A Letter for Our Reservation Thieves

[fallen_angel727]

The only way they could not allow this to happen would be to ask for an ID from the person representing the party before they are seated.

Would the masses get behind that? Or would there be a lot of complaining about "why do I have to show an ID to be seated in a restaurant?"

Or just your reservation number. I completely understand that not everyone in the parks make ADR's, however for those of us that do (including OP by the sounds of his post) it would basically be a gaurentee that no one takes your reservation as your name is connected to the number, can't produce the number...sorry. And I know that there are many people here that bring their ressie numbers with them anyway

or like PP said...Magic Bands!!

 

[TDC Nala]

Not everyone has magic bands.

Even later, offsite guests will apparently be given the option to purchase them, and some will decline to purchase them.

So should offsite guests who do not choose to purchase bands be blocked from making restaurant reservations?

They could require the guest to provide the reservation number or a printed confirmation, but if they're going to do that they had better make an announcement, not everyone does carry them.

Can't bring myself to blame the cast members at BOG for "allowing this to happen" as they don't require any kind of identification, since it's assumed that the person responding is going to be the one who actually made the reservation. It's usually unheard of for guests to steal reservations in this manner. If it's going to become a problem (and with the major popularity of this restaurant I'm surprised we dont' hear more about it) then they will have to do something.

 

[chartle]

1) This is what I (personally) believe happened.
2) For eateries without beepers, they call your name.
3) If no answer, they assume you left and they go to the next in line.
4) Lots of people get tired of waiting or just do not pay attention to announcements.
5) So, this is not an uncommon occurrence.

This could have happened to us at Via Napoli.

I was looking right at the seater as she called my first and last name two or three times and I didn't understand her. Luckily there was very few people waiting and some one in our party saw the slip of paper and my name. My family and I still don't know what she was saying.

I don't think my name is that complicated. Most people don't pronounce right since it should have 2 "t"s like bottle but at least its close (they say the last name of a famous Bob Newhart character).

I'm thinking next time to give them a good Italian name.

 

[jcvalenti]

That sounds terrible.

I had this happen to our group once waiting to get seated at Teppan Edo. At first I though someone out and out lied and stepped in to our reservation but it turns out someone checked in slightly early and had a similar last name to mine and (oddly) the same size party, and the hostess seated them in our ADR. It took quite a while to figure out what happened and get it corrected, but at least they did get us seated eventually. It was frustrating.

I try to give the cast members the benefit of the doubt and be understanding. The amount of people they seat and serve in a night is astounding. That being said, Disney does play a role in overcrowding the parks, overcrowding the restaurants, and they do charge absolute top dollar for what all too often lately is a mediocre -at best - dining experience. When screw ups like this happen (and they will), they need to have the flexibility in the ADR system to fix them.

 

[chartle]

That sounds terrible.

I had this happen to our group once waiting to get seated at Teppan Edo. At first I though someone out and out lied and stepped in to our reservation but it turns out someone checked in slightly early and had a similar last name to mine and (oddly) the same size party, and the hostess seated them in our ADR. It took quite a while to figure out what happened and get it corrected, but at least they did get us seated eventually. It was frustrating.

To add to my PP it didn't help that they had my party size wrong.

Now that I think about it I hope I didn't steal someone else's ADR for 6.

Even if I did, even though there were very few times open for this date, they were taking walk ups with 15 minutes waits. About the same amount of time we waited once checked in.

 

[dvcmom72]

We had something sort of similar happen to us a couple of years ago at Coral Reef. We had an ADR and waited patiently for a VERY long time. After seeing many parties come in well after us and get seated, we checked in at the desk and they said they showed us as being seated already. Well, clearly we weren't! Anyway, I do not know if another party "stole" our ADR or if it was just some mix up on their end, but we were seated very shortly after that. Thank goodness we asked, we'd still be sitting there waiting!

I am in NO way saying it's "your fault" for leaving, but I have to assume that if you were all still there they would have found a way to get you in. I do hope you're able to get another reservation and enjoy the rest of your trip!!
And I think you're wife is a saint for doing Disney 7 months pregnant.

 

[disney1990]

If this was for dinner, couldn't they have identified who they sat at "your" table. I would have demanded to be sat someplace.

 

[nonzerosum]

I witnessed something similar to this last year at LTT. It was a a MVMCP night, and LTT was really busy. We were all waiting much longer than usual and the front waiting area was packed and it was really loud. The hostess called out a name 3 times and on the fourth time a man sitting near us said to his wife, "wanna go for it?", and then the family of 4 got up and claimed the reservation. They very clearly weren't the family called. I should have said something, but I felt I had already hit my quota of calling people out for bad behaviour.

I's so sorry this happened to your family.

 

[shadeauxe]

Not everyone has magic bands.

Even later, offsite guests will apparently be given the option to purchase them, and some will decline to purchase them.

So should offsite guests who do not choose to purchase bands be blocked from making restaurant reservations?

They could require the guest to provide the reservation number or a printed confirmation, but if they're going to do that they had better make an announcement, not everyone does carry them.

Can't bring myself to blame the cast members at BOG for "allowing this to happen" as they don't require any kind of identification, since it's assumed that the person responding is going to be the one who actually made the reservation. It's usually unheard of for guests to steal reservations in this manner. If it's going to become a problem (and with the major popularity of this restaurant I'm surprised we dont' hear more about it) then they will have to do something.

Regardless, everyone has a ticket. So they could swipe the ticket when you check in and again later, if needed. I doubt they will ever do anything other than what they are doing now because it probably doesn't happen very often.

 

[AThrillingChase]

I actually don't think ID's or anything like that is needed to help with these situations. It happens, someone steals a table, that is awful on their part, but Disney should be able to squeeze another table in. So, a mild wait while they figure it out, and you have a funny story to tell later.

Here, it IS the BOG CM's fault. OP stated they went up to the front desk CM multiple times to see what was taking so long and they were told "any minute now."

Was someone stealing the table in the control of the CM? I mean probably not, they see so many people! But, 1. OP said he had a beeper. Did the CM's ask for it back when this party was seated?? and mostly, 2. On two occasions when OP asked them, the CM simply told them to be patient. Had they looked up their name on their list 20-30 min. earlier at this time the problem would have been discovered and a pregnant woman could be sitting and eating.

I am however a little confused about the Wishes timing, since I would probably leave more than an hour (it sounds like?) to eat and then go see wishes. But, I am assuming OP was just frustrated at that point and decided they would at least get a good view!

I should also note I was a hostess for years at two different restaurants. I can assure you both college and law school were much harder lol.

 

[lovin'fl]

I witnessed something similar to this last year at LTT. It was a a MVMCP night, and LTT was really busy. We were all waiting much longer than usual and the front waiting area was packed and it was really loud. The hostess called out a name 3 times and on the fourth time a man sitting near us said to his wife, "wanna go for it?", and then the family of 4 got up and claimed the reservation. They very clearly weren't the family called. I should have said something, but I felt I had already hit my quota of calling people out for bad behaviour.

I's so sorry this happened to your family.

You know...this reminded me of an experience we had at LTT in Jan 2013. We had an early-ish dinner ADR and checked in about 30 minutes early and sat there. We were some of the first folks sitting but soon the place filled up with people and we watched many get seated before us (maybe they had 4:00 and we had 4:15). We waited and it got to be about 10 minutes past our ADR time when they called our name (party of 5 and I even think they say where you're from). This other family went over to be seated so I rushed up and said "um, you called M*****y party of 5 from MD? That's us". The other family walked away and were seated shortly after...I know because we were seated right by the lobby and could see. I assumed they had a similar name and didn't hear the part about us being from MD or they too were from MD?????? But maybe it's a thing at WDW to steal people's ADRs

 

[MSLRAC]

Apparently, when they called our name, we didn't hear it and this other family said they were us and it's not like our last name is Smith.

I left to shoot Wishes, but my wife stayed to talk with the manager. He did give us some counter service vouchers and a voucher for a drink and popcorn. He also said to contact him about getting another reservation. We'll see what happens.

My wife (again, 7 months pregnant) took the whole ordeal really hard. I just hope it doesn't set the mood for the rest of our trip. (Last night was our first night.)

Awww, we went to WDW years ago when I was pregnant and it was a tough trip for me for many reasons. Something like this happening, would have seriously ruined my evening too. But today is a new day and you're at WDW...I hope the rest of your trip is blessed with much pixie dust!!

 

[lhermiston]

Update: we have a new BOG reservation for Saturday night courtesy of a helpful manager.

 

[iwannbindisnee]

Update: we have a new BOG reservation for Saturday night courtesy of a helpful manager.

So glad to hear this! I hope that is the beginning of the Pixie Dust you will experience from here on out! Enjoy our Happy Place!
Debbie

 

[conandrob240]

Geesh, lighten up. Chances are that this happened by accident. And if it didn't but you didn't stick around to let the manager seat you and make it right, its your own fault.

 

[LBIJim]

Apparently, when they called our name, we didn't hear it and this other family said they were us and it's not like our last name is Smith.

I left to shoot Wishes, but my wife stayed to talk with the manager. He did give us some counter service vouchers and a voucher for a drink and popcorn. He also said to contact him about getting another reservation. We'll see what happens.

My wife (again, 7 months pregnant) took the whole ordeal really hard. I just hope it doesn't set the mood for the rest of our trip. (Last night was our first night.)

So why didn't they just give you the other party's reservation and seat you?

 

[jcjen519]

Amen!!! While the other family's behavior was reprehensible, that was terrible customer service on Disney's part.

I agree! You can't tell me they couldn't somehow fit you in. What happened is in no way your fault and I can't imagine why they didn't handle it but passed the issue on to you.

We did have a buzzer at bog in sept. Are they no longer using them?

So sorry that happened. I can't imagine a person doing that!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

Sorry to hear your experience OP. Hope the rest of the trip goes more smoothly...

OT, a funny reservation story that happened to us one NYE...

We have a reservation for 2 (nonsmoking), 7:00Pm for "Pello" (last name changed slightly here...We showed up, asked for our table: Pello, party of 2, non smoking, party of 2.

The hostess told us she did not have a reservation for Pello...... We looked on the list and saw "Tello, party of 2, nonsmoking at 7:00," and said that must be us. She insisted it wasn't. I said, perhaps on the phone, when I spelled our last name to her, "P" sounded like "T." She insisted it wasn't so and wouldn't seat us. She made us sit and wait. We were far nicer than we should be -- I think we were in shock!! Lucky for us the Tello's never showed, and they gave us, the Pello's their reservation for a party of 2, nonsmoking at 7o PM

It wasn't Disney, but we still laugh about it 20 years later....

 

[kam1011]

You know...this reminded me of an experience we had at LTT in Jan 2013. We had an early-ish dinner ADR and checked in about 30 minutes early and sat there. We were some of the first folks sitting but soon the place filled up with people and we watched many get seated before us (maybe they had 4:00 and we had 4:15). We waited and it got to be about 10 minutes past our ADR time when they called our name (party of 5 and I even think they say where you're from). This other family went over to be seated so I rushed up and said "um, you called M*****y party of 5 from MD? That's us". The other family walked away and were seated shortly after...I know because we were seated right by the lobby and could see. I assumed they had a similar name and didn't hear the part about us being from MD or they too were from MD?????? But maybe it's a thing at WDW to steal people's ADRs

I do not have a common last name, but when we were there last, they messed up our state. So they announced "M******y, party of 6, from Ohio" and they mispronounced it, too, so we just sat there thinking that wasn't possibly us. They announced it three times and no one got up. So I went to talk to them, looked at the paper, it had my name on it, we cleared up that we're from NJ, and we went to our table. (That was either summer 2013 or 2012)

 

[Colleen27]

I do not have a common last name, but when we were there last, they messed up our state. So they announced "M******y, party of 6, from Ohio" and they mispronounced it, too, so we just sat there thinking that wasn't possibly us. They announced it three times and no one got up. So I went to talk to them, looked at the paper, it had my name on it, we cleared up that we're from NJ, and we went to our table. (That was either summer 2013 or 2012)

We have a very unusual last name so we've run into a few issues. Cast that pronounces the name so badly that I don't recognize it is the most common, followed by misspellings in the system that make it hard to look up - I will NEVER book ADRs on the phone again, even after looking up all our info just to start the call we somehow ended up with our last name starting with a C instead of a K on some of our ADRs. We also had one hostess that called the K****** family (using a more common name that is semi-similar to ours so I'm used to listening for it) from Mississippi. That one took me a while to figure out, because it isn't too far fetched that there would be someone with this not-terribly-unusual name from Mississippi there on the same night as us! My guess is that the system showed the two letter state code and someone thought "MI" was Mississippi rather than Michigan.