Received a Bill Re Last Trip at AKV, Confused

[keishashadow]

Was surprised to receive a paper bill from AK in connection with our stay the 2nd week of May. Printed in duplicate on plain white stock, no WDW or DVC logos.

We were thrilled to be upgraded from a standard studio to a pool view studio that trip. Was told it was complimentary. We joked that we hoped we wouldn't check our member account and find the extra points deducted. All is well there.

Invoice's charges state the date/amount & "POS" (Point of Sale maybe?). I'm admittedly horrible with keeping all my receipts, but the total does seem to jive with what we charged back to the room in the parks for a few CS meals/beverages/minor purchases.

I had checked in online before we arrived and used same CC we always do which is a card used solely for travel. Is it possible when they changed the room the CC info didn't 'follow' us? If so, wondering how we were able to charge anything when in the parks with our MBs

I don't see any WDW charges on the CC's activity, at least not thru today. Basically, I don't want to pay the charges twice & would like confirmation the billing is legit.

Payment envelope has a Georgia address and I did call the phone number listed on the invoice, twice. Both times received a recording they were unable to take my call and I was to leave my phone number & information and then I'd receive a return call within 24 hours...thus far, no call-back received.

Has anyone encountered this?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I'd contact MS about this and not that number.

 

[got4boys]

Here is the email address and contact information for billing inquiries....

For billing inquiries, contact Guest Services at

GUEST.SERVICES.BILLING@DISNEYWORLD.com OR 407-828-5630

 

[LisaS]

We were thrilled to be upgraded from a standard studio to a pool view studio that trip. Was told it was complimentary. We joked that we hoped we wouldn't check our member account and find the extra points deducted. All is well there.

I'm confused when you state you were upgraded from a standard studio to a pool view and told it was complimentary. At AKV the pool view studios are either in the Standard View or Value booking categories. If you booked Standard View and got a room facing the pool, then you got what you booked. This is different from the AK hotel rooms where Standard and Pool View are different booking categories so I wonder if the front desk CM got confused between the booking categories for AK rooms and AKV rooms.

Re: the bill, we were at WDW in early May, staying at two resorts that trip and in both cases, our room bill was charged to our credit card on our check out day. If your room charges haven't appeared on your CC yet, something went wrong somewhere but I agree with everybody else -- call Disney directly. Do not call the number in the bill you received.

 

[Barbydoll8]

I would cal member services. It doesn't sound right.

 

[tjkraz]

For what it's worth, Disney has used mailing services out of Georgia in the past. Not saying this is 100% legit, but the Georgia return address isn't a major red flag, IMO.

Please let us know what you find out!

 

[disneynutz]

We always check with the front desk the night before and get a copy of our folio before moving or checking out. Fixing errors while there is easier than after leaving the resort.

Bill

 

[hardis5]

I would never give out my cc detail to an unexpected paper invoice and would never mail cc detail. They should have e-mailed a stay statement to the email on file the night/morning of checkout - check if the same detail and if truly a Disney invoice they are seeking payment for, shame on them.

I find dubious practices of many companies support fraud and if truly a Disney mailing and no logo or relevant Disney contact detail, they are contributing to people acting on poor information which supports fraudsters and their tactics.

To me the "invoice" sounds fishy and I'd personally just recycle (after shredding) if not expecting. If your cc detail was messed up on Disney's side, they will follow-up for payment of a processing error. I know processing is often (even though statement balance may show zero - just a hold on your account for the amount) a day or two after checkout, to cover any last minute purchases (souvenirs).

 

[n2mm]

Sounds similar to us too. WE just returned a couple of weeks ago. When we checked in online we choose our Disney Visa as the cc on file (which is saved on my account). All went well. (no upgrades, of course didn't get our request as usual too). Check out morning. We got a letter from the front desk asking us to stop by the desk to PAY our bill. We charged all of our meals for our week to our cc, which we assumed was attached to our account during online checkin. Never had a problem charging the whole week. We go to the desk and they tell us there is something wrong with the CC. Well, it seems when Disney Visa sent out the new cards with the chip on it, they changed the expiration year. My Disney account still had the old expiration, which was still good until 2017. I had gone in and updated it and BLT had no problem the week earlier. So we gave the CM our Disney Visa and she corrected it. I would've thought that is my CC wasn't listed correctly, my charges should've been denied, but they weren't!

This issue got me thinking right away.....what if I had been a renter. Guess who would have to pay that bill if the renter never cleared that up? Right, the owner. I know some folks are OK with renting their points, but this was another reminder to us why we wouldn't want to do it.

OP, I agree, you need to call MS and clear this up. I know if there is an outstanding balance, your account will be blocked from booking points. Please, let us know how this works out.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would've thought that is my CC wasn't listed correctly, my charges should've been denied, but they weren't!

No, they just add up.

A few years back we switched from SSR to WL. At SSR we'd had a massive mold/mildew problem so along with changing our room they gave us a credit (and then it took (I've forgotten exactly now) an hour or two to get the room-charge to work, so the credit was increased b/c hubby was missing our pool time getting it to work). Because of the credit our charge to the CC at the end of that stay was $5. A $5 charge caused our CC company to cry "fraud". But by the time they said that, we had checked in at WL and put our card down for charges.

By that evening we had charged to the room a few times, and a random check of the DVC home page showed me a list of those charges in bold RED, saying that we had a balance. So they took the card but I suppose by the time they tried to authorize it the CC had been flagged.

If I hadn't noticed that (and called the CC company etc etc) I would either have gotten a bill at the end OR gotten a letter like that.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

OP this same situation happened on our last stay at WDW too, I think also at AKV, we too received an upgraded room (Standard to Savanna View). My charging worked the whole time I was there when using my magic bands, but I received a bill when I got home in the mail. I called the regular Disney World number, like you would to make a hotel reservation, and not the number on the bill. I was able to pay the balance over the phone. I remember thinking it was fishy and odd as well, but it was easy to take care of.

 

[Disneyholic]

They do not charge your credit card at all at Disney Deluxe hotels (which DVC hotels are) until you have hit the limit which is either $1500 or $2000. They do not put a hold on your account either so you will see nothing on your card til either your last day or when you hit the limit, whichever comes first. After you hit the limit they charge the card and you start off fresh with the limit all over again.

If your credit card was expired they would not know that until they went to charge your charges to it.

 

[keishashadow]

lisaS - I wasn't clear in my thoughts (sorry) had booked a value studio, upgraded to standard with nice pool view, ergo my thought perhaps I was being charged more points via cash charge.

Disney is one of the few places i don't think to stop by the desk. Trying to remember the last time we received a statement under the door on the morning of checkout. Do they even still do this @ WDW?

We eat most meals offsite & often use disney GCs we buy ahead of time (to earn grocery store fuel perks & CC rewards). For non Disney travel I do check my bill before we leave...love the resorts with online or tv accessible account information.

Called MS today. Spoke to supervisor who indicated that when we were 'upgraded' (and she confirmed it was complimentary) the CC information likely didn't migrate. Said the CM should 'probably' have re-swiped our card. I was told to try to call again and if they didn't pick up the phone (they didn't) to email them. Thanks got4boys, it was the same email address as you provided.

Did get an automated response this afternoon, indicating i'd hear back within 5 business days.

n2mm - thanks for that account. the DVC CM today never indicated I had a balance due. I just signed back in and looked under messages and my member dashboard but don't see anything indicated. The thought of a renter skipping out on any charges is disturbing.

will report back when the dust settles.

 

[cvjw]

I have had this happen a couple of times - at BLT and AKV. Both times, they said there was a problem with my credit card when they ran the charges - even though it was fine when I checked in and all during the stay. It is just another "glitch" with Disney's IT system. One trip, I did not get a bill for weeks - I had to call them.

Makes me leery about renting out any points. What happens if Disney doesn't charge a renter's credit card correctly and comes after the owner for the charges? It has happened to me twice already, not out of the realm of possibility for it to happen to a renter! Would Disney continue to go after the renter, or come after the owner for the charges?

 

[n2mm]

I have had this happen a couple of times - at BLT and AKV. Both times, they said there was a problem with my credit card when they ran the charges - even though it was fine when I checked in and all during the stay. It is just another "glitch" with Disney's IT system. One trip, I did not get a bill for weeks - I had to call them.

Makes me leery about renting out any points. What happens if Disney doesn't charge a renter's credit card correctly and comes after the owner for the charges? It has happened to me twice already, not out of the realm of possibility for it to happen to a renter! Would Disney continue to go after the renter, or come after the owner for the charges?

Pretty sure the owner would be responsible. I have read it has happened to one owner. The owner found out when they went to book and their account was locked. Sadly it was a relative that never paid their bill.

 

[LisaS]

lisaS - I wasn't clear in my thoughts (sorry) had booked a value studio, upgraded to standard with nice pool view, ergo my thought perhaps I was being charged more points via cash charge.

Thanks for clarifying. It's good to hear there is a logical explanation for what happened.

Disney is one of the few places i don't think to stop by the desk. Trying to remember the last time we received a statement under the door on the morning of checkout. Do they even still do this @ WDW?

On our stay last month we did not get a statement under the door. We did get an email around 4am on our check-out day with our bill in an attached PDF.

 

[keishashadow]

I have had this happen a couple of times - at BLT and AKV. Both times, they said there was a problem with my credit card when they ran the charges - even though it was fine when I checked in and all during the stay. It is just another "glitch" with Disney's IT system. One trip, I did not get a bill for weeks - I had to call them.

Makes me leery about renting out any points. What happens if Disney doesn't charge a renter's credit card correctly and comes after the owner for the charges? It has happened to me twice already, not out of the realm of possibility for it to happen to a renter! Would Disney continue to go after the renter, or come after the owner for the charges?

it is hard to believe how awful their IT system truly is. Wondering if they are having even more issues due to the chip technology.

I'd like to think the majority would do the right thing, but not out of the realm of possibility to think more than a few would skip out on the bill. I've only rented to other members, my rationale being it's an easier transaction as they know 'the drill'. Many say they have level of security going thru a broker, such as David's that advertises here, but now wondering whether the liability of unpaid charges would still be on the point owner.

 

[erionm]

Wondering if they are having even more issues due to the chip technology.

WDW has not yet enabled the Chip reader in their CC terminals. Most retail locations do accept contactless payments (Apple Pay and others) which is my preferred method of payment.

 

[hardis5]

They do not charge your credit card at all at Disney Deluxe hotels (which DVC hotels are) until you have hit the limit which is either $1500 or $2000. They do not put a hold on your account either so you will see nothing on your card til either your last day or when you hit the limit, whichever comes first. After you hit the limit they charge the card and you start off fresh with the limit all over again.

Not to hijack the thread but I know that magical limit, but they charging automatically must be something new as we had a hassle previous while in the parks where our purchases did not go through. Took an embarrassing 30 minutes to clear up from the park after calling to find out we had hit that $1500 limit and then (2013) they were not charging the card when reaching - one had to call to authorize or visit the front desk to clear.

Thought absurd they not have the ability to automatically clear or I could not prepay an amount on a cc to avoid, but neither option was available to us. Having a party of 7 with several resort meals, we needed to then watch and we were just advised to visit the front desk to avoid. Sort of defeated the Magic Band freedom and simplicity in needing to visit the front desk every few days to settle up the bill to that time. In 2015 after reading advice one could put down $$$ against an account in advance, we arrived with cash in hand only to find out we could not even put down $$$ against in advance. Into one of the Business Centre's safety deposit boxes went the cash only to be pulled out every few days to pay against our account.

 

[liltink]

I just go to the Front Desk the night before we check out and request a copy of our folio. Then I doublecheck that paper copy against my cc bill when it arrives. It can be a hassle during vacation to get to the Front Desk,but it saves a headache later on.