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Balance Due E-mail....just to add to my stress level!


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Still waiting for resolution.   Supposed to be called by them tomorrow so we will see. 
As an update, I see exactly what happened.  If they would listen to me on the phone I could explain, but they won’t.  Hopefully whoever is trying to resolve this gets the same answer I got. 
Briefly, on the 9th I cancelled three items in the cruise planner, and rebooked the three to save a few bucks.  They charged my credit card three times.  They refunded two charges, but the third refund was DEDUCTED from my initial payments on the reservations. The total balance due is equal to a credit card refund I should have got today with the other two refunds. 
My reservation has not been cancelled, yet. I was assured on two different calls it would not be.  But it would not surprise me if it is.  Don’t really care at this point, to be honest. Just how I’m feeling. 

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25 minutes ago, OrlandoDad said:

Still waiting for resolution.   Supposed to be called by them tomorrow so we will see. 
As an update, I see exactly what happened.  If they would listen to me on the phone I could explain, but they won’t.  Hopefully whoever is trying to resolve this gets the same answer I got. 
Briefly, on the 9th I cancelled three items in the cruise planner, and rebooked the three to save a few bucks.  They charged my credit card three times.  They refunded two charges, but the third refund was DEDUCTED from my initial payments on the reservations. The total balance due is equal to a credit card refund I should have got today with the other two refunds. 
My reservation has not been cancelled, yet. I was assured on two different calls it would not be.  But it would not surprise me if it is.  Don’t really care at this point, to be honest. Just how I’m feeling. 

So frustrating. Thanks for the updates. I'm now invested in your whole ordeal and how it works out.

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2 hours ago, OrlandoDad said:

Still waiting for resolution.   Supposed to be called by them tomorrow so we will see. 
As an update, I see exactly what happened.  If they would listen to me on the phone I could explain, but they won’t.  Hopefully whoever is trying to resolve this gets the same answer I got. 
Briefly, on the 9th I cancelled three items in the cruise planner, and rebooked the three to save a few bucks.  They charged my credit card three times.  They refunded two charges, but the third refund was DEDUCTED from my initial payments on the reservations. The total balance due is equal to a credit card refund I should have got today with the other two refunds. 
My reservation has not been cancelled, yet. I was assured on two different calls it would not be.  But it would not surprise me if it is.  Don’t really care at this point, to be honest. Just how I’m feeling. 

Been EXACTLY where you are for EXACTLY the same reasons.  It worked out for us and that is my hope for you and yours! 

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19 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Seriously, people, THIS IS WHY EVERYONE SHOULD USE A TRAVEL AGENT! (I yelled for the people in the back).

This is also why Royal Caribbean should sort it's IT out, it's not acceptable for a large global company to be cocking up the basics and having such an impact on it's customers. Preparing for a cruise is stressful enough post Covid, we don't need Royal adding to our stress.

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30 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Seriously, people, THIS IS WHY EVERYONE SHOULD USE A TRAVEL AGENT! (I yelled for the people in the back).

Sure, but based on the issue being reported, the takeaway from this for me is to call Royal for cruise planner price adjustments rather than canceling and repurchasing on the website. At least until there aren't any more reports of this popping up.

It's crazy to think the code doesn't have a solid enough validation process for these transactions to eliminate the chance of this happening. 

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15 minutes ago, OrlandoDad said:

And the cruise is cancelled.   Just keeps getting better. 

Well....let's hope the fact that I had them move the final payment due date on mine while they work to resolve helps me out.  Sorry for your pain

 

Although...ALL my upcoming cruises have dropped out of view on my account......I've had THAT happen before so fingers crossed when they come back everything is still okay 😉

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This is really getting to be ridiculous.  I feel so bad for @OrlandoDadand @dodgestangand the others who are having to deal with this utter incompetence.  At least @dodgestangwas able to have the due date pushed back.  That is what they should be doing for all of these Charlie Foxtrots.  Unbelievable.

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On 6/16/2022 at 1:04 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

Seriously, people, THIS IS WHY EVERYONE SHOULD USE A TRAVEL AGENT! (I yelled for the people in the back).

I got that, and that is true, but the only reason that is true is because RCL is so hard to deal with and has such poor IT that things like this occur. It's kind of sad for a multi-Billion dollar company.

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2 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Seriously, people, THIS IS WHY EVERYONE SHOULD USE A TRAVEL AGENT! (I yelled for the people in the back).

If use a TA this issue will never happen?

My hesitation using a TA is how to find a good one.  I read recommendations from others on this forum but in all honesty, I don't know any of you.  Who do I trust?  Guess it is my problem.

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33 minutes ago, dodgestang said:

Well....let's hope the fact that I had them move the final payment due date on mine while they work to resolve helps me out.  Sorry for your pain

 

Although...ALL my upcoming cruises have dropped out of view on my account......I've had THAT happen before so fingers crossed when they come back everything is still okay 😉

Our cruises have disappeared also and they are not even to the final payment date.  I think that the site is being worked on so all things are down.

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26 minutes ago, Shari said:

Our cruises have disappeared also and they are not even to the final payment date.  I think that the site is being worked on so all things are down.

Yeah, I've gotten used to cruises just disappearing...they are back again.  Just gets a higher level of concern with open tickets about paid off cruises suddenly saying we owe money and that they are in danger of being cancelled 😉

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1 hour ago, miggsoo3 said:

How would the travel agent have helped in this situation? Having never used one I’m curious. Seems to be a full blown Royal IT screw up not anything any of us did. 

A good TA would be the one spending the time with Royal correcting the situation and advocating on your behalf. They have their own customer service contact and can often get resolutions much quicker than when we call the normal call center. But otherwise a TA can't prevent this from happening.  

The product that Royal offers on the ship is fantastic. Unfortunately shore side has a lot of issues and I'm certain it's so off-putting that a lot of folks don't even want to give them a chance to redeem themselves as a company onboard.

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Ok....so looks like my stuff is back, albeit with a balance due still.  So, thanks all who replied they were having issues.  That prevented me from leaving work to come get on the phone.

Regarding a travel agent.  Would they make a booking with a Casino Royale free room offer, as one of my rooms is?   And the other is heavily discounted because of Casino Royal.

We will see what they say when/if they call me tomorrow.

 

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11 minutes ago, OrlandoDad said:

Ok....so looks like my stuff is back, albeit with a balance due still.  So, thats all who replied they were having issues.  That prevented me from leaving work to come get on the phone.

Regarding a travel agent.  Would they make a booking with a Casino Royale free room offer, as one of my rooms is?   

We will see what they say when/if they call me tomorrow.

 

No.  And this is the reason I never/can't use a travel agent.  Since my first cruise which I booked through a website 'agent'...every other cruise has been based on a Casino Offer to start that I then upgrade to a room I really wanted....I tried transferring some of them time to time and the various agents I have contacted have had no success in a transfer (or desire to push/find a way to make it happen)....technically speaking though...booking through Casino is treated like the casino is your TA in the RCCL system...as weird as it sounds.

Happy'ish to hear your issue today was a simple issue that everyone had while RCCL was doing maintenance.

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19 minutes ago, dodgestang said:

No.  And this is the reason I never/can't use a travel agent.  Since my first cruise which I booked through a website 'agent'...every other cruise has been based on a Casino Offer to start that I then upgrade to a room I really wanted....I tried transferring some of them time to time and the various agents I have contacted have had no success in a transfer (or desire to push/find a way to make it happen)....technically speaking though...booking through Casino is treated like the casino is your TA in the RCCL system...as weird as it sounds.

Happy'ish to hear your issue today was a simple issue that everyone had while RCCL was doing maintenance.

Thank You for that information.  I was wondering how an agent would make money on a 'free' cruise, why Royal would pay any commission for offers like that.

People here seem to swear by MEI.  Anyone know if they will book for me with Casino Royal offers?

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29 minutes ago, OrlandoDad said:

Anyone know if they will book for me with Casino Royal offers?

A little while back, Royal changed the commission rules for TAs booking casino cruises.  These days there is little incentive for TAs to book casino bookings but it can be done.  I no longer ask @michelleto help with casino bookings as it’s just not worth the headaches.  I think they get a flat commission but I have no idea how much that commission is or how it is calculated.  So, to answer your question, yes, they can, but probably reluctantly.

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

A little while back, Royal changed the commission rules for TAs booking casino cruises.  These days there is little incentive for TAs to book casino bookings but it can be done.  I no longer ask @michelleto help with casino bookings as it’s just not worth the headaches.  I think they get a flat commission but I have no idea how much that commission is or how it is calculated.  So, to answer your question, yes, they can, but probably reluctantly.

Thanks...in the future if/when I have issues I'll preface the thread with "I booked though Casino Royale".  I knew the "shoulda got a TA" posts would be coming the moment I started this thread, as I've seen them in many other threads when people have issues with their bookings.  Similar to the "If you don't have a passport you should stay home" posts. (My family all have passports, btw).

But I certainly appreciate the information I have gotten here so far, and hope to one day pay it forward.

 

EDIT TO ADD:  It appears I certainly 'jumped the gun' by saying my cruise was 'cancelled' earlier this afternoon.  But in my defense, I am very twitchy right now with respect to this cruise...mostly because Royal Caribbean sent me e-mails referencing cancelling my booking due to balance due when in fact they owe me $32.00.  Note to Royal IT...if you are having issues, shut the whole website down and fix it.  Don't allow those with 'existing' reservations to not see the current ones, but see all the old ones, giving them the impression only the new ones have issues.

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5 hours ago, miggsoo3 said:

How would the travel agent have helped in this situation? Having never used one I’m curious. Seems to be a full blown Royal IT screw up not anything any of us did. 

I don't know how much time others are spending trying to reinstate their cruises and cruise planner purchases, but do you know how much time I spent doing it?  1 minute. The minute it took me to email my TA.  All of the rest was done by her.

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4 hours ago, Toby said:

If use a TA this issue will never happen?

My hesitation using a TA is how to find a good one.  I read recommendations from others on this forum but in all honesty, I don't know any of you.  Who do I trust?  Guess it is my problem.

No. What I'm saying is that when it did happen, it took me a 1-minute email to my TA and she spent the time fixing it (a lot of time that I didn't have and couldn't have done on my own because I work overnights and sleep during Royal's business hours). 

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39 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

No. What I'm saying is that when it did happen, it took me a 1-minute email to my TA and she spent the time fixing it (a lot of time that I didn't have and couldn't have done on my own because I work overnights and sleep during Royal's business hours). 

Will your TA handle a booking for Casino Royale offers?  A 1-minute email sounds awfully good right now versus what I have dealt with the last couple days.  If she does, I would greatly appreciate her contact info for future cruises.

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34 minutes ago, OrlandoDad said:

Will your TA handle a booking for Casino Royale offers?  A 1-minute email sounds awfully good right now versus what I have dealt with the last couple days.  If she does, I would greatly appreciate her contact info for future cruises.

I have the same TA as @WAAAYTOOO, so her assessment is the best (I don't do Casino Royale).

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8 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

@OrlandoDad I'm relatively new to using casino offers, but when you first called in response to receiving the outstanding balance, did you call the casino? I'm just curious since the casino acts as your TA when you book an offer, if it makes any difference to go through them first when there is an issue.

Yes....I am only calling the Casino Royale number. 

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4 hours ago, OrlandoDad said:

Thanks...in the future if/when I have issues I'll preface the thread with "I booked though Casino Royale".  I knew the "shoulda got a TA" posts would be coming the moment I started this thread, as I've seen them in many other threads when people have issues with their bookings.  Similar to the "If you don't have a passport you should stay home" posts. (My family all have passports, btw).

 

 

I think you might notice that SpeedNoodles is a highly regarded member of this blog and indeed a moderator.  Her comment about TAs comes from experience and is echoed by many of us here.  

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Update....

Was promised a call today.  It didn't happen.   So I called them.  Was told the person that was supposed to call back was out today.  Whatever.  Spent another 2 hours on the phone.  Resolution team working on it 'right now'.  Now supposed to wait until Tuesday until 'the system updates' and call back.  

But reservation is still there and I was told again it was in no danger of being cancelled in the next 10 days.  We will see.

 

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On 6/16/2022 at 12:56 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

This is really getting to be ridiculous.  I feel so bad for @OrlandoDadand @dodgestangand the others who are having to deal with this utter incompetence.  At least @dodgestangwas able to have the due date pushed back.  That is what they should be doing for all of these Charlie Foxtrots.  Unbelievable.

I thought my issue was a isolated issue, but having tracked this thread it is not.  I too am surprised this software bug has not been fixed.  When I was trying to resolve my issue starting in November, 2021 one of the customer service reps mentioned in passing it might be related to a cruise planner cross over bug.  He had encountered that same issue with a different caller.  THAT WAS NOVEMBER!!  People are still having issues AND the reps on the phone act like this is a new issue for them.  Is the CS reps turnover rate that high??

I am also disappointed the first rep one talks to has to get into another queue to talk with a "resolution" team person, the hold time is usually very long! 

@SpeedNoodlesI understand your bravado to use a Travel Agent.  I am a "do it myself" person but if I am to continue being "Loyal to Royal" I will use a TA when booking my next cruise with RC.

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1 hour ago, Toby said:

I thought my issue was a isolated issue, but having tracked this thread it is not.  I too am surprised this software bug has not been fixed.  When I was trying to resolve my issue starting in November, 2021 one of the customer service reps mentioned in passing it might be related to a cruise planner cross over bug.  He had encountered that same issue with a different caller.  THAT WAS NOVEMBER!!  People are still having issues AND the reps on the phone act like this is a new issue for them.  Is the CS reps turnover rate that high??

I am also disappointed the first rep one talks to has to get into another queue to talk with a "resolution" team person, the hold time is usually very long! 

@SpeedNoodlesI understand your bravado to use a Travel Agent.  I am a "do it myself" person but if I am to continue being "Loyal to Royal" I will use a TA when booking my next cruise with RC.

Did your issue ever get resolved?

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50 minutes ago, RogerC1 said:

Did your issue ever get resolved?

Yes.  I was assured more than once my cruise would not be cancelled.  They told me the amount paid was equal to the total cruise balance and their system would not cancel my cruise.  The final cruise payment date came and went in May and my cruise is still showing in cruise planner.  I used the "Make a Payment" link at the bottom of the RC home page and it now shows balance paid in full.  I did take a "leap of faith" that all was well the day before the final payment date 🙂

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