Get Away Today CS going down? Update in OP

[longtimedisneylurker]

Now for the Character Dining. You said that most of the time, you have a savings of around 5.00 over Disney. This is actually not true, because Disney's Peak pricing this year at least, was from 3/16/12-8/19/12. This is 5 months and 3 days, leaving your price to be the same as Disney after tip and tax are added in for 3 days less than 7 months. I do not consider this MOST of the time, and I believe everyone would agree on that. 5 months out of a 12 month year is not most of the time.

Please do not take offense because I actually agree with you that GAT's character dining voucher advertising is misleading and needs correction. I would like to add though that your dates for peak dining pricing at Disneyland were not complete. Peak pricing is always in effect for Thanksgiving week and the weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year's. I haven't been in the in-between time, so I don't know if it just stays "peak" for those dates or actually drops for those few weeks. There may be some other dates during the year when peak prices kick in, but I am not sure. The claim of saving "most" of the time would still be in question, but I thought for those who might be reading this and trying to understand peak dining times it should be noted that peak dining at Disney kicks in during multiple time frames during the year.

 

[6Smiles]

Dear Getawaytoday -

Kudos to responding promptly to kalamity's post and continuing to pursue excellence in customer service.

As a current customer I have to admit I was a little creeped out that you gave out every business transaction she had with the company and think you could have made your point without revealing each transaction of business. Followed with please call ask for so and so. Most of the time when things are resolved the pleased customer/poster comes back and reports.

 

[KalamityJane]

Thank you to GAT for showing good customer service - I really wasn't sure if this was normal or not because my past experiences with you have all been positive. I was blown away by the agent I had talked to, and not in a good way, so I am glad that this is not the norm. I will be waiting for your call and appreciate you making things right.

Longtime- thank you! I wasn't aware of the peak pricing going into effect for other weeks, but that does make sense. Thanks for clarifying for me and the rest of the board!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

illsay this as nice as I can I will always pay 30 extra because things come up id rather be able to change things if i needed to. Next time pay the 30bucks and you wont have this issue.

Thank you GAT for all the responces you have had here and thank you for the good service i have had we leave in 9 days cant wiat

 

[rmom]

At Get Away Today, we take customer service incredibly seriously and feel badly that you feel like our customer service is slipping. In reviewing your file,

Wow - it is unprofessional to discuss your customer's information on a board. You just did more damage to your business then the original posters did. I was thinking of usings your service even with the negative posts until you posted.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i don't think it was unprofessional i think they are trying to fix the issue. if you chose not to use them that's up to you. I for one will still give them high praises and tell ppl to use them they have been saints with me changing my plans so many times.

 

[Mary09]

I've used GAT in the past and been happy. I have to say the "$10 savings" thing does turn me off, though. I hope they address that here or change it, if it's inaccurate. I spend so much time researching special offers because sadly they often are misrepresented and exaggerated. Caveat emptor, I guess.

 

[yoyoyo]

First off, I am incredibly creeped out by you finding my file at GAT through what was shared at this post. Why did you not email me directly to take care of this?

I agree with this. Should have been done through PM. Its almost like GAT called out its own customer in front of the whole board.

 

[Girimama33]

I am amazed a company is actually advertising that the character meal vouchers offers a savings.

 

[yaya74]

I agree with this. Should have been done through PM. Its almost like GAT called out its own customer in front of the whole board.

agree with that, too. I understand GAT was trying to fix the problem and the image presented here on DIS. But it is not quite right to just layout OP's transaction here on the board. I actually appreciate OP sharing her experience with GAT so now we are more careful about what we should do if we ever want to do business with GAT.

 

[coopersmom]

As our documents state, there is a $40 fee to drop nights, change hotel check-in dates, and change hotels, unless you purchase the $30 Peace of Mind Plan, which allows as many changes you need up to 72 hours prior to your vacation. We have had countless guests use this option and they LOVE the flexibility it provides.

If you cancel your package (hotel and any tickets), or cancel your entire hotel (which also constitutes a package), there is a $75 cancellation fee. This is stated on our website and on all documents we send out. ...

... As for the Disney Character Dining tickets, the way Disney does their pricing, they change their pricing while ours stays the same. Because of that, most of the time, our pricing does reflect a 10% savings, which ends up being approximately a $5/ticket savings. However, at certain times in the year, our pricing does end up being the same price as Disney. When that is the case, we like to remind our guests that our tickets already include your tax and gratuity (which is also important to remember when pricing Character Dining) and that it is an incredibly easy way to pay for your Character Dining beforehand without any worries.

... We are going in November and the hotel paper they sent me says very clearly, on the back, that if I need to cancel there is a $75 non-refundable fee or that I can change for $40. Luckily, I don't have to worry about any of that because I paid the $30 up front. I love it!

Also, we do character dining everytime we visit Disneyland and I have noticed that in the summertime, GAT's tickets are a better discount than in the winter or fall. Once I even got my receipt and it was less than I paid for my GAT tickets. I just called them and they refunded me the difference! They have always made sure that I get the best prices and best deals. Sometime the deals are better than others, but always the best prices around.

... I would highly suggest that anyone who wants to go to Disneyland and not overspend, to call GAT. They really do have the best prices and the best customer service.

I love Get Away Today!... The first time I booked I had to cancel the hotel because I ended up staying at a friends house for free and I did not purchase the peace of mind plan. I still wanted the tickets though because I know they are the best price. I was aware they would charge $75 to cancel the hotel room. After that I always get the insurance because it gives great flexibility! I have also always had great customer service with them I have a reservation currently and call in with changes and questions all the time and they are awesome!

I'll try and give the company the benefit of the doubt that this the responses here were coming from a sincere place (desire to help) and not just damage control, but let me echo the totally creeped out sentiment of the original poster. An "we are so sorry your experience was sub-par please contact us immediately to help you" with, perhaps, a Private Message with details, would have been FAR more professional than a rehash and over-share of a client's details on a public Internet forum.

I also agree with the original poster, but could not prove of course, that the emergence of new, or almost new, posters simply to sing the company's praises in this thread is somewhat suspicious, especially when they use phrasing that exactly echoes, almost word-for-word, the official representative's explanation (see quoted sections above). And if it is the case that they are "pretending" to be customers, or otherwise planting posts which, again is just a guess, that says a lot about the company, too ... None of it good, to my mind.

I'm not sure why they would charge any cancellation fee, let alone a $40 change fee, on a room-only booking, unless it was cancelled very close to the time frame (like less than 72 hours), since Disney, and 99.999% of other hotels, allow those cancellations without penalty. I admit I'm not sure of the exact circumstances, and have never used their service, but this just seems like an unnecessary profit grab, or way to sell their "peace of mind" $30 plan for something that, honestly, should be free (changing dates, hotels, etc.) and is, at every travel agency I've ever used. (Including the one that owns/runs this website, Dreams Unlimited, which is the only Disney agency I've ever used and charged me zero when I had to cancel.)

And even if I'm mistaken about the shilling and necessity of the above fees, the comments here and the very misleading statements on their website ($10 savings on character meals, which it still says as I type this), are enough to make me want to steer clear.

 

[bumbershoot]

First off, I am incredibly creeped out by you finding my file at GAT through what was shared at this post. Why did you not email me directly to take care of this?

I am *beyond* creeped out by it, and they are now on my NEVER list because of it. They were on my "probably not" list already, but that was the nail in the coffin.



Hey GAT-people...there's a discount agency on the WDW side called undercovertourist. While they have responded to posts about problems, as far as I have ever seen they have never done more than apologize and ask the Dis'er to contact them directly. If they talk about it at length (and I only recall one time that that happened), it is with the PERMISSION of the person with the problem.

I am amazed a company is actually advertising that the character meal vouchers offers a savings.

So true!

 

[getawaytoday]

First of all, thank you to everyone who posted here. Your comments have given us insight. We truly appreciate any constructive criticism because it makes us better and we are continually striving for that.

To clarify some things, when we posted some of Kalamity Jane's transactions, it was purely to illustrate that we had already waived fees and are trying to be as fair as possible. We responded publicly because it was posted publicly and we felt that the information we shared was inline with what OP had already posted. We NEVER disclose any guest's personal information (name, contact info, hotel choice, travel dates, invoice numbers, etc.). Also, we always try to solve customer service issues as efficiently and quickly as possible. So, when we saw the post, we researched it, found it, and tried our best to address it. If we are unable to find a particular reservation based on information given in a post, we do simply respond asking the guest to contact us. By finding and contacting the guest, we felt that we were being more proactive in resolving OP's concern. In hindsight, we can certainly see the benefit of keeping things vague and asking the guest to contact us directly at their convenience.

In regards to Character Dining, our pricing is a 10% discount MOST of the time (holidays, school breaks, conventions, plus March - August), which has already been discussed here. Because of the way Disney changes their pricing during off-season times, we call out our offer in red writing in the ticket descriptions as: "Our discount tickets include tax and gratuity!" Then, we have a column "Savings Over Gate Prices" which is a dynamic column. We enter in a dollar amount of the savings ($5.00 per ticket). Many people see $10.00 in that column because they have 2 tickets selected, which is the default ticket setting. If you change the number of travelers, that savings amount changes as well. We are not trying to be misleading in any way and are still trying to figure out how to best present the savings. So, again, the feedback here has been very insightful and we're looking into a way to better communicate this to our guests.

We truly appreciate the support we've seen here, as well as the suggestions to help us improve.

 

[BusyB]

This is my families fourth time to book a Disneyland vacation through Get Away. We have had nothing but excellent customer service from them. This time we booked tickets and a hotel and then found a condo for a great price. Because we had purcased the peace of mind option we had no other fees when we cancelled the hotel and only booked tickets through get away today. I will always book through Get Away. Rarely can I find better deals.

 

[sierranevada]

First off, I am incredibly creeped out by you finding my file at GAT through what was shared at this post. Why did you not email me directly to take care of this?.

First of all, I am so with you on this one! That is completely unprofessional and creepy! I know GAT excuse is that since it was posted on a public forum, that is how they chose to respond but you are the professional here and posting details about her transaction is just wrong. I actually thought perhaps it was a troll making up details to get a reaction before I realized it was actually someone from GAT!

I haven't used GAT in years and had no issues with them at the time - their pricing was much better as a package than WDT. But that was several years ago and while I still periodically check their prices, I find that they really aren't offering much of a savings anymore. I till recommend them to friends looking but caveat it by saying to check several sites for the best prices. I will not be recommending GAT in the future, however. The blatant disregard for a customer's privacy is worrisome.

I am assuming the GAT poster is new to posting on DIS. Although they joined in Jan. 2011, the few posts that I see are all recent. Perhaps it is someone newly assigned to peruse the boards and respond to complaints/comments like HoJo's had. If so, while that is commendable, please know that posting details of customer transactions is not cool. Please use the PM feature to contact that poster directly.

 

[Mary09]

It's an open forum. I think it's within their rights to post in their own defense. I think the only 'detail' really added was that the OP already had one change fee waived, which is relevant to the company's decision to not waive the further fees.

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

snort. Gotta say, I just love all the new posters with incredible praises for gat. Especially the one who said the op probably just didn't understand their policies. laughable.

We used gat two years ago and had a good experience. They certainly aren't the cheapest option, as we are all aware on here, but the convenience of their packages is definitely excellent...After seeing this company's blatant disregard for the OP's privacy on here however (yes, gat, her statement was public, but all customer reviews everywhere on the net are, this does NOT give ANY company the right to lay out the customer's transaction info for the whole world to see!), coupled with all these new poster comments with praises and word for word policy quotes, directly in line with what gat sells (totally skeevy and yep, all us Disers can see right through it!), our family will definitely will not be returning customers.

We were actually seriously considering going with gat again for convenience sake for our next year's trip before reading this thread, and on top of that, I just had a friend ask last night where we book, as they are looking to go to Disney soon too, (apparently I am the resident "Disney freak!" HA!) but you can be sure we will NEVER use gat again, nor will I be recommending them to anyone else either! yikes. sorry for your experience kalamityjane!

 

[coopersmom]

This is my families [sic] fourth time to book a Disneyland vacation through Get Away. We have had nothing but excellent customer service from them. This time we booked tickets and a hotel and then found a condo for a great price. Because we had purcased [sic] the peace of mind option we had no other fees when we cancelled the hotel and only booked tickets through get away today. I will always book through Get Away. Rarely can I find better deals.

Again, I apologize in advance if I'm just too cynical and a conspiracy theorist, but this is another low-count, longtime registered poster emerging solely to express the exact same, almost word for word, sentiment, even specifically mentioning (by exact name) the "peace of mind" plan and saying what a great option it is. All three posters I've noticed also seem to share a similar lack of understanding of apostrophe usage. Not saying that to be the grammar police, but simply to share another slightly suspicious similarity in syntax, as well as content.

Even if all the raves are from totally legit and wholly satisfied customers (and please don't misunderstand I have zero doubt many, likely most, of Get Away Today customers are very happy with their service), the logic shared here and in another, similar "cancelled the hotel, kept the tickets, love the plan" post, just makes no sense at all. The slim savings gained by buying discounted entry tickets or meal vouchers through Get Away Today for all but the largest (8-person+) family would negate the "peace of mind" plan's quoted $30 price tag, and then some. Who would take the time to post and THANK a company for that experience? Wouldn't the normal reaction be, 'Next time I'll just book with a company that doesn't charge me when my plans change'?

The other post I'm thinking of even specifically mentioned paying $75 change fee and "still wanting the tickets because I knew they were the best price." Umm, yeah, no way anyone saved money buying tickets at Get Away's $2-$5 (on average) per ticket discount AND paying change penalties of any kind, be they a $30 plan, $40 or $75.

Again all just supposition on my part, but the planting of posts is even more unsettling than the official posting chastising their client.

What my gut gets from what I've seen here--which is, by the way, ALL I know about Get Away--is that, if you're going to use them, you better hope nothing goes wrong or changes, AT ALL.

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

Again, I apologize in advance if I'm just too cynical and a conspiracy theorist, but this is another low-count, longtime registered poster emerging solely to express the exact same, almost word for word, sentiment, even specifically mentioning (by exact name) the "peace of mind" plan and saying what a great option it is. All three posters I've noticed also seem to share a similar lack of understanding of apostrophe usage. Not saying that to be the grammar police, but simply to share another slightly suspicious similarity in syntax, as well as content.

Even if all the raves are from totally legit and wholly satisfied customers (and please don't misunderstand I have zero doubt many, likely most, of Get Away Today customers are very happy with their service), the logic shared here and in another, similar "cancelled the hotel, kept the tickets, love the plan" post, just makes no sense at all. The slim savings gained by buying discounted entry tickets or meal vouchers through Get Away Today for all but the largest (8-person+) family would negate the "peace of mind" plan's quoted $30 price tag, and then some. Who would take the time to post and THANK a company for that experience? Wouldn't the normal reaction be, 'Next time I'll just book with a company that doesn't charge me when my plans change'?

The other post I'm thinking of even specifically mentioned paying $75 change fee and "still wanting the tickets because I knew they were the best price." Umm, yeah, no way anyone saved money buying tickets at Get Away's $2-$5 (on average) per ticket discount AND paying change penalties of any kind, be they a $30 plan, $40 or $75.

Again all just supposition on my part, but the planting of posts is even more unsettling than the official posting chastising their client.

What my gut gets from what I've seen here--which is, by the way, ALL I know about Get Away--is that, if you're going to use them, you better hope nothing goes wrong or changes, AT ALL.

I have to agree with you! the post plantings are definitely the most disturbing part! yikes! A good company definitely would not need to do this! If they had just handled the situation correctly in the first place by pming the OP, I am sure KJ would have come back and reported on this thread that they are actually a great company afterall and told us how they effectively handled her situation. yikes. NOT good business! And even after gat was called out by disers, we are still seeing these same posts that appear to be planted. Definitely stay away!

 

[KalamityJane]

I just wanted to come back and update that GAT's customer service manager has been in touch with me and has completely resolved the situation to my satisfaction. They really went above and beyond in price matching to their detriment, and reversed all fees.

This thread started with the question if the customer service that I received was par for the course for Get Away Today, and I can comfortably say now that it is not. I have used GAT before, and after this experience, I will continue to use them, as they do put their customers first.

And for what it is worth, I am not being paid by the company to say this! I am just very happy with the way that things were resolved.