Rude PVP

[dioxide45]

What is with the Carnival PVP? It seems that they must receive reports of people that have recently booked a cruise through a third party. This is the second time that my wife has received a call from a Carnival PVP a couple days after booking a cruise.

 

He never indicate that they know we booked a cruise, but seem to allude to it. He gets grumpy and rude when she told him that we recently booked through a third party travel agent. This happened both times they have called us right after booking.

 

If we wanted to book directly through Carnival, we would have done so. But we got a better deal elsewhere.

Edited January 24, 2015 by dioxide45

[Tapi]

If you're in a PVP's database, they will be prompted to give you a call if you've been poking around looking for a cruise on the computer. When they call you, they don't know that you've made a booking, and even less through a TA. All they know is that you've been searching. The reason for these calls is to hopefully be the person to close the deal and make the booking.

 

There's no excuse for being rude. But at the same time, keep in mind that these calls are part of the PVP's duties.

 

 

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[shonuf]

I booked a cruise on Sunday though my Carnival cruise consultant (not a PVP) for DH and myself. We've done about 15 Carnival cruises and I do the booking and all the paperwork, DH just shows up. On Monday, I get a call on my cell asking for Joel (the only people who call him that have never met him). When I asked who was calling, this guy says he is Joel's PVP and says he was looking at Joel's profile and wanted to see if he was interested in booking a cruise. I told him I had booked a cruise less than 24 hours ago and who I deal with at Carnival . He said "well, I'm his PVP so I'll just call her and work it out". I told him she takes good care of us and we didn't need his help. No way would I deal with him!

[riclop]

That's why I never use a pvp.

[dioxide45]

Thanks for the responses. I wasn't sure if they were calling because we had booked. Though I don't know what good that would do since we had already made a deposit.

 

It makes more sense that they can see we are looking and calling to try to close the deal. I guess perhaps it was just coincidental that we also booked? Though I am sure we have also searched in the past without booking and received the call from the PVP.

 

I don't necessarily mind the call, just not so much that they are grumpy when we already booked. They are likely commissioned or paid bonuses when people book. So if we have booked, then they lose that bonus or commission. Though being grumpy about it doesn't make me want to call them the next time we are interested.

[Pixelate]

You should call that PVP's supervisor and share your feedback.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Pixelate

[ajee622]

Side note. How do pvps get paid??

 

 

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[Pixelate]

Side note. How do pvps get paid??

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Salary/hourly.

 

They do have a quota to meet, but most aren't commission. They also receive bonuses for exceeding quota.

[loxley]

There are always so many complaints about PVPs.

 

honestly, these people are just trying to hold on to their jobs. They have a quota on how many cruises they have to book to keep their job.

 

I can't imagine having to live under that pressure but jobs are sometimes hard to come by and you may be forced into this type of job.

 

Personally, I think it would be hard to work a job that has so much pressure and so much rejection.

 

If you want to troll the site but don't intend to purchase from a pvp, remove your phone number. Problem solved. How hard can it be?

[Pixelate]

There are always so many complaints about PVPs.

 

honestly, these people are just trying to hold on to their jobs. They have a quota on how many cruises they have to book to keep their job.

 

I can't imagine having to live under that pressure but jobs are sometimes hard to come by and you may be forced into this type of job.

 

Personally, I think it would be hard to work a job that has so much pressure and so much rejection.

 

If you want to troll the site but don't intend to purchase from a pvp, remove your phone number. Problem solved. How hard can it be?

 

Why should one have to remove their phone number from their VIFP account to simply browse a website?

[dave_k58]

From my experience - PVP's very rarely know as much about the ships, prices etc than a person who has been on only a few cruises. I have called several times and they just read the blurb on the website about the various ships. TA's can occasionally get some perks like hotels etc. I don't think the prices vary at all. I think it is just as easy and cheap to book online by yourself. OF course, once you book with a TA, Carnival will have nothing to do with you - until possibly after the cruise.

Edited January 24, 2015 by dave_k58

[dwightnwynonia]

You can also not log into your carnival profile when browsing and they cant track your trips to the site

 

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[dioxide45]

You can also not log into your carnival profile when browsing and they cant track your trips to the site

 

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I don't even think we were logged in at the time when searching. We only logged in after we booked our cruise with the TA.

[Tapi]

From my experience - PVP's very rarely know as much about the ships, prices etc than a person who has been on only a few cruises. I have called several times and they just read the blurb on the website about the various ships. TA's can occasionally get some perks like hotels etc.

 

 

There are some excellent ones out there. Mine included. Almost 10 years with Carnival and his knowledge about the Carnival product can put John Heald to shame. I'll trust him with a Carnival booking any day before I trust a TA sitting in a cubicle in Lincoln, Nebraska, reading off an old outdated brochure and who has probably never set foot on a Carnival ship.

 

 

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[ccartman2]

I've booked all my cruises with the Same PVP, except the 1st (my first PVP left before I booked my 2nd). Back then, the military discount on cruises were the best deal around, but you couldn't book it on the website. Plus you had to get them the DD214. Just a lot easier going through one.

 

With the 2nd cruise, my current PVP gave me a ton of info on the Glory and got an Aft Balcony before they were actually a popluar place to stay. That room was my favorite room I've had a cruise ship. The rest of my cruises, my wife was pregnant; Whole lot cheaper on board that way :) That envolves a doctors notes and more questions. My PVP has always been willing to answer a question, always same day, even before we are seriously looking. THen this cruise, he got us hooked up with a pretty sweet upgrade, and I'm hoping this will become my new favorite room (tough to beat the aft balcony, until I wind up in a suite some day).

 

In the future, I will remain loyal, even though I could just do it online. Not that hard to make the phone call to help a person out, who has helped me plenty in the past.

[cruiser fanatic]

I no longer use my PVP. She got mad when we booked online ourselves (because she was giving us a totally different price then online). I just book online now.

[elainmir]

I think the problem lies in finding a good PVP....I've tried a few and either they knew less than I did and I'm a relative newbie or they were sarcastic and rude.:rolleyes: I'd love to have your PVP Tapi...I value a good relationship with someone who can help and truly give you the feeling YOU are their main concern. Since I have not gotten that warm fuzzy feeling with any PVP yet I just book my own.

[Cruisertommyboy]

I really enjoy my PVP and have been using him for about 5 years now. in the middle of the week I called him and asked him to keep a lookout for the Vista bookings. Thursday morning and called to tell me the itinerary of the inaugural which is what I was looking at. He said they didn't have the pricing available yet but would call me when they did. Sure enough when they opened up the bookings (wasn't up on the web site yet) he called with pricing and we booked. He didn't have the deck plans yet but promised them to me. Sure enough 10 pm that night he emailed me the deck plans as promised.

 

I have had some PVPs call me out of the blue and when told I had a PVP they said he was no longer with the Company or had been promoted. I called and found out otherwise and promptly advised him what was going on. Those calls have stopped.

Tom

[winddawn]

That's why I never use a pvp.

Some PVPs are better than others.

 

I think everyone should book by whatever method they are comfortable with.

 

I would suggest the OP simply call the PVP and ask him not to call them anymore. The OP could simply and politely tell the PVP that they have a great TA they like to work with and state that they would appreciate not being called anymore. The PVP is just doing his job (and could perhaps improve his customer service skills). I totally agree with Tapi that the PVP is likely just following up after the OP had been poking around Carnival's website for info. Carnival knows you've been on their website if you are signed in or using your VIFP number, and Carnival expects their PVPs to follow up on that.

[tropicaledrink]

It took me 4 (yes, FOUR!) PVPs before I found one liked. I finally googled and found the name of one on a Carnival Funville Forums post before it was taken down. She's wonderful and I have had a few instances where a PVP was VERY helpful. The most recent was when I had to go fight Carnival because they had booked me under the wrong rate on the ship. My PVP was actually away for a few days and I had to deal with someone else at first. They were a nightmare. As soon as mine came back, she helped so much. (and yes, I did get the issue resolved to my satisfaction. Moral of the story: If you book a future cruise on the ship, CALL YOUR PVP AS SOON AS YOU ARE BACK and verify which rate the ship booked you under.

 

I've had the nightmare PVPs too. The ones that call ANY TIME you look at a cruise. The one that yelled at me for booking online. The one that tried to make me feel bad about a concern.

 

There are good ones out there and a good PVP is worth finding!

[us2swingu]

We have always used a PVP and always been happy. Some where better then others, but we had one named Errol that was the bast. My wife deals with Chronic migraines and he always called after the cruise to see if she was able to go and if so how she did. I guess he moved on, but the one I have now is great also...

:cool:

[dafuser]

We have always used a PVP and always been happy. Some where better then others, but we had one named Errol that was the bast. My wife deals with Chronic migraines and he always called after the cruise to see if she was able to go and if so how she did. I guess he moved on, but the one I have now is great also...

:cool:

We have used the same PVP (her name is Karen) for years and have never been disappointed with her service. I usually check the Carnival website and do a mock booking to check the prices and then call my PVP.

 

I tell my PVP what ship I'm interested in and the dates. I ask her what's the price for that particular cruise. She knows I'm retired military, knows what deck we prefer, knows we like midship interior cabins, and knows all the various Carnival sales that are available. She calls us a few days before each cruise to see if I have any last minute questions, and calls after each cruise to see how the cruise went.

[dave_k58]

I had one call yesterday and she said she saw that I had been online. She told me that the Magic had the same 2.0 upgrades as the Freedom. Quoted me a very inflated price, had no idea what a cove balcony was and didn't even ask about my VIFP number. She finally admitted that she had been on one cruise 8 years ago. I must be a magnet for these types. A TA I booked the last cruise I had to call several times because there were price drops that she was unaware of.

[Pixelate]

I had one call yesterday and she said she saw that I had been online. She told me that the Magic had the same 2.0 upgrades as the Freedom. Quoted me a very inflated price, had no idea what a cove balcony was and didn't even ask about my VIFP number. She finally admitted that she had been on one cruise 8 years ago. I must be a magnet for these types. A TA I booked the last cruise I had to call several times because there were price drops that she was unaware of.

 

Superb training!

 

Now that is a phone call I wish I could send to Vicky Rey so she can see how her team operates.

[dioxide45]

I had one call yesterday and she said she saw that I had been online. She told me that the Magic had the same 2.0 upgrades as the Freedom. Quoted me a very inflated price, had no idea what a cove balcony was and didn't even ask about my VIFP number. She finally admitted that she had been on one cruise 8 years ago. I must be a magnet for these types. A TA I booked the last cruise I had to call several times because there were price drops that she was unaware of.

 

I think it would have to take an extremely good TA for them to watch out for price drops for you. They may not have the time. Do PVPs monitor for price drops on an Early Saver rate?