Princess Has The Worst Customer Service

[JimmyVWine]

14 minutes ago, Shawn5 said:

We had purchased the "Premier Package" which includes two specialty dinners per guest, but they still erroneously charged our CC for the dinner reservations. Because of the package, we doubted that we'd have many shipboard charges, if any, so a refund to our card was warranted in lieu of a shipboard credit.

Exactly.  People have to start to adjust to the fact that their "old way" of cruising that included banking $1,000 of OBC to use for onboard purchases is over. With these packages, you can walk off the cruise owing $0-$75 very easily.  And Princess has to adjust to this too.  The old: "We'll just convert your refund into OBC" is pointless when I'm not going to be spending any money "OB".  Just refund my credit card like any normal merchant would do.  OBC is now only useful for people who spend time in the casino or buy gold-by-the-inch.  I am neither.

[voljeep]

24 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Exactly.  People have to start to adjust to the fact that their "old way" of cruising that included banking $1,000 of OBC to use for onboard purchases is over. With these packages, you can walk off the cruise owing $0-$75 very easily.  And Princess has to adjust to this too.  The old: "We'll just convert your refund into OBC" is pointless when I'm not going to be spending any money "OB".  Just refund my credit card like any normal merchant would do.  OBC is now only useful for people who spend time in the casino or buy gold-by-the-inch.  I am neither.

for our next cruise - a little 5 day - we have PLUS 50, $200 "excursion credit" and $100 "we screwed up, here's $100 OBC"

 

First we will find out if/when "excursion credit" means that or just OBC.  We will book UBD if we can as soon as we board, if not, might do Ultimate Breakfast, and try to book Specialty restaurants, and pay the wine upcharges. 

[cr8tiv1]

57 minutes ago, Shawn5 said:

We had purchased the "Premier Package" which includes two specialty dinners per guest, but they still erroneously charged our CC for the dinner reservations. Because of the package, we doubted that we'd have many shipboard charges, if any, so a refund to our card was warranted in lieu of a shipboard credit.

 

Thank you for the clarification.  Hopefully, you will see credit on your cc or the OBC will be in the form of "refundable" and you can ask Customer Service to hand over the money.  I understand they are holding your money hostage until you board.  That's not nice of Princess.  

[fleeflicker]

We are booked with EZ Air. Princess system kept deleting our flights even though American was still showing them. I had to call several days in a row to get the flights restored to my reservation. Each time I called it was a minimum wait time of 1 hour and 45 minutes   Communication between myself and the representative was very difficult. I got a whooping $25,00 obo. 

[Guest ldtr]

53 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Exactly.  People have to start to adjust to the fact that their "old way" of cruising that included banking $1,000 of OBC to use for onboard purchases is over. With these packages, you can walk off the cruise owing $0-$75 very easily.  And Princess has to adjust to this too.  The old: "We'll just convert your refund into OBC" is pointless when I'm not going to be spending any money "OB".  Just refund my credit card like any normal merchant would do.  OBC is now only useful for people who spend time in the casino or buy gold-by-the-inch.  I am neither.

Except that it would be refundable obc and returned by check after the cruise if not spent on board.

[Guest ldtr]

6 hours ago, Familycruzer11 said:

We have two free specialty dinners with Premier. I booked on the app and was charged. I contacted my PCP and she said that I will be “automatically” refunded (she even said to my cc, not OBC) once I am on board.  I am skeptical and expect to deal with it on the ship.  Not ideal but I like having the days and times I want reserved in the meantime.  
 

this is both a customer service problem and a technology problem. 

Mostly a tech problem since their systems have yet to been modified yet to keep up with the change in policy. Since the system would have to know the package was involved ( in fare, purchased separately, etc.) and be able to handle if the passenger were to cancel the package.  Would be easier to just add a line to the package stating must be booked on board or to book in advance it will be charged to CC then refunded as OBC on board. Which is basically how their system is set up.

 

I expect that customer service would love to help, but their system does not have an option that they can select to do so. As a result if a fix were to happen in each individual case it takes some kind of manual intervention that the system would not understand and could result in other issues such as cancellation of reservation or other problems as it gets communicated to the shipboard system.

Edited March 17, 2023 by ldtr

[JimmyVWine]

5 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Except that it would be refundable obc and returned by check after the cruise if not spent on board.

Which is easier and cheaper for Princess, for the customer, and kills fewer trees?  An electronic refund to the Credit Card on the day requested, or waiting 10 months for the cruise to be over, and then cutting a paper check , spending postage to mail it out, having the postal worker use gas to deliver said check to the customer, and then have the customer use gas to deposit the check to their bank....only to THEN use the funds to electronically pay their credit card bill, which, over time, has accrued more interest?  The fact that the OBC is refundable is a cute little fact used to appease the customer, but it isn't the better solution.  Imagine if you returned an item to Target in January for a refund and Target said:  "Come back in September, and let's wait to see if you buy anything else from us in that month, and if not, we will mail you a check in October."  Who would stand for that?

[Colorado Coasty]

To be fair I have almost the exact problem. For our next three cruises I had no problem booking both our first night suite dinners and our two included premier dinners on each cruise. The app showed that I had credits and did not charge me. However, the app just kept showing that I had credits even after I knew that  I had used them all. So I booked a couple more dinners (that I am prepared to pay for), the app didn't charge me and confirmed the reservations. The app still show credits. I am not confident that Princess will catch this.

[JGmf]

19 hours ago, qoap24 said:

We are booked in a suite and the 1st night we are supposed to get a free speciality dining credit. When I went to book through the app, it showed the credit, but once I reserved the time we wanted, the credit was gone and charged my credit card. 

 

Same happened to me for my June cruise. I guess I'm resigned to standing in line once I'm on the ship to get my refund. 

 

I'm a first timer with Princess.  NCL is way better - you can make your dining reservations online, but payment doesn't happen until you arrive at the restaurant and either charge to the room or they see and apply your perks/freebies listed on their computer.

 

[Colorado Coasty]

22 minutes ago, Colorado Coasty said:

To be fair I have almost the exact Opposite problem. For our next three cruises I had no problem booking both our first night suite dinners and our two included premier dinners on each cruise. The app showed that I had credits and did not charge me. However, the app just kept showing that I had credits even after I knew that  I had used them all. So I booked a couple more dinners (that I am prepared to pay for), the app didn't charge me and confirmed the reservations. The app still show credits. I am not confident that Princess will catch this.

my mind was quicker than my fingers

[PescadoAmarillo]

54 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Except that it would be refundable obc and returned by check after the cruise if not spent on board.

In a perfect world. So…maybe. Eventually. Or maybe not. 

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Which is easier and cheaper for Princess, for the customer, and kills fewer trees?  An electronic refund to the Credit Card on the day requested, or waiting 10 months for the cruise to be over, and then cutting a paper check , spending postage to mail it out, having the postal worker use gas to deliver said check to the customer, and then have the customer use gas to deposit the check to their bank....only to THEN use the funds to electronically pay their credit card bill, which, over time, has accrued more interest?  The fact that the OBC is refundable is a cute little fact used to appease the customer, but it isn't the better solution.  Imagine if you returned an item to Target in January for a refund and Target said:  "Come back in September, and let's wait to see if you buy anything else from us in that month, and if not, we will mail you a check in October."  Who would stand for that?

The alternative is wait and booking on board.  If ones priority is to make sure they get the time and date they want, then the pre-payment and time frame should not be an issue.  Otherwise they can wait, not have to pay in advance and book on board. For many the OBC would end up getting used on board anyway. 

 

Your target analogy breaks down in that if you cancel the reservation you get the refund immediately, same as if you return the product.  Actually part of the complaints some people have had is that their reservation has been canceled when their refund was processed. So you could consider that the charge is to hold your reservation until you board ship. Kind of like buying an option, in this case the purchase is confirmation for a particular time and date for the reservation, with the amount being refundable when you actually board ship.

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, Colorado Coasty said:

To be fair I have almost the exact problem. For our next three cruises I had no problem booking both our first night suite dinners and our two included premier dinners on each cruise. The app showed that I had credits and did not charge me. However, the app just kept showing that I had credits even after I knew that  I had used them all. So I booked a couple more dinners (that I am prepared to pay for), the app didn't charge me and confirmed the reservations. The app still show credits. I am not confident that Princess will catch this.

Once it transferred from shore systems to shipboard systems I expect that the charges will show up.  Different systems with different checks. 

[JimmyVWine]

16 minutes ago, ldtr said:

The alternative is wait and booking on board.  If ones priority is to make sure they get the time and date they want, then the pre-payment and time frame should not be an issue.

That is a non sequitur.  There is no nexus or cause and effect between when one books and how one gets a refund.  They are entirely separate concepts.  All travel providers have systems where pre-paid amounts made in conjunction with early bookings are refunded directly to credit cards (assuming that the money paid is in fact refundable.)  If my priority is to make sure that I get the time and date I want, I make a payment with my credit card.  If my plans change, I cancel and the money gets refunded to my credit card.  Not rocket science.

[Guest ldtr]

15 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

That is a non sequitur.  There is no nexus or cause and effect between when one books and how one gets a refund.  They are entirely separate concepts.  All travel providers have systems where pre-paid amounts made in conjunction with early bookings are refunded directly to credit cards (assuming that the money paid is in fact refundable.)  If my priority is to make sure that I get the time and date I want, I make a payment with my credit card.  If my plans change, I cancel and the money gets refunded to my credit card.  Not rocket science.

That is what is happening here. Book in advance and your card gets charged.  Cancel and your card gets refunded.  Apply the free specialty included in the package when you board ship, and your payments gets refunded, as all other cancellations on board (excursions, spa reservations, etc) do  in the form of OBC. Or for that matter cancel within 5 days of the cruise departure, once the account has been transferred to ship board systems, the refund is handled as an on ship transaction, OBC.

 

If anything Princess is consistent.  Their major flaw is not making it clear how their systems work, and as a result trying to satisfy customers who want to apply the credit prior to boarding ship.  Because of that lack of communication they have dissatisfied customers and customer service reps trying to resolve issues that they do not have the tools to solve.

 

As a result they should include that language in the package description, until such a time where they actually get their land based systems changed to be able to automatically handle such purchases.

Edited March 17, 2023 by ldtr

[JimmyVWine]

20 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Apply the free specialty included in the package when you board ship, and your payments gets refunded,

Post #27 does not back this up.  OP has been charged for dinners that are supposed to be gratis.  Those charges should be refunded to the credit card.  Now.  There should be no need for the ship to hold your money as an "option" and then refund you on board as OBC.  The OP has already paid for the reservation by paying in advance for the $80 per day package.  For a one week cruise, one should not have to pay $638 (assuming Crown Grill dinners) in advance and then get $78 refunded as OBC when the dinners are already included in the $560 fee for the Package.  There is no need to put down money to "hold" the reservation.  If the OP doesn't show up for the dinner(s), they get no part of the $560 back,  So what purpose is the other $39 per dinner serving?

[Guest ldtr]

23 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Post #27 does not back this up.  OP has been charged for dinners that are supposed to be gratis.  Those charges should be refunded to the credit card.  Now.  There should be no need for the ship to hold your money as an "option" and then refund you on board as OBC.  The OP has already paid for the reservation by paying in advance for the $80 per day package.  For a one week cruise, one should not have to pay $638 (assuming Crown Grill dinners) in advance and then get $78 refunded as OBC when the dinners are already included in the $560 fee for the Package.  There is no need to put down money to "hold" the reservation.  If the OP doesn't show up for the dinner(s), they get no part of the $560 back,  So what purpose is the other $39 per dinner serving?

Actually no.  Go back and read her original post.  They made the reservations in advance.  They did not cancel the reservations.   If they had they would have gotten it refunded.  They wanted a refund to their credit card while leaving the reservations in place.  That is exactly what I said that the system does not currently support.  If they cancel the reservations entirely, they would get a refund to their card.

 

My comment about charges was to show the complexities involved in making the appropriate logic modes to the system.  One can have the package included in their fare, they can upgrade to have it included, they can buy it separately, they can drop it from their reservation.  The modes to the system would have to be able to recognize all of the possible combinations, as well as changes made to the reservations.  Then you have the issues dealing with what if someone  takes advantage of a price drop and refares, will all of their dining reservations get cancelled.  All of the features of the packages deal with on board ship services.  AS such accounting for those services is handled by the on board ship system, not the shore side systems.

 

As Princess systems are set up.  They are not set up to apply package included specialty dining to advance purchases.  The system may ignore advance charges for those is suites, but not clear on that.  That is pretty clear, that is exactly why people are encountering what they are.  You can continue to pound the table and shout at the moon but that does not change how the systems are currently set up to operate.  One can either understand the current limitations of those systems and how they limit what customer service can do.  Or they can continue to spend hours on the phone, going through many layers of the customer service system, trying to get a work around that might work to give them a CC refund, but in many cases does not, or it ends up with a refund, but with their reservation canceled.

 

The system as currently setup is that reservations made in advance are charged to CC and then refunded on board ship, which means to OBC as all other ship board refunds are made.  The other option is to wait until being on board to book.  Then there is no charge and no refund issue.  There might be something different for suite customers which  I suspect might be based upon one person has commented on how their charges are handled due to the first night suite benefit, which was put into place quite a while ago and as such those bookings might be handled differently.. However, do not have sufficient examples to say if they is happening to all suite passengers or if someone did something unique to that persons booking.

 

The system is acting pretty much the same as it does for everything else.  Order in advance and CC is charged (same as for Spa, Excursion (note the system does allow OBC to be used in advance for excursions though it took several months before that got integrated into the system once they started charging in advance for excursions), etc).  Cancel in advance and amount is refunded to CC.

 

Otherwise on board ship or within 5 days of ship departure the ship board system takes over.  At that time any refunds (specialty dining , Excursions, SPA, etc) from advance purchases are processed as OBC.  That is consistent and has been for Princess for many years.

 

I expect as when they made the change to allow OBC to be used in advance for excursions, the systems will eventually catch up to the change in policy.  However, that may take, as it did then, several months.

 

Until that time the choice is book in advance , pay and refund by OBC,  or wait until being on ship and avoid it all but then might not get the exact to want.

[Bwana Tom]

On 3/16/2023 at 3:49 PM, Shawn5 said:

I've cruised and traveled the world extensively and have never experienced a worse customer service department. After over an hour on the phone with them (over half of this time on hold), I could still not get a resolution to a relatively simple issue: a refund for charges related to upcoming specialty dining. The first three customer service reps admitted to the mistake (a glitch in their system), but none of them could issue the refund to my CC. They had to keep "escalating" the issue up the ladder to another person (a "Navigator", an "Ocean Navigator"). They all came across as sincere and wanting to help, but lacked the authority to issue the refund. Amazing. The fourth, and last, person I spoke with promised a call back in 1-3 days with a resolution. I doubt I'll get the call back. I'm guessing other cruise lines don't have any better customer service departments. They must have so much business they just don't care.

I agree wholeheartedly! If Princess doesn't begin to get their act together they will surely loose business from faithful customers. 

[retrembl]

On 3/16/2023 at 5:49 PM, Shawn5 said:

I've cruised and traveled the world extensively and have never experienced a worse customer service department. After over an hour on the phone with them (over half of this time on hold), I could still not get a resolution to a relatively simple issue: a refund for charges related to upcoming specialty dining. The first three customer service reps admitted to the mistake (a glitch in their system), but none of them could issue the refund to my CC. They had to keep "escalating" the issue up the ladder to another person (a "Navigator", an "Ocean Navigator"). They all came across as sincere and wanting to help, but lacked the authority to issue the refund. Amazing. The fourth, and last, person I spoke with promised a call back in 1-3 days with a resolution. I doubt I'll get the call back. I'm guessing other cruise lines don't have any better customer service departments. They must have so much business they just don't care.

Your more likely to see SNOW AT THE EQUATOR THAN TO GET PRINCESS CUSTOMER SERVICE TO RESOLVE A PROBLEM

[roxievegas]

I would put the blame on the "no training", "no knowledge" as the major problem.

 

Also, moving the customer service out of the country is another problem.  Communication skills are non existent.

 

 

[Aus Traveller]

On 3/18/2023 at 3:20 AM, JimmyVWine said:

Which is easier and cheaper for Princess, for the customer, and kills fewer trees?  An electronic refund to the Credit Card on the day requested, or waiting 10 months for the cruise to be over, and then cutting a paper check , spending postage to mail it out, having the postal worker use gas to deliver said check to the customer, and then have the customer use gas to deposit the check to their bank....only to THEN use the funds to electronically pay their credit card bill, which, over time, has accrued more interest?  The fact that the OBC is refundable is a cute little fact used to appease the customer, but it isn't the better solution.  Imagine if you returned an item to Target in January for a refund and Target said:  "Come back in September, and let's wait to see if you buy anything else from us in that month, and if not, we will mail you a check in October."  Who would stand for that?

Pre-COVID we received a cheque for refundable OBC, but after our recent cruises, we received an email asking for our bank account details for the money to be paid into. This is in Australia, but I don't know if this system is now working in the US.

[geocruiser]

1 minute ago, Aus Traveller said:

Pre-COVID we received a cheque for refundable OBC, but after our recent cruises, we received an email asking for our bank account details for the money to be paid into. This is in Australia, but I don't know if this system is now working in the US.

Are you sure that this is the way that Princess is doing it now?  I don't think that I would give out my bank info.

[jwattle]

On 3/17/2023 at 2:33 PM, ldtr said:

Actually no.  Go back and read her original post.  They made the reservations in advance.  They did not cancel the reservations.   If they had they would have gotten it refunded.  They wanted a refund to their credit card while leaving the reservations in place.  That is exactly what I said that the system does not currently support.  If they cancel the reservations entirely, they would get a refund to their card.

 

My comment about charges was to show the complexities involved in making the appropriate logic modes to the system.  One can have the package included in their fare, they can upgrade to have it included, they can buy it separately, they can drop it from their reservation.  The modes to the system would have to be able to recognize all of the possible combinations, as well as changes made to the reservations.  Then you have the issues dealing with what if someone  takes advantage of a price drop and refares, will all of their dining reservations get cancelled.  All of the features of the packages deal with on board ship services.  AS such accounting for those services is handled by the on board ship system, not the shore side systems.

 

As Princess systems are set up.  They are not set up to apply package included specialty dining to advance purchases.  The system may ignore advance charges for those is suites, but not clear on that.  That is pretty clear, that is exactly why people are encountering what they are.  You can continue to pound the table and shout at the moon but that does not change how the systems are currently set up to operate.  One can either understand the current limitations of those systems and how they limit what customer service can do.  Or they can continue to spend hours on the phone, going through many layers of the customer service system, trying to get a work around that might work to give them a CC refund, but in many cases does not, or it ends up with a refund, but with their reservation canceled.

 

The system as currently setup is that reservations made in advance are charged to CC and then refunded on board ship, which means to OBC as all other ship board refunds are made.  The other option is to wait until being on board to book.  Then there is no charge and no refund issue.  There might be something different for suite customers which  I suspect might be based upon one person has commented on how their charges are handled due to the first night suite benefit, which was put into place quite a while ago and as such those bookings might be handled differently.. However, do not have sufficient examples to say if they is happening to all suite passengers or if someone did something unique to that persons booking.

 

The system is acting pretty much the same as it does for everything else.  Order in advance and CC is charged (same as for Spa, Excursion (note the system does allow OBC to be used in advance for excursions though it took several months before that got integrated into the system once they started charging in advance for excursions), etc).  Cancel in advance and amount is refunded to CC.

 

Otherwise on board ship or within 5 days of ship departure the ship board system takes over.  At that time any refunds (specialty dining , Excursions, SPA, etc) from advance purchases are processed as OBC.  That is consistent and has been for Princess for many years.

 

I expect as when they made the change to allow OBC to be used in advance for excursions, the systems will eventually catch up to the change in policy.  However, that may take, as it did then, several months.

 

Until that time the choice is book in advance , pay and refund by OBC,  or wait until being on ship and avoid it all but then might not get the exact to want.

It isn't that the system isn't programmed to comp the two specialty restaurant nights on Premier; it's just blotchy on when it does or doesn't apply them, because it let me book our two nights on each of two different bookings with no problems and didn't try to charge me for any of them...😏

[Aus Traveller]

5 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

Are you sure that this is the way that Princess is doing it now?  I don't think that I would give out my bank info.

Why ask me if I am sure that this is the way Princess is doing it now (in Australia)? In my previous post, I said that we have received two refunds this way. BTW, by giving someone your BSB and your bank account number they do not have the ability to withdraw funds from your account. It would be more risky to quote your your credit card number for an on-line purchase.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Aus Traveller

[geocruiser]

15 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Pre-COVID we received a cheque for refundable OBC, but after our recent cruises, we received an email asking for our bank account details for the money to be paid into. This is in Australia, but I don't know if this system is now working in the US.

I see that you received an E-mail  asking for your bank account details for the money to be paid into. I did not read that is was paid into your bank account..

I only saw that post that you made.