Sleepy, I didnt read the responses that followed. I do agree, the mentality of it doesnt affect me, so it doesnt matter is sad. I understand the business side of the thing. Its a tough thing going up on pricing, no one likes paying more. As a business owner, even when I have no say on material price changes, I feel bad going to customers to explain price increases. Not that Disney is feeling this, not defending, just saying. I liked the article in that it looked at the other side of the coin. Doesnt make it any easier to fork out the extra dough though
Oh, I agree,
JT. I'm not opposed to price increases as those are a fact of life. Having been a small business owner for a few years, I fully understand there are increasing expenses and costs that are passed along to the consumer. After having a few days to mull over the news--along with the TiW price increase--I've decided what bothers me the most is how Disney has resorted to passing along news. This particular instance has them saying how they've added benefits to the APs, which while technically true, ignores the fact that for most people the benefits do not outweigh the upcharge. When the Osborne Lights' demise was announced, it was a mere few months before the end (which in Disney planning terms is akin to the blink of an eye) and again mentioned in the tones of "we're expanding the Disney experience for our patrons"--yeah, in about 4-5 years. On top of that news, another company near and dear to me, Starbucks, announced that going forward from 30 Sep, the free birthday drink had to be redeemed within a specific 4-day timeframe--two days before through one day after the recipient's birthday. That's down from a week (though even 10 days wasn't unheard of). While that doesn't seem like much of an issue, I live 35 miles from the closest Starbucks and work each week day. If my birthday falls on a Wed or Thu, I'm out of luck unless I drive 45 minutes one way to cash in. Their response to my inquiry about the matter: "We make the reward specific to those four days so that our customer can celebrate his birthday closer to the actual day." For what it's worth, I'm sort of a
DVC-style Starbucks fan--I have a gold card where I earn rewards toward a free drink or food, and I purchase so many lattes and pastries that my gold status is good through April 2017. I patronize Starbucks a lot especially given how far away I live from one of their stores.
My belabored point to all this is that I can take bad news--I'm all growed up.
What I've come to increasingly dislike--I might even say hate--is being treated as a child by these corporations. If you're going to jack up the prices, don't paint it in terms of increasing the customer experience. No, it's a price increase to cover expenses (in Disney's case, I fully believe it's to help pre-pay for their new expansions). Tell me that, let me grouse, and I'll move on. Don't tell me a perk has now been restricted so that I can celebrate my special day closer to the actual date. So, you're telling me how to enjoy my birthday now? Uh huh. No, tell me that in order to trim the costs associated with a freebie, you're restricting the time frame. Okay, I may not like it, but at least they're being upfront and honest. Mega-corporations make billions of dollars both in terms of revenue and profit to the point of it being vulgar, so being cute with your language when you decide to make me pay more so that your shareholders are happy with this financial quarter's returns insults me. That is what buggeth me abouteth all thith.
