Back from PBH, front desk less than helpful Follow up 2/1/10

[rcraw45425]

CHecked in last Friday night for a last minute trip down to Sea World. Upon arrival the girl at the desk say "Oh, you are using a debit card" (Hey, it's platinum and I get points from it!). Procedes to tel me that if she runs it as a credit, as I requested, there would be a hold on the entire amount of funds in the account (over 10K), whereas if she runs a debit the entire amount would be chareged immediately with no hold. Huh? I always use this as a credit and have never had that imposed, either at this hotel, or at HRH back in July (not to mention all of our Disney trips). Okay, no choice, run it as debit, even though I don't have the option to dispute and would have a time gettimg my money back if we cut our visit short due to room displeasure (that's another story). THen she says if I want room charging I have to pre pay it SINCE IT"S A DEBIT, so no room charging (not a problem since we had multiple problems with it in July), but it also meant I could not get internet since it's charged to the room. Not happy with them at all. As for the room, well, I paid for lagoon view, which I guess I had, at the very end of the East wing, saw a lot of road and a little bit of water. Also a 10 minute hike to civilization since ther is only one elevator bank located close to the shops. Needless to say it's probably back to HRH next visit.

On a positive note though: still lovin' FOTL!

 

[damo]

I've heard of people having issues using a debit card for this before at other hotels. Have never heard of it at Universal though. We always just use a credit card and never had an issue.

Sounds like the clerk was a bit confused though. The hold would be for the entire amount that they anticipate you are going to spend, not the entire amount in your account. If that amount exceeds the amount in your account, then your account may be frozen.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre11.shtm

 

[ky07]

I think its where alot of people use the prepaid debit cards now and I myself use one so that I don't have to carry around wads of cash and take the chance of something bad happening.
And yes most credit card do put a two day hold on purchases cause if you run my bank debit visa card as credit then it takes two to three days for it to clear versus using it as debit and the amount being took out right then.
So I take it as her just saving you the hassel of running over the amount you have to spend but thats my opition and I could be wrong

 

[ATAfamily]

I have a Visa check card that I like to use so what we do is we give them a regular credit card when we check in. Then when we checkout we tell them that we would like the charges put on this credit card (debit card) and they credit the original credit card and then charge the full amount to the Visa check card.

 

[cieslack]

You are taking a big chance using a debit card instead of a regular credit card. In the event that your credit card number is compromised you dispute the charges and never have to pay the unauthorized charges. If your debit card number is used to unlawfully drain your account, you will rack up fees and charges from your other legitimate transactions that overdrafted. Then you have to work to get your money back. Your bank will not take responsibility if your mortgage payment is late due to insufficient funds.

 

[rcraw45425]

Well, I noticed a few days ago that the desk clerk must have been wrong or something, the points for my room charge posted on my account so they must have run as credit and no hold was placed.

On another note a few days ago I received a survey from them regarding our stay. I was not rude, simply stated how our stay went. Today I received an email from the manager on duty apologizing and asking us to return with one night free. That was very kind of him (and unexpected), but I don't know that we will plan another stay there for a while. I do have to say in all of our Disney stays and all of our Disney surveys this is the first response like this I have ever received. Kudos Loews!

 

[rcraw45425]

You are taking a big chance using a debit card instead of a regular credit card. In the event that your credit card number is compromised you dispute the charges and never have to pay the unauthorized charges. If your debit card number is used to unlawfully drain your account, you will rack up fees and charges from your other legitimate transactions that overdrafted. Then you have to work to get your money back. Your bank will not take responsibility if your mortgage payment is late due to insufficient funds.

Not with my card:

How is a Visa Debit card better than cash or checks?
More convenient — Using your Visa Debit card is fast and easy. Access your funds 24/7 and make purchases at millions of locations worldwide that accept Visa debit cards. You don't need to keep cash on hand — so you make fewer trips to the ATM and don't need to fumble for change.
More secure — Visa monitors your account 24 hours a day to help prevent, detect and resolve fraud on your Visa Debit card. With Visa Zero Liability, you are not responsible for unauthorized purchases. Any funds taken from your account due to fraudulent use will be returned to you.* Cash does not offer security protections; and once you lose it, it's gone. See the complete list of protections.
Better record keeping — Your Visa Debit card transactions are automatically deducted from your checking account, so you can access your up-to-date balance on your issuers' website or by phone. Your monthly checking account statement provides full details of your purchases, including merchant name, location, date and amount. You'll enjoy money management you don't get using cash or checks.

 

[damo]

Well, I noticed a few days ago that the desk clerk must have been wrong or something, the points for my room charge posted on my account so they must have run as credit and no hold was placed.

On another note a few days ago I received a survey from them regarding our stay. I was not rude, simply stated how our stay went. Today I received an email from the manager on duty apologizing and asking us to return with one night free. That was very kind of him (and unexpected), but I don't know that we will plan another stay there for a while. I do have to say in all of our Disney stays and all of our Disney surveys this is the first response like this I have ever received. Kudos Loews!

That is good! I really thing the desk clerk was mistaken or couldn't clearly explain herself. It is nice they are making it up to you! We've always had great customer service at the hotels.

 

[rcraw45425]

That is good! I really thing the desk clerk was mistaken or couldn't clearly explain herself. It is nice they are making it up to you! We've always had great customer service at the hotels.

I agree, I too believed that the clerk was mistaken but she was so adamant about the way it "had to be" that I got tired of disagreeing. Maybe once HP opens...............

 

[cieslack]

Not with my card:

How is a Visa Debit card better than cash or checks?
More convenient — Using your Visa Debit card is fast and easy. Access your funds 24/7 and make purchases at millions of locations worldwide that accept Visa debit cards. You don't need to keep cash on hand — so you make fewer trips to the ATM and don't need to fumble for change.
More secure — Visa monitors your account 24 hours a day to help prevent, detect and resolve fraud on your Visa Debit card. With Visa Zero Liability, you are not responsible for unauthorized purchases. Any funds taken from your account due to fraudulent use will be returned to you.* Cash does not offer security protections; and once you lose it, it's gone. See the complete list of protections.
Better record keeping — Your Visa Debit card transactions are automatically deducted from your checking account, so you can access your up-to-date balance on your issuers' website or by phone. Your monthly checking account statement provides full details of your purchases, including merchant name, location, date and amount. You'll enjoy money management you don't get using cash or checks.

I checked my post again and I am not sure where you deduced that I was recommending cash or checks over your debit card. I said that you are taking a chance using a debit card instead of a credit card. A credit card is not attached to your bank accounts and thieves cannot drain your checking account if your card is compromised. The bank will eventually refund any fraudulently lost funds, but they do not have to pay your late payments or bounced check fees. I have heard the lines from banks for years about the protections for debit cards, but I work daily with victims of crime and I can tell you that in practice, there is nothing safer than a credit card that you monitor monthly.

 

[minniejack]

I checked my post again and I am not sure where you deduced that I was recommending cash or checks over your debit card. I said that you are taking a chance using a debit card instead of a credit card. A credit card is not attached to your bank accounts and thieves cannot drain your checking account if your card is compromised. The bank will eventually refund any fraudulently lost funds, but they do not have to pay your late payments or bounced check fees. I have heard the lines from banks for years about the protections for debit cards, but I work daily with victims of crime and I can tell you that in practice, there is nothing safer than a credit card that you monitor monthly.

 

[keishashadow]

fyi, if you place a debit or CC down for charging purposes at any hotel (i've ever visited) they typically will run a 'soft hold' to make sure the card is valid. Disney obtains a preauthorization depending on level of resort (i believe it's: value $500, mod $1,000 & deluxe/DVC $1,500). Once u go thru that amount, you have to call the desk to okay another authorization. You don't "see" the preauthorization on your statement; only the amount you have actually spent.

 

[rcraw45425]

fyi, if you place a debit or CC down for charging purposes at any hotel (i've ever visited) they typically will run a 'soft hold' to make sure the card is valid. Disney obtains a preauthorization depending on level of resort (i believe it's: value $500, mod $1,000 & deluxe/DVC $1,500). Once u go thru that amount, you have to call the desk to okay another authorization. You don't "see" the preauthorization on your statement; only the amount you have actually spent.

RIght, I've never had any problems whatsoever with the Disney hotels, although one time I returned home from the CR to discover double charges for everything, but tht was Suntrust's error, not Disney's. I called the CR and they were very helpful in accounting, double checking to make sure they had only debited once per transaction. Turns out Suntrust did that to everyone over that weekend . Thankfully we never have a problem with low funds but it was a bit disturbing to see that a four day trip cost like $5K!

 

[Bluer101]

I always book with my check card and when I arrive I pay the rest in cash. Never had a problem with that and its all paid for.

 

[ky07]

I always use a master card prepaid card and have used it several tmes at the hotels and at citywalk and never had trouble except for a coulpe of the restaurants and that was only when they put a hold on the amount and it looked like I was being charged twice but when the orginal amount went through that amount was cleared but never gave my pin on anything just used it a credit and singed for it all

 

[ky07]

I always book with my check card and when I arrive I pay the rest in cash. Never had a problem with that and its all paid for.

Looks like we both are going to be at RPR at the same time cause we will be there 7/4/2010 to 7/11/2010

 

[freediverdude]

Sorry to kind of resurrect this thread, but does anyone have any idea of how much of a hold they try to place on your card at check-in? Like if I were to book a 1 night stay and that one night was already paid for with the deposit, how much would they want to hold or have a cash deposit for at check-in?

 

[justprettynpink]

They do not have to hold anything on your card unless you want to be able to charge on your room key. You have the option to be a "cash" patron and pay as you spend.

I don't remember how much they hold on your card if you choose to use it.

 

[rcraw45425]

For me they said that even though the total amount due was only like $600, she said that if I chose to run it as a credit they would hold the entire amount in my account hostage ( in this case over $15K). See why I was upset?

 

[bumbershoot]

For me they said that even though the total amount due was only like $600, she said that if I chose to run it as a credit they would hold the entire amount in my account hostage ( in this case over $15K). See why I was upset?

Hopefully the person that responded to your email was able to help this employee out a bit. I wonder if they had dealt with some customers who were complaining about what happened with them, and she took their story as total truth and thought she was being helpful? Crazier things have happened in customer service type positions...