Does Holland America Care?

[wallyboag]

Many of you remember the service problems I had on my cruise on the Westerdam in July. That thread spiraled into name calling and personal attacks and a back-and-forth of two different opinions with no helpful discussion, so it was closed.

 

I wrote a letter to the guest relations department of HAL explaining what happened to me and how I felt that when we brought problems to the attention of the crew, they didn't seem to care to correct them.

 

A week after I wrote the letter I received an auto-reply e-mail saying that correspondences are responded to in the order that they are received and it may be some time before I get a reply, but that they "...appreciate the effort it takes to write to us."

 

It has been 7 weeks since I wrote the e-mail and I still have not received a response. Now it seems that not only did the crew of the Westerdam not care about problems when they occurred, but the corporate office doesn't care to correct them either!

 

How has the response for other people been? When you have had issues does the crew correct them for you? Have you brought anything to the attention of the head office before? Is more than 7 weeks removed from writing a complaint to receiving a response acceptable? What about from other lines? What happens when you have had issues with them?

[fsdj1097]

In the rare occurrence (on the Zuiderdam we had some isssues with delayed toilet flushing), the crew responded to our issues promptly and to our satisfaction. Have not had a reason to contact the corporate office with issues on board.

[CaveDiving]

On the few occasions where there has been some difficulty either during or after a cruise, the issue has been addressed (to my satisfaction) both quickly and professionally.

 

Scott & Karen

[NMLady]

I didn't see your original thread so I don't know what your service problem was, but two different times when we've had a problem and I notified our cabin steward, he notified maintenance promptly and it was taken care of within just a few hours satisfactorily.

 

I've never had to write to the head office with a complaint.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Many of you remember the service problems I had on my cruise on the Westerdam in July. That thread spiraled into name calling and personal attacks and a back-and-forth of two different opinions with no helpful discussion, so it was closed.

 

I wrote a letter to the guest relations department of HAL explaining what happened to me and how I felt that when we brought problems to the attention of the crew, they didn't seem to care to correct them.

 

A week after I wrote the letter I received an auto-reply e-mail saying that correspondences are responded to in the order that they are received and it may be some time before I get a reply, but that they "...appreciate the effort it takes to write to us."

 

It has been 7 weeks since I wrote the e-mail and I still have not received a response. Now it seems that not only did the crew of the Westerdam not care about problems when they occurred, but the corporate office doesn't care to correct them either!

 

How has the response for other people been? When you have had issues does the crew correct them for you? Have you brought anything to the attention of the head office before? Is more than 7 weeks removed from writing a complaint to receiving a response acceptable? What about from other lines? What happens when you have had issues with them?

 

Just as bad for us.

When we got home from our Noordam cruise December 4, we wrote a letter to HAL. We got a letter from Seattle while we were on our February cruise. It came about 8 - 9 weeks after we had written our letter.

Hope you get a better response than we did. The person who answered our letter did not address one issue that we had -- just hemmed-hawwed around everything. Their repsonse letter was a joke.

Good luck.

[Jade13]

I found your original thread. It seemed like a lot of little things and not one big issue.

 

Exactly what are you expecting, aside from the acknowledgement that they received your letter - which I think they should do.

 

Some of your issues were a number of days to get robes and a laundry bag, wine flights being small, and not being happy with the opening hours of the lido.

 

These aren't issues we would write a letter about, but can understand how added up they can lead to disappointment.

 

We wrote a letter to HAL when our cruise was "canceled' after a few days and the ship returned to the disembarkation port because of a hurricane warning. We did not have a problem with the Captain doing what was necessary for the safety of the passengers, but felt that the cruise just "ended" as we ended up in Boston with everything on the ship being closed including the pool, and they started doing maintenance. We thought they could have done more with activities but we had already had the one sea day before this happened and nothing was added.

 

It took a couple of months, but I received a very long detailed letter explaining why the pool was closed. We knew the water was initially emptied because we were going through a right whale reserve. But I wanted to know why it was never refilled. It turns out where we were docked there was no water hook-up. They actally apologized for the delayed response, but wanted to investigate before responding.

 

Note that I was very specific in what I was asking.

 

We had some issues on Veendam this year, and they were addressed while we were on the ship.

[wallyboag]

I found your original thread. It seemed like a lot of little things and not one big issue.

 

Exactly what are you expecting, aside from the acknowlegement that they received your letter - which I think they should do.

 

I'm not expecting compensation of any sort, really. Holland America was sold to us by our travel agent and our friends as a premium line with top-notch service and we paid a premium price for it. I understand that things go wrong, but part of having a brand motto "signature of excellence" I feel means when something goes wrong, it is corrected immediately and apologetically. As someone in the service industry I think knowing how your paying customers perceive your service is important so that you can keep it consistent and fix issues before they happen again. Really I was writing to hopefully help them make their experience better for future customers and maybe get a little acknowledgement that they goofed and what we experienced wasn't typical.

 

Some of your issues were a number of days to get robes and a laundry bag, wine flights being small, and not being happy with the opening hours of the lido.

 

These aren't issues we would write a letter about, but can understand how added up they can lead to disappointment.

 

You're right. They are all minor issues, and not a single one of them by itself would warrant a complaint or even anything more than minor annoyance... but they all stacked up and the fact that when we would bring up an issue it seemed to just be tossed off by the crew rather than immediately fixed and a small apology for the problem... For instance, when the drink was made incorrectly, the server should have said "I am very sorry!" and taken it immediately to be replaced, he shouldn't have left it sitting on the table while he went to find out if he could take it back or not from the head server! When my brother's room service order was more than an hour late and he called to cancel it, the kitchen should have apologized for being behind and not able to fulfill their promised delivery time, instead of demanding even more time and telling him he shouldn't cancel it! Maybe a canapes or a free drink or even dinner at the specialty restaurant or something should have been offered the next day for the difficulty in getting his order? Instead the problem was brushed off and not even an apology was offered!

[kazu]

I wrote emailed Seattle after our Prinsendam cruise - different reasons than those yours - I wanted to thank certain members of the crew and HAL for a fabulous cruise.

 

My reply came about 9 weeks later if I recall correctly. (by email as I had emailed them). If you snail mailed them I would add at least a week to the time to allow for the mail.

 

They do reply.

[George C]

We had issues with a few people during Zuiderdam cruise, Hal did respond and we were satisfied with their results, I would switch cruise lines if they had not responded

[NoobCruise]

We had a couple of small issues that the crew responded to immediately. One was needing laundry bags since we had unlimited laundry. I went and asked for them. I never saw the laundry bag, but when I returned to my cabin, my entire pile of laundry was gone, and reappeared the next afternoon clean and pressed. The magic laundry fairy reappeared every day after that.

 

The next issue was the crew started washing the sea view deck, which was directly above us, while we were on our balcony watching a spectacular sunset and the water was trickling down on us. DH ran to the Neptune Lounge, not so much to ask them to stop but to let them know so maybe they would warn us next time because he had some very expensive camera equipment out and set up on a tripod that had gotten a little wet. To our surprise, they called the crew and stopped the cleaning immediately so we could finish watching the sunset. Now that is an incredible response that we hadn't expected. I thought they would apologize for not warning us, but finish the cleaning. Then they surprised us the next day with complimentary cocktails sent to our cabin with an apology for what had happened.

 

I think they care a lot and try their best to make everyone happy. Maybe it was the way you approached them with complaints and how you talked to them?

[midwest 852]

On the Oosterdam 2010 i filled out the comment card on board & noted a problem that happened on board. I received a apology letter about two weeks later. Then while on the Westerdam in 2011 they sent a box of chocolates & a note of apology to my cabin. Just off the Oosterdam last week (9/9/12) I received a note from the Hotel Manager apologizing again & welcoming me back aboard the Oosterdam.

 

I was very impressed by HAL responds:)

[karatemom2]

I was interested in reading your original post after seeing this thread as we were similarly disappointed in our first experience with HAL after receiving the impression that the service onboard was somehow a notch above. We also found just the opposite. Like you what we encountered was a series of service issues that taken individually might seem unimportant, but as a whole throughout the cruise left us feeling very disappointed with HAL. We also struggled with the unlimited laundry services, always having to request bags, sometimes multiple times and even having other people's laundry delivered with ours and having to call multiple times to have it collected to be returned to its rightful owners. Don't get me wrong, it is a wonderful service and we loved it, but it was at times challenging to use. We also had issue with our food and beverage services and with the strange lido hours. It was the first time I have ever been on a cruise where there were times it was difficult to find food and get sodas. And often when it was delivered, both in the dining room and from room service, it was incorrect or items were missing. It was always corrected with a profuse apology and pleasant response, but I understand what you mean when you say the little things add up. After all was said and done I did not feel the need to write a letter to HAL, but in essence will simply be voting with my vacation dollars in the future which will likely not be spent with HAL.

[wallyboag]

Interesting, we had three cabins in our party and each noted our problems on the comment forms. None of us have received a reply.

[cruz chic]

I wouldn't wait by your mail box waiting for a reply. I contacted HAL about shotty service I rec'd from a car service they hired. All I was looking for was an I'm sorry, it was wrong. That was in April and I'm still waiting for it:rolleyes:.

[jaxonboy]

snip...

How has the response for other people been? When you have had issues does the crew correct them for you? Have you brought anything to the attention of the head office before? Is more than 7 weeks removed from writing a complaint to receiving a response acceptable? What about from other lines? What happens when you have had issues with them?

 

 

 

We have requested some repairs to our cabin, a broken hinge on a cabinet door, a commode that wouldn't empty, a leaky window, etc. Nothing major. Everything mentioned to the cabin steward was promptly corrected.

 

One time they were chipping rust in the wee hours and the noise would wake me up. I went to the front office and asked them to look into it. They did, and there was no more noise during sleeping time. Now consider with a steel ship the noise could be transmitted a long way, but they took care of it.

 

The Hotel Manager, the Food and Beverage Manager, and the Cruise Director are empowered to fix things that are not to standard, but we rarely have a problem with the service on HAL. Ultimately, you can request a meeting with the Captain.

 

Never thought to write a letter to HQ after the fact, what good would it do?

[startwin]

When we experienced toilet problems for most of our 22 days on the Zuiderdam, I wasn't too impressed with the front office, and eventually one of the Guest Relations Managers gave us an OBC, following bottles of wine to compensate(:confused:) for us having to use a public washroom most of the time (when they worked). So I thought that was pretty fair although we were not actually looking for any kind of compensation, just a fix.

 

There were many issues on that cruise (well documented on here, and again that thread deteriorated into name calling and nastiness too), and when we got home I wrote to HAL by snail mail and email. Many, many weeks later (months in fact) we got a form letter back and woohoo, VIP status for our next cruise (bottle of wine and flowers) but no answers to any of our questions.

 

For some onboard, it was the cruise from hell, for all kinds of reasons but mostly air conditioning and plumbing. For us, we still had a great time in spite of it all. And others had no problems at all.

 

So although we were disappointed in the lack of response, we just left it there. Then I heard from someone else on the cruise who had not been impacted personally by the plumbing problems apart from the day ALL the plumbing went down and there were NO toilets working. And the shut down of the air conditioning throughout the ship on the hottest day of the trip. So 2 days of the 22 days. They lodged their concerns with the front office, and I believe they followed up with an email. And when they booked their next cruise they got a big OBC on their account, which we were happy to hear.

 

So overall, I think that HAL's responses to complaints, issues, problems is very inconsistent at the very least, and the way they handle any compensation makes no sense. What they need to be doing is giving some real answers, never mind wine and flowers - just address the issues instead of band-aiding and leaving passengers with an uneasy feeling about booking another cruise. Fix the ships, for heavens sakes, instead of pretending there are no problems.

[sppunk]

I wrote a detailed letter to Guest Relations and Carnival itself regarding our recent Veendam experience. Mailed late in August, when I hear (if I hear) back I'll be sure to let you know.

 

Hope you hear something soon. At times you do have to wonder if the powers care enough.

[BruceMuzz]

I wouldn't wait by your mail box waiting for a reply. I contacted HAL about shotty service I rec'd from a car service they hired. All I was looking for was an I'm sorry, it was wrong. That was in April and I'm still waiting for it:rolleyes:.

 

Shotty Service ????????

 

Wrong vowel - or wrong consonants?

[uppitycats]

Many of you remember the service problems I had on my cruise on the Westerdam in July. That thread spiraled into name calling and personal attacks and a back-and-forth of two different opinions with no helpful discussion, so it was closed.

 

I wrote a letter to the guest relations department of HAL explaining what happened to me and how I felt that when we brought problems to the attention of the crew, they didn't seem to care to correct them.

 

A week after I wrote the letter I received an auto-reply e-mail saying that correspondences are responded to in the order that they are received and it may be some time before I get a reply, but that they "...appreciate the effort it takes to write to us."

 

It has been 7 weeks since I wrote the e-mail and I still have not received a response. Now it seems that not only did the crew of the Westerdam not care about problems when they occurred, but the corporate office doesn't care to correct them either!

 

How has the response for other people been? When you have had issues does the crew correct them for you? Have you brought anything to the attention of the head office before? Is more than 7 weeks removed from writing a complaint to receiving a response acceptable? What about from other lines? What happens when you have had issues with them?

 

I didn't read your first thread. I don't know if you included a copy of your email in it, so this should not be in any way taken as a criticism of what you might have written. This is just a general observation:

 

It's been my experience (not with HAL..I didn't find anything but minor faults with them, quickly corrected while I was on board)

 

that the more succinct and direct a complaint letter is, the quicker the response. And a response can be especially quick if you state specifically what you expect in return: OBC, upgrade, refund, apology, replacement, whatever.

 

If you just write a series of complaints, some vague, some minor, some serious, all jumbled together, and go on and on for several paragraphs, the letter gets ignored. And if your complaints are something that could not be immediately addressed, then they'll be ignored. Finally, if your complaints are unrealistic-- something that isn't within the control of the immediate staff -- they'll be dismissed.

 

For example, the hours of the LIDO are not something that a staff person has control over. That would be the entire corporate decision. So expecting anything more than "I'm sorry" out of the staff would be unrealistic. And if you said to the corporate headquarters that they should change the hours of the LIDO, they may consider it, but there really isn't any sort of response they could give you, other than "we'll consider it."

 

Anyway, I'm sorry your cruise wasn't up to your expectations.

[Wakepatrol]

it just seems so hard to believe (Guess I'm a cynic) that people writing with complaints "Aren't Looking For Anything"

 

If one isn't looking for anything,why worry about response time?

[sail7seas]

Judging from this thread, it seems lots of people are writing letters. Must take a huge team to answer them all. :eek: Seeing those who post to CC are a small percent of all those who sail HAL ships, if this group is representative, I'm amazed at how many letters people actually have received.

 

It has been years and literally dozens of cruises since we wrote a letter to HAL Seattle Headquarters. We've not had the need or inclination.

 

We praise those who made our cruise special on end of cruise surveys or in person while aboard the ship; we address any issue that arises while we are aboard that we think needs addressing and those issues have always been handled as well as we could expect. NOT always to our total satisfaction but at this moment, I cannot think of any issue which was so bad that we left the ship totally dissatisfied. Yes, we have had things happen we didn't think should and things that could have been done better but I'm certainly not perfect (by a long shot) and there is no perfect in my life. I think HAL crews genuinely do the very best they can.

 

JMO.......

 

[tangerinebunny]

Our problems albeit minor have always been handled in a timely manner while we're on board.

 

We would simply move on to another line if we were unhappy with service from HAL. Surely many of us have done that with airlines, hotel chains, and even spouses.

 

Perhaps it's time to move on.

[rocsailor]

Many of you remember the service problems I had on my cruise on the Westerdam in July. That thread spiraled into name calling and personal attacks and a back-and-forth of two different opinions with no helpful discussion, so it was closed.

 

I wrote a letter to the guest relations department of HAL explaining what happened to me and how I felt that when we brought problems to the attention of the crew, they didn't seem to care to correct them.

 

A week after I wrote the letter I received an auto-reply e-mail saying that correspondences are responded to in the order that they are received and it may be some time before I get a reply, but that they "...appreciate the effort it takes to write to us."

 

It has been 7 weeks since I wrote the e-mail and I still have not received a response. Now it seems that not only did the crew of the Westerdam not care about problems when they occurred, but the corporate office doesn't care to correct them either!

 

How has the response for other people been? When you have had issues does the crew correct them for you? Have you brought anything to the attention of the head office before? Is more than 7 weeks removed from writing a complaint to receiving a response acceptable? What about from other lines? What happens when you have had issues with them?

We sailed in December on the N.Amsterdam and had a few complaints about the ship and not to go into all the details but received a call from a PPC asking how the cruise went, This was middle of Jan. and I voiced my concerns to him. He stated He would refer this to Customer Relations, Febuary 11th I received a letter from them and they stated they would follow up on this. They offered us an upgrade on a 10 day cruise or less. We do not like to cruise less than two weeks so they opted for a OBC on our next cruise which is this Oct. So I would say they worked with us and the outcome was great:)

[Sea42]

Shotty Service ????????

 

Wrong vowel - or wrong consonants?

Perhaps a review of the posting guidelines would be helpful?

Do not make comments on the spelling and grammar of other users. It is simply not a productive expenditure of energies.

[CtheW0rld]

S7S hit the nail on the head. The people answering complaints letters must be busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger.

 

short answer: i believe the crew really do care, but they are only empowered to do so much. i think the mamagement at the corporate level only care about the bottom line. one of these days, they are going to be on the street scratching their heads saying 'what the heck happened?'.