What happened to customer service

[pkitty]

Wow...I cannot believe that I read all the way through all these posts......so I am rewarding myself for all that hard work by commenting....I work in customer service and am assulted and insulted on a daily basis by people who refuse to educate themselves on the "product" that they have purchased. They assume that they can take this product home and misuse it, not read the directions on proper use, not ask any questions, not look at the manual and then lose it on whomever is standing in front of them when they demand to be appeased for their poor judgement. That's not lack of customer service on my part, that's lack of any personal responsibility on their part. Knaughty, I don't think I need to tell you this at this point in the game, but you need to become engaged in the process to get any sort of enjoyment out of DVC. Their are so many good experiences that we can all share with you but what we can't condone or tolerate is someone who won't take responsibility for their own personal experience or expect that DVC bow to their unreasonable demands. When I don't know about something....I ask. I have never had an experience with DVC where a question I have asked has gone unanswered. I stayed at AKL one year with a savannah view room and had noticed alot of bees outside my room.....ok....so I call down to the front desk to "ask" if there is an issue with moving because of the bees. They sent up a zoologist to determine that they where actually "africanized honeybees....aka killer bees" I got moved and credited $200 on a gift card no questions asked. I would have been fine with a room change. Point being that I as a DVC member simply expected a room change if required and not much else. They did that and more....$200 more. I didn't ask for an upgrade to my room or fly off the handle. No one got hurt and they where happy that I called because they needed to deal with this serious situation (closed off 6 rooms on either side of ours and had to move everyone. Point is this, if they are in the wrong.......call them out on it......but don't slam them for simply enforcing a rule that you agreed to when you joined. Nuff said.......

 

[Deb & Bill]

Excellent post, pkitty.

 

[RescueRanger]

I have to say being a DVC member makes me feel ripped off, I have always given disney A+ in service but not since I have become a member, and I am not really that much of a pain in the ***, I am a DVC BLT owner and I used my points for the first time on my honeymoon in November.

1. My reservation had to be split up between a MK view for 3 days and LV for the last 4, not a big deal we don't really unpack and live out of the suitcase so I didn't mind,Never Again!!!!!!so many complications. We purchased the dining froom for all 7 days of our trip, and we were not feeling well and not eating as we normaly would, and we had several unused meals for the first 3 days that I wanted access to for the second reservation, I spent almost 2 hours at customer service they could not seem to grasp that yes I have two different reservations but it is all for one stay, just changed our view and they argued with me until they realized I didn't want money back and just credit on to the other reservation for meals I had to speak to two different managers until this sunk in.

2. Changing rooms I didn't realize that I could have called and sorted out the second reservation over phone so we packed all our stuff and brought it down to the desk to check in for 2nd reservation. We wanted to go straight to a park and brought our bags to the bellman to be sent up to our 2nd room, but we were told that they don't bring bags up to unoccupied rooms, hello Magical Express does it all the time, they just wanted to make sure they got tipped which we would have done but we ended up having to delay and bring ours up.

3.Tax forms I did not receive one of my tax forms so I contacted member services they sent me an e-mail with some of the tax in fo on it and told me that an official one would be sent out. I called a couple days later and asked what next step would be if there was a glitch, could they e-mail my tax lady or fax over a copy in the meantime. Response No! they can only mail it to me and they will keep mailing it until I get it, I will admit that I lost patience with their lack of solution solving,

4.Today I called to check availability I am bringing a large party down and wanted to see what was available at BLT and I am just one day shy of the 7 Month mark for other resorts, I was not asking to make the reservatiion today just checking out our options and the customer service rep refused to look at any other resort. I am getting real sick and tired of this treatment but I can't even make threats because they have me trapped and they know it!

Veruca Salt, is that you?

 

[slowly]

I only had to read a couple of pages to realize which way the thread was going. Knaughty, I can see some of your points as you wanted to have a stressless honeymoon as you were celebrating your special occasion. There were many truths to what others have written and I agree with most of them as well. HOWEVER, people are different and we all react differently to situations and that's why I love threads because I for one have gotten some excellent information from them.

The thing to remember is that some of the expectations that people have is what makes them who they are. With that said, you have to keep an open mind and if things go wrong you need to gather the facts and make sure that it is in reason. I for one have had some issues with DVC but I am confident that there will be some mutual agreement in the end. The key things to remember are:

1. Is your problem once resolved for the betterment for your family? Ofcourse it will be or you wouldn't be upset but get a second opinion outside of your family if you can. Another words clear is better than a cloudy judgement.
2. Was the issue caused by your error or Disney's? Think about why it happened.
3. Are you being demanding or democratic with your request or issue? How is your approach and tone when speaking with a Cast Member?
4. What is your solution to the situation? Don't just have problems. Understand that your solution may be a "You" thing not a Disney thing. Be open but firm within reason.

I must admit that although there are issues here and there with DVC, the product is second to none and the solutions have been "amicable". Do I think that there aren't going to be any more issues? No but most importantly I am not focusing in on that aspect either. I think about how much fun we are going to have as a family. Wait a minute did I just define ATTITUDE??

 

[Greysword]

Lots of great info on here, in expectations, policies, and how to post. I think the last one is key for new members of these boards (and DVC), and I wanted to take a moment to highlight this aspect.

I think the frustration by my colleagues is due to this information being discussed many times on the boards. If the OP posted a request for information (e.g. "Hey guys, this is what happened, so how would you rate the situation and what do you think should have happened"?), then the responses would have been more gracious .

Also, a search on the boards would have produced previous threads discussing these topics, which would provide the policies discussed in this thread. Instead if someone comes in complaining, the complaint needs to be valid (in line with set policy) in order to gain agreement by this informed community.

On a policy issue, I think it is important to reiterate that the DDP is a perk for DVC members (or guests and renters) staying on points. As such, it is an item we didn't have before and could be taken away tomorrow with little to no notice. DVC members fought pretty hard for access to the dining plans, so making requests (or complaints) to Disney in an effort to motivate an exception to the policy may eventually ruin it for all members in the future, if enough of these requests cause a significant increase in costs.

To the OP, many of us have issues with our stays, so your decision to take two hours to resolve a concern you have with the policy does not make Disney bad. On our honeymoon, we did a 4-day cruise then three days at the Swan. On the first land day (day we left the boat), we were dead tired but spent the day looking around while waiting for the room (mostly, we went to take the DVC tour and had dinner at Cape May before turning in). I got some food born illness from dinner that made me extremely ill for 24 hours the next day (we even called a doctor to the room). I didn't ask for compensation; rather, I decided to make the best of the time I had (including signing our first DVC contract on that last day). I share this to sympathize that things happen unexpectedly on our most important days, but it is our decision on how to handle these hardships and allocate our time.

Good luck with your October trip! I hope you post a trip report, and it would be very insightful (as a new owner) to hear your thoughts on the other aspects of DVC rooms, amenities, and perks compared to being a standard WDW visitor.

- Chris

 

[Inkmahm]

If they moved your meals from one reservation to the next, you got GREAT customer service. That's completely not in their policy and I've NEVER read of it happening before, and you can see how long I've been here and how often I post (which means I'm reading TONS of threads), and this is the first time I've heard of it happening.

So I'm sayin'...if they did that for you, stop complaining, as you got a seriously huge exception.


ME vs normal Bell Services is talked about a lot. When switching rooms, it's not their policy to drop your bags without you being in the room. Normal. ME is a different situation. Sure it probably does come down to tips, but if you had such a position, I bet you'd be happy for it!

Exactly.

 

[cpdwiz]

 

[cpdwiz]

For those who misunderstood I did not let the credits expire I went down the night before the first check out to ask about it, and I don't think Disney gave me something so great by giving me access to food that I prepaid for, I had a 7 night stay 7 days of DDP, if given the choice I don't go to the parks all 7 days I do Universal and Seaworld too, they should allow me to buy the ddp for as many days as I want during my stay.

Once again the bellhops wouldn't hold the luggage either, which has never been a problem in the past hell I have had luggage shipped from one resort to another on this particular day it was not being done.

I don't ask for much but I want what I pay for. I know now never to split my reservation again and I still love the DDP it is totally worth it and I recommend it to everyone.

You are missing the point. You CANNOT carry them over from one res to another. So, you actually used 2 hours of your honeymoon to get something others don't get. Now, if they wouldnt hold the luggage, thats a complaint. However, it could have been solved by walking into the resort and asking for a supervisor, instead of arguing with them.

 

[cpdwiz]

I sorry some of you feel that way about the dinning plan and that you have all been getting ripped off for years but in my experience there is no such thing as can't especially for something like that ,and it wasn't explained to me when I purchased it either.

As for the 7 month window I do understand it's a rule but it is also not impossible to do and if it takes all of a minute or so to take a quick look and just say yes there is some availability there, then do it but I guess since I haven' owned as long as some of you I have higher expectations, more time is wasted for the multiple phone calls to check availability.

So, MS should be wasting other members time by checking something that you cannot do? Other customers who CAN book should sit on hold while you peruse the system for something you cannot do?

I agree with others. Time to sell. Your expectations are way beyond the norm. One other thing about dropping bags off, if they DID drop them off, and something was missing, you would be here complaining about them dropping them off when no one was there and now stuff is missing. Its a no win situation.

 

[cpdwiz]

Veruca Salt, is that you?

I was JUST GOING TO POST can anyone else picture knaughty at the desk saying "I WANT IT NOW DADDY"

 

[Dean]

Veruca Salt, is that you?

If so, I doubt it'll be for long since it appears the poster you are wondering about has been banned and the moderators have other ways to check to see if it's the same person or computer. It must have been pretty bad to have all their posts removed since I know of a couple of people that were banned, signed on under a different name and were caught again and their posts still show up.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Wow...I cannot believe that I read all the way through all these posts......so I am rewarding myself for all that hard work by commenting....I work in customer service and am assulted and insulted on a daily basis by people who refuse to educate themselves on the "product" that they have purchased. They assume that they can take this product home and misuse it, not read the directions on proper use, not ask any questions, not look at the manual and then lose it on whomever is standing in front of them when they demand to be appeased for their poor judgement. That's not lack of customer service on my part, that's lack of any personal responsibility on their part. Knaughty, I don't think I need to tell you this at this point in the game, but you need to become engaged in the process to get any sort of enjoyment out of DVC. Their are so many good experiences that we can all share with you but what we can't condone or tolerate is someone who won't take responsibility for their own personal experience or expect that DVC bow to their unreasonable demands. When I don't know about something....I ask. I have never had an experience with DVC where a question I have asked has gone unanswered. I stayed at AKL one year with a savannah view room and had noticed alot of bees outside my room.....ok....so I call down to the front desk to "ask" if there is an issue with moving because of the bees. They sent up a zoologist to determine that they where actually "africanized honeybees....aka killer bees" I got moved and credited $200 on a gift card no questions asked. I would have been fine with a room change. Point being that I as a DVC member simply expected a room change if required and not much else. They did that and more....$200 more. I didn't ask for an upgrade to my room or fly off the handle. No one got hurt and they where happy that I called because they needed to deal with this serious situation (closed off 6 rooms on either side of ours and had to move everyone. Point is this, if they are in the wrong.......call them out on it......but don't slam them for simply enforcing a rule that you agreed to when you joined. Nuff said.......

Absolutely the best response on this whole thread!

 

[pkitty]

And that's why I'm in customer service ....