New Blog Post - Disney Sues Unauthorized Ticket Resellers in Orlando

[jcb]

Just to liven things up while so many are out on a boat, I'm shamelessly promoting my new blog post for the DIS Unplugged Blog:
http://www.disunplugged.com/2012/06/26/disney-sues-unauthorized-ticket-resellers-in-orlando/

 

[Cheshire Figment]

At the Parks we have methods to easily tell if tickets have been resold by an unauthorized dealer (and I will not tell what they are).

The best a Guest can hope for is for us to sell them brand new tickets at full Gate price, return the original tickets to them after taking action that they cannot be used at all, and suggest to them that they back to the seller and hoe they can get a refund. And, at a GR window I have had people mention they had paid cash, and, no, they don't have a receipt.

 

[jcb]

At the Parks we have methods to easily tell if tickets have been resold by an unauthorized dealer (and I will not tell what they are).

The best a Guest can hope for is for us to sell them brand new tickets at full Gate price, return the original tickets to them after taking action that they cannot be used at all, and suggest to them that they back to the seller and hoe they can get a refund. And, at a GR window I have had people mention they had paid cash, and, no, they don't have a receipt.

CF, I wondered what you would say about this when I wrote the blog post. While I may not like the prices WDW charges for tickets, I really do like the fact that WDW is being proactive to combat people being misled by the "used" ticket sales people. I can speculate that WDW is protecting its bottom line, I suppose some of the people turned away don't buy "good" tickets, but I don't think that the bottom line was the only reason for the lawsuits.

 

[jlindemer]

I always warn my guests about these vendors. The guests all think I'm nuts and that I get commission or something from Disney. I printed out the blog to show my guests that I am not nuts and I am only looking out for them!

 

[Svenskaishockey]

Last year i bought tixkets on ebay from someone advertising themself to be an authorized reseller. Got to the park and the tix didnt work. Had to deal with guest services and then a disney detective to find out where the tix came from. Once they got info from me they could care less if i got a refund or not. They would not help at all. I got a refund from the seller and bouht new tickets at the gate. Turns out he was buying convention tickets and reselling through ebay. He had perfect feedback but i bought them months early so by the time disney caught on, everyone else had used their tickets already.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

I think the lawsuit is a good one! If it stops resellers from taking advantage of unsuspecting guests, that's great! As for the PP who was "taken" by the ebay sale, I'm sorry you were affected. I'm glad that the reseller refunded you (likely so you wouldn't post a scathing review on ebay). But I do not feel it's Disney's fault that you were scammed by a third party and Disney has no responsibility to make it right for you. Can you imagine how bad this situation would get if Disney was known for caving and giving free tickets to the poor scammed guests? The reselling market would run rampant if people knew that Disney would just make things right if the tickets weren't valid.

As for filing this lawsuit just as the ticket prices increased is not only good for Disney but good for its guests. When the prices go up, people are more likely to seek out cheaper tickets which could only help the scammers. This makes the issue quite public and puts the scammers on notice.

I say - Good Job Disney!

 

[DSNY4ever]

I didn't know you were a ticket person Cheshire. I always thought that would be a fun job getting to see people and kids all excited to enter the parks, especially in the morning. I don't think I have ever had a crabby ticket taker

 

[kaligal]

I didn't know you were a ticket person Cheshire. I always thought that would be a fun job getting to see people and kids all excited to enter the parks, especially in the morning. I don't think I have ever had a crabby ticket taker

I wonder what that job is like, too. I always imagine that you have to listen to, "THAT MUCH?! OH, MY GOD!" about a hundred times a day.

I rarely hit ticket windows, but they have always been nice.

 

[lodgelady]

I am confused as to how these people can still operate when all tickets are now matched with a finger scan of the original user. I thought this was the point of the scanner!

 

[fall08CP]

I wonder what that job is like, too. I always imagine that you have to listen to, "THAT MUCH?! OH, MY GOD!" about a hundred times a day.

I rarely hit ticket windows, but they have always been nice.

I used to work concierge and sell tickets as well. Yep, their jaws hit the ground when I gave them a total price. But they still paid it! Even worse making dining ressies the day of. "Hmm would you like Biergarten or Captain's Grille, 'Czz that's all we've got." "What about that castle restaurant?" "Oh boy.."

But back to the topic on hand, we frequently had ticket resellers trying to scam us at the desk. They were easy to spot, but ruthless. It was devastating to see families come in and find out their tickets are bad, so so sad!

 

[Svenskaishockey]

I think the lawsuit is a good one! If it stops resellers from taking advantage of unsuspecting guests, that's great! As for the PP who was "taken" by the ebay sale, I'm sorry you were affected. I'm glad that the reseller refunded you (likely so you wouldn't post a scathing review on ebay). But I do not feel it's Disney's fault that you were scammed by a third party and Disney has no responsibility to make it right for you. Can you imagine how bad this situation would get if Disney was known for caving and giving free tickets to the poor scammed guests? The reselling market would run rampant if people knew that Disney would just make things right if the tickets weren't valid.

As for filing this lawsuit just as the ticket prices increased is not only good for Disney but good for its guests. When the prices go up, people are more likely to seek out cheaper tickets which could only help the scammers. This makes the issue quite public and puts the scammers on notice.

I say - Good Job Disney!

You can only leave feedback for 60 days and this was well past that. The seller even gave me free tix to another orlando park to make it up to me. Lets just say after it was all said and done, disney was the one who was wrong and it has been somewhat made up to me. i do agree they should help protect people from buying USED tickets by filing these lawsuits

 

[jcb]

You can only leave feedback for 60 days and this was well past that. The seller even gave me free tix to another orlando park to make it up to me. Lets just say after it was all said and done, disney was the one who was wrong and it has been somewhat made up to me. i do agree they should help protect people from buying USED tickets by filing these lawsuits

I'm not really understanding how it was Disney at fault here.

 

[Cherinva]

I would never think of buying WDW tickets from anyone other than Disney.

 

[DCTooTall]

You can only leave feedback for 60 days and this was well past that. The seller even gave me free tix to another orlando park to make it up to me. Lets just say after it was all said and done, disney was the one who was wrong and it has been somewhat made up to me. i do agree they should help protect people from buying USED tickets by filing these lawsuits

I'm not really understanding how it was Disney at fault here.

Neither do I. If he was reselling convention tickets, The terms of use would explain why they wouldn't work.

from http://disneyconventionears.disney.go.com/wdce/index?id=globalticketspage

Tickets and options are non-transferable and expire 14 days after first use. First use must be within 7 days of the meeting or convention. Does not include events/activities that are separately priced. Water Parks subject to seasonal or weather closures. Tickets are for use by individuals attending meetings or conventions in Central Florida and their guests during their stay. Visiting multiple Theme Parks on the same day requires the Park Hopper® Option. Each day the ticket is used in any park or attraction constitutes one full day of use. Tee times are required for Disney's Oak Trail Golf Course and are subject to availability. To make a tee time, call 407-WDW-GOLF.

Since your convention/event must register with Disney to qualify for any sort of Convention ticket, They would know the dates given for when that event should be. The ticket's terms then state that the ticket must first be used within 7 days (before or after) the dates of that event which they were given when the event registered for convention ticket eligibility.

 

[angelbear425]

I had this happen last summer and after all was said and done and Disney refused to do anything for me while I was there, I complained to a "higher up" in the company. They obviously must have felt some sort of responsibility for the issue because I have free park hoppers coming to me when I go next month.

 

[kuzco-like]

So I should be able to buy concert tickets from a scalper, and then if I'm denied admission, I should demand that I get in anyway? Add me to the list of people who don't understand S-hockey's argument.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I do not understand why Disney should be responsible if someone buys tickets from another vendor, especially off of ebay or other unauthorized venue, and the tickets are not good.

Disney may have compensated the buyer in some way, but that is just a good example of their fantastic customer service, even when they are not in the wrong.

 

[angelbear425]

I complained, not because I was denied admission, but because I was treated like a common criminal where it was made out to be my fault. The detective was horrible to me and told me to file a police report, but refused to give a statement or anything written for me to provide to the police as needed. He stood down near the window and spied on us while we were trying to get the situation straightened out and our money back. He interrogated us about the tickets and made it seem like we were the ones who were giving people expired tickets. He also gave us several different excuses for why the tickets were flagged.

Also the original vendor showed "proof" ( which we later turned out to be false) of being an authorized Disney ticket salesperson. I thought the person was being truthful as I wouldn't knowingly buy tickets from someone unauthorized. I didn't realize people went out of their way to lie about stuff like that.

Maybe Disney felt responsible for our mistreatment by their security member? I'm sure they don't just go around giving people passes if the guest is in the wrong.