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QUESTION Are cast members allowed to trade their own pins for pins on boards?

QUESTION Are cast members allowed to trade their own pins for pins on boards?

luvthecastle

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Hi all I have been absent from this forum for a very long time ., but I was hoping someone here could clarify wdw policy for me. I’ve recently been to the parks pin trading and have been told by at least one cast member that they keep their own pins in a pocket while working at the trading board. They said if they see a pin they like show up they take one of their own pins and swap it out. I was very surprised by this. I’d always thought, perhaps incorrectly, that this was not allowed. Does anyone know what the rule on this is? Am I the only one who thought this was not permitted?? Thank you in advance for any clarification.
 
Hi all I have been absent from this forum for a very long time ., but I was hoping someone here could clarify wdw policy for me. I’ve recently been to the parks pin trading and have been told by at least one cast member that they keep their own pins in a pocket while working at the trading board. They said if they see a pin they like show up they take one of their own pins and swap it out. I was very surprised by this. I’d always thought, perhaps incorrectly, that this was not allowed. Does anyone know what the rule on this is? Am I the only one who thought this was not permitted?? Thank you in advance for any clarification.
I’m pretty sure they aren’t supposed to do this, but who can police it really?
 
I was once told by a cast member at WDW Disney Springs Pin Traders that he really liked a pin I traded to his lanyard (pre-covid) and would be trading for it if it remained at close/end of business. This has always made me assume the cast members could trade once the guests are gone for the day.
 
I was once told by a cast member at WDW Disney Springs Pin Traders that he really liked a pin I traded to his lanyard (pre-covid) and would be trading for it if it remained at close/end of business. This has always made me assume the cast members could trade once the guests are gone for the day.
Thank you for the reply . I’ve actually given cast members pins they like and have no issue with them waiting til the end of the day but I am bothered by them grabbing a pin when it hits the board. Honestly it just felt wrong to me. I’ve also seen one instance where a cm set a pin aside for themselves for later so they could trade for it when they had a pin on hand. That one felt wrong as well .
 
To take it to the extreme, what happens if a cast member takes all the new wave hidden mickeys off of the lanyard they grabbed from the back and swaps it out with trade fodder and they continue to do this throughout the day. I just doubt Disney would allow this to happen and wouldn’t leave it up to the discretion of the cast members to be honest
 
To take it to the extreme, what happens if a cast member takes all the new wave hidden mickeys off of the lanyard they grabbed from the back and swaps it out with trade fodder and they continue to do this throughout the day. I just doubt Disney would allow this to happen and wouldn’t leave it up to the discretion of the cast members to be honest
Unfortunately I’ve seen it a few times but my most recent experience was the most overt . It’s happened with the boards, not lanyards, and it’s happened with the person in charge of the board wanting a pin left by a guest . I don’t know if there has been a policy change or if these are just isolated occurrences but I’d like to understand the current policy better .
 
I’ve had a cast member explicitly say they are not allowed to trade their own pins for ones on the lanyards/boards they are using while working. I had just traded and put one on she really wanted and I told her to keep it for herself and she said she was absolutely not allowed no matter how tempted.
 
I’ve had a cast member explicitly say they are not allowed to trade their own pins for ones on the lanyards/boards they are using while working. I had just traded and put one on she really wanted and I told her to keep it for herself and she said she was absolutely not allowed no matter how tempted.
See this is what I thought ! I’ve been in this position with cms as well and offered to give them the pin. One accepted the offer the other declined saying they weren’t allowed. My most recent experience however involved my trading for a pin that the guest in front of me had just put down and the cast member telling me that if I hadn’t been so quick they would have taken it and traded for it. They actually took the pin from me to look at it and then handed it back to me. I was shocked and said I was very surprised to hear that Disney allowed that at which point the cm pulled a handful of pins out of their pocket to show me, told me they were their personal pins and that they could trade off of the board they were monitoring. I again expressed surprise and was told again that they could do so.
 
To take it to the extreme, what happens if a cast member takes all the new wave hidden mickeys off of the lanyard they grabbed from the back and swaps it out with trade fodder and they continue to do this throughout the day. I just doubt Disney would allow this to happen and wouldn’t leave it up to the discretion of the cast members to be honest

I honestly don’t think this is a big deal to Disney. They don’t care about this. Also, workers abusing their power is very commonplace. High end sneakers are “backdoored” sold to their friends before it hits the store front. Hot Wheels have “chases” and are picked in the back room by Target/Walmart employees. When PS5s released employees took them and resold them. People who work in food give free food to their friends.


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I honestly don’t think this is a big deal to Disney. They don’t care about this. Also, workers abusing their power is very commonplace. High end sneakers are “backdoored” sold to their friends before it hits the store front. Hot Wheels have “chases” and are picked in the back room by Target/Walmart employees. When PS5s released employees took them and resold them. People who work in food give free food to their friends.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Don’t forget bank employees can look up the serial numbers for bills they receive from the government. Certain sequences of serial numbers go for big bucks.
 
In the grand scheme of things a cast member trading the good pins off the board is not a huge deal. There are definitely a lot worse things people do, but that's not what I understood to be the point of this thread. People doing unethical things is a problem. This cast member activity also speaks to the missing value you are getting as a paying park guest. We all understand what people do to benefit themselves is inconsiderate and frustrating. Please know, it is totally acceptable to vent and share information about it on DPF.
 
I honestly don’t think this is a big deal to Disney. They don’t care about this. Also, workers abusing their power is very commonplace. High end sneakers are “backdoored” sold to their friends before it hits the store front. Hot Wheels have “chases” and are picked in the back room by Target/Walmart employees. When PS5s released employees took them and resold them. People who work in food give free food to their friends.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think it does matter. Same reason they can’t resell merch that they get discounts on. It’s tough to police but Disney has fired people for it before, and I’m sure they’d do it if they found out.
 
In the grand scheme of things a cast member trading the good pins off the board is not a huge deal. There are definitely a lot worse things people do, but that's not what I understood to be the point of this thread. People doing unethical things is a problem. This cast member activity also speaks to the missing value you are getting as a paying park guest. We all understand what people do to benefit themselves is inconsiderate and frustrating. Please know, it is totally acceptable to vent and share information about it on DPF.
Thank you : ) I appreciate the feedback on this issue. I needed pin lovers to discuss it with lol . I’ve been visiting Disney for many years and I’ve also collected pins for quite a while. I guess I’ve come to expect high standards from Disney over the years and this type of thing just felt very unlike the Disney I’ve always known and loved. It definitely took something away from the experience when it happened and I wanted to know if my reaction was off the mark. Thanks again : )
Ps I’ve been gone from this forum for so long when I signed in to post it’s showing me as a new member!
 
I was in WDW 2+ weeks ago and their trading boards were awful. I was so excited to trade with cast members (with my legit pins) in the place that started pin trading. My expectation were high. I was disappointed with the pin boards. Pin trading was my number 2 activity (behind the rides) and to not find some fun trading throughout the parks was unexpected (and its a lot of $$$ for a trip to WDW.) I will echo your sentiment... whatever the reason for the crap pin boards (other guests with their scrap or opportunistic cast members), the lack of decent trading took something away from my visit to WDW.

It's sad that Disney does not incentivize their cast members to do better.
 
I will say I came across some
I was in WDW 2+ weeks ago and their trading boards were awful. I was so excited to trade with cast members (with my legit pins) in the place that started pin trading. My expectation were high. I was disappointed with the pin boards. Pin trading was my number 2 activity (behind the rides) and to not find some fun trading throughout the parks was unexpected (and its a lot of $$$ for a trip to WDW.) I will echo your sentiment... whatever the reason for the crap pin boards (other guests with their scrap or opportunistic cast members), the lack of decent trading took something away from my visit to WDW.

It's sad that Disney does not incentivize their cast members to do better.
really great cast members some of whom were honest and helpful and possessed all of the magic that we think of with Disney, but I came across others who really were the opposite of that. It’s very spotty and I think Disney in the past would not have tolerated that. I don’t know if it’s due to staffing issues or just a change in policy but every guest deserves a positive encounter . By that I mean courtesy and respect on both sides and honesty. Disney was always so on top of those things I don’t know why this is happening . Maybe Disney needs to send secret shoppers around to pin trade lol . They could put a really good pin on the board and then see if the cm takes it lol .
 
From what I know of Disney's policies in the past I think that they would have specific policies to deal with this and it would NOT be allowed.

The easiest way for it to be policed is by reporting the negative experience to City Hall. This creates a record that makes its way back to the Managers of the area. This does two things. If there is not a policy against it, no one would get in trouble. If there is a policy against it Disney can deal with the CM that is violating their agreement with the company and effectively stealing from guests. Secondly the manager would make it clear to all CM's and leads to reiterate to ALL cm's that this behavior is not allowed. Again reducing the number of CM's who are doing it by making sure they understand it will not be allowed anymore.

PS- This also works for CM compliements that can be left at City Hall earning the CM rewards for good service.
 
From what I know of Disney's policies in the past I think that they would have specific policies to deal with this and it would NOT be allowed.

The easiest way for it to be policed is by reporting the negative experience to City Hall. This creates a record that makes its way back to the Managers of the area. This does two things. If there is not a policy against it, no one would get in trouble. If there is a policy against it Disney can deal with the CM that is violating their agreement with the company and effectively stealing from guests. Secondly the manager would make it clear to all CM's and leads to reiterate to ALL cm's that this behavior is not allowed. Again reducing the number of CM's who are doing it by making sure they understand it will not be allowed anymore.

PS- This also works for CM compliements that can be left at City Hall earning the CM rewards for good service.
I came so close to reporting it but I didn’t do it in part because I wasn’t sure of the policy and in part because I didn’t want to cost someone their job. Maybe I should have though . I do leave cast compliments in the app whenever I have a positive interaction. It’s easy to do and I’ve heard back from cms that they are received. One in particular had his manager call him into the back room to tell him about it and at first he thought he was in trouble! Then he was surprised and very appreciative of the positive feedback
 
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