Why does it take so long to get FCC and $$$$ back?

[Tophat4321]

When you book a cruise with credit card BOOM charge shows up on your card. When they cancel your cruise why isn't the credit then posted back to CC? Same holds true with FCC. I booked using EZ air with airline that I have a CC. Airline is now not showing as it appears cancelled? I just wonder.....

[Ride-The-Waves]

Once they have your money...  Practically there is no reason electronic refunds can't be as fast as purchases.  None.  Once they have your money, though, they like to take their time...  There should be a law...

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

Many need to just chill out a bit about the refunds. . All the cruise lines are under a major cancellation that requirer refunds in one or both back to how you paid and or FCC. Booking and paying is almost instant by your TA or while booking with someone at the cruise line. This is much different. It is not one on one. The procedure they MUST follow will take time for each booking. Booking one on one is fast. Now you are in with many thousands that will receive refunds and or FCC. It is totally understandable that it will take them a lot longer to do this and hopefully do it correctly and no mistakes for thousands. That is asking a lot of anyone.

[ceilidh1]

51 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Many need to just chill out a bit about the refunds. . All the cruise lines are under a major cancellation that requirer refunds in one or both back to how you paid and or FCC. Booking and paying is almost instant by your TA or while booking with someone at the cruise line. This is much different. It is not one on one. The procedure they MUST follow will take time for each booking. Booking one on one is fast. Now you are in with many thousands that will receive refunds and or FCC. It is totally understandable that it will take them a lot longer to do this and hopefully do it correctly and no mistakes for thousands. That is asking a lot of anyone.

Under normal circumstances I might agree with this. However, with so many people being out of work and worrying about being able to pay bills/buy food right now, I think it is unreasonable for any of the cruise companies to expect people to be patient and wait 60-90 days to receive back (in some cases) thousands of dollars. Just my opinion - I was laid off last week and know that my expected refund would come in VERY handy right about now!

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

7 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Under normal circumstances I might agree with this. However, with so many people being out of work and worrying about being able to pay bills/buy food right now, I think it is unreasonable for any of the cruise companies to expect people to be patient and wait 60-90 days to receive back (in some cases) thousands of dollars. Just my opinion - I was laid off last week and know that my expected refund would come in VERY handy right about now!

I bet others are in the same situation. I am sorry to hear you got laid off. No matter. it will take time to get the refund. My TA said not 60 days. More like 4-6 weeks from the day you filled out the form maybe sooner depending where you fall on the list. I hope it is not alphabetical. Our last name starts with a Z

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

35 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Under normal circumstances I might agree with this. However, with so many people being out of work and worrying about being able to pay bills/buy food right now, I think it is unreasonable for any of the cruise companies to expect people to be patient and wait 60-90 days to receive back (in some cases) thousands of dollars. Just my opinion - I was laid off last week and know that my expected refund would come in VERY handy right about now!

Give this some thought. let's say you took the cruise and now you have charges from it on your charge card also. Then you get laid off when you return. I would consider myself lucky that it ended up just having to wait for the money.

[ED49404]

Don't everyone feel bad.  We finished our cruise on January 25th.  We have a small credit on our shipboard account, a shore excursion was cancelled.  As of this date we still have not received a refund check or a credit on our credit card. I'm going to wait another week or so before I give Princess a call. 

[voljeep]

how small is small - if under $ 25 you won't / shouldn't get a check back ...

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Give this some thought. let's say you took the cruise and now you have charges from it on your charge card also. Then you get laid off when you return. I would consider myself lucky that it ended up just having to wait for the money.

I like your glass half full viewpoint.

 

I daresay I would feel happier had I got to take my back to back cruises rather than being on lockdown at home with no job/income. Having said that, there are people in far worse situations than I and (for now, at least) I am healthy and safe with my family. I'm sure that when the refund finally comes through I will end up using it to book another cruise rather than for sensible things such as rent and food....lol

[dog]

3 hours ago, ED49404 said:

Don't everyone feel bad.  We finished our cruise on January 25th.  We have a small credit on our shipboard account, a shore excursion was cancelled.  As of this date we still have not received a refund check or a credit on our credit card. I'm going to wait another week or so before I give Princess a call. 

I got my excursion refund to my credit card the same day I cancelled. March 6 th

[ED49404]

2 hours ago, dog said:

I got my excursion refund to my credit card the same day I cancelled. March 6 th

This excursion was cancelled the day of the excursion.  It did not get charged on our statement, basically it ended up as an OBC.

[PrincessLuver]

7 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Under normal circumstances I might agree with this. However, with so many people being out of work and worrying about being able to pay bills/buy food right now, I think it is unreasonable for any of the cruise companies to expect people to be patient and wait 60-90 days to receive back (in some cases) thousands of dollars. Just my opinion - I was laid off last week and know that my expected refund would come in VERY handy right about now!

 

I agree....we are waiting for over $15,000.....they were very clever and sneaky by canceling the cruise because that negated everyone's ability to use the Princess Vacation protection program who paid for it.....and I could care less if Princess stays afloat or not....they are being dishonest when they say they are refunding money and they are not....we paid to take a cruise not keep a corporation or it's stock price from going bankrupt....they are the one's who helped create the problem anyway....no matter what happens I see myself never ever getting on another Princess ship again because they are turning into a SCAM company.....they will pay by having incredibly bad publicity by stiffing their paying guests and people will not forget what their brand really stands for after this is all over and they become truthful with people!!!

[dog]

7 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

I agree....we are waiting for over $15,000.....they were very clever and sneaky by canceling the cruise because that negated everyone's ability to use the Princess Vacation protection program who paid for it.....and I could care less if Princess stays afloat or not....they are being dishonest when they say they are refunding money and they are not....we paid to take a cruise not keep a corporation or it's stock price from going bankrupt....they are the one's who helped create the problem anyway....no matter what happens I see myself never ever getting on another Princess ship again because they are turning into a SCAM company.....they will pay by having incredibly bad publicity by stiffing their paying guests and people will not forget what their brand really stands for after this is all over and they become truthful with people!!!

So sorry you have this to deal with. Those cash refunds and FCC need to start coming through if they want to keep customers. 

[thinfool]

In the past it was always true, and I doubt it is any different now, that purchases are done automatically, quickly, voila they have your money.

Refunds and credits are always processed by hand. (slow, very slow)

Get in line.

[PrincessLuver]

45 minutes ago, dog said:

So sorry you have this to deal with. Those cash refunds and FCC need to start coming through if they want to keep customers. 

 

I agree.....it is only a matter of time before they cannot pay their Customer Service Reps and people will just get a recording when they call 1-800-774-6237....they are generating NO REVENUE!!!

Edited March 24, 2020 by PrincessLuver

[ceilidh1]

2 hours ago, dog said:

So sorry you have this to deal with. Those cash refunds and FCC need to start coming through if they want to keep customers. 

Sadly this is very true. Had my refunded portion and FCC come though last week, I was all set to immediately book another cruise. The more time it takes, the more reluctant I am becoming to do so. I am a huge Princess fan and they have always been my preferred line but I am losing faith.

[Noble724]

ceilidh1:  I'm curious.  What date was your cruise scheduled and how long did it take from the time of your cancellation to the actual posting of your refund and Future Cruise Credit?  I'm just trying to get a sensing of the processing timeframe.  Thanks...

Edited March 24, 2020 by Noble724
Added an addressee

[neverbeenhere]

As some say; I couldn’t care less how long it takes to get the charges credited. I know that this situation is unique.
 

Even in normal circumstances, most companies are slow to refund as they have double and triple checks to refund money, but no extra checks to receive payments. 

[dog]

22 minutes ago, Noble724 said:

ceilidh1:  I'm curious.  What date was your cruise scheduled and how long did it take from the time of your cancellation to the actual posting of your refund and Future Cruise Credit?  I'm just trying to get a sensing of the processing timeframe.  Thanks...

I'll respond too: I cancelled March 6th. 100%FCC showed in my Circle Account on March 19th, disappeared March 21st.

There is no point guessing what is going on with Princess. I just went on their website to look at booking a cruise and it did not load properly. So they are having tech problems tonigh. It is just going to be a waiting game. On Princess fb I've seen a few posts where some have received refunds.

[Noble724]

 

dog:  Thanks.  Agree, this will be an interesting waiting game!

[always_cruisin]

They're saying 4-6 weeks for refunds/credits (most likely won't take that long, but that's the buffer they're using). They are extremely swamped with thousands of refunds and are doing the best they can under these circumstances. I'm a TA and have had several conversations with several employees there. 

[dog]

20 minutes ago, dog said:

I cancelled March 6th. 100%FCC showed in my Circle Account on March 19th, disappeared March 21st.

always-cruisin: Since you have the inside scoop can you tell us why some of us are receiving our FCC then having them taken away a couple of days later?

7 minutes ago, always_cruisin said:

They're saying 4-6 weeks for refunds/credits (most likely won't take that long, but that's the buffer they're using). They are extremely swamped with thousands of refunds and are doing the best they can under these circumstances. I'm a TA and have had several conversations with several employees there. 

 

[always_cruisin]

Dog, I have no idea but I will see if I can find out. I was supposed to be on the Royal Princess March 7 sailing and got my FCC. I just checked and it’s still there. 
 

Hmm. I’ll see what I can find out for you. 

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, Noble724 said:

ceilidh1:  I'm curious.  What date was your cruise scheduled and how long did it take from the time of your cancellation to the actual posting of your refund and Future Cruise Credit?  I'm just trying to get a sensing of the processing timeframe.  Thanks...

I have had no refund and no FCC yet (the FCC showed up briefly for a day and has since disappeared). My cruise was March 14th. I cancelled on March 10th over the phone with Princess. The kicker is my client was on the exact same sailing with me and I cancelled hers on Polar Online on March 9th. Her refund was posted to her credit card on March 13th.

 

I am waiting for the refundable portion of cruise fare and EZ Air along with prepaid shore excursions and prepaid gratuities. I also opted for option 1 of the 225% FCC....

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, neverbeenhere said:

As some say; I couldn’t care less how long it takes to get the charges credited. I know that this situation is unique.
 

Even in normal circumstances, most companies are slow to refund as they have double and triple checks to refund money, but no extra checks to receive payments. 

The same day I cancelled the cruise, I cancelled a hotel booking through an online agency and an extra travel insurance policy I had taken to cover me for medical (I have annual cancellation policy). Both of these were cancelled and refunded in full to my credit card within 4 days. I also cancelled the shuttle service I had pre-booked and pre-paid through Prime Time. This was cancelled and refunded to my card within 5 days.