Comments on: “I am sorry for any inconvenience this procedure causes you”

By: Cell phone GPS >> Miracles of technology...bring information on ...

Cell phone GPS >> Miracles of technology...bring information on ... — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:49:03 +0000

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By: ValB

ValB — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:18:30 +0000

Little known fact- if you intend to cancel and the original card is no longer in use, make a small charge to an active card. Then when you cancel, most companies will refund the money to the last card that a payment was issued from. Not sure if that is Princess’ policy, however.

By: Bela Fleck

Bela Fleck — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:33:32 +0000

I wouldn’t necessarily trust the credit card company to reject it, just because the account is “closed.” I once closed a checking account, but it sprung miraculously back to life twice when a check and then later a deposit, neither of which were supposed to exist, somehow cleared the account several months after the account was closed. I’d be scared to death they’d send the credit through to the closed account and it would clear and suddenly the credit card thief (assuming I closed the account because someone stole the number) would have another $1500 or so in credit at their disposal. Retail stores don’t have any problem crediting back the amount to a different card, as long as it belongs to the same person.

On the other hand, as convoluted as this story is, I really have no idea why she wants this handled in exactly this manner, other than the account is closed. Princess has a procedure for this, but that’s not good enough for the customer. I can almost see why Princess doesn’t want to work with her. Even given my history with the bank (see above), I question why all this hullabaloo is necessary.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:50:36 +0000

How exactly is Princess at fault for following credit card regulations?

By: DeVon

DeVon — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:26:26 +0000

I work for a major credit card company. Allison was correct, credits will still come through on an account that was either closed per cardemember’s request or reported lost stolen. If Princess credited the closed account, the credit would show up typically within 3 days, and the customer would just need to call the credit card and request a refund check be sent. Unless a card number has been archived, I don’t see any reason for a credit to be rejected and returned to the merchant. I don’t understand why the customer didn’t want the credit issued to the closed account unless the credit card that was originally billed wasn’t in her name, so she wouldn’t have access to the refund. There is definitely more to this story as to why she didn’t want the credit returned to this particular closed account.

By: Brian Hamil

Brian Hamil — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:23:27 +0000

Regina, Did you even read the story. They would only refund it to her closed credit card and then when it was rejected, which it of course would be then they would cut her a cheque. Certainly this will take longer than she would have hoped but it’s well known that merchants can not return a credit card transaction to another card or cash for fear of money laundering. They never said they would not give her the money back they just told her there was a process that had to be followed. She might not have liked it, but it is what is it. You can not buy a sweater with a credit card take it back to the store and get cash back, same here only on a larger scale.

By: Pam

Pam — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:02:42 +0000

My credit card account was compromised (did you know there is a British equivalent to PayPal?) and subsequently closed. A new card was issued and all charges and credits were transferred. So far I am an echo of prior comments. However, my credit card company actually lost my credit for a canceled cruise (I still hear an echo). We dealt with the cruise line for a long time and then realized we might have better luck with the credit card company. It turned out they were at fault. It took a very savvy customer service agent to find our $1500. I agree with other people – look to your card company for resolution if you want a credit. It should be very simple, though it wasn’t in our case, to have the credit transferred to a new card or they will cut a check to you. Leaving that money in the cruise line’s hands is putting a burden on the traveler to use it or lose it. Not wise, not fair.

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:47:14 +0000

As Roberto said, this is not a Princess problem. As a merchant you are required to attemt to refund to the original form of payment. If the card has been closed you are notified and then you are allowed to refund to other means. I have been in the travel business for over 20 years and this is nothing new it is just that we hear about it now because of people like Chris who try to help make things right. Maybe if more of these types of situations were known the credit card companies would change the policies, but I doubt it.

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:20:09 +0000

How come companies are SO QUICK to take our money, but so inept when it comes time to returning it. They seem to find every possible loophole which prevents them from giving it back. I know, the name of the game is profit, and you don’t want to lose it. Still, this was a REFUNDABLE amount and the money SHOULD HAVE BEEN RETURNED.

Here’s what I would have done if I were this lady. I would have contacted my previous credit card company and explained the situation. Clearly, the policy is in place to prevent fraud. Yet, the credit card company SHOULD BE ABLE to contact Princess and verify all customer information. There is ABSOLUTELY no reason the company cannot issue a credit to her previous account, and the CC company then issue a check. Should this not be possible, I guess her only other means would have been small claims. I guess the lesson here is DON’T cancel your credit card until you are certain all obligations with it are fulfilled.

Justin

By: Regina

Regina — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:35:04 +0000

Let me get this straight–you take the customer’s money and then you refuse to recognize it. Isn’t that called stealing? Without Chris’ intervention, Princess would not have returned this customer’s money. What a disgrace.