Here Now. Is it just me or are cast members not as friendly?

[GPC0321]

Expecting extras is out of line. I totally agree.

The thing about customer service at a place like Disney is that a good attitude, and respecting the people they deal with are parts of the job description. I don't get to pick which parts of my job description I want to do and which I don't. If I fail I would be dismissed.

Disney managed to gain the reputation of great customer service and I do still expect it. It is a part of what I love about visiting.

But sometimes "having a good attitude" to one guest is "not doing their job" to another. For example. If you've been standing in line at a character spot for 30 - 45 minutes and the party ahead of you decides to fumble around with three different cameras, taking three times as long as it should, then you might expect the CM to address the situation with that party of people so that they know they aren't being considerate of you and the others still waiting. Likewise, if you have left your stroller outside of a restaurant and are holding an infant while eating your meal, you might not be happy to see a party of ten people with an infant in a stroller come rolling up into the middle of the place. You might complain that the rules aren't being enforced fairly. And you'd be right.

I've seen people on here get irritated when CMs DON'T "do their jobs" by enforcing rules and policing inappropriate behavior. But then when they DO their jobs and enforce rules and police inappropriate behavior, suddenly they're being rude??

They're darned if they do, darned if they don't.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Why couldn't your 8-month old sit in a high chair?

Not all 8 month olds are able to sit independently yet. All children meet developmental milestones at different times.

We brought dd to wdw at 8 months, and she could not sit in high chairs at all. She didn't sit independently until 10 months old. Thankfully all of the CS places we went to, including BOG/Pecos Bill's/American qs in epcot/flame tree (all I can remember), were accommodating when we explained she was unable to sit up in a high chair and they allowed us to bring her stroller in. (No fighting or arguing. We politely asked, and they said ok. If they hadn't we would have held her).

As for table service, Chef Mickey's had infant high chairs that are used for those unable to sit independently, which was much appreciated. We held her at the Coral Reef as strollers aren't allowed in the pavilion at all. At Tony's, which was at the beginning of the trip, we had tried to put her in a high chair, but even with our jackets attempting to prop her up, she was unable to sit there. She ended up almost laying backwards, so we ended up holding her a bit there also.

 

[cruisingtwins]

I don't think disney was the employer that it was a long time ago. CM's are overworked and unhappy and that reflects on their performance. The CP provides them with the cheapest labor possible and you have thousands of kids eager to do it. I think the purpose of the CP changed along the way. I think it was originally a great opportunity for kids to get experience and maybe a way to get started with the Disney corporation. At some point Disney realized the gold mine they were sitting in and created more and more jobs for the CP. I think is insane that college students are doing housekeeping and bossing tables as part of an internship program. The trade off for this is a diminishing of quality of service it seems Disney is ok with it.

 

[Burnedout]

But sometimes "having a good attitude" to one guest is "not doing their job" to another. For example. If you've been standing in line at a character spot for 30 - 45 minutes and the party ahead of you decides to fumble around with three different cameras, taking three times as long as it should, then you might expect the CM to address the situation with that party of people so that they know they aren't being considerate of you and the others still waiting. Likewise, if you have left your stroller outside of a restaurant and are holding an infant while eating your meal, you might not be happy to see a party of ten people with an infant in a stroller come rolling up into the middle of the place. You might complain that the rules aren't being enforced fairly. And you'd be right.

I've seen people on here get irritated when CMs DON'T "do their jobs" by enforcing rules and policing inappropriate behavior. But then when they DO their jobs and enforce rules and police inappropriate behavior, suddenly they're being rude??

They're darned if they do, darned if they don't.

One can usually enforce rules without being rude or yelling imo. I train teachers and parents all the time this skill.

Yes if there is an immediate danger there is sometimes a call to yell. But most times a simple "you need to do this that or the other thing" works better and makes more people want to behave themselves. The more cm's hat are just crabby the less people will tend to believe there is a real concern.

Example...I was dealing with a little guy who decided to puke in a line. Out of nowhere...and my middle son sat on the wall. A gem of a cm came over and could have growled and could have yelled. She laughed, made a joke with him and asked him to get down. Then she got someone to help me guard the mess I had to deal with. She could have been crabby about puke too. Justifiably. And gave a sticker to the sickly kid. She was a hero that day. If she had yelled I would have cried at that point. My husband who had the other kid with him exchanged children and I was able to not only talk to her supervisor but also stopped at the town hall to fill out a letter about her.

 

[mdoc]

When we were at WDW during Christmas week, there was one cast member at TSMM who wasn't quite magical. Not rude, but not particularly nice, either. I really noticed it because it was the first time in dozens of trips where I experienced a cast member who wasn't friendly and helpful. However, I doubt it's a trend - more likely someone having a bad day. I'm surprised that doesn't happen more often.

 

[MainMom]

We were at WDW 8 days in July. I cannot recall one rude cast member. However, I can tell stories of many rude guests both to someone in my party and to cast members.

 

[kdisser]

Yes we went back in October and yes we encountered many unpleasant CMs, majority with an attitude of "I'm here for a paycheck not to give you an experience". This was not my first trip so I know the Disney experience given from the workers. Oddly enough the times we encountered the unpleasant CMs was in Magic Kingdom. All the other parks were top notch. I will return to the world because I love it, but it is sad seeing the experience go down.

 

[Hopelessly_Devoted]

Based on the fact that every month I see a new thread on this topic, it may be happening to more guests than previously but not to everyone.

That is a very fair statement. We met so many wonderful cast on out last trip, but there are some who are unpleasant or give the impression they hate their jobs. The awesome CMs way way way outweigh the grumpy ones.

 

[mickeychickie]

I've been coming to Disney since the year it opened... Many more times a year as an adult, and I definitely see the difference in CM attitudes. I've been on the receiving end of that training and can tell you that the training itself is very intense when it comes to how guests are to be treated at all times... I just think their cast member selection is not as intense anymore

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Frankly, I don't is it as a CM problem. As so many other posters have noted it's a rude , nasty and I want this or.that and I want it now attitude on more and.more guests.

I see it many areas, stores, ofices, other parks, etc., where customer service is.so hard to.provide becuase the customers are plain rude.and nasty.


AKK

 

[leebee]

27 trips to WDW over 17 years... I've seen a LOT of CMs and 99.9% of the time, they have been great. The security guy at bag check who wouldn't let me bring in the gift for my BFF was great, even though it meant that I had to leave a $12 jar of blueberry jam in the trash can. He didn't bark or yell... he was apologetic and sympathetic, explained WHY it had to go in the trash (no glass allowed in), even asked if I had a different container or ziplock bag to dump the jam into. Was I sorry that I had to dump the gift? Sure, but I wasn't mad at the guard or expecting compensation or anything, because he handled the situation well. I left the bag check area wishing I'd known about the glass rule, but I wasn't rude and neither was the security guy- he just did his job in the best way possible. OTOH, at DS in Nov., we couldn't get the FP+ kiosk to work (getting a 4th FP+). No matter how many times I touched the touch screen, it wouldn't change screens. I tried the OTHER touch screen, with the same results. I touched the touch screens and nothing happened. There were 2 CMs within 10 feet of me, obviously assigned to working at the FP+ kiosk, chatting with each other (and one was also scrolling through her phone), paying no attention to what was happening even though I was saying things to DD like "It won't work" and "Did I do something wrong?" I finally went over to them, waited for a break in their conversation (because they weren't making eye contact), and politely asked for help with the kiosk ("Excuse me, but I can't figure out how to make the FP+ machine work."). Big sigh, eye roll, and then one stalked over to the touch screen saying, "You have to use your KNUCKLE, (big sigh) like THIS (another sigh)" as she was madly poking at the choices on the screen. I got a dose of her seriously bad attitude because I interrupted her conversation with her friend. THAT is not acceptable, even if she HAD just had an ugly guest before me (which she didn't because we'd been there for about 5 minutes, trying to get the touch screen to work). I had a problem and was polite about asking for help. Her reaction was totally out of line for anyone, Disney CM or Walmart cashier.

AND I don't buy into the "it's hot, they get paid crap" line of thought. They knew what the climate and rate of pay would be before taking the job. No sympathy there. If they didn't realize what the job entailed, they knew by the end of their training what the expectations are; Disney is pretty clear on that. If you cannot turn your phone off for an 8 hour shift, time to find a different job. I DO understand that guests are becoming more demanding, more wanting to do what they want and not follow rules, etc., but I still don't think that's an excuse to be rude. I've held many jobs where I worked with the public all day, and I KNOW how rude people can be. MY job was to cool down, shake it off, collect myself, and deal with the next person in a polite, responsible way. If you can't do that, you need to find another job.

 

[mom2rtk]

Frankly, I don't is it as a CM problem. As so many other posters have noted it's a rude , nasty and I want this or.that and I want it now attitude on more and.more guests.

I see it many areas, stores, ofices, other parks, etc., where customer service is.so hard to.provide becuase the customers are plain rude.and nasty.


AKK

I think you need to broaden that out to the entire population. And there's the problem. Disney is hiring from the same population pool their guests come from.

 

[Shanti]

Never interacted with a rude CM but have interacted with indifferent ones. (I think some people on the boards equate lack of effusiveness or cheer with rudeness.) There is still a lot of cheer and goodwill, however.

Increasingly bad guest behavior, lack of training, and decreasing pay & benefits (some will say this shouldn't matter but it is harder to be chipper when you're being shafted) might account for some of the drop off in CM "magic", though like I said, I have never seen any CM be unprofessional or rude.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I think you need to broaden that out to the entire population. And there's the problem. Disney is hiring from the same population pool their guests come from.

Well for that is follow though, you would have to belI've 100% of the population is rude and nasty.......I don't think it is anywhere near 100%. There is much smaller group with *entitlement syndrome*.

Many of the postings I read about rude CM's are often not about a CM's being rude as more some guest wanted somethjng and didn't get it.

AKK

 

[mom2rtk]

Well for that is follow though, you would have to belI've 100% of the population is rude and nasty.......I don't think it is anywhere near 100%. There is much smaller group with *entitlement syndrome*.

Many of the postings I read about rude CM's are often not about a CM's being rude as more some guest wanted somethjng and didn't get it.

AKK

No, I don't think 100% of the population is rude and nasty. I just think it's entirely possible the issue is coming from both sides.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

No, I don't think 100% of the population is rude and nasty. I just think it's entirely possible the issue is coming from both sides.

Haaa. Om, just somethjng we never experienced ....a rude or nasty CM. I really.feel its.more the result of the many rude and.nasty guests we have seen over the visits/ years.

AKK

 

[RhodyChief]

Do people realize how mean, nasty and entitled some of the people are who come to Disney?

When I was in AK on Tuesday I was going to use the restroom and an elderly CM was trying to push a large trash container through the doorway. A teenager (maybe 13 or 14) was blocking his path so he couldn't get by and then the teen proceeds to scream at the top of his lungs "MOVE!!!!!!" to the CM. The man (who was from Africa and might not have spoken English well) stared straight at this brat with a stern look on his face and did the move back motion with his hand. The kid finally moves and then nearly knocks over the man as he's getting the bin out. I commend this gentleman for not rolling him over with it.

So if not every single cast member you see has a big plastic grin plastered on their face 24/7 and doesn't spread pixie dust on every moment of your trip, maybe just remember how poorly they are treated by so many of the guests that go there and just be nice to them without expecting some over the top act/response in return.

 

[anniemae]

I think also with the increasing crowds it's making it harder to get that individual special service that so many expect. People are flooding DW year round. The parks and resorts are busier than ever and cm's are having to deal with hoards of people and it makes it harder to give personalized service. It's kind of like going to an upscale restaurant during a non peak time where there are many, many wait staff and fewer patrons vs. a fast food restaurant at high noon when you just have to move people and keep everyone on track.

I think the cm's don't have time to give that individual attention all the time. Now a days its more about moving the folks, keeping everyone safe, loading them up, shipping them out etc. Not that they are rude, just busy and focused.

 

[ArwenMarie]

People maybe be getting ruder, but that is no excuse for someone who works in customer service to be rude, ever. There is always a baseline of courtesy to be respected and sometimes that means as the worker you have to swallow your pride and be the bigger person. If things are really getting out of hand, then call in a supervisor or whatever.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think also with the increasing crowds it's making it harder to get that individual special service that so many expect. People are flooding DW year round. The parks and resorts are busier than ever and cm's are having to deal with hoards of people and it makes it harder to give personalized service. It's kind of like going to an upscale restaurant during a non peak time where there are many, many wait staff and fewer patrons vs. a fast food restaurant at high noon when you just have to move people and keep everyone on track.

I think the cm's don't have time to give that individual attention all the time. Now a days its more about moving the folks, keeping everyone safe, loading them up, shipping them out etc. Not that they are rude, just busy and focused.

I agree, I think the crowds are taking their toll IMO. They may also be understaffing relative to the crowd levels. I've thought that for a while at the resorts regarding housekeeping as an example.