Disney Cast Members not doing their job...?

[connie254]

I wholeheartedly agree the magic is disappearing from WDW.
Without going into my employment, let's just say I've seen way too many people think that their private life and conversations must triumph over the time they are expected to be working. Some people have a strong work ethic and some don't.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

also with respect, a teenager ringing up chips and crisco.....behind a reception desk in an office setting and giving people free booze does not equal experience in retail. i cut my teeth on door to door. and now....well believe me you havent lived till you tell someone that their credit score only qualifys them for 18% on their car loan. there is a saying........how can you tell a customer is lying???????? answer, their lips are moving. people will say anything to get their way or get something for nothing. CMs put up with lots of crap, i mean when it rains people go to city hall and scream and yell to try to get their ticket money back for goodness sakes. i am not jaded at all. i just understand what i am dealing with.

Wow, I'm not surprised that you're a car salesman. My post was meant to be respectful. Yours was not. Consider yourself blocked from my view of the boards.

 

[AngieBangie]

I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever had a bad encounter with a CM in all the times my family has gone to DL or WDW. However, I do feel the DL CMs are more knowledgeable and nicer.

That being said, I go out of my way to be over the top nice to the cast members because I know they have a tough job. One time out at DL we kept track of the names of CMs, the location, and the time that they provided us fantastic guest service. I think we ended the week with 4 of them. We went down to City Hall and filled out forms for each one of them on the last night we were there. The young man working City Hall said he wished more guests did the same.

That is awesome!! I'm going to keep a small notebook and pen with me so I can write down CM's names that are awesome! That is really great positive reinforcement!

What kind of forms did you fill out? Do the CM's get some kind of reward?

 

[dalt01]

Wow, I'm not surprised that you're a car salesman. My post was meant to be respectful. Yours was not. Consider yourself blocked from my view of the boards.

working in the auto industry has put two of my daughters thru college. EDITED........PLEASE SEE MY NEXT POST.............

 

[dalt01]

With all due respect, I completely disagree. I, too, have worked in retail - my very first job was in a grocery store as a cashier, then in customer service in the "office". Since then I have worked for a law firm for 15 years and for the past 5 years also work one day per weekend at a winery as a tasting room associate (pouring wine tastings). Pardon the resume but I think it is important to know that I have the experience to comment on this subject.

With that said, in all of my years of experience I have found that most customers/clients simply require friendly attention. Sure, I have encountered the occasional jerk who wants me to jump through flaming hoops. But the majority of people only want to be acknowledged. If I only say "Hi, I will be right with you" and attend to the matter at hand (even if quickly finishing up a conversation with a co-worker), customers are satisfied. Likewise, if a customer/client calls with a question, even if you do not know the answer, you can simply say, "I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that. But I will find out." If you follow through, customers will be satisfied.

Now I can understand how a person can become jaded after years of retail but I firmly believe that if a person is too burnt out to do the job, move on to something else. Just my opinion.

just read and re-read and re-read my original response to this post.........i thought i was being glib and witty and its seems to have come out demeaning of Stacys work history. i apologize to Stacy.

 

[Mickeyflower]

Like others here, I've only experienced positive at both DL & WDW. As someone who worked at DL while in college, I was was once coached on by a manager at DL that I wasn't smiling enough. I was hunched over cleaning up a baby bottle spill, I didn't realize I needed to have an "Im high" grin on my face for 8 hours. (Nope didn't say it to her but I did trip her on the CM bus on the way back to the parking lot)

I don't think it has anything to do with training. Some people know exactly what to say to get through training etc, and when they get out on the floor, or on stage, they do the minimum to get by and screw around any chance they get. No matter how much training is provided, it simply will not stick with some people. IMHO, the best course of action for a guest, is to ask the cast member in question what their name is, write it down in front of them and ask directions to City Hall. At DL, EVERY guest complaint is looked at and filtered out to the proper managers. The managers then pull the CM in question into conference and they are coached.

It does seem to me, that once you have one bad experience with a CM, it seems to rain with them though. Rarely do I read trip reports with maybe one bad CM experience, it seems like there is either none at all, or a plethora of them. Weird.

 

[kbelle8995]

Like others here, I've only experienced positive at both DL & WDW. As someone who worked at DL while in college, I was was once coached on by a manager at DL that I wasn't smiling enough. I was hunched over cleaning up a baby bottle spill, I didn't realize I needed to have an "Im high" grin on my face for 8 hours. (Nope didn't say it to her but I did trip her on the CM bus on the way back to the parking lot)

I don't think it has anything to do with training. Some people know exactly what to say to get through training etc, and when they get out on the floor, or on stage, they do the minimum to get by and screw around any chance they get. No matter how much training is provided, it simply will not stick with some people. IMHO, the best course of action for a guest, is to ask the cast member in question what their name is, write it down in front of them and ask directions to City Hall. At DL, EVERY guest complaint is looked at and filtered out to the proper managers. The managers then pull the CM in question into conference and they are coached.

It does seem to me, that once you have one bad experience with a CM, it seems to rain with them though. Rarely do I read trip reports with maybe one bad CM experience, it seems like there is either none at all, or a plethora of them. Weird.

I agree but and this was brought up on this thread. If you do have a CM go out of their way to help you or just has a positive attitude you like. Make sure that you get their name as well and give them a good recommendation.

 

[figmentfan6]

I agree but and this was brought up on this thread. If you do have a CM go out of their way to help you or just has a positive attitude you like. Make sure that you get their name as well and give them a good recommendation.

THIS! Also, bear in mind that for every valid complaint submitted to City Hall, there are 2 complaints because a CM couldn't tell them exactly what they wanted to hear (I had a guest accuse me of lying about resort capacity, another who didn't believe that there were no CRT ressies for THAT NIGHT, one gentleman who even after thirty minutes of patient and polite explaining was convinced I had messed up his ticket for a dinner show, and that's just the tip of the iceberg). Managers have to sort through the valid and invalid complaints before acting.

CMs have it really rough. The best way to make sure they keep a smile on their face is to compliment them, thank them politely, ask them a sensible question, make a joke, or (every CMs favorite) tell them that you-know-what that was just screaming at them because all the fast passes are gone was being a total jerk. In my experience, 75% of a CMs day is made up of indifferent people, 10% of really wonderful guests, and 15% people who are just plain angry.

Also, I agree that cell phones out on stage make me cringe.

 

[lugnut33]

That is awesome!! I'm going to keep a small notebook and pen with me so I can write down CM's names that are awesome! That is really great positive reinforcement!

What kind of forms did you fill out? Do the CM's get some kind of reward?

I didn't actually fill out the form, it was the CM working City Hall. He took all the information that we had.

I was told that the forms are passed on to the managers and they are supposed to bring it up to the CM. The forms are supposed to end up in the employees file.

Maybe a cast member here would know more about what really happens if a guest leaves a complimentary comment for a cast member?

 

[PeterPan09]

I didn't actually fill out the form, it was the CM working City Hall. He took all the information that we had.

I was told that the forms are passed on to the managers and they are supposed to bring it up to the CM. The forms are supposed to end up in the employees file.

Maybe a cast member here would know more about what really happens if a guest leaves a complimentary comment for a cast member?

When a CM receives a positive guest comment, they should receive a card from their manager that has a description of the interaction and how the cast member made that guest's day better. The card is processed and becomes a notation on the CM's record card. When it's time for the CM to transfer to a new position or look for a promotion, the new location is going to look at that record and all those little cards really add up. Your comment might help that cast member get a better job and be able to have an even larger impact on more guests! Managers can't be everywhere and see every interaction, so guest input can really make or break the quality of CM's that stay in the park. If you want better CM's, make sure that Disney knows what kind of CM's you like!

If there is a complaint, the mgr will try and reconstruct the situation to find out if there is a real problem, or if the guest was asking for something the CM simply could not provide. If it is a real issue where the CM did something wrong, they would be spoken to/coached/counseled. If the conduct is repeated, and not a one-off kind of thing, that would lead to disciplinary action.

On the cell phone thing-we have a sign on our door that reminds us that cell phone use and/or smoking is not allowed until we reach our cars-even if we are clocked out! So clearly, onstage cell phone use is taken seriously. But again, the managers can't be everywhere so if you see it-please bring it up. I hate to see it myself and will gently remind a CM that they can get written up if they're caught by someone more important than me. I've noticed with the CP's that it's mostly habit and they're quick to put them away when someone reminds them.

 

[lugnut33]

Thank you PeterPan09

 

[SamSam]

Thank you. I will definitely do a better job of doing a formal compliment of a cast member after reading your post. I will just have to jot down name and date because I remember the situation but have trouble remembering names and dates.

 

[AngieBangie]

This is awesome everyone! When we go back in August, I'm going to take special note of the positive experiences with a CM and put it in my notes app on my phone so I don't forget. Then go to City Hall and report all the positives! I don't want to be a Debbie Downer!