Charitable donations

I was speaking to a customer a few weeks ago who had returned from a short break cruise with MSC. They had a really good cruise and would travel with them again.

However when leaving the ship in Southampton they were stopped from leaving by security because of an outstanding balance on their expense account. They were adamant that they had paid in full because they settled their account the previous night and had not made any purchases after this.

MSC security were very off hand and escorted them back on board to reception where they were told they hadn’t paid the charitable donation that was automatically added by MSC without authorisation from the passengers. We are only talking about a few euros which my customer would have been more than happy to pay with their balance but were not impressed that it had been added after settling their account and being made to feel like criminals for trying to leave the ship without paying.

I have never heard of this before and will ask MSC to comment but wondered if anyone else had a similar experience.

It is all well and good for holiday companies to support their chosen charities but they should give their customers the opportunity to opt in or out of this.

Most airlines and package holiday companies give you the option when paying for your holiday to add a nominal fee to charity but it is quick and easy to remove this if you wish.

MSC should make sure this doesn’t happen in future because the embarrassment caused could deter people from booking with them again.