Wilderness Lodge Room Reservation Problem (and Solution!) at Check-In

[kimmar067]

Nice post...well said!!

 

[bridgettesmom]

Hey TOM...........here is a standing ovation to you!!!


Hopefully,this will be the last thing we will hear about this topic.
It really gets to me when some people try to make something negative out of something positive.As consumers we know that mistakes are made all the time at any place and if mistakes never happen why else would there be entire departments devoted to assist customers with their problems.I work in customer service for a major corporation and I am well aware that some people will complain no matter what.Also, others will look for things to complain about for no reason ,just to get compensated.In the OP's case,I think she had every right to complain and I could clearly see that the manager used every tool he had available to help resolve a problem that one of his CM's caused.I am happy that everything worked out.

 

[Bear Necessities]

Originally posted by peachgirl

Did the manager lie to you? Heavens no! That doesn't happen at DisneyWorld....he just gave you an answer heavily laced with pixie dust!

Excellent reply peachgirl!!

 

[nipizarro]

Bravo (!!)to the recent INSIGHTFUL posters who have actually understood my intent to convey a POSITIVE experience!!! I'm amazed at the quickness of others to make NEGATIVE out of POSITIVE, and I'm sure we can all easily surmise the individual "baggage" which leads them to do so! Frankly, I'm both encouraged and surprised at the Board's ability to tolerate such dissent -- judging from their tolerance of other dissent-producing postings, I would have expected this sharing of a positive experience to be "locked" a long time ago! Maybe there is indeed such a thing as "Pixie Dust!"

 

[TChrist05]

Nipizzaro...it is the old...half glass full....half glass empty....it just depends on how you look at things.....and honestly, that is why I choose to spend a lot of my time, vacation time that is in Disney World or on the Disney cruise....I spend many days working in a supermarket....and most people really hate food shopping...it is just a chore that people have to do....so most people are tolerant at best when it comes to this....the prices are too high, the lines are too long...yada..yada....yada.....but you know, when in Disney most people are pretty darn happy with things....and I get away from the telephone and my computer at work.....forget about them for a week or so.....and even better when I cruise Disney....since I would never pay to make a phone call at 7 bucks a minute.....so for the most part....real happy campers.....and that makes me smile and just plain relax......and sometimes there are screw ups.....but I still keep that smile on my face cause I am in what I feel is the happiest place on earth.....and it can't really get much better than that! In my humbled opinion, we need more positive in this world.....with so much negative going on each day....and we all know what it is.....start with positive and things are better already...
Tom

 

[askmickey]

Hi All...Peachgirl..THANK YOU......I must reply to not being "informed"..I did look up the resevation in question, the room that was assigned was the room that the above guest went to and was unhappy with, at NO time was the room given away.Because of their unhappiness, the Manager MOVED their room and said whatever apologies needed to be said in order to make the guest happy, including compensation..I was NOT trying to make a positive a negative..I was trying to point out that compensation does not always fit the supposed mistake and that one should not expect compensation to feel good..A simple apology should at times be enough.

Have a Magical Day...

 

[TChrist05]

Hello all....as a veteran of going to Disney, we always request certain buildings or area's in the resort we wish to stay in.....and we book far enough ahead to usually get what we request....what rubs me the wrong way is that they have the requests but have assigned us a room somewhere we did not want to stay...and I do know that they have to block certain areas and rooms for groups, maintenance on blocks of rooms etc....but if I request something I would like all the stops pulled out to accomodate me....as most everyone would expect....it would be nice to see how the room assignments are made and what criteria is used....but I have said many times at my place of employment....if we operated our business like Disney operates there's...we would be a lot more profitable....and we make money.
Tom

 

[luvindisneyworld]

 

[DancingBear]

Tired guest arrives at hotel, is told that a room has been assigned, in response to his faxed room requests, and he can either wait for that room or take a substitute room that is available now. Guest chooses to wait.

Guest is given a map showing the location of the assigned room he has chosen to wait for. (I assume that the general location is indicated, not the specific room--this is what the CR desk did when we checked in last December).

When guest returns, he is given a room which is not responsive to his faxed room requests, and which is not near the location indicated on the map.

Somebody screwed up somewhere. Maybe there was no room switch, but I can certainly understand the guest's pique.

 

[nipizarro]

Oh my - you must indeed have been sprinkled with Pixie Dust to be able to "look up the reservation in question" without knowledge of dates, names, etc. YIKES!!! Can I get some of that Pixie Dust? Let's refrain from making false claims on this Board!

 

[vbfamily]

I don't like to get caught up in these kinds of things but something bothers me about an employee of WDW looking up reservation information when they have no need to.

We need to feel that we can post on these boards without the threat of someone saying "I looked up your reservation and that's not true" or "I have proof you're lying" or anything of this sort.

It just doesn't seem right. This was an issue between the guest and the manager in question. If the manger made the compensation that he did then that in itself made it right. No other guest or employee should question whether it was appropriate or not. It became entirely appropriate the moment the manager offered it.

We stayed at WL in October and are going back for Christmas and I intend on posting about the good and the bad and I don't want my reservation accessed by anyone other than the person who checks me in and me. That has our names on it, our children's names and ages, our address, our preferences, everything. I have the right to keep that as private as I can even if something goes wrong and I am given excellent compensation.

What benefit was gained from looking up the reservation? Is the manager going to call the original poster and ask for the park hopper tickets back? No.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've been reading here and so far refrained from posting. But, I just wanted to say a few things. 1. In ref. to 'false claims being made', could it have been possible that the manager remembered the incident in question? And this being the case, enabled askmickey to check on ressie? 2. According to the OP, the manager said, 'Looks like we dropped the ball on this one' or something close to that. I don't think this is an admission of guilt but a very nice way of saying...hey, we didn't really help you out here. Let's try to make things better.
I think it is truly terrific that the managment tried to rectify a bad situation. I know that my 'requests' are simply that. If a CM tells me they have a room for us, based on our requests, I would be thrilled if just one of my requests were met!! Please realize here...I am not trying to be argumentative. I really do think that the OP's room wasn't what she thought it was going to be. I think that we are all terrible over-sensitive to people who want upgrades, freebies etc., while others just take what they get. NOW.......I am NOT saying the OP did this. I'm saying that we here on the boards get riled up if there is any hint of this. Now, I am climbing down off of my soap-box. I apologize to anyone I may have inadvertantly upset.

Diane

 

[goofy4tink]

vbfamily, I have heard that these records are accessed in some cases. I guess they check them if they come across a guest that is making unreasonable demands to see if these particular folks might have a history of being 'sqeaky wheels'. I'm sure, and I know someone will correct me if I'm wrong, that the cm in question was only trying to see if there was a mistake made. If there was, then knowing this would enable them to make sure it didn't happen again. I don't think anyone was being mean-spirited. Now, I'm really, really done.

 

[vbfamily]

Goofy4tink,

I don't think anyone was being mean-spirited either. I just don't think the CM that accessed the ressie had any basis for doing so.

There was a situation. The situation involved the OP and the manager. I just don't think it involved anyone else, employee or other guest.

I don't have an opinion on the compensation given. If the manager gave it then it was appropriate. I just don't want to feel that we can't post about problems because someone works at WDW and is going to be looking up our ressies to see if we were wrong or right.

I hold my privacy near and dear. That's my point here. This was an issue between the manager and guest. Noone else had the right to access the reservation unless there was a billing error or something.

 

[2disneywego]

Originally posted by vbfamily
I hold my privacy near and dear. That's my point here. This was an issue between the manager and guest. Noone else had the right to access the reservation unless there was a billing error or something.

Absolutely!! The situation had already been dealt with at the time. Nobody else had any right to look up the OP's information.

 

[justhat]

Alright, who really cares if the OP was right or wrong!?! If you have that much time to go and look up someone's reservation then please give me a call and I'll have some work for you to do! Not that it really matters, but I do believe the OP about the room being given away because they had rooms open at the time, so why not just take one of them if the room they'd get later was not what they requested? Also, I was at ASMu at the same time and we were put in a room that had just been painted as it smelled very strongly of paint fumes. Also, we found another guests clothing in the drawers and feminine hygiene products in other drawers. We complained about these things to the front desk and all they did was move us to another room, in another building, after hours of waiting and persisting in getting the room that night (they wanted us to wait until the next day to switch). So for the OP to get free passes, the manager must have felt very badly about the mix-up.

 

[peachgirl]

Guest is given a map showing the location of the assigned room he has chosen to wait for. (I assume that the general location is indicated, not the specific room--this is what the CR desk did when we checked in last December).

That's not what happened according to the op. All the op said was that the requests had been received and that a room was blocked. It's simply not possible to get a room key, then have your room switched, no matter what the manager said to make the op happy.

Regardless, room requests are just that....requests. WDW allows us to place these requests as a courtesy and we are never entitled to them. The fact that a CM may have told the op that her requests were met doesn't change the fact that the requests are not guaranteed. In this case the mistake wasn't that the requests weren't met , it was that the CM told her they were when in fact they were not. I have no doubt that the result of the op's complaints were that some CM got her backside chewed out royally. I hope the room was worth it.

As far as waiting till 3pm, you're not guaranteed of getting a room before that time no matter what your room assignment is. There is a stated check-in time and as long as they meet that time, they've still done nothing wrong.

That WDW chose to compensate a guest for whatever reason is fine with me, I don't question that at all. I do question the right of a guest to complain because they didn't get something they had no right to in the first place. I also wonder what guest was it that didn't get what they asked for because there was a squeakier wheel that had to be greased?

As for askmickey.....there isn't a single person on these boards who does more to help guests coming to the WL. I have no doubt that if she accessed information regarding this particular reservation she had the authority to do so. She is a wonderful source for help and information and it's a shame she is being attacked. I wouldn't blame her if she told us all to go take a flying leap, she certainly isn't getting much thanks for all the good things she does.

Perhaps WDW ought to do away with allowing room requests to be made at all. Then no one would have anything to complain about. With these types of incidents happening more and more, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it happen.

 

[GoldenOldie]

I usually stay out of these discussions but I'll make an exception this time to chime in with my $.02 about any thread that you read on the DIS or anywhere else:

How can anyone draw any kind of accurate conclusion about who is right and who is wrong when you have only heard one side of the story???

You are reading one person's perception of the situation. Doesn't mean they are right nor does it mean they are wrong. It is just the way they envisioned it happening.

I find it amazing that people are so ready to take sides - pro or con - without having the benefit of all the information.

JMHO - YMMV

 

[higgin704]

"Regardless, room requests are just that....requests. WDW allows us to place these requests as a courtesy and we are never entitled to them. "

--I agree. We make a couple requests (bunk beds, as high up as possible) and are thrilled if (IF) we get them. Disney owes us nothing, IMO.

"As far as waiting till 3pm, you're not guaranteed of getting a room before that time no matter what your room assignment is. There is a stated check-in time and as long as they meet that time, they've still done nothing wrong."

--Right again. We take the auto-train down and are really in need of a shower when we get there (around 10). Last April, the WL offered the shower in the health club to us, but our room would not be ready until 3. We were tired and filthy, but again, Disney owes us nothing and the rooms are not guaranteed until 3. We were grateful just for the shower in the health club!

 

[vbfamily]

I'm not questioning the helpfulness of askmickey.

I don't ever intend to offend anyone with my posts.

I just happen to have strong opinions when it comes to privacy.

I just don't think that any CM should have the authority to access any reservation, at will, just to prove a point.

I completely understand that requests are only requests.

The compensation has been given. Some people think it was justified, others don't.

I only took issue with the reservation being accessed after the fact by a CM who was not involved in the situation. I think I had every right to do this.

I would think that Disney would have some policy about accessing reservations without valid reason. My DH can't access friends or families accounts at his place of business.

What's to prevent another CM from accessing your information and using it for their own personal gain?