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Do CMs these days not know the older characters?

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Do CMs these days not know the older characters?

Ahhh, there is where I have a problem with the scenario. I don't happen to think that Figaro is all that obscure....but, I've also know who he is for many many years and it is difficult for me to pull myself out of the Disney trenches. We can argue all day about whether he is obscure or not. And I agree that it is unrealistic to expect a cast member to know everything.

However, like you said, a cast member should know their workstation. And since there were Figaro pins in the work station, by default, the CM should have known who he was in order to know their merchandise.

Just for kicks, back to the obscure/not obscure debate....Figaro is on park merchendise almost every Halloween. If you are familiar with Halloween time at Disney, how can you not know who Figaro is? Or are people just completely uninquisitive and think that it is just some random black cat sitting on Minnie's broom every year?
 

Are you saying that someone who works with Disney pins (basically every store in WDW) needs to know every character there is a pin of? And I'll leave it at that.


And just for kicks, in that scenario Figaro is still the obscure cat next to Minnie- at least in my eyes. Maybe you have much higher standards for the CM's lol
 

Uhhh, no, I said they need to know the pins in their station and obviously not every pin ever made is in every station.

You are entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine. It is my opinion that after all the thing Figaro has been involved in that if you work at Disney and still don't know who he is then you have your head in the sand or are very new.
 
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I am a manager of a retail store and know there have been times when I forget about a product we may carry. It's very possible the employee had simply forgotten about the Figaro pin. I mean stores that carry pins in DLR/WDW has well over a hundred pins, that is a lot of inventory to remember off the top of one's head. Now, if I was the employee I would have gone over and helped the customer browse, but I do not know the whole scenario, there could have been a huge line building up, it was their break time/ they needed to clock out in 1 minute, etc.

Now, Here is my question:

Why don't people first look through the store to see if an item is available? Asking should be a second resort.
 
I agree with you. That is a lot of inventory that cast members have to remember what they have and don't have. And they also have to try and remember if someone else in the park or one of the other various places that would be selling pins to see if they have that certain pin.

Also the point that you made about looking first then asking is a good point. I always look at least 2 rounds of inspecting the pins and then and only then will I politely ask the cast member if they have the certain pin. I do at least 2 rounds cause I may have missed the first time looking at the pins.

 
However, like you said, a cast member should know their workstation. And since there were Figaro pins in the work station, by default, the CM should have known who he was in order to know their merchandise.
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Mmmm, it depends. Are they working a little cart, or are they in Mouse gears? I work at Barnes & Noble, and I have a pretty good grasp of *certain* authors and books we have, but no one at the store knows *everything* we have, and we have a lot of hardcore book lovers.
 
talesoftobv said:
Now, Here is my question:

Why don't people first look through the store to see if an item is available? Asking should be a second resort.
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I agree.

I've had people ask me at my store where the cookbooks are, when they're *directly* over my shoulder, facing the customer service station. And Disney's much more organized than we are (more money for employee hours ^_^), thus easier to shop.
 

Yes, that would make a difference, but the original post said pin stores and carts in Fantasyland in DLR so that's what I was going with. I've only been to DLR once but I can't think of any stores as massive as Mouse Gears in that area.
 

But just knowing what's in your station leaves you open to not knowing what isn't in your station. If you want CM's to know every character that has a pin (almost ever character ever) then obviously they'd be a master at their job lol

There should be a line to the point of what they need to know, and that's where we disagree. I think CM's knowing every character is unrealistic, especially how obscure Figaro is. You disagree. Let's agree to disagree.
 

No it doesn't. The question asked of the cast member was wether the store had any Figaro pins, not if Figaro pins existed at all. By process of elimination, if they know what is in the store and know that they don't have it then they don't need to know the character because they already know the answer to the question.

Again, I didn't say they needed to know every character. I said they should know their station the best they can. And everyone forgets, but don't lie when you don't know the answer. The proper response would have either been "I'm not sure, let's look" or "can you refresh my memory on who Figro is?"
 
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RaChEltheRabidRabbit said:
I completely agree with everything you said.

When getting a job, aren't you suppose to like or enjoy what you do most of the time? Why not have those jobs go to those who actually want it instead of to those who want to "pay the bill"?
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When jobs are as scarce as they are now, you deal with what you can get. I'm sure many CM's love Disney, but maybe not all of them share the enthusiasm we have for the company.




When did I say they had to know if pins "existed at all"? I'm saying if they should know every character in their station then after a while they should know most of the Disney characters, which is simply unrealistic imo.

I feel like I'm talking in circles, so that's where I'll end my part on the subject matter.
 
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Things like what happened to LadyArmonua happen to me everywhere and all the time. I was at McDonalds ordering a burger and asked the cashier what exactly was on it. They did not know of course. They never do! I don't know how many times I ask someone at a food place what is in the food and they just don't know.

I went to TMobile to inquire about their plans. Of course I did my research ahead of time and knew what I was looking for. At all 3 TMobile stores and 1 Best Buy store I went to none of the employees there gave me the correct information. NONE! It was ridiculous.

I went to Michaels looking for cork board for these darn pins. :drool: I end up walking around the store with the employee because they don't know where they are.

I go to Macy's looking for a specific type of bra and am walked around again by the employee searching. Then when we don't find it and I am on my way out, there it is in the front of the department.

And I can't tell you how many times this kind of thing happens at Wal-mart and Target!

Why are we crucifying this Disney Cast Member? This kind of thing happens all the time. What is the big deal?
 
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I am not just crucifying the Disney Cast Members, I am crucifying ALL bad employees everywhere!!!

I guess I just feel this way because I have yet to be hired for a job when I would work hard at it and then I see/hear about employees that don't do poo and yet they have a job.
 
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I didn't say you said that. You clearly aren't following....

You said:

scottydem said:
But just knowing what's in your station leaves you open to not knowing what isn't in your station. If you want CM's to know every character that has a pin (almost ever character ever) then obviously they'd be a master at their job lol
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That told me that you were not grasping what I said. I never said they needed to know every character. I said they should know their station, not everything. If they know their station and someone asks for a character that they don't know then it obviously isn't in their station so they aren't "left open" to anything. Now, a great cast member would be able to direct you to a different store if the merchandise existed, but that would be few and far between.
 
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Most people don't do poo and still have a job. That is how it works here in America. I have worked restaurants, retail, and corporate. All consist of a large amount of employees literally doing absolutely nothing.
 


The one difference I see between your examples and this one is that in your examples at least they made an effort to help you find the answer rather than just spiffing it off and saying that the store didn't have what you wanted.

Beyond that, do we think it is really ok for Disney to be held to the same standard as a Walmart? Blaack - I hope not! Maybe I was looking through rose colored glasses, but I remember a time when Disney was all about customer service. And now...it just seems to be getting worse and worse. The "magic" just seems to be dwindling away. Now, I'm not completely blaming the cast members. From what I hear Disney pays pretty crappy...so I guess they are getting what they are paying for and they probably don't deserve the good employees they do have.
 
erudolf said:
From what I hear Disney pays pretty crappy...so I guess they are getting what they are paying for and they probably don't deserve the good employees they do have.
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You hit it right on the head there. You get what you pay for. And they just don't get paid enough.
 
erudolf said:
The one difference I see between your examples and this one is that in your examples at least they made an effort to help you find the answer rather than just spiffing it off and saying that the store didn't have what you wanted.
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I just went back and read the original post. The cast said something like we don't carry those. Maybe they were thinking Figaro was something else not associated with Disney. Which would explain the comment. Since they are only selling Disney characters and items in the shop.

Looking at it more carefully it just seems like miscommunication and the cast member thinking Figaro was something else entirely.
 
I'm a seasonal cast member , 55 years of age, and I can name the characters from Pinocchio, but I could not name the other dogs in Lady and The Tramp or besides Pongo and Purdy , the other Dalmations or the cats in the Aristocats besides Duchess & Marie . IDK all the characters from Nemo , the Bugs Life , and especially the Nightmare Before Christmas besides Jack & Sally .
I noticed today when I visited my manager friend that we got a slew of mini plush in , in assorted characters , some I knew others , I did not . I happen to love my job and customer service is very important in our store . So, I got a pen & paper and wrote down the characters that were unfamiliar too me . It all depends on the person, but then I am ole' skool . You either want to do good and learn or you don't . And if you don't , there are others out there that do . Punch out and Go Home ! :lol:
Now I need to learn from you , ones that didn't have names on their tags that I bought today . The witch holding mask from NBC , the goblin holding mask with devil tail , the goblin with mask in skeleton ware and The Mayor . What are their names ? I have no idea , but they were on sale and thought they were just adorable to decorate with for Halloween . Oh and I'm still learning Toy Story characters .
 
And The Mayor is just Mayor ? Thank You , writing this down now . I knew I could count on you to know . :hug:
:lol: Shock, Lock & Barrel ! Where do they come up with these names !
 
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In the end, I'm not sure if it was the fact the girl didn't know who Figaro was but rather that she didn't seem to care to find out. Yeah, I know there are employees everywhere that have jobs only because they need the pay check but would it really have behooved her to ask someone else working there if they knew where the pins might be? I worked at a Disney store in the mall a few years ago and there were people that asked for merch of characters I was not familiar with at all. At the time I had no idea who Phineas or Ferb were, let alone could tell them apart, so if someone asked where the Phineas and Ferb plushies were I would either direct them to the back of the store where all the plush are or ask another floor employee if they knew. I don't think it takes that much to go out of your way to help the customer, it is your job.

As for looking first before asking where something is, well, some people don't really want to spend time they could be spending in line for a ride or getting food wandering around a store for something specific. It can be faster to go in, ask where something is, get it and go. In Fantasyland where some rides have waits as long as an hour somedays (I'm looking at you, Peter Pan's Flight), you don't want to waste time. That ride is a must do for my sister, practically for the whole family, every time any of us go to Disneyland. Why? I'm guessing tradition, it's not that great a ride and lasts about three minutes. It was also on the day just before she got on the road to move cross country so, again, not wanting to waste time shopping when she wanted to get in a few last experiences.
 
I agree , if I don't know, I ask ! You are absolutely right . That CM just didn't feel like being bothered to look or ask . Did you make her look like a fool ? I would have had ! I've run into my share of CM's at WDW that don't know there rear from a gear . Too put it nicely . I usually smile and tell them I'm a CM at our local DS and correct their mistake . Or I've also been known to help a customer in a WDW store . Some CM's just look at me stunned when I help their customer because they did not know . A training manager once asked , if I wanted a job . I :lol: and said, I wish, got apts for CM's here .
Today I was happily surprised to find Peas in the Pod from TS . I guess I spoke out loud as a customer said my grand daughter just got that green thing from the princess with the long hair after looking for ages for it here . She could not think of its name . I replied Pascal from the movie Tangled and the princess is Rapunzel . She said, oh your good, you should work here . My friend replied she does but at another store . HeHe Too bad that store is an 1 1/2 away . They now have the plush horse to Maximus ! He is so cute !
Yes Lock, Shock and Barrel is an old saying , I just didn't know Disney used the phrase for these characters . :lol:
 
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