Stupid Guest Tricks

So, today was my first "official" day in my new department. Overall, it's a much better fit for me, I think. However, apparently pre-season pass processing seems to attract the SGs.
Stupid Pass Processing Tricks
The way we process a pass is very simple- we scan the guest's voucher, have them fill out a form with their personal information (if necessary, online sales don't need this), scan their new pass, then take their photo. They then have to sign the back of their pass. Easy, right? Apparently not.

• First, I had a guest who was processing a platinum pass, which is valid for all Cedar Fair parks. Since we're supposed to make conversation with the guests, I usually ask people with platinum passes what other parks they're going to. So, I asked this one guy...
  "What do you mean other parks?"
  "I meant, what other Cedar Fair parks are you using your platinum pass at?"
  "WHAT?! I thought platinum meant we got more perks! Can I get a refund and just buy a gold pass??"
  ...you paid $150 for something and you didn't know what it was valid for?
• Later, I had someone who wanted to process a pass for someone who wasn't present at the park. She couldn't understand why I couldn't take a picture of someone who wasn't there.
• I was also told that requiring an address to process a pass is illegal. (No, it's so when YOU forget your pass, we can look it up!)
• I was also asked how I expected someone to know what his own name was.
• You'd be surprised how many people write their zip code in the phone number box (which looks like ( ) - , by the way).
• The cherry on top of pass processing was having people sign the pass. This is apparently a very difficult process.
  
  Our passes look like this (well, sort of...). Guess where you sign. According to many guests, you sign in the small blank space between the barcode and the fine print. I truly wish there was a line where they're supposed to sign.

In other news, while doing sales, a guest got very upset with me. Why? The waterpark which recently closed near us (and we are giving a discount to their former passholders) was called The Beach. We have to have a supervisor approve the discount for their passholders. My supervisor was walking away, and I saw the guest coming up, so I said, "Hey [name], can you come back? It's another Beach."

Oops. I don't think I've ever been so red before...

KingsIslander wrote:It's another Beach."

What's wrong with that? You didn't pronounce it "Be-ach" did you? ;)

hobie16 wrote:What's wrong with that? You didn't pronounce it "Be-ach" did you? ;)

Well, that *did* describe her...

I forgot to put this, I also discovered today how confusing the guests can be about describing what they want:

"I bought a ticket last year, but I lost my card, so now I need a new voucher, and I have the $50 dollars I need. Can you get me a new ticket for my card?"

What?? Here's what she meant: She had a season pass in 2011, which she renewed in October. Since then, she had lost her card, so when she showed up for processing (which isn't even needed for renewals), she was told that she would have to pay $15 (not $50) for a new pass, which she took to mean that she needed reprint of her original voucher. She could have just said "I need a replacement pass" and it wouldn't have taken 10 minutes for me to try to understand what she meant. I finally just gave up and looked her name up in the computer, which I really should have done to begin with. Oops!

(I had thought at first that she wanted me to reprint her 2011 season single day ticket for her to use toward an season pass, which isn't even possible)

That's why you make the big money. ;)

KingsIslander wrote:According to many guests, you sign in the small blank space between the barcode and the fine print. I truly wish there was a line where they're supposed to sign.

That's totally where I would have signed. I'm agreeing to the terms that way, right? :p:

shilohmm wrote:That's totally where I would have signed. I'm agreeing to the terms that way, right? :p:

Me Too! :D:

It's where us old timers used to sign letters when we hand-wrote them, folded them put them in an envelope with a stamp, and put them in the mail to our relatives far away. The next week we would sometimes get a letter back!

You need a dedicated rectangle for the signatures. Our Disney passes have such a thing and it even says "Please sign here for identification purposes".

I should have added, we say (after taking their picture), "Alright, great! Can you sign up here at the top where it says 'Authorized Signature Required' for me, please?" and point to where they need to sign. We used to only have a small strip where the pen would even write (like a credit card), but the material the passes are printed on changed this year. I even tried writing an X where it needed to be signed, and that didn't help at all. Also, my drawing isn't exactly to scale, it's a little more obvious on the actual pass. (This is the pre-2012 pass, the newer ones are very similar. And yes, I covered up part of the pass number. :) )

Aww season pass processing. At my former park, the guests scanned their voucher at a computer, typed in their info, hit send, then brought the voucher to us to have the photo taken. Sounds simple? No.

1) People managed to mispell their own names, then blame us. Mainly people mistaked the middle intial box for last name. So John Doe's name would be typed John D Oe..

SG - "Uh, guys, care to spell my name correctly?"
Me- " I am sorry sir, I'll fix that for you" ( how dare I correct the customer)
My Sup (standing behind me ) - "Uh actually sir, YOU spelled YOUR name wrong. The employees don't type the names."
SG - Takes new season pass and walks away.

Man I miss my sassy sup.


2) People were shocked to find that the parking is only good on one pass. When I would dare to mention putting on the child's pass, they talked to me like I was an idiot. Example:
Me- I suggest putting the parking on the child's pass
SG - "He's EIGHT! HE DOESN'T DRIVE! ".

or
SG - "Are they really gonna look to see if I am in the car?"
Me- "Yes"

When I would explain to him that the pass could be used for parking in the event he comes with only one parent or comes with a friend, she still thought I was an idiot.

Me- If he comes with a friend (with out you ), his friends parents won't have to pay for parking.
SG - Oh I don't care about them. I want it on my card.

Wow, lady. Some one watches your kid for the day and you can't bother to let them use your free parking pass?

Good enough, another guest buying passes hears this and decides to put the parking on their childs pass. Good guest says " Thats a good idea". SG hears this and regrets her decsions. Nice.

Teddykeiko86 wrote:... another guest buying passes hears this and decides to put the parking on their childs pass. Good guest says " Thats a good idea". SG hears this and regrets her decsions. Nice.

I lucked out last season. I got my family SP's for Six Flags (yes, it's not Disney, but 1- it's cheap & 2- it's close) for the first time ever, and only after our passes had been produced did we figure out that putting the parking on my elder son's pass would have been smarter than putting it on mine -- after all, he could drive himself and his friends there.

We were told Guest Relations could switch the parking from my pass to my son's without any problem. To our benefit, they were only half right -- the rep added it to my son's without any difficulty, but he couldn't get it to come off of mine. After the third attempt, he gave up and just left it on both passes, no extra charge!