Can I cancel my TA?

[GayeofPA]

Can you "fire" a TA?

My TA has done nothing for us but booked a Room Only, and she confuses me on several points (for example, by pushing us to book a package when I don't want one at this point). Our ADR deadline has come and gone without her mentioning it at all (but fortunately I knew about it and took care of that myself).

You'all are helping me the best, so I might as well do it myself. (I did it myself 4 years ago)

How do I go about "firing" her? If I do, will I lose my reservation and have to re-book?

Or since she's not really doing anything for us, should I just coast along and take care of everything myself while keeping her officially as the TA?

 

[aaarcher86]

Can you "fire" a TA?

My TA has done nothing for us but booked a Room Only, and she confuses me on several points (for example, by pushing us to book a package when I don't want one at this point). Our ADR deadline has come and gone without her mentioning it at all (but fortunately I knew about it and took care of that myself).

You'all are helping me the best, so I might as well do it myself. (I did it myself 4 years ago)

How do I go about "firing" her? If I do, will I lose my reservation and have to re-book?

Or since she's not really doing anything for us, should I just coast along and take care of everything myself while keeping her officially as the TA?

Since TAs book through a different system than WDTC you'll probably have to cancel and rebook. Thankfully, it won't cancel the ADRs you already have in place.

It's really whatever you feel comfortable with - does she have a fee for cancelling? If so I'd probably work it all out yourself from this point and just know for the future that you want to handle your own res. If not, I'd probably book with Disney simply for the fact that I could call and talk to them directly about my reservation and/or make any changes.

Sorry your TA isn't the greatest. I know some of them don't book the ADRs and really only work on the resort reservation portion... I wonder if that's what she does and just assumed you'd know?

 

[PictureJumpr]

You CAN "fire" your TA.
Your reservation will be preserved. You will not have to rebook.

Right now, your TA's agency "owns" the reservation. WDWTC will only accept changes, payments, etc. from that agency.

You can have it removed and take "ownership" of it yourself, but the agency will have to initiate this. They'll have to send notification/a letter to WDWTC.

So there's the thing - you'll have to get your TA (or at least her agency) involved to get your reservation released to you (or another agency, although in your case I'm sure you're ready to roll on your own).


AFAIK, it is not common for an agency/TA to impose a fee/penalty themselves (other than those who accept checks charging when said checks are returned/bounce), so long as the provider (in your case, WDWTC) doesn't charge one. I know mine doesn't. Since you're room-only with WDWTC, and you aren't canceling or even really modifying your reservation, there would be no penalty from WDWTC and so should be no penalty to you. If the TA/agency imposes one, I'd fight it for sure - assuming you never signed any sort of contract or agreement which had it specifically outlined before you booked with them.

 

[stargazertechie]

TA's push packages because it raises their commission. If you buy the dining plan, they're earning commission off of the DP fee. If you book room only, chances are they're only earning commission off of the room rate, vs room, dining, and tickets.

For 2 adults and 2 kids, a 7 day/6 night package with standard dining and base tickets at ASMU in October would be $2904

The same family, same dates for just the MYW package with base tickets and the room would be $1974

Same Family, Same Dates, room only would be $693

Just imagine the difference in commission for having to do the same amount of work (booking ADRs, some provide park recommendations/crowd calendars/touring plans) for commission based on a $700 sale vs a close to $3,000 sale. I don't know what Disney's commission rate is for their authorized travel planners, but I can imagine it would be in the ballpark of the difference between a paycheck of $300 and a paycheck of $70

I'm not saying that pushing packages is right/ethical when it's not what the customer wants, but I can see why they do it.

 

[mickeynut1]

Can you "fire" a TA?

My TA has done nothing for us but booked a Room Only, and she confuses me on several points (for example, by pushing us to book a package when I don't want one at this point). Our ADR deadline has come and gone without her mentioning it at all (but fortunately I knew about it and took care of that myself).

You'all are helping me the best, so I might as well do it myself. (I did it myself 4 years ago)

How do I go about "firing" her? If I do, will I lose my reservation and have to re-book?

Or since she's not really doing anything for us, should I just coast along and take care of everything myself while keeping her officially as the TA?

You can have Disney take over the reservation, but your TA will have to agree to this and submit the proper paperwork. If you stick it out and let the TA keep your reservation, the TA "owns" your reservation until you check in, so any changes you might want to make will have to go through the agency as Disney will not discuss anything with you. Your other option is to cancel all together and rebook direct with Disney. I'm sorry you have to deal with this. Good luck and I hope everything turns out ok.

 

[brios86]

TA's push packages because it raises their commission. If you buy the dining plan, they're earning commission off of the DP fee. If you book room only, chances are they're only earning commission off of the room rate, vs room, dining, and tickets.

For 2 adults and 2 kids, a 7 day/6 night package with standard dining and base tickets at ASMU in October would be $2904

The same family, same dates for just the MYW package with base tickets and the room would be $1974

Same Family, Same Dates, room only would be $693

Just imagine the difference in commission for having to do the same amount of work (booking ADRs, some provide park recommendations/crowd calendars/touring plans) for commission based on a $700 sale vs a close to $3,000 sale. I don't know what Disney's commission rate is for their authorized travel planners, but I can imagine it would be in the ballpark of the difference between a paycheck of $300 and a paycheck of $70

I'm not saying that pushing packages is right/ethical when it's not what the customer wants, but I can see why they do it.

Disney pays 10% to the agency and then the agent may or may not receive all of that.

 

[jw50]

Can you "fire" a TA?

My TA has done nothing for us but booked a Room Only, and she confuses me on several points (for example, by pushing us to book a package when I don't want one at this point). Our ADR deadline has come and gone without her mentioning it at all (but fortunately I knew about it and took care of that myself).

If you only had her book Room Only what more were you expecting her to do? She made suggestions to you that you apparently didn't like, like booking a package, and probably assumed that you did not want any other assistance from her. It is not part of a TA's "job" to make ADRs for you or help with your itinerary planning. Many TAs do these things as part of providing a service that will result in repeat business but they do not get any additional commission for providing these services unless they are able to upsell the client.

In general the commission Disney pays is 10% on rooms and packages (only on the pre-tax cost), and up to 7% on tickets. That is the commission that goes to the Travel Agency, most TAs only get 60% of the commission paid to the Agency. Also most TAs are not employees of the Agency but are independent contractors and as such are responsible for paying additional taxes on commissions they receive. For many TAs this means they pay close to 50% in taxes (between Federal and State) on the commissions they receive.

So if you book Room Only at a Value for a week the TA may only end up netting $20-$30 on that.

If you want to "fire" your TA in this instance, the easiest way would be for you to book Room Only directly with Disney and then just cancel the reservation you made through the TA.

 

[GayeofPA]

If you only had her book Room Only what more were you expecting her to do?

I don't know. How would I know--this is the first time I ever used a TA. I guess I was expecting her to take care of everything, because this is my first time using a TA and everyone talked about TA's as being so helpful and getting them good deals. I am dealing with cancer and thought it would be nice to have someone take care of it all.

Also, when we first made contact with the TA, she asked us to provide tons of info: whether or not we wanted Magic Express, what kind of tickets we wanted, etc. etc. It made me assume she would be taking care of all that.

I did not realize that she would get such a low commission; depending upon what discount codes come out, we very well might get a package, but at this point we're not. Perhaps the value of going with a TA or not when you want Room Only should be explained more often to newbies.

 

[bluejasmine]

Is it a Disney TA or just a TA? That makes a difference. I'm a Disney TA and when I book I let my clients know I can help with ADrs tours and special events. That being said only 3 have asked me to book their dining.

The TA couldn't have known you wanted dining, she may have thought you were eating QS, I personally would have asked you but it's not a requirement. So I don't see why she did wrong at this point. Unless you've asked her for help or specific things she has not delivered on or cannot reach her, I think it wouldn't hurt to leave the ressie with her just don't use her again if your unhappy.

As far as the commission goes I've never cared about booking the package I know if clients happy with me they will come back or refer others. I've done booking were I got less than $20!

Only reason I ask about DDP with my clients is I'm a believer in the DDP, I use it myself wether paying for it or getting it free.

If you have any questions I'd be happy to help.

ASMU/POR Dec 16-22, 2012 & CR Sept 8-15, 2013

 

[bumbershoot]

If you only had her book Room Only what more were you expecting her to do? She made suggestions to you that you apparently didn't like, like booking a package, and probably assumed that you did not want any other assistance from her. It is not part of a TA's "job" to make ADRs for you or help with your itinerary planning. Many TAs do these things as part of providing a service that will result in repeat business but they do not get any additional commission for providing these services unless they are able to upsell the client.

There are TAs who lay out exactly what they'll do for you. I once booked on my own, then found a nice TA and transferred my booking to them. It was a 2 day room-only stay, and they were perfectly willing to do my dining, to set out an itinerary, etc, for me. I didn't want that, but they offered it as part of their services.

The TA isn't going to be able to upsell anyone if they just let everything slide later. If the TA doesn't do those things if it's a room vs a package, they need to be clear about that.

As far as the commission goes I've never cared about booking the package I know if clients happy with me they will come back or refer others. I've done booking were I got less than $20!

Exactly. And by not being clear with the OP, the TA has possibly lost this booking, and definitely all future bookings by the OP. Sad!


OP, leaving the booking as is doesn't change anything for you, and gets the TA a little money. Unless she's seriously offended you, I probably wouldn't change anything, but after the trip I would probably want to give feedback about communication, etc.

If you do want to cancel, I would make a reservation online or by calling WDW, and then cancel the room-only booking with the TA. It's not going to cancel your ADRs.

 

[jw50]

Also, when we first made contact with the TA, she asked us to provide tons of info: whether or not we wanted Magic Express, what kind of tickets we wanted, etc. etc. It made me assume she would be taking care of all that.

It really does sound like your biggest issue was a lack of effective communication with the TA (assume that she actually did make all reservations that you specifically asked her to make), you had one set of expectations and apparently she had a different set of expectations.

Just use this as a learning experience and next time you use a TA (if there is a next time) make sure that both you and the TA know exactly what you expect from each other.

As in any service industry there are good TAs and not so good TAs

It is possible that you just got one of the not so good TAs. As another poster suggested make sure you send feedback to the Travel Agency about your experience with this particular TA since that may help future clients of that agent.

And good luck with the health issues that you are dealing with.

 

[nkereina]

Since TAs book through a different system than WDTC you'll probably have to cancel and rebook. Thankfully, it won't cancel the ADRs you already have in place.

It's really whatever you feel comfortable with - does she have a fee for cancelling? If so I'd probably work it all out yourself from this point and just know for the future that you want to handle your own res. If not, I'd probably book with Disney simply for the fact that I could call and talk to them directly about my reservation and/or make any changes.

Sorry your TA isn't the greatest. I know some of them don't book the ADRs and really only work on the resort reservation portion... I wonder if that's what she does and just assumed you'd know?

Not entirely true... I am a former TA, and TAs just book through disneytravelagents.com. It requires an IATA number for registration, but other than that, it's very similar to just booking at disneyworld.com. Even the format.

As for ADRs, good TA will cover those for you but most probably won't. ADR bookings do not come with any commission, so most TAs will not do them or will impose a fee to do them. If you have a TA that books your ADRs too, they are just giving you a courtesy and are really good at customer service. Everyone should remember that before they become ADR crazy with a TA doin them

OP - your TA can fill out a form and fax it to Disney to release your reservation to them. Your TA will likely meet you with some resistance and may even deny it, since he or she will lose their commission (albeit, not much commission from Disney...). If they play dumb, do some searching on this forum and you can probably find other info. Or even call Disney yourself to ask about said form.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if your TA imposes a fee to do this. When they transfer the reservation to Disney, they would have done the work and received no compensation for it. Any fee they impose would be their compensation for the work already done. Many TAs do this when booking airfare, since airlines don't pay commission.

 

[Marthasor]

Yes, I think it all depends on the TA and the agency. Most Disney Authorized Vacation Planner agencies offer full concierge-style services to their clients regardless of what they book - it could be a two-night room only stay to a 12-night vacation package.

I don't know if your TA offers that kind of service. Honestly, if you are unhappy and you aren't going to lose out on a discount that may have expired, I would simply cancel the reservation with the TA and re-book with Disney directly (and watch for new discounts yourself on the boards) or re-book with a reputable Disney Authorized Vacation Planner agency and let them know upfront what kind of help you need with your vacation. I would hate for you to carry this bad feeling with you when you are on your trip. I say start fresh and re-book.

 

[GayeofPA]

Thanks for all your input! It has helped me understand a lot of things.

At this time, I will remain with my TA (who is a Disney-associated TA, from small__). I just didn't understand about TAs, and had thought everything would be automatically done for me. As it is, I don't necessarily trust her, and will have to watchdog everything (something I hadn't wanted to do) when a discount comes along. Seems easier than breaking off from her.

If a package discount comes along, we might very well switch to it and then she will make more of a commission.

 

[bumbershoot]

Are you not saying the full name because you're worried about her finding it, or worried we can't say it? If you wish to put the whole thing there, you will want to type the whole URL of their website name. If it posts, then it's OK. If it's astericed out then that means the Dis doesn't want them mentioned.

If it's a TA with the name of a ride at Disney parks (I don't want to list it in case it's not them), I looked in their about us section and it says "For guests booking a Magic Your Way Plus Dining reservation packages, your agent will call Disney to set up your requested Advanced Dining Reservations based on availability". So if it's them, alas, they do have the info posted about not doing ADRs unless you have a package.

If it's them, they do say they watch for discounts. However, since you have booked a room-only and have told them you do NOT want a package, I doubt they'll be on the lookout for package deals for you. I mean, why would they, since you said no?

 

[mm1971]

Can you "fire" a TA?

My TA has done nothing for us but booked a Room Only, and she confuses me on several points (for example, by pushing us to book a package when I don't want one at this point). Our ADR deadline has come and gone without her mentioning it at all (but fortunately I knew about it and took care of that myself).

You'all are helping me the best, so I might as well do it myself. (I did it myself 4 years ago)

How do I go about "firing" her? If I do, will I lose my reservation and have to re-book?

Or since she's not really doing anything for us, should I just coast along and take care of everything myself while keeping her officially as the TA?

I would rebook yourself now to make sure you get what you want before canceling with the TA, but you certain can do it. Once you are booked under your name, call and cancel the TA and let a manager know why. I assume this isn't a WDW specialist TA. If you cannot get a new reservation as you like, you would need the TA to call and transfer the reservation. They may or may not do it depending on the TA and if they hold a grudge.

Good luck. I wouldn't continue with someone you do not feel comfortable working with.