[ 2015 ] Disney "cast members" tend to give a lot of incorrect Info over the phone

[rickandcindy23]

We are DVC members and received renewal letters for our annual passes, which expire 10/30. The mailing discussed all of the passes available to us, and when I called to get the Gold Pass, which is the same as the Platinum but has blockout dates of Christmas and spring break weeks. No problem for us, because we would never go those busy times of year.

One call, the person said we cannot get Gold Passes because those are specifically for Florida Residents, which we aren't, so I figured we would get the Platinum Passes and bought gift cards for the 4X fuel points at our local Kroger store, and Rick called to renew our passes today with the gift cards. The woman told Rick that we absolutely can get the Gold Passes, which are $493 with tax.

I inquired about the Premier passes a few weeks ago and got four different answers on cost and where to buy those passes. I had one person that said the passes were just $1,099 to renew, but we have to go to the gate to buy them. Another person told me we could only get those at Guest Services and they are $1,449 +tax (correct on the cost). Another person told me they are no longer available in Florida, just Disneyland (not true). Another person told me there are no renewal discounts at all for the Premier passes (true). Pretty bad when you have to call back over and over again to get the correct info.

Rick has been on the phone for 90 minutes this afternoon, trying to link our My Disney Experience to one another, as they are currently separate, meaning we have to choose FP+ separately.

 

[bnoble]

These are minimum wage jobs, and turnover is high. Expecting them to do anything but the very basic sales/booking tasks is unrealistic.

 

[heathpack]

The Disney Cast Member jobs may be low paid jobs but the problem is that relying on those employees may be your only recourse. For example, with my DVC membership, I'll perform ANY task that I can on line but certain tasks can only be done by calling DVC member services- like linking reservations from two different memberships. Nowadays, the only time I'll call DVC is for a more complex task and the experience is exasperating- it takes 45 min to a hour, if they can perform the task at all. The excuse may be that the employees are low-paid, but ironically this is my most expensive & valuable timeshare. I bought a premium TS but I get inept customer service and I can't perform the tasks I need to on my own.

Ditto with recent service experiences at the Villas at Grand Californian (our home resort). Our visit last June we got zero service sitting in the bar, then zero service walking up to the bar- to the extent that I had to get the hotel manager involved. During our most recent visit, our sink plug got stuck and we could not drain the sink. We called before we went out to dinner and someone came to look at it but then took no action. Why? They couldn't figure out which sink it was! Um, the bathroom sink as we mentioned when we called. Also known as "the sink that's half-filled with soapy water". Called again and told them we'd be out for 5 hours in the am. Back from our outing, no one had been to the room. Why? Because the service request was not passed along to the next shift. In the end, it took getting the housekeeping manager involved to get this tiny issue resolved (it literally took 5 minutes to fix, we could have done it ourselves but the sinks have a weird recessed drain plug and we couldn't get purchase on it). The crazy thing to me is that people pay $600/night to stay at VGC and the service has huge lapses that you'd honestly be unlikely to see in other hotels at the price point. Yet they too are staffed in large part by low paid workers and somehow get the job done.

Disney gets away with it because they have the theme parks and the "magic" that people buy in to. But lately my experiences with Disney have been pretty exasperating. I tell myself to just sell the points and be done with them. But I'd like to get back to Aulani and Animal Kingdom Lodge. The saving grace with this membership is the bank/borrow aspect, I can back the trips down to a more occasional thing which might just work better for my exasperation level.

 

[MichaelColey]

It's not just over the phone. They do it in person, too.

As consistently as I've been given incorrect information, I have to believe that part of their training HAS to be that if they're asked something they don't know the answer to, that they should immediately make up something that sounds good.

From my experience, you'll find FAR more accurate information just by searching the various Disney forums. Then, if you absolutely have to talk to someone at Disney, just keep trying different people until you get one that knows what they're talking about.

 

[silentg]

www.Disneyworld.com Explains all the new pricing of Disney passes, they just announced major changes in pass holder tickets. Always check with the webpage, most reliable source of information, lot of DIY but usually works best for me.
Silentg

 

[vacationhopeful]

AKV had people (about 1/3 of the guests) just leaving their bags of trash in the hallways... I complained to the front desk EVERYTIME I left. Then moved up to resort supervisors. Then call DVC demand refund of my stay ... I had pictures.

The bags would be left for days! And they smelled.

 

[Southerngirl528]

Vactionhopeful, while I feel much the same way about fellow members/guests who are too lazy to find out where the trash room is to take their excess trash so they just leave it outside their door, but you said "demand(ed) refund of your stay"?? Was your villa dirty? Were the contents inoperative? Were you treated badly?? Unless there was a lot more going on than trash in the area when you left or returned to your room, I am not understanding "refund of your stay". I totally get some sort of guest recovery if the smell was indeed bad, but not the refund of your stay. Sorry.

I just got off a 10 night DCL to Hawaii and marveled at how people would order room service then just put their tray with yucky remains of food and dirty dishes right outside their door. But then I remembered that in the past I had done that at times as well. I had never really paid attention to the instructions at the end of my call to order room service to "please just give us a callback when you are done for a pickup of your tray". Wow! It was mildly amusing that since I had learned this and actually DID call every time post room service (and btw, we ordered room service all 10 mornings), that the hallway next to our door where we had placed our tray/dishes, was always cleared. But there were always icky remains of others' room service trays in the halls. Cruise ships and Disney resorts are HUGE, imagine the extra staff that would be needed if they had someone policing the areas of the ENTIRE resort/ship multiple times a day? I feel badly that I was one of "those people" in the past that thought my dirty dishes/leftovers from room service would just "magically disappear" by the Disney fairies if I just put the stuff outside my door. Nope. Didn't quite work that way. A simple call as we were putting our tray outside our door worked like a charm!

I own at Marriott as well as DVC. Every resort I have ever been in has a trash/recycle room not too far from our villa where we can drop off our excess garbage. Where I think Disney fails, along with Marriott, is to have some way of clearly letting guests/members know WHERE and HOW to get their refuse TCO. You and I are in complete agreement there.

 

[MIDisfan]

AKV had people (about 1/3 of the guests) just leaving their bags of trash in the hallways... I complained to the front desk EVERYTIME I left. Then moved up to resort supervisors. Then call DVC demand refund of my stay ... I had pictures.

The bags would be left for days! And they smelled.

That is not exclusive to AKV or the DVC portion of Disney unfortunately. Along with trash, some guest like to put their dirty dishes from room service outside the door.

While I can find many things to fault Disney for, bad guest behavior isn't one of them.

 

[vacationhopeful]

That is not exclusive to AKV or the DVC portion of Disney unfortunately. Along with trash, some guest like to put their dirty dishes from room service outside the door.

While I can find many things to fault Disney for, bad guest behavior isn't one of them.

YES ... I forget that. My neighbor in the studio GOT ROOM service for MOST meals. They would place is "trays" to the edge of my door ... I was told by the front desk, trays are picked by the company (not Disney) who has the contract for room service.

I moved the trays inside the door jam area ... so either going in or out, the trays had to be moved by the guilty.

And every trip thru the lobby (going in or out)... I was at the front desk whining LOUDLY about the GARBAGE in the hallway and by my door. I always came back before dinner (the magical 4PM checkin time).

And I took cell phone pictures, too. I eventually got $50 DVC dollars. And the trashy hallways got MUCH better.

2nd point: on that stay, the hallways got MORE and MORE debris by other guests doors (I was almost at the end). Both room service and white trash bags. Litter grows ... why find the trash chutes or bins? After all, seems you just put the trash out the door as you leave.

 

[MIDisfan]

YES ... I forget that. My neighbor in the studio GOT ROOM service for MOST meals. They would place is "trays" to the edge of my door ... I was told by the front desk, trays are picked by the company (not Disney) who has the contract for room service.

I moved the trays inside the door jam area ... so either going in or out, the trays had to be moved by the guilty.

And every trip thru the lobby (going in or out)... I was at the front desk whining LOUDLY about the GARBAGE in the hallway and by my door. I always came back before dinner (the magical 4PM checkin time).

And I took cell phone pictures, too. I eventually got $50 DVC dollars. And the trashy hallways got MUCH better.

2nd point: on that stay, the hallways got MORE and MORE debris by other guests doors (I was almost at the end). Both room service and white trash bags. Litter grows ... why find the trash chutes or bins? After all, seems you just put the trash out the door as you leave.

This speaks directly to the thread title as I'm not aware of Disney using an outside company for Room Service. I wonder if that is actually true or not.

 

[heathpack]

While I can find many things to fault Disney for, bad guest behavior isn't one of them.

Right. But it sounds like the hotel management just let the trash pile up and did nothing about it. If a guest behaves inappropriately, it is up to the hotel management to deal with that behavior so that it does not impact other guests. What does that mean? Clear the trash in a timely manner. Call the guest & make sure they realize that trash is to be deposited in X locale. If it is the responsibility of a 3rd party vendor, follow up with the 3rd party vendor.

Seriously. AKL is another pretty expensive hotel. Somehow other hotels in this price point manage to keep the halls free of trash. If you're taking people's money for a luxury experience, then as a hotel, you figure out how to deliver that experience. Guests behaving badly is no excuse.

 

[am1]

Right. But it sounds like the hotel management just let the trash pile up and did nothing about it. If a guest behaves inappropriately, it is up to the hotel management to deal with that behavior so that it does not impact other guests. What does that mean? Clear the trash in a timely manner. Call the guest & make sure they realize that trash is to be deposited in X locale. If it is the responsibility of a 3rd party vendor, follow up with the 3rd party vendor.

Seriously. AKL is another pretty expensive hotel. Somehow other hotels in this price point manage to keep the halls free of trash. If you're taking people's money for a luxury experience, then as a hotel, you figure out how to deliver that experience. Guests behaving badly is no excuse.

I agree completely. But trash in the hallways should not be acceptable at any price point.

 

[elleny76]

Hi , All the information you need is in your DVC owner websites in tickets.
We just bought our GAP. We bought the 7 days pass_hooper in Disney store and then we went to Disney Spring and upgraded for Golden pass. with tax and all I think It was $580 pp. (first time buying AP)

We are DVC members and received renewal letters for our annual passes, which expire 10/30. The mailing discussed all of the passes available to us, and when I called to get the Gold Pass, which is the same as the Platinum but has blockout dates of Christmas and spring break weeks. No problem for us, because we would never go those busy times of year.

One call, the person said we cannot get Gold Passes because those are specifically for Florida Residents, which we aren't, so I figured we would get the Platinum Passes and bought gift cards for the 4X fuel points at our local Kroger store, and Rick called to renew our passes today with the gift cards. The woman told Rick that we absolutely can get the Gold Passes, which are $493 with tax.

I inquired about the Premier passes a few weeks ago and got four different answers on cost and where to buy those passes. I had one person that said the passes were just $1,099 to renew, but we have to go to the gate to buy them. Another person told me we could only get those at Guest Services and they are $1,449 +tax (correct on the cost). Another person told me they are no longer available in Florida, just Disneyland (not true). Another person told me there are no renewal discounts at all for the Premier passes (true). Pretty bad when you have to call back over and over again to get the correct info.

Rick has been on the phone for 90 minutes this afternoon, trying to link our My Disney Experience to one another, as they are currently separate, meaning we have to choose FP+ separately.

 

[icydog]

AKV had people (about 1/3 of the guests) just leaving their bags of trash in the hallways... I complained to the front desk EVERYTIME I left. Then moved up to resort supervisors. Then call DVC demand refund of my stay ... I had pictures.

The bags would be left for days! And they smelled.

I love the layout of Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas but the resort is downright dirty. I want to love it there but I have decided never to return for that reason. The sad part is my daughter in law and granddaughter, age 4, love the animals and always want to go there. Not that I have been there with them, another long story, but they always complain about the lack of service there and their dirty rooms. But back they go next year!

I had a TERRIBLE experience there. I can't go into the details, since I got all my points back (and that wouldn't be right) but suffice to say it was disgusting.

Leaving garbage in the hallways is downright sickening. I would be raising H--L if I saw that. Where do these people come from? How were they brought up? Absolutely, unbelievable!!!! And this is a DELUXE Villa Resort. The top of Disney's status resorts. Yuck!!!

 

[Southerngirl528]

I'm surprised to hear about AKL being dirty. Sorry to hear that. I have heard quite a few reports of this issue at BLT & BW in particular over recent years. Since we're local, we love to go eat at the restaurants at AKL, especially Sanaa at Kidani so we are up and down the halls fairly often and I never once recall seeing any trash or linens in the hall. To be fair, this is the main hall on the lobby level that we are on after parking in the garage. I agree that a dirty room is just plain NOT okay.

I can honestly say I have never had a dirty room in over 2 decades of DVC membership. Now I have had rooms that weren't quite as spanking clean as others, but none where I would call Housekeeping or FD to get them to make things right. And I certainly would do that immediately if I had a dirty room to be sure.

As for CM's "tend to give a lot of incorrect info over the phone", virtually any call center anywhere has a pretty high turnover rate. Not an excuse but DVC is a fairly complex product to fully understand even for we members. And I know from experience years ago when I worked MS that some folks learned all the ins and outs faster than others. If a CM has NO real knowledge of DVC before going to work for them, they have a HUGE learning curve. And some CM's seem to really make it their goal to know as much as possible. Others, it's more of a job.

I have definitely spoken with CM's at MS that didn't know nearly as much as I do about DVC. On the rare occasion I've gotten someone that was a bit clueless ( in my cases I wouldn't consider it giving incorrect info, they just plain didn't know. It seemed to be an obvious lack of knowledge on their part.), I have actually hung up and called back if I couldn't get done what I needed. And I have always gotten someone on call #2 that seemed to know a good deal more than the first advisor.

 

[luvsvacation22]

We have been with DVC since 2008 and it is true there are some CM's that are not well versed in DVC. It is a luck of the draw, which one you get. Lol! If I don't like the answer a CM gives, I call back. If I have something really complicated to do, I call and give the CM the scenario and ask what they would do but reiterate for them not to do it( because one CM did it without my permission and screwed everything up and I lost the reservation)...I can usually tell with their answer and confidence If I should continue or call back and get a different CM.

AKV is one of my home resorts and we stay there yearly but in CL. I have never noticed the littered hallways but that is totally unacceptable. I would emailed member services and inform them of your experience with AKV. members@disneyvacationclub.com

 

[mj2vacation]

Funny.. We have stayed dozens of times, and always had the cleanest rooms that we have ever gotten anywhere.

The Mrs travels with Lysol wipes (actually Costco, she deems them to be better, and I deem it not worthy to argue about such things..). She does not bring them to AKV.

Just stayed concierge last week and it was absolutely awesome.

 

[rfc0001]

OP - agree, regarding CMs...ask 3 different CMs same question and get 3 different answers. As a result, I don't trust anything people post that DVC MS or a CM told them -- I only trust people's actual first hand experience, especially when it comes to complex ticketing questions. That said, you can check DVC AP prices or buy online at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passes/ by signing in with your Disney Account linked to your DVC Club ID. You can also call Ticketing or DVC MS to get DVC AP, or get them in person at Guest Services at any park or Disney Springs. Regardless of where you purchase them, you must activate AP (certificate) in person at Guest Services to get an active pass -- DVC card and ID required and addresses must match for all adults in household. I've compiled all the ticket options and prices for Guests, Florida Residents, and DVC Members here.

 

[PinkTink63]

The Disney Cast Member jobs may be low paid jobs but the problem is that relying on those employees may be your only recourse. For example, with my DVC membership, I'll perform ANY task that I can on line but certain tasks can only be done by calling DVC member services- like linking reservations from two different memberships. Nowadays, the only time I'll call DVC is for a more complex task and the experience is exasperating- it takes 45 min to a hour, if they can perform the task at all. The excuse may be that the employees are low-paid, but ironically this is my most expensive & valuable timeshare. I bought a premium TS but I get inept customer service and I can't perform the tasks I need to on my own.

Ditto with recent service experiences at the Villas at Grand Californian (our home resort). Our visit last June we got zero service sitting in the bar, then zero service walking up to the bar- to the extent that I had to get the hotel manager involved. During our most recent visit, our sink plug got stuck and we could not drain the sink. We called before we went out to dinner and someone came to look at it but then took no action. Why? They couldn't figure out which sink it was! Um, the bathroom sink as we mentioned when we called. Also known as "the sink that's half-filled with soapy water". Called again and told them we'd be out for 5 hours in the am. Back from our outing, no one had been to the room. Why? Because the service request was not passed along to the next shift. In the end, it took getting the housekeeping manager involved to get this tiny issue resolved (it literally took 5 minutes to fix, we could have done it ourselves but the sinks have a weird recessed drain plug and we couldn't get purchase on it). The crazy thing to me is that people pay $600/night to stay at VGC and the service has huge lapses that you'd honestly be unlikely to see in other hotels at the price point. Yet they too are staffed in large part by low paid workers and somehow get the job done.

Disney gets away with it because they have the theme parks and the "magic" that people buy in to. But lately my experiences with Disney have been pretty exasperating. I tell myself to just sell the points and be done with them. But I'd like to get back to Aulani and Animal Kingdom Lodge. The saving grace with this membership is the bank/borrow aspect, I can back the trips down to a more occasional thing which might just work better for my exasperation level.

I agree! Another point to make here is that these have always been minimum wage type jobs. It seems the level of service keeps going down since we started coming here!