Dawn cruise problem...

[Mooder]

[quote name='Ontheotherhand']That may well be true, but the job of the person at the desk is to help passengers having problems, not chastise them for what they might have done (or even interrogate them about it). How much better it might have been if she said:

Oh, you luggage didn't come to your room? I'm so sorry about that. Usually when this happens it's because the luggage went astray on the ship and most passengers get their luggage delivered to them in a couple of hours. In the meantime, is there anything you need--at toothbursh, razor, or whatever? Let me take your name and I'll call your cabin by ___ o'clock and see if it showed up.

Then at __ o'clock: It still didn't come? I'm sorry, but we do have a lost luggage room where suticases which lost their tags are kept; let me stop by your room and we can go check the lost and found right away.

Then after checking: OK, we'll have to start looking for the luggage more closely; many times luggage is delivered to the wrong room and is recovered by the stewards and forwarded to the owner. It could take a little time, but I will file a report to be certain all are aware of it and keep an eye out. Now, forgive me for asking, but this can be important--exactly what sort of ID did you have on the luggage--NCL tag? Your own ID tag? Did you have any identifying information inside? Also, we will contact the pier to see if it was located there, so I will have to ask how you checked it--did you use a red cap or bring it to the check in yourself. And how did you arrive? sometimes luggage is left in taxis and they bring it to the pier, so we need to know. We'll keep working on it and I'll call to update you by ____; in the meantime, do you need toiletries or anything else for the interim.

And when it's found--I have your luggage at the desk, would you like to come up and get it or have me send it to your room? I'm not really sure what happened but it was located by the stewards on another deck; yes, it has the tag with your room number on it, so we really don't know what happened, but rest assured we will look into it. I know it's no consolation to you, be we handle thousands of pieces of luggage a week and we want to avoid this happeneing every time. If you'd like to fill out a complaint or speak with the hotel director stop by the desk and we can arrange it. And again, on behalf of NCL we are all very sorry for your inconvenience.

Is it really that hard? Even if the cutomer is screaming, it is the responsibility of the desk clerk to try to defuse the situation and, at all times, to treat the passenger with respect. My guess is that, if it were handled this way, no talk of compensation would even have come up.[/QUOTE]

You are that confident none of that was said? :confused: In my experience when someone is stressed and upset and sceaming, no matter how nicely you might say something, they will take it the wrong way. We don't know that this person was interrogated!!! Only that possible scenarios were mentioned. Yes, proper customer service goes a long way, but we just don't know what happened. I'm not prepared to blame the crew person OR the passenger without knowing for sure. What I DO know for a fact is that the OP let it all bother her more than was warranted considering she didn't even go overnight without the bag.

[Ontheotherhand]

I don't see any eivdence that it was said, but i concede I don't know for certain; all we have is the OP's account. But, having been on the receiving end of poor customer service in many venues, I also cannot say it didn't happen exactly the way the OP said it did.

[Studebaker59]

Look at posting #21 which is by an eye witness. That's an impartial observation.

[flashdog_1]

Would travel insurance really have covered "new clothes" etc. for a suitcase missing only on embarkation day, and returned to passenger by early the next morning? Is there a length of time it has to be missing, I mean, before they say, "you have $100 per day to spend."

[njhorseman]

[quote name='Studebaker59']Look at posting #21 which is by an eye witness. [COLOR=red]That's an impartial observation[/COLOR].[/quote]


How do you know it's impartial? The poster says she had a lot of issues with her cruise. Maybe she has an ax to grind.

[Don Haynes]

When people get hysterical over little things, nothing will please them. NOTHING!

Diffuse the situation. HOW? Put the hysterical person in the brig to cool off?

Being a traveling sales person, with many bus, train, and airline flights, I pack light and pack only a carry-on. My luggage never leaves my sight. I do this because after a few lost luggage experiences I learned to do so.

Diffusing such hysterical situations is easier said than done. Once people get emotional, no amount of logical thinking will suffice.

Its my opinion there is nothing more rude than a hysterical person.

[Ontheotherhand]

Don--you are right, hysterical persons are often rude and nearly impossible to please. However, a representative of a company should never return that rudeness with rude behavior on their part; they should, to the greatest extent possible, try to diffuse the situation, but even if they cannot, they should not be rude in return. Esepcially for people in customer service, that is what they are paid to do.

And FWIW, I've often seen the behavior of the desk clerks, reps, etc. as being the number one factor in deciding of someone becomes increasingly upset or even hysterical. Treating paying customers with common courtesy should be a given, but it often is not; and when they don't receive it, the customers often lash out in return. It didn't used to be this way, but many industries have forgotten that serving the customer is what keeps them in business, and many customers take the lousy service in stride--at least until they are pushed to their limit.

Customer service costs very little, but it generates so much in return.

[2Cruise4Ever]

Have you guys thought about the fact that this person behind the desk is most likely not an American???? People from other cultures handle things differently than we do. Maybe the clerk was brand new to the position and didn't quite understand how to handle this screaming passenger. Maybe the OP was talking way too fast and using slang that the clerk didn't understand. True it's the clerk's job to learn everything he/she can about other cultures. But, beginners are just doing the best they can.

I feel bad for the OP because I can understand how frustrating it can be to lose luggage. But, since we can't know both sides of the story, there's just no use arguing over [B][I][U]choice of words[/U][/I][/B]....

Also, the question about travel insurance: If your luggage goes missing long enough for you to have to purchase clothes (which is usually about 24 hours), then those purchases are covered (up to $100 a day or whatever is written in the policy) until either your trip ends or your luggage is recovered, whichever happens sooner.

[Ontheotherhand]

I disagree, the job of a desk clerk is to represent the company--literally to be its face and voice to the passengers. Choice of words and demanor matter a great deal precisely because this person represents the company. If he or she doesn't speak English well enough to deal with a majority of the passengers, or understand the prevalent norms on how people expect to be treated when paying for a service, then it's up to the company to educate him or her regarding all that before they allow that person to speak for them. To do any less is a gross disservice both to the passenger and the employee.

[MrPete]

I'm not sure.....what you expected....but with all that luggage....I'm sure at least one piece gets misdirected....and would have eventually....made it to its proper....destination.....but you seem to be mad......at someone who had no control.....over the situation....but if she acted sympathetically....and still did nothing....you would have been happy.

Luggage inquiries.....are probably a weekly thing.....to them.

And yes....missing luggage stinks....but I wouldn't lose .....sleep over it.

[Mooder]

[quote name='Ontheotherhand']I disagree, the job of a desk clerk is to represent the company--literally to be its face and voice to the passengers. Choice of words and demanor matter a great deal precisely because this person represents the company. If he or she doesn't speak English well enough to deal with a majority of the passengers, or understand the prevalent norms on how people expect to be treated when paying for a service, then it's up to the company to educate him or her regarding all that before they allow that person to speak for them. To do any less is a gross disservice both to the passenger and the employee.[/QUOTE]

OTOH, I feel you might be missing the point. Of course, a customer service rep has to provide cheerful service regardless of the situation. And we have all seen customer service degrade. But even the best of the best will be misunderstood. Cultural differences make that even more likely and high emotions make it nearly inevitable. 2Cruise4Ever makes an excellent point and provides something for the OP to consider now that emotions have calmed down.

[Mooder]

[quote name='mrpete']i'm not sure.....what you expected....but with all that luggage....i'm sure at least one piece gets misdirected....and would have eventually....made it to its proper....destination.....but you seem to be mad......at someone who had no control.....over the situation....but if she acted sympathetically....and still did nothing....you would have been happy.

Luggage inquiries.....are probably a weekly thing.....to them.

And yes....missing luggage stinks....but i wouldn't lose .....sleep over it.[/quote]

r...o...f...l...-...c...o...p...t...e...r...!

[*Wink*]

[quote name='Ontheotherhand']I disagree, the job of a desk clerk is to represent the company--literally to be its face and voice to the passengers. Choice of words and demanor matter a great deal precisely because this person represents the company. If he or she doesn't speak English well enough to deal with a majority of the passengers, or understand the prevalent norms on how people expect to be treated when paying for a service, then it's up to the company to educate him or her regarding all that before they allow that person to speak for them. To do any less is a gross disservice both to the passenger and the employee.[/QUOTE]
What color is the sky in your perfect world?

You get what you pay for. If NCL wants their Reception employees to have that kind of responsibility, they would have to fork out a lot more dough for education and salaries.

That's why the OP should have stopped dealing with her and asked for a Supervisor once things started getting heated.

[rrobynec]

[quote name='Mooder']OTOH, I feel you might be missing the point. Of course, a customer service rep has to provide cheerful service regardless of the situation. And we have all seen customer service degrade. But even the best of the best will be misunderstood. Cultural differences make that even more likely and high emotions make it nearly inevitable. 2Cruise4Ever makes an excellent point and provides something for the OP to consider now that emotions have calmed down.[/quote]
I sure that the OP realizes that there may be other options to consider after all of this discussion.
Hopefully some of what she read here, like 2Cruise4Ever and Mooder's earlier observations, has helped her appreciate things from the CS point of view.

[Ontheotherhand]

[quote name='*Wink*']What color is the sky in your perfect world?

You get what you pay for. If NCL wants their Reception employees to have that kind of responsibility, they would have to fork out a lot more dough for education and salaries.

That's why the OP should have stopped dealing with her and asked for a Supervisor once things started getting heated.[/quote]

Perfect world? I don't really think so. But you have at least suggested a reason; discounted travel means a lower standard customer service and handling of problems. If that's the image a company chooses to present to the public, then I guess little can be done other than to take one's business elsewhere if one cares about that area of service.

[Mooder]

[quote name='*Wink*']What color is the sky in your perfect world?

You get what you pay for. If NCL wants their Reception employees to have that kind of responsibility, they would have to fork out a lot more dough for education and salaries.

That's why the OP should have stopped dealing with her and asked for a Supervisor once things started getting heated.[/QUOTE]

That's right. Ultimately, if necessary, she could have taken it all the way to Hugo and then if she wasn't happy, we'd know nothing would please her because Hugo makes everyone happy! But I doubt that was necessary. Hugo runs a great ship so things shouldn't have to go that far.

[*Wink*]

[quote name='Ontheotherhand']Perfect world? I don't really think so. But you have at least suggested a reason; discounted travel means a lower standard customer service and handling of problems. If that's the image a company chooses to present to the public, then I guess little can be done other than to take one's business elsewhere if one cares about that area of service.[/QUOTE]
A perfect world is 100% of the pax having absolutely no complaints with the Reception Staff 100% of the time.

I for one haven't read a lot of threads like this one, so I'd say that's a good sign that NCL is doing a fine job, [I]most[/I] of the time, even though they are a "discounted" cruise company.

[Ontheotherhand]

You're the one that said one gets what one pays for, not me. indeed, i think it makes sense for a company to offer exceptional customer service regardless of what the customer pays, as it encourages repeat, and often more lucrative, business. Putting an untrained or unqualified person into such a position will often achieve the reverse.

As for a perfect world, there will always be people who have complaints. But good customer service can often reduce the incidence and the severity of the complaints.

[sekonick]

[quote name='jmcdon7230']Did anyone else.....get a headache.....reading this thing?[/quote]
yes..the font is horrible

[newmexicoNita]

[quote name='jmcdon7230']Did anyone else.....get a headache.....reading this thing?[/QUOTE]

yep, that is why I didn't finish it, one paragraph and in blue made it hard to follow.

Nita

[iheartbda]

[quote name='Ontheotherhand']You're the one that said one gets what one pays for, not me. indeed, i think it makes sense for a company to offer exceptional customer service regardless of what the customer pays, as it encourages repeat, and often more lucrative, business. Putting an untrained or unqualified person into such a position will often achieve the reverse.

As for a perfect world, there will always be people who have complaints. But good customer service can often reduce the incidence and the severity of the complaints.[/quote]

Just curious...what kind of job do you have?

[newmexicoNita]

[quote name='Mooder']And when's the last time someone posted how quickly their luggage was in their cabin?! I'm as guilty as anyone. While I have had to wait on some occasions, more often than not I am amazed to find it in my cabin so fast! But I don't think I ever reported that happy event here on cc. :o[/QUOTE]

The only time I would really worry is if I had booze in it and was afraid of getting that little letter...lol

Nita

ps; back in the early days of cruising many people didn't get bags until 9 or 10pm, not just a few..

Nita

[mbisson]

[quote name='newmexicoNita']The only time I would really worry is if I had booze in it and was afraid of getting that little letter...lol

Nita[/QUOTE]

On my last cruise, it seemed as if every other stateroom had one of those letters on the door :eek:

[Ontheotherhand]

[quote name='iheartbda']Just curious...what kind of job do you have?[/quote]

a far from perfect one. :)

But my comments come from my experiences in managing a restaurant a number of years back, and the problems I had with getting good customer service oriented people at the reception desk and as waiters/waitresses. It took a while to get the right people in and train them, but complaints which involved me plummetted when I did (not to mention how business increased).

[Mooder]

[quote name='Ontheotherhand']a far from perfect one. :)

But my comments come from my experiences in managing a restaurant a number of years back, and the problems I had with getting good customer service oriented people at the reception desk and as waiters/waitresses. It took a while to get the right people in and train them, but complaints which involved me plummetted when I did (not to mention how business increased).[/QUOTE]

Well then, I have to hand it to you for the job you did.