My conversation with Captain's Club rep

[Cruisenouvelle]

Be aware that if you call a help desk, tech support, etc., and reach an 'outcountry' CSR that can't help you resolve your issue, there is an alternative. Do what my DH does. If he's having a problem understanding the rep, or is not receiving the assistance he needs (yes, they DO follow a script, just as CSRs do here), he politely asks to be transferred to a rep in the USA. Once the rep asked him why, and he politely told him the truth - that he cannot understand what the rep is communicating. It's not a slam - most Indians are bilingual at the least - but the burden should not be on the stateside caller to keep repeating him/herself or asking the CSR to do the same, in order to get a question answered. It's not racist - it's the cost of doing business in a global economy, and corporations that outsource know this going in.

My apologies to the OP.

[Karynanne]

Be aware that if you call a help desk, tech support, etc., and reach an 'outcountry' CSR that can't help you resolve your issue, there is an alternative. Do what my DH does. If he's having a problem understanding the rep, or is not receiving the assistance he needs (yes, they DO follow a script, just as CSRs do here), he politely asks to be transferred to a rep in the USA. Once the rep asked him why, and he politely told him the truth - that he cannot understand what the rep is communicating. It's not a slam - most Indians are bilingual at the least - but the burden should not be on the stateside caller to keep repeating him/herself or asking the CSR to do the same, in order to get a question answered. It's not racist - it's the cost of doing business in a global economy, and corporations that outsource know this going in.

My apologies to the OP.

 

I'm the OP, and my original comment was not about outsourcing, but to state the differences between Celebrity's Sales Dept., and the Captain's Club Dept.

 

In a follow-up to my first post, I received a phone call from a representative within Captain's Club yesterday. She is in charge of crediting the OBC (Celebrity Rewards). She went over all my information, and assured me that everything was completed.

 

She was extremely polite, helpful, and timely in her return phone call.

 

I took the opportunity to ask her about the Celebrity Sales Dept. She said once the Sales rep has the actual sale....they really aren't concerned with answering your questions. They just want to get onto the "next sale". She also said her dept. has complained numerous times to Celebrity execs regarding this issue. She did understand the frustration that passengers experience, and felt it shouldn't be the case.

[joelmarj]

Sorry, but you need to be real careful about making a general statement about India or its people. My brother-in-law, and neice and nephew are Indian, have family there and their English is just fine. I have not dealt with either the airline or call center where you have had this problem but at least the Dell techs are pretty good.

 

It's not always a matter of clarity of the spoken word, it's the interpretation of semantics and expressions that they don't get. Yes, they may speak very proper english, but they don't necessarily comprehend what is being asked or requested. There is a difference.

 

Oh, and my experience with Dell was not the same as yours.

[Jade13]

 

I took the opportunity to ask her about the Celebrity Sales Dept. She said once the Sales rep has the actual sale....they really aren't concerned with answering your questions. They just want to get onto the "next sale". She also said her dept. has complained numerous times to Celebrity execs regarding this issue. She did understand the frustration that passengers experience, and felt it shouldn't be the case.

 

Well that is good to know that at least this Captains Club Rep has put in a complaint to the Execs.

 

Btw, what are the Celebrity Rewards OBC? Is it something you get for booking a future cruise onboard? I know Celebrity doesn't discount (or perhaps only to large groups) but is there a savings on future cruises once you have sailed on Celebrity?

[Jade13]

double post

[negc]

I've booked my last three cruises directly through Celebrity, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean. All three cruise lines have provided me with better service than I was getting through a travel agent.

 

With Celebrity, this included adjusting our price after final payment was made because they were offering a 55+ discount that wasn't available when I initially made our reservation, and changing our CC cabin mid ship to CC cabin aft when one became available a few months after I had booked the cruise.

 

I'd say that all your experience proves is that you made a poor choice in travel agents. A good travel agent would have done all those things for you and more. There are plenty of them out there and tarring all of them with the same brush is unfair. Some CSRs are very good and knowledgeable but at the end of the day, their first loyalty belongs to the cruiselines because they work for the them and not for you. I doubt that even the best CSR for line Y will tell you that you can get the equivalent cruise at a better price on line Z.