Americans, how long until you received your refund?

[petuniaflower]

On 4/30/2020 at 6:40 PM, cruisingator2 said:

Below is the email that I received from MSC on 3/30 when I submitted for my refund on their website which has different wording than what is currently being shown. If I don’t receive a full refund by 5/30 I will dispute the full amount with my credit card company. They asked for sixty days which I will give them but not more than that. I want to be fair but not happy with their latest refund policy change. Cruise lines need to be careful. They will need the cruising public when this is over. Do not alienate your best customers.
 

Dear ....................., 

Your MSC Cruise Assurance Form has been successfully submitted. 
Your Refund Reference Number for this request is - .................
Use this Reference Number for all future correspondence regarding this request. 
Your refund will be processed within 60 days. 
Thank you, 
MSC Cruises 

This is the same email I got on Apr 2 for our May 23 MSC cancelled cruise..nothing yet, but will be fine with 60 days.  Hoping it does not go over that.

[Bob7]

So both JansArts and CruisingGator2 (thx for posting) have been told by MSC that the 60 day wait from our refund claim dates is dead, and now refunds are processed in order of sail date. In mid April JansArts was told they are working on sail dates the 2^nd week of March, and just now CruisingGator2 was told they are up to early April sail dates. That means that all the March sail dates posted here should have their refunds: Misand, SirWolf, DexDDD, Rob-Bob, NameThatFunnel, Cullyman15, JStrutton, and JansArts, with BermudaB close behind at Apr. 4. Have any of you seen your refund? Any others with March sail dates to add to this list?

[catamo]

1 hour ago, Bob7 said:

So both JansArts and CruisingGator2 (thx for posting) have been told by MSC that the 60 day wait from our refund claim dates is dead, and now refunds are processed in order of sail date. In mid April JansArts was told they are working on sail dates the 2^nd week of March, and just now CruisingGator2 was told they are up to early April sail dates. That means that all the March sail dates posted here should have their refunds: Misand, SirWolf, DexDDD, Rob-Bob, NameThatFunnel, Cullyman15, JStrutton, and JansArts, with BermudaB close behind at Apr. 4. Have any of you seen your refund? Any others with March sail dates to add to this list?

I was booked on Divina March 20. Filled out refund form on March 15.

Nothing as of today

[aprilF]

On 5/5/2020 at 12:10 PM, cruisingator2 said:

Spoke with MSC this morning. Finally reached an agent that had some knowledge and took the time to place me on hold several times as she messaged her supervisor. 
 

They are handling refunds based on your “sail” date. The 60 day window of when you request the refund is out the window. I was told that they are currently working on early April sailings. Also I was told that credit card companies are pushing back due to the amount of refunds being processed world wide. I was told the same thing by Celebrity when working on my refund. She stated that the cc companies are telling them it could take up to two billing cycles to post. 

 

Bottom line is I would not expect to see a refund until after your sail date was to happen. At this point it seems that the process is changing almost daily. I read an article yesterday that Visa is overwhelmed with people disputing charges. It’s a mess all the way around and I’m to the point that it’s not worth getting worked up over. 

Not saying you are lying, I am sure you were told this.  DCL is refunding within about a 2 week window...I wonder why the cc companies arent pushing back for them.  Something here stinks.

 

 

10 hours ago, MANDMTRAVEL said:

And the Airlines?  Were you able to get a refund for your flight tickets or just vouchers for future travels?

Delta gave me a cash refund in about 4 days.  They had moved one of my flights by more than 90 minutes.  Even though the move didnt ultimately affect my final arrivals they still had no problem giving me a refund for my flights to Rome this summer.

 

Funny how they didnt have any CC pushback either.  Sigh.

[Cruising89143]

Since 3/30 I have had the opportunity to speak with three different customer service reps and each time the story is completely different. MSC cannot get their stories straight. I realize that things change but so far MSC has handled this entire situation poorly. I guess Richard Sasso and Ken Muskat have not realized that they will need their loyal customers when this crisis ends. They need to wake up. I just ask that MSC be transparent and not play games which is exactly what they’re doing. Maybe MSC needs a social media surge.😉

[jstrutton]

15 hours ago, Bob7 said:

So both JansArts and CruisingGator2 (thx for posting) have been told by MSC that the 60 day wait from our refund claim dates is dead, and now refunds are processed in order of sail date. In mid April JansArts was told they are working on sail dates the 2^nd week of March, and just now CruisingGator2 was told they are up to early April sail dates. That means that all the March sail dates posted here should have their refunds: Misand, SirWolf, DexDDD, Rob-Bob, NameThatFunnel, Cullyman15, JStrutton, and JansArts, with BermudaB close behind at Apr. 4. Have any of you seen your refund? Any others with March sail dates to add to this list?

Thanks for the info.  We have not seen anything on our Visa card (refund) for either of our MSC cruises as of this morning.  The one cruise was 23 March (Armonia); submitted the online refund on 16 March.  The other one 10 May (MSC Preziosa); submitted online refund on 31 March.  Hopefully soon.

[dexddd]

Still have not seen squat for 3/22 sailing.

[Rob-Bob]

I did log on to my MSC account yesterday and there is something new.  It shows under my reservation number of the 3/22 cruise "cancelled" and it shows my total paid - total of prepaid items = refund due.

 

The refund due is $308 short of what I paid which is the amount of Gov't fees and taxes.  I am not sure what this means. 

 

Math doesn't add up and still no indication of when money will hit the CC.  But at least this is something new and looks like some application process is happening.  I am now on day 53 of the 60 days they indicated as the longest it would take.

[MANDMTRAVEL]

14 hours ago, aprilF said:

 

Delta gave me a cash refund in about 4 days.  They had moved one of my flights by more than 90 minutes.  Even though the move didnt ultimately affect my final arrivals they still had no problem giving me a refund for my flights to Rome this summer.

 

If airlines move your flight more than 90 mins are you allowed to cancel?  Or just Delta?

 

[DCGuy64]

We got a refund from Delta on our credit card for our (now cancelled) MSC cruise which was to begin 5/19. It took them less than a week. Ironically, we saw a video on TV last night featuring the cruise ship we were to take. Made me a bit sad but also excited to look to the future when we can cruise with MSC again.

[aprilF]

3 hours ago, MANDMTRAVEL said:

 

YOu would have to check your carriers terms.  For Delta a change over 90 minutes means you can request a cancellation for a cash refund.

[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.

 

There is no reason I should have to wait until 60 days past my sail date to wait for my refund. I don't know if my cruise has been cancelled, I assume it has been, but I cancelled well within my time frame to do so (cancelled March 3rd for a June 20th cruise).  In addition, I paid IN FULL on July 22, 2019.  So they have had my money all this time; they told me "2 billing cycles" 11 weeks ago; they told me "10 days" 19 days ago.      I have serious trust issues with MSC.

 

I have a cruise booked for Labor Day on DCL.  I could still cancel.  I haven't, I am considering as I am getting very pessimistic that USA will have this anywhere near under control at that point (that is a totally different discussion).  But I do think that if I at all possible I will cruise DCL again and I think they will be around and I would use the credit. 

 

Not so sure about MSC.

[Safe77]

Best of luck to all of you. I’ve been waiting since December 27th for a refund of $352 in unused prepaid onboard credits. I’ve been calling MSC every two weeks since January and am repeatedly told that Accounting has approved the check and I should have it “soon”. MSC at sea is fantastic! MSC on land, not so much. Yesterday I was told by a fill-in customer service rep that MSC furloughed 90% of their CSRs this week. So, I doubt anything is going to happen quickly or even at all “soon.”

[Bob7]

GatorMom good to hear from you, you are the point of the sword, the earliest cancellation date (Mar. 2) since the virus, with your 60 day “wait” done last week. Safe77 thx for your info too, gawd if they can't ever refund an unusable prepaid OBC it looks bad, especially with only a skeleton staff.

 

For an update, two posters have been told by MSC that they are now refunding in order of cruise date, and the method of waiting 60 days after requesting a refund is now dead. JansArts was told mid April that they were working on the 2^nd week of March cruise dates, and this week CruisingGator2 was told they are now up to April sail dates. So that's rather unsettling news for those of us with March sail dates who it looks like got passed over: Misand, SirWolf, JansArts, Rob-Bob, DexDDD, NameThatFunnel, Cullyman15, JStrutton, and Catamo.  BermudaBound would be next with a sail date of April 4.

 

Most of the above also did their cancellations mid March, so another way for them to get a refund by mid May if the 60 days from cancelling still worked: JansArts, Rob-Bob, DexDDD, NameThatFunnel, Cullyman15, JStrutton, BermudaBound and Catamo.

 

I think the only person who got any cash from a March claim was SirWolf, claim date March 5, sail date March 21, who got several K but was told another 10K was held as a penalty. Weird.

 

I'm thinking that if the above are all passed over as of mid May it's time to let our credit cards take over for a chargeback. TabbyKats already got a temporary credit from her Visa, which sounds ok since the cc may want to wait until they are sure MSC is not going to do a refund before making the credit final. I think it's good to first have the cc agree that a chargeback is legit, b/c you only get one crack at it, and you want to be sure your cc agrees that's it's appropriate at the time. I think if mine asked me to wait a bit, I would want to go along with that, it's our last hope. Don't want to force a chargeback and get it declined. Ate reported his card said they expect vendors to refund within 20 days, but someone else posted that their card said you have to accept whatever time frame the vendor gives for a refund. Nice that our MSC time frames will be reached mid May.

 

If anyone starts talking to their credit card let us know what they say.

[SirWolf]

15 hours ago, Bob7 said:

I think the only person who got any cash from a March claim was SirWolf, claim date March 5, sail date March 21, who got several K but was told another 10K was held as a penalty. Weird.

Hello Bob,

I like to confirm your quoted facts and add that I have not received the balance of little under 10K as per today. All pre-paid items ($2,500) were refunded within minutes after I cancelled the items on my booking and the partial refund of $3,500 was processed a day after cancelling the booking calling MSC USA.

I am over the 60-day period but 11 days short of the cancellation policy of refund upon cruise date.

My level of confidence and trust in MSC is going down by the day.

I have 3 future bookings with MSC, including 2 Grand Voyages, and need to be sure that I am dealing with a trustworthy company who appreciates loyal passengers.

 

[dexddd]

Bob7 that is correct.  Each day that goes by I lose confidence especially since very little movement here on CC with refunds. Thanks for keeping tabs of where everyone is at. At 60 days I'll have to determine what to do.

 

I know the one very angry poster on here a couple weeks ago said per her FB groups 'lots' of people getting refunds but yet here on CC very little.  And, quite a few here have some pretty good contacts, resources, and insights to the inner workings.

 

I'm also wondering if maybe part of their plan is to work from low dollar to high dollar?  Of the group you mention, it would be interesting what category they were in.  We were YC and probably as much in prepaid items as someone getting a cheap inside.

 

SirWolf, we have three rooms b2b next year in YC.  I expect to use our FCC on that sailing since the terms offered said 'any' cruise.  I somehow think I'm going have to fight for that too.

 

Plus MSC can't reply to one of my three emails to them over the past three years?  Did they hire former NCL employees?

[Até]

The total lack of response to my emails combined with the continued extension dates of my refunds has caused me to cancel a total of nine bookings through November, 2021.  None were MSC cancelled sailings.  My first two cancellations were partly due to COVID concerns but the last several cancellations were due to unanswered questions regarding the MSC Booking Terms changes and anger over the current refund delays which I now feel are an intentional delay tactic.  One phone agent I talked to admitted they are concentrating on locking in FCCs rather than processing the refunds.

Edited May 10, 2020 by Até

[MsTabbyKats]

To update:

The credit card company contacted MSC on 5/5.  They have until 6/5 to respond etc or the credit becomes permanent.  I thought it was 60 days or 90 days but glad I was wrong.  Assuming they are so busy and they laid off so many people, I doubt they'll have time to respond to my dispute.

I'll report back on 6/6.

[Beardface]

Its gong to be a while before the money comes, but you will get it.

 

I mean think about it pragmatically.  The entire fleet has basically been mothballed for 2 months now.  17 ships that have a total double occupancy (according to Wikipedia, so it could be slightly more or less) 58,156 passengers.  Every week that's the number or people who are supposed to be on their ships.  So if you factor in that we've been on this haitus for about 8 weeks now, (and factoring in that ships would not be sailing in full capacity, and some ships sail 2 week cruises) that's around 250k to 500k refunds that MSC needs to issue globally, and that number increases by 20k=50k per week.

 

Believe me, the refund department of all these cruise lines are not vast, nor has it likely been streamlined at all in the past.  And that is during a time when they were able to get all their employees into the office to collaboratively work together.  So now this entire industry is stress testing a system they intentionally did not want to ever utilize while the vast majority of their workforce is working remote.  And this is why you are seeing these kind of "where is my refund" threads pop up all over Cruise Critic.

 

It sucks, but have some patience.  The refunds will come, and the companies aren't being nefarious.  They just don't have the capacity to handle the demand for refunds they are seeing right now, which is creating a massive bottleneck of getting the requests processed and sent.

[Roger88]

It takes 40 to 120 days in some particular cases. If you read the forum you might have notices that some people received their refunds in like a matter of weeks while some are still waiting over 60 days. In my case it took 35 working days. Again, it will all depend on the cruise company and the bank that works with it. Sometimes its not the cruise company, but rather a interbank stuff 

[Até]

11 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

In my case it took 35 working days.

If you received a refund from MSC for a cancelled cruise it would be the first I've heard about.  What sail date and what exactly was refunded, deposit, add on items, full cruise fare?  Back to a credit card, on what date?

[sds]

Just an fyi I placed dispute with my Citi card they are going to handle it from here. I attempted like most here to get clear answers but got the run around with timeframes and when my refund would actually arrive. Citi card was very good about it no nonsense should have funds returned in 2 business days. Morale of the story is if you breach a contract then breach terms of refund then lie to me countless times you can't be trusted.  I would suggest everyone go this route to apply pressure on them to pay up otherwise they will string you along.

[Bob7]

Tabby that's great news, it will be settled for you by June 5, either MSC coughs up the refund or Visa credits you. You too SDS.  Your successes nudged me to make a move, first called MSC to be told again that the refund was “pending” and to wait a few more months. Then called my Visa, asked for their advice b/c I wanted to follow their direction so as to be on the same page with them. They were great, said they do not condone big delays on approved refunds, and suggested starting a dispute claim with a claim number which we did. They are sending me a snail mail letter with instructions on how to proceed with documentation etc for me to do.

 

Curious how some people who complained on Facebook got a refund. Just musing, we know the cruise lines monitor FB and CruiseCritic etc, and if they wanted to throw a bone to a few as an online appeasement they would have real names on FB to match with cruise bookings and could do the refund right away. No names on CruiseCritic so they can't throw us a few bones to settle us down.  Odd how all the Disney CL people got their refunds right away.

 

If anyone else talks to their credit card give us an update.

[Até]

4 minutes ago, Bob7 said:

Curious how some people who complained on Facebook got a refund. Just musing, we know the cruise lines monitor FB and CruiseCritic etc, and if they wanted to throw a bone to a few as an online appeasement they would have real names on FB to match with cruise bookings and could do the refund right away. No names on CruiseCritic so they can't throw us a few bones to settle us down.

If you have sailed MSC and attended a Meet & Mingle then MSC knows your Cruise Critic name and associated real name with your bookings.  Actually even if you don't do the M&M they can easily figure out who you are if you join two Roll Calls.  @MSC Cruises USA have not bothered to comment here for a while, most likely because it's a forum they cannot control.

[SirWolf]

I called MSC USA today to check on the status of the refund for my cancelled cruise (cancelled 03-05-2020 / cruise date 03-21-2020).

The customer service rep pulled up my booking but couldn’t help and transferred to Escalation Department.

The service rep in Escalation Department told me that the time frame for refund is 60 BUSINESS DAYS and not calendar days since the financial department doesn’t work on Saturday and Sundays. He explained that I am still within the time for refund and have to wait until 05-20-2020 .

What the heck ??  BUSINESS DAYS.. really ?

or just another excuse to delay the refund ?

I getting more and more frustrated.

Edited May 11, 2020 by SirWolf