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Weird experience at Epcot

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Weird experience at Epcot

JMR

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An odd and rather disappointing thing happened a couple of days ago at Epcot. We were waiting to trade with the pin can--a trash can covered in pins--at the World Showcase when a trader in front of us handed the older CM what looked like a jumbo pin. She showed it to the other CM working with her and then put it in her pocket. I waited until it was my turn and asked about it as the older CM hadn't put it on the board or on her lanyard yet. Although I knew perfectly well it was still sitting in her pocket, the two CMs proceeded to lie about it, first looking puzzled, then suggesting someone else must have traded for it, and finally trying to direct my attention to the lanyard on another CM. I was very annoyed but short of demanding that the woman empty her pockets there didn't seem to be much I could do. Thoughts? Are cast members instructed to hold back certain trades or was this CM adding to her own collection against Disney rules?

Other than this one incident I've been having a good time trading in the parks. The lanyards are stuffed with scrapers, which makes it a bit more challenging to find decent pins. I've picked up a couple of cute booster pack pins--including a BB 8 pin. And I can honestly say that my family members, who can't tell a scrapper from an authentic pin, are leaving every lanyard a little richer than they found it.
 
That is disappointing, especially that they lied about it I'm not too clued up on these things, is it explicitly against the rules or frowned upon?
 
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Should have asked to see the CM manager or file a complaint at Guest Services. Definitely against the pin trading rules if that is what happened.
 
It's kinda sad that that trader was probably hoping to really brighten the day of another guest, and something like this happens. If I take some really nice pins into the parks to trade, it makes me think twice about using CMs as middlemen. It's better just to trade guest-to-guest.
 
That's a pretty slimy thing for a CM to do. I'd report them.
On the other hand, I've had some good experience with CM's who are also collectors. One gentleman in particular (seemingly a manager at a Disneyland restaurant) didn't have anything on his lanyard I was interested in. I must have said something like "thank you, but I don't see anything I need". He then said something like "Oh YEAH!" and he emptied his pockets of dozens of very good OE pins! Our table made several nice trades from his pockets! I've even scored occasional small LE pins, and some very old pins.
Even if the OP's experience happened to me, I'd still consider trading with CM's to be a positive experience.
 
Coby said:
That is disappointing, especially that they lied about it I'm not too clued up on these things, is it explicitly against the rules or frowned upon?
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I'm certain it's against the rules. The pins traded by guests belong to Disney, not the CM.
 
I thought about asking to speak to their manager but didn't have the time just then. At this point it will be their word against mine.
 

We've had some really nice experiences on this and other trips, which is what made this incident stand out as so peculiar. I'm looking forward to trading with King Pin and the new trader at Coronado on Weds.
 
JMR said:
I'm certain it's against the rules. The pins traded by guests belong to Disney, not the CM.
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Ah yes, of course silly me! I didn't think of it like that for some reason :s That is a shame that they would do this either way, not exactly spreading the magic is it?
 
I had a similar situation a month ago at Ca Adv. I got in line to trade with a CM, I noticed the guest was trading from his Star Wars starter lanyard hoping to trade for his pin, but the CM showed the other CM and put it in her pocket and replaced it with another pin from her pouch. She acted like the pin she got didn't exist, so apparently I guess this happens unfortunately. Sorry it happened to you, it's very disappointing when trying to have a Good trading day. On the plus side, I have met awesome CMs that TRY to make the trading experience Magical!
 
This practice is frowned upon and it does happen.

But, maybe the pin was broken/damaged, or going to be used later on as a Magical Moment, ect.

Hard to say, but try to stay positive. There are a million more good CMs than shady ones, or ones that are labeled shady.
 
I think the fact that the cast members lied about it puts a very dubious element for what they were doing. If it was broken or was to be used later then the cast member should have simply said that and not lied. It i a shame you did not have time to report this. I love most cast members and appreciate all they do to make magic for the guests. Those that are not delivering the magic need to be replaced.
 
Definitely not right! However once I was trading with a cast member from his lanyard when he saw I had a Nana HM he needed and pulled out his secret stash of better pins in his pocket to trade for the Nana that he collected. Pretty sure it wasn't allowed but he was very excited about it lol
 
The lanyard is Disney property and it is against the rules for a cm to exchange for personal pins whilst on stage. That is the grey area as I remember CM's exchanging/sharing pins backstage amongst their personal ones often. That said, if you remember their names, just submit a complaint. It may seem like a waste a time to give one, but doing so will at least bring light of the situation to the area and possibly prevent future occurrences.
 
I'm afraid this is very common at Disneyland Paris , i don't go very often but i've seen it happen a LOT on the few trips i've had there ! They're also terrible to try and trade with ,they refuse trades because they don't see anything they like for THEMSELVES !!! It's so disappointing . It's really put me off . They don't spread the Disney magic .
 
Definitely sounds shady.

I have gotten in conversations with cast members who were also pin traders and liked my pins, and actually tried to zap them directly in the past, but they insisted they couldn't accept any pins from me for their own collections while working.

Since you asked directly, and you know they lied about it, I'd report them. And I don't report people lightly.
 
It is DEFINITELY against Disney Policy for any Cast Member to pocket a pin that is traded by a Guest. I wish you had the CM's name because I could have looked into it further. I will say, however, that there are Guests who will bring in pins to GIVE to Cast Members because they have a great Guest/Cast relationship and have really enjoyed their trading experience with that Cast Member. I have seen an older couple at both of my last locations come into the shop to give pins to those Cast who have always treated them with kindness and so forth, and they do this on a regular basis. However, in those instances the Cast would not have lied about where the pin was. That is what makes it very shady.
 
Yes we have similar situations in Paris, they definitely keep the pins for themselves... I don't really often trade on cast members lanyard but i do on the trading board and when someone put a too nice pin on it, they change it up before anyone have the chance to trade for it
 
I'm very surprised (and saddened) to learn that some of you have had similar experiences. My youngest and I are off to AKL and Disney Springs today. We had great trading experiences there a couple of years ago, so I'm optimistic about our day.
 
In my 13 years hiring Cast Members for the Disney call center I would say 99% are really good. It's that 1% that make me really mad.
 
I have a few CM friends at DLR and all you have to do is ask them to empty their pockets lol. It's a good way for CMs to have some fun to I guess...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk
 
I'm not sure if I read somewhere that DLP cast members' lanyards belong to them, which is why they can refuse trades? Otherwise, it would be awful if they were refusing when the rules state otherwise.
 
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