MSC refund policy coronavirus

[mattcruise615]

6 hours ago, DerTobi75 said:

Called the german MSC hotline today!

 

They told us, that we are on a list of customers, how asked for a refund instead of FCCs. A lawyer is checking those cases, if we can get the refund.

 

The woman I talked to could not tell me, what exactly the lawyer is checking and how long it takes. But we have a little hope now, to get the refund.

 

We send a (real) letter, right after MSC cancelled all Cruises, that put us on the list.

Hi DerTobi and others, 

 

Thank you for the updates. 

 

An update from me as well: 

 

I booked through msccruises.de and have had a lot of difficulties with obtaining any information or getting a refund (see my previous posts). 

 

I previously submitted a complain to the European Consumer Centre Germany (https://www.evz.de/en/index.html), asking them to take up arbitration with MSC. Unfortunately, they can only mediate arbitrations between Germany and other European Union countries. They recently replied that, since MSC is based in Switzerland (a non-EU country), they said that they are unable to do this. 

 

I then submitted a request for arbitration to the Zentrum fuer Schlichtung e.V. in Germany (a German consumer protection organization, https://www.verbraucher-schlichter.de/). They accepted the case and contacted MSC recently to invite them to negotiate. MSC has a deadline of 2 weeks to accept. I will update the forum on what happens with this in the coming weeks.

 

The German consumer protection agencies released this information on April 21: 
https://www.verbraucherzentrale-sachsen.de/aktuelle-meldungen/vertraege-reklamation/gutscheine-statt-geld-gesetzesplaene-in-der-coronakrise-46420

 

Essentially, the German Bundeskabinett recently passed a bill that will ask consumers to accept a voucher for all bookings made prior to March 8, 2020, and that, if the voucher solution is unreasonable because of personal circumstances (for example, if you had a concert ticket and cannot attend the concert on the new date or need the money for rent or energy bills) a refund can be requested instead, and further if the voucher is not redeemed by December 31, 2021 then a refund can also be requested. 

 

This bill is NOT YET law, because it has not also been passed by the Bundestag. So, at the moment, companies SHOULD be refunding all tickets (instead of giving vouchers). However, they are not doing this and are in violation of German (and European) law. 

 

The German Consumer protection agencies are not in favor of this bill (which has not yet been passed). They write: 
"Consumers can and should gladly accept vouchers to support providers and artists who have been particularly hard hit by the crisis. But this has to be done on a voluntary basis. Because many consumers are currently suffering from the consequences of the pandemic. Many people currently need their own money and they must continue to be free to choose what they spend their money on. We consumer advice centers therefore reject these legislative plans. Because they are nothing more than interest-free compulsory loans from customers to companies. At the same time, they run the risk of not getting their money back in the event of bankruptcy."

 

The agency urges that all Europeans write to their legislature to discourage this kind of manipulation of consumer funds. They have published a draft letter that can be used for this (specifically for the bill in Germany): 
https://www.verbraucherzentrale-sachsen.de/zwangsgutscheine-sind-unfair-schreiben-sie-ihren-abgeordneten-46642

 

I will submit this letter to my representative in the German parliament. And I hope that my money will NOT continue to serve as an interest-free compulsory loan to MSC, as it is now. 

 

The crucial fact is that, the current law on the books says that consumers in Germany are entitled to a refund within 2 weeks of the cancellation. My cruise was cancelled on March 16, so it has been over 5 weeks since the cancellation. So I should have received a refund or at least some information about when that would happen by now. 

 

But, despite calling MSC over 15 times over the past 5 weeks and sending them a lot of emails, I haven't received any info about refunds. They are playing the situation as safe as possble and leaving customers in the dark, trying to avoid saying anything at all in the hopes that maybe they can get away with not refunding anyone. It's extremely disappointing for all of us. I agree with the others that, when this is all over, most people will never trust MSC again.

 

In the cases where MSC is providing refunds (for customers who booked through the UK office, msccruises.co.uk, and the American office, msccruisesusa.com), these refunds were mandated by government decisions. I'm hoping the same will happen here in Germany. If this bill is passed by the Bundestag, it will mean that a refund is promised after December 31, 2021. The question is, will MSC still exist at that time?

 

Best regards,
Matt

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by mattcruise615

[nyk24]

So I called the CC company up today and told them my TA will not refund me and they said to put a claim in with ATOL and if it gets rejected they will look into the claim - I wasn't sure by the tone of the conversation if that meant they would probably pay out or not but the helpful lady on the phone said if we didn't go through ATOL first then they would reject the claim.

 

I am just assuming this is either step one we have to do before CC company will more or less payout or it's just a way of trying to put us off, who knows? All I know is that I have to fill in an ATOL claim form I have printed out. Send it in the post to them (why no email?) and then wait 28 working days which is about 38 to 40 days - just under 6 weeks!  So not expecting a decision until beginning of June from them and then another month on top if CC get involved.

 

Well it's worth a try rather than waiting until next year to get anything from TA/MSC.

[BermudaBound2014]

@nyk24 what country are you in?

[nyk24]

2 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

@nyk24 what country are you in?

Im in the UK :)

[yorkshirephil]

13 hours ago, nyk24 said:

So I called the CC company up today and told them my TA will not refund me and they said to put a claim in with ATOL and if it gets rejected they will look into the claim - I wasn't sure by the tone of the conversation if that meant they would probably pay out or not but the helpful lady on the phone said if we didn't go through ATOL first then they would reject the claim.

 

I am just assuming this is either step one we have to do before CC company will more or less payout or it's just a way of trying to put us off, who knows? All I know is that I have to fill in an ATOL claim form I have printed out. Send it in the post to them (why no email?) and then wait 28 working days which is about 38 to 40 days - just under 6 weeks!  So not expecting a decision until beginning of June from them and then another month on top if CC get involved.

 

Well it's worth a try rather than waiting until next year to get anything from TA/MSC.

I think they are all playing the same games, making everything as awkward as possible so people give up, I was told by my bank to contact the insurance company or ATOL/ABTA, in fact anybody but them, in fairness I understand, why should the bank bail out travel agents and cruise lines. It is difficult for us all. I have now decided to just wait and hope, I would be happy to take a credit as that would suit our needs. If the cruise lines jack up the prices I will wait for the refund as I don't think it is worth the hassle to continually chase the money as it is currently not the most important thing in our lives.

 

[Intergalactic Cruiser]

1 hour ago, yorkshirephil said:

I think they are all playing the same games, making everything as awkward as possible so people give up, I was told by my bank to contact the insurance company or ATOL/ABTA, in fact anybody but them, in fairness I understand, why should the bank bail out travel agents and cruise lines. It is difficult for us all. I have now decided to just wait and hope, I would be happy to take a credit as that would suit our needs. If the cruise lines jack up the prices I will wait for the refund as I don't think it is worth the hassle to continually chase the money as it is currently not the most important thing in our lives.

 

Thinks your actually spot on with that although FCCs will be difficult if nigh impossible for us to use being vulnerable, cruisewise possibly even as far as January 2021. 

MSC could just alter the Ts and Cs ad infinitum as no one or company or institution seems to want to get involved - even the legal profession unless of course you're minted.

In regard to price, you're again spot on. In that connection I've had an offer for a refund or FCCs from another cruise company, for a cancelled cruise.  However I wrote to them as follows and await a response.....

"Regarding our cancelled we were a bit surprised to find that the nearly identical cruise for next summer is now priced at an increase of 42%. We presume this is to use up any passenger's 125% FCCs which is a tad obvious. I could have sworn a few days ago that the 2021 price was almost the same as the 2020 one. Correct me if I'm mistaken. We were seriously considering booking and risking just the small deposit but not so sure now with or without FCCs"

Incidentally they were far more honest with their customers and the timescale for full resolution is 6 mths sooner

Throwing all the brochures in the bin or unsubscribing as there's little point in time wasting and futile browsing  

Don't bank on visiting the West Country, as soon as we are released from restrictions, instead as we'll be locked solid! 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Intergalactic Cruiser
added text

[Kwaj girl]

Anyone know what MSC is doing for people booked in the US  ?

[dexddd]

22 hours ago, nyk24 said:

Just had a cheeky idea.

 

I could email the MSC UK & Ireland CEO - Mr Antonio Paradiso (he is also on linkedin) and politely put my grievance to him along with a link to this thread or maybe leave the link out but just say there's a lot of unhappy people on some of the big cruise forums?

 

These guys are human after all and I have heard stories that the big wigs at MSC do like to fix things when things go wrong sometimes. Has anyone ever emailed a cruise line CEO and what happened?

I rarely have to write any company.

 

I can say I've written Andy Stuart at NCL that the department could not understand.  Got basically a form letter back referring me back to problem department.  Guess what, they never replied back.

 

I've contacted MSC via website twice.  Once for status match, once for refund owed since middle of March. Both times, nothing.  In both circumstances I have seen others that have gotten response.

[dexddd]

2 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

Anyone know what MSC is doing for people booked in the US  ?

Not sure what you mean?

 

If you had trip cancelled, you had choice between FCC or refund if in US.

 

In both cases, they are dragging their feet!

 

I can't say I've seen one report here of refund or sight of FCC.

[Kwaj girl]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

Not sure what you mean?

 

If you had trip cancelled, you had choice between FCC or refund if in US.

 

In both cases, they are dragging their feet!

 

I can't say I've seen one report here of refund or sight of FCC.

 

I guess what I mean is....if I opt for the refund - how long will it take?  I read *somewhere* that the payment was being held until December 2021 as a FCC.  Then, and ONLY then, would the refund be issued.  True?  Or more Fake News?

[GatorMomInNC]

It will be 2 months on Monday since I cancelled my June cruise, well within the time frame to cancel, and I am still waiting on my refund.  My TA called Monday and they said it would be 10 more days.   My situation is different as my cruise has not (yet) been cancelled and I requested refund within the time period where I should receive full refund regardless (I paid in full last year).  I will post here when (if?) I get my promised refund.

[Até]

1 hour ago, Kwaj girl said:

I guess what I mean is....if I opt for the refund - how long will it take?  I read *somewhere* that the payment was being held until December 2021 as a FCC.  Then, and ONLY then, would the refund be issued.  True?  Or more Fake News?

US bookings currently follow different rules, the people you refer to are being forced into FCC's that only turns into a refund way later are in Canada, UK and some European countries.  If you file for a MSC cancelled cruise MSC is claiming US customers will get refund "no earlier than 60 days from your original sail date".

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Cruise-Changes-COVID19.aspx

 

ETA: It used to read "within 14 days",  I'm not really sure what time frame "no earlier than 60 days" really is....

Edited April 23, 2020 by Até

[mamaneedsavacay]

6 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

Anyone know what MSC is doing for people booked in the US  ?

 

4 hours ago, dexddd said:

Not sure what you mean?

 

If you had trip cancelled, you had choice between FCC or refund if in US.

 

In both cases, they are dragging their feet!

 

I can't say I've seen one report here of refund or sight of FCC.

 

I posted this in another thread, but I'm in USA and had the March 15 cruise canceled. I was able to opt between FCC and refund and I chose the 125% FCC. I followed up with a website inquiry and got individual confirmation of the amount of credit I had in my account. The email said I could rebook with that credit by calling any time, but I use a TA, so I replied asking for some kind of certificate. I also still have not received the portion that is refund for everyone, the pre-paid items, port fees, etc.

 

My TA is going to follow up from here, but based on the experience so far, and her comments about what she's seeing across all cruise lines, I do believe that MSC is just more swamped than we can imagine, they are working through these things as quickly as they can, and they will make good. She said that 60 days for refund is standard (we haven't hit that mark yet) and that she still wouldn't be worried if the new goal was 90 days because of sheer volume.

 

I can only speak about MSC USA and I'm sorry for whatever is happening with other booking countries, I don't have any insight on that. It really sounds like they are all separate entities with their own CEO's and management. 

[aprilF]

3 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

I guess what I mean is....if I opt for the refund - how long will it take?  I read *somewhere* that the payment was being held until December 2021 as a FCC.  Then, and ONLY then, would the refund be issued.  True?  Or more Fake News?

On March 12th I had cancelled my cruise (in the deposit loss timeframe) and was told 30 days.  When MSC announced they were cancelling the cruise (I got an email from them), I applied for a refund as directed.  I was allowed to apply (rather than being told my cruise had already been cancelled as some people were getting) so I guessed that my first cancellation did not stick for whatever reason.  I was told 60 days for this refund.  Its been well past the 30 days and no refund from MSC.  Still have a wait to hit the 60 days.  FWIW someone that was before PIF cancelled her cruise about two weeks before my first attempt and was told 60-90 days.  As of last update she hasnt been paid.  I hope I'm wrong but I fear we will all be in for a fight to get an actual refund.

 

[Mattnvick]

On 4/22/2020 at 10:32 AM, nyk24 said:

Just had a cheeky idea.

 

I could email the MSC UK & Ireland CEO - Mr Antonio Paradiso (he is also on linkedin) and politely put my grievance to him along with a link to this thread or maybe leave the link out but just say there's a lot of unhappy people on some of the big cruise forums?

 

These guys are human after all and I have heard stories that the big wigs at MSC do like to fix things when things go wrong sometimes. Has anyone ever emailed a cruise line CEO and what happened?

Not a cruise line but a very large UK airline many years ago when we lived there. Sent a complaint letter  to the top as i was advised by a friend letters of complaint are never escalated "up" the tree but go to the top and they will pass it down but not before making sure something gets done. It was settled in a very timely and satisfactory manor. I should add we also took them to small claims over a breach of contract and won that too uncontested. But as i say many years ago.

[sidari]

I would guess the CEO of a given Country will not be able to give you what you want because the decision is being made much higher up the chain.

[nyk24]

14 minutes ago, Mattnvick said:

Not a cruise line but a very large UK airline many years ago when we lived there. Sent a complaint letter  to the top as i was advised by a friend letters of complaint are never escalated "up" the tree but go to the top and they will pass it down but not before making sure something gets done. It was settled in a very timely and satisfactory manor. I should add we also took them to small claims over a breach of contract and won that too uncontested. But as i say many years ago.

Thanks for that. A short email to a CEO cannot do any harm. Will just have to make my moan/enquiry interesting enough for some kind of reply but apart from that it does look like whatever we do it's going to be long and stressful so as others have said might be best to sit back and watch things unfold for now. The only certainty in all this is regular cruisers won't easily go back to MSC due to the chopping and changing of policies but most importantly not being as forthcoming or proactive with their refunds compared to other lines and they make it even worse for themselves when we see the USA side of the business treat their customers better over refunds so unless they have an amazing deal (not seen any by the way at the moment) then they are just digging a bigger hole for themselves. 

[phissy]

32 minutes ago, sidari said:

I would guess the CEO of a given Country will not be able to give you what you want because the decision is being made much higher up the chain.

I am guessing you meant COMPANY not Country.   Most countries do not have CEO’s running things except,  of course, the US 😷

Edited April 23, 2020 by phissy

[sidari]

Country was right, the UK and Ireland office has a CEO as does I believe Italy. The UK had one long before the US.

[Até]

Just for clarification MSC Cruises has one Executive Chairman and one CEO that are based in Geneva.  The heads of the US, UK and other country's offices are considered Managing Directors, Chairmen or Presidents, etc....  You can go to the country selector at the top right of the linked pages and see that region's officers under the Corporate Information/Top Management  tab.  MSC US web page hasn't bothered to replace Roberto Fusaro with Ruben Rodriguez, I guess they're busy. 

 

I've written emails to the US execs in the past and currently but have never got any form of response.

 

http://www.mscpressarea.com/en_US/corporate-information/top-management-profiles

 

http://www.mscpressarea.com/en_GB/corporate-information/top-management-profiles

 

 

[allyfrizzle]

On 4/3/2020 at 12:30 PM, chrisgalwv said:

For all waiting for MSC refunds..... I was on the first cruise affected by COVID-19, the Meraviglia that sailed from MIami on 2/23/2020. The original 'coronacruise" that was all over the news for being turned away from all ports except Cozumel where we sat and waited 16 hours for clearance.

I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED A REFUND. It's been a month and a week and still nothing. I have called 3 times and emailed more times than I can count, and get nothing but the runaround every time. I'm reading on here of people who have already been refunded for cruises they never even got to go on, yet here I am, one of the first and most affected and have gotten Z E R O money back or any help at all. Seriously considering getting legal representation at this point. 

Our first MSC cruise on the Divina was awful, and we swore we'd never go again. Cold food, terrible service, a rude room steward who never spoke to us, a much less took time to learn our names, a store employee who referred to us as cheap Americans. When MSC practically begged us for a second chance, we caved and booked this cruise, and this is the thanks we get. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER EVER IN THE HISTORY OF EVER WILL I STEP FOOT ON AN MSC SHIP AGAIN. E V E R.

Anyone else onboard having the same issue with these refunds? I'm looking for others who may want to join the fight. This is ridiculous.

 

 

I was on this ship as well and haven't gotten a refund. I'm thinking of providing the letter to my CC company and requesting a chargeback refund.

[GatorMomInNC]

On 4/23/2020 at 12:05 PM, GatorMomInNC said:

It will be 2 months on Monday since I cancelled my June cruise, well within the time frame to cancel, and I am still waiting on my refund.  My TA called Monday and they said it would be 10 more days.   My situation is different as my cruise has not (yet) been cancelled and I requested refund within the time period where I should receive full refund regardless (I paid in full last year).  I will post here when (if?) I get my promised refund.

Update.  Talked to my TA.  My understanding was 10 days from when I called on 4/20, but they said they think 12, which is today.  So I should get my refund any day now???  But not yet.

[cruiser man 60]

1 hour ago, GatorMomInNC said:

Update.  Talked to my TA.  My understanding was 10 days from when I called on 4/20, but they said they think 12, which is today.  So I should get my refund any day now???  But not yet.

Doubt it as MSC say 120 days, RyanAir who carry the most passengers in Europe say they have 25m refunds to process with limited staff so minimum 6 months from them

[GatorMomInNC]

It has been almost 11 weeks since I cancelled my cruise that I prepaid a year in advance and cancelled within my time to get a full refund.  I was told "2 billing cycles" at the most, which I took to mean 2 mos.    3 weeks ago on Monday MSC told my TA I0 more days (although later my TA said their notes said 12).  That deadline passed over a week ago.  Nothing.

 

 

[Nikita4]

I ve recived my refund for our april 4 TA in the YC, this week. No problem.

The cruise was cancelled from MSC not from us.

Edited May 9, 2020 by Nikita4