CRO help!

[wtg2000]

My poor mother is in a panic. Yesterday she booked with CRO for Mar 18-April 1 (4nts WL, 3 AKL, 7 BC). She had to put two $200 deposits and was told the balance was due by Feb. 8th. Fine.

Today she called back for a clarification on something and was told that she had to pay the balance by Feb. 1st and that it was non-refundable. My mother told her that didn't sound right, and she said the woman got very nasty. The CRO said, "Well, that's how Universal does it." My mother thinks this woman was a Disney Travel Company woman but my mother made it clear she was calling CRO?

What is going on there? I saw Robert Iger on TV saying that people aren't booking very far ahead but are waiting until the last minute. Is this why? I've never heard of a hotel ressie where you can't cancel 48 or 72 hours before. My mother is calling back. If this is the policy she is cancelling the whole trip. They've been to Disney 20 times and have never had this restriction.

Wayne

 

[April in Disney]

It sounds like Disney Travel Company to me. look at her reservation number. If it has 8 digit it is Disney travel company. The CRO reservation has 12 digits. The Disney travel company also answer the phone when you call 1-407-w-disney. Tell your mom to call again and change the reservation. If you get a real CRO " The Disney Travel Company has been saying they are, but then they can not bring up your real reservation with CRO on their computer they ask for your name, home address, phone#, data of travel, hotel pref,..." you should be able to pay one night up front and the rest of balance at checking time and also to be still able to cancel within 5 days and get your initial dep back.

 

[wtg2000]

My mother called back CRO and this got what she described as an "older gentleman." He said that the previous information was all wrong. He scrapped the booking and rebooked for her to start anew. Same dates, same resorts. The deal now is that she doesn't have to pay until the end of her stay in each place (except for deposit) and cancellation is 5 days.

It sounds like previously she got bumped to WDTC. I checked mousesavers and they warn this can happen, but it sounds like a very bad practice. My mother wants to spend thousands of dollars there and they are ticking her off with un-trained or just plain stupid people. I wonder if Robert Iger knows about this?!

Wayne

 

[GoldenOldie]

Originally posted by wtg2000
...The deal now is that she doesn't have to pay until the end of her stay in each place (except for deposit) and cancellation is 5 days.

It sounds like previously she got bumped to WDTC. ...

Yes she certainly did get booked through WDTC originally.

And just so she's not completely surprised by this, the new booking she has through CRO will require the room balance to be paid upon checking in at each resort, not at the end of her stay.

 

[cindala]

Originally posted by April in Disney
If you get a real CRO " The Disney Travel Company has been saying they are, but then they can not bring up your real reservation with CRO on their computer they ask for your name, home address, phone#, data of travel, hotel pref,..."

WDTC has been saying they are CRO??? How can you be sure that you have the "Real CRO"? Wait for them to tell you the cancellation and deposit policy, and then cancel if it's the wrong one?

 

[GoldenOldie]

WDTC agents should be trained on both reservations systems unless they are very new. They are capable of booking a reservation in either system. They are trained to book everything in WDTC unless they are forced to (by code usage or customer request) use the CRO system.

CRO agents are only trained on the CRO reservation system. They cannot cross book.

So it really shouldn't matter who answers the phone. Of course, what should and shouldn't be often have no direct correlation at Disney.