Minibar Woes

[BillHana]

I just finished a cruise on Equinox. We never use anything from the minibar but use the refrigerator to keep bottles of water cold. During the last day of our 12 night cruise the minibar charges started. With the first one I waited in the long line at guest relations and got it reversed. With the next one I called and after listening to a “please wait” message half hour a human answered and reversed it. I asked that they stop further minibar charges and he put a note in the record. Before this all started, I applied the remaining OBC to gratuities so I expected a zero balance.

As we were disembarking, I checked and the account balance was zero. When the final statement came via email, I saw another minibar charge and my credit card was charged. I sent email to the address on the invoice to get this corrected.

I don’t know why this happened or how to stop it when erroneous changes start appearing. Why do they do this petty stuff and taint the entire cruise?
 

Edited April 18, 2022 by BillHana

[gold1953]

Ask to have the minibar emptied when you first see your cabin attendant. It will all be put in a bag under your bed.

[Peteymil]

9 minutes ago, BillHana said:

I just finished a cruise on Equinox. We never use anything from the minibar but use the refrigerator to keep bottles of water cold. During the last day of our 12 night cruise the minibar charges started. With the first one I waited in the long line at guest relations and got it reversed. With the next one I called and after listening to a “please wait” message half hour a human answered and reversed it. I asked that they stop further minibar charges and he put a note in the record. Before this all started, I applied the remaining OBC to gratuities so I expected a zero balance.

As we were disembarking, I checked and the account balance was zero. When the final statement came via email, I saw another minibar charge and my credit card was charged. I sent email to the address on the invoice to get this corrected.

I don’t know why this happened or how to stop it when erroneous changes start appearing. Why do they do this petty stuff and taint the entire cruise?
 

We have our cabin attendant remove everything from the minibar right away.  Gives us more room for waters and whatever sodas we want to keep cold, and avoids any minibar charges that you describe.

[BillHana]

I did ask him on that first night to empty the minibar but he didn't do anything.

[Pennstatedj]

I have had this happen two out the last three cruises on Edge and Silhoutte. Both times I called CC and had the charges reversed. We vowed to have the minibar emptied each time we cruise on the first day. This past cruise we did not do it and we had a charge. From now on we will have it emptied. In both cases we left water and a can of Diet Coke from our own purchase on board. The hassle I do not like. Our next cruise on Equinox in July we will make sure we let an officer knows about what has happened. It needs to told to someone other than surveys which we have done and CC phone calls. Another thing with everyone on drink packages it really makes no sense to leave a bad taste in customer's mouth after a great cruise, but it is still happening. Someone should wake up at X. 

[Peteymil]

1 minute ago, BillHana said:

I did ask him on that first night to empty the minibar but he didn't do anything.

I'm sorry that happened to you. I've never had a problem with an attendant not promptly taking care of this.

[Alakegirl]

46 minutes ago, BillHana said:

I did ask him on that first night to empty the minibar but he didn't do anything.

And you didn’t follow up or ask again?

[BillHana]

We will follow up on future cruises.

[hcat]

Even if  the contents are removed, many attendants  jump the gun and replace  while you are out to dinner on the last night,  and lock it up. Ironically that's when we have received ghost charges several times now.  Carelessness or bill padding cottage industry?

[DirtyDawg]

6 hours ago, BillHana said:

Why do they do this petty stuff and taint the entire cruise?
 

Because X's computer systems were designed Inspector Clouseau and built by Mr. Bean.

 

Rigorous testing was performed by Ron Burgundy and ASSociates. 

 

I wish I could do a 😁 but it's really a 🙄

[DingoMom]

What??? Why did they let Kelly Hoppen start billing for mini-bar usage on the last day of the cruise?? 🧐

Edited April 19, 2022 by DingoMom

[Arizona Wildcat]

13 hours ago, BillHana said:

I did ask him on that first night to empty the minibar but he didn't do anything.

Then you could have emptied it or called housekeeping. 

[Oville]

14 hours ago, BillHana said:

I just finished a cruise on Equinox. We never use anything from the minibar but use the refrigerator to keep bottles of water cold. During the last day of our 12 night cruise the minibar charges started. With the first one I waited in the long line at guest relations and got it reversed. With the next one I called and after listening to a “please wait” message half hour a human answered and reversed it. I asked that they stop further minibar charges and he put a note in the record. Before this all started, I applied the remaining OBC to gratuities so I expected a zero balance.

As we were disembarking, I checked and the account balance was zero. When the final statement came via email, I saw another minibar charge and my credit card was charged. I sent email to the address on the invoice to get this corrected.

I don’t know why this happened or how to stop it when erroneous changes start appearing. Why do they do this petty stuff and taint the entire cruise?
 

How much was the erroneous charge?

[wrk2cruise]

This is nothing new.  Been going on for years on most lines.

[BillHana]

The three charges were all around $10 and appeared at different times. It is a small amount but it should not happen and they should not be able to get away with it.