Disney Can't Honor Free Dining? Really?

[SEA333]

It would never occur to me to ask a store to honor a coupon after it expired. Upgrades are not comparable. Disney is also not known for offering upgrades free just for asking. They do offer them sometimes, but asking is not the best way to get them. The tone of the first post appeared to be a complaint because they refused to honor the offer after it expired. I woudn't expect them to.

I don't know of anyone who was able to get free dining after it expired just because they didn't call while the offer was still good. Not that there isn't anyone out there but I don't recall seeing it on the boards.

Target does it all the time. Right at the checkout...no need to even take it to the customer service desk. I found this out by accident - I had two coupons for $5.00 off a purchase of $50.00 or more, and gave her the wrong one. Before I could even give her the correct one, she said not to worry about it, pushed a few buttons, and overrode the error.

OP - I never expected the lady at Target to override anything for me, either

It never hurts to ask!

 

[T16]

If I were you, I would call back again and explain the situation. If that doesn't work, I would call again and ask. At least call a few times. You never know, it can't hurt. Sometimes you get cm's that seem to be willing to bend over backwards for you and other times you will get cm's who make you feel guilty for asking a simple question. You know what I mean? It can't hurt to check and then double check. At least then you can feel that you've done your best to get the fd, even if it doesn't work out in your favour.

Good luck!

^^ This is what I'd be inclined to do, and while I'm certain that some policies are unbendable, in my experience, it never hurts to ask in a respectful and understanding way (exactly what I did with the reservations CM I spoke with). And I'm certain they deal with attitudes of entitlement all day long, bless them all, so I get it.

I was overseas and remote much of the summer, so maybe I'll play that angle.

Unfortunately, we're locked in for our dates, as I'm taking my DD's out of school, and this was the least disruptive week...

 

[maxiesmom]

^^ This is what I'd be inclined to do, and while I'm certain that some policies are unbendable, in my experience, it never hurts to ask in a respectful and understanding way (exactly what I did with the reservations CM I spoke with). And I'm certain they deal with attitudes of entitlement all day long, bless them all, so I get it.

I don't know. Ask once or twice and drop it. You missed the promotion. I'm sure a thousand people have reasons they think of as legitimate for missing the book by date. In my experience this is one of the things Disney rarely budges on. Asking repeatedly is nagging, and will probably get a note on your reservation.

 

[aaarcher86]

I don't know. Ask once or twice and drop it. You missed the promotion. I'm sure a thousand people have reasons they think of as legitimate for missing the book by date. In my experience this is one of the things Disney rarely budges on. Asking repeatedly is nagging, and will probably get a note on your reservation.

I've never seen it happen and I've seen much more devastating reasons for missing a promo than being abroad.

OP - I'd cut your losses. Clearly you understand deadlines and that you missed it. They're as likely to give you an expired offer as they are to allow someone to use it at an excluded resort 'just this once.'

 

[Allison]

I have never heard of Disney letting someone book a promotion after the date had passed.

 

[T16]

Thanks, all - I appreciate the responses, and while I may call again and try my luck if I find the time before we go, I do understand completely why Disney has their rules. I'm glad I came here for the perspective!

 

[CBL]

Somewhere around page 50-60 of this thread is a post about emailing disney because their resort type didn't qualify for free dining. A few people reported that they got called by the same person from Disney and he applied free dining to their account.
A bit of a different situation, but probably worth a try. There's an email address provided somewhere in there as well. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3152293

 

[dmoore718]

As a TA, the only luck I've ever had on expired offers is when the client decided to upgrade their resort. So, in these cases, people had booked free dining at say a value and then after the deadline, decided to stay at a moderate. I called and they did honor the free dining promo but only because they were upgrading, I was put on hold for about 20 min so that they could work it out through another dept.