Do you think Disney responds to your complaints?

[GeneralTso]

Seriously curious about this.
There is a woman complaining a blue streak over on the FB page. Of course she's getting skewered because she's expressing her negative opinion about sacred Disney.

I believe she had the bad experiences she described. I also believe she complains a lot in her regular life. There are just people like that. Once you are upset you start viewing things through a negative lens it's hard to get back on track. Especially when a lot of money is involved and you feel like you aren't getting your money's worth. Once a few things go sideways on your Disney vacation, you get a negative vibe and you're more surprised when things go right than the other way around.

I don't have a lot of drama with my Disney vacation. A couple of things have happened, sure. It just does. I found that Disney responded immediately and quite generously. They made things right in ways I would never have expected, or asked for.

Many posters are telling her to contact Disney and express her experiences. Some say don't bother, others say it helps.

Your thoughts?

 

[FSU Girl]

Seriously curious about this.
There is a woman complaining a blue streak over on the FB page. Of course she's getting skewered because she's expressing her negative opinion about sacred Disney.

I believe she had the bad experiences she described. I also believe she complains a lot in her regular life. There are just people like that. Once you are upset you start viewing things through a negative lens it's hard to get back on track. Especially when a lot of money is involved and you feel like you aren't getting your money's worth. Once a few things go sideways on your Disney vacation, you get a negative vibe and you're more surprised when things go right than the other way around.

I don't have a lot of drama with my Disney vacation. A couple of things have happened, sure. It just does. I found that Disney responded immediately and quite generously. They made things right in ways I would never have expected, or asked for.

Many posters are telling her to contact Disney and express her experiences. Some say don't bother, others say it helps.

Your thoughts?

I think Disney might get back to her, depends on what was wrong, how long ago it was and if there is anything they can do. I find it's better to tell Disney about a problem you're having when you are actually there, it's the most effective. But I did email them a week or so after my trip when I realized what I thought were mosquito bites were actually bed bug bites. I wasn't looking for compensation, just wanted to alert them so they could check out our rooms. It took them a while to get back to me, but they did call me and said if I wanted could talk to a claims department. I think Disney does try to make things right with their guests within reason.

 

[OKW Lover]

Yes it helps. Disney reads all the communications it gets directly from guests, be it email or regular mail. Its not unusual at all for Disney to contact the person making the comment for more information and to offer compensation for valid issues.

 

[MamaBelle4]

Yes. Absolutely. If the complaint is valid, Disney will do what they can (usually over and above) to make it right.

 

[StageTek]

Yes, Disney often responds to complaints. One major issue is the response may not be what you want to hear so those people get more upset and tell others don't bother.

 

[Shanti]

Seriously curious about this.
There is a woman complaining a blue streak over on the FB page. Of course she's getting skewered because she's expressing her negative opinion about sacred Disney.

I believe she had the bad experiences she described. I also believe she complains a lot in her regular life. There are just people like that. Once you are upset you start viewing things through a negative lens it's hard to get back on track. Especially when a lot of money is involved and you feel like you aren't getting your money's worth. Once a few things go sideways on your Disney vacation, you get a negative vibe and you're more surprised when things go right than the other way around.

I don't have a lot of drama with my Disney vacation. A couple of things have happened, sure. It just does. I found that Disney responded immediately and quite generously. They made things right in ways I would never have expected, or asked for.

Many posters are telling her to contact Disney and express her experiences. Some say don't bother, others say it helps.

Your thoughts?

I'm an experienced schoolteacher, and I started my career at a charter school that was a school of last resort for many families. Some of them had kids with serious problems and had already pulled their kids from multiple schools before coming to us. At that school I learned a few things about dealing with the occasional very difficult parent:

1. People who are difficult to please and irritable with you tend to be that way in all facets of their life. Don't take it personally.
2. Some people lack healthy assertiveness, so instead of trying to get a problem resolved with the authority who can help, they'll just go around complaining to everyone else.
3. People whose initial approach to trying to get a problem solved with an institution/authority figure is anger/aggression are sometimes people who have been badly or unprofessionally treated in the past. Because of their bad past experiences, they think they need to come out swinging before the other person even knows there's a fight.

So I suspect that this woman has had some bad experiences in the past, particularly in terms of having valid complaints just brushed off & ignored. Lots of companies treat customers that way these days. She might have had more than her share of that treatment by companies, and maybe also by people in her personal life. A background like that can make it hard to calmly state problems/complaints and then calmly wait for another person to take the appropriate action.

If you are at least relatively calm and reasonable, Disney will do everything they can to help you. Their customer service is better than most, in my experience.

 

[Planogirl]

It depends. Some people seem to get form letters and some get actual compensation. It might depend on not only whether the complaint is reasonable but the person's tone too.

 

[CeruleanMoon]

But I did email them a week or so after my trip when I realized what I thought were mosquito bites were actually bed bug bites.

What resort was this? Bed bugs are pretty serious because they travel easily and are very difficult to get rid of. I hope none of them found their way back into your home. It takes a massive cleaning effort to exterminate them. I'm glad that it sounds like Disney took your complaint seriously and it was good of you to notify them.

 

[FSU Girl]

What resort was this? Bed bugs are pretty serious because they travel easily and are very difficult to get rid of. I hope none of them found their way back into your home. It takes a massive cleaning effort to exterminate them. I'm glad that it sounds like Disney took your complaint seriously and it was good of you to notify them.

So I'm not sure which resort it was because we did a split stay, so it could have been either Grand Floridian Garden View room (we were in Sago Cay) or it could have been the Boardwalk Villa we stayed in. I had 31 bites (was bored and counted them) I thought originally they were mosquito bites because they were really itchy, but I thought it was really weird how so many of them were in a perfectly straight line. So I googled it and that's one of the signs of bed bugs. I haven't gotten any bites since being home so I don't think they traveled home with me. I never unpacked so everything stayed in our suitcase. I've never checked a room before for bed bugs, but I definitely will be the next time we stay in a hotel.

 

[AngiTN]

Sort of depends on how she presents her complaints and a few other factors too

If she's got a real, significant issue and she presents it to them in a rational manner, without asking for something, but to truly notify them so they can correct for future guests, I believe they will respond.
If she goes to them with a long list of tons of petty things, even if the significant issue is among the list, and asks for something along the line, I think they will either send it to the circular file or send a form letter.

 

[HaveKidsWillTravel]

We stayed at Disney in January of 2017. We had some great cast experiences and some not so great overall experiences. Our biggest 'issue' was dealt with promptly by a wonderful manager at POR riverside. I followed up with Disney via email. Included praise and complaints. A Disney representative called me a few days later to 'follow up' and thanked me for providing feed back. So in my experience they absolutely listened. I'm not a complainer in general and despite the issues we had a wonderful trip and made great memories.

 

[LilyWDW]

Depends on the complaint. I take all complaints with a grain of salt because too often people leave out parts of the story that don't make their case look good or they exaggerate to make things seem worse then it really is. Or they complain about things they can't back up (a large number of "I got food poisoning!" complaints anywhere, not just Disney for example) or nothing can be done about ("I saw a snake!"). I guess I am jaded lol!

For a real, logical, well thought out complaint... Disney does listen and does respond.

 

[whiporee]

If the complaint is valid and verifiable, I think WDW always offers something.

I also think if you spend a lot of money there -- have a track record of long-term stays at resorts -- they tend to be more accommodating in order to persuade you to come back and spend more money in the future. My last complaint letter to WDW was after I'd spent seven days and two rooms club level at the Poly, and had done pretty much the same for the previous five. A good customer. I got a call and some pretty good comp once they got my letter. My complaints were sort of whiny -- didn't feel that way at the time -- but WDW was generous.

So I think it matters what the complaint is, and how WDW sees you as a customer when it comes to how they respond.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Other than going to the front desk while a stay is happening, I believe writing them with feedback is useless

 

[NMAmy]

Other than going to the front desk while a stay is happening, I believe writing them with feedback is useless

I disagree. We had a less than stellar trip a couple of years ago and it kind of put me off Disney (and we were once or more a year folks). When we got home, I wrote a letter--not filled with hyperbole, just verifiable facts including dates and times of the incidents. It was not just one incident but, really, a whole trip just filled with crappy customer service. I'm not a demanding person at all but I wanted them to know why I wouldn't be coming back. I got a call within a week from a wonderful woman who really did try to make it right. I wasn't asking for anything--I just wanted to let them know so they could try to correct these problems.

I still stayed away for three years but DH and I just went back last March and bought annual passes before we left because our trip was so much better this time around so it took a while but the good customer service worked!

 

[bettybooplove]

I'm an experienced schoolteacher, and I started my career at a charter school that was a school of last resort for many families. Some of them had kids with serious problems and had already pulled their kids from multiple schools before coming to us. At that school I learned a few things about dealing with the occasional very difficult parent:

1. People who are difficult to please and irritable with you tend to be that way in all facets of their life. Don't take it personally.
2. Some people lack healthy assertiveness, so instead of trying to get a problem resolved with the authority who can help, they'll just go around complaining to everyone else.
3. People whose initial approach to trying to get a problem solved with an institution/authority figure is anger/aggression are sometimes people who have been badly or unprofessionally treated in the past. Because of their bad past experiences, they think they need to come out swinging before the other person even knows there's a fight.

So I suspect that this woman has had some bad experiences in the past, particularly in terms of having valid complaints just brushed off & ignored. Lots of companies treat customers that way these days. She might have had more than her share of that treatment by companies, and maybe also by people in her personal life. A background like that can make it hard to calmly state problems/complaints and then calmly wait for another person to take the appropriate action.

If you are at least relatively calm and reasonable, Disney will do everything they can to help you. Their customer service is better than most, in my experience.

This was one of the best responses I've see on this site.

To answer the question, yes Disney does respond to complaints. Every time I've emailed them I've received an automated email stating I would receive a phone call within 7 business days and like clockwork it always happens. I don't know where people get this idea that they don't have a voice and Disney doesn't care what their customers think or experience. They certainly do and the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

[Orsino]

I complained once about a Food and Wine event after the fact. Disney contacted me and refunded 50% of the cost. I wasn't expecting that, so it was nice.

Just to be clear, it absolutely deserved to be refunded. I just wasn't expecting Disney to loosen it's grip.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've had issues....I emailed Disney about them. They responded. Did they do anything? No idea. I wasn't looking for any compensation. I just wanted to make sure they knew about the situations.
If we don't tell Disney about the issues we run into, they can't do anything to prevent them from happening again. I have to wonder if this is the same lady I've seen over on FB...EMHs not having the entire park open, mosquitoes, hot buses.

 

[nicolispicoli]

Depends on the complaint. I take all complaints with a grain of salt because too often people leave out parts of the story that don't make their case look good or they exaggerate to make things seem worse then it really is. Or they complain about things they can't back up (a large number of "I got food poisoning!" complaints anywhere, not just Disney for example) or nothing can be done about ("I saw a snake!"). I guess I am jaded lol!

For a real, logical, well thought out complaint... Disney does listen and does respond.

Not to turn it into a joke, but you make a great point. I once assumed I got food poisoning from Blue Bayou at DLR. It was only after I got done whining about it that I realized "No, you got excited about a kid-free trip to Disneyland, had too many drinks at cove bar, ate a rich meal at Blue Bayou and then rode Indiana Jones mixing all that goodness around".

I didn't complain to anyone but myself, but all those unsaid gory details made it a lot more clear

 

[nicolispicoli]

I'll also add that I've been on many trips and had a couple problems that I thought warranted complaint. Each time, I contacted guest relations not looking for anything but hoping my input could change whatever problem I had for someone else down the line. They are great at acknowledging your complaint and making you feel like they will do something about it.

On the otherhand, I've made sure to contact them when I had a great time or experience. They always need to hear that too.