denali1

The company I worked for (22 years), before I retired, was bought by an investment company, who had no experience in our industry. They ran the company into the ground. They thought they knew what to do, but turns out that they were wrong. Hopefully, that won’t be the case with Azamara   

It will be interesting as to how this unfolds. 

Same here. Can’t get signature to update. I have tried all the fixes mentioned here. 

Thanks Phil and uktog.
With the Corona virus concerns, travel will surely be impacted. Coupled with service problems (including e mail), this does not bode well for cruise lines. My RCL stock, as with most others, has taken a big hit. Time to step the service up!

The port is awful. We were there one year ago. Took a taxi from JW Marriott (they didn’t offer any other mode of transportation). Taxi driver was so confused. And we were no help. We showed him the port address. The language barrier didn’t help, but we were lost. Finally, I saw the ship, and recalled a tiny bit of high school Spanish. I shouted, “Aqui, aqui.” That he understood. We finally got there. But...if you can take a shuttle, that is a great idea.  Btw, we did indeed ask the hotel for an English speaking driver. They assured us we would get one. We didn’t. 

Thank you Bonnie MacLaird. I got my statement!!
 

Sadly, if you had not got involved, I would still be waiting. That speaks to some very questionable customer service. It should not be this way. Azamara should want to take care of their customers, without involvement of Bonnie. Sad indeed. 
But....I am grateful. 

Thank you. I used azamaraguestrelations@azamara.com, 
Which is what the website said to use. 
I also sent the email to loyalty@azamara.com.

We took a cruise Jan 5 out of Buenos Aires. Customer service on the ship was great. Not so with the land based operation. 
I asked, by email, as they instructed, for a copy of the folio. The ship never provided a folio, and I was asked by our insurance for a copy. (My wife got sick and had to see the ships dr). I have emailed three times, but Azamara is not interested in providing this. The last time I emailed them, I also sent a copy to the loyalty club. No answer, not even an acknowledgement that they will get with me as soon as possible. It appears that when they want your money, they can respond immediately. After they get your money, one wonders if they really care. 
I realize I could call someone, but not interested in setting on rot for a long time. Besides, it is not how they asked for the folio request to be handled. 
(Btw, I sent the insurance company the invoice from the ships doctors. They wanted more.)

Hi Bonnie. We are on the January 5 sailing out of Buenos Aires, headed to Antarctica. 

Yeah, I was finally able to log in. It finally worked. Thanks!

Anyone else having trouble signing into Azamara’s website? We are trying to check in online, but can’t get in. Website goes to a blank page. Even tried the app. It didn’t work either. Just for grins, I tried signing in on Celebrity and RCL websites, but no luck. 

53 minutes ago, sail7seas said:

Have you had occassion  to compliment  HAL service in  the past?    

 

 

 

 

sail.noordam@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

No, I haven’t had good enough service to compliment HAL in the past. 

Btw, after two weeks I heard from them. Finally. They insisted the website worked, etc. Untrue and a bunch of nonsense. 

I booked a cruise for my wife and me on Azamara. Goodbye HAL. 

17 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

19 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

OP, the debate here over acceptable wait time came to mind when I ran across this thread on the Princess board:

 

 

Jumping to another cruise line may not get you the type of immediate service that you are seeking.

 

Thanks for this info Fouremco. It helps make my point about businesses in general. Once they have your money......

Funny, Celebrity and Princess have actually responded to me quickly over the years. HAL, not so much. 

Good point Boatdrill. I was planning to let them know. Don’t think they care, but.....

First of, thanks to all of you who responded. Great feedback.

There are definitely some HAL apologists, who think any amount of time one waits on HAL is fine. I get that. I don’t agree, but I do understand loyalty. 

Taxmantoo makes an import point on eight days but 2 of them were weekends. I get that, and it would be relevant if HAL wasn’t open 7 days a week. I do agree about relaxing. And I am relaxed. My posting this topic was just a form of venting. And pointing out the hypocrisy of them saying to fill out a written form. E mail it in. We will get back to you. 

Cshapard points out while teaching in NC, it was impossible to reach school district personnel. How sad that cshapard had to visit their office to get answers. And maybe my vow to take my money elsewhere is over the top. But....my principles say otherwise. 

Boatdrill says if my timeframe (that HAL doesn’t know about), is more important, then I am right to move on. I agree. And...it shouldn’t make any difference if HAL knew my timetable. They clearly don’t care, timetable or not. They should not have a form, if they aren’t going to respond to it. (Btw, this is day 9 and still no response). 

Tater, rightfully points out to just call them about the Private Sale. Tater has a good point. However, I think I will stand by my thoughts when I started this post. Which was:

“I will probably take my business for an upcoming cruise elsewhere. While my $8-$10 K is a small pebble in the water to them, I have a problem with poor customer service. Too often nowadays, on any business, customer service ends when they get your money. It is sad.”

Thanks to everyone for your feedback!

I have read all the responses the last 24 hours, and agree with many of them.

I did find the robo responses in the junk mail folder. I should have checked it sooner. Good ideas from many to check. My bad. 

But....now it is 8 days with no response to my two inquiries in any folder. On their form. (So...they did indeed receive my inquiries). 

I agree with  fyree39 that a week is too long, and there are so many cruising options today. Which is my point. With all the options, a cruise line has to join the 21st century and get with the program on email. I suppose iwantsomesun is correct in saying they are just not ready to use methods of communication that the rest of the world uses .I wonder why they even have the online forms if they can simply not respond for days, a week, or whatever. 

We have sailed HAL, and I agree with DaveOKC that their shipboard service is really good. However, to those who have great service from their land based “customer service”, that’s great. Not my experience. And a cruise lines customer service is not just aboard the ship. I guess it’s about the principle. We are their customers, spending thousands of dollars. Don’t we deserve better, without going around their instructions?

Woody14h is correct about needing a “chat” button. The fact these cruise lines don’t have one, is telling.  And Taters 3 week wait is totally unacceptable. This person is 100% deaf, so what is Tater supposed to do?  

To Taters question, no the issues aren’t urgent, other than the “Private Sale” expires in June. But how many weeks are they allowed? The response from thinfool is important....use Facebook. A good idea, but HAL’s instructions were to use their online form. So.....if you follow their instructions, you can’t use Facebook, and they discourage calls. 

I don't use a PCC, which is msmayor’s suggestion. But, to have one, don’t you have to book cruises with the cruise line? I get much better deals with travel agencies. Much better. So I bypass PCC’s. Good suggestion otherwise. But again, it’s contrary to HAL’s own instructions of fill out a form and email it in. 

I suppose the thing to do is just ignore their instructions and instead call or use Facebook. This is what I get for following instructions. 

Thank to all who responded. Let me say this:

Regarding bEwAbG’s comments:  I see your point about all businesses taking a lot longer to respond. I know this is true from a flower company that charged me double for some flowers. We tried talking to them. But, their customer service was overseas, and they could not be understood, nor did they speak our language well. It was finally resolved via e mail. That was a 3 week effort. 

As to “thousands of people sitting around to answer your email”,  (despite it being a snarky comment),  I realize that. However, they should discontinue their forms and email, if the phone is the answer.  And it’s not like the invention of email is a recent thing. It goes back well over 20 years. They should have adapted by now. They have to know both their call volume, as well as the email volume. 

They should say the only method is the phone. Problem then would be solved, maybe...

Regarding Fouremco’s response, I agree about the quick disingenuous answers. It is a good point. However, on their forms, I clearly stated what the problem was, in one sentence. The rep could reply that they are researching the problem. Again, one sentence.  And if you call, you risk being told that they have to research it. When does it end?

Well, I did send the form to the Mariner group. I think my mistake was obeying their request to use their form. I should have called and ignored their instructions. But 2 weeks to reply? Wow, just wow. 

They didn’t respond on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or day 7. Not even as much as a robo response that “we got your email”. If they have so many issues that a response takes more than a week, there are far more issues than  just a late email. 

As for calling, I mentioned that I could call them, but they asked me to fill out a form.  I simply complied. 

If I had run my business like this, I would have not kept customers. Just sayin. 

 A full week ago, I sent HAL Customer Service,  two emails, on their website form. They have failed to respond. While I could give in and call, that is not the point. Surely, it’s not the customer service they want. One e mail was about an error on the loyalty program, and the website said to send them the form. The other e mail concerned a letter I received offering a “Private Sale”, which wouldn’t work on their website, despite their clear instructions. Again, they suggested the form. 

As a result, I will probably take my business for an upcoming cruise elsewhere. While my $8-$10 K is a small pebble in the water to them, I have a problem with poor customer service. Too often nowadays, on any business, customer service ends when they get your money. It is sad. 

I am a shareholder with Royal. I am so disappointed in them (and ashamed of them). A complete lack of common sense. Not one of their better moments. And it will cost them big time.

Very frustrating. Still doesn't work. Thanks for the suggestions. They were worth trying. Eventually........

Try this direct link and see if it takes you to the right page, at least!

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-critic-connections