Terrible Customer Service: Why does it take 45 (business?) days to refund a deposit on a booking cancelled within 24 hours?

[DrSea]

I haven't sailed with RCI in years. I thought I try them out since one of my guests likes RCI.

 

I put a deposit on a cruise and cancelled within 24 hours due to me figuring out how to apply the firefighter/EMT discount. I made a new booking and paid another deposit. It's been December 4th, 2021 since cancelling, and RCI is still "processing" my cancellation/refund. I was on the phone with the customer rep, who spent 60 minutes "verifying" my information, which meant him digging around in my account. He said he couldn't pull up any past reservations and I had to go and pull up all of the reservation numbers from my email. Other times when I called RCI, they were able to pull up all of my past bookings, reservation numbers, and cancellations.

 

Other cruise lines have given me a refund with a much faster turn around time.

 

This is terrible customer service from RCI imho.

[binro01]

I agree. Royal needs a much better process to handle refunds in a more timely fashion.

[fredflint]

They need to make sure they have the money to refund to you, I am sure sometimes they will process a refund quickly and find that the person was using a fraudulent card and they gave someone back money that they did not have.  I usually expect a credit card billing cycle myself.   Was there a reason you could not call and cancel then move the deposit over to the new booking at the same time?

[poocher]

And could you not just have them apply the discount to the existing reservation?  Not sure why you cancelled & rebooked.

[DrSea]

3 minutes ago, fredflint said:

They need to make sure they have the money to refund to you, I am sure sometimes they will process a refund quickly and find that the person was using a fraudulent card and they gave someone back money that they did not have.  I usually expect a credit card billing cycle myself.   Was there a reason you could not call and cancel then move the deposit over to the new booking at the same time?

I didn't know you could apply a deposit to a different sailing. When I cancelled, the initial rep said that my card will not be charged at all. I was surprised to see the charge and even more surprised that it showed up on my credit card statement almost 30 days after cancelling.

 

If there was a fraudulent card, the money would go back to the initial card anyways. It should not have to take 45 days for them to sort this out.

 

I told others that typically sail with me about what happen with RCI. They haven't sailed RCI for years either. The refund process soured RCI for them.

[coldflame]

1 minute ago, poocher said:

And could you not just have them apply the discount to the existing reservation?  Not sure why you cancelled & rebooked.

This is a bit besides the point. There is no denying Royal's refund process is opaque and slow as molases. One of the ongoing complaints (for years) is how back a$$ward their website/IT is. There is no technical reason why you couldn't see in your royalcaribbean.com online account the status of refunds/credits, etc.

[DrSea]

7 minutes ago, poocher said:

And could you not just have them apply the discount to the existing reservation?  Not sure why you cancelled & rebooked.

They firefighter/EMT rate they quoted me on the phone was about 20-30% more expensive even when using the firefighter/EMT discount online. I usually get lower rates when calling in or working with a travel agent on other cruise lines. So I was surprised to get higher rates when calling into RCI and working with a TA.

 

I will still enjoy my cruise. $200 isn't much. But it's another thing that I have to keep track of, which is very annoying for me. I want to focus on the excitement of my next cruise and not about when RCI will refund my deposit.

Edited January 1, 2022 by DrSea

[Starry Eyes]

1 minute ago, DrSea said:

I didn't know you could apply a deposit to a different sailing. When I cancelled, the initial rep said that my card will not be charged at all. I was surprised to see the charge and even more surprised that it showed up on my credit card statement almost 30 days after cancelling.

 

If there was a fraudulent card, the money would go back to the initial card anyways. It should not have to take 45 days for them to sort this out.

 

I told others that typically sail with me about what happen with RCI. They haven't sailed RCI for years either. The refund process soured RCI for them.

They have waived change fees in many cases, so likely you could have changed date, ship, etc without penalty had you known.  The ins and outs of booking and canceling and changing dates are a bit different right now, so that may be different next time you book.  If you have another issue regarding changing dates or prices, perhaps try to ask here; people are pretty helpful on general.  There is some snark (like anywhere on the internet) to let roll off your back.

There is much in flux right now, with people canceling due to rising covid counts, so it is not shocking if refunds take a bit of time.  Still, I hope yours comes through soon.

[Ocean Boy]

27 minutes ago, DrSea said:

They firefighter/EMT rate they quoted me on the phone was about 20-30% more expensive even when using the firefighter/EMT discount online. I usually get lower rates when calling in or working with a travel agent on other cruise lines. So I was surprised to get higher rates when calling into RCI and working with a TA.

 

I will still enjoy my cruise. $200 isn't much. But it's another thing that I have to keep track of, which is very annoying for me. I want to focus on the excitement of my next cruise and not about when RCI will refund my deposit.

Of you want to be distracted from the annoyance of your refund delay just spend more time thinking about how the virus could screw up your plans.😇

[Ptroxx]

7 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Of you want to be distracted from the annoyance of your refund delay just spend more time thinking about how the virus could screw up your plans.😇

I’m sure being a firefighter or an EMT they have been thinking about it for a while.  Just sayin. 😇

[Ocean Boy]

16 minutes ago, Ptroxx said:

I’m sure being a firefighter or an EMT they have been thinking about it for a while.  Just sayin. 😇

Good Lord, I was making a joke. And for your info, I'm a physician and deal with it every day.

[Ptroxx]

44 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Good Lord, I was making a joke. And for your info, I'm a physician and deal with it every day.

Good lord.  So was I.    And I don’t need the info. Lol.  

[Ocean Boy]

1 minute ago, Ptroxx said:

Good lord.  So was I.    And I don’t need the info. Lol.  

🙄

[Ptroxx]

3 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

🙄

😷lol 

[ONECRUISER]

3 hours ago, DrSea said:

I haven't sailed with RCI in years. I thought I try them out since one of my guests likes RCI.

 

I put a deposit on a cruise and cancelled within 24 hours due to me figuring out how to apply the firefighter/EMT discount. I made a new booking and paid another deposit. It's been December 4th, 2021 since cancelling, and RCI is still "processing" my cancellation/refund. I was on the phone with the customer rep, who spent 60 minutes "verifying" my information, which meant him digging around in my account. He said he couldn't pull up any past reservations and I had to go and pull up all of the reservation numbers from my email. Other times when I called RCI, they were able to pull up all of my past bookings, reservation numbers, and cancellations.

 

Other cruise lines have given me a refund with a much faster turn around time.

 

This is terrible customer service from RCI imho.

Should read other CC Cruise Lines, they been complaining about Customer Service and length of time for Refunds also though not as much lately. Though Royal IT and Customer Service is on a own unique level, Consistently inconsistent, some get Refunds in 1 month, some months longer, myself been fortunate with 10-21 days all but once last 8 Months. Miss the Days when had Royal Personal Vacation Planner, could shoot him e-mail about price drop or new available Discount and he'd apply it same day. Had same one for 5yrs. Oh well, after 22 Canceled Cruises in 18 months just glad to be Cruising again

[DrSea]

49 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Should read other CC Cruise Lines, they been complaining about Customer Service and length of time for Refunds also though not as much lately. Though Royal IT and Customer Service is on a own unique level, Consistently inconsistent, some get Refunds in 1 month, some months longer, myself been fortunate with 10-21 days all but once last 8 Months. Miss the Days when had Royal Personal Vacation Planner, could shoot him e-mail about price drop or new available Discount and he'd apply it same day. Had same one for 5yrs. Oh well, after 22 Canceled Cruises in 18 months just glad to be Cruising again

I have cancelled many cruises on other cruise lines before the payment deadline for years and had charges returned to me before I had to pay the credit card statement. So this is a new experience for me actually. I literally cancelled a princess cruise a month ago and got the refund within a day.

 

Again, RCI said that they were not going to charge me bc it was cancelled within 24 hours. They ended up charging me anyways.

[hayleyp]

I'd be thrilled with 45 days. Been waiting on a $900 refund since April for a June sailing that Royal cancelled

[ULCajunCruiser]

Not to intrude on the OP's thread, but it's not just refunds.   Has anyone tried to submit a gift certificate lately??   I've submitted them 2 months in a row now (Nov and Dec) on the 1st of each month.  I get a response usually within an hour saying "thank you for submitting, we will process soon", and then in another day or so another saying that my certificates "are being processed and should be applied within 10 business days".   Then nothing, 10 days, 20, 30!!   Nothing!!!   Makes no sense, after all, I'm trying to give them money!!!

Edited January 1, 2022 by ULCajunCruiser

[thompson4131]

On November 11, we changed our cabin from a Jr Suite to a Balcony for a June, 2022 cruise.  The decrease in price is $2,221.38 and the cruise was FULLY PAID.  We're still waiting for our refund for the overpayment.  We were on hold for 45 minutes 2 days ago and were placed on hold multiple times just to have our situation elevated to a superviser who said they would call back within an hour.  Guess what...NO CALL BACK.  We called again yesterday and finally were told that Gissele in Loyalty Services will be working on it and it will take an additional 3-5 day to research.  All the for a simple refund??????  Terrible service!

[Ocean Boy]

8 hours ago, DrSea said:

I have cancelled many cruises on other cruise lines before the payment deadline for years and had charges returned to me before I had to pay the credit card statement. So this is a new experience for me actually. I literally cancelled a princess cruise a month ago and got the refund within a day.

 

Again, RCI said that they were not going to charge me bc it was cancelled within 24 hours. They ended up charging me anyways.

It is pretty amazing how quickly they can process charges compared to refunds.

[Moonarino]

13 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

... There is much in flux right now, with people canceling due to rising covid counts, so it is not shocking if refunds take a bit of time.  Still, I hope yours comes through soon.

VERY true, along with reduced holiday staffing and hours. Thursday my TA was on hold with RCI for an hour trying to cancel a cruise for one in our group. Nor do we expect it to get much better immediately after the holidays, because of so many cancellations -- along with possible mad rushes of new bookings or changes. It's just crazy right now. NOT defending RCI because I've had my own issues with them over the years . . . e.g., as others have mentioned, their chronically lousy/skimpy/unreliable website, poorest of all the cruise lines I've sailed.

[not-enough-cruising]

14 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

 

There is much in flux right now, with people canceling due to rising covid counts, so it is not shocking if refunds take a bit of time.  Still, I hope yours comes through soon.

The refund process (from the bank side) is as automatic as the charge process. A simple push of a button. There is NO EXCUSE for the current processes in place. Royal’s inter department communications between reservations and accounting is the most dysfunctional thing I have ever seen.
 
Personally I have allowed AMEX to handle all my refunds since the pandemic; after 5 business days I file a claim and have a credit on my card within hours. 

[DrSea]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

It is pretty amazing how quickly they can process charges compared to refunds.

I lol'ed pretty hard

 

4 hours ago, hayleyp said:

I'd be thrilled with 45 days. Been waiting on a $900 refund since April for a June sailing that Royal cancelled

Jeez. If it takes that long, I will not book with RCI again for some time. One of my guests that I frequently is a very good accountant and that would drive them off the wall.

 

1 hour ago, thompson4131 said:

On November 11, we changed our cabin from a Jr Suite to a Balcony for a June, 2022 cruise.  The decrease in price is $2,221.38 and the cruise was FULLY PAID.  We're still waiting for our refund for the overpayment.  We were on hold for 45 minutes 2 days ago and were placed on hold multiple times just to have our situation elevated to a superviser who said they would call back within an hour.  Guess what...NO CALL BACK.  We called again yesterday and finally were told that Gissele in Loyalty Services will be working on it and it will take an additional 3-5 day to research.  All the for a simple refund??????  Terrible service!

Also, I wanted to escalate to a supervisor after waiting 30 min for him to "verify" my account details (again why does it take 30 min to look at 2 transactions?), and he wouldn't allow me to. He said, "There is nothing that a supervisor could do for you that I couldn't".

 

4 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

The refund process (from the bank side) is as automatic as the charge process. A simple push of a button. There is NO EXCUSE for the current processes in place. Royal’s inter department communications between reservations and accounting is the most dysfunctional thing I have ever seen.
 
Personally I have allowed AMEX to handle all my refunds since the pandemic; after 5 business days I file a claim and have a credit on my card within hours. 

I may have visa deal with it. This is getting ridiculous. Will RCI ban me for life? It is money owed to me that is rightfully mine.

[mafig]

I cancelled a cruise recently, just before final payment.  Cancelled on Monday, received deposit back (and it was nonrefundable) on Thursday.  I was happy.  Since it was nonrefundable, I didn't expect it back at all.

[zap99]

5 minutes ago, mafig said:

I cancelled a cruise recently, just before final payment.  Cancelled on Monday, received deposit back (and it was nonrefundable) on Thursday.  I was happy.  Since it was nonrefundable, I didn't expect it back at all.

We had an email with 2021 cruises a few months ago, one looked interesting and we booked it. The confirmation came through and I noticed it was for 2022. I phoned the UK call centre and was rerouted to Miami ( still there ? ). I explained to the very pleasant man. .....woops I will cancel for you and issue a refund. When I got my cc statement, the charge and refund were the same day. X have refunded our 2 Alaska cancelled cruises within 3 days.