Annoying phone call to MS

[Mrs. Snowgod]

Yes, absolutely, it would be a better world if everybody could be kind to each other all the time! I personally make it my mission to be nice to people as much as possible. Usually people are nice back.

It would also be a better world if every one of us was trained well in our individual profession, and did our jobs very well, or at least to the best of our abilities.

As a person who has provided service to others on the phone, I have been yelled at unneccesarily, been treated very poorly, been made to feel stupid, been blamed for things for which I had no responsibility, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum. Because I was being paid to do this job, I had to suck it up, smile and carry on as best I could. I have helped many people, nice, mean and in between, and I take pride in my success. I am very sensitive and courteous to phone reps, in particular, and if i recieve excellent service, I'll compliment them and even write letters of thanks.

So, as a paying customer at a store, or as a customer in any other situation, including an interaction with DVC member services, I expect to be treated with courtesy and decency. If I am treated poorly and dislike that treatment, it is my right to complain about it.

A customer service rep being paid to give people information on the phone has no business acting in the way Fred described. Period. Doesn't matter whether Fred had his member number or not. Doesn't matter whether Fred is sick of other people on this board attacking, criticizing or correcting him. Fred is the paying customer. The customer is always right. Period.

Have a great evening! Smile - it's really great to be alive, isn't it?

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Carlnne
Iagree with Horace- except that renters should be permitted to call and verify that a reservation exists. In that case the renter would only have a reservation and not a membership #. It didnt sound like the original poster wanted to change the reservation only ask a question. If no changes are being made why the big controversy?

Renters should get a copy of the reservation from the rentor, not MS. MS is for Members, the ones that pay the bills to have a toll free MS number.
MS requests that you have your member number right at the beginning of the phone call ( it is in the taped first part of the message). If you cannot be satisfied with a copy of the reservation, or if you don't trust that the reservation is legit, then perhaps you should rethink the rental.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

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,

What is the problem with providing your SS number, that is how they cross reference. And, they can see it if you give them your member number. It is not a secret.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

The customer is always right. Period.

NO, no they are not. That worked back in the good ole days when people were nice to each other. It does not come close to working now with the "me, me, me mentality". When people stop treating people working with the public like dirt and expecting to be treated like royalty in return, then, the old tired "customer is always right" adage might be valid, but, at this point it is not.
As to Fred's call to MS, we have only heard his side. The huffing and puffing could have been from the headseat being too close to her mouth/nose, it has happened to me when talking with MS and the conversation was very friendly.
I refuse to take sides in this one without having heard the other side, as it were.
Perhaps the CM was having a particulary hard day with idiotic calls from other members with stupid hypothitcal questions, which would be better addressed to their guides.

 

[Coach Rick]

Originally posted by FredS

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.

Fred, did you call and report this to a supervisor? I as a DVC member appreciate your reporting this to us, but it won't improve a thing without letting the management know. It's quite obvious that you are passionate about this 1 call, and thus should see to it that this is reported to the proper manager. Who knows, maybe they'll give you some "Fast Passes" for your grief.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

You and I have no obligation to be pleasant as a customer, but a person in the customer service role does.

Mrs. Snowgod, I have to disagree with this statement. Where is it written that as customers, we have a right to be rude and/or demanding to Customer Service people? I think that is the problem in today's society. I worked in a CS job, and let me tell you, it is no walk in the park. I had people calling me with a problem, and here I am trying to HELP them resolve the problem, and I get yelled at, insulted and sometimes threatened. And guess what? On more than one occasion, the customer was wrong! GASP.

I think anyone who is a human being has an obligation to be pleasant. You can be angry and frustrated with a situation, but you should be obligated to keep your cool and talk and act civilized until the situation is resolved. Yelling and unpleasantness will not get the matter resolved any sooner that if you had been patient and understanding.

 

[Mickeygolf]

I'm right there with ya Disney1fan2002.

Hear...Hear!!!

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

Wow, this is wild. My intent in writing was to be kind, and provide moral support to Fred, who seemed to be getting bashed. I'm surprised there have been no debate warnings so far .

Please let me clarify:
Maybe we have an obligation to ourselves, to our higher power, or to the example we set for our children, to be pleasant - but we have no obligation to a customer service person on the other end of a phone, whose salary WE are paying as consumers, to tolerate rudeness. I am not suggesting that we should yell or be profane, that is not appropriate, but Fred was not yelling, and certainly not being profane.

Disney1fan2002, I agree that CS work is no walk in the park - it is really tough, and can be torture and also very satisfying. But don't people have an obligation to perform the work they are paid to do in a competent manner? I realy think that this is the point of this whole thread, and it's turned into something else entirely.

Gail, the adage that the "customer is always right" is a philosophy that businesses should really heed in this time of so much competition for everybody's dollar. There are too many companies failing to understand that philosophy, and we'd all hate to see Disney be one of them.

Anyway, to those of you I have somehow offended or whose feathers I've ruffled, I apologize. If you ever get me on the phone when I'm in the role of a CS rep, I promise I'll be nice to you, 'cuz that's what I'm being paid to do. If you are grumpy or sarcastic, I'll still be nice, since that is my job. I'll do my best to make your day improve with the quality of information I provide. And if you are nice to me, that will be great!

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Mrs. Snowgod
Wow, this is wild. My intent in writing was to be kind, and provide moral support to Fred, who seemed to be getting bashed. I'm surprised there have been no debate warnings so far .

I don't think Fred is getting bashed. I think many of us just picked up that there are 2 sides to every story. In this case many of us (myself included) interpreted that Fred was being contrary by not providing his member number and insisting they proceed from just the reservation number. Even if he was, was he doing it deliberately, I doubt it. Did we interpret correctly, I don't know, we may not have but it seemed that way to me in his narative of the events. None of us were there but I'm not ready to accept that Fred was in the right and the CM wrong. I do believe that Fred believes the CM was being difficult. The CM may have been difficult, I don't know, they can only take so much I'm sure. If that's bashing Fred, them I'm guilty as charged and welcome any suggestions from the moderators accordingly so that I may learn better.

While I think "the costuomer is always right" approach is generally the correct one, there is a limit to how far it can go.

 

[FredS]

Well, I was going to let this one lie, but it won't seem to do so. I do think that this has crossed a line. If certain posters feel the need to play devil's advocate, they should do so on every thread, and expect it in return. It is fine to do so to just to reflect another perspective on a situation, but instead to accuse the original poster of behavior which they did not do, then I don't think that is appropriate. And what character is shown to resort to "there are two sides to every story" as an "excuse" for baiting and bashing. Hmm. What if every post's replies consisted of unfair, untrue "you should have, could have, probably did" XYZ. What if every post gets responded with -- that's a stupid question, comment, train of thought, whatever? What would prompt a response which is totally off point and just mean?

I posted, probably ad naseum, about the specifics of the conversation just so there would not be an remaining possibility of confusion about what was said and done and when. The CM became rude almost immediately, with no provocation other than my not instantly providing my member number. I provided what I have provided previously with no trouble and then, at her continued request, tried to provide both numbers. (In retrospect I questioned the need for these, or the need for her continual crabbing and sighing, snorting noises.) This reaction from anyone in customer service, particularly a DISNEY representative, was incredibly unprofessional. I think that anyone posting can be easily bashed if ones chooses to just make up "facts" of their part in a problem, but why??? Posting on this board of an unusual interaction that I had with DVC member services seemed appropriate, to share with other DVC members to compare notes. But it seems that someone I was wrong in doing so. Won't make that mistake again.

Why some choose to hate, and seem insistent on making me some sort of bad guy through some twisted holier than thou bit is beyond me. The CM was rude and there was not even any logic to defend her rudeness, if that could be a defense. If you want to hate and project your bad attitudes and ugly words, please send them in another direction.

 

[FredS]

Originally posted by Disney1fan2002
Mrs. Snowgod, I have to disagree with this statement. Where is it written that as customers, we have a right to be rude and/or demanding to Customer Service people? ..........I think anyone who is a human being has an obligation to be pleasant. You can be angry and frustrated with a situation, but you should be obligated to keep your cool and talk and act civilized until the situation is resolved. Yelling and unpleasantness will not get the matter resolved any sooner that if you had been patient and understanding.

And this has bearing on my post how? I did not yell or act unpleasant. I think I showed a tremendous amount of patience in dealing with her, despite her rudeness. I was not the snippy one. For the nth time, I did not give her the member number as soon as she asked for it. I did not, because I did not have it handy as it was not required previously when I had a question about a particular reservation, only when I had made a reservation. From that point on she was snapping, sighing, huffing and ignoring what I was saying to her.

Sorry if you have a tough job, but I don't think that you should create ugliness on my end that did not exist. Thank you.

 

[Dean]

Fred, sorry if you took my post pesonally, it was not intended to be so and I was not playing the devils advocate. Maybe it's how you presented it that got me. OTOH, if you expressed your views and dissatisfaction with the CM for not being able or willing to look up the reservation by the res #, I place at least part of the blame on your shoulders. If you didn't, I'm right there with you.

I know that I sometimes listen to my nurses talking to a mother on the phone then the mother brings the child in and tells me what the nurses said and there's no relationship to each account. That's the nature of emails, telephones and BBS.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Maybe we have an obligation to ourselves, to our higher power, or to the example we set for our children, to be pleasant - but we have no obligation to a customer service person on the other end of a phone, whose salary WE are paying as consumers, to tolerate rudeness. I am not suggesting that we should yell or be profane, that is not appropriate, but Fred was not yelling, and certainly not being profane

No offense intended, but, without being there, you have no idea what went on on either side of this "coin".

You are correct about the adage being important, but, I think the Golden Rule should come first and perhaps then it would be easier to impliment the "customer is always right".

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Well, I was going to let this one lie, but it won't seem to do so. I do think that this has crossed a line. If certain posters feel the need to play devil's advocate, they should do so on every thread, and expect it in return. It is fine to do so to just to reflect another perspective on a situation, but instead to accuse the original poster of behavior which they did not do, then I don't think that is appropriate. And what character is shown to resort to "there are two sides to every story" as an "excuse" for baiting and bashing. Hmm. What if every post's replies consisted of unfair, untrue "you should have, could have, probably did" XYZ. What if every post gets responded with -- that's a stupid question, comment, train of thought, whatever? What would prompt a response which is totally off point and just mean?

I know I presented the argument of "two sides" BUT NOWHERE did I bait or bash you. NO WAY NO HOW. Nor did I accuse you of inappropriate behavior. I know I am not the only one that presented a different perspective, but, I am just covering my "assets" here.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by FredS
And this has bearing on my post how? I did not yell or act unpleasant. I think I showed a tremendous amount of patience in dealing with her, despite her rudeness. I was not the snippy one. For the nth time, I did not give her the member number as soon as she asked for it. I did not, because I did not have it handy as it was not required previously when I had a question about a particular reservation, only when I had made a reservation. From that point on she was snapping, sighing, huffing and ignoring what I was saying to her.

Sorry if you have a tough job, but I don't think that you should create ugliness on my end that did not exist. Thank you.

I don't think the reference was in reference to you, I think it was a general comment in response to another poster.

 

[Mickeygolf]

At this point and the way FredS has replied defensively to the recent posts, I'd really like to hear the recording of this phone call.

Where's Rich during this whole thread? As Clark says to Eddie "He usually eats these things for lunch"...

 

[Sammie]

My only comment would be as members we all know that it is standard operating procedure to immediately provide the person answering the phone at Member Services with your member number. I never call without having my card out and ready. I have always been asked for the number immediately regardless of the intent of my call.

This is the same procedure with my local AAA office, they will not
proceed until you provide your membership number.

You should not have been treated rudely but in most opinion's you should have been ready with your number.