Tone-deaf customer service

[Mdepfl]

Bad Celebrity, really bad. It’s not like this comes every year or anything...

Edited January 11, 2020 by Mdepfl

[dadofjessie]

26 minutes ago, Bretty said:

I’m glad this was resolved to your satisfaction. However, as I read this I can’t help but feel there would have been another option available to Lisa. She’s refunded your original reservation, rebooked and given OBC to cover the cost, thereby making the reservation free. Great. It surely would have been simpler and easier to offer to cover the cost difference and keep your original reservation, at $69pp?

Anyway, glad it’s been sorted and you will still be enjoying your cruise no matter what.

 

I agree!

[TeaBag]

Kudos to Lisa.  She's a credit to Celebrity.  We need more like her.

OP, I'm glad this has been resolved to your satisfaction.  Someone made a mistake in not realizing Feb 14 is Valentines Day when the bookings were opened.  Asking people for another $100 after they have paid, is just wrong.  Celebrity should have just sucked it up.

[cruisestitch]

Someone wasn’t just tone deaf, their ears were full of goop🤔

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, Bretty said:

I’m glad this was resolved to your satisfaction. However, as I read this I can’t help but feel there would have been another option available to Lisa. She’s refunded your original reservation, rebooked and given OBC to cover the cost, thereby making the reservation free. Great. It surely would have been simpler and easier to offer to cover the cost difference and keep your original reservation, at $69pp?

Anyway, glad it’s been sorted and you will still be enjoying your cruise no matter what.

My thought too.

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, helen haywood said:

That really is upsetting!  Apparently Celebrity’s IT department doesn’t recognize obvious holidays like Valentines Day or Christmas... And someone would have to set up their calendar to know what day Thanksgiving falls...in order to charge more on these holiday dates.  Four weeks notice is certainly insulting.  I’d save my money and switch the reservation.

I've often expressed my views on the apparent incompetence of the IT department, but this is one time that I'd find them blameless. The IT department has no responsibility whatsoever for making decisions on what nights are going to be deemed special nights in a given restaurant on a given ship, nor the pricing, nor the menu. Their sole responsibility is to post the information accurately when it is provided by the responsible department and to ensure that the necessary links are made to facilitate the passenger's purchase. 

[cruise kitty]

2 hours ago, RickT said:

When I first read the title I thought "oh boy, another rant from a disgruntled passenger" but to my surprise I agreed with it.  True Customer Service would have been to allow you to keep your original reservation at the original price... but as you say, a free dinner on a different night is decent.  Unfortunately that should have been the initial e-mail from Celebrity and not "sorry, we've cancelled your reservation".

 

Enjoy your dinner and cruise.

 

1 hour ago, Bretty said:

I’m glad this was resolved to your satisfaction. However, as I read this I can’t help but feel there would have been another option available to Lisa. She’s refunded your original reservation, rebooked and given OBC to cover the cost, thereby making the reservation free. Great. It surely would have been simpler and easier to offer to cover the cost difference and keep your original reservation, at $69pp?

Anyway, glad it’s been sorted and you will still be enjoying your cruise no matter what.

 

agree with both here.   OP handled it well, & Celebrity could & shoaled have done better.  

[KurtMo]

3 hours ago, KurtMo said:

I wanted to share what I thought was marketing creating poor customer service.

As I said in my initial post, I do think this was a case of marketing poorly executed creating a customer service issue.  This customer would have been satisfied from the onset if they had simply offered to reschedule for another night and discount/comp the dinner.  In fact, that was the ultimate resolution, but (1) I had to waste my time on the exercise and (2) if I were a person or had a spouse to which Valentine's Day were VERY important, it would be less than ideal (I do not have that situation).  I returned to later give credit after customer service rep Lisa handled the situation very well.  I suspect that may have been totally her doing and not "standard operating procedure" (it certainly was not offered in the email I received from Celebrity).

[mahdnc]

4 hours ago, KurtMo said:

Faith in mankind's ability to make sense of nonsense is (at least partially) restored:  Upon a call to customer service, a very nice and efficient rep named Lisa found us a Murano reservation on a different evening, and then proceeded to refund the original reservation.  She then advised me that she added OBC to the reservation to cover the cost of the Murano dinner, so it is "free".  A good gesture which recognizes the hassle factor for the guest and at least shows that they understood the whole exercise was Celebrity's issue.

 

I wanted to be fair and recognize X for the ultimate response to the situation they created!

 

I am glad that it worked out for you.  We had something similar happen to us during our Great Barrier Reef cruise aboard Solstice in 2018.  It involved our prepaid Silk Harvest reservation that Celebrity decided to hold a special dinner with a higher upcharge.  They simply moved our reservation to a different day and didn't tell us.  So I was impressed that you got an email.  

Edited January 11, 2020 by mahdnc

[KurtMo]

9 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

They simply moved our reservation to a different day and didn't tell us.  So I was impressed that you got an email.  

Haha - I guess this counts as improvement then!?!? 🤔

[CajunHeavyCruiser]

We have a Valentine Day dinner reservation at Edge’s Fine Cut.  Hope they don’t pull something like that on us.

[chemmo]

OP, really pleased it has worked out for you....

[RICCruisers]

I can only hope that Celebrity will make the same offer to everyone that has this same issue with their reservation. That would be excellent customer service. Otherwise it’s only no big deal. 

 

Maybe the OP can post this on their Roll Call and let everyone know to contact X and get the same deal. 

[NMTraveller]

In my opinion for Celebrity to make this right, they would have put you back on Feb. 14th and eaten the cost difference.  After all it was their IT muff up.  Too much goop in the computers.  

 

But perhaps their solution worked out better for you.

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by NMTraveller

[Luvcrusn]

Friends just returned from a Christmas/New Year cruise on Silhouette. Prior to sailing she booked Murano for Chrismas for $50 pp. They went that evening to find that there was a limited menu which they found very disappointing with a choice or this or that for each course, were not happy with the food, selection or service. (They are frequent X cruisers and expecting the usual excellent Murano experience.) They mentioned their displeasure to the maitre d only to be told that everyone else there had paid an increased price that evening and at least they got their dinner for the normal $50 price and should be glad that they got a "bargain." I'm not quite sure whether your experience or theirs was worse. You had the rug pulled out from under, and they had a lesser meal with no upfront warning. Both are sad and poor customer service with a decided nod to price gouging.

Edited January 12, 2020 by Luvcrusn

[PhoenixCruiser]

Nice response

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[Dr. Pam]

I am sorry.  This is unacceptable by Celebrity.  I am certainly having my doubts heading back to rejoin this fold.

The right thing to do was to keep OP's original reservation and honour it. Period. Why is anything else acceptable?

[dogs4fun]

20 hours ago, KurtMo said:

Faith in mankind's ability to make sense of nonsense is (at least partially) restored:  Upon a call to customer service, a very nice and efficient rep named Lisa found us a Murano reservation on a different evening, and then proceeded to refund the original reservation.  She then advised me that she added OBC to the reservation to cover the cost of the Murano dinner, so it is "free".  A good gesture which recognizes the hassle factor for the guest and at least shows that they understood the whole exercise was Celebrity's issue.

 

I wanted to be fair and recognize X for the ultimate response to the situation they created!

Ah - very happy to hear this. Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[ABoatNerd]

The level of corporate greed displayed by Celebrity, never ceases to amaze me.

 

The OP, and those with the earlier bookings, were supposed to be obedient and docilely accept the Celebrity price increase.

 

After all Celebrity is perfect and they know best - the corporate LLP and cronies and the marketing group, look down on their customer peons with glee, knowing they are hooked on Celebrity and will accept and pay for any product scam (goop) that they pitch.

 

I have sympathy for the customer service folks having to explain and clarify the increasingly complex Celebrity product.

 

No thank you Celebrity.

 

 

[4774Papa]

22 hours ago, KurtMo said:

I'll start out by saying I am not a complainer or one that easily gets irked (I normally don't take myself too seriously or think I should be treated as royalty, etc.)  With that said I wanted to share what I thought was marketing creating poor customer service.  Months ago I made reservations for Valentine's Day dinner in Murano on the Equinox, paid the required fees, and was happy to have secured a prime time slot for the evening.  Apparently, Celebrity didn't realize February 14th was Valentine's Day (a prime opportunity to charge MORE for something); yesterday I received the following email from Celebrity:

" Dear Valued Guest,
We are writing you in reference to your dining reservation in Murano on February 14 .  The ship has decided to offer a special Valentines dining event in Murano on that evening.  All reservations currently booked in Murano on February 14 will be cancelled and refunded, however a spot is being held for you for the new event. The price for the new event is 119.00 USD per person.  If you would like to keep the original Murano reservation we have to switch it to a different night.   If you would like to cancel your reservation due to the price increase you will receive a full refund.   Please call us at your earliest convenience to discuss your options at 1-888-837-5676.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Attached is the menu being offered. "

So they've been happily holding my money for months, having been paid in advance for something they offered to sell me, and now my choices are pay an extra $69 per person (above normal fee already paid) for a limited menu (!) or try to find another time/restaurant because my plans for the evening have been canceled.  I usually take the "money-grabbing, nickel and diming" posts with a grain of salt, because I HAVE a choice of whether or not to buy.  In this case, I did buy and then Celebrity thought it made sense to cancel my plans 4 weeks before sailing.  So now I am the one feeling slighted by a money grab 😖  It's a small thing, but really put a bad taste in my mouth that somebody thought this was acceptable. 

 

Minor rant over!  I feel better!

If that happened to me, I would tell them to stuff their money grubbing dinner.

[Jeremiah1212]

Frustrating, but the writing was on the wall on a cruise we had booked, departing 2/14, that had a first night discount offer and special Valentine's Day menus in the planner. We've cruised on Valentine's Day several times now and they always do a special menu that night. But their resolution was more than generous. Glad it worked out. 

[dennis14]

I received a similar email yesterday. I booked the Valentines Dinner on the Solstice back in November for $50 per person and it was advertised as a special Valentines Dinner back then. The email said it would now be $119 per person and I could reschedule or add more money to keep the dinner. I called and the agent said they are aware of the issue and they are reconsidering their response. I should hear back in a day or two. 

 

The agent seemed a bit embarrassed about the whole thing.

 

We will see what happens.

[mahdnc]

21 minutes ago, dennis14 said:

I received a similar email yesterday. I booked the Valentines Dinner on the Solstice back in November for $50 per person and it was advertised as a special Valentines Dinner back then. The email said it would now be $119 per person and I could reschedule or add more money to keep the dinner. I called and the agent said they are aware of the issue and they are reconsidering their response. I should hear back in a day or two. 

 

The agent seemed a bit embarrassed about the whole thing.

 

We will see what happens.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic and thanks for sharing your information with us.  I presume you have already read this thread pretty thoroughly as it will prepare you to negotiate a favorable solution, in case Celebrity does not offer one.  Let us know how it works out.  

[dennis14]

Just received the email and it basically says, “never mind.”  
 

All is well. They apologized for the confusion and our reservation is intact at the original price. 
 

We can’t wait to go on this cruise!
 

I hope everyone else received similar results. 

[mahdnc]

Good to hear.