call to customer service

[livin-the-life]

just a rant....this is ridicules!! just spent 2hrs 37min  on hold to talk to someone about one of my refunds...had to hang up to handle other business..I had asked for a refund of one of my 4 cancelled cruises, took FCC on 2 of them, but the problem is that I had paid for it almost 2 years ago and that account is no longer open.. it is a 5 figure amount and need another form of refund.. does anyone know of any way to circumvent the customer service center. I'm diamond plus as well as casino signature, called both casino host and c and a rep, but was told by both that changing refund method is only done thru rccl customer service..i understand they are busy, and have reduced staff (real nice idea to take care of your customers), maybe someone from rccl may read this..lol

[Pooch]

First world problems. I can only offer patience for now.  I can only imagine how hard it is to be a customer service rep right now.

[AnnetteJackson]

45 minutes ago, livin-the-life said:

just a rant....this is ridicules!! just spent 2hrs 37min  on hold to talk to someone about one of my refunds...had to hang up to handle other business..I had asked for a refund of one of my 4 cancelled cruises, took FCC on 2 of them, but the problem is that I had paid for it almost 2 years ago and that account is no longer open.. it is a 5 figure amount and need another form of refund.. does anyone know of any way to circumvent the customer service center. I'm diamond plus as well as casino signature, called both casino host and c and a rep, but was told by both that changing refund method is only done thru rccl customer service..i understand they are busy, and have reduced staff (real nice idea to take care of your customers), maybe someone from rccl may read this..lol

Trust me - they know.  This has been like this for over 3 weeks now.  This is what happens when you furlough staff, change policies, and have massive cancellations in a system that was never designed to do this.  Its a manual process with fewer staff.  I totally feel for everyone involved in this mess, but it gets reported daily to Royal by agencies and guest calling directly.  Like unemployement, the small business loans, and all the other places affected by this pandemic... the name of the game is patience and be kind to the person on the other end of the line because trust me - they wish things were working like before as well.  (or at least wish they could fix the issue)

[Ampurp85]

I really feel for the reps, not just at RCCI but at all companies, working from home since their office is closed. Having to deal with being stuck with their family (its hard to work from home when kids, pets, and/or spouses all want attention) while millions of people call and yell at them over a few things they cannot control. That being said...the amount of your refund, the status of your loyalty account and other titles has no bearing on a refund. The refunds are not manual, only the FCC is. You obviously don't understand, it is not like RCCI wanted to layoff staff, just like it didn't want to cancel your cruise. That even at fully staffed, having millions of people call with the possibility of multiple cruises to deal with...is going to result in larger wait times. Add into people who are trying to book, L&S, and finalize cruises.

[Lizzy B]

1 hour ago, livin-the-life said:

just a rant....this is ridicules!! just spent 2hrs 37min  on hold to talk to someone about one of my refunds...had to hang up to handle other business..I had asked for a refund of one of my 4 cancelled cruises, took FCC on 2 of them, but the problem is that I had paid for it almost 2 years ago and that account is no longer open.. it is a 5 figure amount and need another form of refund.. does anyone know of any way to circumvent the customer service center. I'm diamond plus as well as casino signature, called both casino host and c and a rep, but was told by both that changing refund method is only done thru rccl customer service..i understand they are busy, and have reduced staff (real nice idea to take care of your customers), maybe someone from rccl may read this..lol

I 100% get your frustration. I also have spent hours of my life on the phone with them over the past several weeks.  Have you tried messaging RCC on Facebook and leaving a detailed message on their webform? I contacted them through every avenue i could think of, and eventually got someone to take me seriously and help. It may be your only option if you don't currently have the ability to sit on hold. I hope it works out soon! 

[livin-the-life]

39 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I really feel for the reps, not just at RCCI but at all companies, working from home since their office is closed. Having to deal with being stuck with their family (its hard to work from home when kids, pets, and/or spouses all want attention) while millions of people call and yell at them over a few things they cannot control. That being said...the amount of your refund, the status of your loyalty account and other titles has no bearing on a refund. The refunds are not manual, only the FCC is. You obviously don't understand, it is not like RCCI wanted to layoff staff, just like it didn't want to cancel your cruise. That even at fully staffed, having millions of people call with the possibility of multiple cruises to deal with...is going to result in larger wait times. Add into people who are trying to book, L&S, and finalize cruises.

i do understand...it was only a frustration rant...certainly feel for anyone and everyone working in customer service anywhere today! its not only rccl, it is everything... airlines, hotels, credit cards......etc....believe me, its very simple to program a computer to automatically refund everyone for everything....but....they cannot afford the cash flow to stop, and dont want to return BILLIONS immediatly... their reserves would empty and stocks would collapse..this applies to all companies..on a closing note, it is a pipe dream to think cruising out of u.s. will return before 2021.....ports wont open...there is no u.s. incentive to do so since all these ships are foreign registered and provide no tax income to u.s. government.. all the u.s. based cruise land jobs are shrinking rapidly, as the lines are very aware of this but dont want the consumer to stop depositing and still pay in full 90 days out, prviding them a constant cash flow..they are able to hold 100"s of millions of dollars for 135 days plus(90+45) to keep liquidity...

[Ampurp85]

@livin-the-life I understanding being frustrated and wanting to rant. What I don't get is blaming customer service reps and expecting priority service in this current time. I want to rant all the time in general about impatience and hypocrisy....but that is 1st world problems.

I doubt the type of cruising I want will happen before 2021...which is why I am being patient. The cruise lines had my money for months, I wasn't counting on it as it was already spent in my mind. Knowing that I have a few thousand coming back in 90 days or less is great. It is not a simple thing to refund money, even in the best of times a refund takes 5-10 business days. That is also another thing, everyone is not getting a full refund....so the algorithm used is not so cut and dry. Also keeping cash because of interest is almost a moot point. RCCI has made what it wants off your money, continues to since so many people chose FCC.  I don't know if you have an IRA or other retirement/savings account but think about how long it takes to receive funds, RCCI is not sitting on cash. It has to be moved from places and vendors. Things have to be restructured and that takes time.

I don't know when you requested the refund but it would seem to me that telling them about the closed account would have been your top priority. Maybe they will send you a check or maybe it will go to the new card on file. Call at an inconvenient time, like after 8pm, and maybe you won't wait so long to get a rep.