Gift Card Debacle - need help/advice please

[kentuckycruiser]

Hello, 

Yesterday (Friday) I held a cruise with a price of $2,596.  Today we got two (2) $500 gift cards for a total of $1,000. I went online today to make payment. Seemed easy enough, and the system allowed me to enter both gift cards, both showed $500x2  being applied to balance and then the remaining balance was $1,596.  I put that amount on my visa card. I pushed submit, then it said something to the effect of sorry you waited too long, you need to log in again. (I truly took less than 5 minutes to add the payments). I then went back on and both my gift cards showed zero balance, my credit card was charged $1,596 BUT the Holland system said I had a $500 balance.

 

I called Holland immediately and they were of zero help. It appears the system took both gift cards but only one gift card was applied to my balance. The other gift card now has a zero balance but it was not applied to my balance.

 

I went around and around and all the person could tell me was to call on Monday to their gift card service department. The number she gave me is 1-855-501-4161. 

 

If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it. I am just sick over this.

 

wta

Edited September 11, 2021 by kentuckycruiser

[mcrcruiser]

Keep phoning  & pr writing   HAL .They need to answer you .Perhaps the gift Card Dept will be of  help ,hopefully 

Edited September 11, 2021 by mcrcruiser

[DaveOKC]

Could one of the gift cards been in your travel partner's name and thus went to their account?  Just a crazy thought, but you never know with HAL.

 

[Ryten]

I had a similar situation. I had a couple of gift cards and one was properly applied. The second showed a zero balance but the the cost of cruise did not change. I waited overnight and called the phone number  on the gift card email. I immediately spoke to a very nice women who saw what the problem and agreed that the gift card had not been properly applied. She applied the balance of the card and I then paid the balance of payment for the cruise. I was easy and completed within 3 minutes. If you haven't already, try the phone number on the gift card email. Good luck

[wander]

Suggestions - yes, $500 is a lot to have disappear, and it certainly is worrisome, BUT you were told what to do and unfortunately you have to wait until Monday morning to address the issue further.  So, my immediate suggestion is to do something to relax and wait until Monday before getting any more upset about this.  I would second Ryten's advice and the first thing Monday morning call the number you were given.  Flaying around trying to rectify the problem from a different direction is probably hopeless over the weekend.

 

Unless you know differently, the office is probably located in Seattle so I suggest you remember the time differences and call soon after 8:00 AM, Pacific Daylight Time.    

 

Now, go have a stiff drink or whatever you do to relax and look forward to Monday morning.

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, Ryten said:

I had a similar situation. I had a couple of gift cards and one was properly applied. The second showed a zero balance but the the cost of cruise did not change. I waited overnight and called the phone number  on the gift card email. I immediately spoke to a very nice women who saw what the problem and agreed that the gift card had not been properly applied. She applied the balance of the card and I then paid the balance of payment for the cruise. I was easy and completed within 3 minutes. If you haven't already, try the phone number on the gift card email. Good luck

Thank you for providing helpful advice.

[Lido deck main]

Hi,

just a suggestion perhaps checked the balances of the gift cards.  You can checked them online.  Maybe one of them still has the $500.00 on it.

[kentuckycruiser]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Thank you for providing helpful advice.

thank you also for the helpful advice!

4 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Could one of the gift cards been in your travel partner's name and thus went to their account?  Just a crazy thought, but you never know with HAL.

 

My husband purchased the two gift cards at Kroger this morning and I loaded them properly into the system, system showed that both had $500 and so the remaining balance was correctly noted as $1,596 which went on my credit card. My husband insists it will all work out. Here I am the lawyer in the family and I am losing my mind.

 

[kentuckycruiser]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Thank you for providing helpful advice.

thank you very much. I hate when things like this happen on a Saturday and I have to wait until Monday.

[Florida_gal_50]

15 minutes ago, kentuckycruiser said:

thank you very much. I hate when things like this happen on a Saturday and I have to wait until Monday.

Isn’t that always the way?  I noticed by chance that my air was changed on my upcoming cruise.  It said the info would be updated “soon”.  I had to wait until Tuesday to speak to someone.  I wonder how long it would have taken if I didn’t notice it 🙄.  Good luck to you.

[Roz]

When you go to the gift card section of HAL's website, what does it say when you enter the card numbers?  When you call tomorrow they should be able to see that both cards were entered into their system today, unless one of them is showing a balance of $500. It will get resolved.

[kentuckycruiser]

5 minutes ago, Roz said:

When you go to the gift card section of HAL's website, what does it say when you enter the card numbers?  When you call tomorrow they should be able to see that both cards were entered into their system today, unless one of them is showing a balance of $500. It will get resolved.

It says both have a zero balance. Thank you for the positive comment!

[Daniel A]

17 minutes ago, kentuckycruiser said:

It says both have a zero balance. Thank you for the positive comment!

Please let us know how it turns out and what you did to make yourself whole.  I purchased a substantial amount of gift cards during a gift card promotion.  I plan to use all of them for final payment on a 35 day cruise.  One saving grace may be that I have to put the gift cards through my TA rather than directly on HAL's web site.

[Roz]

14 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

One saving grace may be that I have to put the gift cards through my TA rather than directly on HAL's web site.

 

I do the same.

[Ryten]

Just for further assurance. My cards showed zero balance when I checked them after I thought I had applied them. When I was able to speak to the representative, she was immediately able to see that it had not been properly applied to an account, it was an easy fix. Good luck and enjoy the est of your planning for the cruise.

[12cruise2]

I don't know about gift cards.  What is the advantage of buying HAL gift cards, please?  Thank you!

[Roz]

21 minutes ago, 12cruise2 said:

I don't know about gift cards.  What is the advantage of buying HAL gift cards, please?  Thank you!

 

For me personally, my credit card gives me 6 Hilton Honors points for every $1 I spend at a grocery store (I buy my gift cards at Kroger), and Kroger often has promotions where you get 4X fuel points on gift card purchases.  They're running that promotion right now and I'll probably buy another card today.

 

Also, they make nice stocking stuffers and bday gifts for the cruisers in your life.  My sister and I are taking a HAL cruise in March and bought her a $50 card that she can apply to her onboard account.

 

Sometimes HAL runs gift card promotions where you get extra $ for purchasing a certain amount.

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, kentuckycruiser said:

thank you also for the helpful advice!

My husband purchased the two gift cards at Kroger this morning and I loaded them properly into the system, system showed that both had $500 and so the remaining balance was correctly noted as $1,596 which went on my credit card. My husband insists it will all work out. Here I am the lawyer in the family and I am losing my mind.

 

A mind is a terrible thing to lose. At least wait until Monday to see if this all turns out ok. It seems from what some others have posted that they have had similar problems and had them fixed by calling the number you were given.

[Florida_gal_50]

Wouldn’t it be nice if hal had a website that functions properly.  It would open their phone lines too.

[kentuckycruiser]

5 hours ago, 12cruise2 said:

I don't know about gift cards.  What is the advantage of buying HAL gift cards, please?  Thank you!

I have the Chase Freedom Flex card which gives 5x back the first year for groceries and then this quarter it is an additional 4x. So 9x back. I roll the points from Chase Flex to my Chase Sapphire and then roll the points to Hyatt usually. So for example $1,000 purchase I will get 9,000 Ultimate Rewards points which can be transferred to Hyatt and would be enough for a category 2 room. Plus 4x fuel points right now.

[Roz]

I can't remember the last time I paid $ for a pre-cruise hotel unless it was part of the cruise package.  My Hilton Honors points stretch my cruise budget.

[Daniel A]

6 hours ago, 12cruise2 said:

I don't know about gift cards.  What is the advantage of buying HAL gift cards, please?  Thank you!

This past Winter, I bought a substantial amount of gift cards during a promotion from Holland America where you got a 10% bonus gift card for every gift card bought in denominations of $500 and $1,000.  For each $1,000 card I bought, I got a free bonus card worth $100.  That made a 10% discount on the price of my next HAL cruise.  

 

Be careful though, you would  need to buy the gift cards directly from Holland America and it is only done for a limited time during the promotion.  Buying a card at a store will not get one the bonus during the promotion.  I looked at it that I was lending Holland America money for a 10% return.  I found out about the promotion here on Cruise Critic, just keep checking the threads.

[TiogaCruiser]

1 hour ago, kentuckycruiser said:

I have the Chase Freedom Flex card which gives 5x back the first year for groceries and then this quarter it is an additional 4x. So 9x back. I roll the points from Chase Flex to my Chase Sapphire and then roll the points to Hyatt usually. So for example $1,000 purchase I will get 9,000 Ultimate Rewards points which can be transferred to Hyatt and would be enough for a category 2 room. Plus 4x fuel points right now.

So they are rung up as groceries?

[dobiemom]

7 hours ago, 12cruise2 said:

I don't know about gift cards.  What is the advantage of buying HAL gift cards, please?  Thank you!

 

6 hours ago, Roz said:

 

For me personally, my credit card gives me 6 Hilton Honors points for every $1 I spend at a grocery store (I buy my gift cards at Kroger), and Kroger often has promotions where you get 4X fuel points on gift card purchases.  They're running that promotion right now and I'll probably buy another card today.

 

Also, they make nice stocking stuffers and bday gifts for the cruisers in your life.  My sister and I are taking a HAL cruise in March and bought her a $50 card that she can apply to her onboard account.

 

Sometimes HAL runs gift card promotions where you get extra $ for purchasing a certain amount.

The special I took advantage of was buy $500 get a $50 bonus card. 🙂 I think it was unlimited but the bonus card may have had an expiration date?

[kentuckycruiser]

3 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

So they are rung up as groceries?

yes anything purchased at Kroger codes as grocery - except gas.