$1000 OBC Limit for Canadians - Anyone had the difference refunded?

[fshagan]

There is no reason anyone should be having to wait post cruise for a refund.

 

The onus should not be on the customer to contact NCL to 'request' a refund of their money. It was NCL that changed their policy. It should be them that is notifying their customers of the change and any funds that are now considered to be 'overages' should have already been processed back to the appropriate credit card and if not already done so should be done immediately.

 

There is no acceptable reason for this not having already been done.

 

 

Rochelle

 

Perhaps, but some here have said no one has contacted them yet and they were going to wait and see if NCL "noticed" and perhaps won't apply the new policy to their OBC. My understanding of refundable OBC credit is that you get the refund via check after your cruise after a 4 - 6 week delay. To avoid getting into that drawn out process I think it would be preferable to call now rather than "take a chance" that NCL won't notice it until you board.

[casofilia]

4 future cruise certificates

1 beer/cider for myself and wife each evening on a 34 day cruise

 

ALL GONE!!!!!

[fshagan]

Are you also saying that if I go on eBay.ca and see that an item has a Buy Now of CAD10, that I know I can sell at CAD100, then my purchasing it is a fraud?

 

You have a peculiar definition of fraud. Where do the NCL rules say that all OBC has to be spent in any particular way?

 

We are going on the Sun from Buenos Aires to San Francisco and I wanted enough OBC so I could surprise my wife with the Machu Picchu excursion that NCL was offering. I needed lots of OBC to be able to carry out that surprise.

 

That is now off totally. I am not carrying that amount of cash nor does my USD Credit Card have that sort of limit.

 

Mike from NZ

 

All analogies fall apart at some point, but yours fell apart before it began. The Canadians using "arbitrage" ... the original Ponzi scheme ... were not buying OBC to sell it to someone else on the open market. They were purchasing large amounts with the sole purpose to cash it in at NCL's expense and make .30 to .40 on the dollar. Yes, I do call that fraud. Does it rise to a prosecutable offense? No, but like the phrase "it's only a cold sore" it is a fraud.

 

You are also a victim of that fraud, because now you cannot use the same favorable exchange rate for your intended use, which was certainly not fraudulent. They have spoiled it for you now, not NCL. Some people smile when they put one over on a big, faceless company, but in the end, it only punishes the other customers. This is a prime example of that.

[NLH Arizona]

4 future cruise certificates

1 beer/cider for myself and wife each evening on a 34 day cruise

 

ALL GONE!!!!!

Sorry you got caught up in this, but the ones you can blame are those that took advantage of NCL extending a "gift" to those in Canada (something that I can find only 1 other cruise line does - Oceania, at least that is all I could find Googled it, maybe others can find other cruise lines that are doing this). Sometimes the greediness of some, hurt others who only had the intention to use the OBC onboard the ship...sad but true and they are the ones you should be blaming. And if you think about it, they not only ruined it for the Canadians, but for those in the United States as well.

 

But remember you can purchase shore excursions, drink packages, etc. prior to your cruise and you get it at the low exchange rate....so there is a little sun at the end of the rainbow, because NCL could charge you the going rate for those things prior to your cruise, instead of the lower rate.

Edited February 5, 2016 by NLH Arizona

[fshagan]

But looking at my NCL account after the call and the new amenity invoice they just sent me everything looks wrong. The numbers are not good and are all different. Anyway i'm getting used to the NCL website glitch. I will wait to see if the refund on my CC is for the right amount and then ask again for a new amenity invoice to see if everything is back to $1000 OBC.

 

I'm disapointed from NCL for this situation but I will forget it and enjoy my cruise. But I will certainly consider another cruise line for my next cruise. Not saying I will never cruise with NCL again but they lost my loyalty.:(

 

But the worst is what I have read on forums about that situation where many where bashing canadians because of that. It leaves me a sour taste...:(

 

NCL's website is pretty bad at reflecting changes right away. If you have time before your cruise, give it a few days then give them a call. It can take 7 - 10 days for a refund to show up in your account (the bank takes the money from NCL immediately, but the two banks involved .... yours and NCL ... take their time getting the money back to you). But on their end it should show up sooner than that.

 

We have had better luck getting things straightened out by calling after we're sure things have posted correctly.

 

BTW - I haven't seen any general Canadian bashing, but statements about those who happen to be Canadian who were engaged in activity that precipitated this change in policy.

[coaster]

Guess I am missing something. Why would any cruise line offer OBC to be purchased before embarkation? It just seems like they are setting themselves up for this type of situation.

 

Sent from my Lenovo A5500-F using Tapatalk

[Freckles_51]

........something that I can find only 1 other cruise line does - Oceania, at least that is all I could find Googled it, maybe others can find other cruise lines that are doing this).......

 

My friends are currently on a Princess cruise and were able to prepurchase OBC at a better rate than the going exchange rate....sorry I cannot remember the rate though :o. I do not know if they were limited to a certain amount and do not know if they were given a special rate when booking the cruise.

 

Carnival occasionally offers special fare pricing to Canadians, somewhat like offering a special rate to US residents depending upon home state. I don't know if other cruise lines have such offers.

[Ontario cruise duo]

And if you think about it, they not only ruined it for the Canadians, but for those in the United States as well.

 

I don't think anything was ruined for those in the United States, as I believe they can prepurchase as much OBC as they want, because their money is of the same value. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[NLH Arizona]

And if you think about it, they not only ruined it for the Canadians, but for those in the United States as well.

 

I don't think anything was ruined for those in the United States, as I believe they can prepurchase as much OBC as they want, because their money is of the same value. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Two posters reported that they were only allowed to purchase $1,000 as well.

 

See post #77: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2311058&page=4

Edited February 6, 2016 by NLH Arizona

[Talus731]

And if you think about it, they not only ruined it for the Canadians, but for those in the United States as well.

 

I don't think anything was ruined for those in the United Sftates, as I believe they can prepurchase as much OBC as they want, because their money is of the same value. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

I tried to purchase $2000 this past Wednesday and was limited to $1000. I live in Washington state.

[xcell]

I purchased $1500 OBC last month (before all this)...

 

I see on my vacation summary that I have it...

 

I called NCL to get the $500 back as I will be limited to $1000 (totally fine with me...I won't be stopping cruising with NCL because of this...) but they said "it looked like it went through..." long pause....

 

And that was that...

 

Now I know I will not get the $1500 when I am on board but who has called in and got a refund before the cruise or do I just wait until after the cruise????

[fshagan]

Now I know I will not get the $1500 when I am on board but who has called in and got a refund before the cruise or do I just wait until after the cruise????

 

If you wait until after the cruise, NCL issues you a paper check and mails it to you, a process that is reported to take 6 to 8 weeks by most people.

 

If you get them to credit it back, the credit will show up on your credit card account in 7 to 10 days (it takes that long for the banks to negotiate the credit; NCL loses the money the day they issue the credit).

 

Can someone chime in about having USD credited to their car accounts today, verses when they purchased the OBC? Won't the higher USD result in more CAD after the exchange is done?

[rochelle_s]

If you wait until after the cruise, NCL issues you a paper check and mails it to you, a process that is reported to take 6 to 8 weeks by most people.

 

If you get them to credit it back, the credit will show up on your credit card account in 7 to 10 days (it takes that long for the banks to negotiate the credit; NCL loses the money the day they issue the credit).

 

Can someone chime in about having USD credited to their car accounts today, verses when they purchased the OBC? Won't the higher USD result in more CAD after the exchange is done?

 

For those Canadians who purchased OBC at the favourable rates their credit cards were charged in Canadian funds to begin with. Therefore the refund back to their credit cards would also be in Canadian funds.

 

If they refunded the money in American NCL would still be picking up the difference in the exchange rate while never having the opportunity for the customer to spend the funds on board. Makes no sense.

 

 

Rochelle

[xcell]

I'd like to have the credit back...but the CSR seem hesitant...not sure why...it was like I had to argue with her to give me my money back...she said it went thru, didn't even look at the website...

 

I'll call again tomorrow to see if they will credit it back...

[Jocecruise]

Do I understand correctly that you can retrieve cash money in USD from your onboard act at the casino ?

[casofilia]

Do I understand correctly that you can retrieve cash money in USD from your onboard act at the casino ?

 

At a charge of 3%

 

Mike

[Almonte256]

The question one has to ask (for which NCL would most likely not answer) is what did NCL do with my OBC purchase money back in July of 2015 for a cruise we are taking this March 2016? If they converted over the funds for our onboard credit purchase and place it in a US trust account, then they were more than happy to have me as a client at the spread between the Canadian dollar vs. the US dollar at the time of purchase.

 

I run my own business and quite often pre bill customers for yearend purchases and deliver the job several months later. This is a gamble I take as most of my supplies are purchased in US funds. The reality is that I have my customers cash in my bank and this often helps out with cash flow. I may not make as big of a profit on these orders should the US dollar gain strength but I have kept my clients from spending their money with my competition.

 

If you’re not happy with the policies of NCL (and the lack of customer service) the choice is simple, spend your vacation money elsewhere. The market will correct and NCL will eventually discount their rates.

 

Now if anybody follows the currency market, you will know that the Canadian dollar has been in a downward spiral for a while (with the slight exception over the past couple of weeks) If NCL converted my funds into US currency and are now converting it back to Canadian funds and refunding my additional $1000.00 (as I purchased $2000.00 in total) they have probably made a return on my money of @ 12-15 %,

 

We had also prepaid our DSC at $1.11....... what’s next, will NCL tell me that they will cancel this purchase and have my credit card charged on the last day of my March cruise at $1.41 (or whatever the rate will be on that day)

 

What NCL has done with my OBC would be like my bank refusing to hand over the cash from my US bank account that I purchased a couple of years back at $1.05 and informing me that they will offer it today at $1.41. NCL agreed to sell me this money back in July of 2015, they should honour the decision to do so.

 

We are a family of four and have achieved Platinum status with NCL over the past five years and cruise two to three times a year with NCL. Cruise lines often offer “Residency Rates” for Canadians. Check out the discounts that Celebrity Cruise Lines are now offering. We have cruised from Manhattan once a year to Bermuda over the past 5 years but have just booked an August 2016 cruise with Celebrity.

 

If you are not satisfied with NCL, call their Customer Relations number 1-866-625-1164, they generally don’t listen, but one day they may!

[casofilia]

Those Canadians who forward bought OBC at 1.07 or 1.11 could have bought USD at (say) 1.12 or 1.16 at the time from their bank.

 

If NCL refund the CAD amount that the purchaser bought in todays CAD they will have "bought" the CAD at c1.40.

 

Have they not made about 30c on the dollar at the expense of the Canadians who bought.

 

If the Americans who claimed that the Canadians were guilty of fraud were honest they would accuse NCL of exactly the same thing.

 

Mike

[Freckles_51]

......Have they not made about 30c on the dollar at the expense of the Canadians who bought.....

 

Good one Mike! :D

 

......but wait, that's 30c CAD, they're only making about 20c USD :p

[casofilia]

Good one Mike! :D

 

......but wait, that's 30c CAD, they're only making about 20c USD :p

 

Does that make it only "two thirds" of a fraud?

 

Mike

[NLH Arizona]

Does that make it only "two thirds" of a fraud?

 

Mike

If you believe NCL has done something fraudulent, then I would suggest filing a claim against them, but as far as I'm concern continuing to accuse them of it, isn't making me want to jump on the bus with you and back your quest to be able to purchase more OBC. Sorry! Edited February 7, 2016 by NLH Arizona

[casofilia]

..... isn't making me want to jump on the bus with you and back your quest to be able to purchase more OBC. Sorry!

 

I don't want to buy more OBC. NCL have put in place (Jan 21st) a limit on OBC purchases which I reluctantly agree with even if I don't agree with a blanket USD1000 figure. If they had imposed a $/day/person limit I would have been totally in favour of it.

 

I DID buy OBC before Jan 21st and NCL accepted my money. We had a contract as willing buyer/willing seller. As this occurred before Jan 21st I want NCL to honour that contract.

 

Mikee

[NLH Arizona]

I don't want to buy more OBC. NCL have put in place (Jan 21st) a limit on OBC purchases which I reluctantly agree with even if I don't agree with a blanket USD1000 figure. If they had imposed a $/day/person limit I would have been totally in favour of it.

 

I DID buy OBC before Jan 21st and NCL accepted my money. We had a contract as willing buyer/willing seller. As this occurred before Jan 21st I want NCL to honour that contract.

 

Mikee

I also suggested (in some of my posts) that NCL re-do their policy based on number of days and number of people on the reservation and would have gladly called and backed your issue. But it is getting a little too ugly with the accusations of fraud, etc. for me to even be bothered being on your quest and calling them, so you lost one supporter. Edited February 7, 2016 by NLH Arizona

[Jocecruise]

At a charge of 3%

 

Mike

 

Perfect ! Thanks !

[hamrag]

I don't want to buy more OBC. NCL have put in place (Jan 21st) a limit on OBC purchases which I reluctantly agree with even if I don't agree with a blanket USD1000 figure. If they had imposed a $/day/person limit I would have been totally in favour of it.

 

I DID buy OBC before Jan 21st and NCL accepted my money. We had a contract as willing buyer/willing seller. As this occurred before Jan 21st I want NCL to honour that contract.

 

Mikee

 

I agree with what you have posted unfortunately, for you and others in this loss-making position, I cannot see NCL backtracking on their decision.