Can You Still Complain in Writing at WDW Guest Services?

[MousDad]

Al Lutz has an interesting item on page 3 of his current Disneyland update. Apparently, Disneyland, since late July, has banned all written comment cards at Guest Services. Any comment/complaint must be submitted verbally, and is passed on verbally by Cast Member. There can be nothing left in writing or emailed.

Further, he states that all comments/complaints submitted in writing by mail are now being immediately returned with a form letter that states "this correspondence has been formally rejected by Disney for liability reasons and has been returned to the sender without further acknowledgement of the company."

Lutz goes on to explain that the reason for this stems mostly from WDW Florida incidents, citing one where a person sued Disney for compensation because they used his idea for cloning Soarin' at Epcot.

I admit, this doesn't seem entirely accurate, especially given all the responses everyone is receiving to letters/emails regarding the PI closure.

Has anyone tried to leave a written comment at WDW guest services lately? Lutz article only refers to DL and DCA for the in-park change. It doesn't seem plausible, though, that the same corporate office would field WDW letters but not DL. Lutz does state that written mail regarding any Disney Park is to be returned.

I find the whole idea surprising and a little disturbing. Does anyone have anything to add?

Link: http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al080508c.htm

 

[Monty]

I can see it if someone is suggesting changes to "intellectual property" of Disney, but general complaints or compliments being treated that way stikes me as incredible. Al Lutz may or may not be right, but if Disney is going that route it is a significant disservice to their usually stellar customer service and a sad statement on the ridiculously litigious society the U.S.A. has become.

 

[bgraham34]

If its true I can't see if lasting long term. I can understand no recieving email just because that is so easy to do, but handwriten letters are completely different. That takes a lot more time and effort. And if Disney cant take the time to read the letter there are other issues at hand.

 

[Nemo14]

Haven't we had a few members here who have had written responses to their complaints about AC closing?

 

[kdjf4]

re:complaints

I sent an email regarding the close of the AC, and I got the standard reply:

Thank you for contacting us at the Walt Disney World. Resort during The Year of a Million Dreams!

Listening to your feedback is an important way that we sustain and enhance the magic, and we thank you for taking the time to write to us.
We appreciate your comments and will make sure that they receive proper attention.

A member of our Executive Correspondence Team looks forward to responding to you in the near future.

Sincerely,

Executive Offices
Walt Disney World. Resort


I have not yet heard from anyone in the Executive Correspondence Team.

 

[coasterphil]

I can't believe that they would be doing this at DL. It just doesn't make any sense from any standpoint.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

That doesn't make sense.

 

[Eyorefan]

That just sounds crazy and given the responses that people have been getting about the AC and PI closings I don't really believe it.

Can someone run down to DL and try to submit a writen comment? :lookaroun

 

[ClemsonTigger]

I think there are two different issues here, feedback and guest comments

There is still a mechanism for recognition of CM excellence and issues that is documented. There are then surveys for stays. That feedback is still used.

But then there are comments and suggestions

The main issue I think is in what so many rail about here and at other sites. Look at all of the postings for "If you were to add...", "What is the next....", "What would you change..."

I remember (MANY) years ago, that at WDW they use to hand out formal suggestion cards for just these sorts of things, and they were often responded to. (Wish I had saved some of those very nice letters) And I would happily sign off on any of those ideas allowing development without expectation for compensation.

In our litigious society, unfortunately you have a constant trickle of those claiming infringement of intellectual property. Disney now has to prove that they don't (officially or unofficially) read sites like this one, just to deny that they didn't borrow an idea. Given how much is thrown out here....I sometimes wonder if they can do anything creative without someone claiming infringement. Only careful documentation and dating of the development process can protect them.

Edit: I don't believe this has been shut down....wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Haven't we had a few members here who have had written responses to their complaints about AC closing?

I not only got a written response, I got a phone call. :shrug:

 

[Slowjack]

In our litigious society, unfortunately you have a constant trickle of those claiming infringement of intellectual property. Disney now has to prove that they don't (officially or unofficially) read sites like this one, just to deny that they didn't borrow an idea. Given how much is thrown out here....I sometimes wonder if they can do anything creative without someone claiming infringement. Only careful documentation and dating of the development process can protect them.

It's true that someone can make a claim--but you can always make a claim. The idea that Disney would have to prove they don't read Internet sites is untrue. Ideas, in and of themselves, are not intellectual property. You know what? When I was in high school (this would have been the 80s, and yes I had a bad haircut) I had an idea that Disney should create a rollercoaster with a synchronized rock-and-roll soundtrack. You know what I thought they should call it? Yes, the Rock-and-Rollercoaster. My girlfriend thought it was a stupid idea and a stupid name. Now, even if I could prove that I had that idea back then, does Disney legally owe me anything? No. Even if I had filled out a guest card with that idea on a WDW vist, would that change anything? No. Filling out a suggestion card is a pretty clear indication that you are giving away the idea for free.

I mean, almost every company has a way to make suggestions for improvements. It has never been the case that someone can make a claim on those suggestions later. I'm not saying that no one has even tried, but I am saying that no one has ever been successful. If they were it would be the end of all forms of customer feedback.

In short, Al's just nuts on this one. If it is true that written comments are going away, I would suspect other reasons.

 

[HoneyMnShawnee]

I must be doing something wrong.. I sent a complaint to Guest Communications regarding our trip last October roughly 5 times over the 6 months following the trip and not once received a response, by email, letter or phone call.. I really hope they don't stop us from complaining however. That just doesn't sound right..

 

[wickedfan07]

I read that article earlier today and found this new "policy" to be quite disturbing. Can't Disney put a fine print blurb at the bottom of the cards along thelines of: "This card is for comments related to the guest experience only. All comments written on this card become the sole property of the Walt Disney Company without any compensation or other recognition to the writer." Couldn't that type of legal language protect them from lawsuits regarding compensation for unsolicited ideas? Taking away the main mechanism for receiving Guest feedback is not a good idea at all. I'd like to see what the media would say if they caught wind of this. The last thing Disney needs is to be seen as not listening to customers. After all, what in the world would they use as an excuse for closing attractions other than "guests asked for this change!"

Every step the company takes reminds me that I hate the Disney Corporation as much as I love the stories and experiences they have somehow been able to create.

 

[nibblesandbits]

Haven't we had a few members here who have had written responses to their complaints about AC closing?

Yep, I'm one of them. I wrote a letter about my disappointment of the closure of the AC and got a phone call back. Oh and in it, I included suggestions of where they could put the club and things they could do with it so it could turn a profit.

I wished I'd answered the call, but it was a call back, plain and simple.

 

[Eyorefan]

It's true that someone can make a claim--but you can always make a claim. The idea that Disney would have to prove they don't read Internet sites is untrue. Ideas, in and of themselves, are not intellectual property. You know what? When I was in high school (this would have been the 80s, and yes I had a bad haircut) I had an idea that Disney should create a rollercoaster with a synchronized rock-and-roll soundtrack. You know what I thought they should call it? Yes, the Rock-and-Rollercoaster. My girlfriend thought it was a stupid idea and a stupid name. Now, even if I could prove that I had that idea back then, does Disney legally owe me anything? No. Even if I had filled out a guest card with that idea on a WDW vist, would that change anything? No. Filling out a suggestion card is a pretty clear indication that you are giving away the idea for free.

I mean, almost every company has a way to make suggestions for improvements. It has never been the case that someone can make a claim on those suggestions later. I'm not saying that no one has even tried, but I am saying that no one has ever been successful. If they were it would be the end of all forms of customer feedback.

In short, Al's just nuts on this one. If it is true that written comments are going away, I would suspect other reasons.

I completely agree. If a person could make a vaild legal claim for an idea that they posted on the internet and successfully sue a company for using that idea, there would be no need to copyright, trademark or patent anything and I would be out of a job.

 

[WDWTrojan]

I worked in Guest Relations for three years. At the beginning of my tenure there, we had forms guests could fill out and submit back for any sort of comment/complaint/compliment. Those were stopped back in 2001 or so, due to the same legal reasons Al Lutz described in his article. We could no longer take anything in writing at City Hall, or other Guest Relations locations.

Most of the time, complaints were handled right in Guest Relations, as we had the power to comp tickets, make refunds, give away merchandise, etc. However if the complaint was regarding a cast member (either positive or negative), we would take it verbally from the guest and contact that cast member's leader to inform them of the comment.

Finally, if a guest really wanted to write a letter, we would hand them a card with the WDW Communications Office information. Unlike the Al Lutz article, there was also an email address guests could write to. Also, these emails went to Orlando, not Burbank, to a department that was specifically set up to handle guest inquiries. The people handling this were Guest Relations cast members (from the parks), who were specially trained with how to handle situations in writing, and who are given power to do the same things as park GR cast members (comping tickets, etc).

Hope that clears everything up.

 

[RiversideBunny]

What's with all the complaining?

 

[firemandisney]

What's with all the complaining?

I agree.
99% of all the complaining and whining folks do is 100% uneccessary.
Dont think that Disney management doesnt laugh at a whole lot of the "issues" they have to listen to "whiners" complain about.
I firmly agree that now and then in a VERY rare occurance a guest DOES have a ligit complaint. But VERY VERY rare.
I've been to Disneyworl/land more times than i can remember.
I have NEVER had an incident worth complaining over.
Problem is, ALOT of folks LOOK for something to whine about.
In the end, I find there is really nothing in life to complain much about, let alone Disney.
I would actually be embarrassed to write a letter or email of a complaint.
We are in Disneyworld for crying out loud. Life is GOOD! Why complain about it?

 

[WDWTrojan]

Okay, so I will never, ever forget this story. Before anybody argues that it can't be true, it is:

A gentleman comes up to me in City Hall. He could not be more irate.

He and his family were recently at the Downtown Disney Marketplace for lunch. Just after lunch, before heading back to the Magic Kingdom, his daughter was playing in the water playground by the market place (we used to term this area the "white trash water park"). The area has various fountains and such that kids can play in (not sure if it is still there, it's been a year or two since I've been to the market place). There are a number of fountains in the area which shoot streams of water straight up, alternating between fountains. The daughter was standing over one such fountain when it activated, shooting a stream of water straight up, in between her legs, under her skirt at a surprisingly high pressure.

Needless to say, it caught the girl off guard. Whether it did anything "internally," I have no clue, but it upset her pretty badly. Next thing you know, the family is on the way to the MK, where the dad storms in City Hall, screams at me the following quote, "Excuse me, but your WATER just molested my daughter!!!!"

 

[fillerup]

Our experience over at least the last two years, when stopping at Guest Relations to leave either a compliment or a complaint (rarely), the CM has always listened patiently, writing nothing down, and then handed us a card with the email address and saying that is the method by which they deal with these matters.