need help regarding TA

[momma_mouse]

I ended up transferring our reservations to a TA. I had done my homework and thought I picked out a good one. I ended up being wrong. I have not been very happy with said TA. I e-mailed the TA on Thursday asking about changing something on our resrvation and I have yet to hear back. It's been 5 days!

So, my question is is there any way I can get way from this TA without loosing our reservations?

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Have you called to make sure the TA got the email, hasn't been out sick or on vacation?

 

[momma_mouse]

Have you called to make sure the TA got the email, hasn't been out sick or on vacation?

No, everything so far has been done by e-mail. I've noticed the last few have taken longer and longer to get a response from and now this.

I'm not happy at all with this TA though and now this. I really want to be done with them.

 

[jcondrad]

I'm sorry you're having a problem, we too had a similar situation...our TA had some family issues (illnesses in the family) and she was hard to reach or she'd say she was going to do something and never did. And I'm a family person so I completely get why her priorities were her family before business. When she first booked our reservation, she sent me the e-mail with the confirmation number, but when I tried to contact Disney they said only the TA could make changes.

I luckily went ahead and made my own ADR's (just in case) and got what I wanted, she didn't make them until a month after the 180 mark and didnt get most of the ones we wanted (I just canceled hers anyways). We upgraded to club level, so I was able to get the IPO to make requests and that for us by using the conifrmation number.

Try contacting Disney, it didn't work for us but it may depend on who you talk to. And again I'm sorry you are having trouble...hope everything works out great!

 

[TDC Nala]

Try contacting Disney, it didn't work for us but it may depend on who you talk to.

Unfortunately Disney considers the travel agent to be the owner of the reservation, not the client, so they probably won't change anything if you contact them directly.

 

[deakam]

Unfortunately Disney considers the travel agent to be the owner of the reservation, not the client, so they probably won't change anything if you contact them directly.

Which is why I deal directly with Disney. If something goes wrong they are right there to help you. Sorry you having issues. Get on the phone. E-mails are not enough when there are issues.

 

[nkereina]

I ended up transferring our reservations to a TA. I had done my homework and thought I picked out a good one. I ended up being wrong. I have not been very happy with said TA. I e-mailed the TA on Thursday asking about changing something on our resrvation and I have yet to hear back. It's been 5 days!

So, my question is is there any way I can get way from this TA without loosing our reservations?

I've had this same problem. I transferred my reservations to a TA I didn't know at AAA so I could get the AAA perks. I ended up wanting to change several things and wanted to go to Disney on it myself, so I had the TA transfer my reservation back to Disney. The TA at first told me that I had to cancel my package, AAA would refund my deposit, and I had to re-book direct with Disney. I didn't want to believe that so I called Disney and spoke to three different CMs who all told me that was incorrect and the reservation can in fact be released back to Disney through a form the TA has to fill out and fax to Disney.

I'm normally very pro-TA because it's a struggling industry and I used to work at AAA and know that most of them are very knowledgable and work hard for their clients. But of course, there are a few rotten eggs out there.

Edit: Just noticed you emailed her on Thursday? A lot of travel agencies aren't open on the weekends. The ones that are means the TA's have random days off during the week meaning your TA could have been off on Friday or yesterday or today. It hasn't been an unreasonable amount of time for her to not respond, especially if the issue isn't a pressing one or one where time is of the essence. I definitely think you should call though and hopefully she can help you out!

 

[kaligal]

5 days is just way too long.

Mine always calls back in less than 30 minutes - and usually MUCH less than that.

Good Lord, I've called and had the documents I needed delivered to my house in less than 45 minutes. 5 days!?!?!

In 5 days, you could have gone somewhere and been home already.

Business is business. If they're having personal issues they need to have someone covering for them or at the very least, call people up to explain their personal issues.

I'd dump the TA.

 

[brookmey]

I would try calling first before jumping to any conclusions about why she hasn't responded. It is possible she didn't receive your email. But if she did receive it and gives you the run around, then you should take over your reservation and not work with her anymore.

The general rule is to expect a response in 24-48 hours, unless it's time sensitive. Plus, PP was right about the weekend, so you can't really count that. If it's past the 48 hour mark, I would definitely call. It's best to have all the info about why you haven't heard back before you make your decision.

 

[Amy&Dan]

TA's are great but once you get into a snag such as this, you typically are done with them! As already posted, this TA owns your reservation. You can't make changes of any kind through Disney.

You have a couple of options, you can try to find someone higher up at this agency and deal with them or you can book a whole new reservation yourself now, then tell the TA you want to cancel your reservation.

I had quite a few years happily booking with a well known TA that is a Disney specialist. Then two years ago, I hit a problem, a deal came out, I could upgrade from a value to mod for actually less money. I had to wait almost 24 hours to get this settled and in that time availability was getting really slim at the moderate level. I called Disney and they felt bad but could do nothing. Because my trip was two weeks away, I could not just rebook a new reservation because 100% would have been due at that time and I didn't have that kind of money. It was a miserable experience and I will NEVER use a TA again because of it.

If my trip had been further out, I would have just booke a whole new reservation and cancelled the one through the TA.

 

[GovieMom]

You have a couple of options, you can try to find someone higher up at this agency and deal with them or you can book a whole new reservation yourself now, then tell the TA you want to cancel your reservation.

I agree.

 

[GovieMom]

I had quite a few years happily booking with a well known TA that is a Disney specialist. Then two years ago, I hit a problem, a deal came out, I could upgrade from a value to mod for actually less money. I had to wait almost 24 hours to get this settled and in that time availability was getting really slim at the moderate level. I called Disney and they felt bad but could do nothing. Because my trip was two weeks away, I could not just rebook a new reservation because 100% would have been due at that time and I didn't have that kind of money. It was a miserable experience and I will NEVER use a TA again because of it.

I'm trying to understand why your TA couldn't switch you from a value to the mod when that deal came out ... ? And if you were unable to reach her, why someone else at her agency couldn't have done it.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I'm trying to understand why your TA couldn't switch you from a value to the mod when that deal came out ... ? And if you were unable to reach her, why someone else at her agency couldn't have done it.

My agent was out of town, however she left my information with another agent at the agency who was covering for her and also gave me that agent's email. I knew mine was gone so I immediately contacted this other agent. And to elaborate, the whole reason I used a TA for years was so that they could keep an eye on deals. I found out a full week after that discount came out because I got on disboards and saw others talking about it. So that right there was unacceptable in that the deal had been out for some time and nobody (my own agent would have still been in town when the deal came out) got in touch with me about this. Then when I finally realized what was now being offered for my time frame (it was Easter Week of 2010) I had to email this agent and ask them to please change my reservation to get a better price on an upgrade. And it took almost one full day which to me was just another layer of bad customer service.

I emailed this agency when I got back from my trip and never heard a thing. No apology. I had booked over ten trips plus a Disney cruise but I guess none of that mattered.

 

[francie57]

Until our trip this coming Aug. I have always used a AAA TA. She has been out for medical reasons since Sept. so I booked the trip myself. I never had any trouble with the TA and she always got me the best deal out there and was on top of anything that came out. The one thing that I did do differently than the op is that I always called her directly and never used email. By calling I knew things would get done - emails can get lost, not checked daily, etc. I always found the phone to work better.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Until our trip this coming Aug. I have always used a AAA TA. She has been out for medical reasons since Sept. so I booked the trip myself. I never had any trouble with the TA and she always got me the best deal out there and was on top of anything that came out. The one thing that I did do differently than the op is that I always called her directly and never used email. By calling I knew things would get done - emails can get lost, not checked daily, etc. I always found the phone to work better.

I agree, however many TA's will not communicate by anything other than email. I used two agents from the agency I used to use and was told by both that it was agency policy to only communicate via email.

I normally prefer email however, I do think that in some instances a real conversation is not only easier and quicker it makes you the customer more real and thus the agent more accountable.

If I ever do use an agent again, it would have to be one that communicates via phone and email. But after the nightmare last year, I think I'll just do my own trips.

 

[GovieMom]

I emailed this agency when I got back from my trip and never heard a thing. No apology. I had booked over ten trips plus a Disney cruise but I guess none of that mattered.

Oh wow, that was totally unacceptable! No wonder you're turned off by using a TA now. So far, knock on wood, I've had nothing but excellent service from my TA. She lets me know if she'll be out of town, but takes her laptop and checks up on her clients anyway! She's always e-mailed me as soon as a discount becomes available (sometimes the day before it technically is). And for this trip she e-mailed me one evening to say that I had received a PIN for Free Dining, which she had already applied to our package, since it saved us a few hundred more dollars than the room-only discount we had. Wish you had her as your TA instead, but at least now you're in control of everything; thanks for responding.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Oh wow, that was totally unacceptable! No wonder you're turned off by using a TA now. So far, knock on wood, I've had nothing but excellent service from my TA. She lets me know if she'll be out of town, but takes her laptop and checks up on her clients anyway! She's always e-mailed me as soon as a discount becomes available (sometimes the day before it technically is). And for this trip she e-mailed me one evening to say that I had received a PIN for Free Dining, which she had already applied to our package, since it saved us a few hundred more dollars than the room-only discount we had. Wish you had her as your TA instead, but at least now you're in control of everything; thanks for responding.

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed in them! Thank goodness I checked disboards' discount board that night, I hadn't in a couple of weeks because it was Easter Week and our trip was so close I just figured it wasn't going to happen (a discount) andf if it did my TA would let me know. Wrong assumption on both accounts!

If you have a good one, they are worth their weight in gold. I did at one time, but she left the business which is how I got switched over. I really liked her (new agent) but felt she really let me down. And I would have loved an apology (I did email her to let her know what had happened) but never got one.

 

[bedogged]

Before my fist trip I contacted a TA recommended here on the DIS. I asked a few questions in my email to them. A few days went by and I received a reply that did not contain a single answer to any of my questions. I knew right then that a TA wasn't going to work for me. Since then I have planned all of my own trips and have never looked back.

 

[nkereina]

You have a couple of options, you can try to find someone higher up at this agency and deal with them or you can book a whole new reservation yourself now, then tell the TA you want to cancel your reservation.

If you want to dump the TA, just ask her to transfer your reservation back to Disney as I described in my first post in this thread. Since you had it transferred to her, you can have it transferred back to Disney. No need to do a whole new reservation. Not sure if the same can be said for people who's reservations start with a TA though.