Has anyone ever gotten a refund for unused dining plan?

[momof2disprincesses]

We were all set for a wonderful 11 day Christmas/New Year's trip to Disney. We enjoyed the first 3 days and then got terrible news that my husband's mother passed away unexpectedly.

Everyone at our resort (POFQ) was so helpful and understanding! I also have to give kudos to Air Tran airways who helped us get a new flight for the next morning - the only direct flight that day. We were flying free on A+ rewards points and they allowed us to change and didn't charge us a penny, even though the new flight was in a black-out time (Dec. 28).

Anyway, we had booked our trip through AAA and booked the room, one day passes and the dining plan for 7 nights (we were moving to Pop Century for the last 3 nights without the dining plan). We only wind up staying for 3 nights and didn't even use all of our credits for those 3 nights (didn't feel much like eating after we got the news).

Well, our AAA TA says Disney told her they would refund the hotel costs (which they've done already), but it is their policy to not give any refunds for the dining plan, even though they could easily verify what we used and what we didn't.

I'm not sure it is worth it to fight about this, especially since we've enjoyed free dining the last 2 Augusts and did book again for free dining next August. This was in fact the first time we've paid for the dining plan. However, I'm just wondering if anyone else has been able to get a refund due to a situation like a death in the family that forces you to cut your trip short.

 

[janets]

First of all, I'm so sorry for your loss. What a terrible thing to happen so suddenly.

That said, you're very lucky (I think) that Disney refunded your hotel costs. Most of the time, when you purchase a package, if you don't have travel insurance and something happens, you're out your money. They certainly don't have to refund unused portions of a package because of illness or death (although we like to think they will be sympathetic and generous).

As for the dining plan, I have never heard of them crediting for unused portions of the plan. Many people report not using all of their credits, whether because they spent a day offsite, didn't want all that food, shared and had leftover, etc. and that's just the way it is. Again, if you had travel insurance, that would have covered your lost costs.

My friend went with his family for Thanksgiving in November. They were 13 people renting points from DVC owners and purchased the dining plan for all of them. On the third day, his mother became very ill and ended up in Celebration Hospital in ICU at death's door. It was touch and go for quite a number of days. Both he and his father spent every minute at the hospital with her, missing out on the dining plan for over a week of their stay. While my friend was able to cancel the extended hotel reservation he had for when his family left (he and his wife were staying a few extra days), they lost all of the credits on the dining plan due to her illness. There was nothing they could do. Although sympathetic, a package is a package and w/o insurance, cancellation policies do prevail.

Again, my deepest condolences on your loss.

 

[*Susan*]

How horrible, I'm so sorry for your loss.

Although I wouldn't expect anything, personally I would write Disney a letter and ask for a credit of some sort to be used on a future trip (?). Something other than asking for cash back. And I'd be sure to give them lots of compliments on how they handled the situation, etc. The worst they could say was no and you are no worse off, money-wise. It coudn't hurt.

Take care.

 

[cmwade77]

I agree with the last post, perhaps ask for a credit towards a future stay in a fair amount or perhaps see if they will give you additional credits equaling the ones you didn't use, so that you can use more of the table service that counts as two.

 

[TaraPA]

It never hurts to write a nice letter that doesn't threaten or demand anything. Like the OP said, be sure to note the positives in your encounter. We were there over 9/11 & had no choice but to extend our stay an additional 3 nights. When we got the bill, we were charged the original room rate of $49 for the 5 nights we had reserved, but then rack rate of $119 or $139 or something for the additional 3 nights stay. I wrote them a very nice letter just to see if they could refund the difference between the rack rate vs. the $49 rate I had been originally paying, for those last 3 nights. I was very surprised when I got a check for Disney for the entire rack rate of the last 3 nights! I surely wasn't expecting them to comp us the room - it was a terrible situation where no one was leaving or arriving at the hotel (other than a few vacationers that were driving there), and we were fine with paying something for those extra nights. It really made a happy ending to an otherwise stressful trip! Disney Magic at it's best!

 

[LindyN]

When you purchase a vacation package, you have an option to purchase insurance. In the event of a catastrophe or problem that causes you to leave your trip you file a claim with the insurance for any unused components. Vacation protection insurance usually comes along with a 24 hour help desk to assist with airline reservations. Even if you do not book a vacation package, trip insurance is available if you build your own coverage with an insurer. As terrible as your circumstances are, that is the purpose for purchasing vacation protection insurance. In the vast majority of cases insurance goes unused. However when you need it, its very good to have.

I'm a TA and currently working with a client with similar circumstances and she had to leave her vacation early, thus missing out on tickets, room, and a lot of dining credits. She contacted the insurance company and initiated the claim. We have provided lots of documentation regarding the unused components and she will be reimbursed by the insurance company to whatever extend she's covered.

You are quite fortunate to have your hotel cost refunded. You might want to check with your homeowners insurance, or even your credit card company, to see if they have some sort of trip insurance that you might not know about.

 

[JimMIA]

It never hurts to write a nice letter that doesn't threaten or demand anything. Like the OP said, be sure to note the positives in your encounter.

This is excellent advice. No, they don't owe you anything, but you never know until you ask. Worst case scenario, if they say no, you're in the same boat you're in now.

 

[theblondebee]

When we checked out of CSR, we had 13 quick service credits left and the manager-looking person said that if we had had any meals charged to our room that she would have been able to "move things around" to use up some of the unused credits. Too bad I had already paid my room charges.

 

[DreaminDisney]

I don't know the answer to your question but want to say, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Thank you all so much for your expressions of sympathy for my family!

I just wanted to follow up that I am taking the advice of several people here. I have emailed Disney to see if they'd be willing to give us a credit of 4 nights of dining for a future trip since that is what we lost out on.

I have also contacted my credit card company via email to see if they offer any protection.

I am awaiting responses and will let you all know the outcome.

Again, thank you all for your kindness & help!

 

[Brocktoon]

Unfortunately there are no refunds on unused Dining Plan credits. Disnsey takes into account that most people will not use every single snack, CS, and TS credit they have. This is one of the reasons they can afford to charge the lower price for the plan. Disney would have to raise DP prices if they offered refunds on unused credits. This is a common business strategy for many pre-pay discount packages, not just for Disney.

 

[Califgirl]

Unfortunately there are no refunds on unused Dining Plan credits. Disnsey takes into account that most people will not use every single snack, CS, and TS credit they have. This is one of the reasons they can afford to charge the lower price for the plan. Disney would have to raise DP prices if they offered refunds on unused credits. This is a common business strategy for many pre-pay discount packages, not just for Disney.

Brocktoon, the difference here is that the OP doesn't just have a couple of CS credits left. They had 4 days of unused dining plan credits because of an emergency situation that cut their entire trip short. While I agree that Disney doesn't 'owe' anything, in this case I am hoping that they will agree with the suggestion of letting the family have 4 days of DDP on a future visit.

Momof2Princesses, I am very sorry for your loss.

 

[Brocktoon]

Brocktoon, the difference here is that the OP doesn't just have a couple of CS credits left. They had 4 days of unused dining plan credits because of an emergency situation that cut their entire trip short. While I agree that Disney doesn't 'owe' anything, in this case I am hoping that they will agree with the suggestion of letting the family have 4 days of DDP on a future visit.

Momof2Princesses, I am very sorry for your loss.

I hope I didn't come off as uncaring in the previous post, as I also think what happened was terrible, and I hope that Disney steps up and helps Momof2P out.

Maybe I'm just very cynical of the corporate world, but I've got a feeling Disney may say no just so the door isn't opened for future DP refunds. It can't hurt to ask Disney though, and I hope I'm wrong

 

[momof2disprincesses]

I am the OP and I just wanted to give everyone an update on my family's situation.

First of all, thank you all so much for your kindness, sympathies and advice!

I emailed Disney about 3 weeks ago now and told them our story and told them what loyal customers we are (we took 4 trips to Disney in 2006 alone). I said I understood their policy of no refunds on unused dining plan credits, but said because of our circumstances, would they be willing to think again.

I had originally asked them to allow us 4 nights of dining for a future trip. Well, they looked into things and contacted my AAA travel agent (who we booked that trip with).

She got a call 2 days ago to say that they see we booked our 3rd "free dining" trip for August and since we already have the dining plan for free then, they didn't want to give us free dining for another trip.

Instead they are fully refunding our money for the 4 nights of dining we missed because of my mother-in-law's unexpected death. We will be recieving $686 back (4 "adults" for 4 nights of dining).

I for one was shocked that they would do this. Their only stipulation was that we add travel insurance for our August trip ($119 total), which we actually planned to do anyway because of the hard lesson we learned from our Christmas trip.

So, obviously, we were very pleased with this result and I wanted to share it with those of you who helped me and encouraged me. Thank you!

 

[TruBlu]

We also got a refund for unused credits, but that refund came from our trip insurance. Our entire family got really sick on our trip and spent 4 days in our room doing the opposite of eating...

I also am very sorry for your loss.

 

[Nennie]

So glad to hear that you had such a great result, and were able to get a refund! Enjoy your next trip!!

 

[cmwade77]

I am very sorry to hear about your loss, but I am glad that they stepped up and did the right thing.

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm also sorry for your loss, and pleased to hear that Disney refunded the cost.

However, for others reading the thread, this was a "nice thing" that Disney did, and in no way something that they *had* to do. This is exactly what trip insurance is for. If you have a pre-paid package of even modest cost, it is well worth the peace of mind to buy trip insurance to recover losses due to unforseen circumstances. For what it's worth, Disney's trip insurance is probably not the best possible value---mousesavers has good information on alternate suppliers.

If you don't purchase trip insurance, you need to be willing to accept that anything you pay in advance, that is non-refundable, is not going to be refunded no matter what happens.

 

[GC&S]

What a terrible situation to go through and I'm very sorry for your loss.

I'm so glad Disney came through for you. We had to cancel a trip to WDW three years ago (the day before we were supposed to leave) because my mom was dx'd with cancer and had to have immediate surgery. We did not have trip insurance but WDW refunded everything. We've learned to get trip insurance since then.

 

[bicker]

She got a call 2 days ago to say that they see we booked our 3rd "free dining" trip for August and since we already have the dining plan for free then, they didn't want to give us free dining for another trip. Instead they are fully refunding our money for the 4 nights of dining we missed because of my mother-in-law's unexpected death.

That's great of them! I'm sure the clear evidence of your continued patronage helped push that exception that they made for you through.

I hope your upcoming trip is a great one!