MSC customer service issues have to be costing them business.

[Stockjock]

I think MSC’s customer service issues are costing them business. I do like the product and I will continue to sail on MSC, but I do have to say that the last two cruises I’ve booked are with Celebrity, and that is in large part due to prior MSC customer service issues.

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by Stockjock

[tallnthensome]

I didn't even realize that MSC had a customer service department  or at least anything that resembled one. Most know that their service sucks. 

[CaroleC]

I have been loyal to RCI for several years now and when I told my TA that I was considering booking with MSC she sort of groaned and said their customer service dept was the worst! Didn’t stop me from booking two of their UK coastal cruises though as the price was so much better than RCI.

[nyk24]

MSC are the Ryan air of the seas. You essentially get the same product: similar cabins, similar food etc but you get it at a lower price. 

 

Its when you have a problem (off ship) thats when they lose customers but the prices are lower than most cruise lines so like Ryan air we have a good old moan about them before booking our next cruise.

 

MSC lets face it are not going to change, this is their business model. They cut corners on IT and external customer service to keep cruise fares lower than their competitors.

 

I will put up with it while they keep their prices low like many others will. If you want the better service.you have to pay for it like alot of things in life sadly

[crazyank]

8 hours ago, CaroleC said:

I have been loyal to RCI for several years now and when I told my TA that I was considering booking with MSC she sort of groaned and said their customer service dept was the worst! Didn’t stop me from booking two of their UK coastal cruises though as the price was so much better than RCI.

Our TA said exactly the same thing.

[Seanocelt]

No matter how good my MSC cruise turns out to be, if i ever get on it, i will never be using them again. They do not respect the client, at all.

[Envelope21]

I have actually found the service over the phone to be OK. They are at least friendly. But the website is an absolute nightmare. No matter what I click on, it keeps sending me in circles, riddled with error messages and 'unavailable' messages. I even attempted to fill out the contact form to try to get some help and it wouldn't even let me proceed with that because it said my booking number does not exist. I also don't quite understand why it takes so long for the FCC credit to show up. You would think that the sooner a customer received their FCC, the sooner they would book a new cruise. 

[sverigecruiser]

Their customer service in Sweden in excellent.

[optimusprime82]

21 hours ago, CaroleC said:

I have been loyal to RCI for several years now and when I told my TA that I was considering booking with MSC she sort of groaned and said their customer service dept was the worst! Didn’t stop me from booking two of their UK coastal cruises though as the price was so much better than RCI.

 

13 hours ago, crazyank said:

Our TA said exactly the same thing.

 

My parents use a TA for most of their cruises and has essentially scared my parents off from booking with MSC despite my wife and I having two very nice cruises on the Divina (2017) and Meraviglia (2019). I don't thin their TA has actually travelled with MSC, I think word of mouth has put her off from recommending MSC to her clients.

 

11 hours ago, Seanocelt said:

No matter how good my MSC cruise turns out to be, if i ever get on it, i will never be using them again. They do not respect the client, at all.

 

Why even bother going at this point? Maybe I'm reading too much into your statement but it sounds like you're going just to confirm your already negative thoughts about MSC. 

[Stockjock]

9 hours ago, Envelope21 said:

I have actually found the service over the phone to be OK. They are at least friendly. But the website is an absolute nightmare. No matter what I click on, it keeps sending me in circles, riddled with error messages and 'unavailable' messages. I even attempted to fill out the contact form to try to get some help and it wouldn't even let me proceed with that because it said my booking number does not exist. I also don't quite understand why it takes so long for the FCC credit to show up. You would think that the sooner a customer received their FCC, the sooner they would book a new cruise. 

When I criticize MSC's customer service, I think most of the front line workers are quite nice and would like to be able to be more helpful.  But their hands are tied by MSC corporate, which doesn't give them the information or tools that they need to do their jobs properly.

[shipgeeks]

I'm curious about what "customer service" refers to.  Booking?  Changing a booking?  Cancelling a cruise?  Onboard guest services?

We've booked all our MSC cruises through our TA.  We use the TA's website to choose a cruise, tell him what we want (including cabin, etc.); he puts me on hold, contacts MSC (phone? website?), and has a tentative booking for our approval within a couple of minutes.  It has always been just what we want.  One time I neglected to mention our preferred dinner time.  I let the TA know, and it was corrected within a minute or two.

Nothing has ever gone wrong between booking and boarding the ship, so I've never had to try to contact MSC.  What sorts of issues lead people to do that?

When our booked cruises were cancelled last year, we got an email with our options the same day. We chose FCC, and the confirmation and details came in immediately.  Our FCC, and the refund of fees, were completed in due course.

Onboard, the few times we've had a question for Guest Services, it has been handled quickly and pleasantly.

???

[Stockjock]

3 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

I'm curious about what "customer service" refers to.  Booking?  Changing a booking?  Cancelling a cruise?  Onboard guest services?

We've booked all our MSC cruises through our TA.  We use the TA's website to choose a cruise, tell him what we want (including cabin, etc.); he puts me on hold, contacts MSC (phone? website?), and has a tentative booking for our approval within a couple of minutes.  It has always been just what we want.  One time I neglected to mention our preferred dinner time.  I let the TA know, and it was corrected within a minute or two.

Nothing has ever gone wrong between booking and boarding the ship, so I've never had to try to contact MSC.  What sorts of issues lead people to do that?

When our booked cruises were cancelled last year, we got an email with our options the same day. We chose FCC, and the confirmation and details came in immediately.  Our FCC, and the refund of fees, were completed in due course.

Onboard, the few times we've had a question for Guest Services, it has been handled quickly and pleasantly.

???

I cannot speak for others, but this thread discusses some of the issues that I have experienced.
 

 

[BoundForSea]

Over the last year and a half Ive spent probably 12 hours, no exaggeration on the phone with US Reservations. Thats just for my reservations through covid. Ive lost hundreds, Ive had discounts like hearh care hero not applied or dropped at least three times, Ive had reservations changed, and FCC rebooks? Ive just given up. Whats on the books with them for 21 and 22 for me is it. Im sailing Celebrity next month and I really want them to steal away my love for the Yacht Club staff and experience, because I cant stand the company itself and how they treat their customers. Id like to believe their business is restricted by bad North American Customer Service, but I just dont know. Most TAs (and some very very very close to me 😉 ) wont book them for their clients, unless the clients insist. Why? Because as an agent you just cant defend, stand behind, or explain their blatent disrespect and negligence to a client. 

[Stockjock]

1 hour ago, BoundForSea said:

Over the last year and a half Ive spent probably 12 hours, no exaggeration on the phone with US Reservations. Thats just for my reservations through covid. Ive lost hundreds, Ive had discounts like hearh care hero not applied or dropped at least three times, Ive had reservations changed, and FCC rebooks? Ive just given up. Whats on the books with them for 21 and 22 for me is it. Im sailing Celebrity next month and I really want them to steal away my love for the Yacht Club staff and experience, because I cant stand the company itself and how they treat their customers. Id like to believe their business is restricted by bad North American Customer Service, but I just dont know. Most TAs (and some very very very close to me 😉 ) wont book them for their clients, unless the clients insist. Why? Because as an agent you just cant defend, stand behind, or explain their blatent disrespect and negligence to a client. 

If I was in MSC management, I'd read comments like this and say, "Let's fix this problem".  And the funny thing is, it wouldn't take much to fix many of them, in my view.

Imagine, you are having a large percentage of travel agents suggesting that customers NOT book your product.  MSC needs to fix things.  Having pretty ships isn't enough, imo.

[crazyank]

4 hours ago, BoundForSea said:

Id like to believe their business is restricted by bad North American Customer Service, but I just dont know. Most TAs (and some very very very close to me 😉 ) wont book them for their clients, unless the clients insist. Why? Because as an agent you just cant defend, stand behind, or explain their blatent disrespect and negligence to a client. 

MSC customer service in Germany is equally bad with what you describe.

[dexddd]

13 hours ago, Stockjock said:

If I was in MSC management, I'd read comments like this and say, "Let's fix this problem".  And the funny thing is, it wouldn't take much to fix many of them, in my view.

Imagine, you are having a large percentage of travel agents suggesting that customers NOT book your product.  MSC needs to fix things.  Having pretty ships isn't enough, imo.

Our large TA had a visit by a group from MSC back in 2016 to improve service and their relationship.  From feedback from TA, nothing changed.

[sverigecruiser]

 

MSC is absolutely not perfect but when looking for value for money they are the best choice for us!

[Kat747]

I must say we have 2 bookings proceeding at the moment and have been onto the U.K. call centre many times over the last couple of weeks and they have been superb.

[Stockjock]

6 minutes ago, Kat747 said:

I must say we have 2 bookings proceeding at the moment and have been onto the U.K. call centre many times over the last couple of weeks and they have been superb.

The "front line" employees are mostly very good.  That's not where the problem lies, in my view.

[Nunagoras]

Oh, what a tread this is, really!...

 

First of it all: MSC might not to be perfect, nothing is perfect to say the least, but surely MSC is not Ryanair at seas even if at a large distance!... I've never heard of overbooking problems on MSC, I've never heard of them not honoring refunds, etc.... Ships are always clean and safe!... And I could go on and on!...

 

Surely one has what one pays for, and surely MSC goes many times at a discount, cutting out some corners elsewhere, and their ships do carry more passengers per square meter than some others... But where on earth do an MSC cruise cost 50% less than an RCI one these days? Certainly not here from Portugal where I live... I'd be happy if there is a 15% difference at all... And rarely it happens, unless you travel on such a charter group with one of their partnered TA's!...

 

And TBHH; "customer service" is like someone said a very large sort of department...

 

Finally: Minor annoyances do happen elsewhere. Don't let them to ruin your vacation experience!...

 

Generally when I want to go with MSC I use to go with one of those chartered groups. Oh, well... Let the "poor" TA's to deal with the oddities on my behalf... It was always almost always great!...

 

Have a nice day!...

[deliver42]

I've sailed MSC twice, and while cheaper than RCCL, it wasn't close to 50% less. Not even counting price, love MSC.

[DCGuy64]

Everything costs money, in my view if MSC beefed up the customer service department and made people like @Stockjockhappier, it would increase the prices and that would make ME unhappy. Somebody is going to be unhappy no matter what. All I can say is that MSC has been great for us, we use a travel agent so we typically don't need to contact them. However, when we do, it's never taken long to get in touch. The only "criticism" I have is that they've been canceling cruises and switching things around, but I don't lay the blame for that on MSC. That's due to issues outside their control like COVID and borders.

[Stockjock]

10 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Everything costs money, in my view if MSC beefed up the customer service department and made people like @Stockjockhappier, it would increase the prices and that would make ME unhappy. Somebody is going to be unhappy no matter what. All I can say is that MSC has been great for us, we use a travel agent so we typically don't need to contact them. However, when we do, it's never taken long to get in touch. The only "criticism" I have is that they've been canceling cruises and switching things around, but I don't lay the blame for that on MSC. That's due to issues outside their control like COVID and borders.

Respectfully, I think there's a danger and a fallacy in this view.  That is, "If things might get better, then the cruises must become more expensive".  "Don't strive for improvement, because that will only make us all pay more!".  That notion is absolutely false.  

The problem isn't bad front-line customer service agents (with a few rare exceptions).  But rather, the agents are not empowered by the parent company in Italy and they are not given accurate information.  In fact, I've been told as much by some of these front line agents directly.  I sense that some of them are frustrated, as they are not provided with the tools and information they need to properly do their jobs. 

I mentioned that I had a 4 night Barcelona cruise moved to a 20 night Brazil cruise on a different date and I was never contacted in any way.  Is that acceptable?  Of course not.

I made a change to a reservation that customer service felt would be in my interest.  They assured me that I'd keep the same cabin.  Instead I was moved to one of the worst cabins on the ship with an obstruction and it took months and months to resolve.  Acceptable?  Of course not.

They knowingly had an inaccurate deck plan up for at least 4-6 months.  It showed inside cabins as balcony cabins and vice-versa.  Acceptable?  I don't think so.  How hard would it be to post an accurate deck plan?

I've had several cruises apparently cancelled months ago with no official word.  Acceptable?  No.

I've had the dates change on multiple cruises with no information or communication whatsoever.  Is that okay?  Of course not.

I recently booked a cruise and cancelled the next day (GF nixed it).  Now I have to wait 3 months or so for a return of my deposit, if I'm lucky.  Is that reasonable?  I don't feel it is.

So this notion that there are all of these unreasonable, needy people making outrageous demands simply is untrue and does not pass the sniff test.  There is no reason why keeping passengers informed as to changes and providing frontline staff with good information should cause prices to go up.

A better attitude would be to want to see improvement in these areas, rather than suggesting that such requests were somehow wildly unreasonable made by unreasonable customer when in reality these suggestions are more than reasonable.

And if you're running a cruise line and travel agents are begging their clients not to book MSC, they've got to be concerned about that and try hard to change this perspective.

 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Stockjock

[dritan]

I also wonder how regional/national this is.  Personally, although I find a few of their policies perplexing, I've always found their customer service pretty responsive.  I've had an email exchange over the last week about how to apply my deposit for a cancelled cruise to an existing booking ( as opposed to having to use it for another new booking ) and we decided to just have a chat.  Called her last night and had a great chat where we were able to clarify the details and she'll call me back to day to check whether it's possible on their system to do this as opposed to a refund.  We had a lovely conversation about the big day for MSC Virtuosa and she was so excited. 

 

[Huntingdon1701]

Practial example just now - have (had) one of the Preziosa summer cruises that was announced as cancelled in a corporate press release a few days ago. Rang customer service today to find out what other options there are, and they said that as far as they could see the cruise is still sailing!

 

Obviously, I would love that to be the case, but I rather think the corporate press release is going to be more accurate... And given the restart, alternative options rise in price every day, so I'd rather rebook now. 

 

Operative was very pleasant and as helpful as she could be, but clearly isn't being given the information she needs to do her job. It must be very frustrating for their staff, as well as for customers. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Huntingdon1701