QM2 Downgrade

[resistk]

Well you've all heard of upgrades but how about a downgrade. Thanks to Cunard my B5 Obstructed Balcony on the QM2 went to a D4 Inside on the June 10 crossing.

 

In February I booked the B5 through Cunard and plunked down a sizeable deposit with my credit card. While trying to book a return transatlantic through Cunard, I noticed the same cabins with a better selection were available on the Internet for less! I mentioned this to Cunard and after a long pause, they told me to go book on the internet and transfer the first leg of the trip to the travel agent. Cunard apparently does not match prices on the same cabins, go figure.

 

I received my return tickets on the transatlantic trip for July but still no tickets for June. I call Cunard, after an excruciating long wait of about 30 minutes on the phone yesterday, I finally get a rep and they tell me my booking was cancelled and that my deposit was forfeited. OK - but I need to be on the ship - I have a lot of luxury travel already paid for in New York and Europe. Cunard tells me no way and this it's my own fault for not paying them and there are no cabins. I speak to an equally uppity supervisor who has "no authority" to do anything, he gave me the voicemail for the Guest Relation supervisor Mrs. Farnsworth who of course is not there. I leave a long message and make it clear to Cunard someone is going to get sued unless this is resolved. (I told the rep this too and he said not to threaten them, I said that it was no threat but a fact) Bottom line, Cunard was of no help and could care less about my troubles even though I took time from my last cruise to do a publicity spot for their promotional film and have been with them 3 times prior.

 

I call the travel agent, apparently Cunard's faxes to the travel agent were addressed to me and not the travel agent and got discarded at the big discount shop! But, with in a few minutes, I am rebooked through the travel agent, albeit not in the cabin I want and my deposit refunded after Cunard had told me no way this would happen. Good thing I did not listen to them.

 

Today I see better cabins for sale on the Internet at even lower prices! Man am I burned up at the stinking businness! These guys are worse than the airlines and their predatory pricing schemes.

 

So just remember Cunard, may position itself as a luxury service but you will get the same lousy service as a Carnival cruiser if you have a problem and NEVER book through Cunard - they will charge you the "rack rate" and you'll see the same cabin later at far less.

 

I personally take back any endorsement I ever gave them and if you see me in a promotional video for Cunard (Jon Levy) telling what a wonderful experience cruising with Cunard it is - disregard it - it's wonderful till you need their help and then they treat you like dirt.....

 

Again I don't know who was at fault, I'm burned up at Cunard's attitude and unhelpfulness - not worthy of "White Star" service.

[cusyl]

I'm sorry you have had such a problem with your voyage. I know that they discount the cabins that haven't sold closer to the sail date.

Can't your travel agent help you at all? It's really worth all this hassel if you get to sail on the QM2, but agree you shouldn't have to go through all this trouble. :cool:

[resistk]

Well that was the problem, lot's of not easily refundable or changeable luxury travel already booked based on the first leg of the crossing.

 

Cunard was totally unhelpful and gave me wrong information - obviously there were cabins still available because I rebooked one but Cunard said NO CABINS and NO REFUND which turned out not to be the case.

 

Even if it wasn't totally Cunard's problem, what's wrong with helping a repeat customer in distress instead of trying to get them off the phone as fast as possible? And what's up with 30 minute waits to speak with a rep? I don't expect that from a "luxury" company.

 

A test of good company is how they behave when there is a problem, - Cunard fails that test. My hope was Cunard would go to bat for me, I was very disappointed. Lucky for me it was not an unresolvable issue.

[judy&steve]

We received a flyer in the mail a week ago. We were already booked on one of the sailings highlighted in this advertisement. The prices were much lower than what we had paid. Our cruise is in November. We called our TA and within minutes we were a category higher, less money, and zero problems. We are still outside the penalty phase of the booking, but have had the same thing happen within weeks of sailing and never had a problem.

--Judy

[cunardqueen]

Today I see better cabins for sale on the Internet at even lower prices! Man am I burned up at the stinking businness! These guys are worse than the airlines and their predatory pricing schemes.

It can be quite annoying when this happens, but when a fare on one of my past cruises dropped by £1000 l complained to my (then) travel agent and was told its like buying a suit that then goes on sale, you dont go back and ask for a refund! You have what you paid for, rather got the impression it was hard cheese.l was slightly taken aback

However at least you have a cabin, you could have called up and be told the ship was full.

[ocngypz]

First of all, it wasn't Cunard. They don't rebate commission to bring down your fare.

 

Second, you transferred the booking over to an agency. You should have received an invoice from the agency stating when final payment was due (90 days prior to departure) for the first sailing. Your cabin was lost because you didn't make final payment. You didn't make final payment because the agency didn't invoice you.

 

The agency is 100% at fault. Once an agent calls in to pick up a former direct booking.... they don't need to receive a fax. They can pull up the invoice in Cunard's reservation system.

 

Your agent was 100% at fault.

[resistk]

"Your agent was 100% at fault."

 

If that's the case then you would think Cunard might want to at least help out just a little since it wasn't their fault? The agent involved was a very well known Florida based mega agency which likely has a very big relationship with Cunard.

 

Again, I'm not saying Cunard was at fault expect as to how it treats its customers - I give their customer service a F.

[Sirwinston]

Carnival needs to make the Cunard Customer service at least as good as Carnival customers service. :eek:

If you book direct with Carnival and the price goes down you can get upgrades or O.B.C. You have to call, they will not just do it. I also wish that Cunard.com offered all of the services that you can get at Carnival.com.. I wish I could book online etc. Sorry to hear your T.A. messed up. I know there are some great ones but I am not a huge fan of T.A.s I would rather know what I am getting and pay a little more.

Tom in Long Beach..

P.S. I find that the Cunard customer service varies a lot, depending on who you get on the phone. For what you pay on Cunard this is very frustrating. Staff on ship are usually excellent.

[resistk]

" find that the Cunard customer service varies a lot, depending on who you get on the phone. For what you pay on Cunard this is very frustrating. Staff on ship are usually excellent."

 

I agree with you 100% - this was the main point - my problem was not unsolveable or unique but Cunard customer service and guest relations wouldn't even give me the time of day offer a new booking or anything remotely helpful like interface with the TA even after I explained my situation in detail.

 

Believe me, for a lot less then the amount of time they will be hassling with me in the future (I'm an attorney and don't take brush offs from big corporations lightly) , as I will complain up the chain of command until I get an apology, they could have gained a lot of goodwill. Instead they will get a lot of payback from a professional pain in the a _ _.

[BillNY]

Resistk, I am sorry to hear about your difficulties with Cunard and your TA.

As far as Cunard's customer service, I agree with Sirwinston that Carnival should adopt something along the lines of the PVP for Cunard. I am amazed that TAs invariably offer better pricing than what you can get booking directly from Cunard. My experience with Carnival has been exactly the opposite, so I made the error of booking my first voyage with Cunard directly. I have been unable to get a reduction in the cost for my transatlantic sailing, despite the fact that the price has come down hundreds of dollars per person. Contrast that with my scheduled sailing with Carnival, where a price reduction was offered to me and processed immediately by my PVP via email.

[pnhmrk]

Your agent was 100% at fault.

 

If that's the case then you would think Cunard might want to at least help out just a little since it wasn't their fault?

 

I agree with Babette - once the agency had your booking they should have picked up when payment was due. I wonder how many people call Cunard saying that their agents have made a mistake as an excuse for not paying on time (I am NOT saying that is what you did, nor am I saying that you are in any way at fault:) )? I wonder if it happens so often that Cunard think "another one"? Cunard did try to chase the payment - they did send faxes chasing the payment, your agent just threw them away! I am normally quite happy to blame Cunard reservations - the fault is 100% theirs, in this case I think your TA had a big hand in your problems.

 

(BTW - where abouts in the world are you? Judy says "We called our TA and within minutes we were a category higher, less money, and zero problems" which is true in the US but not in the UK)

[ocngypz]

Mega FLorida agency doesn't impress me. Not many agencies around the country sell a lot of Cunard. It is still a niche product. Sold primarily by the two luxury consortia.

 

1. The agency had a group rate which Cunard could not offer you. The group rate was through the agency's consortium.

 

2. Your booking was never properly handled at the agency from the start. They didn't pick it up correctly, nor was it entered into their accounting system for invoicing. Otherwise you would have received an initial invoice showing deposit paid and then another reminding you of final payment due.

 

3. Reservations and Guest Relations cannot help you when your booking is with an agency. Why call Cunard??? You turned the booking over to an agency!

 

4. Did you never stop to think in March.... gee.. I'm 90 days out... my final is due???

 

5. Cat B2 is currently open on the 6/10 crossing.

 

6. What the agency FINALLY did, was REINSTATE the booking... and grabbed the only open category at the time... hence the downgrade.

 

7. There are farecodes called FLASH rates. These come out around 30 days prior to departure. If you have a current booking, you cannot be refared to a FLASH promo code. These are for new bookings only.

 

You should be angry at the agent/agency, not Cunard.

[judy&steve]

 

(BTW - where abouts in the world are you? Judy says "We called our TA and within minutes we were a category higher, less money, and zero problems" which is true in the US but not in the UK)

 

We are in the US -- Baltimore, Maryland. We have been very lucky with price changes over the years. We book fairly early and if the prices go down, we either get a call from our TA or we call her. No muss, no fuss. We went from a P3 guarantee to a P1 guarantee -- not a great leap in money or location.

We received a flyer in the mail advertising the autumn winter sailings. Our Nov 30 cruise was part of the offering.

I don't know how the UK and US differ in terms of customer service, but any communication we have had with Cunard in the US has been most satisfactory and always positive.

 

--Judy

[Oahucruiser]

resistk . . are you still here? There are about 10 of us meeting on June 11th at 11 a.m. on the portside of the Commodore Lounge near the piano. Please join us and we will commiserate with you and cheer you up.

 

Patti

[resistk]

"June 11th at 11 a.m. on the portside of the Commodore Lounge near the piano. "

 

It'll be my birthday, so you can count on me. ;)

[Oahucruiser]

What a pleasure for us to celebrate together with you on your special day. I wrote it down in red letters........now, if I can just remember to read my note. After all that you have been through, you'll be ready for some good cheer; we seem to have a fun CC group and you already know the ship will give you joy.

 

Aloha,

 

Patti

[berry22192]

I leave a long message and make it clear to Cunard someone is going to get sued unless this is resolved. (I told the rep this too and he said not to threaten them, I said that it was no threat but a fact)

 

 

I'll be interested to learn if your 'take no prisoners' approach is, or has ever been, successful.

 

Chris

[resistk]

"I'll be interested to learn if your 'take no prisoners' approach is, or has ever been, successful."

 

Obviously, you don't get around much - ever traveled in eastern Europe or Russia on local transportation? But I digress...

 

After Cunard told me there were no cabins and they could not help me - what would you do if you had several weeks of hotels already booked in Europe? Just cancel your plans or write off your deposit and book 3 one way air tickets to boot because some rep doesn't want to be bothered helping anyone or offering cogent assistance?

 

As it turned out there were cabins available and I booked one but not through Cunard and got my deposit credited.

 

Cunard however did not return my phone message or emails to date.

For a service oriented business they should live for opportunities to help out and build customer loyalty and goodwill instead they come off looking like jerks even when they are not totally at fault.

 

And yes not taking No for an answer often works with big corporations if you have the stomach for it and are not at fault yourself. If it had turned out I hadn't got on the QM2 and ended up being massively out of pocket, I would have sued them as is everyone's right in the USA and hoped for the best.

 

But now I don't need to sue anyone but still am waiting for their phone call back that was promised so I can tell them they "missed the boat" in delivering quality customer assistance.

[Boatdrill]

[quote=resistk;

But now I don't need to sue anyone but still am waiting for their phone call back that was promised so I can tell them they "missed the boat" in delivering quality customer assistance.

 

I doubt they will call you back. Why would they ? There is nothing they can do to help you, make it better, or make you happy.

 

If they do call, it will just open it up again, and what would be the point of that ?

 

Game over. It's done.

[berry22192]

 

But now I don't need to sue anyone

 

Oh good.

 

Chris

[Sahaj]

A downgrade would be not agreeable to us! We just received word we are being upgraded, which is always a pleasing surprise. I told Cunard to process the upgrade through my Cruise Travel agent! That is always a good idea (if one has a good agent). Also I was told by Cunard that I would not get new Luggage Tags for the change, but had my agent call, and DHL delivered new tags the next day.

No matter what happens, when I have had a problem with a cruise company, I've always called the CEO's office to log a complaint. Had a little squabble with Celebrity over a billing error..we just went right to the top of the command food chain. It does pay off!

[keela1eva2]

Just been looking at the possibility of doing the round trip QM2 for the 12th July - 24th July. Would be travelling alone but I have done this before on Caronia and I cruise frequently with Celebrity. Have done T/A with Celebrity as recently as March this year but have always had ports of call.

Wondering about the wisdom of doing 12 nights without a port other than a day trip in NY which I would suppose be possible.

Holding a room in the meantime so would appreciate an early response if possible.

 

Many thanks

Sue

[cusyl]

We were booked to do the b2b on QM2 because we love the sea days. Unforturnately, my DH is ill and wouldn't be able to handle the trip, so hopefully next year we can do that. If you like sea days it will be wonderful. :D

[keela1eva2]

Have asked my T/A to hold a room until tomorrow for me to allow me to sleep on it. Excellent offer so am sorely tempted. Have a Med. cruise booked with Celebrity for October. Going to Ireland on the 12the June and again on the 11th September but I am retired and live alone so don't have to please anyone but myself. Thanks for the advice.

 

Sue

[imacruizer]

Have asked my T/A to hold a room until tomorrow for me to allow me to sleep on it. Excellent offer so am sorely tempted. Have a Med. cruise booked with Celebrity for October. Going to Ireland on the 12the June and again on the 11th September but I am retired and live alone so don't have to please anyone but myself. Thanks for the advice.

 

Sue

 

Here is the link to Pepper's great review. It might help you make up your mind.

 

Beth