C
cottonmather0
Guest
Update to my post from last week, where I complained about my "air arrangements" from Celebrity, specifically, that I paid for air arrangements for my fiancee and me for a honeymoon cruise leaving from VANCOUVER and ended up with two plane tickets to SEATTLE. Anyway, this is what happened since last week:
- I called Celebrity on Tuesday to ask about the discrepancy and was told, "we always use Seattle and we'll get you to Vancouver." How? On a bus ride that lasts, "about 4 hours". When I asked why no one told me that this was a possibility I was told, "it's on the website." And it sure is - if you go digging around and find it. But they sure didn't tell me anything about it when I booked the trip.
(I have since spoken to some other people off-line and was told that most cruise lines do this for Alaskan cruises... the airfare option looks cheap compared to published fares to Vancourver because the CL isn't quoting a fare to Vancouver - they are quoting a fare to Seattle. This is slimey slimey slimey and I wish I had known earlier and avoided this mess)
- I asked to have tickets to Vancouver instead and was told, "that would be custom air and will cost you extra." How much extra? "Someone will have to call you back."
- No one called me back on Tuesday.
- I called back on Wednesday and was told, "that department doesn't take phone calls from customers. Someone will have to call you back."
- No one called me back on Wednesday.
- I called again on Thursday and was told the same thing. When I said I had been waiting for a phone call for the last two days, I was told, "someone will call you back by the end of the business day today."
- No one called me back on Thursday.
- I called again on Friday with the intent of canceling the air arrangements, getting a refund, and buying my own ticket TO VANCOUVER and was told, "someone else is working on this, they will have to call you back."
- I got very upset and asked to speak to someone NOW and got sent to customer service. The customer service rep was very nice but basically did nothing except promise that "someone will call you back by the end of the business day today."
- No one called me back on Friday.
- I called yesterday (Monday) and started to get the same old routine. I explained the situation again and was told, "there's no record of you calling on Tuesday or Thursday of last week. Didn't they tell you that these changes take 3-5 business days? There hasn't been enough time for someone to call you back."
- I went ballistic and demanded that the air arrangements be canceled (not the cruise) and that I get a full refund. This time the lady was somehow able to cancel right away, but warned me that she would have to charge me a "$50 per person cancellation fee." I told her I wasn't paying any fee and got transferred to customer service.
- Customer Service listened to my story, then said that there was no record of me calling on Tuesday or Thursday of last week. I asked if she was calling me a liar and she repeated, "there is no record of you calling on Tuesday or Thursday."
- I asked again that the $100 charge be refunded and she said, "there's no reason for me to do that - we have done nothing wrong and you have not been patient enough with the process. We routinely route our passengers through Seattle. I cannot waive the fee."
- I asked to speak to someone else and was told, "there is no one else for you to speak to."
- I mentioned small claims court and was told, "our legal department phone # is (xxx)-xxx-xxxx"
- After I got off the phone I booked two tickets from Houston to Vancouver on Air Canada and, not surprisingly, the fare had increased by about $100 since last week when I first asked to cancel the air reservation.
THIS IS THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I HAVE EVER RECEIVED! I HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT ON THE TRIP YET AND AM THOROUGHLY DISGUSTED WITH CELEBRITY CRUISE LINES!
If it were not too late to book an trip for my honeymoon, I would, but I suspect Celebrity would try and keep most of my money, anyway. And I probably wouldn't be so upset about this if it weren't for the fact that this is my HONEYMOON and I don't feel like riding a bus for 4 hours on the day after my wedding.
I sure hope the cruise is good, because it's got a lot to make up for.
- I called Celebrity on Tuesday to ask about the discrepancy and was told, "we always use Seattle and we'll get you to Vancouver." How? On a bus ride that lasts, "about 4 hours". When I asked why no one told me that this was a possibility I was told, "it's on the website." And it sure is - if you go digging around and find it. But they sure didn't tell me anything about it when I booked the trip.
(I have since spoken to some other people off-line and was told that most cruise lines do this for Alaskan cruises... the airfare option looks cheap compared to published fares to Vancourver because the CL isn't quoting a fare to Vancouver - they are quoting a fare to Seattle. This is slimey slimey slimey and I wish I had known earlier and avoided this mess)
- I asked to have tickets to Vancouver instead and was told, "that would be custom air and will cost you extra." How much extra? "Someone will have to call you back."
- No one called me back on Tuesday.
- I called back on Wednesday and was told, "that department doesn't take phone calls from customers. Someone will have to call you back."
- No one called me back on Wednesday.
- I called again on Thursday and was told the same thing. When I said I had been waiting for a phone call for the last two days, I was told, "someone will call you back by the end of the business day today."
- No one called me back on Thursday.
- I called again on Friday with the intent of canceling the air arrangements, getting a refund, and buying my own ticket TO VANCOUVER and was told, "someone else is working on this, they will have to call you back."
- I got very upset and asked to speak to someone NOW and got sent to customer service. The customer service rep was very nice but basically did nothing except promise that "someone will call you back by the end of the business day today."
- No one called me back on Friday.
- I called yesterday (Monday) and started to get the same old routine. I explained the situation again and was told, "there's no record of you calling on Tuesday or Thursday of last week. Didn't they tell you that these changes take 3-5 business days? There hasn't been enough time for someone to call you back."
- I went ballistic and demanded that the air arrangements be canceled (not the cruise) and that I get a full refund. This time the lady was somehow able to cancel right away, but warned me that she would have to charge me a "$50 per person cancellation fee." I told her I wasn't paying any fee and got transferred to customer service.
- Customer Service listened to my story, then said that there was no record of me calling on Tuesday or Thursday of last week. I asked if she was calling me a liar and she repeated, "there is no record of you calling on Tuesday or Thursday."
- I asked again that the $100 charge be refunded and she said, "there's no reason for me to do that - we have done nothing wrong and you have not been patient enough with the process. We routinely route our passengers through Seattle. I cannot waive the fee."
- I asked to speak to someone else and was told, "there is no one else for you to speak to."
- I mentioned small claims court and was told, "our legal department phone # is (xxx)-xxx-xxxx"
- After I got off the phone I booked two tickets from Houston to Vancouver on Air Canada and, not surprisingly, the fare had increased by about $100 since last week when I first asked to cancel the air reservation.
THIS IS THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I HAVE EVER RECEIVED! I HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT ON THE TRIP YET AND AM THOROUGHLY DISGUSTED WITH CELEBRITY CRUISE LINES!
If it were not too late to book an trip for my honeymoon, I would, but I suspect Celebrity would try and keep most of my money, anyway. And I probably wouldn't be so upset about this if it weren't for the fact that this is my HONEYMOON and I don't feel like riding a bus for 4 hours on the day after my wedding.
I sure hope the cruise is good, because it's got a lot to make up for.
