I tried calling in to Disney's Customer Relations department on Monday. I expected long hold times because I've seen the warnings on Facebook. Hey, no problem; I was eating lunch at a restaurant by myself, which adds up to time to kill. Besides, I had more than one thing that I figured I could get taken care of with one call - I wanted to ask about some classic titles being released onto DVD (ex. Horsemasters, Chips the War Dog, Love Leads the Way), and to see if there was a single release of Frozen that had all of the bonus features.
So I called anyway. Much to my surprise, I got through to someone in less than 2 minutes. Then the young woman put me on hold because she was "brand new" and didn't know how to check on titles to see if they were being released. After roughly 20 minutes I hung up.
When my food arrived, I tried again. I got as far as giving this representative all eight titles that I wanted to check on and agreed she could put me on hold. It wasn't long before she came back to tell me she needed to transfer me to a Customer Care representative. Because I had dialed the same number I always dial for this kind of call I was a little surprised, but I took her word for it. 43 minutes later, I started my car and ended the hold. (Let's not talk about the hold "music.")
Finally, a couple of hours later, I decided to try once more. Third time's the charm, right? In fact, I decided to just keep it simple. Instead of trying to find out about the classic titles (at all) I just asked my question about Frozen. She said no one had ever asked her that question. Assuming she was looking it up, I began ranting lightly about how annoyed I am that Disney has released however many different versions of Frozen. Target has these bonus features, Walgreens has those, Best Buy got an alternate set. I was floored at the rep's response: "How else are they going to make money?"
I recognize an honest answer when I hear one. It wasn't that she told me something I didn't already know. But I even told her how shocked I was that she would dare to say it and asked if she was new, which she said she was. Maybe that did it. Maybe that's why we spent the next five minutes with her trying to "help" me get all of my calls that day consolidated into a single log. I don't know. I do know I asked her if I needed to hang up and call back to speak with someone else to get my question answered!
Now that the long story has been told, the sad ending is that I didn't get a single question answered. (I may tell the next piece of the story, which involved going in circles on the Disney website to try to find a way to email them, another day.) I didn't even get a single classic title requested (I do that every six months or so and after a few years, they'll actually release one on DVD). I couldn't even get a straight-up answer on whether or not it's possible to buy just one copy of Frozen and get all of the bonus features.
Disney, are times that hard? Are you so poor that you have to think of new ways to rip us off? Or are you just greedy? I've never heard people complain about too many bonus features, so I wouldn't believe it if someone said Disney was just trying to specialize the releases for the benefit of the customers. As for the customer service, I will say this was the first time I've had trouble. I usually call later in the evening, though, and get an agent in another country - WHO GET THE JOB DONE.
I'm more disappointed than angry. And I'd like to know what others think. Please comment below (keep it clean) - What do you think of Disney's approach to releasing Frozen? And what has been your experience with their customer service lately?
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Showing posts with label Disney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disney. Show all posts
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Friday, July 19, 2013
Re Disney's latest turkey
I just read an article on The Lone Ranger. The article itself is mostly concerned with the numbers ($250 million to make the show vs. $17 million in ticket sales), which makes sense as it's in the MSN Money section.
I am pleasantly surprised that the movie was such a fiscal disaster. I knew it was a film-making disaster from the previews. Oh, there were catchy lines ("Those two have trouble staying dead.") and plenty of action. But I could tell that the show was going to depend on the action. If you'll permit me an analogy, that's like trying to live on alcohol. It shocks the system, dulls the senses, depresses the spirit, and has no real substance. Personally, I think that Walt Disney would cry if he saw what his name and brand have come to be associated with.
Why am I writing this if I never even saw the movie? Because I've watched other movies, the ones that taught me to recognize (from a distance) movies that will disappoint.
Things to watch for:
1) The trailer has only one type of music - loud and fast.
2) The trailer features multiple (if not solely) scenes featuring massive explosions, bloody fights, and dark rooms.
3) The "hero" never smiles in the trailer.
4) The studio spent more than $11 million making it.
5) You have no idea who the actor/actress playing the leading role is.
6) People who have completely opposite taste in movies (from yours) are raving about how excited they are to go see it. ;-)
So, #6 begs the question of my taste in movies. I doubt there's room here to cover all the movies I like, so I'll try for a sampling. White Christmas (Musical), The Man Who Never Was (WWII based on a true story), Timeline (Sci-fi/Action), Three Daring Daughters (Musical), Cars 2 (Animated/Action), Marvel's The Avengers (Action), The Court Jester (Comedy/Musical), Fancy Pants (Comedy), The Miracle of the White Stallions (WWII based on a true story), Sergeant York (WWI based on a true story), Paycheck (Sci-fi/Action), Secret of the Wings (Animated), Robin Hood (Animated 1973), The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (Live Action 1952), The Jungle Book (Live Action 1994), The Inheritance (Drama/Romance)...etc.
What do you think? Why did/didn't you like/watch The Lone Ranger?
I am pleasantly surprised that the movie was such a fiscal disaster. I knew it was a film-making disaster from the previews. Oh, there were catchy lines ("Those two have trouble staying dead.") and plenty of action. But I could tell that the show was going to depend on the action. If you'll permit me an analogy, that's like trying to live on alcohol. It shocks the system, dulls the senses, depresses the spirit, and has no real substance. Personally, I think that Walt Disney would cry if he saw what his name and brand have come to be associated with.
Why am I writing this if I never even saw the movie? Because I've watched other movies, the ones that taught me to recognize (from a distance) movies that will disappoint.
Things to watch for:
1) The trailer has only one type of music - loud and fast.
2) The trailer features multiple (if not solely) scenes featuring massive explosions, bloody fights, and dark rooms.
3) The "hero" never smiles in the trailer.
4) The studio spent more than $11 million making it.
5) You have no idea who the actor/actress playing the leading role is.
6) People who have completely opposite taste in movies (from yours) are raving about how excited they are to go see it. ;-)
So, #6 begs the question of my taste in movies. I doubt there's room here to cover all the movies I like, so I'll try for a sampling. White Christmas (Musical), The Man Who Never Was (WWII based on a true story), Timeline (Sci-fi/Action), Three Daring Daughters (Musical), Cars 2 (Animated/Action), Marvel's The Avengers (Action), The Court Jester (Comedy/Musical), Fancy Pants (Comedy), The Miracle of the White Stallions (WWII based on a true story), Sergeant York (WWI based on a true story), Paycheck (Sci-fi/Action), Secret of the Wings (Animated), Robin Hood (Animated 1973), The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (Live Action 1952), The Jungle Book (Live Action 1994), The Inheritance (Drama/Romance)...etc.
What do you think? Why did/didn't you like/watch The Lone Ranger?
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