HAL fixes a HAL Mistake

Since we mostly hear about HAL screwing things up and being unhelpful in many instance, I thought I'd post a positive report.

This week, I booked back to back cruises for my DW and myself. First one on the Nieuw Statendam for the Oprah cruise (no political comments on her please), with the following cruise on Oosterdam. The cruise fare for the second trip included prepaid gratuities.

I thought it would be best to call personally to book so I could ask some questions and assure that things were done correctly.

I was watching my credit card on line to check for the charges and noted that the charge for the first cruise deposit went through but the second didn't but decided to give it another day to show up.

When the second deposit still didn't show up, I called to find out why. Turns out their system didn't process the second CC charge and, since no deposit was made, they "canceled" that cruise. After some effort, the HAL agent was able to restore the second cruise but the fare didn't include the gratuities since that promotion had ended.

After protesting that they had made the mistake by not processing the deposit charge, their agent put me on hold for a few minutes and came back to tell me that they were able to change it so our gratuities were included in the base fare.

Kudos to Thad my on line HAL agent.

Thank you for posting your good news! It's good to know that good customer service is possible from a large company such as HAL. A letter to Mr. Ashford complimenting your online HAL Agent, Thad, would be appropriate.

Thanks for sharing! This post is also a great reminder to keep an eye on things as credit card charges and booking confirmation. The Ready, Set, Sail was extended until June 28 so I am sure this helped in Thad reinstating the gratuties as this is part of the ready, set, sail. We are very happy with our PCC too. Happy Cruising.

Thanks for .posting this. HAL's system didn't process the second cruise but did have a record of it as cancelled (which proves you did make the booking and weren't just saying you did). This was HAL's "fault" and it should have been very obvious to HAL to add on the tips without any fuss.

Good to know you got what you deserved without having fight for it! Have a great cruise!

While I'm happy to see that HAL corrected its mistake, I don't think that HAL deserves any kudos. There never should have been a problem to begin with, and any customer should expect a business to correct its own mistakes. Have our expectations of HAL sunk so low that when they do the right thing we stand up and applaud?

Nice to here a happy ending

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Glad you kept track of things and contacted HAL about their not making the deposit and then correcting everything so that you did get the included gratuities.

Thanks for sharing this experience with us.

Hope your cruises are all you hope for.

Glad to hear a happy ending but..

It was their mistake so they should have rectified it.

Happy to hear they did.

Since we mostly hear about HAL screwing things up and being unhelpful in many instance, I thought I'd post a positive report.

 

This week, I booked back to back cruises for my DW and myself. First one on the Nieuw Statendam for the Oprah cruise (no political comments on her please), with the following cruise on Oosterdam. The cruise fare for the second trip included prepaid gratuities.

 

I thought it would be best to call personally to book so I could ask some questions and assure that things were done correctly.

 

I was watching my credit card on line to check for the charges and noted that the charge for the first cruise deposit went through but the second didn't but decided to give it another day to show up.

 

When the second deposit still didn't show up, I called to find out why. Turns out their system didn't process the second CC charge and, since no deposit was made, they "canceled" that cruise. After some effort, the HAL agent was able to restore the second cruise but the fare didn't include the gratuities since that promotion had ended.

 

After protesting that they had made the mistake by not processing the deposit charge, their agent put me on hold for a few minutes and came back to tell me that they were able to change it so our gratuities were included in the base fare.

 

Kudos to Thad my on line HAL agent.

Yes, they rectified THEIR mistake after YOU monitored your credit card, after YOU called, and after YOU protested THEIR initial decision to not honor the promotion on the cruise deposit that THEIR system did not process. You are too kind; HAL only "did the right thing" because YOU were on top of the situation.

I will add a positive as well. When we got our paperwork from our TA, it showed we hadn't purchased cancellation insurance; however, we had indeed added the HAL standard cancellation plan. The TA had recorded phone call records which proved this had been done. Since it was HAL's error, they gave the insurance to us at no cost. Nice to save $370 or so! Mistakes happen...I was glad to see them take responsibility for this and make it right.

Whatever any more negative people say, they DID make it right. Yes, the OP had to do certain thinks, BUT that does not alter that fact that they made it right. Kudos to OP and Hal and thumbs down to those who put a negative spin on most everything!

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When we were on the Zuiderdam last summer we booked 2 different cruises for this summer. The thought was it gave us time to decide and cancel the one we didn’t want. We made the choice and had our TA whom is also my DMIL call and make the final bookings. My TA is extremely though and makes excellent notes. Several months later she was checking on our cruise price. She called us since she had been out of the country and asked if we had changed the cruise and canceled the one we had originally selected. Making a long story short they had canceled the wrong cruise when she made the final booking. We lost our cabin in the perfect spot we wanted on the koningsdam this August. They admitted it was their fault after reviewing the records. They booked similar type cabin but up one level and gave us a $200 credit. Not OBC. They also agreed to put a bottle of wine in our room. ( didn’t really matter as we have a drink package). But they did admit and correct the error

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While I'm happy to see that HAL corrected its mistake, I don't think that HAL deserves any kudos. There never should have been a problem to begin with, and any customer should expect a business to correct its own mistakes. Have our expectations of HAL sunk so low that when they do the right thing we stand up and applaud?

Agree! Was going to post the exact same thing. All they did was correct their own mistake, which should have been done immediately. Kudus would be if they did something else without your asking because of the stress caused when half of your cruise was canceled, and than rebooked at a higher price. Pinnacle dinner? OBC?....

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It's just a good example that you have to be prepared to make some noise, ask questions to make sure you get what was asked for in the first place, glad it all worked out. Enjoy your cruise.

Glad it all worked out for you.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

Since we mostly hear about HAL screwing things up and being unhelpful in many instance, I thought I'd post a positive report.

 

This week, I booked back to back cruises for my DW and myself. First one on the Nieuw Statendam for the Oprah cruise (no political comments on her please), with the following cruise on Oosterdam. The cruise fare for the second trip included prepaid gratuities.

 

I thought it would be best to call personally to book so I could ask some questions and assure that things were done correctly.

 

I was watching my credit card on line to check for the charges and noted that the charge for the first cruise deposit went through but the second didn't but decided to give it another day to show up.

 

When the second deposit still didn't show up, I called to find out why. Turns out their system didn't process the second CC charge and, since no deposit was made, they "canceled" that cruise. After some effort, the HAL agent was able to restore the second cruise but the fare didn't include the gratuities since that promotion had ended.

 

After protesting that they had made the mistake by not processing the deposit charge, their agent put me on hold for a few minutes and came back to tell me that they were able to change it so our gratuities were included in the base fare.

 

Kudos to Thad my on line HAL agent.

Were the deposits for the same amount for the second cruise as they were for the first?

If so then the transaction might have been rejected by the credit card company as a duplicate transaction. Some CC company systems will check for and reject transactions for the same amount from the same source within a short period of time to prevent duplicate charges.

I do not understand why you would be so happy about this. Yes they fixed it. But it was their screw up to start with.

Being so happy about it implies that you are surprised and thankful that HAL addresses and rectifies their mistakes.

I would take this as a given, something that most firms do in the normal course of business.

When the bank makes an error on my account I expect them to fix it. And they do so in a timely manner. I certainly do not feel any warm and fuzzies because they fixed their mistake. It is something that I am entitled to.

I understand why some of you don't think it was a big deal for HAL to correct their mistake. As some of you have said, they should have done so once it was brought to their attention.

I guess the main reason I posted this was because several people here have posted similar situations where HAL, or other cruise lines, have basically said "Too bad. We're not going to help you fix our mistake." This was a situation where they did the right thing.

Believe me, if I'd received any push back when I called about this, my Italian genes would have kicked in and cousin Guido may have been dispatched to Seattle (just kidding). Seriously, I made it VERY CLEAR, in a nice but firm manner, to Thad right at the beginning of my call that someone there, if not him, was going to fix things and I wasn't getting off the phone until it was.

“Entitled” ... I just love that word :)

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I think that it is a sad commentary on our approach to consumerism today when we only half expect vendors to deliver what they committed to, what they promised, or to the expectations that they set.

Not just cruise lines, but all businesses. In my business career this simply did not happen. We delivered to our clients exactly what we committed, more often than not exceeding the expectations that we had jointly set. If we did not, we knew and we expected that the client would demand what they were entitled to based on our commitments and undertakings to them. Likewise, we expected our subcontractors and suppliers to treat us the same way. And they invariably did.

So when we buy a cruise we feel that we are entitled to everything that the cruise line promised-especially those commitments around price and OBC's, etc. We feel that this is an ordinary expectation, the base line really for doing business with each other. So far, after twenty plus cruises on multiple cruise lines we have never been disappointed or had an issue that was not addressed in a timely manner. Quite the opposite in fact.

iancal, I agree with your 1000%. My business was run based upon exceeding expectations and anticipating questions or problems before they happened and taking care of them.

Unfortunately, the work ethic, or lack thereof, of many employees these days has caused many "customers" to expect less and actually appreciate it when things are done correctly to begin with or fixed in a timely manner when a mistake is made.

I guess my original post falls into that category.

In these days of on line sales putting brick and mortar businesses out of business, the only brick and mortars that will survive are those who expect more out of their employees in how they deal with their customers. As an example, it used to be impossible to get anyone to help you at our local Lowes store. In the past several months, there is usually someone standing near the entrance to ask what you're looking for and to guide you there, either personally or with concise directions. Our locally owned hardware store realized that need for customer service years ago and is the reason it is still in business, despite the big box competition.