Unbelievable service at contact centre.

[Adawn47]

24 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

In order to decide which is best we probably need a poll to determine just how many have no issues with booking direct vs those with issues, and the same for those booking through a TA. 

Not sure if this current version of CC has a poll facility.

 

I would imagine it would be 50/50 John. 

''You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.''

Avril

[kalos]

4 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I would imagine it would be 50/50 John. 

''You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.''

Avril

You pay your money and you make your choice and if you are happy who cares ! 

[Adawn47]

1 minute ago, kalos said:

You pay your money and you make your choice and if you are happy who cares ! 

Exactly Kalos👍

Avril

[Ardennais]

This hanging around with the speaker on is ok if you’re retired or working from home. It’s simply impossible for many people who are out at work and it’s just not good enough. 

[HikingPete]

27 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

This hanging around with the speaker on is ok if you’re retired or working from home. It’s simply impossible for many people who are out at work and it’s just not good enough. 

 

I agree with this.

 

I (currently) work from home, and called P&O during my lunch break (my third attempt of the day). It was nearing an hour and a half when I eventually got through. Luckily I was able to leave the on hold shenanigans running whilst I worked, but if somebody at work wanted to get hold of me, or if I needed to go into a Teams meeting, I would have had to cancel the call.

 

That length of wait for something that can't be done over the website is pretty poor.

 

That said, whenever I've spoken to the reps they've been exceptionally patient and helpful. If they are frustrated by their workload they didn't show it - a massive credit to them.

 

Now, there's just the agonising wait for the actual cruise... and the dreaded check to see if the suit still fits after lockdown...😟

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

They have lost so much revenue since 2020 began that they are  having to recoup their losses somehow, it's unfortunate that it's in customer service, and let's be honest, the volume of bookings is much higher than normal. I don't think P&O are the only cruise line having this problem. Not an excuse, merely a possible explanation. 

Avril

Covid cannot be used as an excuse for poor customer service by P&O because they have had issues with answering the phone lines long before Covid appeared.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Since P&O started price fixing a few years ago, we switched, mostly to booking direct.

 

However, we do have one cruise on the books with a TA.  Needed to phone them this morning.  Took them half an hour to answer the phone.  OK, that is considerably less than waiting times quoted earlier, but still a bit of a wait.

 

The lady who took the call grasped my issue straight away and said she will chase up the accounts department to sort it and stop sending me emails saying that I haven't paid the balance when I have!  Wait and see whether I get another automated email later.

P&O tried "price fixing" and wouldnt let TAs undercut them and they only got paid a set fee for every booking and not your normal commission. This did not last long and for the last few years cruise prices for booking with TAs have always been cheaper than booking direct. Even when I used to shop around, before sticking with my now usual TA, we were never quoted the same price as P&O it was always lower. Obviously the higher the price of the cruise increases the chance of a higher discount from TA.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, kalos said:

You pay your money and you make your choice and if you are happy who cares ! 

A bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush.

 

Many a slip twixt cup and lip...........Next.🤣

[wowzz]

As my Dad used to say, "When one door shuts, another one opens". Lovely man, but a terrible carpenter!

[kalos]

It's no good crying over  over spilled milk

but spilled wine now that is a whole different story... 

 

(Which you could do whilst trying to get through to the P&O contact centre !

 

Before anyone says we are off topic . )

[Adawn47]

4 minutes ago, kalos said:

It's no good crying over  over spilled milk

but spilled wine now that is a whole different story... 

 

(Which you could do whilst trying to get through to the P&O contact centre !

 

Before anyone says we are off topic . )

It's no use closing the stable door when the horse has bolted.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

That's my equine contribution.

I shall now saddle up and mosey off into the sunset before I get into bother for thread drift.

T-t-that's all folks!!😉

Avril

[margo2011]

Success ,having tried 3 times to get through  today to the no contact contact centre I tried calling at 5-54pm knowing they close at 6pm and any manger would ensure there staff do not make themselves unavailable before closing time .Spoke with a lovely gentleman who resent my confirmation email and waited till I had it .Still couldn’t confirm cabin number so can’t book anything ,I did raise that on web site says you can print off labels and such 3 weeks before sailing .He said for my sailing on the 14th August  I should get mine allocated early next week .Just in shock got through ,May break our no alcohol till 9pm tonight in celebration .

[kalos]

23 minutes ago, margo2011 said:

Success ,having tried 3 times to get through  today to the no contact contact centre I tried calling at 5-54pm knowing they close at 6pm and any manger would ensure there staff do not make themselves unavailable before closing time .Spoke with a lovely gentleman who resent my confirmation email and waited till I had it .Still couldn’t confirm cabin number so can’t book anything ,I did raise that on web site says you can print off labels and such 3 weeks before sailing .He said for my sailing on the 14th August  I should get mine allocated early next week .Just in shock got through ,May break our no alcohol till 9pm tonight in celebration .

Our Lucky Winning Contestant Tonight is ....  🎵MARGO ! Come On Down ! 🎵

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, margo2011 said:

May break our no alcohol till 9pm tonight in celebration .

Well done you.! 

My rule is  5pm, but if you don't start until 9pm, I assume you don't t go to bed until  well after midnight!

[jaydee6969]

As an update to this thread, I have just phoned P&O to book a gift for on board our Iona maiden next week.

 

After reading all the comments was expecting a very long wait.

 

Total call time from dialling to hanging up after a very pleasant chat and payment 16 minutes.