ValidFill at Resorts

[flynnibus]

I am making assumptions, but I have to think most people who would "steal soda" would fit into the category of people who simply wouldn't pay for one if push came to shove.

And eat their meal without a drink?

Certainly people get soda without eating in the food court... on their way to the park, etc. But the reason they 'steal' it is because of the convenience/location. Those things won't change. Disney still holds the throne of location and convenience.

Cheapskates won't ever be converted.. they'll go the extra mile to not pay. But many who 'just grab another refill..' or cheat in lots of ways will bend to buying as it's the easiest way to get the drink they need.

 

[lebeau]

And eat their meal without a drink?

Certainly people get soda without eating in the food court... on their way to the park, etc. But the reason they 'steal' it is because of the convenience/location. Those things won't change. Disney still holds the throne of location and convenience.

Cheapskates won't ever be converted.. they'll go the extra mile to not pay. But many who 'just grab another refill..' or cheat in lots of ways will bend to buying as it's the easiest way to get the drink they need.

Perhaps.

I'm a cheapskate, so the concept is foreign to me.

Back in my 20s, I was a movie theater manager and people would pull me aside to complain about concession prices. Obviously, the prices are high. (For those who don't know, they include most of the theater's overhead. The majority of the ticket sales go to the film company. Most movie theaters live and die by the concession stand.) They would act as though someone was holding a gun to their heads and forcing them to buy popcorn. Frequently, they would say something along the lines of "you can't go to the movies and NOT buy popcorn." I was never sympathetic to this line of thought. Ver rarely do I ever stop by the concession stand.

To continue rambling, I remember the chain I used to work for used to give us a stack of free drink coupons. If anyone complained about anything at all or if anything ever went wrong, we were to hand out free drink coupons. If a movie started 30 seconds late, I would have the ushers hand out free drinks to everyone in the theater. We had autoriums that seated 650 back in those days. So if a sold-out show started a minute late, we could easily give out 500-600 free drinks. Why? Because drinks cost us pennies and the company I worked for thought the customer good will was more valuable.

 

[flynnibus]

Why? Because drinks cost us pennies and the company I worked for thought the customer good will was more valuable.

Certainly - which is why most of the time companies turn a blind eye to this and why they KNOW soda theft will happen with self-serve stations, they proceed with the rollout of them anyways. The problem becomes with scale and lack of respect.. and people thinking 'well no one is stopping me...' and then we have the people filling up the milk jug scenarios.

There is no expectation that filling a milk jug should be something the vendor owed the customer. It's just flat out abuse.

If you found someone counterfeiting your drink coupons and you found they dominating your tills - you would eventually make changes too.

 

[Master Yoda]

Perhaps.

I'm a cheapskate, so the concept is foreign to me.

Back in my 20s, I was a movie theater manager and people would pull me aside to complain about concession prices. Obviously, the prices are high. (For those who don't know, they include most of the theater's overhead. The majority of the ticket sales go to the film company. Most movie theaters live and die by the concession stand.) They would act as though someone was holding a gun to their heads and forcing them to buy popcorn. Frequently, they would say something along the lines of "you can't go to the movies and NOT buy popcorn." I was never sympathetic to this line of thought. Ver rarely do I ever stop by the concession stand.

To continue rambling, I remember the chain I used to work for used to give us a stack of free drink coupons. If anyone complained about anything at all or if anything ever went wrong, we were to hand out free drink coupons. If a movie started 30 seconds late, I would have the ushers hand out free drinks to everyone in the theater. We had autoriums that seated 650 back in those days. So if a sold-out show started a minute late, we could easily give out 500-600 free drinks. Why? Because drinks cost us pennies and the company I worked for thought the customer good will was more valuable.

How is Disney violating the customers good will? You buy a cup and can refill it as much as you want for X amount of days. If you don't think it is worth it don't buy it. To use your analogy, no one is holding a gun to their head. McDonald's will not let you bring in your cup from last Thursday and refill it. Is that also violating the customers good will?

 

[Lord_Vader]

I can confirm this is not in place at the All-Star Sports resort.

I would bet it will be implemented at AS-Sp when they refurbish the food court in a few weeks.

 

[lebeau]

How is Disney violating the customers good will? You buy a cup and can refill it as much as you want for X amount of days. If you don't think it is worth it don't buy it. To use your analogy, no one is holding a gun to their head. McDonald's will not let you bring in your cup from last Thursday and refill it. Is that also violating the customers good will?

I'm not saying they are violating good will. But they are arguably nicle and diming people. We gave out free drinks which cost us nothing and engendered good will. Disney is definitely not engendering any good will. And many will feel like they are being pinched. Or treated like a criminal. They aren't doing anything "wrong" but they aren't necessaily doing the right thing either.

 

[lebeau]

Certainly - which is why most of the time companies turn a blind eye to this and why they KNOW soda theft will happen with self-serve stations, they proceed with the rollout of them anyways. The problem becomes with scale and lack of respect.. and people thinking 'well no one is stopping me...' and then we have the people filling up the milk jug scenarios.

There is no expectation that filling a milk jug should be something the vendor owed the customer. It's just flat out abuse.

If you found someone counterfeiting your drink coupons and you found they dominating your tills - you would eventually make changes too.

Agreed. I have a hard time believing this happens on the scale that would require this kind of action. But I don't have anything to go on other than my own experience. My experience is drinks are extremely cheap to the point where a company that lives and dies on concession sales can afford to give them away in massive quantities. (Heck, we gave them away if the customer was late for their show through no fault of ours.)

Disney might have a spreadsheet that says otherwise, but I will never believe they are losing money on drink sales due to theft. They may be losing potential sales, but their bottom line isn't taking a hit.

 

[flynnibus]

Disney might have a spreadsheet that says otherwise, but I will never believe they are losing money on drink sales due to theft. They may be losing potential sales, but their bottom line isn't taking a hit.

But that's just it... your COGs on soda... and the ability to give it away IF YOU CHOSE... is not the same thing as saying their revenue is impervious to theft.

There is a difference between offering something the guest wasn't already going to purchase.. and offsetting what the guest was going to buy. One is about overhead.. the other is about lost revenue.

It's why you were instructive to give out soda... instead of a refund. Giving something away with a very low cost has a small impact... giving up a high margin transaction is a lot more impactful. I can give away things I've already paid for... I can't give away money I haven't collected

To use some really crude math... if the soda cost you 0.05... and you charge $3.00. One lost soda sale due to theft is the same impact as giving away 180 free sodas. Obviously you can afford to give away a few dozen sodas without blinking. But as soon as you found out your cashiers weren't charging for items, or pocketing the money instead of putting it in the register... that's a MUCH more significant impact.

Revenue... you watch that FAR tighter than you do costs. Because I can manipulate costs internally... I can't make revenue appear on its own.

 

[lebeau]

But that's just it... your COGs on soda... and the ability to give it away IF YOU CHOSE... is not the same thing as saying their revenue is impervious to theft.

There is a difference between offering something the guest wasn't already going to purchase.. and offsetting what the guest was going to buy. One is about overhead.. the other is about lost revenue.

It's why you were instructive to give out soda... instead of a refund. Giving something away with a very low cost has a small impact... giving up a high margin transaction is a lot more impactful. I can give away things I've already paid for... I can't give away money I haven't collected

To use some really crude math... if the soda cost you 0.05... and you charge $3.00. One lost soda sale due to theft is the same impact as giving away 180 free sodas. Obviously you can afford to give away a few dozen sodas without blinking. But as soon as you found out your cashiers weren't charging for items, or pocketing the money instead of putting it in the register... that's a MUCH more significant impact.

Revenue... you watch that FAR tighter than you do costs. Because I can manipulate costs internally... I can't make revenue appear on its own.

We gave refunds too. All you had to do was ask.

Also, there's no doubt we lost revenue on the free drink coupons. As I mentioned, concessionals are any movie theater's bread and butter. And we were giving away free drinks. Our leadership believed the lost revenue was worth it in customer loyalty. I'm not saying I agree with this belief and I don't know if the company maintains this policy anymore decades later.

My point is I'll buy Disney is losing revenue. But I don't believe they are "losing money". Without the cost of the cup or paying an employee to dispense the drinks, refills cost Disney pennies at most. They have to be looking at estimated lost sales to make the math work.

 

[ddrongowski]

It soda/pop... Who in their right mind drinks it? After all it has no benefit to your health (at least that's what the elected officials in NY said). Your all going to get fat from drinking it, then you'll want to sue the manufacturer, distributor, and servers of it.

J/K, drink what you want to. I like di-hydro mono-oxide, and spirits.

 

[Figments Friend]

-
Fizzy sugar drinks are yummy.

Sugar is good for your brain !