Horrendous resort experiences & compensation?

[Kira G.]

that stinks..we usually do the Beach and to save money we wanted to try POR because we loved the atmosphere.Maybe we should take our car to the parks and go at a downtime..did u enjoy the room and food.I liked the food court..tried it once.Any good things at all?The Poly is my next pick and it is even pricier than the Beach

Just for a different take on the resort - we stayed at POR right before the poster who had the complaints (we saw that LONGGG check-in line as we were leaving). We had a lovely time, and no problems with the buses or anything else. I am not discounting their experience, however ours was very different.

If you are interested in staying there, I highly recommend giving it a try.

 

[dawz1026]

Just for a different take on the resort - we stayed at POR right before the poster who had the complaints (we saw that LONGGG check-in line as we were leaving). We had a lovely time, and no problems with the buses or anything else. I am not discounting their experience, however ours was very different.

If you are interested in staying there, I highly recommend giving it a try.

thanks for the post..We just could not get over how pretty the place seemed and reasonably priced! As we always will love the Beach Club as it was our first and main place to stay I need a change! and saving some money helps too!

 

[jenjersnap]

I've had two issues at Disney resorts, both of which I attempted to deal with while on site.

The one at AKL was not settled to my satisfaction. My follow up letter went unanswered. As a consequence, I will never willingly choose AKL again. It is my oldest DS's favorite resort so I know I will be back ... but grudgingly, lol. Even visiting to go to Boma or Jiko gives me a sick feeling from the memory.

Second issue was at the BC. A front desk CM really, really screwed up and checked us out early. S/he didn't follow the correct protocols, obviously, and checked out the wrong room. We got back really late and our keys didn't work. Took two hours to figure out. The manager comped us a night (or nearly that amount), but insisted on paying us in cash and not crediting our card which is a brilliant strategy because, of course, we spent the cash on Disney goodies so they got it all back! I was very happy with the resolution, mostly because the manager said that they were going to reinforce to the front desk CMs the proper steps, was apologetic and hands on (gave us his business card and told me to call anytime) and the compensation was an unexpected bonus. We are happily returning to BC in September.

 

[DISNUT21]

The one at AKL was not settled to my satisfaction. My follow up letter went unanswered. As a consequence, I will never willingly choose AKL again. It is my oldest DS's favorite resort so I know I will be back ... but grudgingly, lol. Even visiting to go to Boma or Jiko gives me a sick feeling from the memory.

jenjersnap, I am curious as to what occured at AKL during your stay. We are leaving wednesday on a magical gatherings and your comment worried me.

 

[jenjersnap]

jenjersnap, I am curious as to what occured at AKL during your stay. We are leaving wednesday on a magical gatherings and your comment worried me.

Check your PM.

 

[Me&3]

1) It does make a difference to whom you write.
2) A general letter does not do much good.
3) Our problems were actually almost trivial
. . . one phone extension didn't work the whole trip
. . . some bathroom mold
. . . a stick balcony door
4) Like anything else, it all depends on how you complain.

Can I have the Magical address and a copy of your letter PLEASE

 

[Blessedx3]

We stayed at CR CL at the begining of Feb this year. From the moment we walked in the room there were issues. That continued through our entire 8 day stay and actually resulted in what could have been serious health issues. We did talk to a manager several times, but the issues kept mounting. Upon returning home I did write a letter of complaint. It was short and to the point, yet still polite. I was contacted by both guest services as well as whomever handles their health complaints. I was also compensated as well as receiving 5 5 day water park passes. I am grateful Disney addressed my issues/concerns but will NEVER stay at CR again because of it. I will of course be back to Disney.

 

[tryntje]

We experienced a check in problem at AKL and received compensation from the manager that took care of the problem. My DH did ask for compensation, mostly in the form of perhaps a courtesy breakfast pass, but we received a monetary credit posted to our room that was very generous. Our son, for whom we were there to celebrate his high school graduation, received a tray with cookies and a chocolate elephant that were adorable and delicious. We had not informed them previously that our stay was in celebration of an event, but it did come up when we expressed our disappointment at being told the room would be ready at 4, leaving the park early to get back and get settled before dinner, only to find we had to wait another hour for the room.

We thought the tray was very thoughtful and it showed that they truly had listen to us and personalized our issue and wanted to make it right for our son.

 

[miprender]

After reading some responses that Disney did not even acknowledge your problems I am quite shocked. We had a horrible stay in 2006. Not so much with the resort but with the transportation. We were staying at the Pop with my then 3 yr DD and 10mth DS plus my DH, and mom. This was our first time there with children and using the buses.

Well almost everytime we would get on the buses with our strollers the bus drivers would yell at us for taking too much room, not getting on the bus fast enough, etc... Mind you my poor DH was handling the two strollers by himself as my mom and I both had a child in our hands. It got to the point that we ended up using taxis a few times toward the end of trip. I was getting sick just thinking of the buses.

Well I let it simmer for about a year until I finally wrote a letter. And they sent a letter back saying sorry for our experience and to call her with any questions or to discuss with her further about our complaint. I never did call her but I was just happy that they acknowledged our frustration. Of course a free comp vacation would have been just as good LOL!!!! But at least I received a response.

In response to the fight at the PO, I always felt safer staying on Disney property... but I will keep in mind to call 911 first.

 

[disneylooper]

We have had two issues at WDW , both dealing with housekeeping issues, both with unresponsive managers and both with castmembers that really did not seem to care. And we have stayed in WDW resorts many times but I do think their housekeeping is declining.
One issue was at Pop Century, my daughter found a feminine pad stuck to her sheet, she had slept with it all night. When the manager finally came to our room, he would not touch it but he told my daughter that it was okay that it was stuck to her sheet. We did get one night compensation.
And the other just happened the end of June at POFQ, we found two prescription pills on our bedspread when we arrived, coffee in the sink in both of our rooms, no soap and we ran out of toilet paper, they did not leave an extra roll. Housekeeping either doesn't answer their phone or they put you on hold. It took us three hours to resolve this, we were compensated one hundred dollars.

 

[tgropp]

whenever you have a bad experience its best to take care of it immediately.dont wait till you get home to call. the odds of them giving you anyhting at that point are slim, mostly because youve already gotten what you paid for by that time.for exsample i own a restaurant, if you send the food back after the 2nd bite im going to get you new food and you wont pay for it, but if you eat the whole meal and then complain, you are only getting a sorry, you did eat the food. if you voice your complaints on the spot 9 time sout of 10 they will move you or whatever it is you need to make the sitation right.

This is good advice, but I always prefer to wait until I get home. Don't ask me why? Anyway, we went to the WL in Feb of 2007 and the main pool was closed. We were told that we could not use the villas pool since it was for their guests only, so we rented a villa at WL. We could never get near the pool, since it is small and everyone at the hotel was using it. I contacted Member Services when I got home and told them what had happened and when we went back last Dec, they gave us a choice of preferred Illuminations viewing or a gift basket. We took the gift basket which was very nice. When I got home, I phoned to thank them and the original person who helped me called back and said it was so nice that I called them back to say that I was satisfied.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

Well, I have to say the one thing I've learned from reading all 9 pages is to NEVER CALL FROM THE ROOM TO COMPLAIN - GO DOWN TO THE FRONT DESK. Yeah, its gona suck to walk all that way (especially in the middle of the night), but it seems to me that it will save a whole lot of time and trouble.
The only issue we ever had was during a stay in the Boardwalk. After a few nights there, I went into my suitcase to get some clothes and I found a roach!!!! I totally freeked, and wanted to call the front desk, but DH wouldn't let me for whatever reason. He said that we had no proof that the roach came from the hotel, and that it probally got into the suit case from the airport. Oh well, I always wonder what would have happened if I had complained.... maybe next trip!! J/K!

 

[dawz1026]

Beach Club April 2007-had room cleanliness issues-wrote 2 letters and sent 2 emails and recieved a phone call (took about a month) from exec office and they gave a free night at Beach or Yacht Club and 4 1 day park hoppers.

Beach Club April 2008-we booked 5 noght and used the free night-WHEN WE ARRIVED WE WERE UPGRADED TO CONCIERGE LEVEL ROOM A LAKE VIEW! I guess it depends who you talk to!