Customer Relations at Princess Was Extremely Rude!

[bcnvcanada]

I am sorry to say, but I have had good service with the princess reps, this

week. I had to make two calls, one dealing with a airline change in our

flight time. The rep went out of their way to assist. Called princess air. and of course nothing could be done at this late date. Rep said that air said to contact the airlines directly and see what could be done. The airline was able to change the air to a more civil time 08:00 unstead of

the switch to 05:30. Princess also told me that the airlines change flights and flight times several times a booking. It also happens when we book

with the airline directly.

[DrivesLikeMario]

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

 

Exactly! ;) Any good cruise TA would've known that the OP would lose his original promos if he re-fared. In rare cases, you won't but the TA would've been able to explain this to the OP so there wouldn't be an issue now.

[worldspan]

The Princess people at their California headquarters are without any doubt the nastiest, most arrogant of any people with any cruise line with which I've ever dealt bar none!

[capriccio]

The Princess people at their California headquarters are without any doubt the nastiest, most arrogant of any people with any cruise line with which I've ever dealt bar none!

 

I guess I am lucky - I've always found them very helpful and when we had a serious issue (soot on the Royal Princess) customer service couldn't have been more understanding and responsive. That said, we've used a TA since our third cruise and so my dealings with customer service have been rather limited but, as I said, very positive. I think on any forum of this type we are much more likely to hear problems and complaints because satisfied customers have little reason to speak out.

[Posaune]

On our last cruise we were to receive several benefits including dinner at the Crown Grill. Our agent called later with a large price reduction and a small upgrade, but we would loose the dinner. I chose the price reduction. On the second day of our cruise the certificate for the Crown Grill appeared in our cabin. Thank you Princess!!!!!

[Brisbane41]

It occurs to me that all employees are human and some care more about their jobs than others. I personally have had a really rude Princess phone consultant that was rude for no reason.

 

As an example one time after a cruise I received a follow up email to purchase a cruise credit the same as the deal works on the ship. I phoned to take up the offer and was yelled at for asking to do such a thing. I then explained the email and the silly person put me on hold and then came back extremely apologetic.

 

My guess is that based on a few years ago it used to take over an hour for them to answer the phone. I am only guessing that Princess went on a massive employment drive and employed low paid people and now phones are answered fairly quickly. If my guess is true then it stands to reason that many bad employees fell through the cracks during recruitment.

[AZbeachboy]

For the most part, my expierence with Princess customer service has been excellent. I have run into agents that I feel are uncooperataive, rude and stone wall me. I simply hang up and call back. That generally takes care of it. Everyone can have a bad day, and many are incompetent.

[scrappydoo]

I got off the phone with a rep several hours ago. I had booked my cruise during the national cruise sale in October, directly through Princess' website, where it said that my particular cruise sailing had free pre-paid gratuities included. So I went ahead and booked the cruise, assuming I would get said free pre-paid gratuities. Well, I noticed there was nothing noted on the booking, it just said Special E-mail Offer, but thought nothing of it and that this must've meant the free gratuities were indeed on my booking.

 

Life got in the way, holidays came and went, and I just happen to have a moment today and thought I better make sure and give them a call. And lo and behold, the rep says that it's not on my account because the rate I got did not include the free gratuities. I can't get that promotion because it's expired. Uh, Hello?? It wasn't expired when I booked it in October!!

 

She said that my rate was a cheaper rate from a different promotion, and that if I had booked the free gratuities promotion, the cabin rate would have been $100 more.

 

How does that make sense!??? I logged into Princess, and booked it directly online, the website doesn't give you a choice of rates and promotions. The price was $419 and it said that gratuities were included. How could I have chosen a "cheaper rate without gratuities included" -- I just clicked on the cabin and followed the steps, assuming I'd get the promotion that was advertised on the website at time of booking!

 

Of course, she said there was nothing she could do and was to be fair, overall pretty pleasant. I hate being one of those people, but I stand firm that I should get what was advertised at the time of booking -- my free gratuities.

 

I asked for a supervisor, and she quickly obliged and put me on hold... I was ready to make my case (I'm a very quiet and non-confrontational person on most any given day, so it's not something I like to do) Only to have the rep come back and say, oh, everyone that could help me is gone for the day. That whole department is gone...call back on Monday morning.

 

Really? I would think any call center would have some supervisor on the floor at all times....I used to work in a travel call center, and some supervisor was always there to take care of the problems. But who knows...

 

Is it wrong for me to think I should be given my pre-paid gratuities?? I didn't think I'd have to take a screen shot to prove that the website claimed as such. Besides, all the literature for the National Cruise Week sale advertised free pre-paid gratuities online. How could me booking direct on Princess, not have gotten me the gratuities and then how could they claim that I got some cheaper rate that didn't include the gratuities?? I just went online and booked it...the website said $419 for my cabin (not the $519 rate like the rep claimed, which would have supposedly gotten me the free gratuities) and I just clicked through the whole process! :mad:

 

Anywho... the point is, I don't blame the rep - she was nice enough... just upset at Princess and hate that I couldn't speak to a so-called supervisor and have this resolved immediately!!

 

Any thoughts???

 

scrappydoo

[caribill]

 

Is it wrong for me to think I should be given my pre-paid gratuities?? I didn't think I'd have to take a screen shot to prove that the website claimed as such. Besides, all the literature for the National Cruise Week sale advertised free pre-paid gratuities online. How could me booking direct on Princess, not have gotten me the gratuities and then how could they claim that I got some cheaper rate that didn't include the gratuities?? I just went online and booked it...the website said $419 for my cabin (not the $519 rate like the rep claimed, which would have supposedly gotten me the free gratuities) and I just clicked through the whole process! :mad:

 

 

Any thoughts???

 

 

Any thoughts? Yes.

 

You should get what was advertised. Call back (is Monday a holiday for them?) and ask for what you purchased to be given to you.

[tml1230]

The Princess people at their California headquarters are without any doubt the nastiest, most arrogant of any people with any cruise line with which I've ever dealt bar none!

 

WOW, just WOW!

 

our experience with them has always been excellent.

[RDC1]

I have always found the customer service personnel to be professional and efficient. Even when issues have occurred they have, in general, handled the situation well.

 

I usually book on line and only call when I need to do something that cannot be handled online or to resolve a problem.

 

For example on my recent Tahiti trip I got a notice that they had changed my room, even though it was marked no upgrade. I called and was told since I had contacted them within 48 hours they would make sure I got my room back. Then later I found that it had not be corrected so I called them again to find out that my original room was taken out of inventory due to operational reasons (found out later that they had taken the room for an entertainer). The person I talked with tranferred me to their resolutions department where the person told me what cabins were available and which one I wanted. While I was not happy during those calls the Princess staff was professional and handled it the best that the could with the authority they had. The end resolution worked out well.

 

Whenever I work with them on a call I always go over the details to make sure I show all credits/discounts/special offers and then confirm them on the e-mail I get a few minutes later. If something is not clear I call back to confirm. I do not assume anything.

 

I have gone through several offer and fare changes and have gotten good service and good results.

 

Bottom line they work with thousands of customers. You on the other had only have your own booking to worry about. No one should be more interested in your booking then you are.

[shredie]

Like everywhere else in the world sometimes you get a rude one. Most of the time they have been polite to me.

[kruisey]

I have always found the customer service personnel to be professional and efficient. Even when issues have occurred they have, in general, handled the situation well.

 

I usually book on line and only call when I need to do something that cannot be handled online or to resolve a problem.

 

For example on my recent Tahiti trip I got a notice that they had changed my room, even though it was marked no upgrade. I called and was told since I had contacted them within 48 hours they would make sure I got my room back. Then later I found that it had not be corrected so I called them again to find out that my original room was taken out of inventory due to operational reasons (found out later that they had taken the room for an entertainer). The person I talked with tranferred me to their resolutions department where the person told me what cabins were available and which one I wanted. While I was not happy during those calls the Princess staff was professional and handled it the best that the could with the authority they had. The end resolution worked out well.

 

Whenever I work with them on a call I always go over the details to make sure I show all credits/discounts/special offers and then confirm them on the e-mail I get a few minutes later. If something is not clear I call back to confirm. I do not assume anything.

 

I have gone through several offer and fare changes and have gotten good service and good results.

 

Bottom line they work with thousands of customers. You on the other had only have your own booking to worry about. No one should be more interested in your booking then you are.

 

That Princess would even take a cabin picked by one of their customers away when that cabin was the personal choice of the passenger.

[kendon]

I guess I should be checking my bookings also. I booked during that "Sale-A-Bration" and was offered specialty dining as well. I don't see it on my bookings, but will be making a call. I did print out the sale offer from the email I received, and my booking date falls within the required time frame to receive the offer. I'll report back.

[go sea]

I called Princess today to change my booking.I spoke to a very polite rep who was also very helpful. In the pass when I would call I had the same polite and friendly help. I have called several times over 17 cruises and never had a rude rep. I give them an A+.

[timem]

We booked through princess and on our cruise history it showed that I had more cruises than my wife. All our cruises were together. The princess rep thought it was funny and that my calling knocked me out of perks. The problem I had was the guy laughing about it as he reset to match my wives number. He implied that I should have kept my mouth shut. They were right but I didn,t like his tone. I called customer relations and they were very nice about it and apologized for the other reps tone. She gave us a free meal at the steakhouse for our upcoming cruise on royal princess in March. All in all they were very nice and I liked the small perk.

[timem]

We booked through princess and on our cruise history it showed that I had more cruises than my wife. All our cruises were together. The princess rep thought it was funny and that my calling knocked me out of perks. The problem I had was the guy laughing about it as he reset to match my wives number. He implied that I should have kept my mouth shut. They were right but I didn,t like his tone. I called customer relations and they were very nice about it and apologized for the other reps tone. She gave us a free meal at the steakhouse for our upcoming cruise on royal princess in March. All in all they were very nice and I liked the small perk.

[2wheelin]

I got off the phone with a rep several hours ago. I had booked my cruise during the national cruise sale in October, directly through Princess' website, where it said that my particular cruise sailing had free pre-paid gratuities included. So I went ahead and booked the cruise, assuming I would get said free pre-paid gratuities. Well, I noticed there was nothing noted on the booking, it just said Special E-mail Offer, but thought nothing of it and that this must've meant the free gratuities were indeed on my booking.

 

Life got in the way, holidays came and went, and I just happen to have a moment today and thought I better make sure and give them a call. And lo and behold, the rep says that it's not on my account because the rate I got did not include the free gratuities. I can't get that promotion because it's expired. Uh, Hello?? It wasn't expired when I booked it in October!!

 

She said that my rate was a cheaper rate from a different promotion, and that if I had booked the free gratuities promotion, the cabin rate would have been $100 more.

 

How does that make sense!??? I logged into Princess, and booked it directly online, the website doesn't give you a choice of rates and promotions. The price was $419 and it said that gratuities were included. How could I have chosen a "cheaper rate without gratuities included" -- I just clicked on the cabin and followed the steps, assuming I'd get the promotion that was advertised on the website at time of booking!

 

Of course, she said there was nothing she could do and was to be fair, overall pretty pleasant. I hate being one of those people, but I stand firm that I should get what was advertised at the time of booking -- my free gratuities.

 

I asked for a supervisor, and she quickly obliged and put me on hold... I was ready to make my case (I'm a very quiet and non-confrontational person on most any given day, so it's not something I like to do) Only to have the rep come back and say, oh, everyone that could help me is gone for the day. That whole department is gone...call back on Monday morning.

 

Really? I would think any call center would have some supervisor on the floor at all times....I used to work in a travel call center, and some supervisor was always there to take care of the problems. But who knows...

 

Is it wrong for me to think I should be given my pre-paid gratuities?? I didn't think I'd have to take a screen shot to prove that the website claimed as such. Besides, all the literature for the National Cruise Week sale advertised free pre-paid gratuities online. How could me booking direct on Princess, not have gotten me the gratuities and then how could they claim that I got some cheaper rate that didn't include the gratuities?? I just went online and booked it...the website said $419 for my cabin (not the $519 rate like the rep claimed, which would have supposedly gotten me the free gratuities) and I just clicked through the whole process! :mad:

 

Anywho... the point is, I don't blame the rep - she was nice enough... just upset at Princess and hate that I couldn't speak to a so-called supervisor and have this resolved immediately!!

 

Any thoughts???

 

scrappydoo

 

Exact same thing happened to me but it was for a 10 day cruise. Would have been nice to have free gratuities but was told I didn't book at the higher rate (which was not offered onlne) so do deal. Then transferred to a TA who also tried and was told the same thing. They even offered to rebook me at the higher rate which was higher than the credit for grats. DUH! I didn't take it. Now they deny any knowledge of a 50th OBC for anniversary or birthday.

[LovetheSea]

I have had 90% good experiences with the Princess reps. But when you get a rude one ,when you are being nice, it is unsettling and reflects badly on the company. That is the point.

Edited January 19, 2015 by LovetheSea

[bdjam]

The Princess people at their California headquarters are without any doubt the nastiest, most arrogant of any people with any cruise line with which I've ever dealt bar none!

 

It's interesting that the Princess call center has always been rated very highly by Travel Agents.

[jagsfan]

Not necessarily.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[birdiebill]

I have used the Princess web site to do all my bookings. I have had to call Princess with some questions, have repriced a couple cruises due to price drops, added hotels before and after cruises, etc. The agents I have dealt with have all been professional, courteous, and accurate with their responses.

[scrappydoo]

Exact same thing happened to me but it was for a 10 day cruise. Would have been nice to have free gratuities but was told I didn't book at the higher rate (which was not offered onlne) so do deal. Then transferred to a TA who also tried and was told the same thing. They even offered to rebook me at the higher rate which was higher than the credit for grats. DUH! I didn't take it. Now they deny any knowledge of a 50th OBC for anniversary or birthday.

 

 

Got off the line with the Princess "higher up" regarding my missing pre-paid gratuities a while ago. The same line of "your rate is a cheaper promotion and does not include free gratuities" was repeated over and over. The same, I can give you the free gratuities if you book your cabin for the increased rate of $100 more, which makes no sense at all...that price difference already costs more than the gratuities would.

 

Yes, I understand gratuities for my 7day cruise in the grand scheme of things is not that much. It's the principle that I should have gotten what was advertised. I did not "choose" the cheaper rate, I clicked on the only rate that the website gave me!! How can they expect someone to know it was a different rate than the free pre-paid gratuities rate, when it still showed the pre-paid gratuities promotion advertised under the sailing with the rate "the computer generated" for me? Makes no sense at all !! :mad:

 

It's not like the computer gave me a choice in the matter, nor did it state that this rate that "automatically" comes up for me does not include free gratuities.

 

So frustrating! So the higher up initially says, that's the only thing she can do... book it at the higher rate for pre-paid gratuities. No, I don't think so. I kept making my case that I had no "choice" of rates, and the website still advertised the free gratuities with this rate on the screen. I should get what was advertised. No bite...same stonewall...

 

Then she says, as a goodwill gesture, she can add $25pp OBC to my booking. Really?? I about had it... we were going around in circles. I could see we would not get anywhere with this. So I asked if she would at least be able to give me $50pp OBC instead. She begrudgingly agreed to that. I said fine, I'll take it. But I expressed it was still not right that this should happen and that the website - if it were to generate some uber special rate for me, unbeknownst to me (not that I didn't like a special rate, but still) that wasn't part of the free gratuities promotion, should then explicitly note when booking that this rate was a separate promotion and did not include them. There is no way that any consumer could know this! False advertising that the promotion still showed with the rate given on the website. She said that she would relay my concerns to the company...

 

So, were the reps I encountered rude? No... were they particularly helpful or listening to what I was saying --- that would be a Negative No.

 

So she said she'd send me an email confirmation in a few minutes... I still haven't gotten it. That was half an hour ago. :( Crossing my fingers at least that will come up without a hitch!

 

scrappydoo

[scrappydoo]

Oh and btw, the initial rep who I got today before she transferred me to the higher up, tried to tell me that the free gratuities were only for like balcony or higher cabins.

 

I told her no, I read and re-read. I read all the fine print to these things. All cabins qualified for the free gratuities.

 

Only when she went to check again two times, did she say that I was right.

 

I tell ya... I wasn't lying when I said that the website advertised gratuities with my so called cheaper rate either!!

 

She was pleasant though... :rolleyes:

[rockdoctor]

It is because of stories like this that I always use a TA. She knows the questions to ask and I don't. She has both saved me from losing promotions and gotten me unexpected promotions. I find that Princess is a lot better than some other cruiselines for keeping promotions.