Has outsourcing affected your WDW experience?

[OKW Lover]

This is a poll to see how many people have seen an effect of outsourcing on their vacation experience. There was a discussion several months (6?) ago about the valet's being outsourced at the resorts. Has anybody noticed a difference?

 

[Cool-Beans]

Not really. The Contemporary still sucks, the Beach Club, AKL and Poly are still good. I haven't tried the rest.

 

[Jasminetigger]

I have noticed a difference in the valet service at WL. I always thought the valet service was very good until this last trip. The valet people seemed to be standing around a lot not knowing what they were doing while everyone was waiting on their cars. Two of the employees got into a loud argument with each other over whose job it was to do what.

One night we went to retrieve our car to head over to the Beach Club for dinner. The girl at the valet desk said their was a problem. They were having trouble charging our valet charge to our room. I told her we did not have any trouble all week charging things to our room. I said maybe she should discuss it with the front desk. The thing was though, they were not going to give us our car until we paid the $40.00 right then. I told her I didn't have any cash on me and at this point we were running late for dinner. I didn't have time to run back to the room. All she said was you need to pay now. I told her we would be back, we weren't checking out for 4 more days. Again all she would say is you need to pay now. Then she suggested I put it on my room key. I told her I thought she said my room charge wouldn't work for them. I gave her my room key and sure enought the charge went through. I did make sure we got a receipt. And guess what? They charged the $40.00 to my room again. Of course I had it reversed. I just thought the whole thing was weird and could have been handled better.

 

[pat fan]

We stayed at the ASMusic, and may I say that everything else was great...except the outsourced employees/services!

We had rented 2 wheelchairs for my parents from Care Medical. When we checked in, they only had one. I showed them my paperwork and they said "It must be around somewhere" and they'd find it and call me, and in the meantime I could use a resort chair. Fine. BTW, this was around noon.

We get back to the resort after Illuminations, no message. I go down first thing in the a.m., and get the same story. It's here somewhere, we'll call you when we find it. At noon, no message. I called Care Medical and they said "Jane" signed for two chairs. I go down and tell them. Yup, she did, but it must have been given out by mistake. We'll call Care Medical and get it straightened out and leave you a message. Get back after Wishes, no message.

Again, I go down first thing in a.m. and get the same story. We'll call Care Medical, then you. Again noon, no message. I called Care Mediacl and they said they were still going to charge me for 2 chairs as they delievered 2 chairs. But now I can't return 2 chairs as I don't have 2!

Anyway, finally, on the 5th day, someone finally gives me the money I paid for the one chair and tells me they will make sure I don't get billed for a whole chair as I don't have one to return to Care Medical. I assume they did this, I'll let you know if I get a huge bill from them!

BIG MISTAKE to outsource!!!!

 

[bavaria]

we have seen a marked improvement, so I voted 'better' since outsourcing. BW in particular comes to mind, as does WL.

We are frequent valet parkers at WDW, and since my Disney travel friend and I both spend over 300+ nights in hotels, we are also very frequent valet parkers throughout the year around the world.

The one time we did have an issue was at AKL shortly after the change, and the valet manager was very interested in hearing our feedback.

 

[gmboy95]

I dont quite understand what you mean by "outsourcing"....could you explain???

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

I vote decline in service, as a DVC Member I have had problems with the valets running charges through on my room account when visiting other DVC resorts for dinner. This was after I notified them we were DVC Members and showed my Membership card.

My advise is to be to check your room charges before you leave the resort at check-out.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

I used Valet at the Poly and at the Grand Floridian and actually noticed an improvement in service. Not only were valets plentiful and attentive when I arrived, but they mentioned me by name and welcomed me to (and welcomed me back) to each resort. Valet service at the Poly was a notch above that at the GF.

And this was during peak season of Easter.

 

[ImagineerM]

ugh...absolutely a decline...see my trip report link....I had a big long talk with guest communications today about the outsourced valet services...its just not the same since then.

 

[Dancemom03]

That explains our issues with this last trip. The friends we travel with drive a suburban and normally self park. When they drive us all to dinner though at any of the resorts we feel it only right to pay for the valet. We always valet park when we drive and love it.

Fast forward to early July... We leave the suburban with valet at CR for Chef Mickey's. After paying the fees we get the paid windsheild tag and our receipt. Normally this would mean that we'd paid for 24 hours and could valet it when we returned to BWI without an additional charge.
Well, we get to BWI and it is raining. I mean pouring, one of those soaking fast rains that you definitely don't want to walk in if you can help it. We pull up to the valet desk and hand the guy the keys. Wait a sec, we're told we've got to pay again to have them park it a mere 20 minutes after we paid at CR. According to BWI valet we paid at CR and it only counts at CR. Wow, I think, this could get costly, what if we ate at more than one resort that day? The men drop off us ladies and children and head out to self park.

Three days later, now we're staying at the YC, where we're told one valet receipt is good for all the wdw resorts just like in past years. Okay, great. We take DD6 and DDF10 to the kids cooking adventure at GF.
Of course we use the valet, self parking at GF is wayyyyyy across the road there. All goes well, until we're leaving that is.

As we drive towards the GF exit gate, our driver friend realizes that the YC hotel parking pass is now missing. A tupperware container in the back has been moved and items in the console appear to have been moved around as well. Nothing is missing except the YC parking permit and the valet windsheild tag thingie so that's a good thing but the men can't figure out why that would have been removed.
We circle around past the security gate again and they ask the guard, who tells them that she too would like to know what the valet guys are doing with the permits because it's been happening a lot lately. When we pull back up to the curb, our men are determined to retrieve the missing YC permit but the valet guys are sure they've never seen it, much less removed it.
After a talk with the manager the mysterious YC permit reappears along with the valet tag thingie and our guys return to the vehicle victorious but still confused.
If the security guards don't know what GF valets are doing with parking permits from other wdw resorts then we may never know. Our friend mentioned it to the valet guys at YC and they were in the dark as well. They did honor our windsheild tag thingie and didn't charge for parking again that day so that's a good thing.
An email he sent to guest communications about the missing permits and the security guard's comments has not generated a reply yet so it's a true mystery but now perhaps partially explained by the news of outsourcing...

How about it DIS-er's... Do YOU know what someone might do with assorted resort parking permits? Is there an ebay market for THOSE too? Just think, black market parking permits...

 

[princessesrule4]

Valets were terrible at the GF in June! Nobody even looked at us when we arrived! We waited for 5 minutes or so, and finally DH just grabbed a luggage cart that was sitting there and started unloading the car himself! After one of the valets realized what was going on, he came to help. DH thought the guy just didn't like him touching the cart!
I wandered around because we were staying Main building Concierge and there is a new check in process (and new check in CM's that are supposedly outsourced) and after a few minutes ,I finally saw a podium right next to the entrance and decided to go ask them where I was supposed to check in! As I got close to the podium, I noticed the sign said" Club Level Check in" or something like that. The CMs were nice but asked if I was a club level check in. Our previous Concierge stays, a valet or 2 comes up immediately and opens your doors, greets you by name and the Check in CMs are right at the curb to greet you, call you by name and escort you upstairs!

So far,it definitely gets a thumbs down! We'll be back in Dec. so we'll see how it goes then. At least we know where the club level check in is now!

 

[Dancemom03]

Just realized that bell services/luggage services might have been outsourced as well.

Did I mention that when CSR picked up our bags to transfer to BWI the CM wrote down "a lot" in the space where it says how many bags you've checked instead of the actual number. As he put them in the cart I guess he didn't take the time or effort required to count them.

No problems with that thankfully but "a lot" was actually 18 in our case. It offered a good laugh though as DD17 re-evaluated & decided she'd bought too much at the outlets the week before...

 

[Tink415]

I voted Yes. I think the valet service has gone down. I also think valet service went down when it started being charged for and wasn't outsourced yet, but its gotten worse. We valet park if the service is offered. Its a nice part of vacation. Our trips in April and June this year, when we valet parked we often had to wait a long time for someone to take the car, either no valets were in the drive-up area at all, or there weren't enough valets. This was at every resort we visited. I know I'm impatient but I remember having the car door opened for me, and that didn't happen once these past 2 trips.

I also noticed the lack of valet windshield tags, I didn't ask why but I should have. I try not to get annoyed and question everything

When I requested my car one of the times in April at the POLY, my request wasn't handled correctly. The person in charge changed and there was only 1 valet. When I noticed the 1st car brought up for someone who came after me, it didn't bother me, but when I saw the 3rd and 4th cars I asked nicely where's my car I've been waiting and waiting and see others getting their cars who came after me? The person was not nice or apologetic, and simply said "I don't know". I had to ask her to look for my keys and turned out they weren't where they should have been. It was a weird encounter and that's not what I expect.

I'm sure the valet service is excellent at times still and hope I experience that on my next trip.

I hate the whole out-sourcing thing and how it makes employees feel. I visited a different resort than the one I was staying at to go to the gift shop, and when I told the security guard at the gate what I was doing he asked me to spend a lot of money so he could keep his job. I smiled and said I would, and felt bad for him, but I don't want to feel bad on vacation! if you know what I mean! Keep Disney employees as Disney employees!

 

[fla4fun]

I don't use valet parking (I'm really picky about who drives my car) but I have noticed that I have more issues with loading and unloading in front of the resorts. For example, when I was at BC in April, we called for bell services to get the bags, and I went to get the car. I pulled up in an out of the way area in the entrance circle, and could see my Mom, the bellman, and the cart starting through the first set of doors. Immediately, the valet was all over me, yelling that I couldn't stop, I couldn't get out of the car (remember, I'm not in anyone's way or blocking the drive). Even when I indicated the full bellman's cart headed my way and told him I was just loading the car, he continued to try to force me to leave the area. I finally just ignored him, took care of business, and left as soon as I could. I never had anyone even remotely treat me this way before the outsourcing. Did he expect the belllman to take the luggage all the way to the parking lot?

 

[OKW Lover]

Some very interesting responses here. And it does sound like Disney could improve its service.

When responding, please keep in mind that the poll is asking about a change in service levels. That means comparing the current level of service to what you were accustomed to receiving before the outsourcing started (early this year if I recall correctly). So comments about good/bad experiences should be sure to include this comparison.

 

[plutolovr]

Well, being a DDE cardholder I like to use Valet when dining at other resorts.

I brought my brand new Honda CRV on this past trip (last week) I used the valet twice, once at GF and once at Contemporary. When I returned home I was checking my tire pressures on my car and noticed some damage (scratched, and paint missing) from my front bumper, next to wheel well. Like someone hit a guard rail or something. I know I did not do it. I can only assume that it happened when the valet was driving the car. Hard to prove though. It just makes me sad that if it happened they did not let me know. The car is dark blue and it was not immediately noticeable. I will now have to pay out of my own pocket to have it repaired.

 

[Buzz'sBetterHalf]

Have you noticed a decline in serivce? Not at all.

 

[Tink3Belle]

I think the outsourced people didn't have to attend the meeting on how to bring Magic to the visitors experience or how to be kind to others and considerate!

 

[Dancemom03]

Magic - that's it, thanks... In past years using valet, the magic started and continued at the curb, now you have to look for it inside. No matter which resort we parked at we could count on our A/C being on when we got back in the car and the radio left untouched.
In previous years, doors were opened and sometimes the valet guy was faster getting the stroller out for our youngest princess than DH was. This past trip we not only opened our own doors (not like that's a big deal, just a change) but had to wait/look for someone to take our keys and give us a claim ticket. In the past, the valet guy was standing there writing out that ticket as we pulled in and before DH could even open the door more times than not.
Normally there were Disney Adventures magazines & stickers at the valet stand for the kids too, we didn't find any outside our last trip. In past years you paid once and could park at any resort for the next 24 hours. This year we were told it was suddenly resort specific and we'd have to pay again the same night.

It seemed like there were always several valet guys standing ready nearby, you didn't have to wait or look for them like now. AT BWI this summer, the lady in the valet stand was reading a novel and ignored us completely for quite a while. Some of those who had worked the BC/YC for several years remembered our name and our vehicle each time we visited, reminding us that they hadn't seen us for six months or so and how had we been. Those disney friends were nowhere to be found on either of our last two trips after outsourcing.
We didn't decrease our tip amounts any this summer but we sure didn't get the quick, friendly service we'd been used to and we ended up using valet parking less as a result.

 

[wdw4us2]

I voted Yes for Decline in service since outsourcing.

We have used valet at every one of the deluxe resorts during the past ten years or so. Our first experience with the new valet staff was at the CR in May. After waiting for several minutes for someone to come over to our vehicle, DH finally went over to the desk and asked for some help with the luggage. It took several more minutes and there were only two vehicles besides ours needing luggage help. There was some type of manager working who seemed very flustered every time someone asked him a question.

We also noted the lack of service mentioned in other posts - doors being opened, valet tag on the dashboard, etc. I was also wondering what happened to the CM's who had worked there as some of them had been there since the opening of the CR back in 1971. I later found out that once their jobs were outsourced, they moved over to the WL and are doing various jobs there.

Disney may be saving a few bucks, but this is yet another area where their performance is no longer a cut above the rest.