HAL- CUSTOMER SERVICE- DISGRACEFUL!

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, cbr663 said:

 

Wow.  This reads like we will process your refund when we decide to get around to it.  Such poor service.

 

Thanks for getting back to us with the update.  

They are not the only ones who do this. We have tickets for a concert that has been cancelled. When I asked where our refund is, I was told it could take up to 30 days. (When paying for tickets, they of course do not say you have 30 days until you have to pay.)

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

They are not the only ones who do this. We have tickets for a concert that has been cancelled. When I asked where our refund is, I was told it could take up to 30 days. (When paying for tickets, they of course do not say you have 30 days until you have to pay.)

 

Funny how that works, isn't it? 

 

HAL seems to be hiding behind the system change. I've never had a time lag anything close to what's being reported here when a tour was cancelled. 

[Rambozo68]

On 10/2/2024 at 1:40 AM, HUNKY said:

Rambozo - it seems your friends bank kicked the refund back to HAL. 

 

“As the request was rejected by the issuing bank”

 

Does your final statement show that a credit is owed?  Service charges and purchases didn’t use up some of the refund?

Hi Hunky, both my bank, and my friend's bank, confirmed that no attempt was made to make the payment. 

[Rambozo68]

On 10/2/2024 at 4:35 AM, floridababa said:

We have learned to get any credit due us in $$$ the last day or night before end of cruise. I rather have the cash than the headache of waiting for refund to a credit card

Hi Florida, being based in the UK, a refund in dollars is more of a hassle again.

 

And the simple fact of the matter here is ...... processing a refund to a credit or debit card, is one of the easiest things to do. In previous posts above, Amazon was cited as a great example of how it's done! Simple!

[floridababa]

I understand completely and agree. They take your money quickly but not follow thru when there is a refund 

[Shmoo here]

Just received a check for our credit on our last cruise.  Cruise ended Aug 24.  Six weeks.  

 

We were told (and final statement says) the credit was going to be applied to our credit card, but, oh, well, we got our money.

[3rdGenCunarder]

10 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

Just received a check for our credit on our last cruise.  Cruise ended Aug 24.  Six weeks.  

 

We were told (and final statement says) the credit was going to be applied to our credit card, but, oh, well, we got our money.

 

Cash/deposit it quickly!!!! 

[rotjeknor]

I was on a standby cruise which was paid at time of booking . Just 3 days after not getting onboard, the money was paid back on my credit card already.

It just adds up to all other good experiences I’ve had with the HAL customer service, onboard as well as with the Rotterdam office. No complaints. 

[Stratheden]

11 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Just received a check for our credit on our last cruise.  Cruise ended Aug 24.  Six weeks.  

 

We were told (and final statement says) the credit was going to be applied to our credit card, but, oh, well, we got our money.

Who uses cheques now.  Most banks discourage them.  If this is from a new financial system, it seems the system is out of date at the start.  What are those in other countries supposed tondo with a cheque in US$.  Most banks in Australia don't want know about cheques.

[3rdGenCunarder]

6 hours ago, Stratheden said:

Who uses cheques now.  Most banks discourage them.  If this is from a new financial system, it seems the system is out of date at the start.  What are those in other countries supposed tondo with a cheque in US$.  Most banks in Australia don't want know about cheques.

 

Sending a check is SO last century!!! Banks in the US are less averse to checks than yours are, but they want them to be in US$. I can exchange foreign cash at my bank (bills only), but I have no idea what they would do if I wanted to deposit a check in another country's currency. 

 

That's the beauty of a return to the original credit card. Yes, the exchange rate might not be the best, and some cards charge a fee, but the money moves quickly and smoothly. Or at least it should. 

[msjb22]

I'm in the same boat, still waiting on a refund of cancelled excursions (disembarked 14 September).

 

As I'm in the EU, I really, really hope they don't send a check, because my bank charges a flat rate of about 30 euros for foreign currency checks, plus the loss due to exchange rate fluctuations since I paid for the SE... I'm due to get about 450 back, fees would run to about 20% of that sum overall!

[Mary229]

7 hours ago, Stratheden said:

Who uses cheques now.  Most banks discourage them.  If this is from a new financial system, it seems the system is out of date at the start.  What are those in other countries supposed tondo with a cheque in US$.  Most banks in Australia don't want know about cheques.

Most banking apps have an electronic deposit feature.  I am not a proponent of checks but I don’t want to create a misrepresentation of the situation 

[3rdGenCunarder]

39 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Most banking apps have an electronic deposit feature.  I am not a proponent of checks but I don’t want to create a misrepresentation of the situation 

 

I use the app to deposit checks. But what do you do if the check is in another currency? When you enter the amount of the check, is there an option to change the currency? 

[Mary229]

58 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I use the app to deposit checks. But what do you do if the check is in another currency? When you enter the amount of the check, is there an option to change the currency? 

I have not tried but if a bank accepts check deposits, which is generally a requirement,  then they can figure it out.  

[3rdGenCunarder]

16 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I have not tried but if a bank accepts check deposits, which is generally a requirement,  then they can figure it out.  

 

I suspect if you tried to deposit it via app, it would be rejected because the app wouldn't recognize/accept the bank's routing number. I don't know if the bank would charge a bounced-check fee. 

 

I tried a help search at a few national bank websites. "deposit foreign check" One had no results. One offered info on getting foreign currency. One said to go to a "financial center" (why can't they just say "bank?") for more information. One said yes, take it to your local bank, waiting time and fees may apply. 

 

So it may be possible to deposit a foreign check, but it probably isn't easy.

[StLouisCruisers]

Any money owed should come back to you via your credit card if that is how you paid for your booking.  I don't know why they'd send a check.  

 

Today we were notified by our credit card that Holland America had finally repaid us for Flight Ease flights that were cancelled July 20 during the Cloudstrike global outage.  We had to send an email to the Guest Relations Manager Brett Swofford and copied Gus Antorcha.  Antorcha's Special Advisor (🙄) emailed us back that they were backed up due to the volume of refunds, but 12 days after we emailed the money was refunded.  78 days after the cancellation!  Calling Flight Ease several times and even talking to a Guest Relations employee didn't help.  They pretty much ignore pleas and do things on their own schedule.

[Hlitner]

8 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I have not tried but if a bank accepts check deposits, which is generally a requirement,  then they can figure it out.  

Not necessarily true.  We once received a refund check (from Trenitalia) that was issued in Euros.  Took it to our bank where they refused the deposit, saying they had no way to process that check.  In the end, it became a souvenir. 

 

Looking at a few web sites, on the subject, the consensus seems to be that depositing a foreign check is "complicated."

 

In a related vein, we once rented an apartment in Avignon, and the owner wanted the deposit in a check, payable in Euros.  Our two banks both said no, they could not do it.  In the end, we worked it out with the owner by using Paypal and doing a direct deposit into his account.

 

Hank

[Shmoo here]

2 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Any money owed should come back to you via your credit card if that is how you paid for your booking.  I don't know why they'd send a check.  

Yes, it SHOULD, but ours didn't.  We got a check.  

[Mary229]

If you paid by credit card in a specific currency and are unable to accept a check in another currency talk to the credit card company.  If you paid in US dollars they are likely within their rights to send a check denominated in US dollars.  Others on our roll call said that their refunds are late because of the same technical issue and they were able to choose check or return to card. The check was the faster option so many opted for that .  In the end you should not be left with a souvenir and do have recourse. 
 

PS I am not defending HAL, this is a consumer rights issue and there are laws of governance 

Edited October 7 by Mary229

[sciencewonk]

23 hours ago, Stratheden said:

Who uses cheques now.  Most banks discourage them.  If this is from a new financial system, it seems the system is out of date at the start.  What are those in other countries supposed tondo with a cheque in US$.  Most banks in Australia don't want know about cheques.

That's actually an Australian thing.  Checks are still standard in the US, although they seem to be becoming less common.  A big problem is when a check for US dollars is drawn on a US bank and issued to someone in Australia.  Most (if not all) Aussie banks will not cash foreign checks.

[erewhon]

23 hours ago, Stratheden said:

Who uses cheques now.  Most banks discourage them.  If this is from a new financial system, it seems the system is out of date at the start.  What are those in other countries supposed tondo with a cheque in US$.  Most banks in Australia don't want know about cheques.

 

Cheques no longer exisr here in New Zealand, I believe that the  last cheque I wrote was towards the end of 2020.

 

 

[rotjeknor]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

If you paid by credit card in a specific currency and are unable to accept a check in another currency talk to the credit card company.  If you paid in US dollars they are likely within their rights to send a check denominated in US dollars.  Others on our roll call said that their refunds are late because of the same technical issue and they were able to choose check or return to card. The check was the faster option so many opted for that .  In the end you should not be left with a souvenir and do have recourse. 
 

PS I am not defending HAL, this is a consumer rights issue and there are laws of governance 

Interesting.... so people had a choice wether to wait and get the refund on the credit card or choose for speed and get a check. And now they are complaining that they have trouble cashing the check ? And of course the HAL is responsible .....

 

Another thing I have to get off my chest... why did the OP use capitals and a word like disgraceful in the subjectline. Imo , it's hard to have an " objective" discussion on the way HAL's CS works when you start out with capitals ( shouting) and a subjective term like disgraceful . But that’s just me...

[Rambozo68]

8 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Any money owed should come back to you via your credit card if that is how you paid for your booking.  I don't know why they'd send a check.  

 

Today we were notified by our credit card that Holland America had finally repaid us for Flight Ease flights that were cancelled July 20 during the Cloudstrike global outage.  We had to send an email to the Guest Relations Manager Brett Swofford and copied Gus Antorcha.  Antorcha's Special Advisor (🙄) emailed us back that they were backed up due to the volume of refunds, but 12 days after we emailed the money was refunded.  78 days after the cancellation!  Calling Flight Ease several times and even talking to a Guest Relations employee didn't help.  They pretty much ignore pleas and do things on their own schedule.

Hi StLouis, delighted to hear you've finally got your money, albeit 78 days later! I'm at day 65, so I'm hoping it won't be long now! I've also had email correspondence with Mr Swofford, Mr Antorcha, "Special Advisors" and my credit card company are on the case. Trying to get any positive help or direction from anybody at HAL is all but impossible! I'll repeat, it's a DISGRACEFUL way to treat your customers!

[Rambozo68]

51 minutes ago, rotjeknor said:

Interesting.... so people had a choice wether to wait and get the refund on the credit card or choose for speed and get a check. And now they are complaining that they have trouble cashing the check ? And of course the HAL is responsible .....

 

Another thing I have to get off my chest... why did the OP use capitals and a word like disgraceful in the subjectline. Imo , it's hard to have an " objective" discussion on the way HAL's CS works when you start out with capitals ( shouting) and a subjective term like disgraceful . But that’s just me...

Hi Rotjeknor, OP here, 65 days later, still thinking the way I've been treated is DISGRACEFUL. And I'm quite sure if you had been chasing your own hard-earned cash, you'd be starting to wonder if HAL were plain old incompetent, or if there was more to why many people are not being returned THEIR OWN MONEY in a timely manner!

 

Check? We had no choice. Our money was always going back to our credit cards. And HAL claimed they did attempt this on 3rd August. Our separate banks both confirmed no attempt was made. As others have said above, it's 2024, who uses cheques? Only those who want to make payment difficult I guess.

 

The lack of comms, the excuses, and the lack of info, clarifying when this process will be complete is DISGRACEFUL! (not sure how else to describe it).

 

This started off as a post about lack of comms and poor customer service and not process. As time goes on it is now clearly about both. I think a lot of the discussion has been objective and many people have contributed. Maybe the capitals worked!

 

PS I'm glad all your dealings with HAL have been positive. As were mine, up to they weren't!

[Rambozo68]

18 hours ago, msjb22 said:

I'm in the same boat, still waiting on a refund of cancelled excursions (disembarked 14 September).

 

As I'm in the EU, I really, really hope they don't send a check, because my bank charges a flat rate of about 30 euros for foreign currency checks, plus the loss due to exchange rate fluctuations since I paid for the SE... I'm due to get about 450 back, fees would run to about 20% of that sum overall!

 

 

Hi MSJB, on 16th September I received the correspondence below, from a Special Advisor, Office of the President. I assume the same would probably apply in Europe.

 

Another barrier, prolonging the return of my cash!

 

PS if anybody's reading this in isolation, no attempt was made to credit either of our credit cards at the end of our sailing. This has been confirmed by 2 separate UK banks.

 

Edited October 7 by Rambozo68