SOOO Upset with Disney

[tracipierce]

Hi everyone, sorry this is a bit of a rant, but gotta vent somewhere!!!!

Today was my 90 days out to call for my ADR's and it has been one of the worst experiences... has anyone else had any problems booking today or recently?

To start off, I have booked my trip on the Disney UK website, so last night I tried to call up Disney in the US to find out my proper reservation number as I was scared that they wouldn't recognise my Uk booking number, but that was a disaster. Had all kinds of problems from saying there was no record of my booking to then saying that I wasn't booked in at a hotel, then my booking was made with a travel agent and not disney so they couldn't give me any info over the phone, then they said my address didn't match up. I spent ages on the phone, spoke to 4 different Cm's and ended up giving up at 1am almost in tears.

Then this morning I thought, never mind, I'll call the Uk number... (on the off chance that I might be able to make my ADR's in the morning, yeah I know, I was kidding myself lol) I called when I was on a free period at 9am...spent 45 mins on hold then when I did get through to someone they said that there shouldn't be a problem just giving my UK res number and that the booking was showing up fine to them... I asked to put me through to dining, but of course got told to ring back at noon.

As I had been on hold so long the first call, I decided to call for my ADR's at 11.50, but guess what, they picked up straight away and they told me I was too early and to call back in 10 mins. So when I call back, I'm on hold for another 30 mins, then when I do get through to someone, they couldn't get the system working. I spent 20 mins on the phone whilst she tried to get it going but she couldn't. She then told me to call back in 10-20 mins as hopefully they would have it sorted by then. So I call back, get through straight away but get told that there was a 'global' fault with their reservation system and I should leave it about 3 hours before calling back again.

So then I had to wait till I got home before I could call again, which was 5pm, all the time panicking that I was gonna miss out on my ADR's

So I get on the phone to the UK number again, put on hold for another 45 minutes, then get through to dining, but guess what, he couldn't find my reservation!!! He says he will try to solve the problem and puts me on hold again for 20 mins,,, then he cut me off ARGGGHHH So I call back, on hold for 15 mins, tried again with a different CM, same problem, can't find my res. She transfers me to someone else who also can't find my res. So I hang up and call again,, got through straignt away, but got told her system wasn't working and she put me on hold for 10 mins. Got through to someone else who also couldn't get my res number. So I call the UK centre back, put on hold for another 20 mins, get through, explain my situation and tell them that I need my US number as they can't find my Uk reservation. They say that I won't need it and that it was probably just a one off CM who wasn't sure of what they were doing. I told her that I had spoken to 4 different Cm's and none of them could pull up my booking. So she apologises and transfers me to Guest Services. I spoke to a lovely lady called Estelle who gave me my US res #
She then said she would transfer me to dining and explain the situation to them for me...ok so things sound like they are going to be ok.... after 10 mins on hold, she gets back on and tells me that I would have to wait at least 45 mins as they were really busy. She suggested I might want to call back later, so I told her I would call back (big mistake)

After 45 mins I called again. YET ANOTHER 25 MINS SPENT ON HOLD!!!!!! then finally gets through, gives the CM my US res number and she finds my reservation BUT she said it was registered to someone who lives in Tennessee She goes off to find out the problem... on hold AGAIN... she comes back and tells me that it is a fault with the system and transfers me back to guest services. I had to go through all my details with them, address, dob, etc etc etc..took forever!!!! then she transfers me back to dining. When I get to dining and tell them I want to book, they then tell me that I don't have the full dining plan, just the quick service....OH MY GOD!!! I am pulling my hair out.... I tell her that I upgraded to full dining service when I booked online, but she says that it is not showing. She says she can go ahead and book some adr's for me, but CRT and other signature dining couldn't be booked without a credit card and because the dining isn't showing, my credit card would be charged straight away. So she said book what I can, then get back in touch with Disney UK to sort out the dining situation, then call back for the signature dining.
So I booked up until the 16th and got adr numbers, but she also said that because of the mix up with the addresses and the dining, I might come across a few problems when I call back to book the rest of my ADR's. (what a surprise)

So get off the phone from dining and call back the UK centre to sort out the wrong dining situation, and guess what..."WE ARE SORRY THAT THE OFFICE IS NOW CLOSED PLEASE CALL BACK BETWEEN THE HOURS OF...."

I cannot believe my luck, all this has really upset me, and I'm scared now that they will claim that I never upgraded the dining when I know that I did.

I've never had any problems in the past booking adr's although I've never booked direct with Disney before, its really put me off booking with them again.

I'm just praying for now that I will be able to sort out the dining mistake tomorrow, fingers crossed!!!!

 

[Clare D]

Oh no how frustrating. We haven't even booked our holiday yet (we are there on the 2nd August) due to my DH telling me it is too late everytime I try and do it . I like you need to book my ADR's and I too will be booking direct with Disney. I am going to ask them when I book for a US reservation number to be on the safe side.
I hope you get it sorted tomorrow.

 

[Ware Bears]

What an absolute nightmare, Traci, good luck for tomorrow.

 

[Frances999]

What a nightmare. The sooner they get the online booking set-up the better (although that will probably be just as useless...).

Good luck

 

[Cyrano]

Hope you have better luck tomorrow

I would not panic about not phoning exactly at 90 days.
Because we are off site I have had to phone each day after our 90 day mark.

Apart from Fantasmic I managed evetyone I wanted

What a nightmare. The sooner they get the online booking set-up the better (although that will probably be just as useless...).

Good luck

Given Disney's history with ICT systems I give it 5 minutes before it crumbles under the traffic

 

[wayneg]

What a nightmare.
See post #73 http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2143662&page=5 for my experience at 5:30pm today. I had read on DIS the system was down so glad I could not ring until this evening.
Took CM 15-20 mins to sort out my reservation, same as you booked with Disney.co.uk and she couldn't find it. Thankfully she was very persistant, told me the last possible way was what she was doing, if that didn't work we had no reservation on the system. How she did it was look at OKW check ins on 6th August and found my name there but it had no address phone # anything attached to it. I had to give her all the details.
I wondered if it was because we have still only paid a deposit, once we pay in full they might complete all details, don't know just an idea.
The lady I spoke to was very calm, friendly and patient, could have gone a little quicker(took 1hr 14 mins total) but we got there in the end.
Hope you get it sorted. I have to ring back this weekend to do my last 2 days, just hope the CM I talk to knows how to find it.

 

[tracipierce]

Well I paid in full months ago, so it can't be that, just my flaming luck I guess. I worked out that I spent around 4 hours on the phone today.... calling an 0870 number which with my phone provider will cost me a small fortune,, will be telling that to Disney tomorrow too

Going to go and read your post now Wayne, misery loves company

 

[1andrea]

What an absolute nightmare its sounds similar to the problems I had.

I have booked just a few ADRs for this holiday and when I called 90 days out on the Freephone DVC number I made 2 reservations and was then transfered and put on hold for a while maybe 15mins then the CM said system wasn't working and out me on hold again and then came back to me and I booked 2 more.

One of the reservation numbers she gave me was 1 digit shorter than the other so I asked her to re confirm the two numbers and she couldn't find them, she searched for a few minutes then out me on hold for maybe 20 minutes and came back to say that there was a system fault and couldn't be located call back for other reservations etc.

When I called back they couldn't find any of the original reservations on the Old or New system searching using my home and mobile tels after a couple of long waits on hold and speaking to a couple of other cast members they said I had no ADRs.

When I was on hold I was searching for my piece of paper with my reservation codes on and I found then great I thought then I got a call on my mobile and I had to hang up.

So I call back and I waiting for a few minutes and when I am connected I give in my details and again they cannot my ADRS so I give in my reservation codes and yes they are there. So I ask what tels they have and they have my correct numbers and cannot give a reason why they couldn't find them.

These problems only seem to have started since they started using a new system.

Whatever you do make sure you do not lose your list of ADRs and confirmation numbers ..... I did and went through the same rigmarole above again ended up telling them to forget it and turned the house upside down to find the confirmation numbers it was much easier and less stressful that talking to them any longer!

 

[tracipierce]

Oh I definitely have all the adr numbers written down, not letting go of them without a fight!!!

 

[Pegasus928]

What a rough day that was.

Hope today goes better for and sending some your way.

 

[fizz13]

Oh wow Traci, what a nightmare!! So sorry you had to go through all of that, when it should be a really fun thing to do I sincerely hope you get everything sorted

 

[Dimplenose]

What a nightmare. The sooner they get the online booking set-up the better (although that will probably be just as useless...).

Good luck

But I'd guess you'd still need a US reservation number to use it.

I phoned for my ADRs at the 90 day mark and the CM couldn't get onto the system and told me to ring back later. After reading reports on here I thought to ask for my reservation no. (I'd booked with VH) before I hung up.

It was nearly a week before I had the oportunity and courage (I needed both) to ring back. This time I quoted the reservation number I'd been given and they could still find me on the system. I managed to make my ADRs without problem that time.

SO good luck - and I hope your phone bill isn't too horrendous.

 

[sharon78]

How awful for you Traci, Hope you get everything sorted out, good luck

 

[2ScottishPrincesses]

Just letting you know that I'm another one to add to the list of people who've had similar problems. It wasn't quite as bad as your experience but I did go through the process of phoning US and them not being able to find my reservation after having booked and paid in full through DisneyUK. After alot of tooing and froing I eventually got my US ressie # from Disney UK and, after a looooong wait, spoke to a lovely CM at Dining who got me all the ADR's I was looking for. I can't understand how a company can have two different reservation numbers depending on what country the booking is made, I used to work for an airline and no matter where you book you use the same booking reference in any country in the world. If they insist that this is the way their system has to work surely it would be a good idea for DisneyUK to provide their customers with the UK with their US # at the time of booking to save all this palarver. I think their processes need a good long consideration because things aren't working as they should and it's the customers who are suffering

 

[wayneg]

I used to work for an airline and no matter where you book you use the same booking reference in any country in the world.

Unfortunately it can be an airline problem also. I have an Airfrance booking done thru Expedia for August but it is a codeshare on Delta planes. Eventually I got all the codes I need to access Expedia, Airfrance and Delta's websites. I now have 5 booking references or flight locator numbers. Combined with about 6 or 7 flight changes (so far) its been a worse experience than my ADR's. Only positive about the experience is I got business class for £465pp, when sat in the seat it will have been worth the hassle.

 

[tracipierce]

Good morning all!!!

Do I sound a bit more cheerful today

Well after a really bad night's sleep through worrying and sat here waiting for the UK office to open, I think I might have just sorted things out

Called Disney bang on 9am, not much of a wait explained my situation to a CM (I actually spoke to this CM yesterday) she then transferred me to Openride. The lady at open ride said that I only had quick service dining on my booking and would I like to upgrade I managed to stay very calm and told her that I had booked the dining upgrade when I first made my booking,,, she did try to argue that I hadn't, and after a fair bit of discussion I explained that paid £56 each for the 2 adults and £14 for my child to upgrade and that the total had come to £x.xx and that the total on my invoice was the same... so they had charged me for the upgrade but not put it onto my booking. She said I might have to pay for the upgrade as it wasn't showing up..... hmmmmm a bit of a rant came on, blurted out all of the trouble i had gone through yesterday and how many hours and how much money I had spent on the phone trying to sort out their mess and she put me on hold for 20 mins (thought she was going to cut me off at this point )

BUT!!!! she came back on the phone and told me that she had now sorted it out and that the dining was on my booking,, she also said she would issue a new invoice.

So really hoping that its all sorted now,, but I'm holding my breath until I try to book more ADR's to see if its been added. I just hoping that I don't have to wait until the invoice arrives as my first invoice from Disney took 2 months to get her

Finger's crossed!!!!

 

[catherine]

I just phoned Disney UK as we've booked with them and I wanted to make sure that I have our US reservation no. before I phone. The CM repeatedly told me that I wouldn't need the US no. that the UK res. no. was all that I needed, even after I told him of all the problems that other people had encountered. Eventually he said that if I phone back at 12 they will put me through to Guest Services and they will give it to me!!!

 

[wayneg]

my first invoice from Disney took 2 months to get her

Finger's crossed!!!!

Did you get invoice thru post? I just got an email confirmation, never had anything thru post.

 

[OrlandoMagic]

WOW! Booking ADR's sounds like a royal pain in the butt! I'm not looking forward to making ours at all!

We have 41 days until we can make our ADR's, did I hear something about an online dining reservations system being implemented or did I just imagine that?!

Our only saving grace is that we only have 7 ADR's to make so shouldn't take as long (well here's hoping anyway!).

Hope you get all the reservations you wanted tracipierce!

 

[wayneg]

Online system has been talked about forever now. See this thread started last year, someone keeps posting with hope but it never happens.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1977770

I have been hoping all year it would be ready but no, still had to ring.