ChrisW73 Posted June 13 #1 Share Posted June 13 Hello, Following a cruise on Iona we spent £250 onboard on drinks, food and shops. This was our first time with P&O and I noticed that after each day they took what we had spent from my credit card. We have cruised on 4 other lines and this has not happened before and I just thought that was how P&O did it. We did get a copy of our onboard spend to our cabin the morning we departed but I thought this was just showing us what we had spent. 2 days after we had returned I got charged £250 for onboard spend. So I was charged each day and then the full amount 2 days after our cruise. I called P&O and they initially said it could not happen but they did believe me in the end. They then just emailed guest relations and said it might take 28 days for it to be looked at as per the ABTA guidelines. Has anybody got any suggestions how I can try and get my money back, £250 is quite a bit to not have. Is there any way I can claim something as compensation as I'm now overspent on my credit card. I do have another P&O cruise booked but so far the service I've received over this has been poor as was the service onboard Iona. The entertainment we booked all got cancelled and different shows put in instead, staff seemed unhappy and overworked and the virtual queue for restaurants was frustrating. Thanks for any advice, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshirephil Posted June 13 #2 Share Posted June 13 1 minute ago, ChrisW73 said: Hello, Following a cruise on Iona we spent £250 onboard on drinks, food and shops. This was our first time with P&O and I noticed that after each day they took what we had spent from my credit card. We have cruised on 4 other lines and this has not happened before and I just thought that was how P&O did it. We did get a copy of our onboard spend to our cabin the morning we departed but I thought this was just showing us what we had spent. 2 days after we had returned I got charged £250 for onboard spend. So I was charged each day and then the full amount 2 days after our cruise. I called P&O and they initially said it could not happen but they did believe me in the end. They then just emailed guest relations and said it might take 28 days for it to be looked at as per the ABTA guidelines. Has anybody got any suggestions how I can try and get my money back, £250 is quite a bit to not have. Is there any way I can claim something as compensation as I'm now overspent on my credit card. I do have another P&O cruise booked but so far the service I've received over this has been poor as was the service onboard Iona. The entertainment we booked all got cancelled and different shows put in instead, staff seemed unhappy and overworked and the virtual queue for restaurants was frustrating. Thanks for any advice, Chris This looks like a hold put on your debit/credit card which usually drops off after a few days depending on your bank rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molecrochip Posted June 13 #3 Share Posted June 13 With P&O they don’t cancel the authorisations, they allow them to lapse at 28 days. They could but they don’t. It annoys me. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisW73 Posted June 13 Author #4 Share Posted June 13 (edited) ,Hello, No the money is not pending it has left my account making me overdrawn. Normally I would see it say Pending but this does not Edited June 13 by ChrisW73 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare david63 Posted June 13 #5 Share Posted June 13 42 minutes ago, molecrochip said: They could but they don’t. That surely begs the question why not? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molecrochip Posted June 13 #6 Share Posted June 13 1 hour ago, ChrisW73 said: ,Hello, No the money is not pending it has left my account making me overdrawn. Normally I would see it say Pending but this does not In which case likely a mistake. Contact the call centre and they can investigate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisW73 Posted June 14 Author #7 Share Posted June 14 10 hours ago, molecrochip said: In which case likely a mistake. Contact the call centre and they can investigate. I've contacted the call centre and they say it can take up to 28 days to investigate while they have £250 of my money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnu Posted June 14 #8 Share Posted June 14 Hi Chrisw73, this is what I did when I had a problem getting money back from P&O and getting no response. I raised a fraud dispute with my bank (Starling for info). Very easy to do online and the money was back in the account within 3 days. P&O responded a few days after I received the refund almost apologetic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clodia Posted June 14 #9 Share Posted June 14 I don't do phone calls because of a disability, so when this happened to me I emailed P and O, explaining that I can't phone. They gave me the 28 day caper, so I raised a dispute with my bank and got the money refunded within 3 days. P and O later apologised by email after they had investigated. Always use a credit rather than debit card, as it's the quickest way to get your money back, and can all be done online. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisW73 Posted June 14 Author #10 Share Posted June 14 Thank you all for your advice, it is as molecrochip said they have not cancelled the authorisations according to my bank. I'm now on hold to P&O again to ask them to sort this out and cancel my cruise in September. I'm afraid this and my experience during my cruise do not make me want to sail with them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulatsea Posted June 14 #11 Share Posted June 14 (edited) Best to use a credit card - gives you time to fix any issues before you have to pay from your bank account. Also - I think someone mentioned in another thread that the authorisations work differently on credit cards and there is less chance of this happening ? Not 100% sure I am remembering this correctly ? Edited June 14 by paulatsea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare david63 Posted June 14 #12 Share Posted June 14 32 minutes ago, paulatsea said: Best to use a credit card - gives you time to fix any issues before you have to pay from your bank account. Only if you have a credit limit on your credit card that is at least twice the amount of your onboard spend. 33 minutes ago, paulatsea said: I think someone mentioned in another thread that the authorisations work differently on credit cards and there is less chance of this happening ? Not 100% sure I am remembering this correctly ? The only difference with pre authorisations between credit and debit cards is the time in which they roll off - and even that is dependant on the bank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanlyon Posted June 14 #13 Share Posted June 14 Use a credit card - Always! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Hill Posted June 15 #14 Share Posted June 15 (edited) 10 hours ago, jeanlyon said: Use a credit card - Always! Assuming you have one or if you do it has a reasonable size credit limit. Edited June 15 by Snow Hill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryjacobs Posted June 15 #15 Share Posted June 15 (edited) 29 minutes ago, Snow Hill said: Assuming you have one or if you do it has a reasonable size credit limit. The answer is to do what I do. Have a credit card that is used only for the cruise. Never gets used for anything else, only to stop this mess from happening. If you have the income to pay for a cruise then you should have the financial clout to have a credit card with a limit of at least £1000. This should cover all bases. Edited June 15 by Harryjacobs 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulatsea Posted June 15 #16 Share Posted June 15 (edited) Chris - did you get this resolved ? 28 minutes ago, Harryjacobs said: The answer is to do what I do. Have a credit card that is used only for the cruise. Never gets used for anything else, only to stop this mess from happening. If you have the income to pay for a cruise then you should have the financial clout to have a credit card with a limit of at least £1000. This should cover all bases. Yes - also a small limit mitigates against it getting stolen or fraud. Small limit card to take on holidays or going out. Bigger limit to use at home online/phone etc. Did you get this resolved Chris ? Edited June 15 by paulatsea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josy1953 Posted June 15 #17 Share Posted June 15 12 hours ago, jeanlyon said: Use a credit card - Always! I have a Sainsburys credit card that is only used for cruises, both bookings and on-board spend, so that it is kept away from causing any problems with any other.purchases. It also means that because it gives me Sainsbury loyalty points that I get very slight "discount" on my cruise spend and as my dad used to say every penny counts. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisW73 Posted June 15 Author #18 Share Posted June 15 6 hours ago, paulatsea said: Chris - did you get this resolved ? Yes - also a small limit mitigates against it getting stolen or fraud. Small limit card to take on holidays or going out. Bigger limit to use at home online/phone etc. Did you get this resolved Chris ? No not resolved, I'll just wait now for the 28 days to come round and the bank will release the funds back to me. What confused me is I've used this same card with other cruise lines and not had this problem, the others I have travelled with release the authorisation when they take final payment for on board spend. Will not be a problem again as this was just the final straw after our first P&O cruise as I've cancelled my cruise in September with P&O. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Hill Posted June 15 #19 Share Posted June 15 I can’t understand why P&O don’t release tge funds after 7 days or earlier, I have had preauthorisations on card at hotels, the funds are usually released at time of payment on checkout of the hotel or after 2 or 3 days. Why Are P&O inconveniencing their customers by holding out for the maximum 28 days? Are their hotel systems that bad they need 28 days to sort out what is owed? Do other cruise lines do the same or is it just a P&O thing? Perhaps it’s something the FCA need to take a look at. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare david63 Posted June 15 #20 Share Posted June 15 1 hour ago, Snow Hill said: Why Are P&O inconveniencing their customers by holding out for the maximum 28 days? Technically P&O are not holding out for 28 days it is the banking system that waits 28 days. Because P&O do not release the pre-authorisations then each bank has its own rules as to how long they leave the pre-authorisations but the maximum is 28 days. Why P&O (actually it is Carnival UK) do it is a mystery to everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare carlanthony24 Posted June 15 #21 Share Posted June 15 Conversation comes up every now and again. At least its not Royal they say 5-7 but max 45 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisW73 Posted June 16 Author #22 Share Posted June 16 11 hours ago, carlanthony24 said: Conversation comes up every now and again. At least its not Royal they say 5-7 but max 45 days. My experiencence ofRoyal & Celebrityhas been that any pre authorisations are released when they take payment. This is why I expected P&O would do the same but they obviously care so little about customers to bother to do the small bit of admin to release the funds but happy to do the admin for final payment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84k Posted June 29 #23 Share Posted June 29 On 6/13/2024 at 8:54 PM, ChrisW73 said: ,Hello, No the money is not pending it has left my account making me overdrawn. Normally I would see it say Pending but this does not They were pending weren't they... Had the same issue last month, only just got my £400 back. My bank app normally displays pending transactions clearly in the app, the onboard charges were not there. Cue panicked calls to P&O who blame the bank, then a chat with my bank who looked into it and lo & behold they were pending and P&O had lied. If you click into the actual transaction on your app, in the details section it will show pending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesthecat Posted July 26 #24 Share Posted July 26 (edited) I’ve just returned from a week on Azura and had the same issue. I found this thread and did some investigating with the bank and the 2 purchases which were done on the day are pending as someone said. I had tried calling p and o but got cut off after waiting over an hour so thank you to those who posted about this! Edited July 26 by Jonesthecat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisemeister2002 Posted July 28 #25 Share Posted July 28 Unfortunately and frustratingly this is the World we live in where everything gets taken from your bank account immediately but when you require a refund or in this case a mistake happens it can take ten to twenty eight days for a refund. It's the World of making money out of your money, If it can be taken from your bank on the day an event happens there's no reason it can't go the other way. I recently changed my car and had to inform my insurance company the difference in premiums came to £28, but half of that was administration fees. Any one like myself who believes since we came out of covid that everything is now much more expensive, but service are products are either worse or smaller ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now