Originally Posted By mousermerf Don't zero-out for an operator, it puts you in the longest queue - intentionally.
Originally Posted By Mr X Don't you have to make a golf reservation? Or could you just, say, ask a question about rates (to make it legit) and then say "oh, and by the way I'd also like to reserve Boma for next week"?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<post #266 gave me the first reason to respect birdsNworms. That was very nice.>> Agreed.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<No one ever listens to me.. le sigh..>> Maybe you should take singing lessons and practice your showtunes. Disney fanbois love their showtunes. <<About that "evil information mining" - just push the buttons that say you're new, never been to WDW, and you have no clue. Sure, you get the more clueless and less trained CM's, but you also get answered first - you're a new opportunity to the mouse. >> Um ... you're really missing the point. No one here is complaining about how long it takes to get a CRO CM to answer your call. And as soon as you give them your name, phone number or address, they know you are full of $hit about being a newbie. <<I've said this at least a dozen times on a handful of different sites - no one listens. You tell the mouse you go often you get put into the longest queue where they know rabid mouse fans will wait and wait and wait and call back and wait and call back and wait.. etc.. >> I haven't waited longer than 3-5 minutes for a call to Disney in many, many years. So, I don't think it makes any difference whether I lie about how many times I've been there. Of course, I don't call exactly at 7 a.m. to get character meals at Cindy's or the day new offers are put into the system etc ... <<I've seen with my own two peepers the little LED board at the call center that measures the difference in wait times for the various call-in sorting queues. "Intender" (new guests) and "Repeater" (less then 4 visits) sit around 5mins nearly all the time while "Worldphile" (AP's and frequent guests) sits at an hour or more, sometimes several hours. >> Interesting. I've been to TWDC call centers and never seen that, but maybe I wasn't paying attention. <<I know you folks will read this thread, stop looking at butterflys and focus - push the buttons for "I have never been to WDW.." and get your call answered quickly. Jesus. >> What Disney Resort Would Jesus Book? <<As for the rest of the thread - what? News to me if retraction happens, but people do get hurt and people do get comp offers.>> Really? Shocking.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Try being in Epcot and needing a place to eat and guest relations is backed up into the plaza because Test Track has been down all day and the same day that Food/Wine packages are going on sale. It's helpful knowledge. Yes, your anecdotal experience says that "5-10mins" is the worst of it - but it's not. Over 2 hours wait for the Worldphile queue sometimes. Did you actually go out onto the floor at the call centers? The LED boards are pretty blatant. And to answer Mr. X - nope, don't have to book golf. The call is answered, they're there to serve, they may think you weird but they'll do it and move on. And for the data collection stuff - who cares if they figure out your household after they've answered? "Sir, i refuse to help you, you're an AP and I only help newbies to entice them to spend money on things they haven't read online aren't worth the money!" Nope, the company isn't quite that corrupt yet. The game is about getting what the consumer needs/wants quickly, fairly, and easily. There is no reason to punish your frequent guests (in fact, it's counter intuitive) but Disney does it - so here's a way to screw up their data collection and to get what you want. Seriously, call Golf and ask for Cindy's first thing in the morning - you'll win.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<Over 2 hours wait for the Worldphile queue sometimes.>> If that is so true, how come no one on these boards has fessed up to waiting that long? Like Spirit, the longest I've ever waited is 3-5 minutes, tops. Two hours? BS.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 What Disney Resort Would Jesus Book? Jesus is likely a DVC member........
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Jesus bought in at Old Key West for the quiet serenity of the place, but every once in a while yearns for the rowdy nightlife of the Boardwalk Villas.
Originally Posted By mousermerf BS? Because it's not your personal experience? That's wonderfully ignorant. No one else is vouching for if there are LED boards listing queue wait times at the call centers either, but they exist. Just because you don't want to believe something doesn't make it untrue.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<If that is so true, how come no one on these boards has fessed up to waiting that long? Like Spirit, the longest I've ever waited is 3-5 minutes, tops. Two hours? BS.>> I don't believe it's BS, Nikki. But I think it also is a very rare instance. And again, I'm sure worse at 7 a.m. (middle of the night for me) and when Disney announces a deal, word leaks online and the next day the call centers are crazy busy. But I can tell you that in hundreds and hundreds of calls over the years if I've had 2-3 significant waits (say over 15 minutes) that would be a lot. And they tell you an estimated time to begin with ... if it told me 'YOUR CALL WILL BE ANSWERED IN 39 MINUTES' I'd hang up and call another time. But I also bet Merfie's advice on calling for golf ressies and booking Cindy's instead is a smart loophole. But I don't golf or dine with princesses, except when I bring them to dinner myself ;-) ...
Originally Posted By wahooskipper It wouldn't be a surprise in the least if there are queue wait times at the call center. I've worked around them in past in places far smaller than Disney.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 What Disney Resort Would Jesus Book? <<Jesus is likely a DVC member........>> <<^ Being a DVC member, I now feel much closer to Jesus>> <<Jesus bought in at Old Key West for the quiet serenity of the place, but every once in a while yearns for the rowdy nightlife of the Boardwalk Villas.>> I set you DVCers up for that ... so easy ... big softball down the plate. Now ... the question is: Could Duped By Disney? be a thread name for Disney's Best Kept Secret? Just asking ...
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I think Jesus would book the Wilderness Lodge. Closest to what he actually created.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^If Jesus had good taste, I do agree ... he'd book the WL. (where are my DVC pals to remind me of the beautiful Villas at the WL?)
Originally Posted By demderedoseguys >I set you DVCers up for that ... so easy ... big softball down the plate. Now ... the question is: Could Duped By Disney? be a thread name for Disney's Best Kept Secret? Just asking ... < Depends on who's answering. I'll have to check with Jesus and get back to you in 2042. As for me, I bought in 1999 and have never looked backed.
Originally Posted By birdsNworms The comments relating to my writing style are understood and not taken as misplaced criticism. As a consequence of what I do, this is too often how my words come out. Admittedly, it is not the easiest read. That means, in a place like LP, I may not be articulating my point(s) in the most effective manner. I apologize for that and ask that anyone who might be able to better make a point that could be muddled here do just that. For those who may have questioned my presence on LP, although I have followed the site almost since its creation, this is not all that unlike looking over one day to find the canary in the coal mine dead in its cage. On your watch (to a large extent). Did I lose that somewhere between post #1 and 198, almost assuredly so. Still, I know there are folks -- former top Disney execs, industry people, current cast members, and others, who know exactly what I am writing about, why I am writing about it, and how incredibly important this is. Please feel free to winnow this down any way you can if you think it will help. ***Or, if you wish to simply skip over these posts, I understand that too.*** My writing voice is the one I speak with and the one that got me where I am. I fully understand it is my handicap here. In short, TWDC has incorporated the paring or elimination of certain guests as an important element of the business model that has grown from the proliferation and abuse of data mining or so-called 'targeted' marketing. Few people would ever believe that involves dumping customers, but that is precisely the goal. Long-term, the loyal and informed customer costs you (since someone mentioned it on another thread, to those folks, think NPV of cutting the line or keeping the 'fish' on the hook). The new one is wide-eyed and willing to spend. 'Once and out' is now more than an accepted method of capturing market share, it is the King Kong of business plans being engaged.
Originally Posted By birdsNworms Data mining, when applied in a disciplined manner, does indeed enhance the customers' experience. Having extensive experience in the development of such programs, it is not my intent to doubt the value part of that equation. It would be counter to my own business interests. It also is not indicated to in any way single out TWDC simply for data mining, as every company looking to the future employs it to some extent. [I use it, fine-tune it, and package it in a major media environment myself.] The technology made a significant shift in the latter part of the 90s allowing for manipulation of aggregate information about customers/guests to be applied to the individual. This was done not to raise that guest's experience but to limit it based upon the statistical value of that one consumer as perceived by the company. The sole decider: those data points. Therein lies the problem. TWDC began to lead the world in the wholesale application of the technology, to the point some folks even noticed its footprints when checking into a resort or just for dinner at one of the many WDW restaurants, as there were some 'peculiar' details about them next to their reservation. Now, many top-notch resorts and restaurants take notes about their customers [this is nothing new], but the purpose has consistently been to -- no matter how difficult the customer -- make that guest's experience a better one. TWDC had a different idea. Take the information, and use it to predict the level of product Disney has to deliver to that consumer. ***In simple terms: How far can we push this guest/this family before he/she/they will walk away?*** Soon after that information was placed in the centralized database that frontline cast had access to, complaints came in aplenty. It was fine if TWDC wanted the hostess at your favorite restaurant to know your preference is for a booth by the wall, it was not okay for Disney to note that the guest "orders appetizers as entrees, dwells" or "adults eat from children's menu" or "left w/ dinnerware" (abbreviations replaced for clarity). Quickly, only the back of the house was allowed access to this kind of information. And, yes, this is a very mild example of what TWDC was gathering on something as everyday. as mundane, as a meal on property. On the surface, it may still sound relatively innocuous. But it is far from that as presently employed. Unfortunately, there are limits to what can be discussed. So I have selected an example -- an actual incident, one of many -- to help show the evolution of this practice and how it does impact all guests in one way or another. Also, addressing an 'open' secret among the top echelon of Disney executives and industry leaders, I feel it incumbent upon me to stop the rampant misinformation relating to the "biometrics" used by Disney. Biometrics include everything from bone scans to fingerprinting to DNA and many other 'tags' said to be unique to the individual. TWDC, domestically, gathers those fingerprints for many reasons. And, they are fingerprints -- nothing less intrusive. The deployment of these scanners was encouraged after 9/11 when TWDC was cited as a "major, high-value" location. As a consequence, various governmental, and some non-governmental, entities and TWDC have an agreement that allows access to its data mining including those prints. For obvious security reasons, I have actually supported limited sharing of the information Disney has gathered. Regardless of what you may want to believe, this thread was not started by someone who wants to bring negative attention to TWDC. To do so would be contrary to my own interests. financially speaking. It also would be a personal betrayal, as my connection to TWDC predates me and I have been, I am privileged to call some Disney giants friends and more. Instead, it was placed on this medium because it is one of the only outlets available to take the pulse and gain a better idea of just how detrimental the deployment of TWDC's zealous use of this, at time frighteningly intrusive, technology is impacting the guest.
Originally Posted By birdsNworms I will post a specific example from a family right here at the LaughingPlace later today...as it requires a bit more attention (for reasons of privacy/legal).
