On phone over 3 hours with tech support!

[CaptainAmerica]

It's an example outside of the original discussion, but take "pandemic related socially distanced character meet and greets" vs "pre-pandemic meet and greets". Disney can cram people in parks, theaters, restaurants, queue's, gift shops, etc. without public health concerns, but socially distanced meet and greets are still here.

Many (most, I believe) of Disney's cast are members of labor unions. Disney's guests are not. Disney can unilaterally make changes to their rules and guests have no choice but to follow them. They can't make changes relative to their cast without negotiating and coming to terms with the unions.

I think people are upset because they see "if it costs Disney money to bring back, it's pandemic related. If it saves Disney money, it's a labor issue. If it makes Disney money, what pandemic are you talking about, that was so last year!". Certainly, some of it IS from each of those categories, but there is no rhyme or reason as to which.

Just because the fan community isn't aware of all of the reasons for things doesn't mean there AREN'T reasons for things. Without a doubt, I think there are some instances of "Disney is being cheap and dragging their feet and using the pandemic as an excuse to slow down bringing things back." But the labor shortage is extremely real, and there are particular types of roles that Disney is having a darn-near impossible time trying to fill.

 

[Churla27]

I was on hold this weekend for 4 hours and 8 minutes to cancel a Star Wars reservation. The lack of customer service at Disney right now is appalling. I sent an e-mail to customer service on Saturday and still have not gotten a response. I have always been a Disney super-fan and supporter, willing to pay the premium because of the superior customer service. I hate to feel this way, but the lack of customer service has me questioning whether Disney is worth it anymore.

 

[lowlight]

Many (most, I believe) of Disney's cast are members of labor unions. Disney's guests are not. Disney can unilaterally make changes to their rules and guests have no choice but to follow them. They can't make changes relative to their cast without negotiating and coming to terms with the unions.

It's possible unions are still an issue for some experiences. We don't know the specifics of when/if/how they renegotiated their contract upon reopening, and when the contract expired and had to be renegotiated. Like I said in my post, there are definitely examples which fall into each category, some are justified, some are not, and some are "what in the hell is going on". A perfect example is Cinderella's Royal Table and the complete lack of well, uh, Cinderella. Forget about the other princesses which have gone AWOL, that might be a staffing issue, but Cinderella is there, on premises, she just isn't doing anything at all. It's not a staffing issue. It's not a contract issue. It's not a public health issue. So what is it? When these meet and greets turn into a monetized event (whether separately, or through Genie+), don't be surprised.

 

[Disturbia]

You can add genie+ by clicking modify under resort reservations on ‘my plans’ page from the website (not app; should be a modify button next to your resort reservation) and scrolling down to ‘tickets.’ You can add a birthday celebration and memory maker as well.

 

[lockets]

Many (most, I believe) of Disney's cast are members of labor unions. Disney's guests are not. Disney can unilaterally make changes to their rules and guests have no choice but to follow them. They can't make changes relative to their cast without negotiating and coming to terms with the unions.


Just because the fan community isn't aware of all of the reasons for things doesn't mean there AREN'T reasons for things. Without a doubt, I think there are some instances of "Disney is being cheap and dragging their feet and using the pandemic as an excuse to slow down bringing things back." But the labor shortage is extremely real, and there are particular types of roles that Disney is having a darn-near impossible time trying to fill.

Then give people a small token for waiting on hold. Whatever that may be. Or, create a callback system like the airlines have. Especially with the understanding that there are literally people who get hung up on after three to four hours and have to start again. For instance my cell provider automatically disconnects calls after 4 hours to prevent someone from accidentally keeping a call open (especially while internationally roaming).

Times like these are actually great opportunities for businesses to be transparent and find ways to impress their customers through the challenges. With the years in business that Disney has it would just be great if they could acknowledge there’s a problem and come up with anything to show they are trying to work with us on it and appreciate our patience. They didn’t even change their hold music/announcements to say “We know that hold times are long and we appreciate your patience.” Instead everything is the same (except it’s on us to wait hours and they are making boatloads of money). Not good optics.

 

[Disturbia]

Then give people a small token for waiting on hold. Whatever that may be. Or, create a callback system like the airlines have. Especially with the understanding that there are literally people who get hung up on after three to four hours and have to start again. For instance my cell provider automatically disconnects calls after 4 hours to prevent someone from accidentally keeping a call open (especially while internationally roaming).

Times like these are actually great opportunities for businesses to be transparent and find ways to impress their customers through the challenges. With the years in business that Disney has it would just be great if they could acknowledge there’s a problem and come up with anything to show they are trying to work with us on it and appreciate our patience. They didn’t even change their hold music/announcements to say “We know that hold times are long and we appreciate your patience.” Instead everything is the same (except it’s on us to wait hours and they are making boatloads of money). Not good optics.

They used to give a multi experience pass if you waited for issues they couldn’t resolve (3-4 hrs on the phone). But now that they’ve monetized them I get an apology sometimes, other times they blame the customer (most ridiculous was: you must have an old phone- no I didn’t ; have used the same phone since.) Edit: wait there was the one time they asked me the CM’s name. Now I take a picture of the CM, write out the name and time and what was said and screenshot everything.

 

[MainMom]

It's possible unions are still an issue for some experiences. We don't know the specifics of when/if/how they renegotiated their contract upon reopening, and when the contract expired and had to be renegotiated. Like I said in my post, there are definitely examples which fall into each category, some are justified, some are not, and some are "what in the hell is going on". A perfect example is Cinderella's Royal Table and the complete lack of well, uh, Cinderella. Forget about the other princesses which have gone AWOL, that might be a staffing issue, but Cinderella is there, on premises, she just isn't doing anything at all. It's not a staffing issue. It's not a contract issue. It's not a public health issue. So what is it? When these meet and greets turn into a monetized event (whether separately, or through Genie+), don't be surprised.

I saw on Instagram (maybe DFB?) that Cinderella is now going to be in the castle lobby for a picture, but it’s still social distanced.

 

[ItsOnlyMoney]

I called again yesterday as the promised fix hadn't happened and no one had answered my over 3 week old e-mail.
1st time I got the all circuits are busy. Called again an hour later and sat on hold for 2 1/2 hours. Had to go through the whole automated response system which didn't have a response for my Memory Maker issue, Talked to a CM who switched me over to the appropriate Photopass person, who got some on the support team to fix it!!! Yeah.
They knew I'd prepaid for Memory Maker and even knew what color my magic band was -
Well, at least I'm finally happy. Antonia was great and very pleasant.

 

[revdon64]

I guess that we should feel really blessed that we only waited 30 minutes longer than the original estimate to speak with GS this week (63 mins estimate, 96mins actual). We were also able to get our issues addressed and the CM was actually very nice and understanding.

 

[Disturbia]

I called yesterday to check some pricing for reservation changes. Every 10 seconds I hear the same recording that they are experiencing some delays in answering questions. I have to keep hitting 2 in order stay on hold. SO AGGRAVATING!!! The person I talked to was incompetent and screwed up something on the reservation.

On hold now and hitting 2 every 10 seconds again. At this point don't know that I want to spend more money than I usually spend on a Disney trip for this kind of customer service!

I had the same thing happen. I told the CM but they didn’t seem to care. I had pressed 2 until someone picked up (30-40 mins). They can’t even fix their phone lines to play the music they used to have (loved it btw) vs repeating ‘press 2 for continuing to hold.’

 

[Disturbia]

It's an example outside of the original discussion, but take "pandemic related socially distanced character meet and greets" vs "pre-pandemic meet and greets". Disney can cram people in parks, theaters, restaurants, queue's, gift shops, etc. without public health concerns, but socially distanced meet and greets are still here. I think people are upset because they see "if it costs Disney money to bring back, it's pandemic related. If it saves Disney money, it's a labor issue. If it makes Disney money, what pandemic are you talking about, that was so last year!". Certainly, some of it IS from each of those categories, but there is no rhyme or reason as to which.

Why not have the princesses in cartoon form like Super Nintendo world (Japan) and they’ve been doing character meet greets for a while now. And all the characters talk!

 

[busymomma123]

I had the same thing happen. I told the CM but they didn’t seem to care. I had pressed 2 until someone picked up (30-40 mins). They can’t even fix their phone lines to play the music they used to have (loved it btw) vs repeating ‘press 2 for continuing to hold.’

It's really got me a little hesitant for our upcoming trip. If they can't get the phone system working correctly, how are things going to be in the parks?