Hopping Mad!!

[bubbie617]

I am hopping mad and I’m posting my complaint on the Azamara, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean boards. Forgive me if you see it more than once.

My husband and I booked a cruise on Celebrity Quest last January (and it was Celebrity, not Azamara then) while we were on Radiance of the Seas. We hadn’t heard anything about the two new ships, but the LA told us about them coming out (Journey and Quest) and we jumped at the opportunity. For booking the cruise then, we got a $200 OBC. We’ve been participating on the Roll Call and really looking forward to meeting the friends we had been corresponding with.

Unfortunately, on October 10th, my husband was involved in a freak accident and hurt his left leg badly. It wasn’t healing correctly and on 10/22, the doctor admitted him to the hospital where he spent the next ten days. He is now using a walker and has a nurse coming to our home every day to pack and re-bandage the wound. He saw the surgeon today for a follow-up and he was told that there would be no pools, no oceans and no hot tubs in his foreseeable future. Our Quest cruise is a 14 night Caribbean cruise and my husband loves the water, so going would be torture for him. Fortunately, we always take cruise insurance although we’ve never had to use it before.

Before we canceled the trip, we decided to book a TA on Summit for March 29th in place of this cruise. Our travel agent is on the ball and always on top of things and told Celebrity to transfer the $200 OBC to the new cruise. They said they couldn’t. Charlie (our ta) and I spoke probably 6 times today and he tried several times to coax Celebrity. Nothing doing. I finally called Captain’s Club myself tonight and spoke to a woman by the name of Carrie who said that all the agent had to do was reinstate the original cruise and just change the ship and sailing date assigned to that booking number. I reminded her several times that we were in penalty phase and asked if that made a difference. She assured me that it made no difference at all.

I called Charlie again and left him a message with that information. He then called Captains Club himself and spoke directly to Carrie who told him that because we were in penalty phase it was impossible to transfer the OBC. If I hadn’t spoken to her myself, I would have thought Charlie was crazy. It seems that you don’t have to speak to different people at Captains Club to get different answers. The same person will tell you whatever they feel like at any given moment.

Not that it should really make any difference, but we are D+ (30 cruise credits) on RCCL and have 5 cruise credits with Celebrity. We have been cruising these lines almost exclusively since 1983. In fact, we have three cruises booked with RCI in the first half of 2008.

With all the problems and bad press that Celebrity and Azamara have been having, you would think they would try to appease their long-time loyal cruisers. But they just don’t seem to give a damn. I will be calling Celebrity in the morning to try to deal with this situation. I don’t have a lot of hope that things can be worked out. Somehow, HAL and Oceania are looking better and better.

I'll let you know what happens.

[cruiseyguy]

I haven't seen any "bad press" about Celebrity or Azamara in the mainstream media. In fact, both lines seem to always receive glowing reviews. There are, of course, a number of complaints about them on these boards. As for your OB credit issue, it sounds more like a low-level bureaucratic snag rather than a corporate matter and is something a good TA should be able to straighten out.

[Playful Mermaid]

I am hopping mad and I’m posting my complaint on the Azamara, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean boards. Forgive me if you see it more than once.

 

My husband and I booked a cruise on Celebrity Quest last January (and it was Celebrity, not Azamara then) while we were on Radiance of the Seas. We hadn’t heard anything about the two new ships, but the LA told us about them coming out (Journey and Quest) and we jumped at the opportunity. For booking the cruise then, we got a $200 OBC. We’ve been participating on the Roll Call and really looking forward to meeting the friends we had been corresponding with.

 

Unfortunately, on October 10th, my husband was involved in a freak accident and hurt his left leg badly. It wasn’t healing correctly and on 10/22, the doctor admitted him to the hospital where he spent the next ten days. He is now using a walker and has a nurse coming to our home every day to pack and re-bandage the wound. He saw the surgeon today for a follow-up and he was told that there would be no pools, no oceans and no hot tubs in his foreseeable future. Our Quest cruise is a 14 night Caribbean cruise and my husband loves the water, so going would be torture for him. Fortunately, we always take cruise insurance although we’ve never had to use it before.

 

Before we canceled the trip, we decided to book a TA on Summit for March 29th in place of this cruise. Our travel agent is on the ball and always on top of things and told Celebrity to transfer the $200 OBC to the new cruise. They said they couldn’t. Charlie (our ta) and I spoke probably 6 times today and he tried several times to coax Celebrity. Nothing doing. I finally called Captain’s Club myself tonight and spoke to a woman by the name of Carrie who said that all the agent had to do was reinstate the original cruise and just change the ship and sailing date assigned to that booking number. I reminded her several times that we were in penalty phase and asked if that made a difference. She assured me that it made no difference at all.

 

I called Charlie again and left him a message with that information. He then called Captains Club himself and spoke directly to Carrie who told him that because we were in penalty phase it was impossible to transfer the OBC. If I hadn’t spoken to her myself, I would have thought Charlie was crazy. It seems that you don’t have to speak to different people at Captains Club to get different answers. The same person will tell you whatever they feel like at any given moment.

 

Not that it should really make any difference, but we are D+ (30 cruise credits) on RCCL and have 5 cruise credits with Celebrity. We have been cruising these lines almost exclusively since 1983. In fact, we have three cruises booked with RCI in the first half of 2008.

 

With all the problems and bad press that Celebrity and Azamara have been having, you would think they would try to appease their long-time loyal cruisers. But they just don’t seem to give a damn. I will be calling Celebrity in the morning to try to deal with this situation. I don’t have a lot of hope that things can be worked out. Somehow, HAL and Oceania are looking better and better.

 

I'll let you know what happens.

 

I was reading your story, Susan, and I can't believe that Celebrity is as unresponsive as they seem to be, especially considering that they told you one thing and then did another. It is a shame but I think you are right, that customer loyalty seems to be of no importance whatsoever. Sometimes Celebrity can be do things very well but more and more there seems to be a lack of interest in doing things well and a growing

inconsistency in answers from customer service.

 

I do hope that your husband is doing better.

Hope you will post and let us know what happens.

[bubbie617]

Hi Playful Mermaid:

 

Thanks for the good wishes for my husband. Fortunately he is doing better, but there's no way we could have gone on this cruise. We were scheduled to leave home on Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), but he's still using a walker and has to see the surgeon once a week for wound healing issues. We're sad about missing the trip, but we've booked Summit in March to make up for it.

 

After many phone calls to Celebrity/Azamara by me and my travel agent, they finally decided that as a "gesture of good will" they would trasfer the onboard booking credit. I don't understand why it took so much time and so many phone calls for them to do the right thing, but I guess it's "all's well that ends well."

[Hlitner]

We do send our best wishes for your husbands speedy recovery. As to Azamara, I am not surprised! They do not seem to have their act together when it comes to customer service, and I sure hope they get it right when we cruise on the Journey in March. We also had some issues with the line. After we booked, there was a price reduction on our cruise (outside of the penalty period) and we ask our TA to get us the lower price. Much to our TAs surprise (and us too) the line refused to lower the price on our existing reservation. Our TA finally cancelled the booking, got us a refund for the deposit and than rebooked the same cabin at the lower price. This created paperwork hassles, and also made us resubmit our request for the stockholders credit since the booking number changed. A few weeks later there was another price drop (we are talking nearly $1000 dollars) and our TA again called Azamara who this time said no problem and quickly gave us the lower rate without rebooking. So, what is the policy. Well, as near as we can figure the policies of this line seem to change daily. I do know that Dan Hanrahan has a great reputation as a manager, but it sure seems like he is "missing the boat" with this new offshoot cruise line.

 

Hank

[greeneg]

My guess would be that what happens depends on who you get for your Customer Service Represenative; some seem to have the authority to make decisions and changes and some either don't have the authority, or are reluctant to use it.

 

Many corporate structures today are less clear in terms of "who can do what, when, and how," then they used to be. Middle Managers ( who tend to be the Highest Level actually on the 'front line') are often risk-adverse, and unwilling to make decisions which appear to cost the Company money. There are those individuals, however, who really think that making the customer happy is really what their job is about and approach problem solving from that perspective.

 

Sounds like you have first hand experience with both varieties.

[IowaCruisers]

Remember -

 

Any company is only as good as their WORST employee

 

 

 

Looks like we've got proof of this statement over and over again in every area of Azamara, don't we?

 

Brenda

[greeneg]

Remember -

 

Any company is only as good as their WORST employee

 

 

 

Looks like we've got proof of this statement over and over again in every area of Azamara, don't we?

 

Brenda

 

 

 

 

I think that you won't have to look very hard to find equal evidence of this sort of thing in all of the Cruise Lines as well in most areas of American Business; this is the Top-down, Bottom-Line School of Management........

[Napi's Mom]

I think that you won't have to look very hard to find equal evidence of this sort of thing in all of the Cruise Lines as well in most areas of American Business; this is the Top-down, Bottom-Line School of Management........

Radio Guru Clark Howard likes to refer to this as...the "No- Service" dept. of nearly any business you deal with, suggests you go to the top...but if the top is the same, go to a different company next time. This is, as you said true for every business, and truth be told money is at the bottom of every relationship nearly all the time , whether business or personal- now my word isn't in RED but it's called GREED. We see it in others and fail to look back at ourselves. It's taught from the cradle... (Watch the Christmas sellers TV ads, drive by Grandmas house and wave to get back home and open YOUR presents Best

Buys, notice no gift for Grandma either):(

[Playful Mermaid]

Remember -

 

Any company is only as good as their WORST employee

 

 

 

Looks like we've got proof of this statement over and over again in every area of Azamara, don't we?

 

Brenda

 

You are soo right about that, IowaCruisers.

 

I would disagree in the generalization that all companies have poor customer service or are unresponsive. This is true about a few but in my opinion, certainly, not all. Just last week I had a kitchen facet blow its top. I called the companies customers and told them it was a 3 1/2 years old and I was looking for a replacement part to fix it. The helpful customer service agent said that the part would be difficult for me to replace and that they would send me a brand new facet, free of charge, to replace the one that broke. Now that is what good customer service should be.

 

It is true that a few companies do just ignore any customer complaints but in my opinion most companies do listen to their customers and provide what they promise. When something goes wrong, which it will every once in awhile, the company should make things right with the customer. I have used that principle in my business and it has served me very well.

[Susan-M]

Remember -

 

Any company is only as good as their WORST employee

 

 

 

 

That statement paints a picture with a fairly broad stroke. To choose the worst employee as the basis for judging a whole company doesn't seem reasonable. The "worst employee" does reflect poorly on a company but does not negate the good that all of the dedicated and knowledgeable employees do for the company.

[greeneg]

That statement paints a picture with a fairly broad stroke. To choose the worst employee as the basis for judging a whole company doesn't seem reasonable. The "worst employee" does reflect poorly on a company but does not negate the good that all of the dedicated and knowledgeable employees do for the company.

 

I would agree with Susan on this one. The point that I was trying to make above was that it is often not the "fault" of the employee that a problem isn't resolved in a logical or customer-friendly manner, but the fact that the employee really isn't empowered by management to make the decision that the customer wants. So many front-line people in today's world simply do not have either the required training or the authority to make any decision that isn't listed on the piece of paper or the computer screen in front of them. This can even include "supervisors" so getting to that level doesn't always solve the problem or even get an appropriate response.

 

It isn't necessarily the employee who is "bad"; I submit, that it is more the so-called "Company Policy" that really needs work.

[IowaCruisers]

This statement doesn’t say anything about an employee being “bad”, meaning lazy, dishonest or incompetent. An employee can have a heart of gold, and do the best they can, but still be the worst. For whatever reason - training, authority, empowerment or whatever reason.

 

It merely says that a company as, a whole, can’t grow at any faster rate than it’s worst employee. This IS a broad statement, but it’s true in everyday life.

 

A production line is only as fast as its slowest station. For whatever reason.

A relay team is only as fast as its slowest runner. For whatever reason.

 

An untrained or overworked employee (or group of employees), would not “negate the good that all of the dedicated and knowledgeable employees do for the company”, but they certainly do reflect badly on the company as a whole. There’s no personal blame in this statement, it’s just a fact. That’s why we’re reading posts such as this one by the OP, and numerous others.

 

Respect,

Brenda

[greeneg]

But ultimately, the quality of an employee, their training, empowerment, all of those things are the responsibility of Management: including whether or not the employee continues at his or her present level, is promoted, or terminated.

 

My point is that current management training in many if not most complanies tends to be risk-adverse rather than creative, and problem solving, if it truely exists is generic in the main. When an individual customer has a specific, unique-to-them issue, a generic solution may well not be the answer. Since employees are often not often encouraged or allowed the discretion to solve a problem by thinking "outside the box", the end result is frequently less than satisfactory to all concerned.

 

I think that we both agree that the weakest link in any chain breaks first; I'm just trying to postulate a reason as to why the link is weak, and who is ultimately responsible for strengthening and preserving the chain.

 

I also submit that, until a different philosophy of customer service becomes more wide-spread, we will continue to see examples such as reported in this thread.

[IowaCruisers]

Hi Ed,

 

I think we're definitely on the same page here. As to why.... I think that will be debated over beers for a long time!

 

1. Without trying to stereotype, I don't think young people are taught to think outside of the box anymore as a general rule. Not that I'm OLD, but today's toys and games don't seem to encourage creative thinking. Remember when your favorite part of the present was the box it came in?

 

2. I think your first post was right on - it's all about the bottom line. It's very hard for management to see the actual cost of bad customer service, whether it's customer service or your room attendant. It doesn't show up on the balance sheet, and so it doesn't exist. It's much easier to justify a $9/hour employee than one twice that expensive. (Not that there aren't a lot of highly paid idiots :eek: ).

 

3. Then, take that cheap labor, and don't pay to train them well. Don't hire a trainer (which would hurt the bottom line). Don't allow the time (the company may have to hire another person to fill in during training, which would hurt the bottom line), and you've got stressed employees, a higher turnover rate, lower employee esteem, and a workforce that is apathetic.

 

Okay, that's my beer's worth. The next round is on you! :D

 

Brenda

[greeneg]

Hi Brenda. You're absolutely correct to my way of thinking. I think that the reason for not recognizing the cost of poor service is just that everyone seems to take the short view of the bottom line most of the time. Managers are concerned with what their numbers look like today, this week, next week; much less so with 6 months or 6 years out. By then, most of them figure ( and who is to say that they are not right) they will be doing something else anyway........

 

This, in my mind, is not limited to the Cruise Industry, I think that we see it in all aspects of the Buisness World: never mind what you did for me yesterday, or what you might do for me in the future, my focus is on today!!

 

Classic example might be loyalty programs, Airline Frequent Flyer rewards ( anyone try to claim one of those lately?), and the outsourcing of CS departments to people who are truely clueless and who seem to exist only to make the customer go away.........

 

Probably time to get off my soapbox. I hope I will get the opportunity to buy you that beer sometime.

[IowaCruisers]

Hi Ed,

 

It's been nice chatting with you. I enjoy your posts, and your candor. I'll take you up on that offer sometime!

 

Brenda

[Susan-M]

 

It merely says that a company as, a whole, can’t grow at any faster rate than it’s worst employee. This IS a broad statement, but it’s true in everyday life.

 

I think that most companies grow at a much faster rate than their worst employee. The sum of the efforts of all employees is what contributes to the ability of a company to grow and succeed.... just as the effort of all team members contributes to the success of a sports team. A relay team is faster than it's slowest runner. If you have 3 fast members and 1 slow one, the average is going to be much better than the performance of the slowest runner.

 

I'm not disputing the fact that there's room for improvement, but I also think that it's important not to just focus on the negative. Along with the negative comments, there are many good comments about the effort that is being made to ensure that Azamara's clients are well served.

[Playful Mermaid]

Hi Ed,

 

I think we're definitely on the same page here. As to why.... I think that will be debated over beers for a long time!

 

1. Without trying to stereotype, I don't think young people are taught to think outside of the box anymore as a general rule. Not that I'm OLD, but today's toys and games don't seem to encourage creative thinking. Remember when your favorite part of the present was the box it came in?

 

2. I think your first post was right on - it's all about the bottom line. It's very hard for management to see the actual cost of bad customer service, whether it's customer service or your room attendant. It doesn't show up on the balance sheet, and so it doesn't exist. It's much easier to justify a $9/hour employee than one twice that expensive. (Not that there aren't a lot of highly paid idiots :eek: ).

 

3. Then, take that cheap labor, and don't pay to train them well. Don't hire a trainer (which would hurt the bottom line). Don't allow the time (the company may have to hire another person to fill in during training, which would hurt the bottom line), and you've got stressed employees, a higher turnover rate, lower employee esteem, and a workforce that is apathetic.

 

Okay, that's my beer's worth. The next round is on you! :D

 

Brenda

 

I think were all in agreement that no matter how you look at it always comes back to management and how they empower and encourage their staff to face any problem. Just asking employees to look at a computer screen and use only what you see on the screen to solve any and all problems is just a recipe for the kind of service that the OP and others have reported and is certainly not the kind of customer service any company should allow to happen. I think Greneg hit the nail on the head when saying "company policy needs work".

 

I agree with SusanM and would also add to not just focus on the positives, which there are many, but also not be afraid to give opinions and ways to correct the negatives too. Then and only then will the negatives be turned into positives.

 

As soon as Azamara goes to all "drinks included in cruise price", I am buying for all!

[Susan-M]

 

I agree with SusanM and would also add to not just focus on the positives, which there are many, but also not be afraid to give opinions and ways to correct the negatives too.

 

True, I am guilty of focusing on the positives ... but am not afraid to voice my opinion on the negatives when I've experienced them.

[Playful Mermaid]

Susan-M: I agree about voicing an opinion, but I would voice my opinion when someone else has not received fair treatment and not just when it only affects me. My thought is, that if something is let go when there is a problem, even though a particular case might not affect me, someday it just might be my problem.