HELP! HWSC problem/question --- update

[Lollipop Mom]

Does anyone happen to have a customer service phone number for Hotwire Savings Club besides the one on the "contact us" page of the web site??? I know that may be a long shot but I thought I'd ask just in case.

One of my best friends called me in tears today over a problem with them. Since I'm the one that recommended them to her I feel terrible! I ended up taking notes on what happened in case anyone here has any suggestions. She and her husband are going to WDW the first week in May with her parents, her sister and brother in law and their kids. I had suggested she join and order some vouchers and their PHs. She didn't order their PHs (THANK GOD!!!) b/c her father is retired military and had purchased them already through SOG. She joined at the end of March and ordered a LOT of vouchers for her whole group on 3/31. The total ended up being over $650. She placed another order on 4/4 for about $100 or so. Around 4/8 or so she asked how long it usually takes to get stuff. I told her I got it typically within 3 days of ordering. She called on 4/9 and asked about the status. They gave her an airborne tracking number for the order she placed on 3/31. It showed that the post office had returned it marked "undeliverable as addressed" and had it "confirmed final delivery" back to HWSC at 11:21 am that same day. After seeing that with the tracking info she called the post office to find out why that happened. She had them sent to a post office box her husband uses for business but it was addressed to her personally and the post office didn't recognize her name so they returned it. She went in and filled out the paperwork to have herself added to the box and called HWSC back on 4/12 to see if they could be sent back or if she could get a refund, she told them she'd be happy with either option. The agent told her she would put it back in the system for them to be shipped out again. My friend asked about the second order and the agent said she'd enter a request that it be sent out again to when it was recevied back. She told the agent they were leaving soon so she was worried that they would get them in time (she leaves to go to her sisters on Tues of next week and then they will fly to Orlando on Friday). The agent told her she would put the request in that day. That was 4/12. She called today to just check on the status to see if it had been shipped out since she expected to receive it quickly (she'd had me send her a letter to the PO box just to be sure they sent it through and they did). Today she was told that what was entered into the system on 4/12 was a "service request" to have them sent back and that it takes "at least 7-10 days" before those service requests are checked at all. My friend said that today was 7 days so was there any way at all that they could process it TODAY and get the vouchers our right away. The agent put her on hold and said she'd check with a supervisor. The agent came back and said that the supervisor checked the system and saw that a refund was processed today for both orders. My friend had used her Paypal debit card to pay for the vouchers. She's paid for something else online today and had been in her Paypal account and there had been NO refund there. She told the agent that and the agent said "well, it shows as today, maybe it happened since then." She had to get off the phone with HWSC to check her paypal account. When she logged in to Paypal, there was no refund. She went to call HWSC back and can't get through at all b/c they CANCELLED HER MEMBERSHIP! So now she has no vouchers, no money and no way to talk to them. She has tried everything she can think of to get through to a person on the phone system but it never works.

She is, understandably, absolutely livid with them and terribly upset that about $800 of the money they had been saving for over a year for this trip has vanished!

I was just hoping that someone here might have a different phone # listed somehwere or know of a different way to contact them. I have already cancelled my membership or I would give her my ID to enter into the phone prompts and when she got to a person ask to speak to a manager. I just feel terrible that this happened after I recommended them to her. She has a record of all her calls, a printout of the airborne tracking info showing the stuff returned to them and everything but since it was with Paypal funds, I imagine it will be harder to file a chargeback with them to get her money back and very unlikely she will get it back before her trip.

 

[swilshire]

Chances are this won't get resolved before she leaves for her trip. I hope she can put it behind her temporarily and enjoy herself without fretting about it.

I had similarly poor service trying to get anything done on the phone. I sent them a detailed letter explaining my dissatisfaction. In just a few days, I had a phone message from a very nice lady there apologizing for the problem and telling me how she had resolved it (which was very satisfactory).

I would suggest writing to them at the address shown on their website. I had already cancelled my membership when I did this and yet they were very accomodating.

Best of luck to your friend.

Sheila

 

[javaj]

You can call their customer service number listed on their site without having an active membership ID#. When I was having trouble signing up, I called several times. When it prompts you to enter the membership ID, don't enter anything and just stay on hold. I don't remember the exact sequence of questions asked before reaching a customer service rep, but I remember trying different selections, maybe pressing 0, and just staying on hold, and I got through to them several times.

 

[Lollipop Mom]

thank you, javaj! I suggested she call and just not do anything when it asked for the prompts. She said an agent did eventually answer and already knew her name and address info (I guess by caller ID and the phone # she was calling from). They agent she spoke with couldn't tell her why the account was cancelled but did confirm that a refund was processed this morning. She was told that it takes up to 2 business days for the credit to show up on the card so she does feel better about the fact that it didn't show up on her Paypal balance. The only problem left is that all they processed was the refund for the first shipment, the second is still sitting there with a "service request" attached to it that will take another 3 or 4 days before it is actually seen and taken care of. At least if all goes OK she will have her $650+ back before the end of the week and will then just have to wait it out for her other order of $100 or so. It doesn't sound like that one will be back before her trip but at least the bulk of it will be there if everything goes the way they said it would.

 

[Lollipop Mom]

Just in case anyone read this and is concerned about HWSC I thought I would post an update. My friend did get her credit back today for her first transaction. She's still waiting for the 2nd one. She was told that a service request was placed on 4/12 so a refund would likely be sent on 4/22 or 4/23 so she would have it 2 business days later. It actually does sound like she will have everything worked out before her trip. She won't have vouchers...but she will have her money back!

I don't agree with the way that they cancelled her membership without telling her that it was going to happen but they did make good on taking care of the problem which is the most important thing.

her husband is trying to talk her into signing up for Connections and ordering the vouchers again right away. She is saying the hassle wasn't worth the $ they would save. Something tells me he won't win this one!

 

[disneydawn]

javaj....how did you ever end up signing up for HWSC? I too am having problems. I have tried many many times. When I click on "SUBMIT" nothing happens. I have called numerous times also and they tell me that the only way to join is online. I just sent them an email. Just wondering how it all worked out for you?????

 

[javaj]

disneydawn,

I wasn't having the same problem signing up. When I clicked "Submit," I was getting an error message. So the problem with my submission was my mailing address because I had been a member of other dealpass programs (parent company of HWSC). I finally used my work address and it worked. I called them and had them change my account address to my home address that same day and they didn't have a problem with it.

Are you using Internet Explorer? Make sure you are, because I don't think Netscape and Mozilla or any other browsers are supported by the dealpass websites.

If you are using IE, I think their site is down a lot. I often have problems logging on, then I try again an hour later and it is usually fine.

Not that it might be any different since it is the same parent company, but did you try Connections?

Good Luck!
Josette