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adriennek
01-27-2012, 09:02 PM
So I'm going to keep this short because I just have too much other stuff to do but I want to forewarn any other parents out there, especially moms: Beware, the Main Gate CM Police.

Today I went to the parks. I usually keep my AP in my lanyard wallet but I'd misplaced it in my purse after I got to the parking structure.

I pulled the AP out of my wallet and handed it to the CM at the gate. Remember, they don't have pictures on them now, right? Well it turns out that I'd handed her my 10-year-old son's AP, so his picture came up and she said "This is a boy, not you."

I looked at the picture and said "Oh! That's my son! I'm sorry! I gave you the wrong AP." I pulled out my wallet to show her my ID to get the AP back. She would not give it back to me. I told her that she could check my address, that's my son, we're the same family. Nope.

And I could not find my AP. I dug through my wallet. I had my other two sons' APs, which I told her and her lead who was now there. But I could not find my AP anywhere.

They told me I could go to the Ticket Booth to get a Complementary One-Day Pass on my AP.

But they could not give me back my son's AP.

Yeah.

To make a long story short:

Main Gate CM: Adversarial, unapologetic, disinterested. I felt totally humiliated and that my integrity was challenged.

Ticket Booth CM: Friendly, apologetic, respectful. Ticket Booth Lead: Very much the same.

They gave me the Complementary Pass for the day and told me that if I went back to the Main Gate, that CM would return the AP.

I got the AP back and more bad attitude out of her. A friend who was with me, a former CM herself, was equally unhappy with her rudeness towards me.

Be careful if you carry your family's APs with you when they're not there with you. If you accidentally give them the wrong AP, they may assume that a 41-year-old brunette woman is trying to sneak in as a 10-year-old blonde kid. Because that's totally something I would do. Right?

And special thanks to everyone who cheated so that decent people with moral integrity get treated like dirt. (Ask me how I really feel.)

bumblebeeonarose
01-27-2012, 09:55 PM
Wow

Mom2
01-27-2012, 10:34 PM
So sorry that happened to you! (((((HUGS)))))

tea4two
01-27-2012, 10:49 PM
So sorry that you had to experience that! And glad to hear that the Ticket Booth CMs were able to help you. I hope you reported the Main Gate CM. It's good that she was trying to be careful, but there is just no excuse for her rude, unprofessional behavior -- especially from someone who might be a guest's first contact at DL.

adriennek
01-27-2012, 11:01 PM
So sorry that you had to experience that! And glad to hear that the Ticket Booth CMs were able to help you. I hope you reported the Main Gate CM. It's good that she was trying to be careful, but there is just no excuse for her rude, unprofessional behavior -- especially from someone who might be a guest's first contact at DL.

I haven't reported the CM yet, but I plan to. I don't know if I should go to City Hall tomorrow or e-mail it in through the website. I'm pretty unhappy about the attitude she threw out at me. It was SO unnecessary. I mean, yeah, people cheat. But let's think about this: Families have APs and parents carry them in their wallets, too.

Leap for Joy
01-28-2012, 05:04 AM
I've observed the gate CMs being adversarial on many occasions. I know that it must be stressful when a guest does something that holds up the entire line, but that's no reason to be rude. I'm glad you're going to report it!

Malcon10t
01-28-2012, 05:30 AM
While I don't agree with the CM's treatment of you, in some ways I understand it. I am sure they see so much more, and I am sure some try to enter on neighbors passes all the time. It's sort of like cops, you get pulled over for 5 miles over the speed limit and get a ticket. Sometimes they let you go, but if the cop has just left an accident where a child has been seriously hurt or killed, you will be getting the ticket.

I am glad you are reporting her. And I am having MDM move my nieces APs to another area of her wallet. She entered on one of their passes once by accident. We knew when she turned and saw the pic on the screen. And they let her in. A 25yo, dark haired woman does not even closely resemble a 10yo blond girl....

disneyobsessed
01-28-2012, 07:10 AM
I understand that abuses occur, and it is probably stressed to gate CMs to watch out for these things, but that doesn't call for such rudeness to someone who has made an honest mistake (and has verifiable ways of showing how the mistake could be an honest one) and is explaining calmly and rationally and not being belligerent, rude, or disrespectful him/herself. These photo-less APs have been a major pain in the you-know-where since they were implemented. We encountered an extremely rude gate CM in August. Our APs were new, DS12's picture hadn't come through yet due to being rejected the first time around. The gate CM at DCA yelled at my son for not having his picture taken. Very inappropriate way to handle such a situation.

houseofmouse
01-28-2012, 07:33 AM
Wow, that person actually yelled at your son?? That so would not have gotten by with me, it would have gotten ugly.

Sorry you had a bad experience Adrienne. I keep my kids Ap's (when they had them) with mine in my little disney wallet. Back then they had the pics on them. Good info to know. I hope you do turn her in. There are much better ways to handle that situation than rudeness and being indifferent to an innocent mistake.

adriennek
01-28-2012, 08:10 AM
I've observed the gate CMs being adversarial on many occasions. I know that it must be stressful when a guest does something that holds up the entire line, but that's no reason to be rude. I'm glad you're going to report it!

I wasn't even holding up the line, either!! I got out of line to dig through my purse. The gate next to this one was unattended so I walked over there to look for it. She kept letting people in while I was over there.

3Princesses1Prince
01-29-2012, 10:41 AM
Even WITH pictures we got our APs mixed up some times. The girls and I had matching shirts on that day and all wore our hair in piggy tails. The fuzzy B/W photos looked eerily similar.

The CM's attitude was totally uncalled for. We had an issue once, for some reason my FILs wasn't scanned properly so it wasn't working in the FP machine. DH was the FP runner and the CM at the FP machine took the pass to try to see if it could be scanned and realized it didn't register at the gate. Even though we all had the same last name, the CM wouldn't give the pass back to DH. DH had to come back to get his dad and go back to the entrance to get his AP back and get it properly scanned. Though I understood the reasoning, the attitude was uncalled for.

danyoung
01-29-2012, 01:04 PM
As others have said, there was no call for rudeness from the CM. That said, the system worked just like it was designed to work. You used an AP that wasn't yours, and then couldn't find your own AP. The procedure for sending you to a ticket booth or Guest Services seems like a correct one. And I'm not too surprised that they wouldn't give you back the AP that didn't match with you. How were they to know who your sons were? Of course you weren't trying to pull anything, but someone who IS trying to pull something might do exactly what you did - use an AP that they found or stole and try to spin a story that would let them in.

But again, no reason for a CM to be rude about it all.

jsilkey
01-29-2012, 05:07 PM
And I'm not too surprised that they wouldn't give you back the AP that didn't match with you. How were they to know who your sons were?

I don't know about you, but if it were my son, they could easily verify the same last name/address was on my driver's license. My son wasn't the one who paid for the pass!

They could have verified she was the adult responsible for that pass from the information available to them on the computer and it is inexcusable to not give it back to her immediately.

danyoung
01-29-2012, 05:37 PM
I'll give you that the last name might be the same. But I don't think there's any indication on a child's record in the Disney computer of the parents' names. I could be wrong about that, but I don't see how they could have verified anything, unless the parent just happened to have the child's birth certificate on her.

adriennek
01-29-2012, 05:46 PM
I don't know about you, but if it were my son, they could easily verify the same last name/address was on my driver's license. My son wasn't the one who paid for the pass!

They could have verified she was the adult responsible for that pass from the information available to them on the computer and it is inexcusable to not give it back to her immediately.

Yep. Exactly. That's why I whipped it out before I did anything else. I figured I'd get OUT of line to search for my AP in my purse, why take up space right there?

Nevermind that we have the same last name and the child's face looks so much like me it's not even funny. (Of my three children, he's the one who looks totally like me.)

adriennek
01-29-2012, 05:47 PM
I'll give you that the last name might be the same. But I don't think there's any indication on a child's record in the Disney computer of the parents' names. I could be wrong about that, but I don't see how they could have verified anything, unless the parent just happened to have the child's birth certificate on her.

It's so connected in the computer it wasn't even funny.

Heck, IT'S A MONTHLY INSTALLMENT PAY PLAN USING MY CREDIT CARD!!!

ralfrick
01-29-2012, 06:26 PM
C'mon, Dan, this is Disney. I'd be shocked if they don't have a database with every FP and discount ever obtained with an AP. I could almost understand the caution if I grabbed my wife's by mistake since she kept her maiden name; certainly not the rudeness, though.

A bientot.

danyoung
01-29-2012, 06:40 PM
I don't doubt that the info is in the database somewhere. But I completely doubt that that type of information is available to the CM manning the turnstile. There's just no way that credit card info is on that gate screen. I'd bet all they have is a name and a picture. If it doesn't match, no admittance.

AnotherJenny
01-29-2012, 06:40 PM
As others have said, there was no call for rudeness from the CM. That said, the system worked just like it was designed to work. You used an AP that wasn't yours, and then couldn't find your own AP. The procedure for sending you to a ticket booth or Guest Services seems like a correct one. And I'm not too surprised that they wouldn't give you back the AP that didn't match with you. How were they to know who your sons were? Of course you weren't trying to pull anything, but someone who IS trying to pull something might do exactly what you did - use an AP that they found or stole and try to spin a story that would let them in.

But again, no reason for a CM to be rude about it all.

Agreed that aside from the rudeness, they should send you to the ticket booth or Guest Services to verify address. I wouldn't expect the CM at the turnstile to check an address or alternate ID. Yes, it is an honest mistake, but given the potential for abuse and what seems like a general sentiment that Disney should do something about it, I don't think walking a few yards to another window is unreasonable. That being said, I don't think you should be sent back to the same CM to get the AP back. Either a lead should hold it, or it should be sent to Guest Services to hold.

(And, I know Disney gives you the option to add "family members" on their site, but I don't know how that information could be displayed at the gates when you scan an AP. It still seems like a window where the CM has access to more account information might still be the way to go.)

MidwayManiac
01-29-2012, 07:16 PM
C'mon, Dan, this is Disney. I'd be shocked if they don't have a database with every FP and discount ever obtained with an AP. .

Not that I disagree with this per se, but every time I wanna invoke the It's Disney benefit of the doubt, I'm forced to recall that their point of sale registers aren't equipped to display APers pictures. Makes for a nice game of card juggling between the CM and me: "mmmk here's my AP. Yeah I'm getting it ... here's my California driver's license. annnnnnnd great now for the coup de grace, here's a credit card." c'mon. System needs to join the 21st century.

A few times we've been accosted by CMs at the gate to go update our pictures (I'm 25 lbs lighter and my 4yo daughter's pic is over 2 years outdated/useless for identification purposes) but, sorry, I've got better things to do once in the park. I just find the relatively new "no pictures on APs" policy to be a mixed message: Disney expecting patrons to have accurate updated images on file for their own convenience (admittance/enforcement) while providing no incentive and in fact making the customer purchasing experience less convenient, vis a vis the game of AP/id/credit card juggle. Which brings me full circle to the OP ....

If Disney would've not instituted a flawed half-baked AP picture policy, it stands to reason passholders would present the wrong AP at the gate far less often.

3Princesses1Prince
01-29-2012, 07:20 PM
While that info is likely not on the screen, a lead could easily take it and verify it backstage. I mean they can verify a awDW ticket has days left, why not this.

foolishmortal
01-29-2012, 07:56 PM
Would it mess up the pass to take a sharpie marker and write your initials on the back? It might help with id'ing the right AP.

I'll be the one that does this for sure.

They really did not have to be rude about it at all. You can still handle the situation with out being rude.

lovechows
01-29-2012, 08:48 PM
So sorry you had that experience. It really detracts from the magic when you have rude CMs.

Related to this, as we were leaving the park a few weeks ago, I noticed a child's photo--and child's name--on the terminal screen in full view of everyone who passed by it as we were going past the turnstile. As soon as I saw it, I asked the CM who was issuing hand stamps (right next to the terminal) if she could take care of it) and she just gave me a dumb look. Sadly, even after explaining to her that it was a security risk for the child (a predator's dream!), I doubt if she did anything about it. If Disney hasn't changed their procedures, those of you with children may want to check to ensure that your children's photos are off the screen before you enter the park.

3Princesses1Prince
01-29-2012, 09:45 PM
Lovechows, a valid concern. One of us usually enters, then the kids, then DH and the stroller. Previously the stroller riders havebeen under 3 so no pass, but we will all have passes so we will have to be dilligent in presenting on of our APs last.

TIMBO
02-01-2012, 01:39 PM
WOW...My 8yr old dd loves to switch AP's with my DW to "fool" the CM's @ the gates...in her eyes its the funniest thing in the world that the CM thinks Mom is a kid....DW is always right behind or in front of her and they have only been challened once...CM laughed about it and let them thru.

I on the other hand hold my 11 yr old dd's AP and I'm pretty sure someone would stop us if we switched.