Cancelling a Booking

[KelSny1011]

Hello Cruise Critic Friends

 

Just a heads up that Royal Caribbean will not allow you to cancel a booking if  you are not listed on the reservation.  I learned that today.  I have booked several cruises with them in the past.  Generally I will book two rooms; One for my husband and I, and another one for my (adult) sister and my two sons.  I have always been the one to book them.  My name is on the receipt, my card has been the one purchasing; even my email address.  Basically, she has never been present or authorized me putting her on the reservation (to be quite honest).  So imagine my dismay today when I canceled our reservations for a cruise in April 2019.  I was told that I can cancel my stateroom, but I cannot cancel the stateroom with my sister and two boys.  Me being the feisty person I am when logic on "policies" makes no sense asked to speak to a supervisor.  I was then transferred over to a supervisor.  His name was Luis.  Our conversation went like this

 

Me: Hi Luis I was told by one of your customer service reps that I am unable to cancel a reservation even though I was the one who made it?  I was told by your customer service rep that  "policy states" that since my sister is the adult on the room that she needs to be the one to cancel.  I'm curious where this policy is because I cannot seem to locate it anywhere.  Also, she never even authorized the reservation, I did, so I wonder how she would feel to know that basically you're putting her as the responsible party of a reservation when she actually gave no consent?

 

Luis: Well it's nowhere you can view.  It's an internal policy (completely ignores the consent question)

 

Me: Well Luis that makes no sense, b/c see I have concerns about why my sister has to authorize the cancellation when she never authorized to be present on the cruise?  Do you have any documentation, credit card payments, signatures which show my sister authorizing herself and the responsible party?  

 

Luis: Well no, but that's not our policy

 

Me:  Stating that it's your policy but not having a policy for me to see makes absolutely no sense Luis.   None.  Especially since the reservation confirmation I am looking at right now shows my name on the far right hand corner.  Also I show my credit card being the one that made the reservations, also my email address, also my kids being on the reservation with my last name.  Can you see why I'm frustrated Luis?

 

Luis:  Yes I do, but that's our policy

 

Me.  So Luis, you're saying that my sister has to be the one to call right? 

 

Luis:  Yes

 

Me:  So what do you do to prove that my sister is the one actually calling since technically she hasn't given you any of her actual information to book the reservation?

 

Luis:  Just her name

 

Me:  You know what that tells me Luis, that your policy seems quite ridiculous.  I can call back in five minutes, say I'm my sister and cancel the reservation.

 

Luis:  Yes...I guess you could.  

 

Me:  How does that make your sound as a company when your "policy" is that easy to bypass?  Seems quite ridiculous to me, but at this point I'm over discussing this with you. Thank you.

 

*Wait 5 mins*  Call Royal Caribbean.  Go through the prompts.  

Me: Hi I'm "adult sister" and I would like to cancel my reservation

Agent:  Sorry to hear, can I get your name

Me: *says sisters name*

 

CANCELED...WOW!!

 

 

[Charles4515]

10 minutes ago, KelSny1011 said:

 

CANCELED...WOW!!

 

 

 

Luis did the right thing. The second rep did the wrong thing. They should have asked for some verification other than the name. The probelm is that I might post on Facebook or otherwise tell someone I am going on a sailing. Then for some reason, maybe we had a spat, they could call up and cancel the reservation. There should be some security.

[Biker19]

27 minutes ago, KelSny1011 said:

*Wait 5 mins*  Call Royal Caribbean. 

Why? You should have asked to be transferred back to any other CSR and claimed to be your sister to cancel.Or just tell Luis you are really your sister and cancel with him.

[KelSny1011]

 

6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Why? You should have asked to be transferred back to any other CSR and claimed to be your sister to cancel.Or just tell Luis you are really your sister and cancel with him.

 

I thought about saying "Hold on I have my sister right here" then become her but I didn't.  

[KelSny1011]

21 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Luis did the right thing. The second rep did the wrong thing. They should have asked for some verification other than the name. The probelm is that I might post on Facebook or otherwise tell someone I am going on a sailing. Then for some reason, maybe we had a spat, they could call up and cancel the reservation. There should be some security.

 

How would they verify her if there is nothing in their system besides her name and birthdate?  You're correct that they need better security, and why I made a mockery of their "policy"

 

Like I said in my question to Luis..everything they have on file to verify would be my information. 

[Charles4515]

2 minutes ago, KelSny1011 said:

 

How would they verify her if there is nothing in their system besides her name and birthdate?  You're correct that they need better security, and why I made a mockery of their "policy"

 

Like I said in my question to Luis..everything they have on file to verify would be my information. 

 

They could ask for birthdate.

 

Luis was just doing his job. I would have done the same as you. Called back and said I was her. I have doen it for family mambers who can't navigate the voice mail phone trees. My mother could never talk to her insurance or credit card companies on the phone to resolve issues so we had my sister call and say she was my mother but I don't blame the representatives that they would not let me do it for her.

[whitshel]

I don't get why people have to question the policy of a company, if thats the policy then thats the policy whether or not you can physically see it or not. Why argue with something so trivial?  I'm sure the way you think is way better than their policy, but guess what, its not your company. 

 

When you own a billion $$ company you can make any rules or policies you want, unfortunately you have to play by their rules for now, silly or not.

 

 

[Merion_Mom]

When you cancelled, I am sure that you had to give the reservation/booking number.

 

That was the verification.

 

You could have done that in the first place.  Instead of getting into a huge hassle, and probably raising your blood pressure 25 points, after being told "no", you should have just hung up, then called back, and completed the cancellation exactly as you ultimately did.

[John&LaLa]

32 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

When you cancelled, I am sure that you had to give the reservation/booking number.

 

That was the verification.

 

You could have done that in the first place.  Instead of getting into a huge hassle, and probably raising your blood pressure 25 points, after being told "no", you should have just hung up, then called back, and completed the cancellation exactly as you ultimately did.

 

I can't get away with stuff like that because I have a deep voice.  Happens all the time with one of our credit cards.  I can answer any security question they throw at me.  It's all BS

[KelSny1011]

1 hour ago, whitshel said:

I don't get why people have to question the policy of a company, if thats the policy then thats the policy whether or not you can physically see it or not. Why argue with something so trivial?  I'm sure the way you think is way better than their policy, but guess what, its not your company. 

 

When you own a billion $$ company you can make any rules or policies you want, unfortunately you have to play by their rules for now, silly or not.

 

 

As a consumer I'm allowed to have an opinion about their policy just as much as you. So as a "billion $$ company" they have to listen to my "trivial" complaint when they gladly took my money and my email address and never mentioned to me this policy when I put my sister as the adult on the room.

[KelSny1011]

1 hour ago, Merion_Mom said:

When you cancelled, I am sure that you had to give the reservation/booking number.

 

That was the verification.

 

You could have done that in the first place.  Instead of getting into a huge hassle, and probably raising your blood pressure 25 points, after being told "no", you should have just hung up, then called back, and completed the cancellation exactly as you ultimately did.

Did that and again since I was the one who booked and never had to get my sisters authorization to put her on the stateroom I went off the assumption that she wouldn't need authorize the cancellation. 

 

Also why I thought I would let everyone know so that readers-cruisers are aware when booking rooms and have to cancel.

[crystalspin]

Thanks OP! I have a booking for Alaska 2020 for MY sister and BIL that I made and paid for, it is interesting that I would have to impersonate her to cancel.

[Merion_Mom]

40 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Thanks OP! I have a booking for Alaska 2020 for MY sister and BIL that I made and paid for, it is interesting that I would have to impersonate her to cancel.

 

Or have her make the call.

[lizardhowson]

7 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Or have her make the call.

Exactly !

[dcgrumpy]

10 hours ago, whitshel said:

I don't get why people have to question the policy of a company, if thats the policy then thats the policy whether or not you can physically see it or not. Why argue with something so trivial?  I'm sure the way you think is way better than their policy, but guess what, its not your company. 

 

When you own a billion $$ company you can make any rules or policies you want, unfortunately you have to play by their rules for now, silly or not.

 

 

I agree. I really don't understand arguing with someone who doesn't  make the policies or have any day in how things are done. Whether or not it makes sense doesn't matter. He could get in trouble for not following protocol.

 

I don't see the big deal. Pretend you are your sister or tell her to call.

[end753]

Imagine the less than perfect family.. likely much different than yours.  They have a cruise planned together as well.

 

Sister "A" gets mad at Sister "B".  She was 10 minutes late for Thanksgiving and the pies she made were slightly burnt.  Did she use that off brand canned pumpkin mix again?  Sister B completely ruined Thanksgiving.  (sarcasm)

Sister A decides she doesn't want Sister B and her family to go on the cruise, and they might as well just all cancel.  Of course Sister A is a higher loyalty level on another cruise line, and they were going on RCCL just to made Sister B happy!  She has all of the info, so figures she can CALL AND CANCEL them all!  Who cares if Sister B would still want to go without sister A? 

 

Now if RCCL let sister A cancel for sister B, they would be the bad guy. 

 

Yes, sister A can call and impersonate sister B.  I'm assuming RCCL has recorded lines, and when sister B finds out that the cruise is cancelled they can pull the call.  Now it is not RCCL's fault, but it is identity / impersonation issue, not a RCCL policy issue.  Hopefully Sister A's conscience would have kicked in before she did this.  Maybe.

 

 

Yes, sometimes rules or policies seem like they are illogical, but they likely make sense in worse case scenarios.  I've dealt with a lot of "feisty" clients, and the time and energy used to balk at or argue the policy is often much more than it would take to process the way the company is asking it to be done. 

 

PS- I would have done the same thing in calling back as her.  This is not a "you have to follow the rules" post.  But a "rules are likely there because there are a lot of crappy people out there" post.  

 

 

[SRF]

If Sister A made the booking, paid for it on her credit card, and is listed as the person making the booking, she has the right to cancel the booking.

 

NOT Sister B.

 

And of they have some form of confirmation/security questions, Sister A would be the one with the info, as she made the booking.  Sister B could NOT answer any security questions, as she never was involved in the booking process.

 

Personally, I would have just called the credit card company and had the charge removed.  Then left RCI call YOU to figure out why.

[SilkySal]

Yes, I found about this "policy" a few weeks ago. I have been booking several rooms for my family/friends for a few years and did the same for our last cruise on the Majesty. I had been handling everything on each of their accounts. Then, RCI changed its web site and, all of a sudden, I could not access most of those reservations to make needed changes and reservations!😲 However, I could still access the ones with my family if the last name was the same. I was also told by a rep that my name had to be on the reservation in order to access it! My thinking is that they want to take that access ability away from people, who are not authorized travel agents. I am wondering if some of the TA's requested this to be done to increase their clientele. Hmmmm, just maybe!🙄

Edited November 21, 2018 by SilkySal
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[KelSny1011]

26 minutes ago, SRF said:

If Sister A made the booking, paid for it on her credit card, and is listed as the person making the booking, she has the right to cancel the booking.

 

NOT Sister B.

 

And of they have some form of confirmation/security questions, Sister A would be the one with the info, as she made the booking.  Sister B could NOT answer any security questions, as she never was involved in the booking process.

 

Personally, I would have just called the credit card company and had the charge removed.  Then left RCI call YOU to figure out why.

Thank you!  I feel like the majority of the posters on here are not understanding the fact that they gladly took my sister's information with zero authorization by her to be the responsible party of this booking then hide behind this "policy" that now she has the be the one to cancel.   Let's spin the scenario and say I made a booking without my sister's knowledge and flaked on going.  Is she now responsible for the booking when she never made the booking? 

If they are going to have a policy to protect the people in each state room then it should be across the board.  Meaning that my sister needs to give some type of authorization to be the responsible party on the stateroom before sailing.

Edited November 21, 2018 by KelSny1011
error

[brillohead]

19 hours ago, KelSny1011 said:

Let's spin the scenario and say I made a booking without my sister's knowledge and flaked on going.  Is she now responsible for the booking when she never made the booking? 

If they are going to have a policy to protect the people in each state room then it should be across the board.  Meaning that my sister needs to give some type of authorization to be the responsible party on the stateroom before sailing.

But if YOU are giving your credit card information, what on earth do you think your sister would be "responsible" for on the booking???

If she doesn't pay the balance.... you're out your deposit, not her.

If she doesn't go on the cruise.... you're out your money, it doesn't affect her at all.

THERE IS NOTHING FOR HER TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR if she doesn't want to be.... RCI isn't going to go after her to collect the balance due -- they're just going to pocket your deposit and resell the room to someone else.  

By the time the sail-date arrives, if she IS going on the cruise, she has to give her own credit card information (or cash account paid before exiting the ship) to be responsible for charges incurred on the sailing.

 

 

You're choosing to make this a much bigger deal than it really is.  

Edited November 22, 2018 by brillohead

[dcgrumpy]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

But if YOU are giving your credit card information, what on earth do you think your sister would be "responsible" for on the booking???

If she doesn't pay the balance.... you're out your deposit, not her.

If she doesn't go on the cruise.... you're out your money, it doesn't affect her at all.

THERE IS NOTHING FOR HER TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR if she doesn't want to be.... RCI isn't going to go after her to collect the balance due -- they're just going to pocket your deposit and resell the room to someone else.  

By the time the sail-date arrives, if she IS going on the cruise, she has to give her own credit card information (or cash account paid before exiting the ship) to be responsible for charges incurred on the sailing.

 

 

You're choosing to make this a much bigger deal than it really is.  

Exactly. Unless the OP used the sister's credit card without her knowledge the OP is the one who would be the one out the money, not her sister.

[SRF]

3 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

Exactly. Unless the OP used the sister's credit card without her knowledge the OP is the one who would be the one out the money, not her sister.

 

And that is what is happening. The OP is out the money.

 

But if the OP paid, why cannot the OP cancel?

[KelSny1011]

5 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

Exactly. Unless the OP used the sister's credit card without her knowledge the OP is the one who would be the one out the money, not her sister.

You guys are basically arguing the same point I'm trying to make. 

 

I BOOKED IT, ITS MY CREDIT CARD. MY NAME IS ON THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE BOOKING, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO CANCEL!!

Edited November 22, 2018 by KelSny1011

[KelSny1011]

Some of you posters on here come off extremely pompous without zero comprehension of my main arguement.

 

To those who got on me by asking their supervisor questions.  That's what supervisors do.  I cant talk to the policy maker. 

 

My main objective by posting this was to inform others who book several rooms what to be prepared for.  Every cruise we have gone on they are trying to get you to book another one.  They tell you "you can reserve as many rooms as you want for possible family and friends" So be forewarned, ask questions, and see how they can make you authorized to cancel. 

 

Who ever thought cruise critic became cruisers critics?

 

 

[Charles4515]

12 minutes ago, KelSny1011 said:

Some of you posters on here come off extremely pompous without zero comprehension of my main arguement.

 

To those who got on me by asking their supervisor questions.  That's what supervisors do.  I cant talk to the policy maker. 

 

My main objective by posting this was to inform others who book several rooms what to be prepared for.  Every cruise we have gone on they are trying to get you to book another one.  They tell you "you can reserve as many rooms as you want for possible family and friends" So be forewarned, ask questions, and see how they can make you authorized to cancel. 

 

Who ever thought cruise critic became cruisers critics?

 

 

 

We comprehend. It is just that you are making much ado about nothing. You could have had you sister call or done what you did do, call back as your sister to cancel. 

 

Dealing with Royal Caribbean call centers is always a treat. They are in Guatemala and Jamaica and operate from a script. The employees can't operate independent of what they are authorised to do. They are dependent on those jobs and must act as drones. 

 

Personally I always book with a travel agent and let them deal with booking and canceling.  A travel agent would have canceled that booking for you without any problem.