Bragging about being rewarded for complaining.

[TravelerThom]

...They do work their butts off for us. We always bring a bunch of $20 bills with us and some envelopes so that we can reward exemplary service with something above the standard gratuity. We also bring some smaller bills to tip the wait staff at the Elite event.

No need to bring smaller, the Elite Event waiters will happily accept $20s:p

 

We did a TransAtlantic with four other couples we knew from previous cruises. We got very good service, and at least one of us would fish out a $20 (if it was only one $20 that night, it was no more than a $1 per drink). I was pleased enough with the service that I commended our waitress in a letter that I personally handed to the Hotel Director (who I knew from a previous cruise). A smile, a friendly word, a thank you to the staff member and their boss, and something in their hand doesn't seem to hurt the already excellent service;)

 

Thom

[Kellie Poodle]

No need to bring smaller, the Elite Event waiters will happily accept $20s:pThom

Didn't mean to sound cheap. We will tip the Elite waiters several times during the cruise. $20 each time is a little more than we can afford :D

[SHill64]

There's a world of difference between your two posts, and I'm happy for you to see that things weren't quite as bleak as your first post made them out to be.

 

Are you a mind reader? I was thinking the same exact thing....!

[Fouremco]

Are you a mind reader? I was thinking the same exact thing....!

Great minds... :)

[keithm]

My husband and I have had this same discussion....we own a small 20 room inn and have found people who seem to complain just to see if we will give them some of their money back!! We recently had a guest that started threatening to give us bad reviews on all the popular review sites if we didn't give him a refund! There was NOTHING wrong with his room and he didn't have a complaint.....just wanted money back or he would give us bad reviews!! We have owned our inn for 19 years and have just started seeing this trend in the past few years.

We saw this at an inn we stayed at in NH. It was just wonderful, but this really nasty woman jus was out to get them. They had a "counter claim" where you could dispute a reviewer's complaints. I really took her to task. I challanged her for proof of her gripes, as we were there at the same time, funny some how she couldn't back up a single gripe!

[keithm]

Wonder what has happened to society that they feel so entitled to things that they would threaten companies in order to get what "they" want, when there is nothing wrong. Pretty sad!

Some companies are now suing in return, for these purposley bad reviews. Not something I like to see, but sometimes you need to make a stand to protect your reputation.

[stevesing121]

I can't wait for my upcoming cruise to get some WOW cards to reward the awesome crew!!! This topic humbles me that there are still some nice people that cruise!!! That line at the guest relations seems to get longer and longer filled with angry faces every cruise. :(

[C 2 C]

Some companies are now suing in return, for these purposley bad reviews. Not something I like to see, but sometimes you need to make a stand to protect your reputation.

 

This is a news report that we watched this past week:

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/couple-fined-3500-writing-negative-review/story?id=21018224

[babyher]

Wonder what has happened to society that they feel so entitled to things that they would threaten companies in order to get what "they" want, when there is nothing wrong. Pretty sad!

 

 

Don't you watch television ? There are 100 commercials on morning ,noon, and night with lawyers telling you that every little thing that goes wrong in your life is someone else's fault , and you deserve compensation.

[swmichigan cruiser]

We have only cruised 4 times with Celebrity. But twice I have sent them emails telling them about members of their staffs onboard that I thought that were very special people. And the thing that I really thought was impressive was that I got phone calls both times from Celebrity thanking me for the comments and telling me they were forwarding my comments to the ships they were both on. Its kind of funny as they were thanking me for the comments I was thanking them for following up with me.

[jagoffee]

This is a news report that we watched this past week:

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/couple-fined-3500-writing-negative-review/story?id=21018224

 

If I had not read this article I would have never believed a company would do such a thing. I wonder if there is something "more" to the story or if it was a scam and not really the company. If not I suspect some people are going to lose their jobs.

 

Thanks for posting it.

[Clydesmom7865]

If I had not read this article I would have never believed a company would do such a thing. I wonder if there is something "more" to the story or if it was a scam and not really the company. If not I suspect some people are going to lose their jobs.

 

Thanks for posting it.

 

Sadly it isn't a joke. This company is in Michigan where I live and they have received a LOT of bad publicity over this stunt. This couple has simply fought back. A consumer attorney is representing them for the fraud that this business has perpetrated in trashing their credit for a debt they didn't owe over a review that was honest and to the point. It isn't that the business fined the couple but trashed their credit and when the debt was disputed they verified it and have refused flat out to discuss it until the couple fought back with a lawsuit. It is nothing more than a shameless money grab by the business in an attempt to extort a dissatisfied customer.

 

I don't believe in consumers being rewarded for complaining about poor service simply to get freebies but conversely a business should not be allowed to sue or "fine" you indiscriminately because you raise a legitimate complaint.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Clydesmom7865

[Moeve]

Yes there may be a few Bad Apples out there playing this game but the vast majority of complaints do have a basis.

 

Giving some one who is unhappy a small Token offen goes along way to reduce larger more substancial issues.

[Wine-O]

Yes there may be a few Bad Apples out there playing this game but the vast majority of complaints do have a basis.

 

Giving some one who is unhappy a small Token offen goes along way to reduce larger more substancial issues.

 

I sailed with a couple last month who told me of their legitimate complaint that they had relayed to Guest Relations.

 

Later hat day Guest Relations attempted to deliver some chocolate covered strawberries to their stateroom, but there was a "do not disturb" sign outside their door -- so they called the stateroom telling the folks they tried to deliver the strawberries, but there was a "do not disturb" sign outside their door. :eek::eek::eek: :D:D:D

[SHill64]

I sailed with a couple last month who told me of their legitimate complaint that they had relayed to Guest Relations.

 

Later hat day Guest Relations attempted to deliver some chocolate covered strawberries to their stateroom, but there was a "do not disturb" sign outside their door -- so they called the stateroom telling the folks they tried to deliver the strawberries, but there was a "do not disturb" sign outside their door. :eek::eek: :D:D:D

 

Mike, say refrigerator in Italian for us, please! :p

[20pluscruises]

Yes there may be a few Bad Apples out there playing this game but the vast majority of complaints do have a basis.

 

Giving some one who is unhappy a small Token offen goes along way to reduce larger more substancial issues.

 

We had a ceiling leak on one Celebrity cruise which the repaired within an hour or two...found champagne waiting for us on our return...nice touch.

 

This cruise, although most of the staff was very, very good our cabin steward wasn't the best. We had to ask for robes, slippers, chocolates (a weird explantion on taking a survey for the HD on who complained about no chocolates on their pillows) and our Elite 2 pages of coupons. We didn't complain...but surprized at how many items we did have to mention to Esther that these items were missing from our room. Also, nail file, q-tips, and plastic hair net were never replaced even though all three were used the first morning of the cruise. My thought, all of it was due to the new cut backs. If this is not the case...what a shame to have 2 guests leaving the ship thinking is is the shape of things to come.

Edited January 2, 2014 by 20pluscruises

[keithm]

This is a news report that we watched this past week:

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/couple-fined-3500-writing-negative-review/story?id=21018224

yes, I saw that same report. We never saw the actual "review" so it's hard to come to a conclusion. When we stayed at this inn,a wedding was taking place. A Friend of the bride started making all these problems, because the inn wouldn't upgrade her room. The reviews were amazingly nasty. We had a great time there & I decided to challange this beyotch on every point. Needless to say her review was savaged by other folks who stayed there as well. I asked the inn keepers what they planned to do. "Basically it's reviews like this that can really hurt our business", they said. They were pleased that so many of us challenged the mallicious lies that this woman spread. The printed our replies as rebuttles to this woman. Hopefully it worked.

[Can'tstopcruising]

We had a ceiling leak on one Celebrity cruise which the repaired within an hour or two...found champagne waiting for us on our return...nice touch.

 

This cruise, although most of the staff was very, very good our cabin steward wasn't the best. We had to ask for robes, slippers, chocolates (a weird explantion on taking a survey for the HD on who complained about no chocolates on their pillows) and our Elite 2 pages of coupons. We didn't complain...but surprized at how many items we did have to mention to Esther that these items were missing from our room. Also, nail file, q-tips, and plastic hair net were never replaced even though all three were used the first morning of the cruise. My thought, all of it was due to the new cut backs. If this is not the case...what a shame to have 2 guests leaving the ship thinking is is the shape of things to come.

 

You reminded me of our experience with a leak. Probably our worst Celebrity experience. (no,our worst was the cancelled Century in Oct/10).

 

We were awakened early in the morning by a leak from the ceiling onto the foot of the bed. OMG! We were in bed and the repairmen came! It wasn't repaired so quickly as I recall. The worst part is that the woman we dealt with (I forget her job title) was awful. She acted as though we were stupid complainers. I don't know if she is still with Celebrity because that was long ago. I don't recall her name, so who knows if I would even recognize her. But I should have written someone.

[Kellie Poodle]

I posted a negative revue for a restaurant that I'd posted a great revue for a year earlier. My friends and I went there for dinner after a day-long Yoga session at a retreat. We brought a gal with us who had never been to that restaurant before and we'd been raving about it all day.

 

The place was nearly empty and one table had a reserved sign on it. There were plenty of other tables, but it took 10 minutes before we were seated. We sat there without so much as a glass of water and no table settings and no wait-staff attention for 20 minutes then we left. It was well into the dinner hour in a resort area and it was hard to find a place to eat.

 

I did a Trip Advisor review on the terrible service.

 

We heard from the owners with a litany of excuses for why the service had been totally missing. I was asked (I didn't bring it up) what they could to to make it up to us and I suggested they might want to comp us in some manner for our troubles. My thought was maybe a bottle of wine if we went back. That was the last I heard of them. The review gets a lot of hits and I'm sure it has affected their business.

 

I would have done a third review taking back the bad one, had they made an effort to win us back. They did not and the consequences are theirs to bear.

[20pluscruises]

You reminded me of our experience with a leak. Probably our worst Celebrity experience. (no' date='our worst was the cancelled Century in Oct/10).

 

We were awakened early in the morning by a leak from the ceiling onto the foot of the bed. OMG! We were in bed and the repairmen came! It wasn't repaired so quickly as I recall. The worst part is that the woman we dealt with (I forget her job title) was awful. She acted as though we were stupid complainers. I don't know if she is still with Celebrity because that was long ago. I don't recall her name, so who knows if I would even recognize her. But I should have written someone.[/quote']

 

OMG! Luckily, it wasn't leaking onto the bed.

 

We were treated the same way on another cruise. The worst experience was the creaking n the walls...it was SO LOUD!!!! We really couldn't sleep due to the noise...and I can sleep through just about anything. They came back day after day to blow air between the walls...of course they could only make it to the room when the ship was in port and not moving. We called so often they finally admited everyone on the ship was well aware of the problem in our cabin. A 12 day cruise NIGHTMARE! We didn't get changed to another room until day 10. grrrrrrr!!!

[Can'tstopcruising]

OMG! Luckily, it wasn't leaking onto the bed.

 

We were treated the same way on another cruise. The worst experience was the creaking n the walls...it was SO LOUD!!!! We really couldn't sleep due to the noise...and I can sleep through just about anything. They came back day after day to blow air between the walls...of course they could only make it to the room when the ship was in port and not moving. We called so often they finally admited everyone on the ship was well aware of the problem in our cabin. A 12 day cruise NIGHTMARE! We didn't get changed to another room until day 10. grrrrrrr!!!

 

It WAS leaking onto the bed!

 

The old Galaxy creaked a lot!

 

Everyone here is always complaining about cruisers being rude to staff, but there is lots of the opposite going on as well. Rude is rude. It doesn't matter where it originates.

[20pluscruises]

It WAS leaking onto the bed!

 

The old Galaxy creaked a lot!

 

Everyone here is always complaining about cruisers being rude to staff' date=' but there is lots of the opposite going on as well. Rude is rude. It doesn't matter where it originates.[/quote']

 

Oops...I meant, unlike your leak OURS wasn't leaking onto the bed. What a mess that must have been! Yikes!!!

[TN Vol Fan]

We had a "leak over the bed" on one of our cruises also- directly on DH head. Woke him up at 2 am and then he woke me up. Just a very drippy type of leak, not near the bathroom thank goodness. Steward was there in 3 minutes, then a maintenance worker and finally a maintenance officer. We were told to get ready for an overnight move and were lead to another room at the other end of the ship. In the morning at 8:30am we were back at our original room and everything was repaired (ladder was still in place and removed after about 15 minutes).

We thought that was the end- we did get bottle of wine and strawberries later that day.

Again we thought that was the end- that night got talking to the hotel director at the Elite hour and he told us he had heard of our problem. The next day we were comped a specialty dinner wherever we wanted to go. We never went to Guest relations, etc. Everyone was very apologetic and we actually had a good laugh about our rain in the room.

 

We thought X handled this very well. I guess that's why we come back to them again & again.

[20pluscruises]

We had a "leak over the bed" on one of our cruises also- directly on DH head. Woke him up at 2 am and then he woke me up. Just a very drippy type of leak, not near the bathroom thank goodness. Steward was there in 3 minutes, then a maintenance worker and finally a maintenance officer. We were told to get ready for an overnight move and were lead to another room at the other end of the ship. In the morning at 8:30am we were back at our original room and everything was repaired (ladder was still in place and removed after about 15 minutes).

We thought that was the end- we did get bottle of wine and strawberries later that day.

Again we thought that was the end- that night got talking to the hotel director at the Elite hour and he told us he had heard of our problem. The next day we were comped a specialty dinner wherever we wanted to go. We never went to Guest relations, etc. Everyone was very apologetic and we actually had a good laugh about our rain in the room.

 

We thought X handled this very well. I guess that's why we come back to them again & again.

 

With our creaky room...we actually sat with the Captain at the Captains table...but didn't mention the problem...didn't want to sound like a complainer......in hindsight, I really wish we would have mentioned it.

 

One of the reasons I come here is to let others know of a well known problem. Although, that is difficult at times.

Edited January 2, 2014 by 20pluscruises

[Can'tstopcruising]

You were both treated accordingly.

 

Once we were at the Puerto Rico Marriott for a week. We called about minor complaints a couple of times. I can't even remember what they were. We were so surprised that they kept sending us wine and fruit. They were beyond nice!

 

We remember the times we are well treated and we remember the times we are mistreated.