Decline in levels of service and cleanliness

[KYMickey]

I know we all are disappointed In the decrease levels of service and cleanliness as the Disney Properties but I really wonder if the problem is Disney or if it goes a lot deeper.

For what I've seen the overall level of service and hotels, restaurants and other public places has decreased no matter where you go. At restaurants in particular, service has declined to a point where many cases the dining experience is almost unbearable. It's especially bad at mid level restaurants but extends to all levels include the high end. It seems that the wait staff is less and less concerned with the comfort and enjoyment of the patrons.

With the decline in service patrons also act differently, they are less polite and are less concerned about their manners. In addition any notion of proper dress has been thrown out the window, everyone seems to believe that if they pass the "no shoes, no shirt, no service" slogan they're dressed well enough to go to the restaurant!

Much the same thing can be said for a hotels and don't even get me started on this issue regarding the airline industry!

I think we've entered a death spiral in this field. Service personnel do less, so customers do less, service companies start expecting less from their employees and as people start expecting less they do less, etc.

Based on these thoughts I think what we're seeing at Disney is nothing but an extension of what we're seeing in general. Just because we've grown to expect more from Disney in the past we still do now but actuality Disney is just declining the same as everything else.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

Just went to my favorite upscale restaurant (with another couple) here in the Keys last night and we had (1) a stirling greeting from the Maitre D', who acted as though he actually remembered me (I doubt it) and (2) stirling service from our waiter who acted as though my wife's birthday party really meant something to him (3) perfect menu recommendations from the server (4) a birthday desert for all to share (complimentary of the Maitre D') and (5) a cordial goodbye (handshakes to the guys and kisses to the girls) from the celebrity owner of the restaurant who THANKED US for coming "I know you have choices" he said...

We have a real hard time with employees here in the Keys (worse than the rest of Florida) yet this place serves as a tiny little reminder that it still can be done.

I'm not saying the trend you dscribe isn't real but while Disney maybe doesn't care about service issues or leading the pack in "guest services" anymore it isn't true everywhere and the good news is that Disney has the ability to right their wrong...The bad news is, as I said, I just don't think they care.

 

[Another Voice]

Excuses.

The decline in maintenance and cleanliness at Disney parks is a direct result of cuts to staffing level and reductions in maintenance schedules.

Period. End. Stop. End of Line.

Disney is not being forced into offering lesser levels of service. Perceived trends in what's happening in the outside world don't impact a business unless it chooses to go along.

Congress did not pass a law mandating Disney's "run it until it breaks" maintenance policy, evil George Bush is not red-lining the number of times a bathroom is cleaned in Adventureland. Each one of these steps was a business decision made by Disney, at Disney and for Disney.

Finding other excuses for their behavior might make fanbois feel all superior and coozy - but it's not the truth. Disney is supposed to be better, superior, have a high quality of service then anywhere else.

Let them demostrate it instead of finding excuses.

 

[ptrbryant]

**Sorry! When I read OP's post, I mistakenly thought it was pointing out the decline of service and cleanliness everywhere, not just WDW. I still feel better for the vent, though! :-D


I believe what you posted is all too true and I have to say that I think it's indicative of a general coarseness that's taking over our society.

I hate that grown women with children will refer to themselves as "****"; that commercials for a show called "Californication" come on when our son is watching a family show with us; the general lack of respect for anyone, inc. in many cases, oneself; etc.

I could go on and on, but, to paraphrase what even Bruce Willis said, when a headline news story is a group of talentless bimbos going out to party with no underwear on, Rome's already burning.

Thanks! I feel better for venting!!!

Karla B.

 

[toaster6.54]

As long as 25 + million people keep paying top dollar for poor service, you will get poor service.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

As long as 25 + million people keep paying top dollar for poor service, you will get poor service.

Doesn't make it right.

 

[toaster6.54]

Doesn't make it right.

Doesn't make it Disney Right, but I'm not reading about any shareholders refusing their dividend checks.

 

[barbeml]

Doesn't make it Disney Right, but I'm not reading about any shareholders refusing their dividend checks.

Mine has never been higher than $2.30, so I'll take one for the team and give up my next check in support of a return to higher standards!

 

[KYMickey]

Just went to my favorite upscale restaurant (with another couple) here in the Keys last night and we had (1) a stirling greeting from the Maitre D', who acted as though he actually remembered me (I doubt it) and (2) stirling service from our waiter who acted as though my wife's birthday party really meant something to him (3) perfect menu recommendations from the server (4) a birthday desert for all to share (complimentary of the Maitre D') and (5) a cordial goodbye (handshakes to the guys and kisses to the girls) from the celebrity owner of the restaurant who THANKED US for coming "I know you have choices" he said...

We have a real hard time with employees here in the Keys (worse than the rest of Florida) yet this place serves as a tiny little reminder that it still can be done.

I'm not saying the trend you dscribe isn't real but while Disney maybe doesn't care about service issues or leading the pack in "guest services" anymore it isn't true everywhere and the good news is that Disney has the ability to right their wrong...The bad news is, as I said, I just don't think they care.

I totally agree, there are some shining examples of great service that still exist (and it certainly looks like you know one of them!). I do however feel that these are the exception rather than the rule these days. There has been a general decline in service over the past couple of decades and I'm not sure what it will take to reverse the trend. For a small scale operation a dedicated owner can make changes relatively easily since he(she) has a relatively low number of employees to deal with. Changes for a large scale service organization, of which Disney is one of the largest would be extremely difficult. The decline is not only due to the management and resources provided but also due to the attitude of the employees and the level of acceptance by the customers. Since it has been allowed to go so far at Disney restoring it to its past levels will be extremely difficult if possible at all. Changing a certain hotel's or restaurant's level of service and hospitality might be one thing but changing it for an entire organization like Disney would be a huge task.

All we can do is hope Disney recognizes the problem and begins to make changes so that in the future we'll be able to see them start to take shape!

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

I totally agree, there are some shining examples of great service that still exist (and it certainly looks like you know one of them!). I do however feel that these are the exception rather than the rule these days. There has been a general decline in service over the past couple of decades and I'm not sure what it will take to reverse the trend. For a small scale operation a dedicated owner can make changes relatively easily since he(she) has a relatively low number of employees to deal with. Changes for a large scale service organization, of which Disney is one of the largest would be extremely difficult. The decline is not only due to the management and resources provided but also due to the attitude of the employees and the level of acceptance by the customers. Since it has been allowed to go so far at Disney restoring it to its past levels will be extremely difficult if possible at all. Changing a certain hotel's or restaurant's level of service and hospitality might be one thing but changing it for an entire organization like Disney would be a huge task.

All we can do is hope Disney recognizes the problem and begins to make changes so that in the future we'll be able to see them start to take shape!

I'm happy you recognized what I was getting at and that I wasn't dismissing your very good observation. I agree that civility in general is taking a nose dive and I agree that aside from simply demanding more and patronizing those businesses who do it right there isn't much we can do.

As long as people accept the idea that as long as wall st. is happy everything is all right we will continue to see companies take advantage of the market place. The problem is when monopolies are allowed to exist and looked positively upon (like the current climate) we will continue to have few avenues or options for discontent as the big guys gets bigger and bigger with no social direction only financial. Capitalisim has worked for a long time but it's time is quickly coming to an end, IMO.

Disney was once the shining example of give people more than they expect, of doing things the very best you can of actually believing that a job well done is worth doing...Today not so much.

 

[toaster6.54]

Disney has done a tremendous job in the last couple of years keeping people on property for their entire vacation. US/IOA did them a great favor by not reinvesting in their parks.

While I doubt Iger issued a memo instructing CM's to provide a lower level of service because " we got their money", Disney management in general isn't following up on little complaints by customers which has only emboldened a less then enthusiastic attitude by CM's.

I would like to believe that the situation could be corrected by paying the CM's a better wage, but in my own experience I doubt it would. Many CM's only look at employment with the Mouse as a step into their "real" career and are not willing to give 100%. The $7-$10 per hr job market in central Fl is so desperate for employees a CM does not fear unemployment for below average performance.

As Pirate pointed out, there are still locations that strive to earn your business. I'd be willing to bet that the employees at his restaurant are well compensated AND are very interested in what they do, possibly looking to someday open their own store. Or at the very least they know that if they don't do a great job, the boss has a stack of applicants desperate to show what they can do.

Motivation in a key factor in customer satisfaction.

 

[Another Voice]

I do think there is a social direction that will counteract the purely financial forces and you can see it happening everywhere.

All the major airlines hacked service because "that's what Wall Street demanded" - and the passengers rebelled to airline like Southwest and Jet Blue and now Virgin America. All the financially driven airlines got eaten (TWA) or driven into bankruptcy to mend their ways perhaps (United, Delta, Northwest). The only surviving major airline was the only one that straightened itself out on the service side – Continental.

In entertainment, all the “Wall Street demands we make mega-blockbusters” studios are in serious trouble – Sony, Paramount, Disney. At the moment they are only surviving because they all found smaller studios that produced profitable movies and swallowed them: Sony/MGM, Paramount/Dreamworks, Disney/Pixar, Warner Brothers/New Line. But that isn’t going to last long – whatever profit Disney made from Cars and Ratatouille were wasted on Underdog.

The most profitable movies this summer weren’t the superhero megamarketed blockbuster – it was 300, a tiny movie by Hollywood standards with no stars, no hype and no franchise. They other big hits have been smaller independent films like Knocked Up that knew their audience and were made by people who wanted to make good movies for that audience.

Utlimatetly it’s the public that drives any business – not Wall Street. You can’t get people in suits to believe that because they want to feel like they’re meaningful in life (they’re not, they are parasites on society). But everything in the end is driven by Joe Average plunking down his money to buy a ticket.

But the talentless and the lazy find it much easier to blame the shareholder instead.

 

[Wick]

Changes in social norms? Yes. Changes in WDW park service standards? Yes, and we all know the former doesn't validate the latter.

That being said, I think it's necessary to add a dose of realism to this whole thing. WDW is known for high service standards, but that doesn't mean guests are guaranteed nor should expect perfection.

Take into consideration how much WDW has grown since 71. With over 55k employees, WDW is the largest single-site employer in the world. It is basically self-sufficient and can be viewed as one of the grandest experiments in land-use development.

So I'd be a little hesitant before I started comparing it to the "outside world" in terms of service and especially cleanliness. Considering the millions of guests visiting annually, I wouldn't be so quick to jump on this bandwagon of Disney becoming the filthiest place on earth. Just my opinion.

 

[amw]

While I doubt Iger issued a memo instructing CM's to provide a lower level of service because " we got their money", Disney management in general isn't following up on little complaints by customers which has only emboldened a less then enthusiastic attitude by CM's.

I disagree. I had a problem with a CM at Disney Travel. I called last week when the new rates were released to book a room-only-AAA rate. The CM treated me like I was crazy, and that there were no discounted rooms released past Sept 2007. I hung up, called a local travel agency, and they had me booked within 30 minutes of my initial e-mail request.

When I posted my displeasure with the Disney CM on the resorts boards, the attitude was.. "That happens all the time. Just hang up and call another CM until they tell you what you want to hear." Instead of being angry with uniformed CMs, we're just supposed to dismiss it as normal occurance.

Instead, I e-mailed Disney through their website complaining about this individual. I wanted them to be aware that their CMS were not all properly trained and up-to-date. Within a couple days, a manager called me from the travel dept. to personally apologize and thank me for my feedback. She said that they tend not to hear back at all from DIsney customers either negatively or positively.

My "little complaint" was followed-up on. I think however, most people have become complacent, and as many posters have already mentioned.... if you don't expect good service....

 

[toaster6.54]

I disagree. I had a problem with a CM at Disney Travel. I called last week when the new rates were released to book a room-only-AAA rate. The CM treated me like I was crazy, and that there were no discounted rooms released past Sept 2007. I hung up, called a local travel agency, and they had me booked within 30 minutes of my initial e-mail request.

When I posted my displeasure with the Disney CM on the resorts boards, the attitude was.. "That happens all the time. Just hang up and call another CM until they tell you what you want to hear." Instead of being angry with uniformed CMs, we're just supposed to dismiss it as normal occurance.

Instead, I e-mailed Disney through their website complaining about this individual. I wanted them to be aware that their CMS were not all properly trained and up-to-date. Within a couple days, a manager called me from the travel dept. to personally apologize and thank me for my feedback. She said that they tend not to hear back at all from DIsney customers either negatively or positively.

My "little complaint" was followed-up on. I think however, most people have become complacent, and as many posters have already mentioned.... if you don't expect good service....

That's great to know. I'm glad the manager called you back. What did she do to correct the problem ? Can we expect an entirely different level of competence at Disney travel now ? Or did she just tell you what you needed to hear ?

Hopefully you opened her eyes to a major problem at DT.

 

[amw]

That's great to know. I'm glad the manager called you back. What did she do to correct the problem ? Can we expect an entirely different level of competence at Disney travel now ? Or did she just tell you what you needed to hear ?

Hopefully you opened her eyes to a major problem at DT.

Well, I'm sure your rants here on the board are doing a lot to help...

 

[EUROPACL]

Well, I'm sure your rants here on the board are doing a lot to help...

Burrrnnnn.

 

[Another Voice]

When I posted my displeasure with the Disney CM on the resorts boards, the attitude was..

And that's the biggest problem with "Fandom".

Some people are more than happy to see only the best and brightest about Disney. Some even go so far as to refuse to listen to anything negative...and I have the scars to show what's happens to the barer of un-correct news & views.

But normal people aren't like fans. They look at a trip to WDW as a huge investment, one they want to get their money for. Normal people don't "feel magical" when they enter WDW for the eigth time in a year, nor to do have $90,000 to waste on DVC points.

Disney is a business - the justification we're slapped with everytime Disney cut back and the fanbois don't care. But Disney is a business. The growing public perception is that Disney is way overpriced and not as good as it used to be. That's been showing up in attendance numbers for seven years now.

The surest way to success is to give the public good value for the money. Tricks, marketing con jobs and internet fans screaching "you're negative" aren't going to make the turnstiles click.

 

[toaster6.54]

Well, I'm sure your rants here on the board are doing a lot to help...

I'm not ranting about anything. You feel justice was served because a manager blessed you with a phone call, thanking you for YOUR rant. I think it's great that she responded, but did she do ANYTHING to solve the real problem ? She solved your problem with a phone call.

As for "ranting" on boards such as this: It's fairly well known that Disney reads fan boards and hopefully they are listening.

 

[DisOrBust]

Some people are more than happy to see only the best and brightest about Disney. Some even go so far as to refuse to listen to anything negative...and I have the scars to show what's happens to the barer of un-correct news & views.


Part of that attitude is people trying not to feel taken advantage of. My kids love it so it must be good type thinking. Ilso feel that Disney has hit critical mass and with a change in disposible income will be hit hard but just IMHO.