WARNING: few minutes late to ADR where they charge a no-show fee you may be charged

[Maggie'sMom]

How can there be a 45 minute line JUST to check in? I have never seen that at O'hana. I mean all you do is give a name. Now the line to get in after you check in, that is long.

I've been stuck in a 30 minute line to check in at Ohana. We had an ADR for the first dinner seating in 2010. We got there 20 minutes before 5:00 and by the time we got to the front of the line, it was already 5:10.

Part of the problem is people who don't have ADRs that want to argue with the CMs at the podium about getting seated. I know that was happening the night we were at Ohana. It also happened to me at LTT in 2008 during free dining. When I got to LTT, there were about 5 groups in line ahead of me to check in. It took 15 minutes to check in because every one of the 5 parties ahead of me didn't have ADRs and were arguing about why they couldn't get seated without an ADR and wanting the CMs to tell them where they could go and get seated for a TS dinner in the MK at 6pm on a Sunday evening during free dining. The CMs looked immensely relieved when I stepped up and told them I had an ADR.

 

[DizneyDogs]

Yes, we do, because the OP got their money back and was told that there should be a "grace period" for no-shows, but it wasn't working.

Actually I haven't received my money back yet. They said it would take 10 days to issue the refund and for them to verify that I had indeed dined there that night.

 

[Colleen27]

How can there be a 45 minute line JUST to check in? I have never seen that at O'hana. I mean all you do is give a name. Now the line to get in after you check in, that is long.

Sure, all you have to do is give your name... and wait for the CM to find it in the system. But you might end up behind dozens of other people doing the same thing, some of whom might not have ADRs or who are looking to be seated at a time very different from their reservation or who have other concerns (needing to speak to the chef about allergies, ordering a "podium" cake or making sure the restaurant has their custom-ordered cake, etc). And even finding the name isn't always a quick thing; their computer systems are often glitchy, names get spelled wrong, and things happen. I frequently have CMs resort to looking up our ADR by phone number after having difficulty finding our (long, non-phonetically spelled) surname.

I have been to WDW over 20 times and can only recall once there was a situation out of my control on a bus and that was when a car in front of the bus had a probelm and the bus driver stopped to help. Not saying it never happens.. use a cell phone to call and explian.. ok then borrow one from someone near you they will understand and help you out....

I think the buses are a lot more dependable than the monorail these days, and it seems like most reports of unavoidable transportation delays are due to stopped monorail service. We cut waaaay back on how often we ride it in '09, when the morning news on one of the first days of our trip was all abuzz with the fact that a train had to be evacuated mid-beam by the fire dept, but with so many of the CC guarantee restaurants at monorail resorts the overall dependability (or lack thereof) of the system needs to be taken into account.

And as far as calling to explain, the "no exceptions" responses that podium and WDW-Dine CMs are giving make me question whether or not front line CMs even have the ability to "help you out" with the charge; it sounds like it is something that you'd have to pursue up the chain of command to get anywhere with, and until we have reports from people who did so we won't know if or under what circumstances that might be successful.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Actually I haven't received my money back yet. They said it would take 10 days to issue the refund and for them to verify that I had indeed dined there that night.

Can you dispute the charge with the credit card company instead of waiting for Disney to figure this out?

 

[aubriee]

It took DH 20 minutes to check in at Mama Melrose on 12/5. When we got there it was a looooonnnnggg line, and then bc the place was running an hour late, they had to explain when to come back to everyone, people were complaining. Although they did would not check people in until the hour was up. This is not a cc place, so I am just using an example of it taking a long time to check in. Maybe if they didnt have to explain the delay over and over. But we were outside and he took forever!

Actually if you're booked with the Fantasmic pkg at Mama Melrose it does require a cc guarantee. OT: I got a little frustrated with Mama Melrose when I was there in Nov/Dec, but it didn't have anything to do with a cc guarantee. I checked in right behind a couple who did not have an ADR. I heard them say they did not have a reservation and would wait. I checked in right behind them with an ADR time within the next 15 minutes. I was solo. I then saw another two couples check in with ADRs the same time as mine and another couple who was checking in just a few minutes late for their ADR. The couple that was a walk up was seated before any of us that had ADRs. We had to wait past our ADR times, even though we were there 15 minutes prior, while the walk up couple got right in.

Most CC merchant agreements do not allow charges for missed reservations (except hotel rooms).

I suspect that anyone who is aware of this is likelly to get the charge refunded even if they were culpable.

I have avoided posting this since reducing double booking and intentionally not bothering to call when you are not going to keep a reservation is a problem, which needed to delt with somehow, but now that WDW IT had made another "mess" I figure I should mention it.

I've mentioned before that we were charged at Akershus one time when one of us was ill that morning. The rest of the party showed up, but I stayed back in the room, thinking that as long as the party showed up we wouldn't be charged. My husband told the CM when they checked it, that I was ill back in the room. We were still charged for one no show.

 

[Bonnie151]

Honestly is sounds like that didn't do a good job defining the system. The above poster is right that you can't accidentally program the system to do something earlier then it should. However you can fail to point out to your programers that you need a grace period. You could just say "If they don't show up to a 5:00 reservation they should be charged a fee" So the programmers don't think to put in a grace period.

Still means some group of people are extremely incompetent at their jobs though.

Yes, a whole lot of people were incompetent here! A *good* programmer will look beyond the code she/he has been given to make sure it's logical in a real world application. The IT analyst who wrote the spec should have thought of different scenarios and the tester who tested the programme should have also thought of different scenarios. Sounds like no one did any practical, this is how people check in for reservations thinking.

ETA: Also the business analyst who wrote the business spec should have thought of this as well before handing it over to IT!

Having said that, is this happening to everyone or could it be that the OP wasn't correctly checked in at the podium so the system didn't realise they were there at all?

 

[DizneyDogs]

Can you dispute the charge with the credit card company instead of waiting for Disney to figure this out?

I can do that but I will give Disney the chance to correct it first

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Gosh, the more I read I'm becoming a little nervous for our 'Ohana dinner in April. We've had breakfast there a couple of times and dinner once - I remember the check in line was longer than other restaurants but luckily didn't have to wait in line as long as others have experienced. This time our ADR is within the first half hour of when they open so I hope we're not caught up in a huge crowd.

We made our ADR just before the CC guarantee went into effect but I'm hoping we don't find people trying to cut the check-in line to make sure they are checked in by their ADR time so they don't get marked as a no show.

 

[kristenrice]

Perhaps they need to start online check in for ADR's. That way, instead of waiting in line to check in, you can just use your mobile phone.

Y'all are making me really nervous...three of the restaurants we want to dine at as a group (Mama Melrose's FDP, O'Hana and 50's PTC) have all been mentioned here repeatedly as having "problems". I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed that they get this cleared up by June.

 

[miprender]

Most CC merchant agreements do not allow charges for missed reservations (except hotel rooms).

I suspect that anyone who is aware of this is likely to get the charge refunded even if they were culpable.

I have avoided posting this since reducing double booking and intentionally not bothering to call when you are not going to keep a reservation is a problem, which needed to delt with somehow, but now that WDW IT had made another "mess" I figure I should mention it.

I never knew this so I better make sure not to use my Disney Visa

Actually I haven't received my money back yet. They said it would take 10 days to issue the refund and for them to verify that I had indeed dined there that night.

Why is it taking so long.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

I was just thinking about this possible situation last week at Tusker House lunch. We made our ADRs before the credit card guarantee thing started, so it wasn't an issue for us. We had an 11:00 ADR and arrived at the restaurant at about 10:55. I then had to stand in line just to get to the podium to check in for 20 minutes. I kept thinking to myself how glad I was that they didn't have my card on file to charge me for not showing up, because I was so late checking in for my ADR that I had actully arrived on time for.

 

[ConnieB]

Yes, a whole lot of people were incompetent here! A *good* programmer will look beyond the code she/he has been given to make sure it's logical in a real world application. The IT analyst who wrote the spec should have thought of different scenarios and the tester who tested the programme should have also thought of different scenarios. Sounds like no one did any practical, this is how people check in for reservations thinking.

ETA: Also the business analyst who wrote the business spec should have thought of this as well before handing it over to IT!

Having said that, is this happening to everyone or could it be that the OP wasn't correctly checked in at the podium so the system didn't realise they were there at all?

Wouldn't the more logical plan be to do all the "no show" charges at midnight each night? That way any late arrival whether due to the guest or the line at check in wouldn't matter...do it at the end of the evening for everyone who didn't show. This is standard procedure for "credits/refunds" so it's not like you're asking the computer to do something it's not capable of.

Sheesh....you'd think that Disney could hire the best of the best to figure this crap out rather than depending on the guests to complain and make suggestions, lol.

 

[fla4fun]

We went to Ohana for the first time on our last trip, and I had no idea how it worked. We arrived 15 mins before our 5:00 ADR, only to find a line at the podium that stretched across the room and around the corner. I guess we were in the first "group" for the evening, and they didn't start taking check-ins until 5:00 (or some time close to that). I don't think we were able to reach the podium to check in until at least 5:15-5:20. I just remember being stressed about it because we were going to MVMCP after and it wasn't working out on the time schedule I had planned.

I only have the one experience with Ohana, but I assume that is how it always works and plan to arrive much earlier for our ADR in May since it is now guaranteed with my cc.

This scenario will happen at every restaurant at opening time. No one can check in before the restaurant opens, so you will have a line of people with 5:00, 5:10, etc. ADR's lined up, waiting to check in. There are definitely going to be some people who are processed a few minutes after their ADR time in this situation - which is probably the main reason Disney was building in the grace period. They just need to get the bugs out of the system.

I know Rose and Crown is not one of the cc restaurants, but I liked how they handled the line situation during my stay last week. Any time the line got overly long, they brought a second host to the desk, and they split the line between those with ADR's and those wanting walk ins or other information. It really kept the line moving well. Maybe they need to do something similar at the cc restaurants to help keep the ADR line moving at an acceptable pace, especially when the restaurants first open for the meal period.

 

[Bonnie151]

Wouldn't the more logical plan be to do all the "no show" charges at midnight each night? That way any late arrival whether due to the guest or the line at check in wouldn't matter...do it at the end of the evening for everyone who didn't show. This is standard procedure for "credits/refunds" so it's not like you're asking the computer to do something it's not capable of.

Sheesh....you'd think that Disney could hire the best of the best to figure this crap out rather than depending on the guests to complain and make suggestions, lol.

That was exactly the response of my IT DH when I told him about this thread. He said, "That's stupid. Why didn't they just write in a sweep to run at midnight?"

 

[kamik86]

Yes, a whole lot of people were incompetent here! A *good* programmer will look beyond the code she/he has been given to make sure it's logical in a real world application. The IT analyst who wrote the spec should have thought of different scenarios and the tester who tested the programme should have also thought of different scenarios. Sounds like no one did any practical, this is how people check in for reservations thinking.

ETA: Also the business analyst who wrote the business spec should have thought of this as well before handing it over to IT!

Having said that, is this happening to everyone or could it be that the OP wasn't correctly checked in at the podium so the system didn't realise they were there at all?

True however as someone that works in this field (and by the fact that you know what to call everyone I'm going to guess you do too) I have seen times where this happens. Where the programmers don't write specs and are just code monkeys that code and don't question. Where the testers run exactly what they are told and don't try to break anything. Where the IT analyst doesnt know anything about the business and doesn't think about things beyond what the business person tells them. If you managed to get all of this plus the business person just forgot... it could happen.

I mean I have to wonder how a space program managed to develop a system where no testers, peer reviewers, etc managed to discover that half the system was in metric and half in American without ever doing the conversion between number systems.... but it happened.

 

[kamik86]

Wouldn't the more logical plan be to do all the "no show" charges at midnight each night? That way any late arrival whether due to the guest or the line at check in wouldn't matter...do it at the end of the evening for everyone who didn't show. This is standard procedure for "credits/refunds" so it's not like you're asking the computer to do something it's not capable of.

Sheesh....you'd think that Disney could hire the best of the best to figure this crap out rather than depending on the guests to complain and make suggestions, lol.

When you have computer people that just do what the customer wants and doesn't question it (example below) this kind of thing happens. The business person doesn't know this is possible, or just doesn't think of it because they aren't a computer person. So they write that they want the charge to go through when someone is late. The computer experts then assume this is what the customer wants and never goes "Well instead we could do..."

This was a bit of an issue in my masters software engineering class last quarter. I am a remote student and the on campus students in my team had never had a real industry job. So when the customer asked for something they tended to just say ok and not think about if its possible, practical in the time given, reasonable, if there is a better way, etc.

 

[Bonnie151]

True however as someone that works in this field (and by the fact that you know what to call everyone I'm going to guess you do too) I have seen times where this happens.

Sort of. My husband works in IT (FTSE100 financial services company) and I used to work as a project manager for the same company. I did have various occasions where the IT manager reporting into me would phone to say, "We just thought about x....). I know different companies run their IT projects in various ways, but honestly, sometimes I wonder whether Disney thinks "business user testers" are the real life customers!

 

[ConnieB]

That was exactly the response of my IT DH when I told him about this thread. He said, "That's stupid. Why didn't they just write in a sweep to run at midnight?"

My DH is IT also...so I guess I really have picked up a lot from listening to him talk about his job, lol.

I do understand what the other posters are saying about programmers doing what the customer asked....but those are typically the lower class of programmers, and as I said...you'd think that Disney would be using a little better class of programmers. Especially when you consider how much the listen to the input from other experts working for them.....why not the programmers, lol?

Lately Disney seems to be just kneejerk reacting to things rather than thinking them through. Sad. And if these boards and other Disney boards I wander through are any indication they are losing a lot of faithful, money spending guests to these poor decisions. Lots of reports of people deciding not to make ADRs at the affected restaurants...and that many of those restaurants now see to have walk up where they never did before. Sure walk ups are GREAT for us....but no restaurant wants an empty table and if you're not booked solid enough to not be able to take walk ups, then you run the very real risk of having empty tables. Not sure if the numer of empty tables is greater or less than what the no-shows were before the policy change....that of course makes the difference in whether it's working for Disney or not.

Our next trip is far enough ahead that I still have some time before I need to start planning....but at this particular moment, my plan is to NOT make ADRs at these restaurants and risk the potential no show $$ for unplanned and unpredictable instances....hasn't happened a lot to me in the past, but why risk it. And if the reports of walk ups continue then I'll know that I've definitely made the right choice....we tend to eat "off hours" anyway, so that alone should improve our chances of walk ups. And if not, then there are plenty of counter services to keep us happy. I suppose a few years ago when my children would have been highly disappointed not to eat at a particular place this would have been a more difficult decision, but there are no character meals we haven't done, and actually very few TS on our "want to try" list anyway. So we're certainly one of the lucky families to have already experienced so many.....and we can still enjoy our trip if we aren't able to go somewhere. I find this amazing when I think of how obsessed I've been with ADR planning on past trips.....but I guess things change, lol. It's hard to understand because really it's been so few that we've cancelled last minute, and only 1 that we didn't show and that was because we went back mid day for a "nap"....and woke after dark, lol. But something about it irks me enough that I don't want to risk $30 fines even once.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Wouldn't the more logical plan be to do all the "no show" charges at midnight each night? That way any late arrival whether due to the guest or the line at check in wouldn't matter...do it at the end of the evening for everyone who didn't show. This is standard procedure for "credits/refunds" so it's not like you're asking the computer to do something it's not capable of.

Sheesh....you'd think that Disney could hire the best of the best to figure this crap out rather than depending on the guests to complain and make suggestions, lol.

You would think so, wouldn't you? I think they have the worst website/access of any company this size I have ever seen...the search feature is terrible, it's down constantly and it's difficult to navigate.

 

[mom2rtk]

Wouldn't the more logical plan be to do all the "no show" charges at midnight each night? That way any late arrival whether due to the guest or the line at check in wouldn't matter...do it at the end of the evening for everyone who didn't show. This is standard procedure for "credits/refunds" so it's not like you're asking the computer to do something it's not capable of.

Sheesh....you'd think that Disney could hire the best of the best to figure this crap out rather than depending on the guests to complain and make suggestions, lol.

Unless of course the intention all along is to maximize a new revenue stream......

And BTW..... we were at the Poly the other night for a bit. I saw this MASSIVE line (maybe around 6 or 6:15) and wondered what the heck it was. So I went up to the front to read the sign which said "wait her for the next available hostess". It was indeed the line to check in. And it wasn't the start of the night. And it looked to be far longer than than the 15 minutes they tell you to arrive ahead of your ADR time.