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

[Ride-The-Waves]

21 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!

Its called corporate greed!

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

12 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

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.

Bet they did not have to refund 10s of thousands of refunds as princess has to do. 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

3 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Its called corporate greed!

My personal feeling about being upset of not getting a refund fast because you need the money. You should never have booked in the first place. Corporate greed. Really? So many so fast to condemn. Please. Everyone chill out. You will get your refund and or your FCC as fast as they can get it finished. I am sure Princess and all the other cruise lines wish it was over and all refunds and FCC were completed.

[CRUZBUDS]

let's all start whining about why our stores don't have toilet paper and the lines are too long .... oh that's right, there is a crisis going on.

 

We just got our check for our unused OBC from our cruise that ended in mid February.  We were pleasantly surprised, it took about the normal time.  

 

CHILL 

[Bluewater4ever]

When submitting for the refund, does each passenger in the cabin need to apply? Both my husband and I were sent the email but I just submitted thinking it covered the entire reservation/cabin. 

Edited March 24, 2020 by Bluewater4ever

[tntornadox]

17 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

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.

 

Having worked in hotels, I can tell you why there is a time difference. When you or your agent cancelled your hotel, it was done via their reservation system which automatically refunds when you cancel a reservation. It takes a few days to appear but it shows up. Most likely, same with your shuttle service. I had to cancel my reservations at Park n' Go cruise parking in Fort Lauderdale for my April cruise and because I was within their system it processed quickly as well.

 

As for Princess, we were not dealing with their reservation system when we filled out the online form. As things are, you cannot cancel a Princess cruise online so the two things don't connect in anyway. We were literally filling out one of potentially hundreds of thousands of forms that are in a digital queue somewhere waiting for a human to manually cancel the reservation and manually issue the FCC or refund. And who even knows how they're doing it? By cruise date? By last name? By date the form was submitted? The truth is we don't know.

I know it's in short supply, but patience is best. I too want my FCC so I can book one of the May cruises so I can show Princess I still support them, but it'll show up when it shows up.

 

45 minutes ago, Bluewater4ever said:

When submitting for the refund, does each passenger in the cabin need to apply? Both my husband and I were sent the email but I just submitted thinking it covered the entire reservation/cabin. 

No, only one form per reservation. I think this also may be slowing things down. In the beginning I think everyone was submitting multiple forms.

Edited March 24, 2020 by tntornadox

[ceilidh1]

12 minutes ago, tntornadox said:

As for Princess, we were not dealing with their reservation system when we filled out the online form. As things are, you cannot cancel a Princess cruise online so the two things don't connect in anyway. We were literally filling out one of potentially hundreds of thousands of forms that are in a digital queue somewhere waiting for a human to manually cancel the reservation and manually issue the FCC or refund. And who even knows how they're doing it? By cruise date? By last name? By date the form was submitted? The truth is we don't know.
 

I cancelled mine over the phone with a Princess rep who would have absolutely done it through the reservation system (Polar). This was 2 days prior to the mass cancellation. Mine was not cancelled by Princess or through a form. There is no reason for that refund to take 60 days in my opinion.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Bluewater4ever said:

When submitting for the refund, does each passenger in the cabin need to apply? Both my husband and I were sent the email but I just submitted thinking it covered the entire reservation/cabin. 

I think it covers the entire cabin.

[blackwd]

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.....

If your cruise cost is on your current credit card bill and you can prove you canceled cruise call your cc company and dispute the charge. My cc company removed the charged amount once they confirmed my cruise was in fact canceled and will go to bat for me directly with the cruise line. Why pay the cc charge and than wait 60 days for cruise line to issue refund?


Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Ride-The-Waves]

On 3/24/2020 at 12:42 AM, ceilidh1 said:

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.

Despite what some are suggesting, there is no reason on Earth for a refund to take longer than 5 days.  Should be immediate.  Everything is electronic,  There is no "review" of bookings required.  No waiting for the check to clear.  This is not last century.  Its simply corporate greed at work.  As some are saying, really shows an absence of concern for passengers which is causing prospective passengers to rethink their "loyalties."

[Ride-The-Waves]

22 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

My personal feeling about being upset of not getting a refund fast because you need the money. You should never have booked in the first place. Corporate greed. Really? So many so fast to condemn. Please. Everyone chill out. You will get your refund and or your FCC as fast as they can get it finished. I am sure Princess and all the other cruise lines wish it was over and all refunds and FCC were completed.

No, sonny, don't need the money as you suggest. Take exception to your denigration ("You should never have booked in the first place").  Thirty years Navy, Vietnam vet and the retirement is good.  The expectation is that we are treated equally as corporations treat each other - pay their obligations in a timely manner.  Sixty days is not timely.  Sixty days maybe two centuries ago when documents were transported by pony express.  In a globally connected world, 60 days is unsatisfactory.  Businesses could not survive if they held each other's money for 60 days.  If this is Princess's "new normal" treatment of its "guests," maybe it does need to go bankrupt.

[sawtooth]

I cancelled my ezair on a May 2020 cruise on 2/272020.  Paid a 770 penalty.

I then rebooked my May 2020 cruise for May 2021.  It is paid in full.

I am still waiting for my ezair refund of 3,541.

Tomorrow will be 1 month.

I can't get a straight answer from the TA or Princess.

I did my part and rebooked a cruise.  Not getting any FCC or anything else.  Just want my air refund.

[dog]

8 minutes ago, sawtooth said:

I cancelled my ezair on a May 2020 cruise on 2/272020.  Paid a 770 penalty.

I then rebooked my May 2020 cruise for May 2021.  It is paid in full.

I am still waiting for my ezair refund of 3,541.

Tomorrow will be 1 month.

I can't get a straight answer from the TA or Princess.

I did my part and rebooked a cruise.  Not getting any FCC or anything else.  Just want my air refund.

Call your credit card company. I did to dispute. 

[ceilidh1]

2 hours ago, dog said:

Call your credit card company. I did to dispute. 

Unfortunately, the dispute will go to the company that you booked with. That means anyone that used a TA will be screwing their TA rather than Princess.

[dchan865]

2 hours ago, sawtooth said:

I cancelled my ezair on a May 2020 cruise on 2/272020.  Paid a 770 penalty.

I then rebooked my May 2020 cruise for May 2021.  It is paid in full.

I am still waiting for my ezair refund of 3,541.

Tomorrow will be 1 month.

I can't get a straight answer from the TA or Princess.

I did my part and rebooked a cruise.  Not getting any FCC or anything else.  Just want my air refund.

I am too still waiting for my Princess EZ air refund on my CC. I was booked on a May 2020 cruise. I cancelled my EZ Air outside of the 45 day window(cancelled about 53 days before cruise so no penalty). So far I've waited about 2 weeks and no refund yet. We rebooked an almost similar cruise for Sept  and will use EZ air too, so definitely want to get my refund before final payment is due in 2 months. If I don't get my refund in several more weeks, I'll dispute the charges with CC company as you  guys suggested. Thanks for the tip.

[dog]

6 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Unfortunately, the dispute will go to the company that you booked with. That means anyone that used a TA will be screwing their TA rather than Princess.

I spoke to Amex. They are handling it. I am no longer responsible for the amount in dispute. So it was worth it for me. 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

2 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

No, sonny, don't need the money as you suggest. Take exception to your denigration ("You should never have booked in the first place").  Thirty years Navy, Vietnam vet and the retirement is good.  The expectation is that we are treated equally as corporations treat each other - pay their obligations in a timely manner.  Sixty days is not timely.  Sixty days maybe two centuries ago when documents were transported by pony express.  In a globally connected world, 60 days is unsatisfactory.  Businesses could not survive if they held each other's money for 60 days.  If this is Princess's "new normal" treatment of its "guests," maybe it does need to go bankrupt.

First do not call me sonny. I am also a Vietnam vet so what. That has nothing to do with anything at all. 60 days for 10s of thousands to get there refund is NOT unexceptable. That is a window only. Many returns have started a few weeks ago and will probably take 4 to 6 weeks to complete. My dad always said. if you cannot do anything about it. Do not worry about it. Complaining about it and negativity is useless. Chill out.

[Ride-The-Waves]

53 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

First do not call me sonny. I am also a Vietnam vet so what. That has nothing to do with anything at all. 60 days for 10s of thousands to get there refund is NOT unexceptable. That is a window only. Many returns have started a few weeks ago and will probably take 4 to 6 weeks to complete. My dad always said. if you cannot do anything about it. Do not worry about it. Complaining about it and negativity is useless. Chill out.

I don't need to chill...  I made an observation concerning use of modern electronic technology and reservations/bookings and payments/refunds.  You initiated a very negative comment, and apparently want to continue to attack.  Not acceptable.  And its not acceptable for corporations to hold people's monies for 60 days while they "figure out" if a refund is due.  Today that is all in the databases and readily actionable.  Refunds should be processed within a couple of days, at most.  To do otherwise is bordering on fraud.

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, dog said:

I spoke to Amex. They are handling it. I am no longer responsible for the amount in dispute. So it was worth it for me. 

Curious - did you opt for the bonus FCC or full refund? If you opted for FCC and dispute it with credit card company, how do they determine what portion to dispute? I chose option 1 which, for my sailing was refund of taxes/fees, pre paid shorex, pre paid grats, refundable EZ Air plus 225% FCC. I'm waiting for a refund of around $3200 for those expenses listed. While I wait, I'm paying 19.99% interest on that amount each month (got to love Canadian credit card rates). I do understand your reasons for disputing the charge.

[dog]

1 minute ago, ceilidh1 said:

Curious - did you opt for the bonus FCC or full refund? If you opted for FCC and dispute it with credit card company, how do they determine what portion to dispute? I chose option 1 which, for my sailing was refund of taxes/fees, pre paid shorex, pre paid grats, refundable EZ Air plus 225% FCC. I'm waiting for a refund of around $3200 for those expenses listed. While I wait, I'm paying 19.99% interest on that amount each month (got to love Canadian credit card rates). I do understand your reasons for disputing the charge.

This booking is different from my March cancellation with the Option 1 I chose. It is a straight refundable deposit I was trying to get back. Not my problem now. All paperwork is in Amex’s hands. 

[Ride-The-Waves]

3 hours ago, sawtooth said:

I cancelled my ezair on a May 2020 cruise on 2/272020.  Paid a 770 penalty.

I then rebooked my May 2020 cruise for May 2021.  It is paid in full.

I am still waiting for my ezair refund of 3,541.

Tomorrow will be 1 month.

I can't get a straight answer from the TA or Princess.

I did my part and rebooked a cruise.  Not getting any FCC or anything else.  Just want my air refund.

Have a similar challenge.  Booked river cruise through France for June 2020.  France is closed and not expected to reopen for tourism anytime within the foreseeable future.  River cruise company rebooked us for May 2021, same ships, same rooms.  American Airlines took that as an opportunity to charge us $1,800 for the cancellation of air.  They would not "reschedule" anything even with the new confirmed May 2021 cruise - no rescheduling beyond Feb 2021.  So they "took" one-third of the airfare (the $1,800) for their "efforts" and we are waiting for the refund of the rest.  And waiting.  And waiting....  

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

11 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

I don't need to chill...  I made an observation concerning use of modern electronic technology and reservations/bookings and payments/refunds.  You initiated a very negative comment, and apparently want to continue to attack.  Not acceptable.  And its not acceptable for corporations to hold people's monies for 60 days while they "figure out" if a refund is due.  Today that is all in the databases and readily actionable.  Refunds should be processed within a couple of days, at most.  To do otherwise is bordering on fraud.

You missed the human factor. Each refund has to be double checked and then manually entered by a human. It is not only a refund for the cruise, a refund for everything purchased and the tax and port charges. Plus entering a FCC. No as simple as you may think. Booking a cruise is a one on one situation and happens immediately. Not in this case. Guess you missed that point. I am not attacking no one especially not you. Just saying why it can take a long time do do all that is necessary and making double sure there are no mistakes of which I am sure will happen anyhow. The are only human. You started thuis with being laid off and complain about the refund taking so long. Also mentioning those that need the money. My reply was. Why book a cruise not having enough money to really do so. Nothing more than logic. So yes. Chill out sit back and wait for the refund or the FCC. Nothing you do or say will speed it up.

[ceilidh1]

13 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

You missed the human factor. Each refund has to be double checked and then manually entered by a human. It is not only a refund for the cruise, a refund for everything purchased and the tax and port charges. Plus entering a FCC. No as simple as you may think. Booking a cruise is a one on one situation and happens immediately. Not in this case. Guess you missed that point. I am not attacking no one especially not you. Just saying why it can take a long time do do all that is necessary and making double sure there are no mistakes of which I am sure will happen anyhow. The are only human. You started thuis with being laid off and complain about the refund taking so long. Also mentioning those that need the money. My reply was. Why book a cruise not having enough money to really do so. Nothing more than logic. So yes. Chill out sit back and wait for the refund or the FCC. Nothing you do or say will speed it up.

Sorry but you are attacking the wrong person. I was the poster that brought up the fact that many (including me) have been laid off and would appreciate the refund NOT @Ride-The-Waves Your comment about not booking if you do not have the money to do so is way off base. Those of us in secure, well paid employment when we booked could not have known that we would have our jobs terminated without notice through no fault of our own.

[Vessel of Honor]

3/25/20 - Thank you everyone who replied to this question.  We were scheduled to sail April 4 and cancelled March 10th.  I keep looking but now I feel I should relax until the beginning of May before I look for our refund.  My concern was the figures are different between the Royal email sent to my TA and the email sent to me.  Also, I do all our booking and the FCC only referred to my name on the receipt from Royal.   Also, we have trips scheduled for the end of this year in Sept. and Nov.  I'm wondering if we should cancel and toss this year a loss vacation wise. 

 

Everyone stay safe and pray for those who have fallen ill, the medical teams and those who have loss their jobs.  Also that there will be a rapid end to this pandemic.

Edited March 25, 2020 by Vessel of Honor

[ROWSE]

2 hours ago, dchan865 said:

I am too still waiting for my Princess EZ air refund on my CC. I was booked on a May 2020 cruise. I cancelled my EZ Air outside of the 45 day window(cancelled about 53 days before cruise so no penalty). So far I've waited about 2 weeks and no refund yet. We rebooked an almost similar cruise for Sept  and will use EZ air too, so definitely want to get my refund before final payment is due in 2 months. If I don't get my refund in several more weeks, I'll dispute the charges with CC company as you  guys suggested. Thanks for the tip.

Hello dchan865!   (I was on same cruise as dchan865) 

I have called my travel agent twice now about EZ air and they have talked to Princess each time.  The first time I asked if I should cancel EZ air, and would the money for the air be part of the Option 1 -150% FCC back that I chose.  Princess said don't do anything to the reservation or EZ air, they would do it and the air would be part of the FCC.  

 

The air is still showing on Delta as booked, so being the nervous nelly that I am, I made that second call two days ago to be sure the first Princess rep. was correct.  The agent talked to Princess and they again said they would cancel everything and do all of it and to leave the EZ air alone.  I did not ask about EZ money going to FCC this time.  They stated it may take 30 more days.  

 

Who knows if the right hand knows what the left hand is doing, but I am keeping fingers crossed all of us will be way better off for money to book future cruises!  I just hope it is straightened out by our final payment due date of our newly booked late September British Isle swap of the first one.  I want to be able to pay with FCC.