Ripped Off By Disney Cruise Line?

[Joeblack]

Had to vent off here. I was part of the February 13th cruise that actually left on the 14th. We missed a whole day of cruising and I will never forget the disappointment in my children´s faces. I understand it was the weather and Disney reacted in a more more or less satisfactory way....or did they? All guests, including me, who made part of the reservation using DVC points and paying the rest cash, were credited 20% of the value of the cruise in our account. Since it was a good amount of money (about $1500 in my case, but the people in our dining table had a refund of $2500), I approached guest services in the ship and told them that I would probably not be able to spend that kind of money in 6 days in the ship, especiallly taking into account that meals, accomodations, etc were already paid for. They told me not to worry, since any reamining balance would be put back into my credit card. On the fianl day of the cruise, I got my statement showing all my expenses and the remaining balance on my account. I spoke to GS desk again and swast assured that it would go back to my credit card. Well, it has been almost a month and there is no credit in my credit card. I called DVC member services and they told me to call Disney Cruise Line. I did, and they told me I have to speak to DVC member services. I told them I already did and they tole me to send an email or a letter.
Is it too much to ask from a company like Disney taht they live up to what they promise, especially when it was compensation for an extremely stressful and dissapointing experience such as being sent back in Port Canaveral because there was no cruise.
Anyone knows who can I talk to or what else I can do? I have been a loyal Disney fan and DVC memeber for 11 years, but I feel like an ant in front of an elephant.

[kcashner]

At the end of your cruise you should have gotten a statement of your account under your stateroom door. It would have indicated any non-refundable OBC (usually from Disney Visa use or rebooking on board) as well as REFUNDABLE OBC. At least you were told that it would be refundable--when we got some after an incident I went to the shops and spent it because I thought it was "use it or lose it" money. OK, do you have it? Does it indicate that it is refundable? Does it say HOW it is to be refunded?...as in to your credit card?

I will tell you that when I received a partial refund (the hurricane Jeanne cruise went from 7 nights to 4 1/2) it took about 6 weeks to come thru.

When you book thru DVC, they act as your travel agent. It is DCL policy that when you have used a TA, they will not discuss finances directly with you; everything must filter thru your TA.

[tvguy]

Your identity says you are in Quito, Ecuador.
I wonder if credits to out of the country credit cards take longer?

[jilljill]

Have you contacted your credit card company to see if they have received the refund from DCL to be applied to your credit card? The refund should go back to the credit card that you applied to your onboard account. Credits can still take a while to post back to your credit card, especially from DCL.

[LivingtheWDWdream]

Refunds to Credit Cards can take longer to process, companies have 30 days to refund the amount before they are out of compliance once the refund was to be given. It can take 1 to 2 billing cycles for the refund to appear.

I'm sorry your having trouble though getting a straight answer from Disney, communication shouldn't have to be difficult for a company.

I'm sorry you had to deal with this situation at all but hope that the cruise was at least somewhat enjoyable??

[Tea]

Hi
I too was on that cruise and pd half with dvc pts and part with cash. I have not received my refund either.
Tea

[disneymum2201]

Yesterday I caneclled a reservation at WDW and was told that the credit could take 6 weeks to hit my Australian credit card by the Disney Cast Member. It may still be coming

[Joeblack]

Thanks for your replies. It really feels like home here in the DIS. The statement says I had a ship credit of about 1500. I tried to spend as much as I could, believe me, but all I could spend with drinks and gifts was about 700. THe written statement I got in my stateroom says I have an ´´Accounts payable´´ of about 800. It also says that the records show that DCL has a credit card on file and therefore I should not stop by guest services to settle any remaining balance. Still I did stop by GS and was told that any balance in my favor would go back to my credit card. I talked to my credit card company and there is no credit (also there are no charges by Disney, but there should be an $800 credit). What baffles me the most is the lack of information from all the people I have talked to. It feels like some third world country´s bureaucratic institution (I should know, I live in Ecuador ) where they send you back and forth between employees and noone cares enough to give a solution. That certainly is not what one expects from Disney trying to do damage control and satisfy customers. I sent the email yesterday. I hope I get some kind of non-automated reply.

[OhToodles2]

I so sorry, I hope it gets cleared up asap.

[Poohbug]

It takes forever to get a credit issued on a credit card. I have no idea why it takes so long-it just does. We had problems at a hotel on our vacation in January and it is just now being resolved. It usually takes at least six weeks.

[MassDisLovers]

Originally Posted by Joeblack

Thanks for your replies. It really feels like home here in the DIS. The statement says I had a ship credit of about 1500. I tried to spend as much as I could, believe me, but all I could spend with drinks and gifts was about 700. THe written statement I got in my stateroom says I have an ´´Accounts payable´´ of about 800. It also says that the records show that DCL has a credit card on file and therefore I should not stop by guest services to settle any remaining balance. Still I did stop by GS and was told that any balance in my favor would go back to my credit card. I talked to my credit card company and there is no credit (also there are no charges by Disney, but there should be an $800 credit). What baffles me the most is the lack of information from all the people I have talked to. It feels like some third world country´s bureaucratic institution (I should know, I live in Ecuador ) where they send you back and forth between employees and noone cares enough to give a solution. That certainly is not what one expects from Disney trying to do damage control and satisfy customers. I sent the email yesterday. I hope I get some kind of non-automated reply.

I, too was on that cruise and booked with DVC points. I was told that the remaining balance on my shipboard account would be sent in the form of a check, NOT credited to the credit card I had on my shipboard account. To date I have not yet received a check.

[Joeblack]

That is some good information MassDIslover. As soon as (and if I) receive a response from Disney, I will post the result here. I will never forget the disappointment faces of my kids when we were told that there was no cruise (mine and DW were pretty long too). Of course it wasn´t all Disney fault but they should have made sure that this issue was resolved propmt and efficiently not only in paper.
I will keep you posted. Thanks for your replies. Gotta love the DIS.

[5lilfish]

Originally Posted by Joeblack

That is some good information MassDIslover. As soon as (and if I) receive a response from Disney, I will post the result here. I will never forget the disappointment faces of my kids when we were told that there was no cruise (mine and DW were pretty long too). Of course it wasn´t all Disney fault but they should have made sure that this issue was resolved propmt and efficiently not only in paper.
I will keep you posted. Thanks for your replies. Gotta love the DIS.

Did you cancel the cruise? At first I thought you missed the first day (so did we) but now that I realized you said how disappointed your kids were that there was no cruise, I think I misunderstood. My kids rolled with the missed day without any problems but they would have been extremely disappointed if we didn't get to go at all too.

Jess

[Joeblack]

No. Of course we did take the 6 day cruise and loved every minute of it. No complaints about anything there. The dissapointment face I talk about is the one we all had when we arrived to the port, there was no ship and were told that they had no more information, we should head to epcot where we would be briefed as to what would happen. There, in Epcot, with 23 mickey bars and 10 bags of popcorn inside kids started enjoying themselves, especially when it was finally anounced the ship would be on dock the next day. My complaint here is that if they offered a refund they should have made sure that it was processed, and if there was a misunderstanding, there should be a person to talk to that can give some information or at least know what passengers from the February 13th cruise are talking about when they call.

[5lilfish]

Originally Posted by Joeblack

No. Of course we did take the 6 day cruise and loved every minute of it. No complaints about anything there. The dissapointment face I talk about is the one we all had when we arrived to the port, there was no ship and were told that they had no more information, we should head to epcot where we would be briefed as to what would happen. There, in Epcot, with 23 mickey bars and 10 bags of popcorn inside kids started enjoying themselves, especially when it was finally anounced the ship would be on dock the next day. My complaint here is that if they offered a refund they should have made sure that it was processed, and if there was a misunderstanding, there should be a person to talk to that can give some information or at least know what passengers from the February 13th cruise are talking about when they call.

Yeah...once I went back and re-read, I realized that you did go on the cruise (but I had to leave to pick my kids up from school so I could not go back and edit my post).

My kids loved the pavilion in Epcot too.

It would certainly be nice if DCL would know what you were talking about when you called...frustrating. I actually have to remind my DH to check and see if our refund went through yet. We paid, in installments, using 3 different methods...so I have no idea which on will be credited.

Jess