CM's live on another planet

[BrerRabbit_fan]

I think there should be a sheet by every computer with the codes that are out and who they are available for. The cms would not be allowed to offer them, just know what to respond.

It is not a problem when the cm is willing to look things up but lots of them are rude and won't. I further have a problem with the new system which wants to know all of those ridiculous things that they already do at MY expense if I'm calling long distance.

I called when the computers were down and they kept telling me to call back. Each time cost me at least five minutes only to find out the system was still down.

 

[bubbles200179]

From my point of view as a CM, my feeling is that you can't have it both ways.

Either you want more CMs on the phone or you want them better trained.

It takes about 4 months from hire date to getting on the actual phones & start talking to people who either scream at them, or accuse them of ruining their entire life because they can't get a certain code that was advertised in a newspaper 1000 miles away or a particular meal.

And doing this for 60 hours a weeks (mandatory overtime on & off for the last 2 years) is not always a picnic.

Then you get the great guests, the ones who actually thank you for your time, are patient while you look up the codes for them and make you go the extra mile for them. This is the reason I have been there over 6 years and get great compliments from my guests.

 

[ladycollector]

Originally posted by Smoochies
That code you had is one of HUNDREDS of codes that they release at any given time.

Um, sorry but that information is false. We dont want false information going around, do we? Disney does not have HUNDREDS of codes at any 1 given moment. Sorry it's just not true.

Anyway,

I was trying to make resort reservations for our upcoming trip in Feb, and first off got a, I dont know, oddlly rude CM on the other end.

When we got to the part where I mention the FL resident code she put in the code and she said "It's not avaliable" I said, "Do you mean the code is not valid?''. She said "No, It's not avaliable". So then I asked her if she meant the rooms for that code were booked up and she told me again that "No, Its not avaliable". I don't know about you but those are the only 2 things that i could think of that she was talking about. After that I said, "Okay, well, we are also passholders, lets try code XXX.". I dont think she even typed it in because she imediately said "It's not avaliable".

Weird.

I told her thankyou very much and we will call back as soon as we decided what we want to do.

I called right back and got a VERY nice lady who talked about wdw and pin trading while she was searching!! She got us a $49 rate for Pop Century and we were thrilled. Thankyou.

Im glad we have cast members like her around too. LOL

~Kayla

 

[Iheoma]

I know this issue has probably been talked to death but I did want to put my opinion in the thread. I agree that that the CM's have a difficult job but I also believe that there should be a basic level of competence for each employee to be able to handle most reservation requests, among those being codes, ect. My experience with CM's who were not knowledgable really has affected my Disney planning experience. I understand that everything isn't supposed to be perfect when planning for a vacation, but it does have a negative effect on your feelings about a place. If I had not been to WDW multiple times myself and wanted to share it with DH and DD I would have cancelled my ressie completely and stayed off-site because of my experiences. I agree with a poster who stated that we tend to expect marginal service and unfortunately it becomes acceptable. At some point WDW will be affected financially by poor service by front line reservation CMs. But the worst part is that guests have already lost some the magic before they even reach the "world".
IMHO

 

[klh999]

Well said Iheoma.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I have noticed over the last year or so that the level of competence with the CRO CM's has gone down. I call hundreds of times a year and only get a knowledgeable CM about 10% of the time. Usually I have to walk them through everything... the code, the room only issue, the ap rates, all my personal information that seem to get lost between every call I make, etc, etc. I've had CM's that didn't even know what resort I was talking about. It's frustrating and annoying. I would rather be on hold for 30 minutes and get someone who knows what's going on. Disney should train these people better and pay them more. This is their front line ... they should be the experts, Disney's best.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Will I'm not sure if they live on another Planet, but Friday I was on the phone for over an hour to a CM that lived in Salt Lake City not so sure if most of the problems are the CM's or the new computer, either way that was over an hour of wasted long distance charges.

Called back within a few minutes, reached a CM in Orlando area had my reservations. (After another hour of LD charges)

 

[jlima]

Sorry, a paper "cheat sheet" just can't work. The computer's display of availability IS the cheat sheet!!

I previously worked in revenue management in a Las Vegas casino complex. There were a multitude of rates available - packages, AAA/senior rates, rack rates, convention rates - available at any given time. The call center agents were supposed to check a table at the front that had memos with a signature sheet. They were supposed to check - daily - at the beginning of their shift, and read & sign off on anything new, and take a copy of the memo back to their workstation. Every agent had a binder that they were supposed to keep updated info in - restaurant hours, show ticket prices, etc. etc. (Generally the binder would stay in the employees locker, as no one had a permanent desk and the call center had 3 shifts.) Some agents were better that others about keeping current, but there WAS a system in place for them to get the information.

HOWEVER,

there were days when we'd have to open up availability due to a lot of cancels, a convention wouldn't pick up all its rooms, whatever the reason, and previously sold out days would suddenly be open with dozens if not hundreds of rooms to sell. There was no time to put out a memo - the days would show up as available in the system. The call center did have a "silent radio" display that was used for communicating new information and sometimes that would be used to communicate new open dates. But the availablity could change so fast that any paper "cheat sheet" that could possibly be made would be irrelevant in a matter of hours. Sometimes there would only be a few as 10 - 15 rooms made available on some rate plans. With dozens of res agents selling, sometimes you could open up a plan to sell at 10am and close it off 2 - 3 hours later if you made enough reservations to accomplish your goal. A paper cheat sheet would be useless.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I wish Disney would design some type of program that would allow CM's to enter the dates of your trip and the code you'd like to use and then the availability would pop up for all resorts. It wastes so much time to have to start with one resort preference and then one by one check other resorts... it seems like they have to start all over everytime you check something different? That doesn't make any sense to me. Shouldn't the dates and code be enough information?? Why do they have to pull up my personal account and go through the whole song and dance about my address, phone #, email adress, names and ages of everyone in my party, yadda, yadda.... I just want the rate! I really hope they'll develop some type of online reservation system for ap holders where I can just do it myself. That would be awesome.

 

[donaldk]

Originally posted by BCV23
I encountered a rude CM at CRO a couple of years ago myself.

A couple of years ago! I ran into more rude and useless employees at the Orlando Airport within 10 minutes of arriving than in the entire week I was on site.

These people deal with HUGE volumes of people, all with unreasonably high expectations. Their "hit" rate is so far greater than their "miss" rate, it is amazing.

As far as the codes, they come and go so quickly, and there are so many that I can understand why someone couldn't possibly know them all. When we were checking in, I asked a CM about the codes, and she told me that there could be upwards of 15 different codes and packages, just for the room and time we booked. Multiply that times the size of the resort, and it becomes astounding.

As to how that CM handled the lack of knowledge, I would take that as an opportunity to let his or her manager know that he or she could use some additional training. After spending a week interacting with the staff, I know that they have little tolerance for anything less than exceptional customer service...

Don

 

[Kallison]

It seems the way most DISers solve the unknowledgable CM problem is to hang up and call again. I feel sorry for the average Joe who doesn't know to do that and gets stuck with the wrong info. or a CM who says "it's not available" because they can't be bothered checking properly for availability. That is why I tell all the newbies I know to use Dreams Unlimited.

 

[snwarf]

How appropriate that I am reading this thread as I am still on hold waiting for my CM to get back on the line. I called and said "I need to make a lot of changes to my reservation - would you rather I cancel and rebook, or can you make the changes?"

She put me on hold and her supervisor told her to cancel and rebook. I said "ok, that's fine...actually, I'll just cancel right now and then when I am 100 percent sure on the rest of my details I will rebook"

She said "hmmm, it's not letting me cancel, i'll cancel it later, it must have a period wrong" (???) She then said, okay we'll start fresh.

I said "no, i'm just cancelling now...i'll rebook later"

She said "oh. (pause) well, your going to have to hold"

I held, held, oh, did i mention i held?

She finally came back (I could hear her typing) and then...
CLICK DIAL TONE

In her defense, she did call right back and apologized and she did cancel me out. It was just ironic that I was reading this thread as I was holding! lol

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Have I said this already....two words......


DREAMS UNLIMITED!!!!!!!!!

 

[magicmouse2]

I called to see if I could upgrade to a deluxe. First I was told only 4 to a room at beach club. I would not accept that as I know there are sleeper sofas in lots of rooms. Then the CM said sorry he had been looking at beach club villas. I gave them the CUH code to help him out a little. Then I was quoted concierge room rates (without being told they were concierge- I said is that concierge ?). I had already said standard room please. Still was told no APH rate on standard rooms. I called back later and within a 5 min call got exactly what I requested from an extremely helpful and friendly CM who seemed a lot more knowledgeable. So now my first 4 days are at the Beach Club woohoo!!! Give me a job in CRO!!!pleeeaaasee !
Surely they teach CRO CMs about resorts and room types before they start their job ???

 

[DebbieB]

Originally posted by magicmouse2
I called to see if I could upgrade to a deluxe. First I was told only 4 to a room at beach club. I would not accept that as I know there are sleeper sofas in lots of rooms.

Many of the Beach Club rooms have daybeds, not sleeper sofas. The Villas have sleeper sofas.

Have you noticed that they seem to always blame problems on a new system? How often does CRO get a new system? It seems like that has been a consistent excuse for a long time.

 

[magicmouse2]

I meant daybeds just forgot what you call them!!
However some rooms do sleep 5 dont they. This particular CM must have been new cos he didnt know his stuff

 

[Smoochies]

Um, sorry but that information is false. We dont want false information going around, do we? Disney does not have HUNDREDS of codes at any 1 given moment. Sorry it's just not true.

Actually, I stand by what I said. There can easily be over a hundred codes, sometimes hundreds at any given time. You must consider that every package has a corresponding code, some even have several different codes but in actuality are the same thing. I wasn't necessarily talking about discounts per se, but even with discount codes, there are too many and the information changes so quickly that a hard copy would be impossible and even more frustrating. Just because you see one code advertised in a newspaper or on-line doesn't mean there aren't a plethora of other codes floating around out there.

 

[debster812]

Originally posted by DebbieB
Have you noticed that they seem to always blame problems on a new system? How often does CRO get a new system? It seems like that has been a consistent excuse for a long time.

I think it is a combination of a new (ENTIRELY NEW) computer reservation system. In addition to merging CRO and WDTC, and hiring oodles of new CMs.

I know in my little company, when we changes anything operationally on our system, the growing pains, and learning curve are astronomical. I work IT phone support, so I do know that side of things.

I think these CMs have a tough job, and I try to be as easy going and as accomodating with them as possible. So far, I have had nothing but great luck planning our upcoming trip.

Carry on folks. I for one, cannot wait to get to WDW, the temp here is a balmy 8 degrees!!!