Customer Relations on a Complaint

[mandabear]

[quote name='jlp20']OK, I understand what happened, and I am sorry for what you went through.

Now then, did you happen to look at my earlier post. By getting on the ship, you agreed to a "contract" with Pincess.
There are 20 main sections to the contract. As posted before, your agreed that the cruise line was not liable for any injury or loss while on an excursion. Now since you agreed to this, what legal theroy do you have to claim anything from Princess or any other cruise line.

This is no joke. You already relased them from any claim you may have. Why should they even answer you email, other than being polite, which corporations don't do that well.[/quote]


Someone already mentioned this, but I'll just point it out again. Just because you sign a waiver/release it does not mean that you have actually given up your right to bring suit. The waiver is put there to make you THINK you cannot sue and win. If you are ever seriously injured, and you think to yourself, "I would have sued if only I hadn't signed that waiver." go see an attorney. (and yes, if you are wondering, I am an attorney.) Most waivers will not stand up in court.

HOWEVER, in this case, if you do not have serious injuries (thankfully) then it probably isn't worth the money. I applaud your intentions though, and I think it's great that you took the time to try and keep this from happening to someone else.

To the "Holiday Inn Express" poster: You made me laugh out loud! Very funny.

[Toto2Kansas]

[quote name='santaharry']Once again has anyone else had a shore excursion from HELL and what action were taken or compensation given by the cruise line since your vacation was ruined?[/quote]

Yes, we have had a couple of shore excursions that were from HELL in the past 20 years. No matter what took place though, the cruise line is only resposible to reimburse you for the price you paid for that excursion. Now, of coarse, this is with no injury involved.

Personally, I can not see how even a mishap like this could totally ruin your entire vacation if no one was injured. Scarey, YES! Of coarse it was, the kind of problem that can even cause nitemares afterwards. But letting it totally ruin your entire vacation is not the fault of the cruise line. I would not expect any compensation, and doubt it will be offered, because you felt it ruined your entire vacation. A refund of the tour price, yes, but nothing more.

[AZbeachboy]

[quote name='mandabear']To the "Holiday Inn Express" poster: You made me laugh out loud! Very funny.[/quote]

My Pleasure, Thank you.

[Pam in CA]

[quote name='Admiral Horatio Nelson']It's amazing how people will blame the ship.[/quote]I agree with this. One time, I was behind a "gentleman" at the Pursar's Desk and he had just returned from the shore. He and his family had rented motorbikes independently and one of them had fallen off and gotten hurt (not badly). He insisted that Princess contact the motorbike company and "do something." He argued and yelled at the girl behind the desk for quite a while, insisting that since Princess had such a large presence at the port, it was their responsibility.

I'm not referring to the OP or LadyJag when I say that some people don't take responsibility for their own actions and insist on blaming someone else.

[cruzinchris]

I'm sure most of you recall the horrific bus crash in Chile (March, 2006) that took the lives of several American tourists from the [I]Celebrity Millenium. [/I]Fatalities included the parents/in-laws/grandparents of a family who had been part of our roll call for a January, 2006 cruise on the [I]CB. [/I]The tour was independently booked and not a ship-sponsored shore excursion.

If we hadn't previously given serious consideration to our safety on shore excursions, the harsh reality of this accident has prompted us to think carefully about tour options and not place ourselves at risk.
[I]Chris[/I]

[URL]http://www.lexdon.com/article/Update__Bus_Accident_In/40565.html[/URL]

[jlp20]

[quote name='mandabear']......Just because you sign a waiver/release it does not mean that you have actually given up your right to bring suit. The waiver is put there to make you THINK you cannot sue and win. If you are ever seriously injured, and you think to yourself, "I would have sued if only I hadn't signed that waiver." go see an attorney. (and yes, if you are wondering, I am an attorney.) Most waivers will not stand up in court.....QUOTE]

First, everyone think of a good lawyer joke.

No one says you cannot file a lawsuit; even when there was no injury, read the OP. Princess is just saying their not going to roll over for lawsuits looking for deep pockets. I’m sure that all cruise lines have had to insulate themselves from throngs of past pax who believe they have been wronged in some way and the lawyers they have contacted who have bills to pay.

[santaharry]

These were my thoughts after the driver floorboarded the throttle and the top was heading our way at eye level. Instinctively reaching up to protect my face prevented the passengers in front from being decapitated. Subsequently 2 of us were pinned under the canopy and were freed after it was lifted. My wife and I requested an EMT as initially my arm felt as if it were broken and she has a bad back. Fortunately no broken bones and only "soft tissue" damage.
Upon arriving in our cabin we noticed abbrasions and additioal bruises. We went to the pursers desk an I politely (voice was not raised and no yelling as this really only makes thing worse) demande that we be seen by the ship's doctor and we expected there woul be no charge for this. We were seen and requested a copy of our file and were given a referal to our home doctor. They would not give us a copy.
Apparently the rest of the people were in shock and did not request medical attention at that time. Several people were injured however no serious physical injuries. Several were told they would have to pay to see the doctor. I explained that they should go back to the pursers desk and also demand to see the doctor to document their injuries and also request a refund on the excursion. Princess complied in those cases.
We were sequestered away from the other passengers and not apprised of their status until boarding the taxi back to the ship.

I write this also to remind travelers that travel insurance is very improtant - we always purchase it how only a couple of the people on the excursion did and to make other travelers aware that a contigeny plan is needed when the unexpected occurs. Our dog was boarded and neither of our children knew where, also no of the has access to our safety deposit box. And reminder that a current will should be on file in case the worst happens.

[mandabear]

jlp20- this post by you is what I was referring to, [quote name='jlp20']OK, I understand what happened, and I am sorry for what you went through.

Now then, did you happen to look at my earlier post. By getting on the ship, you agreed to a "contract" with Pincess.
There are 20 main sections to the contract. As posted before, your agreed that the cruise line was not liable for any injury or loss while on an excursion. Now since you agreed to this, what legal theroy do you have to claim anything from Princess or any other cruise line.

This is no joke. You already relased them from any claim you may have. Why should they even answer you email, other than being polite, which corporations don't do that well.[/quote]

Now, here is your lawyer joke: A man went to a brain store to get some brain to complete a study. He sees a sign remarking on the quality of professional brain offered at this particular brain store. He begins to question the butcher about the cost of these brains. How much does it cost for engineer brain? Three dollars an ounce. How much does it cost for programmer brain? Four dollars an ounce. How much for lawyer brain? $1,000 an ounce. Why is lawyer brain so much more? Do you know how many lawyers we had to kill to get one ounce of brain? To Santaharry, I am curious to hear what, if any, response you get. Please come back and let us know. Just from a public relations standpoint, I too would have expected more from Princess...not because they are obligated to do so, but because it would have been an appropriate response. Good luck.

[California Native]

First off I'm so sorry to hear about your accident and the injuries.

I hope mentally and physically your healing time is as short as possible.



Since we are talking about shorex and liability I want to touch on an experience we had about NOT doing something we felt was unsafe.

We were on the Sea Princess and wanted to do the shorex to the St. Lucia Pitons in a zodiak. The seas were very rough and because I have done about 20 zodiak excursions around the world I knew that this could quickly turn into a extremely dangerous situation.

The shorex was not going to be cancelled.

I asked an officer on watch at the gangway with his knowledge of the sea would he go out. He said no, there was small craft advisory. I took down his name

I got online and tracked down the local ocean advisorys for the island and surrounding islands. I printed out the small craft advisory.

I also printed out the winds and sea swells.

We decided not to go because we feared for our safety.

I went to shorex that night to request a refund they said no.

I pulled out all of my documentation and the name of the officer and within 10 minutes I had a refund.

[santaharry]

Another couple had the same problem on our cruis since it was raining and very windy on the trip to St. John's. They were told no cancellation no refund and was getting the runaround when they remembered thsy had just booked $5,000 worth of cruises for next year.
They went to the on ship agent that booked their cruise an explained their problem and if they did not hear anything in 2 hours they would cancel.
within 10 minutes they were granted a refund.
We have also prebooked and this may also be an incentive for some goodwill. One of the injured passengers said he know of a good lawyer and there may be a class action on this since the way ther other passengers were initially treated. Note: when I explained what had happened and my expectations the pursers office was very compliant since a police reoprt and accident reports were generated.
If someone had been seriously hurt I am sure there would have been a news story and this would have upped the ante. Fortunatly "thank God" no one was seriously hurt.

[azdmelani]

[quote name='azdmelani']i actually had an injury last year on my cruise during a princess related activity on the ship. I did go to the med center and get my injury checked out, but later on land had a doctor tell me I had a more extensive injury than initially thought and had surgery to correct it last week.

I have since written a letter to princess to let them know how dangerous this activity was (another passenger was injured as well). I emailed them and received a response back that my letter was being looked at and it takes 6-8 weeks for a response. Hope you hear back soon and everyone is okay![/QUOTE]

I am not one to complain on these boards but I am extremely upset with princess. Regarding the above post I still have not heard back from Princess (8 weeks later). I called last night for an update. Spoke to a lovely woman but the bottom line is that my letter was received and a file was never opened on it. So I am back at square one and had to resubmit my letter. The customer service agent said she would follow up to make sure it was received and try to rush it, but it still could take an additional 4-6 weeks to get a response.

Moral of the story, call and double check on your request status if you have one outstanding as Princess might not have done anything with it.

[woodofpine]

[quote name='AZbeachboy']I am not an attorney and do not play one on TV. I did not even stay in a Holiday Inn express last night. With that understanding and reading other law suites, no one can exclude themselves from neglect or failure to take responsible action.

It seems to me (only in my unknowledgable opinion) that a good lawyer could make the point that the cruise line neglected to insist on reasonable guidlines to tour operators with regards to expectations of equiptment used.

It a customer purchased something from a retailer and it fails, many retail stores have had to share responsability for libality for a product that has failed. In this case the cruise line serves as a retailer for the tours. It is reasonable that before they sale that tour and even at the time of contract with the tour company that they would expect and inspect the tangalbies. It also makes good business sense to protect the clients that you have as they become repeat customers if they are taken care of.[/QUOTE]


Reviewing this thread I liked this one... Not a lawyer, but ought to think about it... :) Good points...

Keep a couple of points in mind - members of the "That McDonald's coffee case result was APPALLING!" but "Princess guarantees me an injury free life on vacation" public:

1) As I recollect, when you signed up for the shore excursion Princess notified you in writing and you acknowledged in writing (formatted) that the excursion operator is an "independent contractor" not related to Princess;

2) Generally, excursions constitute sale of 'services' rather than 'goods' so the more rigorous liabilities of "product liability" and its attendant retailer warranties do not necessarily apply (in other words Princess may not be liable just because the "independent" contractor was negligent) although there is plenty of room to argue (in court) otherwise;

3) Because Americans are a litigeous and entitlement minded bunch, Princess is not necessarily going to reply to correspondence that asserts things that sound like potential legal claims - since Princess doesn't know "where you're going with this" - and any "nice sounding" response might be taken to be an 'admission against interest' by some other reader (like a juror).


And - since I love reminding the general public of this - that McDonald's coffee case DOES reflect on something - maybe corporate America?

McD got nailed BIG at trial (wasn't it like 10 or 15 million$, I think $14M) because the evidence presented showed that the company KNEW its coffee was a critical 15-20 skin charring degrees hotter than competitors; it knew this from earlier burn incidents; McD decided kept its coffee extra hot despite the high risk because (it believed) it sold more coffe because of it. And McD chose to sell this extra hot (genital scarring; that's where the injuries were ladies) through open drive-in/car windows where spills were inevitable because it was profitable to expose the public to the known risk. That's why it got tagged big (an explosive Ford Pinto in a styrofoam cup!)

Industry tort reform press releases never tell the whole story. :( The trial court reduced the jury verdict in the McD case to a couple million $$ though the burned woman had had to have multiple skin grafts to repair her private parts.

On appeal, the plaintiff agreed to settle the case for LESS THAN $500,000!!

Finally:

Prior to filing the lawsuit, the burned plaintiff offered to settle her claims pre-suit for $50,000!! (The company rejected the offer.)

How hot is the coffee in Princess? :D

[llachance]

in the same jeep a number of years ago. This was on a Disney sponsored excursion (and we have found that on the norm their excursions are slightly better prepared (safety wise) then on some of the other cruise lines we have been on. I guess they haven't gotten that check engine light fixed yet! Yes I know it was a risk I was taking, bald tires and all, but if you looked at a number of other vehicles in the area these were at least as nice (in Cozumel). The gas tank read empty the entire trip and we never filled up and never walked!

[Colo Cruiser]

[quote name='woodofpine']How hot is the coffee in Princess? :D[/quote]



I don't think that will ever be an issue on Princess. :D

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

My thoughts for you to chew over,

I like going on 4x4 drives, I like them off road, muddy with a scare factor,

I drive off road while at work so know better than most what can and can not be done.

However, when getting onboard a jeep on some island, I do inspect it, if seat belts are missing, tyres worn and the general thing looks like a pile of rust I have said no and have told others in my group that we are not getting in that jeep. This has only happened once.

Apart from that I have had some great trips, been battewred and bruised and un able to sit for a few days, got covered in mud etc, dust and water.

Did I feel some of the drivers were a bit unsafe yes, would I have gone so fast done a muddy hill no.

Would I tell others to do the same trip yes, but be warned at some point the driver will have an accident, so you pay your money and takes your chance.

A lot of tours make you sign saying you know the danger and you go fore warned, you may know there is a risk in driving down a muddy track fast, but you expect the driver to be able to handle the jeep and you expect it to be fit for the purpose.

So you sign and there is an accident because the driver only past his test the day before and the brakes where poor , where do you stand.

I would like to think that any tour that Princess helps promote is being run by a company of good standing, and the fact they ask for feed back from ever person from ever trip makes me think that they do care, and will take action by removing the company from there list.

I am sorry for anyone that gets hurt while on holiday, but the list of folk appears to be getting more and more with each cruise,

On my last cruise there were a number of legs, arms etc in plaster within a few days, one which looked very sore was a young girl, on a moped had fallen of wearing no protective clothing and hud road burn all over her body by wearing shorts and a tee shirt is silly to me, sorry , but if I go on a motor bike of any type I wear all the protective stuff I have, ok no sun tan but I still have all my own skin.




yours Shogun

[stellalimelight]

[quote name='Lady Jag'][B]p.s. - You'd think the very least Princess could do is to acknoledge receipt of the letter & let us know they are investigating the accident & making changes! [/B][/quote]

I know this sounds like a simple request Lady Jag, but I used to work in the customer relations dept of a large Wireless Company. You would not believe the amount of correspondence that comes in and it is handled in the order it is received. Depending on the volume and type of letter, we could easily take 4 weeks to be current. I can also imagine that Princess correspondence is a little more involved than some of the mail I handled (although I must admit billing issues can be a challenge). We used to remark the record that we received the correspondence when we actually started to work on it. Maybe calling to see if they have received the letter would alleviate some of the frustration.

Hope this helps.

Shelley

[DrivesLikeMario]

[quote name='stellalimelight']I know this sounds like a simple request Lady Jag, but I used to work in the customer relations dept of a large Wireless Company. You would not believe the amount of correspondence that comes in and it is handled in the order it is received.
Shelley[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Shelley. I did finally get a response about 8 weeks after I sent the letter. It was a very cold, impersonal form letter with our name inserted into appropriate places. :mad: So much for wonderful customer service! My DH, who is in a service industry, was amazed at the unprofessionalness of it (is that a word?). It was very disappointing, but oh well. It's over. :cool:

[Oceanlvr]

Passenger Claims is the department for any cruise line I believe when you have had an injury while on vacation.

Hope your feeling better!

[smoothdancer]

LadyJag,
I think you may have under estimated the impact of your letter. You said yourself that you were not seeking compensation but wrote to warn the ship officals of a safety issues. Well that happened, they received your letter even if only evidenced back to you by a form letter.

Somewhere your complaint was logged and if more like you write the cruise lines Princess is sure to take notice. Sure your one letter may not alone be enough but many "one" letters could prompt Princess to change the tour operator. You did a good thing to take the time to write, and should take comfort in that, and try not to be offended by the form letter that you received.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks, smoothdancer. I do hope no one ever goes through what we did & I do hope the letter to Princess made some kind of impact. :)

[welshdragon]

Having had to complain to Princess about occurances regarding my last cruise I can only say that they were very quick to respond and with a very good offer of compensation (far better than I expected) so am sad you had such a bad experience. But maybe it was how you worded your letter. I have found this makes a big difference, also I recorded the delivery with the post office and gave a date on the letter that I expected a reply by. They responded to me within ten days.
As regards your accident glad to hear that injury wasn't serious. forthought does help I went on a trip with Princess that involved horses. If I hadn't checked the horse over thoroughly and insisted they change my saddle much to the stables dissapproval I would probably have had a very serious accident. Prior to getting to the yard the waiver form they made us sign tried to get them out of all incidents including their own negligence, so it is in your own interests to check everything CAREFULLY. How it would have stood up I'm not sure as my signature actually read Mickey Mouse! I always sign as stupid signature if their forms read like a cop-out.

[jtmalt]

[quote name='santaharry']
Once again has anyone else had a shore excursion from HELL and what action were taken or compensation given by the cruise line since your vacation was ruined?[/quote]

I'll respond, although my incident didn't involve Princess..it was on a RCCL cruise, just this past April. My wife and I took a bike excursion in Jamaica (you can read about it in this thread: [URL]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=560253[/URL] ). When I reported the incident to the excursions desk onboard, RCCL refunded the excursion fee for both myself and my wife, and picked up my onboard medical expenses, even though I never asked for compensation of any sort. I think this was way beyond anything I expected from them, and certainly far more than they were obligated to do.

I wrote a registered letter to RCCL's VP of Guest Satisfaction, and received a phone call from the executive offices about three weeks later. They asked a lot of questions about the circumstances of the incident, and assured me that the excursion operator would be investigated. To date, I haven't heard anything further, and doubt that I will.

I wasn't seeking additional compensation, just wanted to assure that the safety deficits I saw would be addressed.

[cruise182]

[quote name='jtmalt']I'll respond, although my incident didn't involve Princess..it was on a RCCL cruise, just this past April. My wife and I took a bike excursion in Jamaica (you can read about it in this thread: [URL]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=560253[/URL] ). When I reported the incident to the excursions desk onboard, RCCL refunded the excursion fee for both myself and my wife, and picked up my onboard medical expenses, even though I never asked for compensation of any sort. I think this was way beyond anything I expected from them, and certainly far more than they were obligated to do.

I wrote a registered letter to RCCL's VP of Guest Satisfaction, and received a phone call from the executive offices about three weeks later. They asked a lot of questions about the circumstances of the incident, and assured me that the excursion operator would be investigated. To date, I haven't heard anything further, and doubt that I will.

I wasn't seeking additional compensation, just wanted to assure that the safety deficits I saw would be addressed.[/quote]
RCCL employee policy "go above and beyond" "deliver the wow". I see that they live up to their ploicy!! Way to go RCCL. :D Shame on Princess:mad:

[jtmalt]

[quote name='cruise182']RCCL employee policy "go above and beyond" "deliver the wow". I see that they live up to their ploicy!! Way to go RCCL. :D Shame on Princess:mad:[/quote]

Now, now, no need for that. Just to clarify, my post wasn't intended to be a slam against Princess. In fact, I've got my first Princess cruise coming up in October (and I'm taking a bicycle excursion on that one, too!)

[cruise182]

[quote name='jtmalt']Now, now, no need for that. Just to clarify, my post wasn't intended to be a slam against Princess. In fact, I've got my first Princess cruise coming up in October (and I'm taking a bicycle excursion on that one, too!)[/quote]

Maybe not your post...:eek:

I feel as though Princess should of done more. :o
In your case, RCCL certainly did what I would expect from them.:)

That said, I do not think Princess should fork over a lot of money. Just not charge them for the excursion, Dr, and should have had better communication then what has been described. I understand that they have a contract that states they are not liable (which I am sure is a boiler plate to what RCCL uses) but that doesn’t mean they should have handled the cases the way they have. Being that they are the ones promoting, selling and benefiting from the excursions, they should stand up and give a little. They should not charge for the Dr's, and reluctant to refund money until they are threatened by canceling future bookings. Not the business I would want to spend my money with. I did an excursion with RCCL. It was a snorkeling excursion when I was on the splendour. I felt that the excursion was not what was described, and so I was disappointed. I spoke to someone at the excursion desk to share with them my disappointment. I stated that I did not expect a refund, just wanted to forewarn them that they may get some complaints. During the cruise I received a letter of apology and thanking me for the information. When I settled my account, the excursion was refunded. That is good business. [B][COLOR="Red"]Having to threaten booking cancellations to get a refund is not good business [/COLOR][/B]considering they are the one promoting, selling and financially benefiting when I book one of the excursions they are selling. Like I said, they are not obligated to do so, just the right thing to do for the customers and for business.