It Will Kinda, Sorta, Should Work…Maybe

[Fla Mike]

Such were the learned words from the MSC customer Service Rep.

 

Background:

Lovey and I have a 4-day cruise (I know, I know) booked on Seashore for November in a standard Fantastica balcony, and I have been keeping my eye on the prices for those aft Aurea Suites overlooking the infinity pool.

The prices have been steadily inching up, but today they took a dive, so to speak. Price went down over $250pp, all in, with Wi-Fi and easy plus.

Our Fantastica down just over $100pp

 

Time to make a quick call to MSC to upgrade! But wait this is MSC, right? Not so fast.

 

I made screenshots of everything on I saw the web, just in case, there was a dispute in what they had, compared to what I had, and called.

 

After a very short hold a nice lady answered and I explained what I wanted to do and I even gave her the new cabin number we wanted

.

Then it began.

“That room is not available”, “The price will be $876. more”.

I explained what I have on the website.

“OK, hold on”. “Yes I can get you that room, but it will be $1256, more now”.

Once again, I explained.

“OK”, (typing and sighs in background). “Well, I can come close, but you cannot have what you see on-line as a current customer”.

 What??? You mean to tell me I can cancel this, get a refund of my deposit and go online and rebook?

“Hold for a moment”, (she actually put me on hold this time).

“Well, um, I need to move your booking, even though it is the same date, and It Will Kinda, Sorta, Should Work…Maybe. But if it doesn’t, you’ll lose your original room”.

So, if I cancel, I do get my deposit back…right.

“Yes, one to two billing cycles”.

Ok cancel.

 

I immediately received my cancelation notice and went online and rebooked, I got the price I wanted and the cabin. (Old reservation no longer shows).

 

I still stand by an earlier statement that MSC farms out the customer service to a third party.

 

You guys know this can’t be over yet, it was too easy.

I’ll keep you informed.

 

Oh, yeah...

I did mention to her very politely that any other cruise line, would be able to upgrade or re-fare a reservation before final payment.

I could almost see that big question mark bubble over her head. Kinda, Sorta, Maybe like a Warner Bros. cartoon.

 

 

 

[perakcruiser]

It is very simple, usually when you cancel a MSC cruise minimum 20 percent of the price is the cancellation fee. So MSC certainly will never give you the current price if you want to upgrade or change after a price drop.

 

For whatever reason, maybe legal stuff, MSC US customers can cancel for free if they do it long enough before the cruise. That confuses MSCs famous IT, so don´t blame the agent. There is no solution to this. 

[styles27]

I did the same thing with this last cruise. I wanted an aft balcony on Divina and the price was $275 less than an obstructed view balcony that I already had booked.
What we see at home the reps don’t see and vice versa. It’s ridiculous. 

Like you it was easier (and necessary)  to cancel get the deposit back and rebook myself. 

 

 

[Oceansaway17]

1 hour ago, Fla Mike said:

Such were the learned words from the MSC customer Service Rep.

 

 

Then it began.

“That room is not available”, “The price will be $876. more”.

I explained what I have on the website.

“OK, hold on”. “Yes I can get you that room, but it will be $1256, more now”.

Once again, I explained.

“OK”, (typing and sighs in background). “Well, I can come close, but you cannot have what you see on-line as a current customer”.

 What??? You mean to tell me I can cancel this, get a refund of my deposit and go online and rebook?

“Hold for a moment”, (she actually put me on hold this time).

“Well, um, I need to move your booking, even though it is the same date, and It Will Kinda, Sorta, Should Work…Maybe. But if it doesn’t, you’ll lose your original room”.

So, if I cancel, I do get my deposit back…right.

“Yes, one to two billing cycles”.

Ok cancel.

 

wow and OMG what a conversation.  Sounds like the most round around crap I have heard in quite a while.   hmmm   think I will pass on sailing on MSC for now.   thanks for sharing.

[bafinegan]

2 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

wow and OMG what a conversation.  Sounds like the most round around crap I have heard in quite a while.   hmmm   think I will pass on sailing on MSC for now.   thanks for sharing.

Thats what a good TA is for

[Oceansaway17]

3 minutes ago, bafinegan said:

Thats what a good TA is for

oh I do not know about that I had one let me down by saying I am good to go and then when I go to London, I did not have proper paperwork for a transfer.

I bet that agent might have still chattered the same words to the TA too.

[MsTabbyKats]

I've had this conversation!

 

Although annoying....it's better to cancel and rebook.  Less potential problems.

 

What other lines can do with a keystroke, MSC can't.

[Essiesmom]

It makes you wonder…if it’s an American (North American) thing, to make changes, regard, etc.  Do the long time European customer base just book and be satisfied?  EM

[bafinegan]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

oh I do not know about that I had one let me down by saying I am good to go and then when I go to London, I did not have proper paperwork for a transfer.

I bet that agent might have still chattered the same words to the TA too.

I said a GOOD TA 😁

[Até]

Normal policy is that MSC holds all cabin's prices to what they were at the time you made the booking so it basically locks out taking advantage of not only your booked category price drop but also higher cabins as well.   Usually you either pay what they were at the time you booked or have to cancel and rebook at the new price.

[no1talks]

2 hours ago, Fla Mike said:

"I still stand by an earlier statement that MSC farms out the customer service to a third party."

Wait, has there historically been controversy regarding this observation?

Since I started following this MSC board, I've thought the only explanation for the call center performance is lowest-cost outsourcing. Clearly, MSC trims expenses where they can, so as to be extravagant in other areas. Why would a call center be an exception?

We are of the same mind on this one, FM.

[DQGal]

I had a cruise booked. MSC canceled. Covid, BUT if you rebook you get $200. On board credit. So we rebooked, BUT customer service said that i  didn't qualify , because customer service Canceled, MSC had our deposit.  So since the rep  I talked to didn`t handle things properly,  i` m out 200 obc. She couldn't get the obc to apply, so she said she would just cancel, send our deposit back, i asked numerous times, will this affect the obc. Her answer was I always no. I've tried several times, and have been told no several times. We also had $50 obc from the canceled cruise, so we actually are out $250.00 

[perakcruiser]

5 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

It makes you wonder…if it’s an American (North American) thing, to make changes, regard, etc.  Do the long time European customer base just book and be satisfied?  EM

They probably follow the rule "Book and never look at the prices again".

 

By the way, also the American lines do not allow their European customers free cancelation even if the cruise is two years away. But to be true, they found a solution not to confuse their booking systems. 

[Fla Mike]

8 hours ago, no1talks said:

Wait, has there historically been controversy regarding this observation?

 

I had mentioned it a few times over my time on this MSC board.

They are too inconsistent, on a consistent basis, if that makes since.

 

I had also mentioned to this CSR, that during her next sales meeting, she needs to bring up the fact about cancelling to re-book/re-fare...

Silence...

If I had an old Western Electric dial phone, I'd be slamming the receiver down on my desk to see if she was still alive.

 

I don't want to completely tip my hand here, as it has been a few years, but I have "a bit" of first person  knowledge of cruise line customer service/sales operations, and even front line CSR's will get a spiff on an upgrade, and loose nothing on a re-fare.

 

But, it is only my speculation.

 

I also know exactly where their office located, and the space is not large enough to handle a "Carnival Type" of operation, which I'm assuming most people think they are dealing with here.

 

If they have more than a half dozen reps there I'd be very surprised. Really just some group sales and shore-side management.

 

They are not off-shoring either, in my opinion. Everyone I have ever spoke to is American.

 

There are many third party Customer Care operations in Broward County, large call centers, and their job is to offer turn key CS operations.

AT&T comes to mind.

The reps get very basic training, and are then on their own.

There is liaison and on going support, but useless.

Get 'em on and off.

 

Again, no real proof, just ramblings of an old man who's been there.

[carlmm]

10 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

It makes you wonder…if it’s an American (North American) thing, to make changes, regard, etc.  Do the long time European customer base just book and be satisfied?  EM

With a broad stroke, I would say yes.

 

There are many complaints on this forum that in my view only occur because people do not want to adhere to and to play by the rules but rather try to take advantage in any possible way.

[RandomUser123]

I am doing a cruise in November on MSC (not your cruise) which was an unbelievable deal with Easy Plus Package and Wifi included and saw that our overall price now dropped $20. I thought about contacting customer service to see if I can get the small price reduction but figure it is not worth the hassle for $20 difference.

[Oceansaway17]

21 hours ago, bafinegan said:

I said a GOOD TA 😁

well over the years I can do just as good of a job except perhaps offer myself OBC

[nagster]

I had heard about the disaster of having to call MSC customer service so when I had to call to change a sailing date from Dec to Feb I was nervous. First call within a minute I knew the lady wasn't going to get what I needed to do and kind of started with well....and I don't know....so I just hung up. I wanted to change my cabin also, second call was accomplished within minutes with a change of cabin (same cabin grade just a different area, aft to midship forward) and a reduction in price (just $25 but I'll take it) maybe I got lucky with that second call.

 

[Homosassa]

On 1/19/2023 at 5:20 PM, Fla Mike said:

 

 

Oh, yeah...

I did mention to her very politely that any other cruise line, would be able to upgrade or re-fare a reservation before final payment.

I could almost see that big question mark bubble over her head. Kinda, Sorta, Maybe like a Warner Bros. cartoon.

 

 

 

This is not entirely true.

 

Read through the  different Terms and Conditions for various cruise lines and you will see changes in the way many lines are handling deposits (non-refundable vs refundable), final payment dates (due much sooner for different categories of cabins), cancellation fees and single supplements (closing the "no Show" imaginary cabin mate to avoid the supplement).

 

Many lines have small print on their cabin prices that they are not available to currently booked passengers.

 

As Carlmm noted, many of the complaints on this board are due to those passengers who are trying to game the system and lose.  There are also those passengers that do not do their homework and read the Terms and Conditions/ Ticket Contract before booking and then complaint when policy is followed.  

[B_A_H]

The big three all have reprice-for-lower-fare policies with some giving back the difference via OBC.  MSC does not.  I don't know if system limitations prevent it or if it's an intentional policy. 

 

The term "move" is the only way to change a MSC booking; even if it's within the same sailing.  The current sailing has to be canceled and the new one made with the same booking (confirmation number). The "maybe" comment is because it can all be black box until the agent actually executes the change.  Within that now moved booking, a credit is created for the original sailing and a debit for the new one.  God knows what happens if there's a credit due the passenger.  I've moved MSC bookings before and it's not for the feint of heart. And the history of all the previous cruises prints out on any confirmation and the cruise ticket. 

 

MSC systems are either archaic or being used beyond what they were originally built for.  Also, what we see on the Internet isn't what the agents are looking at.  They are looking at text and codes displayed on their screens not pretty HTML pages. So the agent trying to find an outcome similar to what OP was seeing probably took a couple shots to replicate. 

 

Better agents won't fix an unfriendly policy (repricing policy) or make up for wretched IT systems.  

[cruiseguyinorl]

On 1/19/2023 at 5:20 PM, Fla Mike said:

I still stand by an earlier statement that MSC farms out the customer service to a third party.

 

You are correct. Many are third party but not all.

 

28 minutes ago, B_A_H said:

MSC systems are either archaic or being used beyond what they were originally built for.

 

You are also correct. The original program they use was not designed for cruises. Hence, a good bit of the problem.

 

Bret

[Wedgie Wedgie]

I have a YC deluxe suite that had a very reasonable solo supplement so I booked it. Then my wife thought she might want to go when originally she was not interested. So I called and found out that my cost of $1248 was with a minimal solo supplement. If I added my wife it went to $2157. For another $350 we could just get another solo suite and have twice the room.

 

I explained I needed a moment to explain the options to my wife before making a decision. She was very professional. I asked if she had an extension so I could call back and get her the commission. This is exactly what she told me, "no, we do not have extensions. And I cannot call out. That was nice of you to offer but we do not receive any commissions."

[JT1962]

On 2/19/2023 at 1:30 PM, B_A_H said:

Also, what we see on the Internet isn't what the agents are seeing . They are looking at text and codes displayed on their screens not pretty HTML pages. So the agent trying to find an outcome similar to what OP was seeing probably took a couple shots to replicate. 

I observed this when booking a future cruise onboard in October. I was able to see the screen the agent was using and there were probably 40-50+ lines with various codes and numbers he could select when pricing the cruise I

wanted to book. He gave me one price, then checked another couple of options and could never find the original option again. Some options had OBC, others had free drinks & wifi, many seemed to be based on your country of residency, etc. None of the wording seemed to be easy to determine what the promotion was without choosing that line or possibly having a cheat sheet for the codes. 
 

It makes me think their booking system may have been what the shipping side of MSC has used for years and they tried to modify it for cruises.  It may work great for pricing and booking containers for shipping, but is not user friendly for booking cruises.

Edited February 20, 2023 by JT1962

[sidari]

On 1/20/2023 at 1:09 AM, Essiesmom said:

It makes you wonder…if it’s an American (North American) thing, to make changes, regard, etc.  Do the long time European customer base just book and be satisfied?  EM

EM ... If we cancel we lose our deposit as we have recently on a Europa sailing and booking another forward cruise would have cost even more. We had a booking with US travel agent on Seascape that we had to cancel during the COVID crap, got our deposit back crazy but true. UK and Ireland bookings have port fees included as well as the daily service charge unlike the US.

[BoundForSea]

This is the problem for YC. You can’t cancel

bc the deposits are always non Refundable in YC so if you want to reprice, it’s impossible. 
 

anyone know what the penalty is now for moving a booking more than once? It used to be unlimited without penalty now you get one free move then they debit a penalty. Anyone know what it is?