Need Help and to VENT!!!!!!!

[tiger4me2]

I´m sorry you had such a bad experience.
What was the problem? It must have been bad since you decided to cancel both reservations.
Sure you can stay offsite and still be o.k. Most WDW visitors stay offsite and still enjoy their time at the World, but you will not be able to book dining if you stay offsite.

You can book dining of staying off site. Just no early or late hrs

 

[The Hendies]

Yes, I have been an hour on the phone just changing from 2 people to 3 and adding dining. But, the resort was fully booked and if she canceled one ressie, in the split second she tried to add the other, the room would have been gone. Yes, frustrating! And I was on my cell phone, so I was worried that my battery would die. It worked out, and I was glad I was able to keep my cool.

 

[Matt'sMom]

You can book dining of staying off site. Just no early or late hrs

I think the poster meant you could not book the Disney Dining Plan, if staying off site... not that you couldn't make ADRs.

 

[disneyag]

We also use Dreams Unlimited Travel and it's great. My TA is the one who makes the numerous phone calls. A TA can also get you 2 rooms with no problems. If you are not willing to try again yourself (and who can blame you??), try sending an email to DU.

 

[Freyja]

I think the poster meant you could not book the Disney Dining Plan, if staying off site... not that you couldn't make ADRs.

Yes, that´ s what I meant. I see I was quite unclear in the previous post. Sorry!

 

[DisToday]

I'm going to be the voice of dissent here, as I maybe on many threads in the future and say, I don't recommend staying on site if you're even considering not doing it.

The only advantage to onsite is the location of the deluxes resorts, but I'm not sure that's worth the money.

I stayed on site for the first time this time at the Yacht Club. It's not even negotiable the fact that Disney property is overpriced as a hotel. The rooms at the Yacht Club, at almost 400 dollars a night after taxes, were "nice" and "adequote" but were by no means "Deluxe" or "luxury" hotel rooms.

For half the price I could have stayed at The Ritz.
For less than half I could have stayed at the Peabody.

And so on, and so on.

Don't expect a nice place for your money. Expect convinence to park, and some theming.

 

[Missin'Disney]

I agree the hold times are ludicrous. Who has hours to spend on the phone when they are at work trying to make $$ to pay for their vacay??

But I wouldn't get so irate that I give up on the idea of staying onsite. Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead staying offsite. I go to Orlando for Disney and that is where you'll find me

Yeah, it's not the Ritz, but kids appreciate what it IS and that is what is most important to me. I'm not schlepping through a parking lot and trying to figure out directions, sitting in traffic and dealing with tacky Orlando to go back to my hotel room EVER...i don't care if I save a little $$. In the grand scheme of things, it's a drop in the bucket.

You should try WDWTravels....I use Kris and she's awesome. PM me for more details. I think you get much more attention from them than DU cause they're not quite as big. Anyway, whatever you decide,

good luck!!

 

[tlynk]

I don't think you should have to use a TA to get good customer service. I would ask to speak a manager. Plus, if you like to be in control of your own reservations you should get the same treatment as a TA would. There is no excuse for that kind of service; especially, since it is your money and you’re the customer. I've never had a bad experience from the CRO, but I would be pretty upset with them if I was treated poorly. With the economy the way it is employees should be happy to be working and try to go the extra mile to keep their jobs. I hope things work out for you.

 

[Dawn68PA]

Sorry to the OP. I can't imagine being on hold for 40 minutes. No way. I would have hung up. I'll admit I don't have that kind of patience.

Now yesterday I called to use a code on my rooms (I have 2 rooms booked) and was on with her a good half hour. The CM explained to me that they were doing upgrades and her computer was painfully slow at the moment. I much appreciated her telling me this. Poor girl, every time I asked her to check something different we'd have 60-90 seconds between screens. She was very accomodating during these times and chit chatted about WDW with me. Charming girl and made the time much more pleasurable than just sitting there waiting (which happened to me once before).

I hope you have better luck with your next call and that your CM is as pleasant as Theodora was.

 

[LuvsTinker]

Fortunately, never had a problem booking or waiting long

 

[PRaffen]

I just posted about this very thing last week. I needed two rooms and by the end of the week had made 8 phone calls.

One employee even told me "I get a lot of things wrong" which she continually gave me wrong information and I corrected her.

Very frustrating but today - surprise! - I had a gem of a CM . Their system was "down" when I first called but she took my information and called me back. She was able to apply the AAA discount I had previously not been able to get, make my requested changes and actually do correctly what needed to be done. Yes, I was on the phone for a long time but it was worth it.

Of all the calls I made, I would say I had a good CM who knew what they were doing, less than half of the time. Definitely hit or miss.

 

[Clotho]

Sometimes I wish that Disney would hire people to work out of their homes. Bedcause I would work for the dining line in a pinch and make sure you were all taken care of! I know more about the dining plans and ADR process than most of the folks I get on the phone! LOL

That's why using a TA is great. It's a convenience thing. They are willing to wait on the line in your stead, that's great! I so aprpeciate the work they do as intermediaries. Yes, of course it would be ideal if everyone got great service and all the details of our trips were arranged seamlessly. But that ain't true for everyone, and it isn't limited to Disney. This is why there are Travel Agents for all kinds of travel! So why not avail yourself of the free service and stop waiting on the line?

I wasn't sure if we were allowed to recommend TA's, but I see others have already, so I will heartily sing the praises of Mouseketrips! Scott Liljenquist was a fantastic help on our first trip in 2004, handling all our ressies and details without a hitch, finding us the best discount codes, and being our advocate for all things Disney. It was a dream to work with someone like him, and I recommend to anyone--especially for first trips, complicated trips (split stays, grand gatherings, etc), or even just for a simple trip you don't want to "deal with" the rigmarole--to give it a try!

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I have a question and four comments:

1. You said that you were on hold for 40 minutes. Do you mean you were on hold that long before someone picked up? (That's not that unusual given the time of year.) Or once you spoke to a CM she said, "I'll be right back," and placed you on hold for 40 minutes? She should have come back to check on you for sure, if this is the case, and she should have explained what was taking so long.

2. As far as call centres go, if you're having problems, ask to speak to a supervisor at the first sign of trouble. If you have to call back, as soon as a CM or CSR answers, ask directly for a supervisor. You should have much more success this way.

3. You might think your request is simple but as someone else said, it's a little more complicated than you think. You are making some major changes in terms of dates since you are choosing to go at such a busy time of year and, as far as WDW vacations go, you are doing it at the last minute. That takes a good deal of time in and of itself. Then to have to find two connecting rooms that are still available? It's not quite a miracle but it's up there.

4. When booking online, I have never had a problem entering in two different names for the ressie and for the credit card. When it changes the name on the ressie to match the credit card, you can easily change it back in my experience.

5. A lot of people have recommended TAs. There are a whole slew of reasons not to use a TA as well. But you can check out the other thread for my opinion on that.

I really do wish you the best of luck in getting this vacation straightened away. I know it can be sometimes frustrating but try not to get too worked up about it.

 

[blues2411]

I have a question and four comments:

1. You said that you were on hold for 40 minutes. Do you mean you were on hold that long before someone picked up? (That's not that unusual given the time of year.) Or once you spoke to a CM she said, "I'll be right back," and placed you on hold for 40 minutes? She should have come back to check on you for sure, if this is the case, and she should have explained what was taking so long.

2. As far as call centres go, if you're having problems, ask to speak to a supervisor at the first sign of trouble. If you have to call back, as soon as a CM or CSR answers, ask directly for a supervisor. You should have much more success this way.

3. You might think your request is simple but as someone else said, it's a little more complicated than you think. You are making some major changes in terms of dates since you are choosing to go at such a busy time of year and, as far as WDW vacations go, you are doing it at the last minute. That takes a good deal of time in and of itself. Then to have to find two connecting rooms that are still available? It's not quite a miracle but it's up there.

4. When booking online, I have never had a problem entering in two different names for the ressie and for the credit card. When it changes the name on the ressie to match the credit card, you can easily change it back in my experience.

5. A lot of people have recommended TAs. There are a whole slew of reasons not to use a TA as well. But you can check out the other thread for my opinion on that.

I really do wish you the best of luck in getting this vacation straightened away. I know it can be sometimes frustrating but try not to get too worked up about it.

To answer your questions.....the CM put me on hold for 40 minutes and never checked back with me. I was changing my dates from 12/13-12/18 to 3/14-3/21, this is not a busy time and it shouldn't have taken that long. I was not doing it last minute. Again I was not doing anything complicated. As far as asking for a supervisor....the 1st time I called WAY back in July to make these ressies I spoke to a supervisor that was horrible! She was so bad in fact that I filed a BBB complaint AND a formal complaint with WDW. I have made the decision to rent a house and to buy tickets elsewhere to disney. I will make a few dining ressies but that's it.

I work in customer service in call center for a major water company and if we EVER treated our customers the way I was treated by the ressie folks we would be unemployed. I will say the dining CM was great.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

To answer your questions.....the CM put me on hold for 40 minutes and never checked back with me. I was changing my dates from 12/13-12/18 to 3/14-3/21, this is not a busy time and it shouldn't have taken that long. I was not doing it last minute. Again I was not doing anything complicated. As far as asking for a supervisor....the 1st time I called WAY back in July to make these ressies I spoke to a supervisor that was horrible! She was so bad in fact that I filed a BBB complaint AND a formal complaint with WDW. I have made the decision to rent a house and to buy tickets elsewhere to disney. I will make a few dining ressies but that's it.

I work in customer service in call center for a major water company and if we EVER treated our customers the way I was treated by the ressie folks we would be unemployed. I will say the dining CM was great.

I don't necessarily think it is unreasonable for it to take 40 minutes to complete a procedure like that. You might not realize it but March is actually a very busy time at WDW with March/Spring/College Breaks. However, I do agree that it is horrible customer service to leave someone on hold for 40 minutes without checking back in with them from time to time to explain what was taking so long and what was going on. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience.

It does seem unproductive though to call the BBB on a company and then patronize that company afterward. I think it might have made more sense to file a complaint with Disney and give them a chance to make it right.

 

[tsal]

We've had a number of problems with Disney res. for a room only one night stay, that's why we book our entire package through our AAA TA and have had nothing but great trips. AAA save us some bucks as well.