5 local friends waiting for a year to receive refund after cruise was canceled

A group of friends spent thousands of dollars on a cruise and got nothing to show for it. They tell 13 Investigates the cruise was canceled because of COVID-19, and were promised a refund, but still don’t have their money.

“We’re just waiting for a refund on promises they gave us that I still have not received,” Kenny Dickenson said.

“It just hurts that we’re getting no response from this company, whatsoever,” Mark McLean said.

Kenny and Pam Dickenson, Kathleen and Mark McLean, and Helen Brooks were ready to set sail on the Capital Jazz SuperCruise in January 2022.

Unfortunately, the company canceled it. It cited a surge of COVID cases.

The five friends said they all understood why the cruise had to be called off, but were still bummed because some of them have gone before.

“It was the best cruise I’ve ever been on,” Kenny said.

“Breakfast and then from there all these activities that they had, then the ports, and then the entertainment at night. It was something all the time,” Pam said.

“You’re on a boat with people who look like you,” Helen said. “A lot of nuances that just made it an awesome time.”

Capital Jazz gave customers a few options. One of those options was to get a full refund for the trip.

“It just hurts that we’re getting no response from this company, whatsoever.”

Mark McLean

“The process for requesting a refund was simple,” Helen said.

Capital Jazz informed them to wait up to 90 days for refunds to process.

“You sit back, and you just patiently wait, and you wait, and you wait,” Mark said.

“We didn’t hear anything,” Pam said.

It’s nearly a year later, and they’re all still waiting for their money.

“They owe me well over $9,000,” Helen said.

“About $4,500,” Mark and Kathleen McLean said.

“For us, it was $5,000,” Pam and Kenny Dickenson said.

Now, it’s giving them all massive headaches.

“Just give me my money!” Helen said.

“I called the cruise line repeatedly. Many, many times. I would leave messages, email, called. No response. Consistently,” Kathleen said.

After many failed attempts to get answers from Capital Jazz, each one of them filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office in New York and Maryland, since the company is based out of Maryland.

This group of friends is not the only ones having an issue.

In Maryland, 55 complaints have been filed against Capital Jazz since May 2022, 26 of which have been closed.

Here in New York, the Attorney General’s Office received multiple complaints. There’s even a lawsuit filed against Capital Jazz for the lack of refunds to customers on that 2022 cruise.

13 Investigates reached out to Capital Jazz for comment on the story and asked for an update on the refund process for those five friends. We received an automated response that said call and email volumes are greater than normal, and they’ll reply at the earliest convenience.

WATCH: Tessa Bentulan speaks with the Better Business Bureau and finds Capital Jazz has an “F” rating. Tessa also shares solutions on how you can protect yourself from that same situation.