Does it Ever Bother You?

[sparky-elpaso]

Somehow people have come to expect "perfection" in everything.

 

I was in line at the front desk on the Westerdam to sign up for one of the cooking classes and one of the crew members was helping people still in line if she could. The "gentleman" in front of me was loudly and rudely complaining that one evening he and his wife hadn't gotten any dinner. Not sure when since this was the first full day of the cruise. Then I realized that he was talking about an evening on a previous cruise - not the current one. Unfortunately I was called over to the desk so I didn't get to hear the outcome.

[gerryl12]

On our last cruise we had one person who complained about just about everything. If something wasn't wrong he would say it was wrong. Of course in the end he said he was cancelling his gratuities. That was his way of not paying the gratuities.

[Overtime4me2]

Yes, yes and................YES !! I so agree with you Sail. It seems to be becoming the "in" thing to do. To me it's the same as telling a lie, stretching the truth, etc, etc. If there's a legitimate complaint, notify immediately. If not, get on with your life (or cruise in this instance) and let everyone else enjoy theirs! :) I hate to say it, but it's a sign of the times...gimmee....entitlement....me first.....:(

[babyher]

Anothert thing that is getting on my nerves is this "victim" mentality that has become so pervasive.

 

Nothing is "My" fault , It was someone eles. I am the "victim"

 

And once you are labeled a victim all the onus is off of you and on the big bad wolf who did this to you.

 

Another new kick is how everything has become an illness, or a condition , or a syndrome. Again making the responsible party the poor victim and the big martyr.

 

 

"Well yes he did kill 16 people , but he was suffering from Lip****z - Berkowitz syndrome . He is as much of a victim as the people he killed .

 

It really needs to stop

[jhannah]

I wholeheartedly agree with the OP. Our society, in general, is made up of folks who were raised in an entitlement frame of mind. "You owe me." I'm going to stop at that because I don't want to get anyone all riled up and off in a political discussion. It's sad.

[piscesgal223]

Jhannah:They are people whose families have never told them "No" and aren't going to start. That creates problems.

[COLLEYBERRY]

Interesting thread Sail.:)

I work with a gal (love her dearly, but this kind of bugged me) She sailed on the Eurodam shortly after I did (when the ship was brand spanking new) She told me when she arrived in her cabin the bathroom was not clean "disgusting"(okay maybe got overlooked for some reason) she then said she cleaned the bathroom floor herself !!! :eek: Huh ??

I said "Why on earth didn't you just call housekeeping and have the cabin steward clean it!! "...I have not cruise as much as some but have never found cleanliness to be an issue with Hal..in fact quite the opposite..it's called "Dutch clean " for a reason;)

She then proceeded to tell me she wrote a letter to Hal about the issue and did in fact receive an OBC for her next cruise. Way back in the recesses of my mind I vaguely remember her mentioning about writing to Hal about something before and getting OBC..so yes there may be some people who indeed do this routinely ..maybe all part of budgeting for a cruise.

[kazu]

And these people do not realize that when they open a complaint with a cruise line, and are not satisfied with the resolution, they go on a list, which is watched when they cruise. Enough complaints and they are invited not to cruise with that line, or family of lines. EM

 

Seriously EM? so if you send a letter outlining things that can be improved you go on this list? or is this for pervasive complainers? do they really refuse some people? I've seen some pretty big complainers and they were booking cruises again. Just wondering when the ship draws the line?:confused:

[donh1]

For what it's worth I strongly believe that some people believe that the amount of compensation is based on how angry they are. Also some people start out with a rather small issue and in their zeal to get compensation ruin their vacation. Haven't they heard of making the best of things. A well written letter after the fact fully explaining your position will usually generate a written response and action. Any form of compensation is a bonus.

[queenofcruise]

We have been lucky enough to go on several cruises, I can honestly say most of them were great ones, and there were a couple that were not so great, and one that was really pretty bad, from the AC breaking down-people sleeping on deck because every room was so hot, the ship listing, sewer problems, etc....in fact two weeks later the same ship had a fire. But you know what, we tried to take it all in stride. And look at the positive, we visited some great ports, met some nice people and we were not on the ship when it had a fire! We were offered a discount off our next cruise but certainly did not stand in line or demand that we receive it....Just my opinion but sometimes there are legitimate complaints that need to be addressed, and sometimes even when the complaints are addressed, it's never enough. I would venture to guess these same people go about their everyday life in the same manner...full of self-entitlement..

[world~citizen]

People ask for consideration when things go wrong in virtually every commercial transaction. So it was, is, and ever shall be.

 

I booked a cruise where three ports of call were dropped 2 days after final payment. Were there howls? You bet. A chorus of them here on CC. (It wasn't HAL.)

 

In the end, there were a lot of substantial refunds to credit cards and I doubt that would have happened if pax chimed: Please sir, can you drop another.

 

Complaints all have to be considered in the same way - each according to their merit.

 

Its not personal, its just business.;)

 

Smooth sailing...

[world~citizen]

I wholeheartedly agree with the OP. Our society, in general, is made up of folks who were raised in an entitlement frame of mind. "You owe me." I'm going to stop at that because I don't want to get anyone all riled up and off in a political discussion. It's sad.

 

Agreed. Even worse - someone may have told them at one time or another in their lives that "life was fair". I'll stop too for the same reasons as you.:D

[jb9991]

I managed a hotel for many years, and it's the same way. A week AFTER you get home, you call or write to complain about everything & anything. These are things that could have been taken care of at the time. Now days with Trip Advisor & all the message boards, plus Facebook & Twitter, they will get on there and try to do as much damage as possible. It's really sad, because Owners & Managers are almost held hostage by this.

[RobinLWms]

I am not sure if I agree with the OP or not, because I can only go on what I am reading here. Maybe there is more to it, but it sounds like a lot of jumping to judgment to me. If someone feels they are due something from a company they paid for a service, how is it anyone's business but the company and the person asking for or expecting compensation? Everyone is not the same. Just because one person has no problem going to a manager to complain upfront, does not mean the next person is made the same way. These boards are for discussion and expression, and a lot of people like the anonymity. Everyone has the right to discuss whatever they want as long as it is within the boards guidelines. Why read it then "complain" about it? Please don't misunderstand me. I don't care that someone is complaining, I don't care that someone never posted, except to complain, and I don't care if I hear someone complaining on a ship within my hearing. As long as they aren't hurting anyone else, I go about the business of enjoying myself. This all just seems very small to me.:(

[CowPrincess]

I am not sure if I agree with the OP or not, because I can only go on what I am reading here. Maybe there is more to it, but it sounds like a lot of jumping to judgment to me. If someone feels they are due something from a company they paid for a service, how is it anyone's business but the company and the person asking for or expecting compensation? Everyone is not the same. Just because one person has no problem going to a manager to complain upfront, does not mean the next person is made the same way. These boards are for discussion and expression, and a lot of people like the anonymity. Everyone has the right to discuss whatever they want as long as it is within the boards guidelines. Why read it then "complain" about it? Please don't misunderstand me. I don't care that someone is complaining, I don't care that someone never posted, except to complain, and I don't care if I hear someone complaining on a ship within my hearing. As long as they aren't hurting anyone else, I go about the business of enjoying myself. This all just seems very small to me.:(

 

There is a small subset of cruisers who seem determined to reduce their vacation costs by abusing the cruiselines. I personally know two, and am appalled at what they do, and what they get away with. If I had so many complaints about each and every cruise I took on a particular line, I would stop cruising on that line. Seriously, you're going to write a letter of complaint because I got an upsell offer on HAL, and you didn't get one on Princess? And I'll bet they got OBC for their next cruise over that. In addition to whatever they got for their complaints about inside cabins, slow service in the MDR at lunch, not getting fixed seating, not liking their cabin location, thinking a shorex was overpriced, not liking the CD, thinking that having one elevator out of service was cruise-ruining, having to wait for disembarkation, hating the room service menu, ad nauseum. These people cruise on Princess 2 or 3 times a year, and have for several years. Every cruise, they have "cruise ruining" experiences that they write complaint letters about. So they are getting some sort of reward, and knowing them -- it would be an economic reward.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

We recently had an A/C issue on one of our sailings. After two days of them trying to get the A/C to work properly, it was resolved, although not as cold as we would have liked it. Two days later we received a letter stating how sorry they were for our inconvenience and giving us OBC. We were upset about this, since the only thing we wanted was A/C. We ended up giving the staff who helped us with the issue the OBC as gifts. Our problem was solved and we didn't see any need for compensation.

[bet410]

I may be wrong, but I think the point here is that some people seem to make a practice of finding everything wrong that they can and then demanding some kind of compensation for it.

 

It's one thing to complain and try to remedy things. It's entirely different to complain with the specific intent that you want to get something out of it beyond what you would normally be due. Nobody is taking issue with legitimate complaints. We all have issues that need to be dealt with. I was at the front desk several times on my last cruise, dealing with several different issues. Did I have a right to complain? You bet!!! Did I demand compensation other than asking for the issues to be fixed? No!!! Instead I wrote a compliment card about the front desk personnel that assisted me and made sure that everything was taken care of.

 

While a few of the issues were quite minor, two were more serious and deserved to be dealt with ASAP. One concerned a stopped up toilet. It happened several times on the cruise (and no, we didn't put anything inappropriate down the toilet - having had a summer job in my college years as a john cleaner, I DO know what a mess it can create). One time it took several hours for the maintenance staff to get to the room to fix it. Another regarded a soda card that had been purchased online before the cruise that was never received. Both issues were cared for, though it was definitely an inconvenience to have to keep pursuing them. However, they did not ruin the cruise, nor did we expect them to give us something for the inconvenience!

 

Issues like this and others are things that can come up anywhere - whether they be at home or on vacation. It's how some people handle them that's frustrating!

[buckirj1]

It's a sad commentary when it isn't enough that issues get resolved; instead, folks seem to feel entitled to "something" for their "inconvenience." Moreover, the "something" never seems to be commensurate with their "inconvenience." Sure wish folks wouldn't think they're so spayshul.

[FINTUCKYFARMS]

I wish cruise Critic had a like button like facebook :) Our family has had this exact conversation after witnessing some deplorable behavior at the customer service desk.

[Jemima]

We had a small glitch with an otherwise excellent event several years ago. Someone later tried to instruct me to make a complaint. It seems they did this on every cruise and got OBC or something reduced on the next cruise.

I was shocked and of course didn't compalin. In retrospect I now think it's possible that the glitch may have even been created by them, but hope that's not so.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

The saddest thing we've seen on several cruises is when people throw CC in the complaints! They state that unless something is rectified or if they are not compensated they will report all of this on CC.

[piscesgal223]

I've read the comments about people saying they will complain on CC if they don't get what they want.. *shakes head*.

[jrzebird]

I've read the comments about people saying they will complain on CC if they don't get what they want.. *shakes head*.

 

The problem is, a lot of them do complain in CC. Often 'one post wonders' who post and disappear. I don't know why I even read those posts, except it's like watching a wreck -- just can't help looking! My blood pressure goes way up and I usually feel compelled to respond! :rolleyes:

 

Sail, as usual, I agree with you. There are people looking for something for nothing; people who just seem to look for the negative and lose the positive as a result; and those who really feel they are entitled to 'damages'. I work in a law office and often we have people who are seriously injured come in and they understandably want their pound of flesh. Problem is -- no third-party liability, it was their fault. They are insulted when told this, and often don't understand. I have a feeling that's part of the mental set of a lot of people who complain. They don't look at their own actions and how those actions affect the outcome.

 

I was on a HAL cruise once when we had a Code Red for noro and I saw one passenger hurl a plate at a server in the buffet because he wasn't allowed to help himself in the buffet. I'm sure this gentleman thought his cruise was ruined and it was HAL's fault.

 

People are only as happy as they set their minds to be. It's a head game. Think negative, you get negative ...

 

Maureen

[debsjc]

I would say we have found HAL are very good at resolving issues at the time, if you politely explain what the problem is. I would much rather explain what I am unhappy about whilst on board, and give them a chance to fix it.

[bcd2010]

There will always be people who exploit the system and there will always be people who point them out.