Disney call center employee: American visitors are “demanding, rude, nasty and foul-mouthed”

I think Mindy’s comments are overly harsh, but I can understand the frustration. As an American, I get tired of hearing how much better others are. But I digress.

What the call center employee fails to grasp is that it’s customer feedback that enables good companies to learn what is important to the customer such that the customer will be a repeat visitor. The OP also doesn’t understand that others who don’t complain, but are equally dissatisfied, may simply write off the property and stay elsewhere on the next trip.

But by posting this ridiculous letter, it just reinforces the stereotype that Americans don’t care about service but have commoditized the travel experience.

As someone who has traveled to Disney over 70 times and has had excellent (not good, excellent) customer service I can completely believe what this cast member has to say. These cast members go above and beyond for their guests. Yes, I’ve had less than magical experiences there before but I’ve never left Disney property thinking that I’ve wasted my vacation dollars… that includes the time I was “stuck” there for Hurricane Jeanne (Sept. 2004).

I’m also in agreement with the cast member that some demands are outrageous – I’ve waited in lines at Guest Relations and have overheard ‘complaints’ that are simply ridiculous (money back because Test Track went down, really?). And certainly even the most TV addicted of us can handle not having cable for a day. Disney has so many other entertainment options the last place I want to find myself is in the room watching TV.

I don’t know that this is symptomatic of American tourists (and its unfair to single Americans out) – but more perhaps more so of people with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement. And maybe we as Americans have more people with this sense of entitlement because it is so ingrained in our culture… we’re used to getting what we want. And sometimes we might take it a little too far.

To the Disney employee faced with the unendingly rude American tourists – simply put – then don’t promise people a magical worry free experience in the large print, and take it away in the fine print.

If Disney screws up, then Disney needs to fix it. Or, offer appropriate compensation. The key word is appropriate. You folks have to know that when you charge top dollar, and disney charges top dollar, you need to provide that top dollar service. Every day, every place. I don;t care if the hotel rooms are pretty much standard normal 1970′s vintage hotel rooms in quality and amenities. someone pays $500 a night for a hotel room they want better than 20 watt light bulbs. They want a timely response to room problems.

A guy comes back from the parks in the middle of the day and wants to watch a little CNN or something – well – he’s paying $500 a night he expects $500 a night service. You SHOULD give him a half off refund for that night in a situation like that. You charge Ritz prices you need to give Ritz service, and the Ritz would give you half off a room.

I was trying to print a 4 page document at a Ritz property. They could not get their computers to work as advertized in the ‘business center.’ They charged me $25 for the privilege of wasting 90 minutes trying to get 4 pages to print. First the printer was out of toner, then the printer did not work, then the network did not work – another excuse. I had the document on a usb drive – even the concierge could not get the thing to print – a standard PDF that appeared on the computer and his computer was not accessing the network.

Finally – they took it in the back offices and got it to print on a machine with a physical printer attached to it. Come to find out that guests had been complaining for DAYS about the business center not working. The concierge took one night off my bill without my even asking for a) not living up to their standards and b) wasting 90 min of my time because no one had called their computer people to fix a problem they knew about for 3 days.

but THAT is the type of service you expect for $550 a night.

I would like to say further that Disney holds itself to a higher standard of customer service, and clearly this employee of theirs is not up to that standard, or he wouldn’t have written this article, and they should consider putting him on probation or removing him for this attitude. He is probably spreading this attitude, and thereby undermining his employer’s mandate, that mandate being a GOOD thing, and thereby is insubordinate.

The customer IS King, deal with it.

If I wrote what I really wanted, no one would read it because Chris wouldn’t print it.

This is amazing … I should get a free night because cable is out to the entire hotel and I know when its going to be fixed. Seriously!!! Come on. I don’t think Chris, who is about as proactive for a traveler as you can get, would think that’s reasonable. Refunding a charge for something not working (Ritz business cetner) reasonable. Demanding a free nights stay laughable.

I should get a free nights stay because a light bulb burns out. Ummm isn’t that something that normally happens to light bulbs? At my house, they fail unpredictably (that’s also what physics and a whole bunch on engineering principles say too). I’ll add this one into the laughable category too.

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Chris write articles on being reasonable if you want to actually get something. Throwing a laundry list out and then making unreasonable demands gets you quoted on a page like this, laughed at and not much else. Making a reasonable demand that addresses the issue (broken business center refund of fee) in a undemanding tone will get you what you want more often than not.

Its nice to see Chris remain neutral on the issue.

@Joe. I stay in the Ritz all of the time. The Ritz isn’t going to give me half off one night because the cable is out in the entire building. They might give me a complementary drink with dinner. Offer to take me to a local bar / pub if its sports I’m going to watch. Jump through hoops to do what they can but not give me half a night off. I’ve seen castmembers jump through a many hoops as Ritz employees. In my experience, they’re about equal in customer service.

@ Roberto. Disney uses a call center for calls to “front desk” because it drastically decreased wait times. It also kept people waiting in line to check in from being ignored. They found they could staff an entire call center to handle calls to the front desk, improve service and decrease costs. The call center can call whomever they need on site as quickly as the front desk and fix room account issues just as easily.

@Scott. I really hope you don’t feel like this. Otherwise you are part of the problem.

Finally let me say directly to the Disney employee: Those difficult customers you hate so much pay YOUR salary, son. So every time you feel offended, remember your compensation is your paycheck. Their experience is earned. It is THEIR money, not YOUR money.

I am in computer support, I am sure I deal with much more angry and outrageous people than you do, have or will. But they call because they need help and you are in a position to leave them better than you found them, as do I. I also remember in my position how p.o’ed I would be if my computer were jacking up and affecting my life, and in your scenario how important a vacation they saved up for all year long or more in a tough, no, scary and impossible economy, with Lord-knows what stresses on their job is to their sanity.

Their right to the best experience possible trumps your right to not appreciate the job you have.

Again, perhaps Customer Service is not your calling.

Wow.. I just hope that most of the people replying here I never run into. This is why i’d never have a job in customer service.. I’d smack most of you people if I was just behind you in line and heard you complaining, I think. If you were jockeying for a free night for these problems..

Maybe I’m just misreading the concept of “Appropriate” compensation here..

Appropriate compensation for a burnt out light bulb would be a polite apology and sending maintenance right up to replace it.

Appropriate compensation for cable TV being out? Isn’t that probably out of the control of the property? I mean, if they throw something your way, that’s quite nice of them, and an upscale high dollar property I can certainly see doing something like that.. Not to the tune of a free night.. But go take in a movie, bring the receipt back and knock the cost of that off the room.. That’d be like the power going out.. They don’t exactly run their own power plant on the property.. Cable being out is a problem though not to the extent that if the power were out.. Doesn’t make the property unliveable like the power being out might..

You get mugged in the lobby of the hotel.. THAT’S where they ought to be coughing up free stays.. You wake up and Mickey (either the character or a real life mouse) is standing at the foot of your bed watching you sleep.. THAT should get you at least a free night.. Hotel staff gets nailed for stealing valuables from your room.. there’s a good case for compensation.. The sad part is.. Those are cases where properties usually will invoke the “we’re not responsible…” clauses

What I get the sense from most people here is that they have a very overblown sense of entitlement. If one TINY thing goes wrong, then they shouldn’t have to pay for anything. “Oh, there’s a water spot in the sink! Free night!”

That’s total crap.. If you’re in a room that doesn’t have any hot water.. Call the front desk.. “Hey, my room doesn’t have hot water.” I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t move you to a room that DOES have hot water. And if they couldn’t, THEN you can start with compensation demands. And.. That one I might agree with you on if you asked for a free night. Though to be honest with you, if the hotel didn’t have hot water.. I probably would be checking out and finding another property. And I find it difficult to believe that the folks at the front desk would charge you for the room in the first place if you chose to do so.

What other industry do you try this in? Call in a contractor to paint your house.. “Oh, you missed a spot in the corner… I’m not paying.”

American tourists are, apparently, a pain in the rump. Can’t tell you how many times, while traveling Europe, people incredulously asked us ‘you’re Americans’? We did our best to fit in and be reasonable because we were visitors. And, we were there to experience a different culture, after all! Unfortunately, the majority of American tourists people encounter seem to be demanding and whiny.

This is not to say that i have not had my share of reasons to complain when staying at places, even in the US. However, having known someone who managed an upper scale hotel property, i am probably more aware than the average consumer of what can/can’t or should/shouldn’t be addressed. Some things are simply out of control of the property in question and you need to deal with it as best you can. If the power grid goes down or the cable company drops offline, it’s hardly the fault of the property, no matter how pricey it is – they are at the mercy of someone else, as would you be at home. However, if they treat you poorly when you bring an issue to their attention, you simply choose not to go back or politely bring the offending employee’s behavior to the attention of management. Never travel without a sense of humor and be flexible.

It’s so easy to laugh, point at, and ridicule people who complain about what we call “trivial” complaints.

Here’s another perspective on the “lights out” issue.

I was in one of the nicest (but rather old) hotels in Vancouver BC, and when I checked in during the day I didn’t notice that the light bulb in the bathroom was out. When I got back to my room at 9 pm and discovered this, I immediately called the front desk. I was nice, and being nice got me nowhere. I kept calling for 2.5 hours, wondering when someone was going to bring up a simple incandescent bulb.

What finally got a response was me telling them I was American and that Americans sued for the most trivial reasons. I then mentioned that somewhere in their system was a log of the calls I’d placed asking for a bulb, and if I tripped in the bathroom and fell and hurt myself because I couldn’t find my way around in the dark, I would file a lawsuit for negligence on their part and call the phone records as evidence. The housekeeping supervisor himself brought me a bulb within 2 minutes of the phone conversation ending.

So I’m thinking that by the time these callers (mentioned by the cast member) finally reached him, they had run a phalanx of indifferent cast members of the local property and had had it up to here. The Schaudenfreude of reading these horror stories may be fun, but I’d bet dollars to donuts there are two sides to this coin.

@ John: Um, no John if you disagree with me, YOU are part of the problem of lousy service. Consumers have a RIGHT to a high bar of quality for THEIR money and THEIR time invested with a business, and not to be attacked by other SHEEPLE consumers like you for insisting on it.

People complaining about PROBLEMS on a routine basis is a GOOD thing, people! It educates businesses, (not all of whom but MORE OFTEN THAN NOT are always completely clueless about their own image and operations on the ground or could care LESS).

DEMANDING in the title of this post is NOT a problem. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. As far as the other three, no, those generally don’t help.

@ James, YES the Customer IS king, whether you think they are reasonable or not.

Customer service has to be dispensed in a “high road” professional objective manner and the more and harder the business goes out of their way to do it without even being asked the better, not based on the subjective wimp-whims of sheeple like many who are posting on here.

@Jason – who are you to impose your low standards of acceptability on the rest of us? If you smacked me, well, you’d be in a world of trouble, physical legal and otherwise. Unless you are going to backup other consumers like you SHOULD, mind your damn business and don’t write checks with your mouth your body can’t cash.

I’d like to further suggest on here that if you are a customer complaining in person somewhere and you fear some unbalanced osychotic individual like Jason is breathing down your neck from behind you in line, you can always resort to the telephone or the internet later, after you have Jason apprehended for stalking and menacing in a public place.

Since most of the vistors are Americans, logically most complaints would come from them.

BUT, how does the call center operator know the person she is talking with is an American?

Look, we can all cite stories — extreme cases from both ends of the spectrum. I’ve stayed at properties ranging from five stars to zero stars, and they all have light bulbs that burn out (without warning, yet) and worse. I’ve had zero-star properties bend over backwards to correct a problem and five-star joints that couldn’t care less if I passed out in the lobby.

But 95 out of 100 times, I’ve learned (first-hand) that being calm, courteous and patient (even if it requires a fistful of Valium) is infinitely more effective at getting good results. Heck, I’ve had my room comped when all I wanted was some minor fix from maintenance… and utter apathy when I checked in to find soiled (yes, soiled) bed linens.

But having family in Europe, and having traveled extensively, I hear time and time again that the loudest complainers are the Yanks. From people who absolutely love America, but who are just sharing their personal experiences in the hospitality industry. It may reflect our society today: the language (especially on TV) is more crude, the attitudes more in-your-face, and yes, we’re all eager to sue for anything at all. Don’t get me wrong: sometimes it’s justified, but too often, it’s not, and until we learn to take a deep breath, set more realistic expectations and act constructively (abd politely), we’re just going to perpetuate what should be — but isn’t — a bad rap.

Despite it all, you can sign me: American and proud of it.

On another note, I wonder if Europeans complain less because the hotels are less receptive. A few years ago a couple of friends and I got nasty food poisoning from eating hotel food in Brussels. We were out of commission for 2 days. All we asked for were vouchers for 2 free nights on a future trip, to make up for the 2 nights were were incapacitated. The hotel absolutely refused to do anything. We went back and forth for a month before the hotel relented. I had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the hotel was at fault which I ultimately did. Only then did we get our vouchers.

My multiple experiences with European hotels is that while they can be very generous with the benefits, the staff tends to think in very rigid terms.

Uh, I dunno jonbab – an example of good service?

A ‘cheap’ room at the Polynesian Resort is $500/nt. Yes, I expect EVERY element that I am paying for to be working. Sure, a light burns out – I expect it fixed when I need it fixed, not at the ‘scheduled time at the Polynesian for Engineering to address customer concerns from 2.00p through 4.00p daily.’

A customer has a legitimate complaint like a light bulb out or TV not working – they are entitled to prompt resolution of their complaint and not on the property schedule when they paying $500/nt and up. The problem is that in an outfit like Disney No ONE person is responsible to ensure something happens. If no one person is responsible then no one is responsible – it becomes a system breakdown. Who bears the brunt of the system? the customer. Unacceptable,

It is NOT like someone complaining about thin, small towels at a Motel 8 vs. a Four Seasons. This is not the situation where the money spent controls the amenities received.

I love those types like jonbab here – who contols the definition of ‘insignificant’ on vacation? You jonbab? So, what do I think is insignificant? And in what context? How about coming back to the hotel room in July in Orlando and the ac does not work? And they take until 6pm to send someone, who realizes the unit is bad and cannot be replaced until tomorrow since its, well, 6p? Whereas if they came at 2.30p you would be sleeping in cool comfort tonight. Hey, its only one night, insignificant right?

If a company is going to charge you hundreds of dollars, or in my opinion anything over $75/night, then that company should make sure that everything that is promised is provided. If something is not provided, e.g., light bulbs, cable, and not restored in a timely manner, then deductions in price need to be made–after all you are not getting what you paid for–or amenities need to be added, e.g, a drink, an appetizer, free movie. Why is it that companies are so quick to charge customers and so loathe to rectify their mistakes?

This has nothing to do with being whiners or rude and everything to do with not allowing companies to swindle you.

If so, what do we do about it?

Good question, Chris. As one poster or so said, there’s no easy answers.

Or rather, there are some easy answers like being nice, using our heads, etc. But I guess the tricky part is turning those answers into action, much more showing people how beneficial they can be rather than trying to be more…hmmm…demanding.

If anything, that person’s email message you posted here is a symptom of a myriad of issues facing both travelers and vendors. The answers to those will pretty much depend what both can also pretty much agree with.

Oh, and Scott, I will partly agree that customers complaining routinely can be a good thing. It’s pretty optimistic to think all routine complaints are a good thing, but…whatever works for you and others who agree with your line of thinking.

However, just as consumers have a right (or privilege?) to a high bar of quality for their money and their time invested with a business, businesses also have a right (or privilege?) to serve those they realistically can and invest whatever time and effort they see fit to try resolving any and all issues they encounter yet learn from them.

I posted this before, but I learned an interesting way to look at consumers or customers. It goes like the customer is king or is always right…

…until one draws the line.

Arguably every business has that right, privilege, whatever to draw the line as to how far to resolve and please the customer without possibly putting themselves out on a limb. Don’t we all?

I’ve had the good fortune to work in customer service for six to seven years and learned a lot of valuable stuff. And I’m putting into practice what I’ve learned towards my business to serve customers to the best of my ability, while trying not to create unrealistic expectations.

And folks, let’s not forget that that Disney cast member did still say have a magical day. :)

@Lisa:
I think you missed the point. In the majority of cases, no one is trying to swindle us. But even if they are, when something goes wrong, do you really think you’ll get better results through yelling, name-calling and threats?

My earlier point was very simple: in MOST (granted, not all) cases, the “gentle” approach works best. As long as you’re reasonable and don’t expect a free night because they forgot to put out a bottle of shampoo. If cable is out across the property (not just in that room, as was the case cited in the original post) — and is being worked on — there’s not much the front desk can do for you. (And don’t expect a free night for that. Free drinks or dinner are more realistic.)

As I said earlier, yes, there are (and always will be) horror stories, but they’re still the exception, rather than the rule.

With well over a million miles and hundreds of stays to look back on, I can attest to what works. Save the yelling and name-calling for those instances where it’s genuinely needed.

FWIW, I was once at a conference where someone blew up over something quite trivial and made a rather public scene of it. Unfortunately for him, his boss happened to witness it and later confided that he could no longer recommend that fellow for a new position because it required diplomatic skills that were obviously lacking. (I won’t debate whether that’s fair or not, but it demonstrates another downside of overreacting.)

Or did the gradual degradation of the overall travel experience — for example, being treated like a number by their airline or being socked with surcharges when they rent a car — turn them into boorish ingrates?

I think you are hitting the nail on its head here Chris. Americans, and other travelers are in general nice folks. However, as the travel industry treats its customers more and more as cash cows, squeezing $10 here, and $20 bucks there, travelers demand more back. The travel industry dumps pages and pages of fine print on its customers, and uses that fine print to get out of the most reasonable circumstances. They can not be surprised that people get worked up. If a hotel gives you free wireless and it doesn’t work, you can’t complain that much. But if they charged you $14.95 a day for it, you can.

Now, finally, it do agree that yelling and screaming doesn’t work. However, the ice-cold carelessness of many customer service folks does drive one insane. And likewise, there are always customers who are simply so self-centered that nothing will be good enough for them.

@Mike “The one problem is that the property still took your money and needs to make sure you get the amenities that you have paid for. if not then you deserve to be compensated for the inconvenience. If the power goes out and the hotel loses $$ then they file with an insurance company if necessary. They do not file with the customer.”

I think the result of that sort of mindset will be higher prices accross the board for travelers as hotels are held responsible for situations completely out of their control.

I think its expecting free rooms for blow light bulbs which causes more serious complaints to be ignored.

In the end I think it really depends on the severity of the situation. If its a minor inconvenience I wouldn’t *expect* compensation, but a truly top notch hotel may offer something anyway, which of course I’m not going to turn down. If its a major issue then I expect compensation and will insist (politely) on it.

@S.Meuller

Except that according to the “best tourist league, Americans” are amongst the best, least boorish tourists, beaten only by the Japanese.

I’d also be curioius to know why you state that…

Plus I don’t think most of these people have a whole lot of opportunity in their daily lives to practice the kind of zen and openmindedness going with the flow where a lot of money and (for them) a once-in-a-lifetime vacation would require.

Seems very condescending.

@Amy

Joe can speak for himself, but as the other publicly identified attorney on this board….Chill.

We encourage people to sue as a last resort. Its what you do when no one will answer your e-mails, no one returns your phone calls, and basically they blow you off. We also encourage small claims court which in most areas forbid attorneys. Sueing in never the first option.

Complaining is often cathartic. Its people who hold everything in die of high blood pressure. Better out then in.

My main issue with your post though is that no one has suggested that demands and threats should be the norm. Its an inference that you made because some of us are willing to complain in situations which you disagree warrant it. Therefore we must be bad people. That’s just an ad hominem attack.

The problem is that we start to judge other’s situations self righteously. A burnt out light bulb may seem like nothing to one person. But if I can’t shave before a client meeting or court appearance, then its a disaster. Same occurrence, different situation and consequence.

I was recently at a hotel and the power in the entire area went down. I sat down in the lobby, read a magazine, and chilled till the power was restored. It was an expensive hotel and being very proactive they offered everyone stranded in the lobby free drinks. Complaining was not needed or appropriate.

Conversely, when I got food poisoning and the hotel didn’t want to take responsibility, I complained to every manager in the place for a month untl they made it right. The complaint was wholly justified although I am sure they made a few internal comments about loud americans.

I think the other thing that you are missing is that the hotel has an obligation as well. How they respond to a request will often have a huge impact on the guest. Guests should be made to feel that their complaints are being taken serious and will be addressed in a timely fashion. When a guest has to make multiple phone calls, then it’s a real problem.

@Amy and @Joe:

You both should chill — because I think you’re really on the same page. You’re both saying the “intensity” of how you complain should be in proportion to the seriousness of the issue. The original post (from someone on the firing line, whose job I don’t envy) bemoaned that some people just don’t get it and will have a tantrum if someone so much as looks at them the wrong way. And it sounds to me like you both (and most of us here) agree that’s boorish and stupid.

As for suing, I think (or at least hope) you both also agree that it’s a last resort if more reasonable steps fail to get resolution.

What this thread demonstrates is human nature and how we get so passionate in how we express ourselves — even when DISCUSSING this issue — that it’s easy to see why unhappy customers can quickly lose it.

Are Americans bigger complainers? I could care less about that and instead would rather focus on sharing the best ways to RATIONALLY resolve issues when they arise. And to be able to compliment staff when things go well, too.

Lesson for us all? In the spirit of what Amy was saying, it never hurts to take a deep breath and count to 10. Complain constructively and realistically. Be fair and, in most cases, you’ll be treated fairly — don’t be a jerk and try to get something for nothing. (If someone here feels they’ve never, ever been treated fairly, I’ll bet the ranch that they’ve gone about it all wrong.) (And if not, you can still sue.)

A final note to Disney and other high-priced providers: Yes, you promote so highly that people do expect more. That’s okay for both you and your customers — but when something goes wrong, you need to empower your people to do more than they expect, or else you’ve just dropped down from superior to ordinary.

Hey, I’d just like to point out that Amy is a relatively common name and while I have been posting a lot recently, I am NOT the Amy who posted at 9:39 this morning. Amy, I do hope your day has improved, you were certainly not a happy traveler this morning. I think I will be changing my posting name….

We have been fortunate to travel quite a bit the last serveral years and observe lots of tourists first hand. As an American I must admit we probably are the lion’s share of disgruntled, unhappy travelers. I have no imperical data to back this statement up and our opinion is strictly base on observation….. general observation and not research.
Americans…… loud?, obnoxious?, rude? overly demanding?, arrogant?, self-centered? Too many are, unfortunately, and that leads to the generalization by other cultures that Americans are not the most desireable tourists.
It has been my experience if an American traveling overseas speaks softly, shows respect, exhibits good manners, and wears apparel that says “Canada” on it, he/she will receive better treatment from the locals.

@Lisa:

Glad to hear it. Read my 3:21pm post; it sounds like you and I agree.

As Carver said (above, 11:55am), complaining is often cathartic. I think this thread has been cathartic for a lot of people.

Time will tell if anyone has learned that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar… :>)