Onboard account - transactions not made by us

[si_boy]

Sailed on Silhouette on a short break last weekend and checked our Seapass account regularly.
We had the Classic drinks package so coffees and soft drinks cost us nothing. We don’t drink alcohol so no additional charges, just lots of 0.00.

Checked the account on the app on the last day and there were several transactions for the Martini Bar which we never used.
All were 0.00 so no charges but worrying that our account was being somehow used to purchase drinks. Transactions appeared both under my name and my wife’s.

In all there must have been 6 or 7 transactions at the Martini Bar, Sky Lounge and one on our last day at Cafe al Bacio (we had not left our cabin before seeing this transaction)

We queried the transactions at Guest Relations who were unhelpful and provided a summary account print out and new card?

Has anyone else had experience of unknown transactions on their account or is there an explanation? Our concern is that someone else was giving our room number when ordering drinks, but would not have had the card as we had it with us at all times.
On the face of it, it would seem fairly easy for someone without a drinks package to quote a room number of someone they overheard to get free drinks and say they don’t have their card with them.
Limited verification by the servers appears to take place.

 

[Staci0615]

Could it maybe have been that the bartender keyed in the wrong room number when applying, that has happened in the past also. 

[Schmoe38]

This is normal. The $0 transactions can happen when you get a drink at a specific bar or if you order a drink at lunch or dinner and your server needs to get the drink elsewhere. The Martini Bar is often times the most convenient bar for dining room servers to access.

 

Bar servers will normally ask for your card early in the cruise but may just ask for your room number later on if the bar is busy or if they recognize you from earlier attendance.

 

Yes, someone could overhear you at a bar and could try to use your number, but reviewing your account on a regular basis will help. Errors can happen, so it is important to make sure any of these are caught early and reported to Customer Relations. We have never found inappropriate use of our stateroom card at bars to be a practice that should be of concern, but we have had errors on our account. All were remedied immediately.

 

Randy

Edited June 4, 2022 by Schmoe38

[si_boy]

5 minutes ago, Schmoe38 said:

This is normal. The $0 transactions can happen when you get a drink at a specific bar or if you order a drink at lunch or dinner and your server needs to get the drink elsewhere.

 

Bar servers will normally ask for your card early in the cruise but may just ask for your room number later on if the bar is busy or if they recognize you from earlier attendance.

 

Yes, someone could overhear you at a bar and could try to use your number, but reviewing your account on a regular basis will help.

 

Randy

I agree and have experienced this on other cruises, not Celebrity, where servers go to an alternative bar.
However, because we work in finance as a profession, we could account for every transaction, so these others were definitely from us.

10 minutes ago, Staci0615 said:

Could it maybe have been that the bartender keyed in the wrong room number when applying, that has happened in the past also. 

Potentially yes, the bartender entered the wrong number, but the volume suggests not a one-off mistake.

[cruisestitch]

I have asked for Vitamin Water in the buffet and had it charged to Mast Bar because that’s where the server had to go to get it.

[TeeRick]

No charges so no problem - right?  If you were charged incorrectly then Guest Services would correct it for you.

[PTC DAWG]

15 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

No charges so no problem - right?  If you were charged incorrectly then Guest Services would correct it for you.

Agree, I don’t see an issue. 

[paulh84]

I'm not sure what Guest Services was supposed to do if there no charges. Someone could have been giving the wrong cabin# due too much time spent at the martini bar, a language barrier, the general befuddled state that half the passengers seem to be in, who knows. If people purposely giving wrong numbers to get a few free drinks is a big issue, it's not my issue to worry about. I'd let Celebrity handle that one.

[1025cruise]

Were you served by a waiter? It's possible that's where the charges were rung up.

[Luvcrusn]

4 hours ago, si_boy said:

Sailed on Silhouette on a short break last weekend and checked our Seapass account regularly.
We had the Classic drinks package so coffees and soft drinks cost us nothing. We don’t drink alcohol so no additional charges, just lots of 0.00.

Checked the account on the app on the last day and there were several transactions for the Martini Bar which we never used.
All were 0.00 so no charges but worrying that our account was being somehow used to purchase drinks. Transactions appeared both under my name and my wife’s.

In all there must have been 6 or 7 transactions at the Martini Bar, Sky Lounge and one on our last day at Cafe al Bacio (we had not left our cabin before seeing this transaction)

We queried the transactions at Guest Relations who were unhelpful and provided a summary account print out and new card?

Has anyone else had experience of unknown transactions on their account or is there an explanation? Our concern is that someone else was giving our room number when ordering drinks, but would not have had the card as we had it we quote a room number of someone they overheard to get free drinks and say they don’t have their card with them.
Limited verification by the servers appears to take place.

 

On our cruise on Equinox in Nov/Dec of last year we noticed a drink charged to our account that was not fully covered by our Classic drink package. We went to guest relations, and the charge was removed and a new cards were issued.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Luvcrusn

[AlbertaCruisers]

I have also seen where bartenders write down the drinks and room numbers and if they are too busy they don't key them in at that time and instead I have seen them later with their list keying in a bunch when they have time, at whatever bar they are at, at that time.  So, if for example, you were up at the pool bar and it was one of the martini bar guys serving you, he may actually key in your drink later at the martini bar.

The interesting thing is that the 0 entries didn't show up in your account in the app before.  For our cruises last August, October and December, none of those entries showed.  We were on the Equinox at the end of April and for the first few days no 0 entries showed and then near the end of the cruise they started to show each day.  I actually hope that is a mistake that they can change again, I like keeping track of our account to make sure everything is correct and having to look through a number of 0 entries is annoying, but not the end of the world.  I did just double check and none of the 0 entries ended up on our final account that they emailed to us.

[si_boy]

Quite true, no additional charges so no problem. But the world I work in this could constitute fraud, or just an accident.

Maybe I am overthinking, it seems strange that there is a limited audit trail.
Certain other cruise lines ask for a signature for each drink you purchase and you keep a paper receipt. We were once charged for someone else’s drinks and the pursuer pulled out the till rolls from the previous day to check, all auditable.

Not all passengers have a drinks package so there is opportunity and benefit for this to happen.

[davekathy]

3 minutes ago, si_boy said:

Quite true, no additional charges so no problem. But the world I work in this could constitute fraud, or just an accident.

Maybe I am overthinking, it seems strange that there is a limited audit trail.
Certain other cruise lines ask for a signature for each drink you purchase and you keep a paper receipt. We were once charged for someone else’s drinks and the pursuer pulled out the till rolls from the previous day to check, all auditable.

Not all passengers have a drinks package so there is opportunity and benefit for this to happen.

Like Celebrity, RC doesn't if you have their DBP. 

Edited June 4, 2022 by davekathy

[grandgeezer]

Since a lot of the servers/bartenders write down the card number of their regular customers so they don’t have to use their card, maybe they were just adding your number to build up their tips.

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, si_boy said:

Sailed on Silhouette on a short break last weekend and checked our Seapass account regularly.
We had the Classic drinks package so coffees and soft drinks cost us nothing. We don’t drink alcohol so no additional charges, just lots of 0.00.

Checked the account on the app on the last day and there were several transactions for the Martini Bar which we never used.
All were 0.00 so no charges but worrying that our account was being somehow used to purchase drinks. Transactions appeared both under my name and my wife’s.

In all there must have been 6 or 7 transactions at the Martini Bar, Sky Lounge and one on our last day at Cafe al Bacio (we had not left our cabin before seeing this transaction)

We queried the transactions at Guest Relations who were unhelpful and provided a summary account print out and new card?

Has anyone else had experience of unknown transactions on their account or is there an explanation? Our concern is that someone else was giving our room number when ordering drinks, but would not have had the card as we had it with us at all times.
On the face of it, it would seem fairly easy for someone without a drinks package to quote a room number of someone they overheard to get free drinks and say they don’t have their card with them.
Limited verification by the servers appears to take place.

 

 

We had the same on Silhouette in April.      I suspect since they weren't taking cards and just asking for room numbers there were transposition of room numbers or just written down wrong.

 

All of them were Zero charges but on occasion I knew we didn't visit the places that were being recorded.

[DCPIV]

That is a bizarre story.  No harm done (to you), so I'm not sure what actual help Guest Services could provide.  In the end, it's not a big deal, but it still might give me a small case of the willies for a moment.

 

Honestly, I've never paid a great deal of attention to the $0.00 items when I review my account, so I can't really say if I've encountered the same situation.  If I did, I'd just do like you did: let GS know and move on.