NCL- WORST Guest Services

[sparks1093]

See...there is your mistake right there. You assume that it's my job to help the OP....much like it's your job to continually quote me and keep me in the conversation.

 

The OP can ask for help...or not. The OP can share information...or not. Totally up to them. If they give enough information for me, I'm glad to offer suggestions. If they'd rather not, I'm good with that too. Either way, it's no skin off of my back.

 

I went back and read the original post, I may have missed it but the OP didn't ask for help. She was warning people about NCL's Customer Service. So you don't have to worry about being her support group;).

[sparks1093]

I dunno... I'm in my forties. I've been purchasing things, dealing with businesses, same as everyone else for years and years. I -- nor anyone else in my family -- has ever had an issue which resulted in being spoken to in a rude manner, cursed out, ignored, hung up on, nothing ever. I cannot recall anytime where I had to ask to speak to a supervisor, escalate, or write letters.

 

I'm not saying it doesn't happen. I'm saying it doesn't happen to me. And we all know where anecdote gets you on forums like these.

 

But...

 

One wonders if we have bad customer service, or bad customers? Generally speaking, it always seems there are "issues" which someone doesn't want to get in to. One wonders if posters who say things like...

 

 

 

...wind up setting the tone for a poor interaction by calling up frustrated and angry in the first place.

 

I'm sure someone can express better what it is I'm getting at here.

 

Customer Service is often the brunt of angry and irate customers and for that reason they need to be trained how to effectively deal with such a customer. No call center should ever tolerate a CS Rep yelling at a customer or being rude to a customer, ever.

[sparks1093]

You are ASSuming the OP did not get an answer rather than getting an answer they did not like and the issue being resolved s far a NCL was concerned. If you are a company how many times are you going to answer the same question form the same person over the same issue?

 

Your pASSive aggresive response aside;) the OP said she didn't get a response. I am not assuming anything. Yes, the OP could be lying. I recognize that. None of this changes my feelings about NCL at all since it is a long recognized problem (although it does seem to be getting worse, which is concerning).

 

I like NCL and hope to cruise on them again some day and I want them to be the best that they can be at every aspect of their job. As a devotee of NCL don't you want the same thing? Is it really so anathema to you and others to acknowledge that NCL does have weak points that need improvement? As I said earlier in this thread if Del Rio is serious about taking NCL to the next level shoreside Customer Service should be one of his main points of focus.

[luvtheships]

I dunno... I'm in my forties. I've been purchasing things, dealing with businesses, same as everyone else for years and years. I -- nor anyone else in my family -- has ever had an issue which resulted in being spoken to in a rude manner, cursed out, ignored, hung up on, nothing ever. I cannot recall anytime where I had to ask to speak to a supervisor, escalate, or write letters.

 

I'm not saying it doesn't happen. I'm saying it doesn't happen to me. And we all know where anecdote gets you on forums like these.

 

But...

 

One wonders if we have bad customer service, or bad customers? Generally speaking, it always seems there are "issues" which someone doesn't want to get in to. One wonders if posters who say things like...

 

 

 

...wind up setting the tone for a poor interaction by calling up frustrated and angry in the first place.

 

I'm sure someone can express better what it is I'm getting at here.

 

 

Ok here's one for you....

 

I've been a customer of the cell phone company since 1996....the big company that the masses have....in 2013 we all finally went to smart phones....all 6 lines....therefore making our bill skyrocket

 

I was chatting with the lovely cust service lady and told her the reason it took so long to get all 6 of us to upgrade was that it was costly

 

So she says let's see what I can do. In addition to getting the phones cheap and waiving the upgrade fee she gave me an addition $$ off each line as a one time credit.

 

Well fast forward I never got one of the credits...all of a big $20 but I called back and got the rudest nastiest obnoxious stupid clerk I've ever dealt with...so I hung up and called back and got the same guy...he lied about his supervisor...continued to belittle me and actually brought me to tears and finally ended the call with...we gave you enough discounts and you aren't getting any more!!

 

I responded after I regained my composure...that he had just insulted a very long term customer who had renewed several 2 year contracts with them and who pays a very large monthly bill promptly...over a big $20!!! I Also reminded him that I was nothing but cordial and clear about what I was calling about spoke to him in a respectful manner. I knew the call was being recorded. Good thing it was!!!

 

Ok now fast forward to dec 2015 when I call to inquire about cell service while at sea...and yes I stayed with them because they provide good cell service....

 

I'm speaking to an intelligent well informed very pleasant rep and I reiterate how nervous I was in calling due to my experience 2 years earlier...

 

Long story short...the rep was mortified at how I was treated...said let me see what I can do for you....

 

Well I'm getting $520 in credits to my bill!!!!

As a token of how sorry they are for the way I was treated....and guess what...the rep was able to see the transcript and hopefully hear the call from 2013.....where I was more than cordial and their rep was most insulting!!!

 

So 2 1/2 years after the fact I got a very large unexpected credit

[ducklite]

Sadly because CC has no way for you to know if a thread is legitimate or not without reading it.

 

 

 

FWIW...I never said the OP was unbelievable. I simply feel that proper answers cannot be given without proper information. I simply feel that the OP cannot be helped without deteriming what sort of help they need...IF any. I prefer facts over fiction and I'm not a fan of "guessing" and "assuming". And I'm curious as to why the OP thinks that posting here is going to change the situation. It isn't like one of you is going to ensure that NCL calls her, right?

 

 

 

This is the sort of topic that should be posted on ConsumerAffairs (dot) com

 

 

Any company worth a grain of salt monitors social media for complaints and has a designated rep to intervene and find a way to make a customer with a legitimate gripe happy. Sometimes all it takes is a sincere apology. I guarantee that at least five cruise lines have people who are assigned to monitor CC boards and respond to questions and complaints. That NCL doesn't monitor social media speaks loudly to their business model in multiple ways.

 

The web site you reference is useless. This is a good forum to talk about how a cruise line treats their customers. It is exactly the type of information someone considering cruising on any given line should be made aware of before putting out a red cent.

Edited December 28, 2015 by ducklite

[ducklite]

Chris is king when it comes to ombudsing.

 

 

He got me a VERY large refund when I was involuntarily downgraded from a first class ticket on a high end foreign carrier to a business class ticket on a US based carrier on an international long haul because of a problem with a missing crew member causing my domestic flight to the international gateway city being cancelled.

 

It still doesn't make up for the aggravation I went through with the carrier trying to sort it out, nor does it make up for a lost experience I will never get to have again and a lot of stress on what should have been a very pleasurable journey, but at least I was made whole and got some FF miles out of it thanks to him.

[sparks1093]

Any company worth a grain of salt monitors social media for complaints and has a designated rep to intervene and find a way to make a customer with a legitimate gripe happy. Sometimes all it takes is a sincere apology. I guarantee that at least five cruise lines have people who are assigned to monitor CC boards and respond to questions and complaints. That NCL doesn't monitor social media speaks loudly to their business model in multiple ways.

 

The web site you reference is useless. This is a good forum to talk about how a cruise line treats their customers. It is exactly the type of information someone considering cruising on any given line should be made aware of before putting out a red cent.

 

NCL used to be one of those companies and OP's post probably would have received a response from them before the thread reached two pages, asking OP to contact them directly so they could help. Then the remainder of the posts would have been applauding NCL for their Customer Service (and rightly so).

[abe3]

Any company worth a grain of salt monitors social media for complaints and has a designated rep to intervene and find a way to make a customer with a legitimate gripe happy. Sometimes all it takes is a sincere apology. I guarantee that at least five cruise lines have people who are assigned to monitor CC boards and respond to questions and complaints. That NCL doesn't monitor social media speaks loudly to their business model in multiple ways.

 

The web site you reference is useless. This is a good forum to talk about how a cruise line treats their customers. It is exactly the type of information someone considering cruising on any given line should be made aware of before putting out a red cent.

 

 

How do you know that NCL doesn't monitor social media? Just because they don't post on here doesn't mean they aren't monitoring what people are saying.

[ducklite]

No they are not. Read the contract!

 

"Carrier shall be entitled to, but not obligated to, upgrade any guest free of charge 03/2014 to higher priced accommodations, at the sole discretion of Carrier."

 

If the cabin is an upgrade according to NCL then they are absolutely within their rights to make the change.

 

 

However "within their rights" they might be, it is pee poor guest service to not contact the guest in advance and get their approval.

[jingle5616]

And you continually engaging me helps how?

 

Well bless your heart! You have passive aggressive down to a science! :eek:

[ducklite]

I think there is more bad consumers than bad customer service. I work for a company that deals with customers all day on the phone and none of them yell or speak down to the customer even though there are customers that get really nasty because they don't get what they want. Not saying it didn't happen to the OP but I too have called many customer service lines of all different types of companies and never once been yelled at and there have been times I might of been upset on the phone but never have they talked back or yelled at me.

 

 

I disagree. There are many people working in customer service who should not be in any type of public facing position. I know of at least one person who was fired after abusing a good customer with a legitimate complaint over a billing issue. When that customer worked their way up the chain--eventually speaking to the president of the company--the recordings were reviewed and the president was so appalled that he personally fired the CSR while The customer listened. By the way, I was the customer.

[jingle5616]

I find this thread interesting. I too have an issue with NCL's customer service. I'm also not going into what the subject matter is here, that I'm upset is enough.

 

I've never taken a cruise anywhere and just plunked down over $4,000 to NCL for a cruise coming up in the next few months - not including any extra spending I might spend on the ship, on shore excursions, etc. When I called about an issue the lady I spoke with was harsh, rude and abrasive. I, of course, was wrong in her opinion and she would not listen to anything I had to say. When I asked to speak to her supervisor she simply said "I'M ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION!" I told her that I didn't appreciate her attitude and had to insist more than once to speak to someone else. Eventually she connected me with some man who would not speak up enough for me to ever understand what he said his name was after I asked him at least three times to repeat his name. His response about my issue was the same as the lady's. I finally hung up more frustrated than I was when I called.

 

I've been thinking about this for several days now. I'm not unfamiliar with being the person at the other end of the phone line when talking to reservations/customer service. Many years ago I worked in the reservation center for a very high end hotel chain and if we had treated anyone the way I was treated, we would have been reprimanded. If we repeated this treatment again we would have been let go. Period.

 

At this time I have about two months to cancel my cruise with a 100% refund. I'm also just about hard headed enough to do that. I've been mulling over my options. The issue I have is actually now irrelevant. The treatment I received, even if it was over a piece of gum, is now the issue. Even if I'm entire wrong I could have been treated much better. What I've been thinking about is: Why would I spend so much money for ANYTHING to be treated so poorly?

 

It's the Norwegian way!

 

NCL shoreside customer service has been awful since I've been a customer.....1991. The best route IMO is to use a travel agent to sheild you from the abuse.

 

The on board ship experience has been good to excellent all these years. I don't like where the new management seems to be going, time will tell if I continue to grace them with my business.

[sparks1093]

How do you know that NCL doesn't monitor social media? Just because they don't post on here doesn't mean they aren't monitoring what people are saying.

 

There were two parts to ducklite's statement- they monitor and respond to questions and complaints. NCL used to do that on CC. Now they don't (or if they do it has been quite some time since I've seen them respond). Don't you want you're prefered cruise line to shine in this area? How does attacking others make NCL look any better?

Edited December 28, 2015 by sparks1093

[LMaxwell]

How do you know that NCL doesn't monitor social media? Just because they don't post on here doesn't mean they aren't monitoring what people are saying.

 

They fired most of their public relations and media staff.

 

If you ask the executive office if they read CC they will tell you no.

 

Call 800-456-7298, that is the executive office, if you do not believe what I am relaying to you and you can find out yourself.

[ducklite]

NCL used to be one of those companies and OP's post probably would have received a response from them before the thread reached two pages, asking OP to contact them directly so they could help. Then the remainder of the posts would have been applauding NCL for their Customer Service (and rightly so).

 

 

It's unfortunate that they no longer have a team managing these situations. If someone is coming to these boards to research a trip and see a thread like this, they might well book a different line. If someone saw a thread with a fast response and praise, they would likely book NCL. Seems like cutting off the nose to spite the face to eliminate that type of role in the company. I'm sure the CEO wouldn't miss the $50K in salary and taxes it would cost to pay someone to fill that role.

[ducklite]

How do you know that NCL doesn't monitor social media? Just because they don't post on here doesn't mean they aren't monitoring what people are saying.

 

 

If they aren't interacting through social media they are lost in the Stone Age. I should have said participating in social media. Social media is not a print newspaper, it is a two-way flow of information. Are they still running Windows 95 on their computers as well?

[Pugzila1022]

However "within their rights" they might be, it is pee poor guest service to not contact the guest in advance and get their approval.

 

We don't know why or when they were moved. It could be that the original cabin was placed out of service for problems on the previous cruise. If the toilet issue in the cabin they were assigned to wasn't corrected by the end of the cruise, that cabin likely went out of service for the next cruise.

 

The toilet problem is really the only serious complaint here. If she made several trips to the customer service desk onboard, it's almost certain that she was offered something while on the cruise....even if just an apology, but more likely something more significant.

 

If the customer service rep was as rude as mentioned, it's likely that rep won't have a job for long.

 

Problems get solved on the ship. That's the place to complain. Work all the way up to the Hotel Director (that's why they are there). After the cruise, there is not really anything that can be done to solve the problem. In fact, I would guess a lot of the calls NCL (and other lines) receive after the cruise ends is from people who have heard that if you complain you might get future credit.

[SeaShark]

If they aren't interacting through social media they are lost in the Stone Age. I should have said participating in social media. Social media is not a print newspaper, it is a two-way flow of information. Are they still running Windows 95 on their computers as well?

 

Social media...blah, blah, bleech :eek::rolleyes:

 

 

I went on a cruise and:

 

1) I was moved to a room that I didn't like

2) Sometimes the toilet did not work

3) People put artwork in a hallway that I had to walk thru

 

 

So...let's be honest. Assuming that all of these are legitimate issues, should these items be addressed while onboard where someone could do something about them

 

- - - OR - - -

 

Should I rant about these items on social media sites until someone pays attention to me...even though the cruise is over and NOTHING can be done to fix these issues now??

 

 

Addressing issues with the proper people at the appropriate time and in an appropriate manner goes a long way toward a satisfactory outcome.

[Pugzila1022]

It's the Norwegian way!

 

NCL shoreside customer service has been awful since I've been a customer.....1991. The best route IMO is to use a travel agent to sheild you from the abuse.

 

Exactly. A GOOD travel agent can get things handled a lot faster than a customer. They have different levels of contacts and know how to deal with complaints. I don't know why so many people are reluctant to use a travel agent. Find a good one and let them be your advocate.

[hpecorari]

If they aren't interacting through social media they are lost in the Stone Age. I should have said participating in social media. Social media is not a print newspaper, it is a two-way flow of information. Are they still running Windows 95 on their computers as well?

 

Windows? Might still be DOS! Ha ha

 

Edit: Darn, I just showed my age now didn't I?

 

Harriet

Edited December 28, 2015 by hpecorari

[janpo]

Some of the posters on here for sure must have gotten coal for Christmas.

Edited December 28, 2015 by janpo

[Pugzila1022]

If they aren't interacting through social media they are lost in the Stone Age. I should have said participating in social media. Social media is not a print newspaper, it is a two-way flow of information. Are they still running Windows 95 on their computers as well?

 

Actually, a lot of companies are turning away from social media because for the most part trolls have taken over. Not saying you are one, but you post a lot in the NCL forum but don't have any NCL cruises listed in your signature. I don't know if that's because you have never taken any or not.

 

Social media was a great tool and a great place to exchange information before it was overtaken to a large extent by people who take joy out of being negative.

[ducklite]

We don't know why or when they were moved. It could be that the original cabin was placed out of service for problems on the previous cruise. If the toilet issue in the cabin they were assigned to wasn't corrected by the end of the cruise, that cabin likely went out of service for the next cruise.

 

The toilet problem is really the only serious complaint here. If she made several trips to the customer service desk onboard, it's almost certain that she was offered something while on the cruise....even if just an apology, but more likely something more significant.

 

If the customer service rep was as rude as mentioned, it's likely that rep won't have a job for long.

 

Problems get solved on the ship. That's the place to complain. Work all the way up to the Hotel Director (that's why they are there). After the cruise, there is not really anything that can be done to solve the problem. In fact, I would guess a lot of the calls NCL (and other lines) receive after the cruise ends is from people who have heard that if you complain you might get future credit.

 

 

Not to sound like a broken record, but I have twice had problems on cruises where I complained while on board and got no where. In one case I was finally offered 75% off to cruise with them again, but there were so many restrictions that I tossed the certificates and will never cruise with them again. The other was with Paul Gauguin. There were several issues, they did ultimately send me a check to make me whole on one of them (items lost by the laundry and never recovered) although while on board I was accused of lying until I showed them a photo of me with the Captain wearing the missing items on that cruise and a thorough (and humiliating) search of my cabin--as if I were hiding them between the mattress and springs. It was the way it was handled on board that will make me never step foot on one of their ships again.

[sparks1093]

We don't know why or when they were moved. It could be that the original cabin was placed out of service for problems on the previous cruise. If the toilet issue in the cabin they were assigned to wasn't corrected by the end of the cruise, that cabin likely went out of service for the next cruise.

 

The toilet problem is really the only serious complaint here. If she made several trips to the customer service desk onboard, it's almost certain that she was offered something while on the cruise....even if just an apology, but more likely something more significant.

 

If the customer service rep was as rude as mentioned, it's likely that rep won't have a job for long.

 

Problems get solved on the ship. That's the place to complain. Work all the way up to the Hotel Director (that's why they are there). After the cruise, there is not really anything that can be done to solve the problem. In fact, I would guess a lot of the calls NCL (and other lines) receive after the cruise ends is from people who have heard that if you complain you might get future credit.

 

Social media...blah, blah, bleech :eek::rolleyes:

 

 

I went on a cruise and:

 

1) I was moved to a room that I didn't like

2) Sometimes the toilet did not work

3) People put artwork in a hallway that I had to walk thru

 

 

So...let's be honest. Assuming that all of these are legitimate issues, should these items be addressed while onboard where someone could do something about them

 

- - - OR - - -

 

Should I rant about these items on social media sites until someone pays attention to me...even though the cruise is over and NOTHING can be done to fix these issues now??

 

 

Addressing issues with the proper people at the appropriate time and in an appropriate manner goes a long way toward a satisfactory outcome.

 

You are both 100% right, problems need to be addressed and resolved onboard as that's the best place to do that.

 

Regardless.

 

OP still deserved a response, even if it's only a "bed bug letter".

[ducklite]

Social media...blah, blah, bleech :eek::rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

 

I went on a cruise and:

 

 

 

1) I was moved to a room that I didn't like

 

2) Sometimes the toilet did not work

 

3) People put artwork in a hallway that I had to walk thru

 

 

 

 

 

So...let's be honest. Assuming that all of these are legitimate issues, should these items be addressed while onboard where someone could do something about them

 

 

 

- - - OR - - -

 

 

 

Should I rant about these items on social media sites until someone pays attention to me...even though the cruise is over and NOTHING can be done to fix these issues now??

 

 

 

 

 

Addressing issues with the proper people at the appropriate time and in an appropriate manner goes a long way toward a satisfactory outcome.

 

 

It sounds like the toilet issue was complained about while on board--repeatedly. You assume the noise wasn't addressed as well.

 

As far as the art, I might have considered it a gift if left outside my door. ;)