srmknight
map-marker Sacramento, California

Upset and disillusioned Carnival Cruise lines

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After multiple attempts at contacting Carnival Cruise lines, through various channels (phone, email, and facebook) I have finally decided to post a negative review over our most recent experience. I have been cruising with Carnival since the mid 90's, and without fail, every time I return to Carnival they are now charging for something that was once 'included' in your booking price. It started when you began charging for soft drinks, then it was the steakhouse experience, then it was opening more private restaurants (sushi on our most recent cruise) that cost extra. Then, with our recent Alaskan cruise aboard the Carnival Legend, you are now charging for room service! We are not talking about steak and wine either, you are charging for a pizza, which anyone can walk up stairs and get for free any time of day. You are charging for chicken wings, sandwiches, etc. We paid several thousand dollars for our family (two cabins) for this vacation, and at every turn Carnival seems to be looking for a way to get more money out of us. What happened to the cruise being an all inclusive experience? The worst example of this price gouging or nickle and diming your customers occurred when we attend tea time on board the ship on a sea day. We were told that it was an extra $1.99 for an 'herbal' tea. I was blown away that Carnival will literally take any chance they can to get more money out of their customers. The term All Inclusive used to carry real meaning, but it certainly does not anymore, at least not where Carnival is concerned. On top of these concerns, we had planned this entire cruise around one goal - my family wanted to see bears in the wild. We exhaustively researched your shore excursions and finally decided our best chance was the Taku lodge seaplane experience in Juneau. As you will see we booked this excursion several months in advance, we hurried off the ship to meet our pickup time only to be told that the excursion was canceled due to weather concerns. Now, I know that Carnival cannot control the weather, and that the excursion was canceled for safety concerns, I totally understand and appreciate that. What I do not appreciate is that there was zero communication from anyone at Carnival at any time. We were off the ship and told with 5 minutes notice that our excursion was canceled. My children were literally crying - and then we were told there were no other excursions we could attend that day as the ones that were able to operate were either full or had already begun. This left us with several hours in Juneau to do nothing but explore the stores, which all sell pretty much the same thing - I am sure you know this since Carnival owns most of the stores in these ports. You can see everything in about an hour. Our next port, Ketchikan was only a 4 hour stop - not enough time to really do much of anything so we felt like 2 out of our 3 ports in Alaska were mostly a waste! We paid several thousand dollars for this cruise, and for our family that is a lot of money - we saved for two years for this cruise, and while we did have fun it was overall a big disappointment for myself and my family. On top of all that, we had ongoing issues with rude hostesses during our formal dinner times, and at best spotty service from the other wait staff. The quality of the food seems to have really declined over the years as well. For all of these reasons, and more I am no longer comfortable trusting Carnival to manage our vacations, we simply cannot afford the extra money that we will inevitably have to spend on board to have the experience we want, which is a shame, because Carnival used to be a company that took care of its customers. Sadly Carnival has likely lost a 20+ year customer, and I know my money can be spent in other areas and I can get much more for my hard earned dollars.
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Loss:
$3000
Pros:
  • Cabin stewart
Cons:
  • Untruthful customer service
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

srmknight
map-marker Sacramento, California

Sears - My more than $2000 Fridged lasted barely 16 months!

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The title really says it all but here is to hoping sears is OUT OF BUSINESS soon, and the world will no longer has to deal with their terrible customer service, terrible house brand products (KENMORE ELITE) which I was duped into purchasing (actually a cheap LG model there is no Kenmore brand). We purchased a $4000+ kitchen suite from Sears (Fridge, DW, Range, top of the line vent). In the first year, while there was an honest-to-goodness-warranty that Sears was honoring! We had them out twice for the fridge, and once for the dishwasher also supposidly their top of the line model). The warranty expired and now a few months out of warranty we are SCREWED. So here I am about to pay a few hundred dollars to fix something that is not even two years old. So we have esentially paid $125 per month for the privlage of using a fridge that is far inferior from the previous model we purchased in 1999 (WHICH IS STILL GOING STRONG IN MY GARAGE THANK GOD!) FEAR SEARS! FEAR KENMORE!
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Loss:
$2000
Cons:
  • Quality of product
  • Poor warranty
Reason of review:
Bad quality

Preferred solution: FIX MY FRIDGE

srmknight

KFC Destroyed my crown with a 'boneless' sandwich

Visited on 5/23/12. Ordered a Boneless Sandwich. CRUNCH! Bone in my sandwich destroyed a crown, costing me almost $1000. A year later, no resulution Well we visited this 'restaurant' on 5/23/12 at about 11:45 am in the drive through. ย My wife and I ordered the combo meal of two mini honey BBQ sandwiches, fries, and a drink to split. ย My first *** into my sandwich, and CRUNCH! ย A crown on my upper right side was shattered by a bone in my 'boneless' sandwich. ย I have contacted the retail location and the corporate office, finally received a response and my case was referred to a risk management company (Tri-Star Risk Management). ย Dental work is done costing me almost $1000. Fast forward to today (8/6/13)over a year later, I just spoke with the risk management agent AGAIN! despite jumping through all the hoops, making multiple trips to my dentist at my expense in hopes of recouping some of my loses, I was asked, yet again, by the risk management company to provide more case notes, x rays, etc. I am tired of jumping through hoops and getting no result, and what is worse, being accused of scamming them. All I wanted was the money KFC cost me by serving me a bone in boneless sandwich. Your Desired Resolution: The cost of the dental work was approximately $950. I would like to be reimbursed for the cost of my dental work. This case will be reviewed by a complaint specialist at the Better Business Bureau, and then forwarded to the business for their response. It is our policy to allow the business 30 working days to respond to your complaint. You will be notified when the business has responded.
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Loss:
$950
srmknight

Cuisinart - Terrible Coffee Maker/Terrible Service

We purchased a Cuisinart coffee maker, Model Dcc-3000 from R.C. Willey in January 2013. This coffee maker features an internal storage carafe for the brewed coffee as opposed to a traditional external coffee pot. The design idea is the brewed coffee stays warm within the internal carafe until you are ready for it. Then. you push a button and the coffee dispenses into your cup. The problem? It leaks! The first model lasted about 6 weeks, then when we would brew our coffee it would brew and dribble right out onto the floor. We followed all maintenance suggestions, and the problem persisted. R.C. Willey was nice enough to exchange the model for us. Within 4 weeks the exact same thing happened with the new model! R.C. Willey was wonderful they are not the problem, the MANUFACTURE Cuisinart is where the issue lies. What we would like from Cuisinart is one of two things. Either a different model of coffee maker, that does not have an internal storage carafe (just a standard coffee maker with a programmable clock) or a refund of hte $99 we initially paid for the unit so we can purchase a replacement on our own. I do not think we are asking for to much. Cuisinart wants to exchange the 2nd defective model for another version of this same, already proven defective product. If you do a search online for Cuisinart Dcc-3000 leak or reviews you will see ample evidence that I am far from the first consumer to experience this problem with this product. We trusted the Cuisinart brand name when we purchased this appliance, that was a mistake.
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Loss:
$100
srmknight
map-marker Elk Grove, California

The Bradford Exchange - Why you should not buy from Bradford Exchange

The Bradford Exchange - Why you should not buy from Bradford Exchange

I purchased a Christmas Village collection for my wife as a Christmas gift, the pieces arrived mostly on time and she was happy until the final order 3 weeks ago arrived. For a two week period, a tracking number they provided was invalid which just makes you feel very confident in their abilities. When I called and spoke with someone about the invalid number, I was told yes its invalid but I cannot do anything at all. really? Really???? Eventually, about two weeks late, the parcel arrived.

The collection was Muppet's themed (her favorite) and featured figures of all of her favorite characters. After the final delivery, we noticed that we did not receive two of the figures that were originally advertised.

I sent an inquiry email, and got no response. I placed a call, and was told that the picture was 5 years old, and the two figurines in the question were no longer being produced, and had not been produced in some time. My response was "Maybe you should take 5 minutes and snap a new photo, or let your customers know!" I was considering canceling the entire order and returning it and was told that someone from the marketing department would call me back within 48 hours.

That was a little over 10 days ago, the 'marketing' department never did call. I placed my third call this morning, and I was told the figures were no longer available, sorry....that was it! So I am in the process of canceling the entire order and returning it to them. This was TERRIBLE customer service! I cannot stress enough how good they are at taking money, and how bad they are at servicing the customer after the fact.

I noticed as I was uploading a photo, that since my complaint, they have actually taken new photo's! Just amazing!

Buyer Beware! Buyer Beware! Buyer Beware!

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5 comments
Guest

Whatever you all need to tell yourselves. Hawthorne and Bradford are the same company, offering the same exact products.

I have received correspondence from both companies regarding this issue. You are frankly arguing semantics at this point. It is clear that you have no intention of ever making this right, and based on complaints from others regarding your company, I am not surprised.

In addition, on 4/21 you changed my account again, which is now in dispute with my credit card company, I never received this credit you mentioned. I stand by my initial claim of BUYER BEWARE

regina t Fpu

Dear Valued Client, We are very sorry but the link you provided is for the "Muppets Christmas Village GIFT SET", which you did not order. The gift set is different from the collection you ordered. Any information or special offers contained in the advertisement for the gift set does not pertain to your order.

Additionally, we informed you that although the accessories were NOT planned for EVERY issue in the collection, it WAS "possible" that the figures you wanted (Scooter, Bunsen and Beaker) "would have been" included "IF" the collection was not shortened.

We are very sorry this collection has been shortened and there will be no further issues beyond the fourth issue, "Illuminated Town Tree." Subsequent issues (including any accessories that may have been included)have not and will not be produced. For all intense purposes, you have received the "complete" collection of all that was produced by our manufacturer. The "missing" figurines will not have any effect on the collection's "value."

Since we were unable to accommodate your request, and in the interest of good client relations, we issued you a discount toward the fourth issue to compensate that no further figurines would be produced.

Thanks, Regina

Guest

Below is a cut and paste from the recent response by a representative from the Bradford Exchange. They claim, that even though the Hawethorne Company, and Bradford Exchange are sister companies, with identical merchandise, manufactured exactly the same, that the two collections are different.

I find this very humorous, and they are reaching at straws. I will continue to report on their tactical lies to hopefully help others avoid the same fate.We are very sorry but the link provided by Mr. XXXXX is for the "MuppetsChristmas Village GIFT SET" which Mr. XXXXXX did NOT order.

The gift set is different from the collection.that Mr. XXXXX ordered and any information or special offers contained in theadvertisement does not pertain to Mr. XXXXX order. The attachment we provided in our previousresponse is the "correct" link for the collection he ordered.

IfMr. XXXXX has any further comments or concerns, we will be happy to addressthem if he contacts us directly.

Otherwise, we are considering the matter closed with the BBB as thisissue is not one of questionable business tactics or fraud. Thank you, XXXXXXXXXXX Client Services 800-323-****

Guest

Thank you Regina, I emailed you on 4/12/12 shortly after you replied to my post, to the email address you specified. I included all the information you requested. I am anxious to hear back from you, and hope this can be mutually resolved.

Best Regards

regina t Fpu

Dear Srmknight, Again, thank you for your posting. I'm sure I'll be able to assist you in supplying the missing pieces in your Item Jim Henson's Muppets North Pole Christmas Village Collection.

Please contact me at customer_inquiry@***.com.

Please include your client account number, order number, and/or name and address. Regards, Regina

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