Falling Standards at Our Parks

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5 minutes ago, Mc coaster said:

I was speaking to staff member a few weeks ago and was asking if I was able to purchase a band because only 2 of the games still had them and she told me that in about a month they will be available for purchase and them being for free was just a temperory promotion.

 Not a good move if true. Would have been far better to never make them free than to make them free then expect people to pay again. 

[Jobe]

I do not for one minute think that Mickey D was nitpicking at all in regards to the behaviour and mannerisms of Movieworld's staff that he observed.

Theme parks are a service industry. We expect and should get excellent customer service ACROSS all facets of the park. This includes all team members whether they are ride operators or ticket attendants. 

Imagine if we went to a Disney park and experienced this type of attitude and poor service. It would be a major talking point. We hold Disney as being the best that theme parks can offer ( and whilst I am certainly not holding Movieworld to a Disney standard) it is reasonable to expect a certain level of attentiveness , enthusiasm and professionalism from our own indigenous parks. 

Simple customer service should be the minimum to expect. I am sure that Mark Shaw, given his own unique perspectives on the industry, would agree on the importance of customer service and professionalism in your job at all times.

 

Seriously a no brainer for mine. 

[pushbutton]

I've often been absolutely disgusted by the way staff at Movie World just scan my pass, and often don't even look at me as they do so. 

They really need to at least get the absolute basics of customer service right,  and that's just a starting point. 

[Spotty]

13 hours ago, themagician said:

Even though it’s sad to hear these comments, I agree with everything you say. VRTP biggest let down is there staff, and that definitely isn’t good. As mentioned there are some things that need improving, but when the worst thing that needs fixing is the staffs attitude and behaviour, that’s saying something. A lot don’t seem to care, don’t greet, rather not be there (and probably the only reason they are is because of the good pay rates). Staff need to be let go, refrained, or have an attitude change, because they places are for fun and happiness and most of them don’t offer it. I’ve worked in retail and know how difficult it can be to deal with some customers, and you can’t always be happy or positive, but within the theme park environment, I feel that staff should at least put a little bit more effort in, like mentioned, a simple welcome to MW is enough to start the day.

Not sure what you mean by the good pay rates... the staff are on just above minimum wage there... At least they were when I was there, don't think it's changed too much.

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4 hours ago, Spotty said:

Not sure what you mean by the good pay rates... the staff are on just above minimum wage there... At least they were when I was there, don't think it's changed too much.

To be fair, they really can't afford to pay them more than that with the amount the parks charge guests. The money would have to come from somewhere. 

[MickeyD]

Most have found that it wasn't so much me nitpicking, more that a total lack of good Service can allow for the mind to wonder. Suddenly all those 'insignificant' little things become glaringly obvious.

Ironically, as @AlexB and others have found, DW Staff engage with their Customer and show pride in their Park.

I am sure the wages across the Parks are similar yet only 1 doesn't charge for a smile. 

To anyone who thinks Service is unimportant in a Theme Park, (or any business where there is a Customer) you are obviously too young, too stupid or too self-absorbed to know better.

In case MW Management are reading, the picture below is for you.

[New display name]

45 minutes ago, MickeyD said:

Suddenly all those 'insignificant' little things become glaringly obvious.
@AlexB

Which is what I said.

"This mindset might have been triggered from your first interactions of the day".

Title should read:

BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE MAKES LITTLE THINGS GLARINGLY OBVIOUS. 😀

The non-interaction from staff members personally doesn’t get me upset but if I felt a staff member was being purposely rude to me than that would upset me.

Of late when I’ve been at a theme parks, I’ve been taking off my enthusiast hat because for me, I have found it is taking the fun out of the parks.

I also find being staff being over friendly fake & creeps me out.  (Example is the fun patrol at DW)  I shouldn’t need somebody at a park to tell me to have fun.

Edited May 15, 2018 by Skeeta

[MickeyD]

8 minutes ago, Skeeta said:

Which is what I said.

"This mindset might have been triggered from your first interactions of the day".

Title should read:

BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE MAKES LITTLE THINGS GLARINGLY OBVIOUS. 😀

The non-interaction from staff members personally doesn’t get me upset but if I felt a staff member was being purposely rude to me than that would upset me.

Of late when I’ve been at a theme parks, I’ve been taking off my enthusiast hat because for me, I have found it is taking the fun out of the parks.

I also find being staff being over friendly fake & creeps me out.  (Example is the fun patrol at DW)  I shouldn’t need somebody at a park to tell me to have fun.

For sure  there is a fine line and you don't want to be over the top. - not acknowledging people is the common theme throughout and not just a first impression.

Frankly I feel for those in  the minority that are doing their jobs right because clearly good service is going unreckognised.

[Slick]

All theme parks are an experience and realising high customer satisfaction with that experience starts and ends with customer service.

That said, I find it hard to believe that an entire company of front-lining service staff seem to have an issue with being satisfied in their roles whilst the folks next door don't. Most people want to do their job well and take pride/satisfaction in what they do regardless of pay or age.

So then, what's the matter? Whenever this happens (whether that's in a theme park, or a restaurant or a hotel) you've gotta ask: are they not being supported by their managers? Are there practices and rules in place that suck the life out of employee's motivation and passion? Is there not sufficient training? Do executive level staff fail to understand the essence of the business or are they unable to rectify these issues in a timely manner and if so, why?

Edited May 15, 2018 by Roachie

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27 minutes ago, Roachie said:

All theme parks are an experience and realising high customer satisfaction with that experience starts and ends with customer service.

That said, I find it hard to believe that an entire company of front-lining service staff seem to have an issue with being satisfied in their roles whilst the folks next door don't. Most people want to do their job well and take pride/satisfaction in what they do regardless of pay or age.

So then, what's the matter? Whenever this happens (whether that's in a theme park, or a restaurant or a hotel) you've gotta ask: are they not being supported by their managers? Are there practices and rules in place that suck the life out of employee's motivation and passion? Is there not sufficient training? Do executive level staff fail to understand the essence of the business or are they unable to rectify these issues in a timely manner and if so, why?

All very good points, but at the end of the day this is something very simple, which could be fixed very easily if the right people had the will to do so.

That's a major part of the solution though: Are they employing the right people?

There are surely enough people out there who would genuinely enjoy doing the job with passion and a sense of fun, whilst of course still following safety rules. Are these things (passion for theme parks, and engaging, fun personality) being prioritised enough by those who do the recruiting?

[Original]

^ What happens when managers suck the life out of those people though? They become just like everyone else working there. 

And missing/damaged theming and effects that havent been replaced or touched in months is not a small thing in my mind at all that adds up with bad customers service. All round there is the feeling of being sub par and no one caring.

I'm sure some there really do want to see it at its best. It's just right now the negatives outweigh the positives. 

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20 minutes ago, Original said:

^ What happens when managers suck the life out of those people though? They become just like everyone else working there. 

And missing/damaged theming and effects that havent been replaced or touched in months is not a small thing in my mind at all that adds up with bad customers service. All round there is the feeling of being sub par and no one caring.

I'm sure some there really do want to see it at its best. It's just right now the negatives outweigh the positives. 

Very true. 

[Spotty]

On 15/05/2018 at 5:03 AM, pushbutton said:

To be fair, they really can't afford to pay them more than that with the amount the parks charge guests. The money would have to come from somewhere. 

The wages were like that before the cheap passes came into effect really...

[rappa]

You cant make morale and happiness with money... its not about wages.

The village parks used to have as much fun and social recreation behind the scenes as front of house back hen John Menzies ran the place.

The staff would have industry deals at venues all over town. 

There would be catered (with alcohol) after hours parties for staff almost monthly, and un official organised gatherings in town even more frequently.

Then there was the famous annual Warner Village ball which saw all staff (1000s) treated to a sit down formal dinner, unlimited drinks and festivities all night, and handing out of employee of the year awards. Many staff lived for this annual party which was renowned for being one of the best on the coast.

 

All these things made the place more than just a workplace.

When Tim Fisher came in, all that stopped, there is no such thing a ball or a Christmas Party anymore, any staff function is held on site and is about as exciting as you can imagine from say a Trivia Night with free Soft Drink! WOO

 

With so many companies being all about employee benefits to retain good staff these days, it's safe to say Village are as behind in staff relations as Dreamworld are in strategic direction.

 

It's people that make your business, end of story.

[Levithian]

The little things that never seem to get repaired or replaced, to me, is like basically saying we don't care. So if you don't care, that means you don't have pride in your business, which to me means you don't care about us as guests then either. So it all slides down hill from the number of small little things you never see changed. Big things tend to stay the same at our parks, the rides are still there, the buildings are still standing, the actors are still.... err... acting? but when im sitting down with the kids eating lunch and I see a small hole in the wall, some broken pavers or a torn curtain, only to come back 3 months later and still see the same thing, i kinda feel like nobody is putting any effort into presentation and it's all just turning to shit.

Here's an example, at movieworld, the toilets around the side/back of dirty harrys have had a broken urinal for what seems like years. It's gone, the pipe is sticking out with a bit of tape on it. That's it. Is that the best you can do? what about tiles falling off the wall or the taps which don't turn off properly? how about the mold on the main street roof and running down the sides of some of the buildings? Im assuming thats what the black stuff is. When you are sitting down people watching, you start to notice lots of little things that you don't mean to notice or aren't trying to notice, it's just what happens when the kids are slowly making their way through a lunch they said they wanted but are trying VERY hard not to actually eat now its in front of them!

[YaBoySlam]

On 19/05/2018 at 10:42 AM, djrappa said:

You cant make morale and happiness with money... its not about wages.

The village parks used to have as much fun and social recreation behind the scenes as front of house back hen John Menzies ran the place.

The staff would have industry deals at venues all over town. 

There would be catered (with alcohol) after hours parties for staff almost monthly, and un official organised gatherings in town even more frequently.

Then there was the famous annual Warner Village ball which saw all staff (1000s) treated to a sit down formal dinner, unlimited drinks and festivities all night, and handing out of employee of the year awards. Many staff lived for this annual party which was renowned for being one of the best on the coast.

 

All these things made the place more than just a workplace.

When Tim Fisher came in, all that stopped, there is no such thing a ball or a Christmas Party anymore, any staff function is held on site and is about as exciting as you can imagine from say a Trivia Night with free Soft Drink! WOO

 

With so many companies being all about employee benefits to retain good staff these days, it's safe to say Village are as behind in staff relations as Dreamworld are in strategic direction.

 

It's people that make your business, end of story.

So basically the gc theme parks are the most ironic ones in the world

[joel]

Dreamworld staff are always the best, however the rides can be a bit ‘hit and miss’.

movieworld staff are alright, a bit set in there way, but the rides are pretty well efficient.

[Brad2912]

MW loading and efficient can never be placed in the same thesaurus, let alone sentence...

[pin142]

7 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

MW loading and efficient can never be placed in the same thesaurus, let alone sentence...

Will agree there, Six Flags does a better job with loading rides these days and their staff actually seem happy and like they want to be there.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Movie World have definitely lost 'the show' aspect of their staff.

Above all else - this is what they need to work on improving. We can worry about shitty burgers later.

[themagician]

And I think ‘the show’ aspect began to be lost when uniforms changed. It’s great that some of the rides have unique uniforms still, but the uniforms for the ticketing, retail and some rides have lost a bit of magic. Even if it was just the ticketing staff at the front of the park who had unique uniforms it would add to the apparent movie magic (which in many cases has been lost).

[pushbutton]

1 hour ago, themagician said:

And I think ‘the show’ aspect began to be lost when uniforms changed. It’s great that some of the rides have unique uniforms still, but the uniforms for the ticketing, retail and some rides have lost a bit of magic. Even if it was just the ticketing staff at the front of the park who had unique uniforms it would add to the apparent movie magic (which in many cases has been lost).

That's a huge part of it for me. I don't like that throughout all the Village parks, the Village branding is now so visible. It's not only the staff uniforms, but also things like the passes and carrier bags have it very clearly visible too.

It's a cost-cutting measure that's far too obvious to the average guest.

All the parks can and should have their own unique branding, but especially Movie World where the whole point of visiting the park is supposed to be about being immersed in the magic of movies.

[wikiverse]

Casually asked an employee from a Village park about the customer service at MW (specifically the complaints from this thread).  Got this reply.  Seems like a top-down issue.

[New display name]

I hope you didn't mention Parkz because asking stupid questions makes us all look like idiots.  Next time somebody ask an employee what’s going on can you say you’re from TTPSN?

[Spotty]

On 19/05/2018 at 10:42 AM, djrappa said:

You cant make morale and happiness with money... its not about wages.

The village parks used to have as much fun and social recreation behind the scenes as front of house back hen John Menzies ran the place.

The staff would have industry deals at venues all over town. 

There would be catered (with alcohol) after hours parties for staff almost monthly, and un official organised gatherings in town even more frequently.

Then there was the famous annual Warner Village ball which saw all staff (1000s) treated to a sit down formal dinner, unlimited drinks and festivities all night, and handing out of employee of the year awards. Many staff lived for this annual party which was renowned for being one of the best on the coast.

 

All these things made the place more than just a workplace.

When Tim Fisher came in, all that stopped, there is no such thing a ball or a Christmas Party anymore, any staff function is held on site and is about as exciting as you can imagine from say a Trivia Night with free Soft Drink! WOO

 

With so many companies being all about employee benefits to retain good staff these days, it's safe to say Village are as behind in staff relations as Dreamworld are in strategic direction.

 

It's people that make your business, end of story.

Those were the good days...I will admit when I was there first in 2007 and when I went back in 2011 there was a massive difference in staff morale and overall management. Here's hoping things change for the better in the future.