Bad experience with Disney Dining Reservation

[niteobsrvr]

So? There's people that would love to have that job and would do it better. Incompetence is grounds for termination in my eyes. Write the letter not trying to get her fired, but to try and get her "fixed". That's inappropriate and anybody dealing with customers weither if it's actual Customer Service or just somebody working in McDonald's taking orders should know that's not acceptable.

Disney doesn't exactly have people beating down their doors for any jobs right now. And, based on the number of employment ads i see, the turnover in their call centers must be fairly high.

I am not saying she should or shouldn't be disciplined. However, if there is no history of problems, then coaching would be the appropriate response.

 

[kachow]

No offense, but get over it. Why bother with a letter? Somebody could lose their job and though it's rude it's not worth getting somebody fired.

I agree with half of your response, that the OP has to let it go now, but I do think it's worth getting this person fired or transferred. We're talking Disney customer service here, and how difficult would it have been to just handle it nicely? Just say, "I'm sorry, I'm experiencing technical difficulties and am going to have to ask you to call back." Wait for caller response, and if necessary further explain the problem like the manager did before insisting, "I'm sorry, I really need to log off now. Please call back and someone will help you. Thank you." This kind of thing always bugs me, because it's easy to avoid. A technical problem is a different story, but how hard is it to just not be rude?

 

[wannab@dis]

Wow... this thread exploded.

I don't think most here have experience with call center technology. The CM was probably doing the caller a favor by answering and letting them know they needed to call back. Call routing is not up to the CM, but handled by the computer. IF they were as rude as the OP makes it out, then the incident should be looked into. The OP has contacted Guest Services and they will follow up.

What really bothers me about this thread is the full blown self-centered righteous attitude that so many of you have. The CM's are not there are you personal servant to scream at as you see fit. Most do their jobs well and still have to put up with the jerks that are rude to them. Some of the posts in this thread are right on that line of being obnoxious and rude.

Let Guest Services handle the situation and keep in mind that CMs have to deal with a lot of guests with attitudes just like the ones presented in this thread. It's a wonder so many can still smile and create magic.

 

[lebeau]

I've worked in a call center (fortunately not sales). I've had calls routed to me when I should be going home. Sometimes it's unavoidable. I'll even confess to having hung up on them sometimes if I really needed to go home. When I did, I didn't even bother explaining what was happening. I just clicked off so it would sound like a disconnect instead of a conscious decision on my part.

I'm sure some of you will be horrified to hear that, but unless you've worked in a call center you have no idea how horrible it is. And the company I worked for is one of the better ones. From what I've read, Disney's call center is even more of a sweat shop.

Speaking with customers on the phone, they feel free to act in ways they would never do in a face-to-face situation. Plus, as others have pointed out, everything you do is monitored. Every second you spend taking a call is compared against metrics. Taking a call before or after your scheduled shift is held against you just like not taking calls during your shift.

Having said all that, if you want to write a letter you should. The employee won't be fired for it. And there is no reason why they shouldn't be held accountible for their decision to terminate the call in that manner. However, if you are going to write that letter, you should be equally likely to praise good service. The next time someone goes above and beyond, you need to take the time to document that as well.

 

[kasey1988]

I think a letter should be written, i work in customer service and would hate to see any of my fellow emplyees treat a customer that way. I agree with some posts above, when writing the letter dont just complain and vent your anger but state about the good experiances you have had with disney and there castmembers in the past.

 

[Chape19714]

I agree that CM's are held to a much higher standard and need to exemplify complete courtesy and guest care at all times, no matter what position. If you walked up to guest services in City Hall and the representive rudely told you they were not working, so they could not help, and walked away, you would probally be a bit peeved. If the situation is exactly how the OP states, then it is a legitimate complaint.

Everyone has thier bad days, but at Disney, that doesn't cut it. If Mickey is having a bad day, you don't want him to run away from your child because he's just sick of photos. It just shouldn't happen, espically at WDW.

JPVonDrake summed it up best, see posts 21 and 24.

Mini-rant:

Oh, so are you one of the perfect cast members who always acts perfectly, or are you part of the rest of us who have our bad days?

Everyone has bad days, the trick is not letting it show. Walt Disney once said that Disneyland was a show, and that everyone working in it was a part of that show, hence the term Cast Members. Cast Members are really actors, they wear location orientated costumes, and help the story of the attraction or land. No matter how bad of a day they are having, there is now excuse for a Cast Member to bring thier off-stage life on-stage. Disney CM's are no exception. It doesn't matter if they work in the Reservations department or on the courtsey trams, they are part of the show, and part of the magic. We have those great CM's to thank for making the magic, that what actors do, they make the show, they make the magic happen.

I find the above quoted comment completely bogus. JPVonDrake is an invaluable member of these forums, Without whom many of us would still be confused on the word direct from Disney.

Rant over.

 

[kachow]

^^^Well said.

 

[HokieDevil]

I bet all you people who want this cast member fired appreciate everyone in the parks. They understand when people let thier kids use the fountains as a mini water park. They think its great that people will throw thier trash around cause a CM will pick it up. They know that its thier job so they should be able to handle it. This is the worst mentality and yet it exists to such an extreme theses days. These people belive I am paying a lot of money for this vacation so it should all be to please ME. I want my kids to walk through the parks in their bathing suits and play in the fountains becuase I shouldn't have to pay extra for Typhoon or Blizzard. I am certain many people have complained because Mother Nature has ruined thier trip to Disney, no fireworks, no parade, how dare Disney not have control over this. I want my money back. Now imagine dealing with this everyday and I bet its hard to keep on a smile, and they try. I would say raising ticket prices would help, but alas it seems even people with money lack class. I wish that rumor about the customer always being right was never started, after all when there is no accountability all the blame is on the product. So Yeah I guess what I am trying to say is its all Disney's fault, the bad weather, the expense for a water park, and of course not being able to constantly do it with a smile :king:

 

[c133125]

I love how everyone suddenly are experts on Disney and of cast members, and feel they must put their 2 cents in on how this poor woman was such an idiot and she must be fired.

 

[MMP]

The original poster was never rude to the CM so I don't see why everyone is jumping to the rude CM's defense.
You simply can't act that way as a CM, and what's more annoying than actually being hung up one is just knowing that someone at Disney can treat a guest like that and keep their job. There's no excuse for a CM to behave that way.

And to whoever asked, a reprimand will stay on your record for as long as you work with the company but eventually it stops counting against you, but it's still there, it just loses its value if that makes sense.

 

[jimmieglen2006]

This is my first time to reply. i think this is a very intresting topic. first for all of those who think that people who want a letter to be written are being to harsh. no one should lose there job. most people do there job well. and alot take alot of crap from us who vist the parks. but being someone who has done tons of serves work. there is no reason to be rude. i dont care if your off or not. you represent the company when you use there phone. o or are even mistakenly get called. like others has said. sorry i am off and i cant trasfer please call back or something. usely in a big comapany. she will not get fired. she will probibly get a repermaned. that is it. i think a letter shoudl be written to show that you love the company and care how your treated. if you dont work in serves you probibly dont understand

 

[Chape19714]

Please Understand that Disney was made famous by Guest Service. If it weren't for friendly Cast Members who exemplify the most friendly service day in and day out, and really take thier job as a CAST member in the bigger show, then None of us here would have a WDW to go to. So before anyone says this is being too harsh, just keep in mind if Disney didn't have thier world-famous service, we wouldn't be on this board discussing it. I'm not saying that the person should be fired or kept on, it all depends on previous offences. I am saying Disney has an image to protect, and they won't let that slip. I was a preformer at Candlelight and the Managers came right into the bus and explained that we were becoming cast members, because we were being part of the show that night. We were told to be kind and curtious both on and off stage, as we now represented not only our school, but Walt Disney World and the Walt Disney Company as well. Disney is held to a higher standard, and they have worked over 51 years to get there, they shouldn't and will not let that slip, they will only let it improve.

I'm sorry if you disaggree.

 

[niteobsrvr]

Please Understand that Disney was made famous by Guest Service. If it weren't for friendly Cast Members who exemplify the most friendly service day in and day out, and really take thier job as a CAST member in the bigger show, then None of us here would have a WDW to go to. So before anyone says this is being too harsh, just keep in mind if Disney didn't have thier world-famous service, we wouldn't be on this board discussing it. I'm not saying that the person should be fired or kept on, it all depends on previous offences. I am saying Disney has an image to protect, and they won't let that slip. I was a preformer at Candlelight and the Managers came right into the bus and explained that we were becoming cast members, because we were being part of the show that night. We were told to be kind and curtious both on and off stage, as we now represented not only our school, but Walt Disney World and the Walt Disney Company as well. Disney is held to a higher standard, and they have worked over 51 years to get there, they shouldn't and will not let that slip, they will only let it improve.

I'm sorry if you disaggree.

Have you ever spent a few days at Disneyland? That is an entirely different experience than being at the World.

 

[GenerationX]

However, if you are going to write that letter, you should be equally likely to praise good service. The next time someone goes above and beyond, you need to take the time to document that as well.

I like this answer. There's nothing wrong with reporting bad service to management. A company can't improve their business processes without a feedback loop. By the same token, management loves to hear praise of their employees. There are few things that raise the morale of a staff member or a manager more than genuine kudos from customers.

 

[wedway71]

The original poster was never rude to the CM so I don't see why everyone is jumping to the rude CM's defense.
You simply can't act that way as a CM, and what's more annoying than actually being hung up one is just knowing that someone at Disney can treat a guest like that and keep their job. There's no excuse for a CM to behave that way.

And to whoever asked, a reprimand will stay on your record for as long as you work with the company but eventually it stops counting against you, but it's still there, it just loses its value if that makes sense.

I agree.Some posters are stating that CMs are abused and say that guests are very rude and obnoxios and treat CMs as slaves.IN SOME CASES THAT IS TRUE.I dont feel any CM should tolerate abusive behavior in any form at all.The origional poster from what he had said simply asked to be transfered to another person-AND THATS IT.I dont find that abusive or treating the CM as a servent.It was a simple request.She crossed the line by hanging up on the guy.There is no excuse or way to argue what she did doesnt warrent some action and if you feel she should just get to keep acting that way well then dont complain down the road when you are the one that gets horrible guest service.

 

[Tinkerbella16]

I agree with writing that letter 100%. To all of you who think it was okay for the woman to be rude, if this same situation happened to anyone else on here, ANYONE...you'd be ticked off too and dont even try saying that you wouldnt care. Because just like someone else on here said...all it takes is one miserable person to ruin a family's vacation. What that lady did on the phone was completely unacceptable.

 

[Cheryl]

Here's my 2 cents

We just got back from WDW on July 29th. We too had problems down at WDW making prior seating reservations. Unfortunately, our group of 7 dwindled down to 3 on some days so I called to see if I could release a table for some other family by cutting down our reservation to 3 and having a smaller table. Instead, it turned out that the person deleted all of our priority seatings which we were unaware of when we showed up for our first priority seating. So, here we were with no seatings for the 10 days we were down there but were told to call day-by-day to see if there were any cancellations. As it turns out, we were able to go to Chef Mickeys and Hollywood & Vine (twice for the Fantasmic package) but that was all that we were able to get into since our seatings had been erased.

Anyway, back to my original tip here. We were talking to the server/castmember at Hollywood & Vine and told him what had happened to us as we were shocked as there were only 10 other tables being used. He stated that WDW upgraded their computer system or software for seatings and the whole thing was messed up. He said that the computers were showing that all the restaurants were full for seatings; however, they were always half empty as they were turning people away on the phones saying that they had no more room. He said that we should just walk up and check to see whether any restaurant had an availability instead of calling the WDW-DINE number in our case. The priority seating call takers had since told the castmembers/servers at the restaurants that it would take approximately another week to catch up and get the bugs out of the system. Needless to say, we did a lot of on-the-run eating at fast food/sit-down restaurants instead of the dining and relaxing this trip but I guess these things do happen. Hopefully by our next trip, everything will be taken care of or I find other people who want to sit with us if there are still problems with the system!

My two cents regarding the rudeness is that yes, Disney should know about the conversation and get the person the correct counseling that she needs so hopefully this wouldn't happen again. I just remember how frustrated the castmembers were when we were at WDW regarding the computers...I'd be pretty frustrated too if I had to work on them knowing that there were bugs in the system. Granted, for her to be rude, was definitely wrong.

 

[Chape19714]

Have you ever spent a few days at Disneyland? That is an entirely different experience than being at the World.

I spent 1 week last summer at the Disneyland Resort and expieranced nothing but top-service. All the CM's were friendly, with very few exceptions. I don't see how it's all that differnent beyond the parks and hotels themselves, which I also throughly enjoyed.

 

[PSU_Princess]

I expect excellent customer service when I go to WDW; the company was founded on this belief. Since he did know the persons name I think that guest relations probably did handle the problem to the best of their ability, but if he feels he needs to write a letter to get closure on this matter than that is up to him. I don't think he was calling for this person to be fired, just wanted to see the matter resolved.

I forget the exact numbers, but at one of my jobs we were told that if someone receives good customer service they will tell only a few people (maybe 1-3) but if they receive poor customer service they will tell alot of people (maybe 8-10). Like I said there are actual numbers to that but I forget what they are. We were always told to leave all our problems at the door and check your smile before you go onto the floor. Disney is lucky that people will continue to come back despite one rude person, but some smaller businesses are not so fortunate.

I also agree with reporting great customer service as well.

We are currently experiencing extremely poor customer service from a satellite installation company. I am sitting here today at home for the 6th time waiting for our movers connection install--our original installation was for July 3. We have several times had people show up and leave 5 minutes later because they said they didn't have things like the dish or a ladder...this is completely unacceptable. My husband has been on the phone trying to get the matter resolved. Yesterday we had an appointment for 1-5...the installer didn't show up until 8:45 pm. Eventhough he was incredibly late he did know what he was talking about and said he would make us a priority for today. Last night when my husband talked with the customer retention people he made sure to comment on how this gentleman had a lot more dedication to his job than any of the other installers...eventhough it was really late he still showed up and made a point to make things right today.
So anyway...after a really really long post....my point is that poor customer service needs to be reported but at the same time if someone goes above and beyond you should make sure to give them credit.

 

[Aprilnjosh]

So I called Disney Dining today to see if there was any later reservations available for one of my dinners for my trip in three weeks. Margie was my reservations person, she answered the phone by telling me she should not have received my call as she had logged out of her computer and was now off work. I asked if she could transfer me to another reservations person, she said no and hung up. No sorry, Ic an't help, you'll have to call back. No nothing, just click. This took place at approx 12:02 central daylight time.

I found this infurriatingly rude. So I called back the reservations line, checked the possibility of changing my reservation and then was transferred to guest services to file a complaint.

Guest services reaction was " We are sorry that this happened." She was unable to find the individual that had taken my call as she can't search directly for dining reservations employees. She would follow up by trying to locate this person and making sure they were properly trained on how to logoff their computer. The guest relations then went on to explain that it is possible to logout and still recieve a call without being able to transfer it.

Needless to say, its been 4.5 hours now since this happened and I'm still a little peeved about it. Oh well, I guess I'll write a formal letter tonight. May not accomplish anything, but I guess it'll make me feel better. Anyone got an address to send it to or should I just deliver it in person when I check-in in 3 weeks?

Sorry for the rant, just venting I guess.

You should have called again...If they were rude then...Then you have the right to get upset about it. Something very petty.