Begging has to stop

[tserface]

We've often had the cabin attendant or waiter explain the system to us and tell us that the ratings are very important to them, but we've never been hounded. Usually each of them says their piece then tells us it's totally up to us.

 

It's fair for either or both of them to explain this since they have nothing to do with each other, but if either or both of them started "begging" then that would be a bit much. Mostly our people have just said something like, "The rating is very important for me and if you think I've done a good job I would appreciate you filling out the survey!" They usually do a good job and we usually fill out the surveys. Doesn't cost me anything and it seems to mean a lot to them.

 

If someone didn't do a good job I'd likely write their name down and voice my concern in a constructive way. I'm not out to get someone in trouble, but if someone is not doing a good job they it's fair to say that on the survey as well. We've seldom had to do that.

 

Tom

[LMaxwell]

I realize that this is somewhat akin to the way people have been taught for years (e.g., 10 exceptional, 9 excellent, 8 very good, etc.) and the application of it (only a 10 is satisfactory, e.g.) is ridiculous, but that is not the point. It is the way that it is, just like the store being open whether or you want it to be different or not.

 

I know quite well how these sham surveys work, and I feel bad about people in service industries that are penalized for anything less than a 10. I posted quite early on how these surveys work; I understand it.

 

That said, it is rare that I encounter a 10 for anything, anywhere in regards to service. Quite often I find I receive (on land) service that a server might rank a 6 or 7 and I'd probably rank a 2 or 3. Understanding that hard workers are punished instead of rewarded for these surveys I simply don't answer them. I don't want to think someone did a very good to great job, but not a "10", that I am actually harming them by responding accurately, so I don't respond. I also understand the dynamics of worker life on a ship are quite different than a land based job.

 

It's a real shame that they are set up this way. I wish when cruise lines, or any customer service industry, solicited customer feedback they did it to encourage improvements instead of keeping employees "running scared". I think if we are all honest here, cruise ship service while quite good simply isn't SET UP to reach a 10; too few people serving too many others; too many tasks. I think the lines use these surveys to find out how much they can cut and be acceptable, and blame it on the employees failure to deliver rather than managements failure to supply employees with the right tools to succeed, or enough employees at all to start with.

 

I still don't quite think your example is accurate, but I see the place where you are coming from and your thinking and am in basic agreement with you (I think) :cool:

[Folk Singer]

It isn't the same. Service is subjective as to the quality provided. The hours a store is open is objective.

 

 

:confused::confused:

[Folk Singer]

Well good. Now we know where you stand. In your mind you know the facts. In reality, you don't. Now we can all just move along.

 

 

:);):)

[Thetrail]

I do blame management that's why I said Mr Goldstein needs to stop this practice.

 

Same thing happens at hotels I understand the logic and I know why they do it but after awhile it just becomes background noise. Just like the kid who cried Wolf.

 

 

 

Sent from Cruise Critic App

you could find something just a wee bit more important to moan about?:rolleyes:

[Grannycb]

There's nothing new or unique about asking for a good review. It has been going on as long as we have been cruising, 30+ years. It happens with almost every type of service you can imagine from car dealerships to doctors and insurance companies.

 

I rarely give anyone less than a 10 out of 10 unless the service is truly subpar, then I write an explanation. Anything less than a 10 is detrimental to the employee.

 

IMHO, a 30 second request for a good rating isn't worth complaining about.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Grannycb

[Ocean Boy]

you could find something just a wee bit more important to moan about?:rolleyes:

 

Like smokers in the casino or people with wet bathing suits in the elevators? I can provide directions to those threads if you'd like.;)

[caribbean sailor]

I'm guessing the OP has never been to Jamaica :eek: talk about being harassed. That said I am going back with another suitcase full of NO in December lol!

 

This whole rating system as described is screwed up if you get no credit for less then a 10. I wonder how many 10's the crew would give to Management and if Management would be willing to tie their jobs and pay, bonuses etc to only getting 10's from the crew? :D Somehow I doubt it. If a 0-9 = 0 why even have 1-9 when in fact it is either all 10 or 0?

 

If I get good service I will leave a good mark. Some crew are just not that good at their job and others are better. I'll tip the better ones cash as I find them early in the week and the service magically gets even better for the rest of my trip.

 

What I hate is having to tip BEFORE I get the service. But I would agree that any practice that forces these people to feel the need to beg about their rating so hard needs to be addressed. I expect to be hassled by Jamaicans on the island but when I get back to the ship I expect to be left alone.

 

 

Very nice Bowman,we feel the same way.Have a great next cruse.:)

[setsail]

Lets see, how long have waiters/asst waiters, bartenders, cabin stewards had little speeches about service. The answer, as long as rci has been in business

 

Guess what, its not about you, your business, your car dealership, its about a crew members who left their family for months at a time for a job, in order to make a better life for that family. And, they are doing what they have to do to keep that job and earn the max they can.

Edited September 6, 2014 by setsail

[Ocean Boy]

Lets see, how long have waiters/asst waiters, bartenders, cabin stewards had little speeches about service. The answer, as long as rci has been in business

 

Guess what, its not about you, your business, your car dealership, its about a crew members who left their family for months at a time for a job, in order to make a better life for that family. And, they are doing what they have to do to keep that job and earn the max they can.

 

Then in addition to doing their jobs well I guess they had better develop a sense for who might find repetitive speeches about surveys annoying or they might just be shooting themselves in the foot.

[BonTexasNY]

Once, our waiter interrupted our table chat on more than one night, ordering, yes, ORDERING (not asking) us to give him a 10 on the survey because anything less would be seen as failure. He made us feel that his job was in our hands. He went on and on for quite awhile telling us we have to give him a 10 which took away from pleasant coffee and dessert chat. I felt it was totally unnecessary. A few words would have been sufficient.

 

These waiters and cabin stewards work hard enough without RCI putting them in the middle, placing such an importance on obtaining a 10 rating. I don't recall the rating we gave him but I'm sure we judged him truthfully on the overall job he did, not on his "bullying" tactics.

[cruisnseas]

My dearest bouhunter,

 

So you have put me in my place. I am a non compassionate, elitist pontificator.

 

Thank you for that since you know me so well.

 

Getting to your comments, yes I have worked all my life, unless of course you know better than me that we stay at home Moms have a life of leisure.

 

If you think stay at home Moms don't work than I will guess you are a Man or a woman who never had children. No Mother would ever think such a thing.

 

Or maybe you think it is only work if it is outside the home and you get paid for it?

 

My comments are a different story? But of course your comments to me were so nice.

 

If I am forced to give a ten on all questions on a survey regarding my experiences on a cruise ship and with it's staff then the survey has no meaning which is why I said I usually don't complete surveys. But what does it matter what I think or say, you know much better than I what I am really all about now don't you? Pontificator indeed!

 

Of course being a SAHM is work. But it isn't the same as work in the service industry. Unless, of course, your children could fire you if they felt you missed a certain goal?

 

Also, you comments that "no mother" would think SAHM's don't work is BS. I know plenty of moms that don't think SAHM do the same level of work. Stop generalizing. It does no good.

 

I think this is Malarky! I do not believe an employee will be fired, demoted or otherwise chastised for not getting a ten. That is ridiculous! Where is the proof of this? If I give an employee straight 9's across the board for good service they will be punished? I don't think so.

 

Maybe some employees tell you this but that doesn't make it true. You think Royal spends all the money on doing these surveys so they can justify firing and punishing their employees? Come on...if you really believe that then why why would you give such a Company your business?

 

You can think it is malarkey all you want. But I worked many years at Royal. They can and DO get fired for not meeting goal. That goal is 10 across the board.

 

And it isn't just Royal. This is a very common practice in service industries. If it isn't a 10, it might as well be a 0. This is commonly stated outright by management.

[DirtyDawg]

....And it isn't just Royal. This is a very common practice in service industries. If it isn't a 10, it might as well be a 0. This is commonly stated outright by management.

 

I just wonder how all these managements would have viewed Ty Cobb back in the day. He only had a lifetime average of .366 :eek:

[996turbos]

FYI: 1-9 is just to determine your level of dissatisfaction. People who have never been in the position of having such direct ratings of their job performance will never "get it". They may intellectually say they understand but they really don't. Sorry but many times we need to walk a mile in someone else's shoes to really know the truth. These survey are the problem not the employee forced to present them. They are a disservice to the guest and to the staff. They are a sham worthy to be ignored if you truly believe a 9 is just as good as a 10. Please don't be a bully or one of those people who think their voice just has to be heard in a survey. Get a soap box and go downtown and stand on a corner and vent your spleen there. Don't inflect yourself on others who are just trying to get by at a mostly thankless job.

[seaofwonder]

I've never had an employee even mention the surveys. I always fill them out and am very honest. I treat a 9 or a 10 as doing "A" service (in terms of a grade). Unfortunately, we all can't be "A" people or get 100% on something. 100% means perfect and none of us are perfect at our jobs.

 

Someone else mentioned that they automatically weed out reviews that score 5/5. I am the same way. Perfect scores are meaningless because there is almost always room for improvement.

 

Car dealers also pressure a lot and I have given less than 10 when the experience of buying the car was unpleasant.

 

I get reviewed by students every semester and I know I'm not perfect. So I usually disregard the perfect ratings and look for the ones that point out areas for improvement. That is the only way I can learn and grow in my profession.

 

Maybe I'm looking at these service industry surveys all wrong.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Edited September 7, 2014 by seaofwonder

[chris2597]

I agree. Maybe a reminder on the last day. On our last cruise I stopped to tell one of the hosts how wonderful our waiter had been all week and that I intended to fill a WoW out on him. She immediately wrote her name down and said, "don't forget me". I think I spoke with her once the first day to get our table #.....Nothing special. I thought that was very strange.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Barb Nahoumi]

First timers on RCI do not recieve WOW cards, and the only way that they can critique a crew member is to leave a note at guest relations. What is the reason for this.

 

There are so many newbies onboard any cruise whose opinions should be counted.

[Aquahound]

First timers on RCI do not recieve WOW cards, and the only way that they can critique a crew member is to leave a note at guest relations. What is the reason for this.

 

There are so many newbies onboard any cruise whose opinions should be counted.

 

They can. Their opinions can be written on the survey, which is more effective than Wow cards.

[CruiseFanatic123]

Sorry, I didn't go through the 9 pages of replies to this.

 

This is more of a management problem than a problem with those asking for that 10. Most customer service/sales jobs need to receive a 10 because anything less can be a reason for a dock in pay or a reason to lose their job. I know someone who would have to pay $100 to his company whenever he received a score of 9 or less.

[The Viking]

It is a long time since we had some even mentioning the survey.

 

We always have a table for 2 and have a great interaction with the servers. Think they know that we know how it works.

[kebhouse]

We were on HAL a few years ago and they all made a point of saying some crap about how we should score them a 4 out of 5 because of something like there always being room for improvement. It was very bit as annoying as the people who beg for 10 s. Just makes me not want to fill out your survey.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Oak Hill Cruisers]

This reminds me of when I was working as a civilian with the US Army Corps of Engineers in Germany back in the 70's.

 

I had several NCOs on my staff and came time to give them their annual reviews, I gave my first junior NCO a 'score' of 86. I asked my senior NCO to look over my 1st review and he told me that the review ratings had become very inflated and that anything under a 95 was sort of like failing. My NCOs fought tooth & nail for a 97s and 98s.

 

Talk about a grading curve!

[Paulette3028]

I agree. Maybe a reminder on the last day. On our last cruise I stopped to tell one of the hosts how wonderful our waiter had been all week and that I intended to fill a WoW out on him. She immediately wrote her name down and said, "don't forget me". I think I spoke with her once the first day to get our table #.....Nothing special. I thought that was very strange.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

As I work for a company who believes that anything less than a 10 on survey, means the employee did not do their job.....what the host you approached realized very quickly from what you were telling them was that you had an exceptional experience with your waiter and were going to "DO THE RIGHT THING" -- all the host was trying to do, was 'ride that waiter's coattails', since MOST people don't complete the surveys with 10's. Simple as that.

 

Don't chide the Host.....the Host knows just how valuable a customer YOU are.

[Zou Bisou Bisou]

Of course being a SAHM is work. But it isn't the same as work in the service industry. Unless, of course, your children could fire you if they felt you missed a certain goal?

 

Also, you comments that "no mother" would think SAHM's don't work is BS. I know plenty of moms that don't think SAHM do the same level of work. Stop generalizing. It does no good.

 

 

 

You can think it is malarkey all you want. But I worked many years at Royal. They can and DO get fired for not meeting goal. That goal is 10 across the board.

 

And it isn't just Royal. This is a very common practice in service industries. If it isn't a 10, it might as well be a 0. This is commonly stated outright by management.

 

You seem very angry. But I will respond anyway.

 

Actually, I have worked in the service industry. I have worked in many industries over the years.

 

The hardest, most rewarding job I have ever had is being a stay at home Mom.

 

Don't worry. I will not be participating in any survey shams.

[Zou Bisou Bisou]

Then in addition to doing their jobs well I guess they had better develop a sense for who might find repetitive speeches about surveys annoying or they might just be shooting themselves in the foot.

 

Exactly!