Please help a disappointed honeymooner- long

[laura12581]

Just back from HM at GF 9/27-10/4. Long story short: Hurricane Jeanne delayed our trip one day. We arrive LATE MoN nite are told that the HM Concierge main building we booked and paid for are water damaged. I am VERY sad- I booked over 2 yrs ago, looking fwd to this very much- spent big chunk of our savings.

We are sent to SUGAR LOAF where we are told to keep asking about HM rooms as they may open up after repair. I check daily. Each day I am not very nicely treated; each day they DON"T check the computer and tell me that there is nothing available. We are not treated nicely ever when we try to get PS. THEY NEVER put it is our HM in The ressie no matter how many times I ask. We receive NO DISNEY MAGIC in our room, NO APOLOGIES for our room not being available.


Fast Fwd to check out day: I am concerned there is NO CREDIT to my bill. There is a price difference of up to $150 per night for the room we paid for vs. the crap we got. I am directed to concierge mgr. via phone b/c the guy at the desk says that there is a "note in my acct". I talk to the mgr. She is very mean, condescending, tells me I was never booked in the HM room, didn't pay the price I was saying and she was only going to try to upgrade me out of the kindness of her heart b/c we were honeymooners if something became available. I flipped, but was calm with her. She was VERY NASTY. I asked her if I could come show her my Paperwork which clearly stated I was to stay in HM suite. She says yes. With that I go to leave the room and she calls back. PUTS HER FOOT IN HER MOUTH AND apologizes, stating that she never even checked the computer b/f she called. I was right. She wanted to know what she could do. WE WERE LEAVING. She gave me her card and a note saying to call her when we come back and she will "SEE WHAT SHE CAN DO" and that we would receive a check, although she didn't know that amt.

Please help me: My husband and I were highly disappointed with all this. What can/should we do? WHo can we write to at the GF? Will she really "help" us? I don't know if we can afford the GF again. ANY help, thoughts, comments are greatly appreciated.
Laura& Matt
email me :: laura12581@yahoo.com

 

[LibertyBelle]

You can write to the General Manager of the hotel if you like. I know for me getting it on paper and sending it out makes me feel a lot better about the situation at hand. Address it to:

Kent Mitchell-General Manager
Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
4401 Floridian Way
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

or you can call
407-824-3000 and ask to be connected to Kent Mitchell the GM of the Grand Floridian if you want to speak to him directly.

I was not there to be able to take sides on your situation, but from what you have written I definetly think that you deserve an apology and the credit (at the very least) for the rate difference.

Good Luck and be persistant don't let them get you down

 

[lark]

I'll be really interested to see how this works out. This is one of the more horrible stories I've heard. Generally, WDW does not have much of a reputation as a "make it right" company. This will be a real test. I don't think disney has much practice at sending the money the other direction, and I doubt you'll see more than the minimum difference they can justify sending. You'll probably get the difference between what you paid and the rack rate of the room you got. I really hope I'm wrong about that.

It's kind of ironic that she's saying she'll take care of you if you come back, which just continues to show their utter lack of understanding that this was a, or THE, special occasion trip.

To some extent some of what happened was a result of an act of nature, but the rudeness and the rest is unacceptable.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

I am sorry to hear that you were unable to get the honeymoon concierge room that you had booked. I can only imagine how excited you must have been over the past 2 years as you looked forward to staying at the GF concierge! I would have been very disappointed also to find out that I was not going to have the room I was anticipating. I would email WDW and explain what happened and how you feel. I would expect a credit to make up for the difference in what you paid and what you got AND and an apology for the way you were treated, but I wouldn't expect anything else.

That said, I hope that the resort room situation did not ruin your honeymoon. I hope that you were still able to enjoy your time at WDW.

 

[totalia]

I realize its your honeymoon, but there is really not much they can do if rooms are water damaged because of a hurricane. They can't control the weather.

As for the other problems, I suggest a formal complaint written to the hotel. try to be very specific with what happened, what was said and , if possible, remember the names of the people who treated you so badly and place them all in the letter.

 

[Lou-Ann]

I realize that they did not have control over the weather and the room damage but they do have control over how they handle you. This woman never went to Walt 101 obviously. There was so much they could have done. I am sure there were other suites available if they had tried. They could have sent you to conscierge at the Wilderness or the very least given you a special dinner at one of their restaurants along with a credit for one of the nights and your refund on the difference. Please let us know how this was handled.

 

[ducklite]

I guess that sadly some things will never change, and the attitude of teh concierge staff at the GF seems to be one of those.

First, I'm so sorry to hear about your experience, although as I'm sure you will agree, if the room was water damaged, there's not much they can do. That said, they should have offered you several choices--a deluxe concierge room at another resort, an upgrade to a suite, or a credit on your bill for the room cost difference and maybe one nights lodging and access to the main building concierge lounge (which would have been probably the best solution and most equitable for everyone).

The first thing you need to do is call your credit card company--you hopefully paid your balance with one and not cash--and dispute the charge. You should absolutely NOT pay for a HM suite when you got a regular concierge room.

As I see it, the GF owes you not only an apology, but much more. In your case, I think your complaints are valid and just, and I would tell them that you want the difference between the rooms plus one night comped and all returned back on your cc, and you want to come back and visit again sometime in the next two years with a guaranteed honeymoon suite at 50% off rack rate.

Write them a letter and FED EX it to the STREET ADDRESS (on the back of your confirmation). Give them five days to respond, and state your complaints in the letter and what you want. Use the managers name in teh letter, and let them know that you understand that the room was damaged, and that was beyond their control, but, they did NOTHING to mitigate your situation and ovrecharged you for the room you did get. Try to keep it unemotional and to one page.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Anne

 

[Tess]

We too have been given the "card", e-mail, tx #, for a concierge manager who "promised" to add something special on our next visit. While this wasn't at the GF, it was a deluxe--we did as he requested, let him know when we'd be arriving etc. What happened, nada, zip, zilch. There were no surprises, nothing special, and we never saw the guy the entire trip. We have been staying at this resort for many, many years as concierge guests. While we didn't expect an upgrade, we thought perhaps some balloons or something was going to be arranged. Instead, it was just like any other trip (and that's not a bad thing), but nothing extra.

These managers tend to make promises they have no intention of keeping. My question is that if Disney can track our every move, keep a running file on our families, and other personal information--why can't they red flag an account and make notes that on the next res, a discount, upgrade, or heck--even balloons to thank the guest who returned despite a negative experience.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I wouldn't expect the concierge manager to follow through with anything special should you deign to grace the GF with your presence in the future. In fact, the concierge managers are shifted, who knows if this bimbo will even be there when you decide to return.

I agree--write the GM of the resort and cite specifics. I'd also make allowances in your complaint for the hurricane and damage caused by it BUT there is no excuse for being treated as if you were trying to put something over on her. Get out that poison pen and fire off a polite but succinct missive with copies to others in power. You will never get your honeymoon back, it is hopefully a once in a lifetime event.

 

[QJ411]

Sorry to hear about your honeymoon! Wow, is GF staff really like that? Every day?

There is a price difference of up to $150 per night for the room we paid for vs. the crap we got.

Laura, were the rooms at SL that bad? We booked GF/SL for Dec., the rooms at SL were terrible? I'm sorry, I just wanted to know and prepare ourselves.

Hope you get good results w/ this!

 

[CarolA]

I would write a letter.

However, in some areas you expectations seem to high. You wanted special treatment at all your PS because it was your honeymoon. Sorry that is not guranteed. Focus on the room issue only!

The only real complaint you have is that they did not try to move you back to the room you paid for and did not readily credit your account. (If your room was damaged there may have been no way to move you. Some things even Disney can't control)

Personally I think the GF is very overrated and you have just seen why.

 

[samnbilly]

I am so sorry for your poor service at the GF. I find this to be terrible customer service for any hotel -period. You paid for a more expensive room, got a less expensive room and concierge should have been checking availability and not you! Was the whole hotel booked? I am surprised they didn't do more for you. I would definitely write to the general manager of the hotel detailing the poor service you got. I know it was your HM, but I would stick to the facts in general about the lack of service of the concierge and the manager of the hotel. I can't believe there were no rooms in the main bldg at all. The end of Sept. is usually a quiet time. Let us know how you make out.

 

[stinkerbelle]

Originally posted by CarolA
I would write a letter.

However, in some areas you expectations seem to high. You wanted special treatment at all your PS because it was your honeymoon. Sorry that is not guranteed. Focus on the room issue only!

The only real complaint you have is that they did not try to move you back to the room you paid for and did not readily credit your account. (If your room was damaged there may have been no way to move you. Some things even Disney can't control)

Personally I think the GF is very overrated and you have just seen why.

I have to agree with everything stated by CarolA. I'm sorry you didn't get any "disney magic" on your honeymoon - but it's not guaranteed. We honeymooned in Disney last September...sometimes there was a little magic, sometimes there wasn't. didn't make or break our honeymoon if you ask me.

Just focus on the room issue...if I paid for a suite with concierge and was put in a regular room at the same price - I too would be complaining to everyone I knew!

 

[ahutton]

While I know there are extenuating circumstances, I hate to say I don't find this treatment from there staff all that uncommon. DH and I spent our wedding night there, and the next night as part of a custom Fairy Tale Wedding. When we checked in we were told it was not noted on our reservation that our room was part of our wedding, nor that room charges were to be billed to our wedding. In fact, nothing we had arranged was taken care of by their staff. We ended up paying for the room on a credit card and then going to our wedding event manager after the fact to get it fixed. We found the staff there rude and uncooperative, and like we were trying to "pull something" with our very simple request. It is not like we weren't obvious, we pulled up in a Disney Limo at 11:00 p.m. in our wedding attire, my flowers were still in my HAND, when we checked in. The staff treatment there is why we have no desire to go back to GF. We've found we are treated MUCH better at other resorts.

 

[flyball]

Originally posted by CarolA
I would write a letter.

However, in some areas you expectations seem to high. You wanted special treatment at all your PS because it was your honeymoon. Sorry that is not guranteed. Focus on the room issue only!

I may be wrong about this, but if they booked concierge, they absolutely had a right to expect to be taken care of with regard to PS! That was our experience with the AKL concierge. As for the other remarks, I would write the letter, and I wouldn't stop until I felt satisfied that everything had been handled to my satisfaction. Yes, some of this was due to the hurricane, but I'm sure if they really tried, the staff could have come up with some excellent alternative accommodations.

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

Originally posted by ducklite
I guess that sadly some things will never change, and the attitude of teh concierge staff at the GF seems to be one of those.

First, I'm so sorry to hear about your experience, although as I'm sure you will agree, if the room was water damaged, there's not much they can do. That said, they should have offered you several choices--a deluxe concierge room at another resort, an upgrade to a suite, or a credit on your bill for the room cost difference and maybe one nights lodging and access to the main building concierge lounge (which would have been probably the best solution and most equitable for everyone).

The first thing you need to do is call your credit card company--you hopefully paid your balance with one and not cash--and dispute the charge. You should absolutely NOT pay for a HM suite when you got a regular concierge room.

As I see it, the GF owes you not only an apology, but much more. In your case, I think your complaints are valid and just, and I would tell them that you want the difference between the rooms plus one night comped and all returned back on your cc, and you want to come back and visit again sometime in the next two years with a guaranteed honeymoon suite at 50% off rack rate.

Write them a letter and FED EX it to the STREET ADDRESS (on the back of your confirmation). Give them five days to respond, and state your complaints in the letter and what you want. Use the managers name in teh letter, and let them know that you understand that the room was damaged, and that was beyond their control, but, they did NOTHING to mitigate your situation and ovrecharged you for the room you did get. Try to keep it unemotional and to one page.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Anne

This is EXACTLY what I would do.

 

[HumphreytheBear]

Originally posted by ahutton
The staff treatment there is why we have no desire to go back to GF. We've found we are treated MUCH better at other resorts.

My hubby used to work Grand Concierge and he decided to leave it because of the same reason. He is VERY Disney and VERY guest oriented and his experience as part of the concierge team was less than desirable. He had previously worked at the front desk of other Disney hotels, so he was very well versued at how it "Should" be but found that at the Grand they were very un"Disney". Sad really being that is the "flagship" persay.

Anyway, a few years ago at WL we had our Honeymoon suites out of service due to exterior rehab (we had scaffolding blocking their balconies). Granted we only had 4 Honeymoon suites, but we called the guests ahead of time (I realize the Hurricane was a little less planned) and offered them the Vice Pres, the Pres or a one bedroom suite at the Villas. If we were unable to get a hold of them prior to arrival when they did arrive we explained the scaffolding situation and advised them that we had one bedroom villas at no extra charge (of course) and showed them how much bigger they were. Rather than make is a "Your room is not avalaible so we stuck you here" we presented it as "You didn't want that room anyway, check this out". If my hubby had not worked at the Grand I would say I can't believe that they did that but knowing what it can be like it doesn't surprise me.

Having worked Beach Club and Wilderness Lodge front desk I would say definetly write the letter to the GM. Being that it is his hotel reputation on the line he would be the one to make it right (hopefully) at WL our GM bent overbackwards to accomodate guests that he had spoken to about situations. As the others have stated though make sure that you mention that you understand that the room situation was not their fault, but that you feel that the treatment you received was unacceptable. I also would complain about the PS, as Flyball mentioned you are staying concierge at the Grand non the less, your expectations should be higher.
Cm's at the Grand are taught that Grand equals...

Guest
Requests
Are
Never
Denied.

 

[RoLaren]

I would say I can't believe that they did that but knowing what it can be like it doesn't surprise me.

Unfortunately, I have to echo this.

I also had a bad experience in the past with GF concierge: with the main building concierge staff particularly, we really liked Sugar Loaf and had such wonderful service there that we would never even bother trying to stay in the main building again.

If it's the same concierge manager who was there a year ago, he needs to GO. He was extremely condescending to me when I spoke with him, and I was very calm and completely polite about the situation at hand. I was not asking for any special attention, I was just telling him something that someone on the staff had said to us that upset our party considerably. I just wanted him to say he heard me and that he would mention it to the person. But he was rude and spoke to me as if I were a child.

Later in our stay, I spoke to one of the resort managers about his behavior (which was more upsetting than the original incident!) and she was so horrified by the way we'd been treated that she did indeed bend over quite a bit to make it up to us. This involved a credit for several hundred dollars being applied to my bill.

I like to think that it was the unprecedented 4 hurricanes in one month that made things so bad for you at GF and that if you had been there at any other time they really would have done all they could to make it up to you. FL is battle weary and the poor people have been through so much in the past couple of months. GF really is a gorgeous resort and the timing of your honeymoon trip after two years of planning is so sad...my heart really goes out to you!

I hope that if you follow the advice of others here, write a very succinct letter, stick to the room issue, that maybe you'll get another chance to visit the GF under more normal circumstances.

I know they can't ever give your honeymoon back to you, and I am sorry it didn't go the way that you dreamed.

Good luck!

 

[Tammy1966]

Executive Offices
WDW Guest Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

This is where I would send the letter.

 

[LibertyBelle]

Originally posted by Tammy1966
Executive Offices
WDW Guest Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

This is where I would send the letter.

I never thought of the Executive offices. I would send both... I would send one to them and also to the GM at:

Kent Mitchell-General Manager
Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
4401 Floridian Way
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830


When I had issues with a cruise line (not DCL) I sent a letter to the President, Vice President and the Executive Offices stating that I had sent one to each of the other people so they knew I was not looking for each one of them to respond but to let them know I was not playing around.

Until I read what Humphrey wrote I totally forgot the GRAND acronym. Funny how "G"uest "R"equests "A"re "N"ever "D"enied can be so easily forgotten.

 

[DisOrBust]

I have been on these board since 1999 and the GF's concierge has the worse reputation of the deluxes from what I have read over the years. These are valid complaints and should be taken as such.

I personally after staying at the GF (non-concierge) have also found it overrated and had my worse CM interaction in 6 trips there. It amazes me that the "flagship" resort continues to have reports like this. Yes the occasional one I can forgive but GF concierge has repeatedly been mentioned.

I would snail mail everyone. From the Pres of WDW to the GM.