I am about ready to throw in the towel (rant coming)

[6gr8kidz]

and cancel my ressie with free dining and go somewhere else. I posted the other night about a wonderful CM I dealt with after another CM deleted my 11 yr old son off our ressie so we could "fit" in a cabin. I didn't realize this is what she had done until I called back and asked a question.

We were orginally in the ASMo 8-31/9-8. We had 2 preferred rooms with free dining and a 1day base ticket for all of us except my 2 yr old. The total was $2160.21

So then we decide we wanted to stay in a cabin because the CM said we would fit in it and it was only $478.96 more so I told her to go ahead and move us there. Well after I talked to DH and the kids we all voted (I should have asked the kids before I switched) and they wanted to be where Buzz and Woody were.

So I called back and got the great CM I raved about last night. She told me that it looked like the first CM had removed my 11 yr off our ressie. I would have never agreed to moving the ressies if I would have known that. So therefore his free dining was cancelled. So this CM spent over an hour with me on the phone with Guest services trying to fix it. SHe told me she could get back in my original rooms at the ASMo. She told me she had to make 2 ressies one room I would be in with 3 kids and the other ressie would be DH and the other 3 kids. Ok No problem. I then paid for my package in full. I owe no more. So I ask her to send me an email confirmation. I wait all night. No email.

So I went online and looked up my ressie and the website says my ressie had been cancelled. SO I call back and explain everything again. They tell me they see my ressie it is not cancelled but I owe 99.07. Nope, this was the amount of my last payment made the day before. So another 2 hour phone call and I am told that it is all straightened out. They said they would send another email confirmation.

Well, I got the email and now the darn thing says I owe the full amount. $2160.21 I checked my bank account and all of my payments are debited out of my account. No credits.

So I called and asked for a supervisor, I get the run around and finally she transferred me to Guest relations (not sure if he was a supervisor or not) and he assures me that the old ressie was cancelled and it has a 99.07 credit, it will then be transferred to my new ressie, so I ask again if I can get another email confirmation showing what we have and my account paid in full.

Still nothing.

We are a family of 8 and DH is the only one working. We have worked real hard to save for this vaca not to mention when we get there we plan on upgrading out tickets to FL res seasonal passes and spending another $1,100.
So that is $3260.21 that we will be spending before we even walk through the front gates. I don't understand why it has to be so difficult to get a straight answer. I am ready to cancel my ressies and go to the beach for a week. I wouldn't spend near as much money.

Did I mention that something similar happened to us last year when we checked into the ASSp?? Except we didn't know there was a problem until we checked it. We ended up losing our dinner ressie and were unable to get into bed until after 1am

So I already had a sour taste in my mouth from what happened last year and I figured it was a fluke but now I am wondering if this is the norm. What ever happened to customer service??

I am sad and feel defeated after spending $2160.21 I don't even want to go anymore.

What should I do?? I don't want to wait until we get to the resort to fix it because I am afraid the DIS would be reading about my outburst on the news.

What is the best way to make sure it is handled. I think CM tell me it is handled just to get me off the phone.

 

[Southernson]

After changing my ressie for July something happened and it was showing up canceled on the WDW website. I called every day for a month and was told every thing is O.K. I just took their names and every thing was fine when we got there.

 

[TheLastPrincess]

Oh boy I feel for you. Dealing with the CMs on the phone is NO GOOD!! I have spent hours on the phone with CRO, and only 2 or 3 of the CMs were nice and accomodating, the rest were tired, bored, or just plain mean. I would wait 24 hours, and if you receive nothing still, CALL AGAIN. Don't think for a moment that you are entitled to anything less of a full understanding of where your money is and/or is going. You are giving Disney a couple thousand dollars...you deserve to know!!!!!! Stand your ground!

You know you wouldn't REALLY be happier at the beach, right?

 

[6gr8kidz]

No I wouldn't be happier at the beach but I am exhausted raising 6 children and this year I took on the challenge of homeschooling and I was looking forward to some fun time at Disney. I feel like I have had to jump through hoops to spend my money.

It is crazy, if I owned a business and treated my customers that way I would go bankrupt. It is not like I am asking for the world, I just want a statement showing everything is paid in full and everyone of my family members is on the free dining.

 

[CarolA]

I don't want this to sound cruel... but folks I keep reading things like this.

As a general rule with ANY travel company, the more changes you make the more problems you are going to have. Disney is not unique or different in this, it's just that folks tend to book more complicated vacations there. In this case we have TWO hotel changes made AFTER the booking period was over which means that there have to be folks "overriding" and messing around to try to get your reservation correct.

PLEASE, learn from these posts. Think long and hard before you change things. Make SURE you know what you want to change and are very organized. Most of the errors I have seen posted lately seem to occur when the poster decides the "First change" was not right and wants the origial product or something else.

(Now I have NO idea why the CM would have dumped the 11 year old, that's just WRONG!!! The supervisor should deal with that!)


My brother got to Colorado one time with wife and two kids. No reservation. Of course when the poor hotel clerk FOUND the reservation my SIL looked at the notes and hit my brother. He changed the dang thing every two days. Something went wrong with one of the numerous upgrades/downgrades/ski package etc.....(The hotel did accomodate them since there was a note saying what they were SUPPOSE to have)

 

[TheLastPrincess]

No I wouldn't be happier at the beach but I am exhausted raising 6 children and this year I took on the challenge of homeschooling and I was looking forward to some fun time at Disney. I feel like I have had to jump through hoops to spend my money.

It is crazy, if I owned a business and treated my customers that way I would go bankrupt. It is not like I am asking for the world, I just want a statement showing everything is paid in full and everyone of my family members is on the free dining.

Whoa, loads of pixie dust to you!! I was homeschooled, and I know that it is not an easy thing to do. And recently, it seems, dealing with Disney CMs has become a monster...not like how it used to be in times past when it seemed to be "refreshing." You should read my thoughts about parents who tirelessly plan and pay for Disney trips here:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1460851

Hope it makes you feel a little better.

I'd again demand an email of the reservation, as well as a copy mailed to you. I did this, and received both with no problems.

 

[6gr8kidz]

I agree you should be sure that the changes is what you want. I was swept up in the fact that it was only gonna coast about $500 more for a full kitchen. Dh and the kids were not so pleased. I called back within 10 minutes of changing our ressies.

My point is why can't they get it right the first time. If someone calls and changes something then do it correctly. I am not sure what the CM was thinking. She should have known right off the bat that our family would not fit in a cabin. I asked her repeatedly if she was sure she had everyone because we are a family of 8. She told me the baby didn't count but that still leaves 7. When I asked her again she said "well, it let me book it."

Had I not called back I would have never known that my son was taken off the ressies and therefore off of our dining. After my experience last year at the ASSp I think this would have been a deal breaker for me. I would have asked for my money back and left.

If they are going to allow you to make changes to your ressies after the codes expire they should get it right. IMO.

 

[MariaEllerºoº]

I don't want this to sound cruel... but folks I keep reading things like this.

As a general rule with ANY travel company, the more changes you make the more problems you are going to have. Disney is not unique or different in this, it's just that folks tend to book more complicated vacations there. In this case we have TWO hotel changes made AFTER the booking period was over which means that there have to be folks "overriding" and messing around to try to get your reservation correct.

PLEASE, learn from these posts. Think long and hard before you change things. Make SURE you know what you want to change and are very organized. Most of the errors I have seen posted lately seem to occur when the poster decides the "First change" was not right and wants the origial product or something else.

(Now I have NO idea why the CM would have dumped the 11 year old, that's just WRONG!!! The supervisor should deal with that!)


My brother got to Colorado one time with wife and two kids. No reservation. Of course when the poor hotel clerk FOUND the reservation my SIL looked at the notes and hit my brother. He changed the dang thing every two days. Something went wrong with one of the numerous upgrades/downgrades/ski package etc.....(The hotel did accomodate them since there was a note saying what they were SUPPOSE to have)

I agree that the more changes you make the more likely errors will be made, however, it sounds like she only made one change. Switched from one resort to another and it seems it was the fault of the CM in deleting a child off the original reservations.

Our family has been to Disney too many times to really count since 1971, never having a problem in making reservations until this year. For some reason or another there has been one problem after another in our reservations this year. Has Disney made changes to their reservations systems recently? Either they're having major problems with their systems or customer service and attention to detail is severly lacking which I find odd that Disney would allow it to go to the extent it has when they're suppose to be the best in customer service.

Definitely call Guest Services, speak with the manager and get the documentation that you want. I would also write a letter regarding the problems you have had. Our family is doing the same. Disney can't fix the problems with the system they have in place if they're unaware of the problems.

Hope you'll have a wonderful, magical vacation and all problems fixed asap!

 

[bell.of.the.ball]

Would it be a towel animal your throwing in?

 

[DisneyBride'03]

Love that...towel animal...

Ok..all kidding aside....I feel for you and hope your issues are resolved.

I guess I have been fortunate cause I have changed resorts so many times... Luckily, its just 2 of us and the baby...components have stayed the same , just the resorts changed. I have been fortunate with CM's...however, now a days, it really depends on who you get. Some are more willing to help.
I originally had free dining, and then went to another package with a code, and saved $$.

The Cm I talked to on Sat just loved and gushed abt loving her job!!

Please try and talk to someone else...dont give up! There are great CM's out there....and the Disney site is not the best at times either!!!!

 

[fla4fun]

I agree with the poster that suggested asking for a snail mail confirmation. There have been a lot of posts about emails not arriving for one reason or another, so at least you would get something that way. BTW, you did check your spam/junk mail, just in case? I've heard of emails being routed there in error also.

I hope everything works out and you have a great trip!

 

[eliza61]

Ok, first take a deep breathe. You've just hit a bit of a snag, unfortunately whenever there are a lot of changes things can go south. Now, I would make sure YOU keep track of the names, times of call and any thing else important. keep a little log. Ask for snail mail with every change. Hang in there, you'll have a great vacation.

 

[EltonJohn]

Speaking as a former reservationist for an extremely popular national park I can tell you that some reservations can get very complicated. Especially when there are several people and multiple rooms, cancellations, etc. The CMs you work with are really trying to do their job, and depending upon which reservations computer program (my park's computer program is somewhat complicated) they are using-guests reservations can get easily complicated. Try to keep that in mind while sorting out your reservations-it will save you some headaches Please do not lose your cool over the phone~the last thing a reservationists needs is someone screaming in their ear. Ranting here is a good thing!

 

[skipperkim]

You should call back and ask for snail, or overnight, mail of your ressie info. Also, if it would make you feel better, call the resort. See what their system shows. You could always leave a message with the general manager. I've had trouble a few years back when they changed the AP discount method. The hotel asst general mgr made everything right for our room. Gave us the rate we were suppose to have gotten. I never could get a correct email out of Disney. Hope this all helps, and you end up having a great vacation.

 

[6gr8kidz]

Thanks guys I will call and ask for snail mail. I understand that since we have 8 people and are using 2 rooms it can get complicated. However, if the one CM would not have deleted my son we would not be having an issue. I still don't understand how when I am paid in full they can say I owe the full amount. How do they lose $2160? I am sure it was a mistake on the CM's part.

I even posted the other night about what a good job this one particular CM had done. I just think that the CM's are limited in what they CAN do and they rely on guest services. If GS tells them it will get done, they have no reason not to believe it. However, someone is dropping the ball. I shouldn't have to spend hours and hours on the phone trying to prove I paid in full. Even they will admit that it "is all taken care of" and then won't send a confirmation showing paid in full. I just don't get it.

Thanks for listening to my rant. I would never go off on someone over the phone. Now if I was standing in resort at check in and I had the same problems that would be a different story

 

[kim5678]

I feel for you and I hope all is correct when you arrive. Take a deep breath....

It will be a great trip!

 

[Catrinabeach]

Just so that everyone knows. I was told the other day by guest services that they just got a new computer system about 2 wks ago now and they have been having trouble making changes since they got it.

It took them a week to complete a change on our ressie. And I had them calling me to let me know when they finally completed it and making sure they had it correct. I actually had 2 people call to check. It took time but they got it right in the end which is all that matters to me.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

You should call back and ask for snail, or overnight, mail of your ressie info. Also, if it would make you feel better, call the resort. See what their system shows. You could always leave a message with the general manager. I've had trouble a few years back when they changed the AP discount method. The hotel asst general mgr made everything right for our room. Gave us the rate we were suppose to have gotten. I never could get a correct email out of Disney. Hope this all helps, and you end up having a great vacation.

Unfortunatly the resort won't have your ressie info until about 5 days before you check in so CRO is the contact point.
OP- not sure why the CM even offered you the FW cabins at best they will sleep 6+an infant in the pack-n-play, sounds like you group was too big the squeeze in(1 set of bunks and 2 double beds).
Take a deep breath, call again, and have a great vacation when you get there

 

[agnes!]

Oh, I know what this is all about!

You guys, it's the changeover from the old ressie system (much-beloved by me) to the new system that was announced as starting around in June (maybe the 23rd?)! You know, it's all tied together with the January 2008 - No More Starting in Value Season and Keeping That Cheaper Rate for Your Whole Stay.

Disney fixed it (didn't they ).

agnes!

 

[6gr8kidz]

[QUOTE- not sure why the CM even offered you the FW cabins at best they will sleep 6+an infant in the pack-n-play, sounds like you group was too big the squeeze in(1 set of bunks and 2 double beds).
:[/QUOTE]

I agree our family is too big to fit in a cabin hence the reason I asked her numerous times if she was sure she got everyone.