Curious how other Liners feel about this issue I had CRT

Walt Disney World
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We returned last month from our WDW trip and are starting to plan our next WDW visit. Whenever DW and I discuss planning the next WDW trip, I keep mentioning that an issue at our dinner at CRT is still bugging me.

After we were seated, but before we ordered our meals, I felt 2 drop of water drop onto my head. When the CM waiter came by, I mentioned it to him. He said that it’s from the A/C unit and they would call an engineer to look at it. I said we would appreciate a different table.

He checked into it and came back and said there are currently no other tables available, but we could move over to an area in the dining room with a bench until another table became available. If it were just DW and me, we would have done this, but moving twice (over to the bench and then later to an open table) and not knowing how long we would have to wait was not a good option with DS1 and DD4 who were already settled in and hungry.

The waiter moved the table over a bit in the hopes that would solve the problem, but the water was dripping from more than one place and DW and I continued to get a drop of water ever 5 minutes or so (and I don’t know and don’t want to think about if any landed in my kids’ food!).

We mentioned the continued dripping again to the CM waiter. Later a manager came and said he would take 20% off the bill and they brought a dessert for DS1 (who normally wouldn’t be entitled to a free dessert at CRT). I appreciated those gestures.

But here is what really bugs me …

The CM waiter apologized again at the end of our meal. And he mentioned that this was a problem earlier and they called an engineer so assumed the problem must have been fixed. I think that before seating anyone at the table, the staff should have checked to make sure water was no longer dripping.

I understand that things break and mistakes happen. And I was offered a chance to leave the table and wait for another table. But, the fact that the staff knew the dripping was an issue before we arrived and then seated my family there anyway without checking to see if the dripping was fixed is what really bothers me.

If this was not WDW, I would not return to the restaurant again, but DD4 loves CRT and I don’t want her to miss out because of the incident.

I kinda want to email guest services about this, but it was a month ago and my wife thinks I should just forget about it.

Am I being unreasonable? What do other Liners think?

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Not unreasonable exactly, but those servers are really busy and if they were told by the engineer that it was fixed, then I’m sure they took his word for it. You were compensated, offered the opportunity to change tables, I think it’s time to let it go. I’d have probably forgotten about it by the next morning.

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DW feels as you do. So that’s 2 wise women who feel that way :slight_smile: You two are probable right.

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One wise woman and me :joy:

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What are you hoping to get by emailing guest services? If it’s additional compensation, I’d lay it out exactly for them but not get your hopes up too high since they already gave you a discount. If you’re moreso looking for acknowledgment that you were put in a bad situation (which you were!), I would try to let it go since it’s been a month and the waiter probably did their best at the time.

However, if you book there again, I would put something in the notes or call ahead to let them know your last table was unsatisfactory and ask for consideration for a better table this time (or atleast one that doesn’t have ac fluids leaking on it :confounded:). Sorry you had that happen to you!

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I guess my question is this: if they had told you they couldn’t seat you because of the issue, what would your reaction have been? It could have meant you not getting your hard earned CRT meal at all.

If that was the preferable outcome, then the time to have emailed GS was immediately afterwards. But as it is, I think it’s too late to do so now.

And FWIW, I think if that was the case, you would have reacted differently at the time and taken up the offer to move seats.

I’m with your DW here too, time to let it go. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I didn’t know what would make me feel better about this situation until I read your post. I really like your last point and that’s what I will do.

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What they should have done is not sat anyone at that table until they checked to make sure the issue was fixed. The fact that they knew about the issue is what bothers me.

And then everyone (including my family) would have had to wait a little bit longer to be initially seated, but that happens often at CRT anyway.

That said, I posted because I wanted other opinions and suspected that my continuing irritation was perhaps not justified by the facts. Fom the consensus, it does appear that I should let this go… though I am going to mention it in the notes (as suggested by a previous poster) when I book CRT for the next trip. It won’t change anything about the past but perhaps it will help make sure I don’t get the table with a possible issue next time.

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I’m in the let it go camp.

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We had a big mishap at TH in August. The waitress spilled an entire cup of hot coffee on my DS-then-4. I was really upset, as was my son, obviously. He cried for several minutes and caught the attention of the entire section of the restaurant. But he got over it and there were no lasting injuries or burns after the initial redness from the hot coffee went away (fortunately he was wearing a thick sweatshirt in the restaurant).

They offered nothing for the setback. I had to ask for a voucher for a new shirt, as he was all wet and smelled like coffee. I thought they would have comped the entire meal. In retrospect, I think I should’ve asked for at least that courtesy.

But, I didn’t want to ruin the mood of the rest of the evening, as by that time, he was happy again and the characters were coming around to greet him. The waitress was super apologetic. If DS was happy, then I saw no reason to ruin the mood…

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Wow. Your situation was much worse than mine! That is terrible.

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As a former food-service employee, any spill on a customer should result in a comped meal or at least comped dessert or something, depending on how bad the spill was. Hot coffee should be a comped meal because of the potential for injury and lawsuits. You want guests to be happy when they leave so they don’t call a lawyer!

As for the initial incident, I am in the let it go camp, but your feelings are reasonable. I like the idea to leave a note asking for a better table next time.

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It sounds like you made a choice to prioritize what worked best for your kids in the moment over the mechanical issue above the table. And regret that choice.

Yes, ideally, they would have confirmed the problem was fixed before seating guests at that table. But if the drips were very intermittent (every 5 minutes), it would be hard for them to notice it. Especially at a busy place like CRT.

I’ve made choices that prioritized my kids comfort and needs over my own. Sometimes it was the right call, sometimes I regret it.

They did give you (reasonable) options that you declined to use. Once the issue is there (failed maintenance fix), that’s really all they can do. Make the best of a not ideal situation.

So yes…let it go. And next time think about how this made you feel when weighing the “kids vs adults” decisions. I guarantee the kids would not still be thinking about waiting 20 extra minutes at CRT, while you are still stewing on this.

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I would say you should write the email to guest services. Tell them what happened, including the good and the bad (the water and creep factor, as well as the free dessert and discount). Mention that you want to let them know that the CMs did what they could with a bad situation, (giving kudos is better than complaining), but you also wanted it noted that the situation, particularly with small kids was very uncomfortable.

When you’re done, don’t send it. Save it. Sit on it for a day or maybe two, then revisit it. If you still feel strongly that it reflects what you want to say and that you need it heard, then send it, but if not, file or delete it and let it go.

I find putting things like this to paper can often dispel the feelings behind them without involving others.

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If this happened in the real world, I may have been a little more assertive, but DS seemed to be back to his happy self and engrossed in the magic again when the characters came around. I really didn’t want to make DS or myself any more upset at that point.

Tbh, I was really surprised that they didn’t automatically comp the meal, especially at WDW where customer service and keeping things magical is supposed to be the highest priority.

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Haha! Reminds me of a couple emails to then girlfriends (now exes) that I wrote, but never sent!

I actually feel better after writing my post on here and after reading other Liners’ responses.

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I went to the restroom in Le Cellier and came back to find DS9 and DH covered in steak sauce. The waitress clearing the table next to us spilled the tray all over the two of them. DS has a regular T-shirt on, but it ruined DH’s Nike Mickey polo. But I’m not one to ever complain and here it is, two years later and I’m still annoyed!

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That’s a fair assessment. But at the time I made my choice, (a) I didn’t know that the CM was aware of there was an issue before I was seated (if I knew that, I would have pressed the issue with the manager at the time) and (b) I thought the dripping was just on my seat area … it wasn’t until a bit later that it started dripping on DW and other areas of the table.

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20% off the bill is quite reasonable.

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Yes, you made the best decision you could with the information you had.

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