​Cruise Planner Items - do you cancel when price drops?

[livingonthebeach]

Here's my conundrum (BTW I love Conundrum wine by Caymus): 

 

The price of one of my excursions on my upcoming Grandeur cruise went down.  If I cancel and rebook at the lower price, I was told it would take 30 days to see the credit on my card, yet they would have to charge me the new price today. Don't understand why they can't just credit me the difference even if it takes 30 days I would be okay with that.  What I'm not okay with is paying twice and having to chase down a credit a month later. I guess if the price difference were huge I would do it but for a small difference hardly worth it.  What do you when this happens to you?  Leave it alone? Cancel and rebook?  Did you ever see your credit 30+ days later?  

[vjmatty]

1 minute ago, livingonthebeach said:

Here's my conundrum (BTW I love Conundrum wine by Caymus): 

 

The price of one of my excursions on my upcoming Grandeur cruise went down.  If I cancel and rebook at the lower price, I was told it would take 30 days to see the credit on my card, yet they would have to charge me the new price today. Don't understand why they can't just credit me the difference even if it takes 30 days I would be okay with that.  What I'm not okay with is paying twice and having to chase down a credit a month later. I guess if the price difference were huge I would do it but for a small difference hardly worth it.  What do you when this happens to you?  Leave it alone? Cancel and rebook?  Did you ever see your credit 30+ days later?  

 

In my experience it really doesn't take 30 days, more like a week.  I think the 30 days is their CYA statement.

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, vjmatty said:

 

In my experience it really doesn't take 30 days, more like a week.  I think the 30 days is their CYA statement.

 

Probably crafted so you don't ask for the lower price. They are getting very crafty these days.....I realize they need to recoup $$$ they lost during the shut down but being told you have to pay again NOW and not get reimbursed for money they've had for months and have to wait even more time to get reimbursed?  Is it some new sophisticated arbitrage or a way to earn extra interest? 😖

[rudeney]

First of all, be careful cancelling and re-buying excursions because if they are filling up, you may lose your "spot".  I think you can try to re-buy it first, and when you go to select the schedule, it will tell you there's a conflict.  At that point, it should automatically cancel the old booking and add the new one. 

 

As for the credit card refund, I've made some cancellations and it's always been back on my AMEX card within 4-5 days.  Many credit card issuers play the "float game" so even though RCCL has given the money back to them after a few days, they hold it for another week or so before crediting it to you.  

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

I typically don't mess with it unless the difference is substantial. That being said, I agree, it's usually been more like a week or two to see the credit.

[Broons77]

Never seen it take more than a couple of days.  I'll usually rebook if it's a change of $10 or more.

[Ourusualbeach]

I will do it for even a couple of $ when I am paying with OBC as that goes back immediately.  By credit card unless I'm saving more than $20 I generally don't worry about it

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, Broons77 said:

Never seen it take more than a couple of days.  I'll usually rebook if it's a change of $10 or more.

 

That makes sense but on an excursion even if it's over $10, like someone mentioned, I might risk losing my time slot. I wonder why I was told it was 30+ days if it's only a few days? New policy? New lie? Inept rep? 

[Broons77]

8 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

I wonder why I was told it was 30+ days if it's only a few days? New policy? New lie? Inept rep? 

 

2 words I live by in my career, starting from my days answering phones in a call center to my current job as a client service officer - underpromise and overdeliver.  They're not interested in being accurate as much as they're interested in not being wrong.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Broons77

[rudeney]

3 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

That makes sense but on an excursion even if it's over $10, like someone mentioned, I might risk losing my time slot. I wonder why I was told it was 30+ days if it's only a few days? New policy? New lie? Inept rep? 

 

They "underpromise and overdeliver" on the refund timing to keep down calls from people not getting refunds in a timely manner. If the CSR said "5-14 days", most people would hear "5" and be calling on day 6 demanding it be expedited.  

 

[Broons77]

Just now, rudeney said:

 

They "underpromise and overdeliver" on the refund timing to keep down calls from people not getting refunds in a timely manner. If the CSR said "5-14 days", most people would hear "5" and be calling on day 6 demanding it be expedited.  

 

 

Copycat!!!  😄 

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, rudeney said:

 

They "underpromise and overdeliver" on the refund timing to keep down calls from people not getting refunds in a timely manner. If the CSR said "5-14 days", most people would hear "5" and be calling on day 6 demanding it be expedited.  

 

 

Okay that makes sense but it also deters people from asking for their rightfully deserved price difference so it could be a "killing two birds with one stone" type of deal. 

[livingonthebeach]

6 minutes ago, Broons77 said:

 

2 words I live by in my career, starting from my days answering phones in a call center to my current job as a client service officer - underpromise and overdeliver.  They're not interested in being accurate as much as they're interested in not being wrong.

 

The easiest way IMHO is to just credit the price difference as an OBC. 

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Okay that makes sense but it also deters people from asking for their rightfully deserved price difference so it could be a "killing two birds with one stone" type of deal. 

Nothing to do with deterring people.  They are currently working on a new system that will allow you to cancel and rebook and they will refund you the difference.

[rudeney]

1 minute ago, Broons77 said:

 

Copycat!!!  😄 

 

🤣 I've been in B2B services for my entire 40+ year career and I learned "underpromise - overdeliver" early on in front-line customer support.  I also learned that you NEVER give a range - either in time or dollars - because the customer always hears the lower number and never the higher one.  The funny thing is, it gets no different as you move up the ladder.  I've worked on 8-figure projects dealing with C-suite contacts and lawyers and they are all the same.  

[livingonthebeach]

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Nothing to do with deterring people.  They are currently working on a new system that will allow you to cancel and rebook and they will refund you the difference.

 

Understood but what is wrong with just crediting the difference via OBC?  Seems like a fast and easy solution, eh? 

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Understood but what is wrong with just crediting the difference via OBC?  Seems like a fast and easy solution, eh? 

Knowing their systems it is not an easy task

[Broons77]

 

6 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

🤣 I've been in B2B services for my entire 40+ year career and I learned "underpromise - overdeliver" early on in front-line customer support.  I also learned that you NEVER give a range - either in time or dollars - because the customer always hears the lower number and never the higher one.  The funny thing is, it gets no different as you move up the ladder.  I've worked on 8-figure projects dealing with C-suite contacts and lawyers and they are all the same.  

 

Doesn't change up the ladder or side to side, from business to business.

 

Hmmm...  I think there may be major problems with this request.  I'm going to need to speak to a couple of people.  I'll try to get back to you in a day or two

 

5 mins later  - Hi!  You're good to go!

 

I've never had anyone react anything but - Oh my god, that's great!  Thank you so much!!!!

🤣

[Broons77]

5 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Understood but what is wrong with just crediting the difference via OBC?  Seems like a fast and easy solution, eh? 

 

Also, they would still need to adjust your purchase with the CC company.  They can't just keep the difference for themselves and use it to offset that OBC.  Nothing is as simple as it should be unfortunately.

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Knowing their systems it is not an easy task

 

Yes I'm sure it's not but they do exist to make profits and lots of it.  Do profits take precedence over ease of use?  Since I'm a shareholder I can't complain, can I? 

[GJustice]

41 minutes ago, rudeney said:

First of all, be careful cancelling and re-buying excursions because if they are filling up, you may lose your "spot".  I think you can try to re-buy it first, and when you go to select the schedule, it will tell you there's a conflict.  At that point, it should automatically cancel the old booking and add the new one. 

ALWAYS book the new one BEFORE you cancel the current one, as you may not have one to purchase if someone grabs the last one between the time you cancel and try to "rebuy"

[livingonthebeach]

2 minutes ago, Broons77 said:

 

Also, they would still need to adjust your purchase with the CC company.  They can't just keep the difference for themselves and use it to offset that OBC.  Nothing is as simple as it should be unfortunately.

 

Huh?  They can offer OBC for just about anything....and they do. Why would they even have to deal with the CC company? Does the CC company care how much you paid and that the price went down and you're owed by RCI?

[livingonthebeach]

2 minutes ago, GJustice said:

ALWAYS book the new one BEFORE you cancel the current one, as you may not have one to purchase if someone grabs the last one between the time you cancel and try to "rebuy"

 

Correct -- that's why I left mine alone and will eat the price difference. 

[rudeney]

1 minute ago, GJustice said:

ALWAYS book the new one BEFORE you cancel the current one, as you may not have one to purchase if someone grabs the last one between the time you cancel and try to "rebuy"

 

That was why I was saying to re-buy the repriced shorex first and let the system auto-cancel when it sees the conflict.  The problem is, I tried this once and Cruise Planner said it couldn't complete my purchase for some reason.  It was only $17 savings, and I did not want to take any chances losing the shorex, so I just didn't worry about it.  

[Acruisingperson]

22 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Understood but what is wrong with just crediting the difference via OBC?  Seems like a fast and easy solution, eh? 

Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I don't want OBC because I rarely spend any additional money once I'm on board. I want my cash. 🙂 By the way, I cancelled and rebooked something two weeks ago and I got my refund in a couple of days.