Annoying phone call to MS

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by FredS
Um, not even close. I did NOT actually PROVIDE my account number. She eventually, after much grumbling and huffing, told ME both account numbers after a far-too-long hassled fumbling through all of my reservations.

Actually, you did provide your member number indirectly. By providing your Social Security number, you allowed the agent to look up your member number.

Originally posted by FredS
And I have never provided my member number previously, NOR my social security number and I will not provide that number again.

Please realize that you may have great difficulty making or accessing reservations in the future if you are unwilling to establish that you are a legitimate DVC member with a valid membership number.

 

[RobDoc]

Originally posted by FredS

And I have never provided my member number previously, NOR my social security number and I will not provide that number again.

How have you ever been able to make a reservation without providing a member number or social security number to identify yourself?

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by FredS
I agree if they would make this their policy, period. That would be fine. But I have changed and checked on reservations previously and never given the member number, only the reservation number and once, I believe, my telephone number. The only time I use one of my member numbers is in making reservations. So this time, I call, she demands member number, I calmly say I have the reservation number and she gets extremely snippy. If it was (POLITELY) stated that she needed it for a valid reason, fine, but that was not the case, and I didn't dig out the full info because previously it was not needed by MS. Not only her blowing and chastising over and over, but the fact that it took forever for her to go through all the WRONG reservations took the call to a whole new level of annoying. And, yes, add to that that SHE gave ME my numbers (all the while I am telling her that I now have the cards in my hand) negates any supposed "security" rationale.

Fred, every single time I've called over the past 9 years we've owned they've asked for our member number. If I didn't have it they either looked it up by name or more commonly SSN. I agree they should be consistent. I'd venture to bet that on most of those calls they did ask you for you member number and when you didn't have it look things up alternate ways.

If one has multiple contracts, it's in your best interest to have the numbers and give them only the one you want them to look at. It reduces your exposure and risk dramatically.

Every single time I call II they want the member number, full name, address and phone number before they will proceed. Even if I just hung up and called back to double check something. I must admit it does drive me a little crazy.

 

[FredS]

Originally posted by WebmasterDoc
How have you ever been able to make a reservation without providing a member number or social security number to identify yourself?

Please review my earlier post in which I said that the only time I have been required to provide my member number was when making reservations. I am discussing calling about one particular reservation, nothing to do with other reservations or account in general. It would have made much more sense to have utilized my reservation number since she had so much difficulty in dealing with my entire account from my member number.

And I am certain that I not once have I been asked by MS for my SS#. I find it difficult to believe that an organization as large as that is too chintzy to have a computer system which can't cross-reference and organize any better than it apparently does. Regardless, that does not excuse the CM's rudeness.

 

[FredS]

Originally posted by Dean
Fred, every single time I've called over the past 9 years we've owned they've asked for our member number. If I didn't have it they either looked it up by name or more commonly SSN. I agree they should be consistent. I'd venture to bet that on most of those calls they did ask you for you member number and when you didn't have it look things up alternate ways.

If one has multiple contracts, it's in your best interest to have the numbers and give them only the one you want them to look at. It reduces your exposure and risk dramatically.

Every single time I call II they want the member number, full name, address and phone number before they will proceed. Even if I just hung up and called back to double check something. I must admit it does drive me a little crazy.

No, sorry they have usually (unless I get in the first words!) asked for my member number. If I am making a reservation I provide it. If I am asking something about a particular reservation, or perhaps adding a room request then I have given them the specific reservation number and they have gone with that. Again, if it is a necessary policy for whatever reason I am fine with that. I just can't find any logical reason for this situation, and indeed it prolonged the phone call and still makes me nervous that she was accessing several other reservations unnecessarily.

I deal with the public in my job and have been asked stupid questions by people who did not have full names, case numbers, etc. that would be very helpful. While I will, during the conversation, give them numbers to make future inquiries easier for all, I would never dream of snapping at them, blowing and sighing while "assisting" them and repeatedly fussing at them for not snapping to immediately with the info I would find most helpful. (And for me to tell her "I've got the member cards in my hand now" and she insisted "Well, write these down right now!" and actually reciting the numbers still astounds me.) And I am NOT a particularly patient person, generally, but besides being rude to react as she did, it is my job to help the public find what they need. If this woman loses it if someone doesn't immediately provide their member number, then perhaps she would be better in another role in the WDW cast.

 

[Caskbill]

Fred, you might just call MS and ask them to send you a copy of your account transactions.

When you receive it in the mail and look at it, realize that that is basically what the CM is looking at. Now the fact that their computer screens only show so much information, or part of what you will see, at a time, and all reservations under a different account number are in a totally different folders, then you might realize why the CM was having a hard time finding your reservation.

Anyone who has ever received a copy of their account in the mail will affirm how difficult it is to read. It's not sorted by reservation number, account number, resort or vacation days, but rather by the date the reservation was made. Then into this mess throw in any banking, borrowing, cancelled reservations etc., and the hunt can get very tedious. Now it's been several years since I spoke with someone at MS about this, so don't know how much their computer systems have changed since then. I would think for certain they can cross-reference to reservation numbers, banking numbers, etc but it's quite possible that for some reason that day the CM could not call it up by reservation number, and had to look through all your other reservations and accounts trying to find the right one.

There's no excuse for being rude and maybe if she had explained the problems or the reasons for all the questions it might have helped, but it is a two-way street. Understanding what the CM is trying to do, and helping them do it, can go a long way.

Just food for thought.

 

[PamOKW]

There is one way to avoid this situation in the future....use e-mail instead.

 

[Doctor P]

EVERY time I have called MS I have been asked my member #, even to answer the most mundane of questions unrelated to a particular reservation. I gladly provide it, and appreciate their efforts to keep lines and services limited to the members who pay for their services.

 

[Coach Rick]

There seems to actually be two issues here.

1) The request for a membership number

2) The rudeness of an employee in customer service

The first issue, well we could go back and forth on that for a long, long time, but the way I see it, it's a policy of the club. I'll bet you won't complain one bit if your local tennis club asks your membership number when you have a question about your membership. Just supply it, and don't call without it in your hand. My card is in my wallet always.

The second issue is a more serious one. No employee has the right to take out there bad day on anybody, plain and simple. They call it member services for a reason, and that's to service it's members, but like I said earlier, it doesn't excuse the "member" from not supplying the "service" employee with the proper information to perform her/his duties. Although I have yet to have the need to call MS, I have had contacted them a few times via email, and my requests have always been handled very quickly, and professionally.

One more note on the subject, and that is perspective. How we as individuals perceive any given transaction. Perhaps on a different day Fred would have perceived the cm in a different light. I guess the bottom line is that it's just very unfortunate this happened. Vacation is supposed to be a stress reliever, not a producer. Fred if you feel that strong, you should call and ask for a supervisor and let them know about it. If this person is truly abusive to members they should be doing something else, and perhaps for someone else. JMO

 

[Disney1fan2002]

In all the times I have called MS, and lately it has been a few times, I always have my membership card ready before I even pick up the phone. Then, once they have my membership number, I will offer the confirmation number, and they usually refuse it, it is easier for them to just have the date of check in...I guess all your reservations are on the screen in front of them.

It sounds like the MS person was having a bad day. Maybe she had just gotten off the phone with a person who had a problem and wasn't very nice to her ( unless you have ever worked in customer service, you have no idea what people can be like, talk about RUDE) then you call and have to search for your member #. People have bad days. Even people who work for Disney. I am sorry that happened to you, but next time, be prepared before you call, and maybe things will go alot smoother for you. JMHO.

 

[Lisa F]

It sounds to me like in the conversation you were both being extremely stubborn and things escalated. She began the phone call with asking for your member number and you absolutely did not want to give it to her. It didn't just sound like you didn't have it handy but more like you were insisting that she didn't need it. I can see how that might peeve someone on the other end of the line.

I once tried to make a modification to a reservation without my member number. The MS CM asked me for my member number and I said "oops, I don't have it, but I do have my reservation." He said "I'm sorry ma'am, but I need your member number." If at that point I had insisted that he didn't need my member number, I bet he would've gotten a little grumpy. Maybe I am misreading your posts but it sure sounds like you were insistent that you didn't need your member number to do what you wanted to do, and that could come off like telling her how to do her job. Instead of insisting that MS try to find some way to accommodate me with just my reservation number, I asked if there was another way to look up my member number or if he would hold on a sec while I dug out my card. He looked up my account by SSN and it wasn't a problem.

There is really no excuse for MS to be rude. To work in a job like that you have you learn how to deal with all kinds of people, including people who don't quite understand what you are looking at and who think they know your job better than you do. I'm not saying FredS that you did, but by insisting that she could do something that she could not (access your account without the member number) you probably came across that way and it sounds like she got REALLY defensive and rude about it. Again, no excuse, but conversations are a two way street. I've never had anyone be obnoxious to me when I've tried to be friendly and accommodating on my side, even if they sound a little on the grumpy side.

Lisa

 

[FredS]

Originally posted by Lisa F
It sounds to me like in the conversation you were both being extremely stubborn and things escalated. She began the phone call with asking for your member number and you absolutely did not want to give it to her. It didn't just sound like you didn't have it handy but more like you were insisting that she didn't need it.
.....................
I've never had anyone be obnoxious to me when I've tried to be friendly and accommodating on my side, even if they sound a little on the grumpy side.

Lisa

Please don't read something in there was was not. How you get all of this insisting and refusing on my part is unfair and unnecessarily critical. I really think you should carefully read any post before jumping to conclusions and finding fault. I always do and it has served me well. I find it amazing that you have never had anyone be obnoxious to you when you've tried to be friendly. Must not get out much in the real world or you are extraordinarily fortunate.
No, I did NOT refuse her, I simply told her that I had the reservation number when she asked for the member number (which I have done several times in the past with no negative reaction from the CM) and she immediately began the sighing, huffing, puffing and chastising. She asked for my SS#, which I gave (although in retrospect I wish I had not) while I was pulling out my set of id cards (I have two accounts, but they sent eight cards with various dates of membership, explain that to me) There was NO PLEASING HER or STOPPING THE BLOWING AND COMPLAINING. She would not listen to me when I was telling her the pertinent info for the particular reservation, instead I felt like I was being punished by having her read each and every reservation. Again, how it was more efficient to pull up my entire account and read every reservation I have obviously is beyond me. It took little time for her to pull up my account, but she dragged out locating my reservation within the account for a ridiculous amount of time. I told her the pertinent info, she would read something else and stop -- sorry, but if I tell you "Beach Club villas, two-bedroom, arriving in May 30th" would you say "Old Key West, arriving July 19th?", then I repeat it and you say, "Beach Club, studio, arriving May 26th?", then I repeat it and she came up with yet ANOTHER reservation. And then she's saying in between, "you need to write down those account numbers" and I'm thinking, you need to learn to locate reservations and stop repeating the same thing over and over. It was ridiculous.

What if, when you said "Oops, don't have it" about your member number the CM had deeply sighed and started crabbing at YOU! Even when you said you had the number he wouldn't listen and kept saying you need to have the number written down? If he read aloud through all of your reservations instead of listening to the information you were civilly giving him? If he said, "Write these numbers down now" even though you said you had the cards with the numbers in your hand at that time, and he insisted on reading them aloud? That was my situation, thank you, there was no refusal to give something and even if there HAD been, all the sighing and blowing and refusing to listen to me was very unprofessional. I was not snippy or loud with this person. I was getting very frustrated with her by the end, because she took what should have been a very brief phone call and turned it into a drawn out affair because she was in a bad mood. I really felt like hanging up on her by the time she was reading the account numbers, but I did not.

 

[Mic]

I think everyone is being a bit unfair to Fred. Like someone else said, we could debate the "have member number available" argument all day long; that did not seem to be the big issue. I think Fred was simply giving us the play-by-play that led up to him feeling the lady was a bit rude. I have had similar experiences the past 2 weeks. While I always had my member number ready, what I wanted to do was a little complicated, and involved a reservation that "straddled" 2 use-years, involved not only borrowed points, but also points from a new contract not scheduled to close until June. I started each conversation off with"this is complicated, and I will not be offended if I am put on hold, or even transferred to a supervisor." Most of the agents were nice, but a few stood out as being inefficient, and only 1 was downright rude! And of course, it would be on my birthday that I get her! I found out the following morning that not only had this woman not asked a supervisor to call me back(as I had requested) she actually left for the day without making my reservation! Luckily, I was adding days 1 at a time, so I caught the error, but I was peeved. To the credit of Member Services, most of the agents were quite willing to try to straighten out the many mistakes in the 12-night reservation, and were pleasant while doing so. My guide had warned me that there were many new employees at Member Services, and that I should just be patient when calling!

 

[trishy]

I agree with Mic. The fact is this cm has no business being rude to the customer regardless of the situation. We have dealt with a rude cm (won't say the name, but it rhymes with "Bean") and she had no clue on the rules of point use/multiple contracts. After 10 minutes dealing with this idiot we insisted she get her supervisor (she tried to get out of that!) and the supervisor (a very nice, considerate, knowledgeable guy) helped us continue our reservation plans. So for future reference, insist on speaking to their supervisor if they will not do their job in a considerate manner. I feel for you, Fred. We've been there, done that and this wrath you have taken regarding member #'s is b.s. After reading through your entire posts, I'm sure if this cm has courteously requested this information and explained the need to maintain a high level of security ( ) for each individual account up front in a polite tone, this entire episode would not have escalated.

 

[Lisa F]

Originally posted by FredS
I find it amazing that you have never had anyone be obnoxious to you when you've tried to be friendly. Must not get out much in the real world or you are extraordinarily fortunate.
No, I did NOT refuse her, I simply told her that I had the reservation number when she asked for the member number (which I have done several times in the past with no negative reaction from the CM) and she immediately began the sighing, huffing, puffing and chastising.

You're right, I must not get out much in the real world. I take back everything I said. Given the above response, it must be completely impossible that you were anything but helpful in giving her the information that she needed to expedite your call.

In your first post you did say that she asked for your member number and you told her you had the reservation number. You seemed extremely peeved at that point that the reservation number "would NOT do." Then you tell her not only do you not have the member account number but you're not even sure which account the reservation is under. At this point you state that she starts to get snippy, which she should not have (and I think I stated that in my post).

Next you say that you are getting annoyed because she is reading off other reservations and you say to her "NOT THOSE." Maybe my world is not the "real world" but in my world, when you put things in caps it is the equivalent of shouting.

So, in your description of how things happened, first you don't have your member number, then you don't even know which account the reservation is made under. Of course MS should've been patient and there is no excuse for obnoxiousness. Then she locates your account and is looking at the wrong reservation and you yell at her because she is looking at the wrong reservation.

All I'm saying is that there was a much better way on your end to handle the whole thing. No, MS did not have the right to be obnoxious, but your complaint was twofold. Partially that MS was obnoxious and partially that they were requiring all of this information that you didn't want to give them. Your reluctance to give them the information that they needed to handle your issue sounds like it led to the obnoxiousness issue. That doesn't excuse the obnoxiousness but at the same time, if you wish to avoid it in the future you might want to think about the way you talk to people (if your response to me is any indication, that is).

Lisa

 

[DVC Nut]

I just spoke with someone I know from member services.

The telephone calls are quite often taped by the managers there to evaluate the advisors. There is a check list with items that the advisors are expected to do (or try to do at least) during a call.

These things include (but not limited to):

getting member number (if member number not avail, use ss# and verify address also)
addressing member by name
reviewing all currently booked reservations
review any waitlist requests
go over points balance (also giving info about holding/banked/borrowed/transferred points, etc)

Many other items, i didn't get them all.

The reason that all things are reviewed is that MS advisors are just people too, mistakes can be made (i.e. a res made for wrong number of days, duplicate reservations for same time at 2 different resorts(this happens quite often with auto waitlists), and to confirm # of points (there can be discrepancies))

If these things are asked/reviewed during each call, any mistakes will get corrected sooner rather than later when you arrive at the resort.

It was correct of the advisor to do everything she did except give attitude. That is unexcusable, but I am sure if you were to ask her story she might say FredS was huffing and sighing. We all need to keep in mind that we only have one side of the story and that is not enough to make a judgement.

My purpose in posting this is just to give information, not judge. Hope it helps

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

Wow, what an interesting series of posts.

I sympathize with you, Fred S, as I've also been in customer service for years. I expect the quality service that I pride myself in giving. When I don't get it I turn grumpy pretty quickly.

I have upset people many times with my expectation of good service. I even had a Burger King manager throw my money back at me at a drive-thru window... but that is another story.

Many companies "get it". They offer excellent customer service and do it whether the customer is nice or otherwise. I think we all expect and want Disney to get it, and they usually do.

Bottom line - you didn't get good service with this call. I hope this CM is retrained or moved to another more appropriate role (like maybe at Connections ). You and I have no obligation to be pleasant as a customer, but a person in the customer service role does. And a truly great CS person will take our lousy mood and turn it into a good one.

I don't think you sounded particularly grumpy, though you had a right to become so when being treated as you were. I hope your next interaction is a much better one.

Have a great day!

 

[Mickeygolf]

I hate to get blasted on this, but I have to agree with Lisa F. FredS has been telling us his side of the story but when anyone posts that doesn't quite agree with him, he seems to get a little sarcastic.

Being pleasant on the phone goes both ways. And I don't for a second believe that the we have no obligation for being pleasant. When did it become MS's job to make our day great just because we're having a bad day. I'm not saying that obnoxious behavior by a service individual should be tolerated, but we should really try to understand the context of the way things are being explained before we start shouting "I was treated poorly, ship this person to another job"

JMHO

 

[JudithM]

FredS, I certainly hope you let a manager in Member Services know of your unhappiness with your recent phone call. Obviously your original post has generated a lot of replies here, but if you had a problem, you need to let DVC know.

I do know for a fact that some DVC CMs DO read these boards & I am sure they have read this thread .

 

[FredS]

Originally posted by DVC Nut
I just spoke with someone I know from member services.

There is a check list with items that the advisors are expected to do (or try to do at least) during a call.

These things include (but not limited to):

getting member number (if member number not avail, use ss# and verify address also)
addressing member by name
reviewing all currently booked reservations
review any waitlist requests
go over points balance (also giving info about holding/banked/borrowed/transferred points, etc)

Many other items, i didn't get them all........................If these things are asked/reviewed during each call, any mistakes will get corrected sooner rather than later when you arrive at the resort.

It was correct of the advisor to do everything she did except give attitude. That is unexcusable, but I am sure if you were to ask her story she might say FredS was huffing and sighing. We all need to keep in mind that we only have one side of the story and that is not enough to make a judgement.

My purpose in posting this is just to give information, not judge. Hope it helps

First, I don't think that the CM would lie and say that I was huffing and sighing. I said that she was very grumpy, not dishonest. I currently have, I believe, seven pending reservations. I have two accounts. As I recall, she referenced probably four reservations, most definitely not all of them. And since my question was a very brief "what does this mean on this particular reservation?" and I truly did not have 15 or more minutes, I guess I am glad that she only mentioned some of the ones I didn't need any assistance on, and didn't actually review all details of each of my pending reservations. I am also glad that she did not review my points balance, banked, borrowed, etc. for both accounts. Are you saying that my past experiences are not typical and that each and every conversation everyone else has requires member number and they go through every item in your list any time you call with any minor question about anything?! Well, I guess that is a good way to discourage calls, as I personally would hesitate to make a call unless I had a large chunk of time available.

Again, halfway doing some of your listed items doesn't seem to serve a valid purpose. And I am certain that they can access reservations with the reservation number only as that is what I used when I rented points before becoming a DVC member and that is what others to whom I have rented (just a couple, though!) have used to check on their reservations.

Again, my biggest complaint was not that she wanted the member number, but how she immediately got so frustrated and ugly with me when I didn't immediately produce it, based on my previous dealings when I had called to confirm or with a question or request regarding a particular reservation. I have no problem with standard procedures and making things easier for CM's. I do have a problem with someone in a service capacity behaving that unprofessionally for no real reason.

I have visited WDW many, many times and have made many reservations, priority seatings and so forth. I can count on my fingers the number of times I have had the slightest bit of rudeness or negativity from a cast member during all those trips and phone conversations. This was far out in left field, and to be honest it bothered me a lot because generally I feel that I can depend on Disney's customer service to be wonderful. I think that might have been why I stayed in the conversation to the end despite her rudeness, that I was a little in shock and thinking that somehow this was going to turn around. I was talking to DISNEY, after all. If I was new to Disney I guarantee you this would have been a very major turnoff to future dealings.

At any rate, I hope it was a rare exception.