Refundable Deposit Switched to Non-Refundable by RC IT

[ARandomTraveler]

RC IT strikes again 🤪. I saw a $300 price drop on one of my cruises, called in for the price drop and the woman quoted me a $900 price drop which didn't make sense. Come to find out she's quoting me the non-refundable price. I told her I wanted to keep my refundable booking, and she said my reservation was showing as non-refundable on her end and so I can't have the refundable price, despite the fact that my booking receipt shows I have a refundable fare.
 

This leads to her realizing that system had a glitch that converted my reservation to non-refundable on accident, which leads her to get help from the resolutions dept, who decided the only way to fix it was to re-book my reservation on their end as a refundable fare with a new booking number. They do that, but give me a price that is $200 higher than what I had before ($500 higher than the price I'm seeing online). 
 

So they go back to the drawing board, they keep asking if they can call me back, and I've now been doing this for almost 2 hours and they still haven't fixed it. They last called me back an hour ago, saying it would only take 15 min to fix it, but they still haven't called me back. I guess I'm gonna have to call them back instead. Uuuuugh.

[ARandomTraveler]

As an update, they've sent me an email saying they're still working on it, and that they've created yet ANOTHER reservation number where they can apply the correct price. She said they'd be sending me a copy of the booking invoice as soon as it was done, but to disregard if I don't see my $900 deposit reflected, and that they would apply it again but it might take 7-10 business day, lol.

 

As a side note, she kept hearing me incorrectly about the price I was seeing online and was going to tell the resolutions dept to give me an even cheaper price. I was honest and corrected her but now I'm wishing I'd just let her give me the cheaper price for all this trouble 😂.

[smokeybandit]

Probably a human glitch being blamed on a system glitch.

[ARandomTraveler]

14 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Probably a human glitch being blamed on a system glitch.

I was thinking the same thing, since they were so quick and willing to fix it. I've still not received a confirmation of a new booking, and have asked them if I can just cancel the original booking and re-book it online myself. They don't want me to do that for some reason.

[Ken at the beach]

1 hour ago, ARandomTraveler said:

RC IT strikes again 🤪. I saw a $300 price drop on one of my cruises, called in for the price drop and the woman quoted me a $900 price drop which didn't make sense. Come to find out she's quoting me the non-refundable price. I told her I wanted to keep my refundable booking, and she said my reservation was showing as non-refundable on her end and so I can't have the refundable price, despite the fact that my booking receipt shows I have a refundable fare.
 

This leads to her realizing that system had a glitch that converted my reservation to non-refundable on accident, which leads her to get help from the resolutions dept, who decided the only way to fix it was to re-book my reservation on their end as a refundable fare with a new booking number. They do that, but give me a price that is $200 higher than what I had before ($500 higher than the price I'm seeing online). 
 

So they go back to the drawing board, they keep asking if they can call me back, and I've now been doing this for almost 2 hours and they still haven't fixed it. They last called me back an hour ago, saying it would only take 15 min to fix it, but they still haven't called me back. I guess I'm gonna have to call them back instead. Uuuuugh.

It sucks but it does happen.  The easiest way to deal with it is to keep it as the same reservation number and on paper as non refundable but have them make notes that in the unlikely event that you did cancel it is actually refundable.  (I know this doesn't do you any good as you are well into the nightmare they created but maybe for someone else)  That way nothing is messed up for cruise planner purchases etc.  I've had to do this numerous times and even had to cancel a couple and it was never an issue.

Edited August 30 by Ourusualbeach

[ARandomTraveler]

30 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It sucks but it does happen.  The easiest way to deal with it is to keep it as the same reservation number and on paper as non refundable but have them make notes that in the unlikely event that you did cancel it is actually refundable.  (I know this doesn't do you any good as you are well into the nightmare they created but maybe for someone else)  That way nothing is messed up for cruise planner purchases etc.  I've had to do this numerous times and even had to cancel a couple and it was never an issue.

I'll suggest that if it ever happens again. They seem to have fixed it, with a new reservation number and a confirmation email that does not show my deposit, but I'm not really worried about that as I know it'll show up eventually and if not I can deal with it. 
 

However, they've now given me an entirely new room number, DOH! 😂

Thankfully I hadn't made any cruise planner purchases on that one yet. 
 

[firefly333]

9 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I'll suggest that if it ever happens again. They seem to have fixed it, with a new reservation number and a confirmation email that does not show my deposit, but I'm not really worried about that as I know it'll show up eventually and if not I can deal with it. 
 

However, they've now given me an entirely new room number, DOH! 😂

Thankfully I hadn't made any cruise planner purchases on that one yet. 
 

Is the new cabin better than the old one?

[ARandomTraveler]

12 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Is the new cabin better than the old one?

Nope, in fact it's on the complete other side of the ship. I booked a starboard side ocean view balcony and they put me on the port side. At least they got the category right. If they'd put me in a suite I'd have left it alone, haha!

 

They're probably having a hard time releasing the room I had, since it's tied up in a messy reservation, but the room right next door is open so I don't know why they didn't just put me there instead. 

[LuCruise]

I've had this happen a couple of times (although never had to be assigned a new booking number).  So frustrating.  A few things I've learned and do:

1. 1.  Before calling for a price drop, note/calculate the price yourself.  Know the non-refundable and refundable, and make sure you are using your taxes and fees.
2. 2.  Tell them to let you know what they are seeing BEFORE they go ahead with committing the change.
3. 3.  If the system messes up (or perhpas the agent selected wrong)?  , don't hang up until it's resolved.  

 

I have one reservation for 2026 where they had to put manual notes that the booking is refundable....and I've had to explain the story and let them know that this one is in fact refundable.

 

Frustrating that they switched your stateroom. 

[ARandomTraveler]

1 hour ago, LuCruise said:

I've had this happen a couple of times (although never had to be assigned a new booking number).  So frustrating.  A few things I've learned and do:

1. 1.  Before calling for a price drop, note/calculate the price yourself.  Know the non-refundable and refundable, and make sure you are using your taxes and fees.
2. 2.  Tell them to let you know what they are seeing BEFORE they go ahead with committing the change.
3. 3.  If the system messes up (or perhpas the agent selected wrong)?  , don't hang up until it's resolved.  

 

I have one reservation for 2026 where they had to put manual notes that the booking is refundable....and I've had to explain the story and let them know that this one is in fact refundable.

 

Frustrating that they switched your stateroom. 

The weird thing is that I had a refundable booking, and the booking invoice to prove it, but for some reason on their end, even though it showed the same price, it was tagged as non refundable. I wish I knew how that got messed up on their end but thankfully they were in agreement that it was supposed to be refundable, but they didn't seem to know the easy fix for it. I'm kind of nervous that I'm gonna show up at the port in Barcelona next year and be denied boarding. 
 

I agree with all your suggestions and do those things every time. I never hang up before I get the booking invoice and check it. But it didn't help in this instance. 

[ARandomTraveler]

Fixed, with the correct room number, finally (as of 6:17pm Miami time). Took them over 7 hours to figure it out but I think I've been made whole (except my deposit still isn't showing). 
 

It's also not showing up on my cruise planner anymore, but I have a feeling that's tied to the deposit issue.

Edited August 31 by ARandomTraveler