Help, please...? on bill, charged for TA commission?? This makes NO sense to me

[planning06]

Did you not pay the $200 deposit?

 

[belleandthebeast]

I can assure you that no agent, ever, should charge your credit card with out your prior knowledge. We are not allowed to do that. The whole situation doesn't make sense to me. I would wait to hear back from the supervisor. I'm sure it will work out in the end.

Some points to bring up...
1. The Disney personal should have never told you that it was the TA commission even if it was. That is personal information that should not be shared w/ a client.
2. Our commissions rarely, if ever, come out even (i.e. $200). It sounds like this was a charge for something else. What I can't imagine.
3. Again, I cannot believe that Disney just called your TA and told her your ressies was $200 short. We recieve faxes like the one someone posted above that tells you the correct amounts.

It really doesn't sound right to me.

 

[Gillian]

I'm sure you checked this already, but was your original payment for the correct amount?

Hope this gets worked out for you soon!

 

[kesha]

Please let us know how this comes out. Something sounds fishy to me.

 

[disneyfor3]

Somebody else had posted here on the Disboards how the value and moderate resorts were getting charged at the value price during regular season for this AAA free dining package. The deluxe resorts don't have that small regular season so there was no discount for the deluxes. It was coming up a little higher by $80 or $90 on the Disney site for people booking values and moderates so it looks like her quote was accurate with AAA.

I have my package with AAA for the free dining and as other posters here have noted I have not been charged a $200.00 commission and my package price is the exact same as Disney. My agent only charged the $200.00 deposit when I authorized it at the time of booking and sent me a credit card slip to sign and send back as well as an invoice with the totals. I would be very upset if she took it upon herself to authorize a charge without my knowledge, and then told you she didn't know what it was for. Good luck resolving this; you've gotten some very good advice from other posters.

 

[CarolA]

Call the credit card company and dispute the charge until you get this taken care of.Sometimes the credit card co has a phone number associated with the charge that they can give you.

I'm sorry you have to deal with this frustration! Good Luck!!

I agree.. If AAA can't provide some indication of what this is for then they should not get the money. I swear I won't use AAA just because of the endless things I read on this board. The screwups they do, just don't seem worth it.... I am sure there are some good agents out there, but the bad ones are scaring us off!

 

[tlbwriter]

I think the bottom line is, you were given the final price, and you paid it in full. Anything else is not your problem, and she had absolutely no right to authorize a charge to your card.

 

[Merriwind]

I think the bottom line is, you were given the final price, and you paid it in full. Anything else is not your problem, and she had absolutely no right to authorize a charge to your card.

Agree 100%. I would get my credit card company involved asap. You will have to write a statement. Explain everything as clearly--and succinctly--as possible. It sounds like AAA is giving you the run-around. They can't do that with your CC company. Good luck!

 

[belleandthebeast]

I agree.. If AAA can't provide some indication of what this is for then they should not get the money. I swear I won't use AAA just because of the endless things I read on this board. The screwups they do, just don't seem worth it.... I am sure there are some good agents out there, but the bad ones are scaring us off!

This is exactly what will put me on the unemployed list in the future.

Obviously, this person has a legitimate problem. I'm sure it will be fixed. I am an AAA agent and as I posted above, the whole situation doesn't seem right. As an agent, I would never charge a client card w/out getting authorization.

We all have our share of problems. If a client has an issue, we do try to get it resolved as quickly as possible. I can tell you, that if your agent has called Disney, and they don't know what the charge is for, they have to research it. This process takes awhile. Not to excuse your agent not getting back to you, but we had a charge that we were questioning, oh, about 3 weeks ago, and I still haven't heard anything. These things do take time.

That being said, I hope your issue is resolved soon. I apologize on behalf of all Disney agents. Let us know how it all works out.

 

[Gillian]

It's true that it does often take Disney a long time to investigate problems.

I'm sorry if AAA agents are getting a bad reputation here on the DIS. Most people do not read these boards (can you believe it?) and have no issues with AAA.

I myself have never booked with AAA because the agents I've dealt with have said, "I'll get back to you with more info" and then they don't. I've had this problem several times when looking for room only disney rates, and more recently when looking for hotels in Sarasota FL. Now that I know sarasota better myself, I realize why it was a complicated question, but that's why I was (trying) to use an agent.

If I found someone at AAA who was good, I'd tell all my friends about her!

 

[belleandthebeast]

If I found someone at AAA who was good, I'd tell all my friends about her!

Thanks! We appreciate that!

 

[Joan1]

Another fishy thing about this is that Disney doesn't pay the commission to the agent until the vacation has been taken.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It could be that TA quoted you the net rate, (without commission) instead of the gross, which is what everyone pays. So Disney would not have received full payment. You are not paying commission, Disney is, but if TA shorted Disney they have a right to collect. Just make sure you know exactly what happened. Ask to see the payment history and invoices.

Especially if that's what happened, the Travel Agent should have paid Disney the entire amount paid by the customer. Disney would then send or credit the commission to the agency (AAA, in this case). I think if the Travel Agency made the mistake, they should take the loss.

 

[thelionqueen]

OK, being a Customer Service manager for many years, I am offering you valuable advice on what I would do in this situation.
1st-Call the TA one final time, and explain that you want a return call in 24 hours or things are going to escalate.
2nd-After 24 hrs w/no call, call supervisor, demand a resolution immediately.
3rd-If Supervisor is uncooperative, call credit card company and dispute charge
4th-Call the police

I know I will get flamed for saying call the police, but here is how I see things. You gave your credit card # to the TA for specific use and for a specific amount. The second the additional charges were "tacked" on without your knowledge becomes theft on several levels. This is a situation the police should know about.

I am sure that once the police contact the AAA agent, supervisor and manager, answers will come more quickly and more than likely, a refund.

I am a very laid back person, but once I have exhausted all avenues, I will take whatever action is needed for a resolution. I would not put up with what you are for another minute. In any event, don't let this have any affect on your visit to Disney, have fun!!!

 

[HappyMommy2]

I agree with thelionqueen. Unless there is something you signed that said the agent was authorized to charge your card for additional expenses beyond the agreed-upon package, you are a victim of theft. If you don't get a quick answer from the TA this time you need to mention *theft* and see if they will step things up.

We booked a trip through a travel agency a few years ago and had something similar happen. After paying the whole package, we got a bill for $90, along with a note explaining that the TA had made a mistake in her calculations of the cost of our package, and that we needed to pay the additional $90 immediately, or our reservation would be cancelled. We were pretty steamed, but at least they didn't go ahead and charge our credit card! We paid the $90 and told them we would not be booking through their agency again.

I hope this works out quickly for you.

 

[tlbwriter]

I agree with thelionqueen. Unless there is something you signed that said the agent was authorized to charge your card for additional expenses beyond the agreed-upon package, you are a victim of theft.

And I'd make sure none of the paperwork you signed gave them that authorization... check the fine print!

 

[MyGoofy26]

I might be completely wrong, but something popped into my head reading this and wanted to throw it out there. . . but could this possibly fall under bait and switch laws? She was sold a vacation package based on one price, and now that she's at a point where she can't cancel without penalty the price has been jacked up on her.

At the very least, I would think that the TA would be required to honor the original price quoted. If I walk into a store and they have a product mis-tagged at a cheaper price, they're required to sell it to me at that price. This shouldn't be any different.

But definitely call your credit card company and dispute it. Make sure you're keeping detailed records of who you talked to and when and what the conversation consisted of.

 

[DiszyDean]

I can give you my two cents coming from a finance backround..

Since you already contacted them and they have yet to provide you with an answer on the $200 charge, you should dispute it with your credit card company immediately. Like yesterday, if not sooner. You do not have to give them "time" to do anything. Either they know what the charge is for or they don't.

You certainly do not have to wait 3 weeks to get an answer in any case..If you are feeling generous, let them hold on to your money a little longer.

Unless they can show proof that you authorized the charge, they will have no case with the credit card company. If they still feel you owe them $200, then they can withhold services until they receive payment they feel they are entitled to..that is it. In that case though, they will be obligated to explain the $200 charge before handing you a bill for it...

 

[mom_rules]

and my two cents...........make sure you document everything-who you talked to, date and time of call, details of conversation and any response at all even if it's an "I'll get back to you _________".

You can never have enough documented proof-say so's will not cut it.

 

[lovelyk68]

Hi PrincessCyann! I am just wondering what happened? I hope you have gotten this resolved.