News Bob Iger outlines the need to transform the Walt Disney Company resulting in 7000 job losses and $5.5 billion in cost savings

[Rich Brownn]

So I'm curious about the economics aspect of deciding what is "fair". The company has a net profit. That seems to be a sticking point. Technically this argument is even applicable to most any business that makes money. Isn't that why business is in business? For a profit?

OK. So if we agree on that (do we?), then what dollar amount is considered to be acceptable that the company can post? And anything above such a theoretical limit would - what? Turn the "excess" profits over to the employees?

Who gets to decide what these amounts are? based on what? Logic Feelings?

Just askin'.

First rule of capitalism: everything is worth whatever someone will pay for it.

 

[KeithVH]

OK, but what I'm trying to get at are the claims of "greed". I'm a shareholder, Disney is greedy, therefore I am greedy.

When I start hearing the arguments that Smithers is making sure the greedy corporations keeps all the profits then I'm right around to "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need."

 

[DisneyHead123]

And of course, cashiers never make mistakes nor or bar codes ever programmed with the wrong prices. Just like those errors, you check the receipt (which is emailed to you instantly).

This is just my take but - I haaaaate dealing with returns. It’s such a pain. On more than one occasion I’ve missed the window for returning an online purchase and just eaten the charge because my To Do list is overwhelming already and I just didn’t get it done.

An automatic charge system means that any mistake puts the onus on the customer to fix the error. Another item on said customer’s To Do list. (From what I understand customer service is pretty minimal at Amazon stores as the whole point is for it to be automated.) A line, a phone call on hold, remembering to follow up… ugh. Whereas at self checkout you have the option of just not completing checkout if something rings up wrong (in a postpartum haze, I once stormed off and managed to trip over my own feet in the process, when the self checkout kiosk at Target wouldn’t give me the promised $20 gift card for buying $100 of diapers. I was looking forward to that gift card and my hormonal self just left $100 worth of diapers there - but at least I had the option of walking away and leaving them before the transaction was complete.)

My personal bet is that human psychology means this is not the go-to model in the future. But I could just be a generation behind and maybe young people will love this type of system, who knows?

 

[celluloid]

Some people here seems like they are describing what a store called Service Merchandise did and a few others. It went against human psychology and guest service... It did not work out well.

 

[note2001]

This is just my take but - I haaaaate dealing with returns. It’s such a pain. On more than one occasion I’ve missed the window for returning an online purchase and just eaten the charge because my To Do list is overwhelming already and I just didn’t get it done.

An automatic charge system means that any mistake puts the onus on the customer to fix the error. Another item on said customer’s To Do list. (From what I understand customer service is pretty minimal at Amazon stores as the whole point is for it to be automated.) A line, a phone call on hold, remembering to follow up… ugh. Whereas at self checkout you have the option of just not completing checkout if something rings up wrong (in a postpartum haze, I once stormed off and managed to trip over my own feet in the process, when the self checkout kiosk at Target wouldn’t give me the promised $20 gift card for buying $100 of diapers. I was looking forward to that gift card and my hormonal self just left $100 worth of diapers there - but at least I had the option of walking away and leaving them before the transaction was complete.)

My personal bet is that human psychology means this is not the go-to model in the future. But I could just be a generation behind and maybe young people will love this type of system, who knows?

I've dealt with customer service in every roll I've had for over 30 years, be it cashier, tech support or designing & developing software systems for clients.

People want easy. One and done. No issues.
That's not how life works either now or ever.

While you're saying the catch phrase of "the onus is on ..." you're ignoring that the job is two sided. YES, it takes you to notice the error and call it out, it's always been this way. Don't expect your minimum wage cashier to watch the numbers as they ring, that's your job. Likewise, if the Amazon system messes up it is your job to catch it and draw attention to it.

Not sure how old you are, nor do I care, but classifying those who love automation as "young people" is adding to a divide we don't need. I'm not old, but certainly not young and I LOVE when I don't have to deal with a human at checkout.

HOW DID WE GET ON THIS TANGENT? Disney is not automating much of anything, and when they do it takes a small forever for them to roll it out.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I've dealt with customer service in every roll I've had for over 30 years, be it cashier, tech support or designing & developing software systems for clients.

People want easy. One and done. No issues.
That's not how life works either now or ever.

While you're saying the catch phrase of "the onus is on ..." you're ignoring that the job is two sided. YES, it takes you to notice the error and call it out, it's always been this way. Don't expect your minimum wage cashier to watch the numbers as they ring, that's your job. Likewise, if the Amazon system messes up it is your job to catch it and draw attention to it.

Not sure how old you are, nor do I care, but classifying those who love automation as "young people" is adding to a divide we don't need. I'm not old, but certainly not young and I LOVE when I don't have to deal with a human at checkout.

HOW DID WE GET ON THIS TANGENT? Disney is not automating much of anything, and when they do it takes a small forever for them to roll it out.

Agree that if the Amazon system messes up it’s the customers job to catch it - just saying if other people are like me, the thought of potentially having to deal with returns would be enough to scare them off. Anything - anything - that threatens to take up real estate on my To Do list is something I think long and hard about. Don’t know if I’m representative of others or not though - just saying that’s the way my mind works.

Like you said though, no hint of Disney implementing such a system, so for now this is all just musing about things that may or may not happen one day.

 

[Rich Brownn]

Correct, but monopolies destroy free market incentives which until recently with Universal, Disney was.

There's also the 'brand' aspect which Disney has to weigh price increases against infuriating their consumers.

There's a difference between market domination and monopolies. No one was forced to go to Disney. It's still whatever people wanted to pay. A monopoly uses its market share to prevent other similar companies from competing. Disney never did that. It's not like when Standard Oil owned almost every oil place and people needed it to travel. If Disney had been abusing its market, then the government would have stepped in.

The world is littered with companies that dominated the market and overstepped.....

 

[Rich Brownn]

This is just my take but - I haaaaate dealing with returns. It’s such a pain. On more than one occasion I’ve missed the window for returning an online purchase and just eaten the charge because my To Do list is overwhelming already and I just didn’t get it done.

An automatic charge system means that any mistake puts the onus on the customer to fix the error. Another item on said customer’s To Do list. (From what I understand customer service is pretty minimal at Amazon stores as the whole point is for it to be automated.) A line, a phone call on hold, remembering to follow up… ugh. Whereas at self checkout you have the option of just not completing checkout if something rings up wrong (in a postpartum haze, I once stormed off and managed to trip over my own feet in the process, when the self checkout kiosk at Target wouldn’t give me the promised $20 gift card for buying $100 of diapers. I was looking forward to that gift card and my hormonal self just left $100 worth of diapers there - but at least I had the option of walking away and leaving them before the transaction was complete.)

My personal bet is that human psychology means this is not the go-to model in the future. But I could just be a generation behind and maybe young people will love this type of system, who knows?

I've yet to meet anyone who stands at the checkout line watching a cashier ring up 100 items and then check the receipt while standing there.

And yes, the no-checkout will be the future. Like they did with ATMs, Direct dialing etc. assistance will be available - at a charge. You want a cashier? Fine, its an extra 10% Banks did it. Phone companies did it. Gas stations did it. Stores will do it.

 

[Lilofan]

I've yet to meet anyone who stands at the checkout line watching a cashier ring up 100 items and then check the receipt while standing there.

And yes, the no-checkout will be the future. Like they did with ATMs, Direct dialing etc. assistance will be available - at a charge. You want a cashier? Fine, its an extra 10% Banks did it. Phone companies did it. Gas stations did it. Stores will do it.

In Publix in FL no, but in Shop Rite up North , yes. I've also caught my cashier triple scanning my items when I paid for only two. I advised her she was overcharging me. She acknowledged her mistake and corrected it. I watch the cashier like a hawk. It has happened more than once.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I've yet to meet anyone who stands at the checkout line watching a cashier ring up 100 items and then check the receipt while standing there.

And yes, the no-checkout will be the future. Like they did with ATMs, Direct dialing etc. assistance will be available - at a charge. You want a cashier? Fine, its an extra 10% Banks did it. Phone companies did it. Gas stations did it. Stores will do it.

I just think the psychology of feeling like you were charged for something without your consent is different. You don’t catch an error at checkout vs. someone is holding on to your credit card number and puts charges on it that they say are correct. And you just know if this was implemented all over the country at most stores, you’d end up with horror stories. Dateline tonight - a single working mom of four is charged for 12 cases of antifreeze at Random Mart - and when she tries to get her money back, spends 12 hours on hold with no resolution! Again, we’ll see, I could be wrong. But worth noting that thus far Amazon has been struggling in the brick and mortar world with some saying they are out of touch there and don’t understand customer psychology in that realm.

 

[Rich Brownn]

I just think the psychology of feeling like you were charged for something without your consent is different. You don’t catch an error at checkout vs. someone is holding on to your credit card number and puts charges on it that they say are correct. And you just know if this was implemented all over the country at most stores, you’d end up with horror stories. Dateline tonight - a single working mom of four is charged for 12 cases of antifreeze at Random Mart - and when she tries to get her money back, spends 12 hours on hold with no resolution! Again, we’ll see, I could be wrong. But worth noting that thus far Amazon has been struggling in the brick and mortar world with some saying they are out of touch there and don’t understand customer psychology in that realm.

We had someone charge $12,000 on our credit card. It took 8 months to get the card cancelled, reissued and our credit back. And according to the authorities, that was actually a fast turnaround time. It's actually harder to scam on an automated system then with some dimwit cashier who didn't even bother to look at the signature or ID.

 

[Lilofan]

We had someone charge $12,000 on our credit card. It took 8 months to get the card cancelled, reissued and our credit back. And according to the authorities, that was actually a fast turnaround time. It's actually harder to scam on an automated system then with some dimwit cashier who didn't even bother to look at the signature or ID.

That's not good. We have got text messages set up if even $1 gets charged to our credit cards we immediately get text messages on the purchase as a heads up.

 

[GimpYancIent]

Interesting how Disney attempts to sneak cost increases / fees / price hikes into things where management believes it will not be obvious. I.E. an increase of $3.00 per DVC point. Has there been some kind of spike in interest in DVC that would prompt Disney to see an opportunity to glean some more money off the fans.

 

[note2001]

Interesting how Disney attempts to sneak cost increases / fees / price hikes into things where management believes it will not be obvious. I.E. an increase of $3.00 per DVC point. Has there been some kind of spike in interest in DVC that would prompt Disney to see an opportunity to glean some more money off the fans.

DVD sets their own prices, so I wouldn't roll their sales into the typical Disney World price increases.
When they raise prices, typically the reaction is like yours, " so to offset this they offer discounts equal to the price hike - softens the blow.

Not sure if there is an increase in demand for direct sales, I know there seems to be an increase in rental activity, which would prompt owners who own specifically to rent to buy more contracts.

 

[John park hopper]

Interesting how Disney attempts to sneak cost increases / fees / price hikes into things where management believes it will not be obvious. I.E. an increase of $3.00 per DVC point. Has there been some kind of spike in interest in DVC that would prompt Disney to see an opportunity to glean some more money off the fans.

But -but wait Bob says he was against all the price increases

 

[DisneyHead123]

We had someone charge $12,000 on our credit card. It took 8 months to get the card cancelled, reissued and our credit back. And according to the authorities, that was actually a fast turnaround time. It's actually harder to scam on an automated system then with some dimwit cashier who didn't even bother to look at the signature or ID.

Yikes, sorry to hear that and glad they were able to clear things up!

 

[Ayla]

I've yet to meet anyone who stands at the checkout line watching a cashier ring up 100 items and then check the receipt while standing there.

And yes, the no-checkout will be the future. Like they did with ATMs, Direct dialing etc. assistance will be available - at a charge. You want a cashier? Fine, its an extra 10% Banks did it. Phone companies did it. Gas stations did it. Stores will do it.

The wage of the cashier is already incorporated into the price of goods and services. No way am I paying an additional 10% to have a human wait on me. (FTR, I don't use self check out ~ ever.) When I receive a discount for checking my own items, then I'll use it.

 

[cranbiz]

I only use self checkout if I absolutely have to. The prices of the items I'm paying for cover the store providing a person to check me out and take my payment. If I'm checking myself out, I want a discount.

And no, don't have an employee insist on checking my receipt. If you can have one checking receipts, you can have one on a register. I'm not a thief, don't treat me like one. I walk past the checker at Walmart, I don't stop.

Before anyone says anything about warehouse stores, I belong to one and it was in the TOS I read and accepted when I bought a membership. I never read and accepted a TOS for Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Etc.

 

[note2001]

And no, don't have an employee insist on checking my receipt. If you can have one checking receipts, you can have one on a register. I'm not a thief, don't treat me like one. I walk past the checker at Walmart, I don't stop.

Do you realize that these receipt checker people are just there as a deterrent to theft, nothing more?
You are not the problem, they know this.

Brazen thieves grab and run. I've seen it too many times from working the audio department and we'd loose an average of 3 items per weekend, to the people I've seen clearing out the baby formula and running for the door (my heart breaks for these people if they are trying to feed a baby, don't they know about WIC?)

 

[cranbiz]

Do you realize that these receipt checker people are just there as a deterrent to theft, nothing more?
You are not the problem, they know this.

Brazen thieves grab and run. I've seen it too many times from working the audio department and we'd loose an average of 3 items per weekend, to the people I've seen clearing out the baby formula and running for the door (my heart breaks for these people if they are trying to feed a baby, don't they know about WIC?)

I know it but when one tries to stop me to "check" my receipt, I get PO'd.

That person also is not going to stop a thief. They really are not even a deterrent for someone bent on stealing.