Get with it RCI for crying out loud

[nbsjcruiser]

Just gotta rant a bit

 

So DW just spent almost 90 minutes on the phone with reservations trying to upgrade our room on the Enchantment. Absolutely ridiculous. I know they've moved much of their call centre "offshore" but that's no excuse for the poor service we've experienced with them on the phone. A few weeks ago I moved our cruise from the Freedom to the Enchantment. They moved it, no problem except that the FCC just dropped and disappeared like a fart in the breeze. I mentioned it to the person who immediately transferred me to resolutions and after a few mins, they found it and fixed it up. Today, DW told the person that this would happen, gave the person the certificate # and it disappeared once again. This time they claimed that it was there in the price however, being fairly good at basic addition and subtraction, DW pointed out that no it wasn't. It took almost 90 minutes to get it resolved.

 

I know many of us have to deal with outsourced call centers in our daily job and we have no choice. Suck it up and deal with the language barrier and the poor service. But when it comes to buying a cruise we don't have to suck it up. RCI needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Cheap help does not equal good service so either get those people up to snuff, move it back to the US or deal with the frustration of the returning cruiser who may at some point decide to cruise with a company more concerned with service.

[Viesczy]

In b4 the 3,000 should've used a local TA response. I'm certain the usual suspects will be along in 20 seconds.

 

Situations like you've just outlined why I never worry on things after wrapped. What we got when booked is what we're staying with, I don't want to deal with the hassle.

[CGoguen]

Hate to break it to you but American call centers are no better. Recently, I bought some new furniture from a furniture store that only operates in California. Their call center was located here, everyone I spoke with knew fluent English. Guess what? It took 6 calls to them to fix one problem that they caused.

 

My point is, it is all about training your staff and providing them consistent information which we know is not RCI's strong point.

[StolidCruiser]

I know many of us have to deal with outsourced call centers in our daily job and we have no choice. Suck it up and deal with the language barrier and the poor service. But when it comes to buying a cruise we don't have to suck it up. RCI needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Cheap help does not equal good service so either get those people up to snuff, move it back to the US or deal with the frustration of the returning cruiser who may at some point decide to cruise with a company more concerned with service.

 

In some aspects of daily life you don't have a choice, but in buying a cruise you do. I know what happens when I get crappy service and I have a choice to spend my dollars elsewhere.

 

I believe you would be better served waking up and smelling the coffee for yourself.

Edited July 21, 2016 by StolidCruiser

[Grandma Dazzles]

Perhaps it depends where you are calling from, but I always book over the phone with RC after looking for what I want on line, and narrowing down my choices, and have never spoken to a call center that was not in the US. I know I have talked to agents in Miami for sure, and a couple of other places; don't remember for sure, but Kansas and Oregon perhaps.

[SeagoingMom]

I have read countless posts about how bad customer service, and communication in general, is on just about every cruise line, even the luxury ones. Doesn't sound like there are many good choices out there...

 

Though it took up 90 minutes of your life, I am glad you at least got the problem resolved. From what I read, customer service interactions don't always end positively, no matter how much time has been invested.

[uksimonusa]

That's one reason I always call Crown and Anchor for bookings, they seem a bit more switched on

[lovesthebeach2]

Perhaps it depends where you are calling from, but I always book over the phone with RC after looking for what I want on line, and narrowing down my choices, and have never spoken to a call center that was not in the US. I know I have talked to agents in Miami for sure, and a couple of other places; don't remember for sure, but Kansas and Oregon perhaps.

 

I just spoke to two very helpful agents in the past two days, both of whom were in Oregon, I know because I asked them. I also asked where the call centers were and along with tjose above, the only other was in Guatamala

 

Both the agents I spoke to were pleasant, very helpful and were American. I have never spoke to anyone outside of the US either.

[cruzeluver]

Hate to break it to you but American call centers are no better. Recently, I bought some new furniture from a furniture store that only operates in California. Their call center was located here, everyone I spoke with knew fluent English. Guess what? It took 6 calls to them to fix one problem that they caused.

 

My point is, it is all about training your staff and providing them consistent information which we know is not RCI's strong point.

 

Bingo! I work in a US-based call center and our overall service scores are no better (sometimes lower) than the overseas centers in The Philippines. And our turn-over is more than double the overseas centers. Plus with US labor laws we have a lot of people "on the books" we almost never see because they are on a leave of absence (some have been for months and months) or using intermittent FMLA to protect their job while they are out doing who knows what, claiming to suffer from all kinds of illnesses, real or imagined.

[Big_G]

Sounds like a different call center but in 20 cruises with Royal, I've never had a problem with their call center. Bookings, cancellations, price drops, and upgrades included. Every interaction has been polite and helpful. Judging by what I read here, it's hard to explain. I admit I will never ask them anything about their ships or their on-board experience. They just don't know.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Big_G

[Fouremco]

Go over to some of the other boards and you'll see the same frustrations ironing out problems with US-based call centres. Let's face it, one of the reasons many of us read Cruise Critic is to acquire information that the agents don't seem capable of providing correctly.

[TC1957]

I have read countless posts about how bad customer service, and communication in general, is on just about every cruise line, even the luxury ones. Doesn't sound like there are many good choices out there...

 

Though it took up 90 minutes of your life, I am glad you at least got the problem resolved. From what I read, customer service interactions don't always end positively, no matter how much time has been invested.

 

There's a great option for all companies...not just the cruise industry. Suck it up, keep you call center in your country, train your representatives properly and keep them informed.

 

If you must cut expenses...there are lots of other alternatives.

[Thetrail]

Just gotta rant a bit

 

So DW just spent almost 90 minutes on the phone with reservations trying to upgrade our room on the Enchantment. Absolutely ridiculous. I know they've moved much of their call centre "offshore" but that's no excuse for the poor service we've experienced with them on the phone. A few weeks ago I moved our cruise from the Freedom to the Enchantment. They moved it, no problem except that the FCC just dropped and disappeared like a fart in the breeze. I mentioned it to the person who immediately transferred me to resolutions and after a few mins, they found it and fixed it up. Today, DW told the person that this would happen, gave the person the certificate # and it disappeared once again. This time they claimed that it was there in the price however, being fairly good at basic addition and subtraction, DW pointed out that no it wasn't. It took almost 90 minutes to get it resolved.

 

I know many of us have to deal with outsourced call centers in our daily job and we have no choice. Suck it up and deal with the language barrier and the poor service. But when it comes to buying a cruise we don't have to suck it up. RCI needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Cheap help does not equal good service so either get those people up to snuff, move it back to the US or deal with the frustration of the returning cruiser who may at some point decide to cruise with a company more concerned with service.

but in 50 plus cruises have never had an issue with the call center....K.O. :) Sorry your experience was different.

[CruiseQueenB]

Just my two cents about call centers, having both been a call center agent and supported the call center in other departments I can tell you that even in the US it's difficult to have great customer service.

 

1. Call center employees are the lowest paid people in the whole company. This leads to A LOT of turnover either from people moving to other departments, or leaving the company all together. There is constant onboarding of people, which means your odds of getting a "green" agent is high.

 

2. The amount of knowledge call center agents are expected to know is insane. The training at my former company was four weeks, and that was one week of learning the programs, one week of learning as much as possible about the products and company, one week of listening to calls, and one week of taking calls with a trainer. So expecting the agents to know how to do EVERYTHING in four weeks is pretty daunting. Most agents learn as they go or from their peers, but that takes time, and from my first point you can see that doesn't happen a lot.

 

3. The pressure on call center agents is often too much. They are usually short-staffed so there can be long wait times and very little time between calls. This makes them flustered and upset quite often. They also sometimes have metrics that they need to hit, so they end up sounding robotic and short with people. This leads to people yelling at them and then they have to escalate the call which puts pressure on the other departments.

 

It's a really hard and thankless job, and I always try to keep that in mind when I'm on the phone with anyone. I totally understand the frustration though, and until companies decide that call center employees are a crucial part of their business it will continue. Unfortunately, I think we will continue to see a decline because the market is going more online and the younger generation prefers not to have to talk to anyone.

[George C]

I have never had problem talking to RCCL over the phone, when did they ship call center overseas??

[Snit13]

Never, never have a problem. Always book with a RCCL Certified Vacation Planner located in Miami. Have been using the same planner since January2008. Take the time to get a CVP in Miami instead of using the call center.

[Missus Makkem]

it is pathetic here in the UK since they took their call centre to Guatamala,used to have great service with the folk here in UK but no longer.

[iuki]

That's one reason I always call Crown and Anchor for bookings, they seem a bit more switched on

 

I do too. However, I did get one of their reps who told me the cruise I was booked on was sold out, and it's not.

[nbsjcruiser]

In some aspects of daily life you don't have a choice, but in buying a cruise you do. I know what happens when I get crappy service and I have a choice to spend my dollars elsewhere.

 

I believe you would be better served waking up and smelling the coffee for yourself.

 

When I am spending my hard earned money I do have a choice. I have this cruise booked as it fit into work commitments. It should not take over an hour just to have a cruise cert added to the cruise and then have her laugh about how long it is taking her. The girl was not from the US. I have had some wonderful people help me from Royals US call center. I always try to be very polite as I understand how hard the job can be but this call was just over the top and not what I hope will be the normal.

[QueenofKrakatoa]

Just my two cents about call centers, having both been a call center agent and supported the call center in other departments I can tell you that even in the US it's difficult to have great customer service.

 

1. Call center employees are the lowest paid people in the whole company. This leads to A LOT of turnover either from people moving to other departments, or leaving the company all together. There is constant onboarding of people, which means your odds of getting a "green" agent is high.

 

2. The amount of knowledge call center agents are expected to know is insane. The training at my former company was four weeks, and that was one week of learning the programs, one week of learning as much as possible about the products and company, one week of listening to calls, and one week of taking calls with a trainer. So expecting the agents to know how to do EVERYTHING in four weeks is pretty daunting. Most agents learn as they go or from their peers, but that takes time, and from my first point you can see that doesn't happen a lot.

 

3. The pressure on call center agents is often too much. They are usually short-staffed so there can be long wait times and very little time between calls. This makes them flustered and upset quite often. They also sometimes have metrics that they need to hit, so they end up sounding robotic and short with people. This leads to people yelling at them and then they have to escalate the call which puts pressure on the other departments.

 

It's a really hard and thankless job, and I always try to keep that in mind when I'm on the phone with anyone. I totally understand the frustration though, and until companies decide that call center employees are a crucial part of their business it will continue. Unfortunately, I think we will continue to see a decline because the market is going more online and the younger generation prefers not to have to talk to anyone.

 

 

This. So much this. ❤️❤️❤️

[crusinthrough]

The girl was not from the US.

 

 

Did the CS rep say she wasn't from the U.S.? I thought RC call centers were U.S. based. I spoke with reps with an accent but they were in the U.S. As in every job, some people are knowledgeable on their job and some not. This has to do with turnover and training.

 

Sometimes even it's not the rep but the computer software and again lack of training on what to do. There is no way possible way to cover every potential scenario in training.

 

90 minutes is a long time but you got it resolved.

[davy jones]

Just my two cents about call centers, having both been a call center agent and supported the call center in other departments I can tell you that even in the US it's difficult to have great customer service.

 

1. Call center employees are the lowest paid people in the whole company. This leads to A LOT of turnover either from people moving to other departments, or leaving the company all together. There is constant onboarding of people, which means your odds of getting a "green" agent is high.

 

2. The amount of knowledge call center agents are expected to know is insane. The training at my former company was four weeks, and that was one week of learning the programs, one week of learning as much as possible about the products and company, one week of listening to calls, and one week of taking calls with a trainer. So expecting the agents to know how to do EVERYTHING in four weeks is pretty daunting. Most agents learn as they go or from their peers, but that takes time, and from my first point you can see that doesn't happen a lot.

 

3. The pressure on call center agents is often too much. They are usually short-staffed so there can be long wait times and very little time between calls. This makes them flustered and upset quite often. They also sometimes have metrics that they need to hit, so they end up sounding robotic and short with people. This leads to people yelling at them and then they have to escalate the call which puts pressure on the other departments.

 

It's a really hard and thankless job, and I always try to keep that in mind when I'm on the phone with anyone. I totally understand the frustration though, and until companies decide that call center employees are a crucial part of their business it will continue. Unfortunately, I think we will continue to see a decline because the market is going more online and the younger generation prefers not to have to talk to anyone.

 

I hear you, and I understand.

 

However, the fundamental problem exists because RCI (and other companies both inside and outside of the cruise industry) have allowed it to happen. Higher pay and better staffing will fix the problems that you state here. They can fix it, but do not.

[Paul65]

In b4 the 3,000 should've used a local TA response. I'm certain the usual suspects will be along in 20 seconds.

 

Situations like you've just outlined why I never worry on things after wrapped. What we got when booked is what we're staying with, I don't want to deal with the hassle.

 

Sorry for your fail at predicting the 3000 responses from the "usual suspects" (whoever those may be). Sometimes those attempts at preemptive insults don't work out as well as you thought they would.

[TravelerThom]

Sorry for your fail at predicting the 3000 responses from the "usual suspects" (whoever those may be). Sometimes those attempts at preemptive insults don't work out as well as you thought they would.

The syntax was so bad in the msg you quoted, I couldn't even tell if it was intended as an insult or a first grader who got on Mommy's computer.:rolleyes:

[whitshel]

Well folks, these days there are so any issues the WE come up with, so many specific ways computers handle things, how can we expect anyone in any industry working at a call center to know everything and how to fix everything in a multibillion dollar company. Its just not possible or probable! Even with the most highly trained, highly paid employees, things will still happen. Oh wait, I hear Apple is pretty good about that, have you seen the price of a MacBook? People say well 20 or 30 years ago customer service was so much better, ya that's because there were no technology issues, way less people to deal with, your phone had a cord. There are just too many people, with too many issues (justified or not) to keep up. Think of all the calls they get with people asking "what time does the ship leave, when should I get there, what color are the bedspreads?" Just think of all the questions they get. Sorry it took so long, it was an issue obviously with their technology, crap happens but at least it was resolved.

 

You can always find a cheaper, better, better service, anything. Change you're cruise, buy your tv somewhere else, your beans are cheaper over there. You have lots of choices.

 

And for what its worth, "crying out loud"? Really? I don't think I've heard that since I was 12 from my mother and that was about 35 years ago. Just sayn....:eek: