My Wife was injured at the DVC Annual Meeting: Updated Post #51

[fishermouse]

What happened to the Disney that used to set the customer service bar and teach it to others from all over the world via the Disney Institute?

I see it everytime I go down.. Problem with DVC'rs is we sometimes take it for granted.
As for the op, maybe CSR did call AKL and whoever took the call dropped the ball, after OP spoke to AKL they took action. Doubt if anyone will ever know because that would be kept internal. Would have expected a call from DVC but not CSR. All in all just glad OP's wife is OK. Unfortunatly our court system equates concern to admitting guilt. If your not responsible why would you offer compensation? Sad but that's what it's come to.

 

[diznyfanatic]

I see it everytime I go down.. Problem with DVC'rs is we sometimes take it for granted.
As for the op, maybe CSR did call AKL and whoever took the call dropped the ball, after OP spoke to AKL they took action. Doubt if anyone will ever know because that would be kept internal. Would have expected a call from DVC but not CSR. All in all just glad OP's wife is OK. Unfortunatly our court system equates concern to admitting guilt. If your not responsible why would you offer compensation? Sad but that's what it's come to.

I understand what you're saying, but I can assure you that I take nothing for granted. I consider ourselves extremely fortunate to even be able to visit WDW.

All that I am saying is I'm a little disappointed in hearing how Disney has so far handled this situation, and I'm not talking about any type of compensaton.

At a minimum. someone from Disney management should have contacted Mike & his wife while they were still there to get the details of exactly what happened first hand while the events were still fresh. I would think that as large a corporation as Disney is, they have a specific type of corporate executive "Hospitality" type management position that coordinates these types of occurences.

That would have at least told me that they were interested in preventing it from happening to someone else again. It would also indicate that they were interested in making sure their own internal policies and procedures were adequate when handling this type of mishap.

Finally, it would also have told me that if something similar were to happen to one of my family, we wouldn't be alone in getting the help necessary in dealing with it while being over 1,000 miles from home and totally unfamiliar with the area.

Surely, with all of the talent and creativity at Disney's disposal, they can figure out a way to be helpful and assist their guests in a time of need without "admitting guilt".

 

[RLRDA]

Hope your wife is feeling better with each passing day and I'm glad that you were able to experience the special tours of the AKV savannas, dinner at Boma, etc. It goes without saying that you would have rather this injury hadn't happened, but it seems like the staff at AKV tried to make the rest of your stay as good as it could be under the circumstances.

 

[canda]

sorry about your wife. I hope there is nothing long term. Many of us who go alot will end up in the ER for some reason or other. My family has. we did not expect follow ups or anything from disney. I think many people look for something or think they are owed. I do not think Mike's situation is that case. If I was a hotel manager I would follow up on people injured in my hotel. there are insurance forms that have to be filled out at least. too much time can go by by waiting to call. the comps are nice, but the buisness must be taken care of.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Thanks for all the "best wishes", folks.

Everyone at AKL said they were surprised that CSR dropped the ball. They said the Manager at CSR was supposed to give us information on contacting WDW Guest Claims.

The AKL management provided me with contact information for the WDW Guest Claims group, as well as the regular WDW Guest Communications contact. They suggested I mention the problem we had with CSR dropping the ball, so to speak.

I have no intention of filing a lawsuit. I do feel that the amount of water that pooled under the sink and ran across the floor indicates a lack of proper regular maintenance by CSR.

I'm just going to ask Disney for the cost of our emergency room deductable ($100) and our out-of-pocket costs for the 3 prescriptions ($30). I would be happy just to have Disney Dollars!

I do recognize it was an accident and won't be looking for anything else from Disney beyond that.

My wife is still feeling pain but has improved since the incident on Tuesday.

Again, thanks for everyone's thoughts and wishes for my wife's speedy recovery!

Wow, you're a really good person. I wish more people were like you, and did not think "I can sue for this" for everything that happened to them (I do general liability claims for a major retailer, and I can't tell you how many people are horribly litigious nowadays).

Disney is definitely liable for her medical expenses, I'm sure they will be ecstatic to hear that all you're looking for is basic reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses. They'd be foolish not to compensate you in some manner, like a generous gift card or similar.

Good luck to both you and your wife

 

[Dean]

Wow, you're a really good person. I wish more people were like you, and did not think "I can sue for this" for everything that happened to them (I do general liability claims for a major retailer, and I can't tell you how many people are horribly litigious nowadays).

Disney is definitely liable for her medical expenses, I'm sure they will be ecstatic to hear that all you're looking for is basic reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses. They'd be foolish not to compensate you in some manner, like a generous gift card or similar.

Good luck to both you and your wife

Whether Disney is liable depends on far more specifics than we have here and would ultimately be for the courts to decide. It sounds like they should be but that's different than proving they are. The problem is that any admission at this point could work against them later. If I had a nickel for everyone that said they weren't going to sue then later did, I could retire yesterday. I'd expect Disney to play nice but to avoid anything that could be used later as an admission it was their fault, even at the risk of seeming cold and uncaring.

Also, this is not a privacy issue for their people who already have the info to contact the injured party. Most of the privacy issues would only apply to the medical personnel as far as providing information within the company but could still do so to appropriate people. If they released specifics to an outside entity like a new media that might be a violation of certain laws.

 

[JimMIA]

Also, this is not a privacy issue for their people who already have the info to contact the injured party. Most of the privacy issues would only apply to the medical personnel as far as providing information within the company but could still do so to appropriate people. If they released specifics to an outside entity like a new media that might be a violation of certain laws.

I agree. I thought Longhairbear's comments were interesting, but it also sounded like California law is much more protective than Florida law, or the federal HIPPA law which sounds like you're referring to.

Presumably, the medical personnel work for the Reedy Creek Improvement District government and Celebration Hospital, not Disney. Those medical professionals shouldn't release any medical info to the CSR employees, or anyone else for that matter. About the only medical info that could be transmitted without written consent from the patient would be the verbal and written reports from the EMS personnel to the ER staff for the purpose of providing continuity of care.

 

[Quiksilvr]

I don't know much about California privacy law, but if it's anything like California tort law, I wouldn't be surprised that they have something more protective than the federal private health information protection standard under HIPAA.

Either way, slip and fall cases are terribly common for large employers who hold themselves out to the public (e.g., Disney, Wal-Mart, any other major retailer). Many major chains like that have entire departments who deal only with minor "slip and fall" type cases because they have so many of them it doesn't make sense to hire outside lawyers to handle the defense.

I'm sure Disney wouldn't be surprised if the OP decided to sue (although from what the thread says it's pretty clear they're not planning on it). It's probably a regular occurrence. I know that if I was in OP's situation I would be considering it. These things usually settle so quickly that it makes the hassle not seem so bad.

 

[3DisneyKids]

Hope she's on the mend, Mike. (though I am thinking about having a bit of *spill* myself for that priave savannah tour! Joking of course...and certainly not at your wife's expense. It was a wonderful and unique treat from AK staff!)

 

[drag n' fly]

Wow, you're a really good person. I wish more people were like you, and did not think "I can sue for this" for everything that happened to them (I do general liability claims for a major retailer, and I can't tell you how many people are horribly litigious nowadays).

Disney is definitely liable for her medical expenses, I'm sure they will be ecstatic to hear that all you're looking for is basic reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses. They'd be foolish not to compensate you in some manner, like a generous gift card or similar.

Good luck to both you and your wife

I am glad to hear that too as I also saw this exact same thread posted on two other discussion forums. Glad to hear she is on the mend

 

[DVC Mike]

Just thought I’d give an update on this. My wife is all better with no lingering injury. You might recall that I had written Disney, asking only for our actual out-of-pocket deductible, which was $130.

Today, we received a letter from WDW Guest Claims, including a check for $500. The letter notes that “your endorsement of the check will serve to forever release and discharge WDW from any and all claims which occurred on or about December 4, 2007 at the WDW resort”.

I was pleasantly surprised that Disney gave me more than I asked!

I’m glad to have a happy ending to this story…

 

[jekjones1558]

Sounds like Disney is happy to have a release from liability and you are happy to have a healthy wife with your out-of-pocket covered. I love happy endings!

 

[AKV707]

Great news Mike! Very glad to hear that your wife is at 100%/

 

[RLRDA]

Glad to hear that your wife is better! It seems like, all in all, your satisfied with the response from WDW and DVC.

 

[ChelleinNC]

Thanks for updating Mike! Glad to hear your wife is better and that there was a happy ending.

 

[pouncingpluto]

Wow, you're a really good person. I wish more people were like you, and did not think "I can sue for this" for everything that happened to them (I do general liability claims for a major retailer, and I can't tell you how many people are horribly litigious nowadays).

Disney is definitely liable for her medical expenses, I'm sure they will be ecstatic to hear that all you're looking for is basic reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses. They'd be foolish not to compensate you in some manner, like a generous gift card or similar.

Good luck to both you and your wife

Please forgive a poor, ignorant law student with only one semester under her belt, but... isn't Disney only liable if the OP can show that they were negligent in not inspecting the premises regularly? If Disney can show that they did show reasonable care in that regard, then they wouldn't be held liable if a leak sprang up in between inspections and resulted in an injury, right?

Edited to add: Ah, thanks for your post Quikslvr... just noticed it. And, yeah, I figure you're right that they'd rather settle than take every little lawsuit to court.

 

[DebbieB]

I work in commerical insurance and most policies have medical payments coverage with a limit between $1,000 to $5,000. It allows payment without having to prove negligence, saving a lengthy claim process and allowing a "good will" payment.

 

[alldiz]

Glad to hear your wife is doing well....

They figured if they gave you more than you asked....you'll just
book another trip with the extra
Kerri