The One Bad Apple in the DDP Bunch!

[Brygida]

There was only one! issue we had during our entire stay with the DDP, and that was at Raglan Road.

We had a horrid, snotty waiter there, who was overly-friendly (sitting down next to us, etc) which we thought was crossing the boundaries of acceptability.

We were a 3-family, two-room party. We had a total of 3 adults on one room card and 3 adults, 1 child on the other room card, for a total of 7 people. We bought 5 adult meals for the 5 adults who ate (my toddler son who was also with us, had eaten his dinner earlier around 6pm) and the waiter gave us the 3rd degree. He at first refused to take the two cards saying something about why didn't we have all 7 people eating at the dinner? Then he started saying that we were cheating the system by using child credits for adult meals.

People eat separately all the time. We felt harrassed by his questioning. Also, since room occupancy had all been verified at check-in, we did not feel obligated to answer/explain to him. It is not his job to police when or in what groups we eat. My toddler was not going to wait to eat dinner at 8:30pm! And, we had 7 people on the DDP, and were only asking him to charge the 5 people who were eating, how was that wrong in any way? Why would he even think it was wrong? ..... just venting.....

What all this says to me, is there is always 1 person who considers themselves to be the self-appointed police enforcement of some policy that they were never responsible for enforcing in the first place.

 

[patsal]

What all this says to me, is there is always 1 person who considers themselves to be the self-appointed police enforcement of some policy that they were never responsible for enforcing in the first place.

Since this is a non-disney owned restaurant things don't flow as smoothly there as they do at the WDW owned establishments. I really wish they would just go with the flow or stop taking it altogether. Either you agree to the terms or you don't and once you do you really don't have the authority to "police" it beyond the stated policy. All members of the party do not need to be present, all do not need to be on one card and the non-disney venues need to learn that. For that reason we don't use them when we are on the DDP, there are plenty of other choices and I don't need the hassle. I usually don't book the non disney owned venues in Epcot either--just not worhtthe hassle.

 

[HayGan]

Honestly, I would have asked to speak to a manager as there is no need whatsoever for a member of the wait staff to speak to a customer like that. I'm positive that management would want to know about a situation like this!

 

[Lewisc]

Some restaurants encourage waiters to sit down next to the customers when they take the order. I'm not a fan of that practice but it's not fair to blame the waiter if he's following restaurant policy.

I bolded the part of your post that I disagree with 100%. The waiter was doing his job. He is the person responsible for enforcing restaurant policy. It sounds like either you or the waiter was rude. You can't present a card that says 3A and order 5A meals. I wasn't there. All you needed to do was to explain that you were in different rooms and ask if he could just deduct the credits from one room or if he needed one card from each room. Either the waiter didn't ask the right question or you got defensive and didn't understand his point.

There was only one! issue we had during our entire stay with the DDP, and that was at Raglan Road.

We had a horrid, snotty waiter there, who was overly-friendly (sitting down next to us, etc) which we thought was crossing the boundaries of acceptability.

We were a 3-family, two-room party. We had a total of 3 adults on one room card and 3 adults, 1 child on the other room card, for a total of 7 people. We bought 5 adult meals for the 5 adults who ate (my toddler son who was also with us, had eaten his dinner earlier around 6pm) and the waiter gave us the 3rd degree. He at first refused to take the two cards saying something about why didn't we have all 7 people eating at the dinner? Then he started saying that we were cheating the system by using child credits for adult meals.

People eat separately all the time. We felt harrassed by his questioning. Also, since room occupancy had all been verified at check-in, we did not feel obligated to answer/explain to him. It is not his job to police when or in what groups we eat. My toddler was not going to wait to eat dinner at 8:30pm! And, we had 7 people on the DDP, and were only asking him to charge the 5 people who were eating, how was that wrong in any way? Why would he even think it was wrong? ..... just venting.....

What all this says to me, is there is always 1 person who considers themselves to be the self-appointed police enforcement of some policy that they were never responsible for enforcing in the first place.

 

[bicker]

It is indeed the servers' responsibility to police the program, as there is no one else to do so, and that has been a source of difficulty in the past. That's why it would be so much better if they had the system separate the adult credits from the child credits and therefore there would be no human interaction necessary to enforce the restriction.

I hope, though, that once that happens, guests are understanding and polite when faced with the ramifications, just like when a credit card is declined at a restaurant or store anywhere else. ("Sorry, sir, but your Dining Plan credit has been declined -- it's indicating that you have no adult credits left. You'll have to talk with your resort about that, I'm just a server at a restaurant.")

 

[stacie_d]

You can't present a card that says 3A and order 5A meals.

As I read the OP comments, it seems that the OP presented two cards...one with 3A and one with 3A1C to cover the 5 meals.

 

[mlwear]

You have every right to be upset and in my IMO this server was WAY out of line. The way I read your post, you gave him both cards that indicated meal entitlements for 6 A's and one child. Right? Only 5 adults ordered meals. What didn't he understand? One of the adults wasn't eating with you, so what?
If I understand your post correctly, the server was being completely presumptious that you were trying to cheat the system. He had no indication of that other than a wild guess and a personal need to try to police the system. Frankly, in this case it is too bad that he was entitled to an 18% tip.
I agree with the pp that management should have been notified.
BTW, I don't like when servers sit at my table either. In most cases where that is the routine, however, mine have always asked permission to sit with us.

 

[Brygida]

It is indeed the servers' responsibility to police the program, as there is no one else to do so, and that has been a source of difficulty in the past. That's why it would be so much better if they had the system separate the adult credits from the child credits and therefore there would be no human interaction necessary to enforce the restriction.

I hope, though, that once that happens, guests are understanding and polite when faced with the ramifications, just like when a credit card is declined at a restaurant or store anywhere else. ("Sorry, sir, but your Dining Plan credit has been declined -- it's indicating that you have no adult credits left. You'll have to talk with your resort about that, I'm just a server at a restaurant.")

I disagree 100% that it is the servers responsibility to police the program. Isn't that supposed to be verified at check-in?

However, I do agree that the DDP would be so much easier if every person had a DDP card that they had to present at their meal (just like tickets to the parks are per person!). This would certainly stop the rude policemen from making you feel like your stealing from Disney when you are not.

That waiter had no valid reason to question 5 adult meals being debited from cards that totalled 6 adult and 1 child meal. What reason could he have possibly had other than to be rude?

 

[bicker]

I disagree 100% that it is the servers responsibility to police the program. Isn't that supposed to be verified at check-in?

No. Check-in cannot verify how you're going to use the individual credits.

I think it is a shame that folks who are following the rules of the program are made to feel, as you said, as if they were not. It's one of the worst parts of the fact that so many folks have abused the rules so as to cause servers to have to be put in the difficult position of having to police the use of the program. Please understand, though, that, FWIR, the servers hate it as much as the guests: They'd rather the program just police itself, either by guests simply voluntarily complying or by the system being redesiged to preclude the possibility of cheating.

 

[Brygida]

Honestly, I would have asked to speak to a manager as there is no need whatsoever for a member of the wait staff to speak to a customer like that. I'm positive that management would want to know about a situation like this!

My sister (who is still young and easily embarrassed) asked us not to speak with managment because she knows the head chef (who was not there that evening) and did not want it to get back to him that she was a "difficult" customer. My older sister and myself were ready to speak to management and get his 18% tip revoked! But we let the whole thing go at my younger sister's request...

 

[HayGan]

I disagree 100% that it is the servers responsibility to police the program. Isn't that supposed to be verified at check-in?

However, I do agree that the DDP would be so much easier if every person had a DDP card that they had to present at their meal (just like tickets to the parks are per person!). This would certainly stop the rude policemen from making you feel like your stealing from Disney when you are not.

That waiter had no valid reason to question 5 adult meals being debited from cards that totalled 6 adult and 1 child meal. What reason could he have possibly had other than to be rude?

Well, I disagree in that really the servers are to be the real enforcers of the dining plan. They are the only ones who see how the credits are being used.

I completely agree with you that he had no right to question why you were using 5 credits when you presented a card with 6 credits (plus 1 child credit) clearly stated on it. It is none of his business why a member of your party is not present and he has no right to question it. There is no rule (and likely never will be) that states all members of a party must be present in order for credits to be used. He had no right to question you on it, and as I mentioned before, I would have spoken to the manager about it. That is the only way that they can know that there is a problem/miscommunication with their staff.

 

[HayGan]

My sister (who is still young and easily embarrassed) asked us not to speak with managment because she knows the head chef (who was not there that evening) and did not want it to get back to him that she was a "difficult" customer. My older sister and myself were ready to speak to management and get his 18% tip revoked! But we let the whole thing go at my younger sister's request...

I understand yuour reason for not. Sadly, the management will not be aware of the problem with that server and some other guest (hopefully, not me) will be subject to his mistreatment.


So on a happier note (hopefully), how was the food? I'll be eating there in 16 short days

 

[Lewisc]

As I read the OP comments, it seems that the OP presented two cards...one with 3A and one with 3A1C to cover the 5 meals.

It sounds like the waiter didn't realize the cards were from different rooms. The waiter may have been rude, I wasn't there, but I disagree with the poster 100%. It is the job of the waiter to make sure the plan is being followed. That may include not allowing the guests to order more adult meals than indicated by the card(s).

 

[mlwear]

However, I do agree that the DDP would be so much easier if every person had a DDP card that they had to present at their meal (just like tickets to the parks are per person!). This would certainly stop the rude policemen from making you feel like your stealing from Disney when you are not.

I think that is a great idea!

 

[Brygida]

I understand yuour reason for not. Sadly, the management will not be aware of the problem with that server and some other guest (hopefully, not me) will be subject to his mistreatment.


So on a happier note (hopefully), how was the food? I'll be eating there in 16 short days

The food was great! It has not been "downsized" or "miniaturized" for DDP people. It is real appetizers, entrees, and desserts. The potato and leek soup, and the pate were especially good. I had the beef stew which was very good, especially with the Irish soda bread to mop it up. Desserts were killer! I would say that the general consensus was that it was #2 or #3 on everyone's "best restaurant" list at WDW.

 

[The Sweetness]

I can hear the complaint society now~ Why do we all have seperated credits? I dont want to keep track of them all... no fair!

 

[HayGan]

The food was great! It has not been "downsized" or "miniaturized" for DDP people. It is real appetizers, entrees, and desserts. The potato and leek soup, and the pate were especially good. I had the beef stew which was very good, especially with the Irish soda bread to mop it up. Desserts were killer! I would say that the general consensus was that it was #2 or #3 on everyone's "best restaurant" list at WDW.

Thanks for the review. I am really excited about eating there! We have 6:30 ADRs so we plan on having a relaxing dinner and then taking in the entertainment!!!

 

[kaytieeldr]

What all this says to me, is there is always 1 person who considers themselves to be the self-appointed police enforcement of some policy that they were never responsible for enforcing in the first place.

Of course there is. We do it here on the DIS all the time. Okay, fine, that means there's more than one self-appointed enforcer, but still....

You can't present a card that says 3A and order 5A meals.

But they didn't. The OP said they presented TWO cards.

I disagree 100% that it is the servers responsibility to police the program. Isn't that supposed to be verified at check-in?

I don't think so. The Host/ess really isn't concerned at ALL with how any Guest will be paying for the meal.

I would say that the general consensus was that it was #2 or #3 on everyone's "best restaurant" list at WDW.

Ah, so your complete dining report, including ratings, can be found where...?

 

[HaleyB]

While I agree that the servers are the only ones that can police the system as it stands currently, this server was out of line. He was wrong. If you are going to accuse someone of cheating the system you ought to be very careful that you have your facts straight.

A group with that many adults would be in two rooms in all but a very few cases, so the server should have been aware of that. If they had ordered for the child and tried to pay cash, then I could see saying something, but they didn't do that. Since there is no way for a server to know if a guest is trying to cheat they should be very cautious about pointing fingers.

I would write a letter to Disney about this matter.

 

[BlindTyldak]

Was the server able to verify that there were not enough adult credits left on the card? Even if it said 3A1C, who is to say the diners didn't pay OOP for a meal previously? And in the case where there were two cards with the appropriate number of adults listed, there is of course no excuse.

Yes, the server IS the DDP police. However, he should not raise an issue until the card is declined. I would not expect to go into a restaurant and present a credit card and have the waiter give me a hard time on the possibility that it might not go through before they even run it, would anyone else?

Lewis and Bicker, I know you like to think that the Dining Plan is something that the waiters should be all over and fully prepared to give a customer grief for using the wrong way, but in this case, the waiter was just plain wrong in their way of handling it.