CCL Customer Service Reps - Terrible!!

[MamaSharpx2]

My husband and I are sailing on the Spendor in June and I will be platium with this cruise:D I called the customer service number today (I actually had to call twice) with some questions regarding my cabin assignment. Anyway the first rep I spoke with sounded sooo miserable and didnt sound like she wanted to help me with a very simple question:mad: I ended up calling back later on and got an even worse service rep, she put me on hold and while listening to the cruise music, I began to think about being on the lido deck drink in hand and it came to a hault when she came back on the line. Absolutly miserable, unenergentic and unwilling to help:( Carnival really needs to do something about it, I could see people wanting to give there money to a company with a little more enthusiasm when calling with questions about there "fun"ships!!

 

52 days till sailing, can't wait!!!:p

[Mikel1733]

So can you be a little more specific and tell us what question stumped and aggravated 2 different CCL reps?

[MamaSharpx2]

So can you be a little more specific and tell us what question stumped and aggravated 2 different CCL reps?

 

All I asked was how much to go from a guarantee balcony to choose my room. They were both awful as soon as they answered even before I said anything!!

[Justgettinstarted08]

I've yet to hear "cruise music" when I've called the number. It's alway the bubbly young lady talking about all there is to do on the ships. :confused::rolleyes:

[MamaSharpx2]

I guess I should have said, has anyone else came across this problem when calling??

[fishtaco]

You are on the sailing before mine:)

 

I thought your question would have been quite simple and maybe thought obvious to the people you called thus the attitude unless I have it all wrong myself?

 

If you have paid for a Guarantee then the price difference for choosing your own cabin would be the difference between the Guarantee price you paid against any other deals you are entitled to that lets you choose your cabin

 

For my cruise

Fun Select (Balcony) $1064 choose your own cabin and location

Fun Saver (Balcony) $ 889 you choose your class we choose your cabin and location.

 

Will cost me $ 175 more pp because I am not entitled to any other promotions.

 

The reason I booked ES is because with ES it cost only $10 more than a Guarantee to choose my own cabin and location.

 

 

Den

[MICHLEV1974]

Has anyone ever worked on an 800# for customer service? Well, I work on an 800# 5+ years and let me tell you how awful it is to do that job. I know the economy is terrible and we should be thankful for any job right now, but working on an 800# is awful. Every 3-5 minutes you have a new personality, a new problem, a new voice ringing in your ear. It is impossible to do that job 100% smiley and fancy and happy for 8 hours a day for prob @ $8.50/hr. So, if you get a sub-par experience with a few 800# reps...now you know why. Want an even worse experience, ask to speak to their supervisor and see how long you have to sit on hold to get the supervisor to get on the phone with you....the most common tactic is to keep you on hold til you hang up and if you don't hang up within the allotted time, then you will get transferred to their buddy sitting right near them after they complained about you...sorry, but that's the reality. Hope you call when there is a shift change next time so you get a fresh voice right out of the gate who hasn't been tortured by customers for the last 7 hours. smile. there are worse things to vent about.:)

[fishtaco]

Has anyone ever worked on an 800# for customer service? Well, I work on an 800# 5+ years and let me tell you how awful it is to do that job. I know the economy is terrible and we should be thankful for any job right now, but working on an 800# is awful. Every 3-5 minutes you have a new personality, a new problem, a new voice ringing in your ear. It is impossible to do that job 100% smiley and fancy and happy for 8 hours a day for prob @ $8.50/hr. So, if you get a sub-par experience with a few 800# reps...now you know why. Want an even worse experience, ask to speak to their supervisor and see how long you have to sit on hold to get the supervisor to get on the phone with you....the most common tactic is to keep you on hold til you hang up and if you don't hang up within the allotted time, then you will get transferred to their buddy sitting right near them after they complained about you...sorry, but that's the reality. Hope you call when there is a shift change next time so you get a fresh voice right out of the gate who hasn't been tortured by customers for the last 7 hours. smile. there are worse things to vent about.:)

 

:D:D:D

 

Usually if I ask to speak to a supervisor the line gets disconnected after 10 mins of waiting listening to that annoying "musac"

 

Den

[pauleydm]

Sorry for the bad service...that sucks. I only call my PVP, and he is bubbly and full of energy every time I call.:)

[Tedro1]

+1 on PVP. Always cheerful AND helpful.

[treasure4two]

I have had great luck with them and I do not envy them their jobs.

They are the lowest level and can only do something out of the ordinary with permission from a supervisor. If they can not help me, I say I understand it is out of their control, do not blame them, and ask for a supervisor. Never had a problem with CCL.

 

About working with the public in large numbers-I was a TWA flight attendant from 1967 to 1991, the good ole days, when we served cocktails and hot meals to 175 people in coach in 1 hour 45 minutes. Smiled, said good bye to the people getting off, go through the plane, picking up trash, pillows, blankets, and then 175 more people got on for the next 2 hour flight. My favorite;) question then was 'why aren't you smiling?" Trust me, you did not have time to listen to the reasons why. I might have been thinking about all I had to do, getting ready to serve the next drinks and hot meals and as hard as I tried, I was not always smiling-but I did my damnest to do a good job and make sure you had drinks, food, and a safe trip. At the end of my typical 10-12+ hour day, I smiled because I knew everyone made it to their destination, none

the worst off, and safely there. These poor people in call in centers probably never feel they pleased anyone, unless we tell them. They might not always give us the answer we want, but I feel they try their best concerning with the rules they must follow for their employers.

Smile!:D

[Monaco02]

Has anyone ever worked on an 800# for customer service? Well, I work on an 800# 5+ years and let me tell you how awful it is to do that job. I know the economy is terrible and we should be thankful for any job right now, but working on an 800# is awful. Every 3-5 minutes you have a new personality, a new problem, a new voice ringing in your ear. It is impossible to do that job 100% smiley and fancy and happy for 8 hours a day for prob @ $8.50/hr. So, if you get a sub-par experience with a few 800# reps...now you know why. Want an even worse experience, ask to speak to their supervisor and see how long you have to sit on hold to get the supervisor to get on the phone with you....the most common tactic is to keep you on hold til you hang up and if you don't hang up within the allotted time, then you will get transferred to their buddy sitting right near them after they complained about you...sorry, but that's the reality. Hope you call when there is a shift change next time so you get a fresh voice right out of the gate who hasn't been tortured by customers for the last 7 hours. smile. there are worse things to vent about.:)

Well you won't get transferred to their buddy sitting next to them.....they all work from home!

[Rhitson88]

Just because they told you something that you may not have wanted to hear does not mean they are "terrible". They have done some amazing things for me that would seem so confusing to a normal travel agent.

[tracyanns]

Well you won't get transferred to their buddy sitting next to them.....they all work from home!

 

No they don't...only SOME of them work from home. You have to work in the office for a certain period of time and have a certain performance in order to be able to work from home...

[tracyanns]

This is the answer to the question to one of the main reasons as to why you should have a PVP...

[Aplmac]

I have had great luck with them and I do not envy them their jobs.

They are the lowest level and can only do something out of the ordinary with permission from a supervisor. If they can not help me, I say I understand it is out of their control, do not blame them, and ask for a supervisor. Never had a problem with CCL.

 

About working with the public in large numbers-I was a TWA flight attendant from 1967 to 1991, the good ole days, when we served cocktails and hot meals to 175 people in coach in 1 hour 45 minutes. Smiled, said good bye to the people getting off, go through the plane, picking up trash, pillows, blankets, and then 175 more people got on for the next 2 hour flight. My favorite;) question then was 'why aren't you smiling?" Trust me, you did not have time to listen to the reasons why. I might have been thinking about all I had to do, getting ready to serve the next drinks and hot meals and as hard as I tried, I was not always smiling-but I did my damnest to do a good job and make sure you had drinks, food, and a safe trip. At the end of my typical 10-12+ hour day, I smiled because I knew everyone made it to their destination, none

the worst off, and safely there. These poor people in call in centers probably never feel they pleased anyone, unless we tell them. They might not always give us the answer we want, but I feel they try their best concerning with the rules they must follow for their employers.

Smile!:D

Thanks for your slant on this, from the Service side of things.

I very much understand your point of view and thank you for letting folks know what it's like to be on the other side of the mirror for once. ;)

 

It has been my experience that people don't know or care how systems work

as long as they get the service!

 

And if/when the systems fail, it's whine whine whine. They take it all entirely for granted.

.

[chasinraynbowz]

From what I understand, the customer service reps work from the office while some of the PVP's work from home (I know my PVP works from home).

 

And by the way Markmom18, you are not supposed to name your PVPs on this site. If you can, change it. If not, it should go poof shortly.

 

Op, sorry you had a difficult time with them. I have always had good luck when calling the 800 number (when my PVP was off and I had a quick question).

[cdamion]

Just because they told you something that you may not have wanted to hear does not mean they are "terrible". They have done some amazing things for me that would seem so confusing to a normal travel agent.

 

Unfortunately I have to agree with OP. I had called to do simple things that stumped them and they even gave me incorrect information. I had to call back a couple of times to get somebody who could help.

 

For example, once I called to ask about adding money to my sign and sail account - the person said it was not possible. Knowing this was incorrect, I called back and spoke to a person that got me to the right department.

 

I don't recall what the other two reasons I called were, but I had the same experience getting incorrect information from the first person I spoke to.

 

They were never rude, just uninformed.

[chasinraynbowz]

Unfortunately I have to agree with OP. I had called to do simple things that stumped them and they even gave me incorrect information. I had to call back a couple of times to get somebody who could help.

 

For example, once I called to ask about adding money to my sign and sail account - the person said it was not possible. Knowing this was incorrect, I called back and spoke to a person that got me to the right department.

 

I don't recall what the other two reasons I called were, but I had the same experience getting incorrect information from the first person I spoke to.

 

They were never rude, just uninformed.

 

And this is why I normally stick with my PVP. He knows what he is doing. The 800 number "call center" I am sure has a lot of turnover. You can only train someone so much before they have to start working... and learn as they go. And for us on the receiving end, it sucks!

[GTO-Girl]

Another vote for getting a PVP......I have no problems getting in touch with our guy. We have his phone # as well as his cell phone # and he always seems happy to help us.

[PA Dutchman]

They are only the worst people they have ever talked to when they don't get what they want or get what they think they should. Other then that they are wounderful.

[Aplmac]

They are only the worst people they have ever talked to

when they don't get what they want or get what they think they should.

Other then that they are wonderful.

PLUS I noticed the OP signed on to Cruisecritic very recently

for the specific purpose of lodging this "complaint" ? Hmmmmmm. :cool:

.

[spiritfox]

Yet another vote for calling your PVP--hit or miss with the 800 number. Personally I've had good luck with simple general questions but when it comes to specific questions concerning my bookings, I'd rather talk to my PVP.

[cdamion]

And this is why I normally stick with my PVP. He knows what he is doing. The 800 number "call center" I am sure has a lot of turnover. You can only train someone so much before they have to start working... and learn as they go. And for us on the receiving end, it sucks!

 

PVP's are awesome.

 

As I said, my experience with the 800 number is only negative in that I have to call back to get info I know is correct. The people have always been friendly.

[littlesnit]

Just lucky, I guess. No PVP, but have had great service with the 800 #.