Conflicting info between TA and DCL site

[Mousequake]

So, using cowboy math, what you’re saying is:

• My TA quotes me $4,500 for the res.
• Agency/agent’s cut is, let’s just say, $450.
• DCL considered itself “made whole” once it received $4,050, which is why the site shows me “paid in full”.
• Had I booked myself, DCL still would have quoted me $4,500, and would not have shown me “paid in full” until they received the whole $4,500, because they (not an agency/agent) were the ones on the hook for pre-cruise support - phone calls, e-mails, processing payments, etc.

Is that it?

That's correct. There's absolutely nothing shady going on here; it's just a quirk of DCL's bookkeeping systems in regards to travel agencies and their commissions.

 

[ivanp91]

Does your TA send you the official confirmations from DCL every time a payment is applied? My TA always does every time I make a payment, if yours doesn't I would suggest asking them to email it to you. That will have the exact breakdown of everything that has been paid, is owing, etc, you'll be able to see for yourself if there is indeed still a balance owing.

 

[Dug720]

It is the gross/net amount discussed before. You are not paying extra for the TA, but once you cross over the threashold of what the travel agency makes in commission the website will show paid in full - but you have not really paid in full. Your TA will earn somewhere between 10-16 percent, a portion of that to the agency and a portion to the actual agent. If you are getting on board credit - your agent will use part of this amount to fund your on board credit. If you don’t pay the amount your agent will not get paid.

Except the agents do not even get their commission until AFTER the cruise has been taken. So no, it doesn't make sense.

 

[ADS2508]

So, using cowboy math, what you’re saying is:

• My TA quotes me $4,500 for the res.
• Agency/agent’s cut is, let’s just say, $450.
• DCL considered itself “made whole” once it received $4,050, which is why the site shows me “paid in full”.
• Had I booked myself, DCL still would have quoted me $4,500, and would not have shown me “paid in full” until they received the whole $4,500, because they (not an agency/agent) were the ones on the hook for pre-cruise support - phone calls, e-mails, processing payments, etc.

Is that it?

This is correct. A lot of TAs will not let you make partial payments at this point to avoid the confusion. Your TA taking the payment actually tells me you have a good one who will work with you.

 

[squirk]

Does your TA send you the official confirmations from DCL every time a payment is applied? My TA always does every time I make a payment, if yours doesn't I would suggest asking them to email it to you. That will have the exact breakdown of everything that has been paid, is owing, etc, you'll be able to see for yourself if there is indeed still a balance owing.

No, I’ve never asked her to. Never had a discrepancy like this before.

 

[Dug720]

Could you ask your TA to do a three-way call between you, her, and DCL to get to the bottom of it?

 

[squirk]

That's correct. There's absolutely nothing shady going on here; it's just a quirk of DCL's bookkeeping systems in regards to travel agencies and their commissions.

Thx. I wasn’t really thinking “shady.” I was thinking maybe there was an error in my original quote. Believe me, I would love to find that I had to pay $500 less than I originally thought.

 

[squirk]

Could you ask your TA to do a three-way call between you, her, and DCL to get to the bottom of it?

I suppose I could. Honestly, I would rather give her a chance to figure it out first. I just would like a better explanation than “the web site is messed up.”

Maybe I’ll stop paying on this res for now since I appear to be “paid in full”, and start paying down the other ones. If I start to approach my PIF date and still see the res as “paid in full” when I believe I still owe money, I will revisit the issue with my TA.

 

[meliscan]

I had the reverse happen to me. I had paid in full with my TA and a month later when I was on the site it didn't show it. I contacted her and she said must be a glitch and she had to call Disney. That was a heart stopping moment.

 

[squirk]

As it turns out, my TA emailed me this morning and echoed exactly what @Mousequake, @DisneyWishes14 and @ADS2508 said: this “paid in full” status is due to me having paid enough to cover DCL’s cut of the total fare. The delta is my TA’s commission. Thanks to all who chimed in with comments.

I wonder what would happen if I left the $468 outstanding on my actual PIF date. Would my res be cancelled? Or would it still show as “paid in full”, meaning I could check in, book excursions, etc.?

Basically, would DCL allow somebody to screw over their TA that way?

 

[xavier2001]

Whats interesting to me is that you can see the amount due/PIF status on the DCL website when you use a travel agent. I currently am managing 2 reservations, mine which I booked without a TA, and my parents, who transferred their booking to Costco for the cash card. On the DCL site I can see what I owe on my reservation, but when I look at their reservation it just says 'contact your travel professional' where the cost would be. That would seem to eliminate the confusion that you experienced.

 

[rammh]

your travel agent will not get paid if you dont pay in full. If you go into the commission amount be even $1 it shows as paid in full, but the commission doesnt get paid then. Xavier2001, the only reason he can see it is because he went into that net amount. This is what we see as a TA
Balance Due: $1,000.00
Commission Earned: $513.00
Net Due: $487.00

I need to make sure this client pays the $1000 If he makes a partial payment of say $500, it would show as paid in full and I would lose the commission. Obviously I think it is only fair to pay the amount quoted to you so your TA will get their due commission

 

[squirk]

your travel agent will not get paid if you dont pay in full. If you go into the commission amount be even $1 it shows as paid in full, but the commission doesnt get paid then. Xavier2001, the only reason he can see it is because he went into that net amount. This is what we see as a TA
Balance Due: $1,000.00
Commission Earned: $513.00
Net Due: $487.00

I need to make sure this client pays the $1000 If he makes a partial payment of say $500, it would show as paid in full and I would lose the commission. Obviously I think it is only fair to pay the amount quoted to you so your TA will get their due commission

Oh, I wouldn’t dream of doing that to my TA. I am just surprised that DCL allows a back door that would let a TA get the shaft like this.

But @rammh - since it seems you are a TA, and just to make sure I understand:

In your hypothetical, is it accurate to say that the customer would be paying $1,000 even if they booked the cruise themselves?

In other words, if the customer booked themselves, and DCL was on the hook for pre-cruise service and support (instead of a TA), then DCL would essentially charge the customer that same $513 commission. Is that right?

 

[ADS2508]

Oh, I wouldn’t dream of doing that to my TA. I am just surprised that DCL allows a back door that would let a TA get the shaft like this.

But @rammh - since it seems you are a TA, and just to make sure I understand:

In your hypothetical, is it accurate to say that the customer would be paying $1,000 even if they booked the cruise themselves?

In other words, if the customer booked themselves, and DCL was on the hook for pre-cruise service and support (instead of a TA), then DCL would essentially charge the customer that same $513 commission. Is that right?

Not the person you asked, but yes DCL is the same price no matter how you book. The fee for a travel agent is built into the price of your cruise. If you don’t use a ta DCL just keeps that money. It is the same with any type of Disney vacation.

 

[squirk]

Not the person you asked, but yes DCL is the same price no matter how you book. The fee for a travel agent is built into the price of your cruise. If you don’t use a ta DCL just keeps that money. It is the same with any type of Disney vacation.

Thanks. I guess what I am wondering is: is there anything to stop a TA from charging a much higher commission than normal and hide it the cruise fare?

Like, could an unscrupulous TA find a first-time cruiser (who knows nothing about nothing), quote them a price that factors in, say, a 30% commission, “bake it” into the DCL fare and pass it off with a shrug, like “Yeah, those crazy-high Disney Cruise Line prices. Whaddaya gonna do?”

 

[RN2003AZ]

Thanks. I guess what I am wondering is: is there anything to stop a TA from charging a much higher commission than normal and hide it the cruise fare?

Like, could an unscrupulous TA find a first-time cruiser (who knows nothing about nothing), quote them a price that factors in, say, a 30% commission, “bake it” into the DCL fare and pass it off with a shrug, like “Yeah, those crazy-high Disney Cruise Line prices. Whaddaya gonna do?”

As an agent I can tell you that Disney pays the percentage of commission based on each agency. Each agency may get a different amount based on their Earmarked status.
I will make the assumption that the remaining balance of the $400ish is the worked in commission amount. For example if my client accidentally calls Disney direct and gets someone that takes their payment it’ll show a pending balance of the commission because they didn’t pay it through me. Even though they’re thinking they’re getting a “deal” the reservation will not be paid in full until that amount is taken care of.
Could a “bad” agent try to screw someone with higher rates... I suppose if they’re really smart about it. I’ve heard a horror story on a cruise Facebook group I’m on. Gives us agents a bad rap and people have every right to be skeptical.

 

[squirk]

Could a “bad” agent try to screw someone with higher rates... I suppose if they’re really smart about it.

Would DCL wrap that whole 30% commission into the fare? Or would they only wrap in the “standard” commission amount, meaning the unscrupulous TA would have to bill the client separately for the delta?

So, let’s say a noob cruiser calls a TA with a specified cruise date, stateroom and # of kids/adults. TA calls into DCL and finds the fare is $5k. DCL commission is 10%, so $4500 to DCL; $500 to TA. TA wants to charge 30% commission, but doesn’t want client to know that.

Will DCL generate a quote for $6k if the TA tells them “Client has agreed to a 30% commission”? Like, and then the TA can present this client with an official DCL quote of $6k for what is actually $5k cruise? Basically burying the jacked up commission so it looks like part of the official fare, straight from DCL.

 

[Mousequake]

Thanks. I guess what I am wondering is: is there anything to stop a TA from charging a much higher commission than normal and hide it the cruise fare?

Like, could an unscrupulous TA find a first-time cruiser (who knows nothing about nothing), quote them a price that factors in, say, a 30% commission, “bake it” into the DCL fare and pass it off with a shrug, like “Yeah, those crazy-high Disney Cruise Line prices. Whaddaya gonna do?”

That's not possible with an official DCL quote. The commission is what it is; there's no way for an agent to manipulate it. I supposed that wouldn't prevent an agent from generating their own invoice with a higher commission built in, but there's absolutely no way to do it with an official DCL quote.

 

[Dug720]

That's not possible with an official DCL quote. The commission is what it is; there's no way for an agent to manipulate it. I supposed that wouldn't prevent an agent from generating their own invoice with a higher commission built in, but there's absolutely no way to do it with an official DCL quote.

Which would be a reason to use an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. They have had to meet certain criteria and pass tests about Disney and its properties (including ships) with specialized training - and they are not going to mess with that by giving inflated quotes because if a guest ever did their own research and discovered how inflated what their TA charged them was and complained to Disney, that agent - and potentially the agency if applicable - would lose their certification and possibly, depending on the level of the infraction(s) - because you know it would trigger an investigation - lead to Disney no longer accepting bookings from that agency and/or agent.

 

[squirk]

Which would be a reason to use an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. They have had to meet certain criteria and pass tests about Disney and its properties (including ships) with specialized training - and they are not going to mess with that by giving inflated quotes because if a guest ever did their own research and discovered how inflated what their TA charged them was and complained to Disney, that agent - and potentially the agency if applicable - would lose their certification and possibly, depending on the level of the infraction(s) - because you know it would trigger an investigation - lead to Disney no longer accepting bookings from that agency and/or agent.

Absolutely, but other than us on these nerd boards, how many members of the prospective DCL market even know that there’s such a thing as an “Authorized Disney Planner” or what “Earmarked” status is?

Granted, people are responsible for doing their own homework before making any commitment or forking over any of their money, but I wonder how many folks get snookered by someone who is “a friend of a friend who ‘does’ Disney trips.” I wonder how many get snookered and never find out that they were snookered.

I can see some TA who doesn’t give a crap about being “authorized” or “Earmarked” by Disney since most of the GP doesn’t know about that anyway, and can prey upon novice DCL cruisers, jacking up the commissions, blaming it on “high DCL prices” and hiding it by sending the customer an agency invoice and having payments paid to the agency instead of directly to DCL.

I mean, they don’t even have to “hide” the commission. They could just shove it into some boilerplate in the contract between client and agency.