(I won't be able to do this story justice in writing, because much of this CM's rudeness involved his tone of voice and body language. But nevertheless, I'll try.)
For the second time in about 4 years, I experienced an unbelievably rude WDW CM. And just like the last time, it occured on Space Mountain. Here's what happened...
On December 4 at about 1pm, my wife and I were visiting MK. For the most part, the park was pretty empty that day (at least while we were there). Everything was pretty much a walk on and we were in the process of riding Space Mountain for the third time in a row. On both of the previous rides, we had requested to sit in the front row. We don't make this request to be difficult or "disruptive". We do it because we've found that on this ride in particular, the back is just too rough and uncomfortable. This is generally not a problem for the CMs (or at least if it is, they generally don't indicate it's a problem). So on this third trip, when we made the request, the CM initially told us to stand in rows 4 & 5 (which are in the back rocket). Thinking he didn't hear our request, I approached him and said, "Excuse me, we were hoping to sit in the front.", to which he responded, "You'll have to wait" (in a very stern and snappy tone). He pointed to a "bull pen" area on the platform and ordered us to wait in that spot. We apparently misunderstood which square inch of space to stand in on the platform, and he let us know by repeating several times (and again, very rudely) "Not there. There. There. There! Stand back, back back!" It was literally ridiculous and very obviously a power trip on the part of this CM. I leaned over to my wife and whispered in her ear, "I'm beginning to lose my patience with this guy." When we finally got assigned to rows 1 & 2, we stood patiently waiting for our rocket to arrive. After a few seconds, the guest in front of us turned to us and said, "Was it just me, or was that Disney employee really rude?" At that point it occurred to me that there was a problem with this CM and unless someone did something, who knows how many guests he'd be treating this way. So I walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and asked him his name. He told me that his name was Mark and I could in fact see that his name tag confirmed this. So I said to him, "Well Mark, I just want to let you know that you're being really rude to your guests and we don't appreciate it." His response to this was simply "Don't grab me" (apparently he interpreted my tapping him on the shoulder as a "grab"). I let him know that I was asking for his name because at the end of the ride I intended to speak to a manager about his behavior. His response... "Good for you!"
So my question to all of you is this: Under any circumstance, is this type of response acceptable? I've never had this type of interaction anywhere, much less at Disney.
What seemed especially odd about this response was the fact that he didn't seem worried that I'd be complaining about him. I've worked in the service industry before (including a stint at Disney) and I remember when a guest complaint was something you'd do anything to avoid. By informing him that I'd be complaining, I wasn't making an idle threat. I was giving him an opportunity for service recovery, to apologize or ask me what the problem was. But by simply saying, "Good for you!" and then walking away, he pretty much guaranteed I would follow through on my promise to complain.
What I found almost as frustrating as this treatment, however, was the manner in which it was "handled" when I did complain. Though I had asked for a manager, the person I ended up speaking to said he was the "coordinator of this attraction". This individual (his name was Erik) barely listened to my complaint. He kept interrupting me and immediately jumped to offering me something called a "no strings attached" pass, which worked essentially like a Fastpass without any window of time associated with it. What Erik failed to understand was that I didn't want compensation for my trouble. I wanted this CM to be spoken to.
We ended up going to Guest Relations on our way out of the park. Once again, we were not given the opportunity to speak to a manager about what happened. Instead, we were offered a coupon for a free soft drink. I explained that I really didn't want anything, I just wanted to speak to someone in a position of authority about what had happened. The person at Guest Relations gave me a mailing address and an email address that I could write to about the situation. I asked if there was a phone number where I could actually SPEAK to someone and he said, "We don't really do it that way." When I once again asked if there was just someone there with whom I could speak about this, he reiterated, "No, we really don't do it that way."
So now I'm frustrated that this rude CM (Mark) got away with treating us this way, and that he'll continue treating guests this way because there's no consequences for his actions.
It may seem like a little thing (and again, in writing it doesn't sound as bad as it actually was), but it really upset us for a few hours afterward. It was really a shock to be treated this way by a Disney CM.
So I'd appreciate any advice that any of you have (particularly any WDW CMs) on how I might get through to a manager about this. In the meantime, if any of you happen to know Mark, feel free to let him know that I haven't given up and will be writing letters to Disney management regarding his attitude.
For the second time in about 4 years, I experienced an unbelievably rude WDW CM. And just like the last time, it occured on Space Mountain. Here's what happened...
On December 4 at about 1pm, my wife and I were visiting MK. For the most part, the park was pretty empty that day (at least while we were there). Everything was pretty much a walk on and we were in the process of riding Space Mountain for the third time in a row. On both of the previous rides, we had requested to sit in the front row. We don't make this request to be difficult or "disruptive". We do it because we've found that on this ride in particular, the back is just too rough and uncomfortable. This is generally not a problem for the CMs (or at least if it is, they generally don't indicate it's a problem). So on this third trip, when we made the request, the CM initially told us to stand in rows 4 & 5 (which are in the back rocket). Thinking he didn't hear our request, I approached him and said, "Excuse me, we were hoping to sit in the front.", to which he responded, "You'll have to wait" (in a very stern and snappy tone). He pointed to a "bull pen" area on the platform and ordered us to wait in that spot. We apparently misunderstood which square inch of space to stand in on the platform, and he let us know by repeating several times (and again, very rudely) "Not there. There. There. There! Stand back, back back!" It was literally ridiculous and very obviously a power trip on the part of this CM. I leaned over to my wife and whispered in her ear, "I'm beginning to lose my patience with this guy." When we finally got assigned to rows 1 & 2, we stood patiently waiting for our rocket to arrive. After a few seconds, the guest in front of us turned to us and said, "Was it just me, or was that Disney employee really rude?" At that point it occurred to me that there was a problem with this CM and unless someone did something, who knows how many guests he'd be treating this way. So I walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and asked him his name. He told me that his name was Mark and I could in fact see that his name tag confirmed this. So I said to him, "Well Mark, I just want to let you know that you're being really rude to your guests and we don't appreciate it." His response to this was simply "Don't grab me" (apparently he interpreted my tapping him on the shoulder as a "grab"). I let him know that I was asking for his name because at the end of the ride I intended to speak to a manager about his behavior. His response... "Good for you!"
So my question to all of you is this: Under any circumstance, is this type of response acceptable? I've never had this type of interaction anywhere, much less at Disney.
What seemed especially odd about this response was the fact that he didn't seem worried that I'd be complaining about him. I've worked in the service industry before (including a stint at Disney) and I remember when a guest complaint was something you'd do anything to avoid. By informing him that I'd be complaining, I wasn't making an idle threat. I was giving him an opportunity for service recovery, to apologize or ask me what the problem was. But by simply saying, "Good for you!" and then walking away, he pretty much guaranteed I would follow through on my promise to complain.
What I found almost as frustrating as this treatment, however, was the manner in which it was "handled" when I did complain. Though I had asked for a manager, the person I ended up speaking to said he was the "coordinator of this attraction". This individual (his name was Erik) barely listened to my complaint. He kept interrupting me and immediately jumped to offering me something called a "no strings attached" pass, which worked essentially like a Fastpass without any window of time associated with it. What Erik failed to understand was that I didn't want compensation for my trouble. I wanted this CM to be spoken to.
We ended up going to Guest Relations on our way out of the park. Once again, we were not given the opportunity to speak to a manager about what happened. Instead, we were offered a coupon for a free soft drink. I explained that I really didn't want anything, I just wanted to speak to someone in a position of authority about what had happened. The person at Guest Relations gave me a mailing address and an email address that I could write to about the situation. I asked if there was a phone number where I could actually SPEAK to someone and he said, "We don't really do it that way." When I once again asked if there was just someone there with whom I could speak about this, he reiterated, "No, we really don't do it that way."
So now I'm frustrated that this rude CM (Mark) got away with treating us this way, and that he'll continue treating guests this way because there's no consequences for his actions.
It may seem like a little thing (and again, in writing it doesn't sound as bad as it actually was), but it really upset us for a few hours afterward. It was really a shock to be treated this way by a Disney CM.
So I'd appreciate any advice that any of you have (particularly any WDW CMs) on how I might get through to a manager about this. In the meantime, if any of you happen to know Mark, feel free to let him know that I haven't given up and will be writing letters to Disney management regarding his attitude.
