Cunards Admin whoe's

[travel-to-go]

In Victor's Defense (or defence for those Brits among you who are convinced that British Service is somehow superior to American Service) He did mention something that would have riled me a lot, and that I have experienced a similar situation to.

 

When he registered his credit card, CUNARD got it wrong. So, mistakes happen. When it was brought to his attention, he went to the purser's office to get it corrected. THEY STILL DID NOT GET IT RIGHT! Then they had the nerve to ACCUSE his wife of charging things (with the card she was given by Cunard, thinking her card was perfectly registered) and treat her poorly. They returned to the Purser''s office again, taking time away from when they should heve been relaxing (and recovering from Mr. Ego at dinner- I say that, even though I have, over my life, had a tendency to dominate conversations and have had a LOT of therapy and otherwise to try to learn to recognize when I do this and stop doing it as it can be very EXTREMELY annoying to others!) There is no call for Cunard to be insulting and accusatory when they made the original mistake, and the second mistake, in addition to the fact that many people do not pre-pay their bills, but settle up at the end. And believe me, they won't let anyone off the ship until EVERYone has settled up.

 

Besides the other mismangement (a value judgement, in any case) the bit about the credit card, there was simply no call for this, when Cunard made the original (and second) mistake. Even assuming the person writing the letter to his wife in the cabin had no knowledge of the first two mistakes, the reply when he wrote to Cunard after he got home, should have recognized that they owed him an apology. (IMHO)

 

Now I admit, Victor (Graham) has showed anger and impatience on this forum with Cunard's acts. However, people in a Customer Service Capacity are trained to defuse such situations. (or should be) I had EXCELLENT customer service training with "the Phone Company" before the break up of the Bell System. You do not defuse an angry or disgruntled or unhappy customer by escalating, or denying their right to complain. You listen politely, FIND A WAY TO AGREE WITH SOMETHING ThEY HAVE SAID "I'm sorry you felt your experience was less than perfect" Whicha is true. I am sorry you feel that way, but find a way to validte the customer, then turn the conversation around to how to resolve it. If there can be no further resolution (and sometimes there can't and expectations are unrealistic) you have not told the customer by your invalidation of his FEELINGS that he is, in effect, an idiot with no right to his feelings.

 

These are absolute skills I was taught. Though I am no longer in that type of job, it still stands me in good stead in my everyday dealings, no matter what! There are lots more techniques I learned. They are not secret, nor are they rocket science. I've had the angriest customers purring by the time we get finished. It isn't that difficult. I have broken up fights, and settled people down who were ready to explode. It costs nothing to validate a customer's feelings and find a way to sympathize and come round to his perspective. There are ways to do this without givng way the store or admitting to some culpability on your part.

 

My suggestion at this point, before we beat Mr. Meld or Meldrew or whatever his real name is (I don't blame him for not telling us! People are ready to lynch the poor man!) for having the audacity to criticize our queens, is that we all swallow a bit, Relax the tension in our brows and let our shoulders drop and get out of our defensive stances. Lets agree that he was not totally satisfied with his treatment, and that perhaps some of us do not agree that the expectations or reaction were appropriate to the experience. But we weren't there, and everyone is getting more defensive (on both sides) and in the end, only Graham is able to judge whether his experience (once he has gotten a bit of distance from it) warrants taking a different direction for his next holiday or prehaps giving the company a second chance. At this point, all we are doing is shouting at one another and thinking up our next argument.

 

So.

 

What do people think about wearing Denim on Formal night? Especially if one is booked in Steerage? <G>

 

(Ducking!)

 

Karie,

who has had a rough and tiring week, and wishes people were less angry and willing to reject others. It costs us nothing to be a bit more sympathetic, and LISTEN. We are all people with feelings, and it hurts to have a crowd reject you. Yes, this is the internet. Would you be so rude to each others' faces?

[Kindlychap]

Karie - a lot of sense (as usual).

 

But the one thing that we have all agreed on is that the Purser's Office are dreadful. Some of them are quite sweet and attractive, but that's hardly the point. They are invariably ineffective.

 

Obviously Cunard should have sent a reply by now - even a holding reply. And I can't recall anyone saying anything against that position.

 

But the OP has been banging on about the queueing, the hotel and the table. Well, I don't know about you, but if things go wrong shoreside (and as I said we had a long wait to even enter the QEII terminal last time we went) then doesn't that simply make it even better when one gets on board?

 

After all, other than a bit of a wait (not right, of course) he didn't actually suffer. He didn't miss the ship, the coach or anything else.

 

In the very first reply he was told Cunard are excellent on board, dreadful shoreside.

 

By the way, the answer about denim being worn by steerage passengers is easy - they can wear what they like just so long as they keep rowing!

[travel-to-go]

By the way, the answer about denim being worn by steerage passengers is easy - they can wear what they like just so long as they keep rowing!

 

KC

You have the best answer.

I bow to you!

<LOL>

 

Case closed!

 

KP

[victor meld]

Hi and thank you all for listening to my woes. Weather you hate me or love me matters not, If you are American and think I am anti American I am not and have never even hinted at that suggestion. I am tolerant beyond belief in most situations. Been married for 42 years so one learns tolerance, but when so many things went wrong in 2 days tolerance takes a bow. The glossy brochure states lets us make your voyage more relaxing, start your holiday with a overnight stay at the Luxury Hilton and let us take the strain out of arriving at the docks by transporting you in time to the ship. Now who would get riled if it all went pear shaped from the minute we walked through the Hilton front door?

The PR at Cunard is rubbish.

My letter should have read.

We at Cunard are sorry you received unsatisfactory service from a number of sources. We at Cunard pride ourselves on providing travellers worldwide with a quality of service unsurpassed in the cruise world. Ours is an ongoing goal to improve our services and make your cruise as stress free as possible and to ensure customers enjoy their cruise. Please be assured that we will look at all your concerns and implement any improvements were possible. We hope you will cruise with us again and we would welcome you aboard at any time.

That is good PR. the letter I got basically stated we are the best and no improvements are necessary so stuff you.

I still think the QE2 is the Queen of the sea manned by our finest British officers but Cunards attitude beggars belief.

Regards Graham Wass Derby UK (now let the rest of you who rubbished me come out of the closet and be named)

[travel-to-go]

Oh Dear,

I had not intended to continue this thread (at least on my part)

But just so you don't think I am trying to "rubbish" you, my comment about some folks who think Americans give poorer service was not aimed at you, but whoever it was who stated so in their post (vis a vis Cunard being taken over by an American company)

 

My name is all over these boards, and indeed, my home town, but so you don't think I am hiding behind a fake name (travel-to-go) my name is Karie, as I sign every post. (caveat here- except certain humorous ones- but everyone still knows it is me) I have joked many times about my last name also, as it is the same as the first half of the last name of the dreaded Camilla Parker-Bowles (no relation as far as I know) I have frequently also stated my home town, and indeed, it is on my profile. I am from Colchester. No, not the one with the military jail, but the one in Connecticut USA.

 

Victor, I am sorry you had such a negative experience. I hope your focus will shift, in time, to the more positive points, as you said there were plenty. I cannot speak for Cunard. Like most businesses these days, service isn't what it once was (Laboor being most businesses' highest cost- why do you think cruise lines get their crew and hotel and restaurant staff from countries with extremely low annual per person income?) , and everyone is trying to cut costs and increase profitability. I was appalled with changes in Holland American's standard of service on my last cruise with them. And Yes, I have noticed changes on Cunard since my first Cunard cruises (under different ownership- two different ones, in fact) a number of years ago. Some standards are not what they were, but still are better than most.

 

I was hoping to provide a graceful way to extricate all of us from this seeming unresolvable disagreement and unpleasantness and to move on, since both "sides" seem to be digging in and entrenching themselves. I wish you the best, and only happiness, and do feel that there has been misinterpretation of people's statements all over the place, but people get their guard up, indeed their hackles up, and say things they reallly don't mean, but they feel defensive. Things spin out of control, and pretty soon, every is hurt, angry and feels misunderstood and maligned.

 

Furthermore, so you know that I am not hiding behind anything, my regular email (which I don't check EVERY night, but several times a week) is parrothead DASH AV8R AT mindspring DOT com. You know how to format that, I am sure, in case you feel a need to explain further.

 

Sincerely,

Karie Parker

Colchester, CT USA

(It's in the book)

[victor meld]

Hi Karie

What a nice person you are. Many thanks for your remarks. I do agree it as got out of hand but that's what happens when people are passionate about things. Just makes me wonder that people will accept poor standards of service and I feel the staff on QE2. I talk service staff IE waiters , cleaners entertainers etc are putting in 110% and being backed by admin putting in 55%. Cunard should welcome criticism and take it on board and try to improve the service part that is not working as it should. I would certainly have cruised with them again and up until I received the complacent reply to my letter we had been looking for our next cruise on the QE2. There is no question of that now. I feel Cunard's response was insulting. Being delayed and cock up with the check in was almost forgotten when we finally got on board and was shown to our cabin but admin decided they needed to punch our card again and again plus other things that kept going wrong in the first 2 days. It was almost as if we had been singled out. One can laugh off a couple of problems but not an accumulation.

Thanks again to all who supported me and sorry to all those who did not but maybe from my letter Cunard might take a second look and improve things for your next cruise.

Regards Graham

[victor meld]

Well Mr Meldrew, now you see what happens when our American cousins take over a great British tradition. And one only has to read some of the comments on this forum to realise what sort of table companions one is likely to be landed with. Every ship I've ever known has been delighted to cater for passengers wanting a table for six or eight. It's usually the tables for four or two that are the difficult ones. And you are quite right; if picking you up from the hotel is part of the Cunard package then they are responsible.

The fact is that service is going to the dogs all over the world and Cunard is just caught up in this universal malaise. The good news is that Oriana (the British side of Carnival Line) continues to be splendid in most respects, especially if you are a dancer (as you say you are). I could not imagine their staff treating you with such disdain. My hunting friend Jonquil Carruthers is a major shareholder, I'll ask him to bring up this business at the next A.G.M. And probably best to leave the Q.E.2. to all those who have rejected enlightenment in favour of delusion!

 

Hi Slow foxtrot

Jonquil Caruthers? That name struck a chord. I wonder if it is the same chap I met when I was District Commissioner many years back. Came to hunt the wild bore with us one day. Mounted on a great white beast of a horse. Well if it is he has done well for himself as a major share holder in Cunard. If you see him just ask him if he remembers?

[victor meld]

You have my full support in this regard. Even if one accepts Cunard's view regarding the coach, the check-in or the table-allocation, they are still fully responsible for the politeness and organisation of their staff on board.

A letter like you described is an insult and preferably a high-ranking person on board but at latest Cunard customer relations should have excused for.

 

Under this circumstances I can fully understand your decision not to sail with them again (however sad I think it is). For sure your report of the shortcomings as you have seen them should be no reason for others to insult you.

(Hi people, he did not run to court, blackmailed or tried to squeeze money out of Cunard or stood at the pier crying "don't board the evil".)

 

Those who have sailed with Cunard before probably know how to deal with unwanted table-allocations (though it is a nuisance), to expect lines at check-in or to wait for a response some more weeks without impatience, but if everything and more comes together it might be a shock for any first-time passenger.

Hi I see you are from Germany. What a great country. We have had some wonderfull holidays in your fine country and we found you all so polite and the towns and villages so clean and tidy. We hope to visit again in the not to distant future.

Regards Graham

[Slow Foxtrot]

Hi Slow foxtrot,

Jonquil Caruthers? That name struck a chord. I wonder if it is the same chap I met when I was District Commissioner many years back. Came to hunt the wild bore with us one day. Mounted on a great white beast of a horse. Well if it is he has done well for himself as a major share holder in Cunard. If you see him just ask him if he remembers?

 

 

Well, Meldrew old chap, I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Surely there can't be two of them! Jonquil is now Master of our local Hunt and is renowned for his mastery over horses and his mastery over women (but not necessarily in that order). I shall make some enquiries on your behalf. Incidentally, I was sorry to hear of your ordeal at the hands of those dreadful people in the Purser's Office. As soon as some people put on a uniform they think they are Chairman Mao. They could certainly do with a Cultural Revolution on Q.E. 2. But don't give up on cruising, try the Oriana or Q.M.2. Same owners, but different staff. Chin up. old boy!

[victor meld]

WEll after a long time Cunard finally came through with a proper apology and sorted things out. They read my letter fully and understood my complaint. To show no hard feelings and despite all my tantings we have booked on QE2 for October cruise. We are wiser now and I am sure we shall have a very pleasant cruise.

 

Graham

[cunardqueen]

To show no hard feelings and despite all my tantings we have booked on QE2 for October cruise. We are wiser now and I am sure we shall have a very pleasant cruise.

 

Graham

 

Graham,

Dare we ask which QE2 cruise in October your taking?

Trust that things will go better for you this time?

cheers

Myles

(who is not afraid to be named on here, And as for the name Cunardqueen... you can all decided how it should be taken:eek: )

[victor meld]

Hi

28th October Canary Island Splendor. And things will go right this time I am sure.

Regards Graham

[paulista1950]

"I can't get over how people don't seem to understand that sometimes 'stuff happens"...people have bad days, things don't go quite the way we want."

 

I totally agree stuff (and even s**t happens), but why should the customer pay for it? After my cruise I waited more than three hours to get the car I rented from Avis in Ft. Lauderdale. I won't bother you with the details of the problems I faced, but since I only had 7/8 hours to do some shopping, go to the Miami airport, return the car and check-in at my flight home, you cam imagine what those three wasted hours meant.

Back home I wrote Avis a letter and after a week, I received an answer which said they were very sorry, they valued my business, they will improve, bla, bla, bla AND they had credit $20 to my account. Was it worth? Sure not. I would gladly payed $50 more for not having the trouble, but since it was unavoidable why should am I the only one to suffer from it?

 

"This is what happens when we have 3rd party issues, but there is actually very little we can do about it."

 

Sorry, but there is a lot you can do about it. I can't imagine a coach company which wouldn't care about a letter or a call from Cunard.

[greenville]

My wife and I were on our first cruise of a Cunard ship over the Christmas holiday form 12/13/06 to 12/30/06. We were so looking forward to it but to put it mildly it was a total diaster. We both came down with the Norovirus, my wife on the 27th and I late on the 28th. She was quarantined for three days and I from the 28th until disembarkation in Fort Lauderdale. We defenitely contracted this virus in our stateroom. We traveled to Fort Lauderdale in our own vehicle, dropped off our luggage dockside then proceeded to board the ship.

 

Upon entering our stateroom, I used the lavatory and noticed that one of the glasses had a white scum on the bottom of it. It had to be toothpaste from the prior occupant who evidently had used the glass for a toothbrush holder. I turned it upside down on the counter figuring that our stateroom attendant would replace it that evening when he came to turn down the bed. No way....he put it back in the holder and did not replace it until I can't remember when.

 

After we had some lunch, we unpacked our luggage and when I proceeded to store the luggage under the bed, I noticed a man's necktie on the floor. I didn't think that much of it at the time and threw it in the waste basket. I wonder how many cruises that tie had been on. We noticed a small scrap of paper by the night table and that scrap of paper traveled with us throughout the cruise. A vaccuming would have picked it up but heaven only knows when the floor was vaccumed last.

 

On the Friday before disembarkation, we were told not to put out our luggage due to our having contracted the virus. We were told that someone would come the next morning around 10:30 to take our luggage and escort us off the ship.

 

At around 9:30 AM we received a call from housekeeping asking us to vacate our room so it could be prepared for the next occupants. I informed whomever that I was quarantined and we had been advised not to leave the room. Around 10:00 AM there was knock at the door and our stateroom attendant and two other individuals that were with him asked us to please sit on the balcony so they could change the sheets and make up the bed. We obliged and when they left we reentered the room. The same bedspreads that we had been laying on when we were sick were put back on the beds and another wine bucket and napkin was placed on the coffee table while we were still in the room.

 

At eleven o'clock an annoucement came over the PA system that if there was anyone left on the ship that they were to immediately proceed to customs. The pursers desk then called and asked why we had not left the ship and we explained the situation to her. After fifteen minutes had passed an no one came, I called the medical center and the purser's desk more than once begging for someone to come and get our luggage and get us off the ship. Finally someone came at 11:30 and we proceeded to customs. They were packed up and ready to leave and asked us where we had been. Again we explained our situation and they just laughed and waived us through.

 

Immediately upon arriving home, I contacted the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta who forwarded my complaint to one of their staff who is stationed in Fort Lauderdale and assigned strictly to cruise ships. He responded to my complaint and I asked him to follow up with the cruise line which he said he would. That was the last I heard from him until I contacted him again by email. It took him two weeks to respond as he told me that "he had been in Alaska for two weeks" and had not heard from Cunard and that I should pursue the matter with them. This is the last I heard from him. I contacted the CDC in Atlanta again and told them that I wanted a response. They replied and told me that they performed ship inspections and rated the ships but that the matter was up to Cunard and not them. I have not heard from them since.

 

Immediately upon our return I also wrote a letter to Pete Ratcliffe, CEO of Cunard Line Ltd., When a considerable amount of time had passed with no response, I emailed him and again no response. I faxed him a copy of my original letter and to this date I have not heard from him.

 

Inasmuch as I had purchased trip insurance, I filed a claim with Cunard and received a letter from a Katrina Cahall, Specialist, Guest Relations advising of the refund which would be credited to the credit card that I had used to pay for the cruise and which was a rediculous amount.

 

I faxed her a letter advising her that I thought her offer was rediculous since we had been confined for the better part of our cruise, that they had ruined our Christmas holiday and my wife's birthday which was on the 29th. I haven't heard from her since.

 

It appears that the courtesy of responding to clients is not in the job description of Mr. Ratcliffe or any other Cunard employee. I must say however that my cruise vacation planner Nancy Trejo of Cunard is sympathetic and is trying to assist me. I am to contact her again on 2/6/2007.

 

I could go on and on, the dress code in the dining room was not adhered to, the dinner menu left much to be desired and the entertainment, if that is waht Cunard considers entertainment, was the worst I have ever seen on any cruise line and this was our 12th cruise in five years. Never again on Cunard.............

[victor meld]

My heart goes out to you. What a disaster. I did find Cunard very slow to respond and when they did it was a take it or leave it attitude. I wrote again and said I was posting my troubles on Cruise Critic. That got them int gear and eventually all was resolved. I must say our cabin was spotless. Must depend on which cabin staff you get also Our meals were great and our waiters were second to none. We made our own entertainment as we both like dancing. But all said we should not get these problems and if we do we should expect a quick response . Trouble is because they are always fully booked they seem to take a very relaxed view towards problems.

Seems strange to confine some one to a cabin that is fed via the air con system that circulates the rest of the ship. And no they do not change the filters very often.

[patwell]

Greenville....may I ask which Cunard ship you were on out of Lauderdale? You say you sailed on the 13th however QM2 only sailed on the 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th...all 7 day voyages, and QE2 was on the other side of the ocean. And how could you have been "confined for the better part of our cruise" if you boarded on the 13th and 14 days later, on the 27th your wife got sick, 3 days before the end of your trip? :confused: :confused: :confused:

 

Interestingly I was on her from the 2nd -9th...my cabin was spotless... including under the bed...dress code was well adhered to at all times in the evenings...and the service level could not have been better everywhere we went. The trip so far exceeded the expectations of the 4 of us that we have booked again for next fall.

 

Cheers, Penny

[greenville]

Sorry it was a seven day cruise from the 23rd to the 30th of January 2007.

[greenville]

Our cruise was a seven day cruise from the 23rd to the 30th of December 2006. Sorry..........

[greenville]

Sorry...........we were on the QM2 which left Fort Lauderdale on the 23rd of December 2006 not the 13th. This was a mistake on my part. My first attempt at posting on the Cruise Critic

[Coolgran]

Hi

28th October Canary Island Splendor. And things will go right this time I am sure.

Regards Graham

 

Glad to hear you are giving QE2 another chance, ENJOY