Have you ever lied on the survey

[Iamaplanner]

We got hit with it two-fold. The Head Server was giving us the 'you must give your server excellent as it is a direct reflection on him' speech. Then of course our server gave us the 'please give me excellent' speech too. We had no issues per se so we did give an 'excellent' rating but I wish it wasn't presented to us in this way.

 

[squirk]

Another thing that we hear too often is how much they work and how hard they work, describing it as if I couldn't understand what it's like. My wife and I work a lot of long, hard, stressful hours during the multiple tax seasons, I suspect that many people have to work a lot to pay for Disney cruises. We had our Palo experience ruined once by a server who wouldn't let up about how hard he works. It's a real downer, like they are trying to make us feel bad. I would never say that kind of thing to my clients, they shouldn't either.

I agree it is uncomfortable and unprofessional, and it is hard to avoid the suspicion that they are not just dishing and being conversational, but rather playing a guilt-trip on us to boost their tip.

That having been said, I've worked long stressful hours as a waiter and I've worked long stressful hours in white-collar jobs as well. Frankly, there is no comparison. I will take a 16-hour white-collar job over a DCL server's 16-hour shift, working for low pay far away from home and stuck sharing cramped quarters with a complete stranger for six months at a pop, any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

[tink1970]

I am at the point where I cynically doubt any part of the Disney Corporate System cares what I truly think...so I do what I do for my annoying car dealer, grit my teeth and say "excellent" which means to me, "don't tell the king he has on no clothes."

 

[squirk]

I am at the point where I cynically doubt any part of the Disney Corporate System cares what I truly think...so I do what I do for my annoying car dealer, grit my teeth and say "excellent" which means to me, "don't tell the king he has on no clothes."

I think they care to the extent that they need to know when you are almost (but not quite) dissatisfied enough to take your money elsewhere. I also wonder if there's some psychological modeling at play here - with a heavy hand, they make you feel obligated (out of guilt or whatever) to mark "excellent" on your surveys, even if the service was "just OK".

Three, six, nine months down the line, I wonder if the average DCL guest (not freaks like us) tends to remember the "just OK" experience as "excellent" because they remember "excellent" as what they marked on the survey. And if so, they are thus more inclined to book again.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

have you ever lied on the end of cruise survey. I have one cruise I had really bad service from the server. But he was so nice and kept apologizing for all the mistakes I just couldn't give him a bad report. So I gave him all the top ones. But if people keep doing that lie the bad ones will stay. I guess I should of been honest.

We have not lied on our surveys. In your case I would have mentioned the issues you were having with your servers but also make mention that they were aware of the problems and were making an honest attempt to fix them (if they were making the attempt). Because your servers were aware of the problems I may have only addressed the major/recurring issues in the survey. And if this was a common problem and showing up in other surveys on this team; than hopefully they would be given the opportunity for additional training.

 

[CheriePenguin]

It seems every single store/restaurant/phone survey/website etc. has a survey they want you to complete these days. When they are optional, I tend to only fill them out if I was extremely pleased or if there was a problem - I generally try to be honest when giving my opinions, and I have a hard time checking "excellent" or their highest rating if it was fine/good/acceptable but not extraordinary. But so often there seems to be pressure to give nothing less than the highest rating or they will be judged unacceptable. I would hope that "good" and "very good" (or the equivalent) would be considered good and very good by those evaluating the surveys. If "good" doesn't mean good, then why list it as good? As someone else suggested, then have more of a pass/fail set of choices.

 

[phinz]

I've never heard a DCL employee talk about how hard they work unless asked, and even then they played it down. I've not heard a single complaint. The most they have done tell us where they'll be for what shift at Castaway Cay so that we can come see them. I get this from the bartenders more than servers.

 

[TestingH2O]

Car dealer question. When I bought my car a year ago I really did think my guy was excellent in everything. However there were questions about the brand too. While I like the brand and think highly enough of it to have bought another, I also don't think they are prefect. Did my guy get in trouble because I said I thought the brand was very good?

 

[NZMUM]

What annoys me most is when they keep repeating the "excellent rating" speech and you're wearing a platinum lanyard.
After the first time I want to ask them if they think we don't know the spiel already, but I just can't be rude because I know how hard they work everyday, so I just sit and listen.

What about wearing a Gold lanyard and on the 2nd leg of a back to back with the same servers. Still got a reminder of excellence.
We have cruised 2 years in a row and have thought the "excellence speech" has not been as bad as it was a few years ago. It seemed more of a reminder than a full on speech. Maybe it was just our servers. But still, we've obviously cruised before. We do know about excellence.
No we haven't lied, we've had great servers. But I would feel guilty if we put anything but excellent.

 

[squirk]

I've never heard a DCL employee talk about how hard they work unless asked, and even then they played it down. I've not heard a single complaint.

I have had this experience, more than once. It's certainly not every front-line server, and some genuinely *do* seem like they are just venting and not just angling for an enhanced tip. Or perhaps they are just really good at appearing genuine.

And if we are being fair, this kind of thing happens back home, too. Not the surveys, but the uncomfortable over-sharing of the tales of woe by tipped employees.

 

[Sir William]

I nip that little exercise in the bud. I let them do the "excellent" speech..... once. And then say "OK, you've done your speech, now I don't want to hear it again." And I mean it. If they start in again, I remind them of what I've said, and if they still persist, it's time to talk to the head server. I've actually only had to do the second step once, and never had to go to the head server, but I would.

I don't let it influence me, and mark the survey truthfully. I also bring along extra paper on the cruise to include comments, as the survey card only has 3 little lines for comment, and that's never enough.

And they now include in the survey:
View attachment 157211

I do much the same. We've been fortunate that our serving staff and steward (on every cruise) have only "solicited" us no more than once and then only at the end of the cruise. I just smile, say something the to the effect that "we will be happy to provide an honest evaluation of their efforts". Fortunately, we've always had very good servers and stewards, except for the one or two assistant servers learning the ropes who seem to finally get it all together by the end of the cruise. I'm understanding in that regard, but I will note on the survey if it took them longer than a few days to learn about our beverage preferences.

I've also started to carry a small notebook with me to note down the names of any CM who have gone provided that little bit of extra service. I like to recognize outstanding servers I've had at breakfast or lunch, or staff at guest services, or a bartender, etc, but if I don't make a note of it at the time I've forgotten who they are by the end of the cruise. I've also mentioned their names to their senior officer at the various receptions. I know this gets back to them as I've had CM thank me for the commendation I gave to their department head (one was from GS who said she really appreciated it as they normally only get negative comments from unhappy guests).

I try to be honest but fair in my evaluations. I have a high expectation aboard Disney but I also realize that sometimes people have an off day. I'm forgiving the first time around, but not the second time, or if they really mess up the first time (very, very rare).

 

[Sir William]

This is a big deal to me and my wife. I like your idea Shmoo, I also wish they would just recognize we are Platinum and understand we have heard it many times. Another thing that we hear too often is how much they work and how hard they work, describing it as if I couldn't understand what it's like. My wife and I work a lot of long, hard, stressful hours during the multiple tax seasons, I suspect that many people have to work a lot to pay for Disney cruises. We had our Palo experience ruined once by a server who wouldn't let up about how hard he works. It's a real downer, like they are trying to make us feel bad. I would never say that kind of thing to my clients, they shouldn't either.

I've had a couple of CM stress how hard they work. My response was that I can sympathize as I was in the Navy and worked 20 hour days for weeks on end, often eating only 1 meal a day and several times going 3 days or more without sleep or even a shower.

I truly appreciate how hard they work, but as the saying goes, "been there, done that" so I don't really want to hear it.

 

[JMHDisney]

One of my servers once told me that the marks for quality of food are held against the servers "because it is our job to make sure you enjoy your meal." Well, I had an excellent server and some less than excellent food. I inflated the grade, but it bugged me because there was absolutely nothing he could have done about the taste of the meals. That shouldn't be held against the servers.

 

[NZMUM]

One of my servers once told me that the marks for quality of food are held against the servers "because it is our job to make sure you enjoy your meal." Well, I had an excellent server and some less than excellent food. I inflated the grade, but it bugged me because there was absolutely nothing he could have done about the taste of the meals. That shouldn't be held against the servers.

We've been told that too. And also that all the comments about the food areas (excluding Palo/Remy) is scored for/against them, i.e. Cabanas, Flo's. Have heard that from 2 different servers.
I don't see how the quality of the food is the servers fault. Nor is the what goes on in the other areas.

 

[Quellman]

I've never in 5 cruises had the "excellence rating" speech from any of the people. I wouldn't ever lie on the survey. But in the case of the original poster, if I had problems with the wait staff I would let the head server know immediately. It is their job to make sure their people are living up to expectations. You didn't pay money to be forced to suffer through poor service and mistakes. I understand a mix up here and there, but it sounds like there was more to it. To each their own. I don't demand perfection, and I do appreciate the hard work these folks do. My tip at the end of the cruise does reflect that.

 

[Adreyer]

I just wish that the dining staff would quit begging for the highest marks and let people decide for them selves when filling out the survey.

This was the only thing I lied about... that I felt pressured to leave an "excellent" rating. I totally felt pressured, but at the same time... service was excellent, so that would have been my rating anyway. It was still insanely annoying to be reminded every single night.

 

[turtle27]

I don't lie, much to DM's dismay. She falls for the whole "we need excellent ratings" speech. I get it, I do. But if you are asking me to give you an excellent rating, then you know you have not provided excellent service. That is my opinion. If a person has been providing excellent service, there should be no need to ask for the review. I was even told to say the food was excellent. Our service on the last cruise was so slow that we were given food that was not great a few times, but did not want to wait for new items to be brought out. And in the MDR's, getting your steak cooked at the correct temperature seems to be a gamble each and every time... I am still not waiting for a new entree, when there are 5 other people at the table, 4 of whom I do not know well. Nor, do I want an already over-long dinner service to turn into another 30 minutes. I don't think we were ever out of the MDR before 10:15 or 10:30 this past cruise. We had to rush up to the fireworks and timed it just about 3 minutes before the fireworks actually started, we had missed most of the show. Then, there were a few times, the food was just not to our liking, again, not going to say anything, because we did not want any more food brought out. Or the chef to come by and inquire as to what was wrong. My DM was upset that I was honest on the survey. I figure there is no room for improvement if you lie and say excellent. I also really dislike being given the spiel of how to rate them excellent. It bothers me, each and every time.

I also do not mind if they mention they have been working hard, but once is enough. I am on vacation. While my choice of careers/jobs is not theirs, I do not sit and talk to them about my 80+ hour work weeks. Or working 7 days a week for months out of the year. It is my choice. I worked hard to have a relaxing vacation. I know you work hard too. Don't try to give me a guilt trip.

 

[gruffudd242]

Perhaps I'm an outlier, but in the 5 cruises that we've taken I have never gotten the "we need excellent ratings" speech. The only comments we've gotten is that it's important to fill out the survey, but not specifically addressing the ratings.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

One of my servers once told me that the marks for quality of food are held against the servers "because it is our job to make sure you enjoy your meal." Well, I had an excellent server and some less than excellent food. I inflated the grade, but it bugged me because there was absolutely nothing he could have done about the taste of the meals. That shouldn't be held against the servers.

We've been told that too. And also that all the comments about the food areas (excluding Palo/Remy) is scored for/against them, i.e. Cabanas, Flo's. Have heard that from 2 different servers.
I don't see how the quality of the food is the servers fault. Nor is the what goes on in the other areas.

I agree, however it's not the "taste of the food" that's going against the server. It's once they find you don't like the food, they don't get you something else that you do like. I believe that food that comes back into the kitchen (for whatever reason) is monitored by the kitchen management for correction. But that's not covered under the survey.

 

[TestingH2O]

I appreciated how our dining team handled it last summer.

Night 1: "Our goal is to have everything be excellent. If, for some reason, you are not having an excellent experience, please let us know right away so we can fix it."

Other nights after food came out: "Is everything excellent?"

Final Night: "We hope everything has been excellent and that you will share your thoughts on the surveys. Your feedback is very important."

That was it. Clearly they want you to make the word association, but it never felt like pressure.