Non-existent customer service

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

Sure, appreciate it's an option, but I don't possess a credit card, and ideally I don't really ever want to get one.

[voyager70]

4 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

Sure, appreciate it's an option, but I don't possess a credit card, and ideally I don't really ever want to get one.

 

Sounds like a cash account is your best option 👍 

 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Traveling overseas without a credit card, hmmm

[sunlover12]

I always use a credit card.  I never use a debit card.  I just think you have more protection with a credit card and fewer things can go wrong.  Credit cards are more consumer-friendly. I have seen signs on the counters of hotel front desks that because of holds that the banks place and longer time necessary to process, they strongly suggest to never use a debit card when paying your hotel bill.  I assume paying your bill with a cruise line is similar.

 

Just my two cents worth. 

[Biker19]

32 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

Sure, appreciate it's an option, but I don't possess a credit card, and ideally I don't really ever want to get one.

👍 cash account is the way to go.

 

BTW, set up some WiFi based calling app and call RCI on the toll free number while in the US.

Edited November 20, 2018 by Biker19

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

7 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

👍 cash account is the way to go.

 

BTW, set up some WiFi based calling app and call RCI on the toll free number while in the US.

18 minutes ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

 

 

Cheers for that, will check it out for any future cruise.

[Grandma Dazzles]

3 hours ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

Sure, appreciate it's an option, but I don't possess a credit card, and ideally I don't really ever want to get one.

 

Can’t imagine traveling overseas without a credit card.  Many hotels and car rentals require a credit card. Also, if you were injured, sick or had an accident how would you pay?  Not just referring to US - most Caribbean islands, Mexico etc require payment, prior to filing insurance. 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

5 hours 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 (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 😂

Cash account is so much easier!!!

You can use the onboard ATM!

We have just had it with the false harges of RCI - so cah account it has ben for the last 2 years! Best way to kep the overcharges away...👍

[dcgrumpy]

I always set it up as a cash account and then use my debit card at the end of the cruise to pay the balance. I never get any holds or pending charges over and above the balance. 

[Bloodgem]

7 hours ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Cash account is so much easier!!!

You can use the onboard ATM!

We have just had it with the false harges of RCI - so cah account it has ben for the last 2 years! Best way to kep the overcharges away...👍

Just make sure you take the right currency with you.

I know this sounds stupid but we were on Navigator in October. A lady was trying to pay her room account with either GBP or Euros and was getting angry because CS what to charge her an exchange rate, to convert her money to dollars. 

[brillohead]

Yep, makes a lot of sense to pay the ATM fee plus the bank fee to do a "cash account" when you could do a credit card account for FREE.  

 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

Yep, makes a lot of sense to pay the ATM fee plus the bank fee to do a "cash account" when you could do a credit card account for FREE.  

 

I do not have to pay any fees for ATM use

There is no fee for a cash account!

Edited November 21, 2018 by Thorben-Hendrik

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

9 hours ago, dcgrumpy said:

I always set it up as a cash account and then use my debit card at the end of the cruise to pay the balance. I never get any holds or pending charges over and above the balance. 

I think this is what I would do in future, tbh.

 

I have actually eventually got this sorted, with the card company, at the third time of asking with them.

 

They said "... I'm now able to revert the original payment from 2018-10-29 as it was duplicated later 2018-11-12 ... Merchant has made attempt to receive the money offline as they could not process original transaction. ... Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to prevent such situations as we do not have control over the merchant's processing procedures. ... the issue was out of our control".

 

So there's clearly something not working perfectly with the way RC are doing things (after all, they initiate the requests), certainly with this card anyway (Revolut, fyi) - but at the end of the day this shouldn't be happening.

 

Also, having mentioned it with a cruise employee once we were in Orlando, she said overcharging had also happened to a couple of others (no further detail), so it's by no means isolated.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

30 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

I think this is what I would do in future, tbh.

 

I have actually eventually got this sorted, with the card company, at the third time of asking with them.

 

They said "... I'm now able to revert the original payment from 2018-10-29 as it was duplicated later 2018-11-12 ... Merchant has made attempt to receive the money offline as they could not process original transaction. ... Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to prevent such situations as we do not have control over the merchant's processing procedures. ... the issue was out of our control".

 

So there's clearly something not working perfectly with the way RC are doing things (after all, they initiate the requests), certainly with this card anyway (Revolut, fyi) - but at the end of the day this shouldn't be happening.

 

Also, having mentioned it with a cruise employee once we were in Orlando, she said overcharging had also happened to a couple of others (no further detail), so it's by no means isolated.

RCI have many cases of overcharging ALL the time🙄👎

[katiel53]

18 hours ago, ecalbillo said:

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.

I have gotten those certificates several times and when I booked the cruise, within the 30 day time period, I told my agent I had the certificates.  She took down the info and submitted it to Royal Caribbean and I got my credit.  I understand your frustration, but based on what you posted, you didn't try to use the certificate within the 30 days, but Royal Caribbean did seem to want to work with you to redeem the certificate, but you chose to not do so and pay for the cruise in full.  It would have been easy to call your agent and have him/her do the work, after all that's part of the job. 

 

I can't remember if there was a number to call on the back of the certificate or not so I won't disagree with that part of your post.  Last cruise we booked onboard and had the certificate in hand and gave it to the future cruise person to have her apply it to our bookings.  We have never had a problem with the certificates and I wish you hadn't had problems either, but it appears that you only followed part of the rules and were given a reprieve and decided to not do what you were told. I can't say this is Royal Caribbean's fault, sorry.

 

[Goofyfanatic]

19 hours ago, ecalbillo said:

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.

 

Did you call the Casino Line phone number to book???? That is the way I have always been told that those certs have to be used (I have used too many of them!). After the booking is done I go online and fill out the transfer from to transfer the booking to the TA of my choice, no issues.

[brillohead]

23 hours ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

I do not have to pay any fees for ATM use

There is no fee for a cash account!

My understanding was that the ATM on board adds a surcharge in addition to whatever your bank may (or may not, in your case) charge.  

[Thorben-Hendrik]

49 minutes ago, brillohead said:

My understanding was that the ATM on board adds a surcharge in addition to whatever your bank may (or may not, in your case) charge.  

Yes they do add a small fe - but my CC gives that back to me!👍

[SRF]

On 11/20/2018 at 2:04 PM, steveru621 said:

 

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. 

 

On debit cards, HOLDS are placed.

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

RC have actually now called me with an apology and offer. The operator said this happens quite frequently, and sometimes has to setup conference calls between the customer and a bank to get charges reversed.

 

When I suggested that perhaps things could/should be done differently, he agreed and said practice was regularly reviewed. He also said if you ended up giving two lots of card details for whatever reason, the same holds would then be placed upon both (so something to note)!  He actually suggested using a cash account, which tickled me.

 

I still never ultimately understood the "duplication", but hey ho - if this episode manages to assist others in their future cruise money planning, then all good.

Edited November 22, 2018 by BillieJeanKaraokeKing

[Thorben-Hendrik]

8 minutes ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

RC have actually now called me with an apology and offer. The operator said this happens quite frequently, and sometimes has to setup conference calls between the customer and a bank to get charges reversed.

 

When I suggested that perhaps things could/should be done differently, he agreed and said practice was regularly reviewed. He also said if you ended up giving two lots of card details for whatever reason, the same holds would then be placed upon both (so something to note)!  He actually suggested using a cash account, which tickled me.

 

I still never ultimately understood the "duplication", but hey ho - if this episode manages to assist others in their future cruise money planning, then all good.

Yeah - he is probably sick and tired of solving all the issues RCI creates with its sloppiness!

[steveru621]

12 hours ago, SRF said:

 

On debit cards, HOLDS are placed.

 

Holds are placed on all cards.  The bank decides how long the hold will last.  Not all banks place a hold on your credit line or balance.

 

On a credit card, it reduces your available credit line.

 

RCI does not place holds, it sends a pre-authorization for the amount you spent that cruise day.   Stop making it sound like RCI has any control over what happens with a preauthorization.  A preauthorization only informs the issuer that a charge MAY come though.

 

If RCI sends multiple charges, obviously it's their fault.  No excuses.

[steveru621]

11 hours ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

RC have actually now called me with an apology and offer. The operator said this happens quite frequently, and sometimes has to setup conference calls between the customer and a bank to get charges reversed.

 

When I suggested that perhaps things could/should be done differently, he agreed and said practice was regularly reviewed. He also said if you ended up giving two lots of card details for whatever reason, the same holds would then be placed upon both (so something to note)!  He actually suggested using a cash account, which tickled me.

 

I still never ultimately understood the "duplication", but hey ho - if this episode manages to assist others in their future cruise money planning, then all good.

3

 

You can't give RCI more than one Credit card number per passenger.  The agent is wrong.  Just a poor excuse for their charging systems sending the same charge twice.  And that does not happen frequently.

 

What the misinformed agent is talking about is pre-authorizations that the bank refuses to release.

[SRF]

9 hours ago, steveru621 said:

 

Holds are placed on all cards.  The bank decides how long the hold will last.  Not all banks place a hold on your credit line or balance.

 

On a credit card, it reduces your available credit line.

 

RCI does not place holds, it sends a pre-authorization for the amount you spent that cruise day.   Stop making it sound like RCI has any control over what happens with a preauthorization.  A preauthorization only informs the issuer that a charge MAY come though.

 

If RCI sends multiple charges, obviously it's their fault.  No excuses.

 

Debit cards are handled differently that credit cards.

 

When RCI (or anyone else) does a pre-authorization against your credit card, yes, it reduces your credit available and is a hold and those funds.  BUT, when that same vendor actually charges your card, for whatever amount, that pre-authorization is IMMEDIATELY removed.

 

For a debit card, it is different.  And the hold may remain for several weeks.   There is a sign stating the differences on the counter at almost every hotel I have been to in the past probably 10 years.

 

From one site:

 

When you use a debit card, the store clerk usually contacts the financial institution that issued your card to get an authorization. When the approval is given, the balance in your checking account is reduced or “blocked” by the amount of the purchase. This is known as a pre-authorization hold. The merchant determines the amount of the hold. Your financial institution establishes the length of time the hold remains in place. Typically the hold stays on your account until the funds are transferred to the merchant from your financial institution, often 3-4 days. If you look at your account online it may show as a pending transaction. 

[steveru621]

On 11/23/2018 at 8:49 AM, SRF said:

 

Debit cards are handled differently that credit cards.

 

When RCI (or anyone else) does a pre-authorization against your credit card, yes, it reduces your credit available and is a hold and those funds.  BUT, when that same vendor actually charges your card, for whatever amount, that pre-authorization is IMMEDIATELY removed.

 

For a debit card, it is different.  And the hold may remain for several weeks.   There is a sign stating the differences on the counter at almost every hotel I have been to in the past probably 10 years.

 

From one site:

 

 

 

1

 

That's not correct.  The credit line hold and balance hold last as long as the bank chooses, RCI has no control.  It's not necessarily any longer for a debit card.  My bank places NO DEBIT holds for travel and entertainment.  Others it's a short as a day, and some idiot banks as long as 3 months.  I've seen hundreds of customers go over their credit line with pre-auths and get denied.  Then they call us begging for a credit line increase.

 

The pre-authorization is only immediately removed if it is within +-15% of the submitted charge.  If there is a pre-auth every day when you charge something on a cruise ship the final day charge will not match the multiple pre-authorizations and they will not be removed. That is why a hotel posts this notice.  They do a pre-auth every day just like a cruise ship and the same thing happens, they don't match, and the individual pre-auths stay for as long as the bank chooses.

 

I have been doing this for over 40 years.  I know what the process is.  

 

Even your quote is half wrong.  The hold is not dependent on the transfer time, that happens immediately.  The withdrawal is made that second.