17-month wait for MSC Cruises credit
DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER » In 2019, I booked an MSC cruise from Italy to Greece for
2020. MSC canceled the cruise in early 2020 and offered me a 125% cruise credit or a refund. I asked for a credit.
It’s been 17 months, and
I have not received the credit yet. I’ve reached out to my travel agent and the executive contacts for MSC Cruises that you list on your consumer advocacy site. Neither has worked.
I could really use your intervention. I just want the cruise credit they promised me.
ANSWER » This is a strange case. Typically, cruise lines are quick to offer a credit but slow on the refunds. And I can honestly say this is the first time a cruise line has dragged its feet (or maybe I should say its anchor) on a future cruise credit.
I reviewed the correspondence between you and MSC. It looks like the company offered you either a refund or a cruise credit. You requested the credit but then nothing happened. You asked politely and MSC apologized for “running a bit behind” on issuing future cruise credits. You asked your travel agent, who apologized for the “unusual delay.” Yeah, I would call a 17-month delay unusual, too. Very unusual.
For a case like this, my typical advice would have been an appeal to one of the MSC Cruises executives I list on my site at www.elliott.org/company-contacts/msccruises, which you did. Oddly, you didn’t get a response. Usually, when executives receive a plea from a customer who has waited that long, they take action. Then again, we’re talking about the cruise industry during the pandemic. There was no cruise industry during the pandemic, so that might explain your case.
I have to applaud you for being so patient. I would have started getting restless after a few weeks. You lasted 17 months! Wow.
I think you were right to give MSC a little leeway during the pandemic, especially considering how hard COVID-19 hit the cruise business. But enough is enough. You needed to climb the escalation ladder, first to your agent, then to the cruise line, next to the executives and finally, to me. And you did. And that’s how your case ended up in my inbox.
I asked MSC to review your case. In response, it contacted you and again offered you a choice between a refund and a future cruise credit. This time, you asked for a refund. MSC said it could take up to 60 days to get the vouchers. Finally, almost two years after asking for a credit, you received your money back.
I am flabbergasted by this case. I mean, how much can it take to issue a credit? A few keystrokes, maybe? This says more about the sad state of the cruise industry during the pandemic — something to remember if you’re thinking of booking a cruise.