CANCELLATION FEE

Cartoon of a shocked older couple sitting on a couch staring at a phone showing the Princess Cruises app, reacting to news that their booking has gone wrong.

He paid $2,369 for his cruise, but Princess canceled the reservation anyway

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Robert Battaglia paid $2,369 for a Panama Canal cruise with Princess, booked through a travel agent, and he and his wife Norma paid the final balance a day before it was due. Two days later, he opened the Princess app and the reservation was gone. When his travel agent called, a representative said the couple were in default for nonpayment and owed roughly $2,000 more, though no one could say where the charge came from. It eventually traced back to a Princess Plus upgrade his wife had tried to add online, only for the website to report that the purchase failed and tell her to handle it later. Princess canceled the booking anyway and kept $1,298 as a cancellation fee, even though the account showed no balance due and the agent could see no pending charge. Here is the principle worth holding onto before you accept a cancellation like this: when a customer pays on time and the company’s own statement shows nothing owed, the burden is on the company to explain any later charge before it takes punitive action, not after.

When Bill Chellis's wife was hospitalized with pneumonia on their hotel check-in day, he immediately called Hampton Inn in Great Falls to cancel. The hotel charged him the full $173 anyway, citing late cancellation policy. He called Hilton customer service, wrote to corporate offices, and sent certified letters, but received no response for months. Hotels can legally enforce cancellation policies even for medical emergencies, but state consumer protection laws may require companies to act in good faith when customers provide documentation.

Hampton Inn charged me for a canceled room after my wife was hospitalized. Can I get my money back?

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When Bill Chellis’s wife was hospitalized with pneumonia on their hotel check-in day, he immediately called Hampton Inn in Great Falls to cancel. The hotel charged him the full $173 anyway, citing late cancellation policy. He called Hilton customer service, wrote to corporate offices, and sent certified letters, but received no response for months. Hotels can legally enforce cancellation policies even for medical emergencies, but state consumer protection laws may require companies to act in good faith when customers provide documentation.