A Mini Reservations Rant

[_19disnA]

Last time we went to Disney we did the entire reservation online @ the Disney website and never needed to talk with anyone to make the actual reservation. I agree with others that the skill/interest level of the Disney phone people is ALL over the map. If you get someone who has no idea what they are talking about, isn't helpful or overly pushy in trying you to sell you upgrades, I would just hang up and call back later. Most likely you get a different person who is more helpful.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Is there ever any advantage to doing any of this on the phone as opposed to online? If I needed clarification about anything I would call, get my questions answered, and then say “thanks, now I’ll book it online”.

 

[Eastern]

Is there ever any advantage to doing any of this on the phone as opposed to online? If I needed clarification about anything I would call, get my questions answered, and then say “thanks, now I’ll book it online”.

You have to book bounce backs by phone. Otherwise I do it myself.

Also sometimes people want to add or drop a day or two and if they can't do it online, sometimes they can get it done by phone.

 

[MinnieMSue]

Yes booking my bounce back was painful. It was like when I used to work for McDonald’s in the 80’s and they made us try to get people to add something to their order. (Do you want fries with that?). Anyway they kept asking me to buy this that and the other. It was annoying. All of my other calls to change reservations etc were never an issue but that darn bounce back was painful to book

 

[ezma]

Excuse my ignorance! We have been to Disney 30 plus years (actually I have stopped counting). I have always booked myself (I like to have control). So this is not our first rodeo. I have booked room only before and room with tickets and I guess Iam confused about it all. The reason I buy tickets with room is that we are locked into the price with tickets. And we can still cancel at a reasonable time. As far as the deposit goes, I look at it this way, Disney will eventually get our money so the deposit does not bother me. And we dont get dinning, memory maker, insurance, ect. Yes they try to sell me extras also and I just say no thanks. They sometimes try to debate with me and I dont give them the opportunity. We have always been able to get discounts on both room only and room with tickets. I know alot of people on the forum just do room only but is room and tickets a bad idea!? That is my confusion. Thanks, Marla

 

[Eastern]

Excuse my ignorance! We have been to Disney 30 plus years (actually I have stopped counting). I have always booked myself (I like to have control). So this is not our first rodeo. I have booked room only before and room with tickets and I guess Iam confused about it all. The reason I buy tickets with room is that we are locked into the price with tickets. And we can still cancel at a reasonable time. As far as the deposit goes, I look at it this way, Disney will eventually get our money so the deposit does not bother me. And we dont get dinning, memory maker, insurance, ect. Yes they try to sell me extras also and I just say no thanks. They sometimes try to debate with me and I dont give them the opportunity. We have always been able to get discounts on both room only and room with tickets. I know alot of people on the forum just do room only but is room and tickets a bad idea!? That is my confusion. Thanks, Marla

Booking a package with tickets is fine. A lot of people have APs or like to buy from other ticket resellers so in that case, they don't want a package. It's never been a problem before but lately, it seems the phone reps are really pushing packages and the dining plan. Some CMs are more persistent than others in the upselling.

 

[Best Aunt]

Excuse my ignorance! We have been to Disney 30 plus years (actually I have stopped counting). I have always booked myself (I like to have control). So this is not our first rodeo. I have booked room only before and room with tickets and I guess Iam confused about it all. The reason I buy tickets with room is that we are locked into the price with tickets. And we can still cancel at a reasonable time. As far as the deposit goes, I look at it this way, Disney will eventually get our money so the deposit does not bother me. And we dont get dinning, memory maker, insurance, ect. Yes they try to sell me extras also and I just say no thanks. They sometimes try to debate with me and I dont give them the opportunity. We have always been able to get discounts on both room only and room with tickets. I know alot of people on the forum just do room only but is room and tickets a bad idea!? That is my confusion. Thanks, Marla

The cancellation policy is different based on whether it is a Package or Room Only. For Room Only, you can cancel something like 5 days ahead and get a full refund of your deposit. For a Package, you have to cancel 30 days ahead to get a full refund. That's a big deal for some people.

Also, if you already have tickets (an Annual Pass, tickets you bought in the past to get them before the price went up, tickets you bought but didn't use), you don't want to accidentally book a package that includes tickets.

And some people purchase tickets just for that particular trip, but purchase them from someone other than Disney to get a discount. So they don't want a Package either.

 

[ezma]

Booking a package with tickets is fine. A lot of people have APs or like to buy from other ticket resellers so in that case, they don't want a package. It's never been a problem before but lately, it seems the phone reps are really pushing packages and the dining plan. Some CMs are more persistent than others in the upselling.

I understand now..thanks!

 

[ezma]

The cancellation policy is different based on whether it is a Package or Room Only. For Room Only, you can cancel something like 5 days ahead and get a full refund of your deposit. For a Package, you have to cancel 30 days ahead to get a full refund. That's a big deal for some people.

Also, if you already have tickets (an Annual Pass, tickets you bought in the past to get them before the price went up, tickets you bought but didn't use), you don't want to accidentally book a package that includes tickets.

And some people purchase tickets just for that particular trip, but purchase them from someone other than Disney to get a discount. So they don't want a Package either.

Thank you for the clarification!

 

[kylenne]

I believe their point is to wear you down and confuse you. I, too, got questions like- "Why did you pick the hotel you picked?" "What is your occasion for visiting?" You have to get snarky in order to get the rep to just book the room, book the room, book the room!!

I asked them recently why they ask all of these questions. She said she is trying to fill time while her computer loads. I asked, 'why does it take so long to book a BB?' She said it is a different system and they have to wait for it to load and it takes longer than other types of reservations.

I somewhat believe them, but I said I'd rather just have silence.

Many, many moons ago I serviced Disney credit cards as a CSR at Chase and in the years since I trained phone agents at a government call center for a long time, so this sort of thing is in my wheelhouse. Their systems are probably slow as heck and they do this to avoid dead air while screens are loading. That's all it is. They're not trying to confuse you, they're not trying to harass you or get on your nerves. I promise. They have to fill that silence or they get docked on their quality assurance evaluations, because SOP in the industry says customers hate dead air. They're right too, because it's the sort of thing people complain about on CX surveys. For every introvert who hates small talk, there's five customers who will pitch fits if the agent's quiet for too long because they feel like they aren't being paid enough attention.

But please don't take it out on these agents. They are literally just doing what they're told in order to meet the quality assurance metrics they're supposed to meet in order to get good evaluations, in order to stay gainfully employed. If y'all think it's irritating to make small talk as a customer, think about the CSRs who have to do it all day long.

Even the package upselling is assuredly a mandate passed down from management that they're being measured on. Just like sales associates at electronics stores constantly pushing the extended warranties. I'm not excusing shady tactics at all, don't get it twisted. There's a way to hit metrics that are ethical and customer forward. But there's a method to these things and frontline agents have very little control over it at most orgs, is all I'm saying.

 

[Pyxie]

Many, many moons ago I serviced Disney credit cards as a CSR at Chase and in the years since I trained phone agents at a government call center for a long time, so this sort of thing is in my wheelhouse. Their systems are probably slow as heck and they do this to avoid dead air while screens are loading. That's all it is. They're not trying to confuse you, they're not trying to harass you or get on your nerves. I promise. They have to fill that silence or they get docked on their quality assurance evaluations, because SOP in the industry says customers hate dead air. They're right too, because it's the sort of thing people complain about on CX surveys. For every introvert who hates small talk, there's five customers who will pitch fits if the agent's quiet for too long because they feel like they aren't being paid enough attention.

But please don't take it out on these agents. They are literally just doing what they're told in order to meet the quality assurance metrics they're supposed to meet in order to get good evaluations, in order to stay gainfully employed. If y'all think it's irritating to make small talk as a customer, think about the CSRs who have to do it all day long.

Even the package upselling is assuredly a mandate passed down from management that they're being measured on. Just like sales associates at electronics stores constantly pushing the extended warranties. I'm not excusing shady tactics at all, don't get it twisted. There's a way to hit metrics that are ethical and customer forward. But there's a method to these things and frontline agents have very little control over it at most orgs, is all I'm saying.

Very well said, and as someone who has worked in call centers for 20 years, I just want to back all this up as 100% true.

Also if a rep ever actually tells you their systems are "updating," they are down.

 

[kylenne]

Very well said, and as someone who has worked in call centers for 20 years, I just want to back all this up as 100% true.

Also if a rep ever actually tells you their systems are "updating," they are down.

I always joke that everyone should be forced to work retail, food service, and customer service in a call center at least once in life. It would make them much better customers.