Clueless Dining CM

[blueangel]

Just wanted to share my conversation from five minutes ago...

CM: How can I help you today?
Me: I need to make an AR for December 19.
CM: A what?
...
CM: Where?
Me: Restaurant Marrakesh.
CM: Would that be for breakfast?
...
CM: OK, we have you for, wait, I can never say this...Marrakesh! At Monaco December 19.

OK.... She also told me you had to have a reservation to eat there. Very strange.

I'll just show up at Morocco and hope they serve me my lunch!

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

Luckily most CMs at dining are not like that! The last 2 out of 3 times I have called, I have talked to very informed, friendly people.

 

[tinkerbell81284]

Or just call back and find a more informed CM. And yes, Restaurant Marrakash in Morocco does serve lunch.

 

[webray]

You need to remember, most of the dining cm's have never, ever eaten in the WDW restaurants, and I mean never. They are not tought to pronounce these places and if someone asks a question about a restaurant, the cm has to look it up in the giant database.

 

[goofy4tink]

I have gotten incredibly good CMs so far. I've had conversations with one guy about CP pkg where he told me that he was auditioning for a part as one of the singers this year. And he gave me some great advice about some places I hadn't tried yet. And when I was booking my Thanksgiving dinner for '04 I got a wonderful woman who told me all about some great places she had had Thanksgiving dinner in WS!!! So far I've been really lucky with some very knowledgable CMs in Dining. If I were you, I would call them back and make up some story about forgetting to write down the time you had reserved. Just to make sure they have it in their database correctly!! BTW...I love Marrakesh!!! Yummy!!

 

[Rella Bella]

Until recently many of the phone CM's were in Kansas City! Actually Overland Park KS... (but that is just a technicality, it is KC metro). We used to laugh when we called and found out we were blocks apart, or we'd call from Orlando and get a weather report from home! A CM I spoke with last week said they just closed that call center, but I bet webray is right that many of them have never visited most of the restaurants.

Often DISer's are more familiar with Disney than CM's; I've learned the hard way to check it here... then call!

 

[andrabell]

I've had several dining cast members who had no idea what ADR meant. It seemed so odd to me, but perhaps they have no idea how many acronyms Disney Freaks use on a daily basis.

 

[Harmony]

You need to remember, most of the dining cm's have never, ever eaten in the WDW restaurants, and I mean never. They are not tought to pronounce these places and if someone asks a question about a restaurant, the cm has to look it up in the giant database.

That's so silly! If they are hired as a CM, you'd think they would at least be given a list of "words to know." *shrug*

 

[Aimeedyan]

You need to remember, most of the dining cm's have never, ever eaten in the WDW restaurants, and I mean never. They are not tought to pronounce these places and if someone asks a question about a restaurant, the cm has to look it up in the giant database.

Exactly.

You can't expect them to know EVERYTHING off the top of their head - the information is enormous! They have to look it all up in their computer

Must have made for an interesting conversation, though!

 

[DW mouser]

You guys are lucky!! I was on the phone for over an hour long distance because my CM put me on hold for 15 minutes, came back and said he was sorry but it would be awhile yet because he had dining support!!! It was about 30 minutes total and I couldn't hang up because he'd charged my credit card for $255 for breakfast at CRT after I told him I was on the dining plan!!! They finally got it straightened out after I told him I knew for sure it was on the plan. Later on after I hung up I found out it's 2 credits!!! He did appologized and said he can't keep up with all the changes!!! I did get everything I wanted but made the ressie's blind without a schedule and did not hit any of the early mornings in the right parks!! Oh well!! I'm thinking these disney trips are just too complicated for older people!!! It may be our last one if Grandma has to plan it!! No one else has the time to hoover on these boards and boy if you miss a couple of days1!! I paniced when I heard about the 180 day out ressie's!!!

 

[Aimeedyan]

That's so silly! If they are hired as a CM, you'd think they would at least be given a list of "words to know." *shrug*

Can you imagine how long the list would be? For everyplace in the entire World? What if that CM was just put on the floor 2 weeks ago straight from training and has never visited WDW? It's just not feesible to do - in a perfect world, yes, but not practical.

 

[blueangel]

Or just call back and find a more informed CM. And yes, Restaurant Marrakash in Morocco does serve lunch.

I was emphasizing that she told me to go to Monaco, not Morocco...

 

[bytheblood]

Poor CMs.

 

[LiteBrite]

I was emphasizing that she told me to go to Monaco, not Morocco...

I had one the other day when I was booking a Fantasmic Package, who kept offering me the option of "Mamma Mia's".

 

[disneytraveler]

My calls to dining have been very good .I had one CM tell me that i will really enjoy dining at Boma and Jiko.They even gave me the correct way of saying JIKO. They were right ,both were great places.

 

[jcemom]

I usually just politely say "Thank you" and then hang up and call back. Most of the CMs I've dealt with at dining are pretty competent though, some more so than others of course. I enjoy it when I get a CM who really knows what they're talking about. I've had a couple of them while planning my January ADRs. It's SO great to speak with someone who's actually been to WDW and eaten at the restaurants I'm considering.

 

[Harmony]

Can you imagine how long the list would be? For everyplace in the entire World? What if that CM was just put on the floor 2 weeks ago straight from training and has never visited WDW? It's just not feesible to do - in a perfect world, yes, but not practical.

It is indeed practical. They can be given a crash course in all things Disney. This isn't rocket science. I learned most of the Disney stuff in one month...by myself! It *can* be done.

 

[BCV23]

It is indeed practical. They can be given a crash course in all things Disney. This isn't rocket science. I learned most of the Disney stuff in one month...by myself! It *can* be done.

Wow, that is impressive. We've been going there for 25 years and I spend way too much time on the DIS and there is so much about WDW that I don't know.

To the OP, I wonder if the CM misunderstood you at first and thought you wanted breakfast at Fresh? Also if you actually used the letters AR, I doubt all the CMs are up on DIS abbreviations.

I've usually been very lucky and had CMs who have helped me book 20 or so ARs in 10 to 15 minutes. Once they know you know the basics, it really helps cut down on the time.

 

[Harmony]

Yeah, I figured I'd get a sarcastic response from someone. Gee, you are soooo funny! Smart people, however, would get what I was trying to say. And they will also notice I said "most of the Disney stuff"...not all.

 

[tlbwriter]

Can you imagine how long the list would be? For everyplace in the entire World? What if that CM was just put on the floor 2 weeks ago straight from training and has never visited WDW? It's just not feesible to do - in a perfect world, yes, but not practical.

I bet there are very few acronyms/"words to know" that are more frequently used than ADRs. I can't imagine training someone to do ADRs and never ever mentioning the term "ADR."

On the other end of the spectrum, when I made an ADR for Chef Mickey's, the CM asked where I was staying to make sure I'd have time to get to the resort. When he found out I was driving from POR, he gave me very detailed instructions on how to drive there!