Guests Demanding Refunds

[screnwriter]

girl: "uuuuggggh!! this is not fair!! my father is a member of Club 33 and it says that we can get extra stuff at restaurants and free things!!"

Me: "you get free admission to the parks and admission to the Club with your reservation, but you don't get free items around Disneyland because of it..."

girl: "fine!" *walks away*

I was working Pooh Corner one evening, and an Australian mom and daughter (in a wheelchair, due to a broken leg) came in asking for a deep pile Pooh sweater, the kind that has the wool-like collar and cuffs that retails for around $60. She tried to get her NSA card, which clearly was written "Hooded sweatshirt" exchanged for this. Really? She got the NSA from the big show at DCA at the time, and had apparently went from STORE TO STORE all across both parks trying to scam her way into a much more expensive sweater. She said the cast member said she could use it for any sweater and she wanted THIS one. My lead argued she could use it for any HOODED sweatshirt, but she insisted the cast member said otherwise.

So why did the cast member write down one thing and tell her another, even pointing out that he was writing different things? Also, it turned out that they'd made a stink over missing the show at DCA and it "ruined their day" - forget the fact that that one show is like 2% of all the attractions available during the day, and obviously they hadn't been on every single other attraction in one day, in a wheelchair no less, so they must have really worked that cast member before he gave up the NSA.

I guess we shoulda told her that because it was an NSA, and no receipt was being created, it would look like they hadn't paid, so we would Package Express it up to the main gate for her, taking down all the information and then sending up a hooded sweatshirt....

[lady ulrike]

Ok, I don't think I can say much about this incident cause it just happened and I think it's been blown way out of proportion. But anyway, my main point is what the guests are trying to get and I can say that. There was this guest who had let's say an issue that mostly involved another guest, but they claimed it was a cast member who caused most of the problem (the CM did very little and certainly nothing wrong) Well, the guest goes to city hall to complain and starts demanding to have their AP extended, for free, for another year. Now this guest had threatened the CM, and besides, the CM did nothing wrong, so he was denied having his family's AP's extended. It turned out that a year ago, something happened and they had gotten their AP's extended, so I suspect that they blew this completely out of proportion on purpose thinking they could get another free year at Disneyland.

OK, I think I'm good with what I wrote, I didn't actually say anything about the incident (I've heard that it might not be over and done with and I don't want to get in trouble for anything)

[gurgi]

not to point out the obvisous...but...(and this is jsut in my experience)

after working security at concert after concert and event after event for a few years, i have come face to face with some of the worlds "human highlights" shall we call them. and also through my experiences it has come to my attention that the bigger the crowd gets the dumber, the more obnoxious, and the more annoying the individuals get. (and by the way, no alcohol required for this to happen). of course there are laways the nice people in the bunch...but im sure all of you CMs get my drift.

[Speedo Bob]

I think this attitude is becoming more and more pervasive now that america has become so "customer service" intensive. People pull all sorts of BS moves at the hotel I work at. We have a 100 percent guarantee and I have had people try to get me to comp their room ($229.00) because they weren't satisfied with the "movie selection" or the maid forgot to leave two packets of coffee and just left one.

It's one thing to complaint for legitimate reasons, unfortunately, the media tells people "complain to the manager and you will get your money back!" Since when did customer resolution = money back? Most people I apologize too over a service issue stare at me for a minute and then say.... "and... what sort of compensation do I get?"

FUCK THAT. Bring back the sincere apology and manners I say. Who's with me?

The Speedo Man here is totally with you, people are such jerks and they have become so spoiled they think that the World evolves around them and they can do what ever they want. If we could change the laws around a little bit kinda of like in the olding days, that if you act like a jerk you will most likely get punched out by someone, there would hardly be any of these bastards around and they would learn to shut there mouth preaty quickly.

Did any of you watch Jimmy Kimmel live last night? There was a hidden camara skit where Jimmys cousin Sal was working at a buffet and was dishing out the ribs for customers. There was this older couple who came up and he gave the lady a ton of ribs and the gentlemen only got one rib.You should have seen this jerk explode, anybody with half a brain cell could figure out it was joke but not this guy he went nuts. He was screaming and yelling demanding to talk to the manager, it was so funny. Then Cousin Sal was the dish boy and he was grabing dishes of folks who had full plates of food, again preaty much all the people went nuts one Fat Boy pulled a butter knife on cousin Sal. This is the typical behaviour of people now a days in North America, they are so spoiled and they think if they are spending money, even a lousy $7.95 for a crummy buffet they think they can do what ever they want. I feel so sorry for you CMs that work at DLR and WDW I have seen alot of the jerks that you guys get to deal with and they are so lame. The Speedo Man here works in Retail as well but the jerks you folks have to work with does not compare to what the Speedo Man gets.

[Speedo Bob]

Another side note that the Speedo Man forgot to mention. Big companys like Disney back down way to much to customers. That is the reason why people are abusing the system so much, it is because they can get away with it. Disney should just hold there ground when they get jerks demanding there money back because one attraction is closed or so on. Tell the jerks to get lost and hit the road, this would elimanate alot of the problems.

[Main Streeter]

I think it would have been more fun to call security on this idiot.

Calling security, only ROCs show for this, would not be the answer. Guests would probably get passes, free everything & be treated as they were royalty. Days of "the customer is always right" are long over!!! This phrase & belief should be banned from American business attitudes ASAP :!:

[Stduck]

Sad to say is the days of "The Customer is Always Right" is never over. Our job as CMs (or any other Guest Service job) is to give the most pleasent experience to our guests. (Hence why we call them guests not customers).

I firmly believe everyone should hold a job in fast food (Theme park food places like Club Buzz or Stage Door count) and retail that way maybe if everyone experiences what it like on the recieving end then people might understand. When I am a guest I only get demanding when my experience is poor or something goes completely wrong (when I know from previous experience) that could have been avoided.

[RebuildtheKingdom]

I firmly believe everyone should hold a job in fast food (Theme park food places like Club Buzz or Stage Door count) and retail that way maybe if everyone experiences what it like on the recieving end then people might understand.

I have been saying that for years. Having served in the retail "trenches" for a few years, I do my best to treat each CM and "regular" retail employee I come in contact with, with the repect and kindness they deserve for doing such a hard job.

[screnwriter]

I can well understand the aggravation of those who've dealt with difficult guests. I've had guests stand at my register and badmouth Disneyland to every person I waited on, I've been accused of things I didn't do, was the victim of a short change artist - I BEEN THERE.

But Disneyland was always intended to be a place where families could spend quality time together - before the phrase "quality time" was even invented. No, people aren't perfect, and yes, some are a damn sight further than others, but they're people and they're not perfect.

No small amount of the blame rests on the shoulders of Disney management, who has pursued a course of cutting wages, hours, and benefits throughout the Eisner years, to increase the profit margin and provide better financial gain to the stockholders. This has caused the park to put too many people in high-stress, high-traffic positions - such as waiting on grumpy, disagreeable guests in fast-paced, hectic stores. When you throw an 18 year old with perhaps no previous work experience into a job and expose them to people who's public antics would challenge the wisdom of Soloman, the judgment of Oliver Wendall Holmes, and the negotiating skills of Winston Churchill, you're not only not giving the best guest service, but you're also putting that teenager into a position that could mark them for life.

I'm not coming down on teenagers here, far from it, but rather against the idea of putting any person of limited people skills in a job requiring HIGH people skills. I was 39 when I hired back into the park in Store Ops, and many's the time I took over for a lead in dealing with a difficult guest. I never gave out an NSA to mollify or shut somebody up. When I had difficult guests, I took the time to listen to their complaint, agree with their hurt feelings (not admitting guilt to say, "Yes, I can see why you're upset."), and apologize sincerly and directly - from Disneyland to that guest. I feel that just passing out an NSA in many cases would excacerbate the situation, as you're again ignoring the guest's problem and pain, and just saying to them, "Here ya go buddy, get yaself some popcorn and don't bother me." You can make a person feel a lot better, and send them out to have a better day than they were having, if you can just hold back your inclination to judge, hear them out, agree that they have a right to FEEL, and let them know that whatever the problem they had, that's not what Disneyland is here for.

Maybe part of training ought to include a mystery guest who's difficult, to see how the cast member reacts. They could be shown later some other methods (if they didn't act in "The Disney Way"), and help to better the cast members in the future.

[Zazu]

Maybe part of training ought to include a mystery guest who's difficult, to see how the cast member reacts. They could be shown later some other methods (if they didn't act in "The Disney Way"), and help to better the cast members in the future.

We don't *have* to have some "mystery guest" come in and be deliberately unreasonable. There are guests every day who do this job for us.

And yes, coaching new hires on how to handle such is a part of the program. I'll admit it could be a larger part though.