Was charged full price for this ($4.99+tax)

[Diamond Dot]

I had to pay 3.99 for hot water for my infant daughter’s baby bottle. CM said she couldn’t give me hot water for free, so she needed to charge me for a hot tea. I knew this was BS but with a screaming hungry baby, I paid the money, as I didn’t have time for her to call for a manager.

We weren’t anywhere near the Baby Station in MK so that wasn’t an option. And of course, the line for Guest Services was out the door when we were leaving so Disney got me on that one. And I have to say the the other dozen times I needed hot water for her bottle, CMs were more than happy to provide me with it.

Where was that. I was at Disney last week and as an avid tea drinker I know that all the QS places in the parks charged $3.49 for a hot tea. If it was in a resort then hot water is on tap and basically free.

 

[mergatroid]

Why did you pay for it? Pardon me for being harsh, but, your wife was perfectly within her rights to say 'No thanks', but, she went ahead, paid for it and then you come on here expecting sympathy. Last week I bought the Genie+, decided it was a rip off because I would have got two LL for the near $16 I paid for it the entire day, despite it being stated as 'non refundable' I got a refund from the lovely CM I spoke to about it. A few years ago I asked for a Frappucchino and wanted what was basically a 'skinny' version of it, it was disgusting and my own fault as it was my decision to have it like that, I went back in to the Starbucks at DHS and asked for the proper job frappucchino as I told them the skinny version was disgusting, I expected to pay for it, but, they exchanged it for free.
As for contacting Disney, if you had paid for a service ahead of time, like I did for a dessert show and the CM allowed someone in claiming to be me without checking ID simply because it was a woman on her own and when I turned up and proved who I was, instead of turfing the interloper out who was sitting in a great seat and thinking giving me, after ten minutes of faffing around, a rubbish table and no time to have a decent buffet, then yes, complain afterwards, but, your wife could have refused the drink, so I think it would be a cheek to contact Disney. Citing time constraints is no excuse.

Not looking for sympathy but trying to get a read on the situation from others as I found it odd. My wife's thoughts were he loves that drink and it's his last day. Another reason for posting is I know in the past that this type of thing rarely, if ever happened in the past 47 years for me. Most replies consider what happened wrong, you don't which is fair enough. I've said in my first post that she could refused the drink and made a choice and said that's on us?

It's more the fact that a CM or manager thought this the correct thing to do, you do too and that's great. Are you looking for sympathy about your Frappucchino, or is it just part of a debate over drinks? I ask as you seem to think talking about drinks means looking for sympthy, whilst you talk about it yourself? If it was sympathy I was after, I think I'd have changed the story to not include parts where I admitted my wife didn't have to buy it surely?

Anyhow it's good input even though most replies don't share your viewpoint. Thanks for you perspective, I'm open to all sides but not after sympathy.

 

[DfromATX]

On our Honeymoon we got tons of free stuff. We had newlywed shrts and wdw buttons. On 5 separate occasions CM cme up to us to say congratulations here's a free large cone, mickey bar, turkey leg....and a few more I can't remember.
This was almost 8 years ago....made our trip even more memorable.
Sadly this seems to be no longer the case.

In February 2021 we were there and I was wearing a celebration button for our anniversary and one of the cast members let us skip to the front of the line at Jungle Cruise! We felt so special! Many cast members wished us a happy anniversary as well.

 

[RollerCoaster]

So can someone who is actually familiar with Disney policy help me here? Many moons ago, when I worked as a cashier at Target, the cashier had the discretion to alter the price of an item to please a customer (e.g., "well, the sign said this was supposed to be 10% off") as long as it was under a certain threshold. No manager required. Target just didn't think it worth the hassle to argue over a couple bucks or to have to waste a manager's time and hold up the customer.

Does WDW actually expect a frontline cast member to consult a manager over a $4.99 drink? Are they not empowered to make the call that the machine is malfunctioning and so they need to either discount it, give it away for free, or not serve it? Or was that particular cast member just badly trained and/or being overly cautious?

Target's policy is regarding price discrepancies when the customer tells you the item rang up at a different price than what the label on the shelf showed. If it is less than $5.00 they are to honor the price without having to check the shelf.

This is a different scenario. You don't allow your employees at this level to make these sorts of calls. The cast member should've been trained to say the product was not available at this time.

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

And right there, the CM should have said, "No charge, just take it." I think I'm getting mad with you! LOL

@World_Showcase_Lover007, now I'm mad about your story too! That was appalling. Shame on them!

I guess I should be happy I've never had these kinds of experiences. I'd probably be a lot more sour than I already am. I've always had great interactions with the cast members. The only exception, which really wasn't *that* bad, was the grouchy cashier at the Coronado Pepper Market. She was barking at everybody.

Lol I was pretty mad at that moment too. I think the only thing that stopped me from becoming irate was that I was so shocked and stupefied that it was happening, even after I explained for a second time that it was for a baby bottle. But as you allude, this was a one-off situation because they certainly gave me hot water everywhere else we went.

The CMs at the baby care center / first aid station are some of the nicest ppl I’ve ever met. Like overly helpful, as they would go above and beyond. They really like kids and little babies over there.

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

Where was that. I was at Disney last week and as an avid tea drinker I know that all the QS places in the parks charged $3.49 for a hot tea. If it was in a resort then hot water is on tap and basically free.

It was at Gaston’s Tavern, probably in late 2019.

 

[larryz]

I've only ever had good experiences in moments like these. At Christmas, a CM's magicband reader in the hotel food court wasn't working and we had no cash or cards on us so she comped us the two cupcakes we were purchasing (before moving to another register). Years ago, I also remember being comped some drinks at an outdoor kiosk in MK because the CM's register had lost internet connection (he said management had told him to comp all purchases until they fixed it - those were the days before Bobbie C!). This is very unusual and definitely not the norm.

In 2018, we were grabbing a quick meal in one of the hotel QS's, and spied a pre-made sandwich that looked really good. DW asked at checkout if there were any specific allergens in it. The CM at the register didn't know, so she checked with the manager on duty. The manager called the kitchen, who -- after a short delay -- sent out a chef with a freshly made sandwich guaranteed to not contain the allergens we were concerned about. When we tried to pay for it, the manager apologized to us for taking so long to answer our question and gave us the sandwich free of charge.

That's a far cry from what happened with the blue ice.

Who drinks blue ice, anyway? I think of that and all I see is...

 

[DfromATX]

Lol I was pretty mad at that moment too. I think the only thing that stopped me from becoming irate was that I was so shocked and stupefied that it was happening, even after I explained for a second time that it was for a baby bottle. But as you allude, this was a one-off situation because they certainly gave me hot water everywhere else we went.

The CMs at the baby care center / first aid station are some of the nicest ppl I’ve ever met. Like overly helpful, as they would go above and beyond. They really like kids and little babies over there.

I really think it was a one-time thing, maybe new employees as others have suggested. Maybe they were scared they would get into trouble or something. Same in @mergatroid situation. At least I hope so!