HAL Has Lost Another Repeat Cruiser

[pog27]

I cruised on the Rotterdam May 14th for 16 nights and had a few issues onboard. I wrote a letter to HAL as soon as I returned home and waited 6 weeks for a response. I received the response just over a week ago and gave them a call to express my dissatisfaction that after 6 weeks it seemed like my letter had never even be read in its entirety because my main concerns were not addressed at all. The woman I spoke to promised to go through the case and get back to me by the end of the week. It has now been over a week and I still have not heard back from HAL. Because of this I canceled a HAL cruise I booked back in April for this Thanksgiving. The only other time I felt the need to contact the cruise line after the cruise to complain was on Carnival and they resolved my concerns immediately. How can HAL claim to be a premium line with customer service like this. Below is the letter I wrote to HAL and their response:

 

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

I just returned from the European Capitals 16 day sailing on the Rotterdam which left on May 14, 2007. My booking number is ******. I had an issue with the Internet Manager which was never resolved onboard. In addition, I have a few comments to make about your policies regarding sick employees.

 

At the beginning of the cruise I purchased an Internet package which I used for just a few minutes (four minutes to be exact) on the first day and subsequently was unable to log back in to use it. Due to the number of port days in a row and the limited hours of the Internet Manager Jacqueline (as few as only 3-4 hours during dining time on some days) I was unable to speak to Jacqueline until about 10 days into the cruise. Before that, my partner and I used a per minute plan on his account as a temporary measure, thinking it would be no problem to fix it later. I traveled on the Westerdam in November 06 and at the end of the cruise the Internet Manager offered to change my per minute usage into a package in order to save me money so I knew it should not be a problem.

 

I finally managed to catch Jacqueline during her office hours on the morning of May 25. She was rude and condescending to me from the moment I walked up to her and proceeded to lecture me about the terms and conditions of the Internet package. She informed me that it was my own fault and she refused to take away any of the charges. When I told her that I would speak to the front desk if she couldn't help me she dared me, saying "Go ahead and try, I'm the only one who can modify the Internet charges, and I'm not going to."

 

I went down to the front desk anyways and spoke to Thomas, one of the front desk Supervisors. He told me that Jacqueline was correct; no one on the ship can change the Internet charges except her. I let him know that I felt I was being treated unfairly by her. Thomas said he would send a message to the Home Office in Seattle to see what they could do to resolve this but he never heard back.

 

After discussions on a few separate occasions he offered to refund the Internet package (which only 4 of 100 minutes was used) and to give me a $20 onboard credit as a gesture of goodwill. While I appreciate that and I believe Thomas did everything in his power to resolve the situation, I am still quite upset about what happened. I believe I was discriminated against considering the way she treated me compared with other passengers. I am shocked you would have one person controlling a billing department on the ship with no supervisor and no one else who can modify the charges. Overall I really enjoyed the cruise but because I was treated with such disrespect, something I have never experienced on any cruise or at any hotel previously, I am considering canceling another cruise I have booked on the Westerdam in November of this year.

 

My other comment is in regards to my cabin steward. About three quarters of the way through the cruise he became very ill. Sneezing, congested, coughing, he even said he had trouble swallowing because of his sore throat. While I don't think its right to make someone work while they are feeling so sick, my real complaint is that you would have someone so sick working in peoples cabins. I did see him wearing a mask inside the cabins but he still had to take it off to blow his nose and it would not stay on when he would cough or sneeze. I became quite sick as well with the same symptoms about 4 days after he did and while its possible I got it from someone else onboard or on shore, my exposure risk increased greatly because of the very sick cabin steward working in my cabin. What was even more shocking is I received a bill for the cough drops I was given in the infirmary. I was not informed that I would be charged when they were given to me. I did not speak to the front desk about this issue because it was at the end of the cruise and being charged $3 for the medicine was not worth complaining over. However I do not believe I would be sick right now if you had let the cabin steward rest and not spread his germs throughout my cabin and the ship. The Hotel Department should not have put efficiency before the health of the passengers onboard.

 

As I stated before, with the exception of these two issues I had a great cruise. I wish I could say they didn't mar my experience as I whole; however the fact that I am having to write a letter in hopes of resolving these issues makes me wonder whether HAL customer service is as good as I previously had thought.

 

Sincerely,

Paul O. Gibson

 

 

 

Dear Mr. Gibson,

 

Thank you for the e-mail regarding your ms ROTTERDAM cruise on May 14, 2007. First and foremost, we apologize that your personal interactions with the Internet Manager on board caused frustration.

 

As you know, we endeavor to detail Internet service in our literature, online, and on board, so guests may choose whether or not to agree to the terms and conditions. All of the policies and instructions are clearly posted and explained during the sign-up procedure when a guest activates an onboard account either from a laptop, or a workstation. Please be advised that we contract with MTN Satellite Services so we may provide fax, e-mail, telephone and cable communications throughout our fleet.

 

According to the reports from this sailing, you were charged correctly for the service you received and again, we sincerely apologize for your disappointment.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to provide us with your comments.

 

 

Very truly yours,

 

 

 

Marybeth Rose

Special Advisor

Office of the President

 

 

As you can see from their response, my letter was not even read. I am shocked that HAL cares so little about customer relations post-cruise and I wanted to share my experience as a warning to those of you who will be cruising with HAL in the future.

 

I also wanted to find out if there is someone I could forward my complaint to who is higher up than Customer Relations. The letter I wrote was sent to customerrelations@hollandamerica.com and as you can see the response was from someone in the "Office of the President" which leads me to believe there is no one higher up that would deal with this type of issue. If that's the case HAL should be ashamed. HAL has a beautiful fleet and great staff working on the ships so its too bad that their Home Office employees are ruining the line.

[Jade13]

Marybeth Rose was unhelpful with my issue as well and I just called and got someone else in the same offfice to help me with my issue, which was resolved to my satisfaction.

 

Marybeth Rose never returned two follow-up calls that I placed so I just went to someone else.

 

I wouldn't cancel a cruise because of Marybeth Rose or an Internet Manager that should not be on the ship - The only way to get back is to send that letter directly to Stein Kruse because I understand he really does read all of the letters...

[grannynurse]

I wonder if the Guest Relations Manager could have helped.

Did you finally take what the front desk person offered? There was no excuse for the way she treated you. I hope you also wrote it up on the comment card. I think I would have gone to the hotel manager about the sick steward. I guess you'll vote with your feet and wallet.

GN

[ekerr19]

GN -

 

I have found the GRM almost non-existent on the past few cruises... available fewer and fewer hours/days.

 

I wonder if anyone else had encountered the same.

 

I feel for the OP, in my experience, some of the Internet Managers are positively impatient and will do nothing to help - but on the other hand I have seen a few go above and beyond the call assisting pax with the same issues time & time again... I guess it's luck of the draw, sadly.

[jtl513]

Since the Internet Manager is an MTN empoyee, not a HAL employee, I can understand why the on-board HAL staff can do little immediately. In effect they must complain to MTN, who may or may not take some action, but that takes time.

 

I do think it odd that the response letter said nothing about the sick steward situation, though.

[Lee77]

I think I am missing something here. Jacqueline was the only one that could change the internet package but Thomas gave you a refund and ship board credit. I am very confused by this situation. Couldn't Jacqueline have given you a refund as well?

 

This sounds like a very frustrating ordeal. I'm glad it didn't ruin your cruise.

 

As for the sick cabin steward...how pathetic. They really should have some guidelines for ill employees.Imagine if he was working in the kitchen and coughing and sneezing all over the food. It sure makes you wonder!

 

Hope you get resolution to your satisfaction. Did you want some kind of compensation?

[MercedMike]

Hope you get resolution to your satisfaction. Did you want some kind of compensation?

 

AHA! Now you have probably hit the crux of the situation.

 

In fact, it seems that the passengers problem was dealt with on board and he actually did receive compensation there. I am not quite sure what further action he expects HAL to take?? I also don't see how he feels the letter he received did not deal with his problem. It states that the matter was resolved on board.

 

So he ran into an employee who did not want to give him what he wanted. It is my experience that when a complainant says, "They were rude to me," it almost always means, "they wouldn't do what I wanted"!!

 

So, let the OP tell us just exactly what he expects HAL to do for him?

[MSammy]

I too am confused on this one. Am I missing something? Did you not get a refund and a $20 ship board credit on the internet issues? Seems fair to me. Don't know what was being asked for on the sick cabin steward? Year's supply of Kleenex? :)

[twinkletoes4445]

I feel for the OP, in my experience, some of the Internet Managers are positively impatient and will do nothing to help -

 

That was our experience on the Zuiderdam. The gal was horrid. But other than that, we had no other issues...in fact, everything else was perfect. Some are good, some not so good...I guess it's the luck of the draw...sort of like with everything else. :)

 

And I too feel for the OP.

[twinkletoes4445]

 

So he ran into an employee who did not want to give him what he wanted. It is my experience that when a complainant says, "They were rude to me," it almost always means, "they wouldn't do what I wanted"!!

 

So, let the OP tell us just exactly what he expects HAL to do for him?

 

I don't know...I just dealt with a rude reservation person when I was trying to make room reservations at a Marriott. When I talked to the GM, things were resolved...and quickly. I was quite polite...but treated badly....and it wasn't because I wasn't getting my way. I did ask for some changes...which the GM was able to handle. I was also told that the original person I talked with should have been able to handle this.

 

You really can't assume that everyone who has a complaint about something is only angry because they didn't get what they wanted. Have you never had a complaint or concern that you wanted to address with someone...ever?

[ekerr19]

I too am confused on this one. Am I missing something? Did you not get a refund and a $20 ship board credit on the internet issues? Seems fair to me. Don't know what was being asked for on the sick cabin steward? Year's supply of Kleenex? :)

 

The OP bought the full package and used four minutes... a $20 credit means he paid 19.75 for each of those four minutes... hardly fair, imo.

 

We've had unfortunate experiences with internet as well. On the Noordam inaugural, I bought the full package, but ended up using less than 10 minutes... I was even told I'd get a refund (and many in our CC group did - but I didn't). It simply wasn't worth it to me to argue in the end, but I can relate to the OP - passengers should not be subjected to that sort of attitude by staff, whether they're actual HAL staff or contracted employees - I feel it's not right.

[seaisme]

sorry you were disappointed...but your issues were addressed. perhaps it's best you do select another cruise line.

[Scrumpy]

I hope that you can find someone at HAL who can give you some satisfaction. At this point, I don't know if they have any incentive to help you or to look into the rude employee since you've already cancelled a cruise, though. I don't blame you at all for cancelling, though - I'm just looking at it from their perspective which seems to revolve around dollars and cents. I'm sorry you experienced such poor service and I hope that the rest of your cruise was more enjoyable. Also, I'm sorry you became ill. It does seem ridiculous to have a cabin steward out spreading germs that way and it isn't a great leap to think that the odds are that your illness came from him. Could it be proven? Probably not. Still, someone that sick should not be in people's cabins when there is a risk of infecting someone - someone who has paid dearly to enjoy their cruise and it's hard to do that when you're sick.

 

I don't know if the OP is actually looking for compensation or not, but who cares if s/he is? It wouldn't NECESSARILY be out of line considering their enjoyment was probably greatly diminished by being ill for several days and that there was quite a bit of time wasted trying to sort out the Internet fiasco. (We actually got a refund for the day we were quarantined, which was unexpected and certainly not requested. Maybe now that wouldn't happen, but it did a few years ago and it impressed the heck out of us). I find that most people are not looking for some ridiculous compensation but instead for a heartfelt and sincere apology - and a promise to look into the matter further. There is no place for an employee or contractor onboard who is going to treat passengers badly. If this person has had prior complaints, then it sounds like she needs to move on to a different job because she is not meeting the standard of most employees and contractors on HAL ships. Guess we have been wise to steer clear of the Internet cafes onboard because this isn't the first time I've read there can be problems in that area.

 

We had an incident with an employee and my elderly MIL on our first HAL cruise that left my MIL in tears. Yes, there are rude and/or impatient people employed on ships. Have we encountered them? Obviously, yes. Luckily, in our case, the misunderstanding that so upset my MIL was handled and afterwards the employee involved became one of her favorites. On a scale of 1 to 10, our relief was an 11.

 

I wish the OP good luck in future dealings with customer service or whoever at HAL. Again, sorry to hear of your experiences.

[twinkletoes4445]

I wonder if the Guest Relations Manager could have helped.

Did you finally take what the front desk person offered? There was no excuse for the way she treated you. I hope you also wrote it up on the comment card. I think I would have gone to the hotel manager about the sick steward. I guess you'll vote with your feet and wallet.

GN

 

There is no excuse for this sort of treatment. I agree...I'd vote with my feet and wallet. It's too bad HAL didn't address the issues.

[Cruising-along]

The OP bought the full package and used four minutes... a $20 credit means he paid 19.75 for each of those four minutes... hardly fair, imo.

 

I believe he stated in paragraph 6 that he was refunded for the internet package PLUS received $20 onboard credit -- at least that's the way I understood it :confused:

[eh2zed]

:D I think any consumer not happy with a product or service has every right to use their pocketbook to voice their displeasure. pog27 feels strongly and has done exactly that and hopefully something is learned.

On the other hand no cruise line is perfect. Just scanned the CC forums for the other major lines and I think most first pages have thread announcing that someone will never sail again with that line. HAL should have done better but maybe there isn't a lot of greener grass. :) :D :)

[ekerr19]

I believe he stated in paragraph 6 that he was refunded for the internet package PLUS received $20 onboard credit -- at least that's the way I understood it :confused:

 

Carolyn,

 

Thanks for the heads up - looks like you are right! :)

 

I'd call that very fair compensation now... :confused:

[ekerr19]

I too am confused on this one. Am I missing something? Did you not get a refund and a $20 ship board credit on the internet issues? Seems fair to me. Don't know what was being asked for on the sick cabin steward? Year's supply of Kleenex? :)

 

MSammy - Sorry for my post (several above) quoting you - I misread the OP's statement and the above poster, Cruising-along just pointed it out to me, thankfully.

 

My sincere apologies...

[hifred]

May I make a suggestion. The OP stated that they bought the internet package but it did not work. They couldn't get a hold of the internet manager and 10 days passed. That is where the first intervention could have occurred. If you are ever on a ship and are having a problem immediately go to the desk and write a note to the party involved in this case the internet manager. Leave a note at the desk with your cabin number and also leave a copy of the concern to the hotel manager. Make sure that you indicate a cc so the person you are writing to knows that you are forwarding a copy to the hotel manager. Waiting 10 days is not going to get you an optimal response. The per minute internet charge is always much higher than the package charge. I can imagine the OP ran up a rather sizeable bill much more I am sure than the cost of the $20.00 package that HAL refunded. HAL should have kept the package charge but erased the per minute charges as those minutes should have been included in the package.

 

With regard to the sick cabin steward - If I saw the cabin steward was sick I would put the do not disturb sign up and immediately address the issue to the hotel manager and the front desk. I wouldn't ask them what to do ; I would tell them they must get someone else to clean my room. I would also tell the steward he was not allowed in my room. I don't like to hurt their feelings but my health is number one. That is very dangerous and OP could have become seriously ill. We were once on an influenza cruise where by the end of the cruise almost half the people had come down with the flu. I don't think OP had grounds to complain about being charged for the cough drops. I have never been to the ship's infirmary when anything is given out free except seasickness medication and sometimes your charged for that.

 

I have noticed that there are more rude ship workers than there used to be. I was on Regent in December and was disgusted with the way I was treated by the desk personnel. The ship was under going many repairs and the noise from the workers late at night was awful. Hammering and drills etc. I was disatisfied with the treatment and wrote the company. But I belive in OP's philosophy. There are plenty of great cruiselines...Oceania, Windstar, etc.. to sail on and you can bet I won't be on Regent again. I understand why OP cancelled. I hope they enjoy their next cruise where ever it might be on what ever line they choose.

[IheartHAL]

When I fill out the comment card at the end of a cruise, my complaints are usually about the onboard concessions. The concession employees, more often than not, have very little interest in customer satisfaction. They are well aware that they have a captive audience, so the customer has to accept the poor service, or do without. I have never really understood why the cruise lines continue this practice, because no matter how often they say the concessions are contracted and not operated by the line, the fact is, they are just as much as part of the passengers' onboard experience as the service in the dining rooms or bars. It is really annoying when the cruise line basically says, "Sorry you were treated like dirt, but we have no control over them even though they are treating our passengers like dirt on our ships."

 

I just don't get it.

[jtl513]

I just don't get it.

Same reason any work is out-sourced: $$$$ ! :)

[chasetf]

May I make a suggestion. The OP stated that they bought the internet package but it did not work. They couldn't get a hold of the internet manager and 10 days passed.............

I read it just the opposite. OP states "At the beginning of the cruise I purchased an Internet package which I used for just a few minutes (four minutes to be exact) on the first day and subsequently was unable to log back in to use it." She never mentions anything else about the login being "defective". So it all hinges on what does "unable to log back in to use it" mean. She further says the Internet manager was available, just not at a time convenient for her.

If I was hung out with a password that was not working for instance, I would see the manager as soon as possible, not wait 10 days. I futher cannot believe if the Internet manager knew there was a login problem "they" created that they would not have made it whole. I also point out there is no mention, once she talked to the manager, that anything was or needed to be fixed. She just laments she did not get a refund, but got a lecture on the terms and conditions (again nothing to fix).

She future states she got a "conversion" from the minute plan to the package plan on a prior cruise "I traveled on the Westerdam in November 06 and at the end of the cruise the Internet Manager offered to change my per minute usage into a package in order to save me money so I knew it should not be a problem." This leads me to believe what she really wanted was a conversion from the package plan to the minute plan (ie a refund) (similar to the conversion she mentions). This seems consistent with the Internet manager's actions as the OP relates.....ie: no refund just because you did not use it. ;)

 

Maybe the OP can comment and tell me whether I am interpreting her post correctly. Otherwise we are all guessing.

[Steamboatin]

The solution is real simple.

 

Cruise Celebrity and Princess.

 

According to the very loyal CC passenger comments on their threads those cruise lines are PERFECT.:D :D

[Jade13]

I read it just the opposite. OP states "At the beginning of the cruise I purchased an Internet package which I used for just a few minutes (four minutes to be exact) on the first day and subsequently was unable to log back in to use it." She never mentions anything else about the login being "defective". So it all hinges on what does "unable to log back in to use it" mean. She further says the Internet manager was available, just not at a time convenient for her.

 

If I was hung out with a password that was not working for instance, I would see the manager as soon as possible, not wait 10 days. I futher cannot believe if the Internet manager knew there was a login problem "they" created that they would not have made it whole. I also point out there is no mention, once she talked to the manager, that anything was or needed to be fixed. She just laments she did not get a refund, but got a lecture on the terms and conditions (again nothing to fix).

 

She future states she got a "conversion" from the minute plan to the package plan on a prior cruise "I traveled on the Westerdam in November 06 and at the end of the cruise the Internet Manager offered to change my per minute usage into a package in order to save me money so I knew it should not be a problem." This leads me to believe what she really wanted was a conversion from the package plan to the minute plan (ie a refund) (similar to the conversion she mentions). This seems consistent with the Internet manager's actions as the OP relates.....ie: no refund just because you did not use it. ;)

 

Maybe the OP can comment and tell me whether I am interpreting her post correctly. Otherwise we are all guessing.

 

I read it the same way that the OP thought the internet Manager would convert to minutes or whatever would save the most money like was done on the Westerdam. Normally people in the same cabin would use the same plan (I think?), so the OP was spending money on a per minute basis to log in so I can understand that they may have thought the internet Manager would put everything together at the end in whatever way was most cost effective. I still can't understand not finding the internet Manager for 10 day but more an issue that the cruise became port intensive so they really did not have time to use the minutes. In any event there was no reason for rudeness and they did write a letter regarding that and I'm sure it was noted (even though the money was not refunded).

[pog27]

You are right that waiting 10 days wasn't the best idea and I should have gone earlier but I didn't notice the problem until the 3rd or 4th day and at that point we had 6 port days in a row (Messina, Naples, Civitavecchia, Monte Carlo, Marseille, Barcelona) and the office hours were all either while we were in port or in the middle of dinner. I spoke to the front desk about the issue more than once and had even asked them to give her a message about my problem but did not hear from her and I chose not to miss dinner or one of the ports to deal with the Internet.

 

To clarify the reason I used the per minute plan was I could not log in to use the package I had purchased. In the end I was credited for the package I hadn't used and a $20 onboard credit but I still ended up paying more than I would have paid if I had just been able to use the package. What I had asked for was a refund for the per minute charges since I had purchased the package the first day. I did not want the package to be refunded.

 

Yes, I did expect compensation, but I wasn't hoping to get a free cruise out of it. What I was expecting at the very least was a letter that actually responded to my concerns along with an apology and maybe a free bottle of wine of my next cruise as a gesture of goodwill. I don't think that's too much to ask.

 

I know I haven't responded to everyone's questions but I am driving up to NYC this morning and I still need to pack. :eek: I will post once I get up there this afternoon.