Customer advocate?

[lconly]

Does Seabourn have a corporate customer advocate?  
 

We had a horrible experience with the travel coordinators/agents that booked our seabourn travel.  The ship experience was good, but the hotel arrangements were absolutely terrible and their customer service people refused to even call the hotel for us to see if a bad situation could be mitigated.

 

Horrible with an otherwise nice trip is ruined with terrible hotel experiences on both sides of the trip.

 

We would like to share with the company how bad the hotels were and what our experience with customer service was like.

[FlyerTalker]

Are you talking about a travel agent or about Seabourn staff?  Did you book your trip directly with Seabourn or through an agent?

 

 

[lconly]

We booked directly through seabourn. So seabourn staff.

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by lconly

[markham]

Why anyone books a cruise and related travel arrangements directly with a cruise line I will never know. And now you want assistance from some third party?
 

An experienced and reputable cruise specialist travel agent is the answer to this situation.They have your interest at the core of what they do and clout you do not have.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[cruiseej]

@markham The poster was asking if Seabourn had a customer advocate, or a way to communicate with the corporate headquarters about their bad experience. I agree that having a travel agent to intercede on your behalf is worthwhile, but that's not the issue here. Why did you blame them for seeking the help of a third-party, when that wasn't what they were asking about?

[Dunnedg]

Email guestrelations@seabourn.com

[markham]

I am not blaming anyone, just reminding people how to avoid this type of sorry situation. That is all. 
 

Of course if someone has a solution to post we can all learn about that, too.
 

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

 

[hoya68]

9 hours ago, markham said:

Why anyone books a cruise and related travel arrangements directly with a cruise line I will never know. And now you want assistance from some third party?
 

An experienced and reputable cruise specialist travel agent is the answer to this situation.They have your interest at the core of what they do and clout you do not have.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Please don't blame the victim.

[markham]

“Victim” sounds a bit dramatic. Maybe “complainant” is appropriate?
 

It seems to me they want to know what to do this time and probably how to avoid experiencing the same problem next time.
 

Do you have a suggestion for the poster? Mine is/was use a resourceful TA going forward.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Edited July 22, 2023 by markham

[saminina]

I'll go with victim.  And it's not dramatic for anyone other than the party on the other end of poor or non existent service.

 

Post number six offer a suggestion to OP.   Mine would be to wait a month to document your experience.  It gives you time  to let the experience eat away at you.  Does wonders for your mental health.

[Ithikan]

An alleged victim is also known as a complainant.  Semantics.

The word 'victim' is freighted with emotion; 'complainant,' with a burden of legalese.

In either case, markham, the tone of your dismissal in post #4 of Iconly's issue took this thread off-topic.

And to Iconly - thank you for your attempt to inform SB about the bad hotel arrangements you experienced.  Hopefully you'll find a way to make your story heard and perhaps improve service for others, down the line.

Long ago (pre-Covid), Azamara had an ombudsman on staff who served as a conduit between passenger complaints and the Miami front office.  Many of us used the service,  resulting in both solutions and happy, future-cruise-booking passengers.

Good luck to you.

[Vineyard View]

I have been quietly battling an issue that occurred with the FCC while on board. We booked through our TA start to finish and have used this company for years. Our TA management team, as well as myself,  have reached out to SB guest relations multiple times. At this point I won’t get into the details, but SB guest relations are abysmal with or without a TA based on what we are currently dealing with. 
We loved our onboard experience - enough to book another, but we are currently positioning alternatives for next year based on how this rolls.
I do not believe that we are victims anymore than the OP based on their initial question. OP is looking for a communication path that would be receptive to constructive criticism of what SB did not do well. Just based on our current situation, I wouldn’t hold my breath. 

[SLSD]

32 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

I have been quietly battling an issue that occurred with the FCC while on board. We booked through our TA start to finish and have used this company for years. Our TA management team, as well as myself,  have reached out to SB guest relations multiple times. At this point I won’t get into the details, but SB guest relations are abysmal with or without a TA based on what we are currently dealing with. 
We loved our onboard experience - enough to book another, but we are currently positioning alternatives for next year based on how this rolls.
I do not believe that we are victims anymore than the OP based on their initial question. OP is looking for a communication path that would be receptive to constructive criticism of what SB did not do well. Just based on our current situation, I wouldn’t hold my breath. 

This is very disappointing to hear.  I get the feeling that the office staff of Seabourn is overwhelmed and not very knowledgeable. Is the Holland America staff doubling up with Seabourn?  Or am I mistaken about that?  

[Cru Doll]

On 7/21/2023 at 7:26 PM, lconly said:

Does Seabourn have a corporate customer advocate?  
 

We had a horrible experience with the travel coordinators/agents that booked our seabourn travel.  The ship experience was good, but the hotel arrangements were absolutely terrible and their customer service people refused to even call the hotel for us to see if a bad situation could be mitigated.

 

Horrible with an otherwise nice trip is ruined with terrible hotel experiences on both sides of the trip.

 

We would like to share with the company how bad the hotels were and what our experience with customer service was like.

Could you describe the horrible hotel arrangements for us?   

[Tallante]

We had several concerns earlier this year on the Encore than we were not happy about and wrote to the Presidents Office with a c.c. to guest relations. Some 8 days later around 21.30 in the evening I received a phone call from a very nice gentleman from the Presidents office.  All our concerns  were addressed and we were awarded credits towards a future cruise,.This was followed up in writIng tHe next day. We did not write to get compensation (and were surprised and  obviously pleased), but to make .Seabourn aware about how we and others on the cruise felt about 7 day back to back cruises, large corporate groups [250) and the lack of entertainment during the day as everyday was a port day. Anybody who is a regular Seabourn Sailor would not have thought that were on a Seabourn .cruise. So for us Seabourn addressed the issue and we shall continue sailing with them but not on any 7 day cruises as I fear the policy on these will not change at this year.

 

[SLSD]

59 minutes ago, Tallante said:

We had several concerns earlier this year on the Encore than we were not happy about and wrote to the Presidents Office with a c.c. to guest relations. Some 8 days later around 21.30 in the evening I received a phone call from a very nice gentleman from the Presidents office.  All our concerns  were addressed and we were awarded credits towards a future cruise,.This was followed up in writIng tHe next day. We did not write to get compensation (and were surprised and  obviously pleased), but to make .Seabourn aware about how we and others on the cruise felt about 7 day back to back cruises, large corporate groups [250) and the lack of entertainment during the day as everyday was a port day. Anybody who is a regular Seabourn Sailor would not have thought that were on a Seabourn .cruise. So for us Seabourn addressed the issue and we shall continue sailing with them but not on any 7 day cruises as I fear the policy on these will not change at this year.

 

The ubiquitous seven day cruises are one of the things that concerns me the most.  I do hope that there will be more cruises of at LEAST 14 days with no segments within the 14 days.  I'm glad you contacted the President's office.  Evidently, they did realize that your experience was not as expected.  

[margbem]

We also had an issue relating back to our February Ovation cruise. Eventually we contacted Natalya Leahy direct as we were so cross with the attitude and lack of helpfulness shown by head office. Within hours she replied to our email and has sorted this out for us. We too weren’t looking for compensation, rather an acknowledgment and an apology which previously weren’t forthcoming.

[JPH814]

23 hours ago, markham said:

“Victim” sounds a bit dramatic. Maybe “complainant” is appropriate?
 

It seems to me they want to know what to do this time and probably how to avoid experiencing the same problem next time.
 

Do you have a suggestion for the poster? Mine is/was use a resourceful TA going forward.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

You are suggesting a solution to a problem different than the problem identified .

 

I believe the  OP want’s Seabourn to be aware of a problem with the seabourn staff that booked their hotels seabourn. I would hope Seabourn would want this feedback.  The OP asks how best to give that feedback 

 

you suggest how to keep this from happening in the future - by using a travel agent.   Probably good advice, but not on point.  
 

By the  way, I find an email to a corporate CEO gets the best attention when all else fails. 

[Vineyard View]

1 hour ago, margbem said:

We also had an issue relating back to our February Ovation cruise. Eventually we contacted Natalya Leahy direct as we were so cross with the attitude and lack of helpfulness shown by head office. Within hours she replied to our email and has sorted this out for us. We too weren’t looking for compensation, rather an acknowledgment and an apology which previously weren’t forthcoming.

This will be my next step. Unfortunately it has left a very sour taste at this point. I am glad it was resolved to your satisfaction. I do not believe we as customers should have to go to that level to get resolution - particularly with a luxury line. it appears she has her work cut out for her with respect to getting their customer service to come anywhere close to a luxury experience. 

Edited July 23, 2023 by Vineyard View

[margbem]

20 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

This will be my next step. Unfortunately it has left a very sour taste at this point. I am glad it was resolved to your satisfaction. I do not believe we as customers should have to go to that level to get resolution - particularly with a luxury line. it appears she has her work cut out for her with respect to getting their customer service to come anywhere close to a luxury experience. 

I agree. Our issue was minor but because it wasn’t resolved it grew  (possibly out of proportion!) but it was a matter of principle for us.

[markham]

I see no response to the question of what the “horrible” hotel arrangements were. So I am starting to wonder if there really was any such problem that would merit Seabourn’s attention and/or that of a TA.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[lconly]

Personally, I'd like to discuss the issue with the cruise line first rather than bad mouthing them.  I'd like them to be fully aware of situation and let them fix the issue rather than blowing it out of perspective.

 

If you must know, experience with hotel before and after travel was really bad.  The first hotel only had cold water in the shower, the pillows were stained with some brown liquid, and the room was overall not very clean or sanitary.

 

The issue with the other hotel was finally resolved, but initially they would not speak with us because the cruise line was the one that made the accommodations.  The cruise line refused to contact the hotel on our behalf.  But ultimately the issue was that the wrong room was booked.

 

These are all issues that an actual travel agent could have solved with very little effort.  It was surprising to me that the cruise line, even though acting as a travel agent, was unable and unwilling to provide support.

[Robisan]

It's amazing how some people so blithely show their arse. It's a mystery why some people dispiritedly drift away unwelcomed. 

 

When an operator chooses to offer hotel accommodations they become an agent and party to the transaction. That choice also comes with some service obligations, particularly for top shelf lines where delivering impeccable service and experience is central to their brand and expected by their patrons. A derisive 'sorry, sucks for you, should've used a TA (or maybe you're just lying!)' is not an appropriate response from a cruise line or any reasonably compassionate human being.

[Vineyard View]

I would sincerely appreciate Natalya Leahy’s email address. Thank you. 

[margbem]

9 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

I would sincerely appreciate Natalya Leahy’s email address. Thank you. 

NLeahy@hollandamericagroup.com