New charge for Bell Service Delivery

[jo-jo]

Who would pay to get groceries delivered? Amazon, Vons/Albertson's, Kroeger (and all variants) and several others all deliver for free with a minimum purchase. And many more through Instacart and Google Express offer free delivery as well.

Are they really free? I mean if I walk into the store and buy eggs for $1.75, does instacart charge $1.75 or is it higher? How do they make money?

I have only used Wegoshop a couple of times and that was a several years ago. We have used amazon prime now which is different from a plain old store.

 

[kaytieeldr]

not because they arent good employees, but because - what exactly would extraordinary service even BE when delivering groceries ?

Putting away the groceries, chilling and opening the wine, providing a full ice bucket...

 

[Roxyfire]

That doesn't work if your room isn't ready and you need to store your luggage with bell services.

Although I truly don't believe this policy applies to that situation.

Honestly I don't either. I think people are reading too much into it.

 

[Roxyfire]

Are they really free? I mean if I walk into the store and buy eggs for $1.75, does instacart charge $1.75 or is it higher? How do they make money?

I have only used Wegoshop a couple of times and that was a several years ago. We have used amazon prime now which is different from a plain old store.

Maybe in some areas but not in the Chicago area. Whether it's a third-party (like Instacart, Shipt, or others) or the grocery chain themselves, they charge for delivery. The only exception is through Amazon Fresh but I believe you have to pay extra for that. It isn't included in Prime.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I asked for them to do this at the Poly in November and they said they don't (we wanted to hit the parks and just wanted the cold items put up). Not sure if that's an official stance or if some bellhops just try to go above and beyond. We were actually told we had to be in the room for grocery delivery.

Standard policy is that you have to be in the room for any delivery except DME-handed luggage

 

[quandrea]

In all of my years of going to WDW (since 1976), I haven't seen bell services handle one delivery of anything but what was obviously luggage. Most rooms only have a small refrigerator and not much storage for other foodstuff. Now if you are talking about DVC where units have kitchens, that might be more common. I thought DVC check in was in a separate area from regular hotel guests and that might explain why I haven't seen groceries handled.

Many, many guests have large grocery deliveries. Dvc is a timeshare that Disney sold us. They tout the joys of being able to cook in your own kitchen, bake cookies with your kids, drink wine and eat tapas on your balcony. This is the picture they paint in their promotional ads. To then turn around and charge for the service of having your grocery brought to said kitchen is obnoxious.

 

[quandrea]

Kinda have to say I disagree with this post.

I have stayed in DVC rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House), Copper Creek Villas (Wilderness Lodge), Beach Club and BoardWalk. I checked in at the same front desk as people staying in regular hotel rooms (except for those times I did online check-in and was able to go straight to my room).

There is one Bell Services area for both DVC rooms and regular hotel rooms.

I have never personally seen groceries delivered to a Disney resort. I have never seen a grocery delivery van pull up, seen groceries removed from the van, seen groceries taken back to the Bell Services area. That doesn't mean that groceries are not delivered. In fact, I have had groceries delivered more than once - I have just never seen them arrive.

You would see the Garden Grocer van at all dvc properties dropping off orders every single day of your stay. Grocery delivery is very common for dvc. I personally cook at least once a day, plus breakfast every day of our vacation. We are the people with the massive orders a pp mentioned upthread. We get sick of restaurant food and we have allergies. Part of the reasoning behind having a full kitchen.

 

[starry_solo]

Standard policy is that you have to be in the room for any delivery except DME-handed luggage

Even your own luggage if its transferred between resorts

 

[Irish_Mike]

I'll go ahead and address a couple things here since this is something I'm (now) working with daily in the resorts.

The $6 service fee only applies if you are having the groceries delivered from the luggage room to your room through the help of a bellman. If you pick them up from the desk and bring the groceries to the room yourself, you are not charged a fee. If you have packages (UPS, FedEx, Amazon (Nongroceries, etc)) that are shipped to the hotel, the $6 is applied no matter whether you pick them up or have them delivered.

There is currently no fee in place for delivery of anything else - luggage you drop off with bell services, luggage you have transferred from another resort, owners lockers, stroller rentals, magical express luggage, etc. The article implying such is incorrect.

 

[kylieh]

I didn't think that this was new - I read about it 6 months or so ago when I booked our upcoming trip to POFQ. The charge then was $5.

 

[kaytieeldr]

A few times my DD has sent me a birthday card to me while I was at WDW and it was brought to our room . Will I be charged $6 for that? Either under accepting a package or delivering a package?????

A card is (a) not a package and (b) delivered to the Front Desk, not to Bell Services.

I would like to know this as well as we have a split stay coming up. Will you also be charged the fee if you call bell services to come pickup luggage to transfer to anther resort?

Luggage picked up from your roo. Is not groceries being delivered to your room.

Many, many guests have large grocery deliveries. Dvc is a timeshare that Disney sold us. They tout the joys of being able to cook in your own kitchen, bake cookies with your kids, drink wine and eat tapas on your balcony. This is the picture they paint in their promotional ads. To then turn around and charge for the service of having your grocery brought to said kitchen is obnoxious.

DVD members have always been, and will continue to be, able to go grocery shopping. Nothing in your list of touted joys* indicates free grocery delivery.

*edited from note

 

[snappy]

We stay in a DVC unit and make breakfast, and like to have lots of bottled water and other drinks, and snacks, especially a variety of fruit. We tried ordering a delivery from amazon prime now several times with mixed results. We have switched to using a car service with a grocery stop. It costs more but we much prefer it over ME and we get to select our own fruit etc. We won’t be paying the $6 per delivery.

 

[Starwind]

Putting away the groceries, chilling and opening the wine, providing a full ice bucket...

oh, be careful, Disney may decide they need to impose a special alcohol handling fee...

But yeah, those would be extraordinary services

 

[jo-jo]

Sorry if I missed this point.....what if you ordered groceries, paid the $6 fee, had groceries brought to room. Then with a split stay, you have some of those same groceries transferred over to new resort. Another $6 fee?

 

[snappy]

Sorry if I missed this point.....what if you ordered groceries, paid the $6 fee, had groceries brought to room. Then with a split stay, you have some of those same groceries transferred over to new resort. Another $6 fee?

Good question.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Tipped positions at WDW are Bell Services, Valet Parking and Food/Beverage Servers. They are paid less than minimum wage because of their tips. So tip the CM who brings stuff to your room on top of the fee. Like you tip the beverage server at the bar on top of the price of the drink.

 

[snappy]

Definitely tip. We often get the same bell services guy at the Boardwalk. I think his name is Al, been there 20-25 years or more. I always hope we get him. He’s wonderful.

 

[saskdw]

I'll go ahead and address a couple things here since this is something I'm (now) working with daily in the resorts.

The $6 service fee only applies if you are having the groceries delivered from the luggage room to your room through the help of a bellman. If you pick them up from the desk and bring the groceries to the room yourself, you are not charged a fee. If you have packages (UPS, FedEx, Amazon (Nongroceries, etc)) that are shipped to the hotel, the $6 is applied no matter whether you pick them up or have them delivered.

There is currently no fee in place for delivery of anything else - luggage you drop off with bell services, luggage you have transferred from another resort, owners lockers, stroller rentals, magical express luggage, etc. The article implying such is incorrect.

Thanks for the clarification.

When you put it that way though it seems like a tip wouldn't be expected as the $6 is specifically to bring the groceries to the room?

 

[runwad]

@snappy and now I have this song in my head

 

[snappy]

@snappy and now I have this song in my head

Love it! I always did love Chevy Chase!

And now so do I!!!!