Hotwiresavings club (Horrible)

[LawN4cer]

I am new to this board but have been lurking for a while and reading about how to go disney World a little cheaper. I have been reading about how Hotwire savings club was cheaper for park tickets and Meal vouchers. I was real happy with what I have been reading from this board
I know that there are people on this board that really like HotwireSavings Club and have never had any issue with them but this story needs to be told to let everyone know that there are issues with this place.
I signed up for the savingsclub on 05/10 and placed my order right away. The total for the order was $898.00 for tickets and some meal vouchers. When I placed the order I used a debit\checking card. I recieved an error mesage stated that it could not be used, not a problem sometimes it requires a credit card to finish the purchase, so I input another number. It went through and I printed a copy for my records. The next day, 05/11 is when the nightmare began, I noticed that I had been charged the full amount out of my checking account. I called to veify that my CC would not be charged since that is what my confirmation had on it. per Hotwire the order had not gone through since the address does not match my mailing address (it does). I had them put in a research case. after I hung up I decided to call my CC company to double check and Hotwire has also charged my CC, NOT ONE TIME BUT TWO. so I had THREE total charges for a about $2,700 and hot wire saying that I was not even charged once. I was on the phone for about 5 hours total, I only got the 2 charges taken off the credit card because I had a conference call with my credit card company and hotwire and my credit card company could not understand why hotwire said they did not complete the charge when they were looking right at the charges, so my CC company reversed it out. I tried to talk to the same supervisor but they say they cant transfer you to anyone else. I ended up telling ths story to FIVE differnt supervisors and none were very helpful. The researchers were supposed to call me this morning at 7:15 am but never called, however the charge did get reversed out of my bank account. So hopefully I learned a lesson without lossing any WWD money. I will keep an eye on my accounts to make sure that any more charges do not show up. I did cancel Hotwire savings club today.
I am going to Disney World from 05/29 to 06/05 and this issue could have messed up my family vacation, which would have been unacceptable. I will just buy my tickets through WWD so I know I will get them. Just to let you know I do everything through the internet with dozens of companies and this is the first issue I have ever had with any of them. It has not been a fun experience and I did not want anyone else to go through the stress of having something as big as a family vacation cancelled because a company messed up a simple order.
Well the sun is shining again as i ready the family for a week at WWD.
Thanks for Listening, Dan

 

[pjlla]

Number one.... Welcome to the Dis Boards!!

Wow... sorry to hear about your dilemma!! Hope it all works out. I have to admit, although I don't hesitate to buy things online, I have been leary of these savings clubs. They seem to work so great for everyone but...... Anyhow, hope you don't think badly of us here at the Dis. And thanks for letting us know your experience.... you may be saving someone else (like me!)........P

 

[Disbug]

First and foremost, glad you got everything straightened out before your vacation! Whew! What a mess that was, and highly stressful I can imagine! I suppose you have now figured out about debit cards. I would NEVER use one! Especially for internet transactions. You are NOT protected and the money disappears instantly! It's then a fight to get it back. At least with the credit card company you have a 25 to 30 day grace period.

Have a great vacation!!

 

[disneydebk]

Yep, debit cards are definitely a pain, especially for larger amounts of money being charged, because some banks put a limit as to how much can be charged a day, even if you have a ton of money in the bank.

 

[elfbo]

About the charges. I have noticed that they will put a hold of the purchase amount on the card immediately. A few days later they place the actual purchase charge on the card, and then a few days after that, they reverse the first charge. Maybe its just my bank that reversed the first charge after a set amount of days, so you would have to ask your bank what their setup is

Because this was upsetting me, I just started uploading the money I was going to spend to my paypal account and purchased the tickets and passes with the virtual debit number. After the money was taken out, no more was in there, so they couldnt double charge me, and I havent had a problem since.

 

[Mic]

I had a similar experience with Connections/Dealpass a few months ago. I, too, received an error code when I placed my order online, so I input my credit card information again a few hours later when the website was back up. I was charged twice, naturally, but the order was only shipped once(I was willing to accept a duplicate shipment of the vouchers, but a second order did not come). We conference-called Connections, who denied I was charged anything, even though the credit card company supervisor could clearly see I was charged twice. The credit card supervisor immediately removed the second charge, and apologized to me for having to deal with a company(Connections)that was so "unprofessional". She was as frustrated as I was by the end of the phone call.

 

[HaleyB]

I just have to jump in here. I know there are a lot of people who have had trouble with Connections/Deal Pass/Hotwire Savings Club, but I had a problem and they were great about it. I got quick replies and everything was taken care of for me within a day of my contacting customer service. So maybe it just depends on who you get on the other end of the phone.

 

[Jennylen]

I am glad you got things straightened out. Forget about the trouble and think about vacation now. Here is some suggestions on online transactions:

- Make sure your computer is trouble free before play with account/$ on unstable computer
-Don't do the transaction if page load slow on regular web sites, on-line transaction takes longer time and might cause time-out (blank page, transaction dropped in half way)
- Use MC/Visa/Discover/AMEX intead of other types of cards
- Be patient, and never click twice, back/forward at middle of transation
- Avoid mid night purchase (taken into all US time zones consideration) - Many of the one-line servers have their maintanence/system updates at mid-nights (~11:00PM...).
- Make sure get your email confirmation (remove email blocking to block legit email going through)
- make sure web site transation starts with HTTPS, not http on address; https is secure transaction, not easy to be hacked during data transaction; http is clear text transaction. - you will see this when you are at the page enter your personal info

Most of the CSR are good on general questions or problem resolution. If there is web (sites) related problems, they have not idea how to proceed becasue regular empoyee has not access permission to backend database and transaction logs - ususally needs web group involved. I think more than 50% of companies are that way, including some top ten companies in the industires.
Sorry for the lenthly background/details.

 

[Lollipop Mom]

I had the same sort of thing happen to me when we ordered stuff for our trip last December. I didn't notice it on my card statement till just over a week later. The first charge was still listed as "pending" where as the second was shown as "complete." I knew that a hold they place on your card drops off after 10 days if they don't complete it. Since 10 days was only a day or two away I decided to wait and see what would happen before I called. The charge did drop off right at 10 days and the available credit was freed up on my account again without calling customer service or anything. I think when they are saying nothing was charged they mean that they didn't finish the submission process even though the initial hold on funds still shows up. I can understand where this is a real problem using a debit card as that is CASH they are holding for 10 days. Just wanted to share my experience.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I believe Mousesavers used to warn about using debit cards with Connections when she used to list the voucher details on her site. That's why I never did. (Thanks Mary!)

Everyone should heed this and not use debit cards for major purchases.

My DF in Chicago who is getting married in St. Lucia next month used her debit card to purchase a Dell Computer online last month when they had that glitch. It charged her twice and sent her 2 computers. They didnt even have money to pick her ring up from the jeweler! Although she refused the second shipment, Dell still said it would take 6-8 weeks for her money to be refunded. She spent hours on the phone as they literally cleaned her bank account and her checks were bouncing. Last week they finally returned her money and all fees as they admitted it was their mistake. It could have really messed up her trip.

I will definitely not use them, as the potential mess could take months to clean up.

 

[greenkdc]

I ordered my tickets from Hotwire and have not received them so I called and they said there was a problem with my address matching. But they were not going to email me or call me to let me know. I read this post and decided to call. Thanks for the information because I was not worried in the least I expected them anyday now .. Now I have ordered them from Ticketmania and i hope to have them In 8 days I am really cutting it close now.
Thanks

 

[Disney Debbie]

You shouldn't have a problem with Ticketmania. I got my tickets in 2 days - and that was using the free shipping - I didn't request any special shipping.

 

[FonFon]

Originally posted by greenkdc
I ordered my tickets from Hotwire and have not received them so I called and they said there was a problem with my address matching. But they were not going to email me or call me to let me know.

They did the same thing to me!! I had ordered some vouchers, a week passed, and I was online paying my CC bill, and there was no charge. So I called them, and they said that there was an issue with my address matching. (Funny, there doesn't seem to be a problem with the other vendors I've used that card with!) Would it have killed them to at least send an email?! Yeesh!

 

[LawN4cer]

Well, I did not have a fun experince, but as long as it has helped others bypass any major problems, it was well worth it

Thanks for the warm welcome to the board

Dan

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

WEll if you want at least some savings buy the Entertainment book for Orlando. I checked into HOtwire and any place you need to join before they let me know what I can buy is suspect for me. I got the Entertainment book for Orlando for only 15. There were lots of savings that I would use. In addition if you go on their site you can see everthing that is in the book. Also, the card in the front of the book can be used at your home area if it is one that is serviced by Entertainment.