Worst customer service ever!

[Pratique]

It seems like Royal Caribbean sets themselves up for customer service complaints like this when they offer a sale or promotion that requires guests to cancel or modify existing, pre-paid reservations to take advantage of the promotional benefit. These promotions are designed to draw in new purchases rather than to replace prior purchases.

 

The more I study their promotions, the less I believe that any of them have any real value. For instance, 30% off a drink package would only entice me if I was on the fence about buying the drink package in the first place. Hearing about the hassles others go through to get the benefit makes me even less inclined to bother with it. 30% off of the entire cruise would be a different story, but I'm not holding my breath for that.

[Biker19]

These promotions are designed to draw in new purchases rather than to replace prior purchases.

 

Sorta. Many folks who had only a one device Surf VOOM package are sucked into buying two one device Stream packages since they are on sale for the same price as Surf.

[MissGwen]

Going to play devil's advocate here...

 

If the beverage package is no longer available, it's probably not in the system anymore so the customer service rep couldn't add it even if she wanted to. I would imagine the same goes for the promotions.

 

If I remember right from things I've heard, items purchased via the cruise planner cannot have their prices changed. There would be no way to get the sale price once the promotion was over. The only way would be to pay the full price and then have Royal give you OBC for the difference in pricing.

 

This does not excuse being hung up on (but like someone else mentioned, it's unlikely, though not impossible, it was intentional).

 

Instead of emailing Bayley, I would call again and when you get someone on the phone immediately ask to speak to a supervisor. Then calmly explain what happened and be sure to include names and times. As the old saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. That's my two cents anyway. Take it for what it's worth.

[Pratique]

Instead of emailing Bayley, I would call again and when you get someone on the phone immediately ask to speak to a supervisor. Then calmly explain what happened and be sure to include names and times. As the old saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. That's my two cents anyway. Take it for what it's worth.

 

I agree that this type of persistence is far more likely to result in satisfaction than emailing the CEO.

[shanley]

You could try cancelling the pre paid tips and use it for that onboard. Of course with your luck they may end up cancelling something else again.:eek:

 

Except that tips have already gone up, so depending on when they were prepaid this might cost someone more.

[Janet524]

I agree that this type of persistence is far more likely to result in satisfaction than emailing the CEO.

 

Not so sure about that. A while back we had an issue with booking Chef's Table. (no need to go into details) At the time Alan Goldstein was CEO. I sent a polite e-mail succinctly outlining the issue and the resolution I would have expected. Within hours I received a call from one of his reps advising me that they had resolved the problem and that I should expect a follow up call within 24 hours. The call came the next day and all was handled to my satisfaction.

[shanley]

I don't normally complain in this type of venue, but I'm just so frustrated that I need to vent!

The shore excursions I had previously booked were on sale over the weekend and I had tried to cancel and then re purchase them at the reduced rate on the Royal Caribbean website, but I kept encountering errors and wasn't able to complete the booking for my ladadee excursions.

This morning I received notice the sale was extended through today and tried yet again to complete it on the website to no avail. So I decided to go ahead and call and just do it over the phone. I spent 30 minutes on hold and when my call was finally answered the agent I was working with accidentally canceled the select beverage package we'd purchased months ago.. she told me she couldn't fix it because the package is no longer sold via their website and when I said that's not ok this was your mistake and you need to fix it, she hung up on me!

So I called right back and again spent over 30 min waiting for someone to pick up the phone. I asked for a supervisor and explained the situation. She told me basically the same thing we're sorry for our mistake you can book the deluxe package for an extra $100 and to make it up to you I can offer you some toys for your kids and chocolate strawberries for you and your husband... I don't want toys and strawberries I want you to fix your mistake! I spent 40 more minutes on the phone arguing until she finally offered $100 in onboard credits if I paid for the deluxe package right now, which I finally accepted because I felt like that was really the only option, but I wasn't happy because we pre paid tips and our excursions and I'm not a big shopper so I don't know how we'll end up spending it. For all my troubles all I got was to put an extra $100 on my credit card! I then asked if we could finish rebooking my excursions (the whole reason I had called to begin with) and she tells me that it's after midnight (8pm in my time zone) and the sale has expired.... I literally started to sob out of frustration and her response was to tell me "it's not my problem, you had all weekend to book them".

I have never in all my life felt so cheated by a company, I wonder if they're encouraging employees to "accidentally " cancel select beverage packages and force you into buying the more expensive one. This will be my first time sailing RC and it'll be my last, I've always told people that the best part of cruising is how wonderful they treat you...apparently not the case when you sail with RC.

 

 

 

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I do feel bad for what you are going through and hope you can have it corrected, especially the drink package.

 

I myself received some excellent customer service yesterday in finalizing my purchases over the phone before the sale ended. I think RCCL has more good customer service agents than bad.

 

One thing that jumped out to me, was that you were trying to cancel online. The woman who helped me yesterday told me that if I wanted to cancel a purchase, whether it was done online or over the phone, I needed to phone to do the cancelation. I have never cancelled anything I have pre-purchased, so I don't know how it works, I am just going based on what I was told yesterday. I may be cancelling one of the packages I bought. I was on the fence, but thought I'd go ahead due to the sale.

[Pratique]

Not so sure about that. A while back we had an issue with booking Chef's Table. (no need to go into details) At the time Alan Goldstein was CEO. I sent a polite e-mail succinctly outlining the issue and the resolution I would have expected. Within hours I received a call from one of his reps advising me that they had resolved the problem and that I should expect a follow up call within 24 hours. The call came the next day and all was handled to my satisfaction.

 

You were a little vague as to the complexity of the issue. In general if the CEO is getting emails like this every day (which he probably does) I would not expect him or his immediate team to be handling them all. But of course it is nice when they do. I just feel like going over people's heads prematurely doesn't put me in good graces with those who I am expecting to help me out. I have had mixed success in the past trying to go to the top too quickly (at restaurants, car dealerships, insurance companies, things like that). All I am saying is do more than email, unless you get a quick response to it.

[twinmommy08]

I was able to cancel and repurchase some prepaid items due to the sale online. I avoid calling at all costs! I have no patience for bad customer service.

 

 

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[kontraxed]

While I can certainly understand the OP's frustration, I can say that RCCL telephone customer service can also be very good. I called a week or so ago to resolve three different issues about my upcoming cruise and the young lady was very helpful and resolved all my problems. Maybe it just depends on who answers the phone.

[Thetrail]

And THIS is why it is so important to use a TA who is a top producer for the line you are sailing. That little snafu would then have been handled by the cruise line's regional sales director during a call from that TA.

Over 50 cruises under my belt and have never used a TA. Guess what, have never had a single issue booking directly with RCL.....K.O.:)

[BlueHerons]

I don't know any top travel agents, but I do know that this isn't how I should have been treated. It's their mistake and companies should try their best to resolve their mistakes, that's all I ask.. I didn't ask for upgrades or free beverage packages I just wanted back what I had already purchased from them. You shouldn't feel like you need to book 3rd party to protect yourself, you should book with a company that honors their commitments.

 

 

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I agree. We don't all know the Managing Partner of American Express Travel or the VP of Valerie Wilson. ALL guests should be treated like VIPs.

 

Email Michael Bayley the CEO, his office has in the past fixed problems for me that were caused by customer service errors.

 

From memory I think it's mbayley@rccl.com but if you do a search of the boards it has been posted before

 

Please believe me that the service on the ships is much better than the telephone agents!

 

I would pursue all avenues. Email Michael Bayley, call back and keep asking for a supervisor.

 

Tell them you'd just like to be back to where you were BEFORE you had to reach in your own pocket for $100.

[Lessa123]

The woman who helped me yesterday told me that if I wanted to cancel a purchase, whether it was done online or over the phone, I needed to phone to do the cancelation.

 

That's just not true! I cancelled a 2 device VOOM surf and stream package and bought 2 1 device VOOM surf and stream packages for $40 cheaper. I cancelled online with no problem. The refund and the new charge have both already hit my credit card....

[Trainer]

If you are a member, the Crown and Anchor staff seems better trained. I don't know if they just put the better agents in that department, but I've always had good service from them. They will give you their names and email addresses when you ask for them.

[luckyprincess]

Wow OP I'm so sorry!! That sucks and as someone in a service industry the customer service you received was terrible. I've been lucky to always get very good service but I often call. I bought two alcoholic drink packages on special during the sale but my fiancé isn't sure he will be drinking. So I called to cancel because I didn't see where I could even do that online. The agent was very nice but so far the whole charge has gone through so we will see. I hope you continue fighting for that and get something!

[rcarrosq]

This very same thing just happened to me. I'm booked out of Galveston on Dec 11 and received an email about a special 24 hour sale with 20% off drink packages, specialty dining and internet. I booked my husband and I for Sabor Mexican dining for $24 each, received a confirmation and my credit card was charged. An hour later I booked for another couple that was traveling with us and again received confirmation.

 

Today I looked at my reservation and only my friends' reservation appeared. I called my TA and asked him to check. He only found my friends as well. I forwarded my 2 confirmation emails and he called RCI. He was told mi d got cancelled for some reason and said I should call.

 

Spoke to RCI and they refuse to honor the confirmation for me. They say my reservation was made and then cancelled although I never cancelled. If we want those reservations we now have to pay $30 each. I am furious with their lack of customer service and I told them as much.

 

I did pay $30 each because our friends are going but I think I will go to customer service on board and show them my original confirmation. I really feel cheated.

[Bookster99]

I am so sorry you had this experience. I sincerely hope your onboard experience is perfect.

 

I have had a few issues with RC and their policies, but not a customer service issue. The biggest one was the check policy: I had been sending in checks out of every paycheck to pay for our cruise. A little at a time, easy does it, and the cruise is paid for. The "Official" policy is RC doesn't accept checks: You have to go online and post a payment every time. However, when i had the checks autopaid to Royal Caribbean, they deposited them and they credited them no problem. However, once the cruise was paid for and I expected money to my onboard account, they started returning checks. I wound up on hold a long time while they involved resolutions, but the answer finally came back that there was no explanation. That's just the way it was. I wasn't mad a customer service, but I was dissatisfied with the answer.

 

Customer service also saved me some real headaches when this sale came out: We had a number of specialty restaurants booked, and we wanted to save the money and get the sale price -- A difference of I think maybe 30 bucks. Customer service explained that they had already sold out specialty dining on my cruise, so there was no discounted seats to give us if we had cancelled our regular priced seats. Very straight-forward and helpful.

 

Please do let us know how it all turns out, and don't let the petty stuff ruin your cruise!

 

(FYI, I have later learned that most cruise companies will not let you mail payments. Even with electronic checks that hit instantly. What's with that?)

[CaptnG]

Thanks for everyone's helpful advice and kind words of encouragement. Unfortunately I did not catch the name of the agent that canceled the beverage package and then hung up on me, I know you should always note information like that, but I didn't anticipate having any major issues with rebooking a couple excursions.

 

I did get the full name of the supervisor I spoke with when I called back, and asked her who I could contact at RCCL to let them know I was not satisfied with the resolution. She suggested I email customerrelations@rccl.com, which I did as soon as we got off the phone. I haven't heard anything back yet, but I would assume that this mailbox receives a large volume of complaints and it's possible they just haven't gotten to mine yet. If I don't hear back from them by this evening I will most likely email one of the contacts suggested here.

 

I know looking at the total cost of a vacation $100 difference isn't huge, but I can not understand how they think it's ok for them to make an error like that and then not rectify it. Then after all that frustration with the beverage package when she told me she wouldn't rebook my shore excursions at the sale price literally 3 mins after the sale ended I just broke down in tears. It just felt so unjust to have spent 2 hours of my night and instead of saving money I had to spend extra!

 

I completely agree that you should always treat people in customer service with the utmost respect, I empathize with how hard it can be to deal with customers blaming you for things you ultimately have no responsibility for. I hope that RCCL recognizes that if they are going to hire someone to address customer complaints they need to also give them the authority to resolve the problem. Maybe I just drew the short straw, but I assume the girl that hung up on me did so because she realized she had no way of correcting her mistake and was scared of getting in trouble, and the supervisor seemed to have been trained to avoid giving back money at all costs. When you call customer service they should have the capability to make changes on their end that I am unable to do on my own. I can understand removing the Select Package from their public website, so that if someone were to cancel they are no longer able to rebook it, but it just makes no sense to me that they also took the ability away from their customer service department.

[land lover]

Not so sure about that. A while back we had an issue with booking Chef's Table. (no need to go into details) At the time Alan Goldstein was CEO. I sent a polite e-mail succinctly outlining the issue and the resolution I would have expected. Within hours I received a call from one of his reps advising me that they had resolved the problem and that I should expect a follow up call within 24 hours. The call came the next day and all was handled to my satisfaction.

 

agree

 

You were a little vague as to the complexity of the issue. In general if the CEO is getting emails like this every day (which he probably does) I would not expect him or his immediate team to be handling them all. But of course it is nice when they do. I just feel like going over people's heads prematurely doesn't put me in good graces with those who I am expecting to help me out. I have had mixed success in the past trying to go to the top too quickly (at restaurants, car dealerships, insurance companies, things like that). All I am saying is do more than email, unless you get a quick response to it.

 

disagree sorta of;):)

 

Like your idea of following 2 avenues...but on more than one occasion I have been told by a supervisor of the CSRs to contact....the CEO(customer relations group) via email. My first cruise with RCI was in '92 so I've had my share of compliments I want to pass on and mistakes needing to be resolved. With the mistakes/problems I want to deal with company representatives who have the power to make it happened. So many "first step" reps today do not have the training or the confidence to go the extra step.

Edited November 2, 2016 by land lover

[land lover]

Thanks for everyone's helpful advice and kind words of encouragement. Unfortunately I did not catch the name of the agent that canceled the beverage package and then hung up on me, I know you should always note information like that, but I didn't anticipate having any major issues with rebooking a couple excursions.

 

I did get the full name of the supervisor I spoke with when I called back, and asked her who I could contact at RCCL to let them know I was not satisfied with the resolution. She suggested I email customerrelations@rccl.com, which I did as soon as we got off the phone. I haven't heard anything back yet, but I would assume that this mailbox receives a large volume of complaints and it's possible they just haven't gotten to mine yet. If I don't hear back from them by this evening I will most likely email one of the contacts suggested here.

 

I know looking at the total cost of a vacation $100 difference isn't huge, but I can not understand how they think it's ok for them to make an error like that and then not rectify it. Then after all that frustration with the beverage package when she told me she wouldn't rebook my shore excursions at the sale price literally 3 mins after the sale ended I just broke down in tears. It just felt so unjust to have spent 2 hours of my night and instead of saving money I had to spend extra!

 

I completely agree that you should always treat people in customer service with the utmost respect, I empathize with how hard it can be to deal with customers blaming you for things you ultimately have no responsibility for. I hope that RCCL recognizes that if they are going to hire someone to address customer complaints they need to also give them the authority to resolve the problem. Maybe I just drew the short straw, but I assume the girl that hung up on me did so because she realized she had no way of correcting her mistake and was scared of getting in trouble, and the supervisor seemed to have been trained to avoid giving back money at all costs. When you call customer service they should have the capability to make changes on their end that I am unable to do on my own. I can understand removing the Select Package from their public website, so that if someone were to cancel they are no longer able to rebook it, but it just makes no sense to me that they also took the ability away from their customer service department.

 

I was writing my post when yours was posted..as I stated in my previous post I have been referred to this email before. FYI..my sister was telling me this a.m. that she was having problems with the web site yesterday and several of her excursions dropped.

 

I don't recall if you told us when your cruise was, but if it is in a few months, I would just sit tight. I have every confidence it will be settled to your satisfaction.

 

Don't feel bad about missing the first reps name......as you said your call was unrelated to the error.....and by all means a 100. is a 100.,if it was 20 I wouldn't let it slide, it's the principle right;) actually it's not the principle they made the error and they need to make good on it. Plain and simple.....!!!!!!!

 

Unfortunately you have to spin your time and effort to make it good and you won't be compensated but that's life.

Edited November 2, 2016 by land lover

[COMBOY]

It seems like Royal Caribbean sets themselves up for customer service complaints like this when they offer a sale or promotion that requires guests to cancel or modify existing, pre-paid reservations to take advantage of the promotional benefit. These promotions are designed to draw in new purchases rather than to replace prior purchases.

 

The more I study their promotions, the less I believe that any of them have any real value. For instance, 30% off a drink package would only entice me if I was on the fence about buying the drink package in the first place. Hearing about the hassles others go through to get the benefit makes me even less inclined to bother with it. 30% off of the entire cruise would be a different story, but I'm not holding my breath for that.

 

I think you nailed it. Let me further add these customer service employees are just order takers and are limited by the parameters of RCI's computer system. Customers want specials on top of specials which may or may not combinable or at least the system isn't set up to do so with existing bookings. The customer service agents are at the mercy of the computer; however, they get all the blame. Someone like a managers needs to manually override the system which might easier said then done. I'm certainly not endorsing rude behavior but I think customers need to understand that they can't always have their cake and eat it to without a lot of hassles. CSA are probably under a lot of pressure to handle as many phone calls as possible they simply don't want to hassle with these kinds of issues. This is why have a good travel agent is worth the weight in gold as they work with their inside RCI's sales rep to sort out issues like this. One phone fixes the problem. But if you want to be your own TA - caveat emptor.

Edited November 2, 2016 by COMBOY

[KansasK]

My husband also has the Select Package purchased for our Mar. 3, 2017 cruise. We did this early after booking in June.

 

I called when the drink packages were changed to fewer choices and Select was no longer listed. I was told my husband will be able to use it on our cruise. We have some concerns that all the wine choices will be priced above what the Select package offers, but there is nothing we can do about it.

 

I don't know why they did not add a wine/beer package like Select when they changed the drink packages.

[Moonarino]

While what happened with cancelling the drink package and not being able to rebook it at the original price is inexcusable I think there is more to the story about being hung up on. In this day and age of recorded calls I find it very hard to believe that anyone gets hung up on intentionally unless they are being hostile or using profanity towards the customer service agent. I just can't see a rep putting their job at risk over hanging up on someone unless there was a valid reason.

 

Hard to believe or not, it's happened to me for sometimes no reason at all. CS reps can still have moments just like the rest of us.

 

It seems like Royal Caribbean sets themselves up for customer service complaints like this when they offer a sale or promotion that requires guests to cancel or modify existing, pre-paid reservations to take advantage of the promotional benefit. These promotions are designed to draw in new purchases rather than to replace prior purchases.

 

The more I study their promotions, the less I believe that any of them have any real value...

 

I thoroughly agree, more than ever. And I for one would like to suggest to RC, PLEASE learn (or remember) how to take care of the basics first, foremost, and last. And one of those basics is not ripping off loyal or new customers by, for example, making us re-buy at a higher price something we already bought, which can always be verified via receipts history.

 

I agree that this type of persistence is far more likely to result in satisfaction than emailing the CEO.

 

CC the CEO on every email sent from here forward, is what I would do. As well as phone calls, etc. The squeaky wheel (sometimes) gets the grease.

_____

 

One thing I might add, is that I no longer trust RCCL online to work consistently as it should. For my recent cruise I finally got Voom bought and paid for (at discount), but half the time I tried browsing for other "cruise planning", the pages wouldn't half work, or worse, not at all. And how many times was the entire website down when I wanted to view my booking? I lost count months ago.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Moonarino

[Goodtime Cruizin]

While what happened with cancelling the drink package and not being able to rebook it at the original price is inexcusable I think there is more to the story about being hung up on. In this day and age of recorded calls I find it very hard to believe that anyone gets hung up on intentionally unless they are being hostile or using profanity towards the customer service agent. I just can't see a rep putting their job at risk over hanging up on someone unless there was a valid reason.

 

It happens. Don't kid yourself. Telesales jobs are a dime a dozen. Why do you think there is a difference in the service from the ship vs their 800#.

[broberts]

...Some states don't allow you to do this without notifying the person on the other end of the phone, but in my state that is not a requirement.

 

If one is informed, (as is often the case when calling customer service), that a call may be recorded, regardless of purpose I believe that constitutes notice to both parties that the call is recorded. There should be no reason to seek further permission.