Not so 'magical' magic express

["thegirls"]

After using ME myself on 3 seperate occasions and sending over 10 clients through the system, I've encountered my first dissapointment. And quite frankly it leaves me questioning Disney's real commitment to this program.
Here's the story:

I had clients arriving at MCO today who did not receive their ME tags. I confirmed with CRO and ME both that ME was attached to their reservation. I relayed the info to the client and ussured them that Disney would take care of the luggage, all they had to do was show up at the ME desk and present their reservation# and their luggage receipts and it would all be fine.
Well when they landed today and went to the ME desk and handed the CM a copy of the reservation they were told that they in fact did not have a reservation for them on ME(eventhough the copy of the confo stated it as a line item). They told my clients that if they could not confirm their ME reservation, they would have to find they own transportation to the resort. As this is all occuring, the other family traveling them with them has checked in with ME and is directed towards the bus(they were on the same flight and were right behind each other in the ME line). The family#1 is still being told by the CM that no reservation exist for them and they will get a manager to try and help. Family #2 who is ready to depart on the ME bus has chosen to wait for family#1 because they are traveling together. Twenty minutes later they find family#1 reservation, but the bus has now departed. They end up waiting another 30 minutes until the next bus is ready to go. Because of this mix-up both families will miss the ADR planned for that evening.
Both families are very dissapointed in how they were treated by Disney at ME and called me to complain.
I contacted ME and spoke to a supervisior. I retold the story of the mishap and mis-information the ME cm told my clients at MCO and let the supervisor know that my client was pretty upset with her expeirence with Disney at this point. ...and get this....her reply was "Magical Express is a complimentary service, your clients does not have to use it!". After I picked my jaw up from my desk , I explained that I believe these clients are not looking for any monetary compenstion, and rightfully so, but that if she could just sent a little 'magic' their way I am sure it would go a long way in distracting them from feeling 'put aside' by being told that they would have to find other transportation if they did not locate their reservation. I expained further to her that if even this was a momentary fear(about 15 minutes time passed before they finally found the reservation for ME) it still was enough to get my client in a sweat over what to do NOW...how will I get to my hotel? .why is this man with my reservation in his hand telling me it doesn't matter if I am a guest at the hotel he does not have to let me on the bus?....why is he challening my documents and not trying to alleviate my worry? Why does he not believe that I confirmed all this yesterday with his office? The reponse from the ME supervisor was a detailed time-line of when each party checked into the ME desk, all the comments noted by the ME CM at MCO and the time(1hr and 15minutes) it took my client from when my clients reservation was finally found and they were officially checked in with ME to when they got onto the bus. Her final comment was 'I beleive we serviced this guest adequetly' then 'again, ME is a complimentary service and we have done our job and delivered your client to their hotel!' [The exclamation point is exactly how she sounded had this been a written statement].
I do realize that I obviously will have to appease the client on Disney's behalf if I so choose, but I am just blown-away as a paying guest myself that this is how ME is run. During the course of the conversation the CM repeatly referred to this service as complimentary and not actually being a part of the Disney Guests reservation.
My observations: 1.) Disney ME is a seperate entity. They are interested primararly in transporting guest in a timely fashion and are not required to 'set the mood' or offer anything above safe, free transportation to your resort. 2.)They are not intereseted in providing customer service to a guest in a freindly reassuring manner should a minor problem arise. 3.)ME is an island in current time. They do not staff above the supervisor level and answer only directly to the Disney corporation itself beyond this level, so no immediate remedy is required by them (beyond transportation) to any guest. 4.) I will not rely on this service as dependable(loosing a reservation) or friendly(telling the client they are not entitled to this service) or comforting(letting the client know that they just may have to get there own transportation.....this one I am extremely dissapointed in Disney for even suggesting to a guest....what happened to a simple...'don't worry Mrs. so and so we will find your reservation...it is probably just a problem with OUR system!?!?)

This is just an FYI. I have benifited over the years from others sharing their experiences concerning Disney services and I am just trying to do the same.

Take Care,
Debbie

 

[bicker]

I don't see the concern you're trying to convey. Stuff happens. In this case, a reservation was misplaced for a short period of time, and due to the nature of a scheduled service, that could have caused a longer delay. There was no actual denial of service. While it would have be nice for DME to offer the family who's records were misplaced vouchers for a meal in the airport, to compensate for the inconvenience of waiting for the next bus, why quibble over what would be worth less than $20 anyway? If your clients really did get as bent out of shape as you made it sound, over a 15 minute period where their situation was unclear, then I have to wonder where they developed such an unreasonable expectation that nothing could ever go wrong.

Surely folks should be aware that perfection isn't forthcoming, and that they may encounter minor bumps on the road -- just like if the rental car service ran out of cars, or the town car service driver never showed. Stuff happens. Be prepared. Know your options. And don't let stuff like this ruin your vacation.

Please understand I do respect your perspective. I just disagree with it.

 

[WillCAD]

Bicker - as experienced DISers and experienced WDW vacationers who know all about DME and it's so-called "service", your attitude might work for us.

But Debbie is a TA who MUST provide adequate service for her clients and who will catch the flak for it if DME screws up one of her clients' trips, even though it is not her fault by any stretch of the imagination. She's upset that something we are all paying for in teh form of increased ticket prices and fewer discounted rooms is being run in so haphazard and un-customer-oriented a fashion.

As for this being a "minor bump in the road", that would apply to us, since we are well familiar with MCO, the Orlando area, and the various modes of transport available to get to WDW. But to a family that has never been to WDW, getting told that you have no ressie on DME means you are stranded. You are stuck at an airport in a place you've never been, with no idea how to get to where you are going, while your kids get cranky and you all get hungry. It's enough to cause sheer panic in an inexperienced traveller, and expecting an inexperienced traveller to handle the situation with the same aplomb that you or I would is completely unreasonable. Have some compassion - not everybody has the presence of mind that you or I have in unfamiliar cities thousands of miles from home.

Debbie - I sympathize with you. The expectation of service from DME is the same as any other Disney operation, and when it falls short, particularly when it harms your business reputation through no fault of your own, it's a grave dissapointment.

DME is not just "a separate entity" as you put it, DME is actually Mears. It is a subcontractor hired by WDW to haul people and luggage back and forth between MCO and WDW. None of the DME people are Disney employees, and none of them answer directly to Disney. They all work for Mears, and it is Mears who ultimately answers to Disney, but there is very little Disney input or oversight of daily DME operations.

Mears is a major PITA, but is adequate when in a bind. Since DME is just Mears with Mickey heads, I would say based on reports here and elsewhere on the net that DME is also adequate, but should be regarded as the base-level, cheapest way to get from MCO to WDW. The fact that it's included in your resort ressie does not make it the best way to go; in fact, I would consider DME to be the last-ditch, if-all-else-fails, final resort mode of transportation and recommend it only to your clients who are on a budget.

I hope from now on you will recommend to your clients to spring the extra money for a towncar instead of relying on a "free" service that doesn't get the job done. An extra $100 on a multi-thousand-dollar vacation package is not a terrible hardship for many; for those whose budgets are severly limited (as mine always is), DME is a great free alternative, but I recommend that from now on you prepare your clients for a worst-case scenario when you book them on DME.

 

[seashoreCM]

From the description given the time to get to the resort does meet acceptable tolerances IMHO.

With the paper showing ME as part of the booking presented, the CM's at the welcoming area should not have asked any questions but rather immediately put the folks on the bus. Except, is there some kind of auditing procedure whereby random or questionable guests are delayed while the CM's call the resort and see that resort reservation actually exists? Just to placate other transportation companies who might send a decoy and see if a walk up customer (said decoy) was put on ME which is improper? IMHO the procedure should be more guest friendly and Mears/Disney should not be penalized for accommodating a walkup who does a more than quarter-a**ed job of deliberate fakery.

Was anybody (either guest or CM) rude?

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/magicx.htm

 

[bicker]

But Debbie is a TA who MUST provide adequate service for her clients and who will catch the flak for it if DME screws up one of her clients' trips, even though it is not her fault by any stretch of the imagination.

While that is almost surely the case for some customers, it is invariably an unreasonable expectation on the part of a traveler to hold the person who books the transportation responsible for the performance of the transportation provider, whether it be an airline, train, bus or car service. The TA's responsibility should be limited to advising the client -- letting the client know that 99% (or whatever) of the time things go very well, with no problems.

She's upset that something we are all paying for in teh form of increased ticket prices and fewer discounted rooms is being run in so haphazard and un-customer-oriented a fashion.

But it isn't. There are innumerable rave reviews of DME, which is impressive since we understand that generally dissatisfied customers actually complain ten times more often than satisfied customers rave. Stuff happens. Perfection is not forthcoming. I'm happy about that because I, personally, couldn't afford perfection. How about you?

But to a family that has never been to WDW, getting told that you have no ressie on DME means you are stranded.

That's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. You go over to the taxi stand and you get to the hotel. As it is, that whole angle of this is irrelevant, since it didn't happen.

Have some compassion - not everybody has the presence of mind that you or I have in unfamiliar cities thousands of miles from home.

I'm sorry. I do have compassion. I just think you're making a mountain out of a molehill. I believe that, at worst, a reasonable person would be upset and disturbed, and then go on with their vacation. Again, you're welcome to disagree, but I see a problem here with unreasonable expectations, in this case, of perfection.

 

[bicker]

IMHO the procedure should be more guest friendly and Mears/Disney should not be penalized for accommodating a walkup who does a more than quarter-a**ed job of deliberate fakery.http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/magicx.htm

This is a great point. We have to remember that there are rules applied to this service that Disney has no control over. As much as Disney can get away with being lenient with enforcement of their own rules, they are not permitted to take such liberties with the rules imposed on them by others.

 

[CleveRocks]

Debbie,

It certainly stinks that the system let down your clients when they tried to check in.

I do, however, respectfully, have two comments:

1) I'm no TA, and I've only been to WDW four times in my life, but, FOR ME, there's no way I'd schedule an ADR so close to my arrival time. Flights can be delayed in leaving. Flights can be delayed in transit. SNAFUs can happen with ground transportation. SNAFUs can happen with the resort check-in process. SNAFUs can happen in the transportation system between the resort and the site of the ADR. As an experienced TA, you surely know this to be true.

Because of all of this, I just would never cut it so close. Or if I did choose to cut it that close for an ADR, I wouldn't have it be a "do or die" ADR that would make me very frustrated or sad to miss. To me, this is just self-protective common sense. Heck, I do the same thing at home. I'm not going to make 7:00 p.m. dinner reservations for the time following my daughter's dance recital that is scheduled from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. What if the recital runs long? What if there's traffic on the way home from the recital? WHat if there's traffic on the way to dinner. I allow myself a decent-enough time cushion to allow for such SNAFUs.

2) If I were the guest in question, I don't think I'd be looking for compensation for a delay. It would be a nice gesture of goodwill and "magic" that would brighten my day in light of their mistake, but I certainly wouldn't feel entitled to it.

I totally agree with you that the supervisor did a TERRIBLE job of customer service. But then again, we've read accounts on DISboards of some similar un-DIsney behavior from resort CMs on rare occasion, as well. I think the problem is a supervisor who didn't do their job well, rather than a wholesale problem with the DME process.

 

[CleveRocks]

DME is not just "a separate entity" as you put it, DME is actually Mears. It is a subcontractor hired by WDW to haul people and luggage back and forth between MCO and WDW. None of the DME people are Disney employees, and none of them answer directly to Disney. They all work for Mears, and it is Mears who ultimately answers to Disney, but there is very little Disney input or oversight of daily DME operations.

This has not been our understanding of DME. Mears is a subcontractor for the buses and the drivers. Are you saying that the people behind the counter are Mears employees and not Disney CMs? This would be a MAJOR surprise if it is true. How sure are you of your facts? I hope that someone who knows the absolute truth on this can weigh in with facts.

I hope from now on you will recommend to your clients to spring the extra money for a towncar instead of relying on a "free" service that doesn't get the job done. An extra $100 on a multi-thousand-dollar vacation package is not a terrible hardship for many; for those whose budgets are severly limited (as mine always is), DME is a great free alternative, but I recommend that from now on you prepare your clients for a worst-case scenario when you book them on DME.

In my opinion, this is an extreme over-reaction.

My wife thinks this way about things. She had a bad experience on United Airlines in 1986, so she refused to fly them. We had a bad experience with USAirways in 1990, so she refused to fly them. We had a bad experience with American Airlines in 1991, then with Air Jamaica in 1993, then with Southwest in 1997, then with both Continental AND Air Canada on the same trip in 2000. Pretty soon, she'll be stuck hoping to fly Qantas or else driving cross country with Charlie Babbit and his brother the Rainman.

I don't see how one mildly annoying experience means that a company or service should be shunned. WillCAD, there have been MULTIPLE complaints on DISboards about every single Disney owned-and-operated resort: about sub-standard Mousekeeping, about managers who were unsympathetic and unhelpful, about disappointing food service, you name it. By your standard, responsible TAs should warn clients away from ALL Disney resorts all-together. By your standards, Disney is just as poor at service as you think DME is. It really is a perfect analogy. Let's search through complaint posts on the Resorts Forum and you'll see what I mean.

And by that same standard, I'll bet all car service companies should be avoided because I'm sure there's been a handful of problematic anecdotes about each. However rare, I'm sure they exist. Should a responsible TA warn against using towncars, too?

To take a handful of complaints about DME among literally MILLIONS (about 3.5 million) of satisfied customers and then shun a company or service is just plain ridiculous.

 

[granmanh603]

I don't know if its me but if I didn't receive my ME tags 3 weeks before I was ready to leave thats when I would have attacked this problem? I have had my tags for 2 weeks and I don't leave until Oct 22??????

 

[tmt martins]

I also wonder why no tags. This could have been checked for them at the 30 day mark (they tend to be around 45 days out now) . If you knew family 2 had theirs and not family 1 why no call then.

I had my tags at 45 days but made some changes a few weeks ago for our Oct28th trip . The new tags just showed up as well.

They are Mears and Mears has been the worse customer service I've ever dealt with when there is a problem.When things are good you never notice but when the ball is dropped they put their hands in their pockets and say not me.

It does stink when your rep is on the line and things don't go as planned.But that is what you decide to take on as a TA and you still did everything you thought that would take care of your customer.Stuff happens when you really have no control.

This is the stuff that needs to be reported to Disney Guest services as it just falls on deft ears at Mears. If Disney is getting complaints then Mears will adjust to hold those contracts.

 

[jannii11111]

I just returned from a 5-day trip and didn't decide to use DME until 3 days before I left.

Our plans had changed and my DH decided that our DD (26) would take his place on the trip. I was also traveling with my mother who is 80.

I called disney and changed our reservations and asked if we could use DME as I no longer wanted to rent a car. I had a good rate but the only reason we were taking a car was so that my DH could go to Steak & Shake!!!

They said no problem. They added us onto the DME and said all would be ok. I could have puta big yellow ribbon on my luggage and give my receipts to the DME people and they would take my luggage along with everyone with a yellow tag. I decided to just bring my luggage with me and go from there.

To make a long story short, I went over to DME with my luggage cart and my mother in a wheelchair in tow. The check in was fine, no problem... I told them I didn't have vouchers for DME and there wasn't a problem.

What I am trying to say, I guess, is that things go wrong sometimes...
We had a great experience with DME both coming and going, and I would use it again in a minute!

Janice

 

["thegirls"]

Thank-you all for the replies. I was curious how sensative some people would be to my expectation on the clients behalf for a a little 'magic'. I am pleasantly suprised. I know we all do not agree, but I am grateful we can do it in a civilized manner.
To answer questions: Yes the DME tags should have been in their possesion but due to a mailing mishap only 1 set arrived for the other family. I checked on this at the 45 day, 30 day and 15 day mark. At the 12 day mark we realized they would not arrive in time and I started working the phone at DME for daily confirmation that all would be well.
I still feel that the major suprises for me were in the customer service realm. A DME CM that actually tells a client with a reservation in hand that they may have to find another ride is just so....unDisney. Even the nastiest of CM's in the resorts, parks or resturants on their worst day would not tell a client with a reservation that we just may not honor it...and go wait over there.
My second shock was with the ME ?CM?(I'd sure love an inside answer to if they are/are not actual disney cm's). To basically justify why no 'magic' should come their way...(I insinuated fast passes being given out in the park for each guest delivered in a happy way would probably be enough) and then she refers me to a written adress if I was unsatisfied with her service, again, for me as TA and guest, this is far from the norm I am accustomed to with Disney.
Please remember I practically have a client their or are their myself every month of the year so I am on top of sifting a 'real' complaint from a complaint made by a client expecting perfection.
I really need to understand DME better to ever put trust in them again. I do not want this to be my clients first impression.
Thanks again for your reply's
DebbIe

 

[bicker]

there have been MULTIPLE complaints on DISboards about every single Disney owned-and-operated resort

And pretty-much every single resort in the same class as the Disney resorts. And pretty-much every car service on the face of the Earth. And so forth. The only reason why we read as much about WDW as we do is because we visit a WDW-focused website each day!

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> to understand DME better

The best general advice for a travel agent to advise the client (Disney guest) is to quietly stand one's ground and expect to receive the benefit or product or service expected (here, the ME transportation). In other words don't give up quickly. Also to get the names of people involved.

If I were a travel agent I would not discourage other clients from considering DME just because of this incident as described.

(Edited to add If I were a travel agent I should tell my clients to "don't freak out!" (In the case of DME) "There will be another bus coming along soon."

 

[Lewisc]

Considering the number of passengers that take DME on a daily basis, and the number of those guests who post on DIS, it's significant how very few real complaints we see.

It sounds like the ADR was made too close to the arrival time, a flight delay could have easily delayed them as long as the DME mixup.

 

[goofy4tink]

I, also, would be interested in knowing which CM's are Disney CMs and which are Mears employees. I thought, but obviously could be wrong, that the drivers were Mears employees but those who worked the 'desk' were actually Disney CM's. This is where I would have the issue. If I had been standing there, with my reservation in hand, and the person on the other side of the counter was trying to tell me that since they couldn't find my reservation in the system, I would have to find different transporation to my resort, I would have flipped. Yes, I understand that 'stuff' happens and perhaps the reservation was hiding someplace in the bowels of the reservation system. But, please, the person standing there could have handled it much better. I'm sure that there have been situations where someone has tried to scam the DME people into believing they had a reservation when they did not. But, if you have paperwork that shows you do, then why the attitude? Sorry but there is no reason for this type attitude. I don't agree that the customer should have received anything for missing the first bus though. Most of us realize that our flights could get delayed so make our ADRs far enough ahead so that we don't have to worry about it. If missing the bus and getting on one 30 mins later made them miss their ADR then they booked it for too early a time. But, again.....the CM should have had a nicer attitude.

 

[bicker]

But, please, the person standing there could have handled it much better.

To be fair, neither of us were there -- we haven't heard from the CM, so we really don't know if it could have been handled better.

I think the critical thing is that folks do need to be prepared for schedule interruptions.

 

[Edd]

The Disney employees start with the greeter on the second floor. I have talked to many of them and it has impressed me with the attitude they have as opposed to what I have seen in greeters when Mears was doing the job. On the first floor the passengers meet a Disney receptionist at the desk and than are escorted through the lines and out to the bus by Disney employees. Mear's employees begin at the bus driver.

The baggage handlers are also employed by Disney. They are out on the baggage floor constantly checking for baggage they may have got by the CM's in the back.

It is my understanding from the Disney employees I talked to that if a passenger indicates they did not get a DME reservation they will not be referred to the Disney Welcome Center. Like I was told, if they find where it is, than they will be referred to the Mears shuttle as soon as they do not show up in the computer. I am also told by the people, mostly greeters, that many people either think they can sign up in Orlando for the service or are just told or read the service is free, and all they have to do is walk up and show themselves. That is not true as Disney does not want and will not provide service for walk-ups.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

After using ME myself on 3 seperate occasions and sending over 10 clients through the system, I've encountered my first dissapointment. And quite frankly it leaves me questioning Disney's real commitment to this program.

There are a few things that you need to understand are out of Disney's control. One of those things is this... if a person does not have a reservation for Disney's Magical Express (made PRIOR to arrival at Orlando Int'l Airport), then Disney CANNOT transport that person on Disney's Magical Express. This is not a Disney policy, but rather an Orlando International Airport regulation. (Hence the sticky post here called Reservations Required for DME)

Regardless of if there was an error or not, Disney's fault or not... they cannot transport a passenger without being able to find that reservation. Unlike some gypsy towncar services that will try and illegally solicit your business from baggage claim, Disney will abide by this rule. This rule is also strictly enforced by GOAA, in an effort to protect those taxi drivers who ARE licenced to pickup without a reservation.

Because of this mix-up both families will miss the ADR planned for that evening.

If an extra 30-45 minutes caused them to miss thier reservation, then they should have never booked the dinner reservation so close to arrival time. Airline delays happen all the time, as well as hotel check in delays. Disney DOES hold reservations for guests, so even if they were running a half hour late, they still could have enjoyed thier dinner.

During the course of the conversation the CM repeatly referred to this service as complimentary and not actually being a part of the Disney Guests reservation.

This is very true. DME reservations are completely seperate from Disney hotel reservations. Just because you have a hotel reservation, does not mean you have a DME reservation. They do not link at all, with the exception of verifying travel dates.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

DME is not just "a separate entity" as you put it, DME is actually Mears. It is a subcontractor hired by WDW to haul people and luggage back and forth between MCO and WDW. None of the DME people are Disney employees, and none of them answer directly to Disney. They all work for Mears, and it is Mears who ultimately answers to Disney, but there is very little Disney input or oversight of daily DME operations.

I have corrected you on this a few times before... I don't understand why you continue to spread this misinformation. It's simply not true.

Mears drivers steer the bus, and press on the accelerator and brake pedals. They store carryons and whatnot underneath the bus. Oh, and they also press "Play" for the Disney cast member created infotainment video. That's it. Nothing else.

True, honest-to-goodness Disney Cast Members (not operating participants, not subcontractors) are the ones running the DME show.

Disney Cast Members staff the Welcome Center.

Disney Cast Members work in the luggage area.

Disney Cast Members oversee Mears and keep them in line. This is why the routes are designed better, and buses are on time. Disney controls the Mears part of Disney's Magical Express. Whatever Disney says, goes. If Disney does not like something, about Mears, it changes.

Disney Cast Members oversee the overall operation of Disney's Magical Express.


With luggage... Disney Cast Members claim, sort, and process all luggage. They get locked up in a secure cage, and board a truck. An outside subcontractor drives the trucks to/from the airport. Luggage is then taken back into custody by a Disney Cast Member, and then delivered to the room by a Disney Cast Member.

Once again, aside from the vroom vroom, genuine, bonafide Disney Cast Members run Disney's Magical Express.