Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Four

No that’s the only UK number anywhere on the SS website and no warnings anywhere about what they charge you above your usual call rate. I’m sure that it’s illegal not to do so here in the UK.

 

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Is it clear that Silversea was imposing the charge rather than your telephony provider? I recall that some 08XX numbers in the UK conventionally involve a service charge -- generally imposed by the telephony provider.

 

Update: Here's an article from a few months ago making it clear that 0844 numbers are liable to carry a surcharge.

 

https://www.lovemoney.com/guides/14934/how-to-call-0800-0844-0845-and-0870-numbers-free-from-your-mobile

 

That there was a charge was not some devious plot by Silversea but a reality of UK affairs.

Dave,

 

Normally companies cannot charge more than a “normal call charge” for helplines but holiday companies are one of the only exceptions. However the charge must be made clear on the page. However .....

 

Costly Calls campaign

Which? believes you shouldn't have to pay a premium to make a complaint about a company. That's why we launched our Costly Calls campaign in September 2013.

Since then, the government has ordered a host of companies, including all airlines, train operators, travel companies and retailers to ensure that customers pay no more than the basic rate to access customer-service phone lines.

Edited June 26, 2018 by UKCruiseJeff

Is it clear that Silversea was imposing the charge rather than your telephony provider? I recall that some 08XX numbers in the UK conventionally involve a service charge -- generally imposed by the telephony provider.

 

Update: Here's an article from a few months ago making it clear that 0844 numbers are liable to carry a surcharge.

 

https://www.lovemoney.com/guides/14934/how-to-call-0800-0844-0845-and-0870-numbers-free-from-your-mobile

 

That there was a charge was not some devious plot by Silversea but a reality of UK affairs.

 

The calls were made from a uk landline with 10,000 monthly inclusive minutes and the charges appeared on my bill separately as a premium service over and above these. Nowhere at all on the website does it state, let alone clearly, that they charge you a premium rate above your normal call charges.

Dave,

 

Normally companies cannot charge more than a “normal call charge” for helplines but holiday companies are one of the only exceptions. However the charge must be made clear on the page. However .....

Costly Calls campaign

Which? believes you shouldn't have to pay a premium to make a complaint about a company. That's why we launched our Costly Calls campaign in September 2013.

Since then, the government has ordered a host of companies, including all airlines, train operators, travel companies and retailers to ensure that customers pay no more than the basic rate to access customer-service phone lines.

 

Very interesting Jeff,

Obviously that message didn’t get through to Silversea.

As an aside DW......I love that you think of Judi Dench when you say "Good Morning M". I howled when I read that! :)

 

Sorry to intrude! Carry on!

Glad you had a chuckle too. In my opinion, Dame Judi is the best M so far.

And of course you mean in movies, right? :) Other than the hair we don't have very much in common. I do really enjoy her artistry! My favourite movie is "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel".

Of course. There’s only one real M!

There was a programm on a while back over here by Tracy Ullman and her Judi Dench was amazing. She was stealing and vandalising things and getting away with it because she was a national treasure.

saynoto0870.com is an excellent site for finding the normal phone number for a company rather than the premium rate they usually advertise. For Silversea it gives 020 7340 0700

Obviously that message didn’t get through to Silversea.

 

It might seem petty to say so, but isn't it a little more than that?

 

Someone, somewhere in the Silversea UK decided that rather than the normal default of what most organisations do of just publishing your telephone number so your customers and prospective customers could contact you, they decided there was an opportunity to make a few more pounds out of them by having a premium rate telephone number. Presumably their reasoning is that if you can afford a Silversea cruise you can afford an additional premium rate call charge to pay to book it or to ask questions about or to complain about it.

 

Most people in the UK are aware of premium rate numbers because every time they are presented with one they always read a warning that tells them how much it will cost them to dial it. But Silversea, having decided to use a premium rate line then said "We can go one better ... and make a few more pounds. We can use a Premium Rate Number, but not warn people. "

It might seem petty to say so, but isn't it a little more than that?

 

Someone, somewhere in the Silversea UK decided that rather than the normal default of what most organisations do of just publishing your telephone number so your customers and prospective customers could contact you, they decided there was an opportunity to make a few more pounds out of them by having a premium rate telephone number. Presumably their reasoning is that if you can afford a Silversea cruise you can afford an additional premium rate call charge to pay to book it or to ask questions about or to complain about it.

 

Most people in the UK are aware of premium rate numbers because every time they are presented with one they always read a warning that tells them how much it will cost them to dial it. But Silversea, having decided to use a premium rate line then said "We can go one better ... and make a few more pounds. We can use a Premium Rate Number, but not warn people. "

 

That is why I was quite taken aback when I saw the charges. I find it quite surprising that I'm finding this quite surprising. It cannot be purely an oversight on SS behalf. A Conscious decision has been made at some point, for whatever reason, for SS to charge premium rates to UK customers.

 

And before certain people start accusing me of being a penny pincher that cant afford or wont pay the cost of a a phone call, that really isn't the case. I Stumbled across this by accident and it just struck me as being wrong.

Morning coolers.

 

Jeff & DW: In instances of corporate stupidity like this I tend to ascribe to Hanlon's razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

Mysty, pertaining to your funny today: did you see that it is snowing today in Newfoundland?

Yesterday was another hard day, as I found out that a friend of mine, whom I'd known since school days (+40 years), had died in the night. He'd been diagnosed a few years ago with a neuro-degenerative disease (not ALS or any of the other ones we commonly hear about - I've temporarily forgotten the actual name, but it was described as being 'the worst' because it affects both motor skills and cognitive abilities), and was given at the time less than two years to live. Two years ago he was moved into a care home. His 60th birthday was earlier this year. He was unable to communicate since 2016, so his friends and family would read to him. Anyway, he got good care right up until the end. But it's been a hard year so far.

(My mother says, in her dry wit way: "Wait until you're my age," (she's 90) "then ALL your friends are dead.")

Makes me realize that I should appreciate the good things and take nothing (especially not good health) for granted! Hug a friend today!

DW....wish I had seen the program you mentioned. I enjoy Tracy Ullman! Must have been a treat!

 

And it is not about the money, it is more about the principle I think. Wealthy people did not become wealthy people by throwing money away unnecessarily. Rich or poor you want whatever money you have to be spent wisely and in a transparent transaction.

Mleh...EGAD! I did not time that funny very well. Snow in dear Newfoundland? Nasty!

 

Sorry for the loss of a old dear friend! Virtual hugs are heading out to all the Cooler folk!

In instances of corporate stupidity like this I tend to ascribe to Hanlon's razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

 

Appreciate this above, cute quote. In the case of Silversea's "bean-counters" in Monaco, it could be malice or stupidity. Or, maybe "arrogance"??!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean adventure that started in Barbados, here is the link for that live/blog. Many visuals from this amazing river and Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, San Juan, etc.):

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 57,103 views for these postings.

Mleh...EGAD! I did not time that funny very well. Snow in dear Newfoundland? Nasty!

Here's the link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/june-snow-frost-pictures-1.4722009

Appreciate this above, cute quote. In the case of Silversea's "bean-counters" in Monaco, it could be malice or stupidity. Or, maybe "arrogance"??!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

I have an aphorism for most occasions, Terry. Saves on typing.

:halo::halo:

Mleh,

I’m so sorry to hear about your friend. Hugs being sent from the UK to you.

 

It’s difficult to think about snow when it’s 30 degrees here and I just heard on the radio that it’s hotter in North Wales than Greece today.

I have an aphorism for most occasions, Terry. Saves on typing.

:halo::halo:

 

I Love a good aphorism.

Davy wavey, sorry to read about your friend. I understand how angry you can feel under those circumstances.

 

Mleh very sorry about the passing of your friend.

 

In December 2016 my Mom was admitted to a private hospital suffering a compressed fracture of the spine. She also suffered from Emphysema.

They treated her but she was still in terrible pain and because it was over New Year they obviously needed to free beds they released her at the same time as increasing her meds without monitoring how she could cope with the higher dose.

We had just arrived in Orlando on New Years Eve and woke on New Year’s Day to the news that she had stopped breathing and had 3 heart attacks on the way to Hospital. We flew home under the assumption that she would be dead before we could arrive home.

 

She spent almost a year in hospital, 3 months in ICU.

When she came home she needed full time care. She died last month as a direct result of negligence and greed.

 

In Ireland, the health care system is appalling. If you have to go to Hospital by ambulance you are brought to a public hospital to wait maybe days on a trolley in a public corridor surrounded by other trolleys with no privacy.

Even though you pay Thousands a year on private insurance if you are sick outside the hours of 10.00 -1800 (private A&E) that is your fate.

 

My mother didn’t want to die in a hospital corridor on a trolley, she refused an ambulance.

We drove her to a private hospital where she had to be resuscitated and given cpr by her nurse in the car while I was holding her.

She never regained consciousness.

The Hospital were fantastic, and she died with dignity and we had the privacy to say goodbye.

 

We have one scandal after another here, with cover ups just like in the U.K.

nothing ever seems to change.

Sak...your experience with your mother's health care was atrocious! So very sorry for the pain she must have had to deal with and the fear and frustration for you and your family!

Morning coolers.

 

Jeff & DW: In instances of corporate stupidity like this I tend to ascribe to Hanlon's razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

 

Well, people in Silversea may reach some dumb decisions at times but that doesn't make them stupid; it just means that they calculate the odds of doing it wrong and doing it right and they calculate at the moment it is sometimes more profitable short-term to do it wrong and then when people complain, then doing everything they can to detach themselves from their responsibility and the consequences of their irresponsibility.

 

We were promised:

 

An ultra-luxury elegant and relaxing cruise with a delightfully convivial atmosphere with casual sophistication with like minded guests” which was “The Gold Standard by which others should be judged.”

I regard being sold a cruise that confined us to our suite for a large part of the cruise because Silversea sold a group booking of 220 low-paid people for a boozecrooze who for most of the time a large number were drunk and behaved badly, and failing to allow customers an informed choice to proceed or not seems to me to be a very careful calculation.

 

In Dave's case and the case that we and Swindy and Beeminor and perhaps others who don't read CC are pursuing they failed to tell us of something that if we had known we probably wouldn't have proceeded with the cruise. And if they had told us, we might have even trusted them more because warning us shows that they are trustworthy.

 

That change would have entitled us to a full no-questions asked refund or the opportunity to put it towards another booking perhaps with suitable compensation. Instead they forced us knowing of our ignorance to continue with a cruise that was a nightmare. They then refused to listen to us and compensate us. In Dave's case threats were made.

 

Forcing us in ignorance that was purposefully contrived to sucker us into a cruise we would not have chosen if we had known, entitles us to also to be reasonably compensated for the terrible experience they forced onto us for the loss of enjoyment, as well as a full refund. That is the UK and EU law. Silversea appear to be saying to us that either they do not understand the law or that they needn't comply with it.

 

It isn't really adequately explained by stupidity, because at least in the UK when confronted with breaches of UK laws, it isn't an adequate defense to simply say to a judge "I didn't mean to break the law because I was merely utterly stupid" and expect therefore to win. Stupidity thankfully isn't a defence. They also place themselves in greater jeopardy if in the instance that they were genuinely stupid, that when their customers remind them what breaches of the law they have made and when given the opportunity they simply refuse to take responsibly and refused to take the opportunity to behave with a sensible and honourable stance.

Edited June 26, 2018 by UKCruiseJeff

Terrible Saks. My sympathies .... you never get over that.

 

Melanie Phillips wrote an interesting and as usual thought provoking column today.

 

"The elderly deserve better than NHS care "

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-elderly-would-be-safer-if-we-axed-the-nhs-xcqc97xnv?shareToken=4aafd6fe74f2c2faa996e4f05e21c976

I’m so sorry to hear of your experience Sakaara. That is truly appalling. With time though, it does become easier to focus on the good rather than the bad. It’s so sad to hear of so many people that have had less than the best care at the end. The vast majority of healthcare professionals do an amazing job. It’s a shame that the few that don’t are allowed to continue in the job. Perhaps the latest debate will shine a light on them and make it more likely that instead of covering up for poor care, others feel more able to come forward.

Excellent article J! Thanks for posting the link! It rings true for us here across the pond as well.