Well, I joined Tour Guide Mike

[wilma-bride]

Yesterday....and then cancelled my membership today. I have had nothing but hassles from the minute I joined. First I couldn't access the forums and kept getting kicked out, I tried to change my username (as advised by TGM) and couldn't do it, now it won't let me in at all - keeps saying I'm not a member or my username is wrong (and, yes, before you ask, I tried the username I tried to change to just in case it had worked )

I have tried the 'contact me' thing twice and no response. I know it may seem like I'm being impatient but, to me, if I'm paying for something, I want to be able to use it and so far it's just been next to useless.

Obviously, I know there are others out there who don't have these problems and really like it but, for me, the experience was not a good one

I'm probably more disappointed because I was looking forward to having some more Disney stuff to read

 

[jockey]

Joh, that's awful Maybe they will come back to you later today with an excuse to what's happened. I have heard some good reviews about TGM. Although when your paying you should be geting a good service.

 

[oceanscape]

It's a shame you cancelled your membership; I find it to be an invaluable resource. Couldn't you have waited a little while longer for them to sort out the problem for you? One day doesn't give them much of a chance, as I expect the volume of e-mails they receive is very high.

 

[Minniespal]

That's a shame Joh. I joined TGM recently myself and haven't had any problems with it. Hope you can get some resolution to the problem.

 

[natalielongstaff]

i agree with you Joh, if you are paying then the service should be up too scratch !

 

[wilma-bride]

It's a shame you cancelled your membership; I find it to be an invaluable resource. Couldn't you have waited a little while longer for them to sort out the problem for you? One day doesn't give them much of a chance, as I expect the volume of e-mails they receive is very high.

Well, it's now been 3 days and still no response to any of the 4 Emails I have now sent. I have to be honest and say I'm getting a bit peeved with it all - for some reason, I can now get into my AVP again but I still can't access the forums. Really not sure why. I just want my money back but it's funny that I haven't had a single response from the guy

 

[UKDEB]

I just want my money back but it's funny that I haven't had a single response from the guy

He does comment about his ability to respond to the huge volumes of emails he receives each day given that he spends most days (and evenings) in the parks with his VIP guests and then has to burn the midnight oil dealing with the AVP website. Whilst I've eulogised about TGM, I do understand that it's not for everyone, and he will definitely give you a refund if that's what you want. Here is what he says about responding to emails:

I always try to write back (because it's what I hope for when I write someone) - but I'm worried about the volume of emails, and do not want to do anything you may perceive as rude or uncaring. I do care about you and your vacation - a lot, and I hope that comes through in my writing throughout the AVP!

I am committed to responding to as many emails as I can, and will do my best to answer you IF you need me to! If I don't respond within 48 hours and you expected me to, I invite you to forward me a reminder of your original email. I am human, a very busy one, and sometimes I put an email aside with the good intention of returning as soon as I finish 'fill in the blank' -- and then forget to! Just being honest, Debbie ... ;>)

 

[mark&sue]

I paid to join Tour Guide Mike last year and for some reason I just did not get it.

I too was so excited but I could not find anything new that you could not find out for free here.

I am not sure if it was just me but there was nothing that I liked about the site. I found it confusing and it just had nothing new. I found the navigation awkward and just bought me back to the places I was before.

You can't beat the DIS


Susan

 

[4eyedbuzzard]

He does comment about his ability to respond to the huge volumes of emails he receives each day given that he spends most days (and evenings) in the parks with his VIP guests and then has to burn the midnight oil dealing with the AVP website. ...

Well, he doesn't seem to have problems "dealing with" processing people's CC's. You can't take people's money in exchange for a service and then offer as an excuse for poor service that you're too busy with "the [REAL] VIP's". I'll offer a guess he does pretty well with the "non-VIP" income from the website. It's not an altruistic effort.

 

[susieh]

I paid to join Tour Guide Mike last year and for some reason I just did not get it.

I too was so excited but I could not find anything new that you could not find out for free here.

I am not sure if it was just me but there was nothing that I liked about the site. I found it confusing and it just had nothing new. I found the navigation awkward and just bought me back to the places I was before.

You can't beat the DIS


Susan

I thought I was the only person who felt like that! For me it was a total waste of money and I was very disappointed after reading how other people raved about it. I am at least pleased to find out that I'm not alone in getting nothing out of TGM

 

[wilma-bride]

Well, I did say in the first post that I was impatient - and I appreciate that expecting a response after just 24 hours was probably unrealistic. But it has now been 4 days and still no response to ANY of my Emails.

Deb, you are right in that he clearly states 24 to 48 hours to receive a reply and I have sent him another 3 Emails in case he did 'accidentally' ignore the first one. He also states that typically his 'weekends' are Wednesday and Thursday so he obviously 'works' Saturday and Sunday, therefore I am expecting that I ought to have heard something by now.

I have Emailed him once more and, if I get no reply, I will be contacting my CC company to try and sort it through them. Yes, I know it's only $18.95 and if I had just decided I didn't like the site, I wouldn't be making a fuss but it didn't even work!

 

[mikki.young]

I sent him an email when I first joined having read the AVP and never got a response. I did find the answer in the forums eventually which is also where I saw the bit about him not being good at replying. Don't think he should make the contact me bit so prominent if he doesn't really want people to!

I agree with what has been said about finding your way round the site but I do keep finding nuggets on the site. One unexpected benefit is they are doing a meet while I am there and will be doing a dessert buffet to watch Fantasmic. I like the idea of that as a better way of watching Fantasmic (I keep not getting round to it!) and it is different from doing one for Illuminations.

 

[UKDEB]

Well, he doesn't seem to have problems "dealing with" processing people's CC's.

Well, of course not - that is an automatic process, not one which requires personal input.

 

[UKDEB]

Yes, I know it's only $18.95 and if I had just decided I didn't like the site, I wouldn't be making a fuss but it didn't even work!

Joh, it's probably some sort of conflict between the site and something in your set-up (i.e. something over which they have no control). I seem to remember having a similar problem after re-subscribing one time. Admittedly, I did get a response telling me how to resolve the conflict pretty quickly. Whilst I don't think 4 days is a particularly unreasonable amount of time to receive a response, I do think they should at least send out an automatic holding response to emails with an indication of the likely timescales in getting back to you.

I work in customer service and there is no way I can be "on call" for all my clients. I have more work than hours in the day, every day, so I have to prioritise my work. I've worked in the same industry for 27 years and people are so much more demanding since the advent of mobile phones and emails. I also try to manage my customers expectations in the same way as TGM. Often I can be in customer appointments all day. I simply can not return voicemail messages or respond to emails in those circumstances. It doesn't mean that they're less important than the customer appointments, it's just a physical impossibility to do what they expect. Some of them understand that, but many of them are totally unreasonable about it. I do always leave appropriate messages on my voicemail and set "Out of Office" notices on my email account. It's what makes my job a misery and why I want out.

Anyway, I have two days off as we're going to see Motley Crue at the Hammersmith Apollo this evening, so I'll stop stressing about it now.

 

[UKDEB]

A few more thoughts.

• Have you checked your spam folder?
• Did you carry out the email system test by configuring a reminder?
• Have you checked your credit card account?

Whenever I've emailed, I've received a response within 24 hours and, from what I've read, they usually deal with refund requests pretty promptly.

 

[nbodyhome]

I've heard of other people not getting emails as well. He should definitely get someone else to answer them every day (if he can't do it himself, which I understand).

 

[wilma-bride]

I have just this minute received an Email from him advising that I have been fully refunded. It's a shame it took so long, to be honest, as I might have been tempted to continue the subscription if he'd been able to sort it sooner.

Incidentally, NOT ONE SINGLE WORD of explanation as to why I couldn't access the forums I'm surprised he didn't bother to a) explain why and b) try to persuade me to change my mind if he fixed the problem.

Anyway, all sorted now and I'm a happy bunny again

 

[Minniespal]

At least you finally got a response and a refund Joh. As you say, shame that you haven't been able to use the service you wanted to.

 

[UKDEB]

I'm surprised he didn't bother to a) explain why and b) try to persuade me to change my mind if he fixed the problem.

Because he offers a "no quibble" money back guarantee.