Originally posted by Kay1
Some people say, well, did you really think you could pay $9 and get free soda at Disney for life? Well, personally, I wasn't sure, and that's why I asked. I am following the company policy as it was explained to me by the only company representatives available to me. That makes me a cheater how?
Some people are told they are length of stay, others are told that they can bring them back - I'd like to point out again that resorts are "profit centers" (thanks for the term) and are responsible for living within their own budgets. What is the "policy" about these mugs at one resort may not be the policy at another - I honestly do not think there is a "Company Policy" - you were told the policy for dixie landings / port orleans which is a single profit center.
I think of it like this. The management at a given resort realizes that although the majority of their guests will visit only once or maybe twice, that there are some guests who visit once or twice or more a year. Although that second group is probably a small percentage of the guests, they are also the best customers, in terms of being repeat guests. So the management at this given resort says "Sure" when the idea of bringing these mugs back is brought up - they figure that not many people will do it anyway, and the cost will be small compared to the perk for a repeat guest. Now at another resort, maybe people spend less time in the fast food place - maybe this resort doesn't have a large food court, just a fast food grill sort of place. Maybe the management there hasn't really thought about this being a perk for repeat visitors because their guests have never seemed to mind - but they want to let people know the mugs are there and a value, so they prepare a sign that says "Buy a mug! Good for free refills during your entire stay!" - Then this becomes the policy of this resort, because it was written there. It was just written that way because the idea of using it forever never came up to this management, and they were just trying to let the guests know about these mugs.
So then those two resorts have different "Policies." Then say guest #1 is a frequent visitor to the port orleans resorts, where they have food courts and have been used to telling repeat visitors that they can use the mugs on future trips. Guest #2 goes to the wilderness lodge, and reads a sign that says that they are good for their stay - and the cm's tell them that too, because they are used to this policy being there. Then these two guests get on the internet and disagree about what the COMPANY policy is - when really there isn't one.
I sort of doubt that there will be one, too, for that matter, unless somebody higher up starts getting fidgety about guests hearing things on the internet and writing in letters, so they feel like they have to go ahead and set a policy to "fix it." Why would they tell the different resorts how they can sell coke? And why would anyone assume that the process that they are trying in a water park would work at every hotel? Although I've never bought one tof these mugs, I have been to the food courts at dixie landings, port orleans, coronado springs, and all stars music, and I've been to the fast food "grills" at the polly, cont., grand floridian, wilderness lodge, AK lodge - I've been to tubbies in the dolphin, and I've stayed at the Board walk twice but I have no idea where people get and use mugs - my point is, those places ALL work differently, the process at each one is different (I assume the three all stars are the same, only been to one). I really don't understand why one would think that they have had the same policies in the past or why they would go to having the same in the future -
DR