Bragging about being rewarded for complaining.

[keithm]

I own a business and can tell you that most customers will not take the time to comment. Rather they just move their business elsewhere (some estimate that for every complainer/commenter, 12-20 don't bother). Because owners know this, it is custom to appreciate and reward the commenter. I make it my policy to ask my clients for honest feedback.

 

Here is the feedback i gave Celebrity at the Customer Relations desk and subsequent written survey. My comments on the recent Celebrity Solstice Dec 22 Sydney-Auckland cruise included:

 

Hair (not mine) in my food - two different meals;

A piece of medal 1/2 inch long in my waffle;

Cut my arms on deck balcony railings;

An unusable balcony during much of the cruise due to cigarette smoke (me in a bump-out cabin on deck 8 in a 1A cabin with smoke from legal smoking on Deck 5). They offered to move me to an inferior (long walk) location, which was rejected;

Inaccurate cruise information about fjord passage (multiple crew asked same question, all responses turned out inaccurate);

Mischarged for Specialty dinner (which they removed from my bill);

Sodas at the end of their expiration date (which meant they didn't taste right);

Being charged $3 for soda to be delivered to stateroom after catching a cold/fever but paying for the premium package (this policy encourages sick passengers to mingle with the healthy);

Extensive complaints with shore excursions (comments were delivered verbally and in writing)

 

Did i receive anything - yes. A bottle of champagne that i sent back (i dont drink Champagne) but i thanked my cabin attendant for the offering. Then 3 days later a plate of chocolate covered strawberries arrived - but went uneaten as i was sick in bed.

 

I wasn't asking for anything at the time - just the cruise i paid for. Now, I might feel differently about Celebrity, given my compounding list of issues, if a senior staff person had talked to me.... My total Celebrity bill came to $6,800 not including airfare (cruise, beverage and excursions) for a solo traveler.

 

I wont be on Celebrity again because a simple apology or explanation was never offered (at least to date).

I just checked the reviews. Hmmmm, you didn't do one for that voyage. Why not? I checked the others that were listed. Some gave excellent, some only 3 stars,but no one seemed to have as horrid a trip as you! I wonder why that is.

[Adammara]

Yesterday we cancelled our last remaining cruise with Celebrity. FYI we are both in our 70's

 

We took 2 cruise on Celebrity in 2012, on one Eclipse in the spring, on which the loud music was not to our taste, and the next door cabin being sold for £1000 less than we paid did not thrill us. We hoped for better things on our autumn cruise.

 

What a disappointment our cruise on Constellation was:

Smaller balcony than described in the brochure we booked from.

Terrible service in MDR, ate in the buffet after 4 nights

Promised $500 OBC, but only given $300

Last passengers property left in the cabin

Broken tiles in the shower

Torn bed sheets

Dirty balcony

Balcony flooded and un-useable for 2 days

 

We complained on board about the balcony, and received a bottle of wine. after further negotiations when we got home we eventually received further compensation in the form of future cruise vouchers.

 

The experience on Connie was the worst we have had in 39 cruises, and now we have decided to move on, we have lost the deposit on our future cruise, and the use of the future cruise vouchers. The cruise industry seems hell bent on attracting the younger passenger at the expense of the older ones.

 

We have taken between 2 and 4 cruises a year, and that disposable income is now going to other type of holiday experience.

 

Richard

[AlkiRagdoll]

Keithm - on the Ipad cruise critic app i don't see a place to enter reviews. I am assembling a lengthy review with pictures and plan to post that under the Roll Call for which 5minutes ago, there were no reviews.

 

Did you see the word "horrid" in my review? I know the complainers with which you reference and others often call me the optimist, but i will leave labels to others to decide if i fit the mold you are implying i belong. I never asked ANYTHING of Celebrity when i gave them my comments - but rather was hoping situations would be fixed.

 

Did i have a horrid time? No. Will i ever do business with Celebrity again? Probably not/I cant imagine it. As i started my comments, i own a business (actually two) and i believe good businesses don't wait for a complaint - they ask customers for feedback, particularly when the smiles disappear. I encourage people to give feedback, because i know in my business, i cant fix something if i don't know about it. What i didn't say is that the very positive service i received was also acknowledged (both to the giver(s), such as two bartenders that each got very large tips because they knew my name after the first drink on the first day and the hand sanitizer lady who always smiled and practice the language we are both studying, and finally those positive comments were also communicated to Celebrity).

[keithm]

Keithm - on the Ipad cruise critic app i don't see a place to enter reviews. I am assembling a lengthy review with pictures and plan to post that under the Roll Call for which 5minutes ago, there were no reviews.

 

Did you see the word "horrid" in my review? I know the complainers with which you reference and others often call me the optimist, but i will leave labels to others to decide if i fit the mold you are implying i belong. I never asked ANYTHING of Celebrity when i gave them my comments - but rather was hoping situations would be fixed.

 

Did i have a horrid time? No. Will i ever do business with Celebrity again? Probably not/I cant imagine it. As i started my comments, i own a business (actually two) and i believe good businesses don't wait for a complaint - they ask customers for feedback, particularly when the smiles disappear. I encourage people to give feedback, because i know in my business, i cant fix something if i don't know about it. What i didn't say is that the very positive service i received was also acknowledged (both to the giver(s), such as two bartenders that each got very large tips because they knew my name after the first drink on the first day and the hand sanitizer lady who always smiled and practice the language we are both studying, and finally those positive comments were also communicated to Celebrity).

Sorry to say, but your review gives a pretty "horrid" view of a cruise. You really had nothing good to say at all. In your response to me you now comment that you thought you had some pretty nice service from some of the staff. That was totally absent in your first review. We're going on our first Celebrity trip(after 10 years with Cunard)I don't know how it will turn out, but hopefully better than what you showed. We own a large catering co. & trust me, we know all about customers & their desires. There are those who ***** no matter how well you take care of them & those who praise the heavans for just a standard cookout.We give out comment cards to be filled out & most do come back stellar, but there's the few that don't. If we screw up(it happens to EVERYONE on occasion)You make amends as best you can. Free dinner etc.

[cl.klink]

Guys and gals, help me.

 

I'm reading this thread, and the horrid things people do to others with obvious selfishness - threatening a bad review to scam a business, demanding special treatment, throwing people to the police for being kicked by their drunken brothers, people being sued for writing bad reviews. I gotta say, makes me really depressed.

 

Please, help me. How can I have faith in basic goodness of people? I feel so bad thinking about all these stories of someone acting selfishly and with callous disregard for someone.

 

Have we really come to this?

 

Wow. To quote a phrase, can't we all just get along? Am I that naive?

 

- Joel (looking for a therapist now)

[richstowe]

Guys and gals, help me.

 

I'm reading this thread, and the horrid things people do to others with obvious selfishness - threatening a bad review to scam a business, demanding special treatment, throwing people to the police for being kicked by their drunken brothers, people being sued for writing bad reviews. I gotta say, makes me really depressed.

 

- Joel (looking for a therapist now)

Ok Joel - Step away from the screen.

And now turn it off ,or perhaps watch the cute kittens on U Tube.

 

Feel any better ?

[Syrreal]

Guys and gals, help me.

 

I'm reading this thread, and the horrid things people do to others with obvious selfishness - threatening a bad review to scam a business, demanding special treatment, throwing people to the police for being kicked by their drunken brothers, people being sued for writing bad reviews. I gotta say, makes me really depressed.

 

Please, help me. How can I have faith in basic goodness of people? I feel so bad thinking about all these stories of someone acting selfishly and with callous disregard for someone.

 

Have we really come to this?

 

Wow. To quote a phrase, can't we all just get along? Am I that naive?

 

- Joel (looking for a therapist now)

 

Never fear, Joel! This is a good place to start:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1965156

[SHill64]

What a disappointment our cruise on Constellation was:

Smaller balcony than described in the brochure we booked from.

Terrible service in MDR, ate in the buffet after 4 nights

Promised $500 OBC, but only given $300

Last passengers property left in the cabin

Broken tiles in the shower

Torn bed sheets

Dirty balcony

Balcony flooded and un-useable for 2 days

 

I'm sure all this in it's proper context is not as bad as you make it sound.

 

SDT

[SHill64]

We were on a Cunard trip(2008 QM2) We were scarcely on the ship for 2 hrs & in the elevator this woman just beyotched & beyotched about all the problems of her voyage so far(2 hours, folks,we hadn't even left New York yet)I finally told to shut the hell up. Which, surprisingly she did, much to the delight of all on that elevator.

 

If I was in that elevator, I would have laughed out loud and taken you to the nearest bar and bought you a drink! :D

[keithm]

If I was in that elevator, I would have laughed out loud and taken you to the nearest bar and bought you a drink! :D

What I loved, was that the elevator was full of British pax. An older gentleman said "Always leave it to you Yanks to get the point across". After the woman left at the next floor, he quietly said to us.."Bravo,She was really getting to us"!

[MicCanberra]

Interesting thread, great reading.:D

[C 2 C]

Yesterday we cancelled our last remaining cruise with Celebrity. FYI we are both in our 70's

 

What a disappointment our cruise on Constellation was:

 

Wow, we were on Constellation for two months, from October to Dec 9th.

We thought the MDR was as good as ever. Staff was great, loved the activities staff and their trivia, loved the party band. No complaints, no extra compensation for not complaining.

 

We were so happy with our cruise that we booked four more Celebrity cruises.

 

Same ship, different experience, different outcome.