My Issue with Princess

[Bruin Steve]

16 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Okay, so you are a retired attorney with a lot of time on your hands.  So basically, it doesn't matter what anyone says because you will do what you want.  This thread can be closed now because the outcome won't change.  No one will change your mind. I am guessing that you will keep at it with PCL.

 

I will ask that you treat the next set of unsuspecting PCL service reps with respect and dignity and don't go all lawyer on them.  Remember that they are people too, with their own problems.  Just treat them decently.

Sorry, the purpose of this thread is NOT for YOU to change MY mind.  It is important to inform people on the status of an issue that affects many of us...and to share information on that issue.  For that reason, it needs to remain open...and not just as an opportunity for you to demonstrate your imagination and your hate for attorneys.

 

For the record, I have NEVER treated ANY cruise line employee poorly.  As a long-time corporate executive, I value employees.  I do not blame them individually for things that the corporation, as a whole, needs to be correcting.  And, when I speak to them, perhaps because of my legal training, I speak in cogent, well supported discussion.  I do not swear or use derogatory language, I do not raise my voice.  

 

I also do not imagine what any of them think based on factors such as the job they hold...unlike some people who for some extremely questionable reason, throw out extreme negative stereotypes regarding ALL attorneys.

 

Please stop "guessing" what I will do.  You apparently like to guess wrong...and I find your assumptions insulting.  Thank you.

[Bruin Steve]

4 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

This is not specialty dining related, but after totally giving up on the app when it first emerged (basically told by the Princess experts that if I wanted to use it I needed to upgrade my iphone...) I am now forced to use it as I just booked a last minute cruise for next month. After many frustrating hours, I got to the point where we were in the green lane but completely stalled at arrival group. I'm not going to sweat that. However, here is the weird thing that happened when I booked EZ Air through the website. I selected the flights, got the total, and was prompted to enter my credit card. No other option for payment, and I wasn't expecting any other option. The transaction processed, my credit card was charged, and my flights showed in my reservation. Then I got the email confirmation...In addition to charging the full amount to my card, the system somehow also automatically applied my FCCs I had from many previous cancelled sailings. No warning, no option, no idea it even happened. The confirmation showed a double payment, resulting in a balance due of a negative amount. I figured that the credit card charge would just drop off but, after 2 days, noticed that it was now an actual transaction on my statement as opposed to just an authorised one. I called Princess and was told that FCC applies automatically and I shouldn't have entered my credit card info. Well, that's all well and good except that was the only option to actually proceed and get the flight booked. The rep assured me that the credit card charges would be reversed and that I should see it back on my account within 10 business days. I guess we will see if that happens. Just make sure to check purchases/confirmations carefully!

Wow...that is not the situation you should be placed in.  I don't have a lot of recent Princess EZAir experience, but have used a few other cruise lines' air programs in recent years.  What I've learned is to blow by the website--just use it to get quotes--then get a live person on the phone.  Doesn't mean it doesn't screw up, but less likely...Of course, it's now too late for that.  My only advice for NOW, is that, when you speak to people at EZAir or regarding EZAir, ask them to confirm your conversation by email.  It will help if anything further goes wrong.  Good luck.

[cruzsnooze]

WOW all this over trying to get a 7PM reservation in a specialty restaurant.  Your tying up the Proncess rep is why there are such long hold times for people who have real issues to be solved like myself over ezair not working at all because it tells me 17 years olds can't book separate air and I'm a returned senior. Get past this, they gave you a nice credit for another dinner so enjoy what you got.

Edited March 24, 2022 by cruzsnooze
typo

[JimmyVWine]

As someone who is experiencing the same issue of not being able to pre-book my Specialty Reservation in advance without paying while other seem to be able to, all I can offer is that there is clearly an error with the tech and Princess knows it. This has been brought to their attention by numerous people and they understand the problem. Right now they do not have a solution but they are working on it. No amount of griping or complaining is going to change this or speed up the solution. In the meantime they are telling people that their best options are to book on board or pay in advance and request an adjustment on board. It seems as if this strategy is being offered to customers on a consistent and regular basis.  Is it perfect? No. But tech glitches happen and we are in that phase now. Hopefully in the future Princess will tell us that an app update will fix the problem. But until then, we have no choice but to accept the fact that there is a tech glitch, that Princess knows about it and that they are working to fix it. We have been offered the interim solution (wait to book or “pay and plead on board”).  It is up to us to decide which if either of these options we prefer. But no amount of flaming is going to make the app developers solve this any faster. 

[Bruin Steve]

25 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

WOW all this over trying to get a 7PM reservation in a specialty restaurant.  Your tying up the Proncess rep is why there are such long hold times for people who have real issues to be solved like myself over ezair not working at all because it tells me 17 years olds can't book separate are and I'm a returned senior. Get past this, they gave you a nice credit for another dinner so enjoy what you got.

Actually, the people at Princess with whom I was talking have NOTHING to do with the people there with whom YOU should be talking.  And I am not the cause of long hold times...it is the very large number of people calling with the SAME issue as me...and others with the same issue as you...and the many trying to understand why their cruise isn't going to Russia anytime soon...and the large number calling about why they can't cruise when they don't want to get vaccinated...and the ones who can't figure out their FCC and a myriad of other issues...and it is all complicated by the short staff, bad phone quality, confusing voice menus...and many other things.  Believe me, it is NOT all me...

Edited March 24, 2022 by Bruin Steve

[Bruin Steve]

10 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

... no amount of flaming is going to make the app developers solve this any faster. 

Jimmy, READ MY POST just above yours...

 

Some of you keep assuming I've just been complaining...It could not be farther from the truth.  I started the previous thread to get some supporting and/or enlightening additional information...and I got it from some posters.  I went back to Princess in an effort to help them solve this...and I believe I have accomplished that.  I don't know how long it will take them now to fix it, but I feel that I've helped.

Edited March 24, 2022 by Bruin Steve

[KLM3164]

52 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

The rep assured me that the credit card charges would be reversed and that I should see it back on my account within 10 business days. I guess we will see if that happens. Just make sure to check purchases/confirmations carefully!

Thank you for this reminder. I am expecting a refund from Princess for a re-fare for $170 which was done on 2/9. I was told it would be credited back in 10 to 15 business days. I just checked my credit card and the refund hasn’t been processed. I’ll be following up with my TA on this one thanks to your post.

[JimmyVWine]

7 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

Some of you keep assuming I've just been complaining...It could not be farther from the truth. 

A rose by any other name. Go back and read your original post in this thread. Your eloquent prose and calm demeanor do not negate the fact that you are complaining, plain and simple. You are to be commended for doing so in a polite and informative manner, but to suggest that your post is not a complaint is untenable. 

[Bruin Steve]

1 minute ago, JimmyVWine said:

A rose by any other name. Go back and read your original post in this thread. Your eloquent prose and calm demeanor do not negate the fact that you are complaining, plain and simple. You are to be commended for doing so in a polite and informative manner, but to suggest that your post is not a complaint is untenable. 

I am talking about my interaction with people at Princess.  My posts here had a purpose.  Only people barking about "complainers" come across as Princess apologists.  If you have no complaints regarding Princess, then either you've never cruised, never paid attention or you work for Princess.  Wait, scratch that last one...I know people who have worked for Princess and complain more than me!

[Steelers36]

I have just read this entire thread for the first time.  I noted part way through that some of the "flame" posts have been deleted, so obviously the CC mods were engaged.  I also read the first sets of posts in @Bruin Steve's other thread.  Here is my observations and input, FWIW:

 

1.  I do think that a plurality of posters have focused on the $58 aspect- namely having to pay in advance and receive a credit on board.  I do agree that it is a reasonable workaround for guests who are unable to receive their credit in the MC App.  However, I do not think this was Steve's main thrust.

 

2. A guest who has had to pre-pay for a SD booking, could continue to try making another mock booking and see if the credits eventually work.  They could then potentially cancel the initial and re-book.  Presumably this would occur when the System bug is fixed.

 

3. I'd like to take Steve at his word that there is at least a fair portion of his efforts are altruistic as a customer and likely shareholder making efforts to see if Princess recognizes there is a System bug and providing information he thought might help them to solve it.  I will stay away from commenting as to whether I think it was done in the best way as I am not sure what all actions and reactions occurred.  I am prepared to accept this aspect of his situation as he seems sincere about it in his posts and I have also felt the same way about MedallionClass issues, DMW issues, MC App issues.  I wrote Princess execs last year pointing out several issues and shortcomings and that I was very disappointed it was costing them business and I wanted them to be successful returning to sea as both a satisfied guest and a shareholder.  Without going into details, some of their core issues have lasted far longer than one would expect - chief among them being data conversion/transition issues from POLAR to MedallionClass system.

 

4. Steve seems to think that there is a problem with SD credits being posted as provided by a TA and effective the cruise departure date.  I disagree for more than one reason.  (1) All of these credits are dated for the first day of the associated voyage; (2) I have credits labeled from TA and one from Princess and they both have same date; (3) I have had credits recognized that are labeled as from my TA (nope, they were a Princess sales promo that anyone could get); (4) I have some credits being recognized and some not - in one case only one of us is recognized so I am getting a half-credit for booking two people.

 

5. Based on what I have read and know on some other issues, I have a strong suspicion that the problem is data-related and some guests are not getting their SD credits properly loaded into the MC system.  I very much doubt that the MC system is reading live data from POLAR.  It was well-known that they had hundreds and hundreds of data conversion issues from POLAR to MC App at the Go Live date last year.  Also, anytime a new reservation is made, or a cancel/re-book, it takes 1.5 - 2 days for the booking to appear in MC App (although it does seem to know pretty quickly the former booking is cancelled).  I have had credits not being recognized and then be recognized after a re-book for re-fare purposes.  Also, the opposite (I think but not sure anymore).

 

ETA:

6. I agree with @JimmyVWine in that Princess is addressing issues at their own pace and all we can do is let them know about it and confirm they agree they have an issue.  They do not publish a "known bug" list publicly (can you imagine any company doing that??), but at least we regulars on Cruise Critic are well aware of the issue and that Princess is as well.  They are going to work issues in the order they feel is best - whether we agree or not.  As an example, I was pretty well-informed about the MedallionNet issues and that a fix was coming such that MC App would recognize Captain's Circle Member Level and apply the discount real-time.  I know I posted many times to concerned posters that this was coming, but we had no delivery date.  And now it is fixed.  I do think last summer and fall, they had to spend a lot of their resources on fixing data and just getting folks who booked early voyages ready to cruise.  Still to this day, DMW is a sore point with many since there is only ONE DR loaded into MC App for most/all future voyages.  It appears they add more closer to sail date, but it is frustrating to not be finding space when we know there are other DR's not being offered.  Eventually they will get there and additional pestering isn't going to move the needle much it seems as they have bigger fires to fight.  I might even agree, but we customers don't even know all the fires involved.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

This is not specialty dining related, but after totally giving up on the app when it first emerged (basically told by the Princess experts that if I wanted to use it I needed to upgrade my iphone...) I am now forced to use it as I just booked a last minute cruise for next month. After many frustrating hours, I got to the point where we were in the green lane but completely stalled at arrival group. I'm not going to sweat that. However, here is the weird thing that happened when I booked EZ Air through the website. I selected the flights, got the total, and was prompted to enter my credit card. No other option for payment, and I wasn't expecting any other option. The transaction processed, my credit card was charged, and my flights showed in my reservation. Then I got the email confirmation...In addition to charging the full amount to my card, the system somehow also automatically applied my FCCs I had from many previous cancelled sailings. No warning, no option, no idea it even happened. The confirmation showed a double payment, resulting in a balance due of a negative amount. I figured that the credit card charge would just drop off but, after 2 days, noticed that it was now an actual transaction on my statement as opposed to just an authorised one. I called Princess and was told that FCC applies automatically and I shouldn't have entered my credit card info. Well, that's all well and good except that was the only option to actually proceed and get the flight booked. The rep assured me that the credit card charges would be reversed and that I should see it back on my account within 10 business days. I guess we will see if that happens. Just make sure to check purchases/confirmations carefully!

Is a TA unable to put a "freeze" on the FCC's so they don't auto-apply to the next live booking with a deposit?  I thought this was possible, but perhaps Princess rep has to be engaged?  If you have multiple bookings, I believe you can elect which one to apply FCC's to.  You might want to do that if one booking was your "for sure" one and the next one by date was "iffy". 

[ceilidh1]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

Is a TA unable to put a "freeze" on the FCC's so they don't auto-apply to the next live booking with a deposit?  I thought this was possible, but perhaps Princess rep has to be engaged?  If you have multiple bookings, I believe you can elect which one to apply FCC's to.  You might want to do that if one booking was your "for sure" one and the next one by date was "iffy". 

I am a TA...ha ha! Yes, when booking a cruise in Polar you can choose whether or not to apply the FCC. My entire cruise cost was covered by FCC, which is what I wanted. I booked EZ Air via the Princess personalizer as there isn't really any advantage to booking via Polar. Maybe if I HAD booked through Polar I would have had the option to use (or not) FCC? On the website, it was never an option. I had no issue paying with my credit card - I assumed that would be my only option anyway. However, I don't want to pay twice so will patiently await the next move by Princess....

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

But it's not like you aren't aware of the crap show that Princess has been (for a long time candidly) when it comes to these types of things.  Especially since the advent of the App.  The point being, that it wasn't personal and while I would normally applaud the person who would take on an institution in the name of right, this isn't going to change Princess and it is only bad for your own mental health. 

It's hard to read what the atmosphere at PCL HQ is these days.  I do believe in the beginning they wanted to know about issues and were determined to attack and solve them.  I would not be surprised if the length of time that a multitude of issues have existed, coupled with loss of experienced staff and now trying either to get by or ramp up again, that morale has been affected.  I imagine the entire situation is more complex than we customers can know or understand.  I doubt that last June/July, PCL mgmt thought they would still be mired in issues almost a year later.

 

Still, I have to think that they want to put issues and bugs behind them.  Maybe I am living in La La Land, but I have to believe they realize they have App issues their competitors are not experiencing.  And that they want to correct at least major failings.  Look how they (finally) delivered online registration with high functionality from MC App linked to the website.  

 

I think the initial focus was on the on-board experience (this is where the Medallion started).  For whatever reasons, they really missed the boat when designing and implementing the pre-cruise experience. 

 

For all we know, TPTB put John Padgett in the ultimate driver's seat to clean up his mess and he needs to deliver or he is out the door. 

 

It has also been clear through this entire MC App roll-out that certain parts of organization didn't really know what was going on as we were given marketing info and hype about functionality that wasn't there - or didn't do what they claimed.  I'd like to think they will get there, but the journey is long and arduous for some reason.  If we think back to last June and where it is today, things are MUCH better, but still far from perfect.

[Steelers36]

7 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I am a TA...ha ha! Yes, when booking a cruise in Polar you can choose whether or not to apply the FCC. My entire cruise cost was covered by FCC, which is what I wanted. I booked EZ Air via the Princess personalizer as there isn't really any advantage to booking via Polar. Maybe if I HAD booked through Polar I would have had the option to use (or not) FCC? On the website, it was never an option. I had no issue paying with my credit card - I assumed that would be my only option anyway. However, I don't want to pay twice so will patiently await the next move by Princess....

I know - that's why I replied to you. 😉

 

Thanks for the reply.  My guess was that you immediately moved to booking airfare as soon as money was down on the booking and the system had not yet done the cycle to apply FCC.  I realize you made a short-time booking, so understandable to jump onto air.  Yes, I expect it will get worked out.

[ceilidh1]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

I know - that's why I replied to you. 😉

 

Thanks for the reply.  My guess was that you immediately moved to booking airfare as soon as money was down on the booking and the system had not yet done the cycle to apply FCC.  I realize you made a short-time booking, so understandable to jump onto air.  Yes, I expect it will get worked out.

Good point - I hadn't thought of that! To be honest, I didn't even know I had that much FCC still on account as I really haven't been tracking it too carefully. It ended up being a pleasant surprise that there was enough to cover the airfare, too - and I definitely jumped on booking air immediately as the price was great. Not an hour later it had gone up over $100 per person for the same EZ Air flight!

[caribill]

5 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

It wasn't that he would lose the $58 dollars in OBC.  If he wanted to secure his desired 7 PM dinner reservations on a particular evening he had to put the $58 charge on his credit card, then when on board ask guest services to credit him for the $58 dollars.  

This is what the Princess folks told him, they could not secure the reservation using the OBC.  The system would not allow the customer service folks or the OP use the OBC.  They suggested using the credit card, then requesting the folks on the ship to issue him a credit.

 

 

 

Posted OBC cannot be used pre-cruise to purchase anything but shore excursions.

 

Now if this was a "gift" of specialty dining (and not OBC) from a TA or part of a Princess booking promotion, then it is supposed to be able to be applied pre-cruise if you make a reservation pre-cruise. But that is not OBC.  Posts in other threads have indicated that sometimes the fantastic App does allow it to be applied and sometimes it does not. That is the problem Princess should be working on to fix.

 

Now if the "gift" of specialty dining was made by someone as a real gift, it normally does not show up in the Personalizer (and I assume also the fantastic App) pre-cruise. Just like any other real gift (flowers, wine, etc.), Princess does not post it in advance of the cruise as it assumes the gift giver wants it to be a surprise that the passenger will learn about once on board. Princess does not want to spoil the "surprise." This is true even if the passenger had gifted it to himself/herself.

 

 

[caribill]

4 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

The fact that you may received a DIFFERENT answer could be evidence of the customer service reps brainstorming other possibilities. 

 

 

Customer service reps at any business should not be making up possible solutions they cannot implement themselves. 

 

These reps should be working with a combination of written protocols they see on their computers plus their knowledge of what does work.

 

If they do not have a definitive answer, the problem needs to be passed up to the next level of support. If the next level cannot be contacted within a few minutes, then two things should be done:

a) A promise that will be kept that the next level of support will contact the customer within a reasonable amount of time....and

b) A phone number with proper extension that the customer can call if the customer does not receive that promised call back.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

This is not specialty dining related, but after totally giving up on the app when it first emerged (basically told by the Princess experts that if I wanted to use it I needed to upgrade my iphone...) I am now forced to use it as I just booked a last minute cruise for next month. After many frustrating hours, I got to the point where we were in the green lane but completely stalled at arrival group. I'm not going to sweat that. However, here is the weird thing that happened when I booked EZ Air through the website. I selected the flights, got the total, and was prompted to enter my credit card. No other option for payment, and I wasn't expecting any other option. The transaction processed, my credit card was charged, and my flights showed in my reservation. Then I got the email confirmation...In addition to charging the full amount to my card, the system somehow also automatically applied my FCCs I had from many previous cancelled sailings. No warning, no option, no idea it even happened. The confirmation showed a double payment, resulting in a balance due of a negative amount. I figured that the credit card charge would just drop off but, after 2 days, noticed that it was now an actual transaction on my statement as opposed to just an authorised one. I called Princess and was told that FCC applies automatically and I shouldn't have entered my credit card info. Well, that's all well and good except that was the only option to actually proceed and get the flight booked. The rep assured me that the credit card charges would be reversed and that I should see it back on my account within 10 business days. I guess we will see if that happens. Just make sure to check purchases/confirmations carefully!

 

To my knowledge, FCCs cannot be used to pay for airfare with possibly one exception I am not sure of.

 

If you had paid for Princess Air for a cruise that had been cancelled by Princess, the money paid is supposed to be returned to you unless there is some airline penalty in which case the penalty amount would become an FCC. It is that FCC that I do not know might be applied to future airfares.

 

[nini]

@Bruin Steve,

I TOTALLY get what you are saying and also read your other thread. We also have the same PAID for by US, Special Dining opportunity, not TA complimentary and should by all means be able to book  the dining room of our choice BEFORE boarding as it is NOT OBC  or a TA gift! 

Thank you for all that you have done in your communications (or attempts) with Princess. It is very frustrating that some people can book their reservations and others can't.

No business is perfect, but Princess really needs to get its technical act together.

 

And, the issue is NOT about the $58.00!!!!!

[donaldsc]

I have read a couple of the posts in this thread.  Have any of you punished Princess in the best way possible by deciding not to cruise on Princess or any of the other lines in the Princess group.  After all there are lots of other cruise companies out there that are not part of the Princess group.  Money or the lack of it speaks much louder than words.

 

DON

[GatorGirl1313]

8 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

My friends,

So many of you miss the point.  It is NOT the $58.  It is the way that Princess handles its Customer Relations.  It is the operation of the Medallion App.  They have some major issues.  They don't handle it well.  It could be me and $58 this time...It could be YOU and $10,000 next time.  But, really, it is tens of thousands of customers...

 

...and, unfortunately, there are a lot of you who just "let it go"...

 

Letting it go allows them to continue to have poorly trained phone representatives...It allows them to say anything in order to expediently turn away problems...It allows them to LIE.

 

So, why am I so "obsessive" over this?  Because I am trying to help EVERYONE here...even if it costs me way too much time...and there is very little I can get out of this in the end.

 

I would like Princess to be a BETTER cruise line.  I want them to solve their problems and provide better service to all of us.  Because I plan to cruise a whole lot more and I'd like to minimize these unfortunate issues in the future.  And I'd like all of YOU not to run into these issues on a regular basis.  I want to get through on phone lines that aren't jammed with people who can't get their app to work.  I want to book cruises, handle the easy details, pack and go...

 

Princess CAN do better...but only if their customers demand better.

If even 1000 people per cruise have this issue, use a credit card and then get obc which they then spend on the ship then Princess has rather deceptively just made another 58k on that cruise.  It's small practices like these, meant to take advantage of people for profit, that add up to a more disturbing overall picture.  I think it's fair to press issues rather than let us all get conned 

[Coral]

4 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I have read a couple of the posts in this thread.  Have any of you punished Princess in the best way possible by deciding not to cruise on Princess or any of the other lines in the Princess group.  After all there are lots of other cruise companies out there that are not part of the Princess group.  Money or the lack of it speaks much louder than words.

 

DON

Having spoken to friends - they are struggling to get through to the other cruise lines via phone for any resolutions also. I don't think it is isolated to Princess.

Edited March 24, 2022 by Coral

[AZjohn]

Guess we all pick our battles...

 

Reminds me of the saying: 

Would you rather be right, or would you rather be free?

[007colocruz]

10 minutes ago, AZjohn said:

Guess we all pick our battles...

 

Reminds me of the saying: 

Would you rather be right, or would you rather be free?

Wiseman. Wisewoman. 

[voljeep]

9 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

I am talking about my interaction with people at Princess.  My posts here had a purpose.  Only people barking about "complainers" come across as Princess apologists.  If you have no complaints regarding Princess, then either you've never cruised, never paid attention or you work for Princess.  Wait, scratch that last one...I know people who have worked for Princess and complain more than me!

I'll 'gift' you the 58 bucks, and you can pay me back after the cruise ... all I ask in exchange is for you to call BB and get my service diagnostic appt moved up from next WED 3/30 for our washing machine ...

 

not possibly to repair it, but to just see what is wrong with it ... ONE WEEK without a washing machine ... then ???   How's that for "service" ??? - but I did get thru on the phone this morning in about a minute, then 20 minutes later had the appt scheduled.