Warning**be careful when buying AP's with DC discount at the Disney Store!!!

[beattyfamily]

Yesterday, I went to the mall to buy the rest of my AP's for our December trip. I had already bought one adult AP the week before at the same store from the same CM (manager). Our tax money finally came so I had the money in my bank account for the last 3 AP's.

At first another CM rang them up. She didn't seem to familiar with the procedure and the register was upset with her for not doing my DC card first or something and then low and behold, when she was all done she got a message "invalid DC card, void transaction". Mind you, my DC card is valid till 12/03, and I used my ATM card because that is where my $1018 was. She made a phone call; no help. She finally decided to call the manager (who sold the AP to me a week ago) and she made a phone call to her technical team. She then told me there's a chip in the register that has all the DC info and I'm not on it. I reminded her that I just bought an AP a week ago from her and she said that last week my info was there in the register and this week it isn't, and there's nothing she can do; She said I needed to call DC and they need to do something about it. She said all she could do was ring it up without the discount and I could contact DC for a credit!! I said forget that and I left VERY angry! This was the only reason I went 30 miles to the mall.

I walked outside the store and called DC. She was very nice and apologetic and put me on hold and then came back saying everything looks fine on her end. She said she's never heard of this problem before and it's something with the store's register and she asked me to go back in and have the manager at the store call her at DC.

I went back in and the manager wasn't too happy to see me. I told her about my conversation with DC. She said she is following procedures and she is NOT supposed to call DC at all. All she can do is try to ring it up again with the DC and hope it works this time, and if it does work then the lady on the phone did something on her end because it's nothing the CM did on the store end.

She said all she could do is try again and hope it works this time. I gave her a credit card this time because now my ATM card has that first $1018 being held for a few days till I receive my credit from them Low and behold it worked!!! Of course, it was something the DC lady did while I was on the phone and not that the first CM rang it up wrong or anything, even though I had NO problems a week ago...yeah right!!

Just an fyi...when they make a mistake like this using your ATM card and then tell you not to worry because they voided it out, WORRY. The bank puts a hold on the money for a few days BUT it takes a few days for the credit to appear. Sure enough, when I got home and checked online yesterday afternoon, the $1018 was being held "pending" but no credit yet for $1018. Still today it's pending being held and no credit yet. I knew this would happen as it's happened to me before. Imagine if I didn't know this?? My account would be all screwed up. She was reassuring me I could use my ATM card again because she voided out the sale! Thank goodness I knew better and didn't listen to her!

Now I have to wait till the credit kicks in and then I can pay my credit card back that $1018 I owe it for these stupid AP's!!!

[cinmell]

What a pain! Sorry to hear about that. I usually go to the Braintree Disney Store and the manager there has been miserable the past few times. God forbid you ask her a question!

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by cinmell
What a pain! Sorry to hear about that. I usually go to the Braintree Disney Store and the manager there has been miserable the past few times. God forbid you ask her a question!

FYI...for those in MA, it was the North Attleboro store in the mall.

[rachael95]

Originally posted by cinmell
What a pain! Sorry to hear about that. I usually go to the Braintree Disney Store and the manager there has been miserable the past few times. God forbid you ask her a question!

I just had to laugh when I read this. Something ironic about going to the "Braintree" store and the manager not being able to answer a question. :teeth:

[maleficent1959]

There have been a lot of problems with the new system and I'm sorry that happened to you. But it is pretty hard to ring a DC discount incorrectly with the new passes. My guess is that whatever problem there was was resolved when the manager called Rescue Rangers. They don't always call a store that reports a problem back to tell them that it is fixed even though they are supposed to.

I know you probably don't want to go back, and it may be moot now, but just voiding a debit or credit card transaction does not release your funds from being held. The manager or the CM has to call your bank or credit card company, explain what happened and make sure it is manually taken off. I know, because we had to do it a lot when this new pass sytem was initiated. It's time consuming but it is preferable to guests having to go through what you are now.

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by maleficent1959
I know you probably don't want to go back, and it may be moot now, but just voiding a debit or credit card transaction does not release your funds from being held. The manager or the CM has to call your bank or credit card company, explain what happened and make sure it is manually taken off. I know, because we had to do it a lot when this new pass sytem was initiated. It's time consuming but it is preferable to guests having to go through what you are now.

Before I left I asked her about the first transaction and she said it was voided out and there's no paperwork for me and she was sure my card wasn't even charged. She was no help to me at all. Filene's department store did the exact same thing to me; they made a mistake and voided it out and told me I was all set and did not give me a receipt for that transaction either. Then when I saw the double posts, I called their accounting department and they couldn't help me out. She just said to wait a few days for the credit to apply.

So since this CM wasn't at all happy or helpful, I wasn't about to make a huge stink about making sure my card was not charged because she was already telling me it wasn't because she voided it out...but I knew that when I got home and looked at my account it would still be there 'pending'.

If it's still there after 5 business days, I will have to take some action. I'm just not sure who I'm supposed to deal with? The store manager again? Disney's accounting department??

[maleficent1959]

If the charge is still there, I would probably dispute it with the credit card company first and that should take care of it. If not, then I would go back to the store and take it up with the manager. I'm sure she'll remember you. Take her a copy of your charges, explain that even though she said it wasn't charged it was and that she will need to call your credit card company to take care of it. I know we had to identify ourselves and what store we were at before they would talk to us. The reason we had to do it rather than the guest was to assure the company that it wasn't fraud. If she refuses take the matter to her district manager.

It sounds like she may have done a "void previous" to cancel your transaction if your card was charged. If she did, the store has a record of it because they have to account for them at the end of the night. Of course, we still had to call with transactions that voided themselves out now that I'm remembering...

[house_of_princesses]

I wonder if the CM's at all TDS's are a bit grumpy with all the changes going on? So many stores closing, so many in upheaval. No excuse for poor customer realtions, but I wonder...

[Poohnatic]

It may be a case of our 'frustrations' at the registers coming out.

We've seen several software 'upgrades' in the past year, and each time, the registers do less and less, when they are supposed to do more.

For instance, if we need to take an item off your purchase, but there were sale items in the transaction, the register voids the whole thing out. The programmers do not realize that there may be times where a guest decides not to get a certain item, but we have to start from scratch.

The new park passes have had numerous glitches. The worst part of that is we often do not know that something has gone wrong until AFTER we have run through a credit card.

My apologies to anyone who has had a problem with getting the passes. We do the best with what we have and try to do it with a smile. Sometimes we don't succeed. :(

Suzanne

[Melissa]

Same thing happened to us at TDS here in Maine our card got charged like 1500.00 2 times but the Cm called the home office and they fixed it with our bank that day. When I call DC they too said it wasn't them but I don't believe it. The CM we had was great. I wonder how my DC will work at WDW?

[beattyfamily]

Well, I just checked my checking account online and the AP charges went from "pending" to an actual charge! I also checked my credit card and the AP charges are posted (not pending either).

So now I'm getting dressed to go fight for my money back. I only have a recipt for the CC charges as she kept insisting she did a void and the debit card charges were not going to happen!

I printed off both my statements and highlighted the charges and I'll bring my one and only receipt and the AP's too and they better do something for me as they are now holding $2036 of my money and I only have $1018 worth of AP's.

I'm SO angry!:mad:

[hercamore]

I am so sorry to hear this beattyfamily.

Let us know how you make out at the store this morning.


herc.

[cinmell]

Good luck beattyfamily! Let us know how it turned out.

[beattyfamily]

I'm back!
Well, as I guessed, she (the same manager) was no help. She told me I should give it a few more days and she also called someone who varified this. She went on and on that she did everything right and how she was supposed to and we just have to wait now.

I left there SO angry. I walked into the mall area and called my debit card bank and all they could do was a dispute claim and I still won't get my money back until Tuesday!! That's a whole week they will have had my money for no good reason except that they rang up my AP's wrong!

I was still fuming so I went back into the store AGAIN and she was not too happy. I asked for a copy of this transaction that I have no record of, except on my statement, so I can dispute it and I also asked for her name. She left me for over a half an hour saying she was going to see if she could get me a copy or a copy mailed to me. She finally came back and gave me a print out copy of the charge and the 'void' and told me to call or come in Monday or Tueday if I still don't have the credit and that was all she could do.

I was so angry! I've decided that when I got home I would write to Disney (the Disney Store) and complain. This should not happen when they make a mistake, and if it does happen, they should have a better way of handling the credit. It should be just as instant as the debit!!! They should know that this happens and warn poor unsuspecting customers when they use a debit card. She didn't have a clue this would happen the day I bought the AP's; she reassured me I could use my debt card again as it was voided out and my CC would not be charged.

Well, thanks for letting me vent!

[KaitlinsMom]

I am so sorry this happened to you! Did the CM know how far you had to drive?

It is a weekend, and that doesn't help -

I am so sorry that you did not have a good experience - That is A LOT of money to be without - Maybe they could give you some interest as well?

Just wanted to let you know I feel really bad for you - Wish there was something I could do for you!


:confused: :confused:

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by KaitlinsMom
I am so sorry this happened to you! Did the CM know how far you had to drive?

It is a weekend, and that doesn't help -

I am so sorry that you did not have a good experience - That is A LOT of money to be without - Maybe they could give you some interest as well?

Just wanted to let you know I feel really bad for you - Wish there was something I could do for you!

Thank you very much for the kind words!

[eldovt]

Where can you go to find out what all the abbreviations mean....I'm new at this....AP...DC...etc

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by eldovt
Where can you go to find out what all the abbreviations mean....I'm new at this....AP...DC...etc

AP = Annual Pass
DC = Disney Club

[Melissa]

The thing is she could have fixed it through the home office or what ever they call it b/c that is what our DS did, someone from the homeoffice called me at home that same day and did a three way call with my bank and faxed the bank that same day. Sorry you had all this happen i hope they do something to compensate you.

[SueEllen]

I'm very sorry for your problem.

Let me assure you that this is not how it should be.

There are SPECIFIC SOPs on THIS VERY ISSUE that tells EXACTLY how to handle a problem transaction with a credit card and passes. It explains it step by step in order to prevent any issues like you are having. I'm not saying that they didn't follow procedure, but the procedure has been spelled out for all of us to follow to avoid any issues.

Again, I'm sorry you had to experience this. Best of luck in getting it cleared up (I'm sure it will be, but hopefully it won't take long.)

Sue Ellen

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by SueEllen
I'm very sorry for your problem.

Let me assure you that this is not how it should be.

There are SPECIFIC SOPs on THIS VERY ISSUE that tells EXACTLY how to handle a problem transaction with a credit card and passes. It explains it step by step in order to prevent any issues like you are having. I'm not saying that they didn't follow procedure, but the procedure has been spelled out for all of us to follow to avoid any issues.

Again, I'm sorry you had to experience this. Best of luck in getting it cleared up (I'm sure it will be, but hopefully it won't take long.)

Sue Ellen

Thank you very much for the kind words. I believe this CM is a 'new' manager as she didn't seem to know how to handle this.

I wrote a letter/email to Disney but don't know if it was the right email address; hopefully, they can forward it on to the right people. I express my dismay that this could happen to someone when it is not their fault, that there should be a better way to handle it, that normally I receive great customer service from Disney CMs but that this was the worst customer service I've ever received, that I will probably never go to that store again and I won't ever use my debit card again at the Disney Stores.

I don't expect anything in return but an apology and maybe that they will try to change the procedure for customers in the future.

[figgy4me]

Last time I purchased an AP they still had a small notebook with the individual pages that they scanned for all different ticket options and disney dollars.

They still had this book this weekend when I priced the new AP's. If they used this book to charge you, they probably used the wrong page - the first pages are regular price and the next are DC price. The clerk I had was too new to know this also, but I flipped the pages over and got the prices I was interested in.

Just a thought.

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by figgy4me
Last time I purchased an AP they still had a small notebook with the individual pages that they scanned for all different ticket options and disney dollars.

They still had this book this weekend when I priced the new AP's. If they used this book to charge you, they probably used the wrong page - the first pages are regular price and the next are DC price. The clerk I had was too new to know this also, but I flipped the pages over and got the prices I was interested in.

Just a thought.

No, it wasn't that because I watched her do it and also it rang up the correct amount BUT she did do the swiping of the AP's and the DC card in the wrong order because the register kept beeping at her and she said something about having to swipe my DC card after the AP's so I firmly believe it's something the first CM did wrong while ringing it up....the wrong order in the procedure.

[tebookie]

Any news? have you seen the credit? What a PITA this can be.

Just for all of this you should go to WDW asap!

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by tebookie
Any news? have you seen the credit? What a PITA this can be.

Just for all of this you should go to WDW asap!

No, nothing. No credit from either the Disney Store or my bank. My bank said that the 'dispute' claim credit will not show up in my account until tomorrow.

I also haven't heard anything from Disney regarding my email....I just hope I sent it to the right place.

[weluvpluto]

for posting this warning.

I went today to buy all the AP passes for my family. I should have known I was going to be in for a hard time because I went up to the register and asked for Annual Passes and she proceeded to take me to the Park Hopper display.
She then had to call a manager up because she didn't know how to ring them up (plus I had a DC discount).
She finished the transaction and then got some kind of error message - something about not all passes being activated. The manager went back to get different passes and then they were going to rering the transaction. I said "Doesn't this transaction need to be voided" - she said it didn't go through. I said yes it did - it has an authorization #. She argued a bit then the manager came back and they found a spot on the receipt that said something to the effect that the transaction needed to be voided so the customer could get credit for the amount tendered.

When I checked my CC, it shows pending charges for both transactions, so hopefully only one will go through or I will be back to get a credit for the other one.

But thanks so much for posting or I would never have known to keep a close eye on what they were doing

[beattyfamily]

You are very welcome! I'm glad sharing my story helped you!

I still haven't gotten the money from the Disney Store...I put in a dispute with my bank and they tentitively put the money back into my account over a week after the transaction occured and now they are investigating it for me.

Thank you for sharing your story!;)

[BCVOwner2002]

Oh my goodness! I was planning on going to the Braintree store tomorrow to buy our passes. Now I don't know if I should or not but I don't think I have enough time to order online! I can't believe the problems you've experienced! I was going to use my ATM too because I just got my tax refund. Maybe I'll just get cash out of the bank and pay that way! What a nightmare! Annmarie

[TinaMedley]

You shouldn't have a problem, if the Castmember takes his/her time and they cash register will tell him/her if they are working. I have done several AP at our store, and haven't had a problem. I just really take my time and make sure they are done right.