Am I A Difficult Customer?

[Sinders99]

My husband and I are travelling from Australia in early September to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary at Disneyworld. We've been working with a well known and recommended Disney agent. Because this whole WDW planning is unfamiliar to us we've had to make quite a few changes already to our booking. We booked our initial trip approx 11 months out not really knowing what we wanted or having done much research and we're now almost 6 months out. Some of our changes have been due to an ever falling dollar - in which case we've had to economise and some have been because we decided to add a short Disney Cruise into our itinerary to split up park time.

So my question is this - given all the changes we've had to make (approx 12) am I a difficult customer? How many changes is too many and just what kind of support/assistance should I expect from my agent?

I'm only asking because I'm getting the feeling that our agent is getting quite short and annoyed with us which makes me really rethink requesting any further changes even though at the end of the day it's our vacation. I've come to realise recently that with historical room discounts of up to 30% we probably could go back to our original plan of staying 4 nights at Port Orleans Riverside, go on our cruise and then come back and stay at a monorail resort (probably Polynesian or Contemporary). We've currently got 4 nights at POP booked and 4 nights at Port Orleans Riverside. I'd like to investigate this option further with my agent but I just don't want to inconvenience her any further. Interested to hear everyones thoughts on this.

 

[Allison]

That is a lot of changes.

 

[Minniesgal]

No advice ons using an agent but I know where you are coming from.

We started with 5 nights DL, 4 Nights WDW, 3 nights cruise, 4 nights WDW. Then we changed to 5 nights WDW, 4 nights WDW, 3 nights cruise, 4 nights WDW, we now have 5 nights WDW (different resort), 4 nights WDW, 3 nights Universal and 4 nights WDW.

I know myself and always "optimise" so I don't use an agent. I do everything myself.

 

[Sinders99]

That is a lot of changes.

I know @Allison I feel bad, I really do and I've apologised to our agent multiple times but we've never planned a trip like this. The whole Disneyworld planning process is so complex and intense with so so many things to take into account. The more I've researched the more I've found valuable tips and ideas on how to better structure our plans. When we booked 11 months out we had no idea of what the dollar was going to do which really put a dent in things for us. At one point we actually thought of cancelling all together.

 

[Sinders99]

No advice ons using an agent but I know where you are coming from.

We started with 5 nights DL, 4 Nights WDW, 3 nights cruise, 4 nights WDW. Then we changed to 5 nights WDW, 4 nights WDW, 3 nights cruise, 4 nights WDW, we now have 5 nights WDW (different resort), 4 nights WDW, 3 nights Universal and 4 nights WDW.

I know myself and always "optimise" so I don't use an agent. I do everything myself.

We did a similar thing @Minniesgal. We started off at the Polynesian for the whole trip (11 nights) and then decided to add a cruise and split our stay and 2 different resorts. We snapped up 4 nights at POP to afford the cruise and took the most basic cabin on the Dream to keep costs down. Our Australian dollar is really terrible against the US dollar so economies had to be made. I just didn't realise that a 30% discount on a room at the Contemporary for example actually bought the cost down so much!! Right now, IF the 30% discount does happen, the cost of a standard room at the Contemporary would cost us just a tiny bit more than our 4 nights at Port Orleans Riverside. I think at this stage we'll just wait until the discount comes out for sure (April/May for a September stay) and then decide.

We're also doing Universal but have an additional 6 nights at the Hilton Lake Buena Vista prior to our Disneyworld portion. We got a super cheap deal through Hilton which included 6 nights at ANY Orlando area resort as well as 2 x 7 day Universal Park Hopper tickets.

 

[loves to dive]

It is her job to make sure you get what you want, even if it takes 20 times of getting there. She might get a little crabby but she will get over it, she is in a service industry so go ahead and make sure you get what you want.

 

[Allison]

There is no reason to switch to a resort you will only stay at if a discount comes out if the discount isn't actually available yet. Hold tight until you are sure or just let the TA know you want them to make the switch only if the discount is available.

 

[Sinders99]

@Allison yep that's what we're going to do at this point. The discounts probably won't be announced for our dates until April/May anyway and we'll have a better idea of budget by that stage. I work in sales, so I have a commission component to my salary which we didn't take into account in our budget. I let our agent know this morning that we've chosen not to take the dining plan and don't want to wait for a dining promotion to be announced and that we're instead going to focus on the room discount promotions. After doing a lot of analysis we just don't think we'll eat all that food!! And if you're not eating it it's not really a saving, especially if you passed up a room discount for it.

 

[Sinders99]

It is her job to make sure you get what you want, even if it takes 20 times of getting there. She might get a little crabby but she will get over it, she is in a service industry so go ahead and make sure you get what you want.

Thanks. That's how we feel too. We're spending almost $15,000 on this trip. It's not small change and being international guests we don't get discount codes or pins to help us out. We only take a trip like this once every 5 or 6 years, so we want to make sure we make the most of it and get what we want but I'm not an unfeeling selfish snob. I realise that all our changes will be really bugging the hell out of our poor agent, which is where my dilemma lies. Might have to send her a big Disney thank you gift from the park once we arrive

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

It's part of a travel agent's job to make changes to bookings. Yes, 12 changes is a lot, but you're not asking her to do anything other than her job.

 

[Allison]

The reason I didn't answer the poll as "yes" in regards to being a difficult customer is that even though you have made a lot of changes, I wouldn't keep a reservation I didn't want just because you didn't want to bother the agent. It is your vacation and it needs to be what you want. Maybe just try to be as sure as you can before you make more changes, more so for your own sanity level even than the TA.

 

[tracynicole21]

It is a lot of changes, but as others have said, it's her job to make sure you're satisfied. Also, you're spending a great deal of money and deserve to tweak your trip until it's as perfect as it can be.

 

[Babsy]

It is a lot of changes, but basically it is her job. I would be feeling much like you are at this point, but, as you say this IS your vacation. You want it to be affordable and as nice as you can possibly make it.

If I were in your shoes I would minimize any more changes, but definitely make a change to the Poly or CR if the discount allows later on. If there is a net increase in the amount that you are paying, at least she will get an increase in her commission!

Enjoy you trip! It sounds fabulous!

 

[lala5176]

My husband and I are travelling from Australia in early September to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary at Disneyworld. We've been working with a well known and recommended Disney agent. Because this whole WDW planning is unfamiliar to us we've had to make quite a few changes already to our booking. We booked our initial trip approx 11 months out not really knowing what we wanted or having done much research and we're now almost 6 months out. Some of our changes have been due to an ever falling dollar - in which case we've had to economise and some have been because we decided to add a short Disney Cruise into our itinerary to split up park time.

So my question is this - given all the changes we've had to make (approx 12) am I a difficult customer? How many changes is too many and just what kind of support/assistance should I expect from my agent?

I'm only asking because I'm getting the feeling that our agent is getting quite short and annoyed with us which makes me really rethink requesting any further changes even though at the end of the day it's our vacation. I've come to realise recently that with historical room discounts of up to 30% we probably could go back to our original plan of staying 4 nights at Port Orleans Riverside, go on our cruise and then come back and stay at a monorail resort (probably Polynesian or Contemporary). We've currently got 4 nights at POP booked and 4 nights at Port Orleans Riverside. I'd like to investigate this option further with my agent but I just don't want to inconvenience her any further. Interested to hear everyones thoughts on this.

That is a lot of changing but there are no rules that say you can't change your mind. You are traveling from very far and your agent should understand the need to make the vacation as comfortable as possible. If the agent is unhappy and cannot help you they should be professional and let you know. He /she will make money only if they help you book with them so I would think they want to meet your needs. Don't worry I'm sure you are not the only person who changes their mind. Have a safe and happy trip.

 

[Dug720]

The reason I didn't answer the poll as "yes" in regards to being a difficult customer is that even though you have made a lot of changes, I wouldn't keep a reservation I didn't want just because you didn't want to bother the agent. It is your vacation and it needs to be what you want. Maybe just try to be as sure as you can before you make more changes, more so for your own sanity level even than the TA.

I agree with this last sentence 100% - and I say that as someone who does tend to change resorts and/or room types more than once before a stay...I just do it on my own as I don't believe in travel agents. It's enough to make ME crazy the changes or ponderings I sometimes make. I'm at the point now where barring the IRS deciding I'm not me (got the letter and had to verify my identity, so my return is held up for up to 6 weeks...and I'm just hoping I remembered my stupid area code of 15 years ago correctly (seriously...does ANYONE who has moved a few times between then and now remember that crap?) or that if I didn't it doesn't screw everything else up since I remembered the rest of it), I'm leaving the resort alone. Now I'm just messing with ADRs.

The two times I've done anything through a travel agent it was a group cruise and we had to book through her. Even then I only changed from ocean view to balcony the first year and ocean view to interior the second. Then it was just no more than three questions each time.

One thing I would add is to remember that there is no such thing as a "perfect vacation" no matter where you stay or what you do. I would do as Allison recommended - try to be as sure as you can about what you want before making any other changes and then just enjoy the trip and everything it brings!

 

[Sinders99]

Absolutely agree that we won't be making any further changes until the discounts are released and we've run the numbers. Our ADR window opens in just a few days, so my focus will be on sorting those out for the next week or two

 

[Disneylover99]

Don't feel bad. Make the changes you feel you need to make. It's your money. Next time, book it yourself so that you can make a million changes like I do and not feel like you're wasting someone's time.

 

[Aurora0427]

You're spending $15,000. Enough said.

 

[Sinders99]

You're spending $15,000. Enough said.

Our airfares were the largest part of that scary number with a return flight from our home town costing us $1800 (Australian) per person! Hence why we've had to scale back some of our plans, make changes and economise.

 

[baylie666]

We are in the same boat as OP. We have paid £15,000 for our holiday which is a heck of a lot of money for us, and have made a ton of changes and asked a ton of questions. I have been to Disney several times before and think of myself as fairly in the know about Disney and Disney holidays, but sometimes the reassurance from a proffessional organiser is a good thing.
I also believe it is what they are paid for. They are there to reassure us and help us plan our dream holidays. If they don't like the fact that some customers will be more work intensive then maybe they are in the wrong job. Everyone and every holiday is different. We do however make sure to thank our agent at every oportunity and always send an email and a letter in to their boss saying how wonderful and patient they have been.
Just my 2p worth