P&O Customer Services - shocking!

[frazzledmom]

We haven't even boarded yet & I'm already unimpressed with P&O! I've had to phone their customer services several times over the past couple of days and can't believe how difficult & how long it takes to get through! Promises of a member of staff calling me back to confirm things haven't been kept hence my need to keep calling them!

 

This is our second cruise but we previously sailed with Royal Carribean who were amazing & couldn't do enough for you.

 

P&O have got to up their game quite significantly to impress me once we get on board!

[dgs1956]

We haven't even boarded yet & I'm already unimpressed with P&O! I've had to phone their customer services several times over the past couple of days and can't believe how difficult & how long it takes to get through! Promises of a member of staff calling me back to confirm things haven't been kept hence my need to keep calling them!

 

This is our second cruise but we previously sailed with Royal Carribean who were amazing & couldn't do enough for you.

 

P&O have got to up their game quite significantly to impress me once we get on board!

 

On board is without doubt significantly better than dealing with customer services. Hopefully you'll get your problem sorted out and be happier by the time you go on your cruise.

[frazzledmom]

That's reassuring - thank you! xx

[Scriv]

That's reassuring - thank you! xx

 

It really is a problem getting through to them at the moment and has been getting gradually worse in the past couple of months. :( Not sure what is happening, but they really do need to do something about it is so frustrating as well as very expensive for people and is causing a lot of anger even for the most patient types. Sorry this has been your first experience frazzledmom and hope you get things sorted soon and have a wonderful cruise.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Scriv

[frazzledmom]

On hold for 30 minutes tonight before speaking to someone - disgusting! Unbelievably was then told that the medical form I was promised earlier by email takes 2-3 working days to come through. Not good as we're sailing in 3 days on Sunday!

 

Was then told that I can email the medical team directly so that they're aware of the situation before we board. Why couldn't the "muppet" I spoke to earlier have told me this!

 

I made a point of commenting that I'd been on hold for 30 mins - no apology!

 

Still not impressed!

[Presto2]

On hold for 30 minutes tonight before speaking to someone - disgusting! Unbelievably was then told that the medical form I was promised earlier by email takes 2-3 working days to come through. Not good as we're sailing in 3 days on Sunday!

 

Was then told that I can email the medical team directly so that they're aware of the situation before we board. Why couldn't the "muppet" I spoke to earlier have told me this!

 

I made a point of commenting that I'd been on hold for 30 mins - no apology!

 

Still not impressed!

 

We recently posted about the problem we had trying to book an Welcome Onboard Package. Took hours ! I have no idea what is going on.

 

In the past P&O has been really good when we've had to phone them about anything - particularly last year when I had to call them about an operation I had had. They checked our their procedures and the info I needed for the airline as well. Infact, they were brilliant. This year it is like trying to get through to the Pope!!!

 

Re the form you need to fill in - I think I was able to get mine on line somewhere????

 

Try not to let it affect your cruise ----- though this may not be that easy understandably. Will see if I can find my form from last year and where I got it from.

[frazzledmom]

We recently posted about the problem we had trying to book an Welcome Onboard Package. Took hours ! I have no idea what is going on.

 

In the past P&O has been really good when we've had to phone them about anything - particularly last year when I had to call them about an operation I had had. They checked our their procedures and the info I needed for the airline as well. Infact, they were brilliant. This year it is like trying to get through to the Pope!!!

 

Re the form you need to fill in - I think I was able to get mine on line somewhere????

 

Try not to let it affect your cruise ----- though this may not be that easy understandably. Will see if I can find my form from last year and where I got it from.

 

Thank you - that's very kind & helpful. Much better than P&O!! xx

[Presto2]

Thank you - that's very kind & helpful. Much better than P&O!! xx

 

Cant find our copy of the medical email but i remember that it was nothing to worry about. Hubby says it may be on our other server so wil check for you tomorrow . To be honest for me it seemed pointless.

[frazzledmom]

The medical form was emailed to me this morning and I've completed it, scanned it and sent it back. A bit of a rush but hopefully all sorted now - thanks for your help.

[Lukaswithak]

We haven't even boarded yet & I'm already unimpressed with P&O! I've had to phone their customer services several times over the past couple of days and can't believe how difficult & how long it takes to get through! Promises of a member of staff calling me back to confirm things haven't been kept hence my need to keep calling them!

 

This is our second cruise but we previously sailed with Royal Carribean who were amazing & couldn't do enough for you.

 

P&O have got to up their game quite significantly to impress me once we get on board!

 

They called us back when we were sailing in March but this time ( recent weeks) we have not received our calls back either. It has taken ages to get through as well.

Seems they need more staff.

[Florry]

They say it's high call volume - surely the answer is to have enough people to deal with it? No idea what is going on there right now.

[Ataraxia]

I had problems phoning/requesting call backs etc. I then put a post on their Faceache site, and the problem was resolved in 5 hours.

[Presto2]

I had problems phoning/requesting call backs etc. I then put a post on their Faceache site, and the problem was resolved in 5 hours.

 

Like the reference to the site in question :D I avoid the Faceache site like the plague for everything and anything.....

[CCFC]

The thing that gets my goat with ringing P&O is they have the cheek to charge you 3p a minute to speak to anyone.

[Henderson1]

They've been saying 'high volume of calls' now for about two months - plenty of time if they're that bothered to do something about it and employ more staff - the excuse pretty thin now! I always use the local phone number, you may wait but you are not payinv silly money!

Jackie

[Mysticalmother]

If you dig deep on their website, there is actually a freephone number...not in the obvious place , but it is there...! If I could remember how to find it, i would post here...!

[weylady]

Freephone number for P&O worth keeping for future reference 0800 0523840

[Saltybaltiholty]

I searched yell.com for P&O's number then called the main switchboard using my mobiles unlimited minutes, they still answer with the same menu, "Press 1 for blah blah blah"

I appreciate not everybody has unlimited minutes though.

 

Peter

[crosby99]

We haven't even boarded yet & I'm already unimpressed with P&O! I've had to phone their customer services several times over the past couple of days and can't believe how difficult & how long it takes to get through! Promises of a member of staff calling me back to confirm things haven't been kept hence my need to keep calling them!

 

This is our second cruise but we previously sailed with Royal Carribean who were amazing & couldn't do enough for you.

 

P&O have got to up their game quite significantly to impress me once we get on board!

 

Sadly this was our experience too and the cruise was even worse.

Despite being tempted to sail on Britannia our Ventura P&O experience makes it highly unlikely.

[GolferT]

Sadly this was our experience too and the cruise was even worse.

 

Despite being tempted to sail on Britannia our Ventura P&O experience makes it highly unlikely.

 

 

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cruise.......can I ask what went wrong?? As I'm due to sail on the Ventura in a few months

 

Thanx

 

 

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Edited August 10, 2016 by GolferT

[crosby99]

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cruise.......can I ask what went wrong?? As I'm due to sail on the Ventura in a few months

 

Thanx

 

 

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I'm sorry I should not have said that:) Everybody like different things.

My impression was they had moved their best staff to Britannia and the ship was very unfriendly e.g. I don't think 1 waiter interacted with either child the whole week. The officer that shouted at a toddler for talking during Muster did not create that family friendly feeling either.

Food was very poor(but i have heard better reports from elsewhere) & entertainment was abysmal with what seemed to be a very poor Cruise Director. Special dietary requests were far too difficult to get compared to elsewhere.

On a positive front the kids club was very good but outside of this the was nothing for kids to do.

Despite being marketed as family friendly I didn't feel it was and had a really bad atmosphere.

The were several issues with customer services prior to boarding which came across as P&O simply do not care about customer care and I had considered even cancelling before traveling.

However many people rate the ship highly including my parents so you should have a great time :)

I am tempted to book Britannia but our previous experience does make me hesitate.

[GolferT]

I'm sorry I should not have said that:) Everybody like different things.

 

My impression was they had moved their best staff to Britannia and the ship was very unfriendly e.g. I don't think 1 waiter interacted with either child the whole week. The officer that shouted at a toddler for talking during Muster did not create that family friendly feeling either.

 

Food was very poor(but i have heard better reports from elsewhere) & entertainment was abysmal with what seemed to be a very poor Cruise Director. Special dietary requests were far too difficult to get compared to elsewhere.

 

On a positive front the kids club was very good but outside of this the was nothing for kids to do.

 

Despite being marketed as family friendly I didn't feel it was and had a really bad atmosphere.

 

The were several issues with customer services prior to boarding which came across as P&O simply do not care about customer care and I had considered even cancelling before traveling.

 

However many people rate the ship highly including my parents so you should have a great time :)

 

I am tempted to book Britannia but our previous experience does make me hesitate.

 

 

That great cheers.

 

There hasn't been many reviews recently for the Ventura so it's good to hear from someone who was on board recently.

 

I like to get the whole picture from both people who loved it and from people who didn't. When we were on the oceana last year there was things we didn't like as well so we know p&o ain't perfect.

 

Thanx

 

 

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[Josy1953]

Sadly this was our experience too and the cruise was even worse.

Despite being tempted to sail on Britannia our Ventura P&O experience makes it highly unlikely.

 

Sorry to hear that your cruise was poor but don't let the Ventura experience put you off all P&O ships. We were on Ventura in April this year and had a bad experience to the point where I complained on board and then wrote to P&O when we got home, we are regular P&O cruisers but we have said that we will avoid Ventura in the future because we are convinced that for some reason there are problems on that particular ship. We went on Azura in July and it was a totally different experience, happy smiling crew, much better entertainment and although both cruises had exactly the same menus for dinner the food on Azura far exceeded that on Ventura, it was better cooked and presented.

[daiB]

Only thing is that we were on her in January and had a great time the staff were excellent and the food fine. Move on 3 month and you have a different experience. Same ship. But of course different crew. Go on her now and the crew will be different again. Not all the crew of course but perhaps the ones you come across.

 

What I am saying is that the experience on on ship is not necessarily an indication of how it will be sometime in the future. Good or bad.

 

The other key factor is that if you have a problem you must get it resolved on the ship. If you leave it until you get home some of the staff you dealt with may not be on the ship so for shoreside to get an understanding of what happened could be very difficult.

 

 

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[Josy1953]

Only thing is that we were on her in January and had a great time the staff were excellent and the food fine. Move on 3 month and you have a different experience. Same ship. But of course different crew. Go on her now and the crew will be different again. Not all the crew of course but perhaps the ones you come across.

 

What I am saying is that the experience on on ship is not necessarily an indication of how it will be sometime in the future. Good or bad.

 

The other key factor is that if you have a problem you must get it resolved on the ship. If you leave it until you get home some of the staff you dealt with may not be on the ship so for shoreside to get an understanding of what happened could be very difficult.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

You are absolutely right but for some reason the atmosphere on Ventura ways seems different to that on the other P&O ships.

 

I agree that any problems should be dealt with on board but I was less than impressed with the reception on Ventura but again this may have been a one-off as I have never had reason to complain before. Writing to P&O did bring an apology and an assurance that the ship would be informed of our concerns along with some suggestions of changes that should be made on board. They may or may not have contacted the ship but I felt better that they were prepared to address the problem rather than feeling that we were fobbed off on the ship.