Breakaway fare went lower NCL only offered 30% reduction

[luddite]

you're missing the point, I'm mostly unhappy at their lack of getting back to me, at the end of the day it's a few hundred dollars that already spent, but just respond that's all i'm asking.

 

Also, why shouldn't i try to get the best deal I can? If you knew they would give you money back why not call and ask for it? It seems foolish not too.

 

Trying isn't an issue. Complaining about a lack of success is an issue.

We see this issue rather frequently and it is always ..... interesting.

[luddite]

The point is that they did respond to your original request and gave you $150.00 in OBC under which they were under no obligation to do so. I can completely understand where NCL would consider the matter closed.

Enjoy your vacation and do something fun with the OBC!

 

I thought he got immediate response as well.

Huh.

[punkincc]

 

 

 

In an unrelated note:

 

I see that you called your TA about your pricing. The OP contacted NCL customer service AND Norwegian CEO Kevin Sheehan directly. I can't help but wonder if the differing outcomes were a direct result of the choosen communication paths.

 

 

I have always gotten great results with having my TA call re pricing and upgrades. There are those who swear by booking directly with NCL as they feel they have more "control" over the booking. I think perhaps the TA can get a little more consideration out of NCl because of the fact that they book lots of customers and could just as easily steer someone to RCCL instead. They like to keep them happy. I doubt I would have gotten the same results if I had booked on my own and had no TA to intercede.

[SeaShark]

I have always gotten great results with having my TA call re pricing and upgrades. There are those who swear by booking directly with NCL as they feel they have more "control" over the booking. I think perhaps the TA can get a little more consideration out of NCl because of the fact that they book lots of customers and could just as easily steer someone to RCCL instead. They like to keep them happy. I doubt I would have gotten the same results if I had booked on my own and had no TA to intercede.

 

Your treatment though may be more of a reflection of your particular situation and not representative of what other people may experience.

 

I can understand that you feel that your TA treats you right. However, the "lesser" treatment that you receive from NCL may simply be a reaction to you using the PCC to make the booking only to then turn around had have the PCC lose that booking when you transfer it to your TA. I don't think I would appreciate that if I was the PCC.

 

On the other hand, maybe the TA treats you well because you have the PCC do the initial booking which means the TA only has to do part of the work!

[ncklhaus]

I have always gotten great results with having my TA call re pricing and upgrades. There are those who swear by booking directly with NCL as they feel they have more "control" over the booking. I think perhaps the TA can get a little more consideration out of NCl because of the fact that they book lots of customers and could just as easily steer someone to RCCL instead. They like to keep them happy. I doubt I would have gotten the same results if I had booked on my own and had no TA to intercede.

 

My last cruise on NCL was booked thru a TA. I saw after final payment that the price had dropped. I called NCL directly and asked them if there was anything that could be done. The agent said they would give me an upgrade to a better category, but my TA would need to call and ask for it to be done. They were so nice and friendly and had no problem accommodating, but they can only do what is possible. If there are no rooms available to upgrade to, they MAY offer an onboard credit.

When I first called I said right away that I know it is past final payment and I understand if there is nothing they can do. But it never hurts to ask, so I figured I would take a chance and call. It's all about how you treat people.

The OP was given an OBC and in my opinion that should have been enough. As far as not getting a response from Kevin Sheehan, whoever screens his email probably looked into the reservation and saw that they were given OBC and felt that was enough. No response necessary.

[knitlady037]

I'll acknowledge that I embellished that if you acknowledge that you misquoted me and didn't completely read the OP.

 

Would you like a little cheese for all that whine?:rolleyes:

[IrishJerzeegurl]

Is anyone reading what this person is writing?!?! The issue is not the price but the fact the person that should be giving the BEST customer service is not following the standard that is expected of the employees that work for the company. This consumer is NOT getting a response from the company. Contacting the CEO to ask a question is not a waste of the CEO's time the CEO is the person that should be setting the standard of how all employees of the company should be treating consumers. If the CEO is going to ignore a consumer then what is the expectation of how the employees will treat the consumer?

 

I have contacted cruise lines in the past if the price of the cruise I was going on decreased and I have NEVER been told here is 30% of the price difference. I have always been credited the difference whether it be back to my credit card or in credit while on the cruise. There is not harm is asking the question and as far as Mr. Sheehan having more important issues to deal with, that is crap, his job is to ensure that the clientele become repeat customers and ignoring the very simple question this customer asked will certainly confirm that this gentleman and his wife will NOT return to NCL.

 

Mr. Sheehan should respect the fact this person took the time out of his busy work schedule to ask a question to the one person in the company that can give a definitive answer. The choice to ignore the consumers correspondence is a conscious one and Mr. Sheehan should be embarrassed that is the action that has been chosen.

[SuiteCruiser]

Is anyone reading what this person is writing?!?! The issue is not the price but the fact the person that should be giving the BEST customer service is not following the standard that is expected of the employees that work for the company. This consumer is NOT getting a response from the company. Contacting the CEO to ask a question is not a waste of the CEO's time the CEO is the person that should be setting the standard of how all employees of the company should be treating consumers. If the CEO is going to ignore a consumer then what is the expectation of how the employees will treat the consumer?

 

I have contacted cruise lines in the past if the price of the cruise I was going on decreased and I have NEVER been told here is 30% of the price difference. I have always been credited the difference whether it be back to my credit card or in credit while on the cruise. There is not harm is asking the question and as far as Mr. Sheehan having more important issues to deal with, that is crap, his job is to ensure that the clientele become repeat customers and ignoring the very simple question this customer asked will certainly confirm that this gentleman and his wife will NOT return to NCL.

 

Mr. Sheehan should respect the fact this person took the time out of his busy work schedule to ask a question to the one person in the company that can give a definitive answer. The choice to ignore the consumers correspondence is a conscious one and Mr. Sheehan should be embarrassed that is the action that has been chosen.

 

Perhaps you've sailed Carnival that has option to lock into the lowest rates? Not on NCL, the rules are the rules. I don't think you understand that the OP got a response right away, got an OBC that they weren't due and went on to complain about it.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

[kylenyc]

I'm starting to see some of your points... I think... sort of... maybe? :P When I or any of the hundreds of thousands of employees of Walmart have a problem at the check out counter, I expect everyone of us to be able to email Sam Walden and for him to personally respond. I mean why bother with supervisors or the customer service desk. Also, can someone explain why the email addresses of CEOs of the every other Fortune 500 company aren't posted on their websites? Oh because they generally aren't made public for a reason? :rolleyes:

[IrishJerzeegurl]

I have sailed Carnival exactly one time and trust me that was one time too many. RCCL is very accommodating in an instance such as this. I work VERY hard for the money I earn and when I spend it I want to get all I can with it. I have contacted the CEO of RCCL with concerns because I feel that he should know what is going on with the staff employed by the company, every time I have contacted him I have been answered within 1 business day and most of the time an email to him generated a phone call in response.

 

I am sure that Mr. Sheehan has an assistant to review his email and the courtesy of a response is all this person was asking. No response at all is like telling him to go XXXX himself.

[Demonyte]

Is anyone reading what this person is writing?!?! The issue is not the price but the fact the person that should be giving the BEST customer service is not following the standard that is expected of the employees that work for the company. This consumer is NOT getting a response from the company.

 

Most definitely we are reading. Customer got immediate response (plus a compensation that by contract they were not entitled to) and when they questioned it, they got the same response from higher level. This should been the end of it, if there sre two level of customer reps telling that company policy is this, there is no need to bother CEO about it.

 

Mr. Sheehan should respect the fact this person took the time out of his busy work schedule to ask a question to the one person in the company that can give a definitive answer. The choice to ignore the consumers correspondence is a conscious one and Mr. Sheehan should be embarrassed that is the action that has been chosen.

 

As already stated, there are over ten ships in NCL fleet and usually at least 2000 passengers on each ship each week. That makes over million passengers a year that all might want something and that's why there are customer service reps available - to handle the requests with company policies and contracts to guideline the process.

 

CEO is not a customer service rep that should be bothered with a single passenger trying to get something they are not entitled to - if CEO were to take action on every tiny detail themselves, by definition that would be micromanaging:

 

"Rather than giving general instructions on smaller tasks and then devoting time to supervising larger concerns, the micromanager monitors and assesses every step of a business process and avoids delegation of decisions."

[DevCruise]

There is not harm is asking the question and as far as Mr. Sheehan having more important issues to deal with, that is crap, his job is to ensure that the clientele become repeat customers and ignoring the very simple question this customer asked will certainly confirm that this gentleman and his wife will NOT return to NCL.

 

Do you think the OP's e-mail is the only one that crosses the CEO's desk?

 

I used Wikipedia as the source of the numbers. Assuming double occupancy and that all cruises are 7-day cruises (yes, I know it isn't true, but makes the math easy), NCL has 30,614 people every week or 1,591,928 people every year. This also assumes that nobody sails twice. If even 1% of those people email the CEO, that's 15,919 emails that he has to deal with in addition to all the other emails that he gets plus anything else that the CEO position entails.

[SeaShark]

Is anyone reading what this person is writing?!?! The issue is not the price but the fact the person that should be giving the BEST customer service is not following the standard that is expected of the employees that work for the company. This consumer is NOT getting a response from the company. Contacting the CEO to ask a question is not a waste of the CEO's time the CEO is the person that should be setting the standard of how all employees of the company should be treating consumers. If the CEO is going to ignore a consumer then what is the expectation of how the employees will treat the consumer?

 

I have contacted cruise lines in the past if the price of the cruise I was going on decreased and I have NEVER been told here is 30% of the price difference. I have always been credited the difference whether it be back to my credit card or in credit while on the cruise. There is not harm is asking the question and as far as Mr. Sheehan having more important issues to deal with, that is crap, his job is to ensure that the clientele become repeat customers and ignoring the very simple question this customer asked will certainly confirm that this gentleman and his wife will NOT return to NCL.

 

Mr. Sheehan should respect the fact this person took the time out of his busy work schedule to ask a question to the one person in the company that can give a definitive answer. The choice to ignore the consumers correspondence is a conscious one and Mr. Sheehan should be embarrassed that is the action that has been chosen.

 

Did YOU read what was written? The person got an IMMEDIATE response and an offer that was more generous than the rules allowed. How is that not good customer service? Customer service serves the customer...it doesn't just give people anything and everything they want. Sometimes the correct answer is "no".

 

Time spent responding to a customer who has already been responded to (and who clearly wants to argue endlessly until they get their way) is time that could be used to serve another customer. Perhaps even you.

 

You claim to have received price adjustments...where these after final payment as in this case?

 

BTW...Why do you think that only the CEO can give a definitive answer? Do you really believe that there is nobody else in the whole company capabe of making a decision? I guess that you hold the belief that the CEO should personally manage the complaint desk...:rolleyes:

[SeaShark]

I have sailed Carnival exactly one time and trust me that was one time too many. RCCL is very accommodating in an instance such as this. I work VERY hard for the money I earn and when I spend it I want to get all I can with it. I have contacted the CEO of RCCL with concerns because I feel that he should know what is going on with the staff employed by the company, every time I have contacted him I have been answered within 1 business day and most of the time an email to him generated a phone call in response.

 

I am sure that Mr. Sheehan has an assistant to review his email and the courtesy of a response is all this person was asking. No response at all is like telling him to go XXXX himself.

 

You say that you work VERY hard for the money you earn and when you spend it you want to get all you can with it. Is your experience somehow different than anyone else's here? Do you think nobody else works VERY hard for their money? Do you think that the rest of us don't care to get value for our money?

 

I have to wonder why you would have to contact the CEO at all...why weren't your issues handled WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY before rising to the CEO?? I'm not sure I would sing a company's praises if I had to go all the way to the CEO's office to get an answer. (Especially if, like the OP, I already got the answer on my very first phone call).

 

As was discussed, no response was necessary as the OP already received the correct response. Not to mention that the OP gave them the option of not contacting him in the original email request.

[luddite]

Is anyone reading what this person is writing?!?! The issue is not the price but the fact the person that should be giving the BEST customer service is not following the standard that is expected of the employees that work for the company. This consumer is NOT getting a response from the company. Contacting the CEO to ask a question is not a waste of the CEO's time the CEO is the person that should be setting the standard of how all employees of the company should be treating consumers. If the CEO is going to ignore a consumer then what is the expectation of how the employees will treat the consumer?

 

I have contacted cruise lines in the past if the price of the cruise I was going on decreased and I have NEVER been told here is 30% of the price difference. I have always been credited the difference whether it be back to my credit card or in credit while on the cruise. There is not harm is asking the question and as far as Mr. Sheehan having more important issues to deal with, that is crap, his job is to ensure that the clientele become repeat customers and ignoring the very simple question this customer asked will certainly confirm that this gentleman and his wife will NOT return to NCL.

 

Mr. Sheehan should respect the fact this person took the time out of his busy work schedule to ask a question to the one person in the company that can give a definitive answer. The choice to ignore the consumers correspondence is a conscious one and Mr. Sheehan should be embarrassed that is the action that has been chosen.

 

No.

[IrishJerzeegurl]

Most definitely we are reading. Customer got immediate response (plus a compensation that by contract they were not entitled to) and when they questioned it, they got the same response from higher level. This should been the end of it, if there sre two level of customer reps telling that company policy is this, there is no need to bother CEO about it.

 

Please excuse this question if I am misunderstanding but I am not getting from this customers statement that he spoke with two CSR's. Where, and again pardon me if I am missing it, does he state he received the same response from as you put it "a higher level"? He is using the word they but I feel like he is referring to the Customer Service Dept as a whole not multiple CSR's. The person he spoke with advised him he/she was not authorized to give more than $125.00. He skipped the chain of command and went straight to where he would get the quickest answer the CEO. However, the CEO has not replied......bad customer service. Even if the writer was told you got the best deal, at least he would have gotten a response. That is what I feel is the problem, the CEO did not respond. Mr. Sheehan could have directed the email to the Customer Relations Department Head for a response but for all we know the email has been deleted.

 

And as far as the contract all this writer is asking for is a credit, he does not seem so annoyed if he does not get the credit. Where is the harm is asking. I mean he already got 30% so why not try for 100%.

 

As already stated, there are over ten ships in NCL fleet and usually at least 2000 passengers on each ship each week. That makes over million passengers a year that all might want something and that's why there are customer service reps available - to handle the requests with company policies and contracts to guideline the process.

 

How do you think you would feel if your email was ignored????? If Mr. Sheehan is ignoring the email then it is my belief he does not expect other employees of NCL to answer emails. Again, he is the example setter in the company if the big man in charge feels answering an email is a waste of time then how can he expect those he is leading not to do the same?

 

CEO is not a customer service rep that should be bothered with a single passenger trying to get something they are not entitled to - if CEO were to take action on every tiny detail themselves, by definition that would be micromanaging:

 

You are correct the CEO is not a customer service rep but maybe more CEO's should take a page out of Tony Hsieh's book (no pun intended) and have ALL employees, no matter what the title they will have while employed, start their training in Customer Service (especially when a call center is involved). It would definitely give more understanding to the term customer service and would also prove no one, not even the CEO is above setting the standard that is expected of the employees.

 

"Rather than giving general instructions on smaller tasks and then devoting time to supervising larger concerns, the micromanager monitors and assesses every step of a business process and avoids delegation of decisions."

 

As I stated earlier, the request of this individual could have been passed to the customer relations director for a response. I think any response from management would be appreciated it is the fact that he has not received a response that is annoying him.

[WildcatRock]

All too often CC is used by posters to gripe and complain when they have issues with NCL, have had contact with NCL, but don't like the responses they've received from NCL. So, they post a thread such as this one detailing their issues hoping others will agree with their position. Or, they're doing all of us a "favor" by posting their issues so we can also be aware of their issues with NCL. Usually these posters have had minimal activity on CC prior to having their "issue" with NCL.

 

The OP's issue is that KS hasn't responded to his email. No, the OP's issue is they've received responses from NCL, just not the response that they're wanting. So now they're upset with NCL's lack of customer service and responsiveness. So, the OP creates this thread in hopes that they receive the responses they want - that others agree how horrible NCL's customer service is.....but they didn't get the responses they hoped for.

 

OP, you received a quick response from NCL and received OBC. Go on your cruise, use the OBC, and have a great time.

 

By the way - I sent KS an email this past December detailing how great our cruise experience was on the Star, specifically highlighting the awesome customer service we received from specific crew members, and he has yet to respond to my email. Am I upset? Nope! I'm just counting down the days until my cruise on the Pearl in November.

 

 

 

Sent from my DROID4 using Forums mobile app

[IrishJerzeegurl]

Actually, the OP really just wanted advice originally, he inquires from all of us if there is anyone else he should be contacting at NCL. All we did was either chew him out for daring email someone as important as the CEO of a company, for daring ask for a full credit of the price difference or in my case agree with him. However, as far as I can tell not a one of us helped him.

 

If one of us had taken the time to answer his question maybe this thread would have been a lot shorter and help not only the OB but possibly another individual.

 

klitch, unfortunately, I do not know of another individual you can contact at NCL for assistance with your request. Good Luck and please if you ever get a response share that as well.

 

Have a great cruise in September!

[SeaShark]

As I stated earlier, the request of this individual could have been passed to the customer relations director for a response. I think any response from management would be appreciated it is the fact that he has not received a response that is annoying him.

 

I wasn't sure, but now I know you haven't read the whole thread.

 

Why should the CEO sit around forwarding emails to the customer relations director? Wouldn't it make MUCH MORE SENSE to just email the customer relations director instead of the CEO?

 

Speaking for myself, I would be a lot more helpful to people who came to me with issues than I would with those who went over my head without even giving me a chance to do my job.

 

You say you think any response would be appreciated. Did you not see that the OP called NCL and...despite the fact that he was contractually due absolutely NOTHING...NCL responded by offering an OBC to the OP.

 

The OP claims this isn't about money, but it is about a lack of response. It just seems odd being that he DID get a response, but apparently the amount of money offered wasn't enough.

[gerry1.10]

Would you like a little cheese for all that whine?:rolleyes:

 

very funny!

 

OP Quote:When cruising with other lines we have found that when prices change they are very accommodating and have always matched the lower prices either in on-board credit or by changing the price of our stateroom

 

Really? After final payment. Which cruise lines?

 

here is my 2cents worth. Something similar happened to me on an RCCL cruise and I got nothing. The difference was not very much $75 pp. OP getting full refund on the difference on his past cruise (RCCL? his regular) is a bit hard to believe. May be it is because of his upper end cabin? Anyone out there got a full refund in some form (like OBC) on a price drop (after final payment) with RCCL or any cruiseline for that matter. I just dont see any cruise line doing this as it does not make any business sense for any lines to do this.

 

Is the OP getting mixed up with b4 and after final payment? B4 final payment, yes we all get our fare adjusted in full to match the price drop except we may lose out the OBC given on the original fare.

[Demonyte]

However, as far as I can tell not a one of us helped him.

 

If one of us had taken the time to answer his question maybe this thread would have been a lot shorter and help not only the OB but possibly another individual.

 

Why on earth would anybody here help them harass officers of the company for something they are not entitled to and when they already got the answer twice (see messages #1 and #5) - even if that was not what they wanted or hoped to hear?

[oceanseagle12]

Actually, the OP really just wanted advice originally, he inquires from all of us if there is anyone else he should be contacting at NCL. All we did was either chew him out for daring email someone as important as the CEO of a company, for daring ask for a full credit of the price difference or in my case agree with him. However, as far as I can tell not a one of us helped him.

 

If one of us had taken the time to answer his question maybe this thread would have been a lot shorter and help not only the OB but possibly another individual.

 

klitch, unfortunately, I do not know of another individual you can contact at NCL for assistance with your request. Good Luck and please if you ever get a response share that as well.

 

Have a great cruise in September!

 

Actually, I and at least one other advised calling again about the upgrade. My advice was a simple phone call stating that he wants to upgrade his cabin- i.e. don't even mention obc or refund, or price at first- because it is my understanding that you can always upgrade to a higher category cabin for whatever the price is at the time. Those posts were apparently ignored.

[SeaShark]

Actually, I and at least one other advised calling again about the upgrade. My advice was a simple phone call stating that he wants to upgrade his cabin- i.e. don't even mention obc or refund, or price at first- because it is my understanding that you can always upgrade to a higher category cabin for whatever the price is at the time. Those posts were apparently ignored.

 

I don't believe that your advice was ignored so much as it was bypassed since it won't happen.

 

Let me explain...

 

NCL's policy when final payment has passed is to upgrade the guest. That way the guest feels that they got something better (higher category cabin) and NCL loses no $$ in the process. Sometimes, there are no cabins available that the guest could be upgraded to. (For example...how do you upgrade the guest in the Garden Villa?). When that occurs, NCL will then offer the guest an OBC.

 

 

The fact that the front line customer service rep responded to the OP's request with an offer of an OBC indicates that there were no suitable cabins available for an upgrade...not surprising considering that the OP was already in a suite AND it was a spa suite. They may not have wanted an upgrade as a different cabin category would have cost them their spa priviledges.

[punkincc]

Your treatment though may be more of a reflection of your particular situation and not representative of what other people may experience.

 

I can understand that you feel that your TA treats you right. However, the "lesser" treatment that you receive from NCL may simply be a reaction to you using the PCC to make the booking only to then turn around had have the PCC lose that booking when you transfer it to your TA. I don't think I would appreciate that if I was the PCC.

 

On the other hand, maybe the TA treats you well because you have the PCC do the initial booking which means the TA only has to do part of the work!

 

Not sure what type of credit the PCC gets for booking a cruise, but when I discussed transferring in general with my PCC, he was not negative toward it at all, in fact he gave me lots of pointers and specific info on the transfer process. He referred to some of the other booking agents as "NCL travel partners" and said it was done all the time, and not a problem, so I really got the impression he was losing nothing. NCL is not losing a booked cabin after all, someone else is just doing part of the work for them, so why would NCL mind? That TA spent about an hour on the phone with NCL for me recently when I had them rebook in order to get the HSN credit applied and I wanted to make sure I lost nothing I already had before I did it.:)

[SeaShark]

Not sure what type of credit the PCC gets for booking a cruise, but when I discussed transferring in general with my PCC, he was not negative toward it at all, in fact he gave me lots of pointers and specific info on the transfer process. He referred to some of the other booking agents as "NCL travel partners" and said it was done all the time, and not a problem, so I really got the impression he was losing nothing. NCL is not losing a booked cabin after all, someone else is just doing part of the work for them, so why would NCL mind? That TA spent about an hour on the phone with NCL for me recently when I had them rebook in order to get the HSN credit applied and I wanted to make sure I lost nothing I already had before I did it.:)

 

PCCs, like other sales people, have quotas to meet. Those with few bookings won't be a PCC for long.

 

Not surprised that the PCC was nice and gave you lots of information. That is their job...and they do it even when it means losing the booking. I wonder if your TA would be as nice to you if you called and asked about moving your booking to the PCC?

 

You are right...NCL is not losing the booking. However, they do have to pay the TA a commission (unlike the PCC) so when it is all said and done NCL will lose out on the transfer. So it isn't painting a fair picture to say that NCL wouldn't mind.

 

I'm not knocking the choice of a TA over a PCC or of a PCC over a TA. Everyone need to book in a way that meets their needs. It is JMHO, but I don't think its very fair to take up a sales person's time and efforts, only to reward another party with my final business. I'd feel to bad to ever waste that person's time again.