Upgrade Miscommunication and Disappointment

[TravelBugM]

We are extremely upset Azamara customers.

I received a call from my TA at 1.27p advising me that we had been granted an upgrade to a category N1 Club Continent Suite. My TA had an Azamara representative on the line, who proceeded to confirm the details of the upgrade, the additional benefits, the price ($555 CAD) and the suite number (8059).

I immediately and enthusiastically confirmed acceptance. My TA advised he would put through the charge on the credit card on file and send over a revised confirmation. The call ended at 1.31p.

Looking back in my files, I had applied for the upgrade September 6, 2016.

I then received another call from my TA at 1.52p advising that he was sorry to inform me that he had received a call from Azamara rescinding the upgrade and that the suite was no longer available.

You can only imagine how disappointed and confused we are at this point. How is this possible???

My TA could get no reasoning or explanation from the Azamara representative and the only consolation offered was an additional $50 OBC. Per my TA, the Azamara representative actually lay blame on my TA for making the call to me!!!

This massive customer relations fail just adds fuel to the fire already raging on social media with regards to the disconnect between Azamara corporate and the on board experience.

I am now preparing for a cruise with a very bad taste in my mouth. This is our 4th cruise with Azamara and we have been cheerleaders, however, after the events of today, maybe no more due to the mismanagement of this scenario.

I have emailed LCV with the details asking them to look into this and respond ASAP.

[nordski]

A somewhat similar event happened to us although in our case we were too slow to confirm and someone else picked up that stateroom. You were apparently further along in the process. Very disappointing.

 

 

 

If it's any consolation, reading the good advice of others on this forum we waited to see if another offer was made, and indeed one was forthcoming. If you check the occupancy of the N1's on board there may be more available or that will become available.

 

 

 

We hope that your contact with the LCV office results in a nice result.

Edited February 28, 2018 by nordski

[TravelBugM]

All categories are sold out except the Club World Owner's Suite. We would take that!!! Shame for it to go empty.

 

Will keep you posted as to what transpires!

[lahore]

Good luck, as my recent experience showed you never know.... perhaps another cabin will come up, someone else will move....etc., I hope you get another phone call but if not enjoy your cruise. Even with our situation at the start, we eventually had a wonderful time.

 

P.s. I don’t want to go into the whole divide between onboard and on land situation as I’ve said it before, and don’t want to flog a tired horse but this is not surprising at all to me - the Guatemala lot are really not impressive.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[TravelBugM]

Thanks lahore. In comparison to your horrid ordeal, ours is nothing. I was really - for all of 20 minutes - looking forward to the "roomy" bathroom!!! LOL. I am a glass half full person, so I am sure this hiccup will not spoil our adventure.

[lahore]

You could do what I did and pay extra for the Thalasso deck :), although in my case it wasn’t really my own money which just made me enjoy it even more.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[crzrr]

Thanks lahore. In comparison to your horrid ordeal, ours is nothing. I was really - for all of 20 minutes - looking forward to the "roomy" bathroom!!! LOL. I am a glass half full person, so I am sure this hiccup will not spoil our adventure.

 

Hi TravelBugM - Not sure what happened in your situation but I'm now the one with 8059. I got called by my TA at 9:40am today. At the time there were two club continent suites available (6059 and 8059). I called my TA back at 10am and there was only one left - 8059. I'm on the east coast of the US. So, by 10am EST both suites were gone.

 

This is the first time that this worked for us - our 11th cruise with Azamara and I put in the request in February 2016. Sorry that it didn't work out for you and not sure whose fault it was. Find it hard to believe that AZ would have been calling your TA at that time but you never know.

 

Looking forward to the cruise. Hope to meet you.

 

Sue

[travelberlin]

Mmmm...guest receiving upgrade calls when there are not upgrade options any more?

People make mistakes, but somehow there is now the feeling after reading this posts, that those mistakes are more frequently. Is there anybody at headquarters in Azamara identifying why this things happen and taking corrective action?

Ivi

[Keith1010]

Sorry that this didn't work out.

 

Keith

[uktog]

Sorry to read of your disappointment. Do let us know what you hear back from LCV. Maybe it will still work out for you down the line but it seems as if lots of people were being offered the same two staterooms and the time lines are concerning that you were offered several hours after others had confirmed they would take the rooms.

The "lottery" is just that, it seems if you (direct bookers) or your agent is not there to pick up the call you do not get. Maybe there should be a 24 hour rule if there are two rooms only two folks are called, ten rooms, ten folks called etc

[crzrr]

Sorry to read of your disappointment. Do let us know what you hear back from LCV. Maybe it will still work out for you down the line but it seems as if lots of people were being offered the same two staterooms and the time lines are concerning that you were offered several hours after others had confirmed they would take the rooms.

The "lottery" is just that, it seems if you (direct bookers) or your agent is not there to pick up the call you do not get. Maybe there should be a 24 hour rule if there are two rooms only two folks are called, ten rooms, ten folks called etc

 

I agree. We were lucky - our TA wasn't scheduled to be in the office until 11. Another agent took the call and realized the time crunch. She took the initiative to call me and then handled everything. If it had just gone to my TA's voicemail, we would have been out of luck as well.

[nordski]

The "lottery" is just that, it seems if you (direct bookers) or your agent is not there to pick up the call you do not get. Maybe there should be a 24 hour rule if there are two rooms only two folks are called, ten rooms, ten folks called etc

 

I think the 24 hour rule is a good suggestion.

 

It avoids making an unduly hasty decision without, perhaps, the opportunity to check the location of the offered stateroom and to also consult the very useful sticky thread you created of stateroom reviews.

 

In our case, when we were first contacted there was insufficient time for due diligence.

 

Surely the whole point of this "lottery" is to create a positive experience. Clearly that is not always how it is playing out.

 

Perhaps Bonnie can share this idea with those involved.

[uktog]

Even overnight rather than 24 hours - allows those loyal Azamara guests who are not yet retired and work in environments where access of personal phones is limited to still have a chance.

So far, if we have been offered an upgrade someone has been at home to pick up the call.

Because the calls come showing it is an international call and often with no number displayed we do risk ignoring them - UK guests who know the pests calling from Microsoft windows, boiler scrapage, window scrapage, cavity foam, you had an accident etc will understand

[nordski]

Even overnight rather than 24 hours - allows those loyal Azamara guests who are not yet retired and work in environments where access of personal phones is limited to still have a chance.

So far, if we have been offered an upgrade someone has been at home to pick up the call.

Because the calls come showing it is an international call and often with no number displayed we do risk ignoring them - UK guests who know the pests calling from Microsoft windows, boiler scrapage, window scrapage, cavity foam, you had an accident etc will understand

 

I THINK we have the same problem in Canada re: international and unknown numbers; however, I will have to use my friend Google to see if I've interpreted the UK term "scrapage" correctly. :)

 

My wife is driven to despair by my blithe indifference to calls I interpret to be of this nature. I argue that that's why we have a call answering service.

 

Of course, if it's Azamara calling then she will be proven correct.

 

Thus another reason to back your proposal. I can save face. :)

[TravelBugM]

Sue - I sincerely hope you enjoy the suite - especially the bathroom!!!

 

I am now even more perturbed, as we are in the same EST time zone. Why, if the suite had been allocated at 10a, was my TA called and me conferenced in live with the AZ rep at 1.30p offering me the suite?

 

LCV has responded with somewhat of a stock apology, but they don't seem to get the gist of the bungle. I have now supplied the additional information from Sue.

[AllisonJames]

Not to mention the fact that if they start calling early from an Eastern time zone and don’t hold the offers for each client for 24 hours it’s totally unfair to those of us in other time zones. I’m in CST and my agent’s in CA— they are not going to get an answer from us early in the morning on EST.

[TravelBugM]

Thank you everyone for chiming in. I hope Bonnie is following this thread and cascading the information up to AZ.

 

This should be a straight forward process - resulting in a positive outcome. Not frustration.

[nonrev1]

This is another example of just not getting things right. Last summer we were booked on a cruise and on our cruise thread, people were talking about getting upgrades. Then I saw posts from people that had fewer cruises / lower loyalty status and had requested the upgrade later. Then imagine my surprise when more suites were open for sale 4 days before our cruise. We were already traveling so I left a message for my agent who then contacted Azamara. The response was........ I would have had an upgrade if I had applied for it. Luckily I keep all correspondence with Azamara (sorry, I learned the hard way) and I sent proof that we applied for the upgrade and the email confirmation that they received my request. By this time the suites were gone....more upgrades ....and I was then told that none of the upgrades were through loyalty sales but through revenue management. Seriously? Anyway, they were not telling the truth since I met people that were upgraded...plus, they had already told me I would have been upgraded if I had applied. To say I was angry is an understatement. Once onboard they heard my story and could not have done more to make up for what happened. It really is a shame that Miami and the call center can not get things right.

[travelberlin]

The upgrade is an important benefit for Members. It is already a matter of luck being selected for the upgrade. Why shall it then be so difficult to be contacted? If you or your travel agent pick up the phone and decide on the spot you get the upgrade, otherwise somebody else will receive the call? I did not know it works this way. I think it should not be this way. Selected people shall be able to really have the chance of being contacted, per telephone and per email. There should be a time frame to give people the chance of receiving the email and the phone call. If it is done on the way "pick up the phone and decide immediately other wise I will call somebody else" is not friendly towards members and it is not, imho, the way to reward members for their loyalty. This is not the raffle at the Spa in which you had to be there to win. I hope Bonnie can transmit our preoccupation with the way this is being handled.

Ivi

[TravelBugM]

Not just being there to win, but being provided the right information vs being offered an upgrade which had already been allocated - in this case - 3 hours before!

 

What really flabbergasts me the most is that the AZ rep was on the call, waxing on about the upgrade bells and whistles - larger room, larger balcony, butler service, afternoon tea, complimentary specialty dining, etc. etc.

[travelberlin]

Not just being there to win, but being provided the right information vs being offered an upgrade which had already been allocated - in this case - 3 hours before!

 

What really flabbergasts me the most is that the AZ rep was on the call, waxing on about the upgrade bells and whistles - larger room, larger balcony, butler service, afternoon tea, complimentary specialty dining, etc. etc.

I guess it is not very difficult to find out who the Azamara representative was and how this miscommunication happened. What did you get as an explanation?

Ivi

[TravelBugM]

And I quote, from my response from Mark Zaso, LCV:

 

Thank you for contacting Le Club Voyage.

 

I am sorry to learn about your disappointment regarding your upgrade request. As you can imagine, we receive many Le Club Voyage reduced price category upgrade requests for each sailing; we are unable to provide all guests with an upgrade.

 

This benefit is subject to availability, at the time I contacted your travel agent, we did have two staterooms available. Unfortunately, when you travel agent (Michael) phoned back, there were already gone.

 

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and still hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

In the event that I get a new suite available, I will let you know.

"This benefit is subject to availability, at the time I contacted your travel agent, we did have two staterooms available. Unfortunately, when you travel agent (Michael) phoned back, there were already gone."

 

The above line is what I don't understand as I was on the phone live with my TA and Mark and confirmed we would accept the upgrade.

[rabin1]

I called Nicole in Miami. I know I most probably will not get an upgrade but I wanted to make sure they got my first date of applying for the upgrade. I had changed cabins 4 times and wanted to make sure the earliest date was there. This was several months ago.

 

She called me back and was very very kind. I even asked her who or how they picked the upgrade people. She said she was the one to choose. She never did tell me how she chooses just that she does. Like I said she was very very nice. Maybe you should email her directly. Her email is on the LCV site on Azamara.

 

Best wishes

Kathy

[TravelBugM]

Thanks Kathy. At this point I think I will just let fate play out. I've made our feelings known and it is now in the hands of the upgrade fairy.

[travelberlin]

Nikole Lukas is a very friendly and efficient LCV representative. Whenever I have got in touch with her, my issues were solved. If I were you I would get in touch with her. The answer you have received from Mr. Zaso does not make things better. It fails to address the situation, which you describe, he being on the phone while you were talking to your agent. And what is worse, it seems that after he called your agent, he called some body else without waiting for an answer. Or was not him alone making the calls?

But his email also contradicts the information given by the other cruiser that got the cabin 8059. The cabin was already taken when Mr. Zaso called your agent! What a confusion!

Again somebody will have to address this at headquarters so that it does not happen again. I am really sorry it has happened to you. And thank you for given us the chance to learn and raise our concerns about this experience.

Ivi