Carnival says that I am a fraudster, and refuses to let me pay for my cruise????

[Poppy9422]

Did you try using PayPal online?

I would give them what they need to help you and go and enjoy your cruise. Try working out the fraudulent customer stigma through the proper channels.

[mftinvermont]

Personally, I'd have no issues in faxing for emailing my credit card information. You aren't responsible for stolen credit cards or credit card numbers and most major credit card companies have sophisticated computer algorithms that detect fraud and will almost immediately stop an unauthorized charge, also just remember to utilize the credit card companies text alert system which will send you a text of any charge over a specific amount. This happened to me just a couple of months ago. I used my CC to purchase Nespresso coffee pods from New York City vendor and 3 days later someone tried to charge $700 worth of groceries, $1000 Acer computer and $200 worth of Lyft rides. My CC company immediately suspended the charges and sent me texts asking me if I made these charges and to respond YES or NO. I clicked NO and the charges were declined and I wasn't held responsible for them. They immediately canceled my card and sent me a new one in 3 days.

[A&Jfamily]

Where did she state she doesn't have a $2000 limit on her credit card? I believe she stated she does not want a high balance on her card. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

The OP in post #7 said she could not pay for the cruise with a credit card because she did not have a high limit....not balance.

 

And the money was refunded on the fraudulent cards SO... you charge it on your card and pay it off immediately.

 

This should be an inconvenience for the OP and nothing more. If this is a financial hardship then the OP needs to reconsider whether a cruise is the appropriate choice.

 

 

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[dsykes2]

The OP in post #7 said she could not pay for the cruise with a credit card because she did not have a high limit....not balance.

 

And the money was refunded on the fraudulent cards SO... you charge it on your card and pay it off immediately.

 

This should be an inconvenience for the OP and nothing more. If this is a financial hardship then the OP needs to reconsider whether a cruise is the appropriate choice.

 

 

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You should reconsider your attitude :)

[mpdog42]

You should reconsider your attitude :)

 

dsykes2,

 

Trust Me, This poster always has a attitude:(

 

Hope this works out for you

 

Mike

mpdog42

[babsinpbg]

To the OP-Thanks for taking the time to share this. It's relevant for many of us and good buyer beware info.

 

And to the previous poster, I'm SMH at your a) judgmental, inappropriate comment, and b) the fact that you think it's OK to even say that to someone you don't even know.

 

Wishing the OP a trouble free, wonderful cruise from here on.

[Computer Nerd]

My actions? I bought the gift cards legally, used my money, redeemed them legally, I did NOTHING wrong.

 

From your point of view, that is correct. But Carnival does not have the same point of view. All they see is someone attempted to pay off their cruise using fraudulent cards. They have no idea how you acquired the cards and they aren't going to believe every sad story they hear. So they are covering their interests, plain and simple.

[MandyMooToo]

From your point of view, that is correct. But Carnival does not have the same point of view. All they see is someone attempted to pay off their cruise using fraudulent cards. They have no idea how you acquired the cards and they aren't going to believe every sad story they hear. So they are covering their interests, plain and simple.

 

 

 

I think, in this case, the OP already stated that Carnival had him/her provide them with proof of purchase and such so they now know that the OP is a victim in this situation and not the fraudster yet they are still flagging the account as though the OP was the criminal.

 

 

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[dsykes2]

I think, in this case, the OP already stated that Carnival had him/her provide them with proof of purchase and such so they now know that the OP is a victim in this situation and not the fraudster yet they are still flagging the account as though the OP was the criminal.

 

 

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Correct, I faxed in every email, along with the E-gift card I was sent, and for anyone else would feels "I did something wrong" along with the others caught up in this scam, here are the order confirmations, showing that I paid for them fully, and did nothing wrong on my end.

 

 

Aug 3, 2017

Digitally Delivered

#2151862

Aug 2, 2017

Digitally Delivered

#2151069

Aug 1, 2017

Digitally Delivered

#2150565

Aug 1, 2017

Digitally Delivered

#2141773

Jul 28, 2017

Digitally Delivered

#2139805

Jul 27, 2017

Digitally Delivered

#2136948

Jul 25, 2017

Digitally Delivered

[mosiegirl]

So annoyed, never had anything like this happen. I booked a cruise back in July (12/10) on the Dream, paid my deposit for a spa balcony room, and went on my way. I decided to shop around online for carnival gift cards, as I know sometimes you can get them at a discounted rate, I found a website (reputable it seemed called card cash) where you could purchase gift cards at 10% off face value. I purchased enough to cover the entire balance of the cruise, added them to my account, cruise was paid for, before the end of July.

 

Just so happens, I checked online to see how many days until the cruise, and my cruise manager stated i owe over $1500, WHAT!? of course I call Carnival, in a panic to find out what happened (it was late night) the nice lady said I will need to call back during the day and speak to accounting to find out what happened, because all she can see is that the cards were "reversed". I call accounting the next morning, and speak to them, they state there is a scam going where basically someone uses compromised credit card information to buy gift cards, sells them to gift card brokers, the card holder sees charges, disputes charges, then the company removes the funds from the gift card, leaving the person who purchased the gift card out of luck.

 

Ok, fine, dandy, the website I purchased the cards from acknowledged the issue, promptly refunded me to my credit card I used to purchase the cards, all was fine and well, and I started making payments directly with my AMEX to Carnival (was making payments every few days as final payment is due on 9/26). Well, today I login to make a payment and I get an error stating that the company refuses my payment, so I called into Carnival, speak to a lady who states, no problem, she can take my payment, however she gets the same error. I was placed on hold for over 20 minutes as she called someone else, who advised that I am a fraudulent customer, because I used fraudulent gift cards, and the only way I can now make payments is if I send a "credit authorization form" via email EVERY time I make any type of payment.

 

I do not feel comfortable sending my credit card info via email, especially when I am splitting up payments, I had made a few payments after the gift card fiasco was resolved, has this ever happened to anyone else?? Customer service states there is nothing they can do, I am honestly tempted to request to have the booking cancelled due to Carnival refusing to let me pay for it (dare they say I will be penalized) and rebooking it (as the lady said this freeze was tied to my booking number) I asked if I could get a new booking number, I was advised no.

 

Any suggestions on where to go from here? As stated I do not feel like having my credit card number going over email multiple times.

 

I would withdrawl cash from my credit card, go into any travel agency, ask the agent if they can make the payment on your behalf (you give cash to the travel agent). I would think this would work??

[Tiger0613]

I would withdrawl cash from my credit card, go into any travel agency, ask the agent if they can make the payment on your behalf (you give cash to the travel agent). I would think this would work??

 

If you do that, there will almost always be a cash advance fee(usually 3%/5% or $10 whichever is greater), and interest will start to accrue immediately. In other words, getting cash from a credit card would cost way more than the cash received.

[Crusingdiva62]

Never buy gift cards from anyone but AARP. you cant trust those resellers.

 

Wow to the person who questioned a person not cruising with Credit Cards. So apparently only people in debt with extremely high credit limits can travel? smh

[bUU]

you cant trust those resellers.

I agree. And maybe that's the context by which Carnival is seeking to protect itself with this rather strong counter-measure that they have put in place: They've identified some customers who seem more likely to use measures for saving money on cruises that are riskier than average (i.e., gift card resellers), and have decided to keep a closer eye on their forms of payment in the future.

 

Wow to the person who questioned a person not cruising with Credit Cards. So apparently only people in debt with extremely high credit limits can travel? smh

I have a number of credit cards and have no debt whatsoever, not even a mortgage. I think you're reacting to what people wrote instead of reading it for understanding and thereby learning about some of the critical aspects of cruising by which it is essential that passengers have ready access to liquidity.

[MandyMooToo]

I agree. And maybe that's the context by which Carnival is seeking to protect itself with this rather strong counter-measure that they have put in place: They've identified some customers who seem more likely to use measures for saving money on cruises that are riskier than average (i.e., gift card resellers), and have decided to keep a closer eye on their forms of payment in the future.

 

I have a number of credit cards and have no debt whatsoever, not even a mortgage. I think you're reacting to what people wrote instead of reading it for understanding and thereby learning about some of the critical aspects of cruising by which it is essential that passengers have ready access to liquidity.

 

 

 

Or they could be reacting to the judgmental attitude of some of the posters here. Such as the statement that "if this is a financial hardship" maybe they should not be cruising. That's rude. Some people save for months or years to cruise. Does that mean they shouldn't be able to go, because they don't have a credit card with a high available balance or large quantities of cash at hand? Ridiculous. I know several people that do not have credit cards but they are financially well off. These boards can really get snobbish at times.

 

 

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[luv2trvlnow]

Never buy gift cards from anyone but AARP. you cant trust those resellers.

 

Wow to the person who questioned a person not cruising with Credit Cards. So apparently only people in debt with extremely high credit limits can travel? smh

Wow. I think you have a misconception that anyone who has a credit card is in debt. I too have several credit cards with high credit limits but not high balances. And I am not in debt, also not even a mortgage. We pay off the cards every month never paying interest. And we get rewards on every purchase. So not only are we not in debt, don't pay interest or fees, but the credit card company is in a sense paying us to use their card.

[MandyMooToo]

Wow. I think you have a misconception that anyone who has a credit card is in debt. I too have several credit cards with high credit limits but not high balances. And I am not in debt, also not even a mortgage. We pay off the cards every month never paying interest. And we get rewards on every purchase. So not only are we not in debt, don't pay interest or fees, but the credit card company is in a sense paying us to use their card.

 

 

 

I agree that not everyone with a credit card has debt. We too like to take advantage of card perks like points and cash back. Excellent bonuses if you can pay off the balance and no negate them with interest.

 

 

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[bUU]

Or they could be reacting to the judgmental attitude of some of the posters here. Such as the statement that "if this is a financial hardship" maybe they should not be cruising. That's rude.

I think it is very hard to read someone's tone on the Internet. Whenever you get the feeling that a comment like that is rude, try to find a way to restate it without sounding rude. You'll find that sometimes there is no way to express a legitimate perspective without some people perceiving it as rude. (And remember, a perspective is still legitimate even if we don't necessarily agree with it.)

 

We're here to help each other, and so it is irresponsible to not share legitimate perspectives out of concerns for how difficult it is to word it kindly. We were discussing this in another thread recently: Cruising is nowhere near as egalitarian as we would want. It grew out of a very classist society and it still drips with classism top to bottom. Carnival especially has been working to address that problem, but they still have to operate in the real world where there are limits to just how far they can go.

 

Some people save for months or years to cruise. Does that mean they shouldn't be able to go, because they don't have a credit card with a high available balance or large quantities of cash at hand? Ridiculous.

Except it isn't ridiculous. It's is the hard reality of a consumer service that drips with classism.

 

I know several people that do not have credit cards but they are financially well off. These boards can really get snobbish at times.

Perhaps it does, but to be fair, economic snobbery on Cruise Critic is very rare as compared to Platinum/5 star Mariner/Ambassador/Zenith/Elite status snobbery. Be that as it may, it doesn't mean that there aren't hard economic realities that we have to all be aware of and acknowledge.

[blondietink]

I have purchased all of my Carnival gift cards through Verizon and have never had a problem.

 

We also have no mortgage and no credit card debt, Pay them off every monthl

[DirtyDawg]

OP I hope it all works out with no further issues. Enjoy your cruise.

 

This has been an interesting thread. CC is a gold mine of information sometimes and I have learned a lot about gift cards and gift card re-sellers. But like a gold mine, WOW you sure have to dig through a lot of waste rock to get to that gold.

[A&Jfamily]

Never buy gift cards from anyone but AARP. you cant trust those resellers.

 

Wow to the person who questioned a person not cruising with Credit Cards. So apparently only people in debt with extremely high credit limits can travel? smh

 

 

 

Not at all. I'm not in debt and vacation frequently. I have excellent credit and high limits on cards - that are not utilized but are available for security purposes - should I need them. If I need to put my family up in a hotel for a few days fly my family of 4 home from Aruba I can do it.

 

And I proposed a $2000 limit - which is by no means "high;" that is in fact quite low. But would allow you to pay for your room in this circumstances.

 

This is finances 101 people. You do not have to make a lot of money to have a credit card with even a $5000 limit. And by using cards with good rewards and paying them off, you make a tidy profit

 

 

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[A&Jfamily]

Or they could be reacting to the judgmental attitude of some of the posters here. Such as the statement that "if this is a financial hardship" maybe they should not be cruising. That's rude. Some people save for months or years to cruise. Does that mean they shouldn't be able to go, because they don't have a credit card with a high available balance or large quantities of cash at hand? Ridiculous. I know several people that do not have credit cards but they are financially well off. These boards can really get snobbish at times.

 

 

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Actually it does....if you can't afford to cruise, then you should not. Thousands every year file bankruptcy because they don't properly manage their finances- whatever they are - rich or poor. Put simply, don't live beyond your means.

 

What happens to those same people without cash on hand or at least available credit when something goes wrong on their vacation? What if they need to get home due to a medical emergency? Need cash up front for medical treatment? There have been countless people on her bemoaning their cancelled cruise, inability to get money back with no money for alternate plans until an insurance reimbursement etc. Cruising is a "risky" vacation - far more likely something could throw a wrench in your plans vs other land based options. If you want to cruise, and need to save and save, then you should keep saving until you have a significant cushion.

 

 

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[MandyMooToo]

Actually it does....if you can't afford to cruise, then you should not. Thousands every year file bankruptcy because they don't properly manage their finances- whatever they are - rich or poor. Put simply, don't live beyond your means.

 

 

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No one said anything about living beyond their means or not being able to afford to cruise. The issue was related to a credit card that does not have a high limit and not being able to purchase gift cards and then pay for the cruise with the same card while waiting on the gift card refund (due to the fraud). Someone else commented that if they could not do that then they should not be cruising. I disagree. If they put their cruise on a card and bring the appropriate amount of cash or even a debit cards for emergency funds then that should be sufficient. No need to try and shame someone by saying that can't afford it or shouldn't cruise.

 

 

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[Crusingdiva62]

Wow. I think you have a misconception that anyone who has a credit card is in debt. I too have several credit cards with high credit limits but not high balances. And I am not in debt, also not even a mortgage. We pay off the cards every month never paying interest. And we get rewards on every purchase. So not only are we not in debt, don't pay interest or fees, but the credit card company is in a sense paying us to use their card.

 

 

 

I have credit cards myself so no. My response was to the rude one suggesting that only those who have a lot of funds on a credit card should travel. That poster suggested if you don't have $2000 on a credit card not to travel because you basically can't afford it. Way to make a person feel not worthy.

 

 

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[Schoifmom]

This poor guy was the victim of fraud and is being (understandably, from the company's point of view) restricted in the future form of payment, causing significant frustration for him and the best that we can do is allow his thread to become a knock-down-drag-out on the age-old argument for and against the use of credit cards? Did I participate? Yes, to some extent, and I'm sorry for it!

 

OP, I really feel for your situation. I hope that you can get it straightened out and move beyond it to have a great vacation. We appreciate you sharing your situation with us so that we can learn your lessons with you!

[reallyme]

I got mine at Publix. Is that one of the verified vendors? By the way, I had no issues applying to my remaining balance.

 

Buying it at a supermarket chain is a bit different than buying them from a site that buys cards from individuals and resells them.