Don't stay at the Swan. It's been a nightmare this week

[zoo2tycoon]

Some of you all are being a bit extra in terms of aggressiveness to the poster here... Sounds like she dropped some serious money down in the middle of the pandemic when they are hurting for cash/business.

I would think some room service and/or a free restaurant voucher wouldn’t kill them as a sign of good faith and thinking she’ll be back dropping big bucks

People need to remember the Swan although on Disney property AND IS NOT OWNED OR OPERATED BY DISNEY. Disney owes OP NOTHING. Any compensation or dealings are with the hotel owner not Disney. A restaurant voucher at the hotel yes, one in the parks or a Disney restaurant nope.

 

[ckelly14]

As a long time S&D fan, the events of the last few months does not surprise me. The Marriott take over of Starwood has been one of the most disappointing events in my years of traveling. Not to say other large chains are much better, but we were very spoiled by Starwood...

I cancelled Swan stays in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid and am considering a stay for the 50th Anniversary events in April 2022. It's also the 50th anniversary of my first stay at WDW at the Poly when I was 4. Contemplating a split stay at the Swan/Poly but may just stay the whole time at the Poly. It will be a special trip for me and I don't think I want to deal with all the Marriott hassle this time around. The problem is I still have a bunch of Marriott points/credit cards/status, and free usually wins out!

 

[nkereina]

Out of curiosity, I am curious how you think they should have handled it since pipes burst without any prior signs. Let you pick your desired room and then they have to go to another family and say “Sorry but you have to move because someone else’s pipe burst and they want this room?” I get that having to repack and move is not ideal, but with the pipes in your room having burst and it being a busy time with a full hotel, I’m not sure where you expected them to move you.

I'm not the poster you quoted so I'm not sure whether they received any compensation for being moved to a "worse" room, but if it were me, that would be the only acceptable fix. If I can't have a comparable room/room type, then some form of compensation for the massive inconvenience of a burst pipe would be appropriate. If that wasn't offered, I'd be unhappy too.

Good grief! Can this thread just end? Enough! What more can be said or complained about?

Say what? This is a discussion forum. There are lots of valid opinions here about how the Swan and other resorts should handle guest issues and dissatisfaction. Its valuable information for anyone considering a stay at the Swan, or anywhere for that matter.

 

[Disneylover99]

Out of curiosity, I am curious how you think they should have handled it since pipes burst without any prior signs. Let you pick your desired room and then they have to go to another family and say “Sorry but you have to move because someone else’s pipe burst and they want this room?” I get that having to repack and move is not ideal, but with the pipes in your room having burst and it being a busy time with a full hotel, I’m not sure where you expected them to move you.

I don’t think the poster you quoted suggested they wanted to bump another family. Just that she’s been through something similar and can empathize.

 

[hp_lovecraft]

Weird how this thread has devolved into class warfare.

I travel a lot. It is my favorite thing. Mistakes happen everywhere. But it is the response to those mistakes that matter.
The reps at the swan made some mistakes. The response to those mistakes was very poor.

I would be sending out emails to every marriot exec and manager I could find. They are not going to do anything, except forward the message to some middle manager. But while that middle manager would do nothing for you directly, they will jump through hoops getting a message from his boss. In this world, thats how things get done.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

OP
Go to https://www.elliott.org/
It is a consumer advocacy site. They tell you how to write letter- go up the corporate chain. Meaning don’t write to every executive at once. They have emails for all corporate contacts. Tell you to start at lowest level, wait a week, go to next level. Do everything in writing be concise and no-threatening in email. Do not add details not relevant- do not be emotional
Tell resolution you want but be reasonable
Don’t demand all your money back for example

Just a thought

 

[DL1WDW2]

OP
Go to https://www.elliott.org/
It is a consumer advocacy site. They tell you how to write letter- go up the corporate chain. Meaning don’t write to every executive at once. They have emails for all corporate contacts. Tell you to start at lowest level, wait a week, go to next level. Do everything in writing be concise and no-threatening in email. Do not add details not relevant- do not be emotional
Tell resolution you want but be reasonable
Don’t demand all your money back for example

Just a thought

Thank you for helpful advice for all .
Honestly this year has been full of it .... Covidhas changed everything but it should not be an excuse for Corporations to “Test” how much they can get away with . That seems unfair burden especially with this instance, but also with Disney lately. Guess I should stay on topic and not start with Disney .

 

[SteveH]

You should complain to Starwood for the Swan ruining your vacation and maybe they can give you some free nights.

Just an FYI, Starwood doesn't exist, Marriott bought out Starwood in 2015 and the transition was completed in 2019. I truly miss the days of Starwood.

 

[Rich M]

It amazes me how many people are so judgmental of other peoples life's and problems. The poster seemed to have many problems and wanted to share them with everyone. Doubt they wanted to be attacked for going on vacation nor did they want to have all these problems. Lets try to not judge people so much in life. I know I come to the DIS to go to my fantasy world.

As for the original post in which drew me here, I am sorry that you had so many problems at one time. I hope that you had other good things happen during your stay and at least had a good time at the parks. I don't care if a trip cost $100 or $10,000 I want to feel like I got my money worth regardless so I really hope you did have some good moments. I agree with some that I would call corporate and share that experience. For anybody to have booked that many rooms and to spend that much money if they choose not to listen then I recommend never staying at any of those hotels again. We all know when going on trips that stuff will happen and we all hate when its us that it happens too. The poster has every right to be upset about it. Happy Holidays everyone. Be Safe.

 

[RoseGold]

To say to a Guest, “we don’t have thousands of dollars just to refund” wouldn’t fly in any customer service job I’ve worked. Like others have mentioned, it sounds like (given their current financial situation), the hotel staff is just not being empowered to try to remedy these situations.

Of course they aren't empowered for this. It's not like they're going to whip $2,000 from the bar cash register. They are going to reverse the $2,000 transaction, which takes a couple of days. Sounds like that is exactly what happened. It was remedied.

 

[andyman8]

Of course they aren't empowered for this. It's not like they're going to whip $2,000 from the bar cash register. They are going to reverse the $2,000 transaction, which takes a couple of days. Sounds like that is exactly what happened. It was remedied.

Empowering staff to try to remedy a Guest issue doesn't always mean giving the Guest exactly what they want. All the Swan had to do is say, "We're working hard to get the issue resolved, but unfortunately, it may take a couple days. We're so sorry for this, so here's a resort credit/free drinks/free meal/whatever is available to the staff to make up for this." In a situation like that, where there are limitations outside of their control around directly fixing the problem immediately, it's up to the staff to take the initiative and show empathy (which the "do you think we have thousands of dollars..." response seemed to lack) if they really want to recover the bad situation. It shouldn't be all or nothing.

That's not unreasonable to expect. And it didn't just happen once. There were many missed opportunities where the staff could've just apologized and offered something (even small) to demonstrate that they "understood" the Guest's frustrations. Given that that has never been a problem at the Swan in the past and the recent stories I've been hearing in addition to the OP, that to me indicates they're likely not being empowered to offer any sort of remedy.

 

[RoseGold]

OP wanted a refund that day, which obviously isn't going to happen for any billing situation like this. I don't see how that's the staff's fault.

 

[hp_lovecraft]

OP wanted a refund that day, which obviously isn't going to happen for any billing situation like this. I don't see how that's the staff's fault.

Yes, reversing the incorrect charge may take days. That is the reality we live in.
But the mistake was the staffs fault, to incorrectly charge for the room.
Telling the OP that they could consolidate the resort fees was a mistake.
Making the OP move, and downgrading is a major inconvenience.

You are correct that the hotel does not have to do anything beyond the absolute minimum
But this is what differentiates a marriot from a super-8 is service. You are paying a premium for service.

If the hotel does not feel obligated to compensate the OP for its obvious mistakes, then it is not a premium hotel.
Its just some generic hotel on route 192.

 

[Disneylover99]

OP wanted a refund that day, which obviously isn't going to happen for any billing situation like this. I don't see how that's the staff's fault.

It’s the staff’s fault if they handled the interaction poorly though. Telling a customer, The Marriott doesn’t just have $1950 to just refund back right away, especially since it was their fault, sounds a bit snippy to me.