"Hard" dining reservations/credit card charge coming?

[raidermatt]

You dispute it with CC company you are black flaged and can't make ADR's anymore.It could be that simple.

Integrating their accounting system with the dining reservation system might be a little more difficult, and more to the point expensive, than one might think. Yeah, they could set up some kind of batch process, but again, do they want to spend resources on that?

I doubt it, because like I said earlier, I don't believe they want to take things to that extreme. Unlike an outside restaurant, an ADR no-show is still a paying customer of WDW.

 

[raidermatt]

Not trying to nitpick but is the reservation the act of reserving a mealtime, or the actual being seated and eating the meal.

Remember that Visa/MC are the authorities in this situation. The merchant and issuing bank agree to abide by their rules in exchange for utilizing there services. The issuing bank then makes these rules part of their agreement with the cardholder. Visa/MC are in the middle. They need to keep the merchants happy so they will accept Visa/MC, and they need to keep the cardholders happy so they will use Visa/MC. As the cardholders as a whole wield the greatest power in this scenario, they will get the benefit of the doubt more often than not.

So Visa/MC tries to take a practical view of these situations, with a lean towards the cardholders.

In the vast majority of cases, the restaurant does not suffer any real financial loss. If they have walk-ins, they still fill the table. If they don't have walk-ins, then they wouldn't have filled the table anyway. So since the restaurant's loss is minimal, Visa/MC isn't going to penalize their cardholders.

Of course its the issuing bank (BofA, Citi, etc) that acts on the cardholder's behalf, and how they deal with things can vary. But all are bound by the Visa/MC rules and regs.

Note that hotels are handled differently. They do have the right to charge you for the first night (and first night only) of a stay if you are a no-show. This is because they are less likely to have "walk-ins" and likely would suffer a financial loss due to a no-show. They cannot, however, charge you for your entire stay.

 

[YoHo]

Beyond that though, I don't think the idea of a "hard reservation", meaning they hold a table for you, makes sense. Standard practice is to hold the table for at least 5-10 minutes after the reservation time. That's time somebody else could be sitting down and eating/paying/being happy. I actually think the "first available" system works very well for Disney, especially in the parks. It allows them to maximize the flow through the restaurant, keep the highest number of guests happy, and allows for the inevitable delays associated with theme parks.

Perhaps it would be different in the resorts, but it might be better to remain consistent. I'm not sure the gain would be worth it.

But to be clear, the cc guarantee and the "hard reservation" are two different issues. The former probably isn't a big deal given the above, but the latter would be a significant change that I don't believe would bring enough benefit to outweigh the downside.

I'm not sure what I see is the downside to guests. While you and I both don't particularly hold Disney's decisionmaking process in high regard, there's got to be a ppt somewhere that says that hard ressies will make more money and I'd like to know what the bullet points are.

Again, at the risk of giving "some" posters a big head, there's got to be some piece of data pointing to this being a good idea for the business.

For the consumer, it's at worst makes zero difference as far as I can see. I have to assume they thing they can keep the tables filled.

Maybe if they ignore my above caveats, then there's a downside, but Inb that case, it's gonna blow up in their faces pretty quick, that is the type of boneheaded move I would expect of Disney.


On the otherhand, maybe the rumor isn't completely true and only the CC aspect is being implemented, that makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[raidermatt]

The downside is primarily to Disney. Holding empty tables is lost volume vs. the current system. But there is a downside to the guests in that less volume means fewer guests get into the restaurants they want.

If they do it (hard ressies), then I'm sure the ppt exists. I'm just not yet convinced they are seriously considering that piece. It wouldn't address the no-show problem, which is what the stated goal was.

But you're right, it could be the real reason is they think they can charge x% more by offering hard reservations, and that would more than offset the impacts of the lost volume. If that is what they think, of course they won't say that, and will instead say its all part of the plan make things more convenient for the guests.

 

[bicker]

They work as a deterrent to abuse. It lets the guest know that Disney does care about you not showing up. That is enough to make most people take it seriously, which is Disney's goal in the first place.

Yes, precisely. That's a great way of saying it.

 

[scanne]

No problem with hard ressies at all. I am always changing ressies and I cancel when I know my family and I won't make it to our dining destination.

 

[raidermatt]

For me personally, a hard reservation wouldn't bother me. But I don't really get the positive side either. When I first learned how ADRs (then PSs) worked, I did think it wouldn't be as convenient. In practice, however, it really doesn't make much of a difference. We usually wait a bit when we go to high volume restaurants with a reservation, just like we do with ADRs at Disney. In both cases, we sometimes get seated immediately.

 

[justplaingoofy]

I fully agree... but...

When you book your vacation are given a booking #, instead of CMs putting ADR's based on names put them under the booking number. Because you could have multiple names on the reservation, but only one booking #. Also would help out with misspellings of names. I called a few months ago to add a dinner and confirmed my ressies at the time.. They couldn't find some of them, but after I gave them my confirmation #'s they could. (seems CM's often misspell alot of names. (I had 3 different spellings for a 7 day trip!)

Might be easier for cm's to see what other dining the guests have made. Can eliminate double bookings.

 

[raidermatt]

That's just a case of system integration/enhancement though, isn't it? Meaning, if they wanted to, they could link to the booking number whether they do a "hard reservation" or a "first available" reservation.

I do agree. Linking to the info on the booking number would reduce errors and speed the dining reservation process.

 

[bicker]

Of course, that would exclude off-site guests and locals.

 

[YoHo]

More importantly, it would make it a pain if a family with old kids, or an extended family tried to book two different locations for two different groups at the same time.

 

[drakethib]

I hope this comes about.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

"I hope this comes about."

Why? Have you had some problems? Have you noticed any large number of tables at the Signatures not being used? Or do you just want to make sure these scofflaws get their comeuppance?

IMO, this just seems more like Disney acting like the greedy, bottom line driven conglomerate they have become.

 

[bicker]

I'm not surprised that it would seem like that to you.

Rather, for folks burned by the inability to make reservations where they wish, this would seems like a significant improvement.

Incidently, the OP says nothing about "signature" restaurants.

 

[MJMcBride]

"I hope this comes about."

Why? Have you had some problems? Have you noticed any large number of tables at the Signatures not being used? Or do you just want to make sure these scofflaws get their comeuppance?

IMO, this just seems more like Disney acting like the greedy, bottom line driven conglomerate they have become.

I have to agree with Bicker. Maybe drakethib just wants to make hard ressies instead of the system they currently have where you still may wait. I for one don't think there is anything wrong with making people cancell their ressies. Its only fair to wveryone else at the park looking for a ressie.

 

[zenshome]

I'm curious here, I have never seen tables actually "held" for any ressie's in the parks. Most times we have had ADR's we still wind up waiting (15 mins. - 30 mins.)for a table all the ADR's do is make it so you are not a "walk-up" customer(which puts you at the back of all the customers with ressies). We always showup early and still wait. My latest example being in Norway for the Princess breakfast, we arrived 5 mins. early and still waited a half hour before being seated. I just take this as the way it is, am I wrong?

 

[bicker]

Yes, that is the way it current works. More and more, restaurant reservations throughout the United States work that way.

 

[Another Voice]

More and more, restaurant reservations throughout the United States work that way.

Really - that's not my experience at all. The vast majority of places I eat at still are holding tables open at reserved times.

Do you have a source for this claim?

Yes, your local Red Robin might not be so keen on getting you seated quickly, but at any "fine dining" restaurant that would charge Disney prices - I'm sure most people would not expect to be told they have to wait another fifteen mintues after their reservation just to be seated.

And lastly - who cares what everyone else is doing! Disney is supposed to be better at customer service than everyone else.

 

[MJMcBride]

It would be nice if when you make a reservation that actually where a reservation. Disney used to call these things preferred seating which was what it was. Then they changed the name to ADRs to make it sound like a reservation when it was still just preferred seating. I tend to go in the offseason so it usually doesn't matter. But I would still like to see hard ressies, i.e. actual not pretend reservations, come back. I would use them and I think customer service would improve if this was instituted.

Most of the times when I make a reservation at home they are holding the table for me and its a short wait at the most. A lot of these chain places (like Outback, etc) don't take reservation but you can call ahead and get on the list before you show up. Kind of like preferred seating.

 

[raidermatt]

Does anybody have any real info on how many people really don't show up for their ADRs?

I know, we see the posts from people on the restaurant board who boast about making multiple reservations, or say there's no need to cancel. But these are the "commandos". Is it really that many in the big picture?

I'm not sure the cc guarantee would make an appreciable difference. And if they also make it a hard reservation, the decrease in no-shows might be offset by the overall decrease in volume due to empty tables being held. They'd probably have to take fewer reservations overall.

I still think that in the big picture, it works better as is. Our experience has been that waiting 15-30 minutes is on the high side. Its ususally not that bad. Also, I'm sure margins will have to be maintained (if not increased). Since holding tables is going to decrease volume, prices will have to increase.

I'm just not sure that those who want the hard reservations for personal reasons are really thinking it all the way through. You very well might end up paying more with reservations being no easier to come by. The only benefit would be getting seated immediately.

From Disney's pov, they do the reservations as "first available" to keep the tables full, and this is a case where I think I agree that from both a customer service and resource utilization perspective, that makes the most sense.

Of course, that would exclude off-site guests and locals.

Wouldn't be the first time. But, yes, good point.

More importantly, it would make it a pain if a family with old kids, or an extended family tried to book two different locations for two different groups at the same time.

Also a good point.

I guess using booking numbers to solve the problem has quite a few challenges.