Thirty-two dollars.
That’s all that separated a good cruise from a bad one, in Nick Prewett’s mind. That’s how much he’d paid Carnival for ground transportation back to Miami International Airport through its Web site.
Our first night on the ship we received our shore excursion tickets which we had also booked online prior to our departure, but no transfer tickets.
On our final night on ship, I called the front desk to inquire about the return transfer. At that time I was told there was no record of a return transfer. Upon clearing customs, we exited the doors and the buses were taking transfer tickets.
Since we did not have a transfer ticket, we elected to take a cab. I never thought to ask for a receipt since I was on vacation and had been told on the ship they had no record of a transfer purchase.
Turns out Prewett had been charged for ground transfers, but for some reason, the vouchers were never delivered.
He contacted Carnival by e-mail to ask for a refund. Denied.
So he phoned the cruise line.
I called and spoke with Corina, and she was very good at explaining some facts that I wish I would have known before hand.
First, that my name was on an electronic manifest and that all I had to do was check in and they would have let me on the bus.
Second, that if I had a receipt, I could be reimbursed for my cab fare.
Third, that not everyone is on the electronic manifest and that some people still have vouchers to get on the bus.
My concern is that at no time during my booking, my trip or even when I asked on the ship, was I instructed how to take the transfer to the airport.
Corina said she was a supervisor and was very understanding of my situation, but said that she could do nothing to give me a refund regarding this situation. I asked to speak with someone else in a management position and she said that she spoke on behalf of the management in her department and that there was nothing they could do to help me in this situation.
She apologized and said that if I had a receipt or had I checked in to get on the bus that it would not be an issue. She stressed that it was out of the control of her department to issue a refund to me.
So, to recap: Prewett buys ground transfers online, but is never told that he doesn’t need vouchers to redeem the trip back to MIA. But it tells him after the fact. And now Carnival wants to pocket the money.
Needless to say, he’s disappointed.
Carnival does a great deal to ensure guests are happy and know exactly what to do to make their vacation exciting, but I feel I was let down with my purchase of a return transfer.
For me this isn’t about the $32 for the transfer, it is about providing correct, accurate information to keep guests happy.
I believe that I acted in good faith to find out how to utilize my return transfer. It’s funny how the little things like this can grow to overshadow a wonderful vacation.
I asked Carnival to check its records related to Prewett’s ground transfers. A representative responded:
Our policy, when guests claim they did not use transfers for whatever reason, is to either request the unused transfer voucher or proof of the alternate form of transportation used before a refund is considered. However, for this particular situation, we’ll offer either a future onboard credit for $32 or a refund.
Our guest care department will be contacting the guest to advise.
Nice. But really, this could have been avoided if a supervisor had just asked this one simple question: Is it worth $32 to keep a customer happy? Particularly if it’s $32 for a service we weren’t able to provide?
If Carnival’s managers can’t make that kind of a simple decision, maybe this problem goes way beyond a miscommunication over a ground transfer.
Way, way beyond.
(Photo: joshbousel/Flickr Creative Commons)
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
good going Chris; it is to bad tht you had to be called in to investigate a simple error like this; the customer was right ;she followed procedure and the supervisor was very foolish hope she gets the ditch,; this person has no idea of customer relations; I do not care about the amount even 5.00;Iam sure they contributed enough through other charges to fill CARNIVALS COFFERS.
Of course Carnival can do something. They can reimburse Nick. Very easy. If they want to be precise, they can check what the generic cab fare to the airport is (which will be $30-$35) and give Nick that.
I do not understand these companies. Their marketing departments spend tens of dollars per customer they get in. Here’s an opportunity to get a happy return customer for $32, and they let it go.
What they got for $32 is Nick never returning, and spreading some bad word of mouth info. Sounds like a bad deal.
And how much staff time did Carnival waste denying a Customer’s request for a small refund. Talk about bad Customer Service!
I think Carnival can see that A) the customer was charged for the transfer B) he was on the ship) and C) he didn’t get on the bus. Why do they need a cab receipt? Just issue the refund already. Too many companies have completely forgotten what customer goodwill is worth.
I had the same experience a few years ago and just ate the cost. Waited five years between cruises as a result and had some great vacations elsewhere.
Embarkation/Debarkation is the one area Carnival still hasn’t quite figured out when it comes to good service for passengers. Taxis are almost always cheaper than their buses unless you’re just paying for yourself, and getting off their ships is chaotic to say the least.
Carnival is streamlining their entire world of paperwork. This is taking them from a really decent commercial line to a really poorly operated cruise line full of excuses. They have ceased issuing paper documents with a “huge” amount of great information. Carnival claims that they carry more seniors than all other cruise lines combined. Many of those Seniors have no computers or the desire to get intricate docs from a computer. It costs me $2-3.00 more per customer to print out all of this information. I have never had a set of documents from Carnival that did not have a transfer coupon if purchased. I have seen it missed twice since they went to e-docs. Time to switch cruise line sales.
It always amazes me that the vacation provider will knowingly allow a guest to leave with a “bad taste” in their mouth. To assure not only return guests but to crush any “word of mouth negativity” should be part of ALL providers mission statement. I return to my own mantra of these providers wanting to “charge the most and give the least”, instead of “generosity of service will guarantee either a returning guest or a booking from a friend of the guest”.
Agree with Joe. Had similar transfer problems with pre-paid transfers on a Carnival Cruise out of MIA 10 years ago and haven’t sailed with them since then. On the way to the port, the driver virtually demanded a cash gratuity even though the vouchers clearly said “GRATUITY INCLUDED.” On the way back, it was so chaotic, that we chose to take a taxi for piece of mind. We chose the eat the costs and move on. I understand it is the principle of the matter, but is it worth all the time and energy for $32 out of hundreds if not thousands of dollars of total costs? I’m not saying this isn’t fair, but sometimes you just need to pick your battles.
On subsequent cruises, I just choose to arrange your own transfers. Its often not much more $$$ and offers flexibility and piece of mind. Additionally, I don’t feel like I am being herded like cattle.
Chris he demanded a gratuity you gave him one; I would have told him in very unlady like circumstances what he could have done; so you took a cab and of course had to tip; honestly this whole gratuity business is blackmail; I am sick of going into places where when you get a take out order there is a tip jar; it is up to the employer not the customer to provide a decent wage.
Wait a minute, is this correspondance severely abbreviated?
Only going by what is written above, the customer did next to nothing. I read the first correspondance twice, when she went from “I checked the final night on the ship and they had no record” to “upon clearing customs”…
Huh? That’s it? No mention of saying “hey, I kinda need to get to the airport” or any attempt to resolve that fact. Perhaps they were in fact told they didn’t have a record of the purchases. My bet is they were fine with that and decided to take a taxi and paid no further attention, until they were charged. This should have been noted on the sheet delivered to their stateroom itemizing their charges, and taken care of then.
I don’t think Carnival can really get any flak here, there was obviously a mixup at the very initial point of contact, but after that the passenger has to take most of the burden for not really doing much about it, when so much could have been done.
As Tammy K asked, on our final bill that was delivered to our room, we had our shore excursion charged, but no transfer. We didn’t find out we were charged until we reviewed our credit card charges upon our return. I’m not sure what else I should have done besides call to ask about the transfers, check to see if I’d paid for transfers on the bill, and saw that they were taking transfers. As I noted above in my letter, had they let me know one of three things at anytime, I would have been on that transfer, we paid for the transfer so we wouldn’t have to deal with taxis or this mess.
And what does Carnival get for refusing a $32 refund? A ton of bad press. I don’t know how many hits this site gets per day, but many people who read this article are going to say to themselves, “Man, dealing with Carnival is a total hassle. What cheapskates! I’ll never cruise with them!” Whereas, had they issued a prompt, courteous refund, Nick might have sent Christopher an e-mail telling what good customer service he received, which would have resulted in a ton of good press for Carnival. If he hadn’t written, at least Carnival wouldn’t have a black mark on its customer service reputation. You can’t buy positive publicity, but you sure as heck can penny-pinch yourself into bad publicity.
good grief tammy k ; are you some kind of interrogator for Carnival; it was stated in the article she tried to get things squared away with Carnival; and she did notice when arriving home she had been charched what more could she do; she presented her case to Chris who went to bat for her; Iadmire her for her persistance over a relatively small amount of money; but it is the principle of the matter; hope you never even consider getting a job in customer relations positions.