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Avalon - Still waiting for reply on unauthorized Visa charge


kruzin2010
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It's really a shame that an obvious clerical error can ruin an experience.  We sailed on the Avalon Expression from Budapest to Prague in October.  Boarding, we walked onto the boat, showed our boarding pass and were immediately taken to our beautiful Royal Suite.  It really was lovely.  King Size bed, beautiful large washroom and wonderful cabin attendants.  No checking in appeared to be required.  On the 2nd day, there was a note on our desk, would we please come and give the cruise director our credit card.  FOOLISHLY, we didn't think anything of it.  We went to the front lobby and exchanged pleasantries with the cruise director and gave him our visa card. ASSUMING that it was for incidentals, bar bill etc.  

 

When we got home, there was a charge on our visa of 182 Euros.  I immediately phoned Globus/Avalon and was told that it was for excursions that we booked on board for Prague.   We did not book any excursions on board for Prague.  They replied that we must have as there were no "no-shows".  

Well that tells you only that "Someone" took the tours, not that it was me. They then said that whether we attended or not, we still had to pay.  I said, but you have already said that there were no no-shows, and I can prove with pictures that I was not on a guided tour in Prague at the specified time, so that must tell you that someone else 

took the tour.  Obviously the person who booked the tour and in error, gave our room number.  They said, hmmmmm, we will look into it and get back to you in 3-6 weeks.  

We asked our travel agent, Expedia Cruise Ship Centre to try and intervene and they have written letters but have been told, no, we gave them our credit card, therefore we must have booked the tours.  

 

It will be 8 weeks on Monday since I called and they haven't even had the courtesy to respond to me.

 

I have now started a dispute with visa and hopefully will get my $ back.  

 

I am not quite sure what we could have done differently.  We had no knowledge of the charge until we got home and saw our statement.  On a large cruise ship, they give you admission tickets for your excursions.  IF there had been tickets left in our room we would have known and we could have dealt  with this on board.  I am quite positive that it was simply human error.  Whoever booked and subsequently took the tour gave the wrong room # by mistake.  

 

All in all it was a lovely trip and we will definitely do more river cruises, but I guarantee my travel dollars will not be spent with Globus/Avalon.  In this day and age, and the $ value of these trips, would you not think you would at least receive a reply email or phone call.

 

 

 

 

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Good point - but it wasn't part of our overall bill.  We got that, for the bar etc., at the end of the cruise.  This actually hit our visa the 2nd day of the cruise.  So I am not sure if it would have been posted there.  But....I will definitely check from now on!

 

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Hmmm.  maybe you could share your experience on their Facebook Page. You might be able to gain the attention of someone at Avalon with common sense.  I believe that senior management would be aghast to hear that any guest, let alone a guest in a Royal Suite ( with picture evidence included), would be dismissed in such a manner.

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Sounds an awkward thing to sort out since it occurred weeks ago?

We have always considered the cruise director to be an independent contractor on board? As you said not part on your personal bills/spending on board, for say laundry/drinks etc.

Did you pay for any other optional excursions with the cruise director? Cannot see why they would require your credit card at all unless directly booking with them?

Fortunately its not a huge amount but seems odd just the same.

A warning for others perhaps? 

 

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On ‎12‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 11:17 AM, English Voyager said:

Does Avalon not issue a full itemised invoice, inclusive of excursions taken, on the penultimate evening of the cruise?

 

If it does, was the Prague excursion charge listed?

Yes, they do but not the excursions.  We paid for all of our excursions in advance in Canadian $.  The typical bill did come for laundry/drinks etc.  This was totally separate,  and we received no paperwork whatsoever.   It wasn't until we were home and checked the visa and saw a charge on the 2nd day of the cruise and a charge on the last day.   That is when we called Avalon and asked them what it was for.  So the minute I saw it I called.  They were the ones that said they needed time to investigate.

 

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Love your reply.  Where is common sense these days?  I think it has deserted us.  It was almost humorous with their reply that we MUST have taken the tour as there were no NO-SHOWS.  When I replied that all that meant was that "someone" took the tour and that "someone" wasn't me, they said,  and I quote verbatim " Kindly notice that if clients pay and then don't sow up, they're not entitled to a refund"

 

Of course the obvious answer is that SOEMONE did show up, which proves at the very least, that there is a wee bit of confusion over this issue.  

 

The last that I heard from them was November 29th, when they said that they needed more time.  

 

And yes, as one poster suggested, this was a lesson and not a terribly expensive one in the scheme of things, but a lesson certainly to me, that I thought I would share.

 

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The real lesson is going to be on the part of Avalon, in failing to achieve the ultimate goal of securing return customers over poor follow up in customer service.   

Though not possible in this circumstance, a billing error of this type is usually some thing that is resolved at the front desk, with an apology and smile.  

 

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Well amazingly enough, our travel agent called today and we are apparently being refunded the $.   They have still yet to ever reply to me other than our very first email in October when they said they would investigate.

 

I purposefully did not post on any social media, until last Friday.  I phoned them, emailed them and had our travel agent do the same with no results.  Then coincidentally 3 days after posting on social media they have concluded their investigation and decided to refund us.

 

I am happy for this but sad that as Shipswap said above, "that Avalon failed to achieve the ultimate goal of securing return customers over poor follow up in customer service."

 

It really was a simple mistake, but in this age of seemingly unlimited choices, my choice will be to sail with others.

 

Thanks all for listening and your sound advise.

 

 

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Kurzin2010, I’m so happy that the billing error was corrected. I am a big fan of Avalon having been on several of their River Cruises. It was dismaying for me to hear that your experience was less than outstanding. Hopefully they will follow up with you personally.

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  • 3 months later...

I’m sorry this happened to you, so aggravating. But isn’t one of the benefits with using a credit card that you can dispute the charge with the CC company and they’ll investigate? As soon as you dispute something you are not liable until the investigation is complete. 

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