Carnival agent made booking error, now what?

[btwoncruiser]

Ok, I'm going to try to make this crazy long story short. Called on Sunday to book the Vista journeys November 16th out of New York. I'm platinum, 15 cruises on carnival. It didn't work online so I called customer service. Asked the woman I spoke to if there were any spa rooms left, she said there were several, quoted us a price, so we booked it. I confirmed multiple times that it was, in fact, a spa interior room. Paid my deposit, got booking number, pin, etc. Lo and behold, get the email confirmation and we do NOT have a spa room. Got an interior room on deck 11, close to the spa rooms, but not a spa room.

 

I immediately call carnival to fix it, and this is where it gets crazy. They didn't believe that I was told we would have a spa room, and had none to offer. Spent over an hour on the phone where they offered only to allow me to cancel without penalty. They finally said they were going to listen to the recording of the booking and get back to us within 48 hours (that would be Tuesday). So, continuing on, called Tuesday- spoke to multiple supervisors, couple hours on the phone.... No response. They said the agent was supposed to call that night and tell us she didn't get the tape pulled (close to midnight at this point- she didn't call). They promised once again to call within 48 hours. Notice a pattern?? I called last night, and the agent was not available. After another hour and half on the phone, the supervisor finally (yelled!) that the agent had pulled the recording, we were misinformed, and she was supposed to have called to offer us compensation. But, she wasn't there. So they're supposedly calling again tonight.

 

At this point- it's been almost a week since I booked this cruise. I've spent hours and hours on the phone getting nowhere, and really getting a lot of attitude from customer service, including multiple supervisors. Thoughts on potential compensation for this? No, I do not want to book another cruise- I am a teacher and have very limited time I can take off. This one works out and is ideal. They said there are no spa rooms. Well, on Sunday I would've been ok with keeping our room and spa passes for the week. That was before 5 days of hell from customer service! They were downright rude and actually yelled at us. I feel like it should be more than that after all of this. Any ideas?

Thanks.

[Micahs Grandad]

post this on JH fb page and see if he can do something

[klfrodo]

Sorry to hear this happened.

 

Compensation :confused: for what? A mistake was made. Were you bodily injured or experiencing pain and suffering?

 

Cancel without the penalty and move on since there are no inside spa cabins available.

[loxley]

Ask for spa passes and get over it. Sorry, but people are working in ****ty jobs being yelled at a big part of their day and sometimes they lose it.

 

They have admitted the mistake so just ask for spa passes as compensation even though you would not have gotten a spa room when you booked anyway.

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[StolidCruiser]

If I got compensation every time I got crappy customer service, I'd be a millionnaire.

[DebbieMo]

What is wrong with expecting Carnival to right the wrong? Usually companies try to offer some compensation for their errors and even if they can't give her a spa room they could offer something. This is the reason customer service is crappy, we accept their rude behavior and try to justify it. I understand it's a rough job but it's a job you accepted and there is no call for yelling at customers or being rude.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[boopsahoy]

What is wrong with expecting Carnival to right the wrong? Usually companies try to offer some compensation for their errors and even if they can't give her a spa room they could offer something. This is the reason customer service is crappy, we accept their rude behavior and try to justify it. I understand it's a rough job but it's a job you accepted and there is no call for yelling at customers or being rude.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

I agree-they should give her a spa pass..

[cruiserNC]

I agree that you should be given a spa pass or at least for a few days of the cruise. I've been there more than once with Carnival sales team. I've thought at times they should spend a few days on CC getting the reality of cruising.

Good Luck!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pe4all]

Whenever I book a cabin on phone with Carnival, I am on the computer at the same time looking at the deck plan for whatever ship/cabin I want to book. With 15 cruises on CCL, I can't believe you wouldn't have checked the deck plan to see where the cabin was, or what category it was in at same time as booking. I research everything up the wazoo, and TELL them the cabin I want. Never take anyone's word when booking a cabin - be an educated consumer. Have you gone online and looked to see if any spa interiors are open for that sailing? (I just tried, and just get a spinning arrow - site is wonky right now) Call back again and see if you get a more cooperative agent/pvp/supervisor. I would definitely see if they throw in spa passes for the week - I don't think you will get any obc from them, unfortunately, but you can try! Good luck.

[Savlamara]

Sorry to hear this happened.

 

Compensation :confused: for what? A mistake was made. Were you bodily injured or experiencing pain and suffering?

 

Cancel without the penalty and move on since there are no inside spa cabins available.

 

In agreement. They were given the run around, it happens. It was clarified after they called back, pick another boat or another sailing. I dont see where they are obligated to give anything for a simple mistake. They already are letting them cancel/change without penalty.

 

I'm like the other poster, I have the deck plan right in front of me every single time I am booking over the phone just so I know where it is located and whats around it.

[cruizinisthebest]

Yeah you want something out of it. Any ideas as in what? Sure they can give you a spa pass but I would have stopped at them saying it was a mistake and let them know the attitudes were uncalled for. There are no more spa cabins, so yes the rep messed up. I really don't see what pulling the tape would have accomplished in terms of you getting your spa cabin.

 

Sometimes reps are dead azz wrong and then nasty about it. Yes even their superiors as well. Maybe you'll get a spa pass out of it if you kick up enough sand. There are no more rooms like you wanted. That's the bottom line.

 

And like others, I have our exact cabins picked out before I book. I am ridiculously anal about what cabins we stay in. I would never let someone else pick them out.

Edited March 11, 2016 by cruizinisthebest

[b_cruise]

At the least get an obc that's not good customer service. Just think about all the time the op has wasted trying to right carnivals errors Yes carnival makes mistakes but they need to offer the op something for her time.

 

A while back I booked a cruise while on a cruise and they lost my whole reservation even though the deposit went through on my cc. After numerous calls they did give me some obc which I was happy with.

[Tapi]

Based on my experience and also on what I've read before, Carnival will not be responsible for mistakes made by their agents. They may offer you some sort of compensation in the form of OBC, price protection, or future cruise discount if the source of the error is somewhere else, but If the agent misquoted you or offered you a stateroom, rate or promotion that is not available, Carnival will reverse the transaction but not compensate you.

 

I hope that you get something more but once again, based on what I've seen, you will not get anything beyond what you were already offered (to cancel the erroneous booking without further penalties). That's standard for them.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Tapi

[soccersharon]

I'm really sorry this happened to you :). I hope things can be worked out.

 

While this won't fix your booking snafu, please join your Vista Repo roll call. We have a lot events planned, and we're a fun bunch!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2166599

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Edited March 11, 2016 by soccersharon

[cruizinisthebest]

At the least get an obc that's not good customer service. Just think about all the time the op has wasted trying to right carnivals errors Yes carnival makes mistakes but they need to offer the op something for her time.

 

A while back I booked a cruise while on a cruise and they lost my whole reservation even though the deposit went through on my cc. After numerous calls they did give me some obc which I was happy with.

 

Your situation could be fixed. I had a booking get messed up two years ago - by a dingbat rep at Carnival. Did the same thing. Cancelled our rooms. It was a mess! Days on the phone and via email. The TA I booked with gave me OBC. Carnival never offered anything and it was largely their mistake. But that could be fixed. In the OPs case, there were never any spa rooms available. The rep probably saw the deck and assumed all of the rooms up there were spa cabins. The OP found out immediately so the spa rooms were gone when originally booked. It was a mistake in cabin category. You can't boot someone else out of their room. They weren't going to get a spa cabin when they called.

 

At least try and do a mock booking to see if the stateroom type you want is available. It can help avoid stuff like this.

[Pops, Esq.]

What is wrong with expecting Carnival to right the wrong? Usually companies try to offer some compensation for their errors and even if they can't give her a spa room they could offer something. This is the reason customer service is crappy, we accept their rude behavior and try to justify it. I understand it's a rough job but it's a job you accepted and there is no call for yelling at customers or being rude.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

 

Sounds like they did right the wrong. She thought she got a cabin that she didn't get. She called. They are allowing her to cancel without penalty. About an hour of time wasted, but she is in the exact same position she would have been in had they not screwed up (less an hour of her life). Would I be ticked off, too? Probably. Is that something I would expect compensation for? Probably not.

 

Maybe I would....since it hasn't happened to me....can't say positively not.

[Pops, Esq.]

 

 

 

At least try and do a mock booking to see if the stateroom type you want is available. It can help avoid stuff like this.

 

 

 

She said she did. She said it didn't work. Sounds like the spa rooms really weren't available.

[Nic6318]

Hi there

 

So let me get this straight.

 

The op was sold and interior cabin when he thought he was getting an inside Cloud 9 spa cabin. At the time there were no inside Cloud 9 spa cabins available. I gather the price he was quoted was for an inside cabin and not for an inside Cloud 9 spa cabin. I have to believe that he didn't know what the price for the inside cabin would be compared to the price for an inside Cloud 9 spa cabin, or he would have been alerted to the fact that there was some kind of mistake right away.

 

Now after a lot of hassle Carnival has admitted their error and have said they would offer some kind of compensation. They have not said what it would be yet.

 

The op said he might have thought it would be appropriate for complimentary spa passes initially but now feels he has been inconvenienced so much that he deserves more.

 

For an 11 day cruise the value of those passes if they offered them to you would be over $300 for a couple. Now you say you feel that is not enough.

 

Carnival doesn't have to give you anything. You should have been aware of the situation the next day and it would seem you are now just trying to get something that you didn't pay for because they made a mistake.

 

That being said you feel they did you wrong. If they offer you something, I think you should just take it.

 

good luck

[skidawg79]

I'm thinking an upgrade to a balcony room and spa passes. Maybe complimentary cheers program and a butler. Oh wait...we have room stewards.

 

Seriously though, take the week spa pass and maybe a little onboard credit. Maybe push for a balcony room with spa passes. I do believe Carnival should right their wrong, most companies would.

[elainmir]

Plain fact of the matter is Carnival is never responsible for their agents mistakes..now they tell you they'll listen to the recording and get back to you but when they do, if they do they claim they don't have the recording. I know because they've done it to me. I think it's because they know their agent jacked up the reservation and they don't want to do the right thing. So please don't tell OP you have a hard time believing ...it happens...

OP so sorry this happened to you!

I knew you were in trouble when I read you immediately called to fix it and things went south for several days!

[BenjiRodney]

Did you not get an email immediately after booking? I have had them from my PVP before ever getting off the phone to make sure everything is correct.

[WhyIsTheRumGone23]

I am sorry to hear what happened to you. What I don't understand is what you want done to compensate for it. They screwed up and booked the wrong room type. There are only two solutions, 1) give you the room that you requested at the going rate, 2) refund your purchase price and undo the contract. The first option isn't possible as the rooms are all booked. The only option is a full refund, you get your money returned and are made whole again.

 

Anything beyond this, for aggravation, time spent and inconvenience would be above and beyond for customer service and satisfaction. Some companies are big on that, I work for one. Unfortunately, other companies are not as customer satisfaction focused. At best, you could request a spa pass or OBC and take the room booked. At worst, you take the refund and find another cruise or possibly another vacation option.

 

Customer service seems to be a dying business strategy today.

[Neals6]

It's not the ideai of the room carnival use to have GOOD cusstomer service. I know how she is feeling been thru some changes with carnival lately and had a sup. talk to me like they don't care and as if i was lying about what happened. What happened to the CUSTOMER SERVICE?

[klfrodo]

What happened to the CUSTOMER SERVICE?

 

The CUSTOMER is what happened to customer service.

Used to be all on good faith and intention that a customer was taken care of when wronged or perceived to have been wronged.

 

Then customers started taking advantage of "The Customer Is Always right".

Buying clothes, leave the label on, wear it for a special occasion, then return for full refund.

Fake slip and fall

Mistakenly destroy or misuse a product and not accept any blame.

Product A has always been good to me but product B is 25 cents cheaper, I'll buy product B

I'm sure people can go on and on.

Edited March 12, 2016 by klfrodo

[asdjl]

Keep pushing for them to listen to the call and ask for spa passes. I had a situation once, with a health insurance co, where they told me something, didn't do it, and then told me I must be mistaken no one in their company would have promised me, etc. then they listened to the call, and Li and behold, realized I was right and not lying about it, and made it right

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk