My boyfriend received an envelope back in December regarding a great deal with a new Carmen Electra promotion being done in conjunction with Caribbean Cruise Lines. The package included a stay in Ft. Lauderdale for a few nights, a 2 night cruise to Grand Bahama Island, and a few additional days in Orlando. Both hotels were the Ramada. This was also said to include a car rental or a similar extra. Later, a FREE additional trip may be set up to either Las Vegas or Puerto Vallarta. My first impression upon hearing about it was that it was a scam, but he had already committed to it. So far, it's not quite a scam but with the way they deal with their customers, they sure give that impression.
A deposit was paid on the cruise of about $150 back in December. Shortly thereafter, the trip was paid in full, a date was chosen, and plane tickets were purchased. We were supposed to receive an itinerary in the mail a few weeks before the trip. Here we are less than a week before we must fly and we're at square one.
When we didn't receive an itinerary, we called the 1-800 number to inquire and it wasn't until yesterday afternoon that we were told the girl that we had set up the trip with had been new, did not file the paperwork for the trip but instead recorded everything in notes, and was fired a week later for screwing up an upteem about of trips.
Yesterday my boyfriend spoke with someone in reservations who, having told us about the incompetency of the girl, promised she would file the paperwork so that it would be ready the next day. She said to expect a fax then. The fax never came.
Apparently the plans could not be finalized, as told to us by a supervisor, this was because the cruise for that date was full. We had PAID IN FULL over 5 months ago and yet we did not have a bed on the boat. We did, however, have $400 worth of plane tickets, which was money we could not recover. This is DISGUSTING.
This simply begs the question, "how far does the incompetency go?" It is one thing that their reservations representatives do half-jobs, but apparently their quality assurance department does not seek to fix problems created by other employees. I mean, we only paid several hundered dollars to this company, why should that inspire any loyalty to the customer? That alone sounds like the recipe for a brewing scam. They had our contact number and address, since they were the ones who contacted us in the first place, but of course, a simple call is too much to ask. This is especially true of the girl who said she would fix the mistake. She had to know why the paperwork wasn't going through when she filed it. She simply could not be bothered, I suppose. Such is the attitude of a call center...
Getting anyone's name and extension is like pulling teeth, too. It is not like I was requesting their social security number or home address.
Scam or not, there would not be these problems if Caribbean Cruise Line's employees simply did their job correctly and with concern for their customers. My boyfriend and myself took off a week's time from work in order to take this vacation. That's a week's worth of unpaid time, not to mention it was planned almost 6 months ago. I'm not getting paid to take their bullshit; in fact, I'm paying their company. I expect quality customer service with competent employees and a quality vacation in return. I will not be disappointed.
If this is not fully resolved in a day or two, or if there are any incidences while I am on the trip, I intend to report them to the BBB, and persue this to the full extent.
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