Princess "refundable credit"----don't believe it!

[triple7tahoe]

Gee, I would be tempted to check the balance, go  to the casino, put the balance on a game of chance, play ten cents and cash out-I am sure (tongue in cheek) nobody has ever thought of that 🙂

 

[floridalover5623]

1 minute ago, triple7tahoe said:

Gee, I would be tempted to check the balance, go  to the casino, put the balance on a game of chance, play ten cents and cash out-I am sure (tongue in cheek) nobody has ever thought of that 🙂

 

Bingo !🤑

[Kartgv]

5 hours ago, floridalover5623 said:

Bottom line is that it never pays to get off the ship unless you have a $0 balance. Why wait for a refund or have to call them to argue the accounting statement when you can leave with your account balanced out?  

 

We've had as much as $600 credit balance at the end of a cruise - I'm not going to spend it on overpriced junk I don't need in the gift shops when I have much better uses for it at home (partial deposit on the next cruise maybe?).    It originally came from military credit plus a substantial TA credit.   Since we had a drink package, free internet minutes, and had prepaid a couple of shore excursions, it was easy to have leftover credit.   The check arrived in the 3-4 week timeframe.    

Edited February 12, 2019 by Kartgv

[floridalover5623]

1 hour ago, Kartgv said:

 

We've had as much as $600 credit balance at the end of a cruise - I'm not going to spend it on overpriced junk I don't need in the gift shops when I have much better uses for it at home (partial deposit on the next cruise maybe?).    It originally came from military credit plus a substantial TA credit.   Since we had a drink package, free internet minutes, and had prepaid a couple of shore excursions, it was easy to have leftover credit.   The check arrived in the 3-4 week timeframe.    

I don't blame you. See post #26.

[treasurer]

Thank you everyone for your responses.  You gave us some good ideas and advice.  We have gotten nowhere with Andres, the post cruise representative.  He now says he couldn't read the statement we sent him 2 weeks ago.  Obviously he didn't even try at the time or he might have asked us to resend the copy.   We think they balanced our account out to 0 after the cruise but didn't send the check???  We are now going through customer relations to try and get it figured out.  How do we proceed in the future when we get our final statement on a cruise?   Sure, it looks accurate, but will they change their minds?

[Steven_&_Daniel]

We were due $92 of refundable on-board credit when our cruise ended 4 weeks ago. We got a check in the mail the other day. We didn't call anyone, we didn't do anything, it came all on its own. So there are times when the system does work.

 

But have also had the same issues you're dealing with many years ago when it took several months and several phone calls to get our money. I don't know why sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sorry for all the trouble you're dealing with.

 

[PescadoAmarillo]

On 2/12/2019 at 5:28 AM, floridalover5623 said:

Bottom line is that it never pays to get off the ship unless you have a $0 balance. Why wait for a refund or have to call them to argue the accounting statement when you can leave with your account balanced out?  

 

Pre-paid shore excursions have complicated the matter even more. I wish that pre-paid shore excursions that are not taken (for whatever reason; in our case the excursion was canceled two days before the end of the cruise) would be refunded to the credit card used to pay for them.  In that case, a credit should be received in less than a week (which is how long it takes to get a refund of a deposit when a cruise is canceled before final payment). Instead, Princess deducts it from on board spending and consequently it gets caught up in this “refund by check” practice. 

 

On the Sapphire Princess in late October, we were allowed to be refunded up to $250 in cash on the last day of the cruise. We’ve never previously had that option, and, given our history with getting checks back, we opted to do that (and the remainder was to be paid by check, which, this time, we did get without intervention). Previously, the most that was refunded in cash was $25. I’m not sure if the change was a one off or as a result of the pre-paid shore excursion that was cancelled (which was more than $250). 

[4cats4me]

On 2/11/2019 at 5:11 PM, Coral said:

On a funny note - several years ago when we had to "sign for drinks"  with paper - I had a drink on my folio that I did not make. I don't drink so it sort of stood out for me. I went to the Passenger Service desk and said I did not make this charge. They indicated that they would have to go through hundreds of receipts to prove it was not my charge (which apparently they did). This was for a charge for under $10. Ultimately they reversed it. It was a lot of work for them.

 

I sailed on another line and the same thing happened. I went to the Customer Service desk and said the same thing. In that situation - they quickly said "I am sorry, we will remove that right away". 

 

Now which company came out ahead? Princess probably spent hours trying to prove it was my charge and the other took the high ground and probably saved hours of an employees time.

 

Same thing happened to us on the Emerald in April 2008, only it was a $70 charge!

It was disembarkation day, and yes, we had to stand at the purser’s desk while they went through at least a couple hundred paper receipts.  There was a four digit number code on our cruise card which was one digit off from the person who purchased $70 in the gift shop. It was human error who punched in one incorrect digit.  

 

[Coral]

6 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

 

Pre-paid shore excursions have complicated the matter even more. I wish that pre-paid shore excursions that are not taken (for whatever reason; in our case the excursion was canceled two days before the end of the cruise) would be refunded to the credit card used to pay for them.  

 

This is so annoying! I have switched excursions before the cruise and then it becomes OBC. I have called Princess to get a refund and the people on the phone are like "you don't want OBC - everyone wants OBC". And then I explain it was from my credit card and they still don't get it. They are not very good at showing which money was used for OBC and which you paid for with a credit card.

[TravelingEA]

If you have any left by the next to last day of the cruise, cash it out at the casino. Then you do not have to wait for Princess to send a check.

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, TravelingEA said:

If you have any left by the next to last day of the cruise, cash it out at the casino. Then you do not have to wait for Princess to send a check.

Just so I get this right as I have never gambled in the Princess casino. I have let's say $600 in refundable OBC. I go to a slot machine. Insert my card and load up the slot machine with $600 credit. I push the button a few times, then push the "Cash Out" button. Then I take the slip over to the cashier and get paid the $600 minus whatever I lost. Is that pretty much it?

[TravelingEA]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just so I get this right as I have never gambled in the Princess casino. I have let's say $600 in refundable OBC. I go to a slot machine. Insert my card and load up the slot machine with $600 credit. I push the button a few times, then push the "Cash Out" button. Then I take the slip over to the cashier and get paid the $600 minus whatever I lost. Is that pretty much it?

Yes, that is how it works. We had about $200 in OBC last week and that is what we did.

[Ken the cruiser]

36 minutes ago, TravelingEA said:

Yes, that is how it works. We had about $200 in OBC last week and that is what we did.

Sounds pretty easy. Thanks for confirming the process! 

[treasurer]

We finally called customer relations and explained the situation to someone named Bob.  We sent him a copy of our statement.  He was great, very polite and professional.  By the end of the day we had received a call saying the check would be here in 4 to 6 weeks!    

[azbirdmom]

17 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

On the Sapphire Princess in late October, we were allowed to be refunded up to $250 in cash on the last day of the cruise. We’ve never previously had that option, and, given our history with getting checks back, we opted to do that (and the remainder was to be paid by check, which, this time, we did get without intervention). Previously, the most that was refunded in cash was $25. I’m not sure if the change was a one off or as a result of the pre-paid shore excursion that was cancelled (which was more than $250). 

 

Hmmm, that's interesting.  We disembarked the Sapphire a little over two weeks ago with a $4400 refundable OBC and we were told that only $25 could be refunded on the ship.  We did spend a fair amount on this cruise by the way, this was a moveover cruise and our OBC was the fare we paid for the cruise Princess convinced us to cancel.

 

11 hours ago, Coral said:

This is so annoying! I have switched excursions before the cruise and then it becomes OBC. I have called Princess to get a refund and the people on the phone are like "you don't want OBC - everyone wants OBC". And then I explain it was from my credit card and they still don't get it. They are not very good at showing which money was used for OBC and which you paid for with a credit card.

 

Another interesting tidbit... When we accepted a moveover offer, the Princess rep processed the refund for all of the excursions that we had charged to our credit card back to that credit card.  It happened quickly as I could see the refund on my on line credit card statement the next day.  So they can process it that way if they want to, but I guess it's to their advantage to move it to OBC where you just might spend it on the ship.

[Bethcb]

On 2/12/2019 at 9:57 AM, triple7tahoe said:

Gee, I would be tempted to check the balance, go  to the casino, put the balance on a game of chance, play ten cents and cash out-I am sure (tongue in cheek) nobody has ever thought of that 🙂

 

I have done that many times on the last night and just take my cash off the ship. 

[Coral]

On 2/15/2019 at 4:35 PM, treasurer said:

We finally called customer relations and explained the situation to someone named Bob.  We sent him a copy of our statement.  He was great, very polite and professional.  By the end of the day we had received a call saying the check would be here in 4 to 6 weeks!    

Congrats! Thanks for the follow up!

[Cabot49]

On 2/11/2019 at 10:29 PM, Colo Cruiser said:

$25 or under they will give it to you before you disembark.

Anything over that they mail a check.

I had four dollars and change left in my account in January, and they said they would be mailing a check.

[Expat Cruise]

If you are owed money and Princess will not reply and give you a answer just go to the credit card and open a dispute. You give the credit card company your proof and Princess does the same. The issue is handled and you move on.  Really do not understand why people waste so much time with simple things like this.

[PescadoAmarillo]

3 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

If you are owed money and Princess will not reply and give you a answer just go to the credit card and open a dispute. You give the credit card company your proof and Princess does the same. The issue is handled and you move on.  Really do not understand why people waste so much time with simple things like this.

If you are owed money at the end of a cruise, there is no charge to dispute. 

[Expat Cruise]

2 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

If you are owed money at the end of a cruise, there is no charge to dispute. 

The fact that they zeroed the account out means they have charged something to it. The math odds of it being zero are very low. Also I use the same card as the cruise payments so even it they have not charged anything on the ship you can open based upon the overall transaction.

 

 

[floridalover5623]

10 hours ago, Cabot49 said:

I had four dollars and change left in my account in January, and they said they would be mailing a check.

There must be a lower limit?

[RDC1]

On 2/15/2019 at 3:03 PM, azbirdmom said:

 

Hmmm, that's interesting.  We disembarked the Sapphire a little over two weeks ago with a $4400 refundable OBC and we were told that only $25 could be refunded on the ship.  We did spend a fair amount on this cruise by the way, this was a moveover cruise and our OBC was the fare we paid for the cruise Princess convinced us to cancel.

 

 

Another interesting tidbit... When we accepted a moveover offer, the Princess rep processed the refund for all of the excursions that we had charged to our credit card back to that credit card.  It happened quickly as I could see the refund on my on line credit card statement the next day.  So they can process it that way if they want to, but I guess it's to their advantage to move it to OBC where you just might spend it on the ship.

I think that a few days before the cruise control is turned over to the ship and changes cannot be made in excursions online. prior to that point refunds are to the original card, after is is turned into obc in the account of the person named on the excursion, not the buyer.

[RDC1]

7 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

The fact that they zeroed the account out means they have charged something to it. The math odds of it being zero are very low. Also I use the same card as the cruise payments so even it they have not charged anything on the ship you can open based upon the overall transaction.

 

 

if they process a refund, there would be a corresponding debit placed in the account zeroing it out. standard accounting practice.

[Colo Cruiser]

13 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

If you are owed money and Princess will not reply and give you a answer just go to the credit card and open a dispute. You give the credit card company your proof and Princess does the same. The issue is handled and you move on.  Really do not understand why people waste so much time with simple things like this.

Good way to get banned by Princess.