Beware Princess' COVID FCC Policy & Prepaid Excursions

[P23r23s23]

Short of filing a small claims case in court, does anyone know of any other avenue to pursue the refund of prepaid excursions?   Princess' COVID policy at the time and the cruise staff/customer service team confirmed that in cases like mine, excursions are refunded to the credit card charged. Nothing credited yet. Since I prepaid for these excursions when I booked the trip in Jan/Feb, I am past the credit card dispute window.

 

For background, on my 11 day cruise/cruisetour in May I tested positive on Day 2 and quarantined the rest of the trip. I eventually received a FCC for the days lost on the trip, I still have not received the credit card refunds for the $1,400 in shore and cruisetour excursions that I prepaid. Since I booked the cruise and excursions directly with Princess myself (and not through a travel agent), I have spent 3 months calling and submitting requests via Princess' online process. Still no joy. The lost $1,400 is on top of the added COVID hotel and transportation home totaling another $1-2k which also has not been reimbursed (still waiting on AON to process that insurance claim). I tried calling the 800-545-0008 number but get the same "we will look into it" response. I definitely learned the hard way that booking with a travel agent is better than booking directly with Princess and certainly not to prepay excursions.

 

I really don't want to go the court route but have no idea what else to try at this point. Any suggestions?

 

In the meantime, I need to check the statute of limitations for filing a case in whatever forum my cruise contract requires I use. If anyone happens to have that contract clause handy, please let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2022 by P23r23s23

[Mike45LC]

Good luck with the venue/jurisdiction issues.  Keep us posted. 

[PacnGoNow]

31 minutes ago, P23r23s23 said:

Short of filing a small claims case in court, does anyone know of any other avenue to pursue the refund of prepaid excursions?   Princess' COVID policy at the time and the cruise staff/customer service team confirmed that in cases like mine, excursions are refunded to the credit card charged. Nothing credited yet. Since I prepaid for these excursions when I booked the trip in Jan/Feb, I am past the credit card dispute window.

 

For background, on my 11 day cruise/cruisetour in May I tested positive on Day 2 and quarantined the rest of the trip. I eventually received a FCC for the days lost on the trip, I still have not received the credit card refunds for the $1,400 in shore and cruisetour excursions that I prepaid. Since I booked the cruise and excursions directly with Princess myself (and not through a travel agent), I have spent 3 months calling and submitting requests via Princess' online process. Still no joy. The lost $1,400 is on top of the added COVID hotel and transportation home totaling another $1-2k which also has not been reimbursed (still waiting on AON to process that insurance claim). I tried calling the 800-545-0008 number but get the same "we will look into it" response. I definitely learned the hard way that booking with a travel agent is better than booking directly with Princess and certainly not to prepay excursions.

 

I really don't want to go the court route but have no idea what else to try at this point. Any suggestions?

 

In the meantime, I need to check the statute of limitations for filing a case in whatever forum my cruise contract requires I use. If anyone happens to have that contract clause handy, please let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been taking about 4 mos for refunds, for many posters.  You are there now.

Have you tried to contact customer solutions, through CS on the phone?

 

If so, I would now try to email an executive route and politely explain everything that has happened and ask for their assistance.  JMO

 

Jswartz@princesscruises.com

 

[P23r23s23]

3 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

It’s been taking about 4 mos for refunds, for many posters.  You are there now.

Have you tried to contact customer solutions, through CS on the phone?

 

If so, I would now try to email an executive route and politely explain everything that has happened and ask for their assistance.  JMO

 

Jswartz@princesscruises.com

 

 

Thank you for the email address.  I will try it next. Is Customer Solutions the team at 800-545-0008? If so, yes I have tried customer solutions. First time, the rep said she would forward the request to have the credit card refunds processed to the right team. That was about 7 weeks ago. Nothing so far. Now the representatives at that number transfer me to "customer relations" and I sit in a queue for as long as 2 hours before the call drops. If that is not the correct way to contact Customer Solutions, please let me know. In the meantime, I will try the email you provided.

[PacnGoNow]

21 minutes ago, P23r23s23 said:

 

Thank you for the email address.  I will try it next. Is Customer Solutions the team at 800-545-0008? If so, yes I have tried customer solutions. First time, the rep said she would forward the request to have the credit card refunds processed to the right team. That was about 7 weeks ago. Nothing so far. Now the representatives at that number transfer me to "customer relations" and I sit in a queue for as long as 2 hours before the call drops. If that is not the correct way to contact Customer Solutions, please let me know. In the meantime, I will try the email you provided.

That 0008 number is the enroute number if you’re having problems getting to the ship, such as EZAIR bookings.  However, there have been posters whom have called that line for help when in covid quarantine at hotels.  They should have referred you to the right dept.

 

If you call the regular line 800 Princess 

for a customer service representative, they have a call back option on there now.  You could speak to a rep, or do a callback. When they call back, tell them you were told to ask for customer solutions.  See if you can get them to help you.

 

Sorry you are having so many problems, as there are thousands of claims evidently going through insurance companies because of covid. Not an excuse, just the situation. Hope you get helped soon!

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, P23r23s23 said:

Is Customer Solutions the team at 800-545-0008?

No.  You were calling the travel en-route number to reach the EZ-Air folks, or whoever can help, when travel plan goes awry due to canceled flight or other issues and you need assistance to re-arrange to get to the ship on time.

 

ETA:  I see now this was answered above.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

35 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

If you call the regular line 800 Princess 

for a customer service representative, they have a call back option on there now.  You could speak to a rep, or do a callback. When they call back, tell them you were told to ask for customer solutions.  See if you can get them to help you.

All well and good, but Customer Solutions line does not have the call-back feature, so the only option is to wait and hope someone comes on before needing to shave again.

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, P23r23s23 said:

Short of filing a small claims case in court, does anyone know of any other avenue to pursue the refund of prepaid excursions?   Princess' COVID policy at the time and the cruise staff/customer service team confirmed that in cases like mine, excursions are refunded to the credit card charged. Nothing credited yet. Since I prepaid for these excursions when I booked the trip in Jan/Feb, I am past the credit card dispute window.

 

For background, on my 11 day cruise/cruisetour in May I tested positive on Day 2 and quarantined the rest of the trip. I eventually received a FCC for the days lost on the trip, I still have not received the credit card refunds for the $1,400 in shore and cruisetour excursions that I prepaid. Since I booked the cruise and excursions directly with Princess myself (and not through a travel agent), I have spent 3 months calling and submitting requests via Princess' online process. Still no joy. The lost $1,400 is on top of the added COVID hotel and transportation home totaling another $1-2k which also has not been reimbursed (still waiting on AON to process that insurance claim). I tried calling the 800-545-0008 number but get the same "we will look into it" response. I definitely learned the hard way that booking with a travel agent is better than booking directly with Princess and certainly not to prepay excursions.

 

I really don't want to go the court route but have no idea what else to try at this point. Any suggestions?

 

In the meantime, I need to check the statute of limitations for filing a case in whatever forum my cruise contract requires I use. If anyone happens to have that contract clause handy, please let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are still within the window for the time it is taking for refunds.  I would not bother wasting time on calls.  I would put together a detailed letter (physical or e-mail) along with copies of any supporting documentation and send it in.  As others have reported some have spent hours on the phone and sent many messages, but it really does not seem to change when Princess gets to their file.  

 

Are you sure that you are past your CC card timeframe for filing a claim.  Some of mine go out 2 years.

 

I would expect that you have two possible situations here.  1. that your excursion refunds are currently tied up with the AON insurance claim and will be processed along with your other expenses reimbursement once that is done.  or 2. That Princess mishandled the excursion information since a land tour was involved (two different parts of the company so a bit more complex than dealing with ship board only.  Thus my suggestion to prepare the letter/package of info with all of the relevant details.

 

Stressing over it and spending hours making lots of calls really does not seem to be helping anyone these days and certainly uses up customer service hours.  Give it time and only worry about it when it is clearly beyond the time limit, otherwise Princess will pay it when it gets through their process.  IF you want do the detailed letter with supporting info and send it in.

 

There is another stream where someone spent hours on the phone sent in numerous requests for refund of unspent refundable OBC, only to report that he got his refund at the same time as another person that was on the same cruise that did nothing except wait.

 

With the current number of covid cases/claim, travel companies continuing to staff up, pretty much everything related to travel is taking longer than what we would like and what we were used to pre-covid.  At least you were not flying through one of the European  airports that were routinely separating people from their luggage due to staffing issues and the number of passengers for much of the summer.

Edited September 7, 2022 by ldtr

[PacnGoNow]

16 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

All well and good, but Customer Solutions line does not have the call-back feature, so the only option is to wait and hope someone comes on before needing to shave again.

Yes, I was referring to using the callback option to get a regular customer service rep on the line, seems the longest hold time. Then, if they could transfer to customer solutions it may be a shorter hold time?  It worked for me, but I called

first thing in the morning.

 

Thanks for clarifying.

[Guest ldtr]

One other comment

 

we will check into it  = if it shows up as still in process on their system then no action will be taken.  They are not bumping claims processing because someone complains about not getting their refund yet.

[geocruiser]

Did you cancel while on board?

[DrivesLikeMario]

You're beating a dead horse.  Give it up to 2 more months before doing anything further.  It's taking forever right now for people to get the tour refunds.  Don't waste your time or energy...yet.

[P23r23s23]

3 hours ago, ldtr said:

You are still within the window for the time it is taking for refunds.  I would not bother wasting time on calls.  I would put together a detailed letter (physical or e-mail) along with copies of any supporting documentation and send it in.  As others have reported some have spent hours on the phone and sent many messages, but it really does not seem to change when Princess gets to their file.  

 

Are you sure that you are past your CC card timeframe for filing a claim.  Some of mine go out 2 years.

 

I would expect that you have two possible situations here.  1. that your excursion refunds are currently tied up with the AON insurance claim and will be processed along with your other expenses reimbursement once that is done.  or 2. That Princess mishandled the excursion information since a land tour was involved (two different parts of the company so a bit more complex than dealing with ship board only.  Thus my suggestion to prepare the letter/package of info with all of the relevant details.

 

Stressing over it and spending hours making lots of calls really does not seem to be helping anyone these days and certainly uses up customer service hours.  Give it time and only worry about it when it is clearly beyond the time limit, otherwise Princess will pay it when it gets through their process.  IF you want do the detailed letter with supporting info and send it in.

 

There is another stream where someone spent hours on the phone sent in numerous requests for refund of unspent refundable OBC, only to report that he got his refund at the same time as another person that was on the same cruise that did nothing except wait.

 

With the current number of covid cases/claim, travel companies continuing to staff up, pretty much everything related to travel is taking longer than what we would like and what we were used to pre-covid.  At least you were not flying through one of the European  airports that were routinely separating people from their luggage due to staffing issues and the number of passengers for much of the summer.

Thank you for this suggestion. I will assemble this. Your assessment about the excursions being tied up with an AON claim makes sense.

 

Waiting too much longer for Princess to 'get to it' will push this beyond the statue of limitations/contract timeframes for legal action so that is why I am frustrated. But I appreciate the sentiment.

[Guest ldtr]

1 minute ago, P23r23s23 said:

Thank you for this suggestion. I will assemble this. Your assessment about the excursions being tied up with an AON claim makes sense.

 

Waiting too much longer for Princess to 'get to it' will push this beyond the statue of limitations/contract timeframes for legal action so that is why I am frustrated. But I appreciate the sentiment.

Good luck, unfortunately these days it all takes time.

[hapster85]

5 hours ago, P23r23s23 said:

Short of filing a small claims case in court, does anyone know of any other avenue to pursue the refund of prepaid excursions?   Princess' COVID policy at the time and the cruise staff/customer service team confirmed that in cases like mine, excursions are refunded to the credit card charged. Nothing credited yet. Since I prepaid for these excursions when I booked the trip in Jan/Feb, I am past the credit card dispute window.

 

For background, on my 11 day cruise/cruisetour in May I tested positive on Day 2 and quarantined the rest of the trip. I eventually received a FCC for the days lost on the trip, I still have not received the credit card refunds for the $1,400 in shore and cruisetour excursions that I prepaid. Since I booked the cruise and excursions directly with Princess myself (and not through a travel agent), I have spent 3 months calling and submitting requests via Princess' online process. Still no joy. The lost $1,400 is on top of the added COVID hotel and transportation home totaling another $1-2k which also has not been reimbursed (still waiting on AON to process that insurance claim). I tried calling the 800-545-0008 number but get the same "we will look into it" response. I definitely learned the hard way that booking with a travel agent is better than booking directly with Princess and certainly not to prepay excursions.

 

I really don't want to go the court route but have no idea what else to try at this point. Any suggestions?

 

In the meantime, I need to check the statute of limitations for filing a case in whatever forum my cruise contract requires I use. If anyone happens to have that contract clause handy, please let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our experience has also had some very confusing, and frustrating, twists. I, too, tested positive on an Alaskan cruisetour this summer. I tested postive on June 30th, near the end of the land tour, and had the first of two refunds for excursions the next day, July 1st. The second happened on the 5th. It makes no sense at all that yours have not yet been refunded.

 

Filed with AON on August 12th, after receiving the bill from Beacon, to get reimbursement for the hotel and meals. Asked for $3750 ($2750 for 5 days at the hotel; $1000 for 5 days meals for 2 people), but according to the emails I received this morning, 2 checks totalling almost the total amount of the cruisetour are being cut! This is after we received "good will" FCCs from Princess for the cruise. SMH. Not looking forward to straightening that out.

 

My parents, on the same trip, received "Cruise with Confidence" FCCs from Princess, in the amount of the entire cruisetour, not just the cruise, which makes no sense, as we had done most of the land portion. She called 3 times, finally speaking to a supervisor in some department she can't recall, who told my mother that everything appeared to be in order?! What? SMH again. They also filed with AON for hotel and meals reimbursement, but their claim is still "in process". I told her to not be surprised when they send them a check for the entire amount. They also received refunds for their excursions fairly quickly.

 

I suppose them being shorthanded, with new and no doubt overworked employees, explains some of the insanity, but really only goes so far.

[P23r23s23]

1 hour ago, hapster85 said:

Our experience has also had some very confusing, and frustrating, twists. I, too, tested positive on an Alaskan cruisetour this summer. I tested postive on June 30th, near the end of the land tour, and had the first of two refunds for excursions the next day, July 1st. The second happened on the 5th. It makes no sense at all that yours have not yet been refunded.

 

Filed with AON on August 12th, after receiving the bill from Beacon, to get reimbursement for the hotel and meals. Asked for $3750 ($2750 for 5 days at the hotel; $1000 for 5 days meals for 2 people), but according to the emails I received this morning, 2 checks totalling almost the total amount of the cruisetour are being cut! This is after we received "good will" FCCs from Princess for the cruise. SMH. Not looking forward to straightening that out.

 

My parents, on the same trip, received "Cruise with Confidence" FCCs from Princess, in the amount of the entire cruisetour, not just the cruise, which makes no sense, as we had done most of the land portion. She called 3 times, finally speaking to a supervisor in some department she can't recall, who told my mother that everything appeared to be in order?! What? SMH again. They also filed with AON for hotel and meals reimbursement, but their claim is still "in process". I told her to not be surprised when they send them a check for the entire amount. They also received refunds for their excursions fairly quickly.

 

I suppose them being shorthanded, with new and no doubt overworked employees, explains some of the insanity, but really only goes so far.

Sorry that you too were ill and dealing with this chaos.

 

I agree with your take. Makes little sense that the excursions aren't refunded yet but as a previous poster noted, perhaps the AON claim has held up the processing. I just wish I could get through to someone who could tell me the status and next steps.