Princess Cruises owns the problem

Question: My husband and I took a 14-day Caribbean cruise on Princess over the Christmas holidays. My suitcase didn’t make it to the cabin and was missing for 12 days. Despite repeated attempts to work with the purser’s office — just getting loaner clothing for formal night was a tribulation — we were unhappy and requested a full refund. The only thing we got was a $500 onboard credit for our next cruise and a letter telling us “further correspondence will not generate a change in resolution.” Really?

Jennifer Newton

Reno

Answer: No, not really.

I’m happy — almost giddy — to report that Julie Benson, vice president of public relations for Princess, said in an e-mail response to my inquiry, “We would like to increase our future cruise credit for her and her husband by an additional $750 per person, bringing the total credit to $1,000 per person off their next cruise with us. We hope that they will give us another chance to provide them with the excellent vacation experience we’re known for.”

Great, but here’s why I am nearly ecstatic. Under Princess’ contract of carriage, which is all the boring but important fine print you get with a ticket, it fulfilled its contractual obligations — that being $250 in compensation for the lost luggage (unless Newton had Princess insurance, which she didn’t). The cruise line legally didn’t have to do more, but it did, financially and psychologically. Benson wrote, “We understand — and agree — that the lengthy time without her luggage dramatically affected her vacation experience. We are still investigating what may have happened to her luggage — at this point we are at a loss to know where the luggage was but do acknowledge that it was lost on the ship. This is certainly a highly unusual and atypical situation. We also acknowledge that we could have provided a better service experience to her both during and after her cruise.”

Thank you, Benson and Princess, for owning the problem, which is among the first steps in high-quality customer service. Newton, who had been extremely unhappy (and had the documentation to show why she was) with her dealings, was satisfied with this outcome and looks forward to another cruise.

Over the years, this column has pounded on travel providers, including Princess, for a “We win, you lose, neener-neener” stance. That’s not customer service; it’s about who’s in control, and God forbid it should be the customer.

More than ever, that’s a ticket to trouble. In a recent interview about another matter, Thomas Harpointner, chief executive of AIS Media, an interactive marketing agency, and I talked about the avenues open to unhappy consumers. Traditionally, those have been the Better Business Bureau, arbitration or small claims court. But, Harpointner noted, “It’s very easy for consumers to complain and share with friends and put these complaints on Twitter and YouTube and really cause consumer outrage. The damage is extremely expensive. It’s not worth it.”

If you don’t believe it, just Google the phrase “I hate” and the name of any old travel provider. When I did, I found the Facebook page “I hate Northwest Airlines With the Intensity of 1,000 Suns”; a discussion under Frommers.com that begins, “I absolutely hate Carnival Cruises”; and, on https://www.amplicate.com/sucks/hertz, one section aggregating Twitter comments about hating Hertz.

So about that “who’s in control” issue? Well, here’s a reminder to travel providers: Letting the customer be right doesn’t necessarily mean you were wrong. It means you’re smart enough to know how to resolve a sticky situation.

Really.

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