??? All Star Movie - "Roach Hotel" ???

[LuLaSue]

A co-worker of mine just arrived back from Walt Disney World and shared with me what I thought to be a disturbing story.

On Monday June 29th, 2009, they returned to their room (located at the "All Star Movies" resort Dalmatians Building #2) at approximately 11PM. His wife noticed a roach on the night stand located between the beds. She has a terrible phobia of roaches. She called the front desk hysterically crying about the incident. The worker at the front desk offered to send "pest control" to the room. She told the worker that this was unacceptable and we needed change rooms. The worker said to give him some time and he would call us back in the room. When the worker called back he spoke to him this time, he said he was still searching for a room and once again offered to send pest control to the room. While he was on the phone with the CM, 2 more roaches appeared near the sink. Finally, after about an hour of calling back and forth a room was found for us in the "All-Star Sports" complex. This room was better. My co-worker felt this incident was handled terribly unprofessional.

IMHO I agree. I think the family should have been moved immediately. Offer pest control? Are you joking? One roach is one roach to many! They are a family with 2 young girls, all that time waiting for a room change when they could have been sleeping. If rooms were not available in a value resort they should have been bumped to Carribean Beach or POR. I just don't understand what the delay was. Move, Move, Move a customer who is not happy and has a real/valid "BUG" issue!

Does anyone have an email address that this family can send a complaint like this to?

I would appreciate it.

 

[krankenstein]

I think it is a bit of an overreaction. Even the cleanest places have a bug in it from time to time. Disney is no exception. :shrug:

Here is the mailing address that you can submit a written complaint to.

Walt Disney World Guest Communications
PO Box 10,040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040

I'm sorry, but I don't have an e-mail address.

 

[Master Yoda]

The situation was handled properly. When the resorts are pushing 100% occupancy they simply just can't move someone to a new room as it may not exist. They offered an immediate solution...pest control. That solution was refused. The cast member then attempted to find a vacant room. The CM called back in a timely manner to inform them that he/she was still looking for a free room and to again offer them an immediate solution of pest control. They again refused and eventually moved into a new room.

Bugs are a fact of life in Florida. All it takes is a microscopic scrap of food to be left in a room and a roach will find it. You can spray to the point where it is fatal to humans and roaches will still find there way in.

 

[LuLaSue]

I think it is a bit of an overreaction. Even the cleanest places have a bug in it from time to time. Disney is no exception. :shrug:

Here is the mailing address that you can submit a written complaint to.

Walt Disney World Guest Communications
PO Box 10,040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040

I'm sorry, but I don't have an e-mail address.

While I do agree with clean places having bugs, I wouldn't want to sleep with them once I saw them!

I appreciate the address.

 

[brent2124]

That late at night the resorts dont have many CM's at the check-in desk. Also the resorts dont share quest information with the other resorts. So as easy as it sounds to move them to another resort they would need to call other resorts to find one with availability and then arrange transportation for them. This is one of the busiest times at WDW so it may have taken them a while to find the available room at AS Sports. That late at night your friend my have been quite tired from a long day at the parks in the hot Florida sun, and sitting waiting for a phone call in that situation would seem like an eternity, and be exagerated when the story was retold.

I agree they should have been moved ASAP, but immediatley seems to be an unlikely expectation. As for an email, I would go to the WDW website and click on the contact us button at the bottom of the page.

 

[LuLaSue]

Thanks to everyone.

 

[Phonedave]

A co-worker of mine just arrived back from Walt Disney World and shared with me what I thought to be a disturbing story.

On Monday June 29th, 2009, they returned to their room (located at the "All Star Movies" resort Dalmatians Building #2) at approximately 11PM. His wife noticed a roach on the night stand located between the beds. She has a terrible phobia of roaches. She called the front desk hysterically crying about the incident. The worker at the front desk offered to send "pest control" to the room. She told the worker that this was unacceptable and we needed change rooms. The worker said to give him some time and he would call us back in the room. When the worker called back he spoke to him this time, he said he was still searching for a room and once again offered to send pest control to the room. While he was on the phone with the CM, 2 more roaches appeared near the sink. Finally, after about an hour of calling back and forth a room was found for us in the "All-Star Sports" complex. This room was better. My co-worker felt this incident was handled terribly unprofessional.

IMHO I agree. I think the family should have been moved immediately. Offer pest control? Are you joking? One roach is one roach to many! They are a family with 2 young girls, all that time waiting for a room change when they could have been sleeping. If rooms were not available in a value resort they should have been bumped to Carribean Beach or POR. I just don't understand what the delay was. Move, Move, Move a customer who is not happy and has a real/valid "BUG" issue!

Does anyone have an email address that this family can send a complaint like this to?

I would appreciate it.

What was the time frame between the time she called (11 PM) and the time she was moved ?

You state they spent "all that time waiting" but I read and re-read your post and could not find a time frame.

If you (or your co-worker) is going to complain, they really should include this information.

Just wondering, if your co-worker is - I assume, not too fazed by bugs, but his wife "has a terrible phobia" about them, why would a "hysterically crying" person be the one to call the front desk, as opposed to the other adult who is presumeably calmer? I have done direct customer contact before. It is a LOT easier to deal with a calm and under control person than person who is all worked up. Emotional people are so worked up, that very often they do not fully understand what you are trying to tell them.

As was said before, palmetto bugs (Roaches) are all over the place in FL. It's no indication of a clean or unclean room.

-dave

 

[mousebymarriage]

I understand your friends fear of roaches, I myself am completely grossed out by them. I think Disney handled the situation professionally. They offered to send pest control and were trying to find a vacant room, which is not an easy thing during the summer rush. I have stayed in Disney resorts many times and have never seen a roach. However, I have seen a few palmetto bugs (which is just a southern way of saying giant flying roach).
I think I would be more upset about bedbugs. Let's face it all hotels have bugs most times you just don't see them.(did you ever really check out a hotel restaurant kitchen or any restaurant kitchen for that matter. My step-father was a chef and he always said in restaurants you should be more worried about the things you don't see.) I understand your friends wife was upset but, I think they over reacted a bit, just kill the sucker(I mean the bug not your friends wife) with a shoe and move on.

 

[DisneyJoe]

The person should have talked to the resort manager in person as soon as they were able to voice their displeasure. This is the most effective means of resolving an issue. Much patience, proper attitude and tone of voice will accomplish much in a face to face discussion with management.

Emailing or writing will take weeks or months and you may or may not get any satisfaction.

I once had to deal with a very poorly handled luggage moving situation when doing a split stay between Pop and Saratoga Springs. I took some time from my stay to visit the front desk at Pop and the situation was handled very well - I was very satisfied with the result.

I doubt I would have been as satisfied if I had been upset about it the rest of my trip and then had to wait weeks or months to a response to an email or letter.

 

[LuLaSue]

Okay, Okay I see where this is going....

For a previous poster they waited in their room until 1am and they were moved then. No it was not in my post, forgive me.:veryconfu All I ask is not to judge. These folks had roaches in their room, period end of story! They should have been moved.

I just don't understand something. If any of you found roaches in your room, you would be okay with this? What if they get in your luggage now, your house is infested. Sorry, my kids aren't sleeping in a room after it's been sprayed. They are not sleeping in a room where I have seen roaches. I would expect to be moved, ask me to come to the lobby, make me comfortable. I am not asking you to jump thru hoops.

Call me crazy and I have a feeling alot of you will but if I see roaches in my room, I am NOT sleeping there!

 

[LuLaSue]

The person should have talked to the resort manager in person as soon as they were able to voice their displeasure. This is the most effective means of resolving an issue. Much patience, proper attitude and tone of voice will accomplish much in a face to face discussion with management.

Emailing or writing will take weeks or months and you may or may not get any satisfaction.

I once had to deal with a very poorly handled luggage moving situation when doing a split stay between Pop and Saratoga Springs. I took some time from my stay to visit the front desk at Pop and the situation was handled very well - I was very satisfied with the result.

I doubt I would have been as satisfied if I had been upset about it the rest of my trip and then had to wait weeks or months to a response to an email or letter.

Disney Joe...I agree 1,000% they should have done that!

 

[Master Yoda]

Okay, Okay I see where this is going....

For a previous poster they waited in their room until 1am and they were moved then. No it was not in my post, forgive me.:veryconfu All I ask is not to judge. These folks had roaches in their room, period end of story! They should have been moved.

I just don't understand something. If any of you found roaches in your room, you would be okay with this? What if they get in your luggage now, your house is infested. Sorry, my kids aren't sleeping in a room after it's been sprayed. They are not sleeping in a room where I have seen roaches. I would expect to be moved, ask me to come to the lobby, make me comfortable. I am not asking you to jump thru hoops.

Call me crazy and I have a feeling alot of you will but if I see roaches in my room, I am NOT sleeping there!

With just 1 in what appeared to be a clean room I would have just smashed the thing and gone back to sleep. I would have stopped by the front desk in the morning and asked the room to be sprayed or to be switched. I have lived in Florida nearly all my life and I understand that no matter how clean you keep things or how much you spray those little buggers just seem to slip in once and a while.

 

[krankenstein]

With just 1 in what appeared to be a clean room I would have just smashed the thing and gone back to sleep. I would have stopped by the front desk in the morning and asked the room to be sprayed or to be switched. I have lived in Florida nearly all my life and I understand that no matter how clean you keep things or how much you spray those little buggers just seem to slip in once and a while.

Same here. We have them get into the house quite regularly. I just smash them, flush the dead one and spray around the doors and windows. It is a fact of southern living that you will have to deal with a roach occasionally. :shrug:

BTW, it has happened to me before at a Disney resort. Sports as a matter of fact.

 

[LuLaSue]

By his count they saw 3.

I guess I never had your experience as did my co-worker. We are just not use to that way of living.

 

[brent2124]

Okay, Okay I see where this is going....

For a previous poster they waited in their room until 1am and they were moved then. No it was not in my post, forgive me.:veryconfu All I ask is not to judge. These folks had roaches in their room, period end of story! They should have been moved.

I just don't understand something. If any of you found roaches in your room, you would be okay with this? What if they get in your luggage now, your house is infested. Sorry, my kids aren't sleeping in a room after it's been sprayed. They are not sleeping in a room where I have seen roaches. I would expect to be moved, ask me to come to the lobby, make me comfortable. I am not asking you to jump thru hoops.

Call me crazy and I have a feeling alot of you will but if I see roaches in my room, I am NOT sleeping there!

And they were, just not in lightning fast time. You are asking them to jumb through hoops. Your very first suggestion included getting upgraded to a higher category resort. Disney handled the situation perfectly in the eyes of everyone except for you.

 

[LuLaSue]

And they were, just not in lightning fast time. You are asking them to jumb through hoops. Your very first suggestion included getting upgraded to a higher category resort. Disney handled the situation perfectly in the eyes of everyone except for you.

What I suggested was IF there was no availability in another Value resort they should be upgrade NOT that they should have been given that up front. I will stand by saying they should have been moved immediately.

 

[Master Yoda]

By his count they saw 3.

I guess I never had your experience as did my co-worker. We are just not use to that way of living.

Trust me I totally get where they are coming from. I have a very close friend that would have immediately packed her stuff and would have waited in the lobby until a new room was ready. But to the question at hand they handled the situation as well as it could have been handled given the conditions. Had this happened say mid January at 5 in the afternoon they more than likely would have been switched within a half an hour. But during June/July most of the resorts are packed solid and at 11 pm the front desk is running a skeleton crew. I could almost guarantee that the CM they spoke with checked for availability at their resort either right after he/she hung up the phone or already new there was nothing available. At that point they have to start calling other resorts one by one until they find something. Unfortunately that takes time. The CM was nice enough to call back and let them know that he/she was still working on the issue vs. leaving them hanging and eventually got them into another room. I really do not see what else they could have done.

 

[brent2124]

What I suggested was IF there was no availability in another Value resort they should be upgrade NOT that they should have been given that up front. I will stand by saying they should have been moved immediately.

No one was forcing them to stay in the room. They could have left the room and went to the lobby and waited at the check-in desk.

 

[LuLaSue]

Trust me I totally get where they are coming from. I have a very close friend that would have immediately packed her stuff and would have waited in the lobby until a new room was ready. But to the question at hand they handled the situation as well as it could have been handled given the conditions. Had this happened say mid January at 5 in the afternoon they more than likely would have been switched within a half an hour. But during June/July most of the resorts are packed solid and at 11 pm the front desk is running a skeleton crew. I could almost guarantee that the CM they spoke with checked for availability at their resort either right after he/she hung up the phone or already new there was nothing available. At that point they have to start calling other resorts one by one until they find something. Unfortunately that takes time. The CM was nice enough to call back and let them know that he/she was still working on the issue vs. leaving them hanging and eventually got them into another room. I really do not see what else they could have done.

You are correct, and I appreciate your way of explaning it to me. I understand and hear what you are telling me but, I guess the whole roach issue is overwhelming to me.

 

[LuLaSue]

No one was forcing them to stay in the room. They could have left the room and went to the lobby and waited at the check-in desk.

I would rather not banter with you so let's just agree to disagree.

Have a wonderful day!