Need to Escalate a Billing Issue to a Department above Resolution

[nelblu]

Background:

 

When I received the H&S protocols for my September 3 sail, I noticed that Royal was welcoming non-vaxxed Paxs to sail.  2 of my grandkids, lost out on the Harmony Easter 2020 sail due to the pandemic.  This was a golden opportunity to take advantage of the relaxed vaccination policy and book a sail for them to join myself and my son & his family to a sail in August 2023 on the Oasis of the Seas.

 

Yesterday, went to my trusty laptop and did a mock booking.  I needed 2 CP adjoining balcony cabins for my D, SIL and 2 teenagers.   When you do a mock booking 1 legitimate C&A # will generate the balcony discount.  All of the individuals in the cabins are D tier levels.  I placed my D with the youngest child and my SIL with the other.

 

After getting the desired $ results, I called the C&A D+ desk to book the trip.  The agent (Carlos) entered all of the info that I relayed to him, and he confirmed the bottom-line pricing.  However, when entering the C&A # for my SIL and oldest teen, both of them for some strange reason had the same C&A #.   I'm assuming some screw-up in Royal's system, because on previous sails each had different C&A #s.  After some 1.30 hours on the speaker phone, it was recommended that they would assign a new loyalty # to the teen.  He tells me that it would take some 7-10 days before we could see proper results.   At that point, I was satisfied and asked for the booking to be held for 24 hours.

 

This morning, I called the same desk to place a $1,000 deposit on the 2 cabins.  Afterwards, I get the e-mail with the Cruise Vacation Receipts.  Look at it closely and for some strange reason there's a charger for $139 for trip insurance.  Called the desk and explained that I did not request this insurance.  The individual removes the charge and sends me revised invoices.  Even though the specifics were alike one of the invoices was some $126 higher.

 

Called the D+ desk and I explained that instead of the $226 d balcony discount, the invoice shows a separate credit of $100 for some promo.  This is where it gets hairy.  The agent tells me, after speaking with resolution, there's is nothing that they could do because the balcony discount should have been applied yesterday and if they repriced it would be $200 higher with the D balcony discount.  I said are you kidding me.  When I booked yesterday, we agreed to a bottom-line pricing for the 2 bookings, and it should be honored.   At this point, the agent tells me that I need to speak to the resolution supervisor.

 

After going back and forth, he would not budge even though I pointed out that the screw-up was solely Royal's.  At the end, since I wasn't going anywhere with this individual he says, I can agree to lower the price by half of the $126 increase.  I argued to no end but couldn't budge him.  I said to him that even though I'm agreeing to split the difference, I will escalate the issue to a higher level.  He had the audacity to tell me that he was the higher level.  I finally said to him you are not respectively the higher level, and I will find someone even if I have to correspond with Bayley. 

 

I was so ticked off at this juncture and especially with this individual.

 

What is also frustrating is that I've been trying for some 5+ hours to do a mock booking to see if there was a price increase, but I get error messages.

 

Ps.  I'm the Father and Grandfather who's paying for the trip.😆

 

 

Edited August 25, 2022 by nelblu

[ALKID]

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

Background:

 

When I received the H&S protocols for my September 3 sail, I noticed that Royal was welcoming non-vaxxed Paxs to sail.  2 of my grandkids, lost out on the Harmony Easter 2020 sail due to the pandemic.  This was a golden opportunity to take advantage of the relaxed vaccination policy and book a sail for them to join myself and my son & his family to a sail in August 2023 on the Oasis of the Seas.

 

Yesterday, went to my trusty laptop and did a mock booking.  I needed 2 CP adjoining balcony cabins for my D, SIL and 2 teenagers.   When you do a mock booking 1 legitimate C&A # will generate the balcony discount.  All of the individuals in the cabins are D tier levels.  I placed my D with the youngest child and my SIL with the other.

 

After getting the desired $ results, I called the C&A D+ desk to book the trip.  The agent (Carlos) entered all of the info that I relayed to him, and he confirmed the bottom-line pricing.  However, when entering the C&A # for my SIL and oldest teen, both of them for some strange reason had the same C&A #.   I'm assuming some screw-up in Royal's system, because on previous sails each had different C&A #s.  After some 1.30 hours on the speaker phone, it was recommended that they would assign a new loyalty # to the teen.  He tells me that it would take some 7-10 days before we could see proper results.   At that point, I was satisfied and asked for the booking to be held for 24 hours.

 

This morning, I called the same desk to place a $1,000 deposit on the 2 cabins.  Afterwards, I get the e-mail with the Cruise Vacation Receipts.  Look at it closely and for some strange reason there's a charger for $139 for trip insurance.  Called the desk and explained that I did not request this insurance.  The individual removes the charge and sends me revised invoices.  Even though the specifics were alike one of the invoices was some $126 higher.

 

Called the D+ desk and I explained that instead of the $226 d balcony discount, the invoice shows a separate credit of $100 for some promo.  This is where it gets hairy.  The agent tells me, after speaking with resolution, there's is nothing that they could do because the balcony discount should have been applied yesterday and if they repriced it would be $200 higher with the D balcony discount.  I said are you kidding me.  When I booked yesterday, we agreed to a bottom-line pricing for the 2 bookings, and it should be honored.   At this point, the agent tells me that I need to speak to the resolution supervisor.

 

After going back and forth, he would not budge even though I pointed out that the screw-up was solely Royal's.  At the end, since I wasn't going anywhere with this individual he says, I can agree to lower the price by half of the $126 increase.  I argued to no end but couldn't budge him.  I said to him that even though I'm agreeing to split the difference, I will escalate the issue to a higher level.  He had the audacity to tell me that he was the higher level.  I finally said to him you are not respectively the higher level, and I will find someone even if I have to correspond with Bayley. 

 

I was so ticked off at this juncture and especially with this individual.

 

What is also frustrating is that I've been trying for some 5+ hours to do a mock booking to see if there was a price increase, but I get error messages.

 

Ps.  I'm the Father and Grandfather who's paying for the trip.😆

 

 

Maybe they did not understand what you were trying to say.  Seems awful complicated to me.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

10 hours ago, nelblu said:

Background:

 

When I received the H&S protocols for my September 3 sail, I noticed that Royal was welcoming non-vaxxed Paxs to sail.  2 of my grandkids, lost out on the Harmony Easter 2020 sail due to the pandemic.  This was a golden opportunity to take advantage of the relaxed vaccination policy and book a sail for them to join myself and my son & his family to a sail in August 2023 on the Oasis of the Seas.

 

Yesterday, went to my trusty laptop and did a mock booking.  I needed 2 CP adjoining balcony cabins for my D, SIL and 2 teenagers.   When you do a mock booking 1 legitimate C&A # will generate the balcony discount.  All of the individuals in the cabins are D tier levels.  I placed my D with the youngest child and my SIL with the other.

 

After getting the desired $ results, I called the C&A D+ desk to book the trip.  The agent (Carlos) entered all of the info that I relayed to him, and he confirmed the bottom-line pricing.  However, when entering the C&A # for my SIL and oldest teen, both of them for some strange reason had the same C&A #.   I'm assuming some screw-up in Royal's system, because on previous sails each had different C&A #s.  After some 1.30 hours on the speaker phone, it was recommended that they would assign a new loyalty # to the teen.  He tells me that it would take some 7-10 days before we could see proper results.   At that point, I was satisfied and asked for the booking to be held for 24 hours.

 

This morning, I called the same desk to place a $1,000 deposit on the 2 cabins.  Afterwards, I get the e-mail with the Cruise Vacation Receipts.  Look at it closely and for some strange reason there's a charger for $139 for trip insurance.  Called the desk and explained that I did not request this insurance.  The individual removes the charge and sends me revised invoices.  Even though the specifics were alike one of the invoices was some $126 higher.

 

Called the D+ desk and I explained that instead of the $226 d balcony discount, the invoice shows a separate credit of $100 for some promo.  This is where it gets hairy.  The agent tells me, after speaking with resolution, there's is nothing that they could do because the balcony discount should have been applied yesterday and if they repriced it would be $200 higher with the D balcony discount.  I said are you kidding me.  When I booked yesterday, we agreed to a bottom-line pricing for the 2 bookings, and it should be honored.   At this point, the agent tells me that I need to speak to the resolution supervisor.

 

After going back and forth, he would not budge even though I pointed out that the screw-up was solely Royal's.  At the end, since I wasn't going anywhere with this individual he says, I can agree to lower the price by half of the $126 increase.  I argued to no end but couldn't budge him.  I said to him that even though I'm agreeing to split the difference, I will escalate the issue to a higher level.  He had the audacity to tell me that he was the higher level.  I finally said to him you are not respectively the higher level, and I will find someone even if I have to correspond with Bayley. 

 

I was so ticked off at this juncture and especially with this individual.

 

What is also frustrating is that I've been trying for some 5+ hours to do a mock booking to see if there was a price increase, but I get error messages.

 

Ps.  I'm the Father and Grandfather who's paying for the trip.😆

 

 

I wouldn't think it is enough money to waste time with.  Pay it and enjoy the trip.

[Ourusualbeach]

I'd call back.  

 

There have been lots of times where I get a different answer even in dealing with resolutions agents.

[nelblu]

19 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I'd call back.  

 

There have been lots of times where I get a different answer even in dealing with resolutions agents.

I need to.  Overnight get new invoices and both invoices have the travel protection $ and the strangest thing yet no names on the invoices. 
 

This is nuts.  In addition their system must be down as I’ve been trying to replicate the transactions and I get the “Oops”

See below the latest invoices received. 😜

 

[not-enough-cruising]

two words 

 

TRAVEL AGENT

[Ourusualbeach]

23 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

two words 

 

TRAVEL AGENT

LOL and a whole lot cheaper for a refundable rate as well

[nelblu]

53 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

two words 

 

TRAVEL AGENT

I usually do but was afraid of losing the few available adjoining cabins near the 2 other reservations.

[nelblu]

32 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

LOL and a whole lot cheaper for a refundable rate as well

Please enlighten me.

[twangster]

1 minute ago, nelblu said:

Please enlighten me.

 

Two words.

 

Group Space.

 

Not available RC direct.

 

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Please enlighten me.

Group rates.  Pricing set the day the itineraries are released at a rate lower than Royals Non refundable rates and they do not go up like Royals rates do.

[nelblu]

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

Group rates.  Pricing set the day the itineraries are released at a rate lower than Royals Non refundable rates and they do not go up like Royals rates do.

It's unfortunate that you cannot name the said TA(s).  My TA gives some nice OBCs and specialty dining but never had a group rate.  Their rates are the same as Royal's.

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, nelblu said:

It's unfortunate that you cannot name the said TA(s).  My TA gives some nice OBCs and specialty dining but never had a group rate.  Their rates are the same as Royal's.

You would most likely come out further ahead on most sailings with the group rate and group OBC than you would with just the OBC from the TA

[molly361]

47 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

LOL and a whole lot cheaper for a refundable lovrate as well

Love those group rates 😁

 

[nelblu]

To my original question, other than Bayley is there anyone else that I can communicated with.

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, nelblu said:

To my original question, other than Bayley is there anyone else that I can communicated with.

Call back once more and get a different resolutions agent.  Just like the CSR's their skill, knowledge and compassion level vary greatly.  If the second call does not yield results then go the executive office route.  There is no one in between those 2 that you can reach out to if you booked direct.  TA's have other options in between but not direct consumers.

[nelblu]

25 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Call back once more and get a different resolutions agent.  Just like the CSR's their skill, knowledge and compassion level vary greatly.  If the second call does not yield results then go the executive office route.  There is no one in between those 2 that you can reach out to if you booked direct.  TA's have other options in between but not direct consumers.

Thank you.  What's frustrating at this point is that I can't replicate the transaction as I'm getting an error message since yesterday.  Not sure if for this particular date/itinerary or a general problem with Royal's system.

[Ourusualbeach]

14 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Thank you.  What's frustrating at this point is that I can't replicate the transaction as I'm getting an error message since yesterday.  Not sure if for this particular date/itinerary or a general problem with Royal's system.

You may have to clear cache and cookies on your system. 

[nelblu]

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

You may have to clear cache and cookies on your system. 

I did it from both my  laptop and my I-phone and same results.  My DIL tried on her IPad and getting the same error.

 

Also, linked all of the reservations to mine, and when I go to one of the reserves to confirm the bottom-line pricing the system has added gratuities, which I did not request, at the present rate of $14.50 pp/pd.  Simply nuts!

[Ourusualbeach]

7 minutes ago, nelblu said:

I did it from both my  laptop and my I-phone and same results.  My DIL tried on her IPad and getting the same error.

 

Also, linked all of the reservations to mine, and when I go to one of the reserves to confirm the bottom-line pricing the system has added gratuities, which I did not request, at the present rate of $14.50 pp/pd.  Simply nuts!

You will need to call, looks like their system is messed up

[rg123]

Ok, curious as to how you find these group rates you all are talking about

[molly361]

25 minutes ago, rg123 said:

Ok, curious as to how you find these group rates you all are talking about

They are only offered by TA's   you would have to call around.  Try big box ones

[The Scurvy Pirate]

4 minutes ago, molly361 said:

They are only offered by TA's   you would have to call around.  Try big box ones

But, some big box ones don't participate in royal up... if you want to do that kind of thing.

[ARandomTraveler]

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

It's unfortunate that you cannot name the said TA(s).  My TA gives some nice OBCs and specialty dining but never had a group rate.  Their rates are the same as Royal's.

There's a really helpful poster on cruise Critic who happens to be a travel agent (from what I gather anyway). I'm not sure if you can direct message people on here, but it seems like there's quite a few cruise Critic posters who use this travel agent, so I imagine there's a way to figure out how to reach out.

 

If you read enough posts, you should very easily be able to figure out who it is. In fact, he seems to be answering a lot of your questions right now...perhaps you should Re-read the responses.

[meg1021]

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

To my original question, other than Bayley is there anyone else that I can communicated with.

I had a similar experience last week, but with a different type of problem. We booked B4B on the Australia/New Zealand itinerary the first day it was available, in order to get the same cabin for the duration of the cruise. When the ships were switched out, from Enchantment to Brilliance, we were assigned 4 different cabins, and at higher prices, even though the email, sent out by RC, said that we would be price protected.  After many frustrating hours on the phone with CSR, being disconnected twice, and speaking directly with the Resolutions Desk, with no resolution, I emailed CEO Bayley's office. I did receive an email reply within 4 days ( and not an auto-response), however they did not resolve the problem, merely conveyed their apologies.  You can still try, and perhaps you will have a better experience than I did.  We are also D+, so have cruised with Royal quite a bit.  However, their Customer Service is rapidly getting worse, so we have tried Viking, and are booked on a 48 day cruise with Oceania in January, thinking that we need to try other cruise lines to see if better customer service is out there, or if this is just what things are like post pandemic.  Good luck! I hope that you get a resolution, unlike me!