Viking's Response

Mr Ouendaj, a Vice President of Viking: Marketing and Customer Relations rang me this afternoon, from LA. Our discourse was amicable.

Sincere and abject apologies were offered for, amongst other things, the error in saying the Idun Hotel Manager was to blame for giving misleading journey times. The email in which this was said, was also deemed to be a mistake on behalf of Viking, and Mr Ouendaj graciously apologised for making an error of judgement in sending it.

Mr Ouendaj stated that Viking were wrong to imply that the ship swap would take place as close to the Altenworth Lock as possible. He appreciated that travelling such distances by coach with an elderly person was far from easy.

There was no discussion on any of the other issues. Neither myself nor Mr Ouendaj raised them. He was aware of them, citing my posts on Cruise Critic, and I felt that, to coin a phrase, the cat had already drowned, so nothing further could be done about them.

I appreciate that Viking have responded, and it is my Dad who will benefit from their attempt to make amends: a gesture of their contrition, personal to him has been arranged. I am content to draw a line under this matter now and unless there are any further developments, I do not expect to add to this thread.

I thank you all for taking the time to read it, and for your genuine interest and concern.

Phoebe,

Thanks for sharing Viking's response with us. If my remarks were hurtful in any way, please accept my apology. It was not my intention by any means.

Terri

Thanks for sharing the response with us.

Keith

Well I am glad he reached out with a personal response.

I appreciate that Viking have responded, and it is my Dad who will benefit from their attempt to make amends: a gesture of their contrition, personal to him has been arranged. I am content to draw a line under this matter now and unless there are any further developments, I do not expect to add to this thread.

I think it speaks well for the VP of Viking to have contacted you.

And good that they have made a " gesture of their contrition" towards your dad.

Thanks for posting your response.

My new favorite phrase "gesture of contrition":D

I am glad they called you ...

My new favorite phrase "gesture of contrition":D

I think you need to have a British accent for that to actually sound right.

Thank you for posting Viking's response.

So, in other words, Viking bought you (or your Father) off.

What else are we to believe? You give us pages and days of detailed complaints about your trip and Viking's inadequacies and then all of a sudden you give us the impression that all is well and that your Dad has been "benefited from their attempt to make amends?" With the promise that this is your final post?

Could it be that you have achieved what you have intended from the very beginning? To have been "compensed" for a trip that in your opinion did not go as you had expected?

I, for one, would be interested in knowing what Viking offered you to make you go away, but I imagine that your informing us of the settlement was not part of the "deal."

So, in other words, Viking bought you (or your Father) off.

 

What else are we to believe? You give us pages and days of detailed complaints about your trip and Viking's inadequacies and then all of a sudden you give us the impression that all is well and that your Dad has been "benefited from their attempt to make amends?" With the promise that this is your final post?

 

Could it be that you have achieved what you have intended from the very beginning? To have been "compensed" for a trip that in your opinion did not go as you had expected?

 

I, for one, would be interested in knowing what Viking offered you to make you go away, but I imagine that your informing us of the settlement was not part of the "deal."

I think that this post was totally uncalled for.

As I have said before, if we criticise someone for their opinions or question their motives we will get less postings and the community will be poorer for it.

I trust that you will apologise and withdraw your posting.

So, in other words, Viking bought you (or your Father) off.

 

What else are we to believe? You give us pages and days of detailed complaints about your trip and Viking's inadequacies and then all of a sudden you give us the impression that all is well and that your Dad has been "benefited from their attempt to make amends?" With the promise that this is your final post?

 

Could it be that you have achieved what you have intended from the very beginning? To have been "compensed" for a trip that in your opinion did not go as you had expected?

 

I, for one, would be interested in knowing what Viking offered you to make you go away, but I imagine that your informing us of the settlement was not part of the "deal."

If you have taken the time to read other threads you already know that Viking does require that patrons not disclose the terms of a setlement.

I applaud Phoebecat for making use of the forum in an informative and productive manner.

Before replying, I read your previous posts. Hopefully, if you stick around the CC boards, you will find a way to contribute meaningfully and respectfully to the discussions.

So, in other words, Viking bought you (or your Father) off.

 

What else are we to believe? You give us pages and days of detailed complaints about your trip and Viking's inadequacies and then all of a sudden you give us the impression that all is well and that your Dad has been "benefited from their attempt to make amends?" With the promise that this is your final post?

 

Could it be that you have achieved what you have intended from the very beginning? To have been "compensed" for a trip that in your opinion did not go as you had expected?

 

I, for one, would be interested in knowing what Viking offered you to make you go away, but I imagine that your informing us of the settlement was not part of the "deal."

I think you have to learn some manners if you want contribute something useful in future on this forum.

So, in other words, Viking bought you (or your Father) off.

 

What else are we to believe? You give us pages and days of detailed complaints about your trip and Viking's inadequacies and then all of a sudden you give us the impression that all is well and that your Dad has been "benefited from their attempt to make amends?" With the promise that this is your final post?

 

Could it be that you have achieved what you have intended from the very beginning? To have been "compensed" for a trip that in your opinion did not go as you had expected?

 

I, for one, would be interested in knowing what Viking offered you to make you go away, but I imagine that your informing us of the settlement was not part of the "deal."

Not at all called for. I agree, you do need to learn some manners.

Dear phoebecat,

We recently replied in another thread, and while we don’t want to be repetitive, we do want say again how pleased we are that you had a conversation with a member of our team and that together you reached an amicable conclusion. With that said, you mention here that the conversation did not encompass all of your feedback and we just wanted you to know that if you would like to discuss any of your other concerns or observations, we’d be happy to hear from you at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

Very best,

Viking Cruises

Mr Ouendaj, a Vice President of Viking: Marketing and Customer Relations rang me this afternoon, from LA. Our discourse was amicable.

 

Sincere and abject apologies were offered for, amongst other things, the error in saying the Idun Hotel Manager was to blame for giving misleading journey times. The email in which this was said, was also deemed to be a mistake on behalf of Viking, and Mr Ouendaj graciously apologised for making an error of judgement in sending it.

 

Mr Ouendaj stated that Viking were wrong to imply that the ship swap would take place as close to the Altenworth Lock as possible. He appreciated that travelling such distances by coach with an elderly person was far from easy.

 

There was no discussion on any of the other issues. Neither myself nor Mr Ouendaj raised them. He was aware of them, citing my posts on Cruise Critic, and I felt that, to coin a phrase, the cat had already drowned, so nothing further could be done about them.

 

I appreciate that Viking have responded, and it is my Dad who will benefit from their attempt to make amends: a gesture of their contrition, personal to him has been arranged. I am content to draw a line under this matter now and unless there are any further developments, I do not expect to add to this thread.

 

I thank you all for taking the time to read it, and for your genuine interest and concern.

So, in other words, Viking bought you (or your Father) off.

 

What else are we to believe? You give us pages and days of detailed complaints about your trip and Viking's inadequacies and then all of a sudden you give us the impression that all is well and that your Dad has been "benefited from their attempt to make amends?" With the promise that this is your final post?

 

Could it be that you have achieved what you have intended from the very beginning? To have been "compensed" for a trip that in your opinion did not go as you had expected?

 

I, for one, would be interested in knowing what Viking offered you to make you go away, but I imagine that your informing us of the settlement was not part of the "deal."

What??