Complaint Letter

[Beck's mom]

So the incident above constituted "the worst meal of our lives... sooooo bad that it took 3 years before we could even joke about it!" - Wow, you've obviously never eaten at Denny's...or had my Grandmother's cooking.

I know, right? I was thinking the worst meal of their lives would have been a little more dramatic than an incorrectly cooked steak thay had to pay for! I was envisioning waiters dropping trays in their laps, someone choking and then the bit of food flying across the restaurant and landing on their plate, rats running out of the kitchen chased by the chef wielding a giant knife, and finding a band-aid in the mashed potatoes. THAT would be a terrible meal!

 

[Skallywag]

I am going to say what everyone else is dancing around (my flame suit is on)

YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO GET A BIG DISCOUNT OFF OF YOUR NEXT CRUISE BY COMPLAINING ABOUT SOMETHING AFTER YOUR CRUISE WHEN YOU SHOULD HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT IT ON THE CRUISE.

Where is you spine, sitting in your chair waiting for your dinner for 90 minutes each night.... sorry I am not buying it, you just want a big discount on your next DC.

PG

I am sorry but I think you are out of order here. We had a similar experience on the Magic Med 11 night this year. The food was definitely not up to the standard we had the first time we cruised in 2005. We did not have to wait to be served but the food was totally unacceptable. Mostly cold and with almost raw veggies not at all palatable. No gravy or sauce so the meals were very bland. We had our head server and also the chef to speak with us but were still very upset by the quality of the food. We too wrote to Disney about this and they apologised. We were not after a discount just better service in the future.

It was upsetting to see so much food being refused and turned away.

 

[ndepaola]

Wow.

Some of you just love to judge.

Others seem to intentinally miss the point just so that they can judge.

OP had a bad service experience. I had a bad service (not the steak folks - the SERVICE) that I related in an attempt to show OP and some of you that yes, truly horrific service happens and its not always the customers' fault.

Why do you feel like you have the right to call anyone a liar, or a cheat, or a whiner, or any of the other things some of you have insinuated or flat out said?

Disappointing. So much for friendly DIS boards...

 

[wwwosie]

Needless to say, we will never sail with Disney again and are really upset that they are not willing to compensate us for their short comings. Has anyone else had a situation similar to mine where guest relations just brushed off the concerns? It's almost like they just think I'm fabricating the whole story. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I am sorry that you got such bad service and that your food was not up to standard, but it is hard to believe that you had to wait 90 minutes for your entree three days in a row if you complained from the first day. I also believe that not every complaint needs to be followed by "compensation". Yes, it was rude of Disney to say that 95% of customers were happy and you have every right to be upset about THAT response, but I think that expecting a discount is too much.

We had a situation at a restaurant where my husband's meal was not up to standard. The manager came, changed the meal, didn't charge us for it, would not take NO for an answer when we refused to each order a dessert, gave us muffins to take home, it was hilarious. All my husband wanted was a new sandwich!
I have worked in the industry for years, and I have seen people finish whole t-bones and then try to tell me that their steak was awful (and they were not joking), they wanted it taken off the bill (sorry, no can do, you ate it). We did apologize and politely told them that if they had told us during the first bite we would have been happy to switch steaks.

If my meal had been terrible two nights in a row, I would have gone elswhere or ordered room service for the third. I am truly sorry you had a bad experience but sometimes all we should expect is a sincere apology, nothing more.

 

[lawhit88]

AMAZING!! I wish I could read people as easily as many of you fellow Dis-ers. I think it is really awesome that some are able to figure out based on a few comments just how much of a liar the OP really is (I'm sure he is not!!!). Of course - we all know that anybody dissatisified with Disney must be dishonost (also not true!!!)!!

And it also amazes me that it is so easy to believe that the statement regarding 95% satisfaction MUST be fact and not some number that could have been fabricated by the not-very-helpful CS Rep that sent the letter to the OP.

My point is - why can't you just accept that the OP was not satisfied, didn't like the brush-off he got and then answer his questions in his post:

"Has anyone else had a situation similar to mine where guest relations just brushed off the concerns? It's almost like they just think I'm fabricating the whole story. Any suggestions would be appreciated."

A few had very helpful comments but most were just chunking great big boulders. There is another CCruise board for those that love insults.

As far as compensation - surely it is ok to hope - or even "expect some sort of possible discount as an incentive to try the Disney Cruise again" as the OP states. Who among us would turn it down if offered?

My reply to the OP is this - we had to wait an awful long time on a cruise with a different cruiseline - it was very frustrating and we did mention something to the waiter. They were able to correct it for us thankfully. I do not know what else you could do but I would also be frustrated if I was brushed off as if I were making it up.

 

[mommasita]

Please keep this thread friendly, and abide by the DIS guidelines...

You are allowed to disagree, but not to put anyone else down. Be adult.....
We were not in the OP'S shoes, we don't know the exact details, we can only speculate...

Thank You, and please follow the guidelines.

 

[Weegl]

Once again, all I was saying was that I believe that the OP's disappointment was sincere and that his/her expressed diappointment should be recognized by Disney in a contrite, professional manner. Whether or not compensation is provided by Disney is debatable. However, customer service is paramount in the service industry and as soon as companies fail to acknowledge their customer's legitimate grievances, they will fail to constantly strive to serve the customer as the customer wishes to be served. Disney is not exempt from this philosophy, even though they have such a large group of intensely loyal customers like us.

 

[jd99]

Please keep this thread friendly, and abide by the DIS guidelines...

You are allowed to disagree, but not to put anyone else down. Be adult.....
We were not in the OP'S shoes, we don't know the exact details, we can only speculate...

Thank You, and please follow the guidelines.

THanks for this. I can't believe how mean some people get on these threads. It becomes like a feeding frenzy.

 

[yndygo]

... However, we know a great deal about the workings of the ship and I find it unbelieveable that you waited that long.
Yes, we also have had to wait a while for our meals during our second seating - but the servers apologized and explained the reasons.

IF your complain is truly valid, and Im sorry but I very much doubt it, then you didnt go about things correctly.

You know... just because YOU haven't experienced it doesn't mean it didn't happen to someone else.

I experienced the exact same thing as the OP - as did someone else in the thread. We just handled it differently.

That doesn't mean it didn't happen.

It's not terribly polite to call the man a liar simply because you don't like the fact that he wants to be compensated for it.
You weren't there.


It's a good thing that most people here haven't experienced this sort of disappointment - but that doesn't invalidate the OPs experiences - or those of the rest of us who had 'glitches' in our DCL vacations.

Personally? I'll keep cruising DCL - but I won't pretend that they can be 100% perfect 100% of the time... no one can. It's just nicer when someone apologizes when they mess up rather than saying "well other people weren't unhappy!"

 

[dursin]

I think the OP just got a really poor customer service rep. The comment that they were "surprised to hear my concerns because over 95% of the guests on our cruise rated their dining experience as good or above average" is just stupid. If 95% of the people think the service was good or better then about 5% of the people thought the service was below average or poor. That's 1 out of every 20 customers...and if 1 out of 20 aren't happy with your service it really shouldn't be a surprise that someone would complain.

 

[LAMPSKIES]

When we were cancelled in Nov. of 2002 for our Eastern sailing we switched and EVERYTHING went wrong from there. A CM at one of the parks told me to "write a letter" to DCL telling of the problems and express my disappointment in the whole disney experience. I too like you had NO intention of EVER sailing again. That is how I found these boards. Well I wrote the 6 page letter sent it to the lake buena vista address and got a responce via e mail that they would get back to me within 60 days, they did, a letter of appology, one 1/2 off coupon for all 4 of us that sailed and a double upgrade.......I was told "Disney doesn't cater to those who threaten to never go back, but try to make repeat and dissappointed customers happy." Good luck....if you need the addy P.M. me and I'll try to find it.....

 

[nobodycares]

Interesting thread.

I concur that it is fine if you are part of the 95%, but what about the 5%? Is everything OK as long as your trip isn't ruined? 95% can just walk out and leave the restaurant and be glad that you are not the poor saps who are still waiting for their food. Everyone deserves to be part of the group enjoying a wonderful experience.

Dining is one of the main pleasures of my vacation. I want to enjoy all three of the sit-down restaurants on my rotation and don't want to have to go to Topsiders, Deck 9 fast food or room service for dinner if the main dining rooms are not up to par. I plan on enjoying those choices for breakfast or lunch. Having been a guest at WDW since 1971, I expect that ALL the restaurants onboard will be up to Disney par and am looking forward to my dining experiences.

90 minutes and/or closing the restaurant!! I don't think that is acceptable and I would speak to someone in charge immediately, being friendly but firm, and I would expect the situation to be rectified by my next dinner rotation.

I make it a point to be pleasant and agreeable (not demanding and rude) to all the hard-working cast/crew members. I do believe you reap what you sow, so I'll be sprinklin' pixie dust!!!

 

[BethA]

The threads about terrible service always leave me worried we will get one of the bad servers on ur next cruise--The Wonder, Dec 30th. I may have missed it, but were you first or second seating? Were you the only family at your table? did the other guests your servers had have to wait also? Are you willing to share the names of the servers? Most servers seem so concerned about whether or not you like the food because it reflects on them, I wonder what was going on here.

We had a major incident at WDW where the valet wrecked our rental van that turned into a nightmare--too long to address here--and we never got any discount, or Mickey Ears or apology for all we went through for over a year. I was very displeased that disney would treat us that way, but we have gone back anyway.

 

[yndygo]

The threads about terrible service always leave me worried we will get one of the bad servers on ur next cruise--The Wonder, Dec 30th. I may have missed it, but were you first or second seating? Were you the only family at your table? did the other guests your servers had have to wait also? Are you willing to share the names of the servers? Most servers seem so concerned about whether or not you like the food because it reflects on them, I wonder what was going on here.

We had a major incident at WDW where the valet wrecked our rental van that turned into a nightmare--too long to address here--and we never got any discount, or Mickey Ears or apology for all we went through for over a year. I was very displeased that disney would treat us that way, but we have gone back anyway.

You know - even tho I had a negative experience myself? I'm not worried about it being repeated... because if you look at all of the posts on here, while it does happen, it's really the exception to the rule.

And much as I hate the idea of being confrontational - I think someone else's advice to me was best - speak up the first night if something goes wrong.
I'm horrible about that myself... but I guess it's the way we make sure that it doesn't keep happening to us or to other DISers or to other Disney customers.

I'm so sorry about your WDW incident.

Let's just both hope that we've reached our quota of "things that can go wrong" and gotten it out of the way so it will be smooth sailing from here on out!!

 

[Debbie H]

We were on the Wonder end of June, beginning of July and had terrible food as well and substandard service. The servers and the headwaiter knew we were unhappy/ One night I had a steak and asked for it to be medium. It was raw. The headwaiter saw it and said he knew that was not what I ordered and took it back. The next steak that came out was worse than the first. He came over after the meal and asked how the steak was.....duh, it was still sitting there, I couldn't eat it. By then I had it. DH and some of the others had ribs that were very tough and they could not be eaten.

Did it ruin our cruise? No. Did we complain? Yes. Did it do any good? No

However, we do know there are other cruise lines and we are now trying them out. We will use points from DVC on Disney probably from now on.

We also noticed the cm's were not as friendly as they had been in years past and we've had quite a few DCL cruises under our belts.

 

[thisisthelife]

With Disney you must seek immediate satisfaction. They will bend over to make you happy and then probably offer you extras.

Later they will give you nothing. I have complained and they will make extra food, give you some type of convenience in the future. They do not like the whole undocumented "bad experience" scenario. They will not cowtow to that.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

With Disney you must seek immediate satisfaction. They will bend over to make you happy and then probably offer you extras.

Later they will give you nothing. I have complained and they will make extra food, give you some type of convenience in the future. They do not like the whole undocumented "bad experience" scenario. They will not cowtow to that.

That is unacceptable.

I had a bad experience on another cruise line and they did "cowtow" to that.
Just b/c you speak up at the time of bad service, doesn't mean that the situation will necessarily improve. Sometimes the improvement can make things worse. That is what happened on our carnival sailing. For that we did have a TA go to bat for us (had no idea what good it would do--but was calling re: something else and she asked if we had any other problems). Not only did we get a complimentary dinner and a discount on a future cruise from Carnival (we didn't use the discount as hubby didn't want to have to sail carnival again...now 9 years later...that discount would have been handy. )...our TA gave us a discount as well and these could have been used combined.

There is power in the written word and often a well-worded letter with valid issues can go a long way. One can carefully compose their thoughts to make their point valid and not to appear whiny.


Why would writing a letter after that discount the experience?

 

[dizdad22]

As the other person referred to "disney will not cowtow". Your argument did not disagree. You said "another cruiseline", that is not disney.

With disney you must document your complaint, and get someone's attention. Yelling and screaming at Disney is not necessary. Just let someone know and it will be taken care of.

If you have names and other employees that you have brought things up with maybe something will be done later.

The original thread was about a complaint and getting something in return for your complaint. Disney will do whatever they can to make you happy. If you are unhappy at the time they will do their best to make it right. If the first does not then try someone else.

A well written letter will do you no good with Disney without an original complaint and trying to have it taken care of then and there. Keeping it to yourself and complaining later does you no good as Disney has no chance to make it right and later will not compensate you for it either.