CRUISE REFUND RECEIVED

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, mrsgoggins said:

Getting concerned now ..... received my refunds (2 different cc) on 12th and 13th May ..... in full, for my direct booking. Today I have received an apology for the delay and telling me that my refund (correct amount and booking reference) has been processed!  I hope I am not going to be the next one to be refunded twice 😵!

I have also received two emails today from P&O’s ‘Department of Incompetence’ saying that my two refunds have now been processed. I actually received them 3 weeks ago! Unlike you, I am hoping that I will be refunded twice. If so, I shall bank the money and do nothing. You never know, they are so incompetent I may never hear from them again. If I did, I would drag my heels and, at best, repay them after 2 to 3 months. 

[Snow Hill]

My wife has just had an email confirming payment for the first of our 2 back to back refunds is being processed and refund should be with us soon. Only problem we had the refund over 2 weeks ago. If we do get paid again will hold the amount hostage until we get the second refund.

[Solent Richard]

23 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Yes, just read it and sad to hear that, but unrelated to the issues our friends had, which related to a cancellation made at the start of the first batch, so months ago. They couldn’t get through to the TA on the phone and several emails to them were never answered. All the while, marketing emails continued to flow from the TA, which poured fuel on the flames. 

 

Yes, Ive noticed those emails myself, I subscribe to many TAs purely for ideas then place my business with a real Cunard specialist.

[Solent Richard]

23 hours ago, majortom10 said:

It isnt rocket science to assume that many TA's and other companies throughout the UK will be making many redundancies in the near future.

Er yes, but surely that just adds to the customer frustration who, after all, pays the commission eventually.

[Josy1953]

1 hour ago, mrsgoggins said:

Getting concerned now ..... received my refunds (2 different cc) on 12th and 13th May ..... in full, for my direct booking. Today I have received an apology for the delay and telling me that my refund (correct amount and booking reference) has been processed!  I hope I am not going to be the next one to be refunded twice 😵!

I had the same mail last week but I have not had a second refund, it may just be P&O's usual ineptitude. 😁

[Mewat]

I've been following this thread after the cancellation of our cruise in May - A109 - 3rd May. 

We booked this cruise when we were on board Ventura last June, paying £100.00 deposit on my debit card.  

 

I filled in the on-line form for a refund on 8th April and I received a refund to my bank account on 3rd June - but for a £100.00 less than the full amount!  (Was totally shocked when it came through after the amount of time it seems to be taking!)

 

Do you think that I will be getting back the deposit eventually as well?  Or do you think I should let them know they still owe me?

 

Michele

[Happy afloat]

4 minutes ago, Mewat said:

I've been following this thread after the cancellation of our cruise in May - A109 - 3rd May. 

We booked this cruise when we were on board Ventura last June, paying £100.00 deposit on my debit card.  

 

I filled in the on-line form for a refund on 8th April and I received a refund to my bank account on 3rd June - but for a £100.00 less than the full amount!  (Was totally shocked when it came through after the amount of time it seems to be taking!)

 

Do you think that I will be getting back the deposit eventually as well?  Or do you think I should let them know they still owe me?

 

Michele

Hi Michele,

I'd get on the phone/email promptly and bring this to their attention. Seem to recall others on here having the same problem.

We booked in the same way but our refund was for the full amount; once again, there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to p&o's methodology. 

[Selbourne]

9 minutes ago, Mewat said:

I've been following this thread after the cancellation of our cruise in May - A109 - 3rd May. 

We booked this cruise when we were on board Ventura last June, paying £100.00 deposit on my debit card.  

 

I filled in the on-line form for a refund on 8th April and I received a refund to my bank account on 3rd June - but for a £100.00 less than the full amount!  (Was totally shocked when it came through after the amount of time it seems to be taking!)

 

Do you think that I will be getting back the deposit eventually as well?  Or do you think I should let them know they still owe me?

 

Michele

For reasons best known to P&O, refunds of deposits are paid separately to the refunds of balances. Mine were both paid on the same day, but I wouldn’t panic just yet. 

[No pager thank you]

3 hours ago, mrsgoggins said:

Getting concerned now ..... received my refunds (2 different cc) on 12th and 13th May ..... in full, for my direct booking. Today I have received an apology for the delay and telling me that my refund (correct amount and booking reference) has been processed!  I hope I am not going to be the next one to be refunded twice 😵!

To be honest with all these double-refunds they are paying out that "Let's Build Our Ideal P&O Ship," thread might have a chance of becoming a reality - 😂

 

I was refunded at a similar time to you for one cruise but have received no such email.

 

The incompetence is something else, I don't think that I have seen this from another company!

Edited June 4, 2020 by No pager thank you
Typo

[Happy afloat]

4 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

For reasons best known to P&O, refunds of deposits are paid separately to the refunds of balances. Mine were both paid on the same day, but I wouldn’t panic just yet. 

Selbourne, was that two seperate payments? Mine was one payment for the full amount 

[Windsurfboy]

Not P&O, but got refund from Cunard on day 80 today

[Selbourne]

Just now, Happy afloat said:

Selbourne, was that two seperate payments? Mine was one payment for the full amount 

Two separate payments. We had two bookings and received four payments. Deposits for both bookings and final payments for both bookings. Not sure if it makes any difference, but bookings were direct with P&O. 

[Mewat]

Forgot to mention that I have received a similar generic email from P&O today, quoting my booking reference and stating that my refund request had been processed.   It quoted the full amount in the email - not the amount that I have received.  Think I might try and get through and let them know they still owe me £100.00, as it looks like they think that my claim is all sorted.

 

Thanks,

 

Michele

 

 

[No pager thank you]

4 minutes ago, Mewat said:

Forgot to mention that I have received a similar generic email from P&O today, quoting my booking reference and stating that my refund request had been processed.   It quoted the full amount in the email - not the amount that I have received.  Think I might try and get through and let them know they still owe me £100.00, as it looks like they think that my claim is all sorted.

 

Thanks,

 

Michele

 

 

For the purposes of getting through, remember that you are booking a cruise 😉

[Selbourne]

Interesting that one of the two questions from members of the public at today’s Downing Street briefing was “Many travel companies are acting unlawfully by not providing refunds to customers following the cancellation of holidays within reasonable timescales. What is the government doing to ensure that people can get their money back”. Grant Shapps (Transport Secretary) said that it is the responsibility of travel companies to refund, not just offer vouchers or incentives, but nothing specific on the timescales, so companies like P&O will doubtless continue to take the mickey and completely disregard the law which states that the refund should be within 14 days. 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Mewat said:

I've been following this thread after the cancellation of our cruise in May - A109 - 3rd May. 

We booked this cruise when we were on board Ventura last June, paying £100.00 deposit on my debit card.  

 

I filled in the on-line form for a refund on 8th April and I received a refund to my bank account on 3rd June - but for a £100.00 less than the full amount!  (Was totally shocked when it came through after the amount of time it seems to be taking!)

 

Do you think that I will be getting back the deposit eventually as well?  Or do you think I should let them know they still owe me?

 

Michele

My deposit was missing after waiting 66 days for our refund.

I emailed P&O guest relations team Leader who sorted my refund showing proof of our £262 deposit paid to our TA.

She confirmed it would be paid and 4 days later I got another Bacs for our deposit.

I would contact them and ask when they will send you your deposit back.

They didn't supply your cruise so your money is yours.

Graham.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

Not P&O, but got refund from Cunard on day 80 today

Fantastic news.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Interesting that one of the two questions from members of the public at today’s Downing Street briefing was “Many travel companies are acting unlawfully by not providing refunds to customers following the cancellation of holidays within reasonable timescales. What is the government doing to ensure that people can get their money back”. Grant Shapps (Transport Secretary) said that it is the responsibility of travel companies to refund, not just offer vouchers or incentives, but nothing specific on the timescales, so companies like P&O will doubtless continue to take the mickey and completely disregard the law which states that the refund should be within 14 days. 

Now that cruising is suspended till Mid October I think we will be hearing a lot more people waiting 60+ days and possibly 90 days for refunds.

[NoFlyGuy]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Interesting that one of the two questions from members of the public at today’s Downing Street briefing was “Many travel companies are acting unlawfully by not providing refunds to customers following the cancellation of holidays within reasonable timescales. What is the government doing to ensure that people can get their money back”. Grant Shapps (Transport Secretary) said that it is the responsibility of travel companies to refund, not just offer vouchers or incentives, but nothing specific on the timescales, so companies like P&O will doubtless continue to take the mickey and completely disregard the law which states that the refund should be within 14 days. 

Whilst I wouldn't want to exonerate P&O and other travel companies completely, we live around the world in unpresented times.

Will Shapps or any government department take any action against the holiday sector, I doubt it and hope not.

I want there to be a travel sector left at the end of this. As the rule of law went  'that was then, this is now' - A whole new world.

[grapau27]

8 minutes ago, NoFlyGuy said:

Whilst I wouldn't want to exonerate P&O and other travel companies completely, we live around the world in unpresented times.

Will Shapps or any government department take any action against the holiday sector, I doubt it and hope not.

I want there to be a travel sector left at the end of this. As the rule of law went  'that was then, this is now' - A whole new world.

Airlines take your money when you book a flight in our case 6-12 months in advance.

Cruise companies take your deposit when you book and balance 3 months before your cruise and if booked through a TA they want final payment 4 month's before your cruise so it is not unreasonable to expect them to refund you in a prompt manner.

14 days by law should mean 14 days.

Many of us have waited 60+ days for P&O Refunds and airlines are quoting 90 days.

It is not our responsibility to let them have interest free money for longer than 14 days once they have cancelled a cruise or flight.

[No pager thank you]

20 minutes ago, NoFlyGuy said:

Will Shapps or any government department take any action against the holiday sector, I doubt it and hope not.

I want there to be a travel sector left at the end of this. As the rule of law went  'that was then, this is now' - A whole new world.

I understand that the CMA have now extended their investigation beyond holiday accommodation to include package travel.  This will probably take years as these things do, but at some stage there will be enforcement action. 

 

Reading one of the posts earlier, the first targets may be those providers generally refusing to pay cash refunds, in direct breach of the Package Tour Regulations.  Unfortunately these firms/airlines do exist.

 

Ignoring the timelines in the Package Tour Regulations, might be seen as a lesser "offence" but this remains to be seen, particularly if 90 days plus becomes a normal, not a temporary measure. 

 

It also remains to be seen how the CMA will consider the use of fluid pricing models in a way which disadvantages a customer in any investigation / probe.

 

On this, it is worth saying that in some (but not all) European countries, it appears to be the case that customers have the option of either a refund or a comparable like-for-like holiday if their booking has been cancelled due to Covid-19, see ABTA website.  So fluid pricing does not work in the same way for the supplier, as is typically the case in this country or in the cruise industry.

[No pager thank you]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/21/uk-competition-watchdog-investigating-holiday-firms-refusing-refunds-airlines-complaints-covid-19

 

For those interested, this is an article from the Guardian around the extension of the CMA's investigation in to package tour providers and refunds, which presumably includes the cruise industry. 

 

I understand that it is allowed to post a URL linked to the topic under discussion - I do apologize if I have broken any rule though.

 

Unfortunately, a number of the concerns voiced in the article are raised repeatedly on this thread and replicated widely on other official P&O social media platforms.

[P&O SUE]

2 hours ago, Mewat said:

Forgot to mention that I have received a similar generic email from P&O today, quoting my booking reference and stating that my refund request had been processed.   It quoted the full amount in the email - not the amount that I have received.  Think I might try and get through and let them know they still owe me £100.00, as it looks like they think that my claim is all sorted.

 

Thanks,

 

Michele

 

 

 I got my deposit back 2 days after the main balance without phoning. 
I paid them on two different cards, one my debit card and one my credit card. 

[P&O SUE]

I’m another one who has got the ‘sorry you’ve waited so long but your refund has been paid’ email!! I got it 2 weeks ago 😄

[NoFlyGuy]

35 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Airlines take your money when you book a flight in our case 6-12 months in advance.

Cruise companies take your deposit when you book and balance 3 months before your cruise and if booked through a TA they want final payment 4 month's before your cruise so it is not unreasonable to expect them to refund you in a prompt manner.

14 days by law should mean 14 days.

Many of us have waited 60+ days for P&O Refunds and airlines are quoting 90 days.

It is not our responsibility to let them have interest free money for longer than 14 days once they have cancelled a cruise or flight.

 

14 days should be 14 days pre Covid If you want the entire hospitality sector to go out of business then go ahead and insist on your rights. Millions worldwide have died and will continual do so both here and elsewhere, I will get my refund eventually and have posted before I don't need it to get ends meet like some others.

Bottom line is the world is different place to what is was just 3 months ago.

Get used to the new reality, it's not nice but it is.