I have never bee SO DISGUSTED with Member Services!

[disneyfool_1202]

Let me preface this by saying that everyone is entitled to have a bad day - maybe today is mine and I'm being overly sensitive, or maybe today was just a bad day for "*****" the "I'm SO NOT a ray of Floriday-Sunshine-Magic" member services rep I just got off the phone with. So I need to vent (and in doing so am hoping some of you might offer any alternate suggestions to my inquiry)...

We added on DVC points to our existing contract during a promotion when we were able to add on with same resort, same use year. When we added on our MS Guide told us that as a thank you, we'd be getting 4 VIP Fast Passes included in our next DVC vacation. That vacation is occuring in 2 wks. Now...when I was told about them I did ask lots of questions including "how do we get them" and she said they would automatically be available to us upon arrival, as they are noted on our member contract (or something to that effect).

So here I am, Miss Type A personality who has to have everything tripple checked before I even think about packing. So today I call MS to verify the room, arrival dates, and my Fast Passes. There are a few other things going on concerning me so this is the gist of the conversation:

******: Welcome Home, my name is ******, how may I help you?"
Me: "I need to verify some arrival informaiton and ask some questions..." Arrival dates and room type are all confirmed. Then............
Me: "I have a question- I am having some significant mobility issues that have progressed quickly so I am now wearing braces to support both knees and have rented a scooter. Do I need to note that on the room reservation for room assignment? I assume I can just charge it in the room at night." (We have a studio for me, dh, and my 2 kids ages 7 and 9).
:****** "Well if it fits, sure but it's gonna be tight. You may have to climb over it or move stuff around. Just ask at the desk if they can give you a bigger room or someplace to charge the scotter that's not in your room..."
Me: "O..kay... I also need to check about adding a notation about my son having severe nut allergies to our dining reservations. I didn't think to do so when we made them.
******: Not necessary. Every time you sit down you'll be asked about allergies (OK folks- I don't know if this has ever happened to you but even when I"ve had the allergy noted on the reservation I've never had anyone ask me about it - I bring it up to them...). Just tell them what you can and can't have and they'll take care of it......Is there anything else???
Me: Yes, there is. When we purchased additional points, we were told our vacation would include 4 VIP fast passes and they would be noted on our reservation and available at check in. I just want to be sure that the notation is there.
******: We don't do that.
Me: Exscuse me?
******: Fastpasses are given out at the park - they have nothing to do with your vacation reservation.
Me: I know about the Fast Passes at the park. These are VIP passes that are being given to us as a GIFT for spending a few THOUSAND dollars on additional membership with Disney. I was told....
******: Well if they still have those you might be able to get them but you'll have to go to Saratoga Springs to see and if they have them they'll give them to you?
Me: What?? I have to go to Saratoga Springs to pick something up that I was told would be waiting for me at check in?
******: Yes.
Me: Not happening. I just finished telling you I have bilateral leg braces on, a scotter, and a 7 and 9 year old (who has autism). I want to know who I call and how to ensure that what I was originally told is what is actually going to happen, as I'm not dragging 2 kids, my husband and a scooter ON A BUS SYSTEM to Saratoga to pick up 4 passes.
*******: Calll your member service rep. Maybe she can help you.
................................................................
Needless to say I got a name and a number and I called - the woman is out of the office until next week. We don't travel until 10/7 but I'll be damn if I am going to spend my first day of vacation running around to chase after fast passes that I was told would be waiting for me..............

Thoughts????? (other than the fact that I am being a total witch at this point??)

EDITED: A Reminder That We Do Not Allow Names or Contact Info for Specific CMs.-Chuck S

 

[chalee94]

my take: there's MS and there's the sales department.

sounds like you expect them to be the same thing (or at least to interact seamlessly) which is your mistake, IMO.

your guide would be responsible for VIP fast passes. i'm afraid that you were completely mistaken if you expected MS to know about them. that was not at all realistic.

 

[AllyBri]

What exactly did ****** (MS) do wrong?

 

[tjkraz]

your guide would be responsible for VIP fast passes.

Agree. The sales side of DVC and the member servicing side are different entities. Since it's a sales incentive, the Guide would normally be the first point of contact.

Since the Guide is out of the office, I would suggest calling the main DVC sales number at 800-500-3990 and ask to speak to a manager. They should be able to pull up the record and help coordinate the fastpasses.

I wouldn't stress about it too much. Not worth breaking out the "do you know what I paid..." line too quickly. These FP incentives are pretty commonplace so I'm sure it won't take much effort to get everything worked out.

Good luck.

 

[Lynne M]

I'm sorry, I guess I'm not seeing what she did wrong. I think she was polite and professional and tried her best to be helpful.

These are call center employees. They've likely never stayed in a DVC resort, may never have set foot in one. The information they know is the information they've been provided. You could certainly make the argument that they should have been given information about the sales promotions that DVD is currently offering, or about charging ECVs in rooms, but that doesn't make her a bad employee.

If you think they should be trained in those topics, by all means, give member satisfaction a call and suggest it. But I wouldn't blame her personally.

As for adding the note to your ADRs, well, yes, she could have offered to do that. But honestly, I'd just call 407-WDW-DINE and ask them to do it. It's something they know well.

 

[chalee94]

a couple of other observations:

1) last time i stayed at AKL/AKV, i noticed a number of scooters parked outside the rooms. my guess is that's common but i don't know for sure.

2) while i think MS "can" deal with dining reservations, i would expect more issues if you ask them to handle dining/ADR issues. that's not their primary responsibility and there's a lot to learn in making points reservations.

IMO, it's much better to call the disney dining line directly to note any allergy issues. (have your reservation numbers handy when you call to make things easier.)

 

[disneyfool_1202]

Like I said- it might be me having a bad day. I think it was her tone, which can no way be replicated in this email. She just seemed like she didn't care. I guess asking for a little consideration and the words "I wish I could help but" rather than "yes / no" curt answers was too much to ask.

 

[DizBub]

Very frustrating. I think I would call my DVC guide to "remind" him/her of the promise of fast passes. They should be able to have them available to you upon check-in.

 

[Brian Noble]

I guess asking for a little consideration and the words "I wish I could help but" rather than "yes / no" curt answers was too much to ask.

Sure, I get that. But I'm not sure that's worth a

I have never bee SO DISGUSTED with Member Services!

In any event, do call your Guide about those fastpasses, and enjoy your vacation!

 

[marie1981]

I guess you must have had always a wonderfull service from MS if you' have never been SO DISGUSTED' by someone who, I honestly think, give you a good service.

I agree with other people. Just give a call to your guide. He is the one who made the promise, not MS. I am sure he will be able to have those passes waiting for you at your arrival.

Same thing for your allergies. The dining department will have the best person to help you.

 

[dburg30]

I have to agree with others, I dont think the MS rep did anything wrong. Maybe not exactly the answers on certain things, but sometimes I think things just need to be dealt with at the resort ie: the scotter dealio.

I hope your sales rep gives you the info you are hoping for and can somehow get the passes to you, if not THEN give them the what for

In any event here's some to get you thru the day.

 

[disneynutz]

The reality is that you are dealing with 4 different Disney divisions and you are expecting 1 of them to speak for all 4.

MS deals with your room reservation. Disney Resorts deals with the actual room. Dining deals with the allergy issue, and DVD deals with the Fast Pass promise.

If you want to be certain that everything goes as you planned, you need to do everything yourself. You can't expect others to have the same interest in you having a great vacation as you do.

Call MS and have them note and add any room requests.

Call DVD and arrange for your Fast Passes to be delivered to your resort.

Pack emergency items and obtain ER info for the food allergy. Update your ADR's with the allergy info and notify the greeter and wait staff at the restaurant. You may be visited by the Chef. Expect that something could go wrong with the food preparation, watch for an allergic reaction.

When you check in at the resort, ask them where you can park and charge the ECV if you don't want it in the room. There are fire codes to consider.

Have a great vacation!

Bill

 

[DebbieB]

I don't think she didn't anything wrong. She referred you to your guide, which is the person who would have to help you with the fastpasses. I didn't think MS did dining reservations anymore.

 

[chalee94]

Like I said- it might be me having a bad day. I think it was her tone, which can no way be replicated in this email. She just seemed like she didn't care. I guess asking for a little consideration and the words "I wish I could help but" rather than "yes / no" curt answers was too much to ask.

the thing is, she was trained to handle "verifying the room and arrival dates." all the other stuff you were throwing at her was baffling from her perspective. i think you made a number of assumptions that would have confused most any MS operator you talked to.

having worked as a call center operator at a major hotel chain in my youth (and having a pretty good sense of how the Mouse operates as well), i'm just saying i understand where she may have gotten flustered.

but it's great that you posted here. i think you'll find that if you contact your guide about the fast passes and the disney dining number about the allergy issues, you will likely have much more productive conversations.

you might also want to scan through this thread and post on that board if you have more questions about ECV-related issues.

for example, i found this suggestion in the linked thread for charging an ECV/scooter in your room:

Most people move the table and chairs near the entrance of the room to make a space to park the ECV in the room and charge it. Bringing a power strip is helpful so you don't need to park as close to the outlet.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I think OP thinks MS services does a lot of things that I find would be better handled by the responsible department. (Disney Dining for example)

\And I am sorry but if you have to use the "spent thousands of dollars" rant then.... you are going to spend a lot of time a Disney disappointed.

 

[keaster]

I agree that member services would no nothing about the VIP fastpasses and she was right in referring you to your guide.

We also received VIP fastpasses when we bought in...I called our guide and he made sure they would be ready for us to pick up at the SSR sales centre. I didn't ask if they could be delivered to us at AKL because we wanted to check out the sales centre anyway.

 

[BrerNashville]

FYI, in case you weren't aware, and in order to prevent an I'M SO DISGUSTED WITH DISNEY FP SYSTEM post in a couple of weeks -- those VIP FPs don't guarantee you a FP. They will allow you to pull a FP with an immediate return time. However, if you show up at TSM at 4:00 in the afternoon, you won't get any FPs, even with your VIP card. If they're out, they're out. Also, I think they expire three or four days after they are activated, so you'll want to get them right away.

Incidentally, our guide arranged for us to pick up our FPs at BLT from a DVC person when we arrived.

 

[disneyfool_1202]

Wow .... so many opinions on why I'm wrong about being spoken to like I'm am wasting her time.

I have on many occations called MS and have always either gotten answers (Sorry but I'm not a "KNOW ALL and EVERYTHING" about DVC so I have to call and ask like some of the other people in the world), or been directed NICELY to the appropirate place to call. I am not a jerk to people on the phone (or on line for that matter........).

I don't mind being told "I can't help you, you need to call xyz department". THAT would have been FINE with me. But the CM was flippant, sounded bored, and acted as if she didn't give a crap rather than say "I wish I could help, but I can't - but I'd be happy to give you the phone number for .............."

I wanted to check if I needed to note the scotter on the ressie rather than wait until I show up and be told "no room". I did check the Disabilities posts and have been in there a lot. This "change in plans" is adding a layer of stress to our otherwise stressfree vacation planning. It's new territory for me - so GOD FORBID I try and ask questions. Point me in the right direction. Don't discard my question. That's all I'm saying. Don't be rude. Be nice. Be understanding. Be honest - I can't help you BUT.............. There is nothing wrong with that.
I work with people for a living and if I ever spoke to people the way I was spoken to I wouldn't have my job. It's not the answers I received that disappointed me - Those were all fine. It was the attitude in which I received them. It was SO not the Disney Member Services I'm used to.

I've gotten more help from all of YOUR responses, all-be-it, by getting smashed for posting MY opinion on a bad experience. God forbid one of us just dosn't understand how it all works sometimes and has a concern / question. I think I'll keep myself to the disabilities boards- at least they understand how some people need a little tolerance and understanding.

 

[Sammie]

Never mind, I agree with the others. Hope your trip is a good one.

 

[kristenrice]