Royal Caribbean bans complaining couple for life...

[KSUChiefsTarheelFan]

 

 

 

Are you one of those people who complains about every little thing that goes wrong on a cruise? Better be careful, or you just might find yourself banned from your favorite ships.

 

That's the takeaway from a fascinating story today at expertcruiser.com about a Cleveland couple that apparently complained just a little too much about their frequent trips with Royal Caribbean. The site says the fed-up line recently told them not to come back. Ever.

 

The site says that while Brenda and Gerald Moran liked sailing on Royal Caribbean, they had a habit of documenting all sorts of problems big and small that occurred during their cruises, from a birthday greeting delivered to the wrong cabin to a toilet malfunction that spilled sewage into their bathroom. And they weren't shy about talking about the problems in online cruise forums.

 

At first, Royal Caribbean tried to make nice by offering the couple a discount on a future cruise and other perks. But after the Morans kept posting at online site cruisecritic.com about their complaints -- and the compensation that they were getting out of Royal Caribbean by complaining -- the line changed its tune, says expertcruiser.com. The site says the Morans received a phone call from a Royal Caribbean executive and then an official letter informing them they were banned from the line forever.

 

A spokesman for Royal Caribbean tells expertcruiser.com that the couple had complained about all but one of six cruises with the company since 2004. “In a small number of cases we agreed and compensated them appropriately. In most cases, however, we disagreed," the spokesman told the site. "Having concluded that we are unable to meet the expectations of the Morans, we have told them that they would be best served by sailing with another company."

 

The Morans, meanwhile, say they're now sailing on Norwegian Cruise Line.

 

Cruise Loggers, head on over to expertcruiser.com to read the full story, and then come back here to discuss it in the comment area below. Do you think Royal Caribbean was justified in banning the couple from its ships?

[darin3]

The Morans, meanwhile, say they're now sailing on Norwegian Cruise Line.[/b]

Edited May 20, 2008 by darin3

[DMD]

They are professional whiners looking for a constant kickback. I don't blame the cruiseline.

[Duchess Jack]

I remember going through the phonebook at like 3 in the morning with a buddy when in middle school and calling every moran in the book.... we'd basically as them if they had any idea how many flipping morans were in the world. they were not amused

[detlef]

Bravo Royal Caribbean, there's a huge difference between being held accountable for your mistakes and being expected to continually kiss ass over every single issue. For some reason our society frowns upon frivolous law suits but doesn't seem to mind people who make a point exploiting the "customer is always right" deal. In reality, they're not all that different from one another.

 

In both cases, somebody is trying to squeeze more than they deserve out of having to endure some minor annoyance. In both cases, we all end up paying the price in one way or another. Either because businesses end up rolling the expected costs of placating a-holes into their budget and thus, likely passing that cost along to everyone if the resulting bottom line is unsatisfactory or business will continue to dumb down the consumer experience to minimize the chance of pissing these sorts of people off. All because we've been taught the following very stupid lesson:

 

Rule 1: The customer is always right.

Rule 2: If the customer is wrong, refer to rule 1.

 

Now, this doesn't mean that people shouldn't have the right to point out real issues and businesses shouldn't be expected to make it right, but the above axiom doesn't reflect the spirit of this. A number of years ago, a WSJ article was written that basically said that it is simply not worth it to placate serial complainers. They make up a tiny sliver of your business and their referrals aren't worth much. Think about it, the people they'd relate their story to are either just like them (so you don't want them anyway) or they know that these people complain about everything and thus, will take their complaints with a grain of salt.

 

I am happy to say that we are blessed with some of the nicest and down to earth customers at Jujube but I have worked at places where people have been told as much. I used to wait tables at a place that this woman ate at (by herself) at least once a week. Every single time she bitched about something and it was always the pettiest stuff. The first few times, we comped her something, then we stopped comping her anything. Eventually, the owner basically said the same thing the cruise line did, "I'm sorry, but it really seems that we're unable to provide you with a satisfactory dining experience and suggest you find somewhere that can."

[Footballjoe]

My wife just got back from a cruise on the RC. My wife has numerous food allergies that makes it very diffucult to eat out. However, the RC specially cooked all of her food. They even brought out the boxes so the ingredients could be reviewed by my wife. RC gets a

[KSUChiefsTarheelFan]

Rule 1: The customer is always right.

Rule 2: If the customer is wrong, refer to rule 1.

Rule 3: If 1 and 2 is doesn't help, ban those muthas fo life!

 

:handintheface:

[detlef]

Rule 3: If 1 and 2 is doesn't help, ban those muthas fo life!

 

:handintheface:

werd

[Puddy]

They are professional whiners looking for a constant kickback. I don't blame the cruiseline.

Are you telling me that instead of giving me another free subscription this year for complaining about Atomic I may get banned.

Edited May 20, 2008 by Puddy

[DMD]

Are you telling me that instead of giving me another free subscription this year for complaining about Atomic I may get banned.

 

Nah, we'll just ban Atomic and be done with it. He always tried to barter for a new membership by trading spent uranium rods.

[detlef]

Nah, we'll just ban Atomic and be done with it. He always tried to barter for a new membership by trading spent uranium rods.

It's always a special treat when DMD joins in.

[westvirginia]

It's always a special treat when DMD joins in.

 

Suck-up

[AtomicCEO]

Are you telling me that instead of giving me another free subscription this year for complaining about Atomic I may get banned.

 

If DMD was giving away free memberships for complaints about me, this site would have to charge over $100/yr for memberships to everyone else just to stay in the black.