why does DLR not have a toll free #

[lolinmr]

I was just reading the lost and found post, which makes me think. It would cost me a fortune to be on hold for 2 hours.
There is no toll free numbers for the dine line, the gift line, of even the booking line (until you book). it's frustrating.

 

[Albort]

probably cost money. you can try calling the 800 # and ask to be transfered.

 

[Gisele]

800 numbers unfortunately Disney does not have, at this time. If you have a calling plan like I do, for your cell phone, maybe land line as well, you can call the 714 area codes for Dl. and not have to pay anything, unless you run out of free minutes, or time that is covered otherwise by your particular plan. When I call DL. I do not receive a charge on my cell phone bill. For it is covered.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Disneyland DelivEARS is a 1-800 number. But all the rest are 714 area code.

 

[Burnt Toast]

800 numbers cost the holder money. Not all Guests call for the right reasons. When I worked at Walt Disney Travel, we used to get phone calls for the weather, entertainment times, ask to speak with Mickey... all those calls if it was to a 800 would cost Disney money.

It's toll free to the caller because the place your calling is the one that gets charged, not you.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

They really don't have any for WDW in Orlando either.

Can you imagine how much it would cost them as a company to set one up? The amount of money that would cost for the volume of calls they take would be exhorbitant. Many companies set it up as the "cost of doing business".

In this case, it would cost them so much they would have to pass that cost on to us...

We pay enough as is!!!!

 

[lolinmr]

It must cost alot for 1-800 # then., The company my husband works for has one and they are less than 50 employees in a small town.
It's kind of shocking that a world wide company doesn't have one. It must be about the inconveince to the employees....
It's like bank fees, you get to pay extra to give them your business

 

[Gisele]

It's like bank fees, you get to pay extra to give them your business

Exactly!

 

[perlster]

It would cost me a fortune to be on hold for 2 hours.

That's the whole point!

Since Disney is too cheap to hire enough people to staff the phones, it certainly isn't going to pay for the hours it forces its customers to be on hold!

As for the idea that "Disney can't afford it."

 

[mechurchlady]

It reduces the number of frivolous phone calls for one thing. Disney is smart to make the customer pay for the privilege of visiting Disney parks. Walt Disney was a shrewd businessman and that thrift gene is in his companies to this day.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Yes, I think Disney just wants to cut down on how many stupid calls they get. I mean I know Marriott and Hilton etc, all have toll free numbers but they don't have the variety of offerings and I doubt anybody calls Hilton to ask about the weather etc!

It can get annoying, with WDW in particular and their ADR system. DLR I can usually get what I need done pretty quickly.

 

[Burnt Toast]

... and believe me, at WDTC you get a LOT of stupid calls. I can't count how many times I had to be like, "I apologize, but this is Walt Disney Travel. We book vacation packages and are a travel agency for Disneyland... if you want general Park information/weather, the number to call is 714-781-4565." Not to mention that stupid, non-related, calls hurt my metrics because there's no way to convert them into a quote or a booking... those calls actually HURT the Cast Member at WDTC that you happen to get connected to and it affects their performance.

As for "inconvenience to employees"... please. Most employees are local and have special local lines to call, we don't call the same lines that Guests do. Cast Members that do a lot of traveling usually have company issued phones.

Not having an 800 is a good thing... those things are expensive! Just because a company can afford it doesn't mean that they should front the cost for it. Most cell phones have nationwide long distance built into the plans, even the basic ones.

 

[lolinmr]

As for "inconvenience to employees"... please. Most employees are local and have special local lines to call, we don't call the same lines that Guests do. Cast Members that do a lot of traveling usually have company issued phones."

Burnt toast------ you are reading my post out of context.... Please...
when I wrote inconvience I meant exactly what you were saying. I just used the word inconvience not stupid

"... and believe me, at WDTC you get a LOT of stupid calls. I can't count how many times I had to be like, "I apologize, but this is Walt Disney Travel. We book vacation packages and are a travel agency for Disneyland... if you want general Park information/weather, the number to call is 714-781-4565." Not to mention that stupid, non-related, calls hurt my metrics because there's no way to convert them into a quote or a booking... those calls actually HURT the Cast Member at WDTC that you happen to get connected to and it affects their performance."

 

[DizMe]

I hear ya. I asked this question a few years ago, before I had a rate plan on my landline. My cell phone does not get service where I live because we're in the boonies, so a toll call to Disney was expensive for me.

Now I have a rate plan for my landline that's a flat fee of $40/month for everything and all national calls are free. It takes a lot of pressure off since I make many calls to DLR (not to mention my friends and relatives who live elsewhere)! I also get decent cell service now at my home

I am very skeptical about the idea that Disney can't afford to offer an 800 number. As I see it, they can afford NOT to.

 

[Burnt Toast]

I am very skeptical about the idea that Disney can't afford to offer an 800 number. As I see it, they can afford NOT to.

I don't think anyone would believe that Disney cannot afford it, I don't think anyone is saying that... they simply choose NOT to because it's an added cost to them that might be unfeasable because of the sheer amount of folks who will call that line for reasons that they shouldn't be calling.

 

[Burnt Toast]

As for "inconvenience to employees"... please. Most employees are local and have special local lines to call, we don't call the same lines that Guests do. Cast Members that do a lot of traveling usually have company issued phones."

lolinmr, this was in reference to your post. Hence a quote made by you and my reply.

"... and believe me, at WDTC you get a LOT of stupid calls. -snip-

This was not. It's not all about you.

 

[mechurchlady]

Burnt Toast you need a hug and dinner on me off property, lol.

If you sit on the boards long enough you see some stupid questions and if you know someone who deals with the public you heaqr of stupid things. It is a bit blunt and almost rude to say "stupid" but then again when you see how people treat other people at 911 emergency dispatch then you can understand how dumb some calls can be. If people are going to call 911 and ask the operator how to cook a turkey then what do you think people will ask a CM for WDW.

http://www.oddee.com/item_96669.aspx
A man was lonely and now faces $1000 maximum find and/or 6 months in jail for calling 911 emergency operators over 27000 times.
A lady called 911 emergency dispatchers because she thought a certain police officer was hot stuff and could she get in contact with him.
A lady called 911 because she did not get enough shrimp in her fried rice.

 

[wendyinoc]

They don't need one because they are Disney. Very few companys can pull this off and they are one of them. More companys should do the same as well. 800#'s ae expensive and many people call for the wrong things. When I used to be a call center manager we graded the reps on speed. The longer they are on the more that call costs. I used to terminate employees for having high talk times. So please be brief.

 

[lolinmr]

I didn't think it was "all about me" . It was about the use of the word stupid.

 

[dismsn]

I was wondering the same thing when I made ressies at the PPH in April. I wouldn't mind footing the cost of the call as much if I weren't on hold for so long when calling DLR. AND . . . I wouldn't have had to call them to make the ressies IF they had a better website that would allow me to enter the military discount, AAA, etc. to get the best price like 90% of other national hotels offer on their websites.

For the popularity of Disney, they don't make it easy to give them your business. You can't compare the DLR hotels very well on the Disney website because there isn't much info. available. You get better information on Expedia, Travelocity, this site, etc. While I was trying to make ressies online, a survey popped up and they had the nerve to state they "weren't looking for ideas, they just wanted the survey questions answered." There were no comment boxes to let them know their website is behind the times. After we stayed at the PPH, I did receive another survey and let them know what I thought of their online reservation site.

I do agree with the PPs though who stated Disney does it because Disney can get away with it. They can do whatever they want and people will continue to give them business because they are convenient to the parks.