P&O Admin are a Joke

[Raybosailor]

It must be Christmas party time at Carnival House, either that or they need to flip the calendar back to 2015.

We are booked to go on Oceana E625 on 21st December 2016 and today I received an email saying my cruise balance is due in the next couple of days. Our confirmation invoice clearly states that the final balance should be paid by 22nd September 2016 so are P&O anticipating a 10 month postal strike or what ?.

This is not the first time they have c***ed up as when we were due to embark on Arcadia for our Caribbean cruise they sent us a final reminder a month after we had settled our account. After several phone calls to P&O accounts department I was finally told that my account was in order. But two weeks later I received a letter saying that our cruise had been cancelled due to non payment of the balance, its enough to give you a heart attack.

Someone is going to get an ear bashing at P&O headquarters tomorrow.

[Stephen]

[quote="Raybosailor"]It must be Christmas party time at Carnival House, either that or they need to flip the calendar back to 2015.

We are booked to go on Oceana E625 on 21st December 2016 and today I received an email saying my cruise balance is due in the next couple of days. Our confirmation invoice clearly states that the final balance should be paid by 22nd September 2016 so are P&O anticipating a 10 month postal strike or what ?.

This is not the first time they have c***ed up as when we were due to embark on Arcadia for our Caribbean cruise they sent us a final reminder a month after we had settled our account. After several phone calls to P&O accounts department I was finally told that my account was in order. But two weeks later I received a letter saying that our cruise had been cancelled due to non payment of the balance, its enough to give you a heart attack.

Someone is going to get an ear bashing at P&O headquarters tomorrow.[/


Give'm all barrels Ray.

[Jan Rosser]

Ray - you are not on your own - Facebook is full of people complaining that they have received invoices for cruises next year - apparently P&O have sent these emails out in error.

[Meg 50]

but how many people have paid up?

will they be offered a refund until the correct time?

or will P&O pocket the interest on that cash?

answers on a postcard.................

[Lynda and David]

I agree not good enough, we're booked on E625 as well and also received an e-mail this evening telling us our balance is due. I tried phoning P&O but got a recorded message saying they are extremely busy this evening and to phone back. Apparently P&O have put a message out on Facebook saying that they have had a computer 'glitch' this afternoon and are trying to sort it.

Regards

Lynda

[Wina G]

We also got an email asking for the final balance for our Arcadia cruise NEXT New Year

[Quizzical Bob]

It's obviously a mistake which they will sort out very soon. In the meantime, don't pay anything and wait for the grovelling apology.

[qbman1]

All of us who have already booked for 2016 should demand compo - even if we haven't received the payment demand ! It's ruined my life !

Seriously, though, it really isn't good enough. It is clearly an IT cock-up but there should be someone at HQ with the wit to realise what is happening and deal with it !

[barney]

I thought it was strange but immediately realised that it was some sort of glitch or operater error.

Mine was for November 2016 ???

[qbman1]

I'm booked on a back-to-back on Aurora in May and Oriana next Christmas/New Year but I haven't received any e-mails or payment demand in the post so maybe it's just Arcadia and Oceana that are affected by the glitch ?

At the end of the day, most of these things come down to human error, even though they always blame the computers. They have to be programmed by a person after all !

[qbman1]

Spoke too soon ! Just checked my e-mails again and I now have a payment reminder for next Christmas !!

It's ruined my life - I shall be expecting a free cruise !

[Mervyn and Trish]

My life's ruined too, though clearly it's a Carnival problem, not just P&O, since mine is a Cunard cruise. And in my case the "reminder" is only three months early. What's the address for compo?

[qbman1]

I shall be suggesting to that nice Mr Edgington that my next three cruises are free which may go some way towards restoring my faith in him!

[Mervyn and Trish]

Perhaps you'd put a word in for me?

[qbman1]

Certainly will, when the heat dies down. I can imagine the mayhem that must be going on in the call centre today !!

[Stephen]

47984430_compo1.jpg

[qbman1]

Not sure that's the kind of compo that Merv had in mind !!

[daib GC]

You all know that the P&O and Cunard iIT is all controlled over in the US. So you will have to complain a little louder.

We have 4 cruises booked for next year di I get Compo as we have not had an Email. Or is it because we go through a TA and not direct.

[qbman1]

I've asked the question on Twaddle to try to wind them up even more !!

[qbman1]

I knew that nice Mr Edgington would sort it all out - just received this:


Important information regarding your cruise

You will have received an email from us yesterday telling you all about our new online balance payment facility. Unfortunately, this also told you that your balance is due and asked for payment.

This was in fact a mistake - your balance is not due now but will be due 90 days before departure.

We are so sorry for any confusion that the email may have caused.

Have a very Happy Christmas!

Kind regards
Christopher Edgington
Director, P&O Cruises


As he is so apologetic, I am sure my compo is but a mere formality !!

[towny44]

I am feeling left out since I have not had any demand for our Aug cruise, must be as Dai has said because we also go through a TA.

[qbman1]

To be fair, it was really a notification about their new online payment system but some bright spark included the wording about "Your outstanding balance is due over the next couple of days" which went to everyone. I suspect it is more a case of a numpty not proof-reading properly rather than an IT glitch as such. Still, it had that nice Mr Edgington's name at the end so the buck goes all the way home !

[sunseeker16]

We had a payment request for next Christmas and we are booked through a TA
Perhaps we can claim compensation from both?!

Oh - also received the apology. What a way to run a chip shop! Thanks goodness onboard is nothing like as chaotic as shore-side (as has been said many times before)

[Raybosailor]

Oh dear and I've already put all of Cheryl's Christmas presents on ebay to raise the cash.

I don't seem to have much luck with P&O, first the cock up with my Arcadia cruise balance then the breakdown of Azura cutting our cruise by two days, I thought Christmas on Oceana might be third time lucky but ???

[qbman1]

I fear Carnival have gone the way of many other large conglomerates. By outsourcing and/or centralising a lot of their key admin functions, they have completely lost control and "glitches" like this are all too common. Small is beautiful !!