Anyone else get nervous when calling CRO?

[peyjax]

Everytime I have to call I get all nervous. Why?? I think it is because it is luck of the draw. You just never know who you are going to get. It is so frustrating calling a company that the employees never know what they are talking about. The fact that there is a whole website of people who know more than half of their employees is just irritating.

I have just concluded several days of drama to finally get the rate that I was after. It really should not be this hard. I talked to 5 different employees and only two of the five were helpful. We are new to the annual pass and that is the code I wanted and we kept getting contradicting info. I kept thinking this is not right, this is not what I read, so I kept calling to get that right person. Then when I did get the right person the rate was gone?? My DH thinks I am crazy and our new friends who are coming with us are asking why is it so hard? I must concur with them both. It is hard and I am crazy for putting up with it. LOL We did finally get what we wanted and are so excited to be upgrading!

 

[disneyag]

I don't get nervous, but when I get a CM who I don't think is well-informed. I politely tell him I'll think about things. Then I hang up and call back.

 

[DrDeb]

how determined do you get to get a bounceback rate you KNOW you deserve?? i had the flyer but didn't book while i was there BUT i never do and have gotten 40% off room rate before [calling when i get home} any advice????

 

[Brian Noble]

My advice? Give up. I think they are pretty strict about "before you check out." You might find someone who will do it, but I think it is very unlikely.

When I get someone on a Disney phone call that I think isn't up to snuff, I often discover that "one of my kids is yelling for me--I'm afraid I have to go!"

 

[kaffinito]

When I get someone on a Disney phone call that I think isn't up to snuff, I often discover that "one of my kids is yelling for me--I'm afraid I have to go!"

Me too!

I'm very polite, but then again I have been really lucky when I call CRO. I've only had two that I can think of who were clueless. I know their voices now though (I was a super resort-switcher from Free Dining) so I just use the kids as an excuse and call later.

 

[hmontgomry]

Yep-just call back and back.....two told me I couldn't use the free dining during Thanksgiving when I knew people on here did. They kept saying the dates were "blacked out" It is frustrating knowing you are right and they are not going to book you! UGH

 

[lnd2155]

Actually, I am a cast member who books ressies. We are all very informed and up to date with our codes, however certain codes do apply to certain dates and to be honest we have about 5 pages worth of different codes for different times of the year. Our cast members do try our best to accomidate each and every one of our guests, but please remember we are people too and we can not make the impossible possible. We must remain cordial to our guests even when our guests are less than magical to us.

 

[cinderlexa's mom]

It's also weird to call CRO...because they know so much about everyone!!!

CRO, errr...CIA, whatever...

 

[shopn24seven]

Can some explain that to me?
I keep hearing about it along w a DISCOUNT?

Thank you.

 

[shopn24seven]

We must remain cordial to our guests even when our guests are less than magical to us.

(((HUGS))) to you all. I think you go a great job!!
(and what I wouldn't give to see all those codes.)

 

[lnd2155]

(((HUGS))) to you all. I think you go a great job!!
(and what I wouldn't give to see all those codes.)

Check on our website. We are not able to proactively offer any codes, but they are out there. Thanks for the hugs. We honestly do try our best!!

 

[lnd2155]

Can some explain that to me?
I keep hearing about it along w a DISCOUNT?

Thank you.

Bounce back offers are when you are already staying at one of our resorts and prior to checkout want to book your next vacation with us, you can get what is called a bounceback offer. It can have substantial savings on your next vacation. Hope this helps.

 

[lnd2155]

Can some explain that to me?
I keep hearing about it along w a DISCOUNT?

Thank you.

Yep-just call back and back.....two told me I couldn't use the free dining during Thanksgiving when I knew people on here did. They kept saying the dates were "blacked out" It is frustrating knowing you are right and they are not going to book you! UGH

And just to clarify, there were different offers that went out offering free dining with different dates. Some were only for a few weeks in October while some extended throughout the rest of the year WITH black out dates. The system will not allow us to modify a reservation that has the black out dates with a pin code or discount offer.

 

[peyjax]

Actually, I am a cast member who books ressies. We are all very informed and up to date with our codes, however certain codes do apply to certain dates and to be honest we have about 5 pages worth of different codes for different times of the year. Our cast members do try our best to accomidate each and every one of our guests, but please remember we are people too and we can not make the impossible possible. We must remain cordial to our guests even when our guests are less than magical to us.

You seem like one of the good ones, but I beg to differ that all of you are well informed. I love gettting a good CM who enjoys thier job and it seems like you really take an extra interest because you are on these boards as well. It is frustrating because in five different conversations I get four different answers. It happens everytime I call.

For example in the beginning of this years trip planning I recieved the 40% code. I called twice to get it booked. Then we changed resorts. I called the first CM it is now only a 20% code?? Call back now it is 30%???? After a supervisor it finally is back at the 40%! Crazy. When I called this week I asked two CMs about the fall promotion. One of the CM's was very rude and said what fall promotion? I need a code, if you don't have one I can not book for you?? WHAT? She could have at least said I don't know about that one let me look it up for you. Like I said before that is why I get anxious every time I call. This week it took about three hours worth of time to get the new rate booked. It should not be this difficult.

 

[lnd2155]

You seem like one of the good ones, but I beg to differ that all of you are well informed. I love gettting a good CM who enjoys thier job and it seems like you really take an extra interest because you are on these boards as well. It is frustrating because in five different conversations I get four different answers. It happens everytime I call.

For example in the beginning of this years trip planning I recieved the 40% code. I called twice to get it booked. Then we changed resorts. I called the first CM it is now only a 20% code?? Call back now it is 30%???? After a supervisor it finally is back at the 40%! Crazy. When I called this week I asked two CMs about the fall promotion. One of the CM's was very rude and said what fall promotion? I need a code, if you don't have one I can not book for you?? WHAT? She could have at least said I don't know about that one let me look it up for you. Like I said before that is why I get anxious every time I call. This week it took about three hours worth of time to get the new rate booked. It should not be this difficult.

Unfortunately we are not able to look up codes for our guests. Our guests must call with the 3 letter code or pin number. Even though our guests call up and say that they are calling for the fall promotion, we still must get the code because fall promotion covers all different types of discounts from room only to pkgs to special surprises and delights. Hope this helps!!

 

[mbanks21]

The guest does not need the 3 letter code. As long as they know what the promo is called of if they quote the specifics of the offer they are good to go. The problem is theres like 600 CM's and most of them are new. They just had like 4 new hire classes in the last month of so. It is true Disney cannot proactively offer discounts or codes, they must be asked for but a good CM will now what code to use for what the guest is looking for

 

[Enchanted]

I understand that there are a lot of codes and everything and that it must be difficult to keep track and everything, but sometimes the CMs at CRO are just flat out incompetent. For example.... (WARNING: Long rant ahead! )

In July, my family was in DW to celebrate my aunt and uncle's 25th wedding anniversary. My aunt tried booking the bounceback code for an October trip for her, me, and my mom. She spoke to two different CMs. The first one was real clueless because he kept saying that the week we were looking at was blacked out for bounceback, even though we were staring right at the flyer with the blackout dates on it, and it was one of the few weeks in Oct (in fact I think the ONLY week in Oct) that WASN'T blacked out. Told him we'd ponder other dates and hung up.

The second CM wasn't much better. She quoted my aunt these astronomical rates for that Oct week (which suddenly wasn't blacked out ) for both deluxe and mod resorts and I just kept saying, "Those CAN'T be right." (But I wasn't 100% sure because it wasn't like I'd memorized the fall rates or anything....) My aunt repeated the code a couple times and had the girl recheck everything, and the rates remained the same. So we just blew it off because messing with CRO was getting on our nerves and ruining our trip and it was just a spur of the moment idea anyway because of my mom's and my shiny new APs. Plus, those two conversations alone took an hour and a half because my aunt kept getting put on hold. She said she didn't mind because we were just standing in line, but STILL.... Her hubby was getting pretty agitated about it.

Anyways, when we got back home, I checked the rates that the second CM had quoted us for bounceback just to see if I was the one who was delusional or not. Turns out the CM had only discounted the deluxes by 15% (when it was supposed to be 30%) and she hadn't discounted the mods AT ALL. I was so mad that smoke was practically coming out my ears. (Oh, and just to be clear, she had reassured us that she was quoting us rates BEFORE resort taxes, so the missing percentages didn't come out that way either.) It was basic math! Even if the computer was telling her something weird, shouldn't she have figured that out on her own if she knows what percentage the code is for? Especially the mod rates. How can you NOT realize that the rates are EXACTLY THE SAME AS RACK even when you use a code which was for something like 20% off? It was truly unbelievable.

My aunt still jokes that at the rate we had been going the next CM would have said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry but the bounceback program was discontinued last year...."

We're going back in November and staying at POFQ (on an AP code this time, which thankfully wasn't a hassle at all to book) for an all girls trip, and I'm coming prepared with a printout of 2009 rates so if we are lucky enough to get a bounceback code, we'll be absolutely positive when a CM is feeding us bad info.

And just so you know, my aunt calls CRO a lot (mainly because we go to Disney a lot ) and she has had her share of great CMs who have been truly helpful and magical (She had one guy who whistled Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah while he was looking up rates. She got quite a kick out of it. ). So I'm not saying that all CRO CMs are incapable...but some definitely are....

 

[Enchanted]

Double post....

 

[Dixie Luvr 98]

It's also weird to call CRO...because they know so much about everyone!!!

CRO, errr...CIA, whatever...

Ain't that the truth!

 

[peyjax]

Double post....

I so agree ENCHANTED! That was one of my many problems. I had two quote me rack rate and when I asked if that was the AP rate they said yes. I replied but that is rack rate. Then after further persistance on my part, they then would find some other crazy rate.

I am not saying that they all do not know what they are doing. Many I am sure are very competent and great at what they do, but like I said in my OP it is like the luck of the draw.