Where do I send a complaint about our stay?

[teentoddlermom]

I have had many great trips to WDW and experienced mostly magic at all times. When we received absolutely horrible service at a signature restaurant a few years ago, I couldn't hold in my disappointment and after I got home and reflected, I composed a letter explaining how many times I have visited and how many thousands of dollars I have spent, and still will spend in the future at WDW. The tone of my letter was not negative, I simply outlined my complaint and asked them to kindly look into retraining the cast member. I emailed and also snail mailed it. I was surprised when a few days later, I got a call with caller id as Disney Hollywood Studios. It was a wonderful guest communications associate who was shocked at my description of the terrible service and offered to send me a refund of the meal. This was a nominal amount because we cut our meal short and did not order as much as we would have because of the service. So a nominal bit of compensation to keep a good customer. Smart.

As for POR, your service was unacceptable and mean. I question the training of CMs at the check in desk, and the room assigners there. Just a few weeks ago, I checked in there for 3 nights in a royal room. No greeting. Long line. My only room request of a first floor room was not granted. I smiled and politely asked for a first floor room and the tension was immediate. No it is only a request. I stood my ground politely. I finally got a first floor room with a lesser view, which was less money, so I wonder if that was why the room assigner ignored my request. Maybe all these striations in pricing for the many different views is just too confusing for the assigners. There should just be standard and water view. As my check in process was going on, I noticed that all the other CMs appeared annoyed and tired. I think you should email and snail mail Guest Communications. Someone should address the ruined day you were served up by the poor service at POR front desk.

 

[kaytieeldr]

As for POR, your service was unacceptable and mean. I question the training of CMs at the check in desk, and the room assigners there.

Since you brought it up - I actually don't question any training, and I think you solved the mystery of why the original poster had to change rooms. Room assignments are normally completed about three days in advance of arrival. The original poster's room was scheduled to be vacated by them and so was assigned to a new party as of Saturday. Probably whoever assigned the OP's party to the new room thought they were being helpful by not having them move too far.

I think you should email and snail mail Guest Communications.

Why waste time and manpower by having two customer service people work on the same issue?

 

[HiMagicFan]

Well! I appreciate knowing what the problem was....cuz when I booked my original 8 night stay thinking the Tower of Terror would land during this time, I was wrong!

I then had to quickly turn around and request a two night stay for our Tower of Terror.

We purposely booked it at the same hotel so that we would NOT have to move rooms! Oh my, oh my. I sure hope I don't go through what you did.

BUT, I am now prepared. I have emailed my TA to ask again to be sure that we have the same room throughout.

I will also do the same at check in and keep my fingers crossed. I don't go until 9/26 - 10/4 and then 10/4 to 10/6 so hopefully this is far enough in advance for the CMs at check in to assign me my same room.

 

[HiMagicFan]

I would have to agree that if there truly is one thing I don't like about POR is the check in. I have not had opportunity to use the Online check in and don't think I plan to because I request specific building each time I have come (4x).

The last time was the worst (2011) in that there were only CM actually checking in people (one was a trainee that the manager was with the whole time).

Unfortunately we not only request a certain building (ask the TA to put on the reservation request) but we also put separate credit cards so that I don't have to owe my sister and vice versa. So for us, online isn't always the best.

We have never been through check-in in under 20 minutes and that does not include the wait in line if there is one.

I don't find them rude just indifferent. And we usually arrive early prior to 8am.

Nevertheless, once I am pass that, I love the resort!

 

[sjs314]

The fact that another room was available that close to our original location was what we found upsetting. Why couldn't the new guests have been put in the empty room down the hall instead of giving them ours? Then we wouldn't have been required to move at all and they would have still been close to any family or friends who had been assigned rooms on that hall. Does that make more sense?

We extended trips by a day and did not have to change rooms, all I did was go to the lobby and ask if our room was available for us to stay on more night, it was both times and the charge was added to our bill and paid for with the express check-out next morning.

I am curious as to why you called CRO to book the additional night instead of going down to the lobby desk which might have resulted in your not having to move.

The front desk would have been able to check to see if your room was available and perhaps could have switched room assignment for the new guest on Friday before they were due to arrive.
If your same room was not available you could have decided before you paid if it was worth it to stay an additional night.

 

[crusoe2]

We extended trips by a day and did not have to change rooms, all I did was go to the lobby and ask if our room was available for us to stay on more night, it was both times and the charge was added to our bill and paid for with the express check-out next morning.

I am curious as to why you called CRO to book the additional night instead of going down to the lobby desk which might have resulted in your not having to move.

The front desk would have been able to check to see if your room was available and perhaps could have switched room assignment for the new guest on Friday before they were due to arrive.
If your same room was not available you could have decided before you paid if it was worth it to stay an additional night.

In hindsight, we certainly wish we had taken the matter up at the front desk to begin with. However, we'd done this on a previous trip at CBR and handled it exactly the same way because that is what the people at the front desk at CBR told us to do. I actually asked the CM on the phone if it would be better to go back to POR (we were in the parks when I called) to arrange for the extra night and he assured me that they would just tell me to call him. Since this is exactly what had happened in the past, I didn't question it any further.

And we did make these arrangements on Friday before the new guests were due to arrive on Saturday. There was still time for the room assigner to put the new guests in a different room.

Is it possible that the arriving party had paid extra for a preferred view or some such? It is possible that, based on your reservation ending on a certain day, a CM may have extended a personal assurance to the arriving party that they would have rooms next door to each other.

It's a silly thing from your perspective maybe but if you had been given assurances that you would have a certain condition and had that withdrawn at the last moment then you would be hopping mad.

I don't know what the situation but would you have been happier if there hadn't been a room available for your extension?

We were in a standard room with a view of the shrubbery outside the door so I doubt the view was something that had been specifically requested nor would it have cost extra. I suppose there could be some other feature of the room that the new guests had requested - proximity to the pool or something. But we have always been told when making our reservations that those are just requests, not guarantees. Every single time I have ever made a room request, the CM has reminded me that they cannot promise a certain room location.

I've also seen the flipside of this situation discussed here many times - folks not getting their room requests (or sometimes not even the room category they booked and paid extra for). One of the explanations I've seen for this is that possibly the guests who were in that particular room decided to extend their stay and therefore the room assigner's hands were tied - they could not give the newly arrived guest the particular room they wanted at that time because it was already occupied. I had always been led to believe that the guest already staying in the room would be given priority unless that particular room category was not available for an additional night. What happened to us illustrates that this isn't always the case. We did book the same room category as the original room we'd been in all week. Had we been in a preferred or water view room and the only thing still available was a standard view room, I would certainly have expected to be asked to move so that the incoming guest could have the room category they booked and paid extra for. But this just simply was not the case.

 

[Sammie]

If the rooms were blocked for a group to be together those specific rooms which you were in one, would not be available for you, unless a manager was willing to unblock the one, and reassign another room to the group.


If you had gone to the desk and asked to extend your stay it is possible you would have been allowed to; as a manager would have been available to assist.

The person you spoke to on the phone has no idea what the situation is at the actual resort and very likely was not even in Orlando and possibly working out of his or her home in any state.

It is always better to deal directly with the resort. Also if you call the Front Desk you are talking to the Disney Call Center not the Front Desk and yes they will tell you to call reservations.

 

[maxiesmom]

Honestly? I think it is not something you should complain about. But then I have been on the other side of it--one trip someone extended their stay, and I was moved because of it. I was actually downgraded so someone could stay in "their" room. I wasn't happy.

Disney doesn't even guarantee you get to stay in the same room if you have to split your trip for some reason, such as a room only trip for a few days followed by a dining trip, at the same resort. They try to keep you in the same room, but it is not a given.

Someone else shouldn't be inconvenienced because you decided to add time to your trip. I certainly don't think you should get a free night because of it. Sorry, but I think you are making much ado about nothing. They were able to give you another night at the resort, you shouldn't complain because you had to move.

 

[kapoof]

Honestly? I think it is not something you should complain about. But then I have been on the other side of it--one trip someone extended their stay, and I was moved because of it. I was actually downgraded so someone could stay in "their" room. I wasn't happy.

Disney doesn't even guarantee you get to stay in the same room if you have to split your trip for some reason, such as a room only trip for a few days followed by a dining trip, at the same resort. They try to keep you in the same room, but it is not a given.

Someone else shouldn't be inconvenienced because you decided to add time to your trip. I certainly don't think you should get a free night because of it. Sorry, but I think you are making much ado about nothing. They were able to give you another night at the resort, you shouldn't complain because you had to move.

That's exactly how I feel. If I wanted to extended a stay at my favorite resort, I would be happy they had a room available last minute even across the hall from our room.

 

[Simba's Girl]

Since you brought it up - I actually don't question any training, and I think you solved the mystery of why the original poster had to change rooms. Room assignments are normally completed about three days in advance of arrival. The original poster's room was scheduled to be vacated by them and so was assigned to a new party as of Saturday. Probably whoever assigned the OP's party to the new room thought they were being helpful by not having them move too far.

The above...in addition, I wonder if you would've been more satisfied had you added your night in person at the resort concierge desk, even if it still meant you had to move rooms? There is something more personal about in-person communication than via a cro phone call.

However...there is a quote out there that "poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part"

I'll leave it at that.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

But we happened to see the new occupants (our original room was directly between our new room and the ice machine) and there was an elderly couple in our original room and no one at all in the rooms right around them. (We weren't spying, I promise. We just happened to see them as we walked by going to get ice.)

We were not going to make a big issue out of it but it turned out that moving to another room totally negated the advantage of having the extra day there.

I have never filed a complaint with Disney before but I just cannot think of a really compelling reason why they couldn't have left us in our original room.

The fact that you could not see any reason for being moved, does not mean it did not exist. It is a very complex operation to assign rooms and try to meet requests. Someone may have made a goof, someone may have not shown up or asked to be moved when they arrived. Who knows the circumstances!? Therefore you don't know if they erred. Also, if it was such a terrible hassle to move and kept you up so late, that should have been taken into account when you decided to add the extra night.
I am sorry, I am not totally unsympathetic and I am sorry it didn't turn out nice for you, but it is not a major error by Disney and it doesn't call for a free night or anything.

 

[pepe of ohio]

The fact that you could not see any reason for being moved, does not mean it did not exist. It is a very complex operation to assign rooms and try to meet requests. Someone may have made a goof, someone may have not shown up or asked to be moved when they arrived. Who knows the circumstances!? Therefore you don't know if they erred. Also, if it was such a terrible hassle to move and kept you up so late, that should have been taken into account when you decided to add the extra night.
I am sorry, I am not totally unsympathetic and I am sorry it didn't turn out nice for you, but it is not a major error by Disney and it doesn't call for a free night or anything.

I agree.... Complaining for what end.... They met your request and extended your stay for one more day.... Why possibility disrupt some one else checking in for a week or what not just because you decide to stay over for an extra day...I see no error on Disney planning or service..

 

[goofy4tink]

It is not always easy to tackle the complaint in the moment - especially when the other person needs to get a Manager and takes their time about it. And depending on how things go, time is not always available when you have a bus to catch.

So while mine wasn't a complaint (I was looking to check for lost and found), I had to wait to email the resort. For that trip I didn't take my cell phone (not sure why) otherwise I would have called.

Unfortunately, they didn't have my lost item but they did respond back fairly quickly.

Hope your problem wasn't that huge. Is it about POR? I would be curious to know what it was since I usually/almost always stay at POR. That way I can avoid it on my trip (if possible).

My worst WDW experience was at AKL-Kidani and lost and found!! Man, you would have thought I asked the front desk CM to go in search of our lost object herself!!! Much time was wasted because of her.

As for the need to change rooms? Sometimes it happens. If you call, on the phone, you are getting a call center. It is always best to go, in person, to the front desk area of the resort. Those working the call centers do not always have the best info and mistakes are often made. I know, not an excuse.
If I extended my stay I would be prepared to move, in any case. I would take the time to pack anything I am not going to need for that addtl day/night. Then, if I did have to move, I would just have to toss a little bit into a bag and be done with it.
Did the OP have the best, most magical experience? Nope..and that's too bad. But, it does happen. So best to be prepared.

 

[mousefan73]

Since you brought it up - I actually don't question any training, and I think you solved the mystery of why the original poster had to change rooms. Room assignments are normally completed about three days in advance of arrival. The original poster's room was scheduled to be vacated by them and so was assigned to a new party as of Saturday. Probably whoever assigned the OP's party to the new room thought they were being helpful by not having them move too far.

I agree here, to give the CM a benefit of a doubt, I think they were trying to do a favor and keep you on the same floor,hall, so you wouln't have to move your bags too far. Lack of communication prevented this benefit as you had already loaded the car, I believe.

Could be that room rotation, or the front desks lack of access to look too far ahead to assign a room may be a cause too. People,book for different periods. Not all guests book sat to sat. So keeping you in the room might have caused a room assigner glitch or excess workload. Changing a room assignment day of check out may require re-doing the puzzle formthe upcoming week. So they looked for any available room that wasnt assigned for that night and found the nearest to your old room. It's what I would have done. Why move a party somewhere totally new

 

[kirstenb1]

OP, we were at WDW last week too. Thurs and Friday were pretty much a washout, literally!!! We had to leave Friday because of stuff going on at home, but I can understand wanting to try to get a good weather day in. Regardless of the whole room thing, I hope you enjoyed a sunny day at the parks Saturday!!

 

[katrina1122]

Also, why did you repack your car to move? Luggage services could have moved everything for you, thus alleviating your packing confusion until 3am.

We checked in early by a day were placed in a room and then had to move the next day for our 10 day trip. I didn't see that as a huge inconvience. We were early (in your case late) and your room was in assignment at that point.

Sure it seems odd, but not totally unreasonable.

 

[smitch425]

Honestly? I think it is not something you should complain about. But then I have been on the other side of it--one trip someone extended their stay, and I was moved because of it. I was actually downgraded so someone could stay in "their" room. I wasn't happy.

Disney doesn't even guarantee you get to stay in the same room if you have to split your trip for some reason, such as a room only trip for a few days followed by a dining trip, at the same resort. They try to keep you in the same room, but it is not a given.

Someone else shouldn't be inconvenienced because you decided to add time to your trip. I certainly don't think you should get a free night because of it. Sorry, but I think you are making much ado about nothing. They were able to give you another night at the resort, you shouldn't complain because you had to move.

I agree 100%. Calling on Friday with the new guests checking in on Saturday is not a lot of time to move their room assignment. I'm baffled as to why it took that long to pack. Just because the OP lucked out in doing this at one resort doesn't mean it is commonplace. Staying in the same room is NEVER guaranteed. For all we know, the elderly couple OP saw could have been with a retirement home group that needed to be directly next to the trip organizer's room.

When you decide to change your plans last minute, you should not expect to be 100% accommodated. You must be prepared to be flexible because you are the one altering the plans, not anyone else.

 

[FigmentFan1975]

OP here. I don't mind sharing what happened.

...When we got to the concierge desk however, the CM called and checked to see if we could keep the same room and she was told no, that we would have to vacate the room. Their reason was that the room was part of a block of rooms that had been booked by a large group and they all had to be near each other. We let it go even tho repacking everything and loading it all back in the car was a major inconvenience. We also had to go back to the front desk on Saturday and go back thru the check-in line again. Also a big inconvenience. We didn't really get upset tho until we saw where our new room was located - right down the hall from our original room. We couldn't help but wonder why in the world the guests checking in on Saturday couldn't have been given that room so that we could have stayed in our original location. ...We were not going to make a big issue out of it but it turned out that moving to another room totally negated the advantage of having the extra day there. We had hoped to spend Friday evening enjoying the resort - playing in the pool and maybe taking the carriage ride around the grounds. Instead we were up until about 2AM figuring out how to repack everything so that we wouldn't have to drag every single piece of luggage back out again when we got into our new room. Then we had to get up early Saturday morning to load everything back into the car before we headed to the Polynesian for our breakfast at O'hana. By the time we finished our breakfast, got back over to POR, went back thru check-in, got our new room, and unloaded the stuff we needed for our last night and got it into the room it was after 3:00 that afternoon. And we were all exhausted because we had only gotten about 4 hours of sleep. We were just too pooped to go enjoy the parks - both kids crashed after we got into the new room and slept for several hours.

...And I have to admit, if they don't have a really compelling reason, I would very much appreciate a refund for that last night's stay because that ended up being a total waste of our money. I don't have high hopes for that. But I won't get an explanation or a refund if I don't ask.

I wanted to add to the OP - I'm sorry for the inconvenience and I do hope you get a reasonable explanation from Disney as to why you had to move rooms. If the room next to your old room was indeed unoccupied, then that doesn't make sense as to why they made you switch to a new room. I'm not sure what compensation they should offer you, but an explanation at least seems right to inquire about.
But, that said - I am also confused as to how this caused so much hassle for you when it was only one added day. It doesnt seem like it should have taken until 2am to repack your stuff. You were going to be packing up soon either way - so just pack up and leave out an extra day of outfits so you only have to take out one suitcase when you get to your new room for one night. It doesn't seem like its Disney's fault that it took forever for you to organize and pack. And then maybe you didn't know that you could leave luggage with Bell Services (or even in your room) for them to move it for you. That would have saved the hassle of packing up your car. And couldn't you have re-checked in on Saturday morning before your breakfast at Ohanas? I think the check-in desk opens at 6:30am, so then you wouldn't have had to come back to POR after breakfast and you could have headed right to the parks. Again, this part doesn't seem like Disney is responsible that your family was tired. Its always a risk that you might have to move rooms, and if you were not prepared for the inconvience, then you shouldn't have added on an extra night. But again, I do hope Disney does offer you a compelling reason that you had to switch rooms.

 

[crusoe2]

I agree here, to give the CM a benefit of a doubt, I think they were trying to do a favor and keep you on the same floor,hall, so you wouln't have to move your bags too far. Lack of communication prevented this benefit as you had already loaded the car, I believe.
Could be that room rotation, or the front desks lack of access to look too far ahead to assign a room may be a cause too. People,book for different periods. Not all guests book sat to sat. So keeping you in the room might have caused a room assigner glitch or excess workload. Changing a room assignment day of check out may require re-doing the puzzle formthe upcoming week. So they looked for any available room that wasnt assigned for that night and found the nearest to your old room. It's what I would have done. Why move a party somewhere totally new

We did get the feeling from the way the concierge CM explained things that she felt they were doing us a favor. She kept saying that, although we would have to move, that they would try to keep us in the same area of the resort. Since she kept saying that as if it was supposed to help, we specifically asked if we were going to be able to move directly from the old room into the new one (before we packed anything or moved anything to the car). We were told no, that we would have to clear completely out of the first room by 11:00 the next morning and might not be able to get into the new one until after 3:00 the next afternoon. So I don't really get why it was supposed to be doing us some sort of favor to give us a room near where we had already been. We still had to go to all of the trouble to repack and move our stuff back and forth.

OP, we were at WDW last week too. Thurs and Friday were pretty much a washout, literally!!! We had to leave Friday because of stuff going on at home, but I can understand wanting to try to get a good weather day in. Regardless of the whole room thing, I hope you enjoyed a sunny day at the parks Saturday!!

Yep, Thurs was pretty wet. We had a first floor room and kept watching the water pooling at the edge of the sidewalk and wondering if it was going to be coming under the door soon. Friday was not as bad tho. We had a pretty good day at DHS that day - I don't think we ever even had to put on our jackets and ponchos. I hate you guys didn't get to stay and enjoy the nicer weather after Andrea moved on through. Most of Saturday was very nice too but unfortunately we didn't make it to the parks at all that day due to the whole moving to a new room thing. Being able to go to the parks again on Saturday had been the whole point of adding the extra night which is why we feel like we just wasted our money.

I get what people are saying about it not being guaranteed that you can keep your room when you extend your stay like we did. And that possibly the new guests had some compelling reason why they needed that particular room. All I can say is that the new room we were moved into was exactly like the first room and it was VERY nearby. The new guests would have been near the rest of their party in either room. So it just seemed kind of senseless to put us to all that trouble when there was another room - same room category, same layout, same amenities - just a few doors down that they could have assigned to the new guests checking in. And yes, it was a lot of trouble to move even tho the room was nearby. I suppose it might have helped if we had been able to move directly from one room to the other but that was not the case. And we did ask about that. As well as asked the CRO CM if it would be better if we handled all this at the front desk of the resort (in person, not over the phone). His answer was that we would just be directed to call CRO again and book over the phone. When we added a night at CBR a couple years ago, we did go to the front desk and asked about adding the night and were directed to call CRO to take care of it. So we had no reason to think the information we were being given by the reservations CM this time was wrong. It was exactly what we had been told to do in the past. It is good to know that others have had better luck with extending their stay at the resort front desk tho. If we ever find ourselves in this situation again we'll know to try that first (and maybe be a little pushier to get what we need).

 

[smitch425]

We did get the feeling from the way the concierge CM explained things that she felt they were doing us a favor. She kept saying that, although we would have to move, that they would try to keep us in the same area of the resort. Since she kept saying that as if it was supposed to help, we specifically asked if we were going to be able to move directly from the old room into the new one (before we packed anything or moved anything to the car). We were told no, that we would have to clear completely out of the first room by 11:00 the next morning and might not be able to get into the new one until after 3:00 the next afternoon. So I don't really get why it was supposed to be doing us some sort of favor to give us a room near where we had already been. We still had to go to all of the trouble to repack and move our stuff back and forth.





Yep, Thurs was pretty wet. We had a first floor room and kept watching the water pooling at the edge of the sidewalk and wondering if it was going to be coming under the door soon. Friday was not as bad tho. We had a pretty good day at DHS that day - I don't think we ever even had to put on our jackets and ponchos. I hate you guys didn't get to stay and enjoy the nicer weather after Andrea moved on through. Most of Saturday was very nice too but unfortunately we didn't make it to the parks at all that day due to the whole moving to a new room thing. Being able to go to the parks again on Saturday had been the whole point of adding the extra night which is why we feel like we just wasted our money.

I get what people are saying about it not being guaranteed that you can keep your room when you extend your stay like we did. And that possibly the new guests had some compelling reason why they needed that particular room. All I can say is that the new room we were moved into was exactly like the first room and it was VERY nearby. The new guests would have been near the rest of their party in either room. So it just seemed kind of senseless to put us to all that trouble when there was another room - same room category, same layout, same amenities - just a few doors down that they could have assigned to the new guests checking in. And yes, it was a lot of trouble to move even tho the room was nearby. I suppose it might have helped if we had been able to move directly from one room to the other but that was not the case. And we did ask about that. As well as asked the CRO CM if it would be better if we handled all this at the front desk of the resort (in person, not over the phone). His answer was that we would just be directed to call CRO again and book over the phone. When we added a night at CBR a couple years ago, we did go to the front desk and asked about adding the night and were directed to call CRO to take care of it. So we had no reason to think the information we were being given by the reservations CM this time was wrong. It was exactly what we had been told to do in the past. It is good to know that others have had better luck with extending their stay at the resort front desk tho. If we ever find ourselves in this situation again we'll know to try that first (and maybe be a little pushier to get what we need).

Because they were scheduled to be with the rest of their party, and they could have been staying there together for several days. Why should they have to be away from their party for their entire vacation because you decided to add one extra day the day before they were due to arrive? I would be pretty ticked off if I was stuck being down the hall from my group for a 10 day stay because someone decided last minute that they needed their same room for one more day. These people didn't change their vacation plans last minute, you did. When you change plans, you have to be the one to be flexible. You have to look at the big picture.