What is up with all these questions...?

[Esmerelda]

I called this morning just out of curiousity to see what was available for October.....I got the third degree from this gal. Wanted my name...address...who I was traveling with...MY CHILDRENS NAMES...!!when was the last time I was at Disney.....etc.....(all this just to check to see if a room is available.??)

I'm sorry but Disney gets waaaay to nosey for me....there must be some sort of HIPPA law that would pertain not only to healthcare but to Disney.....geezel pete....I gave up and hung up....

anybody else totally turned off by this nosiness...??

disgusted...
Esmerelda

 

[Deweysgirl]

Yes, it is annoying. I called last night to also check availability for a night in October and went through the same third degree. I told the CM (Dwight) that I'd rather not get into all the details until I see if it's available or not. He said he had to do it in advance or he would have to backtrack on his screens. Whatever!

It is getting to be a bit much!

 

[chipscinderelly]

They have been asking these questions for over a year now and they ask them each and every time you make a reservation. If you don't want to give them the information perhaps just mention that to them.

 

[GailT]

The thing that bugs me is you have to enter your area code and home number, I tried by putting in a fake number and it wouldn't allow me to get through. The funny thing is I am going in November and I have a bad attitude towards disney, I am looking at them as money hungry people that have cut down so much that it is almost impossible for the average working household to take there kids to disney. maybe it is me but that is how I feel

 

[chvyman411]

GailT,

Then why are you going?

Disney is not the only people who do that. If you call pretty much any hotel, or even ticketmaster or something like that, you have to answer questions like that.

 

[grover]

**if you are tooo "slow" and don't get your phone number in right away then it skips to the next voice prompt-that is what it did to me yesterday a.m.
Grover in Winnipeg

 

[sue1013]

GailT if that is how you feel why go?

 

[dennisnlisab96]

EVERY time I call they ask me those questions!!

 

[cinder1]

I don't know what "other" hotels you call that ask all those questions, but I have never been asked so many questions by another hotel. In fact, we had backup ressies with an Orlando hotel (a very nice one, I might add) and even they did not ask a bunch of questions before I found out availability.

 

[rahwest]

it is crazy ... things that i don't even think they are keeping track of ... they are!!!

one of the times i called i thought about adding a few days to my trip if i could get the value season rate (i'm going the first week of october). i couldn't get a room so i didn't bother. well when i called to add the AP rate on wednesday the CM was like "oh, i see you are going to be in the area a few days beforehand. would you like me to look at those dates too?" so the 1st CM i talked to had written down that I was going to be "in town" those extra days that i was just considering!!!

sometimes i feel like if they didn't take so much information there would be a lot less mistakes!

 

[tinawv]

I think the main thing GailT was trying to get across is that it's getting harder and harder for the average family to visit WDW because of rising costs. I also agree with cinder1; I have never been asked these type of questions when making regular hotel reservations. It will not keep from going to WDW, but it can be very frustrating when you are just calling about availability. Especially when it's long distance.

 

[Fromeurope]

Sorry, but I have never experienced questions like that.
They just ask for my name, that's all.
Most callcenteragents have to ask questions to check if you are really who you say you are
You don't want some joking person making reservations for you do you?

 

[Snoopymom]

When I called to make a PS this past January, the CM asked "so you have booked your accomodations through Dreams Unlimited?"

I was new to the boards and booked the Sheraton Safari through a link on this site. It caught me off guard and so I said, "No" kind of flatly and the CM kind of stuttered and then made the PS for me.

I thought that was strange...should they be able to tell that? What was the point of her asking me anyway?

I have always regretted not finding out why.

 

[ElizabethB]

I too find the questions extremely annoying and I am never asked those sorts of questions by any other hotel I stay at. And we stay at high end hotels in other resorts -- Park City, Las Vegas, Southern California, etc.

They often ask me is so and so coming with you? And it's someone I traveled with 4-5 years ago. Unbelieveable, and completely unnecessary and invasive.

The other day, I was very annoyed with a CM insisting on an accurate number of the times I've been to WDW. I said probably about 10. She said, "Oh, no, I can see from your record here that it is many more than ten. Would you say at least 30?". I said, no, about 10-20. She finally gave up and let us move to the next annoying question!

As for those who hate giving your home phone, my advice is don't. Give them a fake one or your work one. Just remember it! I would never give them my real home phone.

 

[PrincessDadx2]

If you want the postcards and emails then I would help them with their marketing information. If not, then I would skip it. However, its not like I couldn't find out the information in 30 minutes on the internet anyway.

 

[Nolcrest]

Gee, and I felt a little left out the other day when they didn't ask me any questions. I booked 2 rooms and they asked nothing about who would be staying in the rooms. I just figured they already have that info from a previous trip so they didn't ask again. I've never had a problem with the CM's but I 'm not easily flustered by their requests.

I too was one of the slow ones in putting in my phone number and it just skipped to the next prompt.

I think giving them your phone number comes in handy when you want to check your confirmation on-line. I believe they use the phone number to confirm your identification, not sure though.

 

[lark]

I can't stand it either. And I disagree that it's similar to what other entertainment companies do -- it's way beyond that. I imagine, though, that some love it -- because it makes it seem as though Disney thinks they are special. To each his own.

The bottom line, though, is that disney exists to make money. And the information they are gathering is worth a boatload of money to them. Their research on which people are making reservations, what they are throwing back, how they cancel or don't cancel, when those people come, how long they stay, where they stay, what they pay, where they eat, etc. is worth millions and millions of dollars every year.

I also believe I've heard it reported that in busier times some of your answers can affect hold times -- checking existing reservations for people who've been more than 4 times is probably not something they need to prioritize nearly as much as someone new calling to make a new reservation.

 

[catherines_mama]

Originally posted by GailT
I am looking at them as money hungry people that have cut down so much that it is almost impossible for the average working household to take there kids to disney. maybe it is me but that is how I feel

I am a below average working household (1 income single parent), and I took my daughter to Disney in Feb. We are blessed to have family in Florida and will be going again for 2 days in Oct. Yes, a vacation at Disney is expensive, but we are taking a vacation next week to the beach, that is just as expensive. Its all about figuring out what's important to you and what you are willing to cutback in your everyday life to be able to do certain things with your kids. I'd rather my daughter take dance, then I belong to a Gym, so I ended my membership so she could begin dance lessons. Just an example.

Sorry you feel put off by all the ?s.. my guess is that WDW wants to gather info for marketing, expansion etc reasons. Working in a call center, I can tell you that if you wait til after a conf # is given out. You wont get it. the people will just say THANKS and hang up.

 

[arizonacolbys]

I think they are mostly using your phone # for identifying purpsoses. When I enter mine when calling for ressies or PS's, I am not asked all those questions about members of my party & so on. Maybe since we go once a year, they already have all of our information. It probably would be pretty annoying to have to give out so much info when just inquiring about availability, but I don't think Disney has bad intentions with requesting this info.

I think Disney is trying to cater to its guests by gathering this information. After making our ressies for Sept we have gotten many mailings & emails from Disney about our trip. We got info sent to us welcoming us to the POP, info about what tickets would best suit our stay (AP's), info about things to do for couples without kids and a reminder of what day we could start making PS's. A lot of this info might really help out someone who's never been there before - & I think it's fun when I get mail from Disney.

 

[poohangel]

I had to buy a gallon of anti freeze for my car and I had to give them my name and address to buy it. That is going a little far I think.