Beware Princess Coupons

[WK-Orlando]

One for the boards...

 

My family just booked two cabins after getting a coupon in the mail for $200 on board credit if booked by March 27. We booked two and then the travel agent got back to us and said Princess could not identify the coupon and was refusing the credit. I called Princess myself and a very determined customer booking agent figured out it is something called a Gold Mine coupon that is sent only to never sailed prospects. Well my mother is a Capt Cir Gold and they sent it to her because a duplicate capt cir number was created for her. Not sure who did it. Suspect it happened when we moved last year and request some lit from them over the phone and I did not have a number to give them.

 

The short of it is that because she has sailed before, no credit. Does not say that anywhere on the coupon and the 'customer relations' rep tells me that it is not possible for them to print the conditions on the coupon and then all but accused me of deliberately creating a second account for her to trick princess into sending her the coupon. She was very unpleasant and I explained to her that we did not create the second account. This is so typical of Princess customer relations that I am amazed they can operate. Who is training these people?

 

Now we must decide if we are going to take the trip or cancel. It is not so much the $200 as the accusation that we are trying to pull a scam. If those coupons are for first time sailors only, print it on the damn coupon. Have to say I feel we were the ones scammed not Princess as this did not come out until after we booked.

 

I have never done buisness with any company whose management is so nasty to customers. We have continued to sail Princess over the years due to the many nice people we have met both passengers and crew but several times, things have gone amiss and when we sought support from customer relations, got nothing but the cold shoulder or worse.

 

The last time it happened to us, I ended up taking a 15 cabin group on another line I was so ticked with them.

 

Would like to say the other lines are different but Carnival is just as bad and while RCL has nicer management folks, the dinning on board is just not what we want.

 

I really wish someone would start a new line with Princess iteneraries, RCL ships, and anytime dinning. Oh, and customer service not based on the British piss-off and die model... Would give them all my vacation dollars!!!

 

Any tried the new NCL format? How does it compare with Princess...

 

Looking for new options in Orlando... :-)

[Charliesmom]

This theme seems to be coming up again and again in the cruise industry. I don't read other boards, so I don't know about RCI or NCL.

 

If you still have your hands on the coupon or your travel agent does, I would discuss this with your local BBB or perhaps with your state's attorney general or your county's district attorney.

 

It would seem to me if the exclusion is not printed on the coupon, not honoring it is "bait and switch" which is illegal in this country.

 

Carnival Cruise Lines companies have been pulling a lot of this lately. Holland America had a situation where they advertised prices and booked people and even sent confirmations at the price and then refused to honor them, saying they had made an error.

 

Perhaps if people stopped cruising or got together for a class action suit, they would change their tune. In the meantime, in your case, it is a personal choice. You have to decide whether or not you want to cruise with them or not. It all depends on how YOU feel.

 

Roberta

[Hflors]

WK-ORLANDO You hit the nail on the head with this one. The customer service on the cruise lines that I have dealt with would get any customer service rep in a land based operation booted out the door. But what also gets me riled up is the customer service rep's TOTAL LACK OF INFORMATION!

These people have NO information about the ships/dining/lounges/intinaries etc. They also don't know basic information that is printed on the website! Now I know this is a generalization and I am sure there are some good customer reps out there, but good grief I think they should at least have some basic knowledge.

[spongerob]

This theme seems to be coming up again and again in the cruise industry. I don't read other boards, so I don't know about RCI or NCL...It would seem to me if the exclusion is not printed on the coupon, not honoring it is "bait and switch" which is illegal in this country... Holland America had a situation where they advertised prices and booked people and even sent confirmations at the price and then refused to honor them, saying they had made an error.

Charliesmom, I don't blame you for thinking this. There is however, a "Rest of the Story" sometimes, that doesn't get transmitted or might be hard to find. That isn't to say employees of cruise lines don't make mistakes that can become huge issues. And, let's be honest, sometimes the people who post complaints have misunderstood things, too.

 

Part of my job is very similar to what you would call Customer Service. I've seen every type of behavior (including being threatened with physical violence) from people who have a gripe. One guy was so convinced I was giving him the run-around that he waited for me in the parking lot, and said he was going to, "Rip me a new one." It turned out that one of our competitors did his work, and screwed it up...but I'm getting off topic.

 

WK - I don't know what I'd do in your situation. I know that all promos have restrictions. My only advice is if this incident is going to make it more difficult to enjoy the cruise on Princess, then book somewhere else where you don't have it hanging over your head. We did run into a somewhat similar situation a couple years ago, where some people got reduced fares based on their CC numbers, and ended up in better cabins for less cost than we paid. I admit that it affected my enjoyment of the cruise...and in some ways I regret not cancelling when I found out that we would not get the same benefits others did.

[WK-Orlando]

No biggie... Will probably still go on this trip as we have already made plans. My revenge is the standard customers option to take buisness elseware. I am organizing a corporate retreat and the 20 or so cabins are going to be on RCL instead of Princess...

 

Do not want to risk having a problem and my guests getting screwed by Princess customer service. While I pref Princess on many items, RCL customer service has always done right by me when problems come up and I trust them more... (unless somebody falls over the side...)

 

Anyhow, vote with your feet has always be my slogan. $150 worth of onboard credit cost them $30,000 in bookings not to mention that these folks tend to spend a lot in the shops and casino...

 

Either way, I will enjoy my ride on the new Princess ship and the trip on RCL as well.

[CrusinAgain]

The same exact sceanario happened to us for our October cruise. We had asked for brochures and it did not ask for our Captain's Circle number upon request. Then we start receiving all these fantastic offers and on board credits if we booked by a certain date - so we did but not directly thru Princess since they did not have the best rates. Then we find out that the number on the coupon did not match to us and that was also called a "Gold Mine" credit.

 

Same situation exactly and if you look on your coupon you will see a different number - that is the new Captains Circle number they created for you and that is the one they need to plug in but they can't because your current Captains Circle number is different.

 

After many phone calls they were able to get a different on board credit but half the price. The October cruise was not a planned cruise and only booked because we thought with all the promotions we were getting that we had a $225 on board credit when it only ended up being $100 because the $100 was the only credit they could find that they could plug into the system according to them and the use of two promotional credits are not allowed.

 

So in other words, this must happen alot when current past passengers ask for a brochure and receive all these great promotional offers and then book them and find out it isn't worth anything.

 

And to anyone who asks why I didn't call before booking? I did and was told it was valid except she couldn't find the number to my name but all I had to do was to fax it in to them after I booked and my credit would be applied.

 

We do have a cruise currently booked on NCL and I think today is the last day of their sales of onboard credit.

[howard6933]

I have learned over the years that anytime you call ANY cruise line or other company's customer service department, ALWAYS get the name of the rep you are speaking with. The first thing I say to them is "please repeat your name" and I write it down on a piece of paper. More often than not, I do get satisfactory service, but if I don't, a very critical letter goes out to the company I'm dealing with, naming the rep that I spoke with. I very rarely call the cruise lines direct because half the time the person you get on the phone doesn't know "spit" about anything. If I have problems or questions, I call my TA and they generally can get answers for me. Unfortunately, it seems that the word "service" is not what it used to mean. Well, time marches on doesn't it?.........we live in a different age.

[w&gfan]

The same thing happened to me using a gold mine coupon on a cruise this past November. I had two different captains circle numbers for some odd reason. I was persistent though (it was the principal after all, and the whole reason I booked the cruise was because of the generous onboard credit). So as to get the credit, I booked my cruise using the captain's circle number I don't normally use, and then requested that my numbers be consolidated.

 

It took several weeks to get it all worked out, and I had to make several phone calls as the customer service people really didn't know how to take care of this. Eventually I was directed to someone in passenger relations and she said something along the lines of, "oh this is easy, don't know why they couldn't do it! No problem!"

 

Be persistent with your travel agent -- that's what they are there for! They may need to call several times and speak with several different people, and it might take a few weeks. I remember it taking several weeks for me to get it resolved -- but it eventually did! (However, in your case, you might only be able to get the credit on one cabin, the cabin of the person the coupon was addressed to.)

 

I don't know if I have the contact information from my experience, but if you want me to try to locate it, send me an e-mail.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Probably the problem with the cruiseline CSRs is that they're hiring people at a low salary (prob. recent graduates) who most likely have never seen a cruiseship, much less actually been on one. For sure, they don't seem to train these reps very well.

[jlp20]

As I recall, last year there were several threads about a mailer that was just this side of “bait and switch”, so the entire concept is nothing new.

 

I have noticed that as of late, several successful companies have basically told their customers; “we don’t care what you think”.

 

Princess pulled the rug out from under thousands of past passengers by changing the “Captain Circle” benefits. Cruises were fully booked months in advance with waiting lists. So what if they piss off one or two past customers, plenty of people with money in their hands to take their place.

 

Here in Los Angeles, Bank of America announced a couple of weeks ago that they would start to issue credit cards to people without Social Security cards. This is PC speak for illegal aliens. A firestorm of protests and the phone lines were jammed with folks canceling VISA credit cards. Last week the president of B of A made a statement that not only were they going to continue the practice, but plans were in the works to expand the practice nationwide. It seems they can afford to lose past customers if the new people will be paying 23+% interest on the new credit cards. By the way, Wells Fargo had a press release the other day that they would soon be offering the same thing.

[8mpg]

though I dont think its right they are not honoring the coupon, I think everyone needs to take a quick look at their side. Yes they should put the "only to new customers" on teh coupon...

 

If they have someone like me who books an inside room... $650 and offers $200 credit, how much are they actually making? I tried thinking about this...they have about 1000 workers per boat. There has to be a profit margin but man, if a lot of people got those coupons, they are in trouble. They often do offere better deals to newcomers just to get them into the cruising addiction. Then they make money on their 2nd + cruise. I know some people pay way more for a room but you have to take it all into consideration. Their $500+ million dollar boat isnt cheap to maintain, staff, operate..etc. So of course they are not going to give the coupon to everyone. They are wrong by not stating the promotion correctly and should honor the coupon this time, but then change their coupon for others.

[Alaska05]

I think part of the problem is of their own making.

 

I too had 2 Captain's Circle numbers. I later found out that one was "automatically" assigned to me when I ordered my first brochure. Do they tell you that -- NO.

 

When I booked my first cruise through a TA I was not aware I already had a CC number, so I was assigned another number and that one was used for my booking and sailing credit.

 

I finally realized most of my mailings were with the "other" CC number and called customer service to get it deleted. That was when I was told the first one was assigned when I ordered a brochure.

 

Seems like they are creating a lot of extra CC accounts for folks who may not ever cruise on Princess. Simple solution, assign a CC number only when first cruise is BOOKED.

[freakymickey]

I received a coupon from Princess for the $200 onboard credit. I booked the Crown on 9/6 and when my TA called they could not match the coupon because I was a past passenger and the coupon is suppose to of been sent to new passengers. We figured out that they had me in the system under my married name but listed as a past passenger under my maiden name. Long story short they DID honor the on board credit. I sent a copy of it to my TA and she took care of it. Even when I spoke with Princess they were very helpful and said they would honor it due to it being their error. So sorry to hear you are having this problem I hope this can be resolved quickly.

[fti]

I think one reason Princess assigns a CC number to everyone who requests a brochure is so that person is no longer eligible for any referral credits. If you refer someone who as much as has requested a brochure, neither you nor that new person is eligible for such a credit.

[scubamargie]

WK-Orlando, we too were sent the mailing offering $200 shipboard credit. When we booked the cruise they wouldn't honor the offer saying we were already CC members, but no where on the coupon does it exclude previous Princess passengers. Sounds like a clear case of false advertising, and not the only one from Princess I've encountered. I don't know if there's enough of us for a class action suit, but there certainly is cause to contact your state Attorney General's office, which I will do. Since Princess has been purchased by Carnival corporation their practices, and the quality of their service, has suffered greatly. It's back to NCL for us!

[bovs]

WK-ORLANDO You hit the nail on the head with this one. The customer service on the cruise lines that I have dealt with would get any customer service rep in a land based operation booted out the door. But what also gets me riled up is the customer service rep's TOTAL LACK OF INFORMATION!

These people have NO information about the ships/dining/lounges/intinaries etc. They also don't know basic information that is printed on the website! Now I know this is a generalization and I am sure there are some good customer reps out there, but good grief I think they should at least have some basic knowledge.

 

 

Maybe they outsourced the work to India, where most people can't afford to cruise..........

[bovs]

No biggie... Will probably still go on this trip as we have already made plans. My revenge is the standard customers option to take buisness elseware. I am organizing a corporate retreat and the 20 or so cabins are going to be on RCL instead of Princess...

 

Do not want to risk having a problem and my guests getting screwed by Princess customer service. While I pref Princess on many items, RCL customer service has always done right by me when problems come up and I trust them more... (unless somebody falls over the side...)

 

Anyhow, vote with your feet has always be my slogan. $150 worth of onboard credit cost them $30,000 in bookings not to mention that these folks tend to spend a lot in the shops and casino...

 

Either way, I will enjoy my ride on the new Princess ship and the trip on RCL as well.

 

I find it interesting that neither of you has mentioned Celebrity Cruise Line, which has a very good reputation for quality. Have you ever sailed with them?

[bovs]

As I recall, last year there were several threads about a mailer that was just this side of “bait and switch”, so the entire concept is nothing new.

 

I have noticed that as of late, several successful companies have basically told their customers; “we don’t care what you think”.

 

Princess pulled the rug out from under thousands of past passengers by changing the “Captain Circle” benefits. Cruises were fully booked months in advance with waiting lists. So what if they piss off one or two past customers, plenty of people with money in their hands to take their place.

 

Here in Los Angeles, Bank of America announced a couple of weeks ago that they would start to issue credit cards to people without Social Security cards. This is PC speak for illegal aliens. A firestorm of protests and the phone lines were jammed with folks canceling VISA credit cards. Last week the president of B of A made a statement that not only were they going to continue the practice, but plans were in the works to expand the practice nationwide. It seems they can afford to lose past customers if the new people will be paying 23+% interest on the new credit cards. By the way, Wells Fargo had a press release the other day that they would soon be offering the same thing.

 

Yeah, and what makes the banks think that if these illegal aliens skip out on all the charges, that they will be able to locate them and get their money back, when the federal govenment can't even track them????

[Jiminw]

Thanks guys for these post on the coupons. I just got a coupon from Princess stating the next cruise we will a free upgrade to a balcony. We have not cruised with Princess before but scheduled for 4/07/07 with Grand Princess out of Galveston. I did not check to see if there was a CC # since we should not have one since our cruise has not started. The coupon stated because we had cruised on a sister ship we were getting this benefit. I will go home and check it thoroughly.

 

Thanks again for the information. It just seemed too good to be true

[Chivalrygirl]

I think part of the problem is of their own making.

 

I too had 2 Captain's Circle numbers. I later found out that one was "automatically" assigned to me when I ordered my first brochure. Do they tell you that -- NO.

 

When I booked my first cruise through a TA I was not aware I already had a CC number, so I was assigned another number and that one was used for my booking and sailing credit.

 

I finally realized most of my mailings were with the "other" CC number and called customer service to get it deleted. That was when I was told the first one was assigned when I ordered a brochure.

 

Seems like they are creating a lot of extra CC accounts for folks who may not ever cruise on Princess. Simple solution, assign a CC number only when first cruise is BOOKED.

 

Hey this is interesting, I live in NZ and it has cost be a lot of money trying to ring Customer Service up there as I try to get my past cruise on Pacific Princess recognised, we are sailing on theGrand in Sept. I have had several stupid responses from CC telling me to ring Customer Services 0800 number. So its been there, done that, CC will just not discuss any of this with me.

My son lives in DC, so I have access to a US address, are you saying if I send for a brochure in my name to his address they will issue me with a CC number? Now that would be very interesting, can someone please tell me how I go about ordering a brochure?

Val

[Chivalrygirl]

Thanks guys for these post on the coupons. I just got a coupon from Princess stating the next cruise we will a free upgrade to a balcony. We have not cruised with Princess before but scheduled for 4/07/07 with Grand Princess out of Galveston. I did not check to see if there was a CC # since we should not have one since our cruise has not started. The coupon stated because we had cruised on a sister ship we were getting this benefit. I will go home and check it thoroughly.

 

Thanks again for the information. It just seemed too good to be true

 

What exactly is a sister ship?

 

Val