Last day issues. Should I say something?

[PrincessASquared]

We just returned from our trip on 12/7. We had a party of seven which included my brother and his family as our guests. We stayed in a 2BR at SSR. The trip was fabulous!! The weather was great. Crowd levels were tolerable and the resort was very clean and comfortable. Our only issue arose on the morning we were scheduled to leave.

We booked with Magical Express and they were scheduled to pick us up at SSR at 8:00am. I called bell services the day before to have them pick up our luggage at 7:30am. This should allow us time to check our bags and get our boarding passes at the resort (flying NWA) before hopping on the bus.
Bell services did not show up at our room until 7:50am!! By the time we got to the front desk, the bus was loading. The guy from bell services was unapologetic and said "It looks like you will have to do things the old-fashioned way and check your luggage at the airport". If not, then we would have to wait until the 9:00am shuttle. Our flight was at 11:13am, and it is at least a 45 minute bus ride. He loaded our luggage on the bus and we were shuttled to the airport.

Once we arrived at the airport, our luggage was unloaded. Go figure, one of our bags was missing. The bus driver called back to SSR and they said that they found the bag and put it on the 9:00am Magical Express bus. Now we had to wait for that bag to show up before we could check all our other bags.

The bag finally showed up at 10:00am. We checked our luggage, got our boarding passes, went through security, and raced to our gate. They were just about to close the doors. We were the last people to board (at 11:15).
This was a bad ending to an otherwise OUTSTANDING vacation.

We have never experienced anything like this in all our years of going to Disney. I am hoping this was just an isolated incident. Should I report this to Disney or am I making too much of it?

Thanks.

[Strmchsr]

I think that's probably an incident worth reporting. However, with all of the other great things that happened if you can single out some CM's that stood out in a positive way that would be a great addition to the email.

[SBETigg]

I think you were a little short-sighted in the timing. It almost always takes longer than we expect to get bell services up to our room, no matter where we stay. If we're not taking the bags to the ME stop ourselves, we always plan the pick-up call for an hour or more in advance. And consider that you're asked to be at the stop fifteen minutes in advance of the pick up time. That said, it's unfortunate and their error in mishandling your bag. But with the timing being off, it was a rush and that's when things go wrong.

I wouldn't complain. Instead, I would chalk it up to lessons learned and make a mental note to arrange for bell services to come assist you earlier next time. The rule of thumb we follow is to add an extra half hour to whatever time we ask them to arrive just in case of delays. When a lot of people check out at once, bell services is often short staffed and delays are fairly typical. I'm sorry you were crunched for time and had problems, though. That is a bummer, but good news that the rest of your trip was outstanding.

[MonoMan]

I agree - I think in the future you should allow more time for bell services - the early morning hours are busy with people checking in. It would be sad for you to allow this one thing to ruin an otherwise magical trip.

[PrincessASquared]

This was the first time we stayed far enough from the front desk to warrant using bell services. Typically we have stayed close to the front desk and have walked our luggage to the front desk. You are right. In hindsight, I should have scheduled bell services to come earlier. Live and learn.

[Ian]

Regardless, I still don't think that excuses them arriving 20 minutes late nor do I think it excuses their cavaliere attitude about it.

Don't let people guilt you into forgetting that Disney really handled this poorly.

I'd write them for certain.

[PirateLover]

Regardless, I still don't think that excuses them arriving 20 minutes late nor do I think it excuses their cavaliere attitude about it.

Don't let people guilt you into forgetting that Disney really handled this poorly.

I'd write them for certain.

Agreed. They were late in getting your bags, and didn't even load one bag. Your story ended well, but others might not be so lucky. I would make them aware of the issue.

[Mickey91]

I would definitely write them. You can take the lesson with you next time and schedule it earlier, but their tardiness, attitude, and carelessness almost caused you to miss your flight. At the very least it is a black spot on an otherwise wonderful vacation. Disney needs to be informed when their CMs give less service than expected. And they need to know it matters. It is the only way to fight the recent rash of subpar service and downsizing. Somehow the suits need to realize that the Disney brand is supposed to mean excellence. You should absolutely write them.

And I disagree about adding a positive to it. This just gives them the excuse to overlook the seriousness of the issue at hand. If you had a great experience and want to tell them about it, put it in a separate letter.

[MickeyMousse]

I would report it because it was an unnecessary inconvenience to you.

It's just another learning experience.

Don't let it become the primary focus of what was a great trip.

[SBETigg]

Regardless, I still don't think that excuses them arriving 20 minutes late nor do I think it excuses their cavaliere attitude about it.

Don't let people guilt you into forgetting that Disney really handled this poorly.

I'd write them for certain.

I'm not trying to "guilt" anyone, Ian, but the fact is that even if bell services had been on time, the OP is only leaving a fifteen minute window for the bell staff to get the luggage loaded and to the bus on time. That's unrealistic. An 8 am DME departure means to be at the bus at 7:45 am, per Disney's own literature. I'm impressed they did as well they did considering the time constraints, quite honestly. Though, yes, it would be nice if Bell Services always picked up on time, in a perfect world, or if they were honest at the Bell desk and told you when you called that there would be a delay. And the bag misplacement is obviously a bad deal, but with the very tight time consideration I still think it's understandable that such a mistake could happen.

It comes down to if you would prefer to be outright told that there is no way to make that bus on time, and then had the bell staff do a more thorough, appropriate job, or if you prefer they rushed through it in attempt to get you where you need to be on time and maybe made a mistake or two along the way. When they're dealing with my personal items, I'm going to make sure I give them time to do it right. Not meant to criticize, it's an unfortunate timing/planning mistake and again, I'm sorry it happened to you. I understand this was a real headache for you and I don't mean to be cavalier. I just don't see Bell Services alone as a hundred percent in the wrong here.

[BrerStitch]

I can offer this bit of information. We left the same day from SSR just a little later in the morning. Bell services was short staffed that morning I learned from one of the bell services staff when they were tagging my carry-on to be held until we left.

I know that if you plan on using resort check-in for your bags and boarding passes, Disney has posted signs asking you to check your bags with them at least 3 hours prior to your flight. I'm not sure if that's what you meant about getting your boarding passes etc.

None of that probably makes you feel any better, and I'm sorry that they misplaced your bag, but at least you'll know for the next trip. I'm glad that you had a wonderful trip otherwise.

[MinnieMommie]

I had a bag lost one time at SSR and I gave bell services plenty of time to come and pick up. That trip was the only less than ideal situation we had both checking in and checking out. It was holiday season and we were told by a manger that several CMs called out. They were nice and apologetic. When they lost the bag on our way home they asked us to put a dollar amount on the content and they would reimburse for what was lost. In the end they found the bag and shipped it to us at their expense.

In the end this kind of thing can happen. There's no need to attribute blame to anyone but I don't think there is any harm in alerting services when there is a glitch in service delivery. This does not have to be a complaint but a head's up. How do we resolve glitches when we don't know about them? I say go ahead and let them know what a nice time you had but that there was a small glitch you want to bring to their attention. You may help the next person :mickey:

[Aurora]

And speaking of helping the next person, it's always a good idea to stay with your bags as much as you can and count them as they're being loaded on and off anything.

Several times we've caught errors when others are handling our bags. Murphy's law applies, and people do make mistakes. Whatever you can do to minimize your own inconvenience is to your advantage.

[thumperbug]

I'd like to think that everything will always go smooth on a trip and assume everyone will do their jobs correctly but I tend to error on the side of caution and assume the worst will happen (aka someone dropping the ball).

I have never had a problem with DME in terms of my bag...only 1 incident with them being late in pick up but I just know from experience on check out that you need to allow plenty of time for bell services to show up. I don't trust calling the night before for a bag pick up. I always call about an hour before I really need them.

I usually take a later flight home so bell services holds our bags until our DME pick up (we don't fly an airline that participates in resort check in), we always allow 30 mins from our DME pick up time to allow bell services to find out bags...and then of course we check to make sure we have everything....two or three times... might seem like overkill but you cannot count on timing everything the way you want. With Disney...always add on extra time..whether for bell services, DME or bus transportation to parks.

I've seen some posters complain about the 3 hours prior to flight pick up but I think it is a good amount of time. There have been times we breezed thru security and got to our gate with plenty of time..and there have been times that by the time we get our bags checked and get thru security...our plane is about ready to board. There are plenty of things to do at MCO to kill time.

[locutus]

I think you were a little short-sighted in the timing. It almost always takes longer than we expect to get bell services up to our room, no matter where we stay. If we're not taking the bags to the ME stop ourselves, we always plan the pick-up call for an hour or more in advance. And consider that you're asked to be at the stop fifteen minutes in advance of the pick up time. That said, it's unfortunate and their error in mishandling your bag. But with the timing being off, it was a rush and that's when things go wrong.

I wouldn't complain. Instead, I would chalk it up to lessons learned and make a mental note to arrange for bell services to come assist you earlier next time. The rule of thumb we follow is to add an extra half hour to whatever time we ask them to arrive just in case of delays. When a lot of people check out at once, bell services is often short staffed and delays are fairly typical. I'm sorry you were crunched for time and had problems, though. That is a bummer, but good news that the rest of your trip was outstanding.

I disagree..I dont think you were being shortsighted at all, and it is definatley worth complaing about (just to have on record...probably wont do anything). I to , 2years ago had a similar problem. Had a 10:45 flight. Scheduled a 6 am pickup. At 6:45 called and was told they were short handed and didnt know when they would get to us ( we had a car service picking us up at 9am. At 7:30 am I lugged 2 large suitcases, and my pregnant wife wheeling our 2 1/2 year old son from Congress Park section of SSR---for those of you not familiar with SSR, it is the section on the end furthest from the front desk. After complaining at the front desk..no manager available-so I was told, the computer for the airlines was down. Had to do things "the old fashioned way" and almost missed our flight. Wrote a letter and Disney responded by saying that a manager should have been there and they would look into it. Since it is still happening...at the same resort no less, I can see no improvements have been made. Its nice to say they do these services for you..just dosent help if they cant follow through and make it work. Id rather know that I have to do things on my own then assume they can follow through and have to rush later on when they cant.

[ElenitaB]

For what it counts, I've had issues with baggage pick-up at SSR as well, however, I wouldn't have allowed such a short window to get out to the on property check-in either. I've been on line at SSR at 6:00 a.m. and have seen a line. Even if they did manage to pick up the luggage on time, what if there had been other guests trying to check in at the same time? (I remember a long wait I had at OKW once behind a family of at least 14 people with one woman insisting on doing the check-in for all... a real nightmare for all concerned except her.)

[lulu'smom]

I agree that you just didn't give yourself enough time to get down there and get your bags checked in. Those desks can be swamped, and then what would you have done?

For some reason when I call to have my bags picked up, I don't expect them to be able to get me at a specific time. I always pad my time frame a bit. Really, 20 minutes behind is not horrible. And I don't think worth writing Disney about. What could they do for you now?

[locutus]

I agree that you just didn't give yourself enough time to get down there and get your bags checked in. Those desks can be swamped, and then what would you have done?

For some reason when I call to have my bags picked up, I don't expect them to be able to get me at a specific time. I always pad my time frame a bit. Really, 20 minutes behind is not horrible. And I don't think worth writing Disney about. What could they do for you now?

Lulu--when should a complaint be noted. I had arranged a pick up time on my trip and an hour and a half later was still waiting. I think thats one of the problems. Not enough people speak up so they feel a few complaints here and there are not worth changing things or addressing the problem. If more people spokeup someone higher up may take notice and maybe hire some more help. Lord knows we all pay enough to stay there.

[ytzking]

I agree with Locutus. I am quickly learning that DVC is taking it's members and their dollars for granted. Low staffing levels, gradual cut-backs on amenities and little to no upkeep on the resorts is translating to more and more bad DVC experiences. If you don't register your complaints, NOTHING will be done.
I have a 5 night stay ( OKW ) planned for this month and if things aren't looking up, I'll plan on going elsewhere this summer. I may have already spent the money on my points but that is only a drop in the bucket compared to what I'll spend while on property.

[SamG]

My .02...

I blame poor planning on the OP. Sure, you call for a 7:30 pickup, but what if 10 people called for a 7:20 pickup? A 7:30 pickup for an 8:00 bus is too close. What would you have done (assuming bellhops were on time) if there was a line at the check-in counter? Tell everyone you're scheduled for the next bus and you should go in front of them?

As far as locutus with the 90 minute wait... that's too long. You need to complain. I think you should have called at 6:30, 7:00, and 7:30 (maybe you did). Regardless, you've got a valid complaint. But wanting luggage picked up 30 minutes before the bus ride? Not quite the same.