Getting jerked around at Cal Grill

[dreamer]

We went to California Grill on Wed night. I called a couple hours before and got a PS at 9 -- the "earliest available." We got there at eight. The CM told me that we would have to wait 15 to 30 min FROM THE TIME OF OUR PS.

I asked what the wait time would be for a walk in and she told me about 10 FROM NOW WHICH WAS 8PM.

I told her to just put me down as a walk in and she told me she would get in trouble for that because I (had been stupid enough -- implied) to call in for a PS. In other words she said I would have to wait over an hour instead of the walk-in wait of 10 minutes. I was stern and she said I could talk to the manager. Fortunately, the CM next to her at the reception desk told her to just put me down as a walk in and we were seated in 5 minutes.

I think she was new and didn't know what she was doing. At least I hope so.


Moral -- if you arrive before your PS don't tell them you have a PS until you find out what the wait time for a walk in is. I would still recommend the CG -- it was great otherwise.

 

[Katherine]

Sorry that happened to you Did you get to watch the water pagent from your table at least or have a view of the MK?

 

[DMC-12]

Originally posted by dreamer
Moral -- if you arrive before your PS don't tell them you have a PS until you find out what the wait time for a walk in is. I would still recommend the CG -- it was great otherwise.

This Happened to me at the Prime Time Cafe as well....
I got there like 25min early...before my PS Tme...(cause I am like that ...and I like being early all the time ) .... but I just sat in the nice air conditioned lounge watched TV and relaxed....till we got seated at our PS time

 

[Lilo]

I had a PS at the Coral Reef for 6:30 and my little one was hungry at 5:00. I asked if they could accomodate us and with no problem they did and sat us on the first banquet by the tank. I hope your experience was just a rare occurence, and that it won't happen again.

We'll be back again at the Coral Reef for Thanksgiving Dinner:sohappy:

 

[Talsonic]

Know who to kiss and when!

In all of our many trips to WDW (even during the days when it was busy) we have never had PS for any meal, yet we have always gotten a table without a problem. Even the Cindy's Castle breakfast was easy. Perhaps it has been just dumb luck on our part, I don't really know. I suppose that part of the problem is your general demeanor. If you really "want" to get into an establishment that you consider to be exclusive, I think you are more subject to being "jerked around". On the other hand if you don't really care (i.e. "I've been kicked out of better places than this...") the personnel tend to "want" you (or in this case me) as a customer. Of course, I'm the type that wouldn't wait 10 seconds unless I got $10.00 in return for the wait. A "Tinkerbell" Disney dollar given to the right person helps too!

 

[dreamer]

I'm not really into PS either. I called for the "reservations" at 630pm, only an hour before we left. So I wasn't too worried about it. I think the hostess was new and didn't know what to do, because she was quite flustered by the situation. When the hostess next to her overheard she told the "new" hostess to just put us down for next available table.

We had done the same thing for Chef Mickey's the night before. They seated us right away (2 minutes) and were full aware that our PS was not for another hour. (I made that PS reservation about 30 min before we left "just in case.")

I didn't really care about eating at the Cal Grill. I was ready to go back to the Flying Fish which was a 5 minute walk from our condo. I am proud of myself for being very polite without backing down. When the hostess seated us we kidded around about my being a trouble-maker and we were all friends.


I think I will still call to make the PS at more popular restaurants before we leave "just in case," but won't tell them I have a PS until I find out the wait time for walk ins. With my family it's too hard to plan several days in advance so I can't make the reservations way up front.

 

[Yellow Shoes]

I'm glad everything worked out in the end. It is always a relief to find a CM who knows what to do and sees the reason of doing the sensible thing.

However, you will not find this attitude with the airlines ( and this is soon to get much worse, I fear).

My husband was in Chicago for a family get-together. They tried to coordinate trips to the airport, so he was 3 hours early for his flight. (This was not a huge problem; he had a book and didn't mind waiting).

He went to check in and there was a plane leaving in about 30 minutes with 50+ empty seats. He asked if he could catch the earlier flight and was told it would cost $100.


But here is the real:hammer: . The flight he was scheduled for was overbooked and they denied boarding to several passengers.

Let's hear it for common sense.