Anyone gotten a refund on service charges?

[LMaxwell]

That is what I thought, but didn't know if they changed the form, since two posters said they faxed it in and didn't get their refund. I think we all know how faxes can get lost, where an email is less likely to get thrown away by mistake!;)

 

In the upper right mine says Form 7. It is possible that a newer or different version could have been published since early October and contain additional contact information.

 

To the OP that is waiting nearly 3 months; did you ever receive a receipt and case number for your submission? I received a response immediately with a Case #. It came from donotreply_guestrelations@ncl.com via a third party associated with salesforce.com , so possibly, or at least at that time, submissions were handled by a vendor and not NCL. Perhaps NCL is handling it now and doesn't have the man power necessary. This is speculation on my part. but I am happy to answer questions and help out OP.

[monkeybone]

In the upper right mine says Form 7. It is possible that a newer or different version could have been published since early October and contain additional contact information.

 

To the OP that is waiting nearly 3 months; did you ever receive a receipt and case number for your submission? I received a response immediately with a Case #. It came from donotreply_guestrelations@ncl.com via a third party associated with salesforce.com , so possibly, or at least at that time, submissions were handled by a vendor and not NCL. Perhaps NCL is handling it now and doesn't have the man power necessary. This is speculation on my part. but I am happy to answer questions and help out OP.

 

I would call them and fax it to them when were the phone and ask them to email me my case # and:

 

https://www.ncl.com/case-submission

 

servicecharges@ncl.com

Edited December 29, 2015 by monkeybone

[49erfan007]

[quote name=On a side note' date=' I just have to say that I don't understand why some posters always have to be so rude and insulting in their posts here. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and we all have the right to disagree with each other, but I do not understand the common trend on these forums of people taking the stance that their opinion is singularly correct and anyone that disagrees with them must be wrong and stupid. It is certainly okay to share your view and opinion on this forum whatever that may be, but why can't we all do that in a respectful and articulate way?

 

Also, I do not understand why everyone is insulting the OP because they stayed in a suite and why they are making assumptions about their character and motivation is beyond me. :confused:

 

 

Everyone is welcome to disagree of course but let's not make assumptions about others or be rude, I really wish that CC's NCL boards were a friendlier, less hostile, place to post in general.[/quote]

 

Very well said! It is amazing how some people treat others that they disagree with. It almost makes me not want to chime in on certain posts. A discussion board is just that; place to have a discussion, not a place to insult people just because you do not share their opinion.

[Moby0215]

They are no longer handled on board. Guest Services won't even discuss, they just hand you the form and move on to the next guest. There's nothing to resolve.

 

 

I believe they are referencing trying to resolve any service issues that may have been the reason for wanting to reduce/remove the DSC.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[travelerpair]

I would call them and fax it to them when were the phone and ask them to email me my case # and:

 

https://www.ncl.com/case-submission

 

servicecharges@ncl.com

 

Thank you for the info. I am going to try the email you provided. Mine all went to service chgs etc. Never received a response. Hard to believe it was not received. Scanned doc reads when forwarded to friends to proof and the fax showed received. Will keep trying

[Kortehgehn]

There is no such thing as a crew union (except possibly for Pride of America). There are agencies that work on behalf of the lines handling recruitment, remittance, etc, but they generally don't do much for the crew members other than take their cut (a US example would be more along the lines of Kelley, Manpower, etc)

 

That said, there have been statements in corporate filings indicating that at least part of it goes to the crew directly and some goes into a crew welfare fund (whatever that may be) so legally that pretty much has to happen.

 

There's also some potential issues with taxation if they were to simply absorb it as general revenue.

 

Actually, workers on all NCL ships other than the Pride of America are represented by the Norwegian Seafarers’ Union. The union is similar to any other and negotiates CBA's which include employee’s hours, work responsibilities, benefits, grievance procedures, etc… Of course I have no idea how this affects the DSC distribution to the crew, I am not sure that DSC is really negotiated in that sense.

Edited December 29, 2015 by Kortehgehn

[LMaxwell]

I believe they are referencing trying to resolve any service issues that may have been the reason for wanting to reduce/remove the DSC.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I think luddite chose their words very carefully and knew what they were asking.

[monkeybone]

Thank you for the info. I am going to try the email you provided. Mine all went to service chgs etc. Never received a response. Hard to believe it was not received. Scanned doc reads when forwarded to friends to proof and the fax showed received. Will keep trying

 

Don't give up. Keep us posted!

[Loonbeam]

Salesforce.com is crm software. They have bounce protection turned on but its their org (still could be 3rd party).

 

Speaking strictly from a technical note thats a very odd configuration for a large company to have, most use an email relay to avoid that.

 

In the upper right mine says Form 7. It is possible that a newer or different version could have been published since early October and contain additional contact information.

 

To the OP that is waiting nearly 3 months; did you ever receive a receipt and case number for your submission? I received a response immediately with a Case #. It came from donotreply_guestrelations@ncl.com via a third party associated with salesforce.com , so possibly, or at least at that time, submissions were handled by a vendor and not NCL. Perhaps NCL is handling it now and doesn't have the man power necessary. This is speculation on my part. but I am happy to answer questions and help out OP.

[Loonbeam]

Ship staff, officers yes, but unless its an NCL specific thing, have never seen this on other lines. There's someone on the Princess forum who works onboard, will ask him.

 

Actually, workers on all NCL ships other than the Pride of America are represented by the Norwegian Seafarers’ Union. The union is similar to any other and negotiates CBA's which include employee’s hours, work responsibilities, benefits, grievance procedures, etc… Of course I have no idea how this affects the DSC distribution to the crew, I am not sure that DSC is really negotiated in that sense.

[luddite]

Yes, all they give you is the form and tell you to follow the instructions.

 

Uh....no.

I meant--- did you try to resolve your service issues on the ship.

Or.... did you decide to stiff the crew?

When you have a problem, they want to know about so that they remedy the issue.

[luddite]

However, I do not feel I am responsible for paying salaries of staff.

 

Just curious.....who do you think pays the salaries for ANY company?

I'll go ahead and answer the question. Customers pay it. Customers pay EVERY bill that a company writes a check for.

[luddite]

I think luddite chose their words very carefully and knew what they were asking.

 

Words are important.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Uh....no.

I meant--- did you try to resolve your service issues on the ship.

Or.... did you decide to stiff the crew?

When you have a problem, they want to know about so that they remedy the issue.

 

There was no issue as far as I can tell. OP simply paid cash for their tips and wanted the DSC refunded.

 

Bill

[luddite]

There was no issue as far as I can tell. OP simply paid cash for their tips and wanted the DSC refunded.

 

Bill

 

Ah.

Service Charge isn't a tip.

I must guess that's the confusion.

[luvtheships]

Instead of faxing it again, I would take the form to a place that can scan it and either email it to you, so you can email it in, or email it to the email address on the form.

 

 

There is an app called genius scan that does this

[sparks1093]

When you have a problem, they want to know about so that they remedy the issue.

 

With the new procedure that's in place I really wonder about that. The company doesn't find out about the issue until they receive the form from the guest, which is after they've departed the cruise.

[LMaxwell]

With the new procedure that's in place I really wonder about that. The company doesn't find out about the issue until they receive the form from the guest, which is after they've departed the cruise.

 

I agree.

 

Between the lower rate of people willing to go through the hassle, and the reduction of onboard "freebies" (dinner, wine, etc.) being given out for complaints I bet this is saving money for NCL.

 

They've stated they are saving LOADS of time. So they'll probably be able to scale down their GS staff.

[travelerpair]

Don't give up. Keep us posted!

 

Someone at NCL must watch Cruise Critic and last night an email with a case # appeared. Moving forward at least. I am waiting to see if others from our cruise will get the same results. I thank everyone who gave advise, as this is what I was looking for. Sad that so many useless posts follow a thread about almost everything. People have valid issues and I wonder if all of these posters just take abuse from a vendor and think it is fine to be charged for nothing of value.

[travelerpair]

This really isn't pertinent to the topic at hand, and is your speculative opinion and not substantiated fact.

 

OP, curious, did your form include a fax number? What form # is in the upper right of the page?

 

Our form # 36. I got the fax# for guest services from them and they deny ever receiving any of the faxes sent. However, last night I received a case # and a supposed refund in 2 weeks. I know that with the automatic gratuities being added to many of the bills many passengers are opting out of additional service charges. A former employee of NCL (left for another cruise line) said that the managers benefit mostly from the pool. Change happens, but treating repeat clients poorly is never the answer. Someone at NCL must follow Cruise Critic.

[travelerpair]

How does this help the OP, they didn't ask your opinion regarding tipping.

I would dispute the charge on your credit card. You bring up a troubling aspect to my tipping in January. I plan to remove the auto tips and tip breakfast , lunch and cabin attendant in cash. I already paid 18% for 7 nights of specialty restaurants and don't care to double tip. I'm concerned if i don't get the credit back and have tipped in cash then I've really double tipped, way to much.

 

If you are cruising in January go and get the form right away. Disputing part of a charge on your credit card is iffy. We also had the auto 18% on all of our UBP and UDP and left additional cash. We had a suite venue for breakfast and lunch and used it. Left cash for the staff there. Last night after 30 days of trying we received a response and and case #. Maybe the post helped. Enjoy you cruise we did, just not the added charges.

[LMaxwell]

Glad that you finally got a case number. Hopefully they don't try to pull any "this wasn't submitted in 30 days" stunts with you. Keep us updated.