After today we are really considering cancelling and not going to Disney for vacation (and this includes a separate room we booked for extended family).
First, let me start out by saying that 4 out of 5 cast members that I have spoken with through Disney reservations in the last month have been very abrupt with no cheer whatsoever. One was a super super nice guy. I always let it blow over and not bother me when someone is just sour or dry but today was just about the last straw with this FD ordeal.
I had a reservation already booked from a month ago, then when
free dining was released I could not get through on the phones at all due to all circuits busy, stayed on hold and disconnected and the site was down as well. Finally I was able to make a new online reservation for myself and another for my husband's family (a treat form us that we are paying for) online with FD at two separate resorts which wasn't ideal or what we really wanted.
I FINALLY got through very late today to try to cancel the original reservation and to have a CM properly update the other 2 reservations I had. Before I could even explain the reason for my call I was questioned about how I made the reservations and no no no you can't have more than one, as if I was trying to fraud them or something, then quickly put me on hold and came back said they may have to cancel
all my resv and I would have to start over, even though I paid a deposit. He was very rude, kept putting me on hold and I told him so and I ended up talking to guest services. What should have been a 15 minute call turned into a 45 minute call. Guest services did make all the updates I needed, cancelling my original reservation and transferring one of the remaining to our other party...but he read the rules to me as if I were a child and should have known as if all hotels operate this way and I shouldn't have booked these - which I pointed out was not standard as with most hotels you can book multiple rooms under one name and one credit card. I have booked a block of 6 rooms for business travels before.
I don't care if this is the backlash of a very bad way to introduce a FD deal, there is no reason to assume a customers intent and be rude to a customer, a repeat customer, without inquiring into why I would have more than one first and the fact I had no way to remedy it quickly.
All I can say is if Disney doesn't want my business then I can certainly go elsewhere. After telling my DH about this he pointed out that during our last stay the CM's, especially at the resort food courts and in some of the park restaurants over the last 2 stays were very unpleasant every visit...just so many sour faces despite our smiles.
I'm going to take a couple of days to calm down and then make a final decision. We were doing a split stay at US anyway (over 12 days) and DH is lobbying right now for the entire trip to be a US/SW/DC/BG trip for our families. We are always treated
very well at Loew's hotels ...so maybe that is where we will all go. They were even so nice to save my dates for me with a pin code I had for 24 hrs with no down payment until I called back so I could settle my dates first.
To all you CM's (or CS reps) out there that are nice to people, or even have a slight smile in your voice, it is appreciated as it DOES make a difference.
