Mini Bar Charges Post Cruise

[rvrocker]

How many people do not see it and get charged for it. I think is a huge problem fleet wide

 

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[linswi]

Not at all, you can select a cash account during online check-in, at the pier check-in, or at Guest Services onboard. You don't have to put any money down, RC will let you charge up to $500 before they ask you to pay down the account.

 

RC's website says there is a deposit required for cash accounts. Is that old information? From what I've read some of their pages haven't been updated to reflect current policies, so I wasn't sure if that was one of them.

[mad-dog74]

This is a huge problem. It has happened to us on the last 2 cruises. I guess RCCL thinks most people won't notice $14-16.

[Motorcyclemomma]

When I called this morning it took about 3 minutes to get through. I was planning on a long wait. My elderly mother was also on the cruise and doesn't do on line banking credit card banking so it could be a few weeks before we find out if her room was charged also. She is paranoid about credit card fraud so this will really upset her. I understand mistakes can happen but this is past being a simple mistake.

[Sun Lover]

Should we ask them to empty our minibar as soon as we get to our cabin? What can we do to prevent them charging us for things we don't use?

[ThirstyCruiser]

Should we ask them to empty our minibar as soon as we get to our cabin? What can we do to prevent them charging us for things we don't use?

 

Makes no difference I think. It seems this scam simply charges us regardless of what is or was in the fridge.

[LisaT91403]

There was nothing in our refrigerator (other than some waters and sodas that we put in there), and we still got charged.

[Retired LEO]

Just off Majesty last week and the magical $12.27 has appeared.

[CapeCoralCruiser]

Got off Indy about ten days ago, my cc was on file for two cabins. Sure enough, both cabins were charged $12.27 after the final invoice was left on our door. Called RCI, the rep said it was for water in the mini bar (shock! :rolleyes:) Told her we didn't take any water and asked if this doesn't seem suspicious - one bottle out of each cabin? I also told her this was happening regularly, as reported here, and it had happened to us before but I had forgotten to call. She said she would refund the charges and forward my complaint for investigation. The charge was reversed five days later, but no follow up yet on the "investigation."

[lucymorgan]

Is this only happening on ships out of US? Any reports of it happening on ships out of Australia?

 

Thanks

[BecciBoo]

We used to have him empty it, but now we just take a photo first day and last day...time stamp is there, and then speak to the attendant and we've never had a charge. Hubs is very diligent with the last print out.

[saharaga]

I did not realize this was a common thing. This happened to us at the end of our Navigator cruise in April 2016. I called the customer service number and we had a credit for the almost $25 in "mini-bar charges" a few days later. Is it a system glitch? Is Royal working on a fix. Surely, they notice this trend in the customer calls.

[daze6399]

I did not realize this was a common thing. This happened to us at the end of our Navigator cruise in April 2016. I called the customer service number and we had a credit for the almost $25 in "mini-bar charges" a few days later. Is it a system glitch? Is Royal working on a fix. Surely, they notice this trend in the customer calls.

 

The current belief is that this is less of a "glitch" than an easy way to make $13 per cabin extra. It seems to be pretty frequent, and it's been going on for a while. Best policy is to watch the credit card the accounts are attached to, or keep a cash only account.

[jamesboat]

The current belief is that this is less of a "glitch" than an easy way to make $13 per cabin extra. It seems to be pretty frequent, and it's been going on for a while. Best policy is to watch the credit card the accounts are attached to, or keep a cash only account.

 

The quickest solution is to contact Consumer Reports with proof.

 

They write an article and BOOM, problem solved forever.

 

I was NOT charged on my Anthem cruise last week, so I cant complain

[BillOh]

Just off Majesty last week and the magical $12.27 has appeared.

 

My gut feel is they put more of those large 1 litre Evian bottles in the room than will fit in the fridge. I see them on top of the cabinets at times, I wonder if when the guy on the last day checks the fridge, he doesn't look up there.

[jpuglvr]

We got charged on anthem in November and on Harmony two weeks ago. It's definitely a easy way for them to make money. I disputed and complained that it has happened twice in several months to me on different ships. Both times I had the drink package so why would I use that bottled water. They easily refund but it is annoying and a hassle to have to call.

[CapeCoralCruiser]

My gut feel is they put more of those large 1 litre Evian bottles in the room than will fit in the fridge. I see them on top of the cabinets at times, I wonder if when the guy on the last day checks the fridge, he doesn't look up there.

 

In our case, there were only two large bottles in each cabin's fridge - none anywhere else - and we never even touched them. Hard to miss two bottles in an otherwise empty fridge - in each cabin!

[rusty nut]

Had that happen to us on Harmony, recently. $12.37. It showed up on my CC statement as a "pending" transaction. A few days later, it was removed. Didn't have to call or write anybody.

[kac0426]

I truly believe this is a scam. They are doing it on purpose. I was in my cabin on the morning of departure when the crew member knocked on the door to check the fridge (loudly and rudely, at 6:00 am I might add). I know she saw that the 2 bottles were still in the fridge. But yet she marked that they were both missing and then we were charged? Along with hundreds of other people on Cruise Critic... Can anything "larger" be done to stop RCCL from doing this? It seems criminal. I know it's only $12 and I know it only takes a phone call to remove the charge, but to me it's the bigger picture that they are doing it on purpose and that most people probably don't notice the charge on their CC bill, or they notice it but don't want to spend the time to take care of it. Think if 20/20 or Dateline got ahold of the story...

[Ocean Boy]

I truly believe this is a scam. They are doing it on purpose. I was in my cabin on the morning of departure when the crew member knocked on the door to check the fridge (loudly and rudely, at 6:00 am I might add). I know she saw that the 2 bottles were still in the fridge. But yet she marked that they were both missing and then we were charged? Along with hundreds of other people on Cruise Critic... Can anything "larger" be done to stop RCCL from doing this? It seems criminal. I know it's only $12 and I know it only takes a phone call to remove the charge, but to me it's the bigger picture that they are doing it on purpose and that most people probably don't notice the charge on their CC bill, or they notice it but don't want to spend the time to take care of it. Think if 20/20 or Dateline got ahold of the story...

 

How do you know that she marked that the bottles were missing? And if you did see her mark them missing why did you not say something to her?:confused: Maybe she marked the bottles present and you still got charged.

[kac0426]

How do you know that she marked that the bottles were missing? And if you did see her mark them missing why did you not say something to her?:confused: Maybe she marked the bottles present and you still got charged.

 

Fair point. I guess I should not have said "she" marked them missing but rather "someone" marked them as missing when they weren't.

[jamesboat]

Think if 20/20 or Dateline got ahold of the story...

 

Email Consumer Reports

[ThirstyCruiser]

We used to have him empty it, but now we just take a photo first day and last day...time stamp is there, and then speak to the attendant and we've never had a charge. Hubs is very diligent with the last print out.

2 seconds after you take the picture, you can empty the fridge. The picture doesn't prove anything.

[egh170]

It is not a glitch. Look at the hard result of over charging.

 

Average # of cabins - 1000 (conservative)

Times ------------- $13.00

equals ------------ $13,000

Times #of ships-------- 25

equals------------$325,000

Time # of weeks --------52

equals --------$16,900,000

 

Not chump change. Pretty good profit.

[Ocean Boy]

It is not a glitch. Look at the hard result of over charging.

 

Average # of cabins - 1000 (conservative)

Times ------------- $13.00

equals ------------ $13,000

Times #of ships-------- 25

equals------------$325,000

Time # of weeks --------52

equals --------$16,900,000

 

Not chump change. Pretty good profit.

And then when you add in the erroneous towel charges.......