Crew Gratuities

[laazy1]

Just completed a cruise with pre-paid gratuities. Have since learnt of the company scam of paying much less to the crew than promised. Looks like someone has found a way to fight back. When dining in the restaurant I ordered a beer and offered my cruise card. Attendant returned with 2 beers and served 1 to my wife. When I told him I had only ordered 1 he offered to return it. I decided to keep both beers but I was not asked to sign for them and he kept my card. At the end of the meal the card was returned and I signed for the beers. During the meal we were offered extra courses and condiments which do not usually occur. At the end of the cruise we received our statement and all was correct. We had connected our cruise card to our Visa card. When we arrived home I checked my account online and discovered 5 transactions from the company in my uncleared transactions account totaling $130, all dated during the time we were on board. As these transactions have been processed they have disappeared and have not appeared on our statement. It would appear that someone has found a way to use a customers cruise card to skim the ships merchandise and hide it. My financial institution has advised me that it is possible to process a transaction and then cancel it so that it appears to be legitimate. I think that my card was taken to someone who was able to process the transactions, keep them on hold until we received our final statement and then release them after we disembarked. If I had not been able to check my uncleared transactions they would have disappeared without a trace. No loss to me only to the company who is already ripping off their own people. If my suspicions are correct it is a very clever piece of accounting. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Edited December 20, 2016 by laazy1

[LHT28]

you lost me

were you charged an extra $130 on your CC?

 

some lines put a hold on you CC to cover your projected expenses at the end of the cruise they then charge you what you spent onboard maybe this is what you are seeing ??

no scam involved

[GUT2407]

you lost me

were you charged an extra $130 on your CC?

 

some lines put a hold on you CC to cover your projected expenses at the end of the cruise they then charge you what you spent onboard maybe this is what you are seeing ??

no scam involved

 

I think you are likely right.

[laazy1]

you lost me

were you charged an extra $130 on your CC?

 

some lines put a hold on you CC to cover your projected expenses at the end of the cruise they then charge you what you spent onboard maybe this is what you are seeing ??

no scam involved

The charges were not for any purchase I made.The amounts were random.

[laazy1]

No the charges were all bogus. they were identified as uncleared transactions but not cleared and therefore did not transfer to my account

[SadieN]

Sounds like a Hold to me. These also occur at hotels, car rentals and gas stations.

 

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/need-know-credit-debit-card-holds.php

[Krazy Kruizers]

I check our shipboard account every couple of days while we are cruising.

Never had anything like that happen.

[lisiamc]

OP, I can understand that you would question the amounts appearing and disappearing from your credit card, and of course it's always a good idea to keep an eye on your onboard account and your credit card statements.

 

Jumping straight to the thought that what appeared on your on-line statement is a scam and a cheat is what got people riled, I think. There are more than 20 million people cruising every year, and if we're all being used for such a transparent scam, we are either remarkably stupid, or in on the action. A different approach to your question would probably have got a different reaction. :)

 

Anyway, welcome to Cruise Critic, and I hope you enjoyed your first cruise.

[sparks1093]

Applying Occam's Razor one concludes this was a hold placed by the cruise line, which is done by most lines routinely throughout the cruise. I never see them because I don't check my credit card statement while on the cruise.

[cherylandtk]

The charges were not for any purchase I made.The amounts were random.

 

No the charges were all bogus. they were identified as uncleared transactions but not cleared and therefore did not transfer to my account

They were holds made to your credit card for the net amount of purchases made onboard on a given day, prior to your final actual charge on the last day. Since the final charge was successfully put through, the daily holds were never individually processed, and you just happened to see them until they 'expired' as holds and fell out of the system. Very normal process. Not a scam, not a new occurance. You just happened to notice it. Start watching your credit card account daily and you will see other such hold amounts appear and disappear, too, especially from hotels, gas stations and rental cars.

[reedl]

Anyone who has your card can get an approval to be able to charge your card at any time. This is common, and happens all the time. For example in the United States, when you pump your own gas and use the card reader on the pump, it gets an approval for $100 or so so that you can pump up to $100 of gas into your car.

 

After you finish the transaction, there is a second step which finalizes the transaction to actually charge you the amount that you purchased. The approval is typically removed at that point.

 

With credit cards, unless you are near your limit, there is no problem with this as it would lower your available credit, but that is usually not an issue. If a merchant gets an approval, unless it is finalized, the approval drops off within a week or so.

 

OTOH with Debit cards, if you get an approval, the amount of the approval is no longer available to you in your checking account. This is why I never use a debit card for purchases.

 

Every cruise I have been on, the cruise line gets approvals at the end of the day for the amount that you owe them.

 

An interesting thing has happened to me. I bought some tires at Sam's Club here in the States. I also paid for the installation when I purchased the tires, but their system cannot handle that so every six months I get a $60 authorization on my credit card even though I am never charged. I have tried to get Sam's to stop doing this, but their system is messed up. I cannot dispute it because it is not a charge, only an authorization.

 

So, what you are describing is not a scam at all.

 

As long as you were charged the correct amount, then everything is fine.

[wowzz]

yeah right. Read it again and maybe you can then understand that I got bogus charges to my uncleared account that were rejected. Ive seen some pretty good scams in my time but if I'm right this one is a beautiful piece of work

How can it be a scam if no money is taken from your account?

 

Sent from my SM-T700 using Forums mobile app

[mafig]

Just so you know, OP, they always take your cruise card when you order a drink and keep it until the end. What if you decide to order another?

 

My last cruise I had a hold on my CC and I think the amount was $130 too. Happens often. Happens at the grocery store, gas station, restaurants.

 

You may have been a little paranoid after reading that article.:D

[hel0013]

No the charges were all bogus. they were identified as uncleared transactions but not cleared and therefore did not transfer to my account

 

My credit card was compromised just before the start of our last cruise where the CC company canceled the card all unknown to me. They called my home but we were already enroute to the cruise.

 

I discovered the card was canceled when Princess tried to put a transaction through on day one of the cruise but it was rejected. Our cruise cards were immediately locked by Princess but they unlocked them after we made arrangements with VISA to courier new cards to the ship.

 

When we received the new cards Princess right away put in another transaction and it worked...

 

These transactions were what the others have said an authorization just like when we use pay at the pump. They will never appear on your account. Nothing bogus at all.

 

Sorry about the long winded post but I never would have otherwise known the authorizations were put in by the cruise line.... ;)

[chengkp75]

Would like to know what "scam" the OP is referring to with regards to crew pay? Maybe I've missed one of the multitude of tipping threads.

[sparks1093]

Would like to know what "scam" the OP is referring to with regards to crew pay? Maybe I've missed one of the multitude of tipping threads.

 

I think he is under the impression that a crew member (who is underpaid) is putting through an erroneous charge on his card and his credit card company kept it from going through, but sometimes it does go through and the crew member gets to keep the money in an off-shore account or something, thereby augmenting his or her pay. Of course there are probably a few safeguards in place to prevent something like this from happening. But that is all just a guess based on how I read the OP.

[chengkp75]

I'm asking about the "company scam of paying much less to the crew than promised". Not aware of any "scam" of this nature.

[KBS1607]

I'm asking about the "company scam of paying much less to the crew than promised". Not aware of any "scam" of this nature.

 

 

 

Yes, I'm wondering about this also? Is this a conspiracy theory regarding tipping I'm not up on?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bUU]

There are known realities about working as a crew member aboard cruise ships that are often distorted by the news media or social media so as to sound far more nefarious than they are. For example: Almost all cruise ships serving US ports are foreign-flagged and mostly foreign-crewed, to avoid substantially higher costs of paying staff higher wages. This is sometimes perverted by some news media and social media into "unfair labor treatment" by the cruise line.

 

I heard a new one recently alluding to the fact that many crew members have to pay a kickback for their jobs, apparently to whatever employment agency hooked them up with the cruise line. I have no idea if that's even true, but even if it is I bet it was made to sound far sleazier than it is.

Edited December 20, 2016 by bUU

[Sea Hag]

I think the OP made some huge leaps to conclusions. As others have said, the hold amounts are business as usual. And how is it logical to state that crew members are doing this because cruise lines are stiffing them on the auto-tips? Where did that notion come from?:confused:

[zqvol]

Just completed a cruise with pre-paid gratuities. Have since learnt of the company scam of paying much less to the crew than promised. Looks like someone has found a way to fight back. When dining in the restaurant I ordered a beer and offered my cruise card. Attendant returned with 2 beers and served 1 to my wife. When I told him I had only ordered 1 he offered to return it. I decided to keep both beers but I was not asked to sign for them and he kept my card. At the end of the meal the card was returned and I signed for the beers. During the meal we were offered extra courses and condiments which do not usually occur. At the end of the cruise we received our statement and all was correct. We had connected our cruise card to our Visa card. When we arrived home I checked my account online and discovered 5 transactions from the company in my uncleared transactions account totaling $130, all dated during the time we were on board. As these transactions have been processed they have disappeared and have not appeared on our statement. It would appear that someone has found a way to use a customers cruise card to skim the ships merchandise and hide it. My financial institution has advised me that it is possible to process a transaction and then cancel it so that it appears to be legitimate. I think that my card was taken to someone who was able to process the transactions, keep them on hold until we received our final statement and then release them after we disembarked. If I had not been able to check my uncleared transactions they would have disappeared without a trace. No loss to me only to the company who is already ripping off their own people. If my suspicions are correct it is a very clever piece of accounting. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

So what you are saying is that some how the holds, that your CC company placed on your account, amount to something nefarious? Sorry, but all I see is standard business practice. It happens all the time, people just don't notice it because they don't constantly check their CC statements when they are at home.

 

In other words this is much ado about nothing and has absolutely NOTHING to do with crew gratuities.

[sloopsailor]

I think the OP made some huge leaps to conclusions. As others have said, the hold amounts are business as usual. And how is it logical to state that crew members are doing this because cruise lines are stiffing them on the auto-tips? Where did that notion come from?:confused:

 

I just ordered this book so I can try to understand what this thread is about. :eek:

 

Edited December 21, 2016 by sloopsailor

[NMLady]

i just ordered this book so i can try to understand what this thread is about. :eek:

 

 

:). :)

Edited December 21, 2016 by NMLady

[Cruisin' Chick]

Would like to know what "scam" the OP is referring to with regards to crew pay? Maybe I've missed one of the multitude of tipping threads.

 

I was wondering this myself in light of the title of this thread. from the first sentence (and that title), it sounded like he was accusing some cruise line of skimming off the top of the gratuities that passengers pay to the cabin steward and dining room waitstaff.

 

but it was awfully hard to tell if this was his beef or not from his long winded paragraph.

 

If it was indeed making such an accusation, where is he getting this from? Some sort of ranting from some passenger (or media source) that doesn't like auto-gratuities, and decided the process isn't above board?

[luddite]

They were holds on your card. This is another reason to never, ever use a debit card for your onboard account.

 

You were not scammed, they weren't nefarious and the crew got paid.

 

I learned a new phrase today:

Build a bridge and get over it.