HDDR refund fiasco

[pens4821]

Just typing this here to vent more a less. There is nothing anyone can do to help. Guess also just to say be careful using a gift card when you may need a refund.

I had a reservation for HDDR for August. Ended up moving our trip to January, so cancelled in June. A month later still no refund on the gift card. I called Monday, got transferred from dining to billing. He couldn't help, so talked to account services. They said it'd be on the card within 24 hours.

48 hours later, no refund. So I call yesterday and spend around 50 minutes on the phone. The dining agent stayed on and was the middle man for me. She was awesome, when this is all done I'm going to write a compliment email. She went to guest services (after trying, they couldn't help), billing (same thing), then finally gift card services. Problem was, I added money to the card after I used it, and the refund will take it over the limit (doesn't make sense, but ok). So they finally decide to send me an e-gift card.

Well, that was yesterday around 2, and still nothing. Have looked in my regular mail, plus spam. I'm started to get frustrated. Guess I'll have to spend another 30+ minutes on the phone when I get home from work today.

 

[patty57]

Ugh. This is a reason I don't like gift cards very much. It can be a real pain if you want to change plans.

 

[rwdavis2]

Ugh. This is a reason I don't like gift cards very much. It can be a real pain if you want to change plans.

On elliott dot org they regularly post stories about gift card horror stories. Although non yet for Disney. I try to encourage the family to avoid them.

 

[gharter]

Good to know. Never thought about having too much money on a gift card. Sorry for your problems. Hopefully, it gets solved soon.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Max allowable amount on a gift card is $1000. I assume this refund would put you over that amount?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Problem was, I added money to the card after I used it, and the refund will take it over the limit (doesn't make sense, but ok).

It does make sense. Can you apply $X from the current gift card to anything else to do with your reservation, now? Then Gift Card Services should be able to refund to the card.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

I would simply move money on the gift card you used to make this ADR to another empty gift card if you have a spare.

That way your HDDR gift card won't be over the limit.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

yep you could transfer the money to a second gift card if you have one.

 

[pens4821]

Just an update, but I finally got the e-gift card about 3, before I got home from work and called them. Glad I didn't have to call again. It's a pain trying to get to someone, then annoying trying to explain the situation to a few different people. I've never had an issue using a gift card before. From now on, if I do, I'll make sure to save it but not add any more money in case this happens. I did know about the 1000 limit, but I never thought about it during either of my calls.

Unfortunately the easy solutions wouldn't work. I have a couple other gift cards, but they all have 1000 on them, and I couldn't use it for anything else at this moment. Don't have a reservation for our stay yet (going to wait until October waiting to see discounts), and couldn't book HDDR again since we are still almost two weeks from our ADR dates.

Thanks everyone for your ideas!!

 

[Lisa F]

I'm sorry it was so frustrating for you but it doesn't sound like the typical "gift card horror story" where it seems like they are trying to cheat you. Sounds like Disney went out of their way to figure it out and as usual anything out of the ordinary is hard for most CMs to deal with... but at least there wasn't the malice behind it like it seems like there are with some gift card companies. I'm glad they worked it out for you! But I do get what a pain to spend so much time on something that should be simple.

 

[MinnieMSue]

My daughter had an unfortunate gift card experience at Disney springs. She purchased a shirt using 1/2 gift card and 1/2 cash. The employee threw away the gift card since it was empty. Well a few days later my daughter changed her mind and didn’t want the shirt afterall. I then found out the gift card was thrown away. I explained how you never should let that happen but since the gift card was still on the app maybe they could return it to it and we could transfer. Nope nope nope. They couldn't return it since she didn’t have the physical card. They also wouldn’t give her the cash portion she paid back as cash. They put it on a merchandise card. You cannot use an annual pass discount on a merchandise card. You can only use it for merchandise at a Disney parks store. She wanted to use the money at Sephora. Nope can’t do that. It was our last day and she didn’t want any Disney merch. She was mad that the lady threw away her card without asking. I told her lesson learned. They told me we could use it for food at Pop but that turned out to be untrue. I ended up buying the card from her so she could get what she wanted. She is going back with the band and will use it this winter. It will prob be regifted to her by me for her birthday lol. She is mad she can’t use annual pass discount with it. That honestly makes no sense to me but it is what it is. The manager at the store agreed it wasn’t fair but it was Disney policy. I never thought to tell her to keep gift cards when spent just in case.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Ugh. This is a reason I don't like gift cards very much. It can be a real pain if you want to change plans.

It's not that it was a gift card itself it's that the OP was going to be over.

For FAQs on the Disney gift card it states:



Under normal circumstances the gift card would have been refunded the amount and it shouldn't have been an issue. This wasn't a Disney issue it was sorta bad luck in that the OP reloaded after they used the specific card. Reloading it caused the issue not the actual use of a gift card so I would probably say the warning for others is to hold off on reloading a gift card if you're going to be maxing it out until you're positive you won't be needing to get a refund.

I'm not certain but I really don't imagine there's all that many guests who run into this specific issue with gift card maxed out used and reloaded and then a refund wanted on same gift card.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The employee threw away the gift card since it was empty.

Yeah all the employees I ran into asked me first if I wanted the card to be thrown away.

She was mad that the lady threw away her card without asking.

To be fair I'm not certain in this situation I would be mad at the lady. It only became an issue when she needed to return something days later. Sounds like right in the moment she was ok with it being thrown away. I do agree with your lesson learned comment I just wouldn't direct that anger at the lady days later.

Sorry that happened though especially the merchandise vs gift card aspect for the discount purposes.

The manager at the store agreed it wasn’t fair but it was Disney policy.

What store was it? Disney's website says this:

 

[Kimberle]

I work with GC's from a retail prospective. They can be a nightmare. Even if the vendor wants to do the right thing and help the customer, many times the GC software people won't allow it.

My advice, don't use a GC unless you know you won't be returning something.

 

[MinnieMSue]

Yeah all the employees I ran into asked me first if I wanted the card to be thrown away.

To be fair I'm not certain in this situation I would be mad at the lady. It only became an issue when she needed to return something days later. Sounds like right in the moment she was ok with it being thrown away. I do agree with your lesson learned comment I just wouldn't direct that anger at the lady days later.

Sorry that happened though especially the merchandise vs gift card aspect for the discount purposes.

What store was it? Disney's website says this:

View attachment 336586

She was more mad at the situation. She didn’t know any better being a 14 yr old and I wasn’t with her when she paid so I couldn’t have told her to keep the card. She never saw the woman again who checked her out so she wasn’t directing anger at anyone. She was very very sad. I have to say that I have had them start to toss a used up gift card at various places in the parks and I always ask for it back. It could have happened or my daughter could have agreed to let them toss it. She had no idea it mattered. The store was one at Disney Springs - Trend D I think was the name. She really wished she could have gotten the cash portion back that she paid at least. Most stores return cash if you paid with cash but I guess they only return to the merch card no matter what if a gift card was involved. The girl who did the return thought it was odd she had to do that since it had only been a few days. She said usually it is returns after a longer period where they are stricter. At least she is going back in a few months for a day with the band to be able to use the money that is still left on the card. I told my daughter to think hard before she makes purchases from now on because returns can always get sticky. These types of experiences are how you learn. Some lessons are harder than others.

 

[maxiesmom]

We sell gift cards where I work. You always try and tell the customer to hang on to them, because if they need to make a return the return goes on the card. At the registers so many people try to get you to throw them away.

 

[cmwade77]

The limit on gift cards is $500, if I use a card for something I might get a refund on I don't add money to that card for this very reason.

Another option you have is if you have a second gift card you could go on disneygirfcard.com and transfer some funds from this card to another one and then they could refund to this card and it wouldn't be over the limit.

 

[KrazeeK120]

The limit on gift cards is $500, if I use a card for something I might get a refund on I don't add money to that card for this very reason.

Another option you have is if you have a second gift card you could go on disneygirfcard.com and transfer some funds from this card to another one and then they could refund to this card and it wouldn't be over the limit.

The limit on Disney gift cards is $1000.

The website is www.disneygiftcard.com.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I have purchased gift cards for in excess of 1K via AMEX and private stores. No idea about Disney's maximum dollar amt.
Glad your problem was resolved, OP.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Glad it's resolved. I'd suggest only pay with gift cards after you are on your vacation and then only charge to the room then pay the room charge with GC. We also never put more than 500 per card for this very reason. I love using Disney GCs but yep this can happen.