NO refunds for Canadians? - How we succeeded in getting our money back!

[nunuc2000]

In a nut shell, we booked a May 2020 cruise on the Seaside late last fall, then of course, Covid happened.  We did not cancel the cruise ourselves, but MSC did. Prior to that happening, we'd had all sorts of other non-covid related issues with our booking that necessitated multiple frustration filled dealings with MSC customer service.  If we hadn't already been beyond the final payment date while dealing with all of those problems, we would have cancelled... the abhorrent customer service was truly that awful. 

 

Fast forward to March, and MSC cancelled our cruise due to Covid.  That part is fine... and we fully expected the option of a FCC or a full refund, just like EVERY OTHER CRUISE LINE WAS DOING.  (In fact, we had 4 other cruises booked with 3 different lines that all took that stance).  But nope... Not MSC... they instead declared that ONLY Americans would have the option of choosing one or the other, and that Canadians (and all other non-American bookings) would ONLY be granted a future cruise credit.  They thought they were being incredibly thoughtful by extending that credit to be used until the end of 2021... and stipulating that ONLY after that expiry date would we be allowed to apply for a full refund in 2022. Oh I don't think so!  

 

After 7 different emails, 4 phonecalls (that encompassed a total of 21.5 hours of hold time and talk time), they refused to budge, saying that was their official policy.  Even when I pointed out to them that on BOTH the American and Canadian MSC webpages they have their Legal Terms and Conditions policy showing that they are legally compelled to refund passengers in full if they cancel a voyage in advance for ANY REASON:

 

No part of the Fare is refundable, except as specifically provided as follows: (i) Before the Voyage begins, the Company has the right to cancel the Voyage for any reason without notice. In such event, The Company shall refund the full amount of the Fare received, and the Company shall have no further liability whatsoever. )

 

...they still said "Nope... sorry... you'll have to wait a couple of years to get your money back". Wow... just wow. 

 

So... having exhausted every angle I could by dealing directly with MSC, and based on the advice of some folks on this forum who are in the same boat (pun intended), we contacted our credit card company to dispute the charges.  SUCCESS!  Visa was great about hearing us out, reviewing all of the documentation, and have now refunded us in full, and they are going after MSC.  One person had stated previously that if passengers disputed these charges with their credit card companies, that MSC might not accept a future booking from said persons. Oh no.. say it ain't so! (Can you hear the sarcasm in my words?)  

 

So in summary, if you're Canadian and facing the same problem, you might want to consider contacting your credit card company.  I'm glad we did!

 

 

[HCTiger9704]

49 minutes ago, nunuc2000 said:

One person had stated previously that if passengers disputed these charges with their credit card companies, that MSC might not accept a future booking from said persons. Oh no.. say it ain't so! (Can you hear the sarcasm in my words?)  

 

 

I just disputed the charges on my credit cards two weeks ago (I mailed in the paperwork since I wanted to include the emails I got from MSC Cruises).  I hope I have the same luck as you.  I am an American so I could request a refund or a future cruise credit.  I choose the refund in March and still have not gotten anything from them. 

 

Yeah, if they don't accept a future booking from me, I don't mind.  Since how I feel about them giving me the run around instead of being honest with me, I think my next cruise will be with either Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line or Norwegian Cruise Line.  I have sailed with NCL four times and Carnival two times and wanted to try MSC Cruises.  I was going to rebook with MSC Cruises the next time I cruise but after my experience with trying to get my refund from them, I am more than happy to spend money with another cruise line.  I do not know when I will be able to cruise again so that is why I requested the refund instead of the Future Cruise Credit.

Edited July 29, 2020 by HCTiger9704

[nunuc2000]

16 minutes ago, HCTiger9704 said:

 

I just disputed the charges on my credit cards two weeks ago (I mailed in the paperwork since I wanted to include the emails I got from MSC Cruises).  I hope I have the same luck as you.  I am an American so I could request a refund or a future cruise credit.  I choose the refund in March and still have not gotten anything from them. 

 

Yeah, if they don't accept a future booking from me, I don't mind.  Since how I feel about them giving me the run around instead of being honest with me, I think my next cruise will be with either Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line or Norwegian Cruise Line.  I have sailed with NCL four times and Carnival two times and wanted to try MSC Cruises.  I was going to rebook with MSC Cruises the next time I cruise but after my experience with trying to get my refund from them, I am more than happy to spend money with another cruise line.  I do not know when I will be able to cruise again so that is why I requested the refund instead of the Future Cruise Credit.

Good luck... hope you have the success we did.  Sadly, it seems that your experience, even as an American who was granted the option of a full refund, is not unique - many MSC customers are voicing displeasure with the process and hassle in trying to get their refunds. 

 

And I agree completely with you... I'm really not positive when we'll cruise again, and I'd certainly rather have my money back than take a chance on a cruiseline going bankrupt or into creditor protection and not being able to honour future cruise credits.  I get that their trying to run a business and stay afloat, so to speak... but we're trying to run a life and stay financially afloat too over here!

 

If Covid wasn't a thing, and I was struggling financially, do you think a cruiseline would be willing to lend me the amount equivalent to the value of a cruise that I would then pay back in a year or two... when I was able to afford it? And assuming that I didn't declare bankruptcy in the meantime and not be able to pay back at all? Hell no! 

 

Hang in there... and let us know how it all turns out for you 🙂

 

 

[xcell]

I cancelled my Dec 2020 cruise in May and asked my TA for the refund, she said that MSC will only refund 60 days before my original Dec booking?  Say what?

 

I think they make their own rules because it just doesn't make sense.

 

 

[Mattnvick]

On 7/29/2020 at 1:33 PM, nunuc2000 said:

In a nut shell, we booked a May 2020 cruise on the Seaside late last fall, then of course, Covid happened.  We did not cancel the cruise ourselves, but MSC did. Prior to that happening, we'd had all sorts of other non-covid related issues with our booking that necessitated multiple frustration filled dealings with MSC customer service.  If we hadn't already been beyond the final payment date while dealing with all of those problems, we would have cancelled... the abhorrent customer service was truly that awful. 

 

Fast forward to March, and MSC cancelled our cruise due to Covid.  That part is fine... and we fully expected the option of a FCC or a full refund, just like EVERY OTHER CRUISE LINE WAS DOING.  (In fact, we had 4 other cruises booked with 3 different lines that all took that stance).  But nope... Not MSC... they instead declared that ONLY Americans would have the option of choosing one or the other, and that Canadians (and all other non-American bookings) would ONLY be granted a future cruise credit.  They thought they were being incredibly thoughtful by extending that credit to be used until the end of 2021... and stipulating that ONLY after that expiry date would we be allowed to apply for a full refund in 2022. Oh I don't think so!  

 

After 7 different emails, 4 phonecalls (that encompassed a total of 21.5 hours of hold time and talk time), they refused to budge, saying that was their official policy.  Even when I pointed out to them that on BOTH the American and Canadian MSC webpages they have their Legal Terms and Conditions policy showing that they are legally compelled to refund passengers in full if they cancel a voyage in advance for ANY REASON:

 

No part of the Fare is refundable, except as specifically provided as follows: (i) Before the Voyage begins, the Company has the right to cancel the Voyage for any reason without notice. In such event, The Company shall refund the full amount of the Fare received, and the Company shall have no further liability whatsoever. )

 

...they still said "Nope... sorry... you'll have to wait a couple of years to get your money back". Wow... just wow. 

 

So... having exhausted every angle I could by dealing directly with MSC, and based on the advice of some folks on this forum who are in the same boat (pun intended), we contacted our credit card company to dispute the charges.  SUCCESS!  Visa was great about hearing us out, reviewing all of the documentation, and have now refunded us in full, and they are going after MSC.  One person had stated previously that if passengers disputed these charges with their credit card companies, that MSC might not accept a future booking from said persons. Oh no.. say it ain't so! (Can you hear the sarcasm in my words?)  

 

So in summary, if you're Canadian and facing the same problem, you might want to consider contacting your credit card company.  I'm glad we did!

 

 

 

We too were due to cruise in May this year and MSC cancelled it. As fellow Candians we felt the policy of FCC with money  back process only being started at the end of December 31st 2021 was poor.

 

Had it been just dh and i we probably would have opted for the FCC but to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary we were bringing our kids and respective partners with us. The window of opportunity to cruise all together again was basically nil and i wasn't happy for MSC to hold on to nearly 10k for nearly 2 years so we did the same and reversed the charge with our c.c. co.

 

It was very simple, as they agreed with us it was too long to wait for a reimbursement of money that was ours when we didn't received the goods ie cruise we paid for.  The money was refunded on our next bill and they said 2 more bills clear after that with no dispute my MSC and the money was ours to withdraw as we pleased.

 

The chargeback was never disputed by MSC. 

 

We have done 3 other cruises with MSC and really enjoyed them and had no issues with their customer service. For dh and i we would happily book another cruise. I just feel they dropped the ball for basically everyone except Americans on their refund policy over covid.

 

[Hlitner]

MSC was the 16th cruise line upon which we cruised and we truly love the YC experience.  We currently have one MSC booked which is a Mergaviglia cruise in December.  Final payment on that voyage is due in late September, and after reading this thread (and some others) why on earth we would gamble on making that payment?  MSC is screwing themselves with their refund strategy.  Word gets around and a bad reputation can take years to overcome.  

 

Lets be honest.  MSC has had an awful reputation in North America when it comes to their customer service.  Many cruise agencies have simply refused to do business with MSC because they did not want to deal with the hassles.   A few weeks ago MSC decided to revamp much of their cruise schedule and they simply replaced our Seaside booking with a Mergaviglia booking.  It was not until yesterday (more then 1 month since they made the change) that we received an e-mail from MSC "suggesting" that we take a look at our MSC account to find out about changes.  Yes there were changes including the ship, port schedule, cabin location, etc.  Did MSC ever ask us if we wanted to make these changes or did they ever notify our cruise agent?  No.  We actually found out about the change on our CC Roll Call board.  

 

My warning to MSC (doubtful they even bother monitoring CC) is that there is nothing more important then your reputation when you try to make inroads into the competitive North American market.  COVID complicates everything so I have no clue how reputation will play into the future of cruising although my instincts tell me it is important.  In our country folks expect their money back in a reasonable period of time..   If not, we do have the legal right (under Federal Law and Regulations) to ask our credit card companies for charge backs.  If we are threatened for using our legal rights it will not have a pretty ending for MSC.

 

Hank

[bobndee]

We were booked in YC for our first MSC cruise in October 2020 cruise but cancelled it in June, before final payment, because I didn't feel that the cruise would ever happen. Even if it did sail, we didn't think it would be a good idea to cruise so soon.

 

Having read this thread, along with others like it, I doubt whether we will consider MSC in the future. Customer service can be a big plus or an even bigger minus.

[nunuc2000]

On 8/1/2020 at 6:15 AM, bobndee said:

We were booked in YC for our first MSC cruise in October 2020 cruise but cancelled it in June, before final payment, because I didn't feel that the cruise would ever happen. Even if it did sail, we didn't think it would be a good idea to cruise so soon.

 

Having read this thread, along with others like it, I doubt whether we will consider MSC in the future. Customer service can be a big plus or an even bigger minus.

 

On 7/31/2020 at 6:32 PM, Hlitner said:

MSC was the 16th cruise line upon which we cruised and we truly love the YC experience.  We currently have one MSC booked which is a Mergaviglia cruise in December.  Final payment on that voyage is due in late September, and after reading this thread (and some others) why on earth we would gamble on making that payment?  MSC is screwing themselves with their refund strategy.  Word gets around and a bad reputation can take years to overcome.  

 

Lets be honest.  MSC has had an awful reputation in North America when it comes to their customer service.  Many cruise agencies have simply refused to do business with MSC because they did not want to deal with the hassles.   A few weeks ago MSC decided to revamp much of their cruise schedule and they simply replaced our Seaside booking with a Mergaviglia booking.  It was not until yesterday (more then 1 month since they made the change) that we received an e-mail from MSC "suggesting" that we take a look at our MSC account to find out about changes.  Yes there were changes including the ship, port schedule, cabin location, etc.  Did MSC ever ask us if we wanted to make these changes or did they ever notify our cruise agent?  No.  We actually found out about the change on our CC Roll Call board.  

 

My warning to MSC (doubtful they even bother monitoring CC) is that there is nothing more important then your reputation when you try to make inroads into the competitive North American market.  COVID complicates everything so I have no clue how reputation will play into the future of cruising although my instincts tell me it is important.  In our country folks expect their money back in a reasonable period of time..   If not, we do have the legal right (under Federal Law and Regulations) to ask our credit card companies for charge backs.  If we are threatened for using our legal rights it will not have a pretty ending for MSC.

 

Hank

You are both right... customer service and reputation are a pretty big deal in the cruise world.  MSC was just beginning to make some positive headway with their foray into the Caribbean, complete with the Seaside that was built solely for that purpose.  But unfortunately, their incredibly poor handling of the covid issue has left a lot of people thinking that they'd rather avoid MSC for the foreseeable future, and understandably so! 

 

I know we will NEVER set foot on an MSC ship now... and our group of cruising friends (mostly Americans, about 20 or so) who had previously considered the idea of MSC will not either due to the experience they have seen us go through.  That's at least 20 potential cruisers that they have lost business from... and I will do my best to warn off others from cruising with them as well.  It's not slanderous or libelous... it's fact. I have documented and recorded all of our dealings with them and the full course of events and issues that we had to deal with along the way, including all of the negative customer experience issues we had even prior to covid rearing it's ugly head.  

 

I sincerely hope that future cruisers will think twice before booking with MSC in the North American market.  The European market might be a better option for MSC... but I'll never find out for sure because as I said, we will NEVER step foot on ANY MSC cruise ever. 

 

For anyone who still thinks that MSC is a great product and they want to cruise with MSC, I wish you luck... I think you're going to need it. 

[mickey89]

We paid deposit for YC on the Splendida for next March.  MSC changed our booking to the Poesia which has no YC.

Asked for a refund as per T&C, outright refusal saying it’s not company policy to give refund.

 

Cutting a long story, too boring, finally accepted I’m hitting a brick wall. I have issued a Section 75 Dispute with Visa about 2 weeks ago.  Still waiting their decision, have doubts as a paid through a Travel Agent which may invalidate my claim.

If unsuccessful, I will be issuing a Court Claim against MSC Cruises.co.uk
 

We will never cruise with this shower again, MSC are not TRUSTWORTHY.

[DCGuy64]

Congratulations to @nunuc2000 on getting your much deserved refund. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I can only say that our experience with MSC has been absolutely stellar. I've only had to phone them a handful of times and have never been on hold more than 5 minutes, usually less than 1, actually. We were also supposed to sail with MSC this past May, but the cruise was cancelled. We opted for a FCC on May 4 and received it in about 3 weeks. We thought that was pretty awesome. We now have another cruise booked with MSC for a year from now.

[nunuc2000]

17 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Congratulations to @nunuc2000 on getting your much deserved refund. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I can only say that our experience with MSC has been absolutely stellar. I've only had to phone them a handful of times and have never been on hold more than 5 minutes, usually less than 1, actually. We were also supposed to sail with MSC this past May, but the cruise was cancelled. We opted for a FCC on May 4 and received it in about 3 weeks. We thought that was pretty awesome. We now have another cruise booked with MSC for a year from now.

Glad to hear that your experience with MSC has been positive, but based on the activity here and on another forum I frequent, it sounds like you are in the minority. Having said that, there also appears to be a significant difference based on the origin of the cruise booking: American customers are definitely being treated much better than Canadians and other non-American customers.  It seems that MSC is putting all of their eggs into the US basket... but even then, there are many US based cruisers who are also on the fence about MSC's customer service and practices.  

 

They really aren't doing themselves any favours by ostracizing their non-American client base... and I suspect that it will take them a lot longer to try and rebound than other cruise line companies... if they are even able to rebound at all in the North American market.  Time will tell I guess... but one thing remains - we, along with our group of cruising friends, will NOT be helping them rebound.  

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, nunuc2000 said:

Glad to hear that your experience with MSC has been positive, but based on the activity here and on another forum I frequent, it sounds like you are in the minority. Having said that, there also appears to be a significant difference based on the origin of the cruise booking: American customers are definitely being treated much better than Canadians and other non-American customers.  It seems that MSC is putting all of their eggs into the US basket... but even then, there are many US based cruisers who are also on the fence about MSC's customer service and practices.  

 

They really aren't doing themselves any favours by ostracizing their non-American client base... and I suspect that it will take them a lot longer to try and rebound than other cruise line companies... if they are even able to rebound at all in the North American market.  Time will tell I guess... but one thing remains - we, along with our group of cruising friends, will NOT be helping them rebound.  

Thanks for your post. From what I understand, MSC has a much larger presence in Europe and is better known there than the US market. It's one of the reasons that even US departures feature a much higher percentage of people from across the pond. Our two cruises with MSC included lots of Europeans, even though the departure port was Miami in both cases. But I know that MSC is trying to get more of the market share in the US by building ships for the American market. Personally, I have no doubt that MSC will be okay. The cruise business is, as you probably know, just a fraction of MSC's portfolio. They've been in the shipping industry since 1970, and in pleasure cruising since the 80's. But the bad publicity engendered by poor customer service and delays of refunds isn't good. However, the clientele of cruising is rather fickle. I can't tell you how many times someone has posted that he/she will "never cruise again" with company X, only to boast months later that he/she has booked with the SAME company again. Maybe it's just that people's bad memories fade quickly. I had a disastrous experience once with United Airlines and I've flown with them since. People tend to forgive eventually.

[disneykins]

We cruised the Seaside in late February and loved it, it was our 3rd MSC cruise and all were great. When we got off we booked the Armonia $199 US inside p/p for March 21st, I think it was. Well they cancelled that. When we got back to Canada (March 30), we informed our online (US) travel agent that we wanted a refund of the $700 or so USD. They said it would take 6 to 8 weeks. We got the refund back to our credit card on June 4 so about 8 or 9 weeks. We didn't do any follow-up calls or emails with the TA of MSC and were quite surprised it all went so smoothly after reading about other peoples problems.

 

We also had a Royal Caribbean cruise on March 14, that was cancelled by them on March 13. When we got back to Canada, we contacted Royal (we booked on their website) and asked for an FCC. We finally got that in mid-July, 14 weeks after requesting it. That took about 4 hours on the phone, mostly on hold, a number of emails before we finally got it. Then we used it to book a cruise for 2022. Friends that were on that cruise, requested a refund and got it within 2 weeks. Go figure.

 

I have read similar horror stories about NCL and Carnival too, so I dont think the bad service is exclusive to any one cruise line, they are all scrambling and they must be overwhelmed with all the refund and FCC requests. Every week they must be getting thousands more requests for that weeks cancellations, compounding the backlog. Hopefully everyone is made whole again and we can all get back to complaining about chair hogs, smoking, gratuities, etc.

 

Tony

[DCGuy64]

33 minutes ago, disneykins said:

We cruised the Seaside in late February and loved it, it was our 3rd MSC cruise and all were great. When we got off we booked the Armonia $199 US inside p/p for March 21st, I think it was. Well they cancelled that. When we got back to Canada (March 30), we informed our online (US) travel agent that we wanted a refund of the $700 or so USD. They said it would take 6 to 8 weeks. We got the refund back to our credit card on June 4 so about 8 or 9 weeks. We didn't do any follow-up calls or emails with the TA of MSC and were quite surprised it all went so smoothly after reading about other peoples problems.

 

We also had a Royal Caribbean cruise on March 14, that was cancelled by them on March 13. When we got back to Canada, we contacted Royal (we booked on their website) and asked for an FCC. We finally got that in mid-July, 14 weeks after requesting it. That took about 4 hours on the phone, mostly on hold, a number of emails before we finally got it. Then we used it to book a cruise for 2022. Friends that were on that cruise, requested a refund and got it within 2 weeks. Go figure.

 

I have read similar horror stories about NCL and Carnival too, so I dont think the bad service is exclusive to any one cruise line, they are all scrambling and they must be overwhelmed with all the refund and FCC requests. Every week they must be getting thousands more requests for that weeks cancellations, compounding the backlog. Hopefully everyone is made whole again and we can all get back to complaining about chair hogs, smoking, gratuities, etc.

 

Tony

Quite right. I am sympathetic to anyone who feels he/she has gotten the runaround and has to wait longer than is necessary, but the delays are not exclusive to MSC, as you point out. Also, I try to bear in mind that not everyone who books cruises is a member of Cruise Critic or a frequent contributor. I'd imagine there are 1,000s of other cruise passengers who've had similar problems or none at all in getting their refunds. We only hear from a fraction of them, so it's easy for us to generalize about this subject without really knowing the whole story.