Reservation Not Found - past final payment

[ugagal07]

We were booked on the Oasis March 31 sailing that was cancelled.  We finally got moved to the Allure leaving the same day in a GTY balcony.  We made final payment, but they overcharged us.  Rather than refund us the overage, they refunded the entire amount 2 weeks later and then recharged the credit card, again for the overage.  This happened twice.  I the meantime we were assigned a cabin.  I was told, by RCCL through my TA, that there was nothing to worry about with the strange billing practices and have bought dining and beverage packages.  For the past 2 days, my reservation number doesn't work and the RCCL website says reservation not found, I cannot access Cruise Planner, and my cabin is back to GTY.  I was advised to call sometime later this week to get a supervisor to look into it since they were unable to figure it out when my TA called several times this weekend, no one can access my booking information.  Has anyone had this happen before?  Nothing has been refunded to me in the past few days, but this whole Oasis to Allure thing has been one huge mess.  I've seen Royal's IT be terrible, but is their accounting/billing/reservation dept this bad too?

[molly361]

They might have issued you a new reservation number.  You might have your TA check that

[Thorben-Hendrik]

They might have cancelled everything....🤔

[ugagal07]

Update: my final payment was refunded, again.  Posted to credit card today... 😞  The payment system shows a balance due again but will not allow TA to make a payment.  TA can’t do anything with my booking. Waiting on RCCL to open, again, and hope they aren’t short staffed for MLK

 

Only thing my TA can see is they overcharged us for the final payment and were going to issue a refund for the overage.  Best current guess is they aren’t smart enough to do that and are refunding the whole final payment for a $60 overpayment...

[kurtp13]

I had multiple odd value refunds from Royal for cruise planner purchases and OBC adjustments due to a canceled cruise.  The last one occurred near my final payment date and was an over credit to me.   But it was so confusing they couldn't get me a value for the final balance due for almost 4 weeks.   My travel agency kept thinking each time I talked to them it would be resolved within the phone call.   So I had several calls with 1 hour+ waits on hold.    About 5 hours total.  Finally I received a final balance number but they didn't sound confident.  I paid it.   Then on followup call I got another final balance number.  And I paid that.  Crazy.   I now have a final invoice but since I was past the final payment date by weeks I was a little concerned they would cancel despite the issue being their fault. You know like the right hand not knowing what the left is doing.  The travel agents couldn't believe it was so complicated and frankly RCCL had me confused as well.  

 

My agent secured an OBC for the confusion.   It was a crazy mess and had me watching everyday to make sure my reservation was still active and not inadvertently cancelled.   If I was a new customer I would have had a terrible first impression.   I am so looking forward to this cruise so hopefully with this behind me it will be smooth sailing from here on out.   

[Clarea]

43 minutes ago, ugagal07 said:

Update: my final payment was refunded, again.  Posted to credit card today... 😞  The payment system shows a balance due again but will not allow TA to make a payment.  TA can’t do anything with my booking. Waiting on RCCL to open, again, and hope they aren’t short staffed for MLK

 

Only thing my TA can see is they overcharged us for the final payment and were going to issue a refund for the overage.  Best current guess is they aren’t smart enough to do that and are refunding the whole final payment for a $60 overpayment...

 

I think Ellen has a good idea, that the reservation number changed,  Try calling C&A and have them look up your reservation number.

[Paulette3028]

7 hours ago, ugagal07 said:

We were booked on the Oasis March 31 sailing that was cancelled.  We finally got moved to the Allure leaving the same day in a GTY balcony.  We made final payment, but they overcharged us.  Rather than refund us the overage, they refunded the entire amount 2 weeks later and then recharged the credit card, again for the overage.  This happened twice.  I the meantime we were assigned a cabin.  I was told, by RCCL through my TA, that there was nothing to worry about with the strange billing practices and have bought dining and beverage packages.  For the past 2 days, my reservation number doesn't work and the RCCL website says reservation not found, I cannot access Cruise Planner, and my cabin is back to GTY.  I was advised to call sometime later this week to get a supervisor to look into it since they were unable to figure it out when my TA called several times this weekend, no one can access my booking information.  Has anyone had this happen before?  Nothing has been refunded to me in the past few days, but this whole Oasis to Allure thing has been one huge mess.  I've seen Royal's IT be terrible, but is their accounting/billing/reservation dept this bad too?

Time is very critical and waiting, is not an option or 'call sometime later this week' should not be good enough. 

 

Best way to get action is to go DIRECT to the top, Michael Bayley -- email him at mbayley@rccl.com.  Put in all the details, someone from his office will reach out to you is what I would expect.

 

Don't worry about going over your TA's head in this case either. We had a similar situation and this is how we got it resolved.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Paulette3028

[ugagal07]

On 1/21/2019 at 8:53 AM, Paulette3028 said:

Time is very critical and waiting, is not an option or 'call sometime later this week' should not be good enough. 

 

Best way to get action is to go DIRECT to the top, Michael Bayley -- email him at mbayley@rccl.com.  Put in all the details, someone from his office will reach out to you is what I would expect.

 

Don't worry about going over your TA's head in this case either. We had a similar situation and this is how we got it resolved.

 

 

Thanks.  I reached out to them yesterday morning, waiting on a response.  My TA has 2 supervisors also trying to fix what RCCL said "they had never seen this before"...  Very comforting.  Current plan is to cancel everything and rebook from square one, but they can't promise price protection because they may not be able to access the price I booked at and this could take a while... Seriously??  I'm beyond frustrated as I've booked airfare for this trip already so I can't just change sailings, and we booked KSF which means we got an amazing deal.

[Clarea]

17 minutes ago, ugagal07 said:

 ...  I'm beyond frustrated as I've booked airfare for this trip already so I can't just change sailings, and we booked KSF which means we got an amazing deal.

 

Hopefully you have the written confirmations with the old prices.

[Paulette3028]

16 minutes ago, ugagal07 said:

Thanks.  I reached out to them yesterday morning, waiting on a response.  My TA has 2 supervisors also trying to fix what RCCL said "they had never seen this before"...  Very comforting.  Current plan is to cancel everything and rebook from square one, but they can't promise price protection because they may not be able to access the price I booked at and this could take a while... Seriously??  I'm beyond frustrated as I've booked airfare for this trip already so I can't just change sailings, and we booked KSF which means we got an amazing deal.

Royal has seen this before....I can assure you.   You probably have a confirmation for the reservation made for the Allure sailing that replaced the cancelled sailing.  That will be very important for them to track it....and get you the price you were quoted and the cabin you had.

[molly361]

23 minutes ago, ugagal07 said:

Thanks.  I reached out to them yesterday morning, waiting on a response.  My TA has 2 supervisors also trying to fix what RCCL said "they had never seen this before"...  Very comforting.  Current plan is to cancel everything and rebook from square one, but they can't promise price protection because they may not be able to access the price I booked at and this could take a while... Seriously??  I'm beyond frustrated as I've booked airfare for this trip already so I can't just change sailings, and we booked KSF which means we got an amazing deal.

Not very comforting AND I would be very nervous about getting price protection

Edited January 22, 2019 by molly361

[ugagal07]

I have ALL the paperwork and I am certain they have access to all of it to.  Honestly, what company wouldn't. 🙂 If they have to start from square one, I expect the same pricing for the cabin, drink package, dining package, same show reservation slots, etc.  It's not my fault that someone on their end screwed up big time.   When we had to switch to Allure after Oasis was cancelled, we were granted price protection, but still had to pay another $177 in 'taxes and fees' that RCCL said we owed due to the change...  I'm not paying anything else.

[Colorado Babe]

 

I have ALL the paperwork and I am certain they have access to all of it to.  Honestly, what company wouldn't. 🙂 If they have to start from square one, I expect the same pricing for the cabin, drink package, dining package, same show reservation slots, etc.  It's not my fault that someone on their end screwed up big time.   When we had to switch to Allure after Oasis was cancelled, we were granted price protection, but still had to pay another $177 in 'taxes and fees' that RCCL said we owed due to the change...  I'm not paying anything else.

I agree with you.  Try to relax and let the TA take care of it.  Crossing my fingers this gets straightened out today!

[Paulette3028]

 

I agree with you.  Try to relax and let the TA take care of it.  Crossing my fingers this gets straightened out today!

One of the things I learned when we had the problem is that the Finance Department is who handles payments and refunds and has a different process than the sales department.  When I reached out to Michael Bayley's office for help, he actually ended up having the VP of Sales call me back and they were the ones able to work to get it resolved, both financially and to get us our original cabin selection.  If the cabin goes back into circulation, it might be chosen by someone making a new booking (creating an additional problem).  The VP of Sales was then and I believe still is Vicki Freed.  

[ugagal07]

Update:  Still not handled.  Reached out to Michael Bayley's office as well as RCCL through TA.  Bayley's office cannot resolve it, but extended my final payment deadline til the end of February so my booking won't be completely cancelled.  The booking is currently in the hands of supervisors reached by both the TA and Bayley's office who are trying to figure out why it keeps re-faring itself and refunding final payment.  It could be a corrupt booking, in which case everything will be cancelled and we start fresh.  The team of supervisors could not promise me the same cabin or price protection for onboard purchases I have already made, but Bayley's office did.  It could take up to 3 weeks to straighten out...  For my hassle, I was given some OBC from Bayley's office, but that was also after I complained that the taxes were $177 higher on the Allure than the Oasis, so my OBC for the cancellation was actually less than the $300 given due to that fact.  My faith in RCCL not high at this point as everyone admits it is their error, not mine, but no one seems to know how to fix it. 

[mtvagirl]

Wow, your situation is full of craziness!  I hope everything gets resolved to your satisfaction soon and you are able to enjoy your cruise!  Good luck!  

 

[Colorado Babe]

32 minutes ago, mtvagirl said:

Wow, your situation is full of craziness!  I hope everything gets resolved to your satisfaction soon and you are able to enjoy your cruise!  Good luck!  

 

Exactly.  They should also give you a cruise certificate for your next cruise.  Unacceptable. I am sorry!

[Thorben-Hendrik]

55 minutes ago, ugagal07 said:

Update:  Still not handled.  Reached out to Michael Bayley's office as well as RCCL through TA.  Bayley's office cannot resolve it, but extended my final payment deadline til the end of February so my booking won't be completely cancelled.  The booking is currently in the hands of supervisors reached by both the TA and Bayley's office who are trying to figure out why it keeps re-faring itself and refunding final payment.  It could be a corrupt booking, in which case everything will be cancelled and we start fresh.  The team of supervisors could not promise me the same cabin or price protection for onboard purchases I have already made, but Bayley's office did.  It could take up to 3 weeks to straighten out...  For my hassle, I was given some OBC from Bayley's office, but that was also after I complained that the taxes were $177 higher on the Allure than the Oasis, so my OBC for the cancellation was actually less than the $300 given due to that fact.  My faith in RCCL not high at this point as everyone admits it is their error, not mine, but no one seems to know how to fix it. 

Seems to be the standard theses days @ RCI .....also struggeling with a refund!