Cancelled, requested refund and actually received one?

[jakob71]

1 hour ago, gerryuk said:

There is the possibility that your TA did not sent Costa your money, if they new that there was a good chance the cruise would be cancelled. 

 

I don't think that's the reason.

 I have been in regular contact with my TA, since Costa canceled my cruise.

 On May 8, I received an email from my travel agent informing me that Costa first had notified them that I would receive a full refund. But that it was later changed to a future cruise voucher, and later again changed to that I again should get a full refund.

 A promise Costa apparently so far has failed to fulfill towards my TA.

 But for me, this is fortunately a closed case, thanks to my excellent TA.

 

 

 

[wurm914]

Refund from Costa?  Still waiting for the money back from our cancelled cruise 3/21/2020 Guadeloupe to Savona on the Favolosa.   T/A says wait 30 days.  Wait 60 days.  Look - here's a future cruise credit!  No thanks, T/A said refund is imminent 10-14 days and FCC would be rescinded.  That was more than 3 weeks ago.  This whole thing has been ridiculous.  MSC refunded just after the 60 days I was asked to wait.   Yet Costa?  I wait and wait.  Frustrating and disheartening. 

 

deb

[nottingham john]

Sort of great new!!!!!  T.A. says will be in touch in the next few days about a cash refund (Costa cruise Dubai - Rome)

Only the cost of the cruise nothing for the actual loss of the holiday, so we will be £1,100 out of pocket.

Does anyone know the legal position, its funny that when we got in touch with the credit card company T.A. started to get in touch.  Has anyone got a refund from Costa yet???

[jerseylily]

Nothing yet. Giving them 90 days then credit card claim.

[drsel]

repeated below

[drsel]

 
How my TA managed  to provide capital for refunds to their customers, I don’t know. But really, I don’t care! Again, I am just very happy that I received a full refund from my TA, to my bank account, last Monday!

This is so incredible.
I am sure everybody would love to book future Cruises with your agent, knowing that he's got unlimited cash to pay from his pocket in case any cruise is cancelled[emoji2]. We wonder who he is

[jakob71]

4 hours ago, drsel said:

 

This is so incredible.
I am sure everybody would love to book future Cruises with your agent, knowing that he's got unlimited cash to pay from his pocket in case any cruise is cancelled. We wonder who he is

 

4 hours ago, drsel said:

 

 

[jakob71]

I understand that you don’t believe my explanation, that I have been reimbursed for my entire cruise fare from my Norwegian TA.

Whether my TA has covered all or part of the refund to me, with support from eg The Norwegian Travel Guarantee Fund, or from financial support schemes from the Norwegian authorities, or from other sources, I don’t know.

 But if you can enter your email address, I will be happy to send you the email from my TA, from Monday, June 29, where they confirm the refund to me. Of course, in the email, the name of my Norwegian TA also appears.

You can easily translate the Norwegian language to English on Google Translate.

 For your information I can mention that I have been on 45 cruises so far in my life, and that I am careful to choose a serious and reliable TA for my cruise bookings.

 

 

 

 

[dethman]

still waiting for refund since costa called us jun 22 and re-confirmed for like the 4th time that YES i want a refund on not some stupid credit. nothing on the CC back yet. that's four months + and counting....

Edited July 5, 2020 by dethman

[jakob71]

17 hours ago, jakob71 said:

 

 

 

While I wait to get your email address, I can inform you that it is not only my TA that has provided reimbursement to their customers. I am the recipient of email newsletters from a Danish Cruise TA. An TA that also has Norwegian customers. In their newsletter of July 2, written in Norwegian, they also have information on the status of refunds to their customers. For your information, I have copied the section of the newsletter that deals with refunds. I have posted the Norwegian text on Google Translate, for translation into English. I can send you the whole newsletter, where of course also the name of the Danish TA will appear, when I get your email address.

 "Refund status:

It goes fast now, and here you get the status of the different travel periods. And remember, you don't have to worry about getting the refund you are entitled to. Everyone gets it.

Scheduled departure before March 13:

We are currently processing these and expect to end this period by the end of the week.

Scheduled departure March 13 - 13. April:

Anyone departing during this period has been reimbursed for their money.

Scheduled departure April 14 - 10. May:

Anyone departing during this period has been reimbursed for their money.

Scheduled departure May 11 – 31. May:

Anyone departing during this period has been reimbursed for their money.

Scheduled departure June 1 - August 31:

There has been great confusion around the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' travel advice. At first, the global shutdown was extended, but on June 28 it was informed that Norway still allows for travel out of Norway. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs still advises against all foreign trips that are not strictly necessary, but from 15 July they also open for holiday trips to countries in Schengen and the EEA with a low spread of infection. An updated list of which countries to travel to after July 15 will be compiled and published July 10.

If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against traveling to a country, then it has been enforced in accordance with the Package Travel Act. This means that you can contact your travel agent and ask to have your trip canceled free of charge and get your money back. The travel is not automatically canceled, so you must contact the travel agency yourself if you do not want to travel because of the travel advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Many customers took advantage of the law before June 27 for journeys in June, July and August. Therefore, the Government has approved an extension of the period for loans with the Travel Guarantee Fund until 31 August. This means that we can reimburse our customers faster for travel in the period June 1st – 31st. August, although we have not yet received the money from cruise lines, airlines, hotels and other subcontractors.

We are awaiting further information from the Travel Guarantee Fund on when we can apply for and handle these cases. We will contact everyone on departure during this period as soon as we know more.

Scheduled departure after August 31:

Several cruise lines plan to resume operations during August and September, but some have canceled sailings later.

If you have a voyage after August 31 and have been informed that the cruise lines is not sailing, then your voyage will of course be canceled and you will receive your rightful compensation - even if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not advise against travel during this period and the Travel Guarantee Fund does not cover.

As with everything else, it will take time before cruise lines, airlines and others. have completed refunds, but we promise to contact you as soon as we know more."

[gerryuk]

I think the only solution to get back your money immediately, is to go through your credit / debit card provider. I would think that Costa have been given enough time to issue refunds but are clearly holding on to money that does not belong to them. It seems to me that if you want your money now, this is the only recourse open to you.

How Costa think that they are going to keep their customers loyal after all this, is beyond me.

[dethman]

Aaand... After 4 months of me telling them to give me my refund, what do they do today? 

 

Send me a f*cking VOUCHER.  aaaagh. 

 

I hate Costa with such a passion. 

[gerryuk]

58 minutes ago, dethman said:

Aaand... After 4 months of me telling them to give me my refund, what do they do today? 

 

Send me a f*cking VOUCHER.  aaaagh. 

 

I hate Costa with such a passion. 

Just out of interest how much is the voucher worth, is it what you paid or have they added a percentage figure on top?

[Pasha]

10 hours ago, dethman said:

Aaand... After 4 months of me telling them to give me my refund, what do they do today? 

 

Send me a f*cking VOUCHER.  aaaagh. 

 

I hate Costa with such a passion. 

 

It looks like today was the day for Costa vouchers for those in the U.S.  We were surprised to receive a voucher from Costa today since we had filed a dispute with our credit card company on March 22 and Wells Fargo advised us on June 17th:  "We completed our research of your inquiry and have approved your claim(s) for the disputed transaction(s) below. As these claims were accepted by the merchant's banks, the temporary credit(s) we previously provided are now permanent and will remain on your account." 

 

We too had asked Costa for a cash refund, both when we cancelled in late February and again after the Diadema didn't even sail.  Because of Costa's lack of response, we filed our credit card dispute and fortunately we did because obviously Costa is trying to get everyone to accept vouchers in lieu of cash.  We have no interest in a voucher as we have no interest in sailing with Costa again 

 

The voucher shows an amount equal to 150% of the total we paid to Costa including taxes

 

Some of the terms:

The Voucher must be redeemed 12 months after the issued date and must be used on sailings with a departure before the end of November 2021.

 The voucher (credit amount) is made out to the primary contact guest of the booking for the amount collected by Costa. The voucher can only be redeemed at the Travel Agency where the original booking was made, unless the original booking was made directly with Costa. ….

 

 If you choose to reject the voucher and forfeit its greater value you will only receive 100% of the payment Costa has collected in the original form of payment. To submit the request please fill out the Refund Request form here. Refund will be issued no earlier than 90 days after the request and is only available to FIT bookings made through retail agencies or directly with Costa Cruises. …..

 

The voucher is only applicable to new individual bookings and will be valid on all rates and categories.

[dethman]

9 hours ago, gerryuk said:

Just out of interest how much is the voucher worth, is it what you paid or have they added a percentage figure on top?

 

Oddly about 155% of original fare/taxes. 

[denny girl]

Well good news for us

We instigated a charge back on our credit card that seems was not contested by Costa.

We've received back the full amount. We'd paid in installments and it was refunded to us in the same way.

[fice]

Hello everyone, we canceled our June 13 cruise on March 15, last day to cancel with minimun penalty. TA from USA told us 3-4 weeks for refund, but as today, no refund, no messages from Costa or TA. I read a Princess board on this topic and most customers are receiving refunds around 105 days. Has anybody got a refund by now ?

[jerseylily]

hallelujah today I received via American express both the deposit and the balance that I have paid. Full amount now received from Costa unprompted save for the request for a refund rather than a voucher early in the process did not have to wait the full 90 days and partially restoring my faith in them.

[jerseylily]

Anyone else UK or elsewhere received a full refund?

[fice]

On 7/18/2020 at 11:04 AM, jerseylily said:

hallelujah today I received via American express both the deposit and the balance that I have paid. Full amount now received from Costa unprompted save for the request for a refund rather than a voucher early in the process did not have to wait the full 90 days and partially restoring my faith in them.

 

Would you please provide some anwers

1. When you canceled ?  Before or after Costa canceled ? 

2. Did they e-mailed a FCC and you said no ?

[jerseylily]

2 hours ago, fice said:

 

Would you please provide some anwers

1. When you canceled ?  Before or after Costa canceled ? 

2. Did they e-mailed a FCC and you said no ?

Hi 

 

1-  Costa cancelled my June cruise on 12th May 

 

We asked for refund to cc they said they would do it but it would take some time

 

2 - 27th May Costa sent FCC 100% 

 

We asked for refund to cc they said it would take some time, we didn't refuse FCC we just asked for refund again quoting from their own terms and conditions.

 

Nothing happens

 

We then decided to give them 90 days then ask cc for money back

 

18 July Costa refund appeared on cc unprompted.

 

Hope that helps

 

[staffpage]

No refund for flight home after telling me all was well and how much we would receive once converted from sgd to uk pound. Since March no sign of refund and now not answering emails 

[dethman]

five months and countless calls after cancelling my march cruise from barcelona on smeralda, i finally received a refund on my credit card from costa.  full refund for their cancelled cruise.  *whew.*  i'm never dealing with them again.

[drsel]

It appears that some people got a refund of The Cruise fare, but no one got a refund of airfare, hotel stay, taxi fare, other out of pocket expenses related to The Cruise which Costa themselves cancelled.

[alliebdive]

We got our airfare refunded today from Costa = completely out of the blue.  We already had our cruise far refunded via clawback from the Mastercard.  HOORAY!  What a relief.  Doubt we will ever book with them again.