Very Poor Customer Service

[sheilsy4949]

If you would have cancelled, the new booking would be the whatever the going price was for the cruise at the time the new promotion was offered. Which may or may not have been more than your original booking, but I would guess more though. So you would have been out £50, +/- whatever the new rate was.

 

and again thereafter I could have made a 'considered choice' rather than have a 'Drinks Package' covertly pushed upon me... ;)

[henryhtc]

id just like to say thanks for the heads up regarding the problems that you had. I too am from the uk and was persuaded to book due to the drinks package offer and also the inclusion of the gratuities being paid that was on offer.

Hence i will be making sure that these are actually honored since when i log into the rci pre-cruise online website there is no mention of these things being included so far.

Hence it would be a bit of a shocker to find out that your credit card takes a hammering on the return home and I think its a bit unfair to think or even suggest that folk should on a daily basis have to check their accounts / bank details or the likes on the premise that they may be being charged for services/ goods that they didn't order. After all its a holiday and id like to think that an organisation as big as RCI while not immune to making mistakes would be quick to react and rectify when problems are highlighted.

 

cheers the noo

 

harry

[rodenboy]

id just like to say thanks for the heads up regarding the problems that you had. I too am from the uk and was persuaded to book due to the drinks package offer and also the inclusion of the gratuities being paid that was on offer.

 

Hence i will be making sure that these are actually honored since when i log into the rci pre-cruise online website there is no mention of these things being included so far.

 

Hence it would be a bit of a shocker to find out that your credit card takes a hammering on the return home and I think its a bit unfair to think or even suggest that folk should on a daily basis have to check their accounts / bank details or the likes on the premise that they may be being charged for services/ goods that they didn't order. After all its a holiday and id like to think that an organisation as big as RCI while not immune to making mistakes would be quick to react and rectify when problems are highlighted.

 

 

 

cheers the noo

 

 

 

harry

 

 

Did you book through a TA? Our TA made a note on the booking about the all inclusive / drinks packages were included. I would advise you ask your TA to add it to the notes section of your booking.

[henryhtc]

cheers for this reply , yip we booked through a uk cruise specialist ............cruise .co.uk. we dont set sail from southampton till next july ...... and it was the fact that the premium drinks and gratuities included deal was on offer that sold it to us . the paperwork from cruise uk folk show weve got this included ...but on rci login site ..no mention of it .....I know ive got a year to make sure things are all above board but I am beginning to wonder if its a case you've got to spend valuable holiday time making sure your not getting 'conned' on a daily basis when you cruise with rci.

weve cruised several times before all with thomson's and never felt the need to check accounts on a daily basis.

 

cheers the noo and thanks again

 

harry

[papcx]

We did Anthem with a free drinks package.

 

TA paperwork said package, no mention on the My cruise website.

 

On board we had no problem. Stickers were already on cards.

[henryhtc]

what I like with thomson is that your 'pass card ' had printed on it saying you where basically all inclusive if you had the drinks package..... no wee stickers to fall off ..

 

believe it or not we were looking to book thomsons again next year when the travel guy said he could get us on independence out of southampton with a balcony and drinks / tips paid cheaper than a balcony on a thomsons cruise. hence why we signed up. cabin 8412 .....

ok i hadnt actually factored in its going to cost another 500 pounds or so to get us from glasgow to the port ...ooopsss we dont fancy travelling down by coach on the day off , a company called eavesway will do it for the three of us for 400 pounds ........but train and an overnight in london will prob add the best part of a grand...... but lets keep this to ourselves ...i haven't quite told the wife this little fact ...........

 

cheers the noo

 

harry

[papcx]

but lets keep this to ourselves ...i haven't quite told the wife this little fact ...........

 

 

Good luck with that.

[henryhtc]

Ive got all the skills and cunning of a greek finance minister , theres no way she will ever know find out.

trust me ...lol

 

cheers the noo

 

harry

[rodenboy]

Ive got all the skills and cunning of a greek finance minister , theres no way she will ever know find out.

 

trust me ...lol

 

 

 

cheers the noo

 

 

 

harry

 

 

Hahahaha!!! Nice comparison!!!

[Linerguy]

Mysticbluebmw is on the right track.

 

The free drinks promo was based on new bookings only, but the OP was already booked.

 

RCI's policy regarding promos and new bookings is filled with trap doors. Lets say I call RCI and ask about a particular cruise. I give them my info (names, b-dates, etc.) and ask them to hold it. Lets say the sailing offers a free drinks package, but it's valid on new bookings only. Then, for one reason or another, I don't get back with RCI and the booking automatically cancels for lack of payment. Fast-forward a few weeks, and I'm finally able to book the cruise and put down a deposit. Even though there was no money put down on the original booking that was canceled, RCI will NOT give me the drinks promotion because it's NOT a new booking....even if the promo is still going on.

 

I have a friend who called an on-line travel agent to ask about a cruise. He gave them everyone's name and his phone number, but that was it. The agent took it upon herself to hold a cabin (which my friend did NOT ask her to do). The next day, he went to a local agency who gave him a slightly lower price, so he booked it and gave a deposit. When the agent received the confirmation from RCI, the drinks promo was not there, so she called. Well, you guessed it – he didn't qualify for the promo because the computer tagged the fact that it was NOT a new booking.

 

The OP was not entitled to the free drinks package because they were already booked when it became available. I have a feeling the RCI rep who said to check on board was simply passing the problem off to someone else. Once the OP was on board, someone agreed to give them the package anyway. The OP then asked about upgrading to Premier, which they did, but it was only on one person. At the end of the cruise, for whatever reason, the OP's on board account wasn't adjusted, and they were charged for one Select and one Premium.

 

Pretty sure that's what happened. Getting RCI to cough up a refund is probably a different story.

[Guest maddycat]

Just because you haven't charged anything, doesn't mean that there may not be erroneous charges applied to your account..........like, mini bar charges. Happens all the time.

 

A new cruiser might not realize that they can and should check their onboard account before the end of the cruise.

[peteukmcr]

I check on the TV every day what has been charged.

Unfortunately that isn't always possible on all ships as the TV isn't that interactive and does not provide that service (e.g. Enchantment and Splendour) or it doesn't work like on Liberty in Oct 2014. Therefore, you have to make repeated visits to Guest Services to obtain a print out.

[Ocean Boy]

Unfortunately that isn't always possible on all ships as the TV isn't that interactive and does not provide that service (e.g. Enchantment and Splendour) or it doesn't work like on Liberty in Oct 2014. Therefore, you have to make repeated visits to Guest Services to obtain a print out.

 

The first time that we sailed on Oasis the system was down all week. That was just one of more than several things that went wrong on that ship that week.

[Ocean Boy]

Judging by the use of particular words like "whilst" and spelling of words like realised with an "s" where a U.S. writer would have used a "z", I believe you're spot on that the OP is from Europe, most likely from the U.K.

 

And the fact that right under his join date it say his location is the UK. That is a fairly substantial clue too.

[peteukmcr]

The first time that we sailed on Oasis the system was down all week. That was just one of more than several things that went wrong on that ship that week.

It's happened many times on other ships too.

[Ourusualbeach]

And the fact that right under his join date it say his location is the UK. That is a fairly substantial clue too.

 

He must have added his location recently as it was not there when he originally posted.

[kalliekae]

Just because you haven't charged anything, doesn't mean that there may not be erroneous charges applied to your account..........like, mini bar charges. Happens all the time.

 

 

Totally agree! We had charges on our bill that were not ours. Luckily we always check our bill during the cruise and we very nicely asked Guest Relations to check into it. They could not have been nicer and took it off our bill. Mistakes happen and if the customer is patient and nice to Guest Relations, it goes a long way towards a satisfactory outcome.

[cruisenfever]

A new cruiser might not realize that they can and should check their onboard account before the end of the cruise.

True, but I would think that is a "legitimate" question that one would ask Guest Relations at some point in the cruise. Especially if one is expecting OBC from either RCI or a TA. I would think that they would want to know how to find out if it's there.

Unfortunately that isn't always possible on all ships as the TV isn't that interactive and does not provide that service (e.g. Enchantment and Splendour) or it doesn't work like on Liberty in Oct 2014. Therefore, you have to make repeated visits to Guest Services to obtain a print out.

Vision Class ships do not have the interactive TVs to check so a trip to Guest Relations is necessary. Did that several times on our 30 days on Legend in April.

 

Just returned from Liberty and we were able to check our account on the TV with no problems.

[sheilsy4949]

And the fact that right under his join date it say his location is the UK. That is a fairly substantial clue too.

 

Only added the 'UK' after my initial posting....;)

[sheilsy4949]

Just to clarify my cruise was on the 'Splendour of the Seas' which does not have the facility to check your onboard account on the TV (as stated by a few posters) and once again, why would I spend my holiday queuing up to check my onboard account, when I was on an all-inclusive package :confused:

 

anyway once again, thanks for all your reply's, I will keep you all informed of the outcome of my complaint, but be patient as I somehow think this will take a while :rolleyes:

[Big_G]

why would I spend my holiday queuing up to check my onboard account, when I was on an all-inclusive package :confused:

 

Because you admittedly weren't when you boarded and if you didn't check for the charge sometime during the cruise, you must be way more trusting than I.

[A&L_Ont]

Just to clarify my cruise was on the 'Splendour of the Seas' which does not have the facility to check your onboard account on the TV (as stated by a few posters) and once again, why would I spend my holiday queuing up to check my onboard account, when I was on an all-inclusive package :confused:

 

anyway once again, thanks for all your reply's, I will keep you all informed of the outcome of my complaint, but be patient as I somehow think this will take a while :rolleyes:

 

you must be way more trusting than I.

 

 

Before the days of electronic account displays we would get a print out once or twice before the night of departure, just to make sure there were no charges that were not ours. If there were no lines when we walked past the pursers desk we would just slide up and get one. If there was a line we wouldn't. Back at the cabin we would check the receipts in a couple of minutes total.

 

As Big G eludes, stuff happens. Over all our cruises we have discovered some small charges that weren't accurate. Mainly mini bar charges, but still easy to correct during the cruise and not on the last night, or worse yet at home.

 

OP, I am certain going forward you will check your account on future cruises. Doing that would be much faster than the "fight" that you have right now.

[Ocean Boy]

Because you admittedly weren't when you boarded and if you didn't check for the charge sometime during the cruise, you must be way more trusting than I.

 

Yes, but experience with cruising and trust level with charges is inversely proportional.

[Ocean Boy]

If there were no lines when we walked past the pursers desk we would just slide up and get one. If there was a line we wouldn't. Back at the cabin we would check the receipts in a couple of minutes total.

 

As Big G eludes, stuff happens. Over all our cruises we have discovered some small charges that weren't accurate. Mainly mini bar charges, but still easy to correct during the cruise and not on the last night, or worse yet at home.

 

OP, I am certain going forward you will check your account on future cruises. Doing that would be much faster than the "fight" that you have right now.

 

The great thing about being awake at odd hours is I always find times when there is practically no one else at the guest relations counter. And I think those folks tend to be much more pleasent and helpful when they are not faced with a long line of annoyed and cranky passengers.

 

And I also agree that it is much better to take care of all unfinished business before leaving the ship and not wait until you get home. It saves a lot of time and well as headaches.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Ocean Boy

[cruisenfever]

Just to clarify my cruise was on the 'Splendour of the Seas' which does not have the facility to check your onboard account on the TV (as stated by a few posters) and once again, why would I spend my holiday queuing up to check my onboard account, when I was on an all-inclusive package :confused:

 

anyway once again, thanks for all your reply's, I will keep you all informed of the outcome of my complaint, but be patient as I somehow think this will take a while :rolleyes:

To save yourself the frustration that you are going through now.

Edited July 8, 2015 by cruisenfever