Booking hold times more than 1 hour

[cruiseypop]

I have a casino email offer from Princess and trying to book.  Hold times are more than 1 hour due to high call demand.

 

I am really disappointed.  Why do companies send out a bunch of emails to people and then wonder why hold times are high when everyone calls in?  I don't know how many emails they sent, but I'm certain they created their own problem here.  And don't get me started on not having enough people.  Hire more!  Pay more and I guarantee you'll have more people than you can hire. 

 

And it is just super silly you have to call and talk to the casino department to book.  Why can't you book online for the casino offer?  This whole thing is a farce!

 

Their on hold recording also says they offer a convenient call back feature, but then no where does it allow you to use this feature or access it.  The system doesn't give you up dates, your place in line nothing.  Just "hold times are more than 1 hour".

 

It's worse than Ticketmaster.  

 

Capitalism at its finest!

 

[cr8tiv1]

I have never been the lucky recipient of a casino offer.  But, from my understanding:

 

1.  Casino Offers are NOT a function of Princess Cruises but offered from the casino that is a concession on board Princess Ships.

 

2.  You want them to hire more and pay more to a company that is giving away "free/or nearly free" cabins.

 

3.  They offer mass produced offers in hopes of getting a few.  This is a way to "show" their "loyal" base that they are being "rewarded".

 

If I wanted a cruise bad enough, I would pay the full price.  Everyone wants a bargain.  It comes with the price.  I will complain if I have to wait on hold for a full priced cabin.  That is why I have a very responsive travel agent.

[cruiseypop]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I have never been the lucky recipient of a casino offer.  But, from my understanding:

 

1.  Casino Offers are NOT a function of Princess Cruises but offered from the casino that is a concession on board Princess Ships.

Not true.  It is Princess Cruises and I talk to their reservation agents, just a subset that work in casino reservations.  And the Casino is not a concession or operated by someone else.  I know because I've had several hand pays and the 1099 comes from Princess directly in Santa Clarita.

 

2.  You want them to hire more and pay more to a company that is giving away "free/or nearly free" cabins.

Believe me its not "Free"  I just have a different way than you of paying for my cruise.  And believe me, my entertainment is expensive.  I've more than "paid" for all my cruises over the years, which is I why I am demanding better customer service.  Don't judge... one persons poison is anothers passion.

 

3.  They offer mass produced offers in hopes of getting a few.  This is a way to "show" their "loyal" base that they are being "rewarded".

Well, the marketing director should be fired.  One solution would be to stagger email the offers over time.  Very easy to do with email sending platforms in 2023. Sending out a batch email to 100,000's of people at once in the hopes of getting a few is fraught with many dangers.

 

If I wanted a cruise bad enough, I would pay the full price.  Everyone wants a bargain.  It comes with the price.  I will complain if I have to wait on hold for a full priced cabin.  That is why I have a very responsive travel agent.

Ironically enough with my casino losses over the years I've probably paid more than full price for me cruises.  I probably subsidize your cruises!! Call me stupid, ok, that's fair.  Just hope you understand my perspective and why it isn't the same as yours.

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by cruiseypop

[Coral]

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I have never been the lucky recipient of a casino offer.  But, from my understanding:

 

1.  Casino Offers are NOT a function of Princess Cruises but offered from the casino that is a concession on board Princess Ships.

 

2.  You want them to hire more and pay more to a company that is giving away "free/or nearly free" cabins.

 

3.  They offer mass produced offers in hopes of getting a few.  This is a way to "show" their "loyal" base that they are being "rewarded".

 

If I wanted a cruise bad enough, I would pay the full price.  Everyone wants a bargain.  It comes with the price.  I will complain if I have to wait on hold for a full priced cabin.  That is why I have a very responsive travel agent.

I have to laugh. I agree - I find it funny people are complaining about wait times for a free cruise..... People have wait times for paying full price for a cruise.

[Bobbiegentry]

3 hours ago, cruiseypop said:

Capitalism at its finest!

 

As opposed to?

[cruiseypop]

26 minutes ago, Bobbiegentry said:

As opposed to?

Criticism can exist in absence of an alternative.

 

Just because there isn't a better alternative doesn't mean Capitalism can't improve or be better.  If you are simply trying to be a little bit better than all the rest, you'll never be the best.  A race to the bottom.

Edited February 10, 2023 by cruiseypop

[cruiseypop]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

I have to laugh. I agree - I find it funny people are complaining about wait times for a free cruise..... People have wait times for paying full price for a cruise.

That's like saying you can't complain about the food in the dining room because it's "free".  The "free" casino rooms aren't "free".  Believe me I've paid for them.   Wait times are because there isn't enough staff.  The solution is to hire more employees to handle the demand of people trying to book.  Or make it so you can book online.  How can you run a business if people can't book easily?  Dumb.

Edited February 10, 2023 by cruiseypop

[DallasGuy75219]

19 minutes ago, cruiseypop said:

Or make it so you can book online.  How can you run a business if people can't book easily? 

Based on another thread they're currently rolling out the ability to book casino offers online.

 

3 hours ago, cruiseypop said:

I have a casino email offer from Princess and trying to book.  Hold times are more than 1 hour due to high call demand.

 

I am really disappointed.  Why do companies send out a bunch of emails to people and then wonder why hold times are high when everyone calls in?  I don't know how many emails they sent, but I'm certain they created their own problem here.  And don't get me started on not having enough people.  Hire more!  Pay more and I guarantee you'll have more people than you can hire. 

 

And it is just super silly you have to call and talk to the casino department to book.  Why can't you book online for the casino offer?  This whole thing is a farce!

 

Their on hold recording also says they offer a convenient call back feature, but then no where does it allow you to use this feature or access it.  The system doesn't give you up dates, your place in line nothing.  Just "hold times are more than 1 hour".

 

Capitalism at its finest!

 

Both the supplier and consumer are capitalists.  Princess can offer free casino rates under the circumstances it chooses (i.e., wait on hold to talk to an agent) and you can choose to wait on hold or to book a free casino rate on another cruise line.

[cruiseypop]

4 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

You can choose to wait on hold or to book a free casino rate on another cruise line.

 

And I can also complain and criticize them publicly in the hopes they improve their ways to be more favorable to me.  Ultimately, this is what I want.  And it works too, its why we have cruiseCRITIC and other is means.  Your "suck it up buttercup" and simply lie down and accept does nothing to try and improve things.

[DallasGuy75219]

3 minutes ago, cruiseypop said:

And it works too, its why we have cruiseCRITIC and other is means.

🤣 Hold times for casino agents have been like this for years.  Entitled people  complaining on Cruise Critic certainly has not shortened hold times.

[cruiseypop]

1 minute ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

🤣 Hold times for casino agents have been like this for years.  Entitled people  complaining on Cruise Critic certainly has not shortened hold times.

Not true.  Ive booked for years.  Currently abysmal and not the way to run a business.  And yes I am entitled.  Entitled to customer service.  We are all extremely entitled in the country compared to others in the world.  People in glass houses shouldnt throw stones.

[ldubs]

I would be outraged if I had to be on hold to get a free cruise.  Probably would blame capitalism, democracy, the electorial college, and the phone company.  

[DallasGuy75219]

2 hours ago, cruiseypop said:

And yes I am entitled.  Entitled to customer service.

Is that you, Karen? Demanding to speak to a supervisor when your call to book a free cruise isn't answered quickly enough?

[Jadn13]

Wow! So many unhelpful comments and replies. 
Gross! 
 

[Coral]

6 hours ago, cruiseypop said:

That's like saying you can't complain about the food in the dining room because it's "free".  The "free" casino rooms aren't "free".  Believe me I've paid for them.   Wait times are because there isn't enough staff.  The solution is to hire more employees to handle the demand of people trying to book.  Or make it so you can book online.  How can you run a business if people can't book easily?  Dumb.

Still not buying it.

[Jadn13]

It’s equivalent to if you Earned airline miles but were told to claim them you would need to call. Upon calling you had to wait on hold for hours. 
You would not be happy with that situation as you were promised the miles .

It comes down to inadequate customer service which is a valid complaint. 

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, Jadn13 said:

It’s equivalent to if you Earned airline miles but were told to claim them you would need to call. Upon calling you had to wait on hold for hours. 
You would not be happy with that situation as you were promised the miles .

Have you tried calling an airline lately?

[eclue]

If you have just an email casino offer, you can now book it online even if you want to upgrade. The only time you need to call the casino is for a come back and play offer. this just started this past week to alleviate the hold times. Try it!! It works!!

[Rick&Jeannie]

Huh... Another "interesting" thread...