Customer Relations at Princess Was Extremely Rude!

[godawgs2012]

Just got off the phone with Princess Customer Relations and the lady was downright rude. I called regarding my booking because there appeared to be a specialty dining credit not appearing on my travel summary. When I called, I was transferred to customer relations and spoke with a lady that said because my fare was lowered as part of a promotion, I was no longer eligible for the specialty dining. I explained to her when I called to have the booking refared in November of 2014, the agent I spoke with informed me that we would not lose any of our promotions (which were part of the Regal Sale-A-Bration, including a bottle of champagne and free specialty dining for two people). She said that it was a mistake and there was nothing that could be done and that she was unable to offer any incentives.

 

 

 

I politely asked if there was someone else that I could speak to, and she rudely informed me that they did not transfer to managers, and that her department spoke for senior management at Princess. She then asked me to “cut to the chase” and tell her what I wanted. I told her I understood that the promotions were not combinable, but I felt that I should receive an additional onboard credit or a voucher for specialty dining since I was told it was combinable (she even went as far to say that they MAY honor that if they could find the phone call from November – only after I explained to her I have been on 13 cruises with various lines so this is not my first rodeo with faring, re-pricing, and cursing in general). She told me that wasn’t going to happen but she could offer me a bottle of wine.

 

 

 

When I told her that if she could offer a bottle of wine, she could clearly offer me what I was asking for (since she had already back tracked on her statement that nothing would be offered at all), I was told not to “undermine her.” It was clear she was upset that she had been caught in a lie as she was clearly able to do something. I have never had any cruise line representative be that rude to me before, especially on Princess. I hope this is not a recurring pattern.

[birdiebill]

Last year we repriced an upcoming cruise due to a price drop. I was not sure I could reprice it since many times the sale price is for new bookings. When I called Princess, the customer service rep told me that I could reprice, but that if I did I would lose some of the OBC promotion from the original booking. Since the repriced savings were greater than the lost OBC, I went ahead and repriced.

 

I hope in your case the your price savings exceed the cost of the specialty dining. If so, you come out ahead financially even if you have to pay for specialty dining. That does not excuse rudeness from customer service or the error from the individual that repriced your cruise and gave you erroneous information.

[godawgs2012]

Last year we repriced an upcoming cruise due to a price drop. I was not sure I could reprice it since many times the sale price is for new bookings. When I called Princess, the customer service rep told me that I could reprice, but that if I did I would lose some of the OBC promotion from the original booking. Since the repriced savings were greater than the lost OBC, I went ahead and repriced.

 

I hope in your case the your price savings exceed the cost of the specialty dining. If so, you come out ahead financially even if you have to pay for specialty dining. That does not excuse rudeness from customer service or the error from the individual that repriced your cruise and gave you erroneous information.

 

All in all, I'm not upset about the repricing, as we did come out ahead, and if we want to go dine in the specialty restaurant, we can afford to go - but it was simply the principle of the matter. I understand that mistakes happen all of the time and no one is perfect. But the fact remains she told me they could do nothing, and then offered me a $32 bottle of wine as a "good will" gesture, so she clearly lied about not being able to do something. That's the part that upset me the most - that and because I had the audacity to call her out on it, she said I was undermining her and I could take the wine or have nothing at all.

[2wheelin]

I think that is their pat answer to anything they do not want to honor. "There is nothing I can do." When I was told by one of them that there is no 50-50-50 promotion this year AT ALL, I asked if I could confirm that with his supervisor. He called me condescending.

I keep hearing how people are promised things they never get. Kind of a bait and switch. I don't honestly believe they could make that many mistakes if they have any training.

[-Lew-]

A third party, in the form of a TA, would have been most helpful in this matter. We always book through a TA for better pricing and more knowledgeable service.

 

A good TA would have made notes when your repricing was made and followed up on your behalf.

 

Lew

[godawgs2012]

A third party, in the form of a TA, would have been most helpful in this matter. We always book through a TA for better pricing and more knowledgeable service.

 

A good TA would have made notes when your repricing was made and followed up on your behalf.

 

Lew

 

Unfortunately I don't cruise enough anymore to have a steady TA - I simply try and book where I can find the lowest fares - this time it was through Princess.

[Times Prince]

I think you will find the common tactic used by people on CC in dealing with lesser knowledgeable Princess customer service personnel is to courteously conclude the call, then phone back and get a different agent.

 

I have found that when booking through our TA, she makes it VERY CLEAR that when booking a new fare, we are relinquishing any offers and benefits related to the previous booking.

 

Customer Service in any company will usually have something in their toolkit which can be offered to customers when no other remedy is possible. In Princess' case it appears to be a bottle of wine. The watchwords for modern customer service are "Customer Satisfaction". The OP appears to have received the message "I can't do anything [for your original problem: loss of meal benefit due to re-fare]". The customer service rep was able to offer a bottle of wine as a separate remedy for an upset customer. There was no lie involved as the OP states, but a simple misunderstanding that there were two issues involved, not one.

 

However in the case of the 50-50-50 offer cited below, it was clear the representative was not knowledgeable, and after your citing the email or ad in print, should have referred your call to another agent.

[triple7tahoe]

I would like to offer my experience as an offset. We just returned from what to be a big deal cruise for me .(My 100th with Princess, so this is not my first rodeo, either). We did re price this cruise for a much lower fare. The cruise was great but our experience with CC hostess left much to be desired. I called Customer relations and got a wonderful reception. She offered, basically a "redo". We are leaving on another cruise in a month and we will get all of the earlier promised benefits (WE had gotten most but not in a timely manner); in addition we are to receive specialty dining and bottles of our favorite wine. Much more than we expected and certainly not needed. All I was expecting was "We'll look in to it and get back to you".

Cathy, at Customer Relations, was a prime example of GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE.:)

[-Lew-]

 

Unfortunately I don't cruise enough anymore to have a steady TA - I simply try and book where I can find the lowest fares - this time it was through Princess.

I suggest you ask fellow cruisers on your next cruise about their TA and whether they would recommend him/her. We love to recommend our good TAs.

 

Cruising a lot is not a requirement for using any TA.

 

Enjoy your cruise...

 

Lew

[godawgs2012]

Customer Service in any company will usually have something in their toolkit which can be offered to customers when no other remedy is possible. In Princess' case it appears to be a bottle of wine. The watchwords for modern customer service are "Customer Satisfaction". The OP appears to have received the message "I can't do anything [for your original problem: loss of meal benefit due to re-fare]". The customer service rep was able to offer a bottle of wine as a separate remedy for an upset customer. There was no lie involved as the OP states, but a simple misunderstanding that there were two issues involved, not one.

 

The rep repeatedly told me she could do absolutely nothing about the mistake made by one of their employees, and then when she was called out on this, she asked me what I wanted, indicating that she indeed did have the power to rectify the situation (which is what the agent I spoke with told me - I'll transfer you to customer relations, they have the power to rectify this). When I told her that, she said that agents weren't authorized to state that and became even more rude, saying that I was undermining her simply because she got caught in a lie. To go from telling me that you can do absolutely nothing about the situation and then saying you can, is indeed a lie. To top it off, she basically said that I could take the bottle of wine, or she was terminating the call. It was in fact the most disrespectful customer service call I've ever received. I know if I treated anyone the way she treated me at my organization, I would most likely be fired.

[godawgs2012]

I suggest you ask fellow cruisers on your next cruise about their TA and whether they would recommend him/her. We love to recommend our good TAs.

 

Cruising a lot is not a requirement for using any TA.

 

Enjoy your cruise...

 

Lew

 

Thanks for the advice Lew! I certainly may do that. I know we will enjoy our cruise regardless of this incident, as the shoreside customer service has always left something to be desired. I just expected better from a customer service department.

[jagsfan]

Of all the cruise lines we've sailed on, Princess has always been the one with not great Customer Service, but great cruise. If there have been any difficulties beforehand, once we were on board it's all been perfect. I've had zero aggravation this time, I hope our on board experienced will still be great.

 

 

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[smslms]

The words "Customer Service" and "Public Relations" are apparently not part of the vocabulary within the Princess Cruises culture.

 

My wife was advised at the end of a cruise that she had achieved "Elite" status ( whoopee - almost the equivalent of winning a Nobel prize). Can you understand her frustration when on the next cruise she was told she was back to Platinum.

 

When questioned, Princess's answer, "We made a mistake" Too bad. She was told they made a mistake in recording a cruise 16 years ago. What cruise? For what duration? No one knows or cares. The person responding wouldn't even provide his or her name.

 

Their PR is a joke, ranking amongst the worst in any large corporation. We're now in the process of cancelling 3 cruises. Believe it or not there are other cruiselines out there, perhaps they are no better, but they absolutely couldn't be any worse.

[godawgs2012]

I did call back and I spoke with someone else (I'm not sure if he was a manager or not as he never identified himself as one) and he agreed that I was spoken to in a rude manner (although he said he didn't know what good it would do to pull the call). I explained to him that because we have the all inclusive beverage package, a bottle of wine wasn't really a great "good-will" gift as I've already paid Princess in advance for alcoholic beverages. He agreed and ended up offering us a complimentary Ultimate Balcony Breakfast which I thought was a nice gesture on his part. I would be really excited if they'd let me use the value of the breakfast towards the Balcony Dinner onboard, but I don't know if they will.

Edited January 15, 2015 by godawgs2012

[pablo222]

A third party, in the form of a TA, would have been most helpful in this matter. We always book through a TA for better pricing and more knowledgeable service.

 

Exactly. Why stress yourself dealing with some moron at princess?

Let the agent do it. Same or better price, less hassle.

[godawgs2012]

Exactly. Why stress yourself dealing with some moron at princess?

Let the agent do it. Same or better price, less hassle.

 

After today I think I'll be on the hunt for one. While the second guy was nice and helpful, he still didn't seem concerned about the root of the issue - the behavior of the Customer Relation's lady.

[MaisonRose]

Just want to say that reading this thread reminded me that I needed to call Princess with a special request and the Customer Care guy was terrific, kind and sympathetic.

Glad to say my experience, though not complicated, was really good.

[kitkat343]

When I booked my first cruise with Princess, there was a price listed on their website for a cruise tour to Denali on the date we wanted to sail. When I called to book, I was told it was sold out, and we could be put on the wait list, but it would cost a lot more than the price listed on the website. They said that the price might go down, but they didn't know if it would and needed me to commit to the higher price.

 

If this had happened now, after two princess cruises, it would be no big deal, since I know my family is happy on Princess ships. But since I hadn't yet sailed with them the price increase sounded really sketchy and I considered canceling the cruise. Thankfully, there were no other real options doing the same inside passage cruise so we decided to go ahead with Princess (and booked the cruise tour independently, which wound up saving us a lot of money even over the website price). But the poor customer relations concern me since I'd hate to think of a new cruiser choosing not to sail with Princess because they were scared off by a bad experience when they try to book.

Edited January 16, 2015 by kitkat343

[caribill]

Unfortunately I don't cruise enough anymore to have a steady TA - I simply try and book where I can find the lowest fares - this time it was through Princess.

 

Almost every TA will at least match Princess pricing and many will offer a discount from Princess pricing.

 

The "lowest fare" you found at Princess was available elsewhere even if you do not have a steady TA.

[shepp]

When I booked my first cruise with Princess, there was a price listed on their website for a cruise tour to Denali on the date we wanted to sail. When I called to book, I was told it was sold out, and we could be put on the wait list, but it would cost a lot more than the price listed on the website. They said that the price might go down, but they didn't know if it would and needed me to commit to the higher price.

 

If this had happened now, after two princess cruises, it would be no big deal, since I know my family is happy on Princess ships. But since I hadn't yet sailed with them the price increase sounded really sketchy and I considered canceling the cruise. Thankfully, there were no other real options doing the same inside passage cruise so we decided to go ahead with Princess (and booked the cruise tour independently, which wound up saving us a lot of money even over the website price). But the poor customer relations concern me since I'd hate to think of a new cruiser choosing not to sail with Princess because they were scared off by a bad experience when they try to book.

 

Sorry, but that's not "sketchy" or "poor customer service." That's how waitlists work. Same as if you wanted a sale price on just a cabin, the category sold out, and you wanted to be put on a waitlist. You're expected to commit to paying whatever fare is in force if and when the cabin becomes available, not what was being charged weeks or months before. Sounds like you wanted in on a temporary sale and the agent knew that it was unlikely you'd be able to get that price in the future and told you so. So?

 

Since Princess pricing changes frequently, the only way you can lock in a particular fare is to pay a deposit immediately or put the reservation on a hold and pay the deposit before the hold expires. Period. You can't call Princess and demand they give you the fare they offered the week before.

 

In you case, your "bad experience" is a matter of your being given accurate information, and I have no idea whether other cruise lines' waitlist policies would be much better; I kinda doubt it. But I do know that my TA, who deals a lot with Princess, told me the very same thing the Princess agent told you.

Edited January 16, 2015 by shepp

[Brisbane41]

There is a bit of that going around lately. I don't know where they are employing these people but I can honestly say I have experienced extremely rude and offensive call centre staff as well. I actually complained to them and insisted that the agent who took my call be fired for her rude outburst. It is unacceptable that anyone be rude to you on the phone.

 

I reported on facebook what had happened and had others say they had similar problems. There was one nutter who actually called me a liar and said all Princess employees are polite. The fact is there are nutters out there in this world and they seem to be finding employment where they can offend and harass people.

[Cruise Raider]

I just received my final payment notification and didn't see the specialty dinner or champagne listed on my included extras. Since I needed to call to make my final payment, I confirmed that I would indeed receive the perks that were offered to me and she said it was definitely listed on my booking. After reading your experience, I was afraid I was going to be in for a fight....thankfully, I was not.

[janetz]

I just received my final payment notification and didn't see the specialty dinner or champagne listed on my included extras. Since I needed to call to make my final payment, I confirmed that I would indeed receive the perks that were offered to me and she said it was definitely listed on my booking. After reading your experience, I was afraid I was going to be in for a fight....thankfully, I was not.

 

I would have them email you the booking confirmation with the items listed. :)

[LovetheSea]

I had a problem about 6 months ago. I booked the air through Princess. When I booked over the phone. I repeated several times. We are flying in the day OF the cruise. Not the day prior. I repeated it so there would be no mistake. So of course she books me on a non refundable day prior flight. I didn't notice it for a few days. When I called Princess they said so sorry too late. MY fault. Very rude and unapologetic. They said I should have noticed it sooner. NOTHING they can do. I was being nice. My husband had to take another vacation day. We had to book a hotel. And had to pay for another taxi to take us from the hotel to the pier. I asked if maybe they could discount a hotel? NO. How about an onboard credit? NO After talking to two different people, I finally got vouchers for two at a specialty restaurant. I think they just wanted me to go away. I was polite through the whole thing . But tenacious.

For our next cruise in Feb. , we booked our own air.

Edited January 17, 2015 by LovetheSea

[debkaysmith]

Just saw your posting and hate to chime in with positives... my phone calls with Princess reps for our upcoming Crown Princess and Emerald Princess cruises have been magnificent. Every single time I've called they have been warm, friendly, and helpful. I've changed itineraries, cabins, dates, dining times, air and pre-hotels. All good ... I'm sorry you've had bad luck with reps, but that has not been the case for me.