By Christopher Elliott | Journey Troubleshooter
Q: I booked an 11-day coastal cruise on the Majestic Princess from Seattle to San Diego. I made the reservation on-line and gave Princess my bank card info for the fare and journey insurance coverage.
Princess confirmed my reserving, charging my card for the fare however not the insurance coverage. The subsequent day, I obtained a “shortfall discover” that the journey insurance coverage cost should be paid by the top of the day. Because it was 10 p.m., I referred to as the offered quantity, however solely reached voicemail with no choice to go away a message.
At 12:24 a.m. the subsequent morning, I obtained a “cancellation notification.” After I referred to as Princess, a consultant mentioned the reservation was canceled and couldn’t be reinstated. Princess additionally charged me a $3,718 cancellation payment.
I disputed the fare cost with my bank card firm, however Princess contested the chargeback. Are you able to assist me get this payment eliminated? — Douglas Berry, Sumner, Wash.
A: Princess Cruise Traces shouldn’t have canceled your reservation and charged you a cancellation payment. I feel you probably did all the pieces proper by offering your bank card info for each the fare and the insurance coverage. It appears their system did not course of the insurance coverage cost. That’s not your fault.
You adopted the directions within the shortfall discover however had been unable to succeed in anybody as a result of the cruise line’s workplace was closed. It’s unacceptable for the cruise line to cancel your reservation only a few hours later, with out providing you with the prospect to rectify the scenario.
Once you disputed the cost along with your bank card firm, Princess unfairly contested the reversal, claiming you had canceled the reservation. How absurd.
What went mistaken? It appears to be like like Princess was attempting to course of your card however couldn’t. Bank cards use refined however fallible fraud detection algorithms to choose up any problematic prices. It’s potential that your bank card allowed the primary Princess cost however blocked the second, believing it was fraudulent. You may be sure that doesn’t occur by calling your financial institution to allow them to know that you simply’re about to make an enormous buy that would probably get flagged.
You might have appealed to a supervisor at Princess. I’ve an inventory of contacts for Princess Cruise Traces executives on my web site, Elliott.org.
I contacted Princess Cruises in your behalf and it agreed to waive the cancellation charges and refund your cash.
So what occurred? Though the cruise line wouldn’t inform me, you heard from a consultant who provided you a number of particulars. “After they lastly checked out what occurred with our reservation, it was apparent the issue was their automated reservation system,” you advised me.
It’s a disgrace that it took my intervention to get Princess Cruises to do the correct factor. If this ever occurs to you, don’t settle for a cancellation payment. Escalate your case to a supervisor or govt and stick with it till they return your cash.
Christopher Elliott is the founding father of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit group that helps shoppers clear up their issues. E mail him at chris@elliott.org or get assist by contacting him on his web site.
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