Just had the worst time ever booking Adrs!

[Tinker74]

It was Awful
Iam actually furious ans was on the verge of tears throughout.
Today is my 180 day window I have been excited and nervous for days..I have been planning this trip for over a yr already...I spend hrs a day on these boards...I've carefully picked all my restaurants and childrens activities...my schedule is completed....I have even dreamt about finally making my adrs.
I had my credit card at the ready...determined to get CRT for close to 8am...the pirate cruise...tea partys.
I was all set!!
I began dialing at 6.55am there time. I actually got thru bang on 7am straight to....THE WORST EVER CM!!!!
I could NOT believe it ...this woman spoke so slowllllllllllyyy, and so quiet.
But she got me CRT for 8.10am I was delighted....UNTIL...She took my CC info....OH...she says it won't take your details because i need to know your state..!!???
WHAT!!!!!!! I live in England...I don't have a state.
I explained this but she just kept telling me that perhaps I live too far away for my CC to be accepted.!!!???

The whole time speaking sooooo slowly and dozily.
Eventually...she said shall we book my other ADRs and then go back to the CRT one.
YES..I said reluctantly....It then took 1 hour to book 4 restaurants. Iam not joking!!
Iam calling from England, it will cost a fortune!!
Each time I mean EACH TIME she took 5 mins at least to look up the info, she kept getting the date wrong, the party number...you name it!!
She had never heard of the pirate cruise...she had never heard of the wonderland tea party....she had never heard of princess tea party.
I nthe end I gave up with them when she told me that the reason she couldn't find the pirate cruise or wonderland tea party was because DIsney had probably pulled it from the system because it was full!!!??

I knew this WAS RUBBISH!!!!! Iam calling 180 days out woman!!!!

Then I decided I better sort out the CRT ressie once and for all ,...there was no way I was booking anthing with this woman ...So I said..."can we go back to crt" and she said. "yes mam what time would you like it"

WHAT!!! I said I already have the time 8.10am!!! .
Oh she says...Did you still want that? SHE HAD LET IT GO!!!
I had just spent 1 hr on the phone and LOST CRT...I was devestated.

Another thing...this woman insisted on saying all the drivell about getting to the park on time and having tickets and so on and so on...after EVERY ADR.

This took her AGES as she spoke soooooslowlyyyyyy/

I hung up and burst into tears...all my plannig the stress..it was too much.

I called straight back....and got straight through to a lovely CM
She spoke clearly and I could actually hear her...She took all my ADRS..another 10 in 10mins..she was lovely ang guess what my CC worked just fine!!
I actually GOT CRT for 8.10am..I was delighted. She knew the pirate cruise and booked that straight away...the wonderland tea party ...great got that...princess tea party.
And she didn't give me all the spiel after every ADR JUST ONCE!!

Sorry this is long just had to vent!

 

[corinnak]

Wow - that sounds dreadful! Thank goodness for that second CM - it sounds like she saved the day! Did you get the name of the first one?

 

[jjohnson]

I'm happy to hear it worked out in the end.

 

[dangler]

Did you get the first CM's name? I would call and complain.

We live in Canada (so not in a state) and I had no problem booking CRT.

Sorry this happened to you, I would definitely be taking some action.

 

[WDWNicole]

What an awful experience, but I'm glad everything worked out in the end. Just think about what a wonderful vacation you are going to have.

 

[mommyaof2]

That sounds similar to what happened to me last night!! I had an awful cm last night and I started a thread on this too. I was in tears when I got off the phone last night. I have not had the courage to even call back today because I am still upset. Hang in there. I feel your pain. I have also spent weeks a months planning and I was just at my breaking point last night. I think that they need to retrain some of their cms.

 

[carolfoy]

I had a similair experience when I tried to book last year, the woman was soooo ssslllloooowww! I even tried to spell my surname phonetically as in Foxtrot-Oscar-Yankee as its understandably quite a difficult one for some people to grasp and that threw her even more!!! she said 'I'm sorry honey I don't understand that language' what???? every one all over the world speaks that language and I have no problem talking phonetically with people in Australia, India, Africa, Spain and France and every other foreign country I speak to on a day to day basis!! I did get the ADRs in the end but it took ages. Can't wait til they introduce it as an online booking service!

 

[Tazicket]

Ack! Have there always been lousy cms or are they just having a rash right now? I don't remember seeing so many posts about horrible experiences with cms before. It's making me a little nervous since me and DH have to call to schedule 5 ADRs in a couple of months...maybe they'll have gotten it under control by then. Would it be mean to have a list of bad cms, so we know to hang up right away? Can you ask for a cm when you call, or do you have to work with the one who answers b/c of the large number of calls they take? We've only done one before and that was last year.

 

[Tinker74]

Your right they defo need to retrain...that woman was not fit to being that job...how dare she tell me my visa won't work because it is ENglish!!

How uneducated is she.

I think Iam so angry because i can vent on here ...you all understand...but on the phone I was actually v poilte to her and didn't get angry at all I was just close to tears.
It was almost as if..she was asking for my info what restaurant I wanted...then going for a cup of tea and a chat ...then coming back to me..10 mins later..and booking the entire wrong day I just asked for.
I even started to think she was doing it on purpose....When I asked for the wonderland tea party ...she was confused ?? I told her it was in the Grand flridian...Ok she says...I'll just get that for you.....She then goes silent for 10minutes whilst she is "getting it for me". She comes back on the line speaking verrrry sllllowlyyy. "ok..mam..I have the Grand floridian cafe for your party of 5"
WHAT!!!!??
I asked for the wonderland tea party!!!!

It was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. I wish I had gotten her name,,,She should be fired...People must be going through this all the time with her.
Is there someone I can e-mail!

 

[Tinker74]

Tazticket...if you get the second CM I had you will be fine!! She was so lovely and I got everthing

That first one has cost me a lot of $$ today my bill calling from England will be HUGE...I feel like billing her for it.
And it was a waste of time!!
I wish I had hung up straight away and called back...but we have it drummed into us...if we get through at 7am don't waste time.

 

[TastefullyChris]

I called about a month ago to book about 8 ADRs and had a terriffic CM. Had to change one ADR a week later to accommodate some friends who wanted to join us for our Boma dinnner and the CM I got that time was also excellent.

I would say, if you don't like the way the CM is handling things, the fastest and easiest thing to do is say "Whoops! My cat just threw up! (or whatever) I'll have to call back later to finish these!" Then just HANG UP, call right back and get a different CM. It is not worth frustration and tears for what SHOULD be a pleasant experience...the "capper" of hours of exhaustive planning and research.

I realize some are trying to "beat the buzzer" to connect at exactly 7 am to get CRT...however, I think those ressies are easier to get now that they have upped the price and extended the window to 180 days. (am I totally off base here?) So ditch the dimwit CM and CALL BACK It will only take a minute or so

 

[lillygator]

sorry you had such a horrid time, glad you called back and got a different CM. Hope your trip is magical!

 

[mommykds]

Sorry that happened to you!!! We all spend so much time & effort planning our Disney trips & adr's. When a CM is not efficient it is very frustrating. I did have someone like that making my adr's last year but I hung up straight away as I knew it was going to be an ordeal.

Glad it all worked out for you in the end & you have a wonderful holiday! We will be there about the same time..8/22..My 180 days is TOMMORROW!!!!

 

[Tinker74]

Hi..Yes we will be there the same time
We are staying at WL..check in late on the 21st so 22nd is our first full day!

CRT was booked up for breakfast on the 22nd Aug but luckily my first choice the 26th was available for 8.10am
At first she thought i said 22nd..I was surprised it was booked up...also I didn't get my first choice time for Sc fi and CP and princess norway...but they were only 10 or 20 mins out so no matter.
I was surprised though.

Good luck for tomorrow remember just hang up if you get a dozy one!

 

[Kath2003]

Firstly, for all those Brits out there, get Skype and a microphone headset working on your PC. Get some Skype credit. You can then call ANY number world-wide for around 2p a minute (and any other PC in the world for FREE). It cost me about 20p to call ADRs on Thursday

Secondly, they need to sort out this whole CC-state problem. I could have been off the phone in under 5 minutes, had the CM I spoke to known what to do with the State box. My CC would not go through at first because I did not have a state! I just hung on for five minutes in silence while she sorted it out - and she did. But they need to be trained on this, given how many international visitors they get every year.

They also need to learn the phonetic alphabet (i.e. alpha, beta, charlie, delta etc.). I am a student and I know the phonetic alphabet! If I were running a call centre it would be DAY ONE of training! The CM I spoke to kept saying "M?" when I'd say "N" etc. so I tried saying "NOVEMBER" and she was like..."What? I don't understand." I mean...c'mon!

 

[DLBDS]

Thanks for the headsup. If I get someone like that on the line then I'll just say I have to go and hang up and call right back. I won't waste another second on them. Your experience would have given me a . Not to mention . I don't blame you for loosing it at that point. Most of us would. I'm planning just as furiously as the rest of you and my trip isn't until the end of the year (Nov/Dec)! You have to come to these forums and learn, learn, LEARN until you know it like the back of your hand. You would think that they would put their CM's through some kind of training before allowing them to answer the phone lines. We know it all and we don't even work there! Maybe they should hire some of us?! Anyway, it's great that you were able to get your ADR's after that experience. I know your giddy with excitement now!

 

[son3disfan]

I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience!
Next time use the toll free number..
I'm in Canada and it works for me..
1-800-828-0228
Hope that helps at least with your phone bill..

 

[Tinker74]

Iam only starting to calm down now!
Thanks so much everyone for the understanding....now I only have to dread the phone bill.
Iam afraid that toll free number doesn't work from the Uk though!
You know DBLD...That made me laugh....I was thinking the same thing...we know it all and we don't even work there
They should make all CM's take an intensive course of DIS boards...then there would be no problem

 

[fizz13]

Oh gosh, I had a similar problem last time getting my ADR's because I was from England, so I feel your pain. This was before the +10 day rule came into effect, so I was calling every day for 2 weeks as well. I didn't dare put the phone down because i actually managed to connect for CRT breakfast. Trust me, the phone bill will be a distant memory when you are having fun Glad you finally got it sorted,

Claire xx

 

[corinnak]

"Whoops! My cat just threw up! (or whatever) I'll have to call back later to finish these!" Then just HANG UP

I was thinking along the same lines of having some "pressing matter" requiring me to get off the phone, but that is a good one! No one can argue with kitty barf!