Disney has restored the Magic

[L&Lfan]

It's nice they personally reached out to acknowledge they were screwing you.

Exactly!

 

[goofy4tink]

I don't know...I'm not sure I would be feeling the love just because they left something in my room, and got an autographed card for the birthday girl. Well, maybe if it was a basket full of meal and FP+ vouchers! I would be hugely annoyed if Disney changed up their hours a month prior to my trip......thereby messing up my ADRs and FP+s.

 

[boltfan]

That's wonderful. Knowing that this can still happen really makes you believe in the Disney magic.

 

[MissMaryQC]

I know this is so silly, but this made me misty eyed! Mind you I work in customer service, am a HUGELY loyal Disney fan and I'm 8 months pregnant. I'm glad they called, but more than that I'm glad you were so gracious a guest. A lot of times people just want a freebie, and they will be rude to you until they receive it. It's nice to be nice, and I'm glad that even though you were frustrated and angry, you remained calm and kind. From customer service to people like you: thanks; you make our jobs more worth while.

 

[wdwfan]

OP, Glad that you got a very satisfactory response and that your problem was acknowledged.

Does anyone know the email for guest services? I don't have a problem, but have been meaning to write a complimentary email about a cast member who went above and beyond to help make my vacation magical last year and restored my faith in Disney when our magic bands were messing up. (Horrible experience to be "past guests" on your very first day of checking in, and no way of correcting the problem .) Thanks!!

 

[teacher1717]

I also wrote an email complaining about the last minute change in EMH. I find it absurd that we have to schedule every minor detail of our trip, but they can make a MAJOR change like that.

Unfortunately, all I received in reply was a canned response, "sorry for the inconvenience" type of thing. I think it was actually a form letter.

 

[wdwfan]

Does anyone know the email address for guest services? Thanks!

 

[ariane37]

OP I'm glad you had a postivie experience with the customer service rep who addressed your complaint. And I second the pp who said you should write a trip report-I'd love to hear how it all goes with 16 people! Kudos to you for planning all that and have a fantastic time!

 

[Jack & Monica]

Before I forget -- To WDWfan: The address is "WDW.Guest.Communications@disneyworld.com"

Thanks to all your responses. I most definitely will post a trip report. We leave a week from tomorrow

I am old fashioned. I do not look at Disney as I would look at other companies. I grew up with Disney. I remember watching the Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro on TV. Having said that; I do not believe myself to be naïve.
Disney is a huge corporation whose single purpose is to make money. But part of their business model (and also a huge reason for their success at least in the amusement parks division) depends upon their image. A large part of that image comes from building a reputation for great customer service. Their parks are pristine, their cast members well-trained, etc. They are not perfect, but one knows one is at Walt Disney World. The place just has a totally different feel to it. On some level -- it is magical. But it comes from their being faithful to the brand image they have built and maintained.
The problem that I experienced (canceling the EMH so abruptly) made me angry. I did not view this as an opportunity to get something from Disney to make up for my inconvenience. I saw this as a breach in their own philosophy and counter to their brand. I wanted them to fix the greater problem of the hurt they have done to their brand. Now granted, it is a small blemish in the big scheme of things, but they add up. From my point of view -- I wanted to help Disney keep the magic going. Losing that would be terrible to me.
I understood that my email would go through a lot of layers of bureaucracy, and I wanted to try to reach someone to make my case.
LOL that and the fact that I personally spend a lot of my money on WDW and Disney Cruises may have helped.
I believe that I reached my goal. I wanted to get the message to the powers that be that there is a cost (not insignificant) to abruptly shifting the EMH like they did. There is a core group of Disney fanatics that engender the positive vibes for their brand. These are the folks they messed with when then made their unfortunate shift in EMH. Also, their timing could not have been much worse -- they are in the middle of fielding a huge series of technical innovations. (and in truth -- they are doing a fairly good job of it).
When I got the apology -- I believe it was sincere. I also believe the explanation I got was accurate. I do not think they would have admitted to something so simple as a failure of internal communications flow (one side of the mouse talking to the other).
The bottom line, I guess, is that I simply did not want Disney to change away from their long-standing philosophy that has made them great. It would be a tragedy to me if there would ever come a time when there no longer was a Disney.
Sorry for the long-winded response.

 

[wdwfan]

Thank you Jack & Monica! Have a lovely time on your vacation!!

 

[DisneyDahling]

Before I forget -- To WDWfan: The address is "WDW.Guest.Communications@disneyworld.com"

Thanks to all your responses. I most definitely will post a trip report. We leave a week from tomorrow

I am old fashioned. I do not look at Disney as I would look at other companies. I grew up with Disney. I remember watching the Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro on TV. Having said that; I do not believe myself to be naïve.
Disney is a huge corporation whose single purpose is to make money. But part of their business model (and also a huge reason for their success at least in the amusement parks division) depends upon their image. A large part of that image comes from building a reputation for great customer service. Their parks are pristine, their cast members well-trained, etc. They are not perfect, but one knows one is at Walt Disney World. The place just has a totally different feel to it. On some level -- it is magical. But it comes from their being faithful to the brand image they have built and maintained.
The problem that I experienced (canceling the EMH so abruptly) made me angry. I did not view this as an opportunity to get something from Disney to make up for my inconvenience. I saw this as a breach in their own philosophy and counter to their brand. I wanted them to fix the greater problem of the hurt they have done to their brand. Now granted, it is a small blemish in the big scheme of things, but they add up. From my point of view -- I wanted to help Disney keep the magic going. Losing that would be terrible to me.
I understood that my email would go through a lot of layers of bureaucracy, and I wanted to try to reach someone to make my case.
LOL that and the fact that I personally spend a lot of my money on WDW and Disney Cruises may have helped.
I believe that I reached my goal. I wanted to get the message to the powers that be that there is a cost (not insignificant) to abruptly shifting the EMH like they did. There is a core group of Disney fanatics that engender the positive vibes for their brand. These are the folks they messed with when then made their unfortunate shift in EMH. Also, their timing could not have been much worse -- they are in the middle of fielding a huge series of technical innovations. (and in truth -- they are doing a fairly good job of it).
When I got the apology -- I believe it was sincere. I also believe the explanation I got was accurate. I do not think they would have admitted to something so simple as a failure of internal communications flow (one side of the mouse talking to the other).
The bottom line, I guess, is that I simply did not want Disney to change away from their long-standing philosophy that has made them great. It would be a tragedy to me if there would ever come a time when there no longer was a Disney.
Sorry for the long-winded response.

Beautiful response. I want to be your friend! I completely agree with everything you stated. It's not simply that is has upended your vacation, it is the mark on the Brand that you love that hurts.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[bumbershoot]

It's nice they personally reached out to acknowledge they were screwing you.

Exactly

very glad that Disney was able to fix things for you! That does restore faith!

How did they fix it?

A rep apologized, which is nice. Most of us like an apology. But did they *fix* the EMHs?

I'd hate to take away the happiness the OP is feeling, but I just don't know how it's been fixed.


(and usually this sort of experience will cause a "canned" response to be transmitted to all reps so they don't stray from it, because they want it to be ONE company-wide response... one's hope is that they track all of those "canned" responses to see how many people wrote in about it, to see the impact in numbers)

 

[darkpixie08]

I just talked to one of the customer service reps about this issue in response to the e-mail that I sent in. She was very polite, and said she understood my frustration and apologized. She did offer to help us change any of our park plans/dining reservations, which was nice. Unfortunately for us, we're pretty locked in because we also have my father's dialysis appointments to contend with. I also don't think she would have had much luck reconfiguring our reservations since there are 9 of us.

She also warned me that if the parks weren't being filled to the capacity that they wanted, that they may extend the park hours on some of the parks to help increase capacity. So just a heads up to everyone, the park hours could still change, they won't decrease them, but they may still add on more hours.

It's annoying, but as I told her, unless customers speak up, they won't know about the issue. In the end though, it's a vacation, and regardless of how they switch things up, I'm sure we'll have a good time.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Before I forget -- To WDWfan: The address is "WDW.Guest.Communications@disneyworld.com"

Thanks to all your responses. I most definitely will post a trip report. We leave a week from tomorrow

I am old fashioned. I do not look at Disney as I would look at other companies. I grew up with Disney. I remember watching the Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro on TV. Having said that; I do not believe myself to be naïve.
Disney is a huge corporation whose single purpose is to make money. But part of their business model (and also a huge reason for their success at least in the amusement parks division) depends upon their image. A large part of that image comes from building a reputation for great customer service. Their parks are pristine, their cast members well-trained, etc. They are not perfect, but one knows one is at Walt Disney World. The place just has a totally different feel to it. On some level -- it is magical. But it comes from their being faithful to the brand image they have built and maintained.
The problem that I experienced (canceling the EMH so abruptly) made me angry. I did not view this as an opportunity to get something from Disney to make up for my inconvenience. I saw this as a breach in their own philosophy and counter to their brand. I wanted them to fix the greater problem of the hurt they have done to their brand. Now granted, it is a small blemish in the big scheme of things, but they add up. From my point of view -- I wanted to help Disney keep the magic going. Losing that would be terrible to me.
I understood that my email would go through a lot of layers of bureaucracy, and I wanted to try to reach someone to make my case.
LOL that and the fact that I personally spend a lot of my money on WDW and Disney Cruises may have helped.
I believe that I reached my goal. I wanted to get the message to the powers that be that there is a cost (not insignificant) to abruptly shifting the EMH like they did. There is a core group of Disney fanatics that engender the positive vibes for their brand. These are the folks they messed with when then made their unfortunate shift in EMH. Also, their timing could not have been much worse -- they are in the middle of fielding a huge series of technical innovations. (and in truth -- they are doing a fairly good job of it).
When I got the apology -- I believe it was sincere. I also believe the explanation I got was accurate. I do not think they would have admitted to something so simple as a failure of internal communications flow (one side of the mouse talking to the other).
The bottom line, I guess, is that I simply did not want Disney to change away from their long-standing philosophy that has made them great. It would be a tragedy to me if there would ever come a time when there no longer was a Disney.
Sorry for the long-winded response.

Excellent Post!

AKK

 

[EPCOTatNight]

Exactly

How did they fix it?

A rep apologized, which is nice. Most of us like an apology. But did they *fix* the EMHs?

I'd hate to take away the happiness the OP is feeling, but I just don't know how it's been fixed.

(and usually this sort of experience will cause a "canned" response to be transmitted to all reps so they don't stray from it, because they want it to be ONE company-wide response... one's hope is that they track all of those "canned" responses to see how many people wrote in about it, to see the impact in numbers)

They fixed it by giving her something extra, since they took something away.

 

[larryz]

It's nice they personally reached out to acknowledge they were screwing you.

They fixed it by giving her something extra, since they took something away.

...and then offered a little kiss to make up for it...

 

[DaughteroftheKing]

Glad it worked out for you and yes, please do a trip report. I hope your vacation is wonderful!