Is it worth complaining?

[PlutoTheDog89]

We visit Disney at least once a year. Our annual Christmas trip is one that we really look forward to. We arrive on 12/24 and stay through 1/2 (we'd stay through 1/1 next year.) We pay a lot of money ever my year - around 6 grand to stay at the POFQ. We've never had a problem - we used to love the POFQ, until now.

It seems like it's really taken a step back when it comes to maid service and cleanliness. Our maid never left us soap or shampoo, even when we asked. We'd have to call and request it. Fortunately we sent down a box of soap that got us by. There is a lot of dust and the maid rarely vacuumed. When we finally called and asked for the room to be vacuumed the next day, it wasn't. My mom called and inquired about vacuuming again. About a half hour later, our maid walks in without knocking yelling at us "I vacuum all the rooms!" My mom showed her the dirt on the floor. She plugged in the vacuum and viciously vacuumed the floor, banging into furniture, then pulled the cord out and started to actually yell at my family. My mom finally stopped her, saying "look, we're speaking to you in a nice tone, it'd be nice if you did the same. We spend a lot of money to come here, we'd expect soap, clean towels and for our room to be properly cleaned."

I don't think that's too much to ask, is it? I really don't want this to come off as snobbish. POFQ really is a great hotel. It's small, quiet and a fun place to stay. We've really enjoyed it in past years, but this year didn't sit well with us.

And so I ask - is it worth complaining? Has anyone ever gotten results from complaining? Of course we'll be back next year. We always come back... But we'd like to know that we're gonna receive some better service before we shell out all that money. We can go to Europe at that price - but we choose to come back and celebrate Christmas and the new year at Disney.

 

[happymommy]

I would definitely call NOW and talk to the housekeeping manager. What you are experiencing is not acceptable. They need to send someone else to take care of your room.

We had a horrible experience with housekeeping at the BC years ago. After several issues, the housekeeping manager sent us to dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse on them - nice gesture but the next day more issues. They offered us a free night to return, which we used on a trip a couple years later (just for the one night, then we moved to SOG as DH had a conference).

 

[tarheel618]

Yes I would especially with how the maid acted. I would complain to housekeeping manager and I would go to the front desk and ask to speak to a manager on duty. Especially with how the maid acted. Also, hid your toothbrushes for the rest of the trip . I trust no one.

 

[HopperFan]

Do not call, you will speak to no one at the resort.

Go straight to the front desk and tell them you need to speak the resort manager and don't take no for an answer.

Even if she was a poor housekeeper, her speaking and acting that way is beyond unacceptable.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Yes I would. Especially with how the maid acted. Also, hid your toothbrushes for the rest of the trip . I trust no one

Haha we did! Yuck.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Do not call, you will speak to no one at the resort.

Go straight to the front desk and tell them you need to speak the resort manager and don't take no for an answer.

Even if she was a poor housekeeper, her speaking and acting that way is beyond unacceptable.

I would definitely call NOW and talk to the housekeeping manager. What you are experiencing is not acceptable. They need to send someone else to take care of your room.

We had a horrible experience with housekeeping at the BC years ago. After several issues, the housekeeping manager sent us to dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse on them - nice gesture but the next day more issues. They offered us a free night to return, which we used on a trip a couple years later (just for the one night, then we moved to SOG as DH had a conference).

Thanks for the reply. Yeah - we won't be returning to POFQ next year. We're thinking of upgrading to a deluxe.

 

[dansdad]

It's definitely worth complaining when you have bad service, which you have. Like @happymommy said, do it now while you are still there. We had similar issues at POR one year. I spoke to the Manager as we were waiting for the ME and let him know our displeasure. On our next trip the housekeeping manager stopped by our room while we were unpacking and asked if the room met our expectations, which it did. On day 3 of that trip we had a voicemail from the Housekeeping Manager again making sure we were happy. Our room was perfect the entire stay.

I learned from that experience and during a stay at Beach Club had housekeeping issues so I spoke to the Housekeeping Manager in person on day 2. Our room was perfect the rest of the trip. It looked brand new every day when coming back to the room.

 

[Hopefully]

What "results" are you hoping for if you do complain now?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

depends on what kind of results you want out of complaining. Compensation? maybe you would get it, maybe not. To let the resort know that you have an issue with the housekeeper's service? Sure.

Maybe go straight to the front desk instead of calling. When you call, the call is answered by a call center. No telling how they will handle forwarding the complaint to the resort. and maybe don't bring up how much money you spent. Disney should have decent service for all its resort guests no matter how much they paid.

 

[bumbershoot]

Although the "front desk" button gets you to a call center, I've had good experiences with the Housekeeping button. You need to get to the housekeeping manager. It seems that your requests are getting to the maids but not further. And it needs to get further up.

A dusty room with no shampoo is, well, my home lol. (Kidding, we have tons of shampoo)

 

[disneyseniors]

Hi OP. I agree with the other posters, you should complain. But you should write to Disney (check their site for the address). The way the maid talked to your mother is unforgiveable and should definitely be reported. No one should be talked to like that.
We always stay at POR, and this year we, too, had problems with the maid service. My husband and I have health issues, and we Must be back in our room around noon to rest, take of business. It is not a want, it is a Have to issue for medical reasons.
I always call housekeeping the first day of our stay and request the room be cleaned before noon, telling them we leave early every morning for rope drop. I have never had a problem before this year. I called the first day and told housekeeping, as usual. When we came back around noon, the room was not cleaned. I saw the maid down the porch and asked her if she got the notice to clean before noon. She said no and looked at me with a surprised look. She was nice, but had no clue. So, I determined no one told her. I then called housekeeping again and asked for cleaning before noon. The next day, you guessed it, it was not cleaned again. So, call #3, and I decided to spell it out to them that we need, not just want, our room cleaned before noon for medical reasons. She was very polite and assured me that it would be taken of. I also stated this needed to be done each day of our l0 day stay, as they had been missing so far.
The next day, it was cleaned when we came back around noon. I thought, Wow, great, finally! But the rest of our trip was hit and miss, with them missing most of the days. I got so frustrated, I just gave up. I decided not to let it ruin our trip and tried to work around it, sometimes not getting the room cleaned at all.
When we got back, I got a survey about our stay. I told them in detail about what happened. I have not heard a word back.
You see, we had a resort for 19 years and I ran the housekeeping staff. I know you have to Communicate with them with special requests. I told Disney I thought they needed to work on communication, as no one apparently told the staff what I requested. So, I've been thinking of writing customer service with this complaint.
So, sorry for the rambling, but in short, write to them, don't wait!!! They need to know!

 

[Disneylover99]

Right now you're sour on POFQ because of your experience with housekeeping and thinking of a Deluxe for next year. But try to put things in perspective. Bad housekeeping can happen at any resort level. Sorry you had a bad experience. Definitely speak up.

 

[pullen]

LOL. At Pop, I think we got at least 1 new soap bar every day. There were about 10 of them between the bathroom and the sink.

 

[griff0525]

What "results" are you hoping for if you do complain now?

She's still there, LOL, so I guess she's hoping to get her room cleaned! But seriously, YES I would tell them about it. I have told them about stuff like that. You spend a lot of money there and usually things are pretty perfect but I have high expectations when I pay that much!

 

[Chelley00]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah - we won't be returning to POFQ next year. We're thinking of upgrading to a deluxe.

You can have crappy housekeeping anywhere. The dirtiest hotel room I've ever experienced in my life was at the Poly.

 

[vanwoo]

We had a similar issue when staying at CSR last year. Our 2nd day there, we came back from the park and our rooms (1 bedroom suite) had not been cleaned and someone else's trash (a lot of empty containers) was in our trash cans, the tip was gone. I said not to worry about the beds but could they please replace the towels, shampoo's, coffee and remove the trash. They told me that it was missed because we were in the room that morning. We had 7:30 reservations at Chef Mickey's so I knew that not to be true. The housekeeper came in with one quick knock, literally dropped the shampoos, fresh trash bags, and coffee on the table, put the towels up, bagged the trashed and left, without ever saying a word. Even after we thanked her. I didn't complain because I didn't want to be THAT guest, calling about every little thing. Plus it was our first time from Deluxe and club level, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. However, the next day, came back to the room at about 2:30, no housekeeping and the tip was still there. We were ok as far as supplies were concerned so I did;t say anything. Same thing the 4th day, so I finally went down to the desk. They mentioned the signs on the door, but I told them no there were no signs, we left every morning before 8:00 and never put a sign on the door. They were very apologetic and after that I had no problem. They did comp us a $150 resort credit, which was nice but not necessary. All I wanted was a clean room to come back to every afternoon so we could relax before dinner. After that, it was clean for the rest of our 11 day stay. So yes, I would say something, even if it is only to ensure that the room meets your expectations.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

She's still there, LOL, so I guess she's hoping to get her room cleaned! But seriously, YES I would tell them about it. I have told them about stuff like that. You spend a lot of money there and usually things are pretty perfect but I have high expectations when I pay that much!

He...hahah (I can't get emoticons on my phone right now or I'd put a laughing one.)

Yeah I doubt we'd get any kind of hand out, but as loyal Disney visitors who spend so much, we should at least be heard.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

You can have crappy housekeeping anywhere. The dirtiest hotel room I've ever experienced in my life was at the Poly.

No, I totally get that and agree. I was more so trying to make a point that we've spent a lot of money and will probably spend even more next year. I didn't communicate that too well, though.

 

[wilkeliza]

I would be making a visit to the fromt desk right away and asking to speak to either the hotel manager or house keeping manager. In no way shape or form should your mother have been treated that way. Honestly cost of the vacation aside if you call and say your room is not clean then they should send someone back to fix the issue and not someone who is going to yell that they did clean.

I love POFQ but last time I stayed there by myself for a race they put me in a room that either had just been shampooed. When I saw the note I thought awesome a super clean room! I took a quick nap since I had been on an ewrly flight. Woke up nauseous and with a cloudy head. Thought it was the short nap so went about my day. Around 5 came back to rest and violently ill with a tight chest and nausia. Called and asked to switch rooms. They were very nice about it and got me moved quickly. They also took dowm the fact that I got very very sick from the shampoo. After I switched rooms I didn't get sick again so figured it had to be the carpet shampoo they use.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

Talk directly to the manager and calmly explain the problems you have encountered.

Edit...when you get home do a follow up with an email to

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com