NCL Custermer Service is Horrible

[Laszlo]

Your never guaranteed a bid. My wife and I have a cruise coming up, bidding day started and I did not get an email. I called my TA, and they told me I should get one. I then called NCL and was told my two managers "We saved enough money, you don't have the option to bid" We got a great deal on a Spa Balcony which basically saved us $900. What NCL did say is if we are willing to pay another $850 they will allow us to bid, I was pissed but not pissed enough to pay another $850 for the chance of bidding and possibly not even winning. Personally I thought it was a slap in the face for NCL to come back and ask for more money to bid. What they should have done is kept their mouth shut and just say sorry your not one of the pax who were picked to bid

Edited January 4, 2018 by Laszlo

[biker@sea]

Giantfan 13

 

You bought and paid for an IX category cabin.

How much of a FREE upgrade did you actually get from your GTY if any??

[jdvmd]

Be happy that you are going on a cruise and probably got a very good last minute deal. There are no guarantees that you would have had your bid accepted.

[JerseyMom]

We booked a guaranteed inside cabin at their 'sail away' rate and we got a cabin basically the next day. We also received an email saying we could bid for an upgrade which we tried to do.

 

Is NCL now accepting bids on "sail away" or __x bookings? I thought this category was not eligible to bid.

 

OP - I understand your frustration. You may never know who was really at fault. The TA is not likely to admit fault (if indeed they were to blame). Try to enjoy your cruise anyway. It is miserable here in the Northeast and heading to warmer climates should help.

[jdvmd]

Is NCL now accepting bids on "sail away" or __x bookings? I thought this category was not eligible to bid.

 

OP - I understand your frustration. You may never know who was really at fault. The TA is not likely to admit fault (if indeed they were to blame). Try to enjoy your cruise anyway. It is miserable here in the Northeast and heading to warmer climates should help.

We booked a Sail Away rate and were able to bid the next day after booking. Received an email.

[JerseyMom]

We booked a Sail Away rate and were able to bid the next day after booking. Received an email.

 

Good to know. Thanks!

[cappucino]

This thread is very harsh. I find it hard to understand how die hard NCL followers/cheerleaders have little understanding when it comes to a negative experience involving another cruiser with NCL. NCL is less than perfect! Try to be more understanding people and less harsh and possibly not so quick to jump to defending NCL before thinking about the actual transaction!! No need to comment.

[myra711]

OP, I hear you - not that you were looking for something, but needed to vent and be commiserated with, at least, by NCL. Whoever is at fault initially, whether or not you would have had a successful bid...not relevant. You wanted to be treated kindly, and were not. That is crummy, but I do hope that it won't interfere with a wonderful cruise experience. I hope that you get out ok in spite of weather. Safe sailing

[abe3]

OK

 

 

 

Maybe I did not make myself clear. I used a travel agent and paid the full amount I was asked to pay.to the travel agent. I then tried to bid on the upgrade, for an entire week, and it kept telling me there was a problem, try again later. After a week I called NCL and was told that the amount I paid was $50 short and that's why my bid wasn't accepted. I paid the additional money to NCL to be able to bid. I then called my TA and told them the story and they immediately said NCL was wrong to even charge me anything. The error was on NCL's part and I did pay originally, what was the correct price. I was then refunded the $50 from NCL.

 

My problem was, by the time this was straightened out and I was allowed to bid, the ship had been sold pout, so whatever I did bid was useless, there were no more upgrades available. I called NCL again, because the error which prevented me from bidding, was a mistake on their part, and all I asked was if they could compensate me IN ANY WAY. I did not ask for anything specifically.

 

As I said originally, I wasn't expecting anything, but I felt the need to just get that off my chest. What I did not expect was to be talked to in a manner like I was, rudely et al.. The whys and the how's are just that, the whys and how's. What I was writing about was NOT that they didn't see things my way, but the way I was disrespected on the phone by an agent of NCL.

 

 

 

I hope that clears some things up.

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

 

 

Pick the cabin you are happy with first. Don’t rely on upgrades to make yourself happy. If it happens it happens. NCL is not required to offer you any upgrades. You picked the cabin by choice and that’s on you.

 

Also your travel agent screwed up and that is not NCL’s fault. Get over it or you will have a bad cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Giantfan13]

You know, all I did was post my experience. I wasn't looking for sympathy or anything like that. Just my experience with NCL and their rudeness to me. Maybe I didn't deserve anything, but that was still NO REASON to be rude and abrupt with any customer.

Yet. reading most of the responses, I am made out to be the BAD guy here. It WAS NCL's doing. They admitted as much when I did call back and they did refund the extra money I paid. Yet, it's MY fault, OK. I wish some of you the same experience when you have a problem with NCL.

And just to answer a few questions asked, I called NCL because the email for the upgrade came from them. I was upset, not because I didn't get the upgrade, I am perfectly happy with what I got. I was upset because they screwed up and didn't give me a chance to bid. UNDERSTAND.

I wasn't looking for them to upgrade me, give me any money, maybe a 'very sorry this happened sir,' would have been OK, but instead I got a very rude supervisor who would never admit that NCL screwed up and never got that 'sorry for your trouble' that would have made me feel a bit better.

Cheers

Len

[AnonomissX]

If I was offered an opportunity and the opportunity was taken away because of someone else's mistake (which the OP stated it was NCL's) mistake I would be upset. He would not have been upset if he had never been told he had the opportunity to bid.

 

And to then be treated rudely after he was upset about jumping through their hoops...that was the icing on the cake for him. It was a waste of his time after getting his hopes up. Well, sometimes, you have to let the customer vent, repeat back to them what they are upset about, so they know you are listening, and commiserate a little bit. Then, say well the ship IS sold out, but I what I can do for you is "X".

 

 

Perhaps he was rude, but sometimes...you have to let people get it out. I personally was on the phone with Directv and was UPSET but I kept telling the agent I was not mad at them personally but mad about the situation. She let me get it out, and got the issue resolved. I appreciate that she did so.

[ray98]

Wow....the little rants on here never fail to disappoint. People are simply entitled.

[Two Wheels Only]

I was upset, not because I didn't get the upgrade, I am perfectly happy with what I got. I was upset because they screwed up and didn't give me a chance to bid. UNDERSTAND.

This is why many of us are confused.

 

Are you upset because you didn't get a chance to bid or upset because the phone rep was rude?

 

If the phone rep was the nicest, kindest phone rep ever but you still couldn't bid, would you still be upset?

 

If the phone rep was rude but let you bid (but didn't win), would you still be upset?

 

It seems to me that not being able to bid bothers you more than the supervisor bothers you. The fact that you were upset before speaking to the supervisor tells me that no matter what the supervisor told you or how she said it, anything short of being able to upgrade (like those in your roll call did) wouldn't have made you not upset.

 

If you have a great cruise, would that one supervisor stop you from sailing NCL in the future?

[NLH Arizona]

UNDERSTAND.

I wasn't looking for them to upgrade me, give me any money, maybe a 'very sorry this happened sir,' would have been OK, but instead I got a very rude supervisor who would never admit that NCL screwed up and never got that 'sorry for your trouble' that would have made me feel a bit better.

 

Cheers

Len

 

You say here that you weren't looking for anything or than an I'm sorry, but do you feel that maybe it went wrong when you asked "if they could compensate me IN ANY WAY.", when speaking to customer service? I would think that customer service probably thought that you felt you expected something, either an upgrade, OBC, etc.

 

I hope you can forget about all of this and enjoy your cruise.

BTW, my pet peeve with the cruise lines is that they seem to be fast about offering someone like a bottle of wine, dinner, OBC, etc., instead of just "I'm sorry", when folks bring trival/small issues to them. Then folks brag on here on what they got and then everyone feels (not speaking about the OP) that they are owed something for every little issue.

[beerman2]

If OP or anybody is willing to bid why not just book what you want in the first place.

[ray98]

If OP or anybody is willing to bid why not just book what you want in the first place.

 

 

Exactly.....the opportunity to bid isn't guarantee much less getting an upgrade.

[ClayoftheLake]

I can’t speak directly about the OP’s interaction with NCL because I was not a party to it. I will say that I have always had positive interactions with NCL. I will say that I used to work in the corporate customer care department for one of the largest hotel companies in the world. I was at the supervisor level. I find the fact that the OP stated that they were speaking to a supervisor speaks volumes as to their intentions. In my experience, someone who is not looking for compensation generally as a rule does not escalate a call. I can not speak as to if this particular supervisor was “rude” as that is an opinion, but I would hazard a guess that they were simply firm in their stance that no compensation was warranted. As far as to whether the initial problem was the fault of the TA or NCL, I will say that we would often take the blame for TA mistakes even when we were not at fault, because it makes life easier for all involved. It solves nothing to continue a back and forth blame game, especially after the problem has been solved and addressed. And that was a hotel company that relies on TA partnership far less than a cruise line. I’m sorry that the OP had a difficult interaction with NCL customer service, but no company is ever going to be able to satisfy every customer every time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mking8288]

Exactly.....the opportunity to bid isn't guarantee much less getting an upgrade.

Sailaway rates for mega ships like the BA are typically avaiable for last minute booking as Insides GTY, Oceanview GTY and Balcony GTY with stateroom(s) to be assigned, no choice of deck & locations, etc.

 

The marginal price difference to go from Inside Sail Away GTY rate to Oceanview Sail Away GTY rate is often minimal, without going thru the hassle of bidding & not knowing of the odds. A little bit of research, planning & strategic move are necessary, of course - just check out the next BA 14 days sailing ... (now that tomorrow's sailing has been modified to 13 days, per NCL's storm update/weather announcement, being discussed on another "hot" thread)

[mugtech]

Damn you guys are tough In these threads but OP I understand why you were frustrated. I would be upset too if I was not able to bid due to an error. There are no guarantees but the opportunity would been nice. Sorry that happened to you.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Of course he is frustrated, he is a Giant fan.

[newmexicoNita]

This post has excellent points. We were one of three couples who cruised with NCL in Sept. Booking through NCL, each couple was given different information about perks. I had each couple get info they were given in a form of an email, still different. Sent emails off to someone (I had done my homework as to who could actually benefit from the info) at NCL and received a call back with a day. The perks we were to receive were made clear and we were offered 3 free specialty dinners each for all six of us. I thought that was above and beyond. My email was clear that we were sailing with a couple who had never cruised and one who had never cruised NCL and this caused stress and confusion which wasn't the best first impression. NCL seemed very appreciative that I brought it to their attention.

I certainly understand what you are saying but your situation is very different from what happened with the OP. His problem simply was: he booked as cheaply as he could, was told about bidding for an upgrade, he wanted to do it buy for some reason his bid would not go though. If it had been a shortage in the amount he paid, his booking would have been cancelled for non payment. He simply thought he stood a chance to get something at a discount and he didn't. End of story.

[newmexicoNita]

This thread is very harsh. I find it hard to understand how die hard NCL followers/cheerleaders have little understanding when it comes to a negative experience involving another cruiser with NCL. NCL is less than perfect! Try to be more understanding people and less harsh and possibly not so quick to jump to defending NCL before thinking about the actual transaction!! No need to comment.

yes there is a need to comment and no, I don't know about others but I do know NCL isn't perfect. Nothing is life is perfect. I am a loyalist and don't deny it, but I also have posted negative comments when I feel NCL is wrong. In this case, the OP was hoping for something that just didn't happen. As mentioned here many times, not everyone gets a chance to bid, and most of those who do bid do not get their bid accepted. No one seems to know how this happens, but it does. I know I kept upping ours on our last cruise and still didn't win. I was a tiny bit disappointed but learned a lesson. If you want a particular type of cabin, you better make sure you book that type and not expect to gamble and win.

OP, I do understand your being frustrated if the agent was rude to you, but I also have to add; if you were told nothing could be done and you insisted on persuig the issue, could it have been, in your frustation you too were rude.Usually when we get upset we are inclined to react in a way that get others feathers ruffled and one thing leads to another. Didn't you also say you asked to speack to a supervior? That sounds like maybe you were irrated and sparks may have flown from both sides. Simply from the title of your thread indicates you may have been somewhat at fault. You are saying "Customer service is rude" there are a lot more than one or two people involved in customer service.

Edited January 5, 2018 by newmexicoNita

[MsTanyaNYC]

Of course he is frustrated, he is a Giant fan.

 

 

 

So am, Be easy we got next year

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums