Comments on: “It’s funny how the little things like this can grow to overshadow a wonderful vacation”

By: barbie45

barbie45 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:12:41 +0000

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.

By: Chicky

Chicky — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:22:17 +0000

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.

By: Nick P

Nick P — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:20:17 +0000

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.

By: Tammy K

Tammy K — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:29:14 +0000

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.

By: barbie45

barbie45 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:16:25 +0000

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.

By: Chris in NC

Chris in NC — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:48:51 +0000

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.

By: Patricia Eachus

Patricia Eachus — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:51:00 +0000

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”.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:45:28 +0000

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.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:41:39 +0000

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.

By: Bela Fleck

Bela Fleck — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:36:59 +0000

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.

By: Ralph

Ralph — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:28:27 +0000

And how much staff time did Carnival waste denying a Customer’s request for a small refund. Talk about bad Customer Service!

By: Jasper

Jasper — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:24:40 +0000

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.

By: barbie45

barbie45 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:19:16 +0000

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.