new ressie policy?

[PrincessesX3]

so I just got off the phone with a CM, and I asked if I booked for 12 people, but only 10 people show, I will be charged for the two people. So I have to ask everyone the night before "are you going to the reservation if not I have to cancel" what happens if some of the party is delayed or someone is sick, etc. I will be charged, but I did not not go to the reservation-people did show. I don't know about this one? anyone get a different response?

 

[bigtony777]

All the reservations reminder emails that we had last week had the following statement:

"There is a 1-day cancellation policy and a $10 per person charge if you cancel within 1 day of the reservation or are a "no show" for the reservation."

We cancelled one reservation and were not charged anything. I wonder when they will begin enforcing this policy. At this time, I don't see how they can charge when they only ask for a credit card for a select few restaurants when making reservations.

 

[LilyWDW]

so I just got off the phone with a CM, and I asked if I booked for 12 people, but only 10 people show, I will be charged for the two people. So I have to ask everyone the night before "are you going to the reservation if not I have to cancel" what happens if some of the party is delayed or someone is sick, etc. I will be charged, but I did not not go to the reservation-people did show. I don't know about this one? anyone get a different response?

Technically, they can charge for anyone who does not show. Even if 10 out of 12 people do show because that is a change in the reservation.

Now, do they actually always do that? No... but it IS possible.

 

[Pumbaa_]

moved to the reservation board

there has been a recent post from somene who showed up late by a few minutes asn was charged the $40 no show fee for her group, although they did show and did dine there

 

[PrincessesX3]

moved to the reservation board

there has been a recent post from somene who showed up late by a few minutes asn was charged the $40 no show fee for her group, although they did show and did dine there

I did see that, and saw it was reversed. I am nervous about being late too. Two years ago, we were almost an 45 mins late to an 8:05 ressie at Akershus due to the monorail was performing maintenence. Will I be charged if that happens, completely out of my control. It is frustrating.

 

[Colleen27]

so I just got off the phone with a CM, and I asked if I booked for 12 people, but only 10 people show, I will be charged for the two people. So I have to ask everyone the night before "are you going to the reservation if not I have to cancel" what happens if some of the party is delayed or someone is sick, etc. I will be charged, but I did not not go to the reservation-people did show. I don't know about this one? anyone get a different response?

Not the night before. Two nights before. CMs are doing a terrible job of explaining this policy - it isn't 24 hours. There has to be a full calendar day between cancellation and ADR time to avoid charges, so for dinner on Thursday you have to cancel by 10pm on Tues (when the WDW-Dine line closes).

There's been conflicting information on the partial-party question and whether you'd be charged in that circumstance, but no new first-hand reports since the policy went into effect. And to further complicate the situation, not all CMs will/know how to modify an ADR without cancelling and starting over so if you do call to reduce the number of people in your party and are told it isn't possible, either ask to be transferred or call back. It is possible but not every CM seems to know that.

 

[TDC Nala]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2836290

 

[cigar95]

Not the night before. Two nights before. CMs are doing a terrible job of explaining this policy - it isn't 24 hours. There has to be a full calendar day between cancellation and ADR time to avoid charges, so for dinner on Thursday you have to cancel by 10pm on Tues (when the WDW-Dine line closes).

Colleen, just wanted to add that I got a statement in writing from Guest Communications that confirms what you said:

". . the cancellation does mean a full calendar day in advance; not
counting the day of reservation or the day of cancelation (their spelling error, not mine)."
Thus a Wednesday breakfast would need to be cancelled by Monday night.

Normally this might be just another case of conflicting information from CMs, but this one was put in writing - that, in a sense, takes it to another level.

There's been conflicting information on the partial-party question and whether you'd be charged in that circumstance, but no new first-hand reports since the policy went into effect. . . .

Yup. In the same letter where I asked about the interpretation of "one day", I also asked about the partial party question. That one was left unanswered, so I'll need to write again.

I made a point of asking to not receive a telephone reply, specifically because I wanted the answer in writing. Perhaps because of this, I received the strictest possible response to which of the three ways to interpret "one day" was the correct one.

 

[Colleen27]

Colleen, just wanted to add that I got a statement in writing from Guest Communications that confirms what you said:

". . the cancellation does mean a full calendar day in advance; not
counting the day of reservation or the day of cancelation (their spelling error, not mine)."
Thus a Wednesday breakfast would need to be cancelled by Monday night.

Normally this might be just another case of conflicting information from CMs, but this one was put in writing - that, in a sense, takes it to another level.

Yup. In the same letter where I asked about the interpretation of "one day", I also asked about the partial party question. That one was left unanswered, so I'll need to write again.

I'm impressed! I e-mailed and snail-mailed and got a very polite and wordy non-answer in response to the former and nothing in response to the latter. Like you, my goal was to get the policy in writing rather than relying on "...but the phone CM said..." and I got nowhere with that. I really feel bad for the people who end up charged because they got bad information from a CM about the cancellation deadline.

 

[cigar95]

I'm impressed! I e-mailed and snail-mailed and got a very polite and wordy non-answer in response to the former and nothing in response to the latter. Like you, my goal was to get the policy in writing rather than relying on "...but the phone CM said..." and I got nowhere with that. I really feel bad for the people who end up charged because they got bad information from a CM about the cancellation deadline.

I think maybe I got a "straight answer" because my question was very specific - paraphrasing, I just asked "there are three ways to interpret the words 'one day' - which one is it?" And spelled out the three ways.

I'm pretty sure if they put anything in writing for the question of partial parties, it will be that individual no-shows are subject to the penalty - again, putting only the strictest version of the policy in writing even if that isn't always going to be how it gets applied.

This one makes a difference to me because I eat a lot of solo meals at WDW, but I always make reservations for two, simply because reservations for one seem to have a lot less availability even though you'll sit at the same table.

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't see us getting conflicting information from Disney about the full calendar day cancellation. That's been pretty consistent from reports on the boards.

However, we're still getting conflicting information regarding partial parties. Waiting to see a report from someone who actually showed up with a partial party. But even then it could vary depending on what the restaurant does. If they do charge for partial parties, it's going to be the end of diners making reservations for larger parties on purpose at the CC restaurants because there is availability for the larger party but not for their actual party size, unless they're OK with paying the fee. What I normally do is book for a larger party based on the possibility that friends might join me, but that won't work anymore at the CC restaurants if they charge for partial parties.

 

[cigar95]

I don't see us getting conflicting information from Disney about the full calendar day cancellation. That's been pretty consistent from reports on the boards.

You have followed this closer than I, so I won't dispute that. But there is still a lot of mention of "24 hours", so there i still a lot of misunderstanding to be corrected.

However, we're still getting conflicting information regarding partial parties. Waiting to see a report from someone who actually showed up with a partial party. But even then it could vary depending on what the restaurant does. If they do charge for partial parties, it's going to be the end of diners making reservations for larger parties on purpose at the CC restaurants because there is availability for the larger party but not for their actual party size, unless they're OK with paying the fee. What I normally do is book for a larger party based on the possibility that friends might join me, but that won't work anymore at the CC restaurants if they charge for partial parties.

What I have done in the past - including with CRT - was to call ahead and just tell them "we will be a party of X, not X+2". Even when they could not change the actual party size on the ADR, they were still able to note it on the reservation. One would think, in a reasonable world, that if this call were made before the cancellation deadline, this would suffice. (But there is no guarantee that this system is a reasonable one.)

I can't help but think that as this whole thing really begins to hit full force as we head into the Spring, there's going to be enough blowback for WDW to make changes to some of the particulars, while keeping the general concept in place.

 

[TDC Nala]

You have followed this closer than I, so I won't dispute that. But there is still a lot of mention of "24 hours", so there i still a lot of misunderstanding to be corrected.

I was talking about actual cancellations, not what the CMs at WDW-DINE are telling people who call them just to ask. I've personally been burned so often by WDW-DINE that I usually advise others not to use them for anything other than making reservations, because they seem to make up stuff when they don't know the answer - that or they are looking things up on the WDW website which is also wrong a lot. I know some of the posters got "24 hours" from WDW-DINE, and there was a widespread assumption when the policy was first released that "one day in advance" meant "24 hours" and it's since been determined for sure that's not what it means in this case.

We don't have a lot of empirical evidence from those who actually showed up with partial parties yet though. I think it would be OK to remove people before the cancellation deadline, it's removing them after the deadline or just showing up with a partial party that we need to know about.

There's also the possibility that in practice, one party could be charged for a partial party showing up, and then another party who shows up later might not be charged because a different person at the restaurant takes a different approach. That's why I want to see what is actually happening with guests that arrive at the restaurants.

 

[cigar95]

. . . . I know some of the posters got "24 hours" from WDW-DINE, and there was a widespread assumption when the policy was first released that "one day in advance" meant "24 hours" and it's since been determined for sure that's not what it means in this case.

I was referring to the posters here in the board, many of whom are still thinking "24 hours" - I wasn't real clear in that, I guess.

Here's where I think there's going to be a problem - if you were to pick a hundred typical WDW guests at random and ask them what it meant to cancel "one day in advance", I would think you might get about 42 of them who would think this meant "the day before", probably another 54 who would think it meant "24 hours", and about 4 who thought it meant "one full calendar day in between".

If they want to make a strict policy, and hold guests to it, that's their call - that part of it has been debated here ad nauseam. But to word it in such an unspecific manner in a case where the actual policy is not at all clear from the wording and stricter than the most common interpretation of those words, that seems to be where there's going to be trouble. And that non-clarity is indeed WDW's fault.

 

[ccgirl]

so I just got off the phone with a CM, and I asked if I booked for 12 people, but only 10 people show, I will be charged for the two people. So I have to ask everyone the night before "are you going to the reservation if not I have to cancel" what happens if some of the party is delayed or someone is sick, etc. I will be charged, but I did not not go to the reservation-people did show. I don't know about this one? anyone get a different response?

This is because a reservation for a party of 2 could have been taken if they knew ahead of time people in your party would not show. IF you knwo in advance they are not going to show, I would make a reservation for the correct number of people. I would also be sure to tell them your card will be charged if they do not show.

 

[Colleen27]

If they want to make a strict policy, and hold guests to it, that's their call - that part of it has been debated here ad nauseam. But to word it in such an unspecific manner in a case where the actual policy is not at all clear from the wording and stricter than the most common interpretation of those words, that seems to be where there's going to be trouble. And that non-clarity is indeed WDW's fault.

Heck, if you ask 100 dining line CMs (front line, not supervisory - pushing for a supervisor does seem to yield the correct answer) you'll likely find about that same ratio. And that is really unforgivable, because most Disney visitors aren't DISers and don't know that you can't count on the information you get straight from Disney phone reps.

 

[raidermatt]

On the one day thing, it sounds to me like they have a computer system that can't quite do what they want yet, but they went live anyway. I've never heard of a restaurant, or any other similar business, having a cancellation policy of the end of the day 2 days prior to the reservation. What's more, what constitutes the end of the day? When WDW-DINE closes? Midnight eastern (for online and in-park cancellations)? Much too confusing. 24 or 48 hours is the norm, and for good reason.

My guess is that when it comes to creating the no-show credit card charges, the system runs on some kind of daily batch system and can't determine if a cancellation was made 23:59 or 24:01 in advance. Hopefully they'll fix that to make things more clear for the guests (which also means fewer customer service headaches for them).

 

[cigar95]

. . . . . What's more, what constitutes the end of the day? When WDW-DINE closes? . . . .

Yes.

And the percentage of WDW guests who are aware of this is probably, oh, about a quarter of the percent of votes that Lyndon LaRouche will get in this year's presidential election.

This is indeed a train wreck waiting to happen.