Comment Cards - The Hard Sell

[ILoveMyKellen]

Does anyone know if they do this in Concierge too?

I have been reminded to do my survey by the concierge team but I have never had them pressure me at any time while sailing with them. The only people who have ever done any type of “pressuring“ for me have always been my servers.

 

[Kwami]

Does anyone know if they do this in Concierge too?

The dining staff does it, regardless of whether you're sailing concierge. I've never heard this nonsense from anyone that wasn't dining staff.

 

[ArtemisPhoenix]

The dining staff does it, regardless of whether you're sailing concierge. I've never heard this nonsense from anyone that wasn't dining staff.

Ugh. I Hope we don’t get that on this sailing. Our first team did a medium sell. Our head server on our Transatlantic cruise was on his last cruise before going home and didn’t even say anything about the comment card. He truly was excellent, so he didn’t need to, but I much preferred that approach.

 

[shananigans]

Does anyone know if they do this in Concierge too?

Never experienced it in concierge!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

The salesman later told me that it was lowest survey rating he ever had gotten

See, now that's what I don't like. Letting someone know who specifically gave them what rating. Instead of just looking at a comparison/overview of all ratings provided and then talking to the employee(s) involved about how to improve things.

 

[Jsoenning]

Where I get my car serviced, they hand you a sheet with the "correct" answers. One of them is to say the service took less than 30 minutes. They have never taken less than 30 minutes ever so I'm not going to lie.

And thus unless the service truly is excellent, I feel no guilt whatsoever providing the true grade. Excellent isn't hard to achieve for our family either, bring drinks, refill waters, take our order in a reasonable time (no 2.5-3 hour dinners) and take away the dirty dishes.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Where I get my car serviced, they hand you a sheet with the "correct" answers. One of them is to say the service took less than 30 minutes. They have never taken less than 30 minutes ever so I'm not going to lie.

And thus unless the service truly is excellent, I feel no guilt whatsoever providing the true grade. Excellent isn't hard to achieve for our family either, bring drinks, refill waters, take our order in a reasonable time (no 2.5-3 hour dinners) and take away the dirty dishes.

Now, that's just wrong. I think this whole "survey" thing has gotten out of hand. Of course, I've never been reticent to let a business know how they treated me (good or bad) just by writing a letter or talking to them.

 

[GoingSince1990]

That’s just as annoying as how every time I get my car serviced I am bombarded with emails and texts trying to guilt me Into a 5 star survey rating as “anything below 5 stars is a failure”. CMs should be banned from pressuring or even mentioning the survey ratings, and Disney should not treat anything below a top grade as a “failure” (if indeed they actually do) any more than I should angrily berate my daughter for getting a B+ in calculus instead of an A.

 

[enzy65]

We were on the wish in April and didn’t hear about the survey at all from our servers.

 

[etusing82]

Our servers in January on the Fantasy we the worst we have ever had as far as the push for Excellents. It started on night 2 or 3 and never let up and by the end we (party of 10 split between 3 rooms) started to dread going to dinner. We had first seating as well (we have had had second seating on all of our previous cruises). The pacing of dinner was also very off, it took forever to get food (we did not order anything outrageous or customized) and then by the time dessert finally arrived, the lights had come on and we were basically pushed out of the dining room. While we understand that they had to reset for second seating, but the whole dining experience was by far the least enjoyable we've ever had. We did mention that we understood the survey process early on, but it did not stop them. Hoping our service team on the Magic in July/August is better!

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Never understood the DCL system when it comes to ratings/gratuities. Such a low rent experience from a company that usually prides itself on customer service.

 

[Kwami]

That’s just as annoying as how every time I get my car serviced I am bombarded with emails and texts trying to guilt me Into a 5 star survey rating as “anything below 5 stars is a failure”. CMs should be banned from pressuring or even mentioning the survey ratings, and Disney should not treat anything below a top grade as a “failure” (if indeed they actually do) any more than I should angrily berate my daughter for getting a B+ in calculus instead of an A.

Would you be upset if she got a B-, though? Because 4/5 is 80% and that's how Disney sees it, too. I had a server explain to me that they average all of the scores together and they expect everyone's average to be 95% or better. It's a really bad system.

 

[tvguy]

I hear you. I have been bombarded by doctor's offices, CVS Pharmacy with surveys after each visit, even if I only use self checkout! Also the same goes for restaurants and fast food outlets.

And amazingly if there is a problem, there is no option to report it because THAT isn't one of the questions they ask and there is no comment section.
I got a call from my insurance agent because I had marked down the INSURANCE COMPANY, not the AGENT for a policy issue. He said that reflects on the agent only. The company doesn't care what people think about how the company operates.
Or surveys that REQUIRE your cell phone number. Not happening folks. You have my e-mail, you have my landline number, you DON'T need my cell phone number.

 

[jimmymc]

Surveys across all industries have been distorted recently. I won't book an Airbnb with less than 4.5/5 stars, since the place could be falling apart with mice and bugs everywhere and people will still give it a 3. Uber drivers are also expected to keep at least a 4.5 or it really hurts their ratings. 3/5 is average, and that should be ok.

 

[Kingkonig]

Surveys across all industries have been distorted recently. I won't book an Airbnb with less than 4.5/5 stars, since the place could be falling apart with mice and bugs everywhere and people will still give it a 3. Uber drivers are also expected to keep at least a 4.5 or it really hurts their ratings. 3/5 is average, and that should be ok.

Yeah, the issue is you can't have a company that prides itself on excellent customer service or quality or what have you and then have nuance in the surveys. How do you expand on the difference in service quality between different staffers? I can say that Disney service is leaps and bounds above other cruise line quality, but if a server is average for DISNEY then what do you do do differentiate from the best servers?

The difference between a 98% and a 95% is going to be pretty high in that case, and it really shouldn't be. Especially since service apparently is "failing" if the grade is any less than 5/5

 

[Dug720]

Every cruise we have been on has given the speech one way or another but we were never "begged" for an excellent. The last few cruises I do stop them and say something like I know you need the excellent and I know the game. You don't have to worry and don't need to ask again. We will take care of you.

Yup. This. I let them know the first night that I know how it works, that I will not hold what the cooks do against them (since unfairly the wait staff gets dinged if you rate the food low), and that if I have any issues they can do anything about I will let them know at the time or shortly thereafter so they have a chance to change things. So far it's worked.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

and there is no comment section.

I create my own comment section by adding (with a staple so it doesn't get lost) a whole page to the survey. Usually one of the letterhead stationery sheets from the desk, but, on occasion, a full binder paper page.

One of the questions does address "did you have a problem"

 

[AquaDame]

I totally forgot about this until now, but on our second cruise (or maybe third) we neglected to fill out the survey so we brought it with us to dinner and filled it out at the table. Our server couldn't let the opportunity pass by, and came over and sat down with us and "helped" us fill it out - until then we didn't know food quality reflected on them. He was, to be honest, one of the best servers we've had including at Palo, so it always struck me as funny and not overbearing, though it did cement how vital filling them out was. (I have never, and will never, bring a survey to dinner again regardless).

 

[dwg]

I wonder if DCL takes note if you do not complete the survey as I feel not completing the survey can speak volumes in that more likely than not if a guest does not complete the survey they most likely didn't want to give all excellent ratings. Also wonder if the lack of a guest survey causes the servers to get dinged, as in if only 75% of the servers guests completed the survey DCL says something to the servers or it affects them when they are evaluated.

 

[chuff88]

I'm almost dreading my cruise this week on the Wonder, but since this is my first cruise, and first DCL cruise, I will try to be patient. I've been reading the boards here for months and see the frustration grow on the part of cruisers and the reaction to servers. Is this because most of the servers are new, not quite fully trained since the veterans seemed to have left after the reopening or did they all go to the Wish? I'm also dreading the sales push at the spa but gosh darn it, I want my massage and will tell the person I don't want a sales push.

I'm not as experienced a cruiser as a lot on these boards, but on my 3 Disney cruises the most I've ever gotten is a short "speech" from the server about how the ratings are important to them and Disney sees anything less than excellent as a failing grade. I've never gotten a long or aggressively hard sell. I've also had a server on the 2nd or 3rd night (we've only done 7 night itineraries) more casually say something like "if there's anything I can do to make your experience better please tell me so I can make that improvement," but without any explicit mention of the survey.