Naming the CMs

[bytheblood]

I have a very ridiculous question, but I must ask it anyway.

Do the CMs at CRO use their real names? I have spoken to (literally) over 50 CMs and have never heard a familiar name such as Paula, Christy, Charles, Tom, Bill, Cathy, Jean, Bob, Steve, Mark, Tammy, Susan, Vicki, Melanie, Mike, Ralph…you get my point. Everybody has names like Colitis, something Marie, Stellamae, etc. (for the sake of not pointing out individuals, I am not listing names) Most everybody I have spoken with has two names and the second name always seems to be “Marie.” The majority of these names don't even sound real.

Please do not get me wrong, I am not insulting the originality or origin of their names, I just think it odd that other than two people I've conversed with, all of their names have been really really different than anything I have heard before.

I could not imagine Disney has them choose an alias to protect their real name. I mean it is a business after all.

 

[ILoveWDW2003]

I believe it is done for identification purposes. Imagine how many John or Marie's or other names there would be if everyone used their real name.

Now imagine that you called back to praise or complain about a CM - how would they know which one?

 

[bytheblood]

I believe it is done for identification purposes. Imagine how many John or Marie's or other names there would be if everyone used their real name.

Now imagine that you called back to praise or complain about a CM - how would they know which one?

But don't you think that is ridiculous? I work for a company (software) that employs about 10,000 people. I use my real name when dealing with my clients. We have a lot of John's, Cathy's, Susie's, Julie's, etc. When you go into a Wal-Mart or Target, they have their real name on their name tags. There are lots of Wal-Marts and Targets all over the US.

 

[Nolcrest]

Yes this does seem silly however it is true - they don't use their real names. A CM told me this once when I commented on the unusual name. I suppose this way every name is unique and it's probably easier to track someone as well as security (for whatever reason).

 

[Min and Bill]

Having worked in call centers before I do know that some allow the agents to use aliases. The policy was they had to notify management what alias they were going to use and could not change it from day-to-day.

The last few times we have called CRO, we have spoken with Camry, Lonnie Ray, November and Gladys.

.

 

[TaurusSES_Sport]

Ya, i've heard people use Luigi, stella, maria/marie, june...crazy names lol

 

[bytheblood]

Yeah - I have heard vehicle and month names a lot. Cities, too.

 

[Chuck S]

If you have a problem with a ressie, and the guests "swears" John told them that could get free ice cream for the length of their stay...how could they track this down, assuming there would be more than one John if they used their real names? They don't use their last names, so it is a matter of both security and tracking ability.

That being said, I went to high school with the children of an astronomer, the legal names of the kids were Space, Solar and Rocket.

 

[bytheblood]

They don't use their last names, so it is a matter of both security and tracking ability.

That is not entirely accurate. Every single email response I have ever received from Disney has a first and last name on it.

Cathy Smith
Julianna Stevenson
Vicky James


For security? It is a job. I have never worked anywhere, not even when I worked in a call center, where we were not supposed to give our last names if asked. If you want to hide, don't go in public or enroll in the witness protection program. People can find things out about you if they want to. i.e. You can pull an address at random and review it in an appraisal database for that city and see who lives there, what they paid for their house and what their home is valued at. It is kind of hard to be discreet in today's world, especially living in the US.

 

[Aimeedyan]

ALL CM's in the reservation center are assigned names at the end of their training.

 

[bytheblood]

ALL CM's in the reservation center are assigned names at the end of their training.

Are you a CM? How do you know this?

 

[precious pixie]

I worked for a credit card company before and they did tell us that we could tell them our first names if we wanted to but did not have to and we weren't allowed to give our last names.
The amount of people you run into at Disney World is for more than at a Target or Walmart. I'm sure their are lots of reasons they give fake names (security, tracking, etc) If I was a cast member I'd be glad. Their are so many cast members that really do go out of their way to spread pixie dust to guests and it's nice to know that even if you don't recall their last name credit will be given where it's due if a guest does inform Disney of the special services performed.

 

[LibertyBelle]

I worked at the Disney Cruise Line reservation Center and we too did not use our real names (just like CRO). When you are done with training you look at the list of names that are already being used. If your real name is not on the list then you have to have your own name, if your name is already used then you can pick 3 names that are not already used and they will assign one of those to you. There is a quick link on the reservations systems to names... You type in the "alias" name of the person you are looking for and it gives you their real name and their phone extention. This is done for the exact reason as other posters have stated. There is only one name used so when you call back swearing that BOB told you something, there is only one BOB and they can get the situation resolved quicker... As for the last name thing... Disney is a first name company (unless you are getting something mailed), Hourly CM's do not and most times will not issue you their last name as the company does not require them to (managers and those in higher up positions will).

 

[Micca]

I have noticed some unusual names at CRO and figured there must be something going on with fake names. The really interesting thing is that I have actually dealt with the same person(whatever their real name may be) on 2 or 3 occasions. I realized it when we started visiting a little bit...and she remembered me I guess we go to WDW quite a bit

 

[Steffi]

I worked at the Tampa reservations office for a while last year. They do assign you a name at the end of your training. Most of the people in my group were assigned their real names, using both their first and middle names (probably why you hear so many ending in 'Marie'). Three or four of the group were given very strange names, though.

 

[Chuck S]

bytheblood, there is a big difference in an hourly employee giving their name via a verbal phone conversation and a MANAGER doing the same thing via email...BTW...how do you know that the names on the email are not "false names" as well? My guess is that they are not, as emails would come from management positions...but there is still the possibility.

 

[BCV23]

Years ago the names seemed more "normal" as I'm sure Chuck remembers. I think they ran out of those!

It doesn't bother me in the least that pseudonymns are used. I think some of the names are cute and some rather funny.

I wonder if it helps them take less than pleasant calls less personally. I think if an impatient or demanding guest called me Sleeping Bambi, their lack of manners would roll off my back more easily than if the guest addressed me by my own name. I doubt that is the reason for the fictitous names however.

 

[bytheblood]

I worked at the Disney Cruise Line reservation Center and we too did not use our real names (just like CRO). When you are done with training you look at the list of names that are already being used. If your real name is not on the list then you have to have your own name, if your name is already used then you can pick 3 names that are not already used and they will assign one of those to you. There is a quick link on the reservations systems to names... You type in the "alias" name of the person you are looking for and it gives you their real name and their phone extention. This is done for the exact reason as other posters have stated. There is only one name used so when you call back swearing that BOB told you something, there is only one BOB and they can get the situation resolved quicker... As for the last name thing... Disney is a first name company (unless you are getting something mailed), Hourly CM's do not and most times will not issue you their last name as the company does not require them to (managers and those in higher up positions will).

Thank you for clearing that up. I wondered why the names were so "out there" so-to-speak. About the last name thing....Disney employees do provide last names, even if they are made-up. I have 7 emails from Disney, all of which have a first and last name...some have first, middle and last.

 

[Chuck S]

....Disney employees do provide last names, even if they are made-up. I have 7 emails from Disney, all of which have a first and last name...some have first, middle and last.

Most hourly employees do NOT provide last names when emailing guests, at least not DVC member services....it is a generic Member Services address. Those that do use a first and last name for email address are more than likely management personnel.

 

[eeyore0062]

No, the CM's at the CRO don't use their same names, there would be too many Mary's and Tom's to keep up with... that is why you hear really strange names, like Dominique Marie, and Auggie... two of my favorites!