Originally Posted By goofy4041 The bad part of all this is you choose to work in a particular job whether it be DL or Kmart or what ever. You should always do your best and yes there are those times we all don't feel well or have a bad day but that's life. I worked at a hospital and if i had given attitude or been rude to a person i would have been in serious trouble. we all need to and try and do our best no matter what we are going through and how much we get paid. My DAD told me one time son if you dont like your pay find another job. Sounds good and i did. Sorry for the rant i love all people but wish people would treat each other with a little more respect. JMHO
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL RAM1984, I did go and read the post in Community and then I had to re-read it a few more times because I just had too many questions. As they say there are two sides to every story and without the CM's side of things, and having been a CM in the past, you really don't want my opinion. I could go and list the points that I had a difficult time believing but what would that accomplish. (You really sat your friend in the wheelchair BEHIND the Walt and Mickey statue and thought you would be able to see the castle effects?!) Lets leave it at I am truly sorry you had what you percieved to be rude CM's on your last trip. I don't doubt that they are there and I hope that you filed a proper complaint. And seriously, may your next trip to Disneyland be truly awesome. >>>And we wonder why there's a problem with CM's today? I know, that's a snarky comment, but that's what your comments brought out of me. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with pay<<< Sorry danyoung, I stand but my statements. BTW, I left the park in 88, I'm just giving my educated opinion. I was one of the many that "got it" back then and I still "get it" today. Disney is getting exactly what they are paying for. In the past when wages were greater than what you could get at a fast food place or the mall, there was an abundance of great Disney CM's. It was a challenge to get hired at the park and an even greater honor, if you will, to get attractions right off the bat. Now they hire what they can and file them anywhere.
Originally Posted By danyoung >Disney is getting exactly what they are paying for. In the past when wages were greater than what you could get at a fast food place or the mall, there was an abundance of great Disney CM's.< We're really saying the same thing, just in different ways.
Originally Posted By RAM1984 >> (You really sat your friend in the wheelchair BEHIND the Walt and Mickey statue and thought you would be able to see the castle effects?!)<< That is not what I said. I knew we could not get her close enough to see the effects but thought we would have a good view of everything else from where we were. Then all of the people who had been sitting stood up. That was not a complaint about rude CM's. They had been as helpful as they could. It was just that all of those people that we though would stay seated not only stood up but stood on the seats and even in the flower beds. (Rude guests.) I know that there are two sides to every story but after two personal friends and a former City Hall CM stood up for me I thought you might cut me some slack. I have been on this thread since it started. It got so off track that it had to be admin'd back to topic. But through it all it has been some people saying that they have had mostly positive experiences with Disneyland CM's but a few bad ones. Others have said they have never encountered a rude CM. NOBODY has said that all of their experiences have been negative. I have stated over and over that the vast majority of my experiences have been good if not great. Why can't I have had one or two bad encounters? Your story is a bit hard to follow as you act like nobody has encountered rude CM's and then state that the low pay ect. has caused the quality of service to decline. Which is it?
Originally Posted By Actress56 to all the people that say suck it up, do your best, etc: I am tired of everyone preaching like they are the perfect employee every minute of every day of where they work. i am tired of saying "you work at disney. suck it up." again, we have come to the conclusion on this board that yes, there are times where there are rude cast members out there and not all your experiences are going to be magical. but thats life. even in freakin disneyland. and now i am going to get the responses "but we pay this much money", "you work at disneyland you shoudl know better." to those responses, I say, read the above.
Originally Posted By danyoung >...we have come to the conclusion on this board that yes, there are times where there are rude cast members out there and not all your experiences are going to be magical. but thats life. even in freakin disneyland.< I don't know why this simple concept is so hard. I don't think anyone is saying that DL CM's need to be perfect. Everyone will have a bad day - the goal is to have as few of them as possible, if you're going to work with the right attitude. I'm facing a work day today that just may kill me (figuratively speaking!), and my morning attitude sucks right now. The burden is on me to get in the right frame of mind so that I can handle my workload without snapping. All I've been saying is that there seems to be a lot more of the bad attitude CM's these days than there used to be. And I think a lot of the reason for this comes down to money. If all of the quality work force is going to In-N-Out and flipping burgers for $10 an hour, then DL gets what's left, those that can't land a higher paying job and have to settle for $7 an hour. And please, I know that plenty of those people will still be quality people. But simple logic tells you that you're going to get a larger percentage of less than desirable employees who refuse to put out the effort to come up to the quality that used to be associated with a Disney job.
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL >>>Your story is a bit hard to follow as you act like nobody has encountered rude CM's and then state that the low pay ect. has caused the quality of service to decline. Which is it?<<< Wow, classic example of someone reading only what they want to read. <<<<<When I went to City Hall to see if I could get a SA pass I was told that a wheelchair was all that was needed. I explained the situation and was given a memorized speech about each disability being determined at the ride. (I say memorized because my daughter who brought a note from her doctor and my husband who went back later got the exact same speech.) I could not get anyone to admit that SA passes were no longer available.>>>>> ^^^your words not mine dear^^^ Your responses only add to my opinion that you feel a bit entitled and you just weren't happy with the response in City Hall over the new, back then, SAP policies. Nor were you happy with the SAME response your husband AND daughter were given. Who was being rude.
Originally Posted By imadisneygal Ram, forget about TMICHAEL and anything he might say regarding your situation. I learned a long time ago as a Guest Relations Supervisor (before our title was changed to Assistant Manager) it's that you can never look at a story in retrospect and make judgements. Also, never say never. I thought a CM would NEVER use profanity towards a Guest and when I was confronted one night by a particularly angry man who insisted that a Cast Member had used profanity towards his daughter my first inclination was, of course, to not believe him and to offer him nothing in the way of compensation, etc. However, as I was going into the back of City Hall to contact his managers they walked in the back door with these pale, white faces. Not only was the story true, but they had witnessed it themselves. The Special Assistance Card situation was unique as it involved so many Guests and affected so many Cast Members. Generally a Guest concern involved a specific situation and a specific CM. However, the transition to the new policies was rough for everyone. Again, it doesn't really matter what any other Cast Member thinks about your situation, Ram. TMICHAEL might work at the Park but he wasn't in your situation, he doesn't know you, and he doesn't work in City Hall. Westsider, with many friends who work in Guest Relations, can tell you that each situation is unique and to go back and second guess a concern or to assess how a Guest might have acted is ridiculous. The Guest Relations Cast Members were handed a difficult situation with the new GAC and received lots of support from management. Just because many Guests felt the need to become abusive over the new policy doesn't mean that every Guest did. Ram's concern was more about the difficulty in navigating the system with so much confusion still surrounding the pass than it was with the pass itself. He wasn't there, plain and simple. No one has a right to second guess your behavior that night.
Originally Posted By pecos bill Actress56, what you are saying is if a CM is having a bad day, thats our problem, right? You keep making excuses for the snotty attitudes of these people, and yourself, I dare say. You people have taken a job, knowing that working well with the public in a sometimes stressful situation is one of the top requirements. My job requires constant professionalism, in dealing with clients and the production process itself. Why should I have to expect less at Disneyland? Kindness and patience is, to a Disney employee, what typing is to a secretary...or should be.
Originally Posted By RAM1984 >>He wasn't there, plain and simple. No one has a right to second guess your behavior that night.<< Thanx again!!!!!!!!! I am relatively new to these boards. This is the first time I have been slammed. My daughter who has been doing this kind of stuff for years and years told me she is, "the queen of getting slammed." She seems to enjoy the banter back and forth. She said there are posters who just get a kick out of stirring up controversy. Maybe I have been unfortunate enough to run into one of those. But I tend to be over-sensitive and take things personally. Hence my attempts to vindicate myself. I AM DONE. There is a whole thread about great CM's and it is loaded with wonderful experiences. Nobody has gotten on there and said, "But look at all the negative experiences." They have stayed on topic. This thread has turned into a bunch of people defending themselves and others instead of just comparing encounters with rude CM's. As Rivkah says, "This thread is going nowhere, fast!" She is so right. >>I don't know why this simple concept is so hard....The burden is on me to get in the right frame of mind so that I can handle my workload without snapping.<< HEAR, HEAR!!!!!!!!!But you will hear no more from me.
Originally Posted By danyoung RAM, please don't leave because of this one situation. Conversations take dark turns all the time here in the online world. Just remember that the person that you're arguing with doesn't know you, and is in no way better or worse than you. Take the parts that you agree with, and ignore the rest! Oh, and I've made it past lunchtime without snapping, but it's very definitely up in the air whether I'll make it through the afternoon!
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL >>>Ram, forget about TMICHAEL and anything he might say regarding your situation<<< ALRIGHT!!!!! Finally get to be the bad guy!!!! Thanks imadisneygal, you rock.
Originally Posted By imadisneygal If you've learned anything from being a Cast Member it should be that you take a Guest at their word and investigate later. You weren't involved. Therefore, you're not qualified to go back and make judgments about who was rude, who wasn't, and what compensation might have been appropriate.
Originally Posted By ADMIN <font color="#FF0000">Message removed by an administrator. <a href="MsgBoard-Rules.asp" target="_blank">Click here</a> for the LaughingPlace.com Community Standards.</font>
Originally Posted By imadisneygal "BUT, what everyone learns upon being a CM is the millions of ways some guests, including many AP's, B.S. their way into or out of what ever they want. It is because of your flawed way of thinking, and that of your old bosses Cindy and Paul, that so many fabulous guests with NO DISABILITIES were allowed to run the old SAP policies into the ground. And that, my dear, is a solid FACT and the reason why policies were changed." I didn't start working under Paul or Cynthia. I started under Jack Lindquist and his team - Norm Doerges, John Cora, Gil Scarnecchia, etc. To go down the line to the Guest Relations management at the time would show you that I definitely didn't start in the era of "give anything to anyone and saying 'no' isn't an option." It sounds like you knew these guys, too, and I am sure you remember their hard line stance on most things. The SAP wasn't even an issue at all until after the ADA was approved in 1990 and began to work its way into the Parks. Before that time Guests reported very few issues with accessibility. Each Guest with a disability waited by the exit with another member of their party until their party went through the queue and then met up with them at boarding. The SAP got WAY out of hand - I agree wholeheartedly. My point, and apparently I sounded way too annoyed about it, is that even though a Guest reports something we may find un-stinking-believable and we think there is NO way it could have happened it's still possible that it did happen exactly the way the Guest recounted. Cast Member rudeness is not limited to Special Assistance Pass issues. You're right, I don't know where you work but I'd be willing to bet it's not Guest Relations. And yes, in the very beginning of a Guest concern you do have to listen and take in the concern word for word before discounting any part of the story. Sure, there are a select few Guests who will try to BS their way into undue compensation but for the most part that's not the case. When Cast Members start looking for holes in every story they begin to get jaded and Guests with legitimate problems suffer.
Originally Posted By Actress56 I never said that it is your fault if a cast member has been rude. go back and actually read my other posts before you criticize. i have always said that going to city hall is one of the best things you can do. all i am asking for is for the understanding that your experience isnt going to be 100%. life isnt that way, and it isnt going to be that way even in diseyland. and again, everyone preaching that they work in customer service or at some other job cant honestly say that they have never been upset at work or got frustrated or something like that. i have never made an excuse for rude cast members. again, i have said that i have seen them myself. but i work my butt off on a daily basis to be the best cm that i can be and still get rude thrown in my face. again. read the other posts before you respond.
Originally Posted By Sweeper "When Cast Members start looking for holes in every story they begin to get jaded and Guests with legitimate problems suffer. " Well said. This is the heart of what happens when customer service dies. You have to treat everyone as if this conversation is new to you and this person is as honest as you are. That's how everyone wants to be treated. At Disneyland that's how everyone is supposed to be treated no matter what.
Originally Posted By mickeyfreak13 <starts looking for cover as this thread disintigrates> This appears to be a wonderful example of agreeing to disagree. =$.02 W
Originally Posted By imadisneygal While I was at Sea World today with our kids I thought of another point I wanted to mention. Many things get posted online simply because in this forum we are not face-to-face and people feel free to say things they would not say to someone else's face. In my opinion, once you've identified yourself as a Cast Member you represent the Company on this website just as you do in person with a Guest in the Park. Would it ever occur to you to look a Guest in the face and say, "I know there are millions of ways you AP's try to BS your way into compensation. This entitlement act isn't going to cut it." Of course you wouldn't. So while I was out today it occured to me why it bugged me so much that you judged Ram so harshly. You're not just some random person. You're a Cast Member. And as such you should treat Guests, here and in person, according to Disney standards. JMHO.
