Made my ADR's and wondered how much training CM's get?

[diznyfanatic]

I made my ADR's yesterday for our upcoming trip and decided to try Coral Reef since it is now only 1 TS and we've never eaten there.

While the CM I spoke with was very sweet and tried to be helpful, she kept saying that since Coral Reef was a Signature restaurant, it required 2 TS credits each. I just politely responded that I thought it had changed to 1 credit, and she said she'd check. A while later, she came back and did indeed confirm what I had said and added that she had no idea that it had been changed.

Not the first time I've been given wrong information by a CM, but it did make me wonder, how much training or retraining do CM's receive?

 

[TAKitty]

I sadly had a very confused CM today. She didn't know I could book more than one day worth of dining (today is my 180 days and I am staying onsite.). I explained that I could make ADRs for 10 days once my 180 day mark hit. It felt very odd having to explain this to a CM. She said if Reservations told me I could make my ADRs than it must be true. She claimed that they are the ones who set the policy. She didn't ask if I was on the dining plan. It was just a strange experience. I am calling back tomorrow to make sure I am all set.

It seems like the basic training would cover some of these things.

 

[tjmouse]

It was funny, when I was there last, I actually interrupted 2 different CM's giving people wrong information. You have to consider that we are obsessed, they just work there. If you really think about it, they are trained on how to find the information, not what all the answers are. It would be quite impossible to train CM's on as much information as we know about the parks, dining, etc. because it's their job, not their obsession. (And I mean obsession in a good way because I admit, I am obsessed!) Most of the CM's that I have talked to, especially at Disney Dining, have never eaten in any of the restaurants, or very few. One I talked to had never been there except during training! She was taking her daughter for the first time in a couple of weeks and asked me how I liked Crystal Palace! She worked in Tampa at the call center so she wasn't even close to WDW (well, at least not right next door). Yes they should know how to do their job and do it well, but no one does thier job perfectly.

I would be curious to know how many people on these boards would honestly answer "I know WDW better than I know parts of my job that I do everyday". I would probably answer YES to that myself!

I'll stop rambling now

 

[Danthesand]

All large service origanizations are facing staffing issues, and Disney isn't immune to that. Getting good personnel into service positions and keeping them has never been more difficult.

That stated, whenever I call WDW ressies, the experence I have suggests two things:

- Disney is still doing an amazing job at training people to be client focused. Every phone CM is consistently polite. They're always patient. They never bluntly end the discussion, always asking "is there anything else I can help you with today?"

- That stated, Park and Resort management haven't worked out a training/systems/communication strategy that guarantees every ressie CM a guest contacts by phone will always be 100% current on everything.

When planning our last trip, I can remember more than once calling Disney and quickly determing that entertainment schedule information that had already been posted on the Disney website wasn't yet available to the CM I was speaking to.

And yes, I have experienced the classic variation on the problem the OP mentioned, ergo, getting different answers to the same question from different CMs. Part of this is the increasing pace of changes/updates to programs, part of this is higher staff turnover, and part -- perhaps the most important part -- is a corporate culture where information isn't always simultaneously communicated to all the people who need it.

 

[tjmouse]

a corporate culture where information isn't always simultaneously communicated to all the people who need it.

Amen! I face this on a daily basis. Administration does not communicate well with those of us on the front lines. This applies in companies nationwide, not just Disney.

 

[java]

All large service origanizations are facing staffing issues, and Disney isn't immune to that. Getting good personnel into service positions and keeping them has never been more difficult.

That stated, whenever I call WDW ressies, the experence I have suggests two things:

- Disney is still doing an amazing job at training people to be client focused. Every phone CM is consistently polite. They're always patient. They never bluntly end the discussion, always asking "is there anything else I can help you with today?"

- That stated, Park and Resort management haven't worked out a training/systems/communication strategy that guarantees every ressie CM a guest contacts by phone will always be 100% current on everything.

When planning our last trip, I can remember more than once calling Disney and quickly determing that entertainment schedule information that had already been posted on the Disney website wasn't yet available to the CM I was speaking to.

And yes, I have experienced the classic variation on the problem the OP mentioned, ergo, getting different answers to the same question from different CMs. Part of this is the increasing pace of changes/updates to programs, part of this is higher staff turnover, and part -- perhaps the most important part -- is a corporate culture where information isn't always simultaneously communicated to all the people who need it.

Ok I am not referring to what you posted but your siggy...
Holy smokes I don't remember Small World as an E ticket!! Was it that way at Disneyworld or just Disneyland? I remember my Dad holding onto those E tickets like they were gold.

 

[tjmouse]

I remember my Dad holding onto those E tickets like they were gold.

Me too! That's so funny! My Dad is the only one besides me that remembers that we only had so many tickets to use and we had to sit down with the map and decide which rides we would ride before heading into the park.