Norwegian Customer Service you are stuck

[Glorious]

Wow - the word customer-service at Norwegian is a misnomer. I wanted to pay the difference for an upgrade to a AG mini-suite guarantee from a BE guarantee on the same cruise booked through Norwegian. They tell me now that since I booked a guarantee, I can not upgrade to another guarantee cabin without paying cancellation fees and rebooking charges. I am willing to pay the difference but why should I have to cancel the cruise I am already going on???

 

Word of warning be very sure of the guarantee Cat. you want there is no going back.

 

Gloria

[KeystoneCruiser]

Welcome to the wonderful world of NCL...Great ships, great crews, inept corporate leadership and a horrible Customer (dis)service department.

[uneamie]

Wow - the word customer-service at Norwegian is a misnomer. I wanted to pay the difference for an upgrade to a AG mini-suite guarantee from a BE guarantee on the same cruise booked through Norwegian. They tell me now that since I booked a guarantee, I can not upgrade to another guarantee cabin without paying cancellation fees and rebooking charges. I am willing to pay the difference but why should I have to cancel the cruise I am already going on???

 

Word of warning be very sure of the guarantee Cat. you want there is no going back.

 

Gloria

 

How utterly ridiculous!:rolleyes: They are willing to lose money and for what? These big corporations have a difficult time bending the rules or being flexible. There's not enough people with authority who are willing to step outside of the box and make a decision to bend a rule. That's all that was needed here. There is no compromising. Most rules are written in stone and they can't be changed. :(

 

This is one reason why I stopped working in "customer service" for a large company. I hated not having the power to fix things or at least pass the problem on to someone who could. Nope! Passing the problem on to a manager or a supervisor was extremely discouraged. :rolleyes:

 

We had rules to follow and if the problem required more than the standard fix....then the customer was usually out of luck which left us in the middle of an irate customer and management who was glad they did not have to bear the rath of their anger. The customer's problems usually get lost in a web of red tape with most large corporations and you have to be a private detective to find the right person to call or speak with.

[Oppgaard]

Call again and speak to another agent. There is no reason you should not be able to upgrade. If they say no, then you should have gone through a travel agent.

[shoreguy]

Call again and speak to another agent. There is no reason you should not be able to upgrade. If they say no, then you should have gone through a travel agent.

 

Unless the promotional rate for the AG GTY trying to be booked is for new bookings only (as they usually are) in which case they would have to cancel to get that price.

 

I am sure they can upgrade no problem. The question is what is the price. May be cheaper to pay the cancellation fee.

[Glorious]

Unless the promotional rate for the AG GTY trying to be booked is for new bookings only (as they usually are) in which case they would have to cancel to get that price.

 

I am sure they can upgrade no problem. The question is what is the price. May be cheaper to pay the cancellation fee.

 

So I guess the booked paassengers are hooked now, and there is no need to provide any more service to them. Only to the "New" bookings to hook more.

 

I would think good customer service, would be to please the passengers that have already commited to go on an NCL cruise, rather than making the current booked passengers feel like 2nd class before you even sail.

 

Just asking for and willing to pay for an upgrade at current prices not a refund.

 

Gloria

[beachchick]

My understanding (and what I've been told by numerous so-called CS reps at NCL, including a supervisor) is that after final payment, the only changes that can be made to a booking are if the upsell dept. calls you. I knew about (and wasn't thrilled with) the no fare adjustments after final payment, but this boggled my mind. In our case, the price of an AF went down lower than what we paid for our BA (both under Senior rate). I asked to be upgraded to the AF and have the difference ($125 total; we're not talking thousands) as an OBC--I didn't even ask for a credit card refund. One CS rep after another "no way, no how, we can't do it." I politely pointed out that what they meant was that they wouldn't do it. Finally I did get to a supervisor (took me 2 hours of getting juggled from one place to another). She did go to the revenue dept and managed to get us moved to the AF, but would only do $25 OBC. She asked what else she could do that would satisfy us and I said just the remainder of the difference. They wouldn't budge.

 

As of now, of course we're pleased to have the AF, but I'm not impressed at all with NCL's CS dept. Besides an issue with Vantage Travel that I'm helping my mom with right now (there's a CS rep there I'm working on getting fired; unbelievably unprofessional behavior...but I digress), NCL has had the worst CS I've dealt with in the cruise industry. (I know I'm not exactly an expert, but I also help my mom with her multiple cruises.)

 

beachchick

[pieshops]

it is not just NCl, pretty much all customer service stinks.

 

At least it is not outsourced to India like Dell or others

[debbiearch]

it is not just NCl, pretty much all customer service stinks.

 

At least it is not outsourced to India like Dell or others

 

YET......

[ashleycrew]

When I booked my cruise back in April for Sept. I honestly could not get in touch with anyone to do it. I prefer to actually call the cruise line and book but after 2- hour each hold times I gave up and ended up booking through an online TA. I think they need to acknowledge they have serious issues in this dept.

[roddee]

I tried to upgrade our guarantee for our January cruise on the day before our final payment was due, since the prices seemed to have gone down, willing to pay the difference.

 

The reason they gave me for not being able to do that was that since I had booked, the airfare we bought through the cruise company had gone up and that there was no way to "rebook" without all of the fees. Even though it is possible that we may (or may not, we realize) at a higher category just prior to our trip, still using the same airline reservation anyway.

 

It would have taken one guarantee off of the books leaving us with a pre-assigned cabin, lessening the number of calls they would have to make for upsells (at a loss). Oh well, we will be happy no matter what, just tried to make things easier for us and them.

[steveaaaa]

How utterly ridiculous!:rolleyes: They are willing to lose money and for what? These big corporations have a difficult time bending the rules or being flexible. There's not enough people with authority who are willing to step outside of the box and make a decision to bend a rule. That's all that was needed here. There is no compromising. Most rules are written in stone and they can't be changed. :(

 

This is one reason why I stopped working in "customer service" for a large company. I hated not having the power to fix things or at least pass the problem on to someone who could. Nope! Passing the problem on to a manager or a supervisor was extremely discouraged. :rolleyes:

 

We had rules to follow and if the problem required more than the standard fix....then the customer was usually out of luck which left us in the middle of an irate customer and management who was glad they did not have to bear the rath of their anger. The customer's problems usually get lost in a web of red tape with most large corporations and you have to be a private detective to find the right person to call or speak with.

 

Yep they are stupid. A day before my final payment I saw an ad on expedia for a $25 room credit.I called NCL and they would not honor it.

 

I had the booking transfered to a TA and they gave me the $25 OBC. So basically NCL lost my 2 bookings over $50 total to a TA they now have to pay a commision to.:rolleyes:

Steve

[newmexicoNita]

Yep they are stupid. A day before my final payment I saw an ad on expedia for a $25 room credit.I called NCL and they would not honor it.

 

I had the booking transfered to a TA and they gave me the $25 OBC. So basically NCL lost my 2 bookings over $50 total to a TA they now have to pay a commision to.:rolleyes:

Steve

you don't know who was offering the $25 OBC. NMnita

[sjbdtz]

There's a reason why final payment day is 75 days prior to sailing.

 

It's so that price adjustments can be made, which will ensure a full or near-full sailing.

 

If the assumption was that making such an adjustment automatically required that everyone else be given the same benefit, then you would see NO adjustments being made, whatsoever.

 

Hotels, Car Rental Companies, Real Estate transactors, car salespeople, airlines, cruise companies, retailers, all work on the same principle: supply & demand.

 

Prices slide up & down depending on the market.

[steveaaaa]

you don't know who was offering the $25 OBC. NMnita

It was Expedia.

Steve

[steveaaaa]

There's a reason why final payment day is 75 days prior to sailing.

 

It's so that price adjustments can be made, which will ensure a full or near-full sailing.

 

If the assumption was that making such an adjustment automatically required that everyone else be given the same benefit, then you would see NO adjustments being made, whatsoever.

 

Hotels, Car Rental Companies, Real Estate transactors, car salespeople, airlines, cruise companies, retailers, all work on the same principle: supply & demand.

 

Prices slide up & down depending on the market.

 

I understand the aspects of running a business, but how do you do it without getting the customer upset?

 

I am one who really hates to be decieved in what I call deceptive practices of the travel industry.

How can you guarantee the absolute lowest price,yet turn over your excess inventory to sky auction.Or how about priceline? In some areas, there is only one hotel that participates and you know that is who you are getting. The fine print of you guarantee excludes both those sites. This is a way to look good on paper but in reality,screw over the consumer.

Steve

[Glorious]

There's a reason why final payment day is 75 days prior to sailing.

 

It's so that price adjustments can be made, which will ensure a full or near-full sailing.

 

If the assumption was that making such an adjustment automatically required that everyone else be given the same benefit, then you would see NO adjustments being made, whatsoever.

 

Hotels, Car Rental Companies, Real Estate transactors, car salespeople, airlines, cruise companies, retailers, all work on the same principle: supply & demand.

 

Prices slide up & down depending on the market.

 

Do hotels, car rental companies, airlines and retailers require you to cancel your orginal booking or sale and forfeit your deposit (purchase price) for the privilege of upgrading a service or product. Yes there are restocking charges in retail, but this is a "service" industry and "service" is severely lacking.

 

How long would an airline last if you wanted to pay for a first class upgrade, and the airline said you first have to lose the price you paid for coach for the same flight.

 

Still willing to pay for an upgrade at current prices I'm not asking for a refund.

 

Gloria

[sjbdtz]

Do hotels, car rental companies, airlines and retailers require you to cancel your orginal booking or sale and forfeit your deposit (purchase price) for the privilege of upgrading a service or product. Yes there are restocking charges in retail, but this is a "service" industry and "service" is severely lacking.

 

How long would an airline last if you wanted to pay for a first class upgrade, and the airline said you first have to lose the price you paid for coach for the same flight.

 

Still willing to pay for an upgrade at current prices I'm not asking for a refund.

 

Gloria

 

Absolutely they do. If you select a Holiday Inn reservation, among the various rates you'll see are Best Possible Rate, and Best Flexible Rate.

 

The best possible rate is non-transferrable, non-cancellable, and non-changeable.

 

So if you found a BETTER rate later, you'd have to forfeit the initial reservation.

 

Airlines usually just change a $100 change fee penalty.

 

Small print is where the details are hammered-out. Putting them all in readable type-point would require huge pages, which cost more, which in turn would drive up prices.

 

Yes, guarantees exclude auction sites because these have variable, not fixed, pricing.

[Glorious]

I am not asking for a better price. I am only asking for the "privilege" to give Norwegian more of my hard earned money for an UPGRADE to a better cabin at current prices.

 

The upgraded cabins cost more and I am willing to pay more, but I don't want to throw away any deposit money for the "privilege". Is this a little upside down?

 

What is so hard to understand.

 

Still willing to pay for an upgrade at current prices, I am not asking for a refund.

 

Gloria

 

ps. If you are at the airline ticket counter an you want to upgrade to first class there is no $100 change fee for the same flight. The arilines are more than happy to take your money, as well as any hotel that you wanted to pay for an upgrade suite for the same day, or a rental car that you wanted to pay for an upgrade to a luxury car from a budget car for the same day.

[steveaaaa]

Small print is where the details are hammered-out..

 

It is supossed to be hammered out but , where on my passenger contract (NCL to be specific) does it mention tipping or a daily service charge of $10 per day? Where does it state on other cruise lines contracts that are flying foreign flags that tipping is required?

 

Glorious....The issue you are running into is the price for that catagory you want,may have been higher when you booked your existing catagory. You have had the luxury of seeing where prices ended up. If you would have said when you booked your current catagory that you will pay the difference in cost after entering the penalty period for that upgrade and it tripled in cost,would you still have taken it?

Steve

[shoreguy]

I understand the fustration - but when you book early you get price protection. If you want a shot at last minute bargins you can always book late. If you expect to take adavantage of declines in pricing are you willing to pay increases in pricing:eek:

 

My next Dawn cruise the current price for an AF is almost as much today as I paid for an AB 9 months ago. If you buy holiday cards today to you expect to get a refund when they go on sale Dec 26th.

 

 

Don't even bring airlines into the discussion:eek: I have flown over a million miles. Nothing like sitting in a middle seat back of the plane with a $1000 last minute ticket next to folks that paid $199 for the same flight and have better seats.

[Twice-a-year]

It was Expedia.

Steve

 

I understand, if you booked with NCL and they changed the price, you will get a shipboard credit, but not with another company. Most of the time, someone else has better offer than NCL, which I do not understand why that NCL sell higher price than TA. :confused: