Ticket upgrading problem today

[mieuxmew]

Purchased a 3 day park hopper (4 tickets) from Universal Studios from Undercover Tourist. These were NOT the promo tickets that expire in June.

Arrived at Universal Studios today and requested to upgrade to 3 power passes and a preferred pass. Expected to pay around $186 but was told it would be nearly $500!!! Apparently the manager would only give us credit for the price Undercover Tourist paid , not what we paid. 30 minutes of discussion later, we finally got upgraded for $186 but it took 30 minutes and 4 employees .

Just FYI

 

[bumbershoot]

Interesting

When upgrading, if given pushback that you know is wrong, never be afraid to say "nevermind", take the tickets back, and try again later with different people. Less annoying that way.

 

[HM]

I just have to tell you, that the fact it only took 30 minutes isn't too bad. We didn't have much problem upgrading and it took about that long....after standing in line about 30 minutes because the people in front of us had some overwhelming problems or something taking the time of two of the three employees the whole time we were there. No kidding, when we got in line the same two people were with two of the employees and were still there when we finished. Only the gal helping us was moving people in and out.

 

[damo]

That's bizarre. Took us about 10 minutes in September. We did it inside the park at Guest Services at Universal Studios.

 

[mieuxmew]

It took 30 minutes of discussion - not including waiting in line or upgrade processing. The manager (and 3 employees) suggested I take the tickets and return them to Undercover Tourist. Said I could only get $131 credit per ticket as that is what Undercover Tourist purchased them for and mentioned that Undercover Tourist was making money off reselling the tickets. I said I paid about $200 for each of these tickets and she asked for a receipt as proof of the purchase price and she mentioned something about unauthorized dealers on iDrive. After a lengthy discussion, I asked the manager to hand me back the tickets and I will call Undercover Tourist and will post a warning to the DIS Boards about upgrading these tickets. Apparently, something I said clicked, as she checked something on the computer and quickly processed our upgrade thereafter. We were credited full gate price.

YMMV but for me saving a few dollars a ticket was not worth the hassle.

 

[mieuxmew]

I called Undercover Tourist tonight. The gal I spoke with was AWESOME and showed concern about the situation. She stated a manager will be following up tomorrow with Universal Studios. I am guessing I encountered a few Universal Studio employees who perhaps could use some training in upgrading tickets.

 

[damo]

It took 30 minutes of discussion - not including waiting in line or upgrade processing. The manager (and 3 employees) suggested I take the tickets and return them to Undercover Tourist. Said I could only get $131 credit per ticket as that is what Undercover Tourist purchased them for and mentioned that Undercover Tourist was making money off reselling the tickets. I said I paid about $200 for each of these tickets and she asked for a receipt as proof of the purchase price and she mentioned something about unauthorized dealers on iDrive. After a lengthy discussion, I asked the manager to hand me back the tickets and I will call Undercover Tourist and will post a warning to the DIS Boards about upgrading these tickets. Apparently, something I said clicked, as she checked something on the computer and quickly processed our upgrade thereafter. We were credited full gate price.

YMMV but for me saving a few dollars a ticket was not worth the hassle.

When we upgraded, the lady just typed something into the computer and up they came. Had you already entered the park and used the tickets?

 

[johde]

It took a little bit of time this January when I upgraded a 4 day ticket I purchased from Orbitz but there wasn't any trouble. I'm not sure what they did but I asked about upgrading the ticket, she took it in the back to talk to talk to someone then mentioned I would upgrade it to a power pass for free. At the time the gate price of a 4 day pass was $.01 more expensive than a power pass.

 

[lauradis]

It took a little bit of time this January when I upgraded a 4 day ticket I purchased from Orbitz but there wasn't any trouble. I'm not sure what they did but I asked about upgrading the ticket, she took it in the back to talk to talk to someone then mentioned I would upgrade it to a power pass for free. At the time the gate price of a 4 day pass was $.01 more expensive than a power pass.

So did they refund you a penny???

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

It took 30 minutes of discussion - not including waiting in line or upgrade processing. The manager (and 3 employees) suggested I take the tickets and return them to Undercover Tourist. Said I could only get $131 credit per ticket as that is what Undercover Tourist purchased them for and mentioned that Undercover Tourist was making money off reselling the tickets. I said I paid about $200 for each of these tickets and she asked for a receipt as proof of the purchase price and she mentioned something about unauthorized dealers on iDrive. After a lengthy discussion, I asked the manager to hand me back the tickets and I will call Undercover Tourist and will post a warning to the DIS Boards about upgrading these tickets. Apparently, something I said clicked, as she checked something on the computer and quickly processed our upgrade thereafter. We were credited full gate price.

YMMV but for me saving a few dollars a ticket was not worth the hassle.

Undercover is making money off of reselling tickets? Uh, yeah - that's their business! We've only upgraded tickets once - and they were bought at the gate at Universal but my nieces decided we should hop over to the Studios after IOA. Whew - that took a long time! Your 30 minutes is about what it took for us to upgrade their own tickets they sold us earlier that day!

 

[damo]

Undercover is making money off of reselling tickets? Uh, yeah - that's their business! We've only upgraded tickets once - and they were bought at the gate at Universal but my nieces decided we should hop over to the Studios after IOA. Whew - that took a long time! Your 30 minutes is about what it took for us to upgrade their own tickets they sold us earlier that day!

Ya, I thought that was a ridiculous statement as well. Of course they are making money but that doesn't mean they are doing it illegally.

 

[johde]

Like one of the other posters suggested, I wonder if the OP tried to upgrade before or after using the ticket to enter the park. I went into IOA to watch the Grinchmas show and get my picture taken with the Grinch than hopped over to USF to see the Macy's Holiday Parade and Blues Brother's Christmas show before upgrading. I even upgraded at the inside guest services at USF to a Power Pass on a blackout day for the Power Pass and it wasn't any problem. I'm wondering if it's like Disney where the ticket needs to be used first.

This "bridging" of tickets is also a fairly new thing. It's only been happening about a year. If I remember correctly, it started with the price increase just prior to Diagon Alley opening. At the time, we figures the Universal would want to sell more Park to Park upgrades because of the Hogarts Express so they started allowing upgrades based on gate prices.

 

[thornton0511]

Wow we were planning on doing the same thing to our 4 park to park 3 day tix from UT when we go in August! OP sorry to hear about you experience. Hopefully by the time we get there in August they will be better informed lol! As to others who have posted in response, I was under the impression that you should first use your tickets and then upgrade after the first entry with them. Is that what is recommended to make the exchange easier?

 

[SHammett]

Getting 2 day park to park with 2 days free (don't know why it's advertised like that instead of just saying 4 day?), from Tickets to Work. Does anyone know if these can be upgraded as well?