poor RCCl customer service

[Aquahound]

My biggest issue was how they treated me on the phone. The supervisor put me on hold without asking or telling me she was doing so & then almost laughing when I got upset after she said she was "calling the TA". I understand they probably get tired of saying the same thing over & over "you need to talk to your TA", but I have never had an issue like this. I had no idea they could not speak to me to even tell me if the cruise was cancelled or who did it. The e-mail of the cancellation came from RCCL - not the TA, so when the TA was closed, it made sense to me to call RCCL with a simple question.

 

I'm with you on this one. No matter how you explain it, some here will flame you, so don't waste your time trying to do so. We all know you can't service your reservation through RCI when booked through a TA, but not telling you if your reservation is canceled or not after they sent you the email, takes that policy a little too far, in my opinion.

 

And for those say RCI can't do it, no, that is wrong. It's not they can't do it. It's that they don't do it. There's a difference, considering its their own policy. And frankly, I'm not even sure that confirming a cancelation is even part of the policy. It's just answering a question, not providing a service on the reservation.

[Starry Eyes]

My biggest issue was how they treated me on the phone. The supervisor put me on hold without asking or telling me she was doing so & then almost laughing when I got upset after she said she was "calling the TA". I understand they probably get tired of saying the same thing over & over "you need to talk to your TA", but I have never had an issue like this. I had no idea they could not speak to me to even tell me if the cruise was cancelled or who did it. The e-mail of the cancellation came from RCCL - not the TA, so when the TA was closed, it made sense to me to call RCCL with a simple question.

 

Ah, yes, that email. Since you made show reservations on their website, the cruiseline informed you that those shoe reservations were cancelled. The cruiseline could not discuss the cruise cancellation with you (as the ta "owns" that reservation, not you). But they could tell you about show cancellations, and they did so. I think you were fortunate to get that notice; it allowed you to contact your ta and solve the problem. Without the email about shows, the problem might have been caught later. Can you not muster a bit of gratitude for the notice? The cruiseline did what little it could with you; the rest required your ta. Why not be mad at the ta for failing to service your needs at times convenient for you; their hours were the reason you did not get help when you wanted it.

 

I know you had to book the cruise the way you did to get into the conference. Next time you decide to book a cruise (not a group or conference or such), decide if you want to own the reservation or if you want a ta to own it. A good ta's can be helpful, some ta offer free amenities from their commission, some ta's are bad. Whenever you work with an agent. make sure you believe they can meet your needs and expectations; if not book direct.

[Maxiecat3]

Agreed. Booked through a TA or not, they can at least tell the customer whether or not their reservation was canceled. I can understand not being able to change anything, but the op was just asking a yes or no question. The attitude didn't help.

 

 

Not defending Royal, but since we are only hearing 1 side of the story, what attitude would that be, Royal's or the OP's?

[nicknack]

All this may be the policy of RCCL, but it is absurd. There is only one purpose of the policy. To make you regret you booked with TA, so next time you'll book directly and make more money for RCCL.

 

The hypocrisy is demonstrated by the fact that RCCL encourages you to communicate directly, without your TA, if it can make them money. You can book/communicate directly for specialty dinners, excursions, buy t-shirts and other junk, etc., etc., etc. But there's no profit in answering the direct question if your cruise has been canceled or not.

[workingonlytocruise]

First post - so most won't pay attention, but following RCL and Celebrity these days, I would say the company rep was rude. A lot of them are losing their jobs these days to offshore workers and aren't happy about it. Who would they take it out on but the poor cruiser.

 

Personally, I prefer using a TA who is working for me.

[Aquahound]

Not defending Royal, but since we are only hearing 1 side of the story, what attitude would that be, Royal's or the OP's?

 

A fair question, I'm sure. :)

[alfaeric]

I probably should not post this questions...

 

But for those of you who are unhappy... what do you plan to do about it? What's your course of action?

 

Stop cruising? Use travelagent dot com for all of your bookings? Have hard feelings?

 

 

 

I can explain why people question the "rudeness" of the RCI rep- many of us have dealt with them a LOT over the phone, and have not had any issues like this. It's not bashing of the OP when it's questioned- it's more- "I can't relate since it's never happened to me".

 

Still, what do you do next? If posting makes you feel better, then, whew, it's over, move on, and enjoy the trip!!! :):D

[Starry Eyes]

All this may be the policy of RCCL, but it is absurd. There is only one purpose of the policy. To make you regret you booked with TA, so next time you'll book directly and make more money for RCCL.

 

The hypocrisy is demonstrated by the fact that RCCL encourages you to communicate directly, without your TA, if it can make them money. You can book/communicate directly for specialty dinners, excursions, buy t-shirts and other junk, etc., etc., etc. But there's no profit in answering the direct question if your cruise has been canceled or not.

 

It is unlikely the cruiseline made money by letting the OP reserve those shows. Or when they let others do MTD reservations. So, they make money on some things customers are allowed to do, but not on other things. That makes it harder for a fair minded person to label it hypocrisy. Perhaps instead their agreement with TA's says the basics (booking, cabin selection, payments, cancellations, invoices, etc) are totally under the TA's control as owner of the reservation. OTOH, the cruiseline and TA's may well have agreed to let customers add some of their own extras like shows, MTD reservations, and excursions; the TA's might be delighted to cede control over those extras as they could consume loads of TA's time as customers make and change such plans.

 

Lets say the cruiseline had told the OP that the reservation was canceled (actually, it sounds like they did in that email but the OP naturally wanted more info immediately). The OP's immediate next question would likely have been by whom and then why. Should the cruiseline also answer those questions? Even if the TA would not want those questions answered? The reason for the cancellation might be embarrassing or uncomfortable for the TA or maybe for another of the TA's clients (such as the sponsor of the conference). Maybe the conference contract was not signed by that company, or maybe the terms of the contract were not met, or maybe the companies had a disagreement, or maybe a check bounced,etc. Those are hypotheticals, of course, but the "owner" of the reservation likely would not want the guest to hear such details from the cruiseline. They'd likely rather sidestep it as a cruise computer glitch or such.

 

And even if it was indeed a cruiseline error or a computer glitch, the TA needed to be involved to solve the reservation issue; so the OP had to wait until the next day when the TA was available.

 

I remember when I learned years ago that the cruiselines' customer service agents could not help me if I had used an agent. I was disappointed as was the OP, but I accepted it without demanding a supervisor. And my situation was a less emotionall charged one; I wanted to purchase an add on (before such things could be done online by the guest). Had I been upset and demanded a supervisor, I imagine it would have gone for me as it went for the OP. Now I am more likely to book direct, as I know what I want, when I want it, and I know I wish to control my own reservation.

[bouhunter]

Unfortunately that is RCI's policy. The reps will not talk to you or give you any info if you booked through a TA. They did absolutely nothing wrong.

 

Well, if the RCCL rep's were indeed rude and the caller didn't start the conversation down that road, then that was wrong. Of course we have no way of knowing who first steered the conversation in that direction.......

[George C]

I like booking with the cruise line I do not want a TA in between, I done this on several lines

[onlyonetrevorfrancis]

All this may be the policy of RCCL, but it is absurd. There is only one purpose of the policy. To make you regret you booked with TA, so next time you'll book directly and make more money for RCCL.

 

The hypocrisy is demonstrated by the fact that RCCL encourages you to communicate directly, without your TA, if it can make them money. You can book/communicate directly for specialty dinners, excursions, buy t-shirts and other junk, etc., etc., etc. But there's no profit in answering the direct question if your cruise has been canceled or not.

 

I don't think this is true, RCI pays the TA 15 - 20% of the booking fee to administer the booking of the TA's own customer.

 

The fact the TA has had to give away most of that 15 - 20% in obc and bottles of wine to actually secure the customer in the first place is perhaps the root of all the problems.

 

I don't blame RCI for adopting the attitude of over to you Mr TA, but again make the point that there is no need for rudeness.

[JasonTehGreat]

As a TA I can tell you it certainly is a false notion that when you book through a TA that you are "no longer a customer of the cruise line". You are 100% a customer of the cruise line. You are going on their ship, not the TA's.

 

That being said, the cruise line will not do much as far as your reservation goes but they certainly can tell you if you still have a reservation. There is no excuse to be rude and disrespectful to a customer. If they could not have helped him then the supervisor should have offered to call the TA the next business day to get a resolution. That is customer service.

 

I am sure something along the lines of "I am sorry, but we cannot provide you with this information until we speak with your TA. Is it ok if I get your information and call the TA first thing in the morning and get this resolved? Either the TA or I will call you tomorrow morning." would have gone a long way.

 

Also as far as saying only use a big fully staffed TA for the best service; that is not always true at all. Call one of these huge TA's and see how much personal, attentive service you get. All of my clients have my cell phone number and can reach me 24/7. I had a client call at 11:00PM the other night to make a payment. The payment was processed and applied by 11:15.

[Ourusualbeach]

Well, if the RCCL rep's were indeed rude and the caller didn't start the conversation down that road, then that was wrong. Of course we have no way of knowing who first steered the conversation in that direction.......

 

Agreed. We have no way of knowing who steered the conversation in that direction.

 

Situations such as this where RCI has a very clear policy of what they will and won't do can unfortunately cause stress to the caller. I'm quite sure that things started off polite enough but I feel that the OP may have pushed the issue (asking for a supervisor). There comes a point that a polite "no I'm sorry we can't tell you that" turns to a firm "no". There is a difference between standing your ground by being firm and being rude. I'm not sure i believe that they were actually rude just for the simple reason that they know that many of the calls are recorded "for quality purposes" and is it really worth risking their jobs over.

 

While I can certainly sympathize with the OP and am glad that they got the situation resolved the next day I don't understand why once they were told the policy why they just did not wait until the next day (less than 12 hours or so) until their TA's office opened.

[wallie5446]

It has changed the way I feel about this company.

 

1 employee, out of what, close to 10,000, has a poor attitude and all the others are lumped into the same bucket. Yes they -should/could- have been more soft spoken, but from reading you are part of a large group, not just thru a TA. Which means they really could not help.

[worldspan]

Travel agent/not travel agent, the bottom line here is that the corporate culture at RCCI is one of extreme arrogance.

 

If there is a cruise line that most imitates a U.S. airline, it is RCCI. And did you know they all eat "nails for breakfast ?!

 

Worldspan

132 cruises strong

[Galveston Cruiser]

Just got off the phone with RCCL as there had been some problems in linking dinner reservations.

All I can say is the service was excellent. Even though I had booked through a ta, this does not prevent them from working with clients on other issues.

The lady was very accommodating and all was resolved very expeditiously.

[nanwel]

To me this is not really resolved. I would be the one wanting to know why the cruise was cancelled, what happened, and why RC rep could not help to rebook outrips etc in the morning (they can be booked by a rep - I have done it)- sound like a bad RCI agent twice - I would not be a happy cruiser. What about all her time to book and have to rebook - that does not just happen at the snap of your fingers. I get that they cannot rebook you or change your room/dinning etc if you book by an TA, but they can be more helpful in booking outtrips etc.

Hope that your enjoy your trip, and conference - I assure you the staff on board go out of their way to be helpful.

[COMBOY]

My biggest issue was how they treated me on the phone. The supervisor put me on hold without asking or telling me she was doing so & then almost laughing when I got upset after she said she was "calling the TA". I understand they probably get tired of saying the same thing over & over "you need to talk to your TA", but I have never had an issue like this. I had no idea they could not speak to me to even tell me if the cruise was cancelled or who did it. The e-mail of the cancellation came from RCCL - not the TA, so when the TA was closed, it made sense to me to call RCCL with a simple question.

 

But unfortunately your question was not simple. We can speculate till the cow come home why your reservation was cancelled. It could be as simple as a someone cancelled your reservation by mistake. Many reservations can have the similar name on the same sailing. But a cancelled reservation would still have to go thru the TA to be reinstated. Unfortunately the Rep at RCI were not helpful nor could they be. Maybe it's a training issue or misunderstanding or just frustrated in dealing with you. The main reason RCI or any other cruise line won't deal with you is when a booking as made thru a TA that TA owns the booking. Everything must go through the TA because the TA earns commissions and it is their responsible to ensure it's handled properly and there are no confusions when changes are made. There might be other information that only the TA knows to reinstate the booking including verifying information like linked dining, TA info, transferring funds to the booking, etc. as some things are lost with a booking is cancelled. Your TA might want to ensure your booking conforms to the group booking contact and everything you've requested. Sometimes it might be far more complex then you realized and the RCI's rep were trying to get you to call your TA. But whatever the case as long as you've paid for your cruise you are going @ 100% no matter what. It's more an administrative issue with the booking - a bit a large one. Yes, it's good you got the email so you could inform your TA of the cancellation and have the booking reinstated. Your TA should be apologizing for the mixed up. It unacceptable that it occurred and you had to deal with customer service at RCI. Always ask to speak to the supervisor if you don't like the response of the Rep. They have much more experience and maturity to handle difficult situations and problems.

[bouhunter]

Travel agent/not travel agent, the bottom line here is that the corporate culture at RCCI is one of extreme arrogance.

 

If there is a cruise line that most imitates a U.S. airline, it is RCCI. And did you know they all eat "nails for breakfast ?!

 

Worldspan

132 cruises strong

 

Huh????:) Whatever.

[live2vayk]

They did nothing wrong? If the OP's story is correct...they did everything wrong as far as customer service. It could have been handled better. Yes, once booked with a TA they need to deal with the TA. But being rude to a customer is certainly not "doing absolutely nothing wrong". Peoples expectations are so low they except rudeness as customer "service"?

 

Agreed! Just like any other cruise line or business, sometimes it just depends on who you are talking to. I usually book direct, but once used a TA. I called Royal to ask a question about my booking as it was on the weekend, and was also told that I would have to wait until Monday to get official confirmation of the information since I had booked with a TA, but the rep at Royal answsered my question in general terms. I am sure they could not even do that in this circumstance, however it sounds like they could have at least been empathetic to the circumstance.

[Wilda]

OP is a customer, end of story. Whether they booked with Bozo the Clown or Sams Deli, they will be boarding an RCI ship in January and will be a paying guest. They have every right to expect good, courteous, apologetic customer service from whoever they speak with, regardless of policy and who "owns" the ressie.

 

I'll bet if your ressie was cancelled and you received a response that was lacking in empathy you would be fit to be tied.

[crookedhalo]

OP is a customer, end of story. Whether they booked with Bozo the Clown or Sams Deli, they will be boarding an RCI ship in January and will be a paying guest. They have every right to expect good, courteous, apologetic customer service from whoever they speak with, regardless of policy and who "owns" the ressie.

 

I'll bet if your ressie was cancelled and you received a response that was lacking in empathy you would be fit to be tied.

 

Have you ever called the college that you are paying for to ask questions about your child's classes/attendance (take your pick on whatever)? Unless they have signed a form from your child stating it is okay to talk with you, you will get nothing - big fat zero:eek:.

 

What about calling on medical billing you receive on an over 18 child still on your insurance? Good luck getting any information out of them on that either;).

 

Same basic principle - RCCL did not/does not have the right to discuss the booking in question with the tertiary party (OP). It may sound lame to you and me, but there is, I'm sure, a legal reason for it.

 

Sometimes we all have to swallow and wait - we are a country of 'I want what I want and I want it now!' people - sometimes that just don't work. Move on:rolleyes:

[WpgCruise]

I always find it interesting that poor customer service is so often the result of being told "No" by the company.

 

"Yes" is heard by the customer as good customer service, "No" is heard by the customer as bad customer service.

 

Sometimes because we want to hear "Yes" and the answer is "No" I wonder if then we also have other impressions as the conversation moves along, such as the "No" was delivered with "attitude"

 

None of us really know how the conversation between the Customer Service Rep, the Client and the Supervisor went after the O.P. heard "No". Maybe there was "attitude" from the O.P.? I don't know, I was not on the phone call.

 

There are always two sides to any story and without hearing the other side, really all any of us have is an opinion.

 

Who knows what was said by whom, and what if any "attitude" was displayed and what was perception and what was reality?

[Icerecon]

To the OP, I sympathise with you.

 

Why

 

1. Yes, you did book through a TA.

 

2. RCCL contacted you direct to advise you that your bookings had been cancelled and did not contact your TA in the first instance.

 

3. RCCL bypassed their own policy by contacting you direct.

 

4. Therefore you should have the right to ask them directly what is going on and you should have been given a polite response, regardless how upset you where, we all get emotional when something happens outside of our control.

 

5. They should be held accountable.

[Mark_K]

To the OP, I sympathise with you.

 

Why

 

1. Yes, you did book through a TA.

 

2. RCCL contacted you direct to advise you that your bookings had been cancelled and did not contact your TA in the first instance.

 

3. RCCL bypassed their own policy by contacting you direct.

 

4. Therefore you should have the right to ask them directly what is going on and you should have been given a polite response, regardless how upset you where, we all get emotional when something happens outside of our control.

 

5. They should be held accountable.

Actually, RCI contacted them about the cancellation of their shore excursions, which are made directly between the customer and RCI. They didn't bypass their policy.

 

 

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