I think we were scammed by Princess

[Chefaleslie]

3 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Did she pay a solo supplement for her room?  Did they put another name (placeholder) for the second guest in the cabin? If not, when you go to add another guest, there may not be room. This has nothing to do with berths in the cabin, but room available on the ship.

I'm not sure it matters; I don't think we are going to add a second passenger to this cabin. This was the reason we were on the phone with the rep though. So I hope it's not a conversation that we need to try to have. 

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

Yeah, it is a shame.  I cannot imagine Princess really wants this image.  Hopefully sharing these instances will result in some corrective actions.  

 

The John Pagett "anything for a buck" Princess won't care until it starts affecting the bottom line.  

[startedwithamouse]

1 minute ago, Chefaleslie said:

I'm not sure it matters; I don't think we are going to add a second passenger to this cabin. This was the reason we were on the phone with the rep though. So I hope it's not a conversation that we need to try to have. 

But if you do want to add a second guest in the future, the answer maybe "no" even though you're paying for one. 

[mahasamatman]

Your wife did not call Princess. She called Princess Promotions.

[Astro Flyer]

2 hours ago, Chefaleslie said:

I guess, we felt safe by calling the princess 1800# and talking to the cruise planner they assigned us, they even have @princesscruises.com  email address. How can we trust anyone in princess if it's their system that is set up like this. 

Trust is a major factor for me which continues to decrease due to their too often poor customer service.
 

Since Princess hired ONE as their marketer situations such as yours are occurring. Now when calling their offshore call center primarily in the Philippines there’s always an additional sales pitch…some reps are more forceful than other reps. That is also resulting in decreased onboard service for repeat passengers since ONE now staffs the Captain’s Circle office.

 

While they’re selling different things than timeshares, in my opinion both are more alike than different…hard sells for things that are intentionally kept vague to make a sale for a commission.

 

In my opinion having ONE marketing Princess cruises & other travel related options reflects poorly on Princess. Although as long as sales increase Princess likely cares more about money to repay their pandemic debt than to have happy passengers who will return again.

 

[ecs66]

2 hours ago, ldubs said:

have a CVP and these promotions people blocked

Sorry to sound ignorant, but what is a CVP?  (I guess I am ignorant when it comes to the CVP issue - LOL!)

[that]

@Chefaleslie

 

what is telephone number you called?

[that]

@ecs66

CVP

Cruise Vacation Planner

 

or PVP

Princess Vacation Planner

 

not the same as Princess Promotions thru O.N.E.

[JF - retired RRT]

4 minutes ago, ecs66 said:

Sorry to sound ignorant, but what is a CVP?  (I guess I am ignorant when it comes to the CVP issue - LOL!)

Cruise Vacation Planner...they work for Princess. Some are very good, some are not.

[ecs66]

After reading this thread, I'm becoming disenchanted with the Princess business practices.

 

There's CVP.  Now I see there's a O.N.E.  (First time I've heard of THAT!)

 

And the reps are offshore, undoubtedly ESL.

 

For a while there, it seemed that travel agents were going the way of the dodo bird, but now that the companies themselves have such pitiful customer service, maybe a TA is your new best friend.

[BamaVol]

Thanks for the heads up.  I will be visiting the future cruise desk in a couple weeks on Enchanted.  But all I intend to purchase and all I will purchase is FCDs. They can jabber all they want, but to no effect. People can tell when I’m getting impatient.  So far, it’s been a pretty quick transaction.

[dog]

5 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

Thanks for the heads up.  I will be visiting the future cruise desk in a couple weeks on Enchanted.  But all I intend to purchase and all I will purchase is FCDs. They can jabber all they want, but to no effect. People can tell when I’m getting impatient.  So far, it’s been a pretty quick transaction.

We went to see them on board Regal. Told us to purchase on app ourselves. Had no interest in helping us.

[BamaVol]

17 minutes ago, dog said:

We went to see them on board Regal. Told us to purchase on app ourselves. Had no interest in helping us.

I bought my current FCDs onboard Sapphire in September. The nice lady would like to have sold me more but I was able to hand her my credit card and was on my way in less than 10 minutes.

[ebeluga]

3 hours ago, Sprocket said:

Try sending Princess a message through Instagram requesting someone contact you ASAP.  Also calls to Princess  are recorded so depending on who you get they may listen to it to determine what happened.

 

I fought to have a booking corrected was told constantly my issue was escalated to a manager, one message through Instagram and it was fixed in a matter of days.  

That is a very good suggestion. I am sure they have someone from the corporate to monitor and post on the social media site to promote their image, at least until they use a chatbot for the job.I too won't trust their 800 number people and avoid them as much as possible.

[dog]

12 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

I bought my current FCDs onboard Sapphire in September. The nice lady would like to have sold me more but I was able to hand her my credit card and was on my way in less than 10 minutes.

Lack of consistency.

[TRLD]

Have you received anything in writing?

 

There are multiple levels to these "promotions". Just be sure and check that this deposit is all of the cost. There is also the $7000 package with a $1200 initial deposit and additional monthly charges. With this kind of sales tactic just be sure that it is not even worse.

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, BamaVol said:

I bought my current FCDs onboard Sapphire in September. The nice lady would like to have sold me more but I was able to hand her my credit card and was on my way in less than 10 minutes.

better off to buy them via app.

 

There is a long stream from one person whose parents thought they were buying FCDs on board when they handed over their credit card, only to find out when they returned home that they purchased one of the packages.

 

Even on the old paper form you did not have to provide credit card info, they just charged them to the card on file.

Edited May 24 by TRLD

[dog]

28 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Have you received anything in writing?

 

There are multiple levels to these "promotions". Just be sure and check that this deposit is all of the cost. There is also the $7000 package with a $1200 initial deposit and additional monthly charges. With this kind of sales tactic just be sure that it is not even worse.

And how long do they have to cancel?

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, ecs66 said:

After reading this thread, I'm becoming disenchanted with the Princess business practices.

 

There's CVP.  Now I see there's a O.N.E.  (First time I've heard of THAT!)

 

And the reps are offshore, undoubtedly ESL.

 

For a while there, it seemed that travel agents were going the way of the dodo bird, but now that the companies themselves have such pitiful customer service, maybe a TA is your new best friend.

ONE stands for Open Network Echange, a company out of Arizona, that Princess has contracted with to staff some of their sales activities, including onboard loyalty and future cruise functions. They all do a lot of cold calling of Princess customers trying to sell them packages.

 

From all appearances this company seems to be digging it's way deeper into Princess sales functions. Unfortunately their sales tactics seem to be more like time share sales then one used to find with a reputable cruise line.

[TRLD]

4 minutes ago, dog said:

And how long do they have to cancel?

7 days from what was stated in the other stream.

[MacMadame]

5 hours ago, Chefaleslie said:

I still feel like I was scammed

Scammed but in a way that you aren't out anything, thank goodness. At least so far. 

 

It's possible they sent you an email with the hotel voucher info and it went to your spam folder or the info will come via snail mail. I don't think this deal ever shows up in the Personalizer because it's through the ONE company and not through Princess. But I could be wrong about that.

[cr8tiv1]

Correct, you should never have to hand over your credit card to purchase FCDs.  Princess (not O.N.E) has your credit card on file.

 

If you do decide to purchase FCDs via app/form to turn in, do it early on the cruise and be diligent about looking for that email confirmation.  I have had it happen to me.  Placed order via TV (old) and NEVER got FCDs.  

 

1 hour ago, BamaVol said:

I bought my current FCDs onboard Sapphire in September. The nice lady would like to have sold me more but I was able to hand her my credit card and was on my way in less than 10 minutes.

 

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

better off to buy them via app.

 

There is a long stream from one person whose parents thought they were buying FCDs on board when they handed over their credit card, only to find out when they returned home that they purchased one of the packages.

 

Even on the old paper form you did not have to provide credit card info, they just charged them to the card on file.

 

[memoak]

10 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Correct, you should never have to hand over your credit card to purchase FCDs.  Princess (not O.N.E) has your credit card on file.

 

If you do decide to purchase FCDs via app/form to turn in, do it early on the cruise and be diligent about looking for that email confirmation.  I have had it happen to me.  Placed order via TV (old) and NEVER got FCDs.  

 

 

 

Princess only has your credit card attached to your folio we while on board. Even my CVP does not keep my credit card on file 

[FLAlaska]

2 hours ago, BamaVol said:

Thanks for the heads up.  I will be visiting the future cruise desk in a couple weeks on Enchanted.  But all I intend to purchase and all I will purchase is FCDs. They can jabber all they want, but to no effect. People can tell when I’m getting impatient.  So far, it’s been a pretty quick transaction.

 

Edited May 24 by FLAlaska
Saw someone already suggested thea pp

[BamaVol]

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

better off to buy them via app.

Shall I assume this is one of the many functions that don’t appear until after I board?  I’d rather buy in the app than at the desk. Thanks for the info.