WOW-CAN’T ANSWER PHONES AT CARNIVAL

[Oldsweets]

At 730 pm I tried to call Carnival and got a message I didn’t expect.  The message was that because of high demand the staff could not handle any more calls and you will need to call again at a later time. ~Goodbye….   I know they are busy and expect it is because its close to closing time and that they had more call in the query then time left in the work day.  I will call again in the morning and see what the message is. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

The first time that happened to me I was temporarily in a state of shock.  I had Carnival up on this pedestal when it came to customer service and then I thought to myself... even Verizon doesn't hang up on you.

[hurricane0226]

1 hour ago, Oldsweets said:

At 730 pm I tried to call Carnival and got a message I didn’t expect.  The message was that because of high demand the staff could not handle any more calls and you will need to call again at a later time. ~Goodbye….   I know they are busy and expect it is because its close to closing time and that they had more call in the query then time left in the work day.  I will call again in the morning and see what the message is. 

Received the same, guess they shut down early, or don't care, hopefully you can get thru in the

morning .

[BlerkOne]

Many businesses are short staffed and Carnival (really any cruise line) isn't turning a profit yet. The IRS hung up on me a number of times a few months ago.

[my kids mama]

2 minutes ago, hurricane0226 said:

Received the same, guess they shut down early, or don't care, hopefully you can get thru in the

morning .

I believe that they do care.  I bet they are just short staffed, like everyone else. Do you see help wanted or now hiring signs everywhere you go?  I do.  I am also a small business owner. I know first hand, how hard it is to find people willing to work.  

[Don Kehote]

1 hour ago, Oldsweets said:

I know they are busy

I'm not entirely sure you do? WOW

[IntrepidFromDC]

50 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Many businesses are short staffed and Carnival (really any cruise line) isn't turning a profit yet. The IRS hung up on me a number of times a few months ago.

Are you implying that Carnival and IRS on the same level in terms of customer service?  😁 🏴‍☠️

[Indytraveler83]

I think id rather get an honest "We are too busy to take your call" than waste an hour or more of my time on hold, just to give up in frustration. 

 

There's tons of surges right now in demand and customer contact every time something changes. They have a finite number of people who can answer phones. Happens to about any company now and then. 

[Oletruckdude]

Just a heads up ... I got that same message last night about 6pm. I didn't immediately hang up and then suddenly I was hearing music and in the hold queue. About 2 minutes later I was on with a customer service rep! She solved my issue and I was pleased. Don't know why it's giving that message but stay on the line and see if it works for you like it did for me. 

Best regards

[IntrepidFromDC]

6 minutes ago, Oletruckdude said:

Just a heads up ... I got that same message last night about 6pm. I didn't immediately hang up and then suddenly I was hearing music and in the hold queue. About 2 minutes later I was on with a customer service rep! She solved my issue and I was pleased. Don't know why it's giving that message but stay on the line and see if it works for you like it did for me. 

Best regards

For me they hung up on me right after the "goodbye"... I wonder about OP.

[icft]

I suspect they are short of staff. They did rather large lay-offs some time back. That was prudent for the times of no sailings. Now I suspect they are not eager to get back to full staff until all ships are sailing at full capacity. Plus, they may be having trouble finding qualified people to hire as are many businesses. Our PVP has remained accessible though...

 

My biggest worry is that the norm for customer service across all businesses will be lower in the future than in the past. If that is the case I expect Carnival will strive to be near the top of that new lower norm. These days it is more common than not for people to not do what they are supposed to do when they are supposed to do it and blame covid. Standards have been lowered and businesses compare themselves to other businesses, not to some objective standard. Thankfully the crew on the Carnival ships (not the management and processes) have maintained the old standards.

[ontheweb]

7 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Are you implying that Carnival and IRS on the same level in terms of customer service?  😁 🏴‍☠️

What a great comeback line to a post by Carnival's number 1 cheerleader!👍

[ontheweb]

7 hours ago, Oletruckdude said:

Just a heads up ... I got that same message last night about 6pm. I didn't immediately hang up and then suddenly I was hearing music and in the hold queue. About 2 minutes later I was on with a customer service rep! She solved my issue and I was pleased. Don't know why it's giving that message but stay on the line and see if it works for you like it did for me. 

Best regards

I have had messages in the past from customer service for my credit card that say due to high call volume you may expect an extended wait, and then next they say your expected wait time is 2 minutes (a pretty reasonable wait as far as I am concerned.)

[Elaine5715]

Disney and Delta will keep you on hold for hours and hours   6-10 hours  plus

[MeHeartCruising]

The wait time to speak to an agent yesterday at American Airlines was an hour and 45 minutes.  They do have a "call back" feature where they will call you back without you losing your place in line.  They did indeed call me back about 2 hours later.  I had to do this twice yesterday.  It kind of killed the afternoon, because you don't really know when they will call you back.

[kdr69]

2 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

The wait time to speak to an agent yesterday at American Airlines was an hour and 45 minutes.  They do have a "call back" feature where they will call you back without you losing your place in line.  They did indeed call me back about 2 hours later.  I had to do this twice yesterday.  It kind of killed the afternoon, because you don't really know when they will call you back.

Earliest appt for a call back from Westjet I could get was 3 days later. 

[Denverdonkeys]

14 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Many businesses are short staffed and Carnival (really any cruise line) isn't turning a profit yet. The IRS hung up on me a number of times a few months ago.

IRS doesnt turn a "profit" either though!

[BlerkOne]

Just now, Denverdonkeys said:

IRS doesnt turn a "profit" either though!

They don't have any competition, either. But they are understaffed.

[hapytobehr]

I called Carnival last night around 5 PM.  Received that same message but did not hang up.  I was on hold and rep picked about 45 minutes later.

[tidecat]

17 hours ago, Oldsweets said:

At 730 pm I tried to call Carnival and got a message I didn’t expect.  The message was that because of high demand the staff could not handle any more calls and you will need to call again at a later time. ~Goodbye….   I know they are busy and expect it is because its close to closing time and that they had more call in the query then time left in the work day.  I will call again in the morning and see what the message is. 

I get the same message form the IRS as early as 2:00 PM some days, 5 hours before they close.