Americans, how long until you received your refund?

[cellfree]

Oh I agree. I am a fan MSC and will certainly continue cruising with them. All that being said, it is troublesome that refunds from April/May/etc. seem to be being processed before March requests. You said you chose FCC - have you received your taxes/fees back to original form of payment?

[WonderMan3]

On 6/16/2020 at 6:33 PM, WonderMan3 said:

My cruise on May 2nd was announced as being cancelled on March 30th. The same day I filled out the form to apply for a refund. Got an email from MSC a short time later saying that it would take 60 days (not business days) to process. The 60 days passed at the end of May. I finally got around today (78 days after applying for refund) to filing a dispute with my credit card company Discover as I seen no signs of a refund pending. It was very easy to file the dispute and since I had documentation stating the 60 day refund turnaround time the agent expected that it should be processed with no issue. They said I should receive the credit back on my card within 3 days. Then MSC has 60 days to dispute it. I see no reason they would do that.

So as of July 22nd Discover has closed out my dispute in my favor as they have gotten no response from MSC. This is weeks earlier than I expected which is great. Now I just have to request a check from Discover since the refund created a massive credit on my account which had a zero balance prior to that. So glad to be done with this!

[phissy]

1 hour ago, WonderMan3 said:

So as of July 22nd Discover has closed out my dispute in my favor as they have gotten no response from MSC. This is weeks earlier than I expected which is great. Now I just have to request a check from Discover since the refund created a massive credit on my account which had a zero balance prior to that. So glad to be done with this!

We expect to be in the same situation. ( did not want to say boat 🙄)  clock started on our dispute. We are not saying the charges are not valid. Many seem to be confused on this point.  
We are saying refund has not been processed in time frame MSC has provided to us in writing. MSC cancelled our cruise and offered us a refund of all monies paid for service which has not been provided.  We are letting our bank (Chase) do the footwork to recoup funds. I am sure banks (CC) will have a long tally to settle with all travel companies this year.

[Cruising89143]

I realized after disputing my 5/09 Seaside cruise that I missed disputing the $398.00 deposit. Not a lot’s money but I opened my dispute yesterday.

[Cruising89143]

16 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

So as of July 22nd Discover has closed out my dispute in my favor as they have gotten no response from MSC. This is weeks earlier than I expected which is great. Now I just have to request a check from Discover since the refund created a massive credit on my account which had a zero balance prior to that. So glad to be done with this!

Hopefully Discover can electronically transfer the funds to your bank. I had the same situation after Chase closed out my dispute. I asked for the funds to be sent to my bank. The funds arrived within three business days.

[jstrutton]

Our final update. This morning got email from Costco visa that our dispute with MSC had been resolved in our favor and the credits are now permanent.  All this from our 16 and 31 March cruise cancellation. We disputed it back in June and technically they had till 12 August to say something. Obviously MSC just agreed with it and we didn’t have to provide any documentation to support our claim
 

my recommendation for anyone waiting for long refund is to dispute it with your credit card company and le5 them deal with MSC

 

Good luck to the remaining ones waiting for refunds 

 

jay

[George C]

I just got my deposit back for our November cruise only took about 3 weeks.

[HCTiger9704]

After my cruise was cancelled in March, I requested a refund.  My cruise was on the MSC Seaside for the April 18, 2020 sailing.  MSC Cruises kept on giving me the runaround.  

 

I disputed the charges on my credit cards (Visa and an American Express) about two weeks ago.  Today, American Express got my money back (aka a chargeback).  Now I am waiting on my Visa credit card to see if they can get me the rest of my money.  

 

 

[phissy]

Just got off the phone with Chase regarding our MSC Cruise chargeback (dispute).  She said that it is easier for them to submit 1 or 2 charges for credit. I had 3, which included our onboard purchased packages. She just went ahead and issued a credit from Chase for that total. That way, she said that just the deposit and balance paid on cancelled cruise would go to MSC for credit.

Our cruise was to be June 4 and MSC Cancelled it on April 27th.  Submitted request for REFUND via form to MSC on May 2. Confirming email from MSC does indicate they would send refund within 60 days of refund request.  Rather that go round and round with MSC, decided to submit July 15 with Chase.  

Customer Service at Chase did say about submitting a dispute , "The sooner the better for these cancelled cruises".  

Window for chargebacks  may be shortened soon by banks. (this was a surprise to me).  

Just a heads up to those who have the patience of Job and holding off submitting a dispute claim with their bank.

[alyssamma]

So, a while back when I thought we'd be cruising again by now I booked 2 Celebrity cruises. I ended up canceling them 2 weeks ago. Today the refund was on my credit card.

 

I've disputed 9 MSC charges, 6 have been resolved in my favor (after MSC lying about 3 of them and saying they were valid) and I am waiting for the final 3.

 

Once MSC cancels my Oct cruise I will have 5 more disputes with them, but will probably have to wait 6+ months to get the refund since the charges are from over a year ago and I don't think I'll be able to dispute.

 

For the record, I didn't have to call Celebrity once (other than to cancel). I was never told it was being escalated, 30/60/90 or whatever days, wait until after the cruise, it will be coming next week, or any of the other lies MSC tells their customers.

 

I was a huge MSC fan...I hated customer service but loved the product - and still do. But this whole experience, coupled with the increase in price for YC had made me pause on MSC. Not going to say I will never sail them again - I mean hey, I'm posting on this board :), but it will be a while before I do.

[electro]

3 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Once MSC cancels my Oct cruise I will have 5 more disputes with them, but will probably have to wait 6+ months to get the refund since the charges are from over a year ago and I don't think I'll be able to dispute.

 

 

I just did a dispute for my 2 cancelled MSC cruises and I was told by my credit card company that the clock for when you can file a dispute starts on the day the cruiseline cancels, not from when the charges were made.

[alyssamma]

4 minutes ago, electro said:

I just did a dispute for my 2 cancelled MSC cruises and I was told by my credit card company that the clock for when you can file a dispute starts on the day the cruiseline cancels, not from when the charges were made.

Wow...excellent news if my CC (Citibank) works that way. I sail 10/3 so not yet cancelled, but we all know it is coming.

[phissy]

Update:

Chase bank issued credit for $53.00 . This was amount for laundry package purchased for our cruise. They are not going to dispute this, just gave it back to our account.

Today received credits To our account for The $398 deposit and $9,135 balance on cruise paid.

Very happy with Chase and their going  to bat for us. 
we have 4 cruises next fall/winter  on the books with MSC.  Still love the onboard experience.  Now, keeping fingers crossed for a vaccine next spring😷🤞🏼🙏

[dexddd]

Heard back again from TA saying it has already been escalated to Finance, nothing more to be done.  So basically, MSC not refunding our money.  I did dispute prepaid items this week.  Other than info I provided, they asked when was sail date.

[alyssamma]

11 minutes ago, dexddd said:

Heard back again from TA saying it has already been escalated to Finance

So that means it was moved to the "we will never look at this" bucket to the "we will look at this in a few months" bucket 🙂

 

Dispute on CC is the only way to go..

[tallyho8]

My credit card statement came in today showing that MSC refunded my money for cruises on 5-30-20 and 2-20-21 that they cancelled. But I am still waiting for my FCC for my cruises on 3-30-20 and 4-18-20 that they cancelled.

[Two Wheels Only]

I'm one of those people who had their Seaside cruise out of Miami turned into a Meraviglia cruise out of Miami. I decided to book Seaside out of Port Canaveral for the same week and cancelled the Meraviglia cruise. I had to wait about a week to "officially" cancel the Meraviglia cruise. 

 

Deposit refunded in 4 weeks and 3 days (31 days). No complaints from me. 

[APDMOM]

13 hours ago, tallyho8 said:

My credit card statement came in today showing that MSC refunded my money for cruises on 5-30-20 and 2-20-21 that they cancelled. But I am still waiting for my FCC for my cruises on 3-30-20 and 4-18-20 that they cancelled.

 

From reports here, it sounds like there is a “black hole” for refunds for March/April cruises.  I don’t know it the MSC system had some kind of glitch, but I highly recommend a credit card dispute for those cruises.  Glad you received the other refunds.  We also received refunds for three 14-day bookings for May and June.  

[cellfree]

Started the "black hole" thread hoping to get the attention of someone from MSC. And I tried to wait it out but will call cc this week, it's been long enough - March 14 requests for March 29 cancellations.

[versuco]

3 hours ago, cellfree said:

Started the "black hole" thread hoping to get the attention of someone from MSC. And I tried to wait it out but will call cc this week, it's been long enough - March 14 requests for March 29 cancellations.

We are doing the same.  Canceled March 14 for March 28 cruise, got a FCC, (not for the correct amount) but never received our refund for taxes and port fees.  Also going to call credit card tomorrow and start the dispute process.   Our refund has been escalated twice (which obviously means nothing).  Tired of their lies, done with MSC.

[cellfree]

Yes, same boat - ha - although our FCCs were correct - got them April 24 - we too have been escalated - even talked to supervisor two times - the March refunds remain a mystery and I cannot get anyone in authority to realize it. 

Edited August 2, 2020 by cellfree

[CelebrationFamily]

Received my FCC in a timely fashion for our canceled March 28 Grandiosa. Received my taxes and port fees refund yesterday. Truly crazy. Good luck to all! 🍀

[APDMOM]

Our final deposit refund just posted - Was due 9/2/2020, so well ahead of schedule.  We have therefore received a total of just over $12,500 for 3 fully paid cruises and 5 deposits.  Hope the positive news about a March refund for CelebrationFamily is a sign of more March refunds to come! 

 

[Oceans 818]

10 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

I'm one of those people who had their Seaside cruise out of Miami turned into a Meraviglia cruise out of Miami. I decided to book Seaside out of Port Canaveral for the same week and cancelled the Meraviglia cruise. I had to wait about a week to "officially" cancel the Meraviglia cruise. 

 

Deposit refunded in 4 weeks and 3 days (31 days). No complaints from me. 

We are staying with the Meraviglia as they upgraded us to balcony from inside.

I had been requesting confirmation paperwork on the MSC Seaside sailing since 5/5/20 and it never did arrive! They did finally send me the paperwork on 7/27/20 for the Meraviglia sailing. Then 3 days later they notified us of upcoming changes to our cruise. But hey, they still haven't notified us of the 2 cancelled cruises!

Waiting 4 months and 3 days for OBS credits to be refunded from 3/31/20 cancellation. Mislead so many times that they no longer even tell me lies. I just get "no idea when, it's pending"

 

 

 

[Billoftt]

One credit card dispute, one Better Business Bureau complaint, seven e-mails to MSC, countless phone calls and 97 days later I FINALLY got the deposit back from MSC.

 

In contrast, I called Princess the same day I started this crap with MSC and received my money in less than one week after one phone call.