With your My Celebrity account, you may also create and store travel profile information, book onboard Xtras, such as AquaSpa® treatments and more.

 

If you prefer to speak to a Celebrity Cruise Vacation Planner to make a payment, call 1-800-647-2251.

 

For your convenience, we have provided the details of your reservation and payment below.

 

RESERVATION CONFIRMATION

10 Night Western Mediterranean Cruise Sailing On Celebrity Silhouette

Sail Date: 14-Sep-2015

Status: Confirmed

 

 

PAYMENT SUMMARY

(Prices shown in U. S. Dollars)

Total Cost: 5766.56

Total Payments Made: 5766.56

Balance Due: 0.00

Final Payment Due: 0.00

 

The same thing happened to me. It was very worrying. The Celebrity call centre staff are aware of the glitch. I had already pre-paid my gratuities.

Edited July 6, 2015 by cruisine21

[need2bespoiled]

I didn't receive an email pre-cruise about a balance, but got a call from the accounting department onboard that we owed $2500+ dollars. The accounting person was pretty rude and it's pretty upsetting to be told you owe such a significant amount once you think you've paid.

 

We were in the middle of a month long sailing (month) in an upper suite that I knew was fully paid through my travel agent as I've been pretty diligent about watching for correct charges as I've had far too many "little mistakes" but the call still gave me anxiety. I double checked my invoices, my credit card statement onboard and then sent an email to my travel agent. We had already had our fair share of problems on this cruise, so I next called the Michael's Club concierge and told them to not have the guest relations / accounting staff call me and that I would deal with her. Needless to say, we were paid in full and received an apology note from the guest relations manage.

 

I just don't get how these systems can't keep track of the bookings accurately. I chalk it up to IT incompetence more than fraud, but do think they fact they can't/haven't fixed the systems is beginning to border on fraud by management. They have over $8 Billion (maybe $10) dollars in ships floating around the sea and their IT systems seems to be more amateur than need be.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Froxfield]

There is definitely something odd about the Celebrity IT system: but then we know that don't we?! I have just settled a final cruise payment where we have the 123Go package which, of course, included gratuities. After settling the invoice with X on the phone I received an email thanking me for my deposit (!) and indicating that there was an outstanding amount for final payment of £183.68 (the amount of the gratuities). A second email followed almost immediately with an invoice attached showing that all amounts had been settled and a balance to pay of zero!!

 

Final payment due date is a little way off, so I am waiting to see if I get a reminder email. I haven't contacted X and don't really know whether I should or not.

 

It seems that the IT system isn't quite up to the task of keeping track of all the different offers of pre-paid this and that. Just one of the amusing quirks of Modern Luxury! It also has to be said that I often have to trek down to Guest Services on the ships to get some charge or other taken off the account. All part of the fun. I guess if we wanted an upgrade to the "state of the Ark" systems the cost of the cruises would rise to pay for it?

[Tiggertastic]

We've had a few times when it says one figure and the total has money unaccounted for. Even if we add the gratuities and taxes and we've had to phone them to get it resolved. Happened yo us onboard too and pointed it out in the future cruise office and they'd not seen it before. We put it down to the bad website.

[Oakton Girl]

Always be sure to check your onboard invoices also. Last cruise we were charged with someone else's wine. Went down to Guest Services, stood in line, and they did take it off the bill. Next day it happened again. Called GR, as I didn't want to spend my vacation sorting their errors. Said they would investigate and let us know if they would remove charges- not an answer I wanted to hear. Really, no apology?? In dining room I asked to see beverage manager. He couldn't have been nicer and more apologetic. Said this has happened before and he would make sure it would be taken care of properly. And it was. Errors happen, sure, but after the 2nd time, C needed to apologize and then say it would be sorted properly.

[CABINET]

The two day window seems rather small. We are frequently away for weeks not days so could potentially have our cruise cancelled and know nothing about it.

[gw2fll]

Just thought I would mention a couple of things:

 

Mistakes do happen, even at retail operations onshore. Payments can be applied to the wrong account, user pays online - yet credit card company could rejects transaction, the formatting of the amount field is different than anticipated and we actually "underpay", etc.

 

Also, in this day and age of "phishing", we need to be cognizant of exactly who we are dealing with whether via email, telephone, online accounts etc. This is where we as consumers need to do our investigating (confirm we actually made the payment) and then call Celebrity to discuss the matter.

 

When receiving emails requesting funds, e.g., "payment", our alarms should go off to make sure we are cautious how we provide credit card information, who we provide it to, etc. Even though the link in the email looks valid, it could actually redirect to a different address in an attempt to get sign-on info, credit card numbers, etc. Leveraging the telephone in this type of situation is the easiest way to resolve the matter, more safely, and help prevent fraud.

 

I realize the above is not the "complaint" of the OP; however, it could have easily have been an attempt to obtain personal information from the user.

 

Just thought I would pass along.

[bubblesqueaker]

Same thing happened to us, three years in a row! It's a computer glitch that Celebrity clearly aren't capable of fixing. We paid the final balance and then it came up telling us we owed £300!

[ISABELLA]

Well perhaps someone can explain how this Celebrity deal works. A veranda room listed at $2099 with port taxes, fees etc of $197 which when added together equates to $2296 but when one goes to book it the charge is $4898 for 2 people or $153 per person extra. Go figure. Fraud or scam. You be the judge. That's using the Celebrity website and includes no perks.

 

Extra $153 / pp is gratuity that must be prepaid - very recent change in X policy

[PoppyandNana]

Extra $153 / pp is gratuity that must be prepaid - very recent change in X policy

 

 

I'm exaggerating a little but it would appear that the early and late dining periods are fully booked on every Celebity sailing for the next year.

 

We booked a January 2016 ten day in May. Both seating were full requiring prepayment of gratuities. Not a big deal in the general scheme of world peace but in 28 sailings we have never experienced this. One or the other might be booked but both? Something smells fishy in Denmark.

[gimletgal]

Extra $153 / pp is gratuity that must be prepaid - very recent change in X policy

I would love to see where this "recent change" was announced or when the effective date is. To my knowledge, it still only applies to Select Dining. And I can't get any sailing (no matter how many days) to come out to $153 for gratuities (using both old & new amounts), so am not sure where that figure came from. Am I missing something?

 

Q: How are gratuities handled onboard?

For your convenience, we automatically add gratuities for your restaurant and stateroom services to your onboard SeaPass® account on a daily basis in the following amounts, which may be adjusted at your discretion:

• $12 per person, per day in Suite Class

• $12.50 per person, per day in Concierge Class and AquaClass® staterooms

• $15.50 per person, per day in Suite Class

** Please note that beginning June 1, 2015 for all sailings beginning on or after July 1, 2015, that gratuities will increase to the following:

• $12.95 per person, per day in standard staterooms

• $13.45 per person, per day in Concierge Class and AquaClass® staterooms

• $16.45 per person, per day in Suite Class

Prepay your gratuities by May 31 to lock in the current rate before it adjusts by calling 1-800-647-2251, logging into your My Celebrity account, or by contacting your travel agent. As of June 1, any prepaid gratuities applied to your reservation will be at the new rates.

 

Please note that if you have already prepaid your gratuities or have received them through a sales promotion that you will not incur any additional automatic daily gratuity charges once onboard.

 

This gratuity is shared by your Dining & Culinary Services Staff, Stateroom Attendants, Other Housekeeping Services Personnel, as well as staff from other departments who work behind the scenes to enhance your cruise experience.

 

At your discretion, the gratuity payments may be adjusted onboard at Guest Relations, in which case they will not automatically be added to your onboard SeaPass® account.

 

An 18% gratuity will be automatically added to all beverages, mini bar purchases, spa and salon services. Additional gratuities may be added at your discretion.

[Suzanne123]

I'm exaggerating a little but it would appear that the early and late dining periods are fully booked on every Celebity sailing for the next year.

 

We booked a January 2016 ten day in May. Both seating were full requiring prepayment of gratuities. Not a big deal in the general scheme of world peace but in 28 sailings we have never experienced this. One or the other might be booked but both? Something smells fishy in Denmark.

 

Same here. Booked for next March, 2016 and both early and late seating are waitlisted. I had to pay the gratuities with my deposit.

[wallie5446]

Same here. Booked for next March, 2016 and both early and late seating are waitlisted. I had to pay the gratuities with my deposit.

 

Direct with Celebrity or thru a TA?

 

I ask because I understood that the pre-paid were done with final, not with the deposit.

Edited July 13, 2015 by wallie5446

[PoppyandNana]

Direct with Celebrity or thru a TA?

 

I ask because I undeirstood that the pre-paid were done with final, not with the deposit.

 

We booked ours onboard our last sailing in June. We had to pay them at that time because both fixes settings were "full" and had to take select dining. Now, we could could have taken the gratuities as a 123Go perk. but I have a hard time justifying the cost/benefit ratio of a $1200 beverage package to $260 in tips.

[Suzanne123]

Direct with Celebrity or thru a TA?

 

I ask because I understood that the pre-paid were done with final, not with the deposit.

 

I used a TA. When I asked about removing the tips since we were waitlisted for first seating, he said, "They won't let me take off the gratuities."

I looked again at my invoice, and I was mistaken. We paid $900 for the deposit. An additional line item of $129.50 ea are included in our package price. I'm assuming that if we finally get first seating, that the gratuities will disappear from the invoice. But maybe not...

Edited July 13, 2015 by Suzanne123

[cruisine21]

I prepaid my gratuities for my my next cruise. When I booked only the first dining seating time was available. I attempted to change to select dining after I had made final payment but my account changed and it said I still owed the amount of the gratuities so I ended up leaving the early seating because I was worried about my booking being cancelled.

Edited July 14, 2015 by cruisine21

[QE2_Fan]

Am surprised after reading this thread that so many participants feel the OP was out of line and should expect mistakes happen, gratiuities should be paid and don't we all know of Celebrity's IT errors so we just need to deal with it?

 

How complacent have we got that we assume the OP knew of such IT issues, and even more worrying is that the feedback seems to be we should just shut up and put up. Sorry but when a multi million dollar company cannot fix an issue that results in financial discrepancies and we, the customer should just deal with it...well I,m a little flabbergasted.

 

I have had it happen to me and read of many other similar scenarios occurring with their internal accounting system and it's simply not acceptable in any capacity.

 

Would you be just as accepting if you went to your local bank and withdrew $50 from your account only to see it go onto overdraft by $25..... Even though you knew you had $100 in there. Would you walk away thinking oh well, they'll fix it, they've been having a few system issues lately?.

 

What if it was your TA. Instead of praising a good TA would you be posting of their incompetence? Would you just put up with it?

 

I didn't think so.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited July 14, 2015 by QE2_Fan

[cruisestitch]

I think that if I saw the error I would go to the bank to have it fixed. I would not post on line that the bank had committed fraud, or scammed me Or intended to rip me off. That was what the OP did. It was the tone that was over the top.

 

How much different this thread would have unfolded if the OP had written something simple and calm --

 

"If you receive an email from Celebrity telling you that you owe money, be sure to check your payment history carefully because there seems to be a glitch in the system causing erroneous emails to be sent"

[wallie5446]

I used a TA. When I asked about removing the tips since we were waitlisted for first seating, he said, "They won't let me take off the gratuities."

I looked again at my invoice, and I was mistaken. We paid $900 for the deposit. An additional line item of $129.50 ea are included in our package price. I'm assuming that if we finally get first seating, that the gratuities will disappear from the invoice. But maybe not...

 

Thanks for clearing this up. So as of now you have only paid the deposit. Grats will be due with final payment, unless you get the change in seating time.

[wallie5446]

We booked ours onboard our last sailing in June. We had to pay them at that time because both fixes settings were "full" and had to take select dining. Now, we could could have taken the gratuities as a 123Go perk. but I have a hard time justifying the cost/benefit ratio of a $1200 beverage package to $260 in tips.

 

We too booked on board the Equinox last Nov for our upcoming. We got the 50% reduced deposit and $300 more OBC to use then, and did not have to pay any additional items.

 

Now we are booked in Aqua, I wonder if that makes a difference?

EW

[QE2_Fan]

I think that if I saw the error I would go to the bank to have it fixed. I would not post on line that the bank had committed fraud, or scammed me Or intended to rip me off. That was what the OP did. It was the tone that was over the top.

 

 

 

How much different this thread would have unfolded if the OP had written something simple and calm --

 

 

 

"If you receive an email from Celebrity telling you that you owe money, be sure to check your payment history carefully because there seems to be a glitch in the system causing erroneous emails to be sent"

 

 

Yes they have been a but melodramatic with their choice of words to describe the event. But they felt ripped off. Fair call, I felt similar when it happened to me.

 

And I thought they did revert to Celebrity to seek resolution. They were just sharing their experience her, like so many of us do. I don't think they expected the CC community to fix the issue.

 

But the OP have used some strong, possibly inaccurate words. Celebrity is knowingly sending out chasers for already paid funds. Whose really the bad guy here?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Suzanne123]

Thanks for clearing this up. So as of now you have only paid the deposit. Grats will be due with final payment, unless you get the change in seating time.

 

Yes, that is what I am hoping will happen.

 

Question - Does Celebrity notify my TA if and when I get first seating? As someone else posted, it's really hard to believe tha both first and second seating are sold out 9 months in advance.

[wallie5446]

Yes, that is what I am hoping will happen.

 

Question - Does Celebrity notify my TA if and when I get first seating? As someone else posted, it's really hard to believe tha both first and second seating are sold out 9 months in advance.

 

I have no idea, as this is the first time we have used a TA in 15 years. We are in Aqua so it is different.

 

A thought;

Have you logged into 'My Celebrity' and tried to change it there on your own?

[JVilleGal]

That is exactly what they should do...

[Suzanne123]

That is exactly what they should do...

 

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