Urgent Help Please

We have just received a revised invoice from Azamara (late Saturday night) stating we now owe a significant amount on our cruise that we had already paid off in full. It appears all discounts have now been removed and the amount owed totals the amount that we had as a discounts.

Is there any way of contacting Azamara on a Sunday? Cant believe they would send out an invoice at a time when there is no way of contacting them.

Wife and I are no worries sick that they could cancel due to none payment. Even though I have an invoice showing zero balance due (with correct discounts applied).

Issue after issue with this cruise and got to admit it is putting us off booking with Azamara in the future in terms of how they have dealt with us pre-cruise.

Any guidance or re-assurance would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

I don't think there is much you can do today Woodards but try not to worry as this will be just another spectacular fail on the part of Azamara pre cruise operations. I see you are in the UK so a direct email to Richard Twynam UK Managing Director may be the fastest way to get your invoice corrected tomorrow.

I hope you get a sincere apology as well.

rtwynam@Azamara.com

I don't think there is much you can do today Woodards but try not to worry as this will be just another spectacular fail on the part of Azamara pre cruise operations. I see you are in the UK so a direct email to Richard Twynam UK Managing Director may be the fastest way to get your invoice corrected tomorrow.

 

I hope you get a sincere apology as well.

 

rtwynam@Azamara.com

Thank you for your quick response think we will do as you suggest.

Hi

I’m sure it will be a mistake but assuming it is mistakes like this just should not happen and no amount of spin can ever defend them.

Normally I’d try and find a non premium call number but as they are open for sales today try

0844 493 4016

Oh and at the end of the call ask how they might reimburse the call costs if you feel

like it. You’re being messed around far too much on this one as you e also posted other issues. Good luck

Hi

I’m sure it will be a mistake but assuming it is mistakes like this just should not happen and no amount of spin can ever defend them.

 

Normally I’d try and find a non premium call number but as they are open for sales today try

 

0844 493 4016

 

Oh and at the end of the call ask how they might reimburse the call costs if you feel

like it. You’re being messed around far too much on this one as you e also posted other issues. Good luck

Going to contact them first thing. May follow up with email to MD dependent on how efficiently it is dealt with. Will report back in case anyone experiences similar issues in the future.

My first instinct would be that it was a scam, rather than an error, especially if you were asked to send money on a weekend.

My first instinct would be that it was a scam, rather than an error, especially if you were asked to send money on a weekend.

Definitely not a scam, totals owed exactly match discount previously applied on original booking. Official invoice all on standard email from Azamara.

They are no actually asking for money but as final payment has passed our worry was and still is that they may cancel our reservation......

Contacted Azamara, they confirmed a system issue caused by me checking in on line apparently!?!?!

I am awaiting a call back with a full explanation, resolution and hopefully an apology.

Incidentally it took me nearly 2 mins to navigate the IVR system at a call rate of 7p per minute!

That was before the 10 mins of someone telling me repeatedly that it was a system error.....

Money for old rope.........

Not quite as bad a mix up as we had when Azamara had not booked our return flight from LHR to NCL on our return from our last cruise from Venice to Rome this Sept.

Took 3 hours with 3 phones and computer to get that sorted out as Azamara would not talk to us but only our travel agent who fortunately were available.

Will not go into full details but it took nearly 6 weeks to get it sorted re costs etc

Contacted Azamara, they confirmed a system issue caused by me checking in on line apparently!?!?!

 

I am awaiting a call back with a full explanation, resolution and hopefully an apology.

 

Incidentally it took me nearly 2 mins to navigate the IVR system at a call rate of 7p per minute!

 

That was before the 10 mins of someone telling me repeatedly that it was a system error.....

 

Money for old rope.........

They're getting ridiculous in their errors. Glad you got it fixed. I loose confidence on a weekly basis.

This is one of the reasons why I started using a travel agent and not booking direct. I just didn’t want to continue to deal with Azamara's Guatemala call centre myself. Now my ta just bats for me in cases where there is a query.

Phil

Contacted Azamara, they confirmed a system issue caused by me checking in on line apparently!?!?!

 

I am awaiting a call back with a full explanation, resolution and hopefully an apology.

 

Incidentally it took me nearly 2 mins to navigate the IVR system at a call rate of 7p per minute!

 

That was before the 10 mins of someone telling me repeatedly that it was a system error.....

 

Money for old rope.........

Well how silly of you checking in online!

I feel for the onboard staff who work their socks of to deliver service excellence and yet again the back office lets them down.

How many more systems disasters can we take.....

They're getting ridiculous in their errors. Glad you got it fixed. I loose confidence on a weekly basis.

Not quite, they have told me it will be resolved in 48 hours!

Are you able to use Skype from the UK? When I have had to call Norway or UK from the US, my Skype calls cost me practically nothing.

Are you able to use Skype from the UK? When I have had to call Norway or UK from the US, my Skype calls cost me practically nothing.

Unfortunately its premium none geographic number, I am sure there will be a geographic number somewhere which would be inclusive to most peoples call package but I wasn't able to find it.

Unfortunately its premium none geographic number, I am sure there will be a geographic number somewhere which would be inclusive to most peoples call package but I wasn't able to find it.

Which was kind of why I advised you to email Richard Twynam! He is very good at resolving these kinds of issues ....goodness knows he gets a lot of opportunity to do it!

Sometimes it's best to bypass those who have to consult with a supervisor for a decision and go straight to the top to someone who has the power to sort your issue out directly.

Anyway, hope it is all resolved for you soon and you can look forward to enjoying your cruise. As all we know, the wonderful onboard experience is completely different to the mess of the pre cruise issues. You should also definitely claim your phone call costs back.

I had a similar problem with discounts dropping off my invoice prior to final payment. I called in numerous times and was given many ridiculous excuses. The invoice I was sent each time had the correct balance but my online account showed a higher balance due as a result of one or more discounts dropping off.

The last rep I spoke with prior to final payment indicated that the discount codes had to be inputted in a certain way or they would drop off. He assured me that everything was fine and after speaking with him I checked my account and noticed a higher balance.

After spending countless hours correcting invoices and never receiving call backs and follow-ups as promised, I stopped calling until final payment. Of course the balance was higher and I expressed my concerns that my reservation could show a balance owing after making final payment. This was the person I originally spoke with who was rude and unprofessional, however this time he seemed eager to assist and contacted a supervisor to correct the invoice. He asked me to complete a survey which I believe accounted for his change in attitude.

I periodically check my online account and everything is fine since the supervisor updated the invoice. With my experience it seems the reps aren’t trained properly to input the discount codes.

It shouldn’t be this difficult to book a cruise!

My last cruise was booked through the call center. There were problems from day one with the booking. I transferred it to my TA because I felt she was better equipped to deal with the call center and resolve the problems. Seriously, it was as if a black cloud was following this booking. Thankfully, I had email documents and the call center had notes from every phone call from both me ( in the beginning) and then from my TA. As others have posted once you board the ship they do an incredible job of making you feel welcome, making sure you enjoy your Azamara experience and unfortunately straightening out the messes of the home office and call center. It should not have to be this way. Your booking problem will get resolved. I know it is hard....but, try not to let this pre-cruise experience put a damper on what will be an amazing cruise.

This sort of thing happened with an RCI booking I had previously made (and subsequently cancelled). I added my loyalty number to the reservation via My Cruises online, and the system decided to remove the sale price I had reserved with, and swap in my "loyalty discount", which resulted in an increase of several thousand dollars to the invoice.

When I spoke to the call centre staff to fix the issue, they claimed I tried to access both the sale and loyalty discounts (which wasn't my intention) and made it clear that in their view it was my fault that it had happened.

The actual issue is with their ridiculous and bug-ridden online customer platform, the lack of customer service when trying to rectify the problem is just the icing on the cake.

I have no doubt your issue, OP, will be rectified. Like others though, I agree it's not good enough. Checking in, or adding a loyalty number to a reservation shouldn't net this kind of result.

RCL (parent) really should hang their heads in shame over the state of their online booking issues. I recently changed the bedding arrangement on one booking from together to separated and the system repriced the entire cruise, dropping off a loyalty discount, military discount AND the onboard booking OBC (this was for RCI, but through the same booking engine that TAs use for Azamara and Celebrity). I now call in every single change that needs to be made to a booking, which is a complete waste of my time.

I’ve had reps tell me that I have no idea how complicated it is to redo a website. This is true - I majored in Renaissance Italian literature and have worked in finance and law, not computers. But my IT friends all tell me that they could fix is in a couple of days, maybe a week. I believe them.

RCL (parent) really should hang their heads in shame over the state of their online booking issues. I recently changed the bedding arrangement on one booking from together to separated and the system repriced the entire cruise, dropping off a loyalty discount, military discount AND the onboard booking OBC (this was for RCI, but through the same booking engine that TAs use for Azamara and Celebrity). I now call in every single change that needs to be made to a booking, which is a complete waste of my time.

 

I’ve had reps tell me that I have no idea how complicated it is to redo a website. This is true - I majored in Renaissance Italian literature and have worked in finance and law, not computers. But my IT friends all tell me that they could fix is in a couple of days, maybe a week. I believe them.

And this is what I can’t get my head around. I have never had any issues with Celebrity. If they use the same systems why is it so bad for Azamara.

Our issue is kind of resolved. Well the balance is back to zero. I am dealing directly with a supervisor who is pretty responsive on email. He has ‘implemented a workaround’ because only the revenue team permanently fix. This amounts to reducing the fare for one of us to make the total reflect the post discounted amount!

Fingers crossed there will be no further issues.

Still not really clear how online checkin would trigger this because surely this issues would impact a lot more people. How many people actually book without a discount applied?

Thanks for everyone’s comments, been reassuring and helpful.

Which was kind of why I advised you to email Richard Twynam! He is very good at resolving these kinds of issues ....goodness knows he gets a lot of opportunity to do it!

 

Sometimes it's best to bypass those who have to consult with a supervisor for a decision and go straight to the top to someone who has the power to sort your issue out directly.

 

Anyway, hope it is all resolved for you soon and you can look forward to enjoying your cruise. As all we know, the wonderful onboard experience is completely different to the mess of the pre cruise issues. You should also definitely claim your phone call costs back.

Will definitely follow up with an email to MD to summarise all the issues we have had pre cruise.

Thanks for email address.

He is a great ambassador for Azamara in the UK but such a shame we have to swamp him with minutiae that shouldn’t happen in the first place. Come on Azamara clean your IT/shoreside act up!

He is a great ambassador for Azamara in the UK but such a shame we have to swamp him with minutiae that shouldn’t happen in the first place. Come on Azamara clean your IT/shoreside act up!

Ann, I don't think people generally do "swamp him with minutiae" and he has a team to deal with issues reported to him. He doesn't have to action everything himself but personally, I feel that he should be aware of important issues like woodards. It's only from the top that these frustrating IT issues can actually be prevented and resolved. It is obviously a known problem if a simple thing like the client starting the check in procedure can affect their payment details....yet again, nothing has been done to resolve it in the past. Maybe Richard Twynam could help and even if he can't, he should be made aware of the upset it caused woodards over the weekend.

Lottie

Sorry I wasn’t saying he shouldn’t be contacted more he shouldn’t have to be if things functioned as they should for a premium brand.