Rapid Fill Mug Program Fails (at more ways than you might think)

[flynnibus]

I don't think they put the burden on the customers. You can still get your soda.

It is a burden on the customer - they can't refill when they want... they can refill when they are ALLOWED. Every CS interaction due to profile errors or setup problems. Every time a customer struggles to get the proper position so the chip is read.. etc. All crap that is unnecessary

Short of having a security guard at every soda fountain watching to make sure someone does not bring their giant thermoses to get filled, I don't know what they are supposed to do to stop the thieves

Those food courts don't clean themselves.. you will find CMs working the serving areas all the time. It's not that hard to spot people using improper containers.

 

[Jon81uk]

I've bee trying to give up sodas completely for a year now. This post sealed the deal. I'm just drinking water from here on out. Thank you!

Can I ask why? The only difference with the regular dispensed soda is it is water, gas and syrup mixed at the machine and the Coke syrup already has sugar (or high fructose corn syrup in USA). Full sugar soda is just as bad for you no matter which machine or bottle dispenses it. I try to stick to zero Sprite or Diet Coke when I am drinking soda.

 

[Jon81uk]

I don't think anyone questions Disney charging... what they challenge is the price point and the challenges Disney puts on you to use it, even after you bought it. Rapidfill is a great example of Disney putting the burden on the customer instead of addressing problems themselves and how far people will go to cheat a system because Disney's prices can be so absurd.

RapidFill wasn't invented by Disney of course and Universal installed it about the same time Disney did, first at Cabana Bay resort and then for the Freestyle refillable mugs at the theme parks.

Also of course before that Disney had the barcode dispensing system at the water parks where you scanned a barcode instead of a chip to get your refills.

I don't think either system push it too far to stop the abuse. Put the cup on the reader and push a button. I think occasions where is doesn't fill correctly are relatively rare, it's just forum discussions often only talk about the bad. But I used refills at Disney for two weeks and Universal for two days and only once had an issue with the Disney machine not recognising my cup properly and only filling two thirds full. I just drunk that and came back in three minutes.r

 

[Goofyernmost]

I agree with you in general, but the mugs from the "refills for life era" seem capable of surviving thermonuclear war which would also sterilize them.

I know your joking around, but, 18 year old plastic has crevices that cannot be seen by the naked eye, even if they have spend the entire time in a cupboard. I wouldn't want to use them for anything other then show. The plague could be hiding in those things. And if we had a thermonuclear war it probably wouldn't be ones biggest problem anyway.

 

[Goofyernmost]

RapidFill wasn't invented by Disney of course and Universal installed it about the same time Disney did, first at Cabana Bay resort and then for the Freestyle refillable mugs at the theme parks.

Also of course before that Disney had the barcode dispensing system at the water parks where you scanned a barcode instead of a chip to get your refills.

I don't think either system push it too far to stop the abuse. Put the cup on the reader and push a button. I think occasions where is doesn't fill correctly are relatively rare, it's just forum discussions often only talk about the bad. But I used refills at Disney for two weeks and Universal for two days and only once had an issue with the Disney machine not recognising my cup properly and only filling two thirds full. I just drunk that and came back in three minutes.r

Well, you know this place, if it wasn't for over-blowing an imagined problem there wouldn't be a discussion board.

 

[flynnibus]

RapidFill wasn't invented by Disney of course and Universal installed it about the same time Disney did, first at Cabana Bay resort and then for the Freestyle refillable mugs at the theme parks.

So?

It's still using technology and artificial limits to try to address a problem that Disney could have just handled without burdening every customer.

It's like your company that writes a new expense policy and requirements that hinder everyone... rather than simply addressing the abusive employee.

 

[jaklgreen]

It is a burden on the customer - they can't refill when they want... they can refill when they are ALLOWED. Every CS interaction due to profile errors or setup problems. Every time a customer struggles to get the proper position so the chip is read.. etc. All crap that is unnecessary


Those food courts don't clean themselves.. you will find CMs working the serving areas all the time. It's not that hard to spot people using improper containers.

Cast members should not have to confront thieving guests, that is for security. People are so crazy now that you don't know what they will do to you if you say something. Someone with the training and skills needs to confront these people. That would cause a bit of a PR nightmare having security standing by the soda machines confronting these losers. So I still think the RFID chip is a good compromise. Even if it is a bit annoying sometimes. Seriously, you can't wait a few minutes for a refill? Come on.

 

[Todd H]

McDonald's definitely uses a different ratio of syrup to carbonation than other restaurants. But I wonder if some places are either not breaking in their Freestyle machines or correctly or not cleaning them correctly. Because I had the same issue with them when they first came out and now I rarely get a bad drink from the restaurants I use them at and I don't think it is just that I got used to it.

I travel a lot and no matter what state I've visited those machines make a regular Coke taste like crap. I think you may have gotten used to it.

 

[jaklgreen]

So?

It's still using technology and artificial limits to try to address a problem that Disney could have just handled without burdening every customer.

It's like your company that writes a new expense policy and requirements that hinder everyone... rather than simply addressing the abusive employee.

Tell us exactly how Disney should have handled it then?

 

[Nubs70]

Tell us exactly how Disney should have handled it then?

Roll the average theft overage into the price of the cup.

 

[jaklgreen]

Roll the average theft overage into the price of the cup.

Haha, good one. We would be paying $27 for a cup of soda.

 

[GoofGoof]

Tell us exactly how Disney should have handled it then?

Maybe deport the offenders. Making soda refills great again

 

[disney4life2008]

Hey, instead of the rapid fill. A better complaint is the bakery cabinet in the resort qs/food court area. I was at Polynesian Saturday and was about to get delicious cheese Danish but a hoard of flies were underneath it. Lol

 

[flynnibus]

Cast members should not have to confront thieving guests, that is for security.

So how do you think most retail establishments work and have worked for ages? Do you really think every store in the country that doesn't have security on staff and ready to jump into action should just ignore all theft?

Are Disney soda thieves some new high risk category of customers... ready to go postal if confronted?

Sorry, this is just pandering to Disney's complete lack of trust of their front line employees. You train people on how to do it, and if it causes a scene, you get security. When the word would get out that Disney isn't allowing it anymore, abuse would plummet. The few that still need to steal.. who cares.

 

[flynnibus]

Tell us exactly how Disney should have handled it then?

I don't like having to repeat.. http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...n-you-might-think.878940/page-50#post-7598883

It's not hard

"Excuse me Sir.. the soda fountains are only for beverages containers purchased at the counter. I'm going to have to ask you to dump that milk jug out"

Refill mugs are also not hard.. cycle them out monthly or so and you can tell which containers are not recent.

 

[Nubs70]

Haha, good one. We would be paying $27 for a cup of soda.

Seriously, how much do people steal? Pass along the I'll gotten cost which is done in every other retail establishment.

 

[Flalex72]

I worked a couple of shifts in food service at PORS and Sports. I was usually out front as food wasn't my regular position. The biggest pain for me with rapid fill was that there was nothing I could do to help. I could watch a guest fill their cup, realize the Coke was coming out clear, dump the cup, then be told they couldn't refill for another 2.5 minutes. There is an override on the machine, but frontline CMs didn't have the key for it. It would be so easy to equip CMs with a simple override that would smooth a lot of the issues over.

The other things is that when you look behind the machines, the installation of Rapid Fill was obviously done quickly and poorly. Network cables run haphazardly behind the machines or are coiled up in the drip tray, and consumer-grade DLink switches hanging off the walls to get everything connected.

 

[ford91exploder]

I worked a couple of shifts in food service at PORS and Sports. I was usually out front as food wasn't my regular position. The biggest pain for me with rapid fill was that there was nothing I could do to help. I could watch a guest fill their cup, realize the Coke was coming out clear, dump the cup, then be told they couldn't refill for another 2.5 minutes. There is an override on the machine, but frontline CMs didn't have the key for it. It would be so easy to equip CMs with a simple override that would smooth a lot of the issues over.

The other things is that when you look behind the machines, the installation of Rapid Fill was obviously done quickly and poorly. Network cables run haphazardly behind the machines or are coiled up in the drip tray, and consumer-grade DLink switches hanging off the walls to get everything connected.

As @flynnibus notes your problem of being unable to help guests is an expression of Disneys total distrust of its front line workers

It would be easy to have 'master' RFID wand so it could trigger the dispenser in those cases I can't imagine why Disney thinks this is a manager key situation

 

[ford91exploder]

Seriously, how much do people steal? Pass along the I'll gotten cost which is done in every other retail establishment.

Funny how every Cumberland Farms, White Hen,Wawa and 7-11 can profitably sell soft drinks for .99 without the need for armed security and RFID

 

[ford91exploder]

Seriously, how much do people steal? Pass along the I'll gotten cost which is done in every other retail establishment.

Disney is doing the music industry thing they have to capture all potential lost sales. I'm sure for the preso the total lost sales were represented as a multiple of the actual beverage sales number