Regent Refund Experience (please limit to received refunds)

[barko4441]

11 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Good to see you back.  As a long time Regent cruiser and CC member, I would ignore both the doom and gloom and overly positive posts (which mine tend to be).  Reality is somewhere in the middle.  Unfortunately,  it may be a while to learn what the "new reality" will be.  

Thank you..............II will. 

[Fran&Steve]

We were on Voyager 2/12 to 3/1 Bali to Hong Kong (later changed to Manila) which ended up being terminated on 2/20 in Bangkok.  Attached is the reassuring promise from Regent given before leaving the ship.  Received partial refund (minus air) on March 10, but still waiting for $4k paid for an off-ship excursion to Angkor Wat (Cambodia) that did not go. Despite heroic efforts by our TA, Regent seems to have "overlooked" this and we're patiently waiting.  

[Fran&Steve]

On 4/19/2020 at 12:42 PM, Fran&Steve said:

We were on Voyager 2/12 to 3/1 Bali to Hong Kong (later changed to Manila) which ended up being terminated on 2/20 in Bangkok.  Attached is the reassuring promise from Regent given before leaving the ship.  Received partial refund (minus air) on March 10, but still waiting for $4k paid for an off-ship excursion to Angkor Wat (Cambodia) that did not go. Despite heroic efforts by our TA, Regent seems to have "overlooked" this and we're patiently waiting.  

Postscript: We've since had a nice conversation with a Regent agent who reviewed the notes on our claim and assured us the refund for the excursion never taken is "in the pipeline" and that we should have it by June. We are empathetic with the humongous task Regent and others have been tasks with and believe they are acting with goodwill. Patience is a virtue!

On 4/19/2020 at 12:42 PM, Fran&Steve said:

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Fran&Steve
See postscript

[SkystheLimit]

While we have not received a refund, I did ask for an update from our TA.  We cancelled 3/16 for our 7/17 on the Explorer.  This was one day prior to the 50% penalty phase.  So, we paid a 25% penalty that Regent already holds.  Our TA contacted Regent today and they indicated refunds could take up to 90 days versus the 21 day we were originally told.  Our TA stated that he had not seen any refunds being issued going out beyond 60 days by other cruise lines.  He asked that we let him know when we received our refund. So, it appears it is all in Regents hands.  Will keep all posted going forward.

[JIMinNC]

16 minutes ago, SkystheLimit said:

While we have not received a refund, I did ask for an update from our TA.  We cancelled 3/16 for our 7/17 on the Explorer.  This was one day prior to the 50% penalty phase.  So, we paid a 25% penalty that Regent already holds.  Our TA contacted Regent today and they indicated refunds could take up to 90 days versus the 21 day we were originally told.  Our TA stated that he had not seen any refunds being issued going out beyond 60 days by other cruise lines.  He asked that we let him know when we received our refund. So, it appears it is all in Regents hands.  Will keep all posted going forward.

 

That's odd, because as I posted on page 1 of this thread, we cancelled a fully-paid-for June 24 cruise on March 23 in a similar situation to yours - a few days before the 50% penalty kicked in at 90 days before departure - and we received our refund to our credit card in four days on March 27. Ours was a direct booking with Regent, however, not through a TA, so maybe the TA being in the middle has something to do with the delay? And our penalty was only 15%, basically we lost our original deposit. I was OK with that to get the quick refund.

Edited April 23, 2020 by JIMinNC

[tubeamps]

Cancelled November 6, 2020 Barcelona to Dubai on March 6.

Received refund of deposit today.

 

[bissel]

You cancelled, not Regent?

[tubeamps]

37 minutes ago, bissel said:

You cancelled, not Regent?

 

Correct, we booked directly with Regent and we cancelled. The cruise was sold out July 2019, every category is now open except for the 2 top level suites.

 

I don’t think this cruise will happen for a number of reasons, notably the lack of reliable scheduled flights and the obvious health risks.

 

One other thing, what country would allow a ship full of mostly Americans to visit their ports? We are now the epicenter on the Covid outbreak, no national testing policy, no way to guarantee to the locals that everyone on board is not carrying a contagion.

 

[bissel]

We too cancelled an October cruise back in early March and received immediate refund. Out thinking was the same as yours. We also removed ourselves from two waitlists for 2021 and were quickly reimbursed. I have no regrets about not risking any 2021 cruises  either!

[paratrooper69]

Our  cruise from French Polynesia to Miami was cancelled by Regent and we received confirmation of our desire for total refund 30 days ago.  Still waiting.

[v4e]

On 4/17/2020 at 3:25 PM, Travelcat2 said:

 

Thank you so much for saying what I am thinking and feeling.  It seems that people are only responding in two ways - either very nicely and considerate of others or total bashing of other posters as well as Regent.  I understand that people are under a lot of stress right now but the anger that people seem to have isn't good for themselves or anyone else.

 

In terms of the subject and Regent letting passengers know that it could take 90 days to process, I doubt if any credit card company will spend much time researching this.  People may not like that it is taking so long to process claims and may not care that Regent Corporate has been cut down to a 4-day workweek which gives them less time to do the processing but it is what it is.  Once the credit card companies read Regent's statement about how long the refunds will take to process, they will likely shut down the investigation.

 

In any case, barko4441, welcome to there Regent board!  If you have any questions, we are here to answer them (in a kind way).

90 days to process a refund is totally unreasonable.  The process of automating this back could be easily accomplished.  I believe Regent's true motivation is to delay the refund as much as possible and hope to sell future cruises to keep the bank balance.  I see no harm to at least inquire with the credit card company about the process.  

 

[pappy1022]

My TA has been working with Regent to see what the status of my refund is from a normal cancellation. My friend got his money back 2 days after he cancelled, I am still waiting. After 3 different stories from Regent of promises that the credit was in process and I should see it in a couple of days, my TA finally got in touch with an accounting supervisor. The latest is this, Regent tried to refund my money to my credit card weeks ago but there was an interface problem to the VISA credit card company. Instead of trying again and/or notifying me or my TA they let it sit in limbo until my TA called and got in touch with the supervisor. Now the check is in the proverbial mail again, supposedly sent to the credit card company 2 days ago. I guess if I had more patience and my friend hadn't received his refund so quickly, I would have been waiting for the 90 day clock to tick and probably would have been in the same boat I am in today. Very disappointing. I acknowledge that these are tough times for Regent but there are no excuses for this lack of service. 

[Pcardad]

On 4/22/2020 at 11:39 PM, SkystheLimit said:

While we have not received a refund, I did ask for an update from our TA.  We cancelled 3/16 for our 7/17 on the Explorer.  This was one day prior to the 50% penalty phase.  So, we paid a 25% penalty that Regent already holds.  Our TA contacted Regent today and they indicated refunds could take up to 90 days versus the 21 day we were originally told.  Our TA stated that he had not seen any refunds being issued going out beyond 60 days by other cruise lines.  He asked that we let him know when we received our refund. So, it appears it is all in Regents hands.  Will keep all posted going forward.

Refunds are now ALL being done by hand and are taking 40 - 45 days as of today.

[Pcardad]

PS - when the refund is processed Regent can send you proof that they did it.

[SkystheLimit]

Thank you Pcardad for the information.

 

[Pcardad]

Hope it helps!
 

[irishwitchy]

I cancelled a cruise with Viking Ocean that was in September on April 13 and the money was refunded to me on April 20.  Impressive - right?  Regent canceled my June 30 cruise today,  I opted for the refund.  I will let you know when I get it, but it will be very disappointing if it does take 3 months, which isn’t really proper.   If Viking could figure out how to do this in a week,  I expect Regent to do the same.  

[orvil]

RSSC cancelled my June 14 cruise yesterday.  My TA applied for a full refund yesterday, too.  I'll hack the clock and watch to see how long it takes for the full refund.  

 

I'm going to call my credit card company next week to review any deadlines that may be applicable.

 

I'll repeat, 90 days is unreasonable.  The fact that they are working on a four day work week is not my problem to solve.  They wanted my money by a date certain.  I'll be wanting my money back by a date certain, too.  It's just business.

 

 

[Pcardad]

40-45 days at present.

[Travelcat2]

4 hours ago, orvil said:

RSSC cancelled my June 14 cruise yesterday.  My TA applied for a full refund yesterday, too.  I'll hack the clock and watch to see how long it takes for the full refund.  

 

I'm going to call my credit card company next week to review any deadlines that may be applicable.

 

I'll repeat, 90 days is unreasonable.  The fact that they are working on a four day work week is not my problem to solve.  They wanted my money by a date certain.  I'll be wanting my money back by a date certain, too.  It's just business.

 

 

 

Let's not forget that Regent has changed their policies to make it easier for their customers to cancel cruises without penalty and even give them a FCC's to cover the cost of the cruise.  They are being accommodating and I feel that we should be as well.

 

Good luck trying to get answers from the already overwhelmed credit card companies.  No need to bother them to anticipation of Regent taking too long to refund your money ....... details of your credit card contract are on their website.

[GOARMY]

Due to current quarantine situation, additional hours available to review Netflick's classic movie collection, particularly a pair of my favorites--Godfather I and II.  Some relevance to our current situation.  Family attorney Tom Hagen's refrain in I to the Don's hothead son, Sonny: "Sonny, calm down.  It's not personal; it's just business."  Even though that "business" involved numerous attempts to whack the Don.  Don't "go to the mattresses." 

 

Pcardad:  appreciate your periodic reminders as to timeline we can anticipate for a refund.  Our first refund clock started ticking on March 17th, shortly after return from San Diego following Regent's cancellation of Splendor's March 14-30 segment.  The process is being coordinated through our TA.  Watchful waiting, at this point. 

 

GOARMY!

 

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

And our clock started ticking yesterday, April 24th, for our 5-figure World Cruise deposit refund. That takes us to July 24th if they string it out as long as possible.  Here's hoping it's sooner than that.

[mrstanley]

We have a cruise leaving from Copenhagen on July 28 on the Navigator.

Final payment was delayed until May 29.

We have no intention of making final payment and I would like my deposit back.

I have 2 future cruises booked on 2021 and not sure if we will go on those.

Really don’t want to apply my current July deposit towards a cruise. Just want our money back.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

35 minutes ago, mrstanley said:

We have a cruise leaving from Copenhagen on July 28 on the Navigator.

Final payment was delayed until May 29.

We have no intention of making final payment and I would like my deposit back.

I have 2 future cruises booked on 2021 and not sure if we will go on those.

Really don’t want to apply my current July deposit towards a cruise. Just want our money back.

 

So why not just cancel and get your refund process started now?

[Pcardad]

Make the call, cancel and get your money. Or, wait for Regent to cancel you.