3 Men stayed for free at WDW

[com_op_2000]

Investigators said three men outsmarted Walt Disney World security and lived a lavish lifestyle, while vacationing, inside the parks for nearly four years.

Officials said Joseph Geiger, Robert Falk, and Steven Nero allegedly racked up more than $15,000 in charges in just one month and never paid for any of them.

Deputies said Geiger and Falk had turned themselves in and confessed, while Nero is still at large.

Investigators found that the men would book hotel rooms with one credit card and then put down a second, pre-paid debit card with only a dollar or two on it, to cover any charges to the room. They would then go out in the parks bill everything to the room and take off before the charges caught up and employees found out.

Officials said this was all done through a loophole in the park's reservation system.

The crime left many out visitors in disbelief.

 

[disneychrista]

Source?

 

[Sagginit]

is this a budget tip?

 

[doris1976]

I believe to use a debit card as a CC at check in requires a lot more then 1.00 on it. Anytime I would do this the minimum was 50.00.

 

[livndisney]

Source?

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/officials-men-vacationed-four-years-disney-propert/nPHkD/

 

[bumbershoot]

Source?

I just googled two of the names in the post and found the article.

And it's a poorly written article at that! They vacationed for free for years, they charged 15K in a month, they did this in the park, this was at the resorts....augh.... And why would someone interview other vacationers? Hopefully they explained the situation better than they did in the article....

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

is this a budget tip?

No it's the new PIN code...stay play and dine

 

[vicki_c]

Next thing Disney will be actually placing holds on amounts on your credit and debit cards to prevent this from happening. I always had a feeling that some people might know how to game the system based on the fact that Disney doesn't hold any of your money.

 

[rock_doctor]

It has actually happened to a DVC member who rented points to a non-owner. The renter put a pre-paid visa card on the account. Charged everything and then walked away. Because Disney does not bill until you leave, the card did not cover the charges, so Disney went after the DVC member who rented out the points. The DVC member had to pay the charges his renter created or loose use of their points. Skipping out on the bill happens quite often because they do not charge until you leave. Imho, Disney needs to charge the bill in two sets 3/4 the way though and then at the end. I suspect they are trying to beat the service charges they have to pay the CC for each transaction by only charging once.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

How scary, and how easy to pull off, especially in the DVC instance.

I have been trying to get my parents to rent their DVC points out for next year as they will not use them. This will make me rethink my recommendation.

 

[Danibelle]

Next thing Disney will be actually placing holds on amounts on your credit and debit cards to prevent this from happening. I always had a feeling that some people might know how to game the system based on the fact that Disney doesn't hold any of your money.

I am kind of surprised Disney did not do this already (esp. for a debit card). I have stayed in many hotels who placed a day's charge on the debit card and held onto it for up to a week). That is harsh, but it would prevent gaming the system. Also, I have heard of hotels who don't let you stay with them UNLESS you have a credit card (or possibly debit) on file. I would think that credit/debit cards would be checked out before 15,000 could be charged to the room.

 

[flick]

I thought Disney put a $500 limit on kttw cards? I know my card was stopped at this amount and I had to call the resort that I was staying at and have them charge my card before I could keep using my kttw card.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I am kind of surprised Disney did not do this already (esp. for a debit card). I have stayed in many hotels who placed a day's charge on the debit card and held onto it for up to a week). That is harsh, but it would prevent gaming the system. Also, I have heard of hotels who don't let you stay with them UNLESS you have a credit card (or possibly debit) on file. I would think that credit/debit cards would be checked out before 15,000 could be charged to the room.

Yeah, I think once you reach the hotel limit for the day ($500 at Value, $1000 at Mods, and $1500 at Deluxe and DVC), they charge it out, not sure how they possibly got away with it.

 

[vicki_c]

It doesn't say it was in one stay. It mentions $15K in a month - I suppose if you worked hard, you could change resorts 10 times ($1500 deluxe limit x 10)! It does seem like Disney would have caught up with them in that case if it was in one month, but maybe their systems don't talk to each other that well or something!

And it's not a daily limit - it's your limit for your stay - charged when you hit or come close to the threshold set by what level of resort you're in.

Cheaters stink.

 

[sunshinehighway]

I though Disney didn't allow pre paid cards to be used like that. A few years ago, I used one to pay for my dining plan at one resort (DVC stay) and my room balance on check in at the other (split stay). At each resort when asked if I wanted to add a card so I could charge to the room, they specified I wouldn't be able to use that pre-paid card.

 

[swilshire]

I have long stays in Marriotts for work now and then. They always charge the credit card as soon as the bill hits $1000. I thought that was pretty standard for the industry.

Sheila

 

[Colleen27]

I can't imagine how they managed it. Had to be multiple aliases as well as the different cards, but even then "free" would be a poor choice of words since the room rate bills at check-in (not that lousy journalism would come as a surprise to me these days).

I can kind of see how one could scam KTTW charges because we use a near-zero balance debit to establish charging privileges, but my understanding is that Disney is very aggressive with collections so I would think they'd have figured out that it was the same 3 guys far more quickly. I hope this doesn't mean an end to their no-hold policy. We pay off all our room charges with gift cards from my son's school Scrip program but they don't accept those cards to establish charging, so we leave a card with a low balance at check in to ensure the charges aren't pushed to our debit card before we have a chance to apply the gift cards.

 

[ShortStuff]

I thought Disney put a $500 limit on kttw cards? I know my card was stopped at this amount and I had to call the resort that I was staying at and have them charge my card before I could keep using my kttw card.

Yeah, I think once you reach the hotel limit for the day ($500 at Value, $1000 at Mods, and $1500 at Deluxe and DVC), they charge it out, not sure how they possibly got away with it.

Not sure of the $$$ limits, but when I put my card on file at AKV, they told me they would charge my card at $1000. Never reached that, as I had the dining plan.

 

[DawnM]

I have rented points before and the person's rule was "pay by check only."

How scary, and how easy to pull off, especially in the DVC instance.

I have been trying to get my parents to rent their DVC points out for next year as they will not use them. This will make me rethink my recommendation.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

I have rented points before and the person's rule was "pay by check only."

That person can tell YOU that, but Disney will allow you to charge. They encourage you to spend as much as possible knowing if you don't pay the point owner will be held responsible.
It is why many DVC owners will not rent their points.