Flooded Cabin & OBC compensation

[aussiebossyboots]

We were on a cruise to New Zealand in November/December on Ruby Princess and our cabin was flooded - like seriously.  Concurrently, I was also extremely sick with two visits to the doctor during the cruise.

 

As compensation we were relocated to another cabin for 24 hours, given a free specialty dinner and in addition were advised that $400 OBC would be added to our account.  All OK at this stage.

 

Unfortunately when we disembarked - because I was still very ill - and hubby really leaves all this organisation up to me, I didn't check our account.  When we returned home, I noticed that Princess Cruises had taken out a substantial amount from our credit card and also realised that we were not given an account of our expenses on board on the last night as we have previously received on other cruise lines.  This was our first Princess Cruise.

 

I contacted Customer Relations via email and received the account only to find that the $400 OBC promised was not on the account.  In addition, they charged me for laundry for all the clothes that were at the bottom of our wardrobe that were saturated.  

 

After numerous telephone calls and emails I have been told that this is being investigated.  

 

Does anyone have a similar experience and/or know how long it will take to have this issue resolved?  I will call them again today, this will be my fourth phone call.

 

Many thanks for your assistance.

[Chiliburn]

I’d be trying to email the ships customers service.

Try the princess forum and ask them.

[The_Big_M]

I've had disputes through Princess head office and it has been resolved in a day. However, the nature of this means they would need to check with the ship to validate details. 

 

As there would be a record of the cabin damage, once that is confirmed, it should be straightforward to receive the compensation and it's only then a matter of that refund being arranged. The refund itself may take a little while as they sometimes send out via cheques, but it should only be a matter of time; I don't think you should have difficulty with this situation, as described.

Edited January 2, 2020 by The_Big_M

[aussiebossyboots]

Thanks for your advice.  I have yet again phoned the customer service line to be told to lodge a complaint via their web.  None of the other phone calls resulted in this advice.  So I have lodged the issue on their contact us website.

 

We are going on another Princess cruise on 12 January to Papua New Guinea and was hoping for this OBC to be credited to this cruise.  Resolved to this not happening.

 

Really their customer service is dreadful.

 

Thanks again.

[Chiliburn]

It is the holiday season .

Get on the princess forum and get the ships email address and let go.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, aussiebossyboots said:

We are going on another Princess cruise on 12 January to Papua New Guinea and was hoping for this OBC to be credited to this cruise.  Resolved to this not happening.

I am sorry to hear this happened. Clearly, you should not have been charged for cleaning the clothes that were wet when your cabin flooded. It is likely the cabin steward didn't mark the accompanying sheet as a N/C and the reason. Maybe he didn't have the authority to do that, but someone should have.

 

I doubt very much that the OBC would be credited to your account on your next cruise. If the matter is sorted out (as it should be) you will probably get the $400 refunded by cheque. This could take several weeks.

Edited January 2, 2020 by Aus Traveller

[aussiebossyboots]

Felt comfortable posting on our Aus/NZ forum but a bit apprehensive about posting this on the Princess Forum, but your idea Chiliburn of getting the ship's email address is great, so will cross fingers and try my luck on the other forum.

 

Have now received an automated reply that my issue has been received.

[possum52]

I hope this is resolved quickly for you. I am surprised that you didn't receive an itemised account before you disembarked. We've always received one the night before on Princess. It is usually either left in your room ny your room steward or pushed under ypur door during the night. Did you check your account reguarly? We always check ours at least daily.

 

Leigh

 

[aussiebossyboots]

Yes, we usually get an envelope with the account the last night of the cruise left in our room.  Again, unfortunately, because I was really not well - some sort of virus - I didn't really concentrate on the bill side of things.  When we arrived home, the next day I was looking for the account.  This was my first contact with Princess solutions@princesscruises.com.au  and I must say the account was sent via email within 24 hours.  Then things went down hill when I pointed out the discrepancies.

 

I have now (today) been told that the person who sent me the account was not authorised to further my query - Really!!  But was not told this until I had sent several emails to this original person (no reply) and spoke to three other customer relation people via their 1300 551 853 number which was given to me by our travel agent.

 

I have now been advised from the Princess forum to contact customerrelations@princess.com  which I will do now.

 

Fingers crossed.

[MicCanberra]

Good luck, hope it will be resolved for you soon.

[Chiliburn]

2 hours ago, aussiebossyboots said:

Felt comfortable posting on our Aus/NZ forum but a bit apprehensive about posting this on the Princess Forum, but your idea Chiliburn of getting the ship's email address is great, so will cross fingers and try my luck on the other forum.

 

Have now received an automated reply that my issue has been received.

So you did get the ship? 

 Those main forums can be pretty brutal,some people go for the thought.

But a lot of people are pretty decent and are helpful.with A lot of experience.

 

[possum52]

15 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

So you did get the ship? 

 Those main forums can be pretty brutal,some people go for the thought.

But a lot of people are pretty decent and are helpful.with A lot of experience.

 

Once off the ship, it is head office which will deal with any queries or disputes, not the ship personel.

 

Leigh

[Chiliburn]

13 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Once off the ship, it is head office which will deal with any queries or disputes, not the ship personel.

 

Leigh

 

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by Chiliburn

[possum52]

2 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Leigh , I mostly have a suite and always have the concierge email or guest service email.

 Even when on the ship, email the hotel ,food and beverage managers.

Yes Chiliburn,  but they are off the ship. All queries and disputes will usually be handled by head office in this case. Not the individual ship. They will be busy handling their present cruise passengers’ problems. I would think that if needed head office would contact the ship to get any information to resolve the OP’s dispute. 
 

Leigh

[The_Big_M]

Hence my suggestion earlier.

 

The account has been finalised, and that is now done through head office. The ship does not deal with accounts for previous sailings once closed, but as mentioned will need to verify what happened.

[aussiebossyboots]

I received a helpful response form a couple of posters on the Princess forum, one was another American email address but unfortunately for whatever reason the email I sent bounced back.  

 

I also received the email address of the CEO, but will wait until I go down that track.

 

I am waiting for a response from the web contact form.  Will give them to the middle of next week before I call again. Just for your information, I will keep you up to date on any progress.

 

Thanks again for all your comments.

[MicCanberra]

Cheers, I think you are being very reasonable in your approach.

[Bubbeh]

Don't be put off, just keep plugging away.  I recently received a cheque from Carnival for a P & O Cruise that was cancelled by P & O because they sold the ship to CMV and the cruises replacing the ones (back to back) that I had booked left me (from Mandurah WA) wandering around Brisbane (very nice city but....) for more than two weeks in between cruises.  I said not on your nellie!  This began a year long fight for full reimbursement.  We were charged $1 each per cruise for 'cancellation'!  P & O cancelled, not us.  Anyway, much much much liaison later, yay for me a cheque for $4 in my mail box.

[aussiebossyboots]

Just as a follow up, I received a call today (and confirmation email) that this issue has been resolved.

 

The $400 + laundry charges will be added to our OBC account on our Sea Princess cruise to Papua New Guinea which we will board this Sunday in Brisbane.  My patience paid off.

 

Finally, happy with the outcome but really had to work for it.  For future reference it's best to get on their website and fill in the contact form for better service, don't bother calling them - hopeless.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments, much appreciated.

[By The Bay]

Fantastic result. And thanks for the info re website for contact.

[GUT2407]

Glad you got it sorted.

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, aussiebossyboots said:

Just as a follow up, I received a call today (and confirmation email) that this issue has been resolved.

 

The $400 + laundry charges will be added to our OBC account on our Sea Princess cruise to Papua New Guinea which we will board this Sunday in Brisbane.  My patience paid off.

 

Finally, happy with the outcome but really had to work for it.  For future reference it's best to get on their website and fill in the contact form for better service, don't bother calling them - hopeless.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments, much appreciated.

Great result.

[Aus Traveller]

3 hours ago, aussiebossyboots said:

Just as a follow up, I received a call today (and confirmation email) that this issue has been resolved.

 

The $400 + laundry charges will be added to our OBC account on our Sea Princess cruise to Papua New Guinea which we will board this Sunday in Brisbane.  My patience paid off.

 

Finally, happy with the outcome but really had to work for it.  For future reference it's best to get on their website and fill in the contact form for better service, don't bother calling them - hopeless.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments, much appreciated.

I hope that OBC is refundable. It should be. 😀

[aussiebossyboots]

Yikes, didn't ask for a refundable OBC - Oh well, we will just spend it on the expensive wine at dinner or lash out on cocktails which we never do at home😃.  Really just happy they came good as I am now looking forward to our cruise on Sunday with a much better opinion of Princess.

[Aus Traveller]

37 minutes ago, aussiebossyboots said:

Yikes, didn't ask for a refundable OBC - Oh well, we will just spend it on the expensive wine at dinner or lash out on cocktails which we never do at home😃.  Really just happy they came good as I am now looking forward to our cruise on Sunday with a much better opinion of Princess.

I suggest you check your account after you board to see how much of your OBC is refundable and how much is not. This might be shown on your Personalizer. If you know the $400 is refundable, you won't feel you have to buy 'stuff' that you really don't want. BTW, if it is refundable, Princess will send you a cheque a few weeks after the cruise. It could be several weeks before it arrives.