Calling Princess... does it always take SO LONG?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

We have never sailed with Princess, so we've had no reason to call them. Last night I called twice (after 8 eastern) and it took 16 and 13 minutes to reach a person. I assumed it was simply a matter of fewer weekend/after hours people manning the phones. Well, I am ON HOLD as we speak today... 15 minutes and counting.

 

Is this NORMAL for Princess???

 

In ~60 sailings with Carnival, Celebrity, and NCL I have rarely waited more than a couple/few minutes to speak to someone... NEVER 10+

 

??? :confused: ???

 

Tom

[Matcodixon]

No, I have never had to wait more then a couple of minutes.

[generichandle]

They are likely busy with long debate on if they should reduce my fare or give me a mighty upgrade.

 

Doug

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

They answered in just under 20 minutes (calling about a reservation I made last night). She did say that they have been quite busy...

 

Tom

[CruisinKLB]

I've tried twice in the middle of the day to get through and finally hung up irritated. I keep meaning to call first thing in the morning and then I forget :eek:

[cherylandtk]

That is an unusual amount of wait time in most cases. Although lately with the sales it has been very busy on the first day or two...I am not sure if the current Alaska offering is considered a new sale, but that might be part of the reason for the long hold time.

[bobalink]

I had to wait forever on Friday. That is unusual, at least from my experience. Generally, I get right through.

[geoherb]

I called a few weeks ago and did not have any wait. Most of the time I go through my travel agent after I have a specific cruise in mind. When I called this time, I was just trying to find out more info to help me make up my mind before calling my TA.

[tarheelmjfan]

My DH is on hold now trying to purchase OBC. It's been over 10 minutes & he's still holding.

[Astro Flyer]

I've been reading more posts about delays occurring & it could either be due to increased calls for their 'sales' or due to a cutback in staffing. My calls about an existing booking made through my TA have never had such lengthy delays.

 

Are most of the delays for booking new reservations or are they questions about an existing reservation...or both?

[lovevacadays]

I'ver never waited that long. Usually get right through or at most just a couple of minutes. So sorry this is your first experience with Princess.

[Love.II.Cruise]

We booked a cruise about 2.5 weeks ago and had no problem calling them. Since then we've called twice and haven't waited but a couple minutes. However, we call first thing in the morning, just after 9am EDT.

[Red Hat Cruise Cat]

I was on hold 24 minutes before someone picked up, and then she was very surly. I commented about how it took for someone to answer, and she said “well you’re talking with someone now, what do you want”.

If I didn’t like Princess so much, I would have told her to go to hell. :mad::mad::mad:

[reney313]

I would guess it's in relation to the crazy sale they've had for june and july sailings. Some are full, yet the email said it was good until July 7. I wonder if people are calling upset some of the sailings are sold out...I believe it would happen!

 

Those poor phone reps are probably ticked off they didn't staff up to account for the extra call volume. I'm sure every one of their phone conversations starts with the amount of time the person was on hold....

 

At least that is my guess ;)

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I was on hold 24 minutes before someone picked up, and then she was very surly. I commented about how it took for someone to answer, and she said “well you’re talking with someone now, what do you want”.

If I didn’t like Princess so much, I would have told her to go to hell. :mad::mad::mad:

 

I think Princess might have some issues... just from my experience last night (my first call and I was hung up on!) and from what you report. They may be few and far between, but it does not sound like they are not monitoring their lines"for quality control purposes"! :eek:

 

Tom

[candide333]

I started at 5:30 pm and it is now 6:05 pm. There must be a technical problem. Has anyone gotten through today?

[mcrimmins]

27 minutes during the Father's Day Sale. That was in the middle of a work day.

Mike

[Coral]

I just call my TA. So much easier :)

[PunkiC]

The waits have been horrible lately. They will lose business for sure and then add more operators.

[Coral]

The waits have been horrible lately. They will lose business for sure and then add more operators.

 

I don't remember the percentage but the vast majority of Princess cruises are booked through travel agents. I don't think they will lose that much business due to this.

[candide333]

Just got through at 6:40 pm, but the young lady apologized for the wait and was very pleasant and efficient. I had to cancel a cruise and rebook and I was done in 5 minutes.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I don't care to (ever) book through a TA. I don't care if they can save me x% or give me some additional amenities.

 

That's just me though -- I will ALWAYS book direct, don't care to have a middleman.

 

Tom

[Redwing55]

I would guess it's in relation to the crazy sale they've had for june and july sailings. Some are full, yet the email said it was good until July 7. I wonder if people are calling upset some of the sailings are sold out...I believe it would happen!

 

Those poor phone reps are probably ticked off they didn't staff up to account for the extra call volume. I'm sure every one of their phone conversations starts with the amount of time the person was on hold....

 

At least that is my guess ;)

 

Since I've never been in a phone reps shoe, I have to ask if the job be more rewarding with heavier call volume? What do they do when the volume is down? I'm not trying to rip on these reps as the job has got to have some frustrations. Still I wonder how volume makes the day better or worse. When I was younger, one of my first jobs was a cashier. I loved it when we had some lines. It was a challenge for me to get the line down and when I couldn't I tried to be apologetic for the wait. And now I occasionally volunteer to work concessions at a minor league baseball park as a fundraiser, I I like having people in line. It's boring when there are no or few customers.

 

So, I'm thinking Princess is just having higher call volume due to all the sales.

[reney313]

Since I've never been in a phone reps shoe, I have to ask if the job be more rewarding with heavier call volume? What do they do when the volume is down? I'm not trying to rip on these reps as the job has got to have some frustrations. Still I wonder how volume makes the day better or worse. When I was younger, one of my first jobs was a cashier. I loved it when we had some lines. It was a challenge for me to get the line down and when I couldn't I tried to be apologetic for the wait. And now I occasionally volunteer to work concessions at a minor league baseball park as a fundraiser, I I like having people in line. It's boring when there are no or few customers.

 

So, I'm thinking Princess is just having higher call volume due to all the sales.

 

Hit a nerve with me, huh. LOL.

 

I can't speak for the type of calls that these reps receive for cruise inquiries (although I can guess by being a CC member for many years). I have been involved in operations of a customer service call center in the financial industry (and was once on the phones myself).

 

In my opinion, it does make the day go faster when the calls are back to back. But, it is much worse when the customer has been on hold for a long time. No customers are happy about it and it raises a good majority of their tempers. It's a no win situation. Most goals in well managed call centers are 80-90% answered within 20 seconds wait. The calls are still back to back but the customers are much happier when connecting which makes that conversation about 1000X more productive. Not the customers fault, it's just human behavior.

 

I'm not sure if it's because of the sales going on....but generally you have pretty steady/reliable call forecasts and wait times don't just change without either a bunch of people quitting at once (unlikely), a major system issue occurring (haven't heard of one on CC) or a marketing campaign not fully vetted with the operations side. At least in my experience...I'm sure there could be other reasons.

[ttnc4me]

I would guess it's in relation to the crazy sale they've had for june and july sailings. Some are full, yet the email said it was good until July 7.

OMGosh I feel so out of it. In going to the Princess website, I see nothing about crazy sales. Is there a link, or can someone shed more light please? I'm ready to go to Alaska!:D