Shocking wait to get through to P&O

[room with a view]

Yes, I know I can pay my balance on line but I don't trust online payments  especially when the amount is £7, 2418...and I have other queries .

 

It's now 9.20 AM and I have been on hold since 8.40 with no option for a call back .

 

It's no surprise that if I wanted to book a cruise the phone is answered after two seconds.

 

I have recently booked cruise with NCL and we are recently back from  a cruise with Princess ...all call centres answering quickly .

 

After this cruise (if I ever get through to pay for it) we will NEVER cruise with P&O again .

[Selbourne]

4 minutes ago, room with a view said:

After this cruise (if I ever get through to pay for it) we will NEVER cruise with P&O again .

Or next time use a reputable specialist cruise travel agency. There are many advantages of doing so;

 

1) They answer the phone in a matter of a few minutes maximum, and not just when making a new booking

 

2) You will get a discount that you don’t get when booking with P&O

 

3) When new cruises are launched, specialist cruise agencies are able to secure their customers first pick of chosen cabins before those who book direct with P&O (it’s an odd quirk of the booking system that P&O allow)

 

People have been reporting problems getting through to P&O on this forum and elsewhere for many months now and given that there is absolutely no advantage whatsoever in booking direct, but several disadvantages, this may be your solution in future, although I appreciate that it won’t help you this time. 

[room with a view]

Thanks ... but after this episode with  P&O they don't deserve my money even booking through a travel agent .

 

I'm still holding and will have to hang up soon .

[Selbourne]

2 minutes ago, room with a view said:

Thanks ... but after this episode with  P&O they don't deserve my money even booking through a travel agent .

 

I'm still holding and will have to hang up soon .

If you hang up, when you call back press the option to make a new booking. When they answer explain that you need to make a payment but couldn’t get an answer. Hopefully they can either take the payment or put you through to someone who can. I think this approach has worked for others. 

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, room with a view said:

Thanks ... but after this episode with  P&O they don't deserve my money even booking through a travel agent .

 

I'm still holding and will have to hang up soon .

I held for nearly 2 hours last week.  At 1 hour 58 I was told the wait was too long and they cut me off.

 

After 33 attempts I emailed in disgust copying in the executive office.  I received a call back about 2 hours later from a lady who was actually a trainee - she was in the office not WFH.  She was very helpful but commented that she was dealing mainly with cancellation and rebooking queries. I'm unsure if that was deliberate planning by P&O or just coincidence.

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

If you hang up, when you call back press the option to make a new booking. When they answer explain that you need to make a payment but couldn’t get an answer. Hopefully they can either take the payment or put you through to someone who can. I think this approach has worked for others. 

The new booking option was a false dawn for me. Yes I got in the queue but the phone just rang out for nearly two hours before saying my wait was too long.

 

Sadly I think it's just luck if you hit a time when it gets picked up.  If I was in the queue I think it inadvisable to come out as getting in the queue in the first place was the biggest challenge.

[Selbourne]

5 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

The new booking option was a false dawn for me. Yes I got in the queue but the phone just rang out for nearly two hours before saying my wait was too long.

 

Sadly I think it's just luck if you hit a time when it gets picked up.  If I was in the queue I think it inadvisable to come out as getting in the queue in the first place was the biggest challenge.

Interesting. I wonder if there is an intentional move to push customers towards agents, eventually removing the option to book direct altogether? They may have determined that it’s cheaper overall to provide the discounts to TAs than to directly employ staff to take and amend bookings? 

[room with a view]

9 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

If you hang up, when you call back press the option to make a new booking. When they answer explain that you need to make a payment but couldn’t get an answer. Hopefully they can either take the payment or put you through to someone who can. I think this approach has worked for others. 

Thanks, I have already tried that . They answered straight away and said the only thing they could do was put me through to the Q . Only interested if I wanted to book a cruise NEVER AGAIN .

[Selbourne]

11 minutes ago, room with a view said:

Thanks, I have already tried that . They answered straight away and said the only thing they could do was put me through to the Q . Only interested if I wanted to book a cruise NEVER AGAIN .

Sorry to hear that. I’d be as frustrated as you. I recently stopped one of my daughters from booking direct with P&O having heard about these issues. She was quite anxious about using an agent, but having now booked with our cruise specialist she is very glad that she did. She can already see the difference in service levels and, of course, the discount is a welcome bonus as well. If you enjoy your cruise but never want to repeat this experience again, I recommend this route. It would be a shame to deprive yourself of a holiday that you enjoy when the sole issue of frustration can easily be removed. 

[Winifred 22]

38 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Interesting. I wonder if there is an intentional move to push customers towards agents, eventually removing the option to book direct altogether? They may have determined that it’s cheaper overall to provide the discounts to TAs than to directly employ staff to take and amend bookings? 

They are increasing their call centre team so I doubt this is the case. Heard plenty of T A disaster stories  so will stay booking direct. 

[Selbourne]

21 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

They are increasing their call centre team so I doubt this is the case. Heard plenty of T A disaster stories  so will stay booking direct. 

There are certainly some poor TA’s out there. Unfortunately, Cruise Critic rules don’t allow us to mention specific companies but I, along with many of the other regulars on here, use a specialist cruise agent that I cannot speak highly enough of, and I’ve never heard a bad word said about them. I used to book directly with P&O years ago but wouldn’t again. As well as excellent service I’ve had a few thousand pounds worth of discounts that I wouldn’t have got booking direct. 

 

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, Winifred 22 said:

They are increasing their call centre team so I doubt this is the case. Heard plenty of T A disaster stories  so will stay booking direct. 

They have been using that excuse for last couple of years with no improvement.

[alpha whiskey]

1 hour ago, Winifred 22 said:

They are increasing their call centre team so I doubt this is the case. Heard plenty of T A disaster stories  so will stay booking direct. 

I used to use TA's but had such a fiasco sorting out and waiting for refunds during the pandemic, (not to mention their amendment/admin charges) that I now opt for the direct method too.

I have found that P&O uphold price matching as do Celebrity, so no financial loss there. 

Some TA's also request final due balance way outside the usual 90 days. 

However, having said all that, if I get a bad experience by direct booking in the future, it might persuade me to look around, but for now I am happy ☺️ 

[sandancer]

3 hours ago, room with a view said:

Yes, I know I can pay my balance on line but I don't trust online payments  especially when the amount is £7, 2418...and I have other queries .

 

It's now 9.20 AM and I have been on hold since 8.40 with no option for a call back .

 

It's no surprise that if I wanted to book a cruise the phone is answered after two seconds.

 

I have recently booked cruise with NCL and we are recently back from  a cruise with Princess ...all call centres answering quickly .

 

After this cruise (if I ever get through to pay for it) we will NEVER cruise with P&O again .

I recently called Princess. I did not press the new booking option and I was put through to a call center overseas. After a few minutes discussion I realized that I was getting nowhere and disconnected. I then called back using the new cruise option and lo and behold the agent was in Southampton and answered my query quickly. I was given to understand that P&O, Cunard and Princess share the same office but have no idea if this is true. If so P&O  must be having way more calls than the other 2 lines. 

[Ranchi]

I think there is a disconnect between customer service and customer management. The former looks to support the customer and fulfil their wishes in a timely and efficient way. The latter is a triage system with the aim of not overburdening the limited number of staff working and requiring the company to hire more staff. Effective ways of doing this involve: Playing  pre recorded messages explaining how busy and hard working the staff are  and that calls may be monitored for staff training purposes ( caring company making sure their staff are fully trained!) This has the effect of slowing down the flow of traffic coming into the centre -akin to single lanes imposed on the three miles up to a pot hole being repaired a week next Thursday. Also playing the most irritating Muzak may deter all but the most determined customer and again encourage  customer induced disconnection. The final weapon in the armoury is the 57 minute wait. 
The access point to the two systems is semi automatic. Customer service is accessed by ‘pressing 1 to discuss a new booking’, Customer management is accessed by ‘pressing 2 to discuss a previously booked cruise. 
 

[Fionboard]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

If you hang up, when you call back press the option to make a new booking. When they answer explain that you need to make a payment but couldn’t get an answer. Hopefully they can either take the payment or put you through to someone who can. I think this approach has worked for others. 

No good. They just put you through to payments. Back in queue then!  

[room with a view]

Thanks everyone for all your comments.

 

Unfortunately the cruise I was wanting to pay for (which after 40minutes wait I was able to do) was booked whilst on a previous P&O cruise .

 

The customer service advisor said "sorry for the delay" and said she would  email a  "Feedback "  survey ... I'm going to enjoy completing that !!.

 

Could have paid online but on a large amount wanted to speak to an advisor and also had questions regarding flights .

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, room with a view said:

Thanks everyone for all your comments.

 

Unfortunately the cruise I was wanting to pay for (which after 40minutes wait I was able to do) was booked whilst on a previous P&O cruise .

 

The customer service advisor said "sorry for the delay" and said she would  email a  "Feedback "  survey ... I'm going to enjoy completing that !!.

 

Could have paid online but on a large amount wanted to speak to an advisor and also had questions regarding flights .

I'm glad you got it sorted.  I hope the cruise is very enjoyable so all your efforts are well rewarded.

[room with a view]

44 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I'm glad you got it sorted.  I hope the cruise is very enjoyable so all your efforts are well rewarded.

Thanks, Megabear2  

[jeanlyon]

4 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

They are increasing their call centre team so I doubt this is the case. Heard plenty of T A disaster stories  so will stay booking direct. 

Both the TAs I use have been absolutely great.  No complaints at all.  

[Jennizor]

We have used the same well known TA for years and they now have premises a short bus ride away. They have always given excellent service. We went in last week to book a cruise on Arvia next June and it was completed very quickly, all early documentation printed off and they provided a list of things to take in to finalise everything nearer the time. Much easier than going through P&O.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, room with a view said:

Thanks everyone for all your comments.

 

Unfortunately the cruise I was wanting to pay for (which after 40minutes wait I was able to do) was booked whilst on a previous P&O cruise .

 

The customer service advisor said "sorry for the delay" and said she would  email a  "Feedback "  survey ... I'm going to enjoy completing that !!.

 

Could have paid online but on a large amount wanted to speak to an advisor and also had questions regarding flights .

If you use a TA then any cruise booked on board can be transferred to your TA, and they will give you the further discount that you would receive if you had booked with them.

[delgirl]

I phoned cunard about a query as had booked direct with them. When they answered the phone they said hello P & O how can I help. Had phoned the cunard number she just said they deal with both. 🤣

[david63]

9 minutes ago, delgirl said:

I phoned cunard about a query as had booked direct with them. When they answered the phone they said hello P & O how can I help. Had phoned the cunard number she just said they deal with both. 🤣

I've had the reverse before now - rund P&O and answerd Cunard. The point here is that if you ring the Cunard number you get to speak to someone almost immediatly which seems strange if they deal with both brands. If you phone Princess (in the same building) the phone is answered straight away!

[TigerB]

I must be one of the few that haven't had long waits on the phone; I think the longest I've been on hold for, and only on one occasion if my memory serves, was about ten minutes.  Most other times it's been no longer than about five minutes. I don't have any magic powers; I just use the Peninsular number and either call just as they open (several times answered by a human within a couple of rings) or, when they used to close early, about 17:20/17:30. Now that they are open until 20:00 I leave it until about 19:00.