Strange experience while booking a trip by phone...

LadyLallie · Post by **LadyLallie** » Feb Sat 21, 2009 2:45 pm

I would have been upset at a call like that. I have had CMs ask me about adding on the dining plan but when I have said I am not interested they drop it. Never had a pushy one like that. Hopefully it was just someone having a bad day and it's not going to become Disney practice.

Post by **js3901** » Feb Sat 21, 2009 4:42 pm

spodie wrote:
Jacca5660 wrote:Did you ever call back to report the CM?
No - I didn't remember her name. That's a mistake I'll never make again! I called back today to add the Dining Plan and made sure I caught the girl's name. However, she was super sweet and not pushy at all.

I hope that the bad call was just one time...

speaking from an "over the phone customer service" experience, most places use some kind of system which logs the people you talk to when you call in. There's a "digital fingerprint" (so to speak) whenever your account is opened/accessed. you should be able to call up, and ask who it was you spoke with, and the rep should be able to look up that information and provide it to you.

JDWDWlover · Post by **JDWDWlover** » Feb Sun 22, 2009 8:25 am

I wonder if they outsource calls when they are super busy or something. It seems to be a crap shoot if you get outstanding service or terrible service. My experience has been either extreme. Next trip I'll have to experiment and only call at times they are likely to be slow. Now to figure out when that would be...

Jacca5660 · Post by **Jacca5660** » Feb Sun 22, 2009 8:43 am

JDWDWlover wrote:I wonder if they outsource calls when they are super busy or something. It seems to be a crap shoot if you get outstanding service or terrible service. My experience has been either extreme. Next trip I'll have to experiment and only call at times they are likely to be slow. Now to figure out when that would be...

I didn't even think about this (maybe) being an outsourced call. I saw something about how businesses are using remote call services. They're even doing this for drive up windows at fast food restaurants. It could be.

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Feb Sun 22, 2009 12:31 pm

I would hope that Disney doesn't do this. I always thought that they put customer service first. I've always been able to understandt he people I've talked to at Disney. I can usually tell when a call has been outsourced b/c you can't understand a word they say! I wonder with the economy the way it is, if they would do this?! That was a strange call though. Hopefully it was just a CM having a bad day!

Post by **js3901** » Feb Sun 22, 2009 1:02 pm

boilerbabe wrote:I would hope that Disney doesn't do this. I always thought that they put customer service first. I've always been able to understandt he people I've talked to at Disney. I can usually tell when a call has been outsourced b/c you can't understand a word they say! I wonder with the economy the way it is, if they would do this?! That was a strange call though. Hopefully it was just a CM having a bad day!

outsourcing calls isn't something new, and it doesn't mean you're going to get someone in some foreign contry. I used to work for an outsource vendor here in the US. in fact, here is their website. they have call centers all over the world. It's very possible that Disney uses an outsource vendor for their overflow queue. That's what we did. We had the exact same systems as the client we were servicing, we acted exactly like the client's agents (usually did a better job than the internal agents according to the customers), except that we didn't work for the client. it could be very hard to tell...

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Feb Sun 22, 2009 2:23 pm

That's interesting, I always thought outsourcing was you're talking to someone in another country. See, I learned something new today!!!

spodie · Post by **spodie** » Feb Sun 22, 2009 2:51 pm

Wouldn't it be hard to outsource with a company like Disney? I know that a lot of companies have complex systems, but you really have to know Disney in order to help someone. I'm sure the phone operators get really complicated questions that only a Disney representative can answer. Maybe there's something I'm missing because I don't know much about outsourcing...

Post by **js3901** » Feb Sun 22, 2009 3:40 pm

spodie wrote:Wouldn't it be hard to outsource with a company like Disney? I know that a lot of companies have complex systems, but you really have to know Disney in order to help someone. I'm sure the phone operators get really complicated questions that only a Disney representative can answer. Maybe there's something I'm missing because I don't know much about outsourcing...

when I worked for the outsource vendor company, we got AT LEAST 4 weeks of initial training - 5 days a week, 8 hours per day. Learning about the company, their systems, their products, everything. on top of that, we would get pulled off the phones on occasion for continuation training - any time a system is updated or a new product is launched. Basically, we become agents of the client we were working for, though we were paid by the outsourcing company, not the client directly.

when we handled money, we could do everything that one of the regular agents could do, including giving credits and such. It was VERY hard for a customer to tell if they were talking to a "real" agent or an outsourced one.

emnbensdad · Post by **emnbensdad** » Feb Mon 23, 2009 2:17 pm

I just got off the phone with a Disney agent. I was modifying my reservation adding the Magical Express service to get me from the airport to the resort. This was only my 4th call ever to make reservations and they all have been the same level of service.

Outsourced or not, it was great.

purple figment · Post by **purple figment** » Mar Wed 04, 2009 2:39 pm

I never had a problem. I even had one cast member be very supportive when I was crying as I booked a trip to Disneyland shortly after my mother died.

wdwannabe · Post by **wdwannabe** » Mar Thu 05, 2009 1:37 pm

Wow, I don't like to be pressured into anything. I hope they don't start this! How terrible if they do. I bet they would have a lot of complaining if they do.

secondstar · Post by **secondstar** » Mar Sat 14, 2009 11:09 am

Len90 wrote:I personally like calling them for booking because the hold music is always fantastic. I have even booed when the CM finally picked up after a 25 minute wait. I think the Disney music is an incentive in itself!

I love this quote. I, too, book by phone and can't wait to hear the "hold" music. To date, I've never experienced a pushy CM. I did catch a brand new CM, who had to check things from time to time. But mostly, all my online experiences have been very good.

emnbensdad · Post by **emnbensdad** » Mar Sun 15, 2009 8:24 pm

I made my reservations for Whispering Canyon Cafe for one night in April. I mentioned that my family was going to be at WDW this summer for a week and the agent asked me if I had chosen the dining plan. I told her no since we only ate one meal a day in a park. She went on to tell me the dining plan would be perfect for us in that situation. She didn't get it. I politely said no thanks and that was the end of it.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Mar Sun 15, 2009 8:51 pm

emnbensdad wrote:I made my reservations for Whispering Canyon Cafe for one night in April. I mentioned that my family was going to be at WDW this summer for a week and the agent asked me if I had chosen the dining plan. I told her no since we only ate one meal a day in a park. She went on to tell me the dining plan would be perfect for us in that situation. She didn't get it. I politely said no thanks and that was the end of it.

I can understand that the individual sales people on the phone are under some pressure to 'move' the dining plan (and other up-sell things) but that bothers me. Anyone who understands the workings of the dining plans knows that's a lie. I guess it's not unique to Disney, but I don't like the idea they're trying to take advantage of people who aren't Disney-knowledgeable.