How much to push? Need immediate feedback

[LHC]

Need input before talking with a Holland representative in Seattle this am.

DD and I went on the Christmas/Zaandam cruise in December, which was a great treat.

One evening in all the info given (which I love to read during breakfast almost like a newspaper at home), we received a certificate that read:

2006 Holiday Cruises Special Book-On_Board Offer

A deposit of just $100. and shipboard credit of up to $125. per person when you book on board this cruise. Plus a dinner for two at the Pinnacle Grill and a free bottle of wine.

The deal was to use your on-board phone to call ext. 7245.

Okay so we did some quick research and decided on a cruise for 2006...then we started trying to call.....we tried from a variety of phones, for 3 days...never being able to connect...I went to the front desk and asked could they call and then connect us or let us come to their phone in order to utilize this certificate...no such luck, but the Front Desk said that once we left the ship we could still utilize the certificate as long as we kept the original.

After leaving the ship and getting back to reading the boards, I found out none of the phones were working! Started calling HAL everyday asking a variety of people who I needed to speak with, left multiple messages to get people to call me back...messages left unanswered..decided on Jan 7 to send a formal letter (not answered), continued the calls each day and then finally faxed the letter and got a fax confirmation on 1/17. Finally, late yesterday evening 1/19 got a call from a reservation specialist named Judy that said due to the lateness of my getting back to them, they could not honor it....I asked for a supervisor because I was told on board to keep my original, make sure to note it on the end of the cruise evaluation form which both of us did, and it would be honored..no one said you have to make contact with the right person, at the right time, in the right place, while standing on the right leg, holding your mouth in the right manner in order to get it honored.

Now I have decided it is the principal that I want it honored...do I have a leg to stand on or do I give into this..HELP please...

[sail7seas]

Push HARD, IMO

 

You tried to meet their terms and it was impossible.....not because of anything you did but because they made it impossible.

 

IMO....you are entitled to the offer.

 

Good Luck. Let us know how you make out.

 

[LHC]

To book at $100. and have 10 months to pay the balance is a God send to a full-time school nurse and a part-time custodian for my church and the caring for a disabled 21 yr old son..I needed the encouragement

[LizB1]

Have to agree with Sail on this one...I would definitely keep pushing for it as the mistake is not on your part but theirs.

[booboo29]

I echo the others.......Go get 'em and good luck! Don't give up until you get some satisfaction.

 

Jennifer

[K&RCurt]

I would absolutely keep on them and not give up.

 

If you haven't already, start doccumenting the facts of the situation. Dates and time you attempted to call on-board, name of the front desk person if can remember, keep copies of the letters, emails and faxes.

 

I wish you Good luck!

[kingclick]

Push, Push, PUSH!!!

[localady]

I sure wish I could tell you who to push to get this situation rectified.:rolleyes:

That has always been a great mystery to me, as it seems that Seattle can be clueless as to what goes on onboard the fleet! Let us know how it turns out please!!

[lougee1043]

while still on the ship if the phone didnt work i would have found the customer service rep who usually has a desk near the front desk or i would have spoken to the purser or any officer and asked them to help me find the right person ----------thats water under the bridge now --- i would push push push -- if you are a mariner i would call mariner services in seattle--they might be able to help you

[jhannah]

I believe they have screwed you over. You have gone above and beyond to comply with their offer. That said, I guess it's all a question of is the effort worth $125 to you. I know ... that's a good chunk of change. But look at the time/effort/emotions you've invested already. The lower deposit is nice ... but at the end of the day you're going to have to pay the entire fare anyway.

 

Personally, if I were treated this way they would lose a sale. I'd take my money somewhere else.

 

Good luck to you.

[RevNeal]

Push VERY hard. It really should be honored, and especially so since the Front Office Staff told you what they did.

[serendipity1499]

Agree...Keep pushing & perhaps you might send a certified letter to HAL documenting all of your attempts to book on-board & later..:(

 

Good luck & let us know the outcome..

[Cruiser Mary]

Hi LHC,

 

If you're not out any money, I'd walk away. I'm not saying that to be different, but I was on that Christmas cruise on the Zaandam and I, as well as 4 of my family members, will be on the inaugural Noordam. Before that, we had never sailed on Holland but many other lines. My Noordam reservations have turned out to be a nightmare and the ship hasn't even been completed yet.

 

First, I found out about a month ago that they changed our cabin assignment after I booked it on June 10 of last year. We chose a specific VA cabin in the center of the back of the ship. They took it from us and gave us another one 2 doors down. They claim they don't know what happened and my travel agent is of no help either. I have the original confirmation saying we have the room, but that doesn't seem to matter.

 

Then, I bought another VA cabin for 3 of my family members. I just received the tickets. They have the wrong names on them!!! My travel agent hasn't called me back, so I have been trying to call Holland America for an hour now. Their 800 number is busy!!! I can't believe it. I don't even know if we have that room now. I am afraid they have taken my room and given it to someone else again.

 

I'm fed up. There are many other cruise lines out there. I'd say walk, but that's just me.

 

I hope you get resolution of your problem soon. I know how frustrating it is. :o

Mary

[bepsf]

... I, as well as 4 of my family members, will be on the inaugural Noordam. Before that, we had never sailed on Holland but many other lines. My Noordam reservations have turned out to be a nightmare and the ship hasn't even been completed yet.

 

First, I found out about a month ago that they changed our cabin assignment after I booked it on June 10 of last year. We chose a specific VA cabin in the center of the back of the ship. They took it from us and gave us another one 2 doors down. They claim they don't know what happened and my travel agent is of no help either. I have the original confirmation saying we have the room, but that doesn't seem to matter.

 

Then, I bought another VA cabin for 3 of my family members. I just received the tickets. They have the wrong names on them!!! My travel agent hasn't called me back, so I have been trying to call Holland America for an hour now. Their 800 number is busy!!! I can't believe it. I don't even know if we have that room now. I am afraid they have taken my room and given it to someone else again.

 

I'm fed up. There are many other cruise lines out there. I'd say walk, but that's just me.

 

I hope you get resolution of your problem soon. I know how frustrating it is. :o

Mary

 

Mary--

 

There was a discussion a few months ago about the Noordam aft cabins: Folks had booked specific cabins based on the deckplans of the previous Vista ships but at the 11th hour, HAL decided to add cabins to the stern of decks 5-8 which makes the aft staterooms different numbers!

 

My TA has also had problems contacting HAL - their numbers seem to be perpetually busy - she had to use some obscure number to get through to them...

 

Anyway, I hope that your TA is able to get this resolved w/ HAL.

 

LHC -- Go get your shipboard credit - its not your fault that their lines were down/busy, etc...

[Cruiser Mary]

Wow, Brian. I had no idea. Thanks for telling me. I am going to go look into that. I've given up getting the cabin back. I'm just a little bitter!!! But I really don't want this to ruin my birthday cruise, so I'm trying to let it go. I guess writing about it helps a little, actually a lot.

 

Thanks again for your help.

Mary

[Randyk47]

*HC - I can't type what I'm thinking..... Push, push, push and then push some more. That's ridicu*ous, corporate run-around! :( That's a great offer and it's we** worth the effort to try to get them to honor it. The worst is that they'** continue to stonewa** and you'** not get it but other than the bother it rea**y won't cost you more than the effort.

[LHC]

Called Seattle to give the supervisor my work number to call me prior to 2:30 pm Eastern (TN Hillbilly time). Well is it 2:22 pm, and no call yet....I plan on trying again this afternoon from my cellphone.

Now it is about the principal.....I just want the respect of someone from HAL to do follow-up correctly. As a healthcare provider I return most of my calls immediately unless an emergency arises but I owe it to people to return their calls.

Holland is into Customer Service......Now I want the service simply because it is right. The monies are becoming secondary and I could probably use an internet provider cheaper, but I am digging my heels in for the $100. booking fee. Period the end. Anybody know any names of the hierchy in Seattle or the right way to get the workplace "tree"....?

Linda

[LizB1]

LHC...if you have not already done so, I would call the Guest Relations Department at 1-800-599-8256, tell them your whole story and ask them what to do. Let them know you are very upset about being treated this way, etc. They are open until 8:00pm EST, so perhaps you can call from home.

 

They may make you put all this in writing to them, but it may be worth it to fight for what you want!

 

Good luck!!

[booboo29]

Hi Linda,

 

I too have had some interesting Customer Service issues over the past couple of weeks and was told by customer service to address a letter to Mr. Todd Behan, Customer Service Manager at the Seattle address.

 

Hope it helps!

 

Jennifer

[lougee1043]

 

Then, I bought another VA cabin for 3 of my family members. I just received the tickets. They have the wrong names on them!!! My travel agent hasn't called me back, so I have been trying to call Holland America for an hour now.

 

if you booked the va tix thru a ta then hal wont really talk to you about the name errors --you will have to go thru your ta

[Cruiser Mary]

Thanks lougee1043. Good news - my travel agent called back and they are resending the tickets, hopefully with the right names this time!!! They also said they cross-referenced our reservations so we can dine together.

 

So, all is good and I can rest now.

 

Mary

[ekerr19]

Thanks lougee1043. Good news - my travel agent called back and they are resending the tickets, hopefully with the right names this time!!! They also said they cross-referenced our reservations so we can dine together.

 

So, all is good and I can rest now.

 

Mary

 

Mary -

 

I have been sitting here hoping your situation would work out - we are also on the inaugural sailing and I just got the call - "docs are in" and on their way to us - I'm relieved to have "actual" docs for our SA cabin (with the correct names listed!) after hearing your tale.

 

Look forward to meeting you onboard. :)

 

Oh, btw - You say you can rest now, lol? The "fun" just begins - PACKING for NYC in winter, lol!!! :D

[Cruiser Mary]

Thanks, E! I am so glad you are getting your docs, and your SA cabin sounds heavenly. We are in 5188, right next to an SA. I hope to "graduate" to that level one day!!!!

 

On our Thanksgiving cruise, we didn't get our tickets until 2 days prior to sailing! We took my husband's parents and when we do, things always go wrong, so I was really nervous. Everything worked out perfectly though.

 

I hope you guys have a great time!

Mary

[rjbean4]

:confused: WOW this has been kind of interesting. Makes me want to contact our TA.

 

Mom & I were on the Veendam and did the two 7 day cruises back to back for Christmas & New Years from our home port of Tampa. We also booked on board for the Holidays next year on the Zaandam to Hawaii but after we retunred home changed to the two 7 day cruises on the Westerdam sailing Dec.24th. We have a friend going with us and she said that she didn't want to do Hawaii because of the cost of traveling as a single and has some other extended cruises booked. I don't recall seeing anything that said that we could get up to a $125 ship board credit. Our info said that if we booked 7 - 11 days would be 25.00 for a inside and from $35 for verandahs. Then cruises 12 days and more was inside $50 and from $75 for verandahs. I know there will have been same changes to ours since we changed ships but there was also nothing mentioned about wine and the Pinnacle grill.

 

One problem we had when trying to call was that on one note under our door it had one number and another that was a half sheet had a different number. But we didn't have any problems getting through to Seattle. We only had to wait on the day we did it till we were about a hour out after we had sailed from port.

 

R. J. Bean

47 Cruises on HAL at the age of 41

504 Days at sea on 11 different DAM SHIPS

500 Day Gold Medallion Holder

9/28 Trans Canal on Westerdam

12/24 Christmas & New Years on Westerdam

If Holland America doesn't go there WE DON'T GO!!!!

[Cruiseoften]

LHC

 

Absolutely!! - no question that you should be pushing!!!!!!! I'd be pushing hard to get what was offered.

 

In this day and age seems one has to document every conversation/meeting - recording date: time: full name etc. etc.

 

Good lucK!