Wedding consultant question/problem

[tommymomo]

hi everyone, i was hope to maybe get some feed back on the wedding consultant that we have been assigned.

long story really short, I ust dont feel that he gives my DF the respect that she deserves.yes he answers her questions, but takes an incredible amount of time to do this(it has taken more than two weeks to get an answer on something). Being that I am in sales as well, i know that if i took that long to answer my cleints, they would not be clients much longer. I dont not expect a phone call, but there should be no excuse inthe ae of blackberrys that an email shouldnt be answered quickly.

I guess my question is this:
1) when do we do get assigned a wedding planner? We are at the point with the room assinments, so am I almost done?
2) are the planners better in getting back to you in a timley maner?
3) is this worth complaining about to someone at Disney?
4) has anyone else gone through this?

I am not going to say his name out there since I do not want it public.
Please, if you could help me here, even if its to tell me that I am over reacting it would be great appreciated.

 

[arubio0801]

I didnt have this problem with our consultant. But I am having this problem with our planner. Taking forever to get back to me. I guess it all depends on the planner. You don't have that much longer so hang in there. If you have anymore questions you can p.m me. So that you can be more detailed since it isnt possible on here.

 

[Skylarr29]

I think once you are assigned a planner it will be much better. Some of the questions that you are asking the consultant might not be something they usually deal with so it might take a while for him to get the answer. A lot of times consultants and even planners have to go through others to get the answers. For example if you are looking into a specific in park location the consultant will have to contact someone and see if the space is available or if there is any other private events etc.

Your planner will be able to answer your questions a lot faster usually but at times they will have to go through others as well like chefs, bakers for cake questions, entertainment department etc.

Also, since you are still very far out you probably aren't the first priority. I don't mean that in a rude way but you will find as your wedding gets closer you will become your planners main priority. Right now the priority are weddings taking place very soon.

Don't worry, everything will come together wonderfully. Disney just runs on a different schedule than most other wedding locations because all of the services are provided from one location.

If you really feel like you are being mistreated keep a documentation of the incidents so you can complain to someone higher up. After you finish your room block you will soon get your planner so you will not have to deal with this person much longer.

Good Luck

 

[Bride-to-be]

The two wedding consultants that we have delt with so far are both super nice. However they are both SUPER BUSY!!!!! I really think the department needs to be quadrupled in size. I agree that it takes a long time to get answers. I am trying to be as patient as possible (and its driving me nuts!!!). If you need to speak with them call and set up a phone appointment. Thats what both of them have told me to do and it works really well.

I feel your frustration!

 

[Desnik]

What you have at this point is a sales manager, right? I have heard from a few other brides to be that were not happy with the response time as well.

I have a great sales manager, luckily. He answered all my questions quickly. The one time he didn't was because he was on vacation and whoever was covering from him didn't answer his emails from me for some reason. He told me you don't get your wedding planner until 8 months out. I still have not heard from a wedding planner yet! They have my deposit, room blocks, everything. For some reason I can't get a planner! I have contacted my sales manager to ask what's up and am waiting for a response.(I just emailed him yesterday) I do have to say so far my experience with these people has been just so so overall. It took me months to just get a sales manager to call me back to get any info when we were first looking into our vow renewal.

My advice is to hang in there and try to ask all your questions at once!LOL Do research here. You can probably get an answer to any question you have right on these boards! I do know DFTW reads these boards so maybe if enough of us complain about the response time, and customer service it will change. I do know of one person who was so frustrated she isn't having her VR at Disney! So, they are loosing money because of this.

I agree with the OP, in this day of Blackberries, etc.... there really is no reason to get an answer to a question quicker than 2 weeks. I don't care how busy they say they are. That is unacceptable.

 

[IrishLily]

I agree that things will get better once you get your planner. My consultant was great, but not always as responsive as I would've liked. But come to find out it was because she was waiting on information from someone else in order to answer my questions. She was always very apologetic, and if I asked what was taking so long (in a nicer way!) she would always explain. While I think it would be awesome for the consultants to explain how long it may take to get back to you, this isn't always their first priority. I mean, when you think about it I'm sure there are lottery picks almost every day, they probably have a lot of brides wanting a tour of possible locations, and many brides that are asking detailed questions that are more geared for after the deposit than before.

That being said, you are paying a lot of money for a wedding. And nothing is ever really free, so in essence you are paying for the consultant and planner as well. They should go above and beyond, just as any other wedding planner would, to accommodate you and your DF. Otherwise, you would fire your wedding planner, right? It's important that you feel that your planner is listening to you and answers your questions promptly (but be reasonable as they do have many clients at one time). I don't think it would be out of line to ask for a new planner if you are unhappy with the one you receive. Disney is always there to please you, and I think they would rather have your business than not.

 

[NikkiPants]

Lottery picks??
Can someone explain that?

 

[lurkyloo]

She means the lottery they do when multiple people want the same date, time, and location. Unless you're trying to get, say, the Wedding Pavilion on Valentine's Day, this doesn't affect most people.

 

[NikkiPants]

Ooh, I get it now :]
Thanks! I had a feeling you would reply with the answer haha

 

[IrishLily]

Yes! Sorry, Lurkyloo is right. I guess I thought this was more prevalent. Or maybe it's just about the day of the week you have your wedding. We had originally planned for 9/27/08 and got put in a lottery and ended up with 2nd choices, and then again when we rescheduled for this year (9/26/09). And September is low season, but it IS a Saturday, and that may be the difference.

Sorry to confuse you.

 

[MegKate]

I guess I'm the odd one out - I completely adore my WC Pam - she and her assistant Tina are just awesome! I had a problem with my Disney website the other day at 10am - by 3pm it was fixed! I don't know if you can change WC's, but I would recommend her highly!

I'm sure I'll love my WP just as much!!

 

[tiggersam00]

Your not alone Meg, I have Stacey and she has been awesome! I wish I could keep working with her, she is so great!

 

[B714210]

Perhaps your consultant isn't full time or something. My daughter has worked with Joe, (we just sent our contract today ), and he has been wonderful to her! If she called or emailed a question, he always responded promptly, if he was in the office that day. Last night when we got together to go over the contract for the last time, I was actually feeling a bit sad that we need to leave Joe to continue through the process. If you are reading this Joe D., thanks for taking such good care of my daughter and helping her on the road to her dream wedding!

 

[managirl]

I have Diane as my Consultant and she is absolutely fab!!!! The longest it ever took her to get back to me was two days. I wouldn't worry. Im sure your WP will be great!!

 

[MegKate]

Your not alone Meg, I have Stacey and she has been awesome! I wish I could keep working with her, she is so great!

ITA Stacey is awesome - she stepped in for Pam when my parents took the site tour (Pam was sick), and my parents loved her!!! She really put their mind at ease.

 

[tommymomo]

I appreciate everyones take on this. I guess my biggest concern is that when I get involved(which I really dont have the time to do) he replies back within a few hours, but when my DF calls/emails it takes a lot of time. This isn;t for extensive questions, it is more for direction on what we need to do next. My instinct is to scream and yell, you know the squeeky wheel and all that, but I really do not want that kind of negativity connected to my wedding. To give you an example, we wrote on Tuesday asking what do he need us to do next. No reply. Wrote him again late yesterday afternoon. Nothing yet. I am at a point where he is forcing my hand, and I will have to call, complain, and quite possibly get married some place else.

Hello?? in this ecconomy, you would think that anyone looking into spending this type of money, and bringing in enough people to fill rooms(esspecially since we are doing this in what is considered the off season) would be a priority. it just worries me that we will not get the date that we were told. THat would kill my fiance, and it's my job to make sure that this is perfect for her.

I appreciate again, all the help that everyone has been giving me, and please do not hessitate to share anything else you may have.

 

[Skylarr29]

I appreciate everyones take on this. I guess my biggest concern is that when I get involved(which I really dont have the time to do) he replies back within a few hours, but when my DF calls/emails it takes a lot of time. This isn;t for extensive questions, it is more for direction on what we need to do next. My instinct is to scream and yell, you know the squeeky wheel and all that, but I really do not want that kind of negativity connected to my wedding. To give you an example, we wrote on Tuesday asking what do he need us to do next. No reply. Wrote him again late yesterday afternoon. Nothing yet. I am at a point where he is forcing my hand, and I will have to call, complain, and quite possibly get married some place else.

Hello?? in this ecconomy, you would think that anyone looking into spending this type of money, and bringing in enough people to fill rooms(esspecially since we are doing this in what is considered the off season) would be a priority. it just worries me that we will not get the date that we were told. THat would kill my fiance, and it's my job to make sure that this is perfect for her.

I appreciate again, all the help that everyone has been giving me, and please do not hessitate to share anything else you may have.

I can definitely see your frustration. 2 days is not too long for a response in my opinion but 2 weeks is most certainly too long to wait to get a response. The thing is, there probably isn't anything to be done at this point. Once you finish your room block then you just have to wait and see if you get your date and time at the 8 month mark. If someone else wants the same date, location and time as you do then you will go into the lottery. Once your date and time are confirmed you will get your contract and then about a week or so after sending it back you will get assigned a wedding planner.

Perhaps the person you are dealing with would be better in a phone call? Not trying to make excuses but perhaps just calling and leaving a voice mail and saying that you are confused about what steps you need to take next and you don't feel comfortable spending so much money when you can't get the answers you need. I agree with you, there job is to make sure you are confident in your decision. I think saying something like that would have him singing a different tune.

I wish I could offer more advice but the sales manager I had was just the best. Maybe try calling the main Disney number and see if you can be assigned someone else. I only worry that it could possibly delay you further as they would have to assign someone else etc.

Hope everything turns out well.

 

[Lorelei528]

Something else you maybe able to do (and I don't know if anyone else has suggested this) is call the main DFTW # and when you get the receptionist person on the phone (the one that just takes your name and starter info) tell them that you have been trying to contact your sales planner/manager person (sorry, for Escape brides, the job titles are different I think so that's what I'm more familiar with) for x amount of days (weeks)...sometimes they can actually call the extension and see if they're in and sometimes transfer you to them...

Try it and see if you can get through that way.

 

[ffmf]

I guess I'm the odd one out - I completely adore my WC Pam - she and her assistant Tina are just awesome! I had a problem with my Disney website the other day at 10am - by 3pm it was fixed! I don't know if you can change WC's, but I would recommend her highly!

I'm sure I'll love my WP just as much!!

I have Pam too and she has been wonderful... very responsive and she seems genuinely excited about helping us

 

[CharacterFan]

I have Pam too and she has been wonderful... very responsive and she seems genuinely excited about helping us

I have Pam as my Wishes wedding consultant and she is wonderful. I emailed me on Saturday night and had a response for all my questions by 10am on Monday morning.

I had Brianna as my Escape consultant and she was good. It took a couple of days for her to respond, but I was okay with that as well. It was never more then 2-3 days.