Non-existent customer service

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

Well, I had a great cruise on IOTS, but unfortunately RCCL have left a bitter taste in the mouth.

 

I was all but double charged on my prepaid card, and seven days after emailing, I have had no effective human reply (three acknowledgements), nor correct reimbursement.

 

I had another week in Florida post-cruise, so had I been on a tight budget and no other provision - luckily not the case - that element of the holiday would have been completely ruined.

 

For me, it's the complete lack of customer service which is grating the most. Very disappointing.

[Biker19]

Feel free to rant/vent but without some detail and context, you'll get very little feedback.

[Snit13]

9 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

Well, I had a great cruise on IOTS, but unfortunately RCCL have left a bitter taste in the mouth.

 

I was all but double charged on my prepaid card, and seven days after emailing, I have had no effective human reply (three acknowledgements), nor correct reimbursement.

 

I had another week in Florida post-cruise, so had I been on a tight budget and no other provision - luckily not the case - that element of the holiday would have been completely ruined.

 

For me, it's the complete lack of customer service which is grating the most. Very disappointing.

I had incorrect charge from my recent Enchantment cruise.  I CALLED.  It was taken care of and removed from my card within days.

[sh2738]

5 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

Well, I had a great cruise on IOTS, but unfortunately RCCL have left a bitter taste in the mouth.

 

I was all but double charged on my prepaid card, and seven days after emailing, I have had no effective human reply (three acknowledgements), nor correct reimbursement.

 

I had another week in Florida post-cruise, so had I been on a tight budget and no other provision - luckily not the case - that element of the holiday would have been completely ruined.

 

For me, it's the complete lack of customer service which is grating the most. Very disappointing.

 

A few questions. Did you look through your bill while on the cruise on your tv or app? Did you review the bill on the day if debarting? Is it just that it was double charged or were the two charges different? Many things could have happened. 

 

You mentioned that you emailed them. Have you called them. It should be a really quick phone call if this was a mistake on their end. Do you have your bill where it shows what the total should have been charged in your card? When did you notice the double charge?

 

Did you not review your card charges until off of the ship? If nothing was looked at your end until after you were off of the ship, then this might be where a disconnect is happening. 

 

When something like this happens, and you are off of the ship, the very first thing that you should do is to call them and they can easily sort it out. Issues with billing shouldn’t be addressed over email for privacy and security concerns and should always only be discussed in person or by phone. 

 

Are you you sure that RCCL is at fault? Could something have happened on your banks end? Again I would strongly recommend calling and would never recommend emailing for an issue like this one. 

 

Also this is a great reminder to always be checking your on board account and your bank and credit cards on the day of departing so that if things like this happen, they can easily be fixed while your still onboard the ship. 

 

Agter reading this this it is unclear to me personally is RCCL is really at fault if all steps haven’t been taken yet. If you have talked to people many times at RCCL, then there is cause for concern if then contact isn’t resolving this. But if you haven’t called them yet then not all steps of the contact process have been followed yet. 

 

Please reach out out to them by phone and they should be able to easily fix this. 

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

Thanks. I get the impression I may well have to call, and had I been left short I would have done so before now.  I'm more just getting at the lack of proper response after a week, which is pretty s*** in my humble opinion. In reply to the other post, I was overcharged towards $400, I am currently now owed about $60 after the amount of an initial transaction has been reduced a couple of times. The bill was increasing as I expected on the app, but pretty much the full expected amount came out mid-cruise (though dated day two), but another two sets of charges came out the day AFTER I disembarked, so I was already OFF the ship. The statement during the cruise and via email afterwards are correct - they have simply almost taken the money again afterwards.

Edited November 20, 2018 by BillieJeanKaraokeKing

[KuffMUp]

Best to review your balance on your TV throughout the cruise or at least check before you get off.  I was charged $50 for not returning towels and $9.44 for a Red Bull at a bar when I had the Royal Refreshment package and received no receipt.  I went to customer service and it was taken care of in about 5 minutes total.

 

[smplybcause]

You said pre-paid card. Could it be an issue with holds? I know that's why people don't recommend debit & prepaid cards to be used because the cruiseline will put a hold on for a certain amount and then if your account goes over that put on another hold all before the final actual total is processed on the last day. 

[lifes-a-beach]

 The last evening and morning of our cruise aboard Liberty a couple of weeks ago there were 50 to 100 people in line.  That’s not a solution for me.  Its their mistake.  They should fix it on my time, not theirs.  A quick email should suffice in today’s world.  

[bouhunter]

Neither of OP's posts are really that clear as to what really happened, and in no way support the claim poor customer service.

 

One way to avoid most problems - use a credit card.  Debit and pre-paid cards carry additional risk and/or complications.

Edited November 20, 2018 by bouhunter

[steveru621]

18 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

Thanks. I get the impression I may well have to call, and had I been left short I would have done so before now.  I'm more just getting at the lack of proper response after a week, which is pretty s*** in my humble opinion. In reply to the other post, I was overcharged towards $400, I am currently now owed about $60 after the amount of an initial transaction has been reduced a couple of times. The bill was increasing as I expected on the app, but pretty much the full expected amount came out mid-cruise (though dated day two), but another two sets of charges came out the day AFTER I disembarked, so I was already OFF the ship. The statement during the cruise and via email afterwards are correct - they have simply almost taken the money again afterwards.

 

Are you sure these charges are not pre-authorizations?  The y will drop off in a time frame set by the bank.  RCI does not actually charge your account until the the day after you leave the ship.

 

The reductions you are seeing are the pre-authorizations dropping off.  RCI does this everyday you spend money on the ship.

[steveru621]

18 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

You said pre-paid card. Could it be an issue with holds? I know that's why people don't recommend debit & prepaid cards to be used because the cruiseline will put a hold on for a certain amount and then if your account goes over that put on another hold all before the final actual total is processed on the last day. 

 

The cruise line does a pre-authorization each day for the amount you spend on board.  RCI does not place holds, that's up to your bank. 

Edited November 20, 2018 by steveru621

[bouhunter]

12 minutes ago, lifes-a-beach said:

 The last evening and morning of our cruise aboard Liberty a couple of weeks ago there were 50 to 100 people in line.  That’s not a solution for me.  Its their mistake.  They should fix it on my time, not theirs.  A quick email should suffice in today’s world.  

 

???? 

[sh2738]

13 minutes ago, lifes-a-beach said:

 The last evening and morning of our cruise aboard Liberty a couple of weeks ago there were 50 to 100 people in line.  That’s not a solution for me.  Its their mistake.  They should fix it on my time, not theirs.  A quick email should suffice in today’s world.  

 

Personally disagree and agree at the same time. Places like RCCL are very busy and this email is much slower when issues of finances are concerned. Personally I always try tor get things resolved via email as I hate having to call people to get things fixed. However, financial matters are often difficult and not wise to try to resolve in emails as emails aren’t secure and most financial institutions will make you call anyways. 

 

Further, there hasn’t been any proof provided by the OP that indicates that whatever happened is RCLs fault so in my opinion I can’t cast fault in them yet as we don’t know the whole story. Personally I wouldn’t expect them to instantly fix an issue with financial charges if I don’t bring it to their attention in person or by email. 

 

Also to note, it is each adults responsibility to check our accounts and charges on cruise ships and vacations in general to monitor our financials. If you catch something you need to reach out to get it corrected as your financials are your responsibility. Would it be nice to not have to call and have no errors? Of course but that is not reality in an adult world. 

 

But it a really quick phone call can solve everything. Or if caught while still on ship, simply going to guest services fixes everything. If you know of an error on ship but choose not to go to guest services because you don’t want to wait, then sorry but I personally don’t feel bad for you as you aren’t alert them to their error. 

 

Now there are missing details on if RCCL even made a mistake because it sounds like the OP used some sort of prepaid card. I have never had any desire to use anything other than a CC so I’m not sure if what happened is a typical thing so but so far it sounds like it per other responses. If this was done on a regular credit card, the I could understand the issue with being double charged twice but there are often holds placed that do take some time to take off. Just part of traveling. Mistakes happen and you must alert them about them, take action and be patient and kind about it. 

 

Cheers to all. 

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

13 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

Neither of OP's posts are really that clear as to what really happened, and in no way support the claim poor customer service.

 

So, they have a customer services email address, I use it, I have no proper human contact within seven days, and you think there is no problem with that? Wow, just wow 😮

[bouhunter]

6 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

 

So, they have a customer services email address, I use it, I have no proper human contact within seven days, and you think there is no problem with that? Wow, just wow 😮

You've now mentioned "effective human reply" and "proper human contact".  If that's what you desire maybe you should pick up the phone.  "wow, just wow".

Edited November 20, 2018 by bouhunter

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

No-one reading and responding to an email within one week simply isn't acceptable, end of.

 

To clarify the payments, cruise was 28/10-11/11. On around 05/11, $330 was taken from the balance as a proper transaction, but dated 29/10. Dunno how that is supposed to work, but I left it as it would end up about right after gratuities.

 

Then, on 13/11, two days after leaving, I was unable to withdraw money. So I looked at my card statement, and another $330 had gone in two transactions dated 12/11.

 

So, as I left the ship, I was comfortable that "around" the correct amount of money had been taken at that point (if in an odd way).

[ecalbillo]

I agree with the lack of customer service.  While on my cruise I received a gift certificate from the casino for $400. Certificate stated it could be used toward next cruise. Also stated next cruise had to be booked within 30 days of certificate issuance and cruise had to be taken within one year of certificate issue date. I met both conditions, placing $600 towards my reservation. When I called to pay the remainder of my balance a few months later and attempted to redeem the $400 certificate, I was told they would honor the certificate but my travel agent had to call and redeem. Since it was the last day I could pay for my cruise I paid the remaining balance and called my travel agent with their instructions. However, when my travel agent called she was told the certificate expired, and that I supposed to contact the Casino directly within 30 days of issuance to redeem the $400. The Casino phone number wasn't even on the certificate! To make matters worse, the reservation people on the ship even misinterpreted the verbiage and told us to redeem the certificate when we paid the remainder of our balance. I emailed and argued with these people for months, and even though they acknowledged the verbiage could have been easy to misinterpret they absolutely refused to honor the certificate. Very disappointed in them, and if it wasn't for the fact that I would lose almost all my money I would have cancelled. I never travel with Royal Caribbean again.

[Biker19]

12 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

No-one reading and responding to an email within one week simply isn't acceptable, end of.

Here's the problem, you incorrectly assume and expect that RCCL handles ANYTHING properly via e-mail, they don't. If you want prompt service, you have to call. Even a casual reading of threads on here could tell you that.

Edited November 20, 2018 by Biker19

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

Yes, that sounds poor and very frustrating too. Also disappointing they ultimately refused to honour it.

 

On the plus side, the cruise itself was very good overall, and the staff were very helpful and attentive.

[steveru621]

15 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

No-one reading and responding to an email within one week simply isn't acceptable, end of.

 

To clarify the payments, cruise was 28/10-11/11. On around 05/11, $330 was taken from the balance as a proper transaction, but dated 29/10. Dunno how that is supposed to work, but I left it as it would end up about right after gratuities.

 

Then, on 13/11, two days after leaving, I was unable to withdraw money. So I looked at my card statement, and another $330 had gone in two transactions dated 12/11.

 

So, as I left the ship, I was comfortable that "around" the correct amount of money had been taken at that point (if in an odd way).

 

I would call the number on the back of the card before I call RCI.

 

The issuer will be able to tell you if they were charges or pre-authorizations and when they expire.  Then call RCI armed with that information. Less frustration.

[voyager70]

7 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

I would call the number on the back of the card before I call RCI.

 

The issuer will be able to tell you if they were charges or pre-authorizations and when they expire.  Then call RCI armed with that information. Less frustration.

 

This.  It sounds like it could very well be an issue with the card company.

 

[Atlantix2000]

I agree with others that you will probably eventually find that all of this was the pre-authorization daily "charges".  It would temporarily look like you have been charged twice.  For this reason, the use of debit cards is strongly discouraged because you could overdraw your bank account.  But this is not unique to RCL or cruising, it's just how those cards work.  I've never used a prepaid card but strongly suspect it works the same.  Even with a credit card, you could hit your credit limit and have charges denied.  That's also annoying but you're not actually out money.

[sh2738]

1 hour ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

 

So, they have a customer services email address, I use it, I have no proper human contact within seven days, and you think there is no problem with that? Wow, just wow 😮

 

Um yess. No problem when it’s abiut financial issues. Customer service email should not be for ASAP requests such as issues with charges in cards. That in my opinion is an urgent request and urgent matters should only be discussed over the phone, especially when it concerns money. How would they help you over email? I believe that in order to assist they would have to be provided with your payment information to verify of the charges were correct or not and to correct it and this should never ever be disclosed in email form. 

 

Also so email takes longer with large companies such as RCL and they use the assumption that urgent concerns they would be contacted directly by phone about. And think about how many emails they probably receive in a day and with the holidays coming they might be understaffed or people on vacation. One shouldn’t make assumptions that they are let responding for no reason when you haven’t truly reached out to them. If one wants a quick and immediate response, phone calls are the only way to go. If your in no rush, then use email. 

 

Oh and the amount of time spent on the phone would be less than sendjng emails. 

 

Also perhaps I missed it but I didn’t see any clarification on what they did wrong exactly. Are the charges holds because of it being prepaid? Or another issue that is taking time to be taken off which is expected with prepaid cards. Need more details to support the OP. 

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

Thanks for all the advice.

 

Granted I could have called, but as I am from England and I was in the US, I'd have been paying £1.50 a minute (or more), and who knows how long I'd have been on the phone.

 

Anyway, as I say, I was able to work around it. I just find the issue frustrating and the lack of contact disappointing. If it doesn't resolve naturally or via email by early next week, I shall call the UK number then.

 

As for future, cash account all the way 😂

Edited November 20, 2018 by BillieJeanKaraokeKing

[Grandma Dazzles]

4 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

Thanks for all the advice.

 

Granted I could have called, but as I am from England and I was in the US, I'd have been paying £1.50 a minute, and who knows how long I'd have been on the phone.

 

Anyway, as I say, I was able to work around it. I just find the issue frustrating and the lack of contact disappointing. If it doesn't resolve naturally or via email by early next week, I shall call the UK number then.

 

As for future, cash account all the way 😂

Highly suggest next time using a credit card - so much simpler - would not want to carry large sums of cash.