Monday, January 29, 2018

Sitting by the dock of the bay? Thanks, Norwegian!

Other than what I hear from friends and family who are avid cruisers, I know absolutely nothing about vacationing at sea. And despite what I hear from friends and family who are avid cruisers, I have no desire to learn about cruising for myself up close and personal. For whatever reason, going on a cruise has never held any appeal for me. Guess I’m just a natural born land lubber. I like to travel, but it’s the destination, not the journey…

In any case, I was interested in a recent Boston Globe column by their consumer advocate, Sean Murphy, on the experience an elderly local couple had with Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Bernie (87) and Dolly (85) Wax had planned on what they felt would be their last trip together, a cruise of the Mexican coast out of LA.

And then, when they went to get onboard, things just went to hell rather than to Mexico.

The Waxes got to the marine terminal, where someone helpfully whisked away their luggage. In that quick moment of whisk, they forgot to retrieve their passports, which they’d left in the outside pocket of one of their suitcases so that they could retrieve them quickly. When they got to the registration desk 45 minutes later, they were asked to show their passports. Bernie told them that the passports were in their luggage:

“They said, ‘No problem. We’ll send someone to get your luggage,’ ” recalled Wax, an 87-year-old retired historian from Brookline. “They said, ‘Go sit down and wait. The ship doesn’t sail for three hours. It shouldn’t be a problem.’” (Source: Boston Globe)

No problema, however, turned into big problema. Three hours later, the Waxes were still sitting there.

A Norwegian representative appeared, handed Bernie Wax a “Dear Valued Guest” form letter, and disappeared.

“Unfortunately, we are unable to allow you to board the vessel” without documentation, it began. Call the cruise line’s customers relations department if you have “any questions or concerns,” it said.

“We appreciate your understanding in this,” the letter concluded.

Hooey, baby. Whatever happened to ‘won’t you let me take you on a sea cruise’?

Meanwhile, the ship had departed, along with their clothing, medicines, passports – and $2,300 worth of cabin, deck chair and meals.

The Waxes realize that, in not keeping those passports on them, they’d made a mistake. But, as it turns out, Norwegian – according to their own policy – could have asked them to show a driver’s license instead.

Cruise ship passengers are not required to have a passport to leave an American port if the destination is Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, or Bermuda, even if they go ashore on a day trip.

This all took place on December 22nd.

Bernie Wax tried to call the customer service number on the form letter, but the department was closed until after Christmas. When he finally got through on December 26th, Norwegian told them they would get their luggage back on December 30th. Errrr, no. No delivery on Saturdays, and what with New Year’s…. They got their luggage (delivered to the home of their granddaughter in LA, with whom they were staying) on January 2nd.

Thanks for nothing.

Bernie, naturally, asked for a refund. When they got no response from Norwegian, he contacted Sean Murphy, who started poking around.

Norwegian didn’t respond, but within a couple hours of my inquiry, Wax received a letter from Norwegian, his first communication from the company in more than a month. There would be no refund, the company said, citing a clause in its terms and conditions that says guests are not entitled to a refund or credit when they are denied boarding for lack of proper documentation.

“It would be inconsistent for us to make exceptions to our cancelation policies for some guests, when many others in similar situations have accepted these terms,” the letter said.

That certainly seems a bit harsh – especially given that a) their own policies allowed for the substitution of a driver’s license, and b) when they went to check in they were told that their bags (which I’m pretty sure are all RFID tagged and locatable) would be found for them and that everything would be okey-dokey.

And Norwegian’s response seems a tad bit foolish, from a PR standpoint.

Why would anyone have to know that the Waxes got a refund, even though others may not have? Seriously, this wasn’t a couple of 30 year old stoops who didn’t read the fine print. They’re a little old lady and a little old man, just trying to cruise gently into that good night.

You’d think that Norwegian would gave given them the damned $2,300 back – and maybe thrown in a little make-up cruise while they were at it. How much skin would it have been off their nose?

You’d think they would have emergency customer service over the holidays, given that they had active cruises going.

You’d think they would have been a little nicer to the Waxes to begin with.

And you’d think that after they heard from the Boston Globe consumer ombudsman, the light bulb might have gone off in someone’s head that they had a potential PR problem on their hands.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some of their competition didn’t come out and send Bernie and Dolly on a dream cruise. PR opportunity for the other guy, with the added benefit of putting a PR ding on Norwegian.

Caveat, cruiser, I guess.

No wonder I have no desire to walk up a gangplank.

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Ah, the power of the press!

Realizing that they’d hit an iceberg, Norwegian Cruise Lines decided there was a better approach to dealing with this issue than humming “Nearer My God to Thee” and summarily turning down the Waxes’ request for a refund, the company decided that even if the Waxes didn’t have a case, they were getting a lot of bad publicity over this situation.

Norwegian Cruise Line on Sunday afternoon offered an elderly Brookline couple an apology, a full refund, and a complimentary “dream” trip to a destination of the couple’s choice as a “makeup,” hours after a Globe column detailed how the couple had been marooned last month by the cruise line in Los Angeles.

The offer came as hundreds of readers posted stinging criticism of the cruise line in comments about the online version of the column, with some vowing never to patronize the company. Many characterized the well-established cruise line as lacking compassion and common sense.

“It is clear that in the case” of the Brookline couple “we did not deliver as we should have, and their needs were not handled appropriately,” the company said in an e-mail to the Globe.

“We will be providing” the couple “with a full refund for their cruise,” Norwegian continued. “In addition, as a gesture of our sincerest apologies, we would like to invite them to experience their dream vacation with a complimentary cruise” on the sailing of their choice. (Source: Boston Globe)

Now, wouldn’t it have been a boat-load (or cruise-ship) easier to do this to begin with?

 

 

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