Should I make a formal complaint or not?

[DANAM]

We just got back from a 8 day trip yesterday and had the dining plan. For all of you out there thinking it may not be worth it. IT IS!!! We came out way ahead. Now for my issue. I felt that the sevice is way better since they make us pay for the tips. For whatever reason 'Ohana's we never get good service but what happened at Mama Melrose in DHS is nuts.
Please let me know if you think I sould make a formal complaint or just let it go. If you think I should make a complaint how do I do so?

So this is what happened. We went to dinner Friday ay my husbands favorite spot. We had ADR's for 7:30 but arrived at 7pm and where seated shortly after. We ordered apps that we paid for and where sitting there waiting for our dinner. My son wanted to sit in my lap and about a min later his head fell to the table and nocked my drink clear across the table. He feel asleep. So we used all but one of our napkins to clean it up. I pointed to the pile of wet napkins and asked for a new drink. She laughed a bit and walked off. So we figured ahe was getting a tray to pick up the napkins. The food comes and no drink and the napkins are still there. She came back with the drink anout 5 min later and I asked for some napkins because I was eating my meal over my sleeping son. Never got them.
Well right after that the table next to us received there food. And right after that the woman asked were was the bathroom. All of a sudden the woman, her husband, and son all got up. I looked at my husband and said that's odd they all ran to the bathroom and as he was responding to tell me what happened, I turned my head and noticed the child has gotten sick at the table. In his soup bowl and on the chair to be exact. But the family didn't make a big deal about it but the waiter had to see it. I saw it and I was sitting next to them. So we are eating our meal with vomit at the table next to us. We where in the front section sitting up against the divided wall and they where in the middle row surrounded by tables and booths. No one thought to cover it with a napkin, remove, the chair, clear the table, nothing for at least 20 min. At the point the waiter picked up the adult entree's and walked off with them.

The man came and sat back down to pay because his wallet was in his hand. He waited at least 10 min at a table with vomit and no one came by so he left. And I couldn't blame him.
At this point my daughter spilled her milk. The waitress came by and we had cleaned it with our only remaining napkin. Some of it went on the floor so the waitress grabbed a napkin and through it over the milk on the floor. She picked up our plates, which I had put my soiled tea napkins on since she hadn't removed them at that point. And ordered dessert.
About 10 min after that the waiter finally came and removed the chair. And we received our dessert. My husband then nocked his drink so we just left it there since we had no napkins. The waitress came by and sweeped it to the floor where the spilled milk was and through another napkin over it. At that point we spilled 3 drink and where ready to go. Shortly after someone came to clean the vomit area. It wasn't waitstaff it was a crew from in the park.
So at the end of it we sat there for 53 min with the vomit on the table. All in all we where there an hour and a half. Mostly because of poor service. So should I complain? Your probally wondering why I didn't before I left and I just felt like the Manager wasn't going to do anything about it. It already happened and she didn't handel it well so why would she do something now. I would rather tell Disney so at least I know something will be done about it. What do ya'll think?

[Mackflava99]

yes you should report it-

Was it a very crowded day? what time of day was it by the time it was all over?

[thrillme]

Crowded or not...that kind of service is totally inexcusable. A situation like that is totally unsanitary. No telling WHY the kid got sick. They have bussers. Something like that should have been given priority.

Ma'ame...I'd not only report it to the highest athority...I'd also call and report it.

That was over the top inexcusable. Personally I would have walked out and straight over to guest relations. I would have been willing to give them 5 or 10 minutes to come over and clean it up but after that... I'd never be able to eat under those conditions.

[kwhitt3202]

I would report it.you are not the first person I have heard with complaints like that and disney needs to know that those thing are happining so the can correct them.

[SBETigg]

Wow, what an awful experience! That's definitely beyond the norm and unacceptable service. I would write and bring it to someone's attention.

[elmjimmlm]

That sounds like a horror story...I cant believe that you had to sit there with spilled drinks and more (:ack:)...I think that you have every right to complain about your experience...I think that with the time and money that you spend that things like this should not be overlooked...

[MMouse6937]

You all sure spill a lot of drinks!! ;)

Just kidding!! I would definately complain, if not for the drinks and the napkins, definatelly for the vomit :ack: at the next table. I could not have even finished my meal, let alone sat there while that was at the next table. They should have been sensitive to the fact that people were eating...geez...that's just gross.

Sorry you had such a bad experience.

[DDuck66]

I would definatley report it. I would call and also put the entire details including times and names, in a formal letter. You may not get much response, but at least the items will go on record in someone's file. With a letter, you are more likely to get a response than with just a call.

[KineGirl]

Wow talk about some bad luck with drinks that night! Some of you guests are so much more relaxed than I ever could be in your situations. I wouldve grabbed (not literally of course) any and every server walking by to get me more napkins until I got them. Maybe next time you all should get sippy cups :D Im sorry.. just trying to lighten up a bad situation.

let me just say "ewwww!":sick: We wouldve said something then and there to a mngr but I would def call/write and complain now. I hope you got your servers name and be sure to include the date/time. It really doesnt matter how crowded they were at the time either. To sit next to vomit for any length of time while youre supposed to be trying to eat your own food is inexusable! Not to mention some kind of gross health hazard. Anything other than them cleaning it up immediately is unacceptable. Im sure the other guests wouldve been willing to wait 5 min for their food while the situation was being taken care of.

Ive never liked Mamas anyways:thedolls:

[Hull-onian]

Report it. You don't need to ask us.

[SurferStitch]

I would have definitely complained to a manager on the spot. But, since you didn't, I would do it now.

As for the cleanup, while it's really terrible you had to wait so long for someone to do so, I will give a little insight...

Several years ago, and very drunk man at a table near us urinated all over his chair, along with other bodily fluids oozing from him. This was at Jiko, and nobody working in the restaurant would approach the man. My DH did, and good thing, because this drunk was about to go stumbling through the restaurant, trying to lean on other tables. DH got him to sit down until security hauled him away.

Now, why didn't the staff do anything? Because they were not allowed to. They had to wait for security to show up.

Why didn't any restaurant staff clean up the mess? Because, as we were told by the manager, they must bring in a crew to clean up bodily fluids/excrements like urine, vomit, etc. Restaurant staff was not to touch it.

Now, whether this is true or not, I don't know. All I know is, ours situation was extraneous, but also handled poorly. The manager knew we were totally grossed out, comped our meals, and sent bottles of wine with us. Everything was made right. Had we sat quietly, we would have paid a huge tab for a meal we could barely eat.

I will say, the one time a child had thrown up at a table in a WDW restaurant we were dining at (at least it wasn't too close to us), the wait staff did not clean it up, and waited for a crew to come in and do it, so perhaps that's why it took so long to get someone there. Not excusable, but a reason why the restaurant staff wouldn't/couldn't clean it up.

[#1donaldfan]

are you kidding??? I wouldn't even admit that I sat that long beside a table that had that on it....yuck !!:ack::ack:

.....I can't believe you even ordered a desert, DP or not, I don't think my food would have even stayed in....I would have been in the restroom with 'em....

....what a horrible time, but to complain now, why ?? I would have been throwing a fit at the time, you can bet on that !!!:cool:

[Tinkerfreak]

I don't think that the waitstaff is allowed to clean up any bodily fluids. I think it is because vomit is considered a biohazard, I know that sounds crazy but I think I remember hearing that before. There is no excuse for having to sit there that long next to it though. Somebody should have cleaned it up asap no matter who was surposed to do it.
I agree you did spill alot of drinks but there is still no excuse for the waitress not getting you some napkins right away. I think if I was sitting next to vomit I probably would have been a bit flustered and spilled a drink or too also.
I think it would have been best to say something at the time but I still think you should send a letter anyway. They need to know that the vomit was not cleaned up asap.
A boy choked one time when we were eating at Cape May and he vomited and they immediately offered to move us to another table along with the other people sitting around him.

[MMouse6937]

Several years ago, and very drunk man at a table near us urinated all over his chair, along with other bodily fluids oozing from him. This was at Jiko, and nobody working in the restaurant would approach the man.

Can I just say OMG!! I would be scarred for life if that happened to me! And at Jiko of all places.... :sick:

[Disney Doll]

I would definitely complain! It's too late for them to rectify the situation for your family, but the manager needs to have a conversation with the staff to make sure they know what to do if this kind of thing ever happens again. They should have moved you to another table and at least covered the mess with a few napkins until the cleaning crew arrived. All I can say is wow! I think that manager is lucky I was not the one there that day because they would have gotten a mouthful from me. :angry:

[Kairi_7378]

Call or write to them. They need to know about the situation.

[FriendsofMickey]

I would definately write or call in a complaint. Just to be sure it is reported. I would be surprised if Disney did anything about it at this point besides an appology. However, hopefully a report will have the matter discussed about for future incidents with the staff.

In the future, always make sure you take care of any issues at the time they happen. Do not wait until you get home. By the time that you get home, there is very little Disney will normally do besides appologize for your inconvenience. If you bring it to their attention at the time it happened, you are much more likely to get something done about it.

I am with the other poster, I think I would have been to :sick: to eat. (I'm a very sensitive to that type of thing).

[Seasonscraps]

Wow...I can't believe you sat there. I would have spoken to the manager and requested another table. It's easier to correct a situation in the moment then to go back. I would still send a letter about about how they didn't move you and that they need to figure out a better way to handle that type of situation.

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

[QUOTE=ChristineC68;1641231]Wow...I can't believe you sat there. I would have spoken to the manager and requested another table. [QUOTE]

I agree! There is no way that I could have sat there and finished my meal. :sick:

I think it would be best to call. You're more likely to a better response to your complaint that way. Please let us know what they say.

Sorry to hear about such a terrible experience!

[Goes4FastPass]

Any complaint made to the Disney Company after the fact will be a complete waste of your time. No one will ever tell you they complained to the Disney Company about ANYthing related to a Walt Disney World vacation and received anything other than, at most, a 'whoops' hope your next visit is more magical letter.

When something goes wrong at WDW the only recourse is to ask to speak to the lead for that restaurant/attraction and try to get it resolved then.

Disney is too big and too corporate to respond to you.

[Guya103]

I think that you handled the situation very well. If it had happened to me I would have been much more vocal about it and demanded the mess be cleaned immediately.

You should report it without a doubt. When you pay what you pay for a day at Disney, that is inexcusable.

Heck, I feel you should have some sort of voucher coming for a free something!:mickey:

[xipetotec]

I would absolutely report it! It only takes a few moments of your time, but may go a long way to improving service for future visitors ( including possibly yourselves if you ever decide to return ).

That being said... I think it's worth stating that if ever you receive exceptional service, you should report that as well! I think it's nice for service staff to not only hear complaints. :number1:

[KAT1811]

I would report it. At the very least they will hopefully use the instance to improve how situations like yours are handled.

I am shocked that a manager did not, at the very least, visit your table and apologize and explain the situation. I also agree that the :sick: should have been covered with a tablecloth until the crew arrived to clean it.

DH and I would have made some serious complaints at the restaurant. Plus I would have gotten up and asked the first manager in sight for napkins, to any good manager that sends up an instant red flag knowing that you've most likely asked and not yet received seeing as you went through the trouble of getting up to ask, and usually yields immediate results.

I agree with Goes4FastPass, to a point, it is difficult to rectify a situation after the fact hence the tendency to send an apology letter and nothing else. However, I feel that it is always necessary to bring these situations to light. I wouldn't expect too much but. . .one never knows.

[Jasper]

I would definitely file a complaint. While it is true that you may get a form response we have also had a personal phone call from some complaints and received discounts for the next time we visited that restaurant at the WDW.

I understand that given the current circumstances in life today why Disney would have a special team that cleans up bodily fluids. However, there needs to be a way for the situation to be dealt with more quickly. They need to add more teams or something to improve response time! However, if no one complains they will never know that the response time is inadequate. So please do complain!

[KylesMom]

You certainly were much more tolerant than we would have been. If it was my family, I would have demanded to be moved immediately to another table to avoid another unfortunate accident - by US. If there were no other seats available, I would have asked that our meal be comped - before we walked out the door.

Absolutely unacceptable service and explanation by management - we love Mama Melrose and have never had anything but the best of service. However, if this would have happened to us, I would have insisted that it be rectified by moving us, at the very least.

Did you happen to get your server and managers names? If you did, this will go a long way to substantiating your claim with Disney. Good luck - let us know if you get any kind of response! And I am sorry this disgusting incident happened to you! :(

[Mousemates]

Should you still report it...yep. But as others have said the time to bring it to the attention of mangement was then, not now. Your complaint is essentially a "cold case file" now. The evidence is gone, most of the witnesses have left the scene (except the perpetrators of the incident) and most everyone will simply play pass the buck (that is if they even remember the incident at all.) Never accept bad service at a restaurant...it not only reinforces bad habits among the wait staff, but it also leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth when the day is over.

[Young@Heart]

Ewwww! Sorry you had to go through that. It's hard for me to copmlain about things, esp. at WDW, but I doubt I would have held back in that situation.

Even though it's after-the-fact, I would still call and complain, and also put it in writing. I realize they needed to call people in to clean it up. but you should have been moved, and possibly (probably) had your meal compensated.

[DestinationWDW]

I am so sorry for your bad experience......we had our nephew with us at Hollywood and Vine for the Playhouse Disney breakfast. He had an egg allergy at the time his mommy didn't know about and well, :ack:.....while the waitress did not help clean it up, she brought us over plenty of napkins (cloth!) and the manager who offered to buy my nephew a NEW SHIRT!!! DH was already doing that, but we SO appreciated their very friendly and helpful service!!! :thumbsup: I would definitely report your situation - your table and the one next to you went unattended way too long!

[Magic Smiles]

I would say that it is too late now. If you had of wanted to complain you should have done it at the time.

I am only happy that I was not at the restaurant at that time!

[Natazu]

I certainly think guest relations would want to know.

Outside of that, one word: Sippy Cups

[KAT1811]

Outside of that, one word: Sippy Cups

:funny:

[Jeff G]

Any complaint made to the Disney Company after the fact will be a complete waste of your time. No one will ever tell you they complained to the Disney Company about Anything related to a Walt Disney World vacation and received anything other than, at most, a 'whoops' hope your next visit is more magical letter.

When something goes wrong at WDW the only recourse is to ask to speak to the lead for that restaurant/attraction and try to get it resolved then.

Disney is too big and too corporate to respond to you.

While mostly true not 100%. We went to MNSSHP one night that was announced as oversold and the place was packed beyond belief. We filed a complaint because we saw less than 1/2 of what was offered due to the massive crowds, Disney's response at the parks was to offer passes to a party another night but we left the next day so it wasn't an option. We filed the complaint when we got home and within a few weeks we had one day park passes for everyone in our group.

As for the OP, definitely file a complaint. If even one complaint makes a difference it's a good thing.

As for the vomit, we had a similar situation our first visit to Chef Mickeys. A young boy vomited right in front of the buffet and it took over 30 minutes before a person who could clean showed up. We were about 10 ft from it and it was really gross and made for a horrible experience. When we complained to the waiter he told us no one the restaurant was authorized to clean it but he did comp us one adult meal.

[AHOTE]

Sorry you were caught up in a series of unfortunate events BUT, :confused: Just wondering why it wasn't important enough to report at that time? :confused: I'd be inclined to report it but I wouldn't expect too stong of a response, too much time has passed. If anything comes out of this it may make them look at the proceedures they have to follow and how the events were handled so that they may avoid similar problems in the future.

[Polynesian Dweller]

I would say yes write to Disney about this. Its important to register these things to management so that they can understand the impacts and possible weaknesses in their responses. If they start to hear that there are a number of such incidents then they are more likely to train more teams to do biohazard cleanup in the future. That has to be good for all of us.

In these days, it does require special training to clean up biological material. We in Ontario experienced the SARS otubreak in a major way and it is crucial to do this correctly so its no longer considered appropriate for all staff to clean up in these situations.

However, Disney needs to know that it needs to do this more quickly. I would hope that they would offer you something since the restaurant didn't do the right thing by moving you or giving you your meal free IMHO.

[mrsgaribaldi]

It might be true that they can't clean up bodily fluids but if they can't touch them, what makes them think you should be eating near them??? I would have complained about that after 5 minutes. Having to sit by and eat by vomit is totally unacceptable:(

[McGoofy]

Outside of that, one word: Sippy Cups

I can't pass this opportunity up....isn't that two words??;)


To the OP: Definitely report the situation. I don't know if it would accomplish much at this point, but that was NASTY!:sick: Even if bodily fluids can only be cleaned by certain clean up crews, the restaurant needs to have them on speedial for 911 action when stuff like that happens! Maybe your complaint could at least help aid in quicker response time in the future.

[SBETigg]

I'm sure that people who say the OP should have reported it immediately are right. I had a bad experience at Kona and I still wish I had made more of a big deal of it while I was there. But, I was on vacation. The bad time had taken up enough of my good time and I just wanted to move on and get out of there and get back to good times. I'm sure that's a big reason for not reporting it on site.

Also, when the service is that bad, you're left feeling as if no amount of complaints are being heard, understood, or will be taken into account. Now that it's still bothering the OP after the fact, there's still a chance to let someone who may care more than the workers on the scene at the time know about it and make improvements.

[Mrs.Mickey]

I have to say this, i read some earlier posts and it is 100% true that a normal cast member may not touch any bodily fluid of any kind. I worked in a supermarket for years and I know that there were Hippa (Sp?) that state that a bodily fluid is a bio hazard and they all should be treated as if they are infectious. That means no one but someone trained in the disposal of bodily fluids (or the parents oof the person or person who vomited themselve) may touch it.
But why didnt you at least ask for another table?

[DANAM]

Wow I didn't expect that many of you to respond. Honestly I didn't say anything because a have a history of overreacting and I figured if I was still upset over it in the morning then it would be worth reporting.

Then let me say that the family of this child was present a majority of the time and they where very embarrased I'm sure and I didn't want them to feel worse by me overreacting and complaining about something that was completly not there fault nor that they could have prevented.

I know about the biohazard issues so I could understand that part of it and actually that's what I thought was taking so long to handle the situation. They still could have covered it with a napkin and removed the chair.

As for the sippy cups I would like to add in our defence, these where the only drink spilled on the whole trip. We are not the people who spill drinks everywhere we go. And we have them and use them but as I said my son fell asleep on my lap And my daughters 6 so we normally didn't have that problem. The tea was mine and my husband knocked his over and I think we would have looked silly with sippy cups.

Long story short I will call in the morning. I don't want anything out of it but I would hope they do something about the service in the future. But I have to ask do you really think the manager would have done anything for me? It was her mishandling in the first place.

[MsMin]

Just wanted to say ..so sorry you had such a horrible meal. I agree that the staff should have been a little more aware of the difficulties. It's like one of my pet peeves in the grocery when the line is held up and they are apologizing to the person (who has the expired coupons and wants the manager) for the incident taking 10 mins. Totally forgetting about the innocent ones behind them. :mad:The staff should have accommodated the surrounding tables....it's their job, it's a service industry. I can understand, and remember days when my hands were full w/ sleepy kids and juggling our own table was all I had time for. I can't say we have out grown spilling drinks either.
If nothing else I think you need to let WDW know b/c they can use your letter to improve their response. I do think that they should have the staff available to clean up anything bodily fluids immediately.

[MOJoe]

Even though this is being reported as a prior incident, if you write or email Disney, i would bet dollars to donuts that you will get a response. There may not be anything they can do about your intolerable situation now, but i would expect, at the least, to get some sort of apology.

Disney is a very large corporation. But they do listen, and respond to their customers.

[droopy d.]

I would call and complain just to get it off my chest.

[BrerGnat]

Although it's probably too late to complain about it, I thought I'd present the way this type of situation COULD and should have been handled.

Not too long ago, my family ate at Naples restaurant in Downtown Disney @ DLR. Now, this is not even a Disney owned restaurant, but this is the type of service I'd expect on Disney property:

My (then) 1.5 year old son projectile vomited all over himself, me, and the floor about 5 minutes after we began eating our meal. I had not even taken a bite of my pizza. My husband was helping our older son eat his food. I grabbed DS out of the highchair and our waiter appeared immediately to ask if there was anything he could do for us. My DH asked him to box up my food so I could go clean up DS and he and our other DS could finish eating, then we would be leaving. Before I even left the table to clean up DS and myself, there were TWO busboys there. One was beginning to clean up the mess and the other whisked my plate away to box up my meal. When I returned about 10 min later, my food was boxed and bagged and sitting on my chair, and my DH had already paid the bill. DH and DS were finishing up, so I took DS outside and walked him around in the stroller until they were done eating. The staff was professional, quick, and dealt with the issue in an exceptional way. I made sure to go in and briefly apologize to the manager and thank them for being so gracious. I felt horrible...no one likes their kid to make such a mess, but those things happen. The manager told me no apology was necessary and he gave me a coupon for a free appetizer for next time, since we didn't really get to enjoy our meal. That was nice, and not necessary at all.

Just for reference, this is how it can be done with a good staff.

In the future, I hope you will voice your complaints at the time, as after the fact, there is not much anyone can/will do.

[minnie1956]

You should have addressed the issue at time, everyone has already said that. However, you probably would have gotten a dubious reception at best because of all the spilled drinks and general mess at your table. As far as the vomit, it is considered a bodily fluid and needs to be addressed in a specific way. They should have taken care of that immediately. Not only was it nasty, it was a health concern for everyone in the area. Ridiculous under any circumstance. A situation like that is nasty in a regular routine day, but on vacation, it just seems so much worse!! Drop them a line, if nothing else they will address proper clean up and sanitation routines to those yahoos so no other family is subjected to that.

[LaurenNJ]

Now, why didn't the staff do anything? Because they were not allowed to. They had to wait for security to show up.

Why didn't any restaurant staff clean up the mess? Because, as we were told by the manager, they must bring in a crew to clean up bodily fluids/excrements like urine, vomit, etc. Restaurant staff was not to touch it.

.

You know that actually makes alot of sense. It does not excuse the fact that they did not cover it up with a tablecloth or something. I probably would have gotten the Manager right away, I would complain that it took so long to clean it up and that the food is so greasy every member of my party spilled their drinks. Joking, but all of you spilled your drinks? I'm sorry, I'm puzzled. LOL.

I can tell you that the two times I did complain to Disney about 1.) food poisoning and 2.) falling on wet paint that was not roped off, they didnt do much about it. Oh, I did get a call from a Lawyer on the slip and fall to make sure I wasn't going to sue. Sometimes I think the Disney service is waning.

[Minniefan68]

I
Now, why didn't the staff do anything? Because they were not allowed to. They had to wait for security to show up.

Why didn't any restaurant staff clean up the mess? Because, as we were told by the manager, they must bring in a crew to clean up bodily fluids/excrements like urine, vomit, etc. Restaurant staff was not to touch it.


I think I'd prefer the wait staff NOT to touch bodily fluids - after all, they will be touching and serving my food. BUT a clean-up crew should be working on the mess ASAP - no excuses.

[SFTrny]

Three spilled drinks at one table, and vomit at the next table over?!? WOW...sounds like the Bermuda triangle. I wonder what other disasters might have been happening that were visible from that vantage point.

Is there a thread for cast members for "most amazing concentration of disasters at one time"? I am sure this one is posted...