Where to complain?

[bsb]

I second, third and fourth this.

Email Guest Services but also hit up GK.

Really? Do you think I should forward the email I already sent to guest services?

 

[bsb]

Yeah I thought about that, we had 7 day hoppers so yeah It wouldn't actually be that much, we will see what/if they offer me anything.

 

[cheapster316]

My son broke his leg while we were in Florida at medieval times. We had a major problem at Epcot which I emailed and guest services called me back.
I asked if there was a way we could pay the difference to make the 2 days we lost as non expiring tickets bsck when they had them. Disney sent me 2 day pass tickets for my family.
This was before magic bands. So maybe ask for some type of ticket for admission for when you go back instead of the cost of the ticket.
The cm from guest service was so helpful and nice

 

[wilkeliza]

Really? Do you think I should forward the email I already sent to guest services?

My personal opinion no. Give guest services the opportunity to do their job before going up the chain. I am always shocked when people go so far up the ladder immediately. Anything guest services does in the realm of compensation will be recorded (and possibly any communications) so if you are satisfied with them then take it up the chain. No need to jump straight to the top.

 

[Nancyg56]

You have the email address for guest services. I would not escalate unless you find that your issue has been dismissed.

Give them a chance to rectify what had to have been awful. My experience with them had been positive.

 

[Monoxide]

My personal opinion no. Give guest services the opportunity to do their job before going up the chain. I am always shocked when people go so far up the ladder immediately. Anything guest services does in the realm of compensation will be recorded (and possibly any communications) so if you are satisfied with them then take it up the chain. No need to jump straight to the top.

Working in a call center I can tell you trying to get to a CEO or any upper level managment is just routed back down the chain. Along with that anything over a supervisor is removed from actuall customer service and really only a number cruntcher.

 

[ariane37]

@bsb I'm just seeing this now and I want to say I'm sorry all that happened to you, and I know exactly how you feel unfortunately. We've stayed at BWV 4x and had 3 fantastic stays and one hellish one, last Nov. The initial issues were ones that could happen anywhere: severe disgusting plumbing problem in our room followed by being moved to a dirty room. If that had been it, no biggie. Stuff happens. But that was FAR from all that happened. I'm not going into everything because I did that last year in my TR and if I write it all out again I'll just get mad again lol, but the actions and responses from the BW staff were ridiculous, horrendous, indifferent.....I could go on. It was one bunch of bull after another. At one point we were supposedly given those 3 anytime FP's and they worked out for us just as they did for you Except that a super nice CM at TSMM let us on anyway when he saw that I was about to lose it after finding out the FP's had indeed not been added to our accounts. And like you it totally wasn't about 3 extra FP's, I much rather have had my 1.5 days of park time back and less frustration. On our first stay there in 2010 we had a very small issue with some mold in the shower not being cleaned after mentioning it to the front desk 4x. Upon returning home we sent an email and received a 3 night stay at any DVC resort in an equivalent room type to be used within a year. This time we complained as much as we could down there; any more and we would have spent the rest of our trip on the issues. Emails and calls once we got home got no results whatsoever but I know that's not the norm so I wish you luck
Since that stay we've had wonderful stays at 3 (other) deluxe resorts and will be at another one next month. I don't necessarily think what happened to us was a "Disney" problem as much as a " really crappy employees who shouldn't be in the hotel business or any business working with people" problem. I will say though that if I ever walk into a resort we're staying at and see a certain manager working there, I will promptly move to another resort and I know DH would agree 100%.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The thing where all calls inbound to resorts go to call centers makes sense on the one hand, operationally, and is a hot mess in a lot of situations anyway.

If there were a true "call to the resort!" line, I think we can all imagine its abuses and the challenges staffing it, versus using a call center which can be more flexibly staffed. But when things like this happen, it gets hard.

 

[DANAW]

We had an issue 2 years back at BWI and I found the same thing as many posters...management just didnt seem to care. I agree with other posts that if everything goes great, Disney is a great place to be...but if not, I have learned to not expect much. We had an instance a few years back while at CS. I could hear a toilet running all night above us. Woke up to our carpet being wet along with anything else we had on the ground getting very wet. They ended up moving us to BW for the last 2 nights of our stay...great upgrade, but the packing and unpacking and moving cost us 1/2 day. They did also throw in a few fast passess too, but in my experience, Disney treats those fast passes like they are gold. If you are there at a busy time of year, I guess they can be pretty valuable, but its nice for Disney it does not cost them anything to hand them out!

 

[kboo]

OP, I hope you get some recourse. I don't know that there is a "standard" compensation, especially since it sounds like you are already home, but as some PPs said, perhaps FPs or a credit for the value of a single day park ticket that you could apply for a future stay ...

We have generally been lucky with guest services and CMs helping us out when things go wrong. I've found that it makes the most difference to be reasonable, polite and unemotional, setting out just the facts, and, importantly, doing it in person and while still on site. Most recently, we stayed at the GF in a lagoon view room at a deeply discounted rate. We'd taken an early flight, the kids had been up since 6am, and 3pm came and went with no room assignment. We finally got the text around 4, go to the room, DH's MB opened the room ... on a woman sitting with her luggage on the phone. She'd gotten a text for the same room and beaten us there. So we call from the house phone - I think we were in Boca Chica, and were on hold for a loooong time. waitied another 30-45 minutes for another room assignment. Got a dormer room that was LV but the giant tree covered the window, wasn't in the building we'd requested, etc - all relatively minor. Except that the room was clearly one that also needed some refurb - sofa bed was ripped, there were stains and rips in the carpet, etc. By then it was almost time for dinner and our bags had just gotten delivered and we were all SO tired. DH called and we went to the front desk before or after dinner, ie the room wasn't what we'd requested and was essentially a downgrade from the room we'd requested and didn't get because of their mistake of assigning the same room to 2 different families, etc etc. They were very apologetic, explaining that they were overbooked that night and if we didn't mind staying one night in the icky room, they'd move us to the requested view and building the next day. We agreed, though said we were bummed we'd missed several hours that day and would miss several hours the next day because of room snafus. They immediately refunded 50% of the first night's room and gave us 3 anytime FP for everyone in our party. And when we moved the next day, ended up in a LV room that was pretty much a TPV. One thing with the FPs, I'd suggest, is using MDE and before leaving the desk checking to make sure they are on your app. AND taking a screenshot. That CM took a rocky beginning and turned it into a very nice stay. Yes, we lost several hours over 2 days, and moved 3x in 2 days with a new baby and a 4 yo, but what they did to make up for the snafu really helped a lot.

Anyway, I'm hoping Disney comes through for you.

 

[ppony]

I'm so sorry this happened and, unfortunately, not surprised. WDW is a lot of fun until you have a problem and then, I find, the customer service is really lacking. The right hand never seems to know what the left hand is doing. Rule of thumb is to try to take care of this kind of stuff with a manager, while onsite, but, quite honestly, I understand why you didn't want to take any more time out of your vacation to deal with more problems. Contact guest services and be as detailed as possible. I would emphasize how much of your vacation time was wasted due to their horrendous customer service.

I couldn't agree more, unfortunately. It's taken so much of the magic out of what used to be off-the-charts magic. I'm sorry, OP for your experience. Your frustration and anger is warranted. Been there.

 

[adisneyaunt]

OP I read ur post only and stopped.
Awful situation that flatly was Mishandled by the resort. I would write them with Exact info you stated including dates/times because they Will know who was on staff.
It's an (expensive ) vacation staying Anywhere at Disney and while things can happen... It's How it's handled that can make a world of difference
And them giving you fastpasses and ...then even that was Mishandled, pathetic!
We were given those same fastpasses, And free Ice Creams when I spoke with a CM at the start of a ride after 3 separate groups of people all squeezed past the entire line so they could "catch up" with a family member that was way up ahead.
Loads of people just started exiting. It was crazy. We exited as well, but I made it a point to stop out front and explain Why we/others just left.
By the way that same group was doing this ride to ride as we had already experienced it on another standby line earlier. Awful rude people you encounter. But I digress..
I hope you will get the Apology you deserve and some Pixie Dust as well.
Disney IS a service industry after all. Sorry to hear of ur visit but hope some of it was Magical!

 

[bsb]

@bsb I'm just seeing this now and I want to say I'm sorry all that happened to you, and I know exactly how you feel unfortunately. We've stayed at BWV 4x and had 3 fantastic stays and one hellish one, last Nov. The initial issues were ones that could happen anywhere: severe disgusting plumbing problem in our room followed by being moved to a dirty room. If that had been it, no biggie. Stuff happens. But that was FAR from all that happened. I'm not going into everything because I did that last year in my TR and if I write it all out again I'll just get mad again lol, but the actions and responses from the BW staff were ridiculous, horrendous, indifferent.....I could go on. It was one bunch of bull after another. At one point we were supposedly given those 3 anytime FP's and they worked out for us just as they did for you Except that a super nice CM at TSMM let us on anyway when he saw that I was about to lose it after finding out the FP's had indeed not been added to our accounts. And like you it totally wasn't about 3 extra FP's, I much rather have had my 1.5 days of park time back and less frustration. On our first stay there in 2010 we had a very small issue with some mold in the shower not being cleaned after mentioning it to the front desk 4x. Upon returning home we sent an email and received a 3 night stay at any DVC resort in an equivalent room type to be used within a year. This time we complained as much as we could down there; any more and we would have spent the rest of our trip on the issues. Emails and calls once we got home got no results whatsoever but I know that's not the norm so I wish you luck
Since that stay we've had wonderful stays at 3 (other) deluxe resorts and will be at another one next month. I don't necessarily think what happened to us was a "Disney" problem as much as a " really crappy employees who shouldn't be in the hotel business or any business working with people" problem. I will say though that if I ever walk into a resort we're staying at and see a certain manager working there, I will promptly move to another resort and I know DH would agree 100%.

Sounds like you had a very similar experience with their staff. I honestly was shocked at level of incompetence from most of the staff (the ones I encountered, I'm sure there are good ones too!). I wonder if they are in desperate need of new management. I talked to several and left nothing but frustrated with each one. The one I thought really seemed to show compassion to my situation promised up and down he would call me the next morning and fix this. He said he felt terrible and just wanted to prove to me that they are a great hotel and yet that was a week ago now and I have heard not a peep from him. Too bad I didn't get your CM at TSSM we were just turned away with a screaming two year old. I'll get over it, we still had a great stay at the Contemporary for half the trip. I just hated having to be frustrated around my kids at Disney World about all this. Glad I found some people that can relate!

 

[bsb]

We had an issue 2 years back at BWI and I found the same thing as many posters...management just didnt seem to care. I agree with other posts that if everything goes great, Disney is a great place to be...but if not, I have learned to not expect much. We had an instance a few years back while at CS. I could hear a toilet running all night above us. Woke up to our carpet being wet along with anything else we had on the ground getting very wet. They ended up moving us to BW for the last 2 nights of our stay...great upgrade, but the packing and unpacking and moving cost us 1/2 day. They did also throw in a few fast passess too, but in my experience, Disney treats those fast passes like they are gold. If you are there at a busy time of year, I guess they can be pretty valuable, but its nice for Disney it does not cost them anything to hand them out!

I know what you mean, we usually do split stays which works for us but we plan for it, it takes time. I would not be happy having to work that in to a vacation I planned months ago, so frustrating! Honestly with the fast passes I would have been better off with out them!! I let the few I had made months ago expire that day when she gave me the anytime ones because I thought it would make our day way more flexible We only had a couple things we wanted to use the fastpasses for so three was plenty for the day. So I had no choice but be on the phone with them to fix it or else not have any fastpasses for what we wanted to do.

 

[bsb]

OP, I hope you get some recourse. I don't know that there is a "standard" compensation, especially since it sounds like you are already home, but as some PPs said, perhaps FPs or a credit for the value of a single day park ticket that you could apply for a future stay ...

We have generally been lucky with guest services and CMs helping us out when things go wrong. I've found that it makes the most difference to be reasonable, polite and unemotional, setting out just the facts, and, importantly, doing it in person and while still on site. Most recently, we stayed at the GF in a lagoon view room at a deeply discounted rate. We'd taken an early flight, the kids had been up since 6am, and 3pm came and went with no room assignment. We finally got the text around 4, go to the room, DH's MB opened the room ... on a woman sitting with her luggage on the phone. She'd gotten a text for the same room and beaten us there. So we call from the house phone - I think we were in Boca Chica, and were on hold for a loooong time. waitied another 30-45 minutes for another room assignment. Got a dormer room that was LV but the giant tree covered the window, wasn't in the building we'd requested, etc - all relatively minor. Except that the room was clearly one that also needed some refurb - sofa bed was ripped, there were stains and rips in the carpet, etc. By then it was almost time for dinner and our bags had just gotten delivered and we were all SO tired. DH called and we went to the front desk before or after dinner, ie the room wasn't what we'd requested and was essentially a downgrade from the room we'd requested and didn't get because of their mistake of assigning the same room to 2 different families, etc etc. They were very apologetic, explaining that they were overbooked that night and if we didn't mind staying one night in the icky room, they'd move us to the requested view and building the next day. We agreed, though said we were bummed we'd missed several hours that day and would miss several hours the next day because of room snafus. They immediately refunded 50% of the first night's room and gave us 3 anytime FP for everyone in our party. And when we moved the next day, ended up in a LV room that was pretty much a TPV. One thing with the FPs, I'd suggest, is using MDE and before leaving the desk checking to make sure they are on your app. AND taking a screenshot. That CM took a rocky beginning and turned it into a very nice stay. Yes, we lost several hours over 2 days, and moved 3x in 2 days with a new baby and a 4 yo, but what they did to make up for the snafu really helped a lot.

Anyway, I'm hoping Disney comes through for you.

Sounds like you got a nice upgrade, that's good at least! I understand things happen, my husband actually works for Hyatt so I am very aware things can go wrong. What bothers me the most was the lack of caring. If they had resolved my issue so I could enjoy my vacation I would dropped it. Sounds like you got good a good CM that worked with you, I wish they were all like that!

 

[bsb]

I couldn't agree more, unfortunately. It's taken so much of the magic out of what used to be off-the-charts magic. I'm sorry, OP for your experience. Your frustration and anger is warranted. Been there.

Thank you! Hopefully we see changes soon.

 

[bsb]

OP I read ur post only and stopped.
Awful situation that flatly was Mishandled by the resort. I would write them with Exact info you stated including dates/times because they Will know who was on staff.
It's an (expensive ) vacation staying Anywhere at Disney and while things can happen... It's How it's handled that can make a world of difference
And them giving you fastpasses and ...then even that was Mishandled, pathetic!
We were given those same fastpasses, And free Ice Creams when I spoke with a CM at the start of a ride after 3 separate groups of people all squeezed past the entire line so they could "catch up" with a family member that was way up ahead.
Loads of people just started exiting. It was crazy. We exited as well, but I made it a point to stop out front and explain Why we/others just left.
By the way that same group was doing this ride to ride as we had already experienced it on another standby line earlier. Awful rude people you encounter. But I digress..
I hope you will get the Apology you deserve and some Pixie Dust as well.
Disney IS a service industry after all. Sorry to hear of ur visit but hope some of it was Magical!

Yeah honestly seems like they can give out those fast passes for just about anything. We got some paper ones from Jedi Training academy that very same day lol. I know what you mean about line etiquette sometimes! We did have a great vacation overall and I am not losing sight of that!

 

[happymommy]

I hope you hear back from them. I have to admit, last time I stayed at the BWI (couple years ago for spring break, just DD and me) was the LAST time I'll stay there too.

Neighbors in connecting room to us (they wouldn't move us, due to being "full" which I'm not sure of) made so much noise that we had to call security - twice. Very late at night.

It wasn't worth what we paid at ALL, and we started staying at Pop Century, which we have found to have much nicer service actually! Last trip (late August), it was so good that I wrote in to compliment our daily housekeeper, and I actually got a phone call to discuss our experience! There is a feedback link on Disney's website, which I filled out. They do read the feedback!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I didn't have a great experience with the staff at BW in Sept but I did love the resort itself. We also waited hours for a pack n play at naptime. Had to call several times. Luckily we were only there 1 night post cruise so we shrugged it off. In contrast, at our precruise GF stay all of our needs were met immediately when calling. They were great at bringing blankets, pack n play, towels etc within 5 mins of calling.

 

[bsb]

Hey guys, just wanted to update on what happened with Disney. They called me yesterday and I again explained everything. She offered me three fast passes for next time that won't expire and 1 day tickets for my family to make up for the day we lost. The problem with this is they cannot be upgraded and so really they are not worth much as we usually go for at least a week at a time so when you add on a day it really does not amount to much. She was really nice and apologized up and down and I thought at least it was something. I told her the names of the managers I had dealt with at the Boardwalk and she said she would email them everything I had said to her. I was a little disappointed as I didn't feel like it was much compensation but I thanked her anyways and figured better than nothing.

So fast forward to today she called me again and said she had spoken to the managers at the Boardwalk after she sent them my comments and they remembered me and felt terrible I had such a bad stay. They said they wanted to make up for it more than the other things she had offered me. They gave me three free nights ( two rooms!) at any Deluxe hotel garden view or better on top of the other things! No black outs and they will never expire! I honestly couldn't believe it. I had accepted the first call without complaint so the fact that they decided to give me more really gave me such a great feeling toward Disney. Thanks to everyone who sent me good vibes!! Now to convince my husband to squeeze in another trip sooner rather than later lol.