what happened to the 800 number??

[Buzz2001]

Yes.

There will soon be no extra charge for "long distance" on most phones.

Toll-Free is getting to be an unnecessary option.

Yes, I already can call anywhere in the US for free now. It's part of my monthly charge for AT&T.

 

[Tissa]

Name any other big company that doesn't have an 800 number for their customer service number? Why when Disney makes you pay for the call it's no big deal?

Not everyone has free long distance. I do on my cell phone but my minutes are not unlimited. I suppose it's not a super big deal, but when you add it to all the other things that have changed lately.

 

[micksterlee]

I can't figure out why you would have to call 4 times a week, I can't imagine changing things around that much.To me picking a place to eat isn't that hard.

 

[PrincessV]

Name any other big company that doesn't have an 800 number for their customer service number? Why when Disney makes you pay for the call it's no big deal?

Not everyone has free long distance. I do on my cell phone but my minutes are not unlimited.

I agree 100%. I don't make long distance calls routinely and so don't have LD on my home phone. My cell is reserved for emergencies and the occasional quick call from the road, so I don't have any kind of plan. For what I'm already paying in room, ticket and food costs, the least WDW can do is provide a toll-free number through which to hand over my money.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

My cell phone includes free long distance but we cancelled that portion of our land line years ago when we realized we were paying more in taxes than long distance charges. However, I still prefer to do business transactions on the land line whenever possible because the sound quality is still so much better than my cell...so for that reason I will continue using a toll-free number when calling Disney as long as one is available.

 

[Lewisc]

SW has a toll free number for reservations but not for customer service. Many other companies have an 800 for customers to order but a regular number for customer assistance.

Many people have unlimited included LD, with home and/or cell. Anyone can buy a pre-paid phone card and pay less then .03 /minute.

I agree it's a sign of "bean counters" at work.

Disney never promoted the 800 number for restaurant reservations. It was a glitch in the phone system that allowed us to call the number intended for package reservations to access restaurant reservations.

Name any other big company that doesn't have an 800 number for their customer service number? Why when Disney makes you pay for the call it's no big deal?

Not everyone has free long distance. I do on my cell phone but my minutes are not unlimited. I suppose it's not a super big deal, but when you add it to all the other things that have changed lately.

 

[famsen]

This is a disappointing development.
There are several reasons I need to use an 800 number; mainly, so I can call to make my dining plans or get information during regular business hours from my office. I can not (and would not) make my employer pay for my personal long distance calls so having that 800 number allowed me to contact Disney during the hours of 8am to 5:00pm.

I agree with the other poster who said that calls to Disney are LONG. Not only is the hold time usually long but getting through their selections and answering how many times you have visited since the dawn of time and listening to their survey speil, takes at least several minutes.

This last trip, I had a very difficult time getting ADR times that fit into our touring plans, I called back several times to check if there were any ADR cacellations for the times I needed. I still have to pay for my long distance calls at home, so if I hadn't used the 800 number, the cost of those phone calls pertaining to my dining ADRs was probably equal to the dollar amount our family saved by purchasing the dining plan.

 

[famsen]

I can't figure out why you would have to call 4 times a week, I can't imagine changing things around that much.To me picking a place to eat isn't that hard.

It's not necessarily picking a place to eat as much as getting a time to eat that isn't dinner at 3:00 in the afternoon or 10:00 at night. I have called back several times to check for cancellations. If I am paying for the DDP, I will do everything possible to make sure we are eating something we like at times that are fitting in with the rest of our vacation plans at WDW.