I don't know, but he's told the story 77 times in this thread and instead of worrying about $10 he should start saving for the carpel tunnel treatments he is gonna need after this, LOL.
I've repeated myself when asked or when a point needed to be restated (usually for someone new entering the conversation). And even then, I apologized in advance for being repetitive.
Feel free to put me on ignore.
That said, yes, charging $10 for an infant who wouldn't have paid anyway is ridiculous and I would never have paid it. Lebeau, did you speak to anyone else? Did you talk to guest services? It's blatantly idiotic to be charged a "no show" fee for what would have been a free meal for the infant, and although you shouldn't have to "fight" it, that's exactly what you should have done.
Nope. I had no fight left in me. My family was tired, cold and defeated. We just wanted to go home. And I'd spent about 15-20 minutes on the phone with someone who seemed to want to help, but told me he could not.
In retrospect, I should have hung up and called back or followed up when I had rested. But it didn't occur to me. A lot of tourists will react the same way.
The point is, it shouldn't have happened in the first place. And now, it's going to happen to more people more often. That, in my book, is a bad thing.
If you were here saying, "I went to guest services, I spoke to management, and they said yup, I had to pay," I'd be right there with you. Heck, if guest services didn't fix it, I would have simply called my credit card company and disputed the charge.
You just said I shouldn't have had to fight it. Why are you putting so much onus on me? The customer who played by the rules.
I get a Disney fan defending Disney. I defend Disney all the time. I defended the FLE just as vocally as I have condemned this policy. But do you seriously think the guest should be so severely burdened going forward?
Your ONE bad experience, which you have made well, WELL known, is not an indicator of how things will work with this NEW system.
Why not? seems like a good indicator to me.
Since the number of restaurants requiring this is expanding so, and Disney is well-known for giving it's employees (oh, I forget the exact wording) "empowering" them to assist with things like this, we have no idea what policies and exceptions will be in place. As someone who has answered phones similarly before, I can tell you that the people on the phone immediately get a gut reaction when someone is genuinely cancelling because of unforeseen circumstances and when they are just trying to get out of something.
That may be true. Runs contrary to my one personal experience and a number of accounts I have read.
As I have said before (yes, repeating myself again) I have no doubt Disney will get it right 90% of the time. But if they get it wrong 10% of the time, that's too much. And with this policy expanding, that 10% could affect a lot of guests.
Also, I expect Disney's going to crack down on exceptions. Otherwise, this new policy is completely toothless. All that serves to do is create additional hurdles for people who are playing by the rules and have a run of bad luck.
While what happened to you is patently ridiculous, the fact you paid it is your own decision and you did nothing to bring this ridiculous thing to the attention of people who could have helped you. I'm sorry to be that harsh but this has become the "Lebeau is screaming mad about $10 and didn't stand up for himself" thread, when actually for most this is a really good change.
I feel I've made some pretty reasonable arguments which you have chosen to ignore. But if that's how you choose to see it...
I've asked before. How is this a good thing? So far, no one has really explained that to me.
I keep hearing it will open up availability. But no one has explained how that will happen outside of the 24-hour window beyond it being a mild deterent. One easily worked around by people who have demonstrated a willingness to do so.
I keep hearing it will create additional opportunities for walk-ups despite evidence to the contrary.
No one is providing any support for arguments that this will benefit the customer. Instead, they just keep trying to shout down those of us who are making arguments against the policy.
It adds some inconvenience to the front end, but if people just go to the dang ressies they make, it should work most of the time. And no more "Disney Moms" booking four ressies at one restaurant at one time. That alone should alleviate some of the issues.
Yes, it should work most of the time. Life isn't as simple as "show up to your ressies". Sometimes things happen. This plan allows too little flexibility.
Again, please explain how this prevents "double booking". At best, it's one more easily overcome hurdle.
This is a good thing, IMO, and you don't have to agree - but it's not all about you and your one bad experience that you just accepted and didn't do anything to rectify.
It's not about me and my experience at all. That's in the past. I only bring it up as an example. Everyone seems to think that they are going to get a free pass if things go wrong. Well, that's not true. Maybe you will. Odds are you will. But some people will be greatly inconvenienced in order to get that pass. And it will be at a time when things are already going wrong.
And for what? I've yet to see a simgle convincing argument that suggests this will deter the majority of double booking.
But you do not agree with me, at all. So why don't we just agree to disagree? 
