Complaint number for Disney Diningcom

[VikingInMouseEars]

I wish we could blame this on Disney for making 250 WDW IT employees redundant (some transferred to other Disney jobs) last year in order to replace them with lower paid workers with special visas that Disney brought in from India. But the fact is, the Disney Dining web page has been having problems since long before then. The phone problems are troubling though.

 

[Disneyliscious]

I wonder if Disney does this intentionally in hopes that over time it will slow down the wave of people booking as soon as they open?

And honestly, their entire reservation system is flawed. Not everything is released to be booked at 180 days. Make 180 ressies? Cool. Now when the 60 day ressies hit you get to rearrange them again! And that keeps ressies tied up for people who wanted them too.

Example:
I made ressies at 180 days. IF Im able to get a Pirates League res for MNSSHP then I will cancel one of my ADR's. But the extended hours of Pirates League doesn't open till "around 60 days" out. Then there is the Rockin Burger Block Party at IFWF. No info on it at all. If we go to that, I'll be cancelling another ADR. Its just utterly stupid how they have this system set up.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I wish we could blame this on Disney for making 250 WDW IT employees redundant (some transferred to other Disney jobs) last year in order to replace them with lower paid workers with special visas that Disney brought in from India. But the fact is, the Disney Dining web page has been having problems since long before then. The phone problems are troubling though.

I think you CAN blame it on that! And those employees weren't transferred. They had to apply for new jobs at Disney and the majority of them did not get one. My job requires me to be on the Disney site almost daily and I can tell you that most of the IT issues reared their ugly heads during this "re-structuring" and it's just getting worse. In case anyone is interested:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/u...t-disney-train-foreign-replacements.html?_r=0

It's a complete disgrace.

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

I think you CAN blame it on that! And those employees weren't transferred. They had to apply for new jobs at Disney and the majority of them did not get one. My job requires me to be on the Disney site almost daily and I can tell you that most of the IT issues reared their ugly heads during this "re-structuring" and it's just getting worse. In case anyone is interested:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/u...t-disney-train-foreign-replacements.html?_r=0

It's a complete disgrace.

Yeah I didn't mean Disney transferred them, I knew they had to apply and in most if not all cases take a pay cut. But the problems with the WDW website including the dining reservation area have been going on for years.
And yes, the fact that Disney expected the outgoing people to train the new people who in most cases, it seems, had limited amounts of even basic knowledge is a complete disgrace, unfortunately not limited to Disney.

 

[aaarcher86]

This is the address I emailed. It got me nowhere so I'm hoping the person who started this thread's experience will be different. I just got a call from a CM who couldn't even call the correct number I left. She had no idea what was going on and it was obvious she didn't even read the email she was suppose to be contacting me about. I've always raved about the customer service I've received from Disney, but things have definitely changed...

The only difference is their phone call will be someone who apologies and says they'll pass the info on to the right people.

There won't be a number or anything. It all goes through the email.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

No doubt their IT systems could use some work. (I also happen to work in IT as well), but to your point, does Amazon have the "Ebb and flow" that Disney does? Are people on Amazon waiting at the stroke of 6 AM EST to log in and order the latest Kindle? Sure, sometimes, and sometimes they have an issue.

Amazon has lightning deals all day long, not to mention the week's worth of thousands of lightning deals around Thanksgiving...hundreds of active lightning deals at a given time with new ones every 15 minutes, and they go off without a glitch. That's probably the same traffic every 15 minutes that Disney Dining sees once a day. I would wager Amazon sees more traffic than Disney on any given day, yet it always seems to work. I'm a Prime member, have been for years. I visit Amazon every day and I have NEVER had a problem with the site. I use Disney's site every day from my 180 until my vacation. Hardly a day goes by that there isn't some problem.

The difference between Amazon and Disney is that Amazon knows if their site doesn't work people will take their money elsewhere. That's just not the case with Disney. Until they actually start losing money because of their poor IT, they aren't going to do anything about it.

 

[dnw25]

Thank you for the moral support and the IT understanding. I really do appreciate it. I sent emails to wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com and guest.services@disneyworld.com, which was provided by a cast member this am when I booked a barbershop appointment.

Will let you all know how the response....

 

[WhoDat09]

Well now my expectations are extremely low for my window next week. Hopefully it turns out ok!

Don't fret over it. Can it happen to you, yes, as a few posters on this thread can attest to. But I think that issue is the exception, not the rule. I go to Disney at least once every year and I have never had a single issue with the online reservation system or the phone system.

 

[elaine amj]

No doubt their IT systems could use some work. (I also happen to work in IT as well), but to your point, does Amazon have the "Ebb and flow" that Disney does? Are people on Amazon waiting at the stroke of 6 AM EST to log in and order the latest Kindle? Sure, sometimes, and sometimes they have an issue. Disney gets this stuff EVERY DAY, because people can make their FP+ 30 or 60 days out and people can make their ADRs 180+10 days out. Since people are constantly "Attacking" their system (ok not really attacking, but hitting it) to get their ideal plans coupled with normal traffic, coupled with the fact that it's EVERY DAY, coupled with the occasional offers like Free DDP, it's definitely a challenge.

Again, I am not trying to say there isn't room for improvement, but that I understand the problem and it's not always a simple fix. Often times in IT when you fix one thing, you break another, so fixes and patches are time consuming PLUS many corporate organizations have other "hoops" to jump through to approve such changes.

Amazon has lightning deals all day long, not to mention the week's worth of thousands of lightning deals around Thanksgiving...hundreds of active lightning deals at a given time with new ones every 15 minutes, and they go off without a glitch. That's probably the same traffic every 15 minutes that Disney Dining sees once a day. I would wager Amazon sees more traffic than Disney on any given day, yet it always seems to work. I'm a Prime member, have been for years. I visit Amazon every day and I have NEVER had a problem with the site. I use Disney's site every day from my 180 until my vacation. Hardly a day goes by that there isn't some problem.

The difference between Amazon and Disney is that Amazon knows if their site doesn't work people will take their money elsewhere. That's just not the case with Disney. Until they actually start losing money because of their poor IT, they aren't going to do anything about it.

Exactly.

And frankly, if Disney deals with this EVERY DAY, its no longer an ebb and flow. It's a known quantity. I use many other websites where I have to be there to press a button at the very second (Southwest 24 hour check in, anyone?) and they somehow don't manage to crash.

I'm seeing the same thing now as I try to help my friend with a BOG reservation. Sure it works again in a couple of minutes, but there are many, many times where the whole system just says, "no".

 

[Polydweller]

Don't fret over it. Can it happen to you, yes, as a few posters on this thread can attest to. But I think that issue is the exception, not the rule. I go to Disney at least once every year and I have never had a single issue with the online reservation system or the phone system.

Got to agree with that. With any system there will be a percentage that have problems and they are the ones who will come and complain. It's much rarer for people who have a good experience to come online. It makes it seem that having a problem is standard when that is not so.

So, I can say that I've never had a single problem making an ADR, using MDE or any other Disney system.

 

[Nancyg56]

While I understand and sympathize with the issues people have had with trying to schedule ADRs, I have to ask what your expectation is? Do you really understand what is happening with the Reservation system?

If controls weren't put into place to prevent over booking, then your complaint wouldn't be that you couldn't get your ADR, it would be that once you got to the ADR, that you had to wait 2 hours to get in because it was over booked.

SO the controls and rules they put in place are an attempt to minimize these problems, however other folks are exploiting the rules in other ways. How? They make reservations for times they don't really want hoping that later on a better slot will open up. When it does, they cancel the last one and make the new one. Perhaps the one they held was the one you wanted, so when they canceled theirs you can then get it (unless someone else beat you to it).

Then there are the folks who aren't sure if they are going to MK or AK so they make reservations at Crystal palace and Tusker house. They have up to 24 hours in advance to cancel, so they have 2 reservations at the same time that they cannot possibly be at. Only at the 24-48 hour mark do they decide to go to one over the other. Perhaps one of those reservations were the one you wanted.

With the vast number of people going to WDW, if you think about the logistics and scheduling involved, it's quite phenomenal that they do as well as they do.

I am not saying that WDW is not without some fault and that some CM's couldn't spare to do with a little sensitivity training, but you have understand that You or I are not their ONLY customer. It's also very likely that if we (as individuals) take our business elsewhere, that it won't even phase WDW and the bottom line, because as a whole WDW seems to make the majority of the people happy.

So before you draft the scathing letter to the WDW Executives telling them how terrible it is to use their system, have a bit of an understanding of what it does. It might even help to have a potential solution to the problem. Nothing worse then someone who complains about how broke something is, but when you ask for suggestions how to fix it you hear crickets.

Just for the record, I am sorry you did have a difficult time getting what you wanted and I hope your trip (assuming you are still going) ends up being magical despite the issues. Also for the record I do not work for WDW but I do work in "Corporate America" and I understand how these larger systems work and can get so large that they break themselves with rules/polices.

I cannot agree with you. There is a reasonable expectation that when a company encourages people to use their aps and online technology, that technology will work. Now I understand that sites crash with there is a huge influx of traffic, but honestly, this site is abysmal. There is not way to justify the disaster that is Disney Dining, none. It is also unfair to blame this ion customers, because through the years Disney has had plenty of time to sink some cash into making the system we are all using a little more beefy. You cannot blame consumers for the mess that Disney has created in terms of planning 6 months in advance of a trip in order to ensure your family gains entrance to whatever restaurant you like, ot at least think you will like. Then Disney has folks booking attractions two months out, rearranging dining tp coincide with attractions, and then you have to regroup when the park hours change.....and on and on and on. If Disney wants to send us in that direction, I won;t complain, but I do expect that they wil hold up their end of the bargain byt keeping their technology up to the standards necessary to facilitate these transactions.

 

[Lucius Best]

This is an interesting post... I've seen so many people complain here on the forums about Disney's site posting pictures of dogs and cats dressed up as Disney IT workers. Funny as those are, it doesn't really help solve the problem. I wonder what would happen if everyone on the Dis boards who complained in these forums sent an email to the address posted above? I mean... how many of us just grumble about it and never bring it up to Disney?

Don't forget the monkeys!

Definitely agree about complaining to Disney when their systems aren't working. I don't see any point in giving them a break, or trying to be understanding of how complicated their system is. After laying off so many IT workers to save money, I have zero tolerance when their lousy software does not work.

On our last trip, we tried to make an ADR for dinner the next day, but couldn't book any reservations with the app. Lots of availability, but would get error message and app would crash. Next morning, still nothing on app, and no answer when calling WDW-DINE. Whipped off an email to Disney, and got a phone message in the room telling us to go see the concierge if we were still having ADR difficulties. Who knows if emailing constant complaints to Disney will encourage them to fix their computers, but it made me feel better.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Don't forget the monkeys!

Definitely agree about complaining to Disney when their systems aren't working. I don't see any point in giving them a break, or trying to be understanding of how complicated their system is. After laying off so many IT workers to save money, I have zero tolerance when their lousy software does not work.

On our last trip, we tried to make an ADR for dinner the next day, but couldn't book any reservations with the app. Lots of availability, but would get error message and app would crash. Next morning, still nothing on app, and no answer when calling WDW-DINE. Whipped off an email to Disney, and got a phone message in the room telling us to go see the concierge if we were still having ADR difficulties. Who knows if emailing constant complaints to Disney will encourage them to fix their computers, but it made me feel better.

View attachment 101075

You win the internet today.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I've had issues with the system too but wow. I would never cancel a vacation over technical difficulties so far out from the arrival date. There's always tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day.

 

[itchin2go]

I've had issues with the system too but wow. I would never cancel a vacation over technical difficulties so far out from the arrival date. There's always tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day.

I agree, but I'm betting OP was "in the moment". I know how that can be. I can be flipping out one day, and have a more calm reaction later if you just give me some time.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I agree, but I'm betting OP was "in the moment". I know how that can be. I can be flipping out one day, and have a more calm reaction later if you just give me some time.

When they opened the new wishes dessert party there was a glitch. Every time I tried to confirm it crashed but still charged Amex. I had 2100 bucks pending. So did a bunch of people. We survived calmly until it was straightened out that day. It's Disney.

 

[itchin2go]

When they opened the new wishes dessert party there was a glitch. Every time I tried to confirm it crashed but still charged Amex. I had 2100 bucks pending. So did a bunch of people. We survived calmly until it was straightened out that day. It's Disney.

You're 100% right, and probably a far more calm (and sane) person than me! I wouldn't cancel a trip over ADRs, especially because I've never had a particular problem getting what we want ... eventually. However, I can imagine OP's morning was .... not ideal .

I have gone through something similar with Comcast, and I thought I was going to punch somebody!

 

[AnnaKat]

Since we last visited in 2012, everything has changed. From Disboard posters, I learned that waiting to book our ADRs @ 9 am EST thru DVC Member Services might mean desired ressies have been snatched up 3 hours earlier!! So I got my MDE fixed, played w/online booking & got ready for 6 EST. I considered ANY online booking a BONUS!! Took almost an hour to get just one for day 1; 2nd day window wouldn't open! Called reg. dining @ 7. They got me our 2nd day's. Called DVC MS @ 8. They created a ghost resort reserv., linking our 2. Booked ADRs thru & incl 11th day. Spent a good 3 hours in all--just happy to get the ADRs!! I EXPECTED glitches, even crashes @ 6-7 am EST. MS booked 5 ADRsb@ a time--NOT all (to be sure nothing was lost--like OP's disconnects).

 

[AnnaKat]

I was so thrilled with Member Services linking our 2 resort reserv. to allow the 180 + 10, that I commended the CM to MS supervisor. Previously,an MS CM told me linking was NOT possible. I explained how it made it magical for me, as the glitchy system didn't allow to even book the second day of our 1st reerv. The supervisor thanked me for understanding about the online prob. It was SO great to book every day--6 days in a row--our new 11th day--@ 6 CST online OR @ 7 w/reg. dining. We got ALL our over 3 dozen ADRs on our exact desired dates @ our exact desired times(within 5 min.) w/only Cali Grill 15 min. earlier!!

 

[disnie susie]

I understand your frustration. I had the same problem this morning. The system crashed time after time this morning. Nothing worse than getting the reservation and time you wanted, and have the system crash while you are booking it, and then you can no longer get the reservation you wanted. The app would not work at all. Disney IT is terrible. Whoever is in charge should be fired.