Great C&A Response.... NOT

[wolfganghowell]

mjyanne - As a fellow Diamond, shareholder and RCI Visa card holder, I share your beliefs and am unhappy with this. It is ironic that a Gold and Platinum member can use their shareholder credit but we are "punished" for being the most loyal. It's a mere $100 so I don't buy Mr Goldstein's argument. But - it is what it is. As soon as the stock reaches an acceptable sell point for me, it will be gone. I firmly believe that they should have allowed combinability of Diamond and shareholder but I'm not abandoning ship over it.

 

Yes the new coupon book reeks. Sounds like all we'll be using is the spa discount for me and the casino garbage spin to win. What's ironic is that as RCI has slashed it's C&A benefits, Celebrity has finally made theirs worthy. I wish Mr Goldstein would take some marketing advice from Dan Hanrahan. ;)

[Debde]

Actually-I think this response makes perfect sense:

 

the primary reason to invest in our shares should be that the buyer believes the share price will appreciate and provide an acceptable return on investment.

 

 

 

You are supposed to buy stock in a company because you believe your investment will pay off-not because of a perk. Right=:confused:

[cruissett]

I wrote a letter to Mr Goldstein about a combining credit problem to a grandfather's booking number, and among other things stated how much the Free photo, free drink and JR's coupons would be missed from the Diamond Coupon book.

I got a call from Mr Goldstein's office that addressed the booking issue and had it corrected. No mention of the coupon book but that was OK.

 

Later that day I got a second call from Customer Service letting me know the combined credits would be allowed on that booking numbersince it had be grandfathered, and if there was anything else he could help me with. Well here was my chance to talk about Diamond benefits. He had the nerve to tell me the reason the coupons stated were removed was because they were seldom used. Then he went on to tell me I could look forward to becoming Diamond+ to earn the benefit of the CL, something that had been taken away from me! Grrrrrrrrrrr, I just kept getting madder & hotter the longer the conversation went on.

[bilyclub]

Actually-I think this response makes perfect sense:

 

the primary reason to invest in our shares should be that the buyer believes the share price will appreciate and provide an acceptable return on investment.

 

 

 

You are supposed to buy stock in a company because you believe your investment will pay off-not because of a perk. Right=:confused:

 

 

Yea, I bought at $35, it right now is $24.40. What a great investment.

[mjyanne]

Actually-I think this response makes perfect sense:

 

the primary reason to invest in our shares should be that the buyer believes the share price will appreciate and provide an acceptable return on investment.

 

 

 

You are supposed to buy stock in a company because you believe your investment will pay off-not because of a perk. Right=:confused:

 

I agree that you invest because you think the investment will payoff. However, if a company gives a perk for owning their stock, then that perk should apply regardless of any other perk the individual qualifies for.

 

As I have said before, as a member of C&A I am rewarded for being a loyal customer. As a stockholder I get a perk of OBC. As a Bank of America customer I receive benefits from THEM for doing business with them. I can understand not allowing a combining of benefits under the same program but it makes no sense not allowing the perks of each respective program.

 

I also understand this is all about the bottom line. But you cannot continue to water down the product AND cut the perks. It is counter productive and people will look elsewhere for the best value for their money (especially if they feel taken for granted--perceived or real).

[mjyanne]

I can't stand it when my idols make threats, particularly the American ones.

 

Thanks for the grammer check. Should have been idle.

[miamiyogi]

Thanks for the grammer check. Should have been idle.

 

Just inserting some levity. It was a really nice letter BTW

[wolfganghowell]

You are supposed to buy stock in a company because you believe your investment will pay off-not because of a perk

 

Of course. But when a company rather blatantly encourages you to buy stock as a way of receiving a perk on an ongoing basis, and then removes that perk, it's not the brightest marketing move.

 

And a company is answerable to its shareholders - many of which are now disgruntled Diamonds and Visa card holders.

[gatour]

To me the first sentance of their response back to the OP seems to acknowledge that they have registered your complaint....

 

"Thank you for your e-mail regarding the changes to the Crown & Anchor Society. We apologize for any delay in our response. We appreciate hearing your comments and suggestions regarding the welcome back gift and the ultimate value booklet. We have noted these suggestions in our monthly survey, which is used in future decision making purposes."

[Ladylouwho]

Of course. But when a company rather blatantly encourages you to buy stock as a way of receiving a perk on an ongoing basis, and then removes that perk, it's not the brightest marketing move.

 

And a company is answerable to its shareholders - many of which are now disgruntled Diamonds and Visa card holders.

 

I actually had a Loyalty Ambassador pushing my husband and I to buy the Stock in the summer of 2008. We were booking a 12 night Europe sailing for the next year and we were booking the Royal Family Suite and the balcony cabin next to it. We also had a couple other RCI cruises already booked.

 

He said you know, you really should buy the stock because you sail so much with us. The OBC will really add up over time. He handed us the info on the stock. We researched it and since the price was pretty reasonable ($24 and change) and at that time they still paid a dividend we each bought some. Ultimately it was our decision to buy the stock.

 

Well what a surprise when a couple of months later they changed the program and since we were Diamond and almost always at least book a balcony the stock OBC would no longer be available for us to use on those bookings. Luckily, RCI, under pressure from its loyal customers decided to let folks grandfather in cruises that were already booked and let folks combine their benefits for cruises already booked.

 

I have some problems with the way that Loyalty Ambassador was pushing the purshase of his Company stock. One is, they must have known the changes were coming and two, Goldstein now claims on his Blog and in e-mails he sent out under his name, that RCI NEVER INTENDED for people to be able to combine benefits, that it was just allowed over time.

 

Well, if what Goldstein said was true, why would his employees be pushing stock ownership to Diamond members who book balconies or higher? Who would train them to do this?

 

So I agree with your post that not only was RCI blatantly encouraging its customers to buy stock and that not only was it not the brightest marketing move to remove the combining of benefits, I also think it was a deceptive way to do business in general.

 

 

JMO,

Colleen

[KuffMUp]

Reading all of this makes me happy I have only had one cruise with RCCL. I never have seen a coupon book. I have never gone to a C&A welcome back party. So I have nothing to get mad about. I returned to RCCL after the first cruise because I liked the experience. Anything free they want to give me I figure is a perk.

[Ladylouwho]

Reading all of this makes me happy I have only had one cruise with RCCL. I never have seen a coupon book. I have never gone to a C&A welcome back party. So I have nothing to get mad about. I returned to RCCL after the first cruise because I liked the experience. Anything free they want to give me I figure is a perk.

 

Well, yes, anything free they give you is a perk. Since you are not used to getting perks on RCI you won't miss what you never had and may never get.

 

Some of us went on many, many cruises with RCI and spent many tens of thousands of dollars with them (instead of other cruiselines). We received perks that were promised to us for our continued Loyalty. These perks got better and better the more you cruised with RCI. As you cruised more and more with RCI you continued to receive more and more perks and RCI continued to receive more and more of your money.

 

It was the best Loyalty Program in the business and it worked like a charm! Then RCI decided to cutback on these perks and did so in manner which was insulting to many of its C & A members, especialy its Diamond members. Insult was added to injury when the cutbacks were called enhancements.

 

But you never experienced any of this and it didn't happen to you. Since you only cruised with them once, you didn't gain much and you didn't lose much. So yes, you would have no reason to be mad.

 

 

Colleen

[wolfganghowell]

I agree with Colleen's statements and want to add this. I owned my own business for 5 years. I've been in my industry for over 23 years. First thing I know about my industry is NEVER p--- off your most loyal, repeating clients. I have too much competition and since my industry is people oriented, I know they have too many options to go somewhere else. RCI's marketing has been abyssmal to its core clientele - it still provides a great product and I have no intention of "abandoning ship" but they have ignored a basic tenet of marketing - keep your clients coming back by providing incentives. They did a great job at this for a long time but in the past year have done one thing after another to alienate their base. They may believe it makes sense for a short term revenue fix but for a long term decision, it's rotten.

 

I don't believe your Loyalty Ambassador knew of the changes - RCI is notorious for not having the right hand know what the left is doing. My broker discouraged me from buying from the stock but when I explained the LONG TERM policy RCI had on the shareholders credit and how often we cruised RCI and X, it was an acceptable investment for us. We have always booked JS or better (or CC or better on X) in order to get the double credit and get higher status - because their marketing encouraged people to build credits to receive perks. Those of us who spent extra $$ due to their marketing incentives got taken for a ride. And we felt as if they reneged on an implied agreement - if we kept sailing with them, they would reward us. The reward is now pretty much gone.

 

I've accepted it (remarks above are just old fashioned venting ;)) but I doubt I will trust much of their future marketing and promises to C&A members.

[djneph]

To the OP,

 

The response given to you depends on what your original email to them said. I am not sure what you said in your email, so I can't comment on whether the agent dropped the ball on the response.

 

Yes we did use standard language for some emails. Unortunately, we would recieve TONS of emails/letters daily (I only worked post-cruise, so there were even more pre-cruise questions) and we always tried to have about a 5 day turn around on rsponses. Once we type our response (it gets reviewed) to make sure we aren't replying with rude/foul langugae (and check for grammer). If we took the time to draft a unique response to each letter, turnaround would be weeks and then folks would compalin we take too long. If we hire more staff so we can have fast turn around and individual responses then profits go down or pricess have to go up and either investors and customers are unhappy.

 

I am not trying to excuse their response, just trying to give you an idea of how things work. Unfortunately, when I recieved an email/letter for something similar (where there is absolutely nothing I can do, like when we started charging for Johny Rockets) I just apologize to them and advise them their comments were forwarded to the right department.

 

Lastly, for the most part we are not allowed to respond anyway we want, there is a format and a style the company has approved, so we had to follow it.

 

If you did indeed said that you will never cruise again with RCI (then they should have not used the standard closing of "Can't wait to welcome you back onboard). We had another standard closing we would use... "While we hate to lose valuable guests such as you, we udnerstand sometimes....." I don't remember the whole statement.

 

I can share some funny stories of the request people made and things they were upset about.

[Debde]

Ladylouwho

You have to admit-and not directing this at you-just some thoughts on your post:

We all have read over and over how so many folks have abused the system. Sneaking people in to the lounge-combining benefits to the point they were cashing out in the casino and the list can go on. These are just some of the reasons why RCCL looked up from its desk and said-enough is enough.

I think rewarded loyalty on some peoples parts gets confused with how much can a take the system for.

 

I absolutly agree with kuffmup. Enjoy your vacation at its basic and anything complimentary should be a pleasant bonus. Expect nothing free.

 

Don't we all know and think the loyalty program has only begun its changes? :confused:

Personally-I like reward programs from resort chains. The more I stay with them-the more of a reduction I get off my next vacation!

[darla723]

On our last cruise--first as Platinum--we used several of the coupons in the Platinum book, however I was surprised that the free wine tasting coupon ($9.95 value--I feel the best one in the GOLD book) was replaced by one promising 15% off a bottle of wine after purchasing one priced over $50.00. Not a great incentive!!:confused:

 

One other coupon in the Gold book was eating for free at Johnny Rockets ($4.95 value) Now (Platinum) it's 2 for 1 milkshake.

 

I wonder what the Platinum books had to offer before all the cutbacks:rolleyes:

 

However, I still will cruise Royal for the overall experience and view these coupons as the small benefit they have become, certainly nothing that makes or breaks my cruise!

 

 

Oh--The platinum books ARE slightly larger...

Doreen

[roysmith99]

Well, I too usually dont comment in threads of this nature, beacause I always get sopmeone snapping back at me, but....

 

I too think the coupon books are not as good as they once were - so who cares, I dont. I crusie with whom I want because of their product, not because of their freebies.

 

I also hate getting repsonses that are not what I expected, so I need to learn to write more structered letters.

 

However, I find that rasing an issue on-baord the ship tends to get a much better response, dont wiat until you get back. Oh, and while I am raising my head above the parapet, I also take time, on board, to write and thank those who provide a service above that expected. And guess what, there is always a message on the voice-mail in the cabin saying thanks for the letter.

 

In my opinion RCCI have become a victim of their own success. With so may of us being G, P, D or D+ it is impossible for them to recognise our loyalty without raising costs. So, dont try, sell a good product, offer good service above that of the competition and we will continue to come back.

 

Personally I' rtaher that RCCI worked harder to solve some of the logistical; problems that do beset every cruise I have taken. Long queues (sorry lines) to board and disembark. Massive discomfort on tenders and those awful shore excursions where we all become sheep for the day. Actually they could use a really good project manager.......

 

.

[BecciBoo]

I cruise RCCL because I enjoy it. However, I completely understand what the OP is saying. I don't feel I get any benefits or apprecation for remaining loyal. While the balcony discount is a nice gesture, the price difference is still too great for my budget.

 

I don't think a free drink instead of buy one get one would break them.

 

I have to give them credit for the "positive spin" they've placed on the poolside towel service and My Time Dining! The poolside towel service makes things more inconvenient. If I want to take the towel on shore for an excursion I have to go up and get one first. Also, there's the fact that I now have to watch it all the time because it's now basically a $20.00 bill!

 

MTD might be nice for some but isn't for me.

 

Will any of this ruin my vacation or bring me down? No Way! But I can certainly understand why people have issues with it. At least with loyalty to airlines you can get free upgrades, grocery stores offer coupons, credit cards and gas stations offer cash back etc.

 

The balcony discount is $200! For Diamond at least. That's huge, at least for me! Rccl's best fares are comparable to any cruise line. Even, Carnival. I always check their prices to compare and I never understand how people can say they are so much cheaper. Hardly if ever any time I look.

 

The two for one wine coupons ARE a free drink:confused:

 

The towels when they were inroom were still $20 if you lost them. In fact they always asked you not to take them ashore and that you were responsible if they were lost.

They notified you of this in the welcome aboard material in your stateroom. The only difference is now you go and get them. I have done it many times and there has never been a line when I go.

 

I find the coupon books extremely useful. They saved us lots of money on our last cruise, even though some things have been done away with or reduced. We used many of them. I figure we saved around $40 or so. I do not understand why people can call them useless.

 

As to the reply, what else is called for but a polite reply with explanation.

 

I have also written emails commenting on the changes and received the standard replies. But its out of our control. We can only voice our decent and cope with it. This kind of stuff just doesn't rain on my parade.:)

[darla723]

The two for one wine coupons ARE a free drink:confused:.....

 

I find the coupon books extremely useful. They saved us lots of money on our last cruise, even though some things have been done away with or reduced. We used many of them. I figure we saved around $40 or so. I do not understand why people can call them useless.

 

As to the reply, what else is called for but a polite reply with explanation.

 

I have also written emails commenting on the changes and received the standard replies. But its out of our control. We can only voice our decent and cope with it. This kind of stuff just doesn't rain on my parade.:)

 

 

I forgot about the 2 for 1 glass of wine coupon! We used both of ours at dinner the last night with my family in lieu of another bottle!!;)

 

Doreen

[Ladylouwho]

I agree with Colleen's statements and want to add this. I owned my own business for 5 years. I've been in my industry for over 23 years. First thing I know about my industry is NEVER p--- off your most loyal, repeating clients. I have too much competition and since my industry is people oriented, I know they have too many options to go somewhere else. RCI's marketing has been abyssmal to its core clientele - it still provides a great product and I have no intention of "abandoning ship" but they have ignored a basic tenet of marketing - keep your clients coming back by providing incentives. They did a great job at this for a long time but in the past year have done one thing after another to alienate their base. They may believe it makes sense for a short term revenue fix but for a long term decision, it's rotten.

 

I don't believe your Loyalty Ambassador knew of the changes - RCI is notorious for not having the right hand know what the left is doing. My broker discouraged me from buying from the stock but when I explained the LONG TERM policy RCI had on the shareholders credit and how often we cruised RCI and X, it was an acceptable investment for us. We have always booked JS or better (or CC or better on X) in order to get the double credit and get higher status - because their marketing encouraged people to build credits to receive perks. Those of us who spent extra $$ due to their marketing incentives got taken for a ride. And we felt as if they reneged on an implied agreement - if we kept sailing with them, they would reward us. The reward is now pretty much gone.

 

I've accepted it (remarks above are just old fashioned venting ;)) but I doubt I will trust much of their future marketing and promises to C&A members.

 

Wolfganghowell,

 

I agree with your post 100% And coming from a business owner it carries even more weight.

 

As far as the Loyalty Ambassador, I don't think he knew either (should have worded that better), they never do do they? But the top folks new it was coming, and they didn't get it down the chain and stop the LA's from pushing the stock.

 

I agree that it was an implied agreement and they reneged.

 

 

JMO,

Colleen

[xpcdoojk]

Are we going to argue over the same old crapola forever? Seems like a perfectly good way to spend our lives to me.:rolleyes: If you don't like RCI move right along. If you think the coupon book is a reason to sail Carnival, book a cruise with them. Nobody really cares, beyond those that want to justify their past committments to their own beliefs. Clearly, everyone knew that the perks of becoming diamond were going to swamp the system. A breaking point in an economy being destroyed from the top down, and the cruiseline had to make a decision that they felt they needed to make in order to survive. They made a decision. They and we have to live with it. Time will tell if it is the right decision or a stupid decision. The continual nattering about it is just a waste....:rolleyes:

 

jc<---- knows too many people are invested in this silly topic to ever move on.

 

jc<---- knows that some people think others give a rip what they think about it.

[Ladylouwho]

Ladylouwho

You have to admit-and not directing this at you-just some thoughts on your post:

We all have read over and over how so many folks have abused the system. Sneaking people in to the lounge-combining benefits to the point they were cashing out in the casino and the list can go on. These are just some of the reasons why RCCL looked up from its desk and said-enough is enough.

I think rewarded loyalty on some peoples parts gets confused with how much can a take the system for.

 

I absolutly agree with kuffmup. Enjoy your vacation at its basic and anything complimentary should be a pleasant bonus. Expect nothing free.

 

Don't we all know and think the loyalty program has only begun its changes? :confused:

Personally-I like reward programs from resort chains. The more I stay with them-the more of a reduction I get off my next vacation!

 

Debde,

Correct. Only most of us were not doing that. They could have figured out who wasn't spending on board, who plopped themselves in the Lounge for drink after drink, etc.

 

But they didn't and the result was that they ROYALLY pissed off a lot of Loyal customers.

 

Like wolfganghowell said, that is the last thing you do as a business.

 

As far as more cuts to the loyalty program coming, oh I fully expect it. The people who are DP now or who are rushing to become DP are going to be very unhappy sometime soon. And I will know how they feel.

 

A good loyalty program rewards their most lucrative customers. RCI isn't doing that.

 

But hey, that is cool. The only RCI cruise I have booked is one that has been booked since August, 2008. This is the first time I haven't got several cruises booked out with RCI in a long time. And I don't think I am the only one.

 

 

JMO,

Colleen

[wolfganghowell]

jc<---- knows that some people think others give a rip what they think about it.

 

But jc I was bored today and grumpy - let me natter. We usually agree with idiocy so I feel slapped down by my equally caustic board buddy. :D :D That's ok - we have a 99% agreement rate.

 

You are right - there are bigger battles to discuss like jeans in the MDR, no trays in the WJ and the inability of a 10 year old child to get a massage on board (don't ask). ;)

[Tom_n_Sara]

To the OP,

 

The response given to you depends on what your original email to them said. I am not sure what you said in your email, so I can't comment on whether the agent dropped the ball on the response.

 

Yes we did use standard language for some emails. Unortunately, we would recieve TONS of emails/letters daily (I only worked post-cruise, so there were even more pre-cruise questions) and we always tried to have about a 5 day turn around on rsponses. Once we type our response (it gets reviewed) to make sure we aren't replying with rude/foul langugae (and check for grammer). If we took the time to draft a unique response to each letter, turnaround would be weeks and then folks would compalin we take too long. If we hire more staff so we can have fast turn around and individual responses then profits go down or pricess have to go up and either investors and customers are unhappy.

 

I am not trying to excuse their response, just trying to give you an idea of how things work. Unfortunately, when I recieved an email/letter for something similar (where there is absolutely nothing I can do, like when we started charging for Johny Rockets) I just apologize to them and advise them their comments were forwarded to the right department.

 

Lastly, for the most part we are not allowed to respond anyway we want, there is a format and a style the company has approved, so we had to follow it.

 

If you did indeed said that you will never cruise again with RCI (then they should have not used the standard closing of "Can't wait to welcome you back onboard). We had another standard closing we would use... "While we hate to lose valuable guests such as you, we udnerstand sometimes....." I don't remember the whole statement.

 

I can share some funny stories of the request people made and things they were upset about.

 

Actually, it has been other people who have said I wasn't going on another RCI cruise. I said i was looking at other cruise lines. If they had said something like you said, "I am sorry that we have had to change what our original perks were, but finances have forced our hand." I would have said that was an answer.

 

The truth was I was sad when i wrote the email to them, that is UNTIL I got the response that was said, "Yes, we have changed the original program but now you have MTD and towels at the pools instead of in your room."

 

Thanks to those who have responded.

[xpcdoojk]

But jc I was bored today and grumpy - let me natter. We usually agree with idiocy so I feel slapped down by my equally caustic board buddy. :D :D That's ok - we have a 99% agreement rate.

 

You are right - there are bigger battles to discuss like jeans in the MDR, no trays in the WJ and the inability of a 10 year old child to get a massage on board (don't ask). ;)

 

Wolfie,

 

I didn't see the massage thread until it had already been locked, that said, I couldn't seem to think of what I could possibly say about that, except... ok one thing. If I was a 10 year old brat, and my mommy wanted to spoil me a bit more with a massage, I would say, umm how bout you give me another 100 bucks for the arcade and you can go get a massage while I zap some space aliens.

 

Feel free to natter away. I had the strength to stay away from this for quite a while, but I am weak. I just have to give in if the insanity goes on long enough.

 

Ok, since I have you and Coleen in the same room, convince me I should stray and eat beyond my normal Dallas eats this weekend. I am torn between the Palm, Pappadeaux, and some steak place (with non beef stuff) across the street from the Palm. Convince me to branch out to something new. I hit big D Sunday evening... just in time for dinner.

 

jc