FURIOUS!! Front desk OKW CM just hung up on me!!

[rbuzzotta]

We have been here since Sunday. Check in was nothing great!!

T & T was scheduled for Wednesday!!! Never came so I went to front desk Wed. evening to tell them. They said it would come the next day. Did not come on Thursday. I called and still did not get new towels. Called this morning, which is Friday!!

We are in a 2 BR unit. We got 4 towels at 3 PM!!! The teens are now showering (6 PM) and that is how we noticed we only got 4. I called the front desk. She said we are ONLY allowed 6 towels!!! I asked to speak to the manager as this has been going on since WEdnesday. She said the "manager will call you, have a magical day" and then click!!!

We are getting ready to head out for dinner and now I am furious!! I let the check in issue roll off my back but now this!!

What is happening? CM's are not happy and boy are they letting it show. Even the recreation coordinator is walking around the pool area with holes in her shirt!!! I couldn't believe it!!!

I am not one that writes letters but I am seriously thinking about writing one about this trip!!!

On a 'magical' note..............DD with the cast has been approached twice by CM's and they gave her the magical pins!! HOw sweet. And yesterday while playing Bingo, an elderly gentleman won and gave his winning ticket to my other DD!! She was thrilled as we were!! It was another sweet and magical moment!!

Thanks for letting me vent............off to MK until 3 AM!!!! If I can make it that long!!

 

[Sammie]

When you call the Front Desk you get the Disney Call Center, not the Front Desk. Call Housekeeping for issues with Trash and Towel.

As to the number of towels you are only going to get replaced what was there to begin with. It is not unlimited. Did you have more than that when you checked in, I don't think I have ever counted them.

We use the washer and simply keep them washed and cleaned and never ask for replacements.

No excuse for hanging up but just wanted you to know about the Call Center and the number of towels.

Enjoy the MK, and stay cool.

 

[MAC3]

We just came back 2 weeks ago (from BWV) and did notice some unhappy CM's too. I wonder what is going on?

 

[Sammie]

We just came back 2 weeks ago (from BWV) and did notice some unhappy CM's too. I wonder what is going on?

Low pay, high heat and crowds. Everyone can have an off day. Plus Disney can only find a limited number of really happy CMs to hire.

There are just not an unlimited supply of them anymore, anywhere regardless of who the employer is. Sad but true.

Plus and I am only reporting what I have been told by many friends that work Disney resorts, that DVC guests are "way" more demanding than resort guests. Therefore the turnover is high at DVC resorts. Sorry to say we have some bad seeds as members that ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[MAC3]

DVC guests are "way" more demanding than resort guests. Therefore the turnover is high at DVC resorts. Sorry to say we have some bad seeds as members that ruin it for the rest of us.

Sad! I understand about not having a good day. I haven't had one since I got back! Haha. I had soooo much fun on vacation. On vaca nothing gets me down!

 

[CraftyMouse]

As to the number of towels you are only going to get replaced what was there to begin with. It is not unlimited. Did you have more than that when you checked in, I don't think I have ever counted them.

There are 8 towels in a 2br as 2br units sleep 8.

 

[rbuzzotta]

When we arrived, we had towels for 8. I do wash my towels every night!!!! My girls do not like to reuse towels!!! I am well aware that the towels are not 'unlimited'!! A 2 BR should have towels for 8 (occupancy).

I pay for T & T service in my dues and have been a member for over 10 years!! In the past I have not gotten T & T (this past April)and even a full housekeeping when we stayed for 15 nights (last summer)!!!! I cleaned myself!! We ahve a guest with us this trip and really needed the towels for our showers as I was promised them today!! Mousekeeping removed all 8 dirty towels so we only had 4 (large towels) for 6 people. The little one's used the hand towels to dry off!!

I NEVER have let a CM get to me like this one did!! She was downright rude!!! She was speaking to me like I had no idea as to what I was talking about!!

Well............off to my last night at MK and hope to get sprinkled with some more pixie dust and enjoy the magic with my family had my DD's best friend who has only been once!!!!
I spoke to housekeeping and they were nice. They are bringing more towels!!! It was mousekeeping mistake!!

I guess I come here to expect a 'happy environment' and 99.9% of the time it is!!! Maybe I am more in tuned to those unhappy CM's (check in and just now on the phone) as it is not often you run across CM's like that!!

 

[DiznEeyore]

Plus and I am only reporting what I have been told by many friends that work Disney resorts, that DVC guests are "way" more demanding than resort guests. Therefore the turnover is high at DVC resorts. Sorry to say we have some bad seeds as members that ruin it for the rest of us.

What a shame!

For our family, being DVC members makes us way low-maintenance. A lot of times we even just cancel trash & towel because we take out our own trash and I wash the towels.

 

[Chuck S]

Everyone, if you have problems at your resort, do keep in mind that Sammie is correct. When you call the front desk on the phone, you don't get the front desk, you get the WDW Operator/Call Center. It operates as a virtual front desk as they can answer many questions and even reset your onsite room charge if you are at your limit.

For towels and lack of housekeeping, you really need to contact housekeeping directly. And for appliance problems, AC problems or leaks, you need to contact resort maintenance/engineering.

Sammie is right about some DVCers. Many years ago I saw an adult man have a complete meltdown at the OKW front desk because his wife had requested a particular building, and there wasn't a room available in that building when they checked in. This was before there was a near HH booking category.

 

[dis-happy]

Helpful hint: instead of calling (or going to) the front desk, pick up the phone and hit the button for housekeeping and tell them what's missing. You should get faster service this way (at least it has always worked well for me). If it still hasn't arrived in a reasonable length of time, call again. The one time I had to call twice the woman answering the call was horrified it hadn't been taken care of yet, and my missing item (in this case, a cookie sheet) was then delivered within 5 minutes.

 

[tjkraz]

Low pay, high heat and crowds. Everyone can have an off day. Plus Disney can only find a limited number of really happy CMs to hire.

There are just not an unlimited supply of them anymore, anywhere regardless of who the employer is. Sad but true.

And that's the #1 reason I cringe whenever I hear mention of a fifth theme park. That's all we need is for Disney to have to scrape the bottom of the barrel further to find people to staff all of those t-shirt stores, popcorn carts and security checkpoints.

Given the labor situation in the area, Disney is already stretched far too thin in some areas.

 

[kimberh]

I am so sorry you are having this experience on your vacation. As for the CM at the Pool, with the holes in the shirt... We did the "Backstage Magic Tour" last May, We toured the Laundry, It is massive. The CM's are assigned 10 uniform sets, 5 per week. They wear one per day, we were told that the laundry is to check all the uniforms for missing buttons, holes, stains etc. The CM picks one set of 5 uniforms up per week, drops the other set of 5 off. Disney does not want the CM's to wash anything, they want all the colors to match perfectly, no bleach on the colors etc. It is a massive operation. So, I said all that to say, if she had a hole in her shirt, then the laundry missed it. I hope she reports it when she drops her uniforms off.

This is the third of this type of Thread I have read this week. I can only say that I hope Disney is listening. I defended the first one, but there is obviously a problem. Different resorts, even different parts of the country. I hope DVC members aren't getting a bad reputation, as Sammie says. This is not good, to group us all together, for a few bad apples. I am not difficult to deal with, when I am there.

I think there is an attitude developing of, it's a job... I just want my check attitude. They don't care about how much effort they put into the job, just pay me. With the size of Disney, I think they will just about Hire anyone. A few years ago they had a billboard up advertising hiring with a bonus. I saw it on our way out. Last year, we had a Male housekeeper at WL hotel, that didn't even understand we needed Coffee. Did a sorry job on the room too, It looked just like one of my teenage boys had made the bed.

I hope you have a good finish to your trip.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Plus and I am only reporting what I have been told by many friends that work Disney resorts, that DVC guests are "way" more demanding than resort guests. Therefore the turnover is high at DVC resorts. Sorry to say we have some bad seeds as members that ruin it for the rest of us.

When they sell you the DVC a lot of the "come on" is the fact that it's a "secret" and somehow you're "special".

We bought DVC because it's a good deal and it fits us as a family, but I think there are just as many people out there who bought it to feel like a VIP in Disney.

And really, beyond a few minor things (not like in the beginning), like saying "welcome home", there IS no VIP treatment for DVC members (ok, free valet, that's the only one I can think of), and I bet that some people are feeling like, hey, whadda I gotta do around here to feel like a VIP?

The answer is unfortunately, to boss around the CM's and make them feel like they're a DVC'ers own private gal friday...

DVC seems to be this weird dichotomy of "special" meets "budget".

 

[WOW]

We were @ OKW July 11th thru the 17th and had a wonderful experience all around, absolutely no issues. All of the CM's were very helpfull and happy....didn't see any problems.

We have always been treated with special "Welcome Homes" and the staff has always been great.

We have been DVC members since 1995 and are absolutely still in love with OKW and all the DVC's.

Sorry that you encountered problems....hopefully it won't happen again.

 

[Sammie]

And that's the #1 reason I cringe whenever I hear mention of a fifth theme park. That's all we need is for Disney to have to scrape the bottom of the barrel further to find people to staff all of those t-shirt stores, popcorn carts and security checkpoints.

Given the labor situation in the area, Disney is already stretched far too thin in some areas.

Definitely a concern with the addtion of the new AKV and now "maybe" DVC at the Contemporary I think they will definitely be scrapping the bottom of the barrel to even staff these locations.

I am afraid DVC is more concerned about sales and expansion than quality of the current product. This is definitely evident in some rooms at BWV and some staff at all locations.

 

[dgaston]

We were just at VWL and AKV Concierge and had wonderful mousekeeping. While our room at VWL was at the end of the hallway (I knew to say no rooms ending in 60 or 62, so we got 61), the room was great. And we had DAILY mousekeeping at AKV. We are truly spoiled.

 

[rbuzzotta]

If I encountered any housekeeping or maintenance issues on my future OKW trips, I will know to call them directly.

I had happened to be at the front desk "fixing" the problem that arose from the CM that checked us in (she had us checked out on the wrong day etc.......and we had to get re booked and new keys..........this was told to me by the CM that was fixing the issue). She called housekeeping in front of me.

I do believe this is an 'off' week all around at OKW............at least that is what I will believe!!

Interesting fact about the uniforms. Funny thing is........this particular CM (recreaton coordinator) has 'dull' clothes as well as holes in them!! LOL!! She must not turn her's in for washing and does her own! Anywyas, that did not have a bearing on my trip but was just something that I noticed as it did stand out!

WEll..........our last night here!! WE were glad to see our many NJ/NY friends that come the same time as us every year. Sad to be missing some others as we cut our vacation short one week this year!!

We are ending on a great pool day..............no storms so far!!!

Despite the issues I had (check in, being hung up on (LOL) and towels and trash), it was another wonderful time with family and friends and that is truly what it is all about!!

Bad to reality tomorrow!!!

 

[Sammie]

Have a safe trip home.

 

[La2kw]

As already mentioned, the "front desk" you call from your room is not actually at the resort. You can call and ask to be connected to the "back of the house" and explain your situation to the operator. This will get you to someone actually at the front desk. Please do write that letter of complaint. WDW outsources housekeeping now and the housekeeping at OKW has taken a nosedive since that happened. We have had issues with every unit we have been in over the past two years, and that's five different units! DVC will think everything is just perfect if no one tells them otherwise.

 

[Sammie]

In addition to getting the Call Center instead of the actual front desk, many calls especially on weekends, nights and peak holiday times are outsourced and you might be speaking to someone working from home. They also answer Disney Dining too.

So literally they do not know more than what is available to them from their computer screen.

Another sign of the ever growing Disney.