Tell me a "COMP STORY" about complementary......

[horn10]

I actually have two "comp" stories..both lengthy but I'll try and keep it brief.
On my very first DVC stay in a grand villa I brought 8 of my high school girls basketball team. One of the parents had rented a pontoon for the Illuminations cruise. To make a very long story short...an unlicensed driver was provided to us by WDW and she almost put all of us in the water head first!! It's hard to explain but the pontoon was going wayyyy to fast and she had to kill the engine to get it under control, thus nosediving the pontoon. We all had to crawl to the back of the boat to bring it upright. To top it off...she did it twice!! We were all terrified and soaking wet in 55 degree weather!! After many phone calls and a letter I received 12 one day passes and $100 in Disney dollars.

2nd story--a year ago, on our check out day, we packed our bags, had bellservices take them and headed to Epcot to spend the afternoon before Tiffany picked us up later in the day. At Epcot I became very ill with the flu. DD and I headed back to BW at noon where I laid on the couch in the lobby. Due to a blizzard in Detroit our flight kept getting delayed. I would go throw up, call the airlines and then go back to the couch. Twice in an 8 hour period I approached the front desk and asked for help but got none for myself or my daughter. At 9:00 that night I approached the desk again and asked for any available room and spent 33 pts for a studio for 2 hours. We really needed to sleep until our flight which was now rescheduled 12:30 (which didn't take off until 5:30AM). Upon arriving home I wrote BW manager a letter explaining the callous behavior of the CM's at the front desk. The manager, himself, had just had the flu and could not imagine being in a resort lobby for 8 hours and staggering to the bathroom! He reimbursed our 33 pts for the Friday night 2 hour stay!


Neither time did I "ask" for anything. I just explained our situation. DVC and WDW takes care of their members!

 

[scottarcj]

Not really a Comp, but this shows the special touches WDW adds.

I planned a surprise trip to AK for my wife for her 35th birthday. She loves zoos and Disney, so this seemed like a perfect match.

When making the reservations (we stayed at ASSports) I mentioned it was my wife's birthday.

After a day at AK, we returned to our room to find a birthday balloon with the festive ribbons, a birthday card "signed" by Mickey and Minnie, and a mouse-ear frame with a picture of M&M in it. My wife was delighted. It was on that trip we purchased DVC.

On an earlier visit to CBR, we had mentioned this was an anniversary trip. When we checked in we were presented with an anniversary card and framed photo of M&M.

Nice touches.

Happy ºoº-ing
Alan & Cindy

1991 (Alan) - off-site
1992 - Dixie Landings
1995 - Dolphin
1996 (Alan) - off-site @ DL
1997 - Wilderness Homes & Caribbean Beach
1998 (Alan) - DL-Paris
1998 - DLHotel @ DL
1999 - All Star Sports (purchased DVC)
1999 (Alan) - Tokyo-DL
1999 - Contemporary Tower & BWV (first time as DVC)
2000 - DL-Paris
2001 (planned) - BWV

 

[MaryJ]

Three summers ago while we were vacationing in Disneyland, my daughters and I gave my husband our souvenir bags to hold while we went to ride Splash Mountain. While he was waiting, he placed the bags on the ground, and dozed off. When we came off the ride and asked for the bags, they were no where to be found. Apparently, someone stole them while he was sleeping! We checked with lost and found, but no one had turned them in, so we started going back to the stores to replace what we had lost. One of the items was a gift that my teen age daughter had bought for her boyfriend, and it cost around $20. She found another one and while she was waiting in line, she told her tale of woe to the woman behind her. When she reached the front of the line, the CM who had overheard her story, took the souvenir, placed it in a bag without ringing it up, and handed it to my daughter saying "I'm sorry this happened to you while you were here. There's no charge." We were amazed! To me, this is just another aspect of how Disney really does care about their guests.

Disney Inn (remember when?) 86
FW 89
CR/Cruise 91
VWL March 01

 

[BethA]

My story is one with not so happy an ending.Last Memorial Day we stayed at the Contemporary on one of the concierge floors. My sister in law who works at the Disney store went with us so we got a CM discount on the rooms.The service was awful. The first 2 days the room was not made up when we came back late in the afternoon. Everyday we had to remove any dirty glasses or dishes from the small snack available ourselves. We had to beg for enough towels each day-- there were 5 of us and got towels for 3. Had expected exceptional service and got very poor! They never made up the day bed and the room was very dirty. I'd never stay there again. After much complaining they gaveus something off 1 night only. When I wrote to complain after our trip I was rudely told--too bad we were with a CM and therefore don't get to complain! I couldn't believe it. The rooms still weren't cheap and we bought annual passes for the 4 of us prior to our trip--no free cm passes. To top it off at breakfast at Restaurantasaurus they lost my sister-in-laws cm id. We waited hours at the restaurant while they tried to figure it out and then had to wait til someone could get her a letter verifying her id and free admission for the rest of the trip. I expected breakfast to be for free after all that -- nothing. I guess I'm not lucky!! We won't ever stay at the Cont again. The staff in thsnack area was very rude and on 1 day they were all arguing in Spanish in the bsck instead of waiting on us.

 

[vacationman]

When we stayed at the Polynesian in 1997, my kids were playing in the pool on our fist day there and using the small waterslide. After going down the slide, my youngest daughter (5 at the time) stayed at the spot where the slide emptied. Along came my older daughter (8) down the slide and the two collided. One got a bloody lip while the other had a bloody head. The lifeguards quickly called the paramedics and took excellent care of my daughters. Now this accident was totally not Disney's fault and ended up causing no real damage other than slights cuts and a swelled lip but, apparently when the lifeguard was talking with my kids keeping them calm, she asked what their favorite Disney characters were. When we got back to the room, the lifeguard delivered a large stuffed version of each of my daughter's favorite character. I know the cynical will say that Disney was trying to make sure they did not get sued but in this case we had made it clear that this accident was not Disney's fault. That's when we began to love Disney and have since visited four additional times, cruised on DCL, and become DVC members.

Vacationman

 

[Wes]

minimahaki wrote:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I guess what I am trying to say that both of us had bad Vero Experiences we should realize it was ONE cast member. Neither of us should allow the experience to keep us from a wonderful resort.[/quote]

I have to disagree with you.

My problem was not just with just one person:
- the maid chose not to report finding my clothes and destroyed or kept them,
- the front desk would not reimburse me nor even investigate (if I recall correctly now)
- to me the entire environment which generated these two unsatisfactory responses from two different people at very different levels of authority/(ir)responsibility was a sign of deeper problems than just appearing as a coincidence that I may have received the one bad maid and the one bad front desk person/manager when I called

And the result in my case was not just bad feelings (though there were plenty of those) -- I lost the clothes and had to replace them (being at Titusville, I was quite prepared to drive down and pick them up). This cost me very real $$$.

There are plenty of other places to spend my time and money and enjoy myself. So I see no reason to submit myself to the CM environment at Vero Beach again.

[This message was edited by Wes on 04-27-01 at 09:52 AM.]

 

[DVCajun]

I love this post! Reading things like this give me that nice Disney feeling.

My comp story is not about me, but about a friend. He used valet parking at one of the Disney hotels and when he claimed his car the CM told him that they had put a dent in his car. He proceeded to guide my friend to a small almost unnoticable dent on the side of his car, apologized profusely and then offered his entire party a free day in the parks!

I also have a response regarding the problems at Vero. I had a similar problem at OKW. I purchased something at the general store as we were checking in. When the CM brought us to our room my bag slipped under the seat of the van. I noticed it was missing relatively quickly because I wanted to change into the shirt that I had bought before we headed for the parks. When I called the bell station they had not seen my bag and told me that the CM who brought us to our room was off for the day. They promised to keep and eye out for it. I also called lost and found to make sure they would keep an eye out for it. I left my name and room number everywhere I called. I was convinced that someone had stolen my bag as we waited!! I called the bell station several more times over the next couple of days-- apparently the CM was off for the remainder of the weekend. I had given up hope of ever finding my bag. A couple of mornings later we happened to walk down to the general store to catch the bus there instead of at the station by our room and I saw the CM who drove the van for us. My husband urged me to go ask him about my bag but at this point I was getting very embarrassed because I had asked SO MANY CM's about this bag I felt like I was harrassing them. So my husband went to speak with the CM and guess what!? He had given the bag to the bell station when he noticed it had slipped under the seat. He didn't notice it right away and had brought a large van full of people around to their room after us so he gave it to them in case someone called looking for it. It was in the lost and found room right behind the bell station, in full view as you went in the door!!! I can't tell you how many CMs told me they had "looked" for my bag and that they would "keep and eye out" for it, not to mention they promisd to asked that particular CM about it when he returned. I was not too impressed with OKW CMs after that trip, let me tell you.

So. Should this experience convince me that all CMs who work at OKW are terrible and I should never vacation there again? I like BWV better anyway!

Pixie dust!!

Audrey

 

[minimahaki]

Wes
I understand everything your saying. In fact I thought I would be hearing more non DVC comp stories (negative reports) than the positive ones. That is why I edited my original posting which said.
"This may prove to tell a deeper tale" Indicating that DVC Members are not compensated for their inconveniences. I didn't even post my problems I have had with NO COMPENSATION over the years.
I hope more DVC Members continue to post not only the positive but the negative.
Thanks for your input
Lauretta
Minimahaki DVC Members Since May, 1993

 

[MinnieMe2]

I'll try to keep this as short as possible, but this is one vacation I've always thought I should share with Chevy Chase!!!

A number of years ago we pulled our pop-up down to spend a week at FW with our four kids. We arrived late on Mon., so didn't do much except settle in. Tues. we headed in to Epcot, fully aware that a storm was brewing off the coast. The first thing the boys wanted to do in the park was Innoventions, so in we went, the boys heading for whatever they wanted to do, DD and I sticking together. That's when the lights went out, along with all the computers, etc. CMs told us to wait just a minute, generators would kick in; but eventually they had to evacuate us from the building. To make a long story short, though some things came back on line, for the most part we were out of luck. (And for some inane reason, we were doing one day passes that year.) So we decided to head over to World Showcase. DH was getting concerned about the pop-up because the wind and rain were getting quite heavy, so we agreed to meet him in Japan at 2:00, and he went to zip things up at the camp site. The kids and I wandered around, met DH at 2:00 as scheduled, and that was when he told us Hurricane Erin was on her way. We continued with Epcot, finally leaving when the wind got to be way too much. As we boarded our bus, we were told by the driver that the campground was under mandatory evacuation. We were to close down, pack our sleeping bags, pillows, clothes, etc., catch a "Special" bus, and we would spend the nite at one of the convention centers. This was all fine, but I was afraid my nine year old had strep throat. While DH and the kids packed, I got on the phone trying to find a 'cheap' hotel for the night with no luck. I finally called the front desk and explained my dilemma, indicating that we would gladly go to a convention center, but would there be a quiet corner where I could quarantine my Lucas? After about 20 min., Jon told me he had found us a room for the night, that we would pay the same $38 we were paying for our camp site, and we would stay at the Beach Club. I didn't know anything about the Beach Club, just that we had a safe place to spend the night and that Luke would be okay. As we drove there, I told the kids I wanted no complaining about the room, even if it was a broom closet. Yeah, right -- some broom closet. We had a balcony overlooking Epcot, a lovely room, and never even heard Erin blow into town. The following morning, we took Luke to the clinic (he was positive) and checked with FW about getting back into our site. But they didn't think that was a good idea because of the residual winds and told us to check with BC. Sure enough, we got our room for a second night at $38!!!! Then, I went to Guest Services and explained what happened at Epcot the day before, asking if there was some way we could get our kids into the park just to do the three most important things on their list: Innoventions, some Aladdin thing, and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. The CM asked what room we were in and told me he'd look into it and call me. About ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and there was the CM with six free passes: "Here you go. Bring the kids back on us!" I gave him a big tip. That trip could have been a disaster, but because we were treated like 'guests' rather than 'customers', it was completely salvaged. That was the trip that sold us on Disney.

Counting the Hours Til We're Back in the World

Mother-of-Four (Five, If You Count My Husband)

 

[rbuzzotta]

I was telling me DD about this thread and she reminded me of the time my DH ran over her finger with the stroller at MK (remember the old blue strollers?). Well, it was an accident of course, it took off her fingernail!!! OUCH! Being a R.N. I carry a small supply of first aid items and quickly wrapped up her finger to stop the bleeding. A CM noticed what was happening and quickly came to us and got us some ice. The CM (I believe his name was Mike) got a wheelchair and escorted us to first aid. The CM's at first aid were absolutely wonderful and took great care of my DD. We spent about 3 hours away from the rides and in the first aid office and to compensate us they gave us 3 "front of the line" passes! It was July and the lines averaged 60-90 minutes. We couldn't have even gone on the 3 rides in that timeframe. We went to the front of the line for Winnie-the Pooh, Dumbo and Peter Pan (since that's the area of the "accident"). It was a true Disney moment, above and beyond the call of duty..........

Rosemary
Off-site every year since 1985
PO '96, '97, '99
Coronado '00
WL '94, '00
CB '98, '00
VB '97, '98, '00, '01?
DVC member '00 OKW
DxL '97, '01
OKW '01

 

[mzzbuzzlightyear]

On our very first visit to OKW with DH,DD,DSIL, and 3 DGS, 9,7,&4,we checked in and then left for the MK. We were told the room would be ready at 4pm.
DH and DD went back, checked into the room and went to the supermarket while the rest of stayed in the parks until about 7 pm. When I went to the HH to get our room assignment, the CM mentioned something about the room keys, and took them to the back to rekey them. DD later told me that they were told that there was a problem with our door locks, but the CM did not want to change the keys while we were still in the parks The next day I went back to the desk as requested and was told that at about 3 AM someone had managed to fix the problem. This never inconvenienced any of us in the least. When I got home, I found that the CM had given us back our 22 points for the night and put them in Holding for us!
In June of 2000, DH and I checked into BWV. We got there about 11AM, stood in a very long line, and then were sent to another long line at the side desk and finally registered. No keys were given because the machine was broken. We were told to call at 1PM for our room, which we did. We then stood in line again, got our room # but no keys because the machine was still broken. We were told to come back later, and go right up and ask the CM at the desk and our keys would be given to us then. The Bellman took us to our room, we unpacked and left for Epcot, returning at about 6PM. I went to the area of the front desk near the Bellman to ask about the key and was rudely told to go to the end of the line, so I went to another person, (while DH waited at the end of another LONG line) The CM made such a scene and then in a very nasty and loud manner,as he was looking in the computer, yelled, "Who let you into your room? You are DVC and you know that you aren't supposed to check in until 4PM!" He made the room keys and then literally threw them at me. This was in front of that entire line of people who thought that I had cut in front of them! Another CM was rolling her eyes in a sarcastic manner. I finally saw the original CM who registered me and he apologized, and said that "Gary" is always that way. He went and got the manager who apologized and said that the original plan was to put the keys in the rooms when the machine was repaired. She said that it was her fault that the CMs did not know about the key problem because she had been at a meeting and never got around to telling them. I did not get any sort of comp from this, only humiliation and embarrassment over a situation which could have been handled in a very different way.
June

 

[minimahaki]

Well did Gary let the cat out of the Bag? I haven't counted the times I was at WDW since I became a member in 1993. However, I can tell you that I NEVER EVER EVER got into my room earlier than 2-3PM and the only reason that happened was because I had a lock off and the studio was done.

I always thought that it was because I always book a 1-2 bedroom. UMMMMMMMMMMM does Gary know something we don't?
<IMG SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif" alt="confused">

Lauretta

 

[minimahaki]

Well did Gary let the cat out of the Bag? I haven't counted the times I was at WDW since I became a member in 1993. However, I can tell you that I NEVER EVER EVER got into my room earlier than 2-3PM and the only reason that happened was because I had a lock off and the studio was done.

I always thought that it was because I always book a 1-2 bedroom. UMMMMMMMMMMM does Gary know something we don't?


Lauretta
<IMG SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif" alt="confused">

 

[Peggy Sue]

Last September we went to HH for a week with my DH Sister and BIL to celebrate our anniversaries. A couple of nights before our anniversary, we attended the open house at the grand villa to check out what was new with DVC. As we were leaving, I asked the DVC guide if she would recommend a few romantic dining spots for our anniversary. She gave us several, and wished us a good time. (We tried them all that week..and all were fantastic!) The afternoon of our anniversary DVC sales delivered a beautiful basket full of goodies to our room with their best wishes for a happy anniversary! It took me awhile to figure out how they knew it was our anniversary. The DVC rep must have checked the sign up sheet when we attended the open house and found our name and room number! It was such a toughtful thing for them to do.

On the flip side, we stayed at BWV last May in a 1 bedroom. When we checked in, we were advised the floor we wanted (top) was going through carpet replacement and painting. We advised my DH as asthma and that we preferred a room away from this type of activity. We were given a 1 bedroom unit on the third floor. Our last day there was very hot and humid. We had decided to come back from Epcot early to get out of heat as my DH was having some breathing difficulties. When we opened the unit door, we were hit by a strong smell of paint! We walked into the unit and saw a wet paint sign on the wall next to the kitchen. We called the front desk, they knew nothing about it, and I asked them to please follow up with a manager and get back to me. Actually, they were kind of rude about the whole situation. DH went down to the pool and I attempted to air out the room openning up the balcony doors. At 6 PM we still had not heard from the manager. DH came back to the room to change for dinner and we stopped at the front desk to again try and find out what was going on. The CM was VERY rude telling us that they have every right to every our room and paint it whenever they choose. We were livid. Again, the manager was not available. We went to dinner and tried to find the manager again at 7:30..no luck. At 10 PM she finally called our room. I explained our situation and she apologized, stating that of course they would not just come in and paint without letting the guest know. She promised to check into what happened, but never called back. We checked out the next morning. This was the end of a wonderful 2 week vacation. We were never offered any compensation for my DH not being able to stay in the room on a very hot day. It wasn't a very magical moment!

<marquee direction = "right" align = "middle" behavior = "alternate">

</marquee> <center>Have a Wonderful day!</center>

 

[shelbyjosh]

Back in Feb 97 we took our 1st (family) trip to WDW. We stayed at CBR. We had adjoining rooms with other family members. The whole week they were rehabing our building. From 7 a.m. till 5 p.m. we would hear jackhammers and pounding outside of our room! Needless to say, our daughter did not take the quality naps she so needed! 2 days before we were to leave, my cousin and I went to the front desk and spoke with the manager. He offered to move us to a different building, but that was senseless since we would be packing up in 2 days. THe only thing my cousin had to say was "this is unacceptable!" He then credited us one night's stay to each room. Otherwise, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip. Ever since then we have been spoiled at OKW!

Michelle
DVC 2000
WDW...Been There, Done That, Going Back!

 

[GrammieMame]

On a tram to AK, the driver (going too fast, I thought), took a sharp turn and our stroller slipped out from under our feet. When they stopped to retrieve it, we found that they had run over the stroller and totaled it. We didn't ask, but in retrospect the least they could have done was offer to give us a free rental stroller in AK. But they didn't.

 

[mzzbuzzlightyear]

Lauretta,

We also had a studio, and by the time we went back to the desk to check into our room it was about 2 PM. By the way, those 2 nights in the studio at BWV were followed by 7 nights at OKW in a 2 bedroom and we had no problems with check in at all. CMs were friendly and polite!

June

 

[Paul in CT]

Wes,

We had the opposite experience at VB several years ago when we had to leave unexpectedly because our daughter who was at a cheerleading camp was injured. When we got home my wife realized that she had left a drawer full of clothes in the room. We called Vero and they said that they had found them and sent them back to us by FedEx at their expense. As always, a lot has to do with the CM's involved.

Paul in CT

 

[msdisney53]

During Christmas vacation 1996 we had a few comps. First, we were having lunch at the Portofino. We ordered,received our appetizers in a timely manner, and then things went downhill. Some time had passed and we hadn't got our entrees and the waiter was nowhere in sight. When he finally surfaced, along with our food, I asked him what happened.He replied that Tony would be right over. Tony, the manager,explained they had gotten busier than they expected and were not properly staffed. Because of this he said everything would be on him. When the waiter returned he told us to keep ordering (drinks, desserts,whatever) We never asked for anything except What happened? Truly a Disney moment!

[This message was edited by msdisney53 on 04-27-01 at 07:27 PM.]

 

[msdisney53]

When leaving one of the shows at MGM my 5 yo DD noticed that she had sat in gum. It was all over her new air brushed sweat shirt and her shorts. Since she was a little tired and a lot hungry she began crying. I went in the closest shop to see if they had anything I could remove it with. The CM said they could send it to wardrobe and see what they could do. We accepted their offer but my DD was still crying over the shorts. We were about to leave when the CM said he would come with us to find some shorts.We told him it wasn't necessary but he insisted. We couldn't find any but since we had PS at the Prime Time he said not to worry and he would find some and bring them to us. They sent over an entire outfit from the Poly.