Not the Trip We Wanted :(

[LSUxStitch]

I'm sorry for the long post, but there are many details to let out....

We left for WDW this past Sunday the 19th, arrived in the afternoon, and was in the parks from 5-3AM . I was a happy camper, Monday came and yet another day of excitement. We were the end of an unfortunate call at 6 am on Tuesday morning from my sister in law telling my wife that their mother had to be rushed into ICU that morning. We were scheduled to be there until Saturday the 25th, but had to make the hard decision to leave our trip only a day and half into the trip.

We were staying at the PO:FQ resort, so I went down to the front desk as early as I could to see what our options were for the trip. I was promptly stopped before reaching the desk and told to call WDW Reservations line for further action, as they couldn't do anything at the resort to help me. After being on hold for a bit (mind you, my nerves were bad as is), I was told on by the person on the other end that she didn't know why they told me to call her, that I should have spoken to a manager. I tried telling her that I tried, but was told they could do nothing for me. She helped me best she could, told us that our unused room nights would be refunded at the rate I paid, but my dining plan (9 snacks remaining, 8 sit downs remaining, and 10 QS remaining) would not be refunded . That surprised me as its a REALLY expensive cost. I was also told at the time my tickets would be not refunded, but I could add the non-expiring onto them to save them ($220 a ticket). Well, at this point, I had a sickness in my stomach from the info just told and the amount of money I was about to lose, but she told me to find the manager at the resort to figure the checking out early thing.

So I did just that, went in and was stopped again my a middle person before the desk and asked if I could be helped. I told her I'd like to speak to a manager, but she insisted she could help. I told her that the WDW Reservations line they told me to call earlier recommended I speak to a manager. She made a little bit of a face and went to "prep" the manager before he spoke to me, which I thought was weird, knowing that she had no idea what my situation was... Anyways, he told me that they had no control over the room refund, since they haven't been paid for my room yet (it's paid to Disney and I guess they pay the resorts? I have no idea) BUT, he did tell me he would refund the remaining 5 day hopper passes for my wife and I and I was excited...until he told me the refund would only be $266 for both and the two days we used cost nearly $500+!!. He explained they break the package up like I bought a 2 day and refund the rest. To me, that seems VERY sketchy...since they were going to charge me for a 7 day package to add the non-expiring on, even though I used 2 days already.

We haven't gotten the amount we're receiving for the unused rooms, but I have a feeling they'll break that into some cheap cost as well

It just really sucks bc the wife and I REALLY needed this vacation due to other bad things happening as of late and we had to cut a 7 day vacation into a day and half vacation with only 1 full day in the parks. On top of that, for what we paid to change our return flights, this day and half vacation is probably only going to cost us $2280. That's with the refund of the 266 dollars in tickets and I THINK we paid 145 a night for the room. So if my guestimation is correct, our 3 day trip cost only 500 less than a 7 day trip. Jeeze...I'm getting queazy again....

tl;dr Had to leave 7 day trip early due to family medical emergency after only 2 days, got run around from disney, what I feel is a rip off of a return on tickets, no refund on dining, and my trip from 19-21st is going to cost me 2300 compared to 2800 I originally paid for the 7 day trip

 

[englanddg]

This is the issue when you market "magic" and "service" and then provide neither well.

And, don't say they don't. They are masters of it.



That commercial just MAKES me want to go!

However, the reality is, most people don't have Disney nostalgia. They didn't grow up on and with the Parks as many of us did, and for every family vacation they take a very serious look at the costs and what their money buys them.

I watch that commercial, and I can recognize pretty much everything in it, tell you where it is, and in many cases when it was built and stories behind it. I am NOT a normal park goer. I am a fan.

A week at Disney costs a lot of money. I go with a group of 2 (me and the kid) and we easily spend 4 - 5 grand before it's all said and done on a two week visit. This isn't chump change.

Could trip insurance have been purchased? Sure. But, as it's marketed to me through Disney Travel, trip insurance would more apply to cancellation BEFORE showing up.

However, what Disney had a chance to do in this case, is make magic, and make a lifelong fan. And, they could have done it without giving back a single dime.

The first issue is escalation to someone with authority, and cross departmental decisions being given authority. Example? When she went to the front desk, she should have been immediately (not having to ask) escalated to a manager, not told to call an "800 number" that then told her they couldn't do anything and directing her to go back to the front desk.

The manager should have brought her aside, or even to a secluded point, and then called the 800 number themselves on speaker phone. Held her hand through explaining the situation to Disney Travel, and since the Hotel Manager is there, he/she knows the words to say to get it escalated to a decision maker. That gets done.

Then, the negotiation starts. And, it is a negotiation. What will it take to not give away the house, but also make her feel like she was treated fairly, and even a bit above fairly.

Had I been able to handle it, I wouldn't have given her back a dime. Rather, I would have found a way to put it on hold, and give her a period to rebook with credits. In other words...for example...

(gives a charged up game arcade card to the kids so we can talk in private, if the kids are there)

"Ok, look, I can't refund your money because you don't have the Trip Insurance, but I can give you a rebook option on your remaining package as long as you rebook it within 3 weeks."

"Ok."

"Mind you, we are going deduct what you have used for your current package, so we may need to charge you extra if you want to do another full week, but we can work that out later, if it's ok with you? Time of year and pricing are also an issue, as are package discounts, but I'll work with John at Disney Travel to figure out what we can do. What I can ensure is that there will be a credit available for what you haven't used for your next booking. The sooner you book, the more likely John and I can help you out. You must rebook within 15 days or you will lose everything. Is that ok?"

"Sure."

"Do you have an email? Ok, I'm going to send you some calendar reminders that your 15 days is coming up. I'm going to have do work with John over at Disney Travel to get this in the system, so please don't wait until the last minute. I am also creating a reminder for myself right now to give you a call on day 7 and day 10, just so we don't miss the dates. Is that ok? Great. While we were on the phone I was chatting with my senior manager so she's aware of the situation, and if you have any questions, please feel free to call her or me. Here's my business card, and I wrote her contact information on the back of it."

"Wow, ok, thanks!"

"I know this is a tough situation for you, but I can't stress this more. You have 15 days to rebook. If you do not, you will lose the offers. I am sending you an email right now confirming this. So, moving on, we do have an airline booking insider here at the resort, let me escort you over there so you can work on that. Now, if they charge you extra fees, there's nothing I can do about that, but at least you won't have to spend time online or on the phone. You'll know it's done."

This way, she walks away a raving fan. And, when she goes back, what will she do? She'll post on her facebook, post on her twitter, post on here, tell her friends at work, tell her family...DISNEY IS SO AWESOME!

And, she'd have a very moving story to encourage them with. No amount of youtube posts or TV commercials can top that sort of PR. None.

Everyone knows Disney is out to make money. That's not the issue. It's that when they get so blatent about that being their top priority, at the loss of both quality of product and service, then people stop seeing the value.

Drop into the DCL threads and you'll find plenty of people who love the heck out of Disney, and are not willing to give up on the idea that Disney used to represent, but are sick of WDW and how it's operated. Drop into Disneyland threads and look for people who have done both, and you'll find the same.

 

[englanddg]

I'll add to that hypothetical...lets say that's how I had handled it. If you REALLY want to get into how a smart SERVICE oriented organization should be run, we should then look at resources that, at such last minute, will probably not be able to rebook.

Dining plan and ticket credits will carry over to the next visit as resources unused, but now I'm stuck with a room unfilled, that probably won't be filled.

So, then, I place a call to my manager friend over at All Star Music and inform them of the situation. They find a short list of families coming in the next afternoon that have the same length of stay as my party (gotta be at least one or two), and that's plenty of time for the other family to vacate and for me to turn the room.

He gives me their phone numbers and I pass it off to a front desk person to call them and offer them a free room upgrade. Family 3 answers, and they are the lucky number. Now, they get to stay at a moderate (POFQ) for "free") at really no extra cost to me as an operator, as I still have to keep Room Service staffing at the same levels, and THEY go back raving fans.

And, after staying at a moderate, they then are more likely on their next trip (which will be purchased with some of that goodwill being part of the decision process) to book a moderate or even a deluxe. Thereby making more money for the company as a whole.

See, what you are seeing now is stratification of Disney. This is required (you can't have parks people making hotel decisions, per se...) but the challenge, and what Disney used to be VERY good at, was erasing the bureaucracy of stratification to ensure the best end experience for the Guest.

Now, it's not like that.

 

[Hot Lava]

You do have to be careful with travel insurance. I never looked at the Disney one, but the one I did look at didn't seem to me that it was going to cover the issues I thought most likely to come up (for us). I didn't read the one linked here, but I know the one I looked at would not cover the trip if someone outside the insured got sick or passed away. Nor would it cover if you yourself caused the reason for trip delay or cancellation (a real possibility for some people that may have gone with us - basically melodrama causing a delay or missed trip).

I am very sorry this has all happened to you; it is a really awful situation all the way around.

 

[Weather_Lady]

You do have to be careful with travel insurance. I never looked at the Disney one, but the one I did look at didn't seem to me that it was going to cover the issues I thought most likely to come up (for us). I didn't read the one linked here, but I know the one I looked at would not cover the trip if someone outside the insured got sick or passed away. Nor would it cover if you yourself caused the reason for trip delay or cancellation (a real possibility for some people that may have gone with us - basically melodrama causing a delay or missed trip).

I am very sorry this has all happened to you; it is a really awful situation all the way around.

We read over the Disney-offered insurance and were not satisfied with the cancellation options, either. We still wanted our non-refundable costs covered, which is why we talked to a travel agent, who recommended Travelguard since they are not expensive, and they offer policies that cover cancellation or trip interruption due to the illness of travel party members AND their close family members. If anyone is looking for insurance and there's a TA you trust, I suggest asking them what insurance they recommend for your situation.

Still, I recognize that this tangent is too late for the OP, who is stuck in a miserable situation. Hypotheticals about how insurance would have helped are cold comfort. Is he expecting more from Disney than the bare minimum to which he is entitled -- a refund proportionate to the time he spent at WDW instead of a fraction of that? Of course, and why not? Disney has not postured itself as the Aldi of theme parks, but as the most expensive and luxurious theme park in the country, where you can expect above-and-beyond service and be valued as a human being in return. It's a shame that the OP hasn't received a response from Disney that conforms to that standard.

 

[copcarguyp71]

Circumstances like yours are exactly what trip insurance is for. You chose to not take it. So sorry about what happened, but you called it a rip off in the original post. If anyone could foresee things like this there would be no need or such thing as trip insurance. I'm not seeing the rip off.

^^^This^^^...sorry OP for your situation but declining insurance and then complaining that you do not get the benefits travel insurance would have afforded you if you had paid for it quite frankly should fall on deaf ears. I know it sounds harsh and I do not mean to sound unsympathetic but I do not see how Disney owes you money back if there was a way to protect yourself and you declined.

We always buy the insurance and the one time we had to use it (not with Disney though) it was a life saver and all of our expenses were taken care of 100%...well worth the peace of mind. We always make sure it covers airfare, trip interruption, illness and injury

 

[BalooChicago]

SQUARE-D - Now a division of the German conglomerate Siemens along with most of their competitors

Square-D is owned by Schneider Electric, which is French.

 

[ford91exploder]

Square-D is owned by Schneider Electric, which is French.

Thanks for correction - That once again reinforces my point formerly innovative US companies are becoming mere divisions of foreign conglomerates due to the sheer incompetence of their management groups whose only interest is maximizing their bonuses and stock price to h-ll with growing the company as a long term endeavour.

 

[ford91exploder]

This is the issue when you market "magic" and "service" and then provide neither well.

And, don't say they don't. They are masters of it.



That commercial just MAKES me want to go!

However, the reality is, most people don't have Disney nostalgia. They didn't grow up on and with the Parks as many of us did, and for every family vacation they take a very serious look at the costs and what their money buys them.

I watch that commercial, and I can recognize pretty much everything in it, tell you where it is, and in many cases when it was built and stories behind it. I am NOT a normal park goer. I am a fan.

A week at Disney costs a lot of money. I go with a group of 2 (me and the kid) and we easily spend 4 - 5 grand before it's all said and done on a two week visit. This isn't chump change.

Could trip insurance have been purchased? Sure. But, as it's marketed to me through Disney Travel, trip insurance would more apply to cancellation BEFORE showing up.

However, what Disney had a chance to do in this case, is make magic, and make a lifelong fan. And, they could have done it without giving back a single dime.

The first issue is escalation to someone with authority, and cross departmental decisions being given authority. Example? When she went to the front desk, she should have been immediately (not having to ask) escalated to a manager, not told to call an "800 number" that then told her they couldn't do anything and directing her to go back to the front desk.

The manager should have brought her aside, or even to a secluded point, and then called the 800 number themselves on speaker phone. Held her hand through explaining the situation to Disney Travel, and since the Hotel Manager is there, he/she knows the words to say to get it escalated to a decision maker. That gets done.

Then, the negotiation starts. And, it is a negotiation. What will it take to not give away the house, but also make her feel like she was treated fairly, and even a bit above fairly.

Had I been able to handle it, I wouldn't have given her back a dime. Rather, I would have found a way to put it on hold, and give her a period to rebook with credits. In other words...for example...

(gives a charged up game arcade card to the kids so we can talk in private, if the kids are there)

"Ok, look, I can't refund your money because you don't have the Trip Insurance, but I can give you a rebook option on your remaining package as long as you rebook it within 3 weeks."

"Ok."

"Mind you, we are going deduct what you have used for your current package, so we may need to charge you extra if you want to do another full week, but we can work that out later, if it's ok with you? Time of year and pricing are also an issue, as are package discounts, but I'll work with John at Disney Travel to figure out what we can do. What I can ensure is that there will be a credit available for what you haven't used for your next booking. The sooner you book, the more likely John and I can help you out. You must rebook within 15 days or you will lose everything. Is that ok?"

"Sure."

"Do you have an email? Ok, I'm going to send you some calendar reminders that your 15 days is coming up. I'm going to have do work with John over at Disney Travel to get this in the system, so please don't wait until the last minute. I am also creating a reminder for myself right now to give you a call on day 7 and day 10, just so we don't miss the dates. Is that ok? Great. While we were on the phone I was chatting with my senior manager so she's aware of the situation, and if you have any questions, please feel free to call her or me. Here's my business card, and I wrote her contact information on the back of it."

"Wow, ok, thanks!"

"I know this is a tough situation for you, but I can't stress this more. You have 15 days to rebook. If you do not, you will lose the offers. I am sending you an email right now confirming this. So, moving on, we do have an airline booking insider here at the resort, let me escort you over there so you can work on that. Now, if they charge you extra fees, there's nothing I can do about that, but at least you won't have to spend time online or on the phone. You'll know it's done."

This way, she walks away a raving fan. And, when she goes back, what will she do? She'll post on her facebook, post on her twitter, post on here, tell her friends at work, tell her family...DISNEY IS SO AWESOME!

And, she'd have a very moving story to encourage them with. No amount of youtube posts or TV commercials can top that sort of PR. None.

Everyone knows Disney is out to make money. That's not the issue. It's that when they get so blatent about that being their top priority, at the loss of both quality of product and service, then people stop seeing the value.

Drop into the DCL threads and you'll find plenty of people who love the heck out of Disney, and are not willing to give up on the idea that Disney used to represent, but are sick of WDW and how it's operated. Drop into Disneyland threads and look for people who have done both, and you'll find the same.

THIS is a PERFECT example of doing the RIGHT thing, The RIGHT thing has several options one is of course giving a prorated refund, This is better in many ways because if you were treated like this - would there ever be any doubt of this family's preferred vacation destination going forward.

The old Disney customer service produced FANS, The NEW Disney makes lifelong enemies.

 

[quirkle]

I would keep going up the chain - keep calling - keep writing. I am that person who keep at it until I get my way.Kill them with kindness and keep going up and up and up. Good Luck!

 

[Nubs70]

I'll add to that hypothetical...lets say that's how I had handled it. If you REALLY want to get into how a smart SERVICE oriented organization should be run, we should then look at resources that, at such last minute, will probably not be able to rebook.

Dining plan and ticket credits will carry over to the next visit as resources unused, but now I'm stuck with a room unfilled, that probably won't be filled.

So, then, I place a call to my manager friend over at All Star Music and inform them of the situation. They find a short list of families coming in the next afternoon that have the same length of stay as my party (gotta be at least one or two), and that's plenty of time for the other family to vacate and for me to turn the room.

He gives me their phone numbers and I pass it off to a front desk person to call them and offer them a free room upgrade. Family 3 answers, and they are the lucky number. Now, they get to stay at a moderate (POFQ) for "free") at really no extra cost to me as an operator, as I still have to keep Room Service staffing at the same levels, and THEY go back raving fans.

And, after staying at a moderate, they then are more likely on their next trip (which will be purchased with some of that goodwill being part of the decision process) to book a moderate or even a deluxe. Thereby making more money for the company as a whole.

See, what you are seeing now is stratification of Disney. This is required (you can't have parks people making hotel decisions, per se...) but the challenge, and what Disney used to be VERY good at, was erasing the bureaucracy of stratification to ensure the best end experience for the Guest.

Now, it's not like that.

And to add,

The party that needed to cut short the trip, having been refunded on a prorated basis, will go home disappointed but reassured that they have been dealt with responsibly in an unfortunate situation. This builds brand loyalty.

Now the short changed party will return and their negative experience will be brought up in conversation. This will instill negative brand loyalty in not only the party directly but also in parties indirectly affected.

Financially, the short changed refund is a loss for both Disney and the affected party. If the unused portion was refunded, the affected party may very well rebook a trip and tack on an additional 2 days to the previously prorated balance. This would put Disney in a +2 day position from the affected party's original plan. At a minimum, if the affected party simply returned to consume the remainder of the prorated balance, Disney would have fulfilled their commitment to providing the best possible "MAGICAL" experience in the midst of an unfortunate situation.

Good customer service does not add insult to injury.

 

[jlsHouston]

Sorry about your MIL and your interrupted vacation. I know what it is like to have a vacation planned and loved ones get ill... seems like the older I get the more often it now happens. I would continue to write and call Disney about a refund or a credit a bit more substantial than what they offered. Hope things are better for you and your family.

 

[KCheatle]

I'm really sorry to hear all of this!! I hope everything is okay with your mother-in-law :-(

I agree that you should write a letter and/or contact someone at a higher level of guest services I guess??

Your story makes my heart drop :-( I really hope everything works out and you get to go back and enjoy what sounds like an even-more-so much-needed-vacation now. Good luck with everything!!

 

[LSUxStitch]

Update:

My mother in law is out of the hospital, she made huge steps in growing stronger once her body was off of the ventilator. She's stuck indoors with shingles though now (she can't win...)

I sent a lengthy letter to the wdw communications and after a while, since last time I updated this thread, I finally received a call back. Let me say, Kimmie was one of the BEST disney representatives I spoke with regarding this whole situation. Not because she helped me resolve some of my standing issues, but because she was actually concerned about my family not having a normal happy Disney trip. Her main concern was finding out what PO:FQ actually did to help me in my situation, which wasn't much, but mostly she asked if they ever offered to make calls for me (flights/reservations/etc), which they didn't. Anyways, we had an awesome conversation about the 2 days we did get to spend there, my past employment through college program (I actually did dining reservations behind EPCOT guest relations lol), and just my overall thoughts on how everything has been handled.

In the end, she offered to refund us the unused credits in our dining plan (8 qs and 8 sd meals) for $352 on top of the other refunds (room-4 nights and $266 for unused 2x-5day hoppers). We'll still be liable for paying for the nights stayed (which I have no issues with) and the 2 days used hopper passes-for wife and I ($517), BUT..and this is the coolest imo, she has put 2-day park hopper passes for the wife and I (4 passes total) at will call, good for next 20 years. So, we'll be paying the 517 for tickets used, but that is almost like its going towards 2 days in the future.

Overall, Kimmie has restored my faith that there are still Disney customer service people out there like they used to have. I wouldn't dare say I wouldn't have gone back to Disney, because it's in my blood...I can't stay mad at the mouse too long, but this helps us out tremendously, since we can start planning our future trip this year. Looking at May.

Thank you all for your advice and criticism (no hurt feelings), you were all a great outlet for me to vent to when no one else would listen. Excellent community.

PS: I will definitely be picking up trip insurance this time around

 

[englanddg]

Update:

My mother in law is out of the hospital, she made huge steps in growing stronger once her body was off of the ventilator. She's stuck indoors with shingles though now (she can't win...)

I sent a lengthy letter to the wdw communications and after a while, since last time I updated this thread, I finally received a call back. Let me say, Kimmie was one of the BEST disney representatives I spoke with regarding this whole situation. Not because she helped me resolve some of my standing issues, but because she was actually concerned about my family not having a normal happy Disney trip. Her main concern was finding out what PO:FQ actually did to help me in my situation, which wasn't much, but mostly she asked if they ever offered to make calls for me (flights/reservations/etc), which they didn't. Anyways, we had an awesome conversation about the 2 days we did get to spend there, my past employment through college program (I actually did dining reservations behind EPCOT guest relations lol), and just my overall thoughts on how everything has been handled.

In the end, she offered to refund us the unused credits in our dining plan (8 qs and 8 sd meals) for $352 on top of the other refunds (room-4 nights and $266 for unused 2x-5day hoppers). We'll still be liable for paying for the nights stayed (which I have no issues with) and the 2 days used hopper passes-for wife and I ($517), BUT..and this is the coolest imo, she has put 2-day park hopper passes for the wife and I (4 passes total) at will call, good for next 20 years. So, we'll be paying the 517 for tickets used, but that is almost like its going towards 2 days in the future.

Overall, Kimmie has restored my faith that there are still Disney customer service people out there like they used to have. I wouldn't dare say I wouldn't have gone back to Disney, because it's in my blood...I can't stay mad at the mouse too long, but this helps us out tremendously, since we can start planning our future trip this year. Looking at May.

Thank you all for your advice and criticism (no hurt feelings), you were all a great outlet for me to vent to when no one else would listen. Excellent community.

PS: I will definitely be picking up trip insurance this time around

Awesome news. Be sure to give a shout out to Kimmie in the Cast Member Appreciation section of the forum. It is watched (I strongly suspect), and positive comments need to get out there and back to Disney.

Sounds like an extremely fair plan...I just thought it was amusing that it was pretty darned close to what I described earlier, had I been the one to handle it. <grin>

I hope the shingles aren't too bad, and your MIL recovers soon. Glad you got this sorted out!