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Xmas gift from SS to Venetian Society members

zqtchas

By zqtchas,
in Silversea

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le petit navire

le petit navire

Posted
Posted

Read the fine print on the back of the card. Only valid in a few cities and only for the purchase of 18 caret gold items and must be presented in person. Also it expires on December 31, 2012

 

Not much of a Christmas present. If Silversea had any sense at all they should have never sent this out to their guests. Great negative publicity!

 

I hope this is not what we should expect on future Silversea sailings.

 

le petit navire:mad:

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maddie2312

maddie2312

Posted
Posted

Is there small print with a minimum spend and then you get the $1000 off?

Yet again it must be a US offer as they don't have UK stores. (or that many in the US either) Had a look at their website didn't see anything under $2950 for 18k gold so no freebies to be had from the main product range.

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Miss Jet Set

Miss Jet Set

Posted
Posted

Our last Christmas present was on the Whisper and best forgotten. We received

a small Panettone cake which incidently was available every day in the Cafe.

We have always wondered what they were thinking of as we were in Australian

waters and they have a strict rule that NO food can be taken off the ship so we

could not even take it home.

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crusinbanjo "Live from...." Rare

crusinbanjo

Posted
Posted

Mrs. Banjo received her card yesterday. I figured that it might really be worthless. Not much chance we will be in any of the cities noted before December 31. Kind of like getting a lottery ticket as a gift...... ..... "your chance of getting the discount only improves slightly if you have the gift card.

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ruppert18

ruppert18

Posted
Posted

Got my card today. Got the same one from Neiman Marcus. Both worthless unless you want the gold Ripka pieces which start upwards of $3000. Judith Ripka has a great sterling line which is affordable. Maybe a shipboard credit for the spa would have been a better choice.

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Goldens4

Goldens4

Posted
Posted

Yup, got mine. Not good if you live in GA and cannot use online and will not be in the cities where you have to use in person. Nice gesture, but not practical. $1000.00 OBC or off your next cruise would have been a nice present.:)

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Herman The Cat

Herman The Cat

Posted
Posted

This is a really bad marketing faux pas in my opinion.

 

This should not have been positioned as a gift.

 

It was very exciting to receive it because I really like Judith Ripka designs, but I decided to check the back of the card since I thought it was probably too good to be true. When I saw it was 1) good only at stores; 2) expired 12/31/2012; and 3) was good only for the 18k gold collection, I decided to check out the Judith Ripka website. I suspected 18k gold items were probably above a few thousand, and they were (minimum about $3000). I was appalled that they positioned this as a gift.

 

This should have been positioned as a special holiday offer to Venetian Society members in conjunction with Judith Ripka. In my opinion it was poor taste and a bit offensive to position it as a gift since it has strings attached and is probably worthless for the vast majority who receive it...i.e., they are not near a Judith Ripka store.

 

I suspect there are some Silversea employees out there lurking on this board. Of course, they read a lot of complaints so they are probably a bit numb. But this stunt was just bad marketing strategy and judgment. They should know better. This is the big leagues, not the amateurs.

 

So, I just shake my head. Will it impact whether I travel on Silversea again? Probably not for me, but they should be more thoughtful about these types of things and how they are communicated. They had a really good opportunity for good will and they squandered it.

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Stumblefoot

Stumblefoot

Posted
Posted
This is a really bad marketing faux pas in my opinion.

 

This should not have been positioned as a gift.

 

This should have been positioned as a special holiday offer to Venetian Society members in conjunction with Judith Ripka.

 

But this stunt was just bad marketing strategy and judgment. They should know better. This is the big leagues, not the amateurs.

As someone who consults with consumer goods and services companies for a living, you really hit the nail on the head IMO. I have no idea what the strategy is, but the tactic clearly missed the mark. A gift is something given freely, without any payment. Unfortunately, this Silversea gift is merely an offer from a marketing partner as you noted.

 

So, I just shake my head. Will it impact whether I travel on Silversea again? Probably not for me, but they should be more thoughtful about these types of things and how they are communicated. They had a really good opportunity for good will and they squandered it.
Well said. This action doesn't drive me away from Silversea, but rather leaves me scratching my head. It reminds me of those worthless publishing gifts (offers) that American Express sends out.
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Emtbsam

Emtbsam

Posted
Posted

We received our "gift" today. Is Judith Ripka going to replace H. Stern on board?

 

Does anyone find it ironic that we can't get passenger lists because of confidentiality issues, but Silversea has no problem giving our names and full addresses to the folks at Judith Ripka?

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Seafairer

Seafairer

Posted
Posted

Very disappointing. Silversea obviously has a reciprocal marketing arrangement with Judith Ripka. Silversea hosts an onboard event for the jeweler, they exchange mail lists.. who knows? The real gift recipient is Silversea.

 

It's a stunningly insensitive choice:

1) This is a niche item; jewelry is a matter of personal taste, so many won't be drawn to these products.

 

2) With Silversea's recent "value-oriented" advertising, I'm afraid that many Venetians will be a little insulted (and rightly so) by the suggestion that they should spend this kind of $$$$ on their "gift" - a cruise on Silversea is already stretching the budget.

 

3) As already noted, most recipients don't live near the shops, so they can't use the card. Now we're getting somewhere: there's actually little downside for Judith Ripka because relatively few can redeem the $1,000 discount. What kind of gift is this? Someone please send Silversea a copy of Emily Post!!

 

4) And what about the men out there - did you get anything??

 

In a rare show of unanimity on this board, I think we're all feeling a tad manipulated by this transparent marketing ploy - a gift few can use, but positioned as a show of great holiday generosity. How unbecoming for Silversea's image.

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Scotspea

Scotspea

Posted
Posted
SQUANDERED is the correct word. Makes me skeptical about Ms. Bettridge's plans going forward. Wasn't marketing her job at AMEX?

 

 

Since this woman arrived we have had large price rises, no OBC, no free air,

TA changes and cheap useless marketing gimmicks.

Does anyone know of a single tangible improvement for the PASSENGER whilst onboard?

Maybe now she has had her free family cruise at our expense she will go back to AMEX!

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