Princess' horrible customer service design (long rant)...

[Bruin Steve]

After trying to deal with a fairly simple issue with Princess for the past couple of months, I have come to the conclusion that Princess’ customer service methods are extremely poor.

 

The entire matter started as something fairly small:  I have a Majestic Princess cruise booking that includes a “voucher” for dinner for two in a specialty restaurant.  I wanted to use that, on the Medallion App (the only method of pre-booking a dining reservation), to book Crown Grill for 7:00 pm on night 3.  I did that exact thing with no problem on my last Majestic cruise just 4 months ago.  

 

From reading on many Cruise Critic threads, it appears a majority of people have no problem doing this–while several others cannot.  Speaking with someone in the Medallion App Department, they believe it is less than 20% that have a problem  Yet, they have no clue why.

 

Their standard answer is to either 1) Wait until you get onboard and take your chance the time and date will still be available or 2)  Book the reservation paying the $58, then, when you get to the ship, go to the Guest Relations desk and have them apply the credit…and they’ll give you your $58 back in OBC.

 

Well, I don’t want to take my chances…and I don’t want to front even $58 in hope of getting it back, have to spend any time at the desk…and I don’t want OBC.  Especially if it’s Princess with the problems and inconsistency of applying the item differently to different people.  And I am persistent.

 

So, I contacted Princess by phone and, after hours on hold, I was redirected to the Medallion App department.  Their response was to “open up a ‘ticket’” and get back to me.

 

Weeks later, they get back to me with no real answer other than to straighten it out once I get onboard.

 

So, this time, I send an email to Princess detailing what I think the problem might be.  The response back, after some time lag once again, is that they’ve opened up another “ticket”.

 

Eventually, someone gets back to me.  Again, it was someone on the Medallion team who swore he could resolve this for once and for all.  We painstakingly went through the process, always ending with the same result:  The vouchers never showed up at the end.  The agent told me that they show up MOST of the time, but for some reason, not on mine...BUT, he promised me, it would not make a difference.  I should just go ahead and click--that the $58 would NOT be charged to my credit card...that it was a temporary "pending" charge that would come off at embarkation.  "Really?", I asked.  He assured me that was the case.  So, I spelled it all out carefully and asked again whether it would actually NOT and NEVER be charged to my account.  "Yes" was the response.  I again asked "So, if I actually go ahead right now and click, it will NOT be charged...my voucher will be applied instead?"  "Correct".  I again stated my concerns.  I did not want to be charged, to then have to pay the amount on my credit card, to have to wait until I get onboard, deal with Customer Relations onboard...likely after waiting on line, to deal with possibly only getting it back as OBC, to have to monitor my credit card statements after the cruise to make sure I actually received a credit...and so on.  Again I was told, no problem...none of that would happen.

 

I clicked--while still on line with the agent.  AND, IMMEDIATELY, I received an alert from my credit card company that my account had been charged.

 

I immediately asked to speak to a supervisor.

 

I was handed over to a supervisor.  She seemed very nice.  I explained what had just happened.  She PROMISED to fix it...and to get back to me LATER THAT DAY...Well, if not that day, then first thing MONDAY MORNING. 

 

Monday passed, NO CALL.  Tuesday passed, no call.  Wednesday morning 8:00 am, I called back and asked for her.  I was placed on hold briefly, then told she was there but she was "heading into a meeting" and would get back to me right after the meeting.  Wednesday went by...How long could that meeting possibly be?  I called back near the end of the day.  Spoke with another agent, asked if she was there.  Agent said she was there, sitting "ten feet behind" her.  Agent put me on brief hold...then came back and told me the supervisor said she had been busy in meetings all day...and had to go into another one right now...but she'd get back to me tomorrow (Thursday).

 

Thursday passed...and Friday…Still no call.  I emailed Princess once more detailing the latest adventure.  The supervisor finally called back yesterday afternoon apologizing and asking I “not be mad at her”.  Claimed to have been in settings non-stop–apparently for over ten days at this point.  How about the issue?  “Oh, I’ll get to it…and I’ll call you back!”

 

In the meanwhile, the charge has gone onto my credit card bill and I have had to pay this charge.  Even if Princess credits me the amount to the bill, I know, from past experience, that the credit will not show up for a long time.  And I will now have to monitor the bill closely to search for the credit--if at all.

 

So, there’s the problem.  Should have been easy to fix…or at least override…at some point.  But, no.

 

So, the real question is “WHY?”

 

The real answer is in how Princess handles problems, customer calls and communications, etc.

  

First, the Princess "system" is designed to continually route matters to the department assumed responsible...in this case, the Medallion app people.  Three times around now, I keep ending up back with them. But is this really a software or app problem?  The Medallion App team has gone through this at least twice and still hjas no answer.

 

Remember that this only happens a minority of the time (that the app doesn't recognize the voucher in order to apply it).  Now, from MY experience, computer programs DON'T "work most of the time".  Either they work...or they don't work.  Computers don't arbitrarily decide to treat different cases in different ways.

 

The problem has to be with the INPUT...not the program.  It's likely an employee error, not a computer glitch.  The App people can look for a glitch in the program all they want.  I am guessing they are not going to find one.  What most likely has caused this issue is either a)  The information regarding the voucher is being input incorrectly by some of the data entry people...or, 2) The voucher information is not being input, in some cases, at all.   Someone notes it on the reservation, someone input it onto the reservation on the website...BUT the Medallion app input is independent from the reservation system....and there is no interface between the two that picks up information from the reservation and places it into the App. Plus, there is nowhere on the App to see if the information is there.

 

What Princess should do FIRST –rather than “opening a ticket” is to just try re-inputting the voucher into the app program.  It would likely work right there as either it was not previously in there or had been coded wrong.

 

Now, I can think of many ways to override the problem–lots of “work-arounds” that would end with a reservation without additional payment.  But there are too many ideas to get into that here. 

 

Clearly, Princess should examine its processes for Customer Service.  Recirculating matters back to the same department every time doesn't necessarily fix all problems.  It sometimes just frustrates everyone.  The competition over at Celebrity has a system where they "elevate" difficult problems to a department referred to as "Resolutions"--which has some very experienced and competent employees who can override systems, cut through processes and, actually, find reasonable resolutions to issues.  I have yet to find anyone of this sort at Princess.

 

Meanwhile, customers just get frustrated with Princess.  Either they decide it’s not worth it and just give up…or, like me, they end up spending a lot of time pursuing the matter.  I am now retired, so I’ve got time…and I am mentally constructed to be able to deal with frustration.  For Princess, OTOH, this pattern is a business blunder.  Over a $58 issue, they have likely, now, spent a large number of employee hours.  Even if they’re only paying all of these people, including supervisors, minimum wage, it would take only five hours of employee time to surpass that $58–which they are never getting back anyway.  It would benefit them to find a way to solve such issues in less time.

 

BTW, these vouchers are no “freebies”.  We PAY for them…they are figured into the cruise fare we pay for the cruise.  The drinks, gratuities and wifi…and these vouchers…are figured into their pricing.  There is a lesser price for booking without these “perks”.   So, basically, by charging me another $58, Princess is charging me twice.

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

After trying to deal with a fairly simple issue with Princess for the past couple of months, I have come to the conclusion that Princess’ customer service methods are extremely poor.

 

The entire matter started as something fairly small:  I have a Majestic Princess cruise booking that includes a “voucher” for dinner for two in a specialty restaurant.  I wanted to use that, on the Medallion App (the only method of pre-booking a dining reservation), to book Crown Grill for 7:00 pm on night 3.  I did that exact thing with no problem on my last Majestic cruise just 4 months ago.  

 

From reading on many Cruise Critic threads, it appears a majority of people have no problem doing this–while several others cannot.  Speaking with someone in the Medallion App Department, they believe it is less than 20% that have a problem  Yet, they have no clue why.

 

Their standard answer is to either 1) Wait until you get onboard and take your chance the time and date will still be available or 2)  Book the reservation paying the $58, then, when you get to the ship, go to the Guest Relations desk and have them apply the credit…and they’ll give you your $58 back in OBC.

 

Well, I don’t want to take my chances…and I don’t want to front even $58 in hope of getting it back, have to spend any time at the desk…and I don’t want OBC.  Especially if it’s Princess with the problems and inconsistency of applying the item differently to different people.  And I am persistent.

 

So, I contacted Princess by phone and, after hours on hold, I was redirected to the Medallion App department.  Their response was to “open up a ‘ticket’” and get back to me.

 

Weeks later, they get back to me with no real answer other than to straighten it out once I get onboard.

 

So, this time, I send an email to Princess detailing what I think the problem might be.  The response back, after some time lag once again, is that they’ve opened up another “ticket”.

 

Eventually, someone gets back to me.  Again, it was someone on the Medallion team who swore he could resolve this for once and for all.  We painstakingly went through the process, always ending with the same result:  The vouchers never showed up at the end.  The agent told me that they show up MOST of the time, but for some reason, not on mine...BUT, he promised me, it would not make a difference.  I should just go ahead and click--that the $58 would NOT be charged to my credit card...that it was a temporary "pending" charge that would come off at embarkation.  "Really?", I asked.  He assured me that was the case.  So, I spelled it all out carefully and asked again whether it would actually NOT and NEVER be charged to my account.  "Yes" was the response.  I again asked "So, if I actually go ahead right now and click, it will NOT be charged...my voucher will be applied instead?"  "Correct".  I again stated my concerns.  I did not want to be charged, to then have to pay the amount on my credit card, to have to wait until I get onboard, deal with Customer Relations onboard...likely after waiting on line, to deal with possibly only getting it back as OBC, to have to monitor my credit card statements after the cruise to make sure I actually received a credit...and so on.  Again I was told, no problem...none of that would happen.

 

I clicked--while still on line with the agent.  AND, IMMEDIATELY, I received an alert from my credit card company that my account had been charged.

 

I immediately asked to speak to a supervisor.

 

I was handed over to a supervisor.  She seemed very nice.  I explained what had just happened.  She PROMISED to fix it...and to get back to me LATER THAT DAY...Well, if not that day, then first thing MONDAY MORNING. 

 

Monday passed, NO CALL.  Tuesday passed, no call.  Wednesday morning 8:00 am, I called back and asked for her.  I was placed on hold briefly, then told she was there but she was "heading into a meeting" and would get back to me right after the meeting.  Wednesday went by...How long could that meeting possibly be?  I called back near the end of the day.  Spoke with another agent, asked if she was there.  Agent said she was there, sitting "ten feet behind" her.  Agent put me on brief hold...then came back and told me the supervisor said she had been busy in meetings all day...and had to go into another one right now...but she'd get back to me tomorrow (Thursday).

 

Thursday passed...and Friday…Still no call.  I emailed Princess once more detailing the latest adventure.  The supervisor finally called back yesterday afternoon apologizing and asking I “not be mad at her”.  Claimed to have been in settings non-stop–apparently for over ten days at this point.  How about the issue?  “Oh, I’ll get to it…and I’ll call you back!”

 

In the meanwhile, the charge has gone onto my credit card bill and I have had to pay this charge.  Even if Princess credits me the amount to the bill, I know, from past experience, that the credit will not show up for a long time.  And I will now have to monitor the bill closely to search for the credit--if at all.

 

So, there’s the problem.  Should have been easy to fix…or at least override…at some point.  But, no.

 

So, the real question is “WHY?”

 

The real answer is in how Princess handles problems, customer calls and communications, etc.

  

First, the Princess "system" is designed to continually route matters to the department assumed responsible...in this case, the Medallion app people.  Three times around now, I keep ending up back with them. But is this really a software or app problem?  The Medallion App team has gone through this at least twice and still hjas no answer.

 

Remember that this only happens a minority of the time (that the app doesn't recognize the voucher in order to apply it).  Now, from MY experience, computer programs DON'T "work most of the time".  Either they work...or they don't work.  Computers don't arbitrarily decide to treat different cases in different ways.

 

The problem has to be with the INPUT...not the program.  It's likely an employee error, not a computer glitch.  The App people can look for a glitch in the program all they want.  I am guessing they are not going to find one.  What most likely has caused this issue is either a)  The information regarding the voucher is being input incorrectly by some of the data entry people...or, 2) The voucher information is not being input, in some cases, at all.   Someone notes it on the reservation, someone input it onto the reservation on the website...BUT the Medallion app input is independent from the reservation system....and there is no interface between the two that picks up information from the reservation and places it into the App. Plus, there is nowhere on the App to see if the information is there.

 

What Princess should do FIRST –rather than “opening a ticket” is to just try re-inputting the voucher into the app program.  It would likely work right there as either it was not previously in there or had been coded wrong.

 

Now, I can think of many ways to override the problem–lots of “work-arounds” that would end with a reservation without additional payment.  But there are too many ideas to get into that here. 

 

Clearly, Princess should examine its processes for Customer Service.  Recirculating matters back to the same department every time doesn't necessarily fix all problems.  It sometimes just frustrates everyone.  The competition over at Celebrity has a system where they "elevate" difficult problems to a department referred to as "Resolutions"--which has some very experienced and competent employees who can override systems, cut through processes and, actually, find reasonable resolutions to issues.  I have yet to find anyone of this sort at Princess.

 

Meanwhile, customers just get frustrated with Princess.  Either they decide it’s not worth it and just give up…or, like me, they end up spending a lot of time pursuing the matter.  I am now retired, so I’ve got time…and I am mentally constructed to be able to deal with frustration.  For Princess, OTOH, this pattern is a business blunder.  Over a $58 issue, they have likely, now, spent a large number of employee hours.  Even if they’re only paying all of these people, including supervisors, minimum wage, it would take only five hours of employee time to surpass that $58–which they are never getting back anyway.  It would benefit them to find a way to solve such issues in less time.

 

BTW, these vouchers are no “freebies”.  We PAY for them…they are figured into the cruise fare we pay for the cruise.  The drinks, gratuities and wifi…and these vouchers…are figured into their pricing.  There is a lesser price for booking without these “perks”.   So, basically, by charging me another $58, Princess is charging me twice.

tldr lol omg otoh I have never cruised with X but once got a "freebie" SD on a 4 day cruise on CB I wasn't 'entitled' to being in a suite.

[julia]

Wow!  I am dealing with the EXACT same issue... absolutely could NOT pre-book the specialty dinner that was included (as in, paid for) with my fare.  As we're on a shorter cruise, (and the specialty dining will be full), I forked over the $58 to ensure a date.  I was under the impression (from this board) that it would be REFUNDED once onboard and not to OBC.  As a longtime cruiser, I have little need for OBC!  I have prebooked promo dinners often on other lines without one issue.  Again, not impressed with the entire Medallion crap and the endless issues surrounding it.  Thanks for posting Steve, and please let us know if you ever get it resolved.

[nini]

@Bruin Steve

Thanks for posting this and taking the time to do so. We also have a meal of Specialty Dining that we want to book, but the Medallion Customer Service "expert" said that because it was from a TA (but not) that we could book now and pay the $58.00 or wait until we are onboard. If we paid now, then we would have to wait for the refund.  We also do NOT need or want anymore OBC! This is ridiculous!

[voljeep]

3 minutes ago, nini said:

@Bruin Steve

Thanks for posting this and taking the time to do so. We also have a meal of Specialty Dining that we want to book, but the Medallion Customer Service "expert" said that because it was from a TA (but not) that we could book now and pay the $58.00 or wait until we are onboard. If we paid now, then we would have to wait for the refund.  We also do NOT need or want anymore OBC! This is ridiculous!

is the SD for booking with Princess or booking thru the TA as a TA perk - that is only available if you book thru your TA ?

[pms4104]

If Princess is trying so hard to squeak $58 from you all, I suggest their problem$ are mounting.

Edited March 22, 2022 by pms4104

[jovisoul]

Having the same problem trying to book Specialty Dining with a voucher credit. It will not come up.

It worked for my last cruise 2/25 - 3/12 but will not for my next one on 7/16. This app really is frustrating most of the time.

[cruzsnooze]

PO is a long time poster here on CC. You know the APP is troublesome. You shouldn't have pushed the issue knowing the APP is imperfect and waited until you boarded. The odds were in your favor that you would have gotten your time and day to eat at the Crown Grill. If by chance you couldn't get the exact time or date it still would have been less frustrating and a whole lot less time to  go with the flow. You wanted perfection from what's well documented as a flawed system. I have never used the APP and your post makes me smile to know I've made the best decision for me. 

[Crystabel]

You can dispute the charge on your credit card. That’s the easy part. The rest? Not so much! Good luck. 

[cruzsnooze]

8 minutes ago, jovisoul said:

.

It worked for my last cruise 2/25 - 3/12 but will not for my next one on 7/16. This app really is frustrating most of the time.

So Stop Using it. If people stop using their flawed APP they will have to rethink the whole process and do something. I now use the web version the instituted a few weeks ago. See the link under the goggle play box?

 

• 1

  Download the MedallionClass™ app

      

  Don't have a compatible device? Try our web version(opens in a new window)

• 2

  Get OceanReady®

  Provide the required information for each guest for quick and easy embarkation.

• 3

  Make Plans in Cruise Personalizer

  Take you vacation to the next level by reserving Shore Excursions, Lotus Spa treatments, pre-purchasing beverage package, and more.

[nini]

20 minutes ago, voljeep said:

is the SD for booking with Princess or booking thru the TA as a TA perk - that is only available if you book thru your TA ?

We paid for Princess Plus and on our printed reservation paperwork it is all lumped together under "Member Benefits and Added Values". But on our Princess account, it says everything is complimentary through our TA which it was NOT complimentary; we paid for it extra.

[Bruin Steve]

It shows up on the "Travel Summary" via the Princess website as:

 

Specialty Dining Promotion   1    $29.00   $29.00   Mr. ______________

Specialty Dining Promotion   1    $29.00   $29.00   Mrs. _____________

 

Right after the listed items for the other promos--drink package, wifi, gratuities and "location upgrade".  All were part of a promotion Princess was running.  Should be irrelevant whether booked directly or through a TA.  For the record, we booked both the October 30 cruise and the April 30 cruise with the same TA and the same promotions in place.

 

And, cruznooze, I don't think "going with the flow" or refusing to use the App is the answer.  Someone needs to point out the problems to Princess.  We deserve them to be actually fixed.  Princess would be forever clueless if people just "went with the flow" and waited until they got onboard...

[memoak]

In 38 cruises with Princess I have never ever had a problem booking speciality dinners after boarding. People seem to think that apps are some kind of miracle workers. That the are not. If people are tat upset with a cruise line they should try another. I did once and tried NCL. Never again

[Mary loves to travel]

Ours worked like a charm - feeling lucky 🍀 😊

 

@mini some TA’s like to input any extras as coming from them, even the Princess Plus package and specialty dinner promotions from Princess.   Wonder if that’s causing any issues when using the app.   
 

Mary

[azbirdmom]

It shouldn't have to be this difficult.  I hope you copy and paste your post into an email and send it off to the executives at Princess.  What you've experienced and what many of us have as well are frustrations with things that should have simple fixes.  If they would just fix some of these things at the source, they would cut down on the calls to their representatives and unclog the phone lines.  Instead they create frustration for customers and no doubt for their employees in that they aren't able to provide solutions for those customers, many of whom aren't the easiest to deal with given long hold times and multiple calls require to attempt to solve simple issues.  Planning vacations should be easy but dealing with Princess has been anything but easy these days.

[dog]

Oh brother!  What hassle!

I’ve started looking at things differently.  Had cancelled my Panama cruise day before Pandemic was announced. Got non refundable FCC to use within year 

Booked Enchanted Caribbean cruise- Princess cancelled & gave me $100 + my $1.00 deposit back. Booked British Isles  cruise for last year,  then switched to Canary Islands cruise. Injury & Covid concerns saw me cancel, once again. I am so disappointed, however with recent lack of News coming from the Sky TA right now, I know I am better off 

So, I booked Cruise to Hawaii- Princess cancelled. No compensation although paid in full. Fortunately my flights were booked through aeroplan and covered with points for changes. Then I booked Alaska for one week and someone on here mentioned good fares in west coast. I checked and found a 2 week Alaska cruise for $100/ pp more then my one week cruise. 
I called Sunday 3 pm and had everything moved over to this 2 week cruise . To my surprise I was put through immediately, everything went  smoothly and I hit the jackpot- the agent this time was able to do everything herself. 
I have had similar experiences as OP, but I am not willing to stay on hold. I hang up & call back. Best time To get through is start of day .

Service has changed everywhere along with the World. 
 

I truly hope OP & others get their issues with dining straightened out. 
 

learned not to sweat the small stuff 

 

be kind.  be safe

[JimmyVWine]

FWIW, I had the same problem.  I booked under the Promotion that included a Specialty dinner and I used the app to secure my time.  I went through the whole process (including the payment portion) assuming that the charge would be intercepted and not put through to my card.  It wasn't, (intercepted that is), and the charge showed up on my monthly statement. (Actually, I noticed the problem when I moved my reservation from one day to the next, and I got an email from my cc company that I had a credit from PCL.  When I checked my statement, I saw only one credit (for the dinner I cancelled) and was expecting two credits, (one for the dinner I cancelled and one for the dinner I kept.)  When the second credit never appeared I called PCL and asked them what's up.)  I was told that I HAD to book once on the ship and that any reservation I made in advance would have to be paid.  He never even suggested that I get it removed on board.  I asked him why he was so confident that I would find an acceptable seating time once on board and he assured me that it would not be a problem.  Thinking that every other passenger would be in the same boat (pun intended) I wasn't worried and figured that with early boarding I would rush to the dining room to secure my spot, just like in the analog days so I cancelled the remaining reservation that I had on file and have been refunded the money.  By the way, those refunds came very quickly.  But now hearing that 80% of the app users are able to book in advance without being charged, I realize that we are indeed in different boats, and I am a bit concerned.  But I also know, and the OP here confirms it, that there is absolutely nothing I can do to fix this, and 7 hours on the phone with PCL will get me nowhere.  I just have to hope they update the app, as I have several months before we cruise to sort this out.

Edited March 22, 2022 by JimmyVWine

[HBCcruiser]

And why can't Princess send us a detailed invoice of our specialty dining purchases and reservations like other cruise lines? I just get a cc charge or email saying $87 was charged but no detailed description of the reservation(s).

[brisalta]

9 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

And why can't Princess send us a detailed invoice of our specialty dining purchases and reservations like other cruise lines? I just get a cc charge or email saying $87 was charged but no detailed description of the reservation(s).

 

Have you logged into the Cruise Personalizer and looked at Payments and/or the Travel Summary to see if they are listed there?

[julia]

For those who continue to point out the web-version link... you CANNOT make dining reservations via the web version!!  And, therein lies the problem.  Princess should have kept everything in the Cruise Personalizer, and not moved features to the app!

[HBCcruiser]

Just now, brisalta said:

 

Have you logged into the Cruise Personalizer and looked at Payments and/or the Travel Summary to see if they are listed there?

Yes. Excursions show up but NOT dining reservations. I have taken snapshots of my reservations in the App, but that is a lame way to document them IMO. 

[private92656]

Wow. I have had similar experience with their "we will get back to you" tactic. 3 times they promised to call me back on certain dates, 0 made. 

But at least you still have the app to work with. I have been told that we won't be able to access the app on land or on board.

[brisalta]

IMHO Princess should have one of the programmers on call and have them walk through the steps with the Customer. Then once the steps are clear try to reproduce the problem on their own while running through a debugger.  They should also create a test booking with SD included in the fare. Then look at the database records, etc. and so on. This is assuming that their programmers are skilled enough to do so.

I used to work on very complex database application development environment and we would rotate team members through a few days of assisting customer support. Besides finding the occasional obscure programming mistake it also helped the R and D team understand better what the end user expect. It seems the Medallion app team are a bit clueless in regards to end user needs.

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by brisalta

[Buckeye10640]

2 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

After trying to deal with a fairly simple issue with Princess for the past couple of months, I have come to the conclusion that Princess’ customer service methods are extremely poor.

 

The entire matter started as something fairly small:  I have a Majestic Princess cruise booking that includes a “voucher” for dinner for two in a specialty restaurant.  I wanted to use that, on the Medallion App (the only method of pre-booking a dining reservation), to book Crown Grill for 7:00 pm on night 3.  I did that exact thing with no problem on my last Majestic cruise just 4 months ago.  

 

From reading on many Cruise Critic threads, it appears a majority of people have no problem doing this–while several others cannot.  Speaking with someone in the Medallion App Department, they believe it is less than 20% that have a problem  Yet, they have no clue why.

 

Their standard answer is to either 1) Wait until you get onboard and take your chance the time and date will still be available or 2)  Book the reservation paying the $58, then, when you get to the ship, go to the Guest Relations desk and have them apply the credit…and they’ll give you your $58 back in OBC.

 

Well, I don’t want to take my chances…and I don’t want to front even $58 in hope of getting it back, have to spend any time at the desk…and I don’t want OBC.  Especially if it’s Princess with the problems and inconsistency of applying the item differently to different people.  And I am persistent.

 

So, I contacted Princess by phone and, after hours on hold, I was redirected to the Medallion App department.  Their response was to “open up a ‘ticket’” and get back to me.

 

Weeks later, they get back to me with no real answer other than to straighten it out once I get onboard.

 

So, this time, I send an email to Princess detailing what I think the problem might be.  The response back, after some time lag once again, is that they’ve opened up another “ticket”.

 

Eventually, someone gets back to me.  Again, it was someone on the Medallion team who swore he could resolve this for once and for all.  We painstakingly went through the process, always ending with the same result:  The vouchers never showed up at the end.  The agent told me that they show up MOST of the time, but for some reason, not on mine...BUT, he promised me, it would not make a difference.  I should just go ahead and click--that the $58 would NOT be charged to my credit card...that it was a temporary "pending" charge that would come off at embarkation.  "Really?", I asked.  He assured me that was the case.  So, I spelled it all out carefully and asked again whether it would actually NOT and NEVER be charged to my account.  "Yes" was the response.  I again asked "So, if I actually go ahead right now and click, it will NOT be charged...my voucher will be applied instead?"  "Correct".  I again stated my concerns.  I did not want to be charged, to then have to pay the amount on my credit card, to have to wait until I get onboard, deal with Customer Relations onboard...likely after waiting on line, to deal with possibly only getting it back as OBC, to have to monitor my credit card statements after the cruise to make sure I actually received a credit...and so on.  Again I was told, no problem...none of that would happen.

 

I clicked--while still on line with the agent.  AND, IMMEDIATELY, I received an alert from my credit card company that my account had been charged.

 

I immediately asked to speak to a supervisor.

 

I was handed over to a supervisor.  She seemed very nice.  I explained what had just happened.  She PROMISED to fix it...and to get back to me LATER THAT DAY...Well, if not that day, then first thing MONDAY MORNING. 

 

Monday passed, NO CALL.  Tuesday passed, no call.  Wednesday morning 8:00 am, I called back and asked for her.  I was placed on hold briefly, then told she was there but she was "heading into a meeting" and would get back to me right after the meeting.  Wednesday went by...How long could that meeting possibly be?  I called back near the end of the day.  Spoke with another agent, asked if she was there.  Agent said she was there, sitting "ten feet behind" her.  Agent put me on brief hold...then came back and told me the supervisor said she had been busy in meetings all day...and had to go into another one right now...but she'd get back to me tomorrow (Thursday).

 

Thursday passed...and Friday…Still no call.  I emailed Princess once more detailing the latest adventure.  The supervisor finally called back yesterday afternoon apologizing and asking I “not be mad at her”.  Claimed to have been in settings non-stop–apparently for over ten days at this point.  How about the issue?  “Oh, I’ll get to it…and I’ll call you back!”

 

In the meanwhile, the charge has gone onto my credit card bill and I have had to pay this charge.  Even if Princess credits me the amount to the bill, I know, from past experience, that the credit will not show up for a long time.  And I will now have to monitor the bill closely to search for the credit--if at all.

 

So, there’s the problem.  Should have been easy to fix…or at least override…at some point.  But, no.

 

So, the real question is “WHY?”

 

The real answer is in how Princess handles problems, customer calls and communications, etc.

  

First, the Princess "system" is designed to continually route matters to the department assumed responsible...in this case, the Medallion app people.  Three times around now, I keep ending up back with them. But is this really a software or app problem?  The Medallion App team has gone through this at least twice and still hjas no answer.

 

Remember that this only happens a minority of the time (that the app doesn't recognize the voucher in order to apply it).  Now, from MY experience, computer programs DON'T "work most of the time".  Either they work...or they don't work.  Computers don't arbitrarily decide to treat different cases in different ways.

 

The problem has to be with the INPUT...not the program.  It's likely an employee error, not a computer glitch.  The App people can look for a glitch in the program all they want.  I am guessing they are not going to find one.  What most likely has caused this issue is either a)  The information regarding the voucher is being input incorrectly by some of the data entry people...or, 2) The voucher information is not being input, in some cases, at all.   Someone notes it on the reservation, someone input it onto the reservation on the website...BUT the Medallion app input is independent from the reservation system....and there is no interface between the two that picks up information from the reservation and places it into the App. Plus, there is nowhere on the App to see if the information is there.

 

What Princess should do FIRST –rather than “opening a ticket” is to just try re-inputting the voucher into the app program.  It would likely work right there as either it was not previously in there or had been coded wrong.

 

Now, I can think of many ways to override the problem–lots of “work-arounds” that would end with a reservation without additional payment.  But there are too many ideas to get into that here. 

 

Clearly, Princess should examine its processes for Customer Service.  Recirculating matters back to the same department every time doesn't necessarily fix all problems.  It sometimes just frustrates everyone.  The competition over at Celebrity has a system where they "elevate" difficult problems to a department referred to as "Resolutions"--which has some very experienced and competent employees who can override systems, cut through processes and, actually, find reasonable resolutions to issues.  I have yet to find anyone of this sort at Princess.

 

Meanwhile, customers just get frustrated with Princess.  Either they decide it’s not worth it and just give up…or, like me, they end up spending a lot of time pursuing the matter.  I am now retired, so I’ve got time…and I am mentally constructed to be able to deal with frustration.  For Princess, OTOH, this pattern is a business blunder.  Over a $58 issue, they have likely, now, spent a large number of employee hours.  Even if they’re only paying all of these people, including supervisors, minimum wage, it would take only five hours of employee time to surpass that $58–which they are never getting back anyway.  It would benefit them to find a way to solve such issues in less time.

 

BTW, these vouchers are no “freebies”.  We PAY for them…they are figured into the cruise fare we pay for the cruise.  The drinks, gratuities and wifi…and these vouchers…are figured into their pricing.  There is a lesser price for booking without these “perks”.   So, basically, by charging me another $58, Princess is charging me twice.

So I will admit I didnt read thru your entire long  post.  But I too was able to do this on Enchanted last year and it recognized and applied my promo. Its not working this way for my May cruise on Majestic. I emailed my PVP a little while ago, I will let you know what she says. I am hoping she can make the reservation for me using the promo. 

Edited March 22, 2022 by Buckeye10640

[cruzsnooze]

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

 

 

 refusing to use the App is the answer.  Someone needs to point out the problems to Princess.  We deserve them to be actually fixed.  Princess would be forever clueless if people just "went with the flow" and waited until they got onboard...

If no one uses the APP they will be forced to fix it or abandon it.  Anyone who puts 10 hours of labor into a 10 minute solution is going to get frustrated . It doesn't even take 10 minutes to make a reservation once on board. I have 2 specialty dinner and one more for being in a suite. I will wait until I'm on board to make all three reservations. Dinner takes maybe 2 hours but it takes much longer then that just to get through to Princess and then be transferred  multiple times to a different dept. Why spend more time and energy on something so easily accomplished when you board.