March Refunds Only - is there a "big black hole"

[L2float]

On 12/19/2020 at 12:33 PM, dexddd said:

Vaccine is going to make it before our March MSC FCCs.

Sadly, I think you’re correct!

[Seatheworld07]

Cancelled June 2020 cruise in early March (before shutdowns in the US) and FINALLY just received my deposit back on December 21!!!  

[Kangtin]

Did the March fcc.  Called today and they said it’s finally in my account. Been calli by in once a month since March.   But now i also have the option of refund. I asked them to refund because I’m sick of dealing with the whole fcc issues. It’s been more than half a year and everytime i called in they said they would escalate and send me an email confirmation. I never received anything in email. 
 

hopefully i get my refund but knowing them probably going to take months again. 

[versuco]

3 hours ago, Kangtin said:

Did the March fcc.  Called today and they said it’s finally in my account. Been calli by in once a month since March.   But now i also have the option of refund. I asked them to refund because I’m sick of dealing with the whole fcc issues. It’s been more than half a year and everytime i called in they said they would escalate and send me an email confirmation. I never received anything in email. 
 

hopefully i get my refund but knowing them probably going to take months again. 

Also waiting since March for them to straighten out our mess.  Don't think it will ever get  cleared up!

[dexddd]

13 hours ago, Kangtin said:

Did the March fcc.  Called today and they said it’s finally in my account. Been calli by in once a month since March.   But now i also have the option of refund. I asked them to refund because I’m sick of dealing with the whole fcc issues. It’s been more than half a year and everytime i called in they said they would escalate and send me an email confirmation. I never received anything in email. 
 

hopefully i get my refund but knowing them probably going to take months again. 

Welcome to CC.

 

Can you provide more info?  Booked direct or via TA? How did the refund option come into play?

[shipgeeks]

We received an email about this today.  Received a similar email several months ago, so we have known about the extension for a while.  And we knew when we chose FCC that it would be refunded (at 100%) if not used.

Now, if we could just get our airline, hotel, and shuttle to do the same!

[Saab4444]

I am waiting since April for our deposit refund from a canceled MSC cruise in June. This is over eight months now, received about ten emails with a standard reply to my refund request. Worst cruise line or travel provider I have had to deal with during this difficult months, have no trust in them and will never ever book an MSC cruise again!

[versuco]

2 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

I am waiting since April for our deposit refund from a canceled MSC cruise in June. This is over eight months now, received about ten emails with a standard reply to my refund request. Worst cruise line or travel provider I have had to deal with during this difficult months, have no trust in them and will never ever book an MSC cruise again!

I feel the same way.  No more MSC cruises for us!  It's a shame, we really enjoyed our 4 cruises with them and had planned on 2 more cruises with them this year.  Their lack of customer service and dishonesty over the last 9 months has changed that.

[shipgeeks]

Many are posting the same disappointment about most of the other cruise lines.

[dexddd]

Maybe, but the other boards are more active and for example, on NCL board nothing until page three.  Carnival, nothing first five pages, nothing.

 

Thread title says it all and MSC bungled this badly with zero acknowledgment.

[notme2012]

On 12/29/2020 at 3:09 PM, shipgeeks said:

Many are posting the same disappointment about most of the other cruise lines.

Totally not true!  The other cruise lines have treated their passengers much better than MSC. I used to be a travel agent. I still have many friends in the travel industry. All the say the same, MSC is horrible in customer service.

[notme2012]

Early this morning, I received an email from MSC containing our FCC. Our sailing was March 12, 2020. We actually did board the ship as well. But we were ordered off the ship. I can only think that CC and Christopher Elliott, Inc. had to have some influence in this happening. For people who were to sail in March 2020, check your email. You may have a FCC!

[dexddd]

16 minutes ago, notme2012 said:

Early this morning, I received an email from MSC containing our FCC. Our sailing was March 12, 2020. We actually did board the ship as well. But we were ordered off the ship. I can only think that CC and Christopher Elliott, Inc. had to have some influence in this happening. For people who were to sail in March 2020, check your email. You may have a FCC!

What was the email address from?  I shot an email to TA yesterday asking for update.

 

Did you book via TA?

Edited January 7, 2021 by dexddd

[heatherb1958]

3 hours ago, notme2012 said:

Totally not true!  The other cruise lines have treated their passengers much better than MSC. I used to be a travel agent. I still have many friends in the travel industry. All the say the same, MSC is horrible in customer service.

Totally agree . We had cruises booked with RCI through the USA and German market and they were dealt with fairly promptly, got our money back for a deposit within two weeks . 
We had a fully paid up  MSC September 20 cruise , £2,668 worth , cancelled in July  20 . The funds have only just yesterday been confirmed back to the travel agent who now have the audacity  to tell me that due to lockdown and furloughed staff we may not get our money until 2nd April !!!! 😤 .

The pandemic has taught me 1) never to book through an agent again and 2) never book anything months in advance , only last minute bookings from now on and if we are not happy with cabin selections will just do without . 

Edited January 7, 2021 by heatherb1958

[JohnIreland]

8 hours ago, notme2012 said:

Early this morning, I received an email from MSC containing our FCC. Our sailing was March 12, 2020. We actually did board the ship as well. But we were ordered off the ship. I can only think that CC and Christopher Elliott, Inc. had to have some influence in this happening. For people who were to sail in March 2020, check your email. You may have a FCC!

 

 

Did the link work for you ?

 

I got my email for a May 20 cruise , but clicking only gives "This Future Cruise Credit is still being processed. You will receive an email when it is ready. Thank you for your patience."

Edited January 8, 2021 by JohnIreland

[paulsurf]

2 hours ago, JohnIreland said:

 

 

Did the link work for you ?

 

I got my email for a May 20 cruise , but clicking only gives "This Future Cruise Credit is still being processed. You will receive an email when it is ready. Thank you for your patience."

I got the FCC email last week for our cancelled March sailing saying our FCC was ready but when I hit the “ download “ button to open the FCC certificate get the same message. I booked through an agent but called MSC direct. The rep looked up our account and said the credit was there but I would need to have my agent call. She could not tell me the amount. I Emailed my agent with this news who then called MSC and was told the credit was indeed still being processed. I picked up the phone again and called MSC . This rep gave me the amount and the credit was 125 % of the Yacht Club Suite we had booked in March . The rep said I could book now and to contact my agent.  Emailed my agent yesterday with this news and she suggested I give her a date and she would call MSC and see if she could book us and use the 125% credit.

Waiting for our agent to come back to me.

[MEDIAGIRL]

6 hours ago, paulsurf said:

I got the FCC email last week for our cancelled March sailing saying our FCC was ready but when I hit the “ download “ button to open the FCC certificate get the same message. I booked through an agent but called MSC direct. The rep looked up our account and said the credit was there but I would need to have my agent call. She could not tell me the amount. I Emailed my agent with this news who then called MSC and was told the credit was indeed still being processed. I picked up the phone again and called MSC . This rep gave me the amount and the credit was 125 % of the Yacht Club Suite we had booked in March . The rep said I could book now and to contact my agent.  Emailed my agent yesterday with this news and she suggested I give her a date and she would call MSC and see if she could book us and use the 125% credit.

Waiting for our agent to come back to me.

I am still waiting on my credit.  This gives me hope.   No email yet.

[dexddd]

So still the same bs from MSC for March cruisers.  Shame!

[notme2012]

On 1/7/2021 at 10:06 AM, dexddd said:

What was the email address from?  I shot an email to TA yesterday asking for update.

 

Did you book via TA?

MSCExistingReservations@msccruisesusa.com   Yes, we did use a TA. She was not advised.

[notme2012]

On 1/7/2021 at 6:41 PM, JohnIreland said:

 

 

Did the link work for you ?

 

I got my email for a May 20 cruise , but clicking only gives "This Future Cruise Credit is still being processed. You will receive an email when it is ready. Thank you for your patience."

There was no link. The certificate was a PDF attachment.

Edited January 10, 2021 by notme2012

[mamaneedsavacay]

No movement on my FCC/refund. I just heard from my TA yesterday asking if I'd received anything because she hadn't and she was going to be checking with them again. She's got it in her calendar every two weeks to contact MSC.

 

We had tried to use the FCC from our March 2020 cruise for a Dec 2020 cruise, but it was "complicated." The Dec 2020 cruise was canceled before they had all the issues figured out, but they were going to make it work. Nothing from MSC since the Dec 2020 cruise was canceled, but my TA is trying to get a refund because the FCC was such a mess. Sadly, just want to be done with MSC at this point.

[dexddd]

On 1/10/2021 at 12:15 AM, notme2012 said:

MSCExistingReservations@msccruisesusa.com   Yes, we did use a TA. She was not advised.

I tried them back in the late summer/early fall.  Got auto reply that they'd get back to me.  Nothing.  We used a TA too.

[dexddd]

Heard from rep at TA.  No FCC yet.  Was going to be escalated.  I've never heard that (four times) before.

[Bluewake]

16 hours ago, dexddd said:

Heard from rep at TA.  No FCC yet.  Was going to be escalated.  I've never heard that (four times) before.

Same here.  Multiple "escalations" but nothing done in regard to the credit.  The reps we reach are caught between irate passengers who have not received the promised cruise credit and totally unresponsive and unrepentant MSC senior administrators.  

[notme2012]

On 1/10/2021 at 3:22 PM, mamaneedsavacay said:

We had tried to use the FCC from our March 2020 cruise for a Dec 2020 cruise, but it was "complicated." The Dec 2020 cruise was canceled before they had all the issues figured out, but they were going to make it work. Nothing from MSC since the Dec 2020 cruise was canceled, but my TA is trying to get a refund because the FCC was such a mess. Sadly, just want to be done with MSC at this point.

The way it was explained to me....roll eyes please.....your FCC is nested in your original reservation. Take this as meaning another 9 months for anything to happen. Like out of sight, out of mind. Not on a list to be refunded. "Nested" means on track for you to book another MSC cruise.                                                                                                                                                                                                Getting MSC to refund something from March 2020 or doing a CC chargeback, well, it is not going to happen. You cannot file small claim lawsuit because the cruise contract specifies that MSC can only be sued in Naples, Italy.  We are going to use the FCC in March or April 2022. This way it is so far ahead, that the likelihood that the cruise will be canceled is less. I should not talk and jinx it. LOL But I understand your feelings about MSC. It was to be my first cruise with MSC. I sold cruises for 29 years. MSC has a very bad rep in the travel community. But March in the Med, there are only to 2 choices, MSC and Costa. My family was hesitant on Costa. The Grandiosa was a brand new ship. Pricing was good. But now I know why, MSC discounts heavily to overcome their reputation. For all us that got burned, MSC will never get us back.

Edited January 12, 2021 by notme2012