Hostile/indifferent CMs at AKL check-in?

[lilboo]

I'd been hearing a bit of rumbling recently about the CMs who work the front desk at AKL-not the other AKL staff who seem to be resoundingly praised-a kind of "I hate my job, I hate my life and I'm going to take it out on you dear resort guest" kind of attitude. Snide comments, aggressive posturing, seemingly deliberate disregard-not to say that perhaps the guests themselves didn't provoke such service. Certainly these accounts are from the guests' point-of-view and may be skewed-I just don't know what to think.

I wonder if anyone else has had any other experiences-positive or otherwise-regarding the AKL front desk that they might like to share.

Thank you.

[gepetto]

I never had a problem there.:D

[WolfpackFan]

We didn't have any problems three weeks ago. In fact I had requested a room on the Zebra trail overlooking the Arusha savannah. What we got was one of the "wing" rooms overlooking a people holding pen. Terrible view. I immediately went back to the CM and she moved us to another room on the Arusha savannah. In fact it was the best room we could have asked for, the very first room on the right going down the Kudu trail. We had a flock of pelicans for neighbors all week long. CM was very friendly and helpfull in making this change.

[Disney Doll]

We stayed there in January and the CMs couldn't have been nicer. In fact, the front desk person plugged in my husband's Palm Pilot because the battery was very low, and apparently if the battery goes too low, you lose all the info in it.

[LvsTnk]

No problem here in May with a 1 am check in! They even went to find us some bottled water!

[Kellyh123]

We were there the 2 weeks ago and had no problems. Very friendly and courteous CM checking us in.

[Tinkbell]

Originally posted by lilboo
I'd been hearing a bit of rumbling recently about the CMs who work the front desk at AKL.

Hi. Just wondering where you heard these reports? I'll be there soon and I'll be sure to post what I thought.

[lilboo]

Hi Tinkbell-

I'm afraid my impression was more cumulative. What prompted me to post though was a trip report on the UK board-poohshoney I think was the tag-she had some horrible service and she seemed like a very nice person!

Other impressions were formed from scattered posts around these boards as well as some other Disney fan sites.

But it's nice to know that so many people have found AK front desk to be so helpful!

[Gary M]

We have stayed at the AKL twice, since Sept. of last year. The CM's at check in were very friendly and helpful. We have stayed at WDW resorts 26 times, at six different resorts and only had one bad experience at the check in. The nasty person we encountered, was at the front desk, at the POLY.

[jk1]

A friend of mine had a problem with the AKL front desk at check-in last week. So much so that they changed resorts!

[Micca]

Good experience in February. Had an aloof cm at WL in '00, but all the rest have been great.

[jiminyfan]

in fact, David was extremely helpful and friendly during the entire process. It eas my second stay at AKL and both times I had no problem. First stay, I too requested a room change without any hassle. At BWI in Juanuary I had a very bad expierence witht he Front Desk and check-in, thanks to the Bell Staff things got worked out for us.

I would not be worried if I were you the AKL has the best overall CMs on WDW.:cool:

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by jk1
A friend of mine had a problem with the AKL front desk at check-in last week. So much so that they changed resorts!

Any details?

[kerrynic78]

The CM's were wonderful in May when we were there. My camera was stolen at Downtown Disney and the CM's went out of their way to try to locate it for me, very helpful and friendly.

[Muushka]

I am one of the people that said that the CMs at AKL were not as friendly as I remembered just about everyone on the board saying they were. At check-in, we did not receive a hello, a smile, or considering that it is a fairly new resort, a "is this your first visit?". We actually had the pleasure of having to visit the desk 3 times, and each time it was not pretty.

Trust me, I have checked into all types of resorts from All Stars to most of the deluxes and all of the moderates. I know a friendly CM when I see one. ;)

[Poohshoney]

lilboo – I was just thinking how I ought to reply to this thread when I saw my name. Talk about a shock! And then when I'd picked myself off the floor I read you thought I was nice – made my day!!!
We were at AKL 3-6 May. Roland (DH) stays in hotels a lot, including some very posh ones; I don’t. We both found the AKL check-in CMs to be sub-standard. We dealt with them four times and only the last one (it was a man on his own, sitting on the far right) came anywhere close to being as good as the CMs at Riverside. The other times all had the CMs standing chatting in little groups and we felt uncomfortable about disturbing them. The worst thing for me was that their smiles very obviously didn’t reach their eyes.
The first time we were there was to hand in a room request. The CM who took the letter was very indifferent about it – her attitude bordered on rude. We weren’t surprised to find it hadn’t been passed on – we’d only asked to cancel the king bed request but it was still on computer.
When we checked in we’d been assigned a room that turned out to be just perfect. The CM enthusiastically agreed with us (our only genuine smile) that it was wonderful but then aggressively tried to talk us into taking two other rooms – don’t ask me why. Luckily we’d already looked round the Lodge and knew we didn’t want the rooms she was pushing.
She gave us insufficient information as to how to find out when our room would be ready. When I later asked another CM for the missing info, I was spoken down to and treated as if I was stupid. And I'm not, honest! At least I can say our treatment was nothing personal – they treated everyone we saw just the same!
I'm really glad other Disers have had better CMs – that’s great news!
:wave:

[miko]

We have now stayed 3 times. Each time the CM at chek-in was great! Last December, 12/4-7 we actually got an upgrade to Zebra Savannah view during Walt's big birthday bash wich was centered at AKL!!! I asked CM for possible "free" upgrade, he looked at our files and said no problem! In April we had a heavily discounted rate with Savannah view and check-in was perfect. All the CM's seem extra nice and willing to help whenever they can. Can't expect upgrades, but when they happen it is a great feeling!

[BevS97]

we stayed at the AKL a couple of weeks ago, and had a very pleasant CM at check-in, she smiled, chatted etc and gave us a free upgrade which we didn't ask for and weren't expecting.

Wolfpack man - what do you mean
What we got was one of the "wing" rooms overlooking a people holding pen.

we were in the wing of the Kudo trail, over looking an area on the map which doesn't show any animals - But we saw lots of animals, including 3 giraffee who spent loads of time right outside our window.

We had absolutely no complaints - everyone we dealt with at the AKL was superb.

bev

[Beanie]

When we were there in May, we didn't have a problem with any cast members...They all seemed very pleasant and willing to help in any way, especially the CM's at the front desk...:):)

[lilboo]

Poohshoney-

I'm so happy you found this thread! It's hard to appreciate exactly how bad your experience was from your brief description on this thread. Your trip reports-of which every single entry was read with GREAT pleasure-really seemed to portray very accurately the events and did not paint a complimentary picture of the front desk on those days. You seemed like a genuinely nice and reasonable person [with the exception of that strop you threw with Roland-which I thought was perfectly understandable : ) ] and undeserving of such treatment. Coupled with a few other accounts, I just had to get some more feedback to see if there was a pattern based on time of day or travel season, visitors with Mary Poppins accents ; ), etc.

Poohshoney, please take more trips as I adore your reports!

[mat2672]

Ive stayed at disney many times and the bottom line is that even at disney your going to run into a knucklehead or 2 who hate their jobs or are having a bad day or week and take it out on you. but, on a whole I bet youll find that 9 out of 10 times the cm's will be great. Believe me, I understand being frustrated at an ignorant cm. It drives me crazy at a place like disney, but I know its a rare thing and the thing is that you dont have to put up with it. Just ask for someone else.

[Janet2k]

Mat2672, you're right. All kinds of folks exist in the world, even Walt Disney World. ;)

I have stayed at the AKL three times. I found the folks working the front desk to be helpful, kind, and efficient. I have had problems at other resorts but never the AKL.

[Jubaby]

When we stayed at AKL in March I did have one rude CM at the front-desk. We checked in early (7:00 am) one morning and then went to a park. We we went back to AKL around 2:30, I called the phone number they give to see if the room was ready. Over the phone I was told our room was ready and given our room number. When we went and tried to get in our room, our keys would not work. So I went to the front desk for help. The CM was rude and told us "of course" the keys would not work because the room was not ready, and the room we tried was not our right room. I said it was the room number given to us from the person on the phone, and the CM didn't act like she believed that I had even called the phone number, because she was certain that our room was not ready. After a length of time searching on the computer she found our room keys had not activated properly and the room number was correct and was ready.

Oh well, I certainly didn't let that spoil my vacation, and overall we were very impressed with the AKL. Every other encounter with CM were wonderful, and I guess everyone's has a bad day now and then.

[luvdzny]

We were there in Nov. and in June. Both times the front desk CM's were great. This time I even wrote a note of praise about Claire, she is one of the CM's at the front desk. When we checked in, the CM was very friendly, she was even excited that we had gotten the bunk beds we requested. Later in the week we had some questions and spoke to Claire, she was a lot of fun, and full of information. We have not run into and "unfriendly" CM's anywhere at AKL. On the other hand we had a terrible experience at Poly concierge last year, and most people say the service there is excellent. So I guess as with anywhere you go in life, occasionally you will run into someone who is having a bad day and takes it out on you.

[BriarRosie]

Originally posted by Gary M
We have stayed at the AKL twice, since Sept. of last year. The CM's at check in were very friendly and helpful. We have stayed at WDW resorts 26 times, at six different resorts and only had one bad experience at the check in. The nasty person we encountered, was at the front desk, at the POLY.

Oh terrific. I hope I never see him/her. LOL!

[epcotfan]

I think one needs to take trip reports with a grain of salt. What may be perceived as rude to one person may not be seen that way by another guest. I'm not saying blatant rudeness is acceptable. BUT I can only begin to imagine the requests the registration clerks get day after day at AKL. Especially when it comes to room assignment and view. I think my Mickey ears might slide too if I had a guest asking for unreasonable requests that aren't available (especially when it is busy) and won't take no for an answer. (And no, I'm not pointing fingers here)
I read several Disney message boards and I am always stunned at some of the unbelievable resort requests. Maybe its just me but as long as I'm checked in ok and my room is alright I'm a happy camper on vacation. The way I see it if I want a view I pay for it. If I don't...well then I leave it to chance. Room requests are just that...a request, not a guarantee.
I also don't need every Disney employee to have a perpetual smile on their face to enhance my vacation.

[Poohshoney]

Hi lilboo! Thanks for all the kind words - I really hope there’ll be a sequel too! I wondered whether `Mary´ was causing me problems as well but the CMs at CBR and Riverside coped ok. The CMs at Riverside were absolutely fantastic, every one of them. I realised yesterday that I should have asked if you’re thinking of going to AKL. If you are, GO! I really recommend it.

I worked in customer service for years - I don’t have unrealistic expectations. The check in CMs (ALL but one) we spoke to/watched dealing with other guests were well below standard. And both times were mid-morning – they didn’t appear stressed out at all, quite the opposite. Only the nice man was later in the day and he did seem a little stressed. Still nice though!

Just to clarify - we paid for a savannah view. My only request was a second or third floor room. Eliza, the fantastic CM who took my booking added a king bed request, trying to be nice to make up for the problems I'd had booking (our address froze the system). The letter we handed in asked to cancel this, nothing else. I hadn’t realised those rooms are adapted for guests with mobility problems - I'd rather leave those for the people who need them but the request was still on our booking when we checked in.
We were actually assigned the perfect room - the CM agreed with us, then very aggressively tried to talk us into two other rooms. I was very polite about sticking with the original – I was NICE to them all. I know this because my husband later congratulated me on the way I'd dealt with them – that’s how bad it was.
I'm genuinely very pleased for everyone who’s had great check in service and hope that’s the kind everyone gets – it’s how it should be.
:wave:

[dumboroo]

Originally posted by epcotfan
BUT I can only begin to imagine the requests the registration clerks get day after day at AKL. Especially when it comes to room assignment and view. I think my Mickey ears might slide too if I had a guest asking for unreasonable requests that aren't available (especially when it is busy) and won't take no for an answer.
Working at the front desk is the CM's job, they must be familiar with many outrageous requests everyday. Everyone deserves to have a bad day, but when most of the front desk CMs are having a bad day it makes you wonder.

Poohshoney, I am sorry your trip started off as it did. I hope it got better with time.