Latest Update from P&O

As you already know I have had a very challenging time of late with P&O.  I have been trying for three months to get some answers to questions that I had put to their customer service after returning from my cruise in May.  After three months and going nowhere and going through two Customer Service Executives, one Head of Marketing, one Disability Adviser and one Customer Services Manager I believe I have answers to most of my queries.

Last week I received a call to discuss for the umpteen time my comments and suggestions that I had sent in May and to say that I was extremely disappointed is an understatement to say the least.

The Retreat on Azura

Information Sheet 
I have been campaigning for an information sheet on each P&O ship to give to passengers that have registered a disability.  Information that I suggested should be included is the location of platform lifts (Azura & Ventura) and lifts on their other ships for use by disabled passengers, facilities and accessibility information could also be included.

I have been informed that P&O have no plans to create an information sheet for passengers now or in the future because they have invested millions into their on line help service and website.  I have voiced my own opinions on this as they have just assumed that all passengers have access to a computer.  I was told that a large number of passengers book their cruises through travel agents.  This being said I cannot understand their reasoning behind their decision.  For those passengers an on line help facility would not be of use so sending a hard copy to those passengers would be helpful.

It was also assumed by the manager that I was talking to that disabled lift location information was included in the ships cabin directory, I informed her that it was not the case.

"Full Time Wheelchair Users"
I had also noticed the wording "full time wheelchair users" being used when using certain facilities on board ships.  I pointed out that this discriminates between passengers who are part time wheelchair users and full time wheelchair users.  I explained that many part time users often have a disability or condition that may vary from day to day and therefore may require the use of a chair at anytime and stating that only "full time" users may use the spaces in the teatre is discriminating.  The Manager tried to tell me that it was done to deter mobility scooter users from using these spaces.  I pointed out that most venues have a policy where disabled spaces are for the use of wheelchair users and walking disabled only and clearly states no scooters.  She had no answer.

Front Line Disability Team
This team was disbanded when the company was restructured.  I was told that the company has invested in customer and online services which they are confident can answer any questions that may arise and have no plans to have a front line team.  Again, I do not know how they can say that when you are put on hold for some considerable time and only be told that they don't know the answer, no surprise there!

Our last cruise was booked through a cruise agent who passed everything on to P&O, which is normal.  A couple of days later I called P&O's customer service to request a disability questionnaire only to be told that I would have to go back to my cruise agent and ask them to request it my behalf and then P&O would sent it to my agent who would eventually pass it onto me.  Tell me how is that more effiicent?

The Cookery Club 
What can I say it took over 9 weeks and several people later who informed that The Cookery Club does have a lowered workspace.  My initial contact and equiry to P&O was based on computer images and information supplied to my cruise agent and myself over the phone and in personal by P&O staff.  At that time I believed it to be true.

During the last 14 weeks I have been in contact with a total of 5 people from P&O and my impression is that none of them had any idea of where to go to answer any questions I had and so when the customer services manager told me that given time they can answer any queries; I laughed.  What has annoyed me most is the promises that were made that I now know were a pack of lies.  Why lie to me?

I find it hard to believe that they feel producing fact sheets to send to passengers time comsuming.  It was made obvious to me that the disability adviser would rather not have direct contact with passengers and it seems to spend their time in the legal side, I doubt they even know what the Equality Act 2010 is about.  But I now have there email so if anyone has any questions or queries I will be more than happy to contact the adviser.

Poor Customer Service P&O!

Following on from my previous post about P&O's customer service I actually had a 4th person call me and I will refer to her as Clare (not her real name) who introduced herself as a disability adviser.  From the off she spoke to me with contempt, launching into the fact that The Cookery Club does have a lowered workstation and not giving me the chance to explain that all I had to go on was a couple of CGI's and incorrect information given to me by P&O which I believed to be correct at the time.  This information was given over the phone and in person.

When Clare had stopped to draw breath I asked her why it had took two months and 4 people, who were two customer services executives, one director and one disability adviser before I was informed that there was a lower counter in The Cookery Club.  I also told her that my letters were about accommodation floors, lack of or incorrect information, gangways and disembarkation.

I had said that customer service was poor at the best of times and very frustrating if you have a disability question as you are often put on hold for a period of time and when the person does eventually come back they often don't have an answer.  When I first cruised with P&O in 2008 there was a dedicated team that you could speak to.  This was when Clare told me that when P&O restructured they decided that they did not want a disability team that the passengers could speak to, but she could not expand on their reasoning behind this ridiculous decision. Although she is supposed to be a disability adviser she does not deal with a lot of queries but the admin side of things.
 
Our conversation eventually got back to Britannia and The Cookery Club and she offered to send me some photographs she had taken to show this workstation and I immediately said that I would like to see them and she also said she would email them to me along with her contact details so that I could contact if I had anymore questions and we left it there. 

You could guess what happened next, nothing! So once again I found myself chasing her up by having to email one of my other contacts.  Clare eventually emailed me back in what I consider a rude manner saying that because I am not sailing on Britannia again she assumed I didn't need to see these photographs.  She just doesn't understand what disability awareness is.  I did reply but by this time I was starting to loose the will to live and with the reply I sent I didn't expect to hear from her again.

It was on 31st July and Clare called me I didn't really want to talk to Clare as we would only go over old ground and speaking to her wasn't going to achieve anything but the polite person I am I agreed to speak with her.  The conversation was just a carbon copy of our previous conversation.  I know I probably won't get anything improved but I think I am entitled to a letter of apology.

Two Months, 4 people and I am still getting fobbed off by P&O

CGI of The Cookery Club

Over two months ago I wrote to P&O's Customer Service with several comments and issues that I experienced whilst on board Britannia.  One of items I mentioned was The Cookery Club which I believed was not accessible according to this image which was released by P&O.  My agent had been invited to spend two nights on board prior to the maiden voyage and whilst on board made a point to find out if the club was accessible and on her return she reported that all the workstations were the same height.  Based on the images available and information at hand I decided not to book a class.  Other items that I mentioned included accommodation floors, gangways, lack of and incorrect information.

Once P&O's Customer Service has received a letter or email a case is raised and is given to a Customer Service Executive.  They have 28 days to reply to your communication and in my case the first person contacted me on day 27.  The person who I spoke to was very polite and during our call offered a lot which I had asked to be confirmed in writing.  An email did arrive all be it after several days but did not confirm everything we discussed but did include things that we didn't discuss.  So I sent an email back asking for certain things to be confirm; and I waited and waited!  A week passed and I heard nothing from this chap and found it hard to know where to go to next and decided to follow my own advice, which is to go to the top of the tree.

After a bit of a search I was given the email of Christopher Edgington, Director P&O Cruises.  I sent a rather lengthy letter to him explaining my issues and concerns and that I felt as if I was being fobbed off.  He took the time and read my letter and emailed me to say that he had asked his team to look at my letter urgently.  Great, Fantastic News!

Enter person no.3 who called me and we discussed the issues that I had raised and once again I was promised a email confirmation of our conversation and again I was let down.  I was slowly losing patience and I had to contact Christopher Edgington again, I say I was frustrated would be an understatement.  I was once again told that he would get his team to look at my letter urgently.  I was contacted again by person no.3 that day to see how I would like to proceed and replied to his email and ending it by saying I deserve a letter of apology at the very least.

We have booked our next cruise, favourite cabin and OBC of £520!

While on Britannia we heard many passengers talk about their cruises to the Baltic and as we both wanted at some point to visit Scandinavia and Russian and both are on the Baltic so that made it obvious what we should look for.  
There aren't many cruises to the Baltic so we decided to book sooner than later if we wanted a specific cabin.   We found a 14 night cruise to the Baltic on board P&O's Azura in June departing on a Sunday.  The itinerary is departing from Southampton, Belgium, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Southampton.
We never book direct with P&O but through a cruise broker.  We got an additional 2% off the P&O price.  Best of all is that we were able to book our favourite cabin E225 and when we received confirmation we have been given an on board credit of £520.  I knkow it is 11 months away but I can't help being a tiny bit excited!
 

Prescription medication to be stamped "Funded by UK taxpayer"

I'm starting not to want to turn on the breakfast TV as it seems there is aways something our government is trying to take, bring in or change and Thursday was no different.  Today it was the turn of the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt who has proposed that a price tag is to be put on prescription medicines in the UK under a plan to cut waste in the NHS and reduce the £300 million bill for "wasted" prescription medication that is not used.  All medicines over £20 will have an "Indicative cost" and  "Funded by UK taxpayer" stamped on the packaging.  This proposal is being rolled out in 2016.  
In a speech to a local government association in Harrogate, Yorkshire Jeremy Hunt said that "This will not just be reduce by reminding people of the cost of medicine, but also improve patient care by boosting adherence to drug regimes" and also added "Everything we are proud of in the NHS is funded by taxpayers and every penny we waste cost patients more through higher taxes or reduced services"  He also stated that "initiatives such as these aim to increase transparency, and fit into government to put increase awareness of cost and choices involved in public spending".  Mr Hunt also stated that while integration of health and social care was vital to delivering high standard of health care.  Personal responsibility needs to sit alongside system accountability.  
I don't know about anyone else but I feel as if Jeremy Hunt is making a dig again at the most venerable people in society with this words "funded by taxpayers".  I am currently taking 23 tablets a day, I have CP, chronic pain from spinal stenosis and a permanently damaged rotator cuff and Diabetes.  It was a long process to find a pain medication regime that worked for me and this was done with my pain management clinic.  The medication I am currently using has enabled me to take back a small part of my life.  It means I am not bent over but can stand upright.  I am still in pain daily but it is more manageable and I can enjoy life and smile. So how dare he try and make people like myself feel guilty.  
I know there is a lot of concerns over the elderly and the fear is that they will worry about the cost they are causing the government and stop taking their medication.  
Waste is something that will always happen because of things like allergic reaction and unused and unopened boxes that are destroyed, why not put them back into system or back to the companies of manufacture.  Changes in dosage can create waste if you are part way through your prescription.  These things cannot be helped.  Am I going to think twice about asking for my repeat prescription when I see the price tag on my medication no and I don't see it will making a blind bit of difference to others.

Great Cruise P&O - But improvements need to be made!!

After we returned from our recent P&O cruise I felt that somethings on board could be improved so I wrote a quite lengthy email to their customer service.  The main issues were:  

•  Not enough room in the accommodation corridors to manoeuvre a wheelchair or walker around housekeeping trolleys without scrapping wheels along walls or damaging your knuckles.  To ask a cabin steward to move his trolley into an alcove was like talking to a brick wall, apart from one or two that were extremely helpful. 
• Lack of information for passengers who had registered a disability with regard to gangways at ports, emergency procedures and access to the sports deck via a lift on deck 17.  
• The Cookery Club is not accessible to anyone who is disabled as they do not have an adapted workspace.     

When you contact P&O customer service you have to give them up to 28 days to reply and I just knew that they would take that time to get back to me especially as I had requested that I spoke with someone.  As I foretold their customer service contacted me on 27th day.  The chap that I spoke with was very polite and we discussed my issues to which he has given me proposals of how the issues will be tackled.  
The issue of cabin stewards not manoeuvring their housekeeping trolleys so that people can pass is going to be addressed by giving the stewards some awareness training.  I was a bit astounded to be told they are the only crew members who do not receive this.  Being as they are the ones who have day to day contact with passengers I found this a bit odd? 
Lack of information for passengers who have registered a disability will be looked into and the proposal is that P&O will produce a pre-cruise information pack for passengers.  
The issues with The Cookery Club were still being looked into so this was not really discussed but was happy to leave that there for the moment.  
The main surprise was that as the call was ending the chap said that he would like to give me some on board credit which would be added to my next cruise and I accepted the £100 credit.  I was promised that a confirmation email would be sent detailing our conversation and I was more than happy to leave it there. That was on 16th June and by the 20th June I had still not received a confirmation email and so I sent an email asking in a polite but firm manner for confirmation of the OBC offer and details of what we had discussed.  I did receive an email on the 26th June as promised and some more information regarding TheT

The Cookery Club

Cookery Club, my comments and concerns have been passed onto the Disability and Mobility Management Team for further investigation as P&O who are fully committed to providing all their passengers with equal facilities and opportunities.  The email states that they will be able to take action with regard to this.  
On so many occasions I am told something will change and it never does, but with this I am determined to get it changed.  I have the chaps direct email and will be contacting him again shortly if I don't receive an undate.  For far too long disabled people have been happy with their lot but I am not and I will continue to fight for equality.

It Seems like a lifetime Away!

We have only been home 18 days from our last cruise but it seems such a long time ago now.  In that time we have been very busy and not with the usual post-cruise activities such as clothes washing.  
We had a friend come and stay with us for 9 days during half-term.  I also found our new

addition to our family, a British Short Haired x Ragdoll kitten who we are calling Abby Luna.  We are nervous-excited as we are picking her up Saturday afternoon.  Since my last post we have been busy buying for Abby and we are just about there.  She has her playpen, basket with heat pad,a large cuddly bunny, blankets, bowls, toys and and endless amount of love waiting for her when she comes home on Saturday.  
Having Abby means that we won't be going far these next few months but that is a sacrifice we are willing to make for this georgeous bundle of fluff.  It just gives me more time to look and plan.  In any case we live near a coastal resort so we can go and see the sea anytime we wish.