I also have had a recent great experience and 'gift' from Guest Services/Communications (though not nearly as great as what the OP received, but I'm still very happy with it!), resulting from a recent hotel stay.
Anyone who has been following along with my TR from my recent Christmas trip to DLR already knows this story, but I will explain for the ones who don't know.
My latest stay at the Paradise Pier Hotel (and I've stayed at all 3 of the DLR hotels, as many of us have) was the first time that I ever paid a large chunk of my hotel bill with Disney gift cards. I put down the first night's deposit on a regular debit card, and then paid a little more on a different debit card a couple months later, and then paid the balance due entirely in Disney gift cards.
I had called and spoken to numerous Cast Members on the phone prior to ever arriving at the PPH. Some of them told me I could use the gift cards over the phone to pay on the room. The others told me I had to wait and give the gift cards at check-in.
So when I arrived at the PPH just
before 6:00 a.m. for a pre-check-in, I was not only delighted to find out that my room was ready right away and I could go right up to it, but I had also received a free upgrade to a park view room (DCA). (Again, anyone who has been following along with my TR from December has seen the photos from the window and how great the view was!) I was thrilled - it really was an awesome view. The sounds of bloodcurdling screams from Mickey's Wheel of Death serenaded me every night!
I was expecting something less (because I paid for only a standard room), but I got more than expected and I got the room at 6 a.m. so I got to see the gorgeous sunrise from the window.
Anyway, where everything went awry was in the whole processing of the gift cards. That seemed to set the snowball of chaos in motion. I had been told repeatedly that I could give them to the CM at check-
in. When I tried to do that, he acted as though it was not standard procedure. He claimed they usually take gift cards for room payment at check-OUT. The thing is - and this is what they don't tell you on the phone before you arrive - they go ahead and block the entire amount due, plus "incidentals," on whichever card they have on file for you, even if you have paid.
Even after I convinced the CM at check-in to take my gift cards ring them up right there on the spot so I could be done with it and be all paid up (I didn't want to have to go down to the front desk on my last day - I just wanted to leave) - and he did it - they still blocked almost $300 of my money on a debit card they had in their system...which didn't have that much of a balance on it! They didn't even ask me if that card was okay to use, let alone tell me that my money was still being blocked even after I paid for the room in full. When I have paid in full, or paid the balance due upon check-in in the past, I've never had a large amount of money still blocked on my card. They always mark it as paid and that's it.
So I went about my business, spending money on this one card, not realizing that they had just gone ahead and blocked a large amount and that I had no funds available at that moment. I did not find out that this happened until I got home from my trip. Had I known while I was there at the PPH, I would have talked to them then. I instantly panicked, because it meant that I would be facing overdraft fees.
So, long story short, I called Reservations, I talked to someone at PPH. he was very apologetic and acknowledged that they had made a mistake in holding my money even after I paid in full. (They have a code they can enter into their system to release the hold on funds.) At the very least, they should have verified which card to use, but they didn't. He said that if I incurred any overdraft fees because of their goof, they would pay for them.
There were a couple of transactions that were going to get hit with overdraft fees. I had enough cash on hand to run down to my bank and deposit it so that I avoided those overdraft fees JUST in the nick of time - like within an hour of being hit with them. I was stressed and frustrated. I never called the PPH back, even though it was good to know they would have paid the fees I incurred if it had come to that. I just wanted to be done with the whole thing.
A couple of weeks later, I received a phone call from someone in Guest Relations/Services/Communications. She talked with me at length about the whole thing. She had received my complaint via the DLR website (which I made soon after I returned home) and she talked to the PPH people about the mistake - and they were
all in agreement that they messed up.
So, basically, they gave me a free night's at the PPH on my next trip (free room and free parking), and each additional night I choose to stay at PPH will be $99.
It's not quite the jackpot that the OP got, but I was not expecting
any freebies at all. I only wanted to make sure I wasn't slapped with any fees because of the PPH's mistake. However, they were
very kind in giving me a free night on my next stay, and a highly, highly discounted rate for each additional night. So that means another holiday trip for me (with extra nights thrown in!)!
it took a while but all went well, I don't think they placed a hold on my debit card - but we paid for everything with some more $15 Disney GCs *I had a bunch - in fact we used some of them for our Thanksgiving visit and I might have 1 or 2 more lying around.
