Fantasmic Dessert Buffet Problems

[Julia M]

I'm a little stressed about my reservation for the Fantasmic dessert buffet.

I called on Tuesday the 22nd to reserve tickets for December 22nd. Went through the whole process. CM helping me says, "sorry, it took so long, the reservation timed out. We have to satrt over". So we start over, but halfway through the conversation we get disconnected. At that point, I had been on the phone over 30 minutes, and didn't call back, because I was at work.

I checked my credit card on line, and was charged for the tickets, so figured it must have gone through. Called Disney, who said they had no record of the reservation. CM toldme it was probably a "pending' charge and wouldn't go through. I explained it wasn't pending and was charged. SHe told me I didn't have a reservation, but she would make me a new reservation, and get her manager involved on the previous charge. SO I redo the info. She gives me a reservation number, which I don't write down, because I was driving (stupid, I know)

Manager calls me back and tells me I have NO reservations! None!
I tell her I have one charge and one pending charge on my card. SHe tells me (in these words) that the story I am telling her is "fishy:.

At that point, I am pretty upset (practically crying) and let her know I am upset that she is implying I am trying to scam Disney. She clarifies that she is not saying that, but the situation is very odd (and basically, that this never happens) and offers to make a new reservation (my third!!). She tells me DIsney won't refund my money, because they have no record of my reservations, and that the only way to get back my money is to dispute the charges.

So I now have a reservation, but I'm concerned. I have disputed the first charge and will dispute the second one.

I am thinking of calling back the supervisor tomorrow and asking her to email me, confirming that I don;t have the two prevous reservations and that she told me to dispute the charges. I am nervous that come next month, they will "find" the reservation and fight the disputed charges.

Does this seem okay to do? I'm still pretty upset about it all.

Julia

 

[rowan1813]

Wow I am so sorry that this has happened to you. I'm not sure how much help I can be as I have never done the F! dessert , but as someone who has dealt with other companies who claim that something I ordered isn't in the system and that I am basically making it up, I would call again and talk to someone who is higher on the chain than the woman you talked to and said your story was "fishy" (very unprofessional and un-Disney-like IMHO). I would stay on the phone and talk to as many people as possible to get this taken care of. The only thing I can think of why your reservation wasn't showing up from the time you called in the car was that it just takes awhile to have things show up in the system? How long was it between the time in the car and the manager calling you back?

Like I said, I would call again and keep on the phone with that manager's supervisor until you have a reservation number and are satisfied with everything. Good luck and I hope everything is taken care of soon.

 

[skiingfast]

I am thinking of calling back the supervisor tomorrow and asking her to email me, confirming that I don;t have the two prevous reservations

I would first try to make the reservation so you could be done with planning that part of your trip. Then do the above, as for a confirmation email on you reservation that show how many reservations you have.

Then if the email show more than one, check your CC charges. If the numbers don't agree call disney and tell them what you need refunded.

If you call Disney and they don't agree ask to speak to a manager and tell them you will call the CC issuer to dispute the charges. When you dispute a charge it takes some work and you you will get your money back, but Disney will have to pay a fee to the CC company for violating the agreement between the issuer and vendor.

Not all managers know about this fee, but those that do are quicker to help with discrepencies. It's more painful dealing with large corporations because this information doesn't always filter through. But if you do the same at a mom and pop type business, they will fix it fast because they know what it will cost them.

 

[Dizzy4DL]

I would first try to make the reservation so you could be done with planning that part of your trip.

She does have a reservation, her third one unfortunately.

So I now have a reservation, but I'm concerned. I have disputed the first charge and will dispute the second one.

I am thinking of calling back the supervisor tomorrow and asking her to email me, confirming that I don;t have the two prevous reservations and that she told me to dispute the charges. I am nervous that come next month, they will "find" the reservation and fight the disputed charges.

I think you should ask for it in writing! It's your right and it will make you feel so much better.
I'm so sorry you had to go through this. Hopefully experiencing Fantasmic in your wonderful seats will help make up for it.

 

[M&MGirl1]

I used to work in customer service for Disney Direct Marketing. DEFINITELY call the manager back and ask for written confirmation of the reservation. At this point I realy wouldn't trust I had a reservation in less I had it in writing.

As for disputing the cc charges, frankly, I'd call back and ask to talk to that manager's supervisor. I absolutely guarantee you that is NOT how Disney trains CSRs to treat guests (i.e. customers). It might take a good bit on the phone and explaining the issue to several people until you get in touch with someone who has the authority to deal with this manager, but the fact that you basically had two people tell you that it's YOUR problem they jacked up your reservations MULTIPLE times and they won't do anything to help you with the three charges on your CC other than to tell you to try to take care of the problem on you own WILL get that manager in a LOAD of trouble once his/her supervisor hears about it.

GOOD LUCK with your problem, and I hope you enjoy your F! package so much all the trouble gets forgotten!!!

 

[cyclenut]

I used to work in customer service for Disney Direct Marketing. DEFINITELY call the manager back and ask for written confirmation of the reservation. At this point I realy wouldn't trust I had a reservation in less I had it in writing.

As for disputing the cc charges, frankly, I'd call back and ask to talk to that manager's supervisor. I absolutely guarantee you that is NOT how Disney trains CSRs to treat guests (i.e. customers). It might take a good bit on the phone and explaining the issue to several people until you get in touch with someone who has the authority to deal with this manager, but the fact that you basically had two people tell you that it's YOUR problem they jacked up your reservations MULTIPLE times and they won't do anything to help you with the three charges on your CC other than to tell you to try to take care of the problem on you own WILL get that manager in a LOAD of trouble once his/her supervisor hears about it.

GOOD LUCK with your problem, and I hope you enjoy your F! package so much all the trouble gets forgotten!!!

I want to second this advice and add that despite your own personal frustration, be firm but be patient and kind at all times. It is amazing how much further this will get you. I am not always a patient person and I've lost my cool at times in dealing with very frustrating situations but when I've calmed down and dealt with this more rationally I've found I made much better progress.

I don't know how you reacted and you may already follow this approach yourself, but it really does work. Keep going, but don't do this from your car. You've got to be at your computer where you can look up the charges and give them facts. Things like date/time of the charge, when you called, etc. Take notes. Be organized.

Above all, enjoy the show.

This thread has a few pictures I took from the premium area. It will be worth it.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2821422

 

[Mama Who]

It may help you to remain calm and cheerful to know that the CC company is going to be 100% on your side in this. They will absolutely refund your money looking at this scenario so whoever you have to talk to next, just keep remembering that you are NOT going to be triple billed.

 

[Julia M]

As for disputing the cc charges, frankly, I'd call back and ask to talk to that manager's supervisor. I absolutely guarantee you that is NOT how Disney trains CSRs to treat guests (i.e. customers). It might take a good bit on the phone and explaining the issue to several people until you get in touch with someone who has the authority to deal with this manager, but the fact that you basically had two people tell you that it's YOUR problem they jacked up your reservations MULTIPLE times and they won't do anything to help you with the three charges on your CC other than to tell you to try to take care of the problem on you own WILL get that manager in a LOAD of trouble once his/her supervisor hears about it.

I did call back today and got a different manager. She was much more on the ball and actually "found" all three reservations (which the others said the first two didn't exist). She is crediting back the money for the first two. I also called my credit card company and rescinded the dispute.

I want to second this advice and add that despite your own personal frustration, be firm but be patient and kind at all times. It is amazing how much further this will get you. I am not always a patient person and I've lost my cool at times in dealing with very frustrating situations but when I've calmed down and dealt with this more rationally I've found I made much better progress.

I don't know how you reacted and you may already follow this approach yourself, but it really does work. Keep going, but don't do this from your car. You've got to be at your computer where you can look up the charges and give them facts. Things like date/time of the charge, when you called, etc. Take notes. Be organized.

I was really nice and calm on all the phone calls. I never once raised my voice, swore, called the person incompetent or anything like that at all, despite the fact I was frustrated. About the worst I behaved was when the 1st manager told me my story was "fishy", my voice got choked up, because I was trying not to cry, so my voice was very shaky.

Of course, it will take a few days to show up and I know everything is okay, but I am optimistic it will all work out. I am really glad I did call back. It turned out that there were name misspellings (ie, Mc Allister instead of McAllister), but the original manager could have found everything by using my credit card number. My guess is she was low man on the totem pole (working the day after Thanksgiving ) and didn't know enough.

Moving forward, I am really pleased to treat my family to this event. We've never done it, and I am grateful for the opportunity.

Thanks
Julia