Which is worse, Poor Customer Service or Incorrect Customer Service?

[JAGR]

When I discovered last week that MSC moved me from Seaside to Meraviglia, I called and cancelled, but I never got an e-mail confirmation (poor customer service, but not end of the world).  I called MSC on Monday.  The rep said I wasn't cancelled and she would take care of it.  I also mentioned that a different cancellation on the same sailing was cancelled on 4/22 and I still had no refund posted (cancelled that cruise when a cheaper YC rate became available.  The rep said that there was no sign of any action to issue a refund, and she said she would "escalate" it since it was over 60 days.  She said there was no email address on either booking, so I gave her one.  Still no email confirmation.  Checked again this morning with a different rep.  She said the Meraviglia reservation was still active, and had no pending cancellation (this is incorrect customer service on the part of the Monday rep).  She also saw no record of action on the earlier cancellation, so she promised she would "escalate" it for me.  I suspect that when I check the status next week, I will probably have to cancel a third time.  Service reps are courteous, but either the system or the use of poorly trained substitute personnel are really hurting them.  I am becoming more disillusioned with shore-side service.  I offer this word of warning.  If you think you cancelled a cruise, make sure you confirm it, or you may very well be sorely disappointed 90 days from sailing.

[sfaaa]

MSC has a good product. Unfortunately, customer service is not its strong selling point.

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, JAGR said:

When I discovered last week that MSC moved me from Seaside to Meraviglia, I called and cancelled, but I never got an e-mail confirmation (poor customer service, but not end of the world). 

 

Same here.

What I've been reading is that cancellations will "officially" begin in the first week in July. Whether the old cancellations will get put into the system or if another call is needed is unknown. 

 

1 hour ago, JAGR said:

She said the Meraviglia reservation was still active, and had no pending cancellation (this is incorrect customer service on the part of the Monday rep).  She also saw no record of action on the earlier cancellation, so she promised she would "escalate" it for me.  I suspect that when I check the status next week, I will probably have to cancel a third time. 

 

I'm also still booked on the "Seaside to Meraviglia" cruise even though I cancelled/booked another cruise for the same week on Seaside out of Port Canaveral. 

 

I'm going to wait until Mid-July to get everything taken care of. The "Seaside to Meraviglia" cruise stressed me a bit but quickly taking action and booking Seaside (in a better stateroom than before) made things better. 

[JAGR]

36 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Same here.

Thanks!  I'm glad I wasn't the only one treading water.

 

I was trying to look at changing as well, but I locked in a pretty good airfare in and out of Miami.  I'm hoping American will let me re-arrange something.

Thanks again, John

[rkacruiser]

JAGR,

 

The title of your post attracted my attention.  

 

2 hours ago, JAGR said:

Service reps are courteous, but either the system or the use of poorly trained substitute personnel are really hurting them.  I am becoming more disillusioned with shore-side service.  I offer this word of warning.  If you think you cancelled a cruise, make sure you confirm it, or you may very well be sorely disappointed 90 days from sailing.

 

Your experience only reinforces my decision that regardless of all the attractive promotions by all of the cruise lines to book a cruise, I don't want to get into this "loop" of cancelling/refunds/re-booking, etc.  There is just too much chaos in the travel industry--indeed the world--today.  

[BermudaBound2014]

On 6/30/2020 at 5:05 PM, rkacruiser said:

JAGR,

 

The title of your post attracted my attention.  

 

 

Your experience only reinforces my decision that regardless of all the attractive promotions by all of the cruise lines to book a cruise, I don't want to get into this "loop" of cancelling/refunds/re-booking, etc.  There is just too much chaos in the travel industry--indeed the world--today.  

 

I can totally relate to this. Last night I saw a 7 day bella balcony on MSC seaside selling for $199 pp January 10th. Last thing I want to do is deal with MSC customer service, but it's getting tempting to put down the $49 deposit and be ready to just write that off. If I thought ships would be sailing prior to final payment I'd do it,  but I think all lines are playing the "final payment is due just before I cancel your cruise" game and I don't want money tied up in FCC as I believe those are going to start coming with lots of restrictions and I prefer as much freedom as possible.

[sidari]

Not 100% sure but I heard the $49 deposit has ended.

[Até]

13 minutes ago, sidari said:

Not 100% sure but I heard the $49 deposit has ended.

It's still advertised on the US site with both the "4th of July" promo and all the different area "All In" promos.  I just tried a non promo EU sailing booking and was offered to pay $98 deposit.  It will be a shame if they eliminate it, I actually booked another distant cruise partly because of it.

[deliver42]

I booked the Seashore for  December, 2021 because of the low deposit. Even if it were non refundable, which I don't think it is, I wouldn't care. I can live with it, though I have no plans of cancelling.