I'm fuming!!!

[kabbie]

That's a function of state law. Some states, according to other posters including FL, prohibit a hotel from evicting a guest who overstays their reservation. The hotel can charge rack rate but can't physically evict the guest.

I tell guests about the law all the time when I have to "walk" someone, but it's never the real reason why I have to walk them. It's usually just the fact that that they've oversold the hotel. It's a gamble that the hotel's sales dept take. I have never had a guest refuse to leave the hotel.

Sorry to have gotten the thread off topic. This wasn't the OP's problem that is causing his frustration.

 

[Pirate Dad]

When I originally made my post I was feeling angry and somewhat frustrated. I guess I really was posting to vent and seek some validation. Some of you offered that. Thank you! Others disagreed, and that’s fine. You are entitled to your opinion and expectations, and me, mine. To bring closure to this whole issue, a manager from Disney contacted me yesterday to apologizing for the situation. He indicated that my concerns were NOT unreasonable and offered me (undisclosed) compensation for my troubles, even though I had no intention of pursuing this any further. His approach to the whole situation was non-confrontational and pleasant. In turn, his demeanor and attitude restored my faith.

On another note, those of you who felt it was appropriate to make personal attacks on my parenting choices and intelligence demonstrated a sense of etiquette that was unbecoming. You certainly can disagree with me, but please do not get personal.

 

[snowbunny]

I hate to blow the secret on this one, but that's a white lie that hotel staff say. It's never true. What happens is the revenue mgmt/sales dept overbooks the hotel and expects the front desk to deal with it.

Doesn't matter, it comes to the same thing: the hotel has promised you a room, which someone in its employ then decided to give to someone else. This happened to my boss a few years ago at the Palmer House and he threw such a fit that they set up a rollaway for him in one of the meeting rooms

 

[kimberh]

Pirate Dad,
I am glad you feel better about Disney now. It is the one place on earth where I want to go and really FEEL the Magic. Regardless of what is going on in my life at the time...we have went with the serious things happening, too. Two hours in Magic Kingdom and I was a new person. Happy travels!

 

[NEWEARS2006]

Pirate Dad, Glad to hear it!

 

[snowbunny]

That's a function of state law. Some states, according to other posters including FL, prohibit a hotel from evicting a guest who overstays their reservation. The hotel can charge rack rate but can't physically evict the guest.

I hope that's true. My parents are forced to extend their stay in WDW for 3 days due to the storm we've having in the northeast. They moved from BWV to the Dolphin originally planning for 2 nights but were told after checkin they can't extend it another night. I think they should stay put, given that most people with ressies from the northeast won't be able to get down to MCO for three days, either.

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

I had to add that I, too, don't really understand what the problem was.....

On one of our trips, we encountered Hurricane Edward on my daugther's birthday. We never use a travel agent and the airline didn't even notify us that our flight was cancelled. WE actually had to pick up the phone and spend 2 minutes to see whether we were going home or staying in Orlando. It truly was not that big of a deal.

WEATHER happens and, like airlines, I don't think Disney should have "compensated" you for something that wasn't their fault. I highly doubt they compensated you because they felt you were right....you just made a big stink, that's all.

Next time, I suggest you book everything yourself, that way it's all under your control.

Sounds to me like you NEED a vacation to let go a little bit....

 

[kimberh]

I hope that's true. My parents are forced to extend their stay in WDW for 3 days due to the storm we've having in the northeast. They moved from BWV to the Dolphin originally planning for 2 nights but were told after checkin they can't extend it another night. I think they should stay put, given that most people with ressies from the northeast won't be able to get down to MCO for three days, either.

I had heard about this law ,years ago, but last year in Flordia, at The Royal Pacific, one of our group decided to stay a extra day. They were told that the hotel was sold out and they would have to check out. If I were your parents, I would stay put until the front desk found somewhere for me to go, These are very large properties. I told the member of our group about the law, but they did not want to fight it at the front desk. It happened to us in Miami. They found us a room, our children were small, the room was not near what we were suppose to have. It was for one night, so we endured.

 

[calgarygary]

When I originally made my post I was feeling angry and somewhat frustrated. I guess I really was posting to vent and seek some validation. Some of you offered that. Thank you! Others disagreed, and that’s fine. You are entitled to your opinion and expectations, and me, mine. To bring closure to this whole issue, a manager from Disney contacted me yesterday to apologizing for the situation. He indicated that my concerns were NOT unreasonable and offered me (undisclosed) compensation for my troubles, even though I had no intention of pursuing this any further. His approach to the whole situation was non-confrontational and pleasant. In turn, his demeanor and attitude restored my faith.

On another note, those of you who felt it was appropriate to make personal attacks on my parenting choices and intelligence demonstrated a sense of etiquette that was unbecoming. You certainly can disagree with me, but please do not get personal.

It's great that this came to a satisfactory resolution. Unlike the many that piled on, I believe that you have every right to have expected better service initially. It is so typical of these boards that when a complaint re. Disney is posted, a large # of Disers blame the CUSTOMER for the poor service. Let's hope most of those folks that share that approach are not in the customer service field. There are basics to follow in complaint resolution and Disney at first failed you there. They did however learn a valued lesson: "Resolve complaints on the first contact and (1) save money by eliminating unnecessary additional contacts"

 

[disneyaddicted]

Pirate Dad,

I am glad you received your apology. I have not had a bad experience with a TA, but I have never booked a flight through one, just hotel and tickets. Nobody wants to go through that, and the choices you made for your family was your business, I agree with you that that should not have been open for
discussion on this thread, My feelings, (to validate your decision to not send the kids to the park that day) you can't plan a park day for the family when you don't even know what your plans will be, it seems they kept changing through no fault of your own. Yes we on the Dis are quick to defend our beloved Disney, but you did not deserve a personal attack on your parenting decision. I hope you the best in all your travels. Disney or non.

 

[hbg4]

I agree, if Disney Travel Co acted as your travel agent in arranging flights, accommodation etc, then it should be their responsiblity to keep you updated on any changes in service including flight cancellations and make timely adjustments for you as their client. Aren't you already paying for that service??
Anyway once bitten twice shy - doublecheck and keep ontop of your own itineries, that's what I do, even if I do book only occaisionally with a TA - they are human after all!

 

[MERMAIDLOVE]

Yes you are being unreasonable and I don't believe the "all I want was an apology" Had ALL you wanted been an apology I don't think you would have provided a DETIAL of your costs....

The fact is that WDW Travel DID contact you which is A LOT more then most TAs do. The other fact is that ONCE you have flown the first flight the airline takes over the booking. In other words a TA can't change it at that point, the airline has to. Now should WDW Travel have contacted AirTran. That's hard to say without knowing what both parties said at that time.....I generally don't have my TA do the contact simply because it's like a three legged race. TA puts me on hold, calls airline, gets info, puts airline on hold, comes back to me, I don't like option one and the WHOLE process starts over LOL!

While you seem to think Disney contacted you too late, they probably went in order. You had a late night flight, others were probably contacted who were flying before you.

EDIT I read your "other info" WDW Travel owes you an apology for NOT assisting you with a hotel room. Otherwise they did everything right. They do NOT owe your family an apology for missing a day at the MK, YOU DO. You had that day, you just chose to spend it on the phone with AirTran instead of taking the flight the next morning.

Also in the future it helps to write letters ONLY detailing the issue involved. Your very long paragraph about how AirTran moved the flight three times etc. pretty much devalues the rest of your complaint. Effective complaints focus on the issue and what you want done.


NONE of the flight cancellations were Disney's fault. You seem to be blaming them for the three intial changes also. Complain to AirTran about those.

AMEN
I agree with all uv wrote!
Listen weather happens , delays happen , stuff happens or as Forrest Gump
Quotes in the movie on a t-shirt S@ happens, lol
U just have to deal with it and move on
I just realized u have now moved on & ur questionable faith towards Disney has been restored. Oh yeah u finally received the awaited apology and it also came with a apparent "compensation that u wasn't even asking for" I'll to that, So the lesson for all of us is that if u call a company's service department enough times, drive them crazy & u write a unfavorable post in a mayor forum about the disagreement with the company it won't matter if u are right or wrong. The company in most cases will surrender to customers demands! Since after a while it cost more to keep dealing with a unreasonable customer---They figure we throw them a bone and they'll leave us alone and stop-posting or announcing bad press about the company.

 

[Tybug]

Yes... and then the rest of us get to pay the price for it!

 

[Disneyhappy]

OP- I am glad things worked out for you and that Dinsey offered you the apology you were looking for. Obviously, WDWTC can't control the weather but they are receving a commission to assist their customers, especially in the time of need. (It is similar to an insurnace agent raking in their commissions on car/home insurance for years and then providing poor customer service when you actually need to make a claim.) While I would have been frustrated, I would have not had an issue with anything that happened until you found earlier flights after WDWTC told you none were available. If they told you point blank that there were no flights without even a pause on the phone to look, I would have been angry as they were just trying to get you off the phone. Impressions are everything. A little bit of sensitivity is sometimes all it takes, especially for a company that is makng a profit off of you. Based on this scenario alone, Disney apparently has some great and not so great CMs with customer service skills.

 

[mirthmaiden]

So the lesson for all of us is that if u call a company's service department enough times, drive them crazy & u write a unfavorable post in a mayor forum about the disagreement with the company it won't matter if u are right or wrong. The company in most cases will surrender to customers demands! Since after a while it cost more to keep dealing with a unreasonable customer---They figure we throw them a bone and they'll leave us alone and stop-posting or announcing bad press about the company.

I was thinking about doing this and seeing if they'll give me free dining.

 

[MERMAIDLOVE]

I was thinking about doing this and seeing if they'll give me free dining.

For my pockets sake, I have got to be able to master the whining game!

 

[calgarygary]

AMEN
I agree with all uv wrote!
Listen weather happens , delays happen , stuff happens or as Forrest Gump
Quotes in the movie on a t-shirt S@ happens, lol
U just have to deal with it and move on
I just realized u have now moved on & ur questionable faith towards Disney has been restored. Oh yeah u finally received the awaited apology and it also came with a apparent "compensation that u wasn't even asking for" I'll to that, So the lesson for all of us is that if u call a company's service department enough times, drive them crazy & u write a unfavorable post in a mayor forum about the disagreement with the company it won't matter if u are right or wrong. The company in most cases will surrender to customers demands! Since after a while it cost more to keep dealing with a unreasonable customer---They figure we throw them a bone and they'll leave us alone and stop-posting or announcing bad press about the company.

Hopefully you never experience a company that fails to follow the basics in complaint resolution. Disney did not listen, did not acknowledge, did not investigate, did not resolve and did not follow up until the customer forced them to do so. Had Disney done these basics with the initial contact, when they were leaving the customer to fend for themselves, then all additional costs would have been avoided. Too many of the folks posting on this thread have forgotten that Disney accepted additional responsibilities when acting as the TA in arranging the flights. The customer has a right that when paying additional costs to the TA, that they will receive the additional services that have been paid for - Disney dropped the ball and would only acknowledge doing so because this customer would not do what so many others have done in the past, let it go.

Instead of being critical, we should applaud an individual who is forcing Disney to live up to its contractual obligations. He is, in his own way, helping to maintain a higher level of service rather than allowing Disney to once again lower its standards.

 

[carolsherman]

All I can to the original poster is get travel insurance. It is not Disney's fault the weather changed or nor is it Disney's fault your flight was cancelled or that they sold your room.


I am a firm believer in travel insurance now a days

 

[yankeepenny]

we are firm believers in travel insurance(two sets of elderly parents to boot) and never ,never plan on doing anying on travel days. I like my flights early , so I can deal with unforseen circumstances. I always figure I will NOT arrive anywhere on time or at all. we just plan on it.
I really dont see how this could have been anything Disney could have helped with. (JMHO)

 

[Blondiex46]

I am so glad to hear they called you. I thought you were just venting and angry. Some peeps don't like when you disgree with anything that happens in Disney. I hope you return and hope if you feel the need to vent again you do and just remember there are some here that will take the vent and not feel the need to give you our opinion of what you posted just listen. Good luck!!