Unhappy with Princess customer service!

[Jimorel]

I think the determination of the amount of the OBC was simply determined by the fare paid for the cruise. The more your cruise cost, the more OBC given for the inconvenience of the failure of the Medallion system to function. The why of the amount would have been a corporate decision, not the staff at the front desk.;)

 

 

Based on what Princess Customer Service and people on either Cruise Critic or onboard the ship, I do not believe that it was based on the amount you paid. More likely it was more of a flat rate as so many people got $100. If it was "just" a corporate decision how come at no level of discussion was I ever told that instead of being told nobody got OBC, or that I was asking for something I wasn't entitled too, when I only wanted a straight forward answer. Personally, I think that this was just one big foul up on the part of PRINCESS!!

[RDC1]

Based on what Princess Customer Service and people on either Cruise Critic or onboard the ship, I do not believe that it was based on the amount you paid. More likely it was more of a flat rate as so many people got $100. If it was "just" a corporate decision how come at no level of discussion was I ever told that instead of being told nobody got OBC, or that I was asking for something I wasn't entitled too, when I only wanted a straight forward answer. Personally, I think that this was just one big foul up on the part of PRINCESS!!

 

Based upon the discussions dealing with Medallion the OBC amount seems to also be influenced by when one booked, the sailing date, the ship. Those that booked when the marketing push was heaviest, before their were any known problems, when the problems were first being identified after the full payment date seem to get the higher amounts, if they were on a cruise that was sold intending to have Medallion available. If they booked after the problems started to be made public they seemed to get less. If they were notified prior to full payment date they seemed to get less. Those that booked after marketing push on Medallion was pulled seemed to get less. If booked after the cruise was identified to no longer have Medallion pretty much would get nothing. So there would seem to be a component of timing of booking, sail dates, marketing plan, etc. that enter into it as well as the possibility of room category. That would make sense since those that booked based upon the marketing info or atleast during the time it was heavily marketed and thus potentially influenced and were not told of problems either before the cruise or prior to last payment date would be the most impacted. Unfortunately it would also for a pretty complex approach that would be determined and awarded by corporate that would potentially having different people on the same cruise getting different amounts.

 

Basically you can either accept what you were given and I assume told on board that was the correct amount according to their system or you can just feel that Princess screwed up. I kinda suspect that at this point anything that they would tell you that did not include oh we made a mistake and here is more OBC is not likely to change your mind.

 

Since your case was already responded to from someone in the level of customer service that responds to post cruise issues (the individual that seemed to have the least knowledge) and since that will be documented in the computer file related to that cruise I would not be surprised if you do not get an additional response.

[hillslife]

Just off of Emerald Princess and had a similar situation with a shore excursion. The excursion left late, we did not see everything listed in the itinerary, including the most important part, it was pitch black when we got back to the ship and when I complained they said they would investigate.

 

There were six of us together (friends) on this excursion and we all complained, and many more. I was given 30% back and our friends were given 50% back. I went down to the excursion desk and told the girl that was totally inappropriate. Why would they give one of us one thing and another another thing ...we are on the exact same bus and missed the exact same things. She hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, and yeah she was a supervisor, And then she adjusted it immediately on my bill.... but the situation pissed me off. Don’t try to play me ...just be fair to everyone. Passengers do talk and word gets around very quickly. We’re not stupid. :mad:

[RDC1]

Just off of Emerald Princess and had a similar situation with a shore excursion. The excursion left late, we did not see everything listed in the itinerary, including the most important part, it was pitch black when we got back to the ship and when I complained they said they would investigate.

 

There were six of us together (friends) on this excursion and we all complained, and many more. I was given 30% back and our friends were given 50% back. I went down to the excursion desk and told the girl that was totally inappropriate. Why would they give one of us one thing and another another thing ...we are on the exact same bus and missed the exact same things. She hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, and yeah she was a supervisor, And then she adjusted it immediately on my bill.... but the situation pissed me off. Don’t try to play me ...just be fair to everyone. Passengers do talk and word gets around very quickly. We’re not stupid. :mad:

 

Just pointing out a substantial difference between the situation. The one posted by the OP, was a case where the OBC was given to the passengers of a ship due to the lack of a service that was known in advance. As I understand it Princess was putting the OBC in the account of all of the passengers on board, not as the result of an individual complaint. I suspect that it was in their accounts when they boarded.

 

Your case was an a complaint to due to an incident that happened on ship. Where you and your friends complained to different individuals. Those individuals had the authority to generate refunds. However, the amount of the refund would be a judgement call, after all there would not be a chart that says if this set of circumstances happen on this excursion the refund amount is X%. Different people making the complaint, to different people receiving the complaint, can easily result in variance in judgement. In your discussion with the Supervisor, when you complained that there was a variance, it makes sense that she standardized the result.

 

Now if you had said that you and your friends made the exact same complaint to the exact same person at the same time and got different amounts, then I would agree that you were being played. However I would suspect that you complained to different people at different times and consequently ran into slightly different judgement on the part of the person who you were dealing with.

[hillslife]

Just pointing out a substantial difference between the situation. The one posted by the OP, was a case where the OBC was given to the passengers of a ship due to the lack of a service that was known in advance. As I understand it Princess was putting the OBC in the account of all of the passengers on board, not as the result of an individual complaint. I suspect that it was in their accounts when they boarded.

 

Your case was an a complaint to due to an incident that happened on ship. Where you and your friends complained to different individuals. Those individuals had the authority to generate refunds. However, the amount of the refund would be a judgement call, after all there would not be a chart that says if this set of circumstances happen on this excursion the refund amount is X%. Different people making the complaint, to different people receiving the complaint, can easily result in variance in judgement. In your discussion with the Supervisor, when you complained that there was a variance, it makes sense that she standardized the result.

 

Now if you had said that you and your friends made the exact same complaint to the exact same person at the same time and got different amounts, then I would agree that you were being played. However I would suspect that you complained to different people at different times and consequently ran into slightly different judgement on the part of the person who you were dealing with.

 

 

Wrong.. we complained to the exact same person , at different times, with the same issues...

[RDC1]

Wrong.. we complained to the exact same person , at different times, with the same issues...

 

I guess that they just did not like you.

 

Any chance that the others complained after you did so the person had a better idea of the scope of the problem, or they did a better job of scoping the problem, or that they might have been nicer in relaying the complaint?

[shepp]

I guess that they just did not like you.

 

Ah, First World Problems!

 

I'm not saying anything about anyone in this thread. But I make a special effort (and believe me, sometimes it is an effort) to be pleasant and friendly and non-demanding with staff. And I have never been, in the end, treated shabbily by Princess. But then, maybe it's just dumb luck.

[Jimorel]

Based upon the discussions dealing with Medallion the OBC amount seems to also be influenced by when one booked, the sailing date, the ship. Those that booked when the marketing push was heaviest, before their were any known problems, when the problems were first being identified after the full payment date seem to get the higher amounts, if they were on a cruise that was sold intending to have Medallion available. If they booked after the problems started to be made public they seemed to get less. If they were notified prior to full payment date they seemed to get less. Those that booked after marketing push on Medallion was pulled seemed to get less. If booked after the cruise was identified to no longer have Medallion pretty much would get nothing. So there would seem to be a component of timing of booking, sail dates, marketing plan, etc. that enter into it as well as the possibility of room category. That would make sense since those that booked based upon the marketing info or atleast during the time it was heavily marketed and thus potentially influenced and were not told of problems either before the cruise or prior to last payment date would be the most impacted. Unfortunately it would also for a pretty complex approach that would be determined and awarded by corporate that would potentially having different people on the same cruise getting different amounts.

 

Basically you can either accept what you were given and I assume told on board that was the correct amount according to their system or you can just feel that Princess screwed up. I kinda suspect that at this point anything that they would tell you that did not include oh we made a mistake and here is more OBC is not likely to change your mind.

 

Since your case was already responded to from someone in the level of customer service that responds to post cruise issues (the individual that seemed to have the least knowledge) and since that will be documented in the computer file related to that cruise I would not be surprised if you do not get an additional response.

 

RDC1, on board I was told that nobody ever got anything for not getting the Ocean Medallion! Even after I told the rep that we had each received $50, he continued to say nobody got anything. This was the real start of the problem.

 

And I was not looking for or expecting to get any more OBC because I knew that I had booked a low rate interior cabin and I expected that was the reason I only got $50. I asked even though I thought I knew why, because I wanted to be sure. If the original rep had said anything but an outright lie (well anything that sounded reasonable anyway) I would have been happy. I no longer expect anything from Princess Cruises and I hope they aren't expecting much from me in the future.

[RDC1]

RDC1, on board I was told that nobody ever got anything for not getting the Ocean Medallion! Even after I told the rep that we had each received $50, he continued to say nobody got anything. This was the real start of the problem.

 

And I was not looking for or expecting to get any more OBC because I knew that I had booked a low rate interior cabin and I expected that was the reason I only got $50. I asked even though I thought I knew why, because I wanted to be sure. If the original rep had said anything but an outright lie (well anything that sounded reasonable anyway) I would have been happy. I no longer expect anything from Princess Cruises and I hope they aren't expecting much from me in the future.

A couple of questions just to be exactly clear.

 

Please confirm that you OBC you received was in your account when you arrived and did not involve any interaction on board?

 

Did the OBC on your account say that it was related to Medallion or was it more generic and not specifically list medallion?

 

If so then I would point out the following as I have before. Customer service reps are trained to use the information in their systems. If the OBC was granted by Corporate then on onboard ship personnel may not have had info and may not have had authorization for medallion obc. Thus the answer that as far as the onboard personnel were concerned no one was getting obc because they were not involved.

 

Now if the obc was labeled as being for medallion then they should have seen it when they referenced you account. If it was a generic entry then they would not know if it was medallion, marketing, or some other source.

 

If you had that conversation onboard then most likely that entry was made in the account file. The person from corporate most likely reviewed that file and unfortunately probably did not dig deeper to find out about medallion obc prior to the conversation with you.

 

Now if the obc was listed as related to medallion on your account then there is no excuse for the answer you got and I assume that you would have pointed them in the direction of the account entry.

 

Having built a lot of processes and systems I tend to look for how the system might have failed, either personnel wise or process wise before assuming intent.

 

These days we almost always book interior so we can cruise more.

[caribill]

RDC1, on board I was told that nobody ever got anything for not getting the Ocean Medallion! Even after I told the rep that we had each received $50, he continued to say nobody got anything.

 

A couple of questions just to be exactly clear.

 

 

Did the OBC on your account say that it was related to Medallion or was it more generic and not specifically list medallion?

 

If so then I would point out the following as I have before. Customer service reps are trained to use the information in their systems. If the OBC was granted by Corporate then on onboard ship personnel may not have had info and may not have had authorization for medallion obc. Thus the answer that as far as the onboard personnel were concerned no one was getting obc because they were not involved.

 

 

No matter how the OBC was listed in Jimorel's onboard account, the customer service rep could not accurately say nobody received such OBC unless the rep checked every single account on board, something that obviously did not happen.

 

 

If the rep had no knowledge about OBC for lack of the *****, then the correct response would have been for him to say he would have to check into the matter, not pretend to know with 100% certainty that nobody had it.

[SFBayAreaShipLover]

No matter how the OBC was listed in Jimorel's onboard account, the customer service rep could not accurately say nobody received such OBC unless the rep checked every single account on board, something that obviously did not happen.

 

 

 

 

 

If the rep had no knowledge about OBC for lack of the *****, then the correct response would have been for him to say he would have to check into the matter, not pretend to know with 100% certainty that nobody had it.

 

 

 

When a travel agent gives a OBC when they make the booking in One Source the Princess TA booking system or on phone with Princess Rep and and OBC is giving as gift by TA it will show who gave it. But when a statement is printed and looked at by the front desk in the ship it will only show OBC.

They use to place a note card in stateroom when OBC gift was given by TA. Apparently stopped that now.

 

 

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[RDC1]

No matter how the OBC was listed in Jimorel's onboard account, the customer service rep could not accurately say nobody received such OBC unless the rep checked every single account on board, something that obviously did not happen.

 

 

If the rep had no knowledge about OBC for lack of the *****, then the correct response would have been for him to say he would have to check into the matter, not pretend to know with 100% certainty that nobody had it.

 

True, or to refer the individual to corporate, which he may or may not have done. Certainly agree that it could have been handled better. Again the question is intent or flaw in the system, or misunderstanding.

 

If their system or their on board guidance did not allow for medallion OBC to be granted on board then I will give you to statements that sound the same but have very different meanings. 1. No one on board has received OBC for medallion compared to 2. No one has received OBC for medallion on Board.

 

One of the problems with customer service on most of the cruise lines, not just Princess, is that on board customer service personnel have very limited access to corporate info and are trained to go by what their system says. If their system does not say it, then to them is does not exist. Customer Service personnel can be fired for going outside of the system, on the other hand their job is usually pretty safe if they stick to the data in the system.

 

 

 

If corporate had granted the OBC and considered the matter closed (no additional OBC to be granted), then the system might have even have had a directive that said no OBC for lack of medallion.

 

I had one issue once where they had to contact Corporate 3 times and it was only resolved when I wrote down the exact question that they needed to ask and the specific person they needed to ask it to (in Princess resolution department, the specific person that had developed the solution prior to my cruise). The reason why is because the solution was outside of their normal process.

 

If the OP statement did not list Medallion OBC, then I would expect none of the other accounts on the system would have shown it either.

 

 

I spent 10 years where an Executive Director for customer service in a different industry reported to me. As such I was the court of last resort and you would not believe some of the tapes I have had to review and some of the situations due to training, system information, and the misunderstandings that occur.

[RDC1]

One of the reasons I responded in this topic was because of the use of the term lying.

 

Lying means "to speak falsely or utter untruth knowingly, as with intent to deceive".

 

While the agent the information the agent gave was certainly not correct (atleast for all of us that have followed the Medallion situation), it may have been the information provided to him and and thus not given with the intent to deceive. One reason why I mention this is that before I retired one of the policies given to my customer service department was if a customer used certain language (obscenities, racial, sexual, etc) they were to terminate the conversation and report it up the chain. This also include assaults upon their personal integrity. So if you are elevating a case to higher level I would recommend that one describe a situation as being given incorrect or inaccurate information, if you indicate that an employee lied to you that is an assault on an employee of the company and will not help your case. Even if it turns out that the individual did act with intent.

 

One other note that may or may not be obvious.

 

When it comes to resolving problems customer service reps are tasked to come up with a solution that satisfies the customer without going outside of corporate policy. In many companies that means that if value is offered it is what will satisfy the customer, while minimizing expense to the company. It is also one reason why CS will not discuss the solution offered to anyone else.

 

It is interesting that in the two major complaints listed in this discussion both individuals indicated that they were satisfied with the original amounts, but became upset in one case because of the interaction with customer service about why others got more, the second who negotiated individually about an excursion, got upset when they found out that others had negotiated a higher amount.

 

I wonder if they also get upset when they buy a car if they later hear that someone else got a better deal.

 

I intentionally use the term negotiated because the goal is to satisfy the customer (within corporate guidelines), at minimal cost. The best way to get what you want when dealing with customer service is to know exactly what you want and to state your position in the negotiations. If you just go in and state that there was an issue and do not state your expectations do not be surprised if the offer you receive is at the lower end of the range. If on the other hand if you state a value that is too high, they will bring it down into the range that they are authorized.

 

Now in the case where there is a major breakdown that impact a large number of customers then the solution is usually not determined at customer service, but at a higher level in corporate management and the comment about negotiation does not apply.

Edited May 14, 2018 by RDC1

[Pierlesscruisers]

Good points, well addressed in Msg 63, RDC1!!

 

 

Tom

[cruzsnooze]

To the OP..........Do you think it reasonable to give the same OBC to someone who paid $499 for an inside cabin and not increase the amount to someone who booked a suite for $4999?

[caribill]

To the OP..........Do you think it reasonable to give the same OBC to someone who paid $499 for an inside cabin and not increase the amount to someone who booked a suite for $4999?

 

The OP has stated that all that was wanted was an explanation as to why the amounts were different. If it had to do with the type cabin booked, the OP would have been very happy with that explanation.

[ontheweb]

To the OP..........Do you think it reasonable to give the same OBC to someone who paid $499 for an inside cabin and not increase the amount to someone who booked a suite for $4999?

 

OTOH, aren't the port fees the same for the passengers in both those cabins despite the large difference in the fare? If there was a missed port, wouldn't they get the same OBC for that?

[cruzsnooze]

OTOH, aren't the port fees the same for the passengers in both those cabins despite the large difference in the fare? If there was a missed port, wouldn't they get the same OBC for that?

Port fees have nothing to do with a goodwill on board credit. I recently had Princess cancel a cruise I was booked on and gave some OBC to switch to another cruise. I expect I received more OBC because I was booked into a suite so it probably was proportionate. When it comes to business the old saying applies "money talks".

[geoherb]

I was satisfied with the amount of OBC we got on the Regal in February. It was less than some people who had asked earlier and more than others who did not get any because they asked too late (or did not ask at all). I don't think the price we paid mattered in the amount given. We had a great casino rate for that cruise. We also had free gratuities plus OBC for using FCDs and my shareholder OBC.