Disappointed in Disney Guest Services

[chrissy92972]

Have free dining booked for 11 days at the end of August. Was not expecting Star Wars or the crowds as we have gone this time frame for the past 3 years. My triplets are 16 and have no interest in Star Wars.

Called Disney today to see about switching our 11 nights to the week before.( 11th to 22nd). Cast member said their is availability and it should be fine, but guest services has to do it. He kept me on hold forever while talking to guest services. They said no and offered 20 percent room only discount.

Like I would want 20 percent room only over free dining for 4 Disney Adults???

Probably cancelling the trip and looking into another theme park instead.

Chrissy

 

[vinotinto]

The problem lies not in whether there is availability at rack rate, but whether there would have been availability under the FD promo for all 11 nights.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

How is it their fault"?
You booked FD and then changed your mind on dates AFTER THE FD PROMO BOOKING PERIOD IS LONG CLOSED.
Now you expect Disney to accommodate you?
No sympathy.
Besides your reasoning is off.
If you have no interest in that section then just don't go to that section of the park.
While everyone else flocks there go somewhere else and enjoy the shorter lines.
Sounds to me like you just want to make an excuse to not go which hey that's fine by me.

 

[mickeynut1]

The problem lies not in whether there is availability at rack rate, but whether there would have been availability under the FD promo for all 11 nights.

This ^^^^. There probably wasn't any availability for the new dates under FD. After booking under a promo, you can modify dates, resort, etc after that promo has expired, as long as there's availability for what you want to change to; otherwise, the change can't be made.

 

[chrissy92972]

The problem lies not in whether there is availability at rack rate, but whether there would have been availability under the FD promo for all 11 nights.

That makes sense wish they would have told me that.

 

[chrissy92972]

This ^^^^. There probably wasn't any availability for the new dates under FD. After booking under a promo, you can modify dates, resort, etc after that promo has expired, as long as there's availability for what you want to change to; otherwise, the change can't be made.

Makes sense wish I would have know that. The cast member who answered made it seem like it was no problem and a done deal. That made the disappointment and the 20 percent discount seem so much worse.

 

[chrissy92972]

How is it their fault"?
You booked FD and then changed your mind on dates AFTER THE FD PROMO BOOKING PERIOD IS LONG CLOSED.
Now you expect Disney to accommodate you?
No sympathy.
Besides your reasoning is off.
If you have no interest in that section then just don't go to that section of the park.
While everyone else flocks there go somewhere else and enjoy the shorter lines.
Sounds to me like you just want to make an excuse to not go which hey that's fine by me.

My fault for believing the 1st cast member on the phone. Not blaming Disney. All of Disney is going to be crowded not just DHS.

You are right I do not want to go when Star wars is opening. That is why I planned our trip for SUMMER. Late Fall and Summer are not anywhere near each other on the calendar. It is great for Star Wars Fans, not for those of us who planned our trips to avoid the opening.

Thanks Queen for your kindness.

 

[vinotinto]

That makes sense wish they would have told me that.

Do you have flexibility on your resort and/or room type? I've had good luck changing a free dining bounceback, but it was only 4 nights and I was very flexible. If so, you may want to call back and let them know you are willing to change your resort and room type to keep free dining for your new dates. Good luck!

 

[chrissy92972]

Do you have flexibility on your resort and/or room type? I've had good luck changing a free dining bounceback, but it was only 4 nights and I was very flexible. If so, you may want to call back and let them know you are willing to change your resort and room type to keep free dining for your new dates. Good luck!

I am flexible on dates and resorts. I will try calling again.

 

[Farro]

How is it their fault"?
You booked FD and then changed your mind on dates AFTER THE FD PROMO BOOKING PERIOD IS LONG CLOSED.
Now you expect Disney to accommodate you?
No sympathy.
Besides your reasoning is off.
If you have no interest in that section then just don't go to that section of the park.
While everyone else flocks there go somewhere else and enjoy the shorter lines.
Sounds to me like you just want to make an excuse to not go which hey that's fine by me.

Wow, do you know you always come off so angry and insulting, in most of your posts?

Sorry OP, I feel for everyone who wasn't expecting this bomb to drop on their upcoming trips. I'd be scrambling too!

 

[Lilsia]

I would just keep it for your original dates and not stress about it. There will be more people but even if there are thousand's more, they will be spread out throughout the whole property, it's not going to make that much of a difference. You will have a few die hard Star Wars fans going for opening, but the majority of people will not make a special trip just for it. Then you have those, like you, who will want to change their dates so it will even out in the end. I would not stress about it.

 

[mickeynut1]

Makes sense wish I would have know that. The cast member who answered made it seem like it was no problem and a done deal. That made the disappointment and the 20 percent discount seem so much worse.

Unfortunately, a lot of CMs don't know how things work and sometimes give false hope/wrong information. Regular reservation CMs aren't usually able to check availability on expired promos, so the CM probably saw availability at rack rate (as vinotinto posted) and thought no problem, but didn't know that there must be availability under FD in order to modify your reservation. With that said, I hope things work out and you have a great trip .

I am flexible on dates and resorts. I will try calling again.

If your dates are flexible, I'd definitely try calling back. Good luck!

 

[AngiTN]

I am flexible on dates and resorts. I will try calling again.

Have you canceled yet? If yes, it is going to be harder to get them to work with you as you'll appear to them, as a new guest. If no, then it does not hurt to call back and get someone else in GS. All agents are not created equal. Some are more willing to try harder to get what you want. Go the extra mile, if you will. The one you got this time was right, once the promo is over, moving dates means losing the promo, technically and by the book. But they do have some leeway and wiggle room if there's availability to be found. Especially if you explain why you want to change. Your reasoning is not all that unreasonable. While yes, it's possible to go at the time GE is opening and not go around GE, if you have no interest in it at all, it is going to be hard to avoid all the hubbub and it may well be hard to avoid being blocked out of HS (no one really knows at this point). It's not like you just changed your mind willy-nilly. You have a very valid concern.
So if I were in your shoes, I would keep calling back to get to someone who is willing to help. Or keep asking to escalate to a supervisor till I get to someone who can help find me a date that will let me keep the promotion I booked with.

 

[AngiTN]

How is it their fault"?
You booked FD and then changed your mind on dates AFTER THE FD PROMO BOOKING PERIOD IS LONG CLOSED.
Now you expect Disney to accommodate you?
No sympathy.
Besides your reasoning is off.
If you have no interest in that section then just don't go to that section of the park.
While everyone else flocks there go somewhere else and enjoy the shorter lines.
Sounds to me like you just want to make an excuse to not go which hey that's fine by me.

Really? None?
You do realize that all of HS could be closed to capacity? Possibly at least. No one knows today what they'll do. There are warnings on MDE of this. Do you seriously suggest that someone who has zero interest still go? That their reasoning is off? That you have NO sympathy for them? If you think there are going to be shorter lines everywhere else I got a nice ocean front house here in TN for you

 

[Lilsia]

Have you canceled yet? If yes, it is going to be harder to get them to work with you as you'll appear to them, as a new guest. If no, then it does not hurt to call back and get someone else in GS. All agents are not created equal. Some are more willing to try harder to get what you want. Go the extra mile, if you will. The one you got this time was right, once the promo is over, moving dates means losing the promo, technically and by the book. But they do have some leeway and wiggle room if there's availability to be found. Especially if you explain why you want to change. Your reasoning is not all that unreasonable. While yes, it's possible to go at the time GE is opening and not go around GE, if you have no interest in it at all, it is going to be hard to avoid all the hubbub and it may well be hard to avoid being blocked out of HS (no one really knows at this point). It's not like you just changed your mind willy-nilly. You have a very valid concern.
So if I were in your shoes, I would keep calling back to get to someone who is willing to help. Or keep asking to escalate to a supervisor till I get to someone who can help find me a date that will let me keep the promotion I booked with.

You are right that there IS someone who can give you the free dining promotion even if it is no longer available. I had an issue once where I was purchasing my trip online and had everything in my cart and finishing up my transaction when it would not go through. I called them and they said that the room that I was in the process of purchasing was no longer available. I argued that if it was in my cart, then it was available and still should be in the 2 minutes that it takes for me to put in my credit card. The agent had no clue how things worked so I asked for a supervisor, who agreed with me. The said that they had to get someone higher up to help me with it. It took a couple of days but a guy called me and was able to go into the system, over ride anything that the regular agents could do and get me what I was originally trying to book. So the CAN do things like that if they really wanted to.

 

[Anchored]

How is it their fault"?
You booked FD and then changed your mind on dates AFTER THE FD PROMO BOOKING PERIOD IS LONG CLOSED.
Now you expect Disney to accommodate you?
No sympathy.
Besides your reasoning is off.
If you have no interest in that section then just don't go to that section of the park.
While everyone else flocks there go somewhere else and enjoy the shorter lines.
Sounds to me like you just want to make an excuse to not go which hey that's fine by me.

Short lines everywhere else. HA! That is hilarious ...
Allow me to show you the lines for Harry Potter World on opening day ... if you think the people who can't get in aren't going to go to every other park, you are sorely mistaken.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Short lines everywhere else. HA! That is hilarious ...
Allow me to show you the lines for Harry Potter World on opening day ... if you think the people who can't get in aren't going to go to every other park, you are sorely mistaken.
View attachment 387919

Funny you would happen to bring up Harry Potter since I happened to be there opening day for the Diagon Alley part in 2014.
I personally had no interest but someone I went with did. We got a slip with a time to come back. The rest of the park was pretty much empty. We rode mummy several times in a row. We went back to HP at the designated time and we left the park by 2pm.
It's like Pandora. People were waiting hours upon hours and the lines for other attractions were not hours long and it really didnt effect how long the lines were in the other parks in my own personal experiences anyway.

 

[MermaidMommy]

Funny you would happen to bring up Harry Potter since I happened to be there opening day for the Diagon Alley part in 2014.
I personally had no interest but someone I went with did. We got a slip with a time to come back. The rest of the park was pretty much empty. We rode mummy several times in a row. We went back to HP at the designated time and we left the park by 2pm.
It's like Pandora. People were waiting hours upon hours and the lines for other attractions were not hours long and it really didnt effect how long the lines were in the other parks in my own personal experiences anyway.

The facts don't back up your hypothesis, unfortunately. According to hard evidence, wait times have significantly increased in AK for all rides since Pandora opened. Josh has recently done an article on this, with a deep dive into the data of daily wait times. Additionally, Touring Plans just did an analysis of their crowd calendar predictions for post-Galaxy Edge, and they're estimating a 12%-20% increase at all other rides in HS.

Disney -- for months and months now -- has been saying "late fall opening," and only just recently changed it to "fall." OP booked her trip based on what Disney said, and now that Disney changed their plans, OP wants to change hers. It's perfectly reasonable for her to want to do so, and, a customer-oriented company like Disney claims to be should be responsive to that. I'm not sure why someone wouldn't have sympathy for the OP, unless it's just a case of Disney blinders -- Disney can do no wrong, no matter what the circumstances.

 

[Disneylover99]

Disney -- for months and months now -- has been saying "late fall opening," and only just recently changed it to "fall." OP booked her trip based on what Disney said, and now that Disney changed their plans, OP wants to change hers. It's perfectly reasonable for her to want to do so, and, a customer-oriented company like Disney claims to be should be responsive to that. I'm not sure why someone wouldn't have sympathy for the OP, unless it's just a case of Disney blinders -- Disney can do no wrong, no matter what the circumstances.

I know. Right? The predicted opening date from Disney went from late fall to fall and then suddenly it was announced with no warning that it was officially opening in the summer. I think that anyone who has zero sympathy must not have a trip planned in late August or beyond.

 

[SL6827]

This will draw people to Disney that have never been before in their life. After this next trip I am planning on focusing on doing the cruise line and Hilton Head for a while.