Poor service no interest in building ongoing relationships

[time4u2go]

I think part of the issue is that from other posts on CC the rules seem to be bent in quite a lot of cases. The op asked for help, got some quite extreme reactions and hasn't been back. For all we know they have given up, in your words "taken the consequences" and will likely never want to cruise with RCI again. Perhaps many of their family, friends and acquaintances will feel the same given the circumstances.

 

Reinstating the cruise is more than a nice gesture to the OP. It would be quite likely to have a positive commercial effect, not only from the OP but also from others who observe "WoW" customer care.

Agreed. I think the positive effects of reinstating the cruise would have outweighed the positive effects of sticking to the rules.

[Suzieanna]

I am shocked by the amount of GABOS on this thread. Yes, I can see that RCI are within their rights by following their T&C's, and I can see to a degree that if they were as flexible as the OP wants, then - what next?? Person B wants flexibility because it was given to person A, and then person C and so forth...........

 

But, how nice would it have been if a bit of common sense had been used. RCI could have considered whethr the person had tried to contact to cancel the cancellation as quickly as they could bearing in mind the difficulties EVERYONE outside the US has with contacting a US company? It seems they did. I think this is quite a considerable mitigating circumstance that should have been taken into account.

[spookwife]

The $800 is what Royal has kept. It's the non-refundable deposit. Royal still has it. The stateroom is still available. Other than policy, nothing is keeping them from being extrasuperawesome nice in a tough situation. That the travelers tried to take care of almost immediately after. They *could* be awesome. Or they can follow their policy to the letter.

 

One way gets them more fans.

 

why does everyone expect ANY company to be extrasuperawesomenice?! nay, they DEMAND it most of the time. why does everyone assume they deserve special dispensation?

 

I used to work in retail, and while it is a poor comparison, I use to have people return items they bought at full price weeks later when the item was on sale and them immediately demand to rebuy it at the current sale price. or worse, when it have been marked own to Clearance. they just did not accept my explanation that policy dictates we cannot IMMEDIATELY make an item returned available for resale. we don't just stick it back on the floor. the the item must actually be inspected to make sure it was not used, or is otherwise damaged or unsellable. and the floor staff does not do that.

 

what's that saying? Act in haste, repent in leisure? or something?

 

I suppose you also expect Royal to not only pretend it never happened, but to also honor the original price they paid, and not charge them the possible higher cost as listed for the cabin? or are you also going to demand that if the price for that cabin had gone down that they also get the difference as well, just to be superextraspecialawesome?!

[Rogueperson]

Ok, so, it's a long story, but I'm going to try and keep it simple so you can follow.

My partner and I were booked to go on Rhapsody of the Seas on 8 November departing Sydney for 7 days.

We had paid in full.

Last Friday afternoon, 26 September, we had some very bad news that my partners father was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer. As a knee jerk reaction, my partner immediately said, "we can't go on that cruise". Worried that he might be needed.

Later that evening, after he had calmed down, he said to me "we can go, call up and reinstate our booking and explain what happened".

I tried to call them but it was after 5pm and the phones were not attended.

Tried again Saturday, same thing, so sent a message via their website. Didn't hear anything.

Sunday, found another number that I got through on. Told them what happened and that we still wanted to go on the cruise, but was told, too bad. Your booking is cancelled and out of the system. You will have to rebook and pay again.

I have send many emails and made many phone calls and have been told that they are keeping $800 and will refund the balance of our money, being $945 but we wouldn't receive that for two billing cycles of our credit card.

I practically begged them to let us keep our booking, and even though, our room is still available, they just insist on keeping our money and just hard luck.

This would have been our first cruise with Royal Caribbean, and we were hoping the first of many. We travel 2 to 3 times overseas every year, and have never done a cruise. This has put us off.

We were really looking forward to this week away, just before our busy period at our work.

Does anyone have any advice.

Feeling very unhappy with the lack of care from this company.

 

They wouldn't let you reinstate your booking, but could they transfer your deposit to a new booking? Technically, you have paid a deposit and if you want to cruise, they might be able to apply it to a new one. They could also credit what you've paid towards the new booking. You might have to pay a little more for the going price. Technically, you cancelled and rebooked, not reinstate the booking. I can understand why they couldn't reinstate a former booking, but creating a new booking with credits already applied could work.

[NJcruisenewbie]

The $800 is what Royal has kept. It's the non-refundable deposit. Royal still has it. The stateroom is still available. Other than policy, nothing is keeping them from being extrasuperawesome nice in a tough situation. That the travelers tried to take care of almost immediately after. They *could* be awesome. Or they can follow their policy to the letter.

 

One way gets them more fans.

 

Actually it doesn't necessarily get them more fans. As another poster said, where do you draw the line? Sadly we all have emergencies at times that require difficult decisions. I feel for the OP, I really do. I'm dealing with a family member with cancer as well who wasn't able to attend a family reunion and that caused a financial loss for him and me.

 

I hope the OP can think more clearly about the situation and make the best of it.

[Paulette3028]

I think part of the issue is that from other posts on CC the rules seem to be bent in quite a lot of cases. The op asked for help, got some quite extreme reactions and hasn't been back. For all we know they have given up, in your words "taken the consequences" and will likely never want to cruise with RCI again. Perhaps many of their family, friends and acquaintances will feel the same given the circumstances.

 

Reinstating the cruise is more than a nice gesture to the OP. It would be quite likely to have a positive commercial effect, not only from the OP but also from others who observe "WoW" customer care.

 

The OP asked for help.....and the OP got some suggestions as to what to do to try to work out a more satisfactory result than he had so far gotten. But the OP also got people who said they don't see that Royal was obligated to do anything to 'reinstate' (his words) him and his partner on a cruise that they cancelled.

 

He probably can't believe that people took that point of view. He expected perhaps everyone to say "Oh so sorry for your situation and you should get what you want". That did not happened.

 

I don't believe a 'nice gesture on the part of Royal' earns any points to other customers, really....it just opens the flood gates to others. Know the terms and conditions/rules and follow them....it works well when everyone does.

 

Yes there will always be exceptions made, but most of the time, the exceptions that are made are done quietly and to the persistent ones that move up the ladder in an organization without setting off alarms along the way.

[time4u2go]

The OP asked for help.....and the OP got some suggestions as to what to do to try to work out a more satisfactory result than he had so far gotten. But the OP also got people who said they don't see that Royal was obligated to do anything to 'reinstate' (his words) him and his partner on a cruise that they cancelled.

 

He probably can't believe that people took that point of view. He expected perhaps everyone to say "Oh so sorry for your situation and you should get what you want". That did not happened.

 

I don't believe a 'nice gesture on the part of Royal' earns any points to other customers, really....it just opens the flood gates to others. Know the terms and conditions/rules and follow them....it works well when everyone does.

 

Yes there will always be exceptions made, but most of the time, the exceptions that are made are done quietly and to the persistent ones that move up the ladder in an organization without setting off alarms along the way.

It would to me.

[Bailey & Sophie]

Where's the OP with an update?

[time4u2go]

Where's the OP with an update?

They said they're not going on the cruise. Not sure there's much else to update. :confused:

Edited October 3, 2014 by time4u2go

[Bailey & Sophie]

They said they're not going on the cruise. Not sure there's much else to update. :confused:

Musta missed that...

I thought they were still trying to get through to Resolutions.

[awhcruiser]

Good luck!

I will not be going on the cruise as I am not paying them another cent. Unless they allow me to on the initial booking, which, they tell me is not happening.

[cruzfitter]

I think part of the issue is that from other posts on CC the rules seem to be bent in quite a lot of cases. The op asked for help, got some quite extreme reactions and hasn't been back. For all we know they have given up, in your words "taken the consequences" and will likely never want to cruise with RCI again. Perhaps many of their family, friends and acquaintances will feel the same given the circumstances.

 

Reinstating the cruise is more than a nice gesture to the OP. It would be quite likely to have a positive commercial effect, not only from the OP but also from others who observe "WoW" customer care.

 

What you're not getting is that the OP needs to contact the resolutions department. How long would any company stay in business if all their customer service reps automatically gave refunds when ever someone called with a sob story. I'm not saying the OP is making up their issue, but if a company became known for believing ever story and bending the rules accordingly, they may as well not have any rules to start with.

[TM38Rob]

From http://www.royalcaribbean.com Contact Us page:

 

Guests from Australia can contact us at their local office:

Australia (Sydney Office)

Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

• Tel: 61 (2) 433 15400

• Fax: 61 (2) 432 20326

• Pre-Cruise Inquiries:

fit.au@rcclapac.com

• Post-Cruise Comments

and Questions:

customerservices.au@rcclapac.com

 

If you are outside the US or Canada:

Reserve your Royal Caribbean Vacation

by calling our Certified Vacation Planners

at the International reservations desk or

send us an e-mail: reservationroyal@rccl.com

Hours of operation: Mon-Fri, 8am to 8pm EST

Sunday, 9am to 6pm EST +1 (305) 341-0204

 

Not sure how to directly contact the resolutions department.

 

Royal Caribbean has a program (insurance) called Cruise Care for an extra fee to refund money in situations like this. In Australia this may or may not be available, not sure. The reason for the partial refund policy at a certain time frame closer to the cruise is to help protect the cruiseline from loss in the event they are unable to resell the vacant stateroom or sell it last minute at a very reduced rate.

 

In the case of the OP, they can go on the same ship for the same sailing with the original stateroom still available. I see it as good business for Royal Caribbean to allow the OP to rebook this cruise and apply the $800 not refunded to the new booking and the OP pay the difference. The new rate should be the current price, unless it less than the original booking, then charge the greater of the two prices. That would be a fair resolution in this case.

[thegima]

Sounds like you're in a bad situation. When something like that happens with family members your emotions get the best of you and cause drastic actions. Obviously it would have been better if you gave it a couple days to realize the situation and find out how best to handle it but that wasn't the case. At best you could have checked to see what bracket you were in (31-45days @50% in this case ) and waited until the 31st day to cancel if you still wanted to. It would have cost you nothing to wait another week or so.

 

In a perfect world RC would give you the room back and this would be over. Sadly they are following policy, and it's their right to do so. Much like you have the right to receive 50% of what you paid back and expect that of them.

 

Good luck to you guys, hope everything works out alright!

[CI66774]

Bad situation all around. Did the OP purchase insurance? If so, (depending on the policy) they would receive the money back, right? I feel so badly for the OP and the health issue. I'm sure he was in shock and made the on-the-spot decision to cancel, then thought about it. I really can put myself in his shoes and understand what he did. I probably would have done the same thing - then thought better of it when my head cleared. RCL has rules. It's following its rules. No one really to blame here. Sometime things happen in life and you just have to move on. RCL is well within its rules to keep the deposit, OP is upset about the overall situation. I hope all works out and OP has a wonderful vacation wherever he goes.

[lucymorgan]

What you're not getting is that the OP needs to contact the resolutions department..

 

What you're not getting is that I was the first to suggest they contact resolutions on this thread. :)

[John Henry on CC]

deleted

Edited October 4, 2014 by John Henry on CC

[The_Big_M]

Reinstating the cruise is more than a nice gesture to the OP. It would be quite likely to have a positive commercial effect, not only from the OP but also from others who observe "WoW" customer care.

 

It would, but I can see it also would have detrimental effects. People who currently accept the rules as they are, which I suspect are the majority, would then think that they're to be broken. Resulting in a lot more calls and e-mails which need to be dealt with, and the cost of resourcing to attend to those so as to maintain customer satisfaction in turnaround times. And then there's the actual cost impact of the revenue hit from these goodwill activities too.

 

Without the actual figures, it's not possible to say either way, but there are at least as many commercial detriments as benefits so, on balance, I'd believe it to be commercially detrimental.

Edited October 4, 2014 by The_Big_M

[lucymorgan]

It would, but I can see it also would have detrimental effects. People who currently accept the rules as they are, which I suspect are the majority, would then think that they're to be broken. Resulting in a lot more calls and e-mails which need to be dealt with, and the cost of resourcing to attend to those so as to maintain customer satisfaction in turnaround times. And then there's the actual cost impact of the revenue hit from these goodwill activities too.

 

Without the actual figures, it's not possible to say either way, but there are at least as many commercial detriments as benefits so, on balance, I'd believe it to be commercially detrimental.

 

You may be right. The people who are glued on customers for RCI well may be pleased to see RCI sticking to the rules (at least sometimes - there are other examples even on this thread where exceptions were made). However if they are glued on then they would be spending anyway.

 

For me? Now I am not so sure.... (my honest feelings about this).

 

Anyway all of this seems unlikely to make a difference to a family in difficult circumstances as I suspect they have other more important things to worry about.

Edited October 4, 2014 by jenibor

[Paulxyz2004]

You may be right. The people who are glued on customers for RCI well may be pleased to see RCI sticking to the rules (at least sometimes - there are other examples even on this thread where exceptions were made). However if they are glued on then they would be spending anyway.

 

For me? Now I am not so sure.... (my honest feelings about this).

 

Anyway all of this seems unlikely to make a difference to a family in difficult circumstances as I suspect they have other more important things to worry about.

 

Don´t get me wrong, I respect your Feelings about this and we all Need to make our own decisions and do what we feel is the right Thing to do.

 

I´m not sticking to Royal entirely, though about 50% of my cruising has been on Royal and the rest has been on various lines.

 

If I have a Problem with a Company I´m more than willing to stop doing Business with them and I´ve done so before and of course I wouldn´t Keep buying a product if I wasn´t satisfied with it.

 

However if I´m satisfied with a product and have no Problem with the Company I would never let my view being influenced by some Reviews or reports on the Internet about said product / Company.

 

I do read Reviews online, but I do with a grain of salt. If I look i.e. for a Hotel I will look at Overall Ratings more than individual Reviews. When looking at the Reviews I will read closely what the complaints are. In a case like this I would think well the customer made a bad decision and the Company followed their rules. Nothing wrong and nothing to stop me from booking - afterall it´s a Business not a charity.

 

That´s my honest Feelings.

 

Again not questioning your Feelings, just trying to understand them. From your signature I see you´ve been on a few RCI Cruises and assuming you´ve been happy with them. If that´s the case, and you had no complaints in the past about them yourself, would you really walk away because of something like reported by the OP?

[Paulxyz2004]

IMO the title of this thread is misleading and wrong.

 

"Poor customer Service" well debatable, but ok for the OP to think so.

 

"No interest in building ongoing relationships" I guess that´s a bit far fetched. Afterall RCI has a not too shabby loyalty Programm and of course they are interested in loyalty, but not at any given Price.

[Thetrail]

I've had the same impressions from the first post by the OP. Bad situation , sure. Title though is very misleading to say the least.

[rtazz17]

ok,sorry about what happened but.......

When you cancelled you were told of the money you would be losing right?Having known that info at the very least you have to sleep on it and not do a knee jerk reaction{your words].Any decision like this needs to be thought out.Live and learn.Being an adult you should know not to make these decisions so quickly and Im sure in the future you wont do it again.Royal isnt a small mom and pop chain.They have protocols and they follow them.Again Im sorry.I wouldnt give up yet,maybe you will reach the right person.

 

Royal has rules and policies for a reason.If someone calls and has a hardship how do they know its legit?People lie everyday to try and get out of things.Its a money making business bottom line.

 

Royal themselves recommends insurance for situations exactly like this.Had it been bought the Op would not be posting this right now.

Edited October 5, 2014 by rtazz17

[rtazz17]

I find it amazing that you guys can defend Royal Caribbean when they still have all the money. If the OP had the money back in her pocket and then decided actually I've changed my mind possibly we'd be having a different conversation but at the time of her phone call Royal Caribbean still had the full fare in their bank account and will have for some time. I believe the standard quote from Royal Caribbean is that it takes 2 monthly billing cycles to see money back on your card when they refund.

 

I'm not actually sure what Royal Caribbean are trying to do is legal given they still have the money.

 

Either way I know what Adam Goldstein's response would be. "Don't be so stupid, get them back on the cruise and stop making Royal Caribbean look like a bunch of cheap loan sharks."

 

Henry :)

what?Its 100 percent legal.Read your binding contract.Royal doesnt make things up as they go along.

[luddite]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consider your costs TUITION and move on. As soon as you cancel, the cabin goes right back out there. It was probably rebooked within the day. Sending emails, , calling and whining, isn't going to talk them into cancelling someone else's cabin so you can have it back.

 

 

 

 

 

This should be a sticky.

Move on.