Just Back. Service went from Magical to Meh

[lemonpan]

Since cast members in the parks tend to make a whopping $8.03 an hour and many cannot afford basic rent, I'd be in 'not so magical mood' myself.


I would personally cut them some slack.

I agree with this. That's why I hesitated to post and removed it (at first) when I believed that someone suggested I take it down. However, I believe that the cast members need more support and I mentioned that in my initial post. The cast members seem to not have the support (Money, management, etc.) they need to provide the experiences that Disney delivered in the past.

 

[cgattis]

Since cast members in the parks tend to make a whopping $8.03 an hour and many cannot afford basic rent, I'd be in 'not so magical mood' myself. I would personally cut them some slack.

But I'm still paying nearly a hundred bucks a day PER PERSON to go there. I do "feel entitled" to good service, period. When I get service with an attitude (like I did at my hotel--not at Disney--while on business travel last week), I'm giving that feedback. They probably don't make much either, but when I can't print my boarding passes because nobody will bother trying to fix the printer, I'm still going to get ill. At $164 bucks a night, I'm not just paying for a bed.

The folks at the big box discount stores don't make much either, and I'm no longer surprised when I get awful service there. Actually, I sought out a store manager a while back to give the name of a stockboy who went out of his way to help me (um yes, I need those blue Gatorades on the very bottom of that pallet.......) and she looked at me like she thought she was being Punk'd. Crap service is the norm there. But I still don't think Disney is ready to fully concede on customer service, so I will complain about particularly bad service, with names to go along with it. The crummy ones shouldn't be making the same as the great ones, and customer feedback may be enough to help them differentiate.

 

[Grumpy92]

Actually US was paying it's employees more then Disney. Disney recently raised the starting salary to $10 but US already had that in place for some time.

 

[Suvadoo]

Since cast members in the parks tend to make a whopping $8.03 an hour and many cannot afford basic rent, I'd be in 'not so magical mood' myself.


I would personally cut them some slack.

Interesting POV, so guests should ignore thier use of foul language a rude behavior because they're not paid enough? I'm paying big bucks for a WDW vacation, I don't expect effusive CM's, but I do expect them to be polite and not use swear words. Do you think that's too much to expect?

 

[White Rose]

Interesting POV, so guests should ignore thier use of foul language a rude behavior because they're not paid enough? I'm paying big bucks for a WDW vacation, I don't expect effusive CM's, but I do expect them to be polite and not use swear words. Do you think that's too much to expect?

swear words is a big excessive...I have heard that in the past and went right to management.

But I would cut them some slack if they appeared tired, and tried to be polite and personable.

I worked in an environment where I was 'on stage' 24/7, as leadership in Customer Service, for a very Customer Service focused company. (JD Power award winning), the reps would follow what they saw their management doing.

Dedicated leaders who practiced what they preached=Employees who would do the same.

Poor management, Stressed out leaders, bad communication = workers who do not care, or unsure what they should be doing.

 

[sunshine1]

EDIT (again) Added my post back. Again, I am NOT trying to be a downer. I did write to Disney. And I really did not want to upset anyone. Here's my original post with no edits.

Hello! I just returned from a week long trip with my mom. It’s our tradition to go every other year. Being at Disney and in the “Disney Bubble” is always fun. This year was no exception. But it had more to do with the joy of being with my mom for a week than anything Disney did.

I’m so sad to say that unlike other years, there was nothing truly stand out for us. As someone who always looks for the upside of things, I hate reporting that but there you go. Other than the fun of being at Disney nothing was remarkable this time.


I can’t even believe I’m typing that. I have such a heart for people that work in service industries. In the past, Disney went above and beyond. After most—if not all—trips, I wrote a general praise report to Disney and then specific ones about cast members. Working with the public is tough and Disney cast members usually handed it with grace. Not this time.

A few moments: Leaving Hollywood Studios to take the boat to the Boardwalk. We were on the ramp, about three feet from walking on the boat, when the cast member closed the chain. The boat was nearly empty. We asked if we could get on and he laughed at us and walked away. If he said that they were on a schedule and had to leave, I would have been fine with that. But snickering and then turning his back? Not okay.

A cast member loading Rock N Roller Coaster. The FP scanner was down. Another cast member came to relieve the first. The cast member who’d been working the attraction used colorful four letter words, including the eff word. A dad in line said something, very nicely, and she just rolled her eyes at him.

Another night, we decided to try a walk up at Captain’s Grill. When I asked if they had a table, the woman at the podium said very rudely, “No!” That was it. I actually stood there for a moment waiting for her to say something else and she didn’t.

Most of the other cast members offered service that’s about on par with Starbucks or Chipotle. Good, kind service but nothing memorable. For me, the magic always was in the Cast Members. I feel bad that they are clearly under new stress or management because they no longer seem happy.

One last thing: FP+ My band was wonky. Sometimes it didn’t open my room. Sometimes it didn’t open the gate. (we rented a car).. My mother’s band was also weird. She ALWAYS had to scan twice to get into any park. The first scan, without fail, always read blue. The second scan showed green. Each time it did this, the cast wasn’t very kind about it. The cast is clearly under some pressure to get people through the gate instead of offering the nice welcome they used to.

I feel torn about posting this. However, if someone from Disney reads it and gives the cast members the support they clearly need, then that would be great.

Cast members get paid peanuts. It should be made criminal. Not many people can live on what they make.
Then they also probably get treated very badly by management and park guests so after a while it gets you down.

I had about 8 jobs in retail when i was younger and the way the alot of the public treat you is like scum. So after a while you end up hating everybody. Management dont support you either. You feel that no one is on your side.

I got told i was ugly, spat at, someone threatened to punch me and all for 8 bucks an hour.

So i dont blame the majority of the cast members who dont care about guests as they get treated like rubbish all round.

They dont care. They have had enough. Shame on disney for paying them a pittance.

I do have to say though that in all my visits to disney the cast members have been great.

 

[emldrl]

I have several family members, including my own husband, that work in the retail industry, so I totally get the whole low pay for crap work thing. I was also a server at one point, as well as a nurse's aide (wanna talk about hard work for little pay!!), so yeah, I get it. However, using curse words in front of guests is unacceptable at Wal-Mart, let alone WDW!! I don't expect the CMs to run around spitting rainbows, but I do expect to be treated with the respect that I give to them. I am very laid back and empathetic, but the blatant rudeness and inappropriate conversations would get to me too.

Disney makes an obscene amount of money, is there any reason they have to pay their CMs such low wages? If Home Depot and Wal-Mart can pay better than WDW, there is a problem!! Until Disney decides to pay the CMs what they should, I doubt things will improve much.

 

[Luckybee]

I was just discussing this thread with my dh and we had a chuckle remembering the nasty boat guy. I asked him why he thought neither of us were at all annoyed by our boat guys attitude and his answer was as I had suspected and the same as mine was. Nowadays we are so used to just plain bad customer service virtually everywhere that it didn't fizz us at all. Sadly it is the good cs that will stand out now not the bad. Unfortunately Disney is no exception any longer.

 

[DebbieB]

Cast members get paid peanuts. It should be made criminal. Not many people can live on what they make.
Then they also probably get treated very badly by management and park guests so after a while it gets you down.

I had about 8 jobs in retail when i was younger and the way the alot of the public treat you is like scum. So after a while you end up hating everybody. Management dont support you either. You feel that no one is on your side.

I got told i was ugly, spat at, someone threatened to punch me and all for 8 bucks an hour.

So i dont blame the majority of the cast members who dont care about guests as they get treated like rubbish all round.

They dont care. They have had enough. Shame on disney for paying them a pittance.

I do have to say though that in all my visits to disney the cast members have been great.

Seriously? Criminal? No one is forced to work at Disney. I would bet a lot of cm's are in it for the benefits - free park admission, merchandise & dining discounts. If you don't want that and you're being paid a low wage, then move on if you aren't happy.

 

[sunshine1]

Seriously? Criminal? No one is forced to work at Disney. I would bet a lot of cm's are in it for the benefits - free park admission, merchandise & dining discounts. If you don't want that and you're being paid a low wage, then move on if you aren't happy.

because life is that simple...

its just a saying... nevermind...

where do you move on to? if you are like most people who couldnt afford a decent education?

you work for the big companies and make peanuts whilst they make all the money and get more and more powerful.

the upper 1% take all the money. the divide is getting bigger and bigger. the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

interesting times to be living in.

p.s. i am sure most CM's would rather a decent salary then being given 20% off a pluto doll.

 

[kamik86]

My husband works retail so he definitely gets it. Although he will talk about bad experiences he generally wont' go to management or even say anything to the person unless it is really bad. However I have had a few experiences where even DH thought it was over the top and someone needed to know.

Like the one that tried to tell us we had no quick service credits for a meal when on the delux plan. Even after I called and confirmed they did. Yet never called over someone to see if SHE was doing something wrong until we threw a fit and made her. Yeah apparently on the system you have to select delux on the screen and she couldn't be bothered to look at our card or listen to us. We lost a good 20 min fighting with her and waiting for management.

To an extent though CMs do need to act appropriately no matter how they are treated or what they make. Either that or they should quit because they are just going to lose their job anyway. I would assume that if they are doing the work if they hate it that much that they feel they need the job and thus really do need to be able to be appropriate no matter how they are feeling. In the grand scheme of things being rude will hurt them more when they get fired then it would any of the guests they are being rude to and trying to blame who may or may not be the ones that are being rude.

Now they don't have to go out of their way if your rude. Trust me even at Target the employees have ways to make things worse for you if your rude. If your rude they won't know where the item you want is. They might go looking and be wrong about where it is and then say they don't have any or scan the location and say there are none in the back (when really they are just still on pallets and your just not nice enough to be worth the work they would have to do to get it for you). Since anything that is out on the shelves are selling fast enough that it will still sell even without you they won't get in trouble for these practices either.

If your nice he will go out of his way to get you things, tell you where you can get it if he knows (even in other stores) etc.

 

[Mommymarie]

Didn't read the entire thread...I can imagine what types of arguments there are on both sides! Just want to say to OP that we just got back from a week and had the same type of experiences with cast members.....we even had snippy princesses at a character meal that we now laugh about We still enjoyed our week but the magic of CM is not what it used to be.....glad you still enjoyed time with your mom.

 

[lemonpan]

Didn't read the entire thread...I can imagine what types of arguments there are on both sides! Just want to say to OP that we just got back from a week and had the same type of experiences with cast members.....we even had snippy princesses at a character meal that we now laugh about We still enjoyed our week but the magic of CM is not what it used to be.....glad you still enjoyed time with your mom.

Oh no! I'm sorry that you had that experience. I really don't go looking for negative experiences. However, on this trip, they were too obvious to ignore. It just didn't feel like Disney-level of service we'd enjoyed in the past---and praised them for during and after our trips.

 

[JanaDee]

swear words is a big excessive...I have heard that in the past and went right to management.

But I would cut them some slack if they appeared tired, and tried to be polite and personable.

I worked in an environment where I was 'on stage' 24/7, as leadership in Customer Service, for a very Customer Service focused company. (JD Power award winning), the reps would follow what they saw their management doing.

Dedicated leaders who practiced what they preached=Employees who would do the same.

Poor management, Stressed out leaders, bad communication = workers who do not care, or unsure what they should be doing.

IMO, that is where Disney is at right now, with all the MDE and FP+ messes they've created.

 

[lemonpan]

IMO, that is where Disney is at right now, with all the MDE and FP+ messes they've created.

I think you're right. The cast members seemed to be WAY more concerned about working the bands than interacting with the guests. In the past, upon arriving at our hotel, we'd get a "welcome home." Now it was all about scanning the band. And since my band didn't work sometimes, I often skipped the self-entry and went to the booth. No longer was there chatting, etc. It was all about the band.

The same thing happened in the parks. In FP lines, several times the line was barked at that there were two scanners and to use both.

Neither of these things are the end of the world but they just left a bad taste in my mouth.

My mom, who has never read a message board or visited a Disney site, even noticed that the service was seriously different.

I realize that cast is stressed, pay isn't great, etc. It would be nice if they were given the support they so clearly need.

 

[SWofDisorder]

I am sorry your trip was less than magical. It is sad when you want it to be perfect for your mom. I hope you had a nice time being with your mom and enjoying your time together.

 

[Suvadoo]

I think you're right. The cast members seemed to be WAY more concerned about working the bands than interacting with the guests. In the past, upon arriving at our hotel, we'd get a "welcome home." Now it was all about scanning the band. And since my band didn't work sometimes, I often skipped the self-entry and went to the booth. No longer was there chatting, etc. It was all about the band.

The same thing happened in the parks. In FP lines, several times the line was barked at that there were two scanners and to use both.

Neither of these things are the end of the world but they just left a bad taste in my mouth.

My mom, who has never read a message board or visited a Disney site, even noticed that the service was seriously different.

I realize that cast is stressed, pay isn't great, etc. It would be nice if they were given the support they so clearly need.

It's sad that the band has become all important. I can see how this has happened though. I just don't think this type of technology should've been foisted on the guests and the CM's. I just feel that it has seriously detracted form the overall WDW experience.

 

[lemonpan]

I am sorry your trip was less than magical. It is sad when you want it to be perfect for your mom. I hope you had a nice time being with your mom and enjoying your time together.

We had a great time! I mean, getting a chance to go on vacation is amazing. Going to a fun place like Disney is SUPER amazing.

We don't go in looking for perfection because stuff happens. It just felt like the energy of many cast members had changed. I really felt bad for them! When I wrote my letter, I mentioned that the cast members clearly need more support.

Of note: I already had a Feb trip planned with my husband. We are staying at the GF and I'm not canceling the trip.

 

[lugnut33]

One of the reasons I'm considering selling our shares in DVC is because of the low pay that cast members receive. In all the times I've gone I've never run into a bad cast member or had a bad experience, and for that I feel they should get paid more. I literally feel bad while I'm there that they are paid so little for what they are doing.

 

[lemonpan]

It's sad that the band has become all important. I can see how this has happened though. I just don't think this type of technology should've been foisted on the guests and the CM's. I just feel that it has seriously detracted form the overall WDW experience.

Yes! I was telling a friend about my experiences with the band. Like most of the world , she isn't a Disney enthusiast like those of us on the boards. Her question was, "Why didn't they let people opt in to those bands for a few years?" Of course that question has a complex answer. I kind of wish it was an option though!

And this is just me being a wee bit crazy but I hated the feeling of "where's your band/must scan band before I say hello." It felt big brother-ish in a way that I didn't like.