Disappointment in Princess customer service

[AJMissal]

We just got off the Enchanted on the 18 th.  Both of my parent got free rooms from the casino. Between our travel agent and me, we made 10 calls to customer service with either no answer, disconnected or a promised phone call back that never happened. My father is blind and my mom has bad feet.  They can’t cruise alone.  The free rooms are only good until end of august.  But with me and my work schedule.  And my father needing surgery this summer.  We wanted to cruise again February 2024. So all we wanted to know is will they let us use the rooms then instead of by end of august.  
 

This is unacceptable to treat anyone this way.  Especially platinum members and a U.S. Veteran.  Not happy at all!!  

[Sprocket]

 Book by/sail by casino offers are very clear and you can’t just arbitrarily pick a date that works for you.  Check their emails regularly I have multiple offers that I can use to book cruises into 2024.

[DHP1]

Welcome to the club. I’m still waiting for them to get back to me. 

[AJMissal]

16 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

 Book by/sail by casino offers are very clear and you can’t just arbitrarily pick a date that works for you.  Check their emails regularly I have multiple offers that I can use to book cruises into 2024.

But then it says only on new bookings.  We want to book for February 2024. And ships are filling up.  So we can’t wait for emails. 

[Lady Arwen]

We get casino offers all the time by numerous cruiselines and everyone of them states applicable sail by dates.  This is one of the ways that they can offer such low prices, as only a certain number of cabins are available to them.  You cannot change the date of any particular offer.  If you absolutely want to cruise on a specific date, then book and pay the regular fare and wait for a casino email that suits you.

 

Sorry, but you cannot blame Princess for this, as the rules are very clearly stated.  Good luck.

[AJMissal]

And that’s fine. But we have never got an answer from anyone.  Just tell us that. 

[justafem]

1 hour ago, AJMissal said:

We just got off the Enchanted on the 18 th.  Both of my parent got free rooms from the casino. Between our travel agent and me, we made 10 calls to customer service with either no answer, disconnected or a promised phone call back that never happened. My father is blind and my mom has bad feet.  They can’t cruise alone.  The free rooms are only good until end of august.  But with me and my work schedule.  And my father needing surgery this summer.  We wanted to cruise again February 2024. So all we wanted to know is will they let us use the rooms then instead of by end of august.  
 

This is unacceptable to treat anyone this way.  Especially platinum members and a U.S. Veteran.  Not happy at all!!  

You're disappointed that you were never called back.  And I understand that's why you're upset.

 

Casino fares are only good for a short time, book um or let um expire.  That's all you can do. There's no extension of dates, but that wasn't the issue.  

Edited January 26, 2023 by justafem

[Pizzasteve]

I think the pandemic cost them their experienced call center staff as jobs paying better in other industries snagged them.  I am assuming there will be poor service from ill trained phone staff for a while.

 

My contacts via phone and email for have not received promised results (phone call guy sayed issue 'taken care of' when his responses suggested he probably dindt fully understood the issue (raising of gratuities after my booking and desire to prepay at promised grandfathered rates), and a promised email on second request. Also emailed about same issues and no response after 2 weeks.

 

They werent big deals, so giving up and will just enjoy cruise assuming only vanilla automated online transactions like restaurant resv via app are possible.

Edited January 26, 2023 by Pizzasteve

[Guest ldtr]

50 minutes ago, AJMissal said:

And that’s fine. But we have never got an answer from anyone.  Just tell us that. 

Are you trying to get an answer from the regular Princess customer service or from the Casino folks that originated the offer.

 

 

[azbirdmom]

Agree with others, the CBS offers have always been for a limited time, no exceptions are made (to my knowledge).  As for responsiveness, the casino reservations area is just slammed right now.  It's been bad at times but I've never seen it like this.  Last fall they outsourced the whole casino booking area to the Philippines and they are still learning.  And if they have to refer to a higher up there seems to be one person who can solve problems.  It's a huge issue right now and I do think they are trying their best but there's no other word for it, they are struggling.

[JimmyVWine]

Getting problems resolved over the phone appears to be a losing battle much of the time.  I had a problem applying a Gift Card to my outstanding balance and I tried a number of times to get it resolved on the phone.  The people manning the phones on the main Princess Line insisted that the resolution had to come from the Gift Card Department and the Gift Card Department insisted that the resolution had to come from the main Princess Customer Service Department.  After numerous phone calls and telling the person in the CS Department that under no circumstances should she transfer my call to the Gift Card department because I had just finished speaking to them, she confessed that the people who respond to the customer service emails have far more power and authority (her words) to solve problems than the people who work the phones.  So I send a detailed email to customerrelations@princescruises.com with attachments, files, screenshots and the like, and my issue was resolved to my complete satisfaction in 6 days.  I offer this up only for the sake of "process."  As for the substance of the OP's issue, I don't think they are entitled to any special booking privileges and don't expect them to get any.  But they are entitled to the courtesy of a direct answer from Princess.  

[jwattle]

5 hours ago, AJMissal said:

We just got off the Enchanted on the 18 th.  Both of my parent got free rooms from the casino. Between our travel agent and me, we made 10 calls to customer service with either no answer, disconnected or a promised phone call back that never happened. My father is blind and my mom has bad feet.  They can’t cruise alone.  The free rooms are only good until end of august.  But with me and my work schedule.  And my father needing surgery this summer.  We wanted to cruise again February 2024. So all we wanted to know is will they let us use the rooms then instead of by end of august.  
 

This is unacceptable to treat anyone this way.  Especially platinum members and a U.S. Veteran.  Not happy at all!!  

The whole point of free and any of the "return" offers is to get you back quickly, on their timetable. I'm sorry that there is a lot going on, but try to understand, your family's military, captain's club and medical status aren't going to change the parameters of a FREE offer.

[Rick&Jeannie]

2 hours ago, jwattle said:

The whole point of free and any of the "return" offers is to get you back quickly, on their timetable. I'm sorry that there is a lot going on, but try to understand, your family's military, captain's club and medical status aren't going to change the parameters of a FREE offer.

Plus the fact that none of the circumstances were even known by the Casino Dept. when the offer was made.  I'm not saying that they don't care...just that they did not contribute in any way to the offer being made.

[Ombud]

8 hours ago, AJMissal said:

..... free rooms from the casino. Between our travel agent and me, we made 10 calls to customer service with either no answer, disconnected or a promised phone call back that never happened. .....

JMHO everything else is, unfortunately,  irrelevant. But I've read that you need to contact the Princess Casino customer service, 800-355-7636 9am to 5pm Monday - Friday Casinos, not 'regular' customer service. Hopefully the 10 calls were to that # (and I misread).  Wishing you a call back. Customer service line is frustrating which is why I leave it up to my CVP to resolve issues (but extending use by dates is something she can no longer do)

[Sprocket]

8 hours ago, AJMissal said:

And that’s fine. But we have never got an answer from anyone.  Just tell us that. 

You said the offer has to be used by the end of August, so you have that information already.  No different than airline seat sales you either agree to the terms and conditions or wait for another offer.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

JMHO everything else is, unfortunately,  irrelevant. But I've read that you need to contact the Princess Casino customer service, 800-355-7636 9am to 5pm Monday - Friday Casinos, not 'regular' customer service. Hopefully the 10 calls were to that # (and I misread).  Wishing you a call back. Customer service line is frustrating which is why I leave it up to my CVP to resolve issues (but extending use by dates is something she can no longer do)

If they were made to regular Princess Customer service then I would expect that the disconnects probably occurred while attempting to transfer the call to the Casino customer service.  The same place the return calls should have come from.

 

There have been numerous reports about the Casino group being difficult to get a hold of.  I guess you could say that with the low price offers one gets what they pay for.

Edited January 26, 2023 by ldtr

[GOLDENBONNY]

11 hours ago, AJMissal said:

Not happy at all!!  

you getting a free cruise and why all your problems should be Princess consern?

[AJMissal]

That’s not very nice.  I’ve spent a lot of time on the phone waiting just for an answer.  All they had to do was answer or return the call as they promised.  And free really isn’t free.  It’s not like nothing was spent to get the free cruise.  

[Cruise till you drop]

Princess Guest Services is an oxymoron and about as useless as a submarine with screen doors.

 

Just off the Sky and had been given a different room than we booked and no one would tell us why and wouldn’t do anything to rectify it.  Didn’t even care. Basically they said “hey, you still have a balcony and you should be ok with that “

Edited January 27, 2023 by Cruise till you drop

[Ombud]

41 minutes ago, AJMissal said:

That’s not very nice.  I’ve spent a lot of time on the phone waiting just for an answer.  All they had to do was answer or return the call as they promised. 

Agree. Quite irritating 

44 minutes ago, AJMissal said:

And free really isn’t free.  It’s not like nothing was spent to get the free cruise.  

I've never been offered one despite how much I donate to the casino dept. So here's where I'm having trouble relating

[jwattle]

4 hours ago, AJMissal said:

  And free really isn’t free.  It’s not like nothing was spent to get the free cruise.  

But it does come with terms and conditions, which are set. If you can't meet them at this time, wait for the next offer. Honestly, the point of these offers is to get you back on quickly, not at your convenience.

[Pizzasteve]

16 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Princess Guest Services is an oxymoron and about as useless as a submarine with screen doors.

 

Just off the Sky and had been given a different room than we booked and no one would tell us why and wouldn’t do anything to rectify it.  Didn’t even care. Basically they said “hey, you still have a balcony and you should be ok with that “

Bummer.  Strictly speaking we should all be prepared for something like this as a possibility.

 

For example, suppose a double booking error, or unsolvable room problem like plumming or immediately prior active Covid case.  While an upgrade would be nice, one may not be available and I certainly dont want 'my room' with a problem like unsanitized after a bad illness onboard quarantined there.

 

Put yourself in a desk agent shoes.  Purchased upgrades have filled all the better cabins, not much else one can do.  I might try to negotiate for a dinner or something at least, but honestly a comparable cabin, that isnt under a noisy area wouldnt ruin my holiday.

 

Again sorry that your party was inconvenienced.

 

With rising fuel, food and labor costs and skilled labor hiring challenges, I think we all are going to neef to manage our expectations or risk dissappointments.  We can not live in the past.  Those prices and circumstances are gone.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Pizzasteve

[Cruise till you drop]

7 hours ago, Pizzasteve said:

Bummer.  Strictly speaking we should all be prepared for something like this as a possibility.

 

For example, suppose a double booking error, or unsolvable room problem like plumming or immediately prior active Covid case.  While an upgrade would be nice, one may not be available and I certainly dont want 'my room' with a problem like unsanitized after a bad illness onboard quarantined there.

 

Put yourself in a desk agent shoes.  Purchased upgrades have filled all the better cabins, not much else one can do.  I might try to negotiate for a dinner or something at least, but honestly a comparable cabin, that isnt under a noisy area wouldnt ruin my holiday.

 

Again sorry that your party was inconvenienced.

 

With rising fuel, food and labor costs and skilled labor hiring challenges, I think we all are going to neef to manage our expectations or risk dissappointments.  We can not live in the past.  Those prices and circumstances are gone.

I understand but I’m still paying a lot of hard earned money for this trip so I expect a certain level of service that isn’t based on incompetence at Guest Services

[Pizzasteve]

On 1/27/2023 at 5:21 PM, Cruise till you drop said:

I understand but I’m still paying a lot of hard earned money for this trip so I expect a certain level of service that isn’t based on incompetence at Guest Services

Yes, but my comment was aimed at a situation specifically where the cruise line changed the booking to a different room, but to one in the same fare category (but not the one booked).

 

What I tried to explain was that sometimes this situation is unavoidable, lets call it an 'act of god' and that this might be the best possible service available (the room change). 

 

The contract we agreed to ( and common sense) suggest that receiving the same category of room, when that is the best room available, is meeting the  'certain level of service your hard earned dollar paid for.'  Expecting more, or demanding upgrades, or complaining and being unhappy about it is something that most likely just makes it worse for everyone, yourself, the staff and other passengers.

 

Anyway, that was my hoped for point.  The cruise contract has the cruise contract terms in it.  But i hope we are all satisfied as well.  If customer service is not doing their job, we agree.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Pizzasteve

[Cruise till you drop]

13 hours ago, Pizzasteve said:

Expecting more, or demanding upgrades, or complaining and being unhappy about it is something that most likely just makes it worse for everyone, yourself, the staff and other passengers.

But here in is the problem is that we did not ask for an upgrade and hence, why we’re pissed.  We specifically indicated “no upgrade”.  

 

Once you get the facts straight, I hope you now get it

Edited January 29, 2023 by Cruise till you drop