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AUTHENTICITY cast member fakes

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AUTHENTICITY cast member fakes
Amarisolcito

Amarisolcito

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Boyle Heights, California
I got about 6 fake pins from cast members in one day 🙁 Does anyone know what Disneyland's policy is if you recognize a pin as being fake and let them know? A cast member told me they're trying to get rid of them but I don't know for sure.:sad:
Thanks!
 
I'm starting to suspect that at Disney World, they just leave them on. I don't know that for sure, and I hope I don't offend anyone, but I asked some questions last month at the trade meet (held at the Contemporary), and the pin developer didn't seem to want to address what happens directly. She mentioned that they try to send pins to other parks when they get too many of something (like cuties, which she claims are popular in Japan). She also told me that they rarely lose money on the deal, which makes me think they aren't destroying any fakes--if they were, they'd be throwing away 50% or more of the pins CMs are wearing. And the last few times I've gone, I hit all the parks and many of the other locations that pins are traded, and it seems to be property wide. I'm sure some of you who have been in the hobby longer know more about what goes on--I'm certainly curious to know if there is a set policy.
 
Thank you for the responses. I've recognized a few pins as flat out, obviously Fake and I tell cast members and they just say, 'oh, ok.' and put it right back on the lanyard so, just wondering. It sucks though if they're just going to keep circulating because the bad ones AREN'T taken off.
 
That's actually unfortunately what happens. They are aware of the fakes but they don't do anything about it. That's why most people on the forum here refuse to trade with cast members because 9 out of 10 pins a cast member has are going to be fakes. About 5 months ago that happened to me. I bought a bunch of starting lanyards and didn't realize I traded all of the pins for fake ones. It's really hard sometimes to tell the difference between scrapper pins and fake pins. The cast members can't do anything and really most of them would not be able to tell the difference. Disney is not going to take the time to train and pay their employees to judge the difference between the pins. When I was at the westward ho at DLR, one of the employees told the pin traders that they would be checking for fakes and told us not to try trading fakes. When I was looking through the books that they had, they were full of scrappers. They really don't care. It's unfortunate. My suggestion is just to trade with traders on the forum. You know you will get good pins.
 
I am a regular trader at DLR and one of the people who stands in line and waits for the cast books to come out got a scrapper right from the cast book (no surprise here) I told them to go into westward Ho and tell them and sure enough, they gave them a new "REAL" pin.
They have everyone of the new HM's in a special drawer.

I spoke to Ben and he also said, if you get a bad pin from the Books, you can trade it back for a real pin. Pretty cool if you ask me. At a certain level, Disney does care and if you say something they will take care of it.
 
I know I've had 2 managers (one from the emporium and one from the star trader) tell me that they couldn't do anything about the "questionable" pins I traded with the cast members. I asked them if they could see if they could maybe find a real version of the pin on another lanyard or look in their drawer of pins and one person said that they couldn't do it because then they would have to do it for everyone and then the other manager told me that they don't have a "drawer of pins". I don't know if I'm going on the wrong days but I've yet to receive the kindness of someone switching out a pin. Hopefully I won't get anymore scrappers or fakes in the first place.
 
As someone who has been on the CM side, you shouldn't hold it against them for having counterfeits/scrappers. Disney's policy is as long as they have the Disney copyright, you MUST trade a pin regardless of authenticity. Disney Look guidelines with CM Lanyards specify that 9/12 must always be present on a lanyard to trade or be possibly wrote up on your record card. There are pin replenishment stations located at every park but a cm is only allowed to switch out 6 pins per day. And take in the account of Guests who possibly brings in counterfeits/scrappers to trade in and this brings you to the current CM trader pin debacle we have today. You as a guest have the option of asking a CM to inspect a pin to determine it's authenticity; for suspect pins already accumulated, you can file a complaint with City Hall or a manager from the location you got it from.
 
Just my 2 cents. But you have to be nice about the whole thing and also ask to talk to a leed. All so you may not want to tell them about the box of pins you know they have. Just b nice and tell them how you got the fake from a cm and you do not want to trade it back but excange it so they can get it out of the game. They will give you the real pin if they have it. I have also had the cm give me a diffrent pin from the same set as my fake. They may b a little stand off-ish because they dont want to just give away new pins for fakes. we know how easy it is to but a lot of bad pins. So it seems to me that they will help but if you seem like a shark or a money hound.. they will not help you. There is a very nice lady at WOD that is up on her pins. She had the kid lanyard and was quik to tell mw its just for the kids and i cant trade for things i want. She was more than happy when i told her that my fam was new to pins and that my 14month old has the best pins and keeps them. So with that she traded a WOC hm pin with him and also gave a extra becasue he is so cute. So i guess my point is to b in the cm shoes for a min. Everyone wants the pins and lots of ppl will do bs stuff to get them. The cm has to tell if you are a real fan or shark and have about 2 sec. to make that choice. i hope everyone has fun at the parks and remember to have fun.

Thank you
KT
"Its all About The Pins"
 
Last edited:
KT07 said:
The cm has to tell if you are a real fan or shark and have about 2 sec. to make that choice. QUOTE]

I'll bet I look like a shark. I love trading with CMs, despite the risk. I alway carry a bunch of traders, and I move fast. Probably makes me look like I'm just after something other than the fun.
Click to expand...
 
Thank you for all your replies! 😀 I was just upset and wondering because I traded the few good ones I had for bad ones >< I got a bunch of new traders now and I've picked up more tips (by the way, thank you to iamdisneydan for the lecture/lab 🙂 on Sat. at DLR. My boyfriend and I learned a TON) so bygones I guess ^^ I can differentiate good ones from bad ones now 🙂
@John Gibson: That little Mary Poppins is ADORABLE!!! And so original! 😀
 
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