Originally Posted By birdsNworms ~Long Post Alert~ Hi Everyone! As a longtime follower of LP and an admirer of all of the work Doobie and Rebekah and the many others have done here, I thought I would post about this to see if it resonates with other LP-ers. I am curious to know if any of the folks on this board have been extended an offer by Walt Disney World -- or any Disney resort worldwide -- to return as compensation for something having gone wrong with a visit only to find that once they have left the resort Disney revoked the offer in part or whole. This is not directed toward those fans/visitors who have received upgrades or discounts for inconsistencies in quality, misunderstandings, or the like. Rather, this is specifically directed at those quests who would have had often significant legal claims against TWDC and signed away liability in exchange for an apology from management and an invitation for a return visit on Disney to, as TWDC describes it, 'deliver the product we know we have and you have come to expect from us.' With disturbing regularity, once the guest leaves the resort after the incident -- avoidable accident or travel interruption or gross negligence or a combination of this which results in a financial loss to the guest and typically injury -- they either receive notice from Disney's guest services division advising them the offer they accepted was extended in error or when they attempt to use the return offer they are told it is invalid. Frequently, Disney then tenders a fractional offer for what the company terms the guest's "misunderstanding" of what was actually extended. This is usually a value of less than ten percent of the original agreement and is tagged as strictly a "goodwill gesture". As for the written, 'official' agreement usually handed to the guest prior to their departure, Disney disavows the validity of that contract -- a contract/offer Disney drafted and willingly extended. As Disney is self-insured, and employs a cadre of lawyers, they are largely self-regulating and operate outside most of the restrictions other companies must strictly adhere to. This both dissuades wronged parties from pursuing a legal remedy and serves as a significant impediment in locating an attorney who would actually engage TWDC. Disney is not shy about expressing this David v. Goliath scenario in pressuring guests to cede their legal claim and accept the return trip. Considering this, they simply do not get sued by guests with the great regularity one would expect from a company that works directly in a location-based, guest interactive environment of Disney's volume. To contrast with the cruise line industry or major mall operators, which are cited regularly for the number of (admittedly often dubious) claims they have to defend against, Disney's litigation rate is significantly lower to an extent that cannot be reconciled with TWDC simply being a more vigilant corporate citizen. I am not writing about the many questionable slip-and-falls or the slew of scammers who hit WDW with the same regularity and zeal of those who hit the Las Vegas strip. The claims Disney quickly quells with offers of a return visit do not fall into this category. In fact, Disney has a very iron-fisted approach to allegedly frivolous claimants, banning them from its properties with far greater regularity than most visitors would ever suspect. (Additions of scanning technology and a move toward a cash-less society have been made with an increasing eye on 'locking the gate' on these people before they have the opportunity to enter.) My interest, however, is in those guests who take Disney's "vacation on us" (or something similar) enticement to vacate a legitimate claim only to have that return trip swiftly stripped once that guest leaves Disney's property. As a Disney fan myself, I am particularly troubled by this predatory scheme TWDC is now actively employing to escape liability. As someone who is bound by contract law, like most everyone here and in business in most industrialized nations, I am especially concerned that TWDC engages in this conduct with an overt arrogance that -- well, unlike everyone else -- they need not be bound by the law or common decency. If any of the folks here have been on the receiving end of one of these non-invite-invites, please share your experience as it seems apparent Disney is aggressively duping many of its guest and loyal fans when things go [often terribly] wrong. No matter how one loves Disney, there's just nothing magical about that kind of wrong.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Nope...can't say I'm going to get sucked into this one. Good luck with it.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Let's place this one into WE, since it's going to head that way eventually, either that or closed.... I never call new posters this, but this post seems trollish...
Originally Posted By trekkeruss That's quite a first post for a longtime follower of LP. Also interesting that you make some rather significant claims against Disney without citing one specific example that could be verified.
Originally Posted By SuperDry Interesting first post, and welcome to LP! There's a lot of background information missing from your post. You use terms like "With disturbing regularity" and "frequently" to describe this alleged behavior, but provide not a single specific example. Also, like many people around here, I'm at least vaguely aware of events surrounding WDW and TWDC that are publicly known and in the general press, and have not heard of a pattern of this happening, nor actually of a single case of it happening. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, but it begs the question: How is it that you find yourself in a position to apparently be aware of details of many of these situations as well as the overall pattern of them? <<< As Disney is self-insured, and employs a cadre of lawyers, they are largely self-regulating and operate outside most of the restrictions other companies must strictly adhere to. >>> Disney isn't the only company that is self-insured, and it certainly isn't the only one with a cadre of lawyers. So how is it that they supposedly operate in a legal environment outside that which most companies do? <<< If any of the folks here have been on the receiving end of one of these non-invite-invites, please share your experience >>> How about you share the specifics you're talking about with us, and your involvement in them?
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones lol, I don't doubt any of this happens, but some examples would be nice.
Originally Posted By sjhym33 Not sure how I feel about the generalities of the first post but... My current rule of thumb with any corporation I deal with now is to get it writing, read what the agreement says and make sure that the agreement says what your understanding of the offer was. As for the idea that they fail to deliver on things that you may have in writing...get a lawyer and take them to court. It's called Breach of Contract.
Originally Posted By Socrates Is Disney really self-insured? Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Originally Posted By grlweatswchpstx I know Disney makes offers, but to be honest, I'm pretty sure Disney gets sued a good amount, its just that they tend to settle out of court.. At any rate, I agree this seems very trollish for a first post.. I don't see a single specific example relating to one time Disney has revoked any offer previously made. And if they did, you could still sue them over what happened. There is always a paper trail and a record.
Originally Posted By jkayjs Sorry birdsNworms looks like no one's taking the bate! But welcome to LP.
Originally Posted By SFH They have never made good on showing me to my room at their Hollywood Tower Hotel. Nor have they delivered me to Endor as promised.
Originally Posted By SuperDry ... and if I got compensation every time I went on an attraction with the best of intentions, only to have the experience go horribly wrong part way through, I'd own the place by now.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones I wonder if he is talking about people who threaten to sue over stupid things, get offered a free trip by Disney and then Disney suddenly says, "What trip?" when you show up for your free tickets. For example, say someone threatens to sue because a spider bit them while waiting in line for Star Tours and Disney placates them to get them to shut up. The complaint is BS in the first place anyway. So do two wrongs make a right?
Originally Posted By demderedoseguys The only thing out of whack here is that I can never get back the time I wasted reading this. Doesn't sound to me like someone who loves Disney. Come back with some examples of instances that have happened to you and stop speaking in generalities and maybe I will be able to take this seriously.
Originally Posted By DAR Funny but bnw hasn't made a return to respond to what he posted. My bs meter is running around a 10
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Funny but bnw hasn't made a return to respond to what he posted. My bs meter is running around a 10<< So that's your super power? The ability to sense BS? lol... You'd make a killing if you ever moved to D.C.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: More than likely, birdsNworms has read all the disbelieving responses and decided that none were worth responding to, since no one has taken him seriouly--until now. I could see Disney doing exactly what this newest duckling to the Laughing Place pond has said. No one around here knows this for certain, of course. But my sisters and I have heard and read just enough dirt about the Walt Disney Company in the past to not be so quick to discount BirdnWorm's story. Does anyone remember the law suit over Epcot's Mission Space attraction from a few year's back? The things that Disney was accused of, then, were not so complimentary to the company. It would be wonderful to have Spirit of '74 weigh in on this topic. He often has contacts that help him shed light on what's going on behind the scenes. In the meantime, ducklings, please don't be so quick to label someone as a 'troll' until you know for certain that they are one. I'm sure you wouldn't want anyone doing that to you. ORGOCH: Yeah, 'cause I knows plenty a REAL ones back in Morva! An' none of 'em talks as fancy as this birdNworms ducklin'.
