Princess Customer Service

[Dodger Blue]

Is anyone else out there as frustrated with Princess Customer Service as I am? 😡 First, you get a call back from a call center from someone who knows nothing about Princess procedures. If anyone has any suggestions beyond waiting on hold for 30 minutes...at least, I'd be happy to hear them.  Thanks much.

[MissP22]

19 minutes ago, Dodger Blue said:

Is anyone else out there as frustrated with Princess Customer Service as I am? 😡 First, you get a call back from a call center from someone who knows nothing about Princess procedures. If anyone has any suggestions beyond waiting on hold for 30 minutes...at least, I'd be happy to hear them.  Thanks much.

You can only imagine how frustrating it is for travel agents having to call them each day. 

[Sprocket]

Try the chat function, works for me.

[cdngrl]

I’ve tried chat and I’m not impressed. Sure they answered right away but they must have been on five or six different chats because it took that many minutes before I got a response each time.

 

In the end he didn’t answer my querie, he must have thought he was talking to someone else. I said that that isn’t what I asked and he never came back to my chat. I kept checking in for 20 minutes and nothing. I don’t have much faith in chat either. 

[MamaFej]

I'm afraid I don't have anything helpful to offer. I am responding, anyway, because I need to say that @Dodger Blue is an awesome screen name. 

 

Carry on.

Edited August 16, 2023 by MamaFej

[Pstcrik]

I must say that Chat gets me beyond all the different accents that those who answer the phones.  Not with all calls but I have had my share of problems trying to decipher accents.

[drwbrt]

Chat + HUCA (hang up and call again) are winning strategies.  It is frustrating, no doubt, but in 4-5 chats we have gotten out cruise sorted even when we were told some things couldn't be done, or couldn't be done until we were on board.

[suekel]

I've found that it I complain nicely and often on Twitter, they often call me.  

[rocklinmom]

Yes I must agree to the customer service at Princess lately. I have been sailing with Princess for years and never had any issues getting anything done on their customer service line. I book my own cruises and call in to add cabins, link them together, change dates if needed, etc. Yesterday (8/25/23) I spent over two hours on the 1-800-PRINCESS line with a very poorly trained rep at the new call center - lots of chattering in the background, occasional cheering (?), thick accents. I was patient and explained what I needed, just to change our cruise to a different sailing date (due to a recent scheduling conflict with one of us), which I have done in the past with no issues. This was the worst ever experience I have had. The rep had no idea what to do, she refused to transfer me to the direct sales dept. (which would have been able to help me, I've been transferred to them many times), refused to transfer me to a supervisor, and kept telling me she couldn't do it. I repeated the cabin category to her three times, even used the lingo (Delta Alpha for DA) and after a half hour of her telling me the cabins I was looking at on the website marked available were not available I realized she had entered it as DE. I walked her through what to do. An hour later, many times wanting to bash my head into the wall, somehow the cabins disappeared onscreen and my booking confirmations started to appear in my email. She must have hit enough buttons to make it happen but seriously had no clue what to do. Do they not get trained? After the two hours I had the date change and cabins I wanted, but it was a very stressful and frustrating experience. I have never in my 20 plus years with them had this happen. I almost want to file a complaint with Princess but I don't want to affect her job, she did get it done with my help and was never rude, but the fact that she wouldn't (or couldn't) transfer me to someone who could help me was annoying. From now on I will be very hesitant to call in. 

[jdacombe]

Had excellent service  the last three times I've phoned them, pretty prompt at answering the phone, very helpful and sorted out my queries without any problem.

The only thing that I do find frustrating is the option you are given for Princess to call you back instead of waiting in a queue, done it a couple of times, and on both occasions never received the return call

[rocklinmom]

4 hours ago, jdacombe said:

Had excellent service  the last three times I've phoned them, pretty prompt at answering the phone, very helpful and sorted out my queries without any problem.

The only thing that I do find frustrating is the option you are given for Princess to call you back instead of waiting in a queue, done it a couple of times, and on both occasions never received the return call

I assume you used the U.K. number? Because I'd be shocked if it was this call center you spoke with.

[Steelers36]

21 hours ago, rocklinmom said:

.... ............The rep had no idea what to do, she refused to transfer me to the direct sales dept. (which would have been able to help me, I've been transferred to them many times), refused to transfer me to a supervisor, .............

 

Next time, get to direct salea yourself by selecting option to book a new cruise from the phone tree options.

[rocklinmom]

I did try that extension this time (to book a cruise). 

[Steelers36]

33 minutes ago, rocklinmom said:

I did try that extension this time (to book a cruise). 

Wow.  Was it outside "normal" office hours for California?  Maybe the US agents aren't working at all hours these days.

[rocklinmom]

It was around 9am. I used to get the CA office calling at that time. Those were the good old days I guess. 

[Princessfan20]

On 8/15/2023 at 1:27 PM, Dodger Blue said:

Is anyone else out there as frustrated with Princess Customer Service as I am? 😡 First, you get a call back from a call center from someone who knows nothing about Princess procedures. If anyone has any suggestions beyond waiting on hold for 30 minutes...at least, I'd be happy to hear them.  Thanks much.

Beyond frustrated.  We usually have 4 or 5 bookings a year and in the last 6 months when we needed help with a booking it usually turns into some kind of time consuming and error prone ordeal.  Just trying to cancel a booking, have the FCD's go back to our accounts and then being reapplied to a new booking is like walking a tight rope with no net when you talk to a Princess representative, especially from the ridiculous Philippine call center.  I now give the lowest marks on the follow-up survey and indicate I would not hire that representative as a matter of principal.  

 

They just do not seem to value their customers time or needs anymore.  It is such a radical change and not the norm for how easy Princess customer service use to function.

[rocklinmom]

5 hours ago, Princessfan20 said:

Beyond frustrated.  We usually have 4 or 5 bookings a year and in the last 6 months when we needed help with a booking it usually turns into some kind of time consuming and error prone ordeal.  Just trying to cancel a booking, have the FCD's go back to our accounts and then being reapplied to a new booking is like walking a tight rope with no net when you talk to a Princess representative, especially from the ridiculous Philippine call center.  I now give the lowest marks on the follow-up survey and indicate I would not hire that representative as a matter of principal.  

 

They just do not seem to value their customers time or needs anymore.  It is such a radical change and not the norm for how easy Princess customer service use to function.

Yes it is a radical change from what it used to be! Makes me sad. One of my friends literally just asked me this morning to help her book a cruise (I love to normally) and I was like as long as you need only one cabin and then I can book it online for you...no way I'm calling in again anytime soon! 

[SCX22]

The best time to call the trunk line is after 5:00 p.m. Pacific time on Fridays.  Hold time is minimal.  It's still the call center abroad that answers.

 

Once, I kept requesting that my issue be escalated until finally the foreign agent put the call on 3 way with a Princess agent in the U.S.  The Princess agent from the U.S. said that her job was only to give instruction, and it was still the foreign agent's responsibility to make the change to the booking because the Princess agent from the U.S. had no access to POLAR.  It seems like the decision making authority is given to the Princess agents from the U.S., if the problem ever escalates that far.

[Cruise till you drop]

We’ve had mostly poor experiences.  Basically reaching people that are either not knowledgeable or people instructed to just appease the customers with issues until we go away

[cheetosrevil]

This topic might be changed to "Princess phone customer service."

[Cruise till you drop]

1 minute ago, cheetosrevil said:

This topic might be changed to "Princess phone customer service."

Their on ship customer service has been just as poor in our experience 

[cheetosrevil]

1 minute ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Their on ship customer service has been just as poor in our experience 

Bummer. I found it, albeit when I actually went there, to be fine. Although I haven't been there since the new implementations. At least the language isn't a barrier.

Edited August 27, 2023 by cheetosrevil

[Pickels]

It depends on who you get on the chat!  Making phone calls; the first two navigators I spoke with gave me false information on when the Medallion app will work, [told me after final payment, which is incorrect).  Then I decided to tried a chat session; the first told me the app will be corrected in 24 - 48 hours.  Waited a few days and tried--no good, still won't work.  I tried another chat session; and was told the same thing:  will work in 24 - 48 hours but this time, it finally worked.  What made the difference this time?  I told the lady that if it wasn't corrected in a few days, I was going to contact Mr. Padgett.  Did that have anything to do with solving the issue?  Who knows, maybe just coincidence. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

3 hours ago, Pickels said:

 I told the lady that if it wasn't corrected in a few days, I was going to contact Mr. Padgett.  Did that have anything to do with solving the issue?  Who knows, maybe just coincidence. 

There's a very good possibility that who you were communicating with had no idea who this "Mr. Padgett" was! 😄

[Pickels]

21 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

There's a very good possibility that who you were communicating with had no idea who this "Mr. Padgett" was! 😄

OR-- she was curious and asked who is Mr. Padgett. [maybe].  like I said---coincidence?