Bad custormer service (Guest Assistance Pass)

[magic]

Okay, I went to Disneyland on Labor Day with my dad who is legally handicaped due to a permanent injury on his arm and leg. He cannot stand in lines (nether can I) so we went to get a pass, but the guy was a real jerk about it. He said that he wont give it to us because of some policy changes or something like that so we left and went to space mountain and got fast passes, i was pissed. Then we go to the restrooms at the end of space mountains exit. I tell my dad to talk a cast member at the handicap line. She even let us ride then we went to talk to someone else at city hall and we got passes. Worst experience ever.

[Chris]

Unfortunately there are different guidelines in effect at the park as to what is considered a handicap needing a Guest Assistance Card. What happened was many years of abuse by people who weren't truly handicapped (or handicapped and were able to stand in line anyway), and they basically ruined it for a lot of people.

The CM was likely following these guidelines based on the information you gave them about you and your father. Now, if they were openly RUDE to you, then you certainly should report it to City Hall.

[Piglet]

There is an ongoing thread called Son has Aspergers/Autism that you might want to take a look at. There is a lot of good information in there about obtaining a Guest Assistance Card. I am so sorry this happened to your Dad. I hope you still had a wonderful time at Disneyland =)

[HiddenMickey]

Sorry to hear that has happened -- it's definitely a rare occurrence and one that DL officials should know about. Yes its true that many people do abuse the priviledge and this ruins it for people who really need it. My mom has a condition that keeps her from standing in long lines, and the CM was more than happy to give us a GAC. I guess it was just a case of a rude CM..

[magic]

He was rude he kept on telling us that they don't do that anymore and to get a wheelchair, is was going to tell this guy off. My dad had brought his medical records because Legoland needed proof the last time I went there. My dad asked if we could speak to someone else and he said no. That kinda ruined my day and my dads day because he had not been there in a few year.By the way the CM didn't care about the medical records.MY DAD LIMPS ON HIS RIGHT LEG! He is wearing an arm brace and leg brace clearly visible I was lucky to even get to go with redicules prices. O yeah when we went back we reported him to another CM who had just stared his shift. He didnt care about the other guy. He seemed like the guy who would give it out to anybody.

[debijeanm]

I've been taking my elderly parents regularly since the Homecoming. Mom is always in a wheelchair and only once (on HM) has a CM even asked for a "green tag". I didn't even know what they were. By the way, they let her do the wheelchair entry thing anyway.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. For what it's worth, since the Homecoming I'm noticing more and more "magical" castmembers. Let's hope that those without the magic move to some other employment.

[HiddenMickey]

The CM also recommended a wheelchair to us (in fact, in DCA you must have one, as their regulations are different), but did not question anything... not that we were lying anyway.

[Disneyluvr2]

Originally Posted by Space Mountain

Yup. And the sad thing is, is that they still abuse these guidelines. One time I was at Disneyland (and believe me this happens more than often) and some group was pushing someone in a wheel chair, then about an hour later, that person who was in the wheelchair, was walking fine and PUSHING someone ELSE in that group in the wheel chair. It was kinda obvious that no one in the entire group was handicap. I really get irritated with that.

-SPΛCE

I saw the exact same thing on my last trip. I was sitting at Coke Corner when a group came up with a lady in a wheel chair. She got up and went inside to order something and when she came out, another girl from the group sat in the wheelchair and the lady that was using the wheelchair before started pushing her! I wanted to yell "Hey, that's not right!" but of course I kept my mouth shut and just shook my head. How sad that these people abuse the system and make it hard for the people that really need it.

[echoscot]

I am sorry about the bad experience you had. Knowing from working at WDW, if you had asked to speak to someone else, his response should NEVER have been "no" it should have been "Hold on one minute, I'll get my manager and you can discuss this with him/her"

As far as people not always using wheelchairs or sharing them, that is difficult to call abuse too. Some people in groups do need a wheelchair because they cannot stand all day or for long times. It is very exhausting to be a guest at a Disney park, so some folks without diagnosed conditions still know their own limits. They may take turns pushing each other relatively short distances. It is very tricky to make a call on that.

I do know from experience, though, that many people cheat the system and look for loopholes to their advantage. It is a sad truth about people in the world.

[tomserwin]

Originally Posted by magic

He said that he wont give it to us because of some policy changes or something like that.

Sorry to hear that.

I wouldn't call him a jerk for obeying company policy. 99% of the time, it is not some conspiracy against you. Usually they are just doing their job. Like Chris said, I am sure those passes were abused. It's not his fault the policy was changed. At least you got passes though.

My mom is technically "handicapped." If you are under five feet tall, that is considered a handicap. My mom is four foot eleven inches. Technically she is "hadicapped," but she would never dream of getting a pass because she is a healthy individual who happens to be short. I'm sure there are plenty of people like her that are techincally hadicapped that got passes even thought they didn't need it. Which is a shame because it makes life harder for people like your dad.

[debijeanm]

In fairness, let me say a word about people in wheelchairs who appear able to walk and stand. Some people have conditions that warrant a wheelchair that may not be outwardly obvious. This Sunday I will be taking my 29-year-old niece to DCA. We will be using a wheelchair. Outwardly, she appears to be in perfect health and is able to stand and walk with no apparent problem. She is, however, suffering from a rare condition (not cancer) and is taking chemo for it . The last time she tried to walk DL she was in terrible pain by the end of the day. I'm insisting on a wheelchair for the day (whether we do wheelchair perks or not) so that she does not suffer.

Still, like most of you, I have also seen people abuse the wheelchair option, which makes it harder on those who really need one. I applaud what appears to me to be a relatively new wheelchair policy (when a wheelchair rider leaves the ride, another can get on.) Although it has resulted in much longer waits for wheelchair guests (and their families, which has been a little tough on my 81-year-old father who does not yet need a chair but finds it difficult to stand for long periods of time), it seems much more fair.

[Disney Babe]

Originally Posted by Space Mountain

Yup. And the sad thing is, is that they still abuse these guidelines. One time I was at Disneyland (and believe me this happens more than often) and some group was pushing someone in a wheel chair, then about an hour later, that person who was in the wheelchair, was walking fine and PUSHING someone ELSE in that group in the wheel chair. It was kinda obvious that no one in the entire group was handicap. I really get irritated with that.

-SPΛCE

Okay, I understand that some people may not look like they need wheel chairs, but I was actually wondering what was going on the last time I went to DL (about 2 months ago) because it seemed as if I was dodging wheel chairs left and right! By the evening hours I started getting suspcious that someone somewhere was giving out wheel chairs when they weren't supposed to be. I tried to look at it logically and figure that I just happened to be in the park on a day when a lot of people where in need of wheel chairs. I rationalized that, well, maybe the ADA regs are stronger now or maybe DLR just happens to have more wheel chairs available and this was the actual need. But, I came away from the park still suspcious that some rules were not being followed.

When you feel like just you and a few hundred other guests are walking and you have to watch the wheel chair traffic, something seems strange.

Sorry to hijack the thread from the OP's point.

[princesschloe777]

I'm sorry to hear about that happening to you at

Its to bad that others have to reunion that sort of thing for people who really do need it. I was thinking and this is just my oberservation,but the CM was trying to following the rules, but maybe he wasn't have a good day and it made him seem even ruder. Or something happened that day with people visiting the park or fellow CM, that made him seem different than possibly how he/she usually are. I always try to look at it from a different view, The view of the CM and the view of Myself or you. It helps me to look at the other side of things, but that is just me. But really I would suggest that, always go to City Hall first and explain to them, because with times changing, its pretty rare to find service that CM displayed back when Walt Was around.

Again, I am really sorry that this happened to you, and I hope that when you go about you will have a very Memorable Time!