DEBATE: Send em back

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by gcurling
EUROPA, my point was that they don't charge you MORE through unscrupulous tactics such as "resort fees" or "service fees" (except Pepper Market). If you book a room at the All Stars for $49 a night, you pay that plus tax. No extra parking fees (Universal Resorts) or hidden add-on service charges (Marriot World Center) that you get blindsided with at checkout.

If that was your point then I do understand...but does Universal charge guest for parking? I was not aware of that...I know they do if you park in the Garage or Valet...but to park your own car?

I just don't see how having a rack rate of $77 but charging $49 is "using every means possible to extract as much cash from the customer as they can."

No, I don't ever pay rack rate. And I don't feel ripped off because the rack rate is higher than what I paid. Nor do I feel like I got an exceptional deal. WDW is forced to charge what the customer is willing to pay for hotel rooms. Otherwise, they would sit empty.

You would feel ripped off if you did pay rack rate and did not know there were discounts? The point is really though...77 dollars is not the price of the room, but 49 is the price. Your made to think that you getting a deal when your really not.

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by thedscoop
1. His name is Jeff Jewell.

2. It was an inside joke.

3.

OH, once again then HAHAHAHA! You must kill them at the water cooler everyday. Here is another one right back at you ->

 

[mrtoadslastride]

Originally posted by gcurling
Sorry to persist on this topic, but... Seems to me that they post prices for everything and then charge exctly what's posted. Seems fairly legitimate to me. Your statement sounds as if you believe Disney uses unscrupulous methods to bilk the unwary guest out of cash. I guess I'll stop debating here, we DEFINITELY have differing perspectives. When slot machines are installed at the Grand Floridian and the head waiter at Flying Fish starts accepting Benjamins for good tables at the topless review...

My point in making the Vegas comparison was not to suggest that Disney has done the equivelant of installing slot machines.

It appears to me that Disney's number one goal is now to seperate me from my money (same as the casinos in Vegas). I don't believe that is what Disney should be about. Should the company try to make money? Absolutely, I just don't believe that the lengths the company has gone to lately to pull profits out of the parks is appropriate.

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by thedscoop
Geez, fella...lighten up! It's generally all in fun around here...

All in fun at someone's expense? Maybe I still don't get the "joke". What information do you think that you've gleamed about me from reading my post here? How is that similar or dissimilar to this person you speak of?

 

[EUROPA]

Sorry I've seen his name on here, never really new all of that about him. No I'm not him.


Chirs Rock...I'm sorry I would rather be known as the Dennis Miller of the office.

 

[All Aboard]

Mrtoad, my point was that Disney HASN'T installed slot machines (which are great examples of money bilkers.)

Instead of trying to defend Disney's "tactics" I'll ask a question of you. Can you please give me a couple of specific examples of how:

Disney's number one goal is now to seperate me from my money (same as the casinos in Vegas).

Slot machines are a great example for Vegas. So is the fact that you will get a lousy seat at a show unless you slip the host a big bill. Getting you drunk while you are gambling is another. Throwing you out on your ear because you have a good memory for what cards have already been dealt is another.

Europa, yes the Universal on-site hotels now charge a $6 per day parking fee (in addition to room charges) for self parking at their hotel. As far as I know, the guest is not told this when they book. (At least I haven't been when I've made a couple of ressies in the past.)

I'm still struggling with the how offering discounted rates below rack is an example of using "every means possible to seperate a guest from their cash." That's the point against which I was arguing, and that example doesn't seem to match that point.

Bait and switch, hidden charges, add-ons, deceiteful sales tactics. These (plus the Vegas ones) are all examples. I'm just looking for how WDW does it.

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by gcurling

Europa, yes the Universal on-site hotels now charge a $6 per day parking fee (in addition to room charges) for self parking at their hotel. As far as I know, the guest is not told this when they book. (At least I haven't been when I've made a couple of ressies in the past.)

I'm still struggling with the how offering discounted rates below rack is an example of using "every means possible to seperate a guest from their cash." That's the point against which I was arguing, and that example doesn't seem to match that point.

I won't say every means myself...but I do see hidden "discounts"
as not a good pratiice...but many places do this....Disney is juust better at it.

Did not know that about Universal....I will find out first hand in the next couple of days as we are booking our Nov trip. Trust me you would not like to be the Desk Clerk or the Manager if they try and charge us for self parking. I feel sorry for the person that does that and has to deal with my wife.

I'll let you know what happens in the next couple of days. I plan to call the Hotel directly and ask them about the parking situation but not asking them if it cost to park. We'll see if they give up the information without a direct question.

 

[mrtoadslastride]

Originally posted by gcurling
Mrtoad, my point was that Disney HASN'T installed slot machines (which are great examples of money bilkers.)

Instead of trying to defend Disney's "tactics" I'll ask a question of you. Can you please give me a couple of specific examples of how:

Slot machines are a great example for Vegas. So is the fact that you will get a lousy seat at a show unless you slip the host a big bill. Getting you drunk while you are gambling is another. Throwing you out on your ear because you have a good memory for what cards have already been dealt is another.

Bait and switch, hidden charges, add-ons, deceiteful sales tactics. These (plus the Vegas ones) are all examples. I'm just looking for how WDW does it.

For me the how question is the rub. Vegas for the most part is pretty up front about what goes on there. When you take a trip to Vegas you should know what you are going to get. WDW is a little more subtle (the bait and switch et al would not be good for the Disney image).

However, I guess I will have to concede the point because when it comes down to it every company's goal is to make as much money as the marketplace will allow. When I started to make a list, the things I could come up with weren't much different than what goes on at professional sports stadiums and theme parks across the country.

I will finish by saying that trips to WDW have changed the way I vacation and shop. In an effort to be able to afford going to WDW more often I have used guide books and the net to get as good as deal as possible, this has now carried over to other areas. Instead of just accepting the quoted price for a room in Chicago for a weekend trip, my wife and I now use the net etc. to get a better deal.

 

[EPCOTgrl1]

If right now you went up to a CM and asked them who long do these mugs last... they would say for life. So you would never be "abbousing" the system you would just have the mug and use it to its fullest! why is disney becoming so cheap?

 

[eeyore0062]

We bought our 1st set of refillable mugs at Dixie Landings in 1998, at which time we were told that they would be able to be refilled for free for the *duration of our stay at that particular resort*... not for life. We were also told the same thing in 2000, when purchasing our WL mugs, in 2001 when purchasing our CBR mugs and just recently, in January when purchasing our Contemporary mugs. Someone really must have misled a whole lot of people, or there is a lot of wishful thinking going on.

 

[gepetto]

Maybe Disney's problem is with the real cheaters of the system. Our last Polynesian stay, the entire time we were there I would guess that only about half the people getting soda even had Polynesian mugs (new or old). I saw people refilling empty pop bottles, coolers, mugs from the parks and other resorts. Who needs to buy a mug....use whatever container you have with you. Maybe it's cheaper to pay for a barcode reader than to pay employees to stand next to the pop machine 24 hours/day.

 

[Tara8595]

1. Policy hasn't been implemented at the resorts yet, right? Seems I read something somewhere about getting a barcode sticker. Maybe all you have to do with an old mug, is present it to get a sticker which will be good while you are there. IE - if you have a sticker without a barcode printed on it, they'll give you a sticker to use so that you can continue to get your drinks whenever you return, replacing the sticker on subsequent visits - so you'd be 'grandfathered' in.

2. Even if Disney never changed the policy, they'd still be making money on the mugs. $9 for a mug that probably cost them .17 or less, for coke that probably cost them .20 or less per 2 liter. I mean, do the math....in order to start losing money, a person would have to drink the equivalent of like 45 2-liter bottles of soda. It would take me longer than the mug would last to consume this on subsequent visits, even if I'm staying 2 weeks a year. So why shake things up in the first place? I don't get it.

Just some observations...

Tara

 

[EUROPA]

Don't you love it when people don't read the other post....