Guest relations debacle

[Orator]

Jade13 gave good advice when she suggested that one should ask for a proof of signature if there is a dispute. The folks at Guest relations normally check the slips to verify a dispute. Either this wasn't done, or they found the charge ship. I seriously doubt the latter since they would have shown it to the OP. If this situation happens to you, and it does more than you might think, you might try the following to resolve the issue ASAP:

 

Get the "proof of signature" from Guest Relations. If they can't resolve the dispute go to the Food and Beverage Manager. The F&B Manager is in charge of all bar operations and has the authority to reverse a charge. If that doesn't work, ask to speak to the Hotel Director. The HD is the supervisor for the F&B Manager. That's the chain of command on the ship. A fellow guest on a recent cruise complained to me that he was charged three times for the same bottle of wine and could not get that fixed. Sent him to the F&B Manager who resolved it within minutes.

[acctgtogo]

This same thing happened to us on Royal. We had charges for drinks at one of their midnight parties. When we got our bill at the end of the cruise (sorry, we did not monitor it during the cruise as we had never had problems before) there were charges that we did not make for the drinks. As everyone was getting ready to disembark, the front desk was busy, but said that they would take care of it. Of couse, it never happened. Lesson learned.

[wwcruisers]

JeanfromBNA -- First, let me give you a big "attagirl" for sticking to your guns, and resolving the situation in a firm but polite manner. :) Second, I really hope that you and your husband don't let this one bad experience put you "off" Celebrity. I'm thinking that this was the exception, not the rule. :(

 

And, for future reference, the GR staff on X and RC have business cards. Whenever DH or I have to go there to resolve a problem, we always ask for the card of the person who is assisting us. Then we jot down the date and time that we spoke to that person. If they say "sorry -- I don't have a card", we politely ask them to write their name on a piece of paper for us. That way, if the problem isn't resolved, we have the name(s) of everyone we have spoken to about it -- and the time/date. :cool:

[mjwcruising]

I had a problem similar to the problem the OP on our last cruise on the Silhouette.

I had the premium Alcohol package.

We had dinner in Qsine. I had two beers (they were not your ordinary beer and were only sold in Qsine; they were served in a pewter mug). They were $6 each. They were definitely covered by my package as per the waiter. They appeared on our on board charges which we noticed on the TV.

On the first visit to guest relations they tried to tell me the $6 was probably for the price which was above the $12 limit. I said no that is how much the drinks were and told them to check with Qsine. I went to Guest Relations twice and had to make 2 phone calls.

After about 3 days they were finally removed.

 

 

JeanfromBNA -- First, let me give you a big "attagirl" for sticking to your guns, and resolving the situation in a firm but polite manner. :) Second, I really hope that you and your husband don't let this one bad experience put you "off" Celebrity. I'm thinking that this was the exception, not the rule. :(

 

Totally agree; don't let this turn you off from Celebrity. The service is usually outstanding but sometimes there is a not so good experience.

 

And, for future reference, the GR staff on X and RC have business cards. Whenever DH or I have to go there to resolve a problem, we always ask for the card of the person who is assisting us. Then we jot down the date and time that we spoke to that person. If they say "sorry -- I don't have a card", we politely ask them to write their name on a piece of paper for us. That way, if the problem isn't resolved, we have the name(s) of everyone we have spoken to about it -- and the time/date. :cool:

 

This is an excellant idea...one I hope to use in the future if a problem arises.

[ghstudio]

There is an old adage in the customer service field....."a customer who is not standing in front of you anymore (or who is not longer speaking to you on the phone) no longer has a problem." In other words, if I can get you to step away or transfer the call, I've done my job.

 

I just hate that...and the suggestion that you always get a business card or piece of paper with a name is excellent. In my book, the desk person has one chance...then it goes to the manager with the first person's name...not a second chance at the desk. I don't have time on a cruise to spend waiting for customer service to fix problems.

[walkerspt]

I think the problem is less than about the original mistake or how it happened but more about how the guest was treated when she tried to rectify matters. After all, mistakes do happen but there is no excuse for promising to fix something and then not following through. We had a similar situation three years ago on Royal Caribbean. They failed to process a refund for a ship's excursion that they cancelled (early in the cruise). We had repeated promises that the refund would be coming and all kinds of excuses. We spoke to at least four different people at guest relations who all insisted on personally checking everything because they were sure they could fix the problem. Most were polite but some became snippy when we let our impatience show. The guest relations manager finally said that there was a computer glitch of some sort and the problem could not be fixed on board but he overrode the computer on the last day and gave us our refund in cash. We found that the guest relations people were prone to say anything and promise anything just to make you go away. Follow through on promises was almost non-existent. My cynical view, after a number of cruises, is that Guest Relations is fine as long as everything goes well, but if something goes wrong, it's a different story.

[tanelicus]

There is an old adage in the customer service field....."a customer who is not standing in front of you anymore (or who is not longer speaking to you on the phone) no longer has a problem." In other words, if I can get you to step away or transfer the call, I've done my job.

 

I just hate that...and the suggestion that you always get a business card or piece of paper with a name is excellent. In my book, the desk person has one chance...then it goes to the manager with the first person's name...not a second chance at the desk. I don't have time on a cruise to spend waiting for customer service to fix problems.

 

I think your right with this. Once you start something and don't get a firm answer immediately, it becomes more difficult.

 

The problem is that two things may occur. If an employee makes a mistake, that employee might try to cover their butt and deny, deny, deny.

 

Second, everytime you come back it looks like your the problem and not them. Its kind of like a file is building against you. I am wondering if more scrutiny is given to couples who have one party with a alcohol package and one without. If ther is an issue, despite the reason or lack thereof, the assumption on the part of Celebrity customer service is that its the couple is trying to score free booze.

 

Both are sad, but seem to happen at any given large scale business with varying types of customer service issues. This is my personal opinion based on my experience.

 

I find if you nip it in the bud early, there is no opportunity for a "misunderstanding".

 

I think it doesn't look good on Celebrity that they put this on the customer as opposed to just chalking it up to good business. We all know Celebrity is running a business to make a profit, however $50.00 isn't going to improve their bottom line. The couple spent good money on two types of beverage packages. The burden should not have been placed on the customers like this.

 

Why was getting a manager so threatening to these people is the question I have, when I read about problems like this? If a person is persistent, then why not bring in somebody who can make the call.

 

My theory, if its not a manager, then they can blame possible customer service misteps on the lower downs. Sorry conspiracy theory of the day. However, its the only way I can rationalize it.

 

Sorry to hear about your bummer experience.