Is this the new Princess Customer Service attitude?

[RetireeWannabee]

I still don't understand why these sort of rules exist, other than to annoy fare paying passengers. If a customer has the time, inclination and wants to make minor amendments to his booking, then why should it matter if the TA does it, or he does it. I would expect my TA to respect my desire to make a change on my own and if he didn't like it, then next time I would change my TA.

John.

 

I'm guessing that Princess does this to avoid he said/she said - who are they supposed to listen to if one little item keeps going back and forth? As a major business, I would have to protect myself somehow and make a solid line in the sand about who is authorized to make changes. Anything else leaves them open for a bad situation that they then are expected to fix, regardless of who caused the mess.

 

It's not in the least bit ambiguous.

[nrdsb4]

I still don't understand why these sort of rules exist, other than to annoy fare paying passengers. If a customer has the time, inclination and wants to make minor amendments to his booking, then why should it matter if the TA does it, or he does it. I would expect my TA to respect my desire to make a change on my own and if he didn't like it, then next time I would change my TA.

John.

 

RCI and Carnival have the same policy. I think most cruise lines do as well, but I'm sure there are inconsistencies with enforcement of the policy. Some reps will do it to avoid an argument, some stick to the rules. Probably just depends on who answers the phone that day.

[terrierjohn]

I'm guessing that Princess does this to avoid he said/she said - who are they supposed to listen to if one little item keeps going back and forth? As a major business, I would have to protect myself somehow and make a solid line in the sand about who is authorized to make changes. Anything else leaves them open for a bad situation that they then are expected to fix, regardless of who caused the mess.

 

It's not in the least bit ambiguous.

With todays technology it should be easy to indicate who requested a change and when, just in case the info. is needed.

We must all strive to eliminate these "Jobsworths" from society!

John.

[BobBeaSea]

All lines are pretty much the same, if you book through a TA, the TA is the contact for the cruiseline. Sounds like the Service Rep was going by the book. Other Service Reps, perhaps veterans, might make a change directly for the passenger for something like this as it is very minor. JMHO..

[Mary Jane 711]

Did you know that once you get on board, your room steward will put your beds in a different configuration if necessary? It only takes a few minutes..I don't know what all the fuss is about. I do u nderstand that it should be right from the start. But that doesn't mean it will be right when you get there.

[Lochic]

looks like someone has the case of the MONDAYS..

 

u prob sounded like a B, so she treated u like a B

 

That is very uncalled for. Did your mom ever teach you "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything".

 

You are very rude!

[Redsgj]

I agree with those who have said to just get it changed when you get to your cabin.

 

I have serious doubts that the steward even knows what the personalizer says for the incoming passengers. Even if they do, they really don't have the time during the switchover to consult a list to see how to make the beds up. I think you just get what the previous passengers had - luck of the draw!

[RetireeWannabee]

With todays technology it should be easy to indicate who requested a change and when, just in case the info. is needed.

We must all strive to eliminate these "Jobsworths" from society!

John.

 

I work in IT - just because this seems like a simple change to you does not mean that it is easy to implement. There are a zillion other tech changes I'd put ahead of this.

[lvtotrvl1]

I don't know why this is such a "big dea"? If that is the only probalem, or question, I would be happy. My simple question is..why didn't you just call yur TA? It would be taken care of in a second.

[barbarah33]

If you book through a TA then Princess wants you to communicate through them any and all changes. I have had to change the bedding configuration before and it's no big deal. Just call your TA and it should be cleared right up.

[MauiLvrs]

I still don't understand why these sort of rules exist...

The rules exist to protect the travel agencies and their ability to collect commissions.

Remember when the lines first started letting passengers book direct. There were boycotts and protests and the agencies and agents were up in arms.

We get tired of trying to get the TA to get it right with the line and book direct.

[Tahoestarr]

It doesn't matter what the rules are, it's a case of good customer service. I understand if they can't make the change, however, a simple explanation of "I'm so sorry...I really wish I could help you...I understand your frustration...However, it's our policy that you go through your travel agent". Little things can make a big difference. The outcome is the same but the customer feels much better about it.

When I saw that the Cabin I wanted became available, it was on a Saturday, and I knew my TA was out of the office. So I called Princess in the hopes that they could make the change for me ( a long shot I know). Of course, they could not, however they were so nice and gave me all the specifics on the Cabin and told me it was indeed available. They explained kindly that I would have to make the switch with my TA, and I hung up the phone feeling good about Princess, and I still didn't get what I called for.

I don't feel the OP is a "B____" as someone said, but deservers an answer to her question....that's good customer service!

[Charliesmom]

There is one scenario that nobody else has mentioned: there are on most ships, cabins that have FIXED twin beds, notably handicapped cabins. It would do the OP well to check to make sure that she hasn't been assigned to one of them.

 

Also, to those who flamed the poor OP - there are those online travel agents out there who do the booking for a steep discount. They don't do service, too.

There are also TAs out there who WILL give service along with the discount. Sometimes you pay a little more to get that service (which I think is worth it).

 

As newbies on our honeymoon, we didn't know that the bed configuration could be changed. We spent the entire week in twin beds. We still had a wonderful time. Our travel agent never asked us about the bed configuration.

 

Roberta

[huskerdan25]

Okay, so I'm filling out the info in the Personalizer and notice that the bed setup is listed as a twin configuration. Not a big deal, the same thing happened last year... one call to 1-800-PRINCESS and the matter was addressed in minutes.

 

So I grab the phone, make the call... and am told repeatedly in no uncertain terms that my TA has to make the change. I ask if this isa change in policy and don't get an answer. I ask again - no answer, only "your agent has to make the change". Apparently the CSR (and I use the term loosely) did not want to be bothered with making the change.

 

Here's a heads-up to Princess - my agent isn't paying for this trip, I am. And if this is an example of your "customer service", I will certainly explore other options in the future.

 

<rant off>

 

Regardless of who is paying for the trip, if you booked through a TA, you have to go through the TA to make changes. On my cruise this past January, I wanted to add a passenger late as a 3rd passenger in my cabin. I called Princess thinking they would take care of it and I was told that since I booked through a TA I had to make the change through them. No biggie, I called my TA and got it done. No big deal. A call to you TA would have easily resolved your issue so why rant against the customer service rep when they were telling you what you needed to do?

[fllady]

We go thru the changing of the beds almost every time we cruise. Its not just Princess. I don't let it botherr me, but DH gets annoyed. We use a TA who is also a good friend, he has tried 3 times to have it changed, and still getting the queen instead of twin beds. :)

Don't let this upset you, life is short and plenty of cruising to go! :D

[spongerob]

I hope I'm not violating any guidelines here...I'm going to try and keep this as anonymous as possible.

 

There is a similar thread on another forum where the OP is expressing total frustration at her cruiseline's customer service. She insists that her documents have the wrong sailing date and is getting the run-around from customer service, and there are extenuating circumstances. Thing is, the docs are correct and the OP has the wrong sailing date in her head. I'm sure someone on the other end of the phone from her didn't have a pleasant experience. I guess they could say the customer is right, and send them to an empty pier.

 

My point is, getting back to this thread's originator's comment, is that sometimes there are two sides to the story. Someone suggested a gentle and patient explanation, which is the right thing to do. However, even that can backfire. I had a call the other day where a customer launched into me with a very complex complaint. I was finally able to get a word in edgewise and begin explaining something very, very important that would help this customer...only to get cut off and yelled at. My caller wanted action, not more BS! Thing is, the guy had dialed a WRONG NUMBER. :)

[WCAB]

At work we deal directly with injured workers, sometimes talking to them several times a day, answering all of their questions. If the worker litigates and gets an attorney, we must then tell them, I can no longer speak to you, you will need to call your attorney. Some workers do not understand why we could answer their questions one day and have to direct them somewhere else once they have litigated. It has to do with responsibility and that we might set up a conflict between the attorney and his client, leaving us open to liability. I believe the cruiselines have a similar situation. The cruiseline does not want to do anything that might come between the relationship of the TA and the customer.

[cbpanda]

Just to say right off -- I have always experienced very helpful customer service from Princess, but then I book directly with Princess. :)

 

We booked our cruise in March for a trip on the Caribbean Princess in June of this year. When I received our booking confirmation via email, the bed configuration was set at twin. We were in a mini suite, myself, my husband and my son. I called Princess and explained that we had requested our beds together as a queen bed (as our son was on the pull out couch). He patiently explained that because of fire codes and safety regulations, if the booking has more than 2 people in one cabin, the bed configuration has to be listed as twin. He assured me that despite what our confirmation stated, our bed would in fact be set as a queen when we boarded. He was correct-- that's exactly the way it was set up.