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Americans, how long until you received your refund?


sbd78
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9 minutes ago, MANDMTRAVEL said:

@BermudaBound2014 well, I am in group # 1. I cancelled before my final payment was due and my deposit was still refundable at that time.

 

You are entitled to your cash back. MSC has said it will take 60 days. So sometime in May depending on the actual day you cancelled is the day you should get it back. Not saying you will get it back on that day. You can absolutely refute the charges.

 

Example:

I cancelled on March 14 so I should see my refund on May 14ish. I am giving them until June 14ish before I refute the charges, but if I have not received my cash refund after 90 days (approximately June 14th), I will refute.

Edited by BermudaBound2014
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It looks as though MSC has changed the verbiage on their website for cruises canceled by MSC for Miami cruises. The wording has changed and is different than the email that I received stating a refund would happen within 60 days of canceling. The part that I underlined seems to now be new. 

 

Request a Refund
We hope you choose to reschedule your cruise for a future date. However, we understand this may not be the ideal option for you. If you choose not to take the Future Cruise Credit, we will provide a refund equal to the original amount paid no earlier than 60 days from your original sail date.

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Yes, the original "within 60 days" is a whole lot different than "no earlier than 60 days".  Elliott Advocacy, the online non-profit consumer advocacy organization that helps consumers with travel problems says they have been asked a bazillion times since the virus started, how long travelers should wait for refunds, and they offer no set time limit, they say travel companies are flooded with refund requests, and to be patient.

 

Another thought about going the route of a chargeback from the credit card ... chargebacks are usually intended to use against companies that refused a refund.  MSC is not refusing refunds, just delaying them a long time, and we haven't heard from anyone who has discussed with their cc how long the cc considers an unreasonable delay.  Perhaps the cc's would be willing to contact MSC and just nudge them to get it done, that might be all it takes.  I don't want to "waste" a chargeback request until it looks solid.

 

Gator's 60 days is up May 1, Ate's is up first week of May, we'll see what they hear from MSC.

 

Bermuda, I'm curious as to why you prefer a FCC instead of a refund.  Is it one of those 125 % FCC's?

Edited by Bob7
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16 minutes ago, Bob7 said:

Yes, the original "within 60 days" is a whole lot different than "no earlier than 60 days".  Elliott Advocacy, the online non-profit consumer advocacy organization that helps consumers with travel problems says they have been asked a bazillion times since the virus started, how long travelers should wait for refunds, and they offer no set time limit, they say travel companies are flooded with refund requests, and to be patient.

 

Another thought about going the route of a chargeback from the credit card ... chargebacks are usually intended to use against companies that refused a refund.  MSC is not refusing refunds, just delaying them a long time, and we haven't heard from anyone who has discussed with their cc how long the cc considers an unreasonable delay.  Perhaps the cc's would be willing to contact MSC and just nudge them to get it done, that might be all it takes.  I don't want to "waste" a chargeback request until it looks solid.

 

Gator's 60 days is up May 1, Ate's is up first week of May, we'll see what they hear from MSC.

 

Bermuda, I'm curious as to why you prefer a FCC instead of a refund.  Is it one of those 125 % FCC's?


My actual 60 day point would be 5/30 as we requested a refund on 3/30. I do think travel companies are overwhelmed right now and most if not all employees are working from home so that may be slowing things down too. 

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3 hours ago, Bob7 said:

Bermuda, I'm curious as to why you prefer a FCC instead of a refund.  Is it one of those 125 % FCC's?

 

I am 100% about the full refund. I would never choose a FCC in these times (with any cruise company). Sorry, if I wasn't clear. I am due for my full refund on May 14.

 

I'm wondering if it would be helpful to make a spreadsheet to see if ANYONE gets money back.

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We also requested a refund for our cancelled sailing and have seen nothing. Just spoke to an agent who had absolutely nothing to tell me other than "you have to keep waiting." 

 

She also said that they were processing all of the FCCs first and then would begin refunding. Just seems like they are trying to hold onto our cash as long as they possibly can. 

 

My wife and I were both furloughed, so the $3,000 that we are due would be very nice to have back. 

 

I have every intention of requesting a charge back exactly 61 days after we requested the refund (3/30).

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I understand MSC being overloaded with refund requests, but how have they not fully processed a single one yet? I'm owed a refund from RCL too but at least people over on that board are reporting getting their full refunds, so I'm not worried about not receiving that refund yet. I'm giving MSC until May 15th before I'll file a CC charge back, assuming we haven't started to see refunds yet. After all they did say "Your refund will be processed within 60 days." in their original email from when I cancelled on March 14.

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20 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

(snip)

I'm wondering if it would be helpful to make a spreadsheet to see if ANYONE gets money back.

Yes good idea, we should track them.  If refunds after 60 days actually happen, here's a list of when we will get our refunds. The posters are from both this thread and the Deposit Refund thread. Ate got the last pre-virus refund Mar 3 after asking for it Feb 27. No one has posted getting any refund requested after the end of Feb, when the virus hit the fan.

 

GatorMomInNC was the first to cancel on March 2. She'll get hers in a couple days. Hey Mom I bet you're excited, have you planned where to spend it yet?

 

After her, a whole bunch of us cancelled between Mar 13-17: TabbyKats, Ate what was your March cancel date for your other 2?, Skings, CellFree, Jcollin, Rob-Bob, MandMTravel, BermudaB, Skiirex131, AprilF, Kballer, Jansarts. So your refunds will be mid May. Then a bunch more of us cancelled at the end of March.

 

I didn't separate these into which ones are refunds for deposits requested before final payments, refunds for cruises cancelled by MSC, or still active cruises under 90 days cancelled by the customer.

 

Several of us are planning to get the credit card involved with a chargeback or dispute, Ate I think you started 2 disputes in mid April for the cancellations you did in mid March? Was it you who reported that Visa expects vendors to process refunds in 20 days? Someone posted that vendors hate chargebacks b/c it results in a worse interest rate from the cc and causes other “black marks” on their account. So maybe just a nudge from the cc would get the refund going, without a full chargeback. It would be nice if we report here how our cc disputes worked out, what paperwork the cc needed, and what steps you went through, successful or not.

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If someone is going to compile a list and needs info:

 

Cruise scheduled for 3/22/20 (Meraviglia out of Miami).  MSC cancelled sailing.  I applied for a refund on 3/15/20.  I received a notice by e-mail dated 3/15/20 8:05am saying "Your refund would be processed within 60days".

 

Not sure what "processed" means.  I am hoping that is the time frame for credit to post to CC.

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I posted elsewhere so I'll do it here too.

I ended up filing a dispute with the credit card company and got a temporary credit.

My cruise was 10/12...final payment in July.  I canceled on 3/14.  I called in mid-April and "they had to submit something else" etc.

I did the dispute because "if I was late with final payment" I'd lose my deposit and they'd cancel my cruise.  That's not playing fair.

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On 4/27/2020 at 3:22 PM, cruisingator2 said:

It looks as though MSC has changed the verbiage on their website for cruises canceled by MSC for Miami cruises. The wording has changed and is different than the email that I received stating a refund would happen within 60 days of canceling. The part that I underlined seems to now be new. 

 

Request a Refund
We hope you choose to reschedule your cruise for a future date. However, we understand this may not be the ideal option for you. If you choose not to take the Future Cruise Credit, we will provide a refund equal to the original amount paid no earlier than 60 days from your original sail date.


 

Well the verbiage changed again  from yesterday for refunds for the Miami based cruises.

 

Request a Refund
We hope you choose to reschedule your cruise for a future date. However, we understand this may not be the ideal option for you. If you choose not to take the Future Cruise Credit, a refund will be issued the later of either 60 days after the original sail date or 60 days from the date you complete the online form. 
 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:


 

Well the verbiage changed again  from yesterday for refunds for the Miami based cruises.

 

Request a Refund
We hope you choose to reschedule your cruise for a future date. However, we understand this may not be the ideal option for you. If you choose not to take the Future Cruise Credit, a refund will be issued the later of either 60 days after the original sail date or 60 days from the date you complete the online form. 
 

 

 

 

 

Based on this my refund date would now be as late as July 2nd. They can keep changing it all they want though. I'm going by the email I got from MSC on March 30th when I requested a refund and it said within 60 days. If it reaches May 31st and I have not received a refund I am going to dispute the charge with my credit card. Not playing around with this nonsense of them continually shifting out the refund turnaround time.

Edited by WonderMan3
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1 hour ago, Até said:

Actually the verbiage looks to make people better off.  to me "no earlier than 60 days" is a lot worse than "will be issued ...60 days" from sail date.

 

I may be missing something here. With what I read from MSC today it can be longer than 60 days. I was to sail on May 30th, and to my understanding the 60 day clock starts ticking at that time for me, meaning that I won't see a refund of my $7,000 paid in full since February. I understand these are difficult times, but there is no reason why it will take MSC up to 90+ days to refund my money. At this point I'm hoping MSC is not going to be one of several cruise lines that will more than likely be forced to file bankruptcy and restructure to stay alive. If they do that, there are going to be so many out there losing their money and also for those with future deposits or FCC as well. This is going to be an ugly year in the travel industry and I can only hope I will actually see my money refunded. Not trying to be negative, but I'm going to be very cautious for the next several months before I  book another cruise. I've been the victim of a company filing bankruptcy and loosing over 10K in the past and hoping history will not repeat for me. 

 

This was from MSC cruise line:

 

Request a Refund
We hope you choose to reschedule your cruise for a future date. However, we understand this may not be the ideal option for you. If you choose not to take the Future Cruise Credit, a refund will be issued the later of either 60 days after the original sail date or 60 days from the date you complete the online form. 

Edited by lastchamp64
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Well, it is all a little vague.  The last wording before this new batch of cancellations stating "no earlier than 60 days" was totally open ended.  When is that, next year?  At least now it states "refund will be issued ... 60 days after the original sail date....".  So at least you have and end date, at day 61 it is officially overdue.

 

Regarding bankruptcy, I really don't expect that from MSC.  Even so, by final payment I always have an insurance policy in effect to cover such events.

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22 minutes ago, Até said:

 

 

Regarding bankruptcy, I really don't expect that from MSC.  Even so, by final payment I always have an insurance policy in effect to cover such events.

 I did purchase travel insurance. However, I'm not sure if bankruptcy from a carrier would be included. Financial default would be covered since it means a company ceases to operate , but that is not the same with bankruptcy. I will give them a call since I don't see any mentioning of it in the policy. As for the bankruptcy, nobody really knows.This is an event no travel related business has ever experienced. We shall see. 

 

 

Edited by lastchamp64
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3 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

 

Based on this my refund date would now be as late as July 2nd. They can keep changing it all they want though. I'm going by the email I got from MSC on March 30th when I requested a refund and it said within 60 days. If it reaches May 31st and I have not received a refund I am going to dispute the charge with my credit card. Not playing around with this nonsense of them continually shifting out the refund turnaround time.


I agree. We have the same date. They have until 5/30 to process before I dispute the charge.

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14 hours ago, lastchamp64 said:

(snip)

Request a Refund
(snip) a refund will be issued the later of either 60 days after the original sail date or 60 days from the date you complete the online form. 

This pushes the refunds much later for anyone with an original sail date this summer or fall.  Eg:  if your sail date was July 1 you wait 60 days till Sept 1, b/c that's the later date than when you did the online form (March).  I doubt any of us are going to agree to wait that long.

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1 hour ago, Bob7 said:

This pushes the refunds much later for anyone with an original sail date this summer or fall.  Eg:  if your sail date was July 1 you wait 60 days till Sept 1, b/c that's the later date than when you did the online form (March).  I doubt any of us are going to agree to wait that long.

 I agree. I'm not happy at all waiting at least 90 days for a refund. I get it's tough times and a lot going on, but 30 days is sufficient in my opinion. 😐

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On 4/24/2020 at 12:28 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

Cancelled on 3/14 requesting a cash refund (USA). Have not seen funds. Unfortunately, I expect I will be forced to refute the credit card charge after 90 days. Here's hoping MSC surprises me.

cancelled on 3/17 and yet to see a refund on April 30. The email did say "within 60 days".

 

Verbatim:

 

Your MSC Cruise Assurance Form has been successfully submitted.
Your Refund Reference Number for this request is - xxxxxxxxx
Use this Reference Number for all future correspondence regarding this request.
Your refund will be processed within 60 days.
Thank you,
MSC Cruises mail?url=http%3A%2F%2Ft.msccruises.net%2Fv%2F2002751%2F1%2F34133050&t=1588276124&ymreqid=34513768-043c-8ac6-1ce0-71000201ed00&sig=_1MLaJczktapRbFui1LB6w--~C

 

 

 

P.S. Sailing was supposed to be on April 5th.

Edited by Itchy&Scratchy
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20 minutes ago, Até said:

Anyone got a cancellation confirmation email from this latest batch?  I bet the wording is corrected to say "within 60 days from sail date".

This is what my letter of cancellation says. 
If you’re planning to request a refund, we encourage you to submit your form as soon as possible. Refunds will be issued the later of either 60 days after the original sail date or 60 days from the date you complete the online form. 

 

 

 

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