SHUT UP and enjoy the Park

[innerSpaceman]

According to the lastest Al's Update (sorry no link, miceage not working right now - maybe overwhelmed with outrage) ...

Disneyland City Hall will no longer be accepting written complaints, comments or cast member compliments of any kind. Verbal complaints and compliments only from now on.

Supposedly, your comment will be relayed by telephone to the appropriate personnel ... but under no circumstances will any written record of a guest comment be allowed.


If you make a stink, you will be given the snail mail address of Disney corporate headquarters ... where an even more insideous and certainly draconian process will make sure your written comment goes nowhere.

Human drones will be opening all the mail and eyeball-scanning it for any mention of a visit to a Disney theme park or resort. Upon finding the first such mention, the letter will be closed and then returned to sender.


Whoa.


The twisted reasoning behind this is to keep down legal costs in connection with people who've been suing for compensation when their written suggetions have been adopted by Disney (e.g., someone writes it would be a good idea to bring Soarin' Over California to Epcot, and then sues for consultancy fees when that happens - using his comment card as evidence.)



I can barely contain my outrage at this absurd and gofucyourself policy.



Am I making mountain of molehill? Verbal comments are still allowed, but I never trusted them and would always -- the few times I have felt the need to comment -- insist on putting it in writing. And if you'd like to compliment a certain CM ... just fergetabout it.




Sad, sad and sad.

[Isaac]

Maybe it's their way of going green.
Less paper= more trees

[scaeagles]

But somewhat understandable. I read it. Even legal nuisances still cost money. It is outrageous, but I blame the legitious society we live in rather than anything else.

But is does seem like a simple disclaimer on any form filled out would be adequate - like "Disney is under no circumstances financially obligated should any of these suggestion become reality whether as a result of comments written and submitted to us or otherwise.".

[Alex]

I've actually mentioned in the past being surprised that Disney was willing to in any way accept ideas for park improvements from guests. It's the same reason your unsolicited ideas for an Alias reunion movie will get returned unread.

Though if Al's description of the process is accurate I can certainly think of better customer facing ways to handle the issue.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

I'll write my complaint on the end of a baseball bat. Weeeeeee

[Not Afraid]

Good for Disney. I think this is a stellar practice that they're implemented. I'm sure they get lots of complaints from people who think they are entitled to something or other. While a good 5% of the complaints might be worth something, the other 95% are a waste of time.

[CoasterMatt]

I wonder if they're doing this in advance of eliminating free FastPass for something more akin to Front of the Line passes at USH?

[BDBopper]

I can definitely understand why they are doing this for complaints and that it is probably the right thing to do. However what about for compliments? At least if they write those down and make a note of them I guess this is okay.

[Isaac]

Me being serious for a moment:

There are TONS of ridiculous 'concerns' from park guests every day. I've heard people complain about everything from "I didn't know the park was closing @ 6pm today and I'm going to Hawaii tomorrow", "All the rides look awful, especially Splash Mountain; it was gloomy", to "The Haunted Mansion & Pirates Of The Caribbean are both way too long. You need to make them shorter." So to some degree I can understand why written complaints are no longer accepted.

I feel bad for the CMs in City Hall cause now those park guests who would rather just write on paper what's bothering them will now be yelling @ the CMs and demanding that THEY do something about those guests concerns.

Esh!

[innerSpaceman]

The thing is ... the reasoning behind this is not to be rid of the admittedly absurd ton of STUPID complaints ... but to avoid trouble with lawsuits from suggestions that were so in synch with Disney's concept of good ideas that they were actually implemented.


I understand the analogy, then, to rejecting unsolicited scripts. But a simple disclaimer on the comment forms would accomplish just as much, without what I consider a guest relations nightmare of insisting a guest's verbal comment will somehow get to the right party to address or consider their concern.

The problem with a disclaimer, of course, is that it doesn't prevent lawsuits from being filed. Those suits can be gotten rid of quickly enough ... but not without paying lawyers to do it. I guess Disney feels that no written comment means less people will feel confident enough to file a suit absent the "evidence" of the "consulting" work they did for Disney when they suggested less salty popcorn.


But it's throwing out the baby with the bath water, imo. Returning mail sent to corporate headquarters if they so much as mention a Disney resort visit is disgusting. Most of the feedback may be garbage ... but to have a theme park and resort company whose policy is to refuse all written comment from paying customers seems pretty antithetical to the Disney (as in Walt) and Disney (as in land) philosopy of guest relations.