Disney Rerservations not so good

[confal1]

I don't know what is going on at the res center but make sure that you are quite clear on what you want and then re-iterate your wants every 2 seconds so that the CM is sure to know. Then at the end of the call confirm once again what you wanted and what you got. I know it sounds like a lot but I have changed my res. and you would have thought I was going with 20 people and changing resorts 15 times. I am not. It is myself, my 5 year old DD and 9 month old DS. No hubby this time. Anyway also check your balance. They tried to tell me that I would owe the same for a 3 night $74.00/night at POR as for my previous 4 night. I told the woman no that was not right and she put me on hold for about the 12th time and came back on to say that I was right and it now showed the correct amount. Sorry to go on but there is no need to be on the phone for almost 35 minutes to change one reservation.

 

[marksor]

I agree with you that you need to constantly reiterate what your reservation is with the CMs at the res. center. That said, I also believe that you need to do that with ALL customer service centers that you talk to on the phone, regardless of company or industry. It seems they all do a poor job of reciting and entering customer information.

 

[zalansky]

I agree with you. I get anxious about even calling CRO these days. When I recently called to check about lower rates, the CM prcatically asked for blood type before I could get an answer, far too long to be on the phone for simple questions.

 

[rgribik]

Unfortunately, I agree with you. I have received 2 phone calls from CRO saying that I still owe a balance on my account. The problem is that I paid the account off in March. I actually had to fax proof of my payment to them before they would admit it was their error!
Futhermore, I received a call stating that I owed a balance for 12 year old "Kevin" who was added to my reservation. The catch here... there is no 12 year old Kevin coming with my family on this trip! When I asked to have a manager call me so that I could voice my displeasure with the service, no one called back.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I know this is terrible but if I don't think the CM is correct or doesn't have a clue or doesn't care. I hang up and play the CM lottery.

I wanted to add a AAA discount and the CM said there wasn't availablity at all. I hang up call again got BC CL.

I needed to add an extra night because of flight unavailabilty one CM said there wasn't anything. Next phone call, wasn't a problem.

 

[confal1]

rgribik
I know the feeling on being told that someone is going who isn't. My mom came with us last March. We have since been back 2 or 3 times and they keep trying to tell me that she is coming they even asked if I was her one time when I called. She has a totally different first and last name. I asked them to take her name off my itinerary list and they said no. So now I always have to make sure they know she is not coming.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by MaryKatesMom
I know this is terrible but if I don't think the CM is correct or doesn't have a clue or doesn't care. I hang up and play the CM lottery.

I don't think this is terrible at all. If I'm not using an 800 number, I do the same thing. No way am I going to PAY to speak to someone that doesn't have a clue about how to help me.

 

[ScarlettO]

Would you mind sharing the "800" number?

 

[disneyjunkie]

800-828-0228

 

[MermaidsMom]

I can call a Universal/Hilton/Sheraton, etc and make a reservation and be on the phone for 2-3 minutes. If I need to cancel it takes them less than a minute. Disney makes it much harder than it needs to be. Sometimes I am on the phone for more than 30 minutes-I would love to know what they are actually doing while I'm on hold! LOL! But the WORST was this morning when I tried to change from a 1 bed to a 2 bed villa and the CM remarked in a very cranky voice "Wow, you sure have alot of reservations". Shouldn't that be a good thing?
I hate to call CRO anymore. I would HAPPILY make my reservations online but they don't allow AP rate reservations online.

 

[donnaw117]

How did you get the POR at $74 a night. I'm paying $94

 

[sparkles22]

Hello. I am a disney res cast member and I have been for the last 3 years. Over that three years, a lot of stuff has changed. We used to have CRO and the WDTC. You would call seperate depts based on what you wanted. (either room only or a pkg) We no longer have that separation. We have one department and one computer system. Our job used to entail asking what you wanted and booking it, simple as that. Now, we are required to ask 16 things on every call! Is that a pain for us as much as for you? YES! I hate doing these things. I wish I could just concentrate on helping people! But if I don't do these things, I will get fired. If i do these things, some guests will yell at me. It's not fun right now. I'm sure some of you have some aspect of your job that you don't like to do. Give us a little break. Be patient. We're not asking you all these questions to be difficult. WE're asking because we have to.
Oh, and about the discount thing. If you call and say " do you have any discounts/specials/promotions?" We are not allowed to answer that. Yo uhave to provide us with a promotion code or a description of the promotion that you saw. That's our policy. I think that one stinks too, but I like my job too much not to follow it.

 

[MsSpinShady]

I agree with the OP, this has become a big problem.

I called in early April to make a reservation for next year (I know, a long time from now - no laughing, please) and thought everything was fine. Almost a week later I had still not received a confirmation in the mail so I called and talked to another CM who read the reservation back to me - it had the wrong dates. She fixed the reservation and mailed out a new confirmation notice, which I received about a week later. I never did receive the first notice.

The thing that surprised me the most was that I went over the dates about a dozen times with the first CM, and because the trip is in 2005, she even pulled out her calendar and we went over the dates together.

Anyway, there is another way to confirm your reservation is correct. If you go to the Disney site and type in your reservation number, you can see the reservation. It does not have all the details, but it does have reservation type, dates and balance owed. I was able to go there and confirm they had received my deposit and it had been correctly applied.

Hope this helps!

MsSpinShady

 

[disneyjunkie]

I think the problem some of us have with all the questions is that you ask the same ones each time we call.

I'm asked my zip code, my name, address,phone number, sometimes my email address, my son's name, his age, his birthday, when was the last time I visited WDW...

All of this BEFORE I can get a price quote. I understand that it's part of your job, but it's gets old real fast.

When they first started keeping a data base of callers, wasn't the purpose to decrease the amount of time it takes to help each guest?

I can understand asking for my zip code, name and address to be sure you have pulled up the right person, but why do they need all of the other information each time I call?

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Originally posted by sparkles22
Hello. I am a disney res cast member and I have been for the last 3 years. Over that three years, a lot of stuff has changed. We used to have CRO and the WDTC. You would call seperate depts based on what you wanted...... That's our policy. I think that one stinks too, but I like my job too much not to follow it.

Thanks for explaning sparkles22, I know most questions are required...maybe you could print some of the responces and accidently let those with the power read some of them...

I just want to Thank You because it all begins with you.

 

[luvmk]

I had some difficulty at the first of this week. I called on Monday to make a ressie at AKL for Oct. The first cm I spoke with told me the only savannah view rooms available were concierge. I didn't want that, so I hung up. Thanks to this board, I called back a little later, got a different cm and was told all levels of savannah were available. I booked the room I wanted and everything ended fine. However, if I didn't read this board, I would have believed the first cm and I wouldn't have been staying at the resort of my choice. It makes you wonder how many "new" disney people end up not being able to reserve the room they would really like because of circumstances like this. I don't know what causes the inconsistencies, but I wish the "powers that be" would try to clear some of it up.


Rachel

 

[confal1]

The POR rate of $74.00 was an AP rate.

 

[Lisa3]

I know how difficult it is to work in customer service. Keep in mind that not everyone the CMs deal with is as pleasant as those of us on these boards. The CM I spoke to and I were joking about how some guest expect them to know every thing about every resort Disney has ever built. We both agreed that Disney should send their CMs to stay at each resort so that they could know it as well as we do.

That being said, the only think I do mind is after being on the phone for 30 minutes and having the CM repeat what I've booked - it still comes wrong in the confirmation. When I call again to correct the mistake - it still comes back wrong. Sorry, but I really hate to have to do something twice because someone else wasn't doing their job. And yes, I hold myself to the same professional standards I expect in others in any job that I am responsible for.

 

[Susan--Ontario]

I understand about taking forever to make a reservation or even just to get a price quote. Last time I called she read my information and I had two other kids which I'm sure I don't have. I think it was a Caitlin and a Kevin but I'm not sure. They also had my DS as my husband and no mention of my husband. We've only been 20 or so times so I'm sure they just wanted me to bring other people with me to enjoy the magic.

I think she finally got it all straightened out though after about 35 minutes. I was on a 1-800 number so I didn't mind. Why is it that Disney is so secretive with their number. I would be really PO'd if I had to pay the long distance charges from Canada to Florida for a 35 minute call.

I always try to help the Agents because for every nice customer you have you can be sure to have another one who is not so nice. I realize that the person answering the phone isn't the one making all the rules.

If we don't like the rules we need to voice our complaints to someone who can help. That's what's nice about email.

 

[cheermom]

sparkles22,
It must be a very busy and sometimes frustrating job! I have only had pleasant and helpful cms. It doesn't even bother me when they ask a gazillion questions. What does bother me is how they can mess up the reservation between me making the reservation and answering all the questions and even having it read back to me. How does it get so messed up on the paper confirmation? And I mean big time messed up. Like wrong types of rooms and arrival dates!
Oh well, it's all good!
Cathy