I have words, but can't use them here!!!

[kelbell]

This is whats happening,  Changed a cruise paid the $100pp (not a problem). Paid $300 at time of change

for deposit increase.(new deposit $500, no problem).  Had a balance of $1,500, deposit brings it too $1,200.

I have two receipts reflecting new balances...Now the BS starts.  Go online to make a payment, online reservation

balance is $1,600.....I make a call gentleman fixes and I ask for a new "Cruise vacation receipt". Back to $1,200.

That was 4/22.  I go online today payment back too $1,600. Another phone call, BS,BS,BS I'm hearing and they

are telling me my new balance is $1,400.......Seriously ,how they heck did you decide that will be what I owe....

Now I'm on old for a supervisor, anyone want to take bets no one will pick up the hold!!!!!

Any thoughts or ideas that will help with this? 

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, kelbell said:

Any thoughts or ideas that will help with this? 

This has been reported before - go directly to mbayley@rccl.com since it doesn’t seem like the front line CSR and even the supervisor can fix it. 

[kelbell]

Thank you Biker19 I will do that right now.

[orville99]

41 minutes ago, kelbell said:

Any thoughts or ideas that will help with this? 

Medicate heavily. You are not alone by any stretch of the imagination. And, do what Biker19 said. That was the only way we resolved the same issue when it happened to us.

Edited May 3, 2022 by orville99

[kelbell]

I appreciate everyone for letting me rant.  So to follow up, it got resolved.

I have to admit I was more than direct with my demeanor. The supervisor

was holding steady, have to give it to them they are taught to wear us down.

NOT TODAY DEVIL, NOT TODAY!!!!!  New receipt sent again....We shall see

tomorrow when I go back into my account!!  Thanks again everyone.

 

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Medicate heavily. You are not alone by any stretch of the imagination. And, do what Biker19 said. That was the only way we resolved the same issue when it happened to us.

The sad part is that this is not a fluke, RCI knows it is happening, and they don't stop it from continuing to happen.

[lifes-a-beach]

Send them a bill for your time.  As the saying goes, time is money.  They won’t pay it but they’ll always owe you.  

[John&LaLa]

11 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

The sad part is that this is not a fluke, RCI knows it is happening, and they don't stop it from continuing to happen.

 

Honestly never have problems like this, TA just deals with it

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Honestly never have problems like this, TA just deals with it

I have not had the issue either. However, I am reading plenty of stories on this board about it happening. And these are long time posters so I tend to believe what they are stating.

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

I have not had the issue either. However, I am reading plenty of stories on this board about it happening. And these are long time posters so I tend to believe what they are stating.

 

No doubt, but it seems to happen to those who want to 'keep control' of their bookings.

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

No doubt, but it seems to happen to those who want to 'keep control' of their bookings.

And that should make zero difference.

[nelblu]

I'll tell you my tale, but first I want to thank the person that invented the speaker phone.

 

While on Anthem Easter cruise I stopped by the "next cruise desk" to book a future cruise.  The agent was smiley and efficient.  When it came time to enter the promos of solo supplement (DP340) and the on-board booking credit. she was having an issue.  It seems that the system would only accept a single promo.  No problem as I would simply call Royal.

 

On Wednesday following the sail, I started with the C&A desk.  After 1.15 hours, I gave up and decided to call back that evening.  That evening after another 45 minutes, I again gave up.

 

On Thursday, I called what I thought was Royal customer service number and to my surprise someone answered almost immediately.  Surprised at the sudden fortune, I mumbled something.  The person at the other end then tells me that I got the "special needs" dept.  So, I apologized profusely and redialed the proper number.  No luck as I wasted another 50 minutes.

 

That evening, I tried CS again and I was successful after 30 minutes.  I gave the agent the necessary information and after she checked with revenue(?) the additional promo of $100 OBC showed up properly in a corrected invoice.

 

With the speaker phone I don't mind waiting as I do other things, but I wish they had a call back feature as many companies have.  My gripe is (a) the constant barrage of sales, (b) some voice telling me that "all agents are busy, and someone will be with you shortly."  I guess in Royal's vernacular "shortly" means hours.😁

 

At least if music was playing, it would be relaxing.☺️

 

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

And that should make zero difference.

 

Not my problem. 😉

[kelbell]

John and la la I'm not sure what you mean by "keep control" of our booking?

That may be a term I'm not aware off for cruising. But to me, OP it sounds

like I was in the wrong for catching a $400 swing in RCC favor, that should

never had happened and hours on the phone being completed irritated.

I do not use a TA because we enjoy all the leg work of looking, and cruising

for 20 years we have never had this issue, and when it comes to my money

I will fight for every penny that is due us. RCC was completely at fault and

needed to be held accountable, which I did for us. A TA would never be

able to convey my discuss and frustration that RCC caused, I prefer to

fight my own battles. A TA may be able to reach someone on the phone faster,

But I can wait and advocate for myself.

[Ocean Boy]

4 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Not my problem. 😉

Got it.

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, kelbell said:

John and la la I'm not sure what you mean by "keep control" of our booking?

That may be a term I'm not aware off for cruising. But to me, OP it sounds

like I was in the wrong for catching a $400 swing in RCC favor, that should

never had happened and hours on the phone being completed irritated.

I do not use a TA because we enjoy all the leg work of looking, and cruising

for 20 years we have never had this issue, and when it comes to my money

I will fight for every penny that is due us. RCC was completely at fault and

needed to be held accountable, which I did for us. A TA would never be

able to convey my discuss and frustration that RCC caused, I prefer to

fight my own battles. A TA may be able to reach someone on the phone faster,

But I can wait and advocate for myself.

 

Keep Control is a term commonly used here. It refers to being able to access your reservation directly. You can't do that when a TA controls your reservation. 

 

If you think a good TA can't fix your problems, then I can't help you.

 

FWIW, I have called C&A once during the pandemic. That was to request my wife's points for a solo cruise be corrected. TA probably could have done it, but I'm willing to chip in occasionally.  

 

Ive honestly lost track of how many cruises have been cancelled, FCC'd, re booked, lift and shifted, etc. And not one call to Royal. My TA handled everything seamlessly 

 

There have been hiccups along the way, but I don't worry about them. He has notified me of deals, opportunities, set up a group cruise, and now we're doing a wedding. Easy peasy.

 

He sends new invoices when price drops happen, finds cabins that don't appear on website. Pretty cool. And he reminds me when payments are due.

 

For our upcoming World Cruise,  we've moved cabins and categories at least 4 times just to get the perfect cabins for 9 months. 

 

I could go on and on😇

[kelbell]

I'm happy your TA is does a great job for you. Thank you for clearing up the term.

Ta's aren't for everyone, enjoy your world cruise.

[soremekun]

People boast about paying so much extra for tips but then are unwilling to pay an incorrect invoice to help a starving cruise line.

[John&LaLa]

16 minutes ago, soremekun said:

People boast about paying so much extra for tips but then are unwilling to pay an incorrect invoice to help a starving cruise line.

 

[brillohead]

On 5/4/2022 at 4:14 PM, kelbell said:

I do not use a TA because we enjoy all the leg work of looking,

But it sounds like you DON'T enjoy "all the leg work".... because part of the leg work is dealing with any problems that crop up.  

Like @John&LaLa, my TA handles all the headaches for me.  Lift-and-switches, FCCs, etc., I've never had to call Royal for any of it.  (And as you can see by my signature, I'm not a casual cruiser lately... we're talking a significant number of bookings.)

I still do "all the leg work" of looking for a ship/itinerary/date/stateroom that I'm interested in, and then I simply send an email to my TA and he takes care of it.  I typically have an email back from him within a few minutes that it's all booked, with the booking confirmation attached to the email.  He keeps my credit card numbers on file, and I tell him which card to charge when the time comes for final payment. And because of his organization affiliation, he's able to get me a cheaper "group" rate and/or some OBC that I wouldn't have been able to get by booking directly on my own.

Every time I've heard a report of these "changing balance due" incidents, it's always someone who has booked direct, rather than through a TA.  Royal's IT department is notoriously incompetent, and I'm guessing that there's a problem in the computer coding that is only affecting direct-booked cruises versus cruises booked through their TA system. 

 

I agree that these incidents (and others associated with Royal's inept computer programmers) shouldn't be happening in the first place, but something to keep in mind is that if you book through a TA, you aren't the one who has to deal with it if it does happen.



 

[kelbell]

Brillohead I beg to differ, if you read correctly you would have noticed I said

I resolved the issue. I may not enjoy hanging on a phone for an issue

that RCC caused but be clear I resolve every issue that directly effects my

bookings.  And as I stated in 20years we have never had an issue like this.

And as I stated if your happy with your TA that's great no judgement, but because

I choice not too use a TA, with,  "significant bookings" I would appreciate the same

judge free zone.

[brillohead]

5 hours ago, kelbell said:

Brillohead I beg to differ, if you read correctly you would have noticed I said

I resolved the issue. I may not enjoy hanging on a phone for an issue

that RCC caused but be clear I resolve every issue that directly effects my

bookings.  And as I stated in 20years we have never had an issue like this.

And as I stated if your happy with your TA that's great no judgement, but because

I choice not too use a TA, with,  "significant bookings" I would appreciate the same

judge free zone.

Never did I say that you didn't get the issue resolved, so I don't think I am the one with a reading comprehension issue here.  

 

If you enjoyed the phone calls and hassles, then why did you create a rant thread here about it?  

You either enjoy the legwork and the hassles, or you don't.  Part of doing the legwork is dealing with hanging on the phone for issues that may (or may not) come up.  

I'm glad your issue got resolved.  I'm also glad that I don't have to deal with these problems.  The two are not mutually exclusive.

[jean87510]

5 hours ago, kelbell said:

Brillohead I beg to differ, if you read correctly you would have noticed I said

I resolved the issue. I may not enjoy hanging on a phone for an issue

that RCC caused but be clear I resolve every issue that directly effects my

bookings.  And as I stated in 20years we have never had an issue like this.

And as I stated if your happy with your TA that's great no judgement, but because

I choice not too use a TA, with,  "significant bookings" I would appreciate the same

judge free zone.

I also do everything myself because I dont cruise as much as others on here.  If I sailed as much as some people on here, yes I probably would let someone handle it.  I think people who have 10 to 25 bookings a year dont understand those of us who may be only working with 2 or 3 a year.  So getting upset or annoyed at the responses isnt worth it.  I personally have no issue being on hold with RCCL if it can get my question answered.  I just leave the speaker on and carry phone with me around doing my daily stuff.  Even went bike riding one time!  I think the longest hold I ever had was 2.5 hours but that was with Carnival and it was a tricky situation but was resolved correctly.  TA actually screwed it up initially.

 

On another note, I don't know if you are aware of this but your responses are difficult to read as something is off with the sentence wrapping almost as if you are cutting and pasting.  

[kelbell]

On 5/6/2022 at 1:37 AM, brillohead said:

But it sounds like you DON'T enjoy "all the leg work"

Brillohead you are correct, you just implied I do not like resolving my issues. But I'm the

one with the reading issues....and the rant was just that letting off steam, I apologize

for those that had to read it. And you for clicking onto it, doing so by your on free will.

I do know one thing in writing and reading. I know how to admit when I'm wrong, and write

it so others can read it. Thank you, I am happy I resolved the issue.

 

Edited May 7, 2022 by kelbell

[brillohead]

23 hours ago, jean87510 said:

I also do everything myself because I dont cruise as much as others on here.  If I sailed as much as some people on here, yes I probably would let someone handle it.  I think people who have 10 to 25 bookings a year dont understand those of us who may be only working with 2 or 3 a year. 

Even when I only booked 1-3 cruises a year, I still booked with a TA when I knew I had one that was good to work with.  (I'm the first to admit that not all TAs are the same; I'm incredibly thankful that I have a wonderful one.)

My TA almost always gets me a slightly lower fare than I can get by booking directly, and almost always includes a little bit of OBC, even though I book dirt-cheap rooms at dirt-cheap rates most of the time.  

Even if it's only once or twice a year, if I can save a hundred bucks on a cruise, you can bet your sweet bippy that I'm gonna save a hundred bucks!!!! I may be ugly, but I'm not stupid, and a hundred bucks in my pocket is a hundred bucks I can save towards my next cruise!  LOL

And even with all my many post-COVID bookings (this number of cruises is not my norm -- I'm only taking advantage of the low rates and the double points promotion right now), I still did all the planning myself for every single sailing.  I picked the itinerary, ship, date, and room number, and emailed the information to my TA, who then processed the booking and sent me the booking confirmation.  The only difference is that if something does go wrong, or if I want to move from one room to another, I don't have to deal with sitting on hold -- the TA handles it all for me.