Really appalling Princess on land Guest Support

[jrbeccles]

We head out tomorrow on our 28^th cruise, this one on the Sky Princess which we have been looking forward too for ages. Our package includes one free specialty meal. In early November I booked Sabatinis, as did the couple who are traveling with us and have exactly the same package. We used the Princess Cruise Personalize to do so. About a week later I saw that $50 had been charged to my credit card for the meal from Princess. My friend did not get any charge.

So, I called support at Princess, and after about 30 minutes of holds and transfers I was told that yes it was a mistake, but all I could do to get my $50 back was to go to Guest Services once onboard the ship. Click – end of conversation.

 

After about a week I though why should I waste an hour of my vacation time at GS on the ship arguing about this. So, I called Princess Support again. This time after easily 90 minutes of holds and transfers, I got someone in some department that said yes, he could see the mistake and he could help me! He would issue a $50 credit to my account, which would hit in about ten days.

Ten days go by, I see that not only did Princess not give me a $50 credit, but they charged me another $50. So now I'm out $100!

 

Yesterday I called again to try to get some help. This time I literally was on the phone for 3 hours and 46 minutes and spoke to three different people working my way up the chain who told me three different things. In a nutshell it was “drop dead” and to get my now $100 back I have to try and fix it on the ship. To add insult the last lead agent asked me why I had waited till two days before sailing to question this. I said please look at my notes – this is the third time in a month I've asked for help and got nothing but a worn-down cell phone battery, the Princess hold theme ingrained in my memory forever, and a really sour taste with a group of support folks who want to do nothing but pass the buck down to the poor folks at Guest Services on the ship.

Princess will question us to death at the end of the cruise, and also by email survey, as to how we were treated ON THE SHIP, but what about the terrible and fairly rude service on shore? Of course, in hindsight I should not have wasted about 5 hours of my life and on hold getting various lousy replies, but I thought how hard can this be? Well, I’ll go to GS on the ship and see what happens. More to follow!

[KeepCalmBearOn]

Did I miss a question i there someplace?

[Guest ldtr]

So instead of easily correcting it on board as they recommended, you choose to continue to consume large amounts of time, and accomplished absolutely nothing.

[ldubs]

Well, not good, but the lesson is the first guy had it right -- go to guest services once on board!

[akeasley]

I'm not sure why you thought it would take an hour at guest services to talk to them about their mistake. Personally, I would have gone with that option by making sure I had all my documentation available and calmly explained what had happened. 

 

[richsea]

Sorry, but I don’t see why you just didn’t get it adjusted on the ship. I’ve never spent more than a few minutes at guest relations, unless you go there on the last night of the sailing; then all bets are off. You wasted hours on the phone instead. I agree that they need a better response time, but it’s not like it was a huge charge, it was $50 & they said they’d fix it onboard.

[JimmyVWine]

33 minutes ago, jrbeccles said:

why should I waste an hour of my vacation time at GS on the ship

 

33 minutes ago, jrbeccles said:

after easily 90 minutes of holds and transfers

 

34 minutes ago, jrbeccles said:

Yesterday I called again to try to get some help. This time I literally was on the phone for 3 hours and 46 minutes

 

While I sympathize with the fact that this SHOULD have been fixable while on a call, the moral of the story here is that there is no way that you have now endured less aggravation and time wasting than you would have on the ship. And the comparison isn't 316 minutes versus 60.  It is more like 316 versus 10.  Guest Services is adjacent to the International Cafe.  Each time you go to the IC, all you have to do is take a peek to see if there is a sizable line at GS.  There is no way that over the course of an entire cruise that there isn't some time during the day that the line is 2-3 people long at the most.  The other suggestion for the future is the Chat Feature on the website.  No obnoxious hold music and you can multi-task as you wait for a CSR to begin the chat.  Longest I have waited is about 7 minutes and they seem to be able to do pretty much everything that I have needed done.  Can't promise that they would have fixed your particular issue, but I would have chosen Chat over a 226 minute hold time.   

[ldubs]

8 minutes ago, richsea said:

Sorry, but I don’t see why you just didn’t get it adjusted on the ship. I’ve never spent more than a few minutes at guest relations, unless you go there on the last night of the sailing; then all bets are off. You wasted hours on the phone instead. I agree that they need a better response time, but it’s not like it was a huge charge, it was $50 & they said they’d fix it onboard.

 

My experience at Guest Svcs is similar to yours.  They often have staff identifying issues while people are still in line.  I've had my questions and even credits handled without ever reaching the GS desk.

 

To me Princess' billing error should have been corrected during the first call.   However, like the answer or not, I agree everything after the first call was an unnecessary waste of time.     

[Guest ldtr]

Just now, JimmyVWine said:

 

 

 

While I sympathize with the fact that this SHOULD have been fixable while on a call, the moral of the story here is that there is no way that you have now endured less aggravation and time wasting than you would have on the ship. And the comparison isn't 316 minutes versus 60.  It is more like 316 versus 10.  Guest Services is adjacent to the International Cafe.  Each time you go to the IC, all you have to do is take a peek to see if there is a sizable line at GS.  There is no way that over the course of an entire cruise that there isn't some time during the day that the line is 2-3 people long at the most.  The other suggestion for the future is the Chat Feature on the website.  No obnoxious hold music and you can multi-task as you wait for a CSR to begin the chat.  Longest I have waited is about 7 minutes and they seem to be able to do pretty much everything that I have needed done.  Can't promise that they would have fixed your particular issue, but I would have chosen Chat over a 226 minute hold time.   

if you use chat with crew function on board would probably not even taken more than a minute or two if clearly explained.

[JimmyVWine]

2 minutes ago, ldtr said:

if you use chat with crew function on board would probably not even taken more than a minute or two if clearly explained.

Hadn't thought about that!  Problem solved while sipping a Dirty Banana by the Pool. 

[ChutChut]

I would just dispute the erroneous $50 with the credit card company and be done with it. I'm sure Guest Services will credit your card immediately when you talk to them. I did FCD for two paxes ($200) and Princess charged my credit card $300. Didn't check my credit card account until after I returned from the cruise. I emailed Princess and then disputed it on my credit card. Citi already credited it back to me.

[Mo Jito]

Princess’s on land guest support is appalling. Sure, this guest will be able to correct this issue on board, but when an erroneous charge is applied before the cruise, on land support should be able to correct it. The land reps do not seem to be empowered to do any problem solving or corrections, which is incredibly frustrating. I love the Princess onboard experience, but my interactions with the land side - including zero response to email requests for help, have soured me on the brand overall. 

[GonzoWCS]

Dang!

 

Cheers

[VibeGuy]

“I don’t like how I was told to fix it, so I decided to try asking again, louder” 

[dog]

Too late now- you cruise tomorrow—- you can cancel and rebook dining on the app up until a few days before cruise. Same for excursions and packages on the personalizer. Refund goes back to your credit card.

 

your option now is to go to guest services on the ship, be polite, good luck, enjoy your cruise 

[Hlitner]

While I do have some empathy for the OP's hassles, it is truly not a big deal and all too common in the cruise industry.  So what to do?  The OP has a lot of cruise experience and should easily be able to handle the problem.  1.  Print out hard copies of all the related correspondence to take along on the trip.  2.  Go to Guest relations at a quiet time (we line early in the morning or early evening when the early diners are all eating) and bring along the hard copies to help clarify the issue.  Yes, having to go to the Guest Relations desk is a minor hassle but such is life in the cruise world.  

 

And we would 2nd the comment about being polite to the Guest Relations staff.  They did not create the issue and always bear the brunt of mistakes made by the home office.  Just be nice (you get more with sugar), explain the problem, show them the hard copies, and then give them some time (1-2 days_ to resolve the issue.  

 

Hank

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Mo Jito said:

Princess’s on land guest support is appalling. Sure, this guest will be able to correct this issue on board, but when an erroneous charge is applied before the cruise, on land support should be able to correct it. The land reps do not seem to be empowered to do any problem solving or corrections, which is incredibly frustrating. I love the Princess onboard experience, but my interactions with the land side - including zero response to email requests for help, have soured me on the brand 

Considering that they were booking a reservation for specialty dining before a cruise, not unusual that one gets charged at the time the reservation is made and then gets refunded on board when the inclusion is applied. Depending upon the nature of the offer, the timing, sometimes the systems pick up the offer (they have actually been getting better at this) but often do not. A couple of years ago the norm was to either wait until you were on board or to pay and get refunded on board. That still happens in many cases today.

 

Kind of like until recently one had to pay full price for advance purchase of internet, and then get the Captains circle discount on board.

[billco]

I’ve never had trouble booking Sabatinis on the ship. Of course, we book early - 6:30, it never seems crowded. I certainly wouldn’t put myself through all that grief for a dinner.

OTOH, I don’t think I will be booking any more Princess cruises, mainly because of their land support. I’m sick of waiting months for refunds, seldom getting replies to emails, and  the long hold times.

Edited December 10, 2022 by billco

[ExpressoMama]

original poster….. I agree with you. Telling you to go to the CS desk onboard is not a good answer. When one makes a call to customer service, one EXPECTS to get service. Unfortunately, not only Princess but other company’s as well don’t or won’t help. Sad. Sorry for your troubles.

[Guest ldtr]

Just now, ExpressoMama said:

original poster….. I agree with you. Telling you to go to the CS desk onboard is not a good answer. When one makes a call to customer service, one EXPECTS to get service. Unfortunately, not only Princess but other company’s as well don’t or won’t help. Sad. Sorry for your troubles.

Keep in mind that with Princess many things are designed to be processed on board related to discounts, specialty dining, excursions, etc. Shore side customer service may not even have access to the same data that would be available on board ship. As a result the customer service rep is limited to what the systems allows him to do. Pretty sure he could have canceled the reservation entirely and refunded the payments. Something I am pretty sure the OP did not want, or do exactly what they did, tell them it could be resolved on board where they have both access to all of the information and have the ability to process the free speciality dinner (refunding the original charge).

 

Not clear why one party got charged and the other did not, but again not unusual for free specialty dining to get charged when made in advance of the cruise, and the free offer to get applied on board, often automatically. Certainly saw that on both the Ruby and the Majestic earlier this year.

 

 

[pris993]

I have a better approach, book on board only.  Then you don't have to visit GS.  LOL.  

 

We prebooked dinners on our last cruise, actually booked a total of 10 dinners which we prepaid, provided the names of guests when doing so.   We then found no one on the ship seemed to have access to the list of guests for reservations and we were charged again on board, for our first dinner.  Then we spent time getting the charge reversed.  

[KeepCalmBearOn]

1 hour ago, ExpressoMama said:

Telling you to go to the CS desk onboard is not a good answer.

 

You are right, it is not a good answer, it is a great answer.

[riffatsea]

I don't know h[w many times I have tried to explain to people that when you call Princess you get a sales rep

You don't get a "customer service person

You will get more service on board

Phone reps are best for handling bookings

Even for,that I prefer a TA but at least you might get booking help. Maybe

[Steelers36]

8 hours ago, jrbeccles said:

.................. In early November I booked Sabatinis, as did the couple who are traveling with us and have exactly the same package. ...........................

 

While the above CC members posting have given good advice, some key points have been missed. 

 

With 28 cruises (assuming Princess), you are Elite and therefore get priority service at Guest Services.  It is quite simple to get a SD charge adjusted. 

 

Yes, it can be frustrating waiting on the phone for long time and being put on hold, but here are some important things to know for future:

 

1.  as @dog, mentioned, you could have just cancelled the SD res and received a refund to your credit card.

 

2. You should notice when booking dining in the Princess App (Dine My Way), that the bottom line will indicate your charges before applying to credit card.  If you don't see your SD credit applied, then you are going to be charged the cost of SD cover charge.  And you didn't do this in the Cruise Personalizer as DMW is not there.  You may have used the web version of the App, but same process applies.

 

3. The way you described your booking, you did it incorrectly in the first place.  This is the important point.  You wrote that your friend booked in Sabi's and had no charge, but you did.  Did you not realize that you have booked separate reservations at separate tables?  I am presuming you were looking to coordinate and dine at Sabi's together.  If so, you both should have added each other as Travel Companions and then one of you make the booking by adding the other couple as Dining Party members.  This way, you have a single res at the same table.  The way you did it, you are holding two tables and need to correct it with the restaurant. 

 

By the way, I would have made my free booking at CG to use the full $29 and then paid $25 to eat at Sabi's on a different night.  But maybe neither of you are interested in CG. 

 

Hope the above helps you out the next time - if there is a next time.

[Arizona Wildcat]

The OP and probably millions of others should attend the funeral service for Custo Mer Service. Custo passed away a few years ago and was replaced with a dozen Gen X trainees who lack training, authority and almost always common sense.