how long does HAL usually take to respond to complaints ?

[sapper1]

Absolutely! (Two names were on your quote.) I agree with you completely. The OP experienced sexual harassment at the hand of men under HAL's control. Guest Services should have investigated immediately.

 

Thanks, I was quoting Sail. I don't know how it wound up with two names. The CC website does curious things sometimes.

[PatsyAnne]

Women have been fighting against this kind of attitude for years, and are making headway, but there will always be one or two. You certainly have had a lot to say on this topic. Moving on and ignoring means that another female will be subject to the same harassment and bullying by some chauvinistic low life. No, moving on is definitely not the right thing to do.

 

 

 

You have it right Lizzie!!

 

 

 

Shame on you Kevin for teaching your daughter to ignore such boorish behavior!

 

 

I think that Kevin has a point. While I believe offenders should be called out (when safe to do so), and reported in a case like OP's, I think "moving on" has more than one meaning. The OP, and all of us who have been subject to rude and insulting behavior, should know that what the boors say defines the boors, not the targets. We should know who we are, and not internalize the insults and let them disturb our happiness (I know, easy to say...). To "move on" and not give the creeps power over us. I don't know the OP, but from her posts she has always sounded like a lovely and interesting person, and it's a shame that her cruise was interrupted by these people.

 

Back on topic, I've never worked in the cruise industry, but in my industry contractors were held to the same basic standards as employees. The difference is often how infractions are managed, since the management structure is different for contractors. I hope that HAL uses this information to reinforce guidelines for all contractors who have contact with passengers, and I do think it should have been handled better during the cruise.

[InTheWASide]

Do all the people who write Holland America

Just want to be heard, or are they shaking the bushes to receive some form of compensation? Asking for a friend

 

I'm sure there's a healthy mix of both.

 

But what baffles me, and this is regardless of whether the complaint is absolutely horrible and valid, not a big deal to most but it is to that person or complete manufactured BS (or anywhere in between)...

 

It completely floors me when people say that they will never sail with a line again, no way in hell and over their dead body etc (and that's their choice) but demand compensation. The line will do so with a cruise credit or onboard credit (and in most cases the complainers already know that) so what they demand is designed to get them to go back onboard...

 

So in some cases it may be people trying to get a freebie but in others they want something to offset what happened but have said prior that they refuse to cruise again... :confused:

 

If you're sick and tired of a line, don't want to sail on them again etc just leave. Let that "terrible" cruise end and then just never take another with them. Speak with your wallet. If you wanted a refund you're not going to get it and if you wanted credits toward another then you're full of crap.

 

Just my opinion of course, but having done the job for 6 years... :eek:

[iancal]

Agree completely. We vote with our feet and with our wallets. A future cruise credit or a shut up and go away OBC is not what we want. We much prefer a satisfactory cruise experience to a cheesy partial refund or credit. We select a ship for the cruise experience- not with the hope of scoring an extra credit.

 

We don't walk away and say we won't sail on a cruise line again because of one issue on one ship. The exception to that may be how a cruise line actually handles our complaint. We have only ever had one issue worth bothering about besides the odd time of sending a meal back to the kitchen. It was on an NCL ship and we were impressed by how responsive they were. In fact the ship management follow up became tedious!

 

We may, and have, decided not to cruise on certain ships again. Simply because we have no desire to cruise on HAL's older ships does not mean that we do not like HAL or will not cruise on some of their other ships. Exactly the same with other cruise lines. When we go on Carnival or NCL we are equally as careful in selecting the ship but for different reasons.

 

What I find very odd in reading some responses is that people seem to say that it can take six weeks for HAL to respond. I just do not understand why they don't send out acknowledgement letters immediately. This is such a basic approach to dealing with customer communication and it goes a long way to soothing the 'bear'. Apart from that, it is simply polite to acknowledge a customer communication in a timely manner.

 

We travel often. One of the ways we judge a hotel prior to staying is how quickly they respond to an inquiry. Our experience has been some of the best places that we have stayed were also the best at responding quickly to our questions prior to making the reservation.

[Wakepatrol]

I'm sure there's a healthy mix of both.

 

But what baffles me, and this is regardless of whether the complaint is absolutely horrible and valid, not a big deal to most but it is to that person or complete manufactured BS (or anywhere in between)...

 

It completely floors me when people say that they will never sail with a line again, no way in hell and over their dead body etc (and that's their choice) but demand compensation. The line will do so with a cruise credit or onboard credit (and in most cases the complainers already know that) so what they demand is designed to get them to go back onboard...

 

So in some cases it may be people trying to get a freebie but in others they want something to offset what happened but have said prior that they refuse to cruise again... :confused:

 

If you're sick and tired of a line, don't want to sail on them again etc just leave. Let that "terrible" cruise end and then just never take another with them. Speak with your wallet. If you wanted a refund you're not going to get it and if you wanted credits toward another then you're full of crap.

 

Just my opinion of course, but having done the job for 6 years... :eek:

 

Yes - Great post. It has always baffled me as well.

You have a chronic malcontent passenger who's at the front desk their entire cruise complaining about everything under the sun. What does HAl do? Gives them a credit to go on another cruise. Me I don't want these peoples business, they can't be pleased and they're taking up too much of the staffs time.

Good riddance sail on another ship.

 

There are now big retailers that are banning customers who return too many items. They simply say to the customer

"We Aren't Meeting Your Needs" so buh buy

 

Of course it's a great way to cruise cheap, complain get credit sail again complain get credit rinse and repeat.

 

Then there's people on here that had an issue on a cruise, and we all have to hear about it for the next five years. The ship is supposedly no good and should be sent to the scrapyard. 5 years later it's logged 1 million miles carried 1000's of passengers and had been to 37 countries. Hey it's cheap entertainment.

[lcand1923]

Do all the people who write Holland America

Just want to be heard, or are they shaking the bushes to receive some form of compensation? Asking for a friend

 

I can only speak for myself ....

 

During my working life, I had various jobs that would now be called something like "Quality Improvement". Working those jobs for over 25 years, I automatically click into QI mode any time I have interactions with people who whose job would be considered customer contact. I tend to take notes and will then write a letter to the person in charge acknowledging the folks who did things right and the areas where improvement could be made. I begin that letter with the statement of my work experience and my reason for writing the letter. I've done this after just about every cruise or extended vacation that I have taken. I do not expect compensation. I have usually received some sort of letter from HAL thanking me for my time. I have never received a letter from any other cruise line and very few from hotels and tour companies.

[vivAtornado]

i also often provide feedback in the service industry, as i managed a customer service platform for almost a decade. as a result, i am in some ways more understanding and more critical of service issues. i feel that i often know what is reasonable and what is not. i strive to provide both negative and positive feedback, as a manager i found all types of feedback helped better our service in the long run. there are times compensation is a appropriate, there are times acknowledgement is all you need. all situations are different. my standards are WWID. what would i do!?

[cbr663]

When I contacted HAL after a disaster of a cruise I was expecting that our concerns would be acknowledged and offered an apology. We not only received a well written acknowledgment of our concerns, but also an apology and future OBC. I wasn't expecting the OBC at all.

 

I can tell you that it was because of this letter that we decided to give HAL another chance. I am glad that I did because we have had wonderful cruises since on HAL. However, I will not sail on that particular ship again and have not booked the cabin class again.

[avian777]

... how long does HAL usually take to respond to complaints ? ...:mad:

 

... based on the Posts above, the definitive answer appears to be, "IT DEPENDS!" Yes, HAL's response time depends on several factors, including (but not limited to) nature/seriousness of complaint, how well (or poorly) the complaint is written, to whom the complaint is addressed, to whom the complaint is given for resolution, what redress (if any) is requested/demanded by the complainant, the perceived importance of the complainant, etc., etc., etc. Does that clear it up for you? :)

[kevingastreich]

When I contacted HAL after a disaster of a cruise I was expecting that our concerns would be acknowledged and offered an apology. We not only received a well written acknowledgment of our concerns, but also an apology and future OBC. I wasn't expecting the OBC at all.

 

I can tell you that it was because of this letter that we decided to give HAL another chance. I am glad that I did because we have had wonderful cruises since on HAL. However, I will not sail on that particular ship again and have not booked the cabin class again.

 

One time, after a very nice cruise experience, I wrote HAL letting them know how much we appreciated their great service. Soon after, I received a letter in the "snail mail" thanking me for my patronage and giving us a FREE Pinnacle dinner for two on our next cruise! :)

[blizzardboy]

I just emailed Guest Relations yesterday with a formal letter attached. I copied the email to Orlando Ashford and my PCC. I started the letter with compliments to the crew, mentioning many by name. I went on to itemize the issues we had on our cruise. I have found that Ashford's office will forward letters to Guest Relations anyway, but it doesn't hurt that they know his office is aware of a problem. I'll advise this thread when I hear back.

 

I received a letter from Mr. Ashford's office yesterday, postmarked 3 days after I emailed him with my letter attached. Most issues were addressed, a future cruise credit commensurate with our issues applied to next year's cruise, and one remaining issue was referred for further investigation. A 72 hour turn-around is pretty darn good.

[Lovely other]

I received a letter from Mr. Ashford's office yesterday, postmarked 3 days after I emailed him with my letter attached. Most issues were addressed, a future cruise credit commensurate with our issues applied to next year's cruise, and one remaining issue was referred for further investigation. A 72 hour turn-around is pretty darn good.

 

 

Apart from the standard we have received your email notice I have heard nothing back. How did you find Orlando Ashfords email? My original email went to guest services in the UK but I am considering forwarding it to Mr Ashford and Guest Services in the U.S. Customer service in the UK never seems to be as keen!

[blizzardboy]

Apart from the standard we have received your email notice I have heard nothing back. How did you find Orlando Ashfords email? My original email went to guest services in the UK but I am considering forwarding it to Mr Ashford and Guest Services in the U.S. Customer service in the UK never seems to be as keen!

 

I emailed Mr. Ashford directly with my letter as an attachment. I received a "form" email acknowledging Mr. Ashford's receipt of my letter, then an actual letter was mailed to us 3 days later.

[joepeka]

Apart from the standard we have received your email notice I have heard nothing back. How did you find Orlando Ashfords email? My original email went to guest services in the UK but I am considering forwarding it to Mr Ashford and Guest Services in the U.S. Customer service in the UK never seems to be as keen!

Unless blizzardboy comes back with a different answer, earlier in this thread someone listed officeofthepresident@hollandamerica.com as an email address to use for Mr. Ashford.

[blizzardboy]

Unless blizzardboy comes back with a different answer, earlier in this thread someone listed officeofthepresident@hollandamerica.com as an email address to use for Mr. Ashford.

 

A couple years ago I looked at how my PCC's HAL email address was configured and took a flyer on Mr. Ashford's. It worked and still does. I'm not going to be blamed for listing it here, but it wasn't that hard to figure out.

[Lovely other]

Well I have finally heard back from HAL ... I gave up on UK customer services eventually and directed my emails to the U.S.

 

i have been assured that the behaviour of the contractors was not acceptable and that guest relations should have taken the matter more seriously than they did. I got an apology so thats settled then and I'll put it down to experience ...

 

I would like to thank all of you that left positive supportive comments, I may not have replied at the time but it meant a lot to me. I'm sensitive about the way I look so far as I don't even let my husband take photo's on our trips. over the past decade my body has been through hell with some very serious health issues, the fact that I'm still around to go on cruises is a miracle in itself ...when people judge me I get hurt easily. I'd like to say I'd toughen up but then I'm one of those over empathic sensitive types and why should I have to change.

 

Anyway thanks again

 

m x

[mame42]

Good for you! Thanks for letting us know the outcome.

[PatsyAnne]

Way to go, lady! I'm glad they recognized and apologized for the behavior. I understand about being sensitive to insults, and I'm sorry they detracted from your trip.

[RuthC]

Thank you for letting us know the ending. I'm happy to read that they said the ship should have taken better care of the situation.

And I'm happy that you are satisfied with the apology. I hope this kind of thing never happens on board again.

[Hflors]

Thanks for coming back and letting us know how it turned out.

 

It is good that now HAL's main office has been "alerted" to the contractor's behavior.

Let's hope it will not happen again.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Hflors

[Copper10-8]

.................................

Back on topic, I've never worked in the cruise industry, but in my industry contractors were held to the same basic standards as employees. The difference is often how infractions are managed, since the management structure is different for contractors. I hope that HAL uses this information to reinforce guidelines for all contractors who have contact with passengers, and I do think it should have been handled better during the cruise.

When contractors come onboard HAL ships, and I'm talking contractors who are sailing with the ship/are assigned cabins, not service techs who come onboard on 'turnaround days' and leave before the ship sails, they are handed a booklet (kinda similar to the booklet "from the captain" pax find in their cabins), that explain the rules and regs that apply to them while onboard.

 

All contractors, especially the large groups of contractors who come onboard for dry-dock periods, include a foreman/supervisor/project manager who they answer to. In the incident the OP mentions, that foreman/supervisor/project manager, plus the knuckle draggers who made the unacceptable and offensive comments, should have been called on the carpet, read the riot act, and instructed very clearly that their uncouth comments are to cease and desist immediately, or they would be kicked off the ship at the next port and made to explain to the company they are employed by the reason why this occurred! As soon as that meeting was concluded, these offenders should have been made to offer their apologies to the OP

 

HAL has a zero tolerance to any form of harassment which is one of the most important rules explained to new crew during their HESS (Health - Environment - Safety - Security) meeting they are obligated to attend on the first sea day after joining. In my job, I instruct new crew on this and other topics as part of these meetings. As we all know, or should know, the times have changed and what was acceptable, including in Italy, in the seventies and eighties is no longer acceptable in the times we live nowadays.

 

There is absolutely no excuse for the type of comments the OP had to face from these contractors and that should have been made crystal clear to these individuals.

[SilvertoGold]

When contractors come onboard HAL ships, and I'm talking contractors who are sailing with the ship/are assigned cabins, not service techs who come onboard on 'turnaround days' and leave before the ship sails, they are handed a booklet (kinda similar to the booklet "from the captain" pax find in their cabins), that explain the rules and regs that apply to them while onboard.

 

All contractors, especially the large groups of contractors who come onboard for dry-dock periods, include a foreman/supervisor/project manager who they answer to. In the incident the OP mentions, that foreman/supervisor/project manager, plus the knuckle draggers who made the unacceptable and offensive comments, should have been called on the carpet, read the riot act, and instructed very clearly that their uncouth comments are to cease and desist immediately, or they would be kicked off the ship at the next port and made to explain to the company they are employed by the reason why this occurred! As soon as that meeting was concluded, these offenders should have been made to offer their apologies to the OP

 

HAL has a zero tolerance to any form of harassment which is one of the most important rules explained to new crew during their HESS (Health - Environment - Safety - Security) meeting they are obligated to attend on the first sea day after joining. In my job, I instruct new crew on this and other topics as part of these meetings. As we all know, or should know, the times have changed and what was acceptable, including in Italy, in the seventies and eighties is no longer acceptable in the times we live nowadays.

 

There is absolutely no excuse for the type of comments the OP had to face from these contractors and that should have been made crystal clear to these individuals.

 

Yikes! That says it all. We need officers like you on all HAL ships!

Thanks for explaining HAL's policies clearly, in detail: this restores one's faith in the line.

[PatsyAnne]

Yes!!! What Copper10-8 said.

[iancal]

Good policy.

 

But is it enforced, or is it just good policy? If it is not enforced it really does not mean much. Sort of like the dress code?

Edited May 14, 2016 by iancal

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Good policy.

 

But is it enforced, or is it just good policy? If it is not enforced it really does not mean much. Sort of like the dress code?

 

I agree good policy BUT.... obviously NOT always enforced nor did any HAL Crew care in this instance. Many HUGE Corporations have all these great policies and procedures and employees and management look the other way. Sadly this first sailing of the Koningsdam was filled with lots of things that use to happen on a HAL ship that simply did NOT. Many were not things you could blame on "Oh that was because it was the first sailing of the Koningsdam " All of the crew were experiences and not NEW to HAL.

 

Lovely other, I am so glad you got your apology although very late in coming.