Do not buy tickets from Undercover Tourist

[sretav]

When I saw that there was a special Mousesavers discount, I signed up and waited 13 days for the newsletter to post (15th of every month) before ordering my tickets. When I got the special link, I was amused to see that their discount was only $1 better than the regular UT discount. Yes, a discount's a discount and I did save about $70 using UT for a family of 6 (delivery was also free and quick even to Canada) but is $1 dollar better the norm because I definitely would have ordered them sooner if I'd known the discount was so insubstantial.

 

[Order66]

If I buy theater tickets, they're charged immediately and shipped later, that's not unheard of

It is absolutely not unusual for tickets to be charged and then shipped later. In fact, I don't think I have ever ordered any kind of ticket that came right away (unless the event was immediate). For example, I ordered concert tickets in Feb for a show at the end of June. My card was charged in February, and they are shipping tickets June 1.

First off, we have not purchased theater tickets. We have purchased WDW admission tickets. Good for whatever day we want. Today, tomorrow or next year, not a specific date in a specific city at a specific time. Second, if one were to buy theater tickets or concert tickets for a specific date in a specific city at a specific time....one is notified at the time of purchase when the tickets will be sent to you. You at that time have the choice to continue your purchase or not.

I was also given a date of when to expect my tickets. I ordered 3/22 and expected them to arrive 4/8. I was not told we may or may not send them to you in 10 days. I was not told they would hold them 10 days and then ship them taking however long the USPS takes to get them. I was not told that my trip date was of any significance to who's order gets shipped out because my trip is earlier or later. In fact it actually says "Giving us this date will not delay your order". My account was charged on 3/24, so I was processed quickly. They have now had my money for 9 days.

All I want is my tickets in 10 days at stated by their agreement. I'm not hopeful that will happen. Friday will be 10 "business days" and I will call them as soon as they open. I'm reasonable.....but I want what I paid for.

 

[seus-mouse]

You have to look at how "shipping" is defined. It doesn't mean "after it's out the door". It means (especially with a place like amazon) that it's the start of *the shipping process*. They have to make sure they'll get paid for an item. So the charge, and that starts the ball rolling. Using amazon as a specific example, the charge starts the picking process. It's possible that something isn't where it should be, and after the charge happens it is discovered that the item isn't there. That stops the shipping process, and if it can't be found quickly you'll get a refund. Then it'll start again.

If something goes awry in the process, even more awry than just not having the item, then an order can get stuck. And honestly it SEEMS like that's what is going on recently with UCT. The backlog and the newish longer shipping time (since, what, a year ago?) have caused a situation where glitches can happen (hey, they are stocking WDW tickets, right? goes with the territory now). The only way to unstick a problem order is for contact to be made. contact is made, the order is manually looked at, problem is solved. Meanwhile, other orders are going just fine. It was an actual problem with the order, not a whole new regime.



Exactly what I thought.





FWIW the WDW site is a LOT better about this than they used to be. As soon as you choose the number of people and type of ticket, over on the right it fills in the subtotal and then shows the tax and total. You used to have to click through to a second page to find the tax, but that's not the situation now. They are a LOT easier to compare prices with nowadays.



I just with the OP had been more specific. They were really specific in thread title, but not specific at all in the posts. That makes it hard for a fact-wanting person like me, who can often help see the other way to look at something, to deal with. For instance, they seem to paraphrase the UCT rep when they say "nor do they have any intention to do so." Come on. Tell us exactly what the rep said. If that's exactly what they said, use quotes. If not, quote him/her. With such a blast of a thread title, it's really good to be specific and exact.

You are right on the money.
Thanks for articulating what I did not.


Holly

 

[gatzsd]

I just ordered from them and it took 4 weeks to get my tickets, I had to email them to find out why they hadn't shipped so they shipped them the next day. I was well beyond the 15 business days and didn't get the Anna and Elsa fast pass because I was waiting on them.

 

[leebee]

I ordered our passes for our October trip on Feb. 24, the day after the recent Disney price increase, using the UT link through the Mousesavers newsletter. I saved $162 over what I would have paid Disney and got free shipping. Although the website said 10 business days, the check-out page on my order said 15 business days. On March 11, I received email with a USPS tracking status link. Tickets were delivered on March 17 which was 15 business days exactly.

One thing I noticed on my tracking status link was the following info (remember, I ordered on 2/24):

>Electronic Shipping Info Received, March 11, 2014
>Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility, March 12, 2014, 4:49 am, DAYTONA BEACH, FL 32117
>Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility, March 12, 2014, 6:04 am, ORLANDO, FL 32824
>Depart USPS Sort Facility, March 13, 2014, ORLANDO, FL 32824
>after this was just info as the tickets progressed through Maine

Apparently, it took them 11 business days to get the info into the computer!

 

[seus-mouse]

I just ordered from them and it took 4 weeks to get my tickets, I had to email them to find out why they hadn't shipped so they shipped them the next day. I was well beyond the 15 business days and didn't get the Anna and Elsa fast pass because I was waiting on them.

So you ordered them on 3/6 and you got them when? Today would be 18 business days later. I hope it works out.

 

[ConnieB]

When I saw that there was a special Mousesavers discount, I signed up and waited 13 days for the newsletter to post (15th of every month) before ordering my tickets. When I got the special link, I was amused to see that their discount was only $1 better than the regular UT discount. Yes, a discount's a discount and I did save about $70 using UT for a family of 6 (delivery was also free and quick even to Canada) but is $1 dollar better the norm because I definitely would have ordered them sooner if I'd known the discount was so insubstantial.

Yep...and check out some of their "special" rates for hotels....then go to the hotel's own website. See much difference?

I think the only really good thing about Mousesavers is their car rental coupon code page....while they're very very slow to remove codes that aren't valid any longer, they list a lot of codes so if you're patient you can try all of them until you find the best deal for you. So on rental cars I've saved, but on their tickets and hotels....not so much and certainly not worth waiting for a once a month newsletter to come in.

 

[gatzsd]

So you ordered them on 3/6 and you got them when? Today would be 18 business days later. I hope it works out.

I received them today, 2 days shy of 4 weeks and missing my fast pass window opening - they were scheduled to arrive tomorrow - 1 day shy of 4 weeks. Although Im not sure how you knew what date I ordered my tickets or appreciate the implication that I was lying. UT did not meet the standards of their own 15 day policy, I had to email them to figure out where my tickets were and only then did they finally ship the tickets. I did save money by using them, but would only use them again if I had more lead time.

 

[georgina]

Why is it that the OP was being questioned about their honesty? Yes, some of you implied that there was something wrong with OP's story as if OP was not being truthful or something. Just because many of you have had wonderful experiences with UT doesn't mean someone else may not have.

Every business will have customer service issues in one way or the other, at some time or the other. There are plenty of restaurants that we go to that are always wonderful but, that doesn't mean I question a review if someone went and had a less than stellar experience. It doesn't mean I will stop going to that restaurant but, it also doesn't mean I will attack someone's credibility or assume they are somehow lying.

But how would you react if that person posted that no one should go to that restaurant because he didn't like it? I think many would also post that they liked the restaurant, just as those here posted they had no problems with their UT orders. The OP's attitude is off-putting, 'demanding' things and refusing to tell them when his trip was.

 

[seus-mouse]

I received them today, 2 days shy of 4 weeks and missing my fast pass window opening - they were scheduled to arrive tomorrow - 1 day shy of 4 weeks. Although Im not sure how you knew what date I ordered my tickets or appreciate the implication that I was lying. UT did not meet the standards of their own 15 day policy, I had to email them to figure out where my tickets were and only then did they finally ship the tickets. I did save money by using them, but would only use them again if I had more lead time.

gatzsd:
"I ordered mine on 3/6.
It is now 3/27 and three weeks later nothing. No email, no tickets. I called last week and they said they were shipping this week so not sure what is going on but its making..."

You posted the date as 3/6. There is no implication. I am glad you worked this out. I only always hope we all have a magical time and am just working to understand what we all say.


Holly

 

[dbrn]

I used UT a couple of years ago and received great service from them - absolutely no problems.

Take this with a grain of salt because I can't recall the source, but I do recall reading that either the ownership or management had changed from the individual who had been running it to a new individual (a sister or cousin) and speculation at that time was that the new individual was having trouble keeping up with orders - that was at the time that rates increased and orders came in rapid-fire for the cheaper tickets. That may be the reason for the discrepancy between the service some of us have seen in the past and what others are experiencing now.

 

[Marionnette]

I used UT a couple of years ago and received great service from them - absolutely no problems.

Take this with a grain of salt because I can't recall the source, but I do recall reading that either the ownership or management had changed from the individual who had been running it to a new individual (a sister or cousin) and speculation at that time was that the new individual was having trouble keeping up with orders - that was at the time that rates increased and orders came in rapid-fire for the cheaper tickets. That may be the reason for the discrepancy between the service some of us have seen in the past and what others are experiencing now.

The owner of Mousesavers (Mary Waring) retired around that time. She has left the care of the website in the hands of her brother and sister-in-law. AFAIK, UT is still being run by the same owner as always.

 

[3happydancers]

FWIW, I am a long time customer of Undercover. Never had a problem with my orders. But I will say that my most recent order took several weeks to arrive unlike past purchases. The difference was that this time I ordered my tickets the night Disney raised their prices so I knew there was a mad rush of orders. I also did not need my tickets until June. Time was not an issue for me.

After about 2 weeks I did call to check on my order and was told they would be working on filling the orders put in on Feb. 23rd (I think this was the day I ordered my tickets). I received my tickets about a week later.

I also called them about another issue concerning the upgrading of tickets and left a message. A rep called me the very next day. In general, I can honestly say I've received great customer service.

I won't disregard that OP had a difficult problem with said order. Things do happen no matter how great a company's reputation may be. OP, sorry you had a bad experience. No one is perfect though. Might you consider giving UCT another chance to make things right?

As for not purchasing from them anymore, I am not ready to ditch UCT. I like the savings and other than my recent order, have never had a problem. I would definitely recommend that if anyone purchases from them, given that others have reported slow delivery, to order your tickets earlier than you may usually do. Also, they do have business hours so you could put in a phone order with a rep and confirm the delivery info. (Of course you also have the option to purchase elsewhere.)

 

[dbrn]

The owner of Mousesavers (Mary Waring) retired around that time. She has left the care of the website in the hands of her brother and sister-in-law. AFAIK, UT is still being run by the same owner as always.

Ahh, thanks for clarifying!

 

[JanaDee]

I received them today, 2 days shy of 4 weeks and missing my fast pass window opening - they were scheduled to arrive tomorrow - 1 day shy of 4 weeks. Although Im not sure how you knew what date I ordered my tickets or appreciate the implication that I was lying. UT did not meet the standards of their own 15 day policy, I had to email them to figure out where my tickets were and only then did they finally ship the tickets. I did save money by using them, but would only use them again if I had more lead time.

Business days are Monday thru Friday, which is 3 weeks.

 

[jennywren5]

I have used UT twice. The first time was great and the 2nd, not so much. This past March I tried to use our 2 day my way (I think that's what it's called), on our second day and the tickets were invalid. We used it at MK day 1 and tried to use them at AK day 2. We were pulled aside (all 7 of us) by the CM who proceeded to tell me that they had never heard of UT and we were trying to use tickets by an unauthorized seller and we were basically SOL. Even though our tickets were clearly marked 2 day passes and guest services could see that we had only used them once they weren't very helpful until I mentioned that perhaps something had gotten mixed up while the CM's were logged into MDE where my tickets were linked while trying to use FP+. At that point we were told "so sorry, here are valid tickets for your group, have a great time at the park!". So, I'm not sure where the screw up with the tickets occurred, with UT or MDE but I know that Disney wasn't recognizing UT as a seller of tickets... I will buy straight from Disney from now on, just in case.

 

[rock_doctor]

So, I'm not sure where the screw up with the tickets occurred, with UT or MDE but I know that Disney wasn't recognizing UT as a seller of tickets... I will buy straight from Disney from now on, just in case.

That is called a "shot gun blast of blame" or blame everybody even remotely involved in the situation... UT is an authorized Disney ticket seller. So somebody at Disney messed up your account, remember it worked once then not again... MDE has done for Disney what the Pinto did for Ford...

 

[UnderCoverTourist]

This past 2 weeks have not been our usual high standards and for that we are sorry.

We are using Fed Ex to ship the orders this week and expect to have the backlog cleared by this weekend.

The price rise caught us off guard, a human error regarding shipping time (it should have stated 15 business days not 10) also contributed.

Being understaffed (due to a variety of reasons), plus the surprise price rise led to a crunch this week. This is being fixed now and we expect to be back to normal by the end of the week.

Apologies for the concern caused, thank you for your support... now back to packing tickets.

Undercover Tourist

 

[gwynne]

This past 2 weeks have not been our usual high standards and for that we are sorry.

We are using Fed Ex to ship the orders this week and expect to have the backlog cleared by this weekend.

The price rise caught us off guard, a human error regarding shipping time (it should have stated 15 business days not 10) also contributed.

Being understaffed (due to a variety of reasons), plus the surprise price rise led to a crunch this week. This is being fixed now and we expect to be back to normal by the end of the week.

Apologies for the concern caused, thank you for your support... now back to packing tickets.
Undercover Tourist

Thank you for the update.
I will continue to use and recommend UT.

 

[gumbo1009]

This past 2 weeks have not been our usual high standards and for that we are sorry.

We are using Fed Ex to ship the orders this week and expect to have the backlog cleared by this weekend.

The price rise caught us off guard, a human error regarding shipping time (it should have stated 15 business days not 10) also contributed.

Being understaffed (due to a variety of reasons), plus the surprise price rise led to a crunch this week. This is being fixed now and we expect to be back to normal by the end of the week.

Apologies for the concern caused, thank you for your support... now back to packing tickets.

Undercover Tourist

Thanks! (I will be placing my own order soon...)