Insensitive agent at WDW reservations

[smchan]

My wife and sister had planned a trip this month; a girl's weekend away. Unfortunately, my wife became very sick requiring hosipitalization and then twice per week outpatient treatments thereafter. The outpatient visits have caused her to have severe memory problems and she had forgotten about her trip.

Well... today my wife's sister calls and reminds me of the reservations which I certainly needed to cancel, so I call Disney. Because I'm not on the reservation and because I don't know the reservation number (wife cannot remember where she put the confirmation), she wouldn't cancel it without talking to me wife - who really isn't up to talking. Anyways, I finally wake up my wife and put her on the phone with the agent and the agent starts drilling her with questions that, of course, my wife cannot remember the answers to beyond "who are you?"

I understand people do nutty things but for goodness sakes, I was calling from the very number the reservation was made and I answered every question about past and future trips I had reserved and my kid's names, etc but the lady still acted suspicious and, by the tone in her voice, seemed to think I was lying.

In the end, I got the reservation canceled but not without a fair amount of frustration. Disney... this was a very bad time for your employees to act towards me this way. I can't help the situation and, in this case, your "policy" was pretty darn insensitive.

Sorry. I just felt I needed to vent.

Sam

 

[safetymom]

Sorry to hear about your wife's illness but it really is for your protection. Anyone could call and make changes or cancel a reservation if they didn't have safeguards in place. I am sure she was following procedure. Did you ask to speak to a supervisor.

 

[DAWGPOUNDAJ]

I can definitely understand the memory problems. I was in a car accident a few years back, hit my head pretty hard, and swelling (that the doctor's didn't catch) around the top of my spinal column began to cause me to have some memory loss. Fortunately they caught it in time so I am A Okay now, but for a time people who I apparently would have lunch with once a week on my college's campus seemed like strangers to me. I totally blacked certain people out of my memory and still do not remember anything about them before the accident!

That being said, I think that memory loss is something that is VERY hard for people who have not experienced it, or who have not known someone who experienced it, to understand. Sadly there are a lot of sick people out there who would call WDW and do their best to cancel a vacation for someone they were less than thrilled with, thus the policies.

I think if WDW really desired to help people in situations such as the one you found yourself in, that perhaps they would consider a small ammendment to the privacy policy, that would allow the person, at the time of making a resrevation, to include a list of people allowed to make changes to it, even if they were not going on the trip with them. Something as simple as that could have saved you, your wife, and a lot of people a lot of trouble from problems such as that, while still affording people the proper level of protection. Perhaps it's something to suggest to WDW directly though so I may just do that. (If they are not as abysmally rude to me as they were when I asked if they were considering a Lilo and Stitch character breakfast *growls*).

For now though your wife, yourself, and your family are in my prayers. I wish your wife a speedy recovery, and as far as the memory loss goes, I'm not sure about what exactly happened to your wife, but a lot of the things one loses temporarily come back. The only memory loss I have thats permanent are of a few people I had met within the months preceeding my accident, so perhaps your wife will gain most of hers back as well.

 

[DVC-Don]

Same where I work now as we can only talk with the policy holder. All others are asked to fax, drop off or mail a Power of Attorney first. It's to safeguard against ex-husbands/boyfriends/ex-wifes/girlfriends or anyone else not named in the policy from changing or canceling someones insurance. It did happen in the past. Power company here has the same rules now due to people calling to shut off power for someone they don't like. Todays world. No reason to be rude to you though.

 

[smchan]

I definitely appreciate the need for the safeguards.

I explained to the lady, multiple times, that my wife has memory issues right and when I put my wife on the phone, the lady asks a few questions and then says "why are you canceling?" My wife didn't even remember she had a vacation planned and just started going "ahhhhh...." so I took the phone away and reminded the agent, again, that my wife has memory problems and she won't be coming because she's sick. The lady seemed very suspicious of me but canceled anyways. I realize I probably come across wrong by suddenly taking the phone away, but I'm zealously guarding my wife right now. When my wife realizes she's forgotten something - especially something significant - she gets very upset, so I really preferred not to remind her about this trip. (Not going is bad enough in itself, nevermind forgetting that you were supposed to go.)

We try to make light of the situation though to get by. Today, on our way home from the doctor, I said "I can't wait to get home and watch that new 100 inch TV we bought last year." She replied, dryly, "Nice try."

Sam

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

Maybe it's me; who knows? I made my reservations on line and went them on the WDW website today, thinking I might just pay it off now (we leave next week). Problem #1 - the reservation dates on-line said 10-14!!! Well, I freaked because my printed reservation says 10-15 and our plane tickets are for the 10th through the 15! So I call and they can't find my reservatgion at all. Now I'm just beside myself with worry, until 15 minutes on the phone she finds my reservation and tells me it's for the 10th through the 15th. Thank goodness! Why does on-line say the wrong dates? "Who knows?" she says.

Next, I ask if I can pay off my bill - no, she says, of I made reservation on-line I must pay it on line.

So I go on-line, and it says very clearly that I can make a payment on-line, but for the life of me can't see how to do that. So I call back, using the number the website says to call if I have questions or problems. This time a guy tells me he doesn't have any idea how to pay on line (so why did the website say to call that number?)but that I can pay him. I say, "Oh, really? I was told I couldn't pay on the phone since I made the reservation on line."

"Hmmmmm..." he says. "I'll have to check on that". 10 minutes later he comes back and says I can't make another payment until I arrive.

None of this matters. I'll pay when I get there and my dates are correct. But don't you think this is a little crazy?

 

[elliemae1192]

Hi, I really hope your wife feels better soon.
I had the complete opposite happen. Last year, we had our six day reservation for Fort Wilderness campground already paid for. My husband's brother and his wife were going at the same time and had some money trouble at the last minute. We had discussed them staying on our campsite (you can have a travel trailer and a tent on one site) to save them some money. They were going to be there one day sooner than us and had already paid for their first night. Well, my BIL called from his house WITHOUT my reservation number and transferred all the money I had already paid over to their reservation.
I was fine with this because we had discussed it, but I couldn't believe Disney didn't verify this before doing it.
Maybe you just got a new CM who was unsure of whether or not to stick to the rules. Hope you guys can reschedule your trip soon.

 

[smchan]

The agent explained that she couldn't cancel without either talking to the reservation holder (my wife) or without my having the reservation number. The policy makes sense as a measure of protection, but it didn't really work in my situation. Regardless, my beef was the agent seemed very suspicious and that was hurtful.

Anyways... as I mentioned earlier, I just wanted to whine and I did. So I feel better now.

I'm sure we'll be there before the year is out - Lord willing and the creek don't rise!

Sam

 

[Talking Hands]

Same where I work now as we can only talk with the policy holder. All others are asked to fax, drop off or mail a Power of Attorney first. It's to safeguard against ex-husbands/boyfriends/ex-wifes/girlfriends or anyone else not named in the policy from changing or canceling someones insurance. It did happen in the past. Power company here has the same rules now due to people calling to shut off power for someone they don't like. Todays world. No reason to be rude to you though.

This policy aggravates me to no end. As a hard of hearing person I have difficulty understanding on the phone. I really hate giving personal information through relay and virtually no compaany has a dedicated tty line. So I prefer my husband to speak for me. And I get hassles all the time. If a company is going to have such a policy they need to have a tty line with someone who knows how to work it for their deaf and hard of hearing clients.

 

[NCombs]

We try to make light of the situation though to get by. Today, on our way home from the doctor, I said "I can't wait to get home and watch that new 100 inch TV we bought last year." She replied, dryly, "Nice try."

Sam

Good for you-what a great attitude to have. I'm sending pixie dust your way for your wife to have a quick and full recovery. You sound like you are doing a wonderful job supporting her when she needs you.

 

[H&Hmommy]

I hope your wife is feeling better soon!!!!
Kim

 

[Sammie]

I wish your wife a speedy and full recovery.

The sad thing is you were being honest with a legitimate reason for cancelling a reservation you did not make and your wife had a very good reason for needing to cancel.

However you and others get punished for the actions of those that are not honest. You can read these boards daily about people trying to avoid the rules, beat the system in many different ways and forms. You will also read many who encourange this behavior. Because of them, everyone that is honest and tries to abide by policy is punished. This is what has happend to make CRO so suspcious and instill all these privacy guidelines.

Sorry you had to experience this.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I can understand your situation. But actually I would feel better that a Disney rep did not just cancel a reservation on hearsay from a second person.
I can only imagine the family disputes and dirty deeds where Disney gets stuck in the middle. Times have changed and everyone is sue happy.

I hope your wife is doing much better and on the road to a healthy recovery.

 

[smchan]

I totally understand why they have the policy, but without getting into specific details why, it was very unproductive and unhealthy to have to ask my wife to cancel a Disney trip she couldn't remember. In essence, it was like making someone who suffers from lung cancer smoke a cigarette.

At the very least, the reservationist could've spared me the suspicious attitude. But it's done and in the past now.

Sam

 

[llrain]

the policy is fine..but with the circumstance the agent should have verified your wife asked if she wanted it canceled and noted what you had to say about the curcumstance.

I deal with death accounts.....
the rep should have gotten an understanding of the problem from yourself as you actualy did....and then ask to speak with the holder of account/reservation and ask one simple question.....do u want to cancel...
end of story...

I still am adhering to policy and documenting why she wanted to cancel rather than asking 9000 questions of a person of a hospitalized person...
when all they needed to do was ask one question...

working in call center environments for a long time now I have noticed over the years from second hand and first hand observations that this team at CRO is lacking alot of quailty customer service demeanors.....

I wonder what their CSI scores are in the industry...I havent even really recalled seeing disney listed ever