Cunard call Centre - A Joke

[moonglum]

Called the Call Centre at 0820 today to book a holiday. Made the mistake of asking which London airport I would be returning to so that I could book an onward flight. Jade tried to make contact with the Airline Department but told me that they did not open until 0830. She assured me that she would phone me back and I also supplied my email address.

 

Later this morning I again phoned the Call centre and informed a male of my issue - he assured me he would speak to Jade, who was unavailable at this time, and I would hear from her forthwith.

 

At 1430 again called the call centre and spoke with a Supervisor and informed him I was unhappy that I had not been updated in order that I could book the holiday with them. Unacceptable said he I will pursue this and call you back today.

 

 

No prizes for guessing that I am still waiting for a reply. It seems business must be brisk and they can afford to lose custom.

 

Anyone have an email address where I can lodge a formal complaint?

 

Anyone wish to suggest why I should pursue a "voyage" with Cunard if this is the standard of their customer service?

Edited January 13, 2015 by moonglum

[gisnered]

Anyone wish to suggest why I should pursue a "voyage" with Cunard if this is the standard of their customer service?

 

I can suggest no reason to pursue a voyage with Cunard other than the fact that, from what I have experienced and can gather from others, there is no better to be had. All call centers (USA spelling) seem to suffer severe service lapses from time to time on just about any of the cruise lines. This engenders posts to the respective Cruise line's board here on CC. Poke around Cruise Critic "Community" a little and you will begin to wonder how any of the lines do business.

[axelskater]

I can suggest no reason to pursue a voyage with Cunard other than the fact that, from what I have experienced and can gather from others, there is no better to be had. All call centers (USA spelling) seem to suffer severe service lapses from time to time on just about any of the cruise lines. This engenders posts to the respective Cruise line's board here on CC. Poke around Cruise Critic "Community" a little and you will begin to wonder how any of the lines do business.

 

"Like"

[Salacia]

Called the Call Centre at 0820 today to book a holiday. Made the mistake of asking which London airport I would be returning to so that I could book an onward flight. Jade tried to make contact with the Airline Department but told me that they did not open until 0830. She assured me that she would phone me back and I also supplied my email address.

 

Later this morning I again phoned the Call centre and informed a male of my issue - he assured me he would speak to Jade, who was unavailable at this time, and I would hear from her forthwith.

 

At 1430 again called the call centre and spoke with a Supervisor and informed him I was unhappy that I had not been updated in order that I could book the holiday with them. Unacceptable said he I will pursue this and call you back today.

 

 

No prizes for guessing that I am still waiting for a reply. It seems business must be brisk and they can afford to lose custom.

 

Anyone have an email address where I can lodge a formal complaint?

 

Anyone wish to suggest why I should pursue a "voyage" with Cunard if this is the standard of their customer service?

 

Isn't 0820 a bit early to be calling? Admittedly, I don't know what the start of the business day is in Scotland. Where I live it is 09:00...but allow time for transit delays, navigating around slow moving tourists, collecting a cup of coffee/ tea, maybe a bagel, greetings to fellow workers. And by 09:30 most are in place and ready for conversation (it's a New York thing:)

 

At any rate, the call center has nothing to do with the reason why I've taken 12 cruises on QM2. If you need to ask why you should book with Cunard as a result of your unsatisfactory experience with the call center, I am not here to convince you otherwise: follow your instincts.

 

Regards,

Salacia

Edited January 14, 2015 by Salacia

[jomf]

Isn't 0820 a bit early to be calling? Admittedly, I don't know what the start of the business day is in Scotland. Where I live it is 09:00...but allow time for transit delays, navigating around slow moving tourists, collecting a cup of coffee/ tea, maybe a bagel, greetings to fellow workers. And by 09:30 most are in place and ready for conversation (it's a New York thing:)

 

At any rate, the call center has nothing to do with the reason why I've taken 12 cruises on QM2. If you need to ask why you should book with Cunard as a result of your unsatisfactory experience with the call center, I am not here to convince you otherwise: follow your instincts.

 

Regards,

Salacia

 

The telephone lines open at 8am for bookings, when I worked ( not for Cunard though) it was expected that you be at your desk and ready to work by the stated time. Getting coffee, chatting to other workers was to be done before opening time! It's a Brit thing.

To the OP, we have found that call centres bear no relation to the actual cruise.

Have had great customer service and a terrible cruise and vice versa.

[pepperrn]

If it was the cruise I wanted to take (regardless of the line involved) I'd book it.

And then, when full written confirmation arrives (letter/email), stating which is the airport used, make further travel arrangements (flights/trains/car/coach).

 

This is what I've done in the past. It has always worked for me.

 

If we based all our retail purchases, holiday bookings, theatre bookings, etc on how good their respective call-centres were at answering questions, many of us would never buy anything. Some are amazingly good, others are dreadful.

 

At least you got to speak to someone, many times I seem to spend hours listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons... occasionally interrupted by a voice telling me how important my call is to them... :mad:

 

Best wishes :)

Edited January 14, 2015 by pepperrn

[moonglum]

Thanks for the replies - was letting off steam last night. Have sent an email to Cunard Complaints and will wait and see what their comments are.

 

Will review the situation and consider the booking. Agree with the comments about differences between call centres and cruise experience.

[Pennbank]

Thanks for the replies - was letting off steam last night. Have sent an email to Cunard Complaints and will wait and see what their comments are.

 

Will review the situation and consider the booking. Agree with the comments about differences between call centres and cruise experience.

Out of interest and possible future use by members

what was the email addy you used please ?

[ToadOfToadHall]

Isn't 0820 a bit early to be calling? Admittedly, I don't know what the start of the business day is in Scotland. Where I live it is 09:00...but allow time for transit delays, navigating around slow moving tourists, collecting a cup of coffee/ tea, maybe a bagel, greetings to fellow workers. And by 09:30 most are in place and ready for conversation (it's a New York thing:)

 

Cunard's web site says their hours of business are 08:00 till 20:00. Also I assume if you ring them outside these hours you'd get a recorded message stating what their hours are.

 

So ringing at 8:20 seems fine to me since they are open from 08:00.

[luckymal]

Called the Call Centre at 0820 today to book a holiday. Made the mistake of asking which London airport I would be returning to so that I could book an onward flight. Jade tried to make contact with the Airline Department but told me that they did not open until 0830. She assured me that she would phone me back and I also supplied my email address.

 

Later this morning I again phoned the Call centre and informed a male of my issue - he assured me he would speak to Jade, who was unavailable at this time, and I would hear from her forthwith.

 

At 1430 again called the call centre and spoke with a Supervisor and informed him I was unhappy that I had not been updated in order that I could book the holiday with them. Unacceptable said he I will pursue this and call you back today.

 

 

No prizes for guessing that I am still waiting for a reply. It seems business must be brisk and they can afford to lose custom.

 

Anyone have an email address where I can lodge a formal complaint?

 

Anyone wish to suggest why I should pursue a "voyage" with Cunard if this is the standard of their customer service?

 

Terrible P.R. by Cunard. I would say many a good Travel Agent would be delighted to have your business. I have done over 50 cruises and not one with the a Cruise Line, always use a Agent and never been let down.

Edited January 14, 2015 by luckymal
just altered a couple of words.

[jo-b]

I would agree with using an agent they get to know you and what you like, help with choosing cabins, are sometimes cheaper and in my experience always better to deal with.

[Salacia]

Cunard's web site says their hours of business are 08:00 till 20:00. Also I assume if you ring them outside these hours you'd get a recorded message stating what their hours are.

 

So ringing at 8:20 seems fine to me since they are open from 08:00.

 

 

Hi ToadofToadHall and jomf. Thanks for the correction. I usually only have the time to phone the call center on weekends and where I live, the Cunard weekend hours of business are 9am -5:45pm ET. Anyway, lately I've been using a travel agent which has worked out well. Any problems or questions, I just send her an e-mail and she responds in a timely manner. Cheers, -S.

[ToadOfToadHall]

I've used a mixture of TA and direct with Cunard, but mainly directly, booked online so I never had to speak with anyone from Cunard. The only time I had to was to join to books together, which was very easy.

 

In the UK, a while ago, TAs were often cheaper than booking directly, but now it seems there's little to choose for price. Plus booking directly on their site means I don't have to speak to anyone - which is always a plus point !

[paulista1950]

Sometimes I chose one hotel over others becaus of being able to book it online. I always avoid having to talk to call-centers for everything I can.

[ToadOfToadHall]

Sometimes I chose one hotel over others becaus of being able to book it online. I always avoid having to talk to call-centers for everything I can.

 

I almost always book hotels online for that very reason.

[Cancun01]

Having recently used the Cunard call centre they are open for business at 8am EST on week days - that includes customers in NYC. In fact the call centre is located in California for North American calls so they are on the phones at 5am PST.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Cancun01

[Salacia]

Having recently used the Cunard call centre they are open for business at 8am EST on week days - that includes customers in NYC. In fact the call centre is located in California for North American calls so they are on the phones at 5am PST.

 

I think it has been established that the Cunard call center is on the job just about any time of the day or night wherever you are. You might reach a recording, or listen to Muzak for an interminable amount of time, push a number of buttons before you reach the department where someone is equipped to respond to your question. If you're lucky.

 

Oh, and BTW, the Cunard call center for North America located in California is primarily the Princess Cruise Line Center. That call center is most familiar with Princess ships, not Cunard ships for the obvious reason that Cunard has only three ships and is Euro-centered - so the focus and training is on Princess ships in the California call center.

 

I noted that many of us have commented that we avoid call centers. So what impetus is there for cruise lines to improve call centers which cost them more than an on-line booking? Just wondering...

Edited January 15, 2015 by Salacia

[Salacia]

The telephone lines open at 8am for bookings, when I worked ( not for Cunard though) it was expected that you be at your desk and ready to work by the stated time. Getting coffee, chatting to other workers was to be done before opening time! It's a Brit thing.

To the OP, we have found that call centres bear no relation to the actual cruise.

Have had great customer service and a terrible cruise and vice versa.

 

Perhaps starting times vary, even amongst Brits? To quote the OP: "Jade tried to make contact with the Airline Department but told me that they did not open until 0830"

 

But I agree with you in that shore side response is most often very different from an on-board experience.

[luckymal]

I've used a mixture of TA and direct with Cunard, but mainly directly, booked online so I never had to speak with anyone from Cunard. The only time I had to was to join to books together, which was very easy.

 

In the UK, a while ago, TAs were often cheaper than booking directly, but now it seems there's little to choose for price. Plus booking directly on their site means I don't have to speak to anyone - which is always a plus point !

 

You are correct, T.A. used to give you a discount. I have had up to 12-5% on trips, but that stopped when Carnival made a massive reduction in the commission they gave to them. When booking with a small T.A. you get personal treatment and you are not just a number. I think it was a ploy to get people to book direct with the Cruise Lines:confused: and get rid of T.A.

[PORT ROYAL]

Called the Call Centre at 0820 today to book a holiday. Made the mistake of asking which London airport I would be returning to so that I could book an onward flight. Jade tried to make contact with the Airline Department but told me that they did not open until 0830. She assured me that she would phone me back and I also supplied my email address.

 

Later this morning I again phoned the Call centre and informed a male of my issue - he assured me he would speak to Jade, who was unavailable at this time, and I would hear from her forthwith.

 

At 1430 again called the call centre and spoke with a Supervisor and informed him I was unhappy that I had not been updated in order that I could book the holiday with them. Unacceptable said he I will pursue this and call you back today.

 

 

No prizes for guessing that I am still waiting for a reply. It seems business must be brisk and they can afford to lose custom.

 

Anyone have an email address where I can lodge a formal complaint?

 

Anyone wish to suggest why I should pursue a "voyage" with Cunard if this is the standard of their customer service?

 

 

It would appear a "Cunard class act" is required - Try ours

 

If there is anything I can help you with please contact me on 0843 374 0001 ext 2025 or email sevin.white@carnivalukgroup.com.

 

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Sevin White | Personal Cruise Specialist | Carnival UK

100 Harbour Parade | Southampton | Hampshire | SO15 1ST

P&O Cruises Tel. 0843 374 0001 Ext. 2025

[moonglum]

Out of interest and possible future use by members

what was the email addy you used please ?

 

customerservices@cunard.co.uk

[Pennbank]

customerservices@cunard.co.uk

 

Thank you moonglum

[Cancun01]

I think it has been established that the Cunard call center is on the job just about any time of the day or night wherever you are. You might reach a recording, or listen to Muzak for an interminable amount of time, push a number of buttons before you reach the department where someone is equipped to respond to your question. If you're lucky.

 

Oh, and BTW, the Cunard call center for North America located in California is primarily the Princess Cruise Line Center. That call center is most familiar with Princess ships, not Cunard ships for the obvious reason that Cunard has only three ships and is Euro-centered - so the focus and training is on Princess ships in the California call center.

 

I noted that many of us have commented that we avoid call centers. So what impetus is there for cruise lines to improve call centers which cost them more than an on-line booking? Just wondering...

 

I have never had a recording or Muzak when calling the California call centre early in the morning. The employees that I have dealt with only dealt with Cunard not Princess. They are not trained on both as stated in Carnival Corp. shareholder documents. Oh and BTW when you call Princess it is a completely different set up. Not the same at all. That being said if you book through the call centre, it is very quick because if you have travelled on Princess, all of personal information pre-fills on Cunard booking forms.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Cancun01

[Salacia]

I have never had a recording or Muzak when calling the California call centre early in the morning. The employees that I have dealt with only dealt with Cunard not Princess. They are not trained on both as stated in Carnival Corp. shareholder documents. Oh and BTW when you call Princess it is a completely different set up. Not the same at all. That being said if you book through the call centre, it is very quick because if you have travelled on Princess, all of personal information pre-fills on Cunard booking forms.

 

There was a discussion on this topic sometime ago (see http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1043328 ) and more recent comments on various threads.

 

Regarding personal information "pre-fillng" booking forms": Yes, I've also found that my personal information is in the central data bank (if that's the correct term?) for the Carnival Corp ships I've sailed on (Cunard, HAL and Princess). My Cunard World Club number is the same for Mariner Society and Captain's Circle.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Salacia

[Cats2010]

Called the Call Centre at 0820 today to book a holiday. Made the mistake of asking which London airport I would be returning to so that I could book an onward flight. Jade tried to make contact with the Airline Department but told me that they did not open until 0830. She assured me that she would phone me back and I also supplied my email address.

 

Later this morning I again phoned the Call centre and informed a male of my issue - he assured me he would speak to Jade, who was unavailable at this time, and I would hear from her forthwith.

 

At 1430 again called the call centre and spoke with a Supervisor and informed him I was unhappy that I had not been updated in order that I could book the holiday with them. Unacceptable said he I will pursue this and call you back today.

 

 

No prizes for guessing that I am still waiting for a reply. It seems business must be brisk and they can afford to lose custom.

 

Anyone have an email address where I can lodge a formal complaint?

 

Anyone wish to suggest why I should pursue a "voyage" with Cunard if this is the standard of their customer service?

 

Usually, any call centers' service is not satisfactory, so I try to avoid them. Normally they are outsourced, so there is no real motivation.

If not possible, I ask for the name of the person I sphoke to if she has promised to call back. Another possibility is using emails with an acknowledgement of receipt function.

Good luck!