Maybe Disney is Not that Good at Customer Service

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My mother in law used to say that if Disney was in charge of running this or that it would be great and efficient, because of how well they run their parks. Today I am skeptical. I think the way they have dealt with this phased reopen and reservation of the parks has been a disaster. Trying to call into customer service has been a joke, they have no chat features, knowing they were going to have a high volume there are a number of ways this could have been handled better, first and foremost having enough reps online to help. Second, maybe there could have been a system in place where only people with a valid resort reservation number would be patched through? I have a reservation for November but no way to buy tickets for the parks and thus no guarantee I will even be able to go to the parks once I can buy tix. I don't know but this whole thing is really a bit of a turn off.
 

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
My mother in law used to say that if Disney was in charge of running this or that it would be great and efficient, because of how well they run their parks. Today I am skeptical. I think the way they have dealt with this phased reopen and reservation of the parks has been a disaster. Trying to call into customer service has been a joke, they have no chat features, knowing they were going to have a high volume there are a number of ways this could have been handled better, first and foremost having enough reps online to help. Second, maybe there could have been a system in place where only people with a valid resort reservation number would be patched through? I have a reservation for November but no way to buy tickets for the parks and thus no guarantee I will even be able to go to the parks once I can buy tix. I don't know but this whole thing is really a bit of a turn off.

Or there is a pandemic on, many people are not working as they are ill, reducing the number of call handlers, while at the same time they have more people than normal trying to make contact.
 

crawale

Well-Known Member
My mother in law used to say that if Disney was in charge of running this or that it would be great and efficient, because of how well they run their parks. Today I am skeptical. I think the way they have dealt with this phased reopen and reservation of the parks has been a disaster. Trying to call into customer service has been a joke, they have no chat features, knowing they were going to have a high volume there are a number of ways this could have been handled better, first and foremost having enough reps online to help. Second, maybe there could have been a system in place where only people with a valid resort reservation number would be patched through? I have a reservation for November but no way to buy tickets for the parks and thus no guarantee I will even be able to go to the parks once I can buy tix. I don't know but this whole thing is really a bit of a turn off.
That was true once but in recent years all Disney has been concerned with is increasing their profits. It is a shame. No douby next moves will be price increases.
 

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Or there is a pandemic on, many people are not working as they are ill, reducing the number of call handlers, while at the same time they have more people than normal trying to make contact.
Yes, but they created this issue. And you think there is a shortage of able people willing to work phones and online help desks? Disney has had MONTHS to prepare for this roll out. It seems simple enough to add a purchase ticket and park reservation option to people currently holding hotel reservations, or reach to them directly over a few week period instead of just opening it all up at once.
 

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
Yes, but they created this issue. And you think there is a shortage of able people willing to work phones and online help desks? Disney has had MONTHS to prepare for this roll out. It seems simple enough to add a purchase ticket and park reservation option to people currently holding hotel reservations, or reach to them directly over a few week period instead of just opening it all up at once.

I don't think they have had months, everything has changed quite quickly in the last few weeks really and recruiting and training more phone operators would take time, plus they probably don't want to pay them.

I agree they probably should have better tools to service your reservation online, but for some reason Disney has focused on phone customer service for years.
 

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I don't think they have had months, everything has changed quite quickly in the last few weeks really and recruiting and training more phone operators would take time, plus they probably don't want to pay them.

I agree they probably should have better tools to service your reservation online, but for some reason Disney has focused on phone customer service for years.
Even all this hotel moving around. I am happy some people are getting moved from mods or values to deluxes but if I had booked one of those said deluxe at the regular rate for the same time might feel a bit like a chump.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
I don't think anyone should be surprised by any of this madness. Yes, we're in the middle of a pandemic and these are unprecedented times/situations, but Disney's notorious for having these kinds of issues. I think back to August 2012 when BOG ADRs went live. They knew it would cripple the online system, so ADRs for it were strictly by phone the first two days...and every single Disney number imaginable was jammed for hours. And those that did get through, but didn't get a person, were at the mercy of an automated system that you had to hope understood your every word. Some were lucky...others not so much. I remember when the website was transitioning between an old version and a previous iteration of the current system, and the new system was so bad that people were using a UK site that hadn't been converted to make their bookings. Even on normal days, the system is constantly glitching. And don't even get me started on what it's like to deal with things for runDisney when they open. And what about all of the times the system fails to load certain things in a timely manner according to noted policies? It doesn't come up on here as much, but another large board has posts nearly every day about this not working or that being out and CMs on the phone unable to help.

Look, it's frustrating and you'd expect a company like Disney to have better systems and processes in place, but this is par for the course and if you choose to do business with them, you run the risk of dealing with stuff like this. I'm frustrated too. I spent entirely too long this morning hearing busy signals and all circuits busy.
 

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Ive always been frustrated with their inability to process the incoming calls as timely as I would like. No one enjoys poor phone calls. I agree they are being hit with these changing, unpredictable times and it isnt just Disney. I'm getting these kind of delayed responses and less customer friendly contacts from other businesses I deal with, so I'm willing to give them some understanding and have more patience than in the past.
 

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
Yes, but they created this issue. And you think there is a shortage of able people willing to work phones and online help desks? Disney has had MONTHS to prepare for this roll out. It seems simple enough to add a purchase ticket and park reservation option to people currently holding hotel reservations, or reach to them directly over a few week period instead of just opening it all up at once.

As someone who sort of does this for a living - project management in the consumer end of a fortune 20 company - rarely is something "simple enough".

When companies get as large as Disney, the various system that need to talk to each other, the training, the testing, the bug fixes, the go to market communication, the care channel communications, the legal requirements, the contractual requirements with your business partners, and a whole host of other things make it far from "simple enough".
 

Rosanne

Active Member
I dont understand why so many people even want to go to Disney right now. At a time to distance and critical numbers rising, why not just put your Disney vacation off until a later time. Even if the crowds are not the norm with percentages lower, do you really want to be in a mix with people from all over the world - coming in on planes or cruise ships. Give it a rest and let the state (world) heal before waiting at the gate.
 

InnKpr

Well-Known Member
I dont understand why so many people even want to go to Disney right now. At a time to distance and critical numbers rising, why not just put your Disney vacation off until a later time. Even if the crowds are not the norm with percentages lower, do you really want to be in a mix with people from all over the world - coming in on planes or cruise ships. Give it a rest and let the state (world) heal before waiting at the gate.
^This. Traveling to tourist hotspots during a global pandemic, especially to a place with rising outbreaks...then complaining that things aren't as they were when life was normal.. Kinda like eagerly boarding a burning bus, then complaining that the seats aren't comfortable.
 

ksa1314

New Member
I dont understand why so many people even want to go to Disney right now. At a time to distance and critical numbers rising, why not just put your Disney vacation off until a later time. Even if the crowds are not the norm with percentages lower, do you really want to be in a mix with people from all over the world - coming in on planes or cruise ships. Give it a rest and let the state (world) heal before waiting at the gate.

EXACTLY. all over this forum are people complaining about having to change hotels, not being able to get park reservations, etc. WE ARE IN A PANDEMIC. the numbers is Florida are way way up. Going to a theme park is the last thing you should be doing right now. Stay home. Keep everyone safe- it’s not just about you.
 

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
My mother in law used to say that if Disney was in charge of running this or that it would be great and efficient, because of how well they run their parks. Today I am skeptical. I think the way they have dealt with this phased reopen and reservation of the parks has been a disaster. Trying to call into customer service has been a joke, they have no chat features, knowing they were going to have a high volume there are a number of ways this could have been handled better, first and foremost having enough reps online to help. Second, maybe there could have been a system in place where only people with a valid resort reservation number would be patched through? I have a reservation for November but no way to buy tickets for the parks and thus no guarantee I will even be able to go to the parks once I can buy tix. I don't know but this whole thing is really a bit of a turn off.

Disney's response time on the phone as well as its digital infrastructure has been historically bad, combine that with the volume of customers they must attend to and it's the perfect storm.

Disney does not intend to provide poor customer service, they just don't have resources to do it right. Should they? Absolutely!
 

DVCakaCarlF

Well-Known Member
As someone who sort of does this for a living - project management in the consumer end of a fortune 20 company - rarely is something "simple enough".

When companies get as large as Disney, the various system that need to talk to each other, the training, the testing, the bug fixes, the go to market communication, the care channel communications, the legal requirements, the contractual requirements with your business partners, and a whole host of other things make it far from "simple enough".
These people expect Disney to have an extra 20 people on call without paying any kind of premium - so no, they don’t get it.
 

Minnie Mum

Well-Known Member
I dont understand why so many people even want to go to Disney right now. At a time to distance and critical numbers rising, why not just put your Disney vacation off until a later time. Even if the crowds are not the norm with percentages lower, do you really want to be in a mix with people from all over the world - coming in on planes or cruise ships. Give it a rest and let the state (world) heal before waiting at the gate.
While I agree that going to a theme park in Florida right now seems like the height of folly, I just want to point out your error (bolded). There won't be any foreign visitors coming in on either planes or ships. The borders are still closed to most, at present. However, foreigners (other than Brazilians and Russians) are the least of your worries, since most countries now have much lower infection rates than the US. I'd be much more concerned about catching it from a local.
 

Ldno

Well-Known Member
i had a two month turn around time for a customer service issue last year, TOOK them two months to get back at me, everytime i called them or messaged them they told me i was in line already and gave me the same turn around time. Went to Disneyland Aug 9 and by Oct 11 it was resolved. Went to disney world this time in march RIGHT before the parks closed and used the shipping service from the parks. My box came open and beat up and broken, items missing. Reached out to disney of course, they gave me the email stating that since the parks closed due to covid they can’t handle exchanges/returns/lost claims. I have been waiting since march.

I am a patient man, it will get taken care of, once they get to you they WILL bend over backwards for you, but at the same time you guys are right, you figure they would hire a bigger team to handle claims.
 

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
My mother in law used to say that if Disney was in charge of running this or that it would be great and efficient, because of how well they run their parks. Today I am skeptical. I think the way they have dealt with this phased reopen and reservation of the parks has been a disaster. Trying to call into customer service has been a joke, they have no chat features, knowing they were going to have a high volume there are a number of ways this could have been handled better, first and foremost having enough reps online to help. Second, maybe there could have been a system in place where only people with a valid resort reservation number would be patched through? I have a reservation for November but no way to buy tickets for the parks and thus no guarantee I will even be able to go to the parks once I can buy tix. I don't know but this whole thing is really a bit of a turn off.

Try again! I was able to do a chat today and we got connected pretty fast.
 

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