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jazzysmom
12-23-2005, 09:25 AM
I just got off the phone with an employee at the Disneyland Hotels. I was calling for 2 reasons...

1.) I wanted to confirm what days early admission were going to be while I was there.

2.) What room type they had me booked in.

So, I also ended up asking him about the rumor that if you are staying at the Disney properties that you could go to early entry any of the days they are having it rather than just once. I got grilled about where I had heard that. "Was that on the official Disney website, I think not" he said. I told him I had read it several places, including here and he said, "Oh the gossip ring". That comment bugged me. I find this website to be a tremendous source of information. As a travel agent, I enjoy learning all I can about my favorite destination to send clients.

On to my next sin...I had asked what room type I had. Then I started to talk about when I had booked it the girl I spoke with and I had talked about me checking back closer to my date of arrival, or at check in to see if a courtesy upgrade to a view room would be possible. This really ticked him off. He said, "I have never heard of that before, getting a free upgrade to a better room". I was dumbfounded that he even said this, because this has to be a complete lie. I would say 50% of the time I book properties, I or my clients get free upgrades just by asking at check in! If the rooms aren't sold out, what skin off thier nose is it to put you in a better room?!? I told him all of this, and he said, "That may happen with other properties, but not Disney properties". Unfortunately, I continued to talk to him...

I told him that when we stayed at the Grand last year, we received a free upgrade to a park view room (a fantastic upgrade may I add). He didn't believe me and claimed he couldn't find that I had ever stayed at the Grand...ummm OK! I have my receipts and pictures if you wanna see them buddy.

I am just completely puzzled why he would get so upset at the idea of a free upgrade and say that it has never been done.

Am I totally crazy?? Either way, chances are there will be a horse head in my bed when I arrive at the Disneyland hotel in January...

I Heart Disneyland!
12-23-2005, 09:30 AM
Am I totally crazy?? Either way, chances are there will be a horse head in my bed when I arrive at the Disneyland hotel in January...

OH MY GOSH! This comment has me laughing SO much jazzysmom! Sorry...I know you are frustrated, but, the horses head in your bed. Oh, too funny.

On to the topic at hand...I am appauled that he talked to you this way. Doesn't he know...the customer is ALWAYS right? Even if he didn't believe you, why not give you the benefit of a doubt and confirm your comment and answer your questions. Personally, I'd be calling to tell someone about his behavior. Being in customer service for over 25 years, this is totally unacceptable to me.

Have fun! (I don't think they will put a horse head in your bed!) ;)

crazi4dlr
12-23-2005, 09:30 AM
Sounds like you got hit with the "holiday blues" from someone who works with the public. Don't sweat it, just bless the guy and don't let it rent space in your head. You know people get crazy this time of year. Sending lots of hugs and Christmas wishes your way. And watch, because you went through this, you will have the best stay ever at DLR because what goes around comes around. Okay enough cliches for one post. Merry Christmas to you and those beauties in your avatar!!!!!

Noah
12-23-2005, 09:39 AM
Best thing to do in those situations is say, "thanks for the information, I am going to discuss my options with my Husband and make a decision later" then call back a few hours later you will most probably not get the same person on the phone again and will have a more pleasant phone operator. :)

KimmyPooh
12-23-2005, 09:41 AM
What a rude employee. I stayed at the DL hotel and did early check in. They couldn't tell me my room number or if my requests (non smoking room, king bed) could be met. I had no idea where my room was until I officially checked in. (It's probably because they don't know who is checking out until they check out of the room.)

Bolivar
12-23-2005, 09:42 AM
When I stayed at the DLH recently I really, really wanted the Sierra Tower, 6th floor or higher, park side. I paid the extra cost for the view room and all, but they won't promise you the park side, it could be the pool side.

I ended up calling them a million times and every time I would restate my request. The quality and niceness of the CM was surprizingly varried. My advise is just call back and talk to someone else.

BTW -- I ended up on the pool side. I was bummed.

MickeyandMe
12-23-2005, 10:21 AM
I stayed at the DLH in late November (at the great AP rate!) and we were told upon check-in that we had early entry available to us each day it was available, and we had no problems getting in at the front gate for early entry on both Tuesday and Thursday by just showing our room charge card.

DianeM
12-23-2005, 10:44 AM
You'd be doing Disney a favor if you complained. Possibly this guy was just having a bad day, but as a customer service person, he is the first contact many people have with Disneyland courtesy, and he dropped the ball repeatedly. No matter how bad a day he is having, he shouldn't be suggesting to patrons that they are liars. The right thing to say is "I'm sorry, there must be some problem with our records system, I can't find a record of your last stay" and "I'm sorry, but I can't provide you with an upgrade at this time, and I'm not familiar with any policy that would allow me to do so. I'll check with my manager and see if there is a policy I don't know about". It sounds as if Disney is having some personnel problems in reservations, too.



Am I totally crazy?? Either way, chances are there will be a horse head in my bed when I arrive at the Disneyland hotel in January...

adriennek
12-23-2005, 10:51 AM
I got grilled about where I had heard that. "Was that on the official Disney website, I think not" he said.

I'm wondering where in the training manual it told him that this was a good way to interact with customers and leave them with a positive opinion of the Disney organization. I'm just making a wild guess here that he had a snot-nosed tone when he said it, too? Because no one says something like that with a friendly attitude.

If he were my employee and he spoke to my clients like that, he would be my former employee.

Adrienne

Walt'sbirthdaygirl
12-23-2005, 10:52 AM
90% of the CM's you talk to while booking are great. They are receptive and agreeable the multiple times I call to confirm the type of room and all the little things, nonsmoking, cribs etc........


We are staying at the GCH in two weeks, when I booked at the AP rate 6 weeks ago I was told we had a DTD disney room with two queens, which is just peachy keen fine with me. When I called last week to confirm ( I always do) the CM I spoke with said we had a standard view room, likely the parking lot. I said thats not what I booked and she said in a very snotty tone, well that is what you are paying for. Well, all righty then. So I called back later and the next CM said yes, we were booked for DTD view but that sometime in the last week it had been changed to standard view. She said normally she would reccommend we request a better view on check in, but the hotel is completely sold out. She was very nice and I thanked her for looking into it.

Andrew
12-23-2005, 11:01 AM
Did you find out why your reservation had been changed? Did anyone ever call you or send you anything telling you about the change?

Good thing you called; it would have been distressing to check in and only find out then that your reservation had been changed.

BGLeduc
12-23-2005, 12:06 PM
Am I totally crazy?? Either way, chances are there will be a horse head in my bed when I arrive at the Disneyland hotel in January...


On a positive note, it would likely be an audio-animatronic horse's head!:D

Brian

twist1980
12-23-2005, 12:16 PM
They couldn't tell me my room number or if my requests (non smoking room, king bed) could be met. I had no idea where my room was until I officially checked in. (It's probably because they don't know who is checking out until they check out of the room.)

When we checked in last week (early check-in as well), they looked up my Mom's room (they weren't checking in until the next day) and were able to tell me that we had connecting rooms. So I think they have some idea of where you are going to be. Or that could have been beacause we had connecting rooms and those are limited...maybe that is why they knew.

And EE is available to hotel guests more than one day. You can go every day that it is offered! :)

jazzysmom
12-23-2005, 12:35 PM
"audio-animatronic horse's head"

Hee hee SNORT. Good one!

jazzysmom
12-23-2005, 12:37 PM
I'm wondering where in the training manual it told him that this was a good way to interact with customers and leave them with a positive opinion of the Disney organization. I'm just making a wild guess here that he had a snot-nosed tone when he said it, too? Because no one says something like that with a friendly attitude.

If he were my employee and he spoke to my clients like that, he would be my former employee.

Adrienne
Yes, the snot-nosed tone was in full use. I now affectionately am referring to him as "The Turd at Disney".

Susan L
12-23-2005, 05:44 PM
Not only have we received free upgrades to rooms at PPH. I have a letter from the Disneyland Resort stating that on our next visit, which is in Feb, that we get a free upgrade to a suite upon availability, wish us luck on this one. Also when I booked my reservation with Guest Relations for the CGH I was given a room number. So this person who told you that upgrades don't happen at the DLR is completely wrong on this point. I would also complian about this person but, make sure you do it in writing.

ToursbabeC3po
12-23-2005, 06:51 PM
Welcome to the NEW and improved Disney Cast members! Although I have to say I had great service last week when I went I hear more and more stories like this all the time. Sorry you had to deal with that:-(

ILovePoker
12-23-2005, 10:55 PM
From some of these responses, it seems that Disney is very unorganized with reservations.

If that punk would have been talking with me, he'd get a nice talking to from that comment. Completely unnacceptable.

mi_mous
12-23-2005, 11:17 PM
I have never been treated like that by anyone making reservations, even when they have no room for me to make a reservation.
I would write a letter to Disney, explain the situation, and let them know how the call ended.
That is NO way to treat anyone, no matter who you are. IMO

Wesley815
12-24-2005, 01:06 AM
Welcome to the NEW and improved Disney Cast members!Don't make such a general statement of new CM's like that. Just because you left on a bad note doesn't mean newer CM's are all horrible as you've made them out to be (more then once on this message board). Yes, there are some bad apples out there (it's just what Disney will get for a pay rate lower then some fast food chains) but not all new CM's are bad and most really do care and work extreamly hard.

I feel bad for a lot of the "Class of 2005'ers" who get a bad rep from 90% of the stuck up AP's or fomer/current high-seniority CM's just because they are new. Sorry for venting but I just had to say something.
I would write a letter to Disney, explain the situation, and let them know how the call ended.
That is NO way to treat anyone, no matter who you are. IMOI agree 110%... that's the best way for things to get fixed rather then let some other poor guest get bad service as well.

Donald Duck Fan68
12-24-2005, 04:55 AM
You know, I worked for the service industry in a Hotel for years and a lot of it has to do with the amount of professional development and training that an organization does with its staff. Of course, you will always get a few bad apples in the bunch, but it seems like there should be some kind of "service orientated script" the CM replies to when asked these type of questions.

BTW, without "gossip central", I would not have know that we could get into early entry as a DLR guest since the CM who checked us in didn't bother to let us know and I had to ask. Evidently, their "secret" is still safe.

However, there have been a lot of CM's who have really done a fantasic job so far and I'm trying to recognize their efforts over the ones who seem to be in a Scrooge mood.

Disneynerd
12-24-2005, 07:15 AM
You'd be doing Disney a favor if you complained. Possibly this guy was just having a bad day, but as a customer service person, he is the first contact many people have with Disneyland courtesy, and he dropped the ball repeatedly. No matter how bad a day he is having, he shouldn't be suggesting to patrons that they are liars. The right thing to say is "I'm sorry, there must be some problem with our records system, I can't find a record of your last stay" and "I'm sorry, but I can't provide you with an upgrade at this time, and I'm not familiar with any policy that would allow me to do so. I'll check with my manager and see if there is a policy I don't know about". It sounds as if Disney is having some personnel problems in reservations, too.
I want to hire you DianeM! If I still worked in the rat race....(see avatar left, she's my job now).
Don't let the Turd ruin your stay. I've had very few bad CM experiences, but I just block them out. I also picture the nice reps on the phone wearing teirras and switching screens with a magic wand:rolleyes:
What?

ToursbabeC3po
12-24-2005, 04:16 PM
Don't make such a general statement of new CM's like that. Just because you left on a bad note doesn't mean newer CM's are all horrible as you've made them out to be (more then once on this message board). Yes, there are some bad apples out there (it's just what Disney will get for a pay rate lower then some fast food chains) but not all new CM's are bad and most really do care and work extreamly hard.

I just wanted to let you know I LOVED my job but they are hiring anyone with a pulse these days. I never said that ALL cast members are bad in fact I said I had a good time last time I was there but they are making it so easy to get hired there these days . They are so hard up for cast members they are taking anyone and it makes me sad. Hopefully things will change in the future. I want the best for Disney but things need to change!!!

FantasmicFanatic
12-24-2005, 09:33 PM
Don't make such a general statement of new CM's like that. Just because you left on a bad note doesn't mean newer CM's are all horrible as you've made them out to be (more then once on this message board). Yes, there are some bad apples out there (it's just what Disney will get for a pay rate lower then some fast food chains) but not all new CM's are bad and most really do care and work extreamly hard.

I just wanted to let you know I LOVED my job but they are hiring anyone with a pulse these days. I never said that ALL cast members are bad in fact I said I had a good time last time I was there but they are making it so easy to get hired there these days . They are so hard up for cast members they are taking anyone and it makes me sad. Hopefully things will change in the future. I want the best for Disney but things need to change!!!

I agree with both of you on this one. Thank Presenteeism! While I was a CM over the summer I saw some of the best get the boot because they were 60 seconds late to The Pirates of the Carribean CDS computer. Often this lateness was due to so much guest traffic in the park LOL. But yes, since they have given the boot to so many good CMs, as long as you speak English and have never killed anyone, YOU'RE HIRED! lol

FF

disneyhound
12-25-2005, 07:04 AM
I think the key to interaction with a "new" CM is to now your facts. For our trip in January, I wanted to do something special. I was thinking Fantasmic Balcony seats. I knew the rules/suggestions for success. Call one month before the date you want the tickets, and start dialing before 8:00AM! I checked the DL calendar on-line, knew I wanted the 9:00PM show, so we could stay and watch the fireworks... I got through to a CM at 8:00AM, and told her what I was seeking. She said that there was not a 9:00PM show that evening. I asked if she was sure, I told her the on-line calendar indicated that there was, it was a Friday evening to boot... She said, "Oh, I must have selected the wrong date." I didn't care, I got our tickets. But, someone may have hung on that CM's error.

After that success, I decided to go for 50th Tour Tickets. I knew that I wanted the 6:00PM tour that ends with priority seats for the fireworks. I called that day, a month before I wanted them, and the CM told me that there was no 6:00PM tour that day. I had called the day before to see if they were offering the 6:00PM tour, I was told that would occur. Again I had to question the CM I spoke with, on the phone, to please check again. And as before, the CM said that she must have selected the wrong day.

Moral is, know your facts, be polite and persistent if required. If a CM tells you something you know to be suspect, a follow-up question or two can clear things up!