Fairy Tale of New York

[garigoun]

There are always stories connected with travel concerning the perils of being ripped off in one way or another, venal cab drivers, dodgy travel agents et al and of the difficulty of obtaining redress when things go wrong. But occasionally there occurs an event that ‘shines like a candle in a naughty world’, to misquote Big Bill.

In May of this year I booked a July 4th Firework Cruise with New York River Taxis. Printed out the ticket and sat back in a glow of anticipation. We’ve seen the fireworks from a few vantage points before but never from the river. On July 3rd I retrieved the tickets from the hotel room safe and checked the boarding point. The location was given as ‘Various’ and there was a list of places the taxi-boat serviced. The nearest one to our hotel was Pier 44. We checked with the concierge as to the best route knowing that there would be large crowds. Arrived in plenty of time, crowds and excitement building up. No boat. Time moved on. Now getting a bit concerned. Checked with a policeman. He sends us to the Circle Line pier with the assurance that all the fireworks boats leave from there. A very kind lady named Jenny an employee of Circle Line made several phone calls for us but could not find out where the boat was. We went scurrying around (and boy was it hot) but to no avail. At 7.15pm an hour after the advertised time we gave up and treated ourselves to a nice dinner with some conciliatory alcohol accompaniments. No a big deal, we’ve seen fireworks before but nonetheless we could have done without the aggravation and we had paid $160.


Subsequent attempts to contact NYC Water Taxis came up against the dreaded automated telephone service, it was after all a holiday time.



Arriving home some 8 days later I find an email from the company dated July 2nd giving details of where to board the boat (South Street Landing) and the revised time. This was followed by another email inviting me to complete a customer satisfaction survey, a tick the box form, you’ve seen a million. There was however, right at the end, a box for comments. Dear reader you will be proud of me. I resisted the temptation to rant!


I explained what had happened and suggested, that some form of recompense might be appropriate, without much hope it must be said, after all I hadn’t informed them I would not be at home prior to the July 4th event.


One day later I received an email from the Vice President, Sales and Marketing, with an apology for our inconvenience, an assurance that the problem would be addressed immediately for all future ticketing and offering a full refund of my ticket cost.


Today the cheque arrived dated July 17th just 13 days after the initial glitch.



What can I say? Well done NYC Water Taxis.


Oh that all customer relations departments would act so swiftly, so efficiently and so fairly. They have certainly got one regular customer for all future visits.

An Impressed Gari

[Wheretonext???]

Gari, it is good to hear a nice story but I'm sorry you missed the fireworks. Hoorah for NYC Water Taxi!

[pepperrn]

Originally Posted by garigoun

In May of this year I booked a July 4th Firework Cruise with New York River Taxis.... ...There was however, right at the end, a box for comments. Dear reader you will be proud of me. I resisted the temptation to rant! I explained what had happened and suggested, that some form of recompense might be appropriate, without much hope it must be said... ...One day later I received an email from the Vice President, Sales and Marketing, with an apology for our inconvenience, an assurance that the problem would be addressed immediately for all future ticketing and offering a full refund of my ticket cost. Today the cheque arrived dated July 17th just 13 days after the initial glitch. What can I say? Well done NYC Water Taxis. Oh that all customer relations departments would act so swiftly, so efficiently and so fairly. They have certainly got one regular customer for all future visits. An Impressed Gari

Gari. Well done NYC Water Taxis indeed. A story that shows there are places out there that give superb customer service. After reading your post, they've got my business as well.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the happy outcome to this story isn't due to your patient, polite and calm attitude to the problem, and the way you filled in the feedback form. The fact that you "didn't rant" and "suggested" some form of recompense (rather than demand it as many would) may have worked wonders. To use an old fashioned word, sounds like you behaved like a gentleman (as always I'm sure). A pleasure to read your post. "Well done Gari" I say!

[Wheretonext???]

Originally Posted by pepperrn

However, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the happy outcome to this story isn't due to your patient, polite and calm attitude to the problem, and the way you filled in the feedback form. The fact that you "didn't rant" and "suggested" some form of recompense (rather than demand it) may have worked wonders. To use an old fashioned word, sounds like you behaved like a gentleman (as always I'm sure). A pleasure to read your post. "Well done Gari" I say!

You are absolutely correct Pepper--there is an old saying that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar and it is very true!

[rob6852]

Well Gari, while sometimes it is hard not too rant, the non-rant way is often best, I ran my own very successful business with the very best customer service I could give, Myself and my staff always bent over backwards to help customers who were nice to them first, that level of service allowed me to take early retirement at 51.

That said intoday age and ways, a good rant is often good for the soul, sad that you missed the fireworks though.

[heywood]

Gari,
I was all ready for a singalong when I read the title
I am pleased that you got a happy ending and what a good recommendation for the company.
heywood

[cruisercon]

What could have been a factor with the Water taxi not making its stop on the West side was this July 4th the fireworks were moved after many years from the East River to the Hudson River (in honor of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson sailing up river). The center of the fire works were located on the Intrepid which is right next to one of the regular stops of the Water taxi. Perhaps the Hudson river was closed to water traffic that evening?
I am a native New Yorker, living near Lincoln Center. Ironically, on many a nice summer day, we ride the water taxi all day as it makes its way around Manhattan - a lovely ride and a wonderful way to see the waterfront from a visitor's perspective.
We are sailing on the QM 2's Sept. 8th Eastbound crossing - six weeks from today! First time on her although we have seen her in port many times. Long time cruisers, some transatlantic, but first time on Cunard. We are very excited to be making the crossing.
It is nice to know your situation with the Water taxi had a happy and satisfactory ending. We hope you come back many times to our fair (although crowded) city.