Beware-Bad Disney Visa Change in Policy

[eskimoinparadise]

After reading the original post yesterday, I took a look and just saw on my newest bill the comment under the Qualifying Promotional Financing section "you must pay your promotional balance(s) in full by the expriation date(s) provided below to avoid paying ACCRUED DEFERRED INTEREST". Was never there before this bill.

I'll be interested in hearing the response to the OP from DISNEY.

.

You're absolutely correct. Not only have they changed their payment application policy, they've also sustantively changed their credit terms. 0% interest is no longer 0%. It is now six months of deferred accumulated interest at whatever your CC interest rate is. So if you put a $4000 cruise on the card and don't pay it off in time - your interest charges (at 12%/yr nominal interest rate) would be over $240. Previously, it would be (at the same nominal interest rate) less than $40.

Welcome to the new normal

 

[hgon76]

I didn't know your cruise cost less than $400!

I Would usually put about $300-$400 down on each payment.

 

[NancyIL]

I Would usually put about $300-$400 down on each payment.

You said you'd accrue only $4 in interest by not prepaying. That's how much you would earn if you kept $400 in the bank for 1 year at 1% interest. Most Disney cruises cost more than $400. The more expensive the cruise and the longer the time period until final payment is due - the more interest you will earn - even at lousy interest rates.

I have two cheap cruises booked this year and one that's a lot more expensive. The 2nd cheap cruise is in November, and after paying the deposit, the balance due is only $269. I was tempted to pay it and be done with it, but decided to just wait. My more expensive summer cruise has only a $200 deposit holding it, with a large final payment due March 30. That will be charged to a credit card with a closing date of April 20 and a payment date of May 15. I want to keep the money in my savings account as long as possible before I have to pay the credit card bill!

 

[IncredibleboysMom]

OK I'm just jumping in here but am having a similar problem. ALL that is on my Chase Disney Visa right now is cruise/WDW vacation packages that qualify for the 0% interest. There are several (5) "qualified promotional transactions" with balances and expiration dates of 2/20 (1), 3/20 (2), and 5/20 (2). I paid the amount and a little more that was set to expire on 2/20 early in February. However, my statement shows that the amount was applied to one of the balances with a promo rate that is due to expire 5/20.

The person I spoke with at Chase knew exactly what I was talking about and even complimented me on "really knowing how to use my Disney Visa". She said she would put in a request to have it investigated and taken care of, acting as though she did not have the authority to resolve it. She said it the payment should be reallocated in 10 days or so. Should I be worried? It makes me want to pay the whole thing off now. I DO NOT pay interest!!!

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Be afraid, be very, very afraid...

Seriously, stay on their case until it is rectified, and get names of everyone you talked to.

My fear is that this is just the tip of a very large iceberg, and if Disney doesn't step up quickly and get Chase's attention, that there are 10's of thousands of loyal DVCC card holders out there that are in for a very rude and expensive shock when they get their next month's bill.

BTW, if you want to weigh in on what you're seeing on your statements in an effort focus Disney's attention, the email address to report your concerns to is:

dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com

This is the email I was given when I first talked to the DCL supervisor. She said this one goes straight to the source.

 

[NancyIL]

My fear is that this is just the tip of a very large iceberg, and if Disney doesn't step up quickly and get Chase's attention, that there are 10's of thousands of loyal DVCC card holders out there that are in for a very rude and expensive shock when they get their next month's bill.

BTW, if you want to weigh in on what you're seeing on your statements in an effort focus Disney's attention, the email address to report your concerns to is:

dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com

We received a letter from Chase about IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING CHANGES TO YOUR ACCOUNT. It starts out saying:

We are writing to notify you of changes to your Cardmember Agreement effective February 22, 2010 in support of new federal credit card regulations and laws, and call your attention to some terminology in your Cardmember Agreement that is changing.

That is followed by a summary of the principal changes, then a 5-page Cardmember Agreement. Every Disney Visa cardholder probably got the same letter - which most people won't bother to read. I don't think there is anything Disney can do about it.

 

[jessica52877]

OK I'm just jumping in here but am having a similar problem. ALL that is on my Chase Disney Visa right now is cruise/WDW vacation packages that qualify for the 0% interest. There are several (5) "qualified promotional transactions" with balances and expiration dates of 2/20 (1), 3/20 (2), and 5/20 (2). I paid the amount and a little more that was set to expire on 2/20 early in February. However, my statement shows that the amount was applied to one of the balances with a promo rate that is due to expire 5/20.

The person I spoke with at Chase knew exactly what I was talking about and even complimented me on "really knowing how to use my Disney Visa". She said she would put in a request to have it investigated and taken care of, acting as though she did not have the authority to resolve it. She said it the payment should be reallocated in 10 days or so. Should I be worried? It makes me want to pay the whole thing off now. I DO NOT pay interest!!!

This is pretty much my exact situation! I was told the same thing and asked do I need to pay the entire thing off (we have 3 but one should have been paid off and one showed up on the last day of the statement) and then was told no. That she was sure it was just a glitch. She did put me on hold while she found out. But I am very fearful after reading all this. IF the terms did change on the 22nd, I still had paid before that so shouldn't have made a difference.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

This is pretty much my exact situation! I was told the same thing and asked do I need to pay the entire thing off (we have 3 but one should have been paid off and one showed up on the last day of the statement) and then was told no. That she was sure it was just a glitch. She did put me on hold while she found out. But I am very fearful after reading all this. IF the terms did change on the 22nd, I still had paid before that so shouldn't have made a difference.

Just checked my last five statements (I get them all on line) and there is no notice that reads like that. The only thing that came with the February bill was a 4-page flier illustrating how to read the new bill. Nothing about a change in policy. So if the terms did change, we were never notified, but the original statement is still correct. The 0% promotion no longer exists unless you only use your card for one vacation at a time.

 

[NancyIL]

Just checked my last five statements (I get them all on line) and there is no notice that reads like that. The only thing that came with the February bill was a 4-page flier illustrating how to read the new bill. Nothing about a change in policy. So if the terms did change, we were never notified, but the original statement is still correct. The 0% promotion no longer exists unless you only use your card for one vacation at a time.

The letter from Chase was mailed separately and not attached to any statement. It was dated January 2010, although I don't know when it actually arrived, because I usually ignore those mailings!

 

[carmie3377]

The letter from Chase was mailed separately and not attached to any statement. It was dated January 2010, although I don't know when it actually arrived, because I usually ignore those mailings!

I got one of these notices too. I looked through the payments section and nowhere did I find how they allocate payments when there are multiple promotions. All it says is that payments in excess of the minimum payment will be applied to the highest interest rate first. So, if they are all 0%, I guess they are adhering to the terms and conditions since it doesn't say HOW they will be applied with multiple expiration dates. However, it is very sneaky and not the terms when we made these charges. Our prior charges should be grandfathered in. For example, I made a 6 mo/no interest/no payment purchase at Home Depot prior to Feb 22. Although minimum monthly payments are required for purchases made from this point forward, the purchase that I made does not require the monthly payments for 6 months since it was made prior to the new rules.

I've called Disney Chase twice and got different answers both times. I'll call a third and post what I find out.

 

[carmie3377]

Okay, just spoke with an account manager that pretty much told me the same thing the first guy said (page 1). Here is what he said:
1) If it's NOT 2 months prior to expiration date of a promo, all payments will be applied to the current charges.
2) Once it's 2 months prior to the expiration date of a promo, all payments in excess of the minimum will be applied to that promo balance. If there is any payment left after paying that off, it gets applied to the current charges. I again stated that it is essentially 4 months of 0% and he agreed. So, if you want to avoid finance charges on current charges, you must also pay off the promo set to expire in less than 2 month.

I read to him the quotes on here about payments being applied in reverse order. He said that it is incorrect. I said "what happens when they do that to mine?" and he said they won't because it's not the way it works. I asked him that when it did (expecting that it will) if I can all and have the payments reallocated and he said yes but again "It's not going to happen, ma'am!" I have down the date/time/his name so I can when it happens.

I wonder if it was a glitch or something on the days that these payments were posted. It will be interesting to see if these errors being reported all occurred within the same day or two.

 

[wwwosie]

NancyIl is right, the letters were mailed separately. I looked at one (we have three different chase credit cards) and to me all the terms changes looked the same. I have requested a new copy for the Disney Visa (you can do that if you go online).
I think that the glitches (if they are indeed glitches) were caused by Disney's promotion being different than the other ones and hopefully this will be corrected.
As for the accrued interest part, I do think this is new and a way for Chase to get some revenue back from what they are losing when they now apply payments to HIGHER interest balances first.
The only solution I see is to make sure that the "promotional balance" get's paid about 5 days before it actually expires, which means doing everything online.
It's a pain, I know, but I like those Reward Dollars when we go to Disneyland... paid for my son's 3 day passport

 

[eskimoinparadise]

For what it's worth, here's how DCL responded...


Thank you for your e-mail.

I regret any disappointment with the change Chase has made to their payment policies. The services and products offered to our guests by organizations affiliated with our company are always of interest to us, and comments like yours help us evaluate the performance of our business partners. Please be assured that your comments have been taken very seriously and shared with the appropriate managers.

We look forward to the chance to welcome you aboard Disney Cruise Line again soon.

 

[lucky1]

OK I'm just jumping in here but am having a similar problem. ALL that is on my Chase Disney Visa right now is cruise/WDW vacation packages that qualify for the 0% interest. There are several (5) "qualified promotional transactions" with balances and expiration dates of 2/20 (1), 3/20 (2), and 5/20 (2). I paid the amount and a little more that was set to expire on 2/20 early in February. However, my statement shows that the amount was applied to one of the balances with a promo rate that is due to expire 5/20.

The person I spoke with at Chase knew exactly what I was talking about and even complimented me on "really knowing how to use my Disney Visa". She said she would put in a request to have it investigated and taken care of, acting as though she did not have the authority to resolve it. She said it the payment should be reallocated in 10 days or so. Should I be worried? It makes me want to pay the whole thing off now. I DO NOT pay interest!!!

This is exactly what happened with me and what Chase told me when I called. She had to send an email with my information and noted it in my account and also said I would receive a letter in 7-10 days explaining what they did and apply the overpayments to my first to expire balances, so that I did not get interest charges. Also said since this was the 2nd call that she received on a DISNEY visa, she was sending an alert to her supervisor.

Thanks to the boards for having me take closer look at my bill we got on Friday.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Also said since this was the 2nd call that she received on a DISNEY visa, she was sending an alert to her supervisor.

Thanks to the boards for having me take closer look at my bill we got on Friday.

Absolutely the right move. Everyone who has a Disney Visa needs to check your statement carefully (online if possible) and if there is ANYTHING inconsistent with past practices,

1) Call Chase and let them know,

2) Email Disney and let them know, and

3) keep a record of everything

Bottom line, unless everyone voices their displeasure, it is all to easy for both companies to chalk this off to one or two disgruntled guests, and do nothing to correct it.

The clock is ticking...

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Okay, just spoke with an account manager that pretty much told me the same thing the first guy said (page 1). Here is what he said:
1) If it's NOT 2 months prior to expiration date of a promo, all payments will be applied to the current charges.
2) Once it's 2 months prior to the expiration date of a promo, all payments in excess of the minimum will be applied to that promo balance. If there is any payment left after paying that off, it gets applied to the current charges. I again stated that it is essentially 4 months of 0% and he agreed. So, if you want to avoid finance charges on current charges, you must also pay off the promo set to expire in less than 2 month.

Unfortunately, if that is what was said, then Chase just admitted that they've re-designed their system to maximize the probability that you will be paying finance charges on everything. If you had, for example, $500 in current charges and $1,000 in promo charges (due in two months), your minimum payment on our current balance would show up as ~$15. With the scheme they just admitted to you, if you pay $500, only $15 goes against your current balance, and $485 goes against the promo balance. This leaves $485 as a past-due current balance which creates finance charges at 12+% APR.

 

[brucechase]

After reading this thread, I can't believe what is going on. Actually I stopped using the Chase card about 6 months ago when my interest rate went from 7% to 19% without any explanation except that is the way it is. I had no late payments or no overages - ever - Thanks Congress - I love the new credit card reform bill!!!!!

After reading all this, I guess I really won't be using it much more. Thank goodness I still have a 4% card that give 1% cash back. I will just have to be disciplined enough to put that cash back away and save for a future cruise.

 

[ebo64]

OK so based on the only 4 months of 0% theory, I guess the following is the best way to avoid interest charges. Since my DCL promo ends in July, I will stop using my Chase card for other purchases in March. This will allow me to pay off current charges in April before they begin dictating that my payments be placed against my June and July DCL promo.

Lose a bit of rewards, but will have time to accummulate more reward before our next trip.

 

[carmie3377]

When they explained it to me with the words 2 months out on a 6 month promo, first thougt is that it is essentially 4 months of no interest. However, I've looked further at my bill. Depending on how your dates fall, you may still get 5+ or close to 6 months of 0%. Of course, this is if they start applying extra payments 2 months before the expiration date.

Here are my promo balances:
$470.92 and $574.64 WDW payments charged on 10/14/09 with a promo expiration of 5/13/10. Any extra payments are supposed to start being applied to these balances on 3/13/10. My monthly payments are due on the the 10th of the month. Payments due this month will be paid entirely to new balances since it's not 2 quite months prior yet. April would be the month I would need to pay my entire current charges plus that promo. That payment is due 4/10/10. So, just 4 days shy of an entire 6 months of 0%.

$500 cruise deposit charged on 12/8/09 with a promo expiration of 6/13/10. Any extra payment is supposed to start being applied to this balance on 4/13/10. My April 10th payment will be paid entirely to new balances since it's not 2 months prior yet. May would be the month I would need to pay my entire current charges plus that promo. That payment is due 5/10/10. So, I would be getting 5 months, 2 days.

My last one was charged on 1/5/10 with promo end date of 7/13/10. Extra payments will start being applied with my June 10 payment since my May payment would still be 2+ months out. That makes this promo 5 months, 5 days.

Since all my promos expire on the 13th of month and my statment cuts on the 12th, I would have to make my promo charges at the very beginning of the statement cycle to get the full advantage. Towards the end of the cycle, it's going to be closer to 5 months.

I'm not agreeing with what they do. I still think the fact that they changed the way they process extra payments (2 months prior) is sneaky. It will cause many people to think they actually have an extra month to pay their bill. For example, had i not read this, I would have thought that my promo balances expiring on 5/13 could be sent with my 5/10 payment.

 

[maryisme]

we have 2 cards and 1 is used only for the cruise and we pay it off in 6 pmts and the other we use when needed to earn the Dis dollars and pay it in full so no interest either way....

This is exactly what we do!