CCL Customer Service Reps - Terrible!!

[buddylover]

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!

 

Let's not be misleading chasinraynbowz, not all PVP's are "created equal"......some are good like yours apparently, others are just as bad as calling the 800#. I had a very very poor PVP, so don't go touting them all as saviors vs calling the 900#, it is frankly not true...they are NOT all better!

[MamaSharpx2]

PLUS I noticed the OP signed on to Cruisecritic very recently

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

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WOW!! This is the first time I’ve been on this sight, recommended by a friend. I surely won't post again, didn't mean to stir up all this controversy.

[cdamion]

WOW!! This is the first time I’ve been on this sight, recommended by a friend. I surely won't post again, didn't mean to stir up all this controversy.

 

It is cruise CRITIC after all - everybody fancies themselves a critic:D

 

Please don't avoid posting, the majority of people on here are very friendly and helpful. Yes people flame each other sometimes, but there is a world of information here. It's like a big family where the children fight - alot.

[chasinraynbowz]

Let's not be misleading chasinraynbowz, not all PVP's are "created equal"......some are good like yours apparently, others are just as bad as calling the 800#. I had a very very poor PVP, so don't go touting them all as saviors vs calling the 900#, it is frankly not true...they are NOT all better!

 

 

I am not misleading anyone. I guess I have been very lucky and have had very good PVPs (the first one is no longer with the company). My current one I would not change for the world. And if you get a PVP you don't like, get a different one.

[louisville fan]

Too the person who said 800# always give poor service and it is a miserable job. you are mistaken. I have worked for an 800# number with the federal government for 15 years and another company 3 years before going to the feds. Everyone that I worked with always gave 100% and in a bubbly voice. No matter if I am sick or just not wanting to be there I always perform above par. A person is paid to do a job. so do it. If you don't like that job leave it, there is always someone else who will take your job over.

But yes, when I have called the Carnival 800 line I too have gotten someone who was less than happy to be working.

[PA Dutchman]

ALL YOU ARE DOING WHEN POSTING SOMETHING IS FINDING OUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLES OPINIONS ARE OTHER THEN YOURS. There are lots of opinions so just hang on. JMO :D

[Ready2Cruise!]

I had a not so good experience with customer service also. I called to INQUIRE about a POSSIBLE date change for our upcoming cruise and the rep went ahead and actually changed the reservation without my permission resulting in a rate increase.

 

The worst part about it was that we had two cabins booked and she only changed one!

 

It all worked out in the end, I think, hopefully she picked me the nicest possible cabin.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

WOW!! This is the first time I’ve been on this sight, recommended by a friend. I surely won't post again, didn't mean to stir up all this controversy.

 

I don't recommend people to come here anymore either. Its just not newcomer friendly and its very well tolerated by staff/mods whatever they are.

 

Its a shame as there is some very good info here but the signal to noise ratio is pretty bad here at times.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

PLUS I noticed the OP signed on to Cruisecritic very recently

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

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Cruise "CRITIC". Many people equate complaints with criticism and when they search or ask about a place to leave a critical comment, this place pops up, a lot.

 

Please do explain what you thing the OP's intention is? Are you like the other conspiracy theorists here who think its an RCI agent who came here to stir things up?

 

Really, please do elaborate at what you are getting at. This could be interesting.

[repo-cruiser]

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.:)

Typical americans nowadays, blame someone else for your poor attitude and service. I'm guessing when you took the job you knew exactly what your job entailed but yet still complain and make excuses for these people. I worked in a call center for 4 years and we were much more professional than your company and certainly didn't take bad attitudes towards customers. Please if you can't handle the job quit instead of whining and blaming others for your poor attitude and performance.:mad:

[Cruzaholic41]

PLUS I noticed the OP signed on to Cruisecritic very recently

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

.

 

So? :confused:

[aidansaunt2004]

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

Not all of them work from home. How do I know this? I work for a "virtual" call center (from home). I completely agree with the person that said it's hard to smile after an 8 hour day taking calls ranging from complaints, to questions to "orders". I take calls for infomercials and you would be surprised the things that get said to customer service reps. I'm not saying everyone is horrible, because I've talked to many great people but one really bad person can ruin your entire day. I had to take calls for a line that sent people postcards in the mail stating they had won money and they only needed to take a survey. It was the worst line I've ever worked. In reality, we had to sell them magazines and discount clubs. It was horrible. They didn't win anything.

 

Yes, some Carnival reps DO work from home. Some others are working in Miami. I know one of the call centers I considered working for has Carnival available as a client.

 

I'm not sure how the actual Carnival reps are paid but the majority of people that work from home are paid on commission. I get $.10 per minute and an incentive per product sold that can range from $.50-$5.00. Just keep that in mind. For some people if they don't sell anything, they don't make anything. If you don't have back to back calls (which you won't) you won't even make $6 an hour otherwise.

 

It can be very discouraging.

[aidansaunt2004]

Typical americans nowadays, blame someone else for your poor attitude and service. I'm guessing when you took the job you knew exactly what your job entailed but yet still complain and make excuses for these people. I worked in a call center for 4 years and we were much more professional than your company and certainly didn't take bad attitudes towards customers. Please if you can't handle the job quit instead of whining and blaming others for your poor attitude and performance.:mad:

 

Maybe you've never worked as in "Independent Agent". You don't technically work for anyone. You get a 1099 at the end of the year. For "virtual" call centers you typically don't know what lines you will be servicing, how much you're going to make, incentives etc. You don't have a supervisor, you don't have anyone to go to for "help". You're pretty much alone. I've worked in an actual call center as well and they're nothing alike.

 

In an actual call center you have coaching, training etc. It's more professional because you have people that guide you and help you along the way.

 

With a virtual call center (working from home), all of the calls are recorded. Guess what you get if they don't feel you repeated the terms etc enough? You can get terminated immediately or you can get a "compliance event" and you can be terminated at any time due to that. You don't have a meeting with management about improving your performance, warnings, more training etc. It's VERY stressful to know that your job can be terminated at any time for anything and they don't have to "write" you up, you don't have to be warned and you don't even have to be given a reason for being removed from the call center.

 

You also have "goals" you have to meet. If you don't sell enough of a certain product you can get terminated for that as well.

 

For instance, if the Carnival reps have a certain amount of cruises they have to sell each week and they have people calling in with questions all day, there is a big chance they aren't going to meet their goal. I'm sure there are consequences for not selling enough cruises. I'm sure it's pretty stressful. It may be labeled as customer service but it's more than likely a sales position.

 

Working from home and working in a call center are nothing alike. With a call center you know what you're bringing home because you make an hourly wage or have a salary. You know you aren't bringing $15 home for an 8 hour shift.