Silversea refund processing time

[cruiseej]

15 minutes ago, Caroldoll said:

Well I hear what you are saying, but mine is not that complicated.  I booked LAST YEAR IN OCTOBER and paid IN FULL AT THE TIME OF BOOKING.  I did wait 30 days, and communicated my dire circumstances.  They are sleazy.  No other reason.

 

Well, almost everyone whose cruise has been canceled by Silversea has paid in full (since these cancellations happen within the 120-day final payment date). And many, many other passengers who are canceling on their own have also paid in full because of Silversea's standard 10% pay-in-full discount. 

 

I'm not sure why you'd expect them to jump your refund request ahead of many other people who canceled before you. Would it have been good of a representative to listen to your circumstances and make a special exception for you? Sure. But I'm sorry you feel they are "sleezy" and "merciless" because you decided you think 30 days is long enough -- even though it's been taking longer than that for thousands of other customers.

[Caroldoll]

9 hours ago, clo said:

Oh, I wasn't doubting anyone. But glad we have the other.

Thank you all.  I wish someone knew the name of someone in corporate who might have listened to me dire problem.  We are dragging through.  Perhaps next week they will choose to contact Amex.  Their office is in Monaco!  No taxes there!  Maybe I can get my money.  

[WesW]

For US corporate u might try Mark Conroy, Managing Director (Most senior SS Exec in US/FL) his personal email is MConroy@siversea.com

[clo]

On 9/19/2020 at 8:02 PM, Caroldoll said:

I have a huge credit now on Amex, but I can charge living expenses.  

With our Chase visa, when we've had large credits it was super easy for them to send a check electronically.

[fdnycruiser]

Same with Amex if you request it .

[clo]

37 minutes ago, fdnycruiser said:

Same with Amex if you request it .

Figured it must be. We don't leave money sitting there when it could be 'home' with us 🙂

[Caroldoll]

7 hours ago, WesW said:

For US corporate u might try Mark Conroy, Managing Director (Most senior SS Exec in US/FL) his personal email is MConroy@siversea.com

Thank you.  Right now it is out of my hands, but if they try to argue with Amex, I will pursue it.  I do appreciate this. Wish I had it a week ago

[scottjeanne]

Just my two sense.  Silver Seas cancelled our Antarctica cruise that was scheduled for February 2021.  We requested a refund 6 weeks ago and have not seen it yet.  So not everyone has been refunded.

[scottjeanne]

Oops-cents, not sense.

[Tothesunset]

5 hours ago, scottjeanne said:

Oops-cents, not sense.

That makes cents now. 😊

[Stumblefoot]

6 hours ago, scottjeanne said:

We requested a refund 6 weeks ago and have not seen it yet.  So not everyone has been refunded.

Hang in there.  We hit the 10-week mark today and still no refund.  But, like everyone else, we were told it could take up to 90-days.  So, just 3 more weeks to go here. 😁

[clo]

1 hour ago, Stumblefoot said:

Hang in there.  We hit the 10-week mark today and still no refund.  But, like everyone else, we were told it could take up to 90-days.  So, just 3 more weeks to go here. 😁

I canceled yesterday and my SS rep said 45 days for the refund (deposit only). We'll see.

[Observer]

1 hour ago, Stumblefoot said:

 But, like everyone else, we were told it could take up to 90-days.  

 

Don't know about "everyone else."  I booked directly with SS (no TA) and cancelled in June.  I was told refund would come in 30-45 days and was given specific dates.  The first of my three refunds (I used various credit cards) came just over 30 days later.  The third came at ~ 40 days.  I think that SS processed all three at once and the delay in the third refund was caused by the credit card company.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Observer

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, clo said:

I canceled yesterday and my SS rep said 45 days for the refund (deposit only). We'll see.

I wouldn’t hold your breath as ours was just a deposit too and it’s now the 70-day mark with no refund.

[TLCOhio]

17 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

I wouldn’t hold your breath as ours was just a deposit too and it’s now the 70-day mark with no refund.

 

To be waiting 70 days for a re-fund is total mismanagement!!  Or, just a way to protect their appearance of "cash-flow"?  Sad!!  

 

Yesterday afternoon I talked with a Silversea sales agent about timing regarding the Silver Origin doing its first sailing in the Galapagos islands.  Then, that first sailing there was to be happening on Nov. 7.  Today??  That potential thing has been moved back, maybe to early December.  

 

On getting refunds after payments were made, his "promise" was that those delays were many months ago when then were being overwhelmed in being able to make such  refunds.  Yesterday, he claimed that now it only took 14 days for such refunds to be accomplished.  His "promise" for the current Silversea performance sounded good on the phone, but apparently the "REALITY" is different??!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

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[Silver Spectre]

1 hour ago, TLCOhio said:

 

To be waiting 70 days for a re-fund is total mismanagement!!  Or, just a way to protect their appearance of "cash-flow"?  Sad!!  

 

Yesterday afternoon I talked with a Silversea sales agent about timing regarding the Silver Origin doing its first sailing in the Galapagos islands.  Then, that first sailing there was to be happening on Nov. 7.  Today??  That potential thing has been moved back, maybe to early December.  

 

On getting refunds after payments were made, his "promise" was that those delays were many months ago when then were being overwhelmed in being able to make such  refunds.  Yesterday, he claimed that now it only took 14 days for such refunds to be accomplished.  His "promise" for the current Silversea performance sounded good on the phone, but apparently the "REALITY" is different??!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

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We will wait and see just what really happens Terry. 14 days sounds good but then why is Stumblefoot at 70 days?

[Stumblefoot]

11 minutes ago, Silver Spectre said:

...but then why is Stumblefoot at 70 days?

Same question I asked when it took a month to get our FCC back in August.

[alexandria]

2 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

We will wait and see just what really happens Terry. 14 days sounds good but then why is Stumblefoot at 70 days?

I don't buy the fourteen (14) days for a refund considering that the communications from Silversea to those who have actually had sailings canceled within the past week clearly state:

 

"The cash refund of the booking cruise fare paid to Silversea will be credited to the original method of payment and could take up to 90 days to process, but will typically be received within 30 to 45 days of guest’s request, due to exceptional workload Silversea is facing."

 

That is just another indication that Silversea makes promises to guests to induce them book without the intention, ability or willingness to deliver on those promises.  A very sad state of affairs when a luxury cruise line engages in unscrupulous tactics that are generally associated with less savory business enterprises.

[TLCOhio]

13 minutes ago, alexandria said:

I don't buy the fourteen (14) days for a refund considering that the communications from Silversea to those who have actually had sailings canceled within the past week clearly state:  "The cash refund of the booking cruise fare paid to Silversea will be credited to the original method of payment and could take up to 90 days to process, but will typically be received within 30 to 45 days of guest’s request, due to exceptional workload Silversea is facing."

 

Early this afternoon, I followed up with the SS sales agent who told me that "14-day" promise.  I shared the long, long history of delays that others have been encountering, a copy of the message from the SS Marketing Director (and the wife of the SS President).  That agent is going to check more with management and get back to me next week.  He's off for the next few days and this weekend. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

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[jollyjones]

14 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

Same question I asked when it took a month to get our FCC back in August.

 

I cancelled three cruises in July, received notice 5th August that the 'refunds had been processed', and should be in my account '9th - 19th September'.

 

Still waiting. Will, of course, make a fuss in due course but will wait a while yet.

[Roger88]

2 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

 

I cancelled three cruises in July, received notice 5th August that the 'refunds had been processed', and should be in my account '9th - 19th September'.

 

Still waiting. Will, of course, make a fuss in due course but will wait a while yet.

It might take a little over a month. I would say it will take 2 months the least. The thing is, the companies are not really rushing to give back the money. They need to cover their expenses they suffered during the pandemic. In any case, if you get it earlier - you will be the lucky one 

[Aussieflyer]

As been noted here, AU and UK seem to be waiting longer. I contacted my TA for an update earlier this week (@49 days) and received advice it would be another 14 days. 

[cruiseej]

Everyone states that Silversea (and other lines) are delaying payments for 70, 80, 90 or more days to preserve their cash. Or, as @Roger88 says above, to "cover their expenses." But some of that reasoning doesn't make sense to me. If they were in fully-functioning mode, earning significant revenue every week and using that to offset refunds, it would make sense. But they are not taking in a lot of money right now. Yes, some people are optimistically booking future cruises, so they're getting some small deposits -- but that money coming in is not significantly offsetting the money going out. So if they know that, for instance, the December cruises aren't going to happen, how does waiting a month to shell out the refunds, versus doing it right now, materially help them? I would think it doesn't. If they know the cruises won't happen, and they'll have to pay out the money in a month or two or three, the financial impact of paying it out today is pretty small. Does whatever small income they would earn on their investment of the funds really overshadow the lost goodwill they are giving up by putting customers through long waits for refunds? I'm somewhat doubtful about that. Does the inflow of funds from small deposits on future cruises constitute enough cash flow that they need to take that money in before paying out refunds? Also not likely. So I just don't see "cash preservation" as being the sole driving force in making customers wait 2-3 months or more for their refunds.

 

I think in the early months of the crisis, it was clearly more operational difficulties than preservation of cash that caused the long delays. Although some people characterized processing refunds as "simply pressing a button," the fact is that refunds for cruises can be complicated by multiple payments through multiple credit cards, complex discounts and promotions, future cruise credits to unwind, add-on land and air pieces to cancel with third-party operators, etc. Add to that that these smaller luxury cruise lines probably had only a handful of people trained on their computer systems and procedures to process refunds, tracing all the pieces and documenting the audit trail of cash and credits. And probably a smaller number of people who could review and sign off on finalizing each refund. And those people were suddenly locked out of their offices and working from home, and dealing with the disruptions that many of us discovered working from home. Over time, the cruise lines have likely make changes to their procedures, gotten more equipment to their employees working from home, perhaps brought some people back into the office, and trained more employees, in order to ramp up their capacity to process hundreds of refunds a day compared to the small number they handled pre-pandemic. My observation of comments on these boards and elsewhere is that many people -- clearly not all -- seem to be seeing shorter (30-45 days) times now than a few months ago. As the cruise lines have ramped up infrastructure and staff for processing large volumes of cancellations, it seems likely they can and will get it shorter.

 

So I think there's another factor at play that no one seems to give credence to: the cruise lines are (mostly) canceling month by month because they don't know when it might be possible to resume operations, and they don't want to shut out any possibility of starting sooner than later should opportunities present themselves. A few cruise lines, like Cunard, did the math, weighed the possibilities, and just knocked six months of cruises off the calendar at once. But most are hoping there will be some opportunities to resume limited cruising sooner, and don't want to cancel everything through next spring or summer lest they miss such opportunities. 

 

In the end, it's likely a combination of factors at play, but my main point was to question the conventional wisdom that crude lines are simply delaying refunds by multiple months to preserve their cash. Holding that cash today and paying it out in two months, versus paying it out today, seems to be of somewhat limited value. Just some thoughts as we ponder when we'll cruise again or what cruising will look like if we cruise again…

[Observer]

Thank you for your thoughtful post.  On another CC board, a member with considerable experience in the hospitality industry has proposed another explanation for the rolling cancellations.  

 

Cruise lines contract many months out for services such as provisioning, bunkering, etc.  

 

Canceling cruises and contracts long in advance could expose the cruise line to claims that they have failed to honor their contract. After all, one does not know the course of the pandemic months in the future. The CDC may approve the resumption of cruising.  Ports may open.  Etc.

 

Deferring cancellations until the situation is much clearer may facilitate the cruise lines' ability to invoke the force majeure clause likely found in many contracts.  

[Stumblefoot]

9 hours ago, jollyjones said:

Will, of course, make a fuss in due course but will wait a while yet.

 

Same here.

 

The email we received indicated we should receive the credit to our card sometime between Aug 31 and Sep 10.  2-weeks past Sep 10 at this point.  Haven't complained yet.