I do not mind telling you some of our recent experience at all.
I WILL preface it by saying that before this - WDW has always been diligent about resolving any issues that have come up. We have regularly stayed at WDW for the past 12 years and now that we are FL residents, we go more often for shorter trips.
On Labor Day weekend, we took our 3 dogs to the Epcot kennel - it was a 3 night stay. We signed them up for regular walks with an extra walk for our puppy.
We supplied the food for the puppy as she is on a very strict diet and did not want problems with her being given something that wasn't hers. We signed us up to walk them each evening at 7:30pm (the latest you could walk them on your own was 9pm, we have been told). First Problem was on Sat. night when we showed up to walk them. We came back from the walk & saw food in the crates. I asked about them having been fed at the requested feeding time of 5pm. They said they were late and didn't "get to all of the dogs in the kennel" . I asked how the dogs were supposed to wait for the entire night without relieving themselves after a meal -esp. a 7mth. old puppy. The girl shrugged and replied that she didn't know. I was a little irritated at this response but, in an effort to hold my tongue and stay calm, my DH and myself decided that we would just come back at 9pm - thinking the issue was a one-time thing...it was a nice night so we just hung out for a while. We walked the dogs again at 9pm.
On Sunday, we arrived to walk the dogs at 7:30pm and that is when everything got ugly for us...the dogs were all in crates that had not been cleaned for the entire day. My Sheltie who is 6 yrs. old would NEVER soil the crate unless she had absolutely no choice. My Spaniel is also very reliable. The puppy, of course, can only hold it for a few short hours. My poor Sheltie was covered in feces...all over her feet and tail. I could have cried. We took them out of the crates, asking for the manager and were told he was not there at the moment. Another dog (not ours) was running around the room and the staff member was trying to catch him/her - apparently, the dgo had pushed open the crate door which had not been fully secured. The room appeared (and not trying to be melodramatic here, believe me) out of control. I told the girl to clean out the crates while we were gone. We came back 45 min. later and the crates had not even been touched. I took the cleaner from the towel area, some towels and started cleaning their crates out.
They told me that they were unable to clean the dogs up -they said they did not have the staff to do it. I cleaned the dogs off myself at the sink with some towels that they gave me.
After the dogs were back in the crates, I went to the front desk and said that I wanted to see a manager. A young man in his 20's comes over to the desk and says he is the duty manager, I tell him what happened, and all he could say was "well, we are short-handed. The kennel is full to capacity and THESE THINGS HAPPEN." I didn't know what to say for a moment. Honestly, you would have thought this was a cut-rate kennel somewhere else, certainly not WDW.
On Monday AM, I went straight to Guest Relations. I told them the entire story, also told them that I expected a refund on the annual passes that we had just renewed on Friday evening when we arrived. The reason for that was because I honestly did not think that I wanted to spend as much time this year at WDW than in the past, not if these kinds of things, "just happened"...the Guest Relations rep was wonderful..she contacted the kennel, she refunded me the pass amounts (even though they are not refundable) without giving me a huge hassle. The kennel manager called me back within 10 min. He (someone different than I had spoken to the previous night) said that what had happened was unacceptable - (no joke, Sherlock) and that he would speak with the staff immediately. He asked when we would be there to pick the dogs up and I told him we would be there at 10am. He asked that we ask for him when we arrived and that "he would take care of it"...Well, at 10am, we did as he asked - he was contacted via phone and the girl came back to tell us " that he was called away elsewhere on property and could not speak with us" (????????) I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.
They returned all of the things that were left from the dogs bags and that is when things got worse...Chloe, the puppy, still had the same amount of food in the bag as was there when we checked her in. Nothing was removed from it...We took the dogs out of the kennel and left. On the way home, she started throwing up - yes, it could have been car sickness, lots of dogs get it and mine have on occasion too but I don't think it was. She was still sick that night and I took her to the vet on Tuesday. It resulted from the alternative food that she was given, he is fairly certain - can we prove it? No, but I can prove that we advised the kennel of the special diet and they ignored that information. What would have happened if there was medication to be given? Or something that they were allergic to?
I contacted the Executive Office via email and postal mail (with the same letter). About 4 weeks ago. the 3rd week of October - 7 weeks after this happened, I was contacted by the Ex. Office. rep. She agreed that it was unacceptable, but that it was a one-time thing and that she would refund our kennel cost. 2 weeks ago, I received a check for 1/2 the cost. I contacted her again - explained the situation. She said that the kennel records were not easy to read and in her words, "poorly kept" and asked that I forward a receipt to her showing the total. I did that. To date, there is no further response.
I am left wondering what else they could have done and I honestly cannot answer that. I don't know that WDW could have made this right. I don't care about the money. I care about my dogs. We don't have children and they are my "children" - a dog lover would understand that, I guess.
What disappoints me now is the total lack of empathy for what happened that weekend. The previous trip, there was one incident where the walk schedules were messed up and they missed a walk - a relatively minor incident , esp. compared to this.
Refunding me my kennel costs will not make it right. The dogs still suffered that weekend. If I were ever to leave them at WDW kennel again, I would be much more diligent. I would check the food left for them to ensure that they were being fed per our instructions and I would return at least 3 times per day to check on them and walk them myself. I would also, should an incident like this ever happen again, report it instantly to the ASPCA and any other controlling body who would listen.
WDW is great - but they are not infallible and they are not beyond the law.
Well, that 's my story - I hope no one is inclined to flame me for my reaction or tell me that I overreacted but if they do, I simply disagree.
That's why I would caution you to check on your dog or cat a few times per day and be diligent about their care. For many of us, without children and even some with children, we expect good care of our pets because they are part of the family. They have needs and feelings too - and when we pay someone to care for our pets, they have a responsibility and need to be held accountable when they do not meet that responsibility.
If WDW kennels are understaffed and take in more pets than they can handle, that is a staffing issue, NOT my issue and certainly not my responsibility.
Thanks for letting me vent!
