Hello, RCI! Your calls are dropping! A vent.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

23 minutes ago, stevea36 said:

The call is not transferred to someone's remote phone until they are available to handle a call, otherwise it is connected to their "phone system" at HQ.  The drop, most likely, occurred when the call was being transferred to a remote individual.

yeah, I understand.... Plus, I think they are all in India somewhere.

 

While the balcony I wanted for us is still there, the balcony cabin I wanted for my parents is no longer available. 😞  Going to call them now and get something different, if we are not disconnected.

[stevea36]

2 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

yeah, I understand.... Plus, I think they are all in India somewhere.

 

While the balcony I wanted for us is still there, the balcony cabin I wanted for my parents is no longer available. 😞  Going to call them now and get something different, if we are not disconnected.

I'm sure you are aware, but due to the latest round of cancellations their Customer Service teams are getting blasted..  I had to wait on the TA Groups line for over an hour yesterday (this line rarely has waits of over 5 minutes).   

 

And, no, they are not in India.  RCCL, as a Corporation, does not have any CS locations in India.   They utilize sites around the US, central America, and the Philippines.    Its the IRS that has their help centers in India !!!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 minutes ago, stevea36 said:

I'm sure you are aware, but due to the latest round of cancellations their Customer Service teams are getting blasted..  I had to wait on the TA Groups line for over an hour yesterday (this line rarely has waits of over 5 minutes).   

 

And, no, they are not in India.  RCCL, as a Corporation, does not have any CS locations in India.   They utilize sites around the US, central America, and the Philippines.    Its the IRS that has their help centers in India !!!

the first agent's accent was definitely Indian, the second - from the Philippines. The first accent made me think that the center may have been in India.

[stevea36]

5 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

the first agent's accent was definitely Indian, the second - from the Philippines. The first accent made me think that the center may have been in India.

The biggest problem that they have is the lack of resources.  RCI laid off about 1/4 of their CS Staff.  The remainder of the staff is working from home with a laptop screen and a VOIP phone connection thru the laptop.  They usually have 2 large screens to work with in the office so doing some transactions are more difficult and prone to error as they cannot easily have the 2 sets of data needed up on the screen at once.  The phone connection has issues as most home network providers do not build out their networks to support the immense number of people who are now working from home.  Additionally, using a VOIP phone via a computer does not get the same quality over the network as a connected VOIP phone as being on the PC its presence is masked from the network itself.  Hence the longer times to get transactions complete and lower quality of phone calls (and frequent disconnects).

 

My recommendation is to bear with them and, if possible, give it a week or so to calm down a bit after the latest round of cancellations.  (or use a TA to do the waiting for you (most TAs who are RCI Certified have tools that allow them to do some of the things themselves that an end consumer would need to call RCI to get accomplished)).

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 minutes ago, stevea36 said:

My recommendation is to bear with them and, if possible, give it a week or so to calm down a bit after the latest round of cancellations.  (or use a TA to do the waiting for you (most TAs who are RCI Certified have tools that allow them to do some of the things themselves that an end consumer would need to call RCI to get accomplished)).

Thanks, I'll be patient (on hold right now 🙂 ).

We used to buy cruises through a large TA, but then I started comparing prices, and they were charging us more than the cruise line, and we never got any perks, like OBC, that the cruise line itself wasn't offering. Or I wanted a particular cabin or deck, and they would tell me it was sold out - I would then check on the cruise line's site, and lo and behold, it was available and it was cheaper.

[Biker19]

44 minutes ago, stevea36 said:

RCI laid off about 1/4 of their CS Staff. 

I don't think RCCL ever detailed the layoffs, it was just a general number across the company.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Woo hoo, a happy update! After an hour hold time, an agent answered the phone, the connection was nice, I gave her my phone # right away just in case, but no need - no disconnect this time.

Upgraded two inside guarantee cabins to two balcony rooms on deck 8 close to each other for a TOTAL sum of $150. I am as happy as one can be! Now, all we hope for is for COVID to go away and for cruises to resume cruising safely.