Hello, RCI! Your calls are dropping! A vent.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

WTH! Trying to upgrade from inside to balcony on my November cruise. Called RCI, was on hold for 60 minutes before an agent finally took my call, took all of my info and promptly disconnected the call... OK, it happens.

I call again. On hold for 42 minutes. A different agent takes my call, takes my res # and name, and just goes silent. The call didn't disconnect, but there was nobody on the other line. I "hello--ed" for 5 minutes and hung up.

A bit frustrating.

[twangster]

All the self scan machines at a local Walmart were acting up this week from a botched software upgrade.  Sixty percent of items wouldn't scan requiring multiple visits by the assistant to fix it.  Very frustrating during a pandemic.  

 

Technology sucks sometimes.

[lenquixote66]

23 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

WTH! Trying to upgrade from inside to balcony on my November cruise. Called RCI, was on hold for 60 minutes before an agent finally took my call, took all of my info and promptly disconnected the call... OK, it happens.

I call again. On hold for 42 minutes. A different agent takes my call, takes my res # and name, and just goes silent. The call didn't disconnect, but there was nobody on the other line. I "hello--ed" for 5 minutes and hung up.

A bit frustrating.

In all my years of cruising with RCI the most I ever had to wait to speak to someone was 3 minutes.When I called last month it was 30 seconds.I make all callings in the evening ,usually about 7:00.

[Smiles1984]

People are working from home and reliant on VoIP phones running over VPN. Residential broadband/fibre was never intended for this sort of use, so even small drops in connection speed can disconnect the call. I know it's frustrating, but imagine how they feel! 

[badvector]

29 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

In all my years of cruising with RCI the most I ever had to wait to speak to someone was 3 minutes.When I called last month it was 30 seconds.I make all callings in the evening ,usually about 7:00.

 

40 minutes and counting at the current time.  7:06 p.m.

[cb at sea]

This happens more and more often..it's infuriating.

 

[lenquixote66]

4 minutes ago, cb at sea said:

This happens more and more often..it's infuriating.

 

Yes,but you have to realize that we are living in a strange time and they only have x amount of representatives.If I called and had to wait I would put my phone on Speaker ,relax and wait the 40 minutes.It is a lot less time than calling a cable company.

[ATC cruiser]

They just cancelled 2 months worth of cruises too. Ain’t gonna get better anytime soon

[ATC cruiser]

Just now, lenquixote66 said:

Yes,but you have to realize that we are living in a strange time and they only have x amount of representatives.If I called and had to wait I would put my phone on Speaker ,relax and wait the 40 minutes.It is a lot less time than calling a cable company.

Don’t even get me started about the cable company🤬🤯🤬

[badvector]

4 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Yes,but you have to realize that we are living in a strange time and they only have x amount of representatives.If I called and had to wait I would put my phone on Speaker ,relax and wait the 40 minutes.It is a lot less time than calling a cable company.

 

That's exactly what I've been doing.  They just answered after 42 minutes.  I've waited anywhere between 15 - 45 minutes lately and I've fully expected it.  Have to remember they laid off a large part of their land based employees too.  Luckily, I haven't experienced the disconnection issue yet.  That would be frustrating.

[Ourusualbeach]

I called this morning.  Left the phone on the table and went to the office to get a customers file.  While I was out I also stopped  at a Pet Smart and got gas which took an hour and a half.  Came  home and only had another hour to wait. It’s been crazy the past week and a half since they introduced the Lift and Shift.  

[not-enough-cruising]

You are calling to upgrade a November room, the day after they cancelled 6 plus weeks of cruises?? 

brave, very brave 

[RSLeesburg]

Huh... I called two days ago to reprice a cruise for next year.  It was picked up in 5 minutes.  I told the woman what I wanted, she checked my booking and agreed that the price went down, started something, asked if I could hold, and she came back in less than 5 minutes.  Our cruise was reprised and is now over $10K less.  I was very happy all around with the results! 

[Ourusualbeach]

9 minutes ago, RSLeesburg said:

Huh... I called two days ago to reprice a cruise for next year.  It was picked up in 5 minutes.  I told the woman what I wanted, she checked my booking and agreed that the price went down, started something, asked if I could hold, and she came back in less than 5 minutes.  Our cruise was reprised and is now over $10K less.  I was very happy all around with the results! 

You were very lucky. 

[stevea36]

when you FINALLY get an agent give them a callback number so they can get back to you if the call drops.  I did that today as soon as I noticed some breaking up of the Agent's voice, fortunately it was not needed but she gladly took the number "Just in case".

 

[badvector]

I'm still on the call.  We're waiting for a Supervisor. Now at 2 hr 7 min.  Poor guy on the other end keeps apologizing for the wait.  I'm not going anywhere.  The price reduction I'm getting is worth the wait.  Just sitting on the deck sipping a drink and waiting for the sun to set.

[stevea36]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I called this morning.  Left the phone on the table and went to the office to get a customers file.  While I was out I also stopped  at a Pet Smart and got gas which took an hour and a half.  Came  home and only had another hour to wait. It’s been crazy the past week and a half since they introduced the Lift and Shift.  

 

 

and the new cancellations just add on to the load !!

[RSLeesburg]

20 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You were very lucky. 

Yes.  Extremely!  I first called Celebrity to move our South America Christmas cruise from this year to 2021 - the same price, same cruise deal. Got the exact same cabin, and that call took less than 15 minutes.  I looked at our 9 day Norwegian Cruise on Anthem for next summer.  I think our suite was originally over $20K, and it dropped to $10K, almost 50 percent savings.  I was so excited I went out and bought three new board games to play while I am stuck in the house.  In 9 cruises, I think we have only had one price drop and that was just $500.  Suites rarely drop.  Our Christmas cruise on X was the identical price in 2021 as it was for this year, so we must have just hit the right ship and cruise at the right moment.  It will never happen again.  

[Ourusualbeach]

43 minutes ago, stevea36 said:

 

 

and the new cancellations just add on to the load !!

I wish they had the system that a lot of other companies have adopted where you can enter your phone number and they call you back. 

[stevea36]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I wish they had the system that a lot of other companies have adopted where you can enter your phone number and they call you back. 

Delta has that.   Last week call back times were being quoted at 10-12 hours...   I called saturday morning and it said 30 minutes so I went for it..   got called back in 1 hour...  was on the phone with the agent for less than 1 minute, mission accomplished (and these times were thru the TA numbers (and I am a Delta Reserve Card holder !!)...

 

 

 

 

[csnarpy]

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I wish they had the system that a lot of other companies have adopted where you can enter your phone number and they call you back. 

 

You mean the Call Back System? :)

[Itchy&Scratchy]

14 hours ago, Smiles1984 said:

People are working from home and reliant on VoIP phones running over VPN. Residential broadband/fibre was never intended for this sort of use, so even small drops in connection speed can disconnect the call. I know it's frustrating, but imagine how they feel! 

yeah, but how strange for the call to be dropped AFTER A VERY LONG WAIT. Why couldn't it drop 10 minutes into it?

I know the waits are long due to the pandemic/cancellations/etc, and I don't mind that, but dang it - dropping right after somebody answers the phone twice? couldn't they call me back? The travel agency that works with my company always takes our phone number first to call us back if we are disconnected.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

13 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

You are calling to upgrade a November room, the day after they cancelled 6 plus weeks of cruises?? 

brave, very brave 

the price HAS JUST DROPPED for the holidays. Should I wait to rebook until it goes up again? Seriously? And I wasn't exactly following their cancellation schedule. Everybody is cancelling cruises now, weeks and weeks of it. I am talking about dropped calls, not the long wait.

 

And when you call, their system says - if your cruise is cancelled, please don't stay on the line - you will automatically get your FCC.

[stevea36]

46 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

yeah, but how strange for the call to be dropped AFTER A VERY LONG WAIT. Why couldn't it drop 10 minutes into it?

I know the waits are long due to the pandemic/cancellations/etc, and I don't mind that, but dang it - dropping right after somebody answers the phone twice? couldn't they call me back? The travel agency that works with my company always takes our phone number first to call us back if we are disconnected.

The call is not transferred to someone's remote phone until they are available to handle a call, otherwise it is connected to their "phone system" at HQ.  The drop, most likely, occurred when the call was being transferred to a remote individual.

[stevea36]

44 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

the price HAS JUST DROPPED for the holidays. Should I wait to rebook until it goes up again? Seriously? And I wasn't exactly following their cancellation schedule. Everybody is cancelling cruises now, weeks and weeks of it. I am talking about dropped calls, not the long wait.

 

And when you call, their system says - if your cruise is cancelled, please don't stay on the line - you will automatically get your FCC.

 

Correct, a FCC for the sailing is the default and will be processed relatively quickly.  Remember, you have the option to convert the 125% FCC back to a 100% refund.