Begging has to stop

[time4u2go]

Just back from Majesty good time and good service from some but no Wow's that's why we left the ship with our wow cards un-used. It is the first time We ever received them, I really looked forward to using them to.

 

You can tell the crew is getting worn down quick from the constant party atmosphere . But.. The one thing that really needs to change is the constant begging from the waiters for a 10.

 

The very first night after the app order he came back and started his pitch . I tuned him out because I refuse to give a grade of a ten if you have to beg me to do so.

 

Just provide decent service and you will get a 10 out of me. Beg for it and kiss your 10 goodbye..

 

Mr Goldstein this practice needs to stop it is so annoying. And if you need to beg people for tens this leads me to believe there are some serious service issues in the fleet..

 

End of rant

 

 

 

Sent from Cruise Critic App

Have you actually sent your thoughts to Mr. Goldstein? He's probably more likely to see them if you do that than if you just post them here.

[Merion_Mom]

OK, well I agree with you it's completely annoying and comes off as unprofessional. But as someone with experience in this form of "ratings" and customer service, they are more than likely doing it because anything less than a 10 does not help them or requires them to explain why they didn't get a 10. They could also be in a "rating" period. That kind of atmosphere means the worker feels the need to ask for the 10. But the real problem is with management not realizing that there are some people out there who just will never give a 10 even if they loved the service.

 

Anyway, just saying it may not be totally the fault of the waiters.

 

On Oasis this past weekend and on Majesty 2 weeks ago, thankfully no one asked me to rate them.

 

^^ This.

[ksuds]

I am very appreciative of how hard they work and the services they provide me. However, a 10 in my world means there is absolutely no room for improvement and they are already perfect.

[celebrity]

As someone in the service industry, I am all too familiar with ratings . Fortunately, senior management in my company recognizes that there are some clients that are never satisfied. Dealing with the public opens your eyes to some totally unrealistic expectations. I venture to guess that those individuals never spent a minute working trying to serve an increasingly more demanding public.

I can't fault a staff asking for a "10" when anything else is considering unsatisfactory.

Until that mindset is changed, the behavior will continue.

I'd love to see the execs that foster this thinking get rated by their underlings. :)

[Folk Singer]

I could not agree more. "10's" are earned. Tips are earned.

 

Hound me about a ten and you will lose the one and ge the zero.

 

Yes, Goldstein, issue a direct order that groveling for "10's" is verbotten.

 

 

well said.

[MCC retired]

This is nothing new , been cruising since the late 70's , all cruise lines , and the guest survey speech has always been there.

 

The wait staff has no idea if the guest understands how important a top rating is to them for advancement . So , the pressure.

 

It is annoying but the cruise lines management is to blame for relying solely on the guest survey for advancement.

[ncovert]

But the real problem is with management not realizing that there are some people out there who just will never give a 10 even if they loved the service.

 

Could not agree with this more. Every person's idea of a 10 can/will be different.

[AlanFromFL]

I concur with the OP's experience; our waiter on Majesty OTS this past weekend laid it on pretty thick. Which in the end was totally unnecessary, he easily earned a 10 from us without the begging, our service was outstanding.

[bouhunter]

I have to say, we've cruised RCCL every year for 10 years and don't ever recall being spoken to about the "ratings" by an employee.

 

As for one poster above, she mentioned a couple times about her "cruise experience being cheapened"..... Horrors!!!:rolleyes:

[bouhunter]

Sorry, but I worked from age 11 on. Nothing was ever handed to me. Had a loving family and great education (because that was important to America in the 1960's to early 70's). I did not come from money but am nearing 60 and have more than I ever dreamed of or could spend in a lifetime. I was able to be a stay at home Mom from the birth of my first child.

 

If I were to give an employee an 8 or 9 instead of a ten and their boss thinks it is terrible, that is the problem of their boss. That is why I don't like these surveys and usually do not answer them. They mean nothing...except maybe a reason to give employers to underpay their workers. And most employers underpay their workers these days. Sad but true.

 

Wow, which is it? Worked your whole life, or stay at home mom?? Nice to see you have so much compassion for the third world employees on your cruise ship - as long as your "experience isnt' cheapened". Let them eat cake or take their 8-9 rating!!! As somone with " more than I ever dreamed of or could spend in a lifetime", I'm sure it's easy to pontificate how you're not going to give anyone a "10" unless they "deserve" it...........

 

I really have no doubt you treat the cruise employees well and tip them well. But you're comments here are a different story.

Edited September 3, 2014 by bouhunter

[evitacruiser]

We heard one waiter give his 10 spiel and could clearly see that the diners were uncomfortable, it did feel like begging.

 

Our waiter simply said that the surveys were important to them and asked us to be sure to complete it. We have never had the WOW envelopes before but we did use them because the service was top notch.

[Charger2008]

Wow, which is it? Worked your whole life, or stay at home mom?? Nice to see you have so much compassion for the third world employees on your cruise ship - as long as your "experience isnt' cheapened". Let them eat cake or take their 8-9 rating!!! As somone with " more than I ever dreamed of or could spend in a lifetime", I'm sure it's easy to pontificate how you're not going to give anyone a "10" unless they "deserve" it...........

 

I really have no doubt you treat the cruise employees well and tip them well. But you're comments here are a different story.

 

Yea, I was sort of thinking the same thing. WOW, just WOW :eek:

[Aquahound]

Since us frequent cruisers know it's coming...or should know it's coming...I just beat them to the punch and tell them I know a survey is coming and I'll be sure to compliment them...whether or not I actually mean it. It's a short conversation and on the rare occasion they try to carry it on, I just interrupt them (respectfully) and say I know, and not to worry. The conversation is actually shorter than the time it took me to write this post. :)

[boscobeans]

As someone in the service industry, I am all too familiar with ratings . Fortunately, senior management in my company recognizes that there are some clients that are never satisfied. Dealing with the public opens your eyes to some totally unrealistic expectations. I venture to guess that those individuals never spent a minute working trying to serve an increasingly more demanding public.

I can't fault a staff asking for a "10" when anything else is considering unsatisfactory.

Until that mindset is changed, the behavior will continue.

I'd love to see the execs that foster this thinking get rated by their underlings. :)

 

Sad but so very true. In many service jobs it's a 10 or NOTHING...

 

The rule of 200 holds true for too many in the service field.

Only ONE person out of 200 will take the time to give a positive comment versus he 199 who will have some form of complaint.

 

OMO

 

bosco

[bouhunter]

Sorry, but I worked from age 11 on. Nothing was ever handed to me. Had a loving family and great education (because that was important to America in the 1960's to early 70's). I did not come from money but am nearing 60 and have more than I ever dreamed of or could spend in a lifetime. I was able to be a stay at home Mom from the birth of my first child.

 

If I were to give an employee an 8 or 9 instead of a ten and their boss thinks it is terrible, that is the problem of their boss. That is why I don't like these surveys and usually do not answer them. They mean nothing...except maybe a reason to give employers to underpay their workers. And most employers underpay their workers these days. Sad but true.

 

Yeah, I'm sure that someone who has " more than I ever dreamed of or could spend in a lifetime" is really in touch with the underpaid workers of today............ that must be why you don't fill out surveys, afterall why help out those minimum wage workers. As you say it's the "problem of their boss.........":rolleyes:

[smoosh21]

OK, well I agree with you it's completely annoying and comes off as unprofessional. But as someone with experience in this form of "ratings" and customer service, they are more than likely doing it because anything less than a 10 does not help them or requires them to explain why they didn't get a 10. They could also be in a "rating" period. That kind of atmosphere means the worker feels the need to ask for the 10. But the real problem is with management not realizing that there are some people out there who just will never give a 10 even if they loved the service.

 

Anyway, just saying it may not be totally the fault of the waiters.

 

On Oasis this past weekend and on Majesty 2 weeks ago, thankfully no one asked me to rate them.

 

Exactly. Many companies require their employees to get a 10 or a 5 or whatever the maximum score is. If they do not get the maximum ever time, they get dinged for it. It is ridiculous.

No company can give exceptional each and every time because exceptional becomes the expected.

[Fat Paul]

Before retiring due to disability I was a service advisor at a luxury car dealership. The whole service team worked very hard to ensure a top notch service experience. The surveys went from being a useful diagnostic tool helping the management and employees improve the overall service experience to now being used as a hammer to beat the employees with. If the customer gave an 8-9 score on any of the questions the whole experience was considered a failure by corporate office. Now consider that the wording on the survey a 8-9 score is "excellent", a 10 was " truly exceptional ". So using that logic, if I only provided excellent service to most of my customers I was a failure. When did providing excellent service become failure? I always give a service worker the highest score possible. The survey has lost it's usefulness as a tool because of corporate stupidity.

[Host Jacquelyn]

Our waiter on our last cruise told us that anything less than a 10 counts against him. In other words, it's basically his job on the line with those 10s. I'd be making sure the customers knew, too.

 

I completely agree. While I do find it irritating to be hounded for 10s during my vacation, I feel bad that the employee is put into the position where s/he feels this is what he needs to do for his job. I certainly wouldn't punish someone for it either - cavalierly not giving someone a 10 just because he asks for it is playing God with his livelihood. Sure there is always room for improvement, but we give 10s unless we experienced specific and repeating problems. So many on these boards talk about how much they tip but I would bet you a server would rather all 10s than the extra buck or 2.

[smoosh21]

Yeah, I'm sure that someone who has " more than I ever dreamed of or could spend in a lifetime" is really in touch with the underpaid workers of today............ that must be why you don't fill out surveys, afterall why help out those minimum wage workers. As you say it's the "problem of their boss.........":rolleyes:

 

I have on occasion not filled out a card because the employee asked that if I couldnt give a 10 to not fill it out. The employee gave good service, better than average, but not service I felt I could honestly rate a 10. So, therefore to make sure the employee did not get in trouble for still doing a good job I didnt fill it out.

It goes to show that for the most part those surveys are garbage and they are used by upper management to prove to themselves what a good job they are doing, not what a good job front line employees are doing.

[Embedded Joe]

I'll echo the original poster's experience regarding the spiel during dinner.

 

It was very awkward/uncomfortable for us and demoralizing for the staff to be begging for a particular number on a survey. I understand the position they have been put in, and will not "penalize" them on the survey when I complete it.

 

However, I have sent email to Mr. Goldstein indicating my distaste for this review style. The WOW factor gets a little tarnished by these unfortunate practices.

 

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed my cruise, and this was only a minor nit-pick from my view that could easily be resolved by RC if they so choose.

[ryano]

Right, wrong of indifferent, I write 10s on everything on the card and put the word excellent somewhere in the comment section. Never had a reason not to and I do this because I understand how important it is to the staff. its been almost 3 years since Ive been on a ship but I dont recall being begged for a score in my 3 RCI cruises.

[TC1957]

We had our MDR staff and cabin steward beg for a 10 on our last cruise...I just ignored it. Over the decades of getting surveys to rate performance I have NEVER given the highest possible score. Doing so, rather you like it or not, is saying that there is absolutely nothing the service provider could have done better and that there was absolutely no shortcomings...they were perfect. Sorry but nobody is perfect.

 

While I have never worked in the service industry for pay (have done it a few hundred evenings as part of a fund raising efforts for organizations) I know enough people who have shared their understanding of the general requirements and experienced enough service to have a good grasp of what should be happening.

 

If the service is really exceptional I will give them the next to highest but that is as good as it is going to get. If their employer only excepts perfection they probably should get a different employer. Besides, when ratiing someone their professionalism plays a significant part and begging is unprofessional.

 

Just my two cents...spend them wisely.

[mn1111]

I've have often (but not always) gotten the "speech" as well, but on my last cruise our waiter really laid it on pretty thick. Most of the time, the waiters will briefly mention it once early in the cruise or on occasion give another gentle reminder later in the week. I have no problem at all with this as I know how important it is to them. On our last cruise the waiter gave a long nightly speech, not only about getting a 10, but also how hard hard he worked for his family back home etc. It was very well rehearsed and pretty awkward to the point where we didn't go in one night because we just didn't feel like hearing it again (but he was definitely not the norm).

 

In all honesty the service in dining room isn't always exceptional. I've noticed that when the waiters don't have all their tables full, the service is excellent, but when they have a full "load", service definitely suffers at times depending on how experienced the waiter is. I think they truly want to provide exceptional service all the time, but given their current workload it just isn't always possible.

 

I remember on my first cruise in 1994, our waiter had only two tables with a total of 16 people to wait on and he had time to give personal service to each diner every single night. There was one assistant waiter for every two waiters and a separate bar person and wine sommelier for drinks. Now they just have too many tables to provide consistent service all the time if all their people show up in the dining room.

 

I always give a 10 anyway because I feel bad for them, but I sometimes wonder if we are shooting ourselves in the foot by doing so when it is not really deserved. If we keep giving 10's when it's not warranted, will corporate think it is OK to cut the staffing levels yet again? Just a thought.

 

Neda

[AlexanderBeetle]

I have on occasion not filled out a card because the employee asked that if I couldnt give a 10 to not fill it out. The employee gave good service, better than average, but not service I felt I could honestly rate a 10. So, therefore to make sure the employee did not get in trouble for still doing a good job I didnt fill it out.

It goes to show that for the most part those surveys are garbage and they are used by upper management to prove to themselves what a good job they are doing, not what a good job front line employees are doing.

 

Agreed. Never mind the fact that we're surveyed out. I'm requested to fill out a survey for every experience I have from grocery shopping to vacationing. And then to hear that it's a perfect score or nothing? That's completely unrealistic.

[bouhunter]

We had our MDR staff and cabin steward beg for a 10 on our last cruise...I just ignored it. Over the decades of getting surveys to rate performance I have NEVER given the highest possible score. Doing so, rather you like it or not, is saying that there is absolutely nothing the service provider could have done better and that there was absolutely no shortcomings...they were perfect. Sorry but nobody is perfect.

 

While I have never worked in the service industry for pay (have done it a few hundred evenings as part of a fund raising efforts for organizations) I know enough people who have shared their understanding of the general requirements and experienced enough service to have a good grasp of what should be happening.

 

If the service is really exceptional I will give them the next to highest but that is as good as it is going to get. If their employer only excepts perfection they probably should get a different employer. Besides, when ratiing someone their professionalism plays a significant part and begging is unprofessional.

 

Just my two cents...spend them wisely.

 

You'd really be better off leaving out that you've never "worked in the service industry for pay......., but have done it in fundraising efforts...." There is no comparison:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

" I know enough people who have shared their understanding of the general requirements and experienced enough service to have a good grasp of what should be happening."....... seriously? If you'd ever "worked in the service industry for pay" you wouldn't make statements like this that make you look like such an out of touch fool.

Edited September 3, 2014 by bouhunter