MS Charged Us $95 Disney Collection Fee 4x for One Change in Reservation!

[DiznEeyore]

I'm just wondering if anyone else has any experience with this ...

We decided sort of spur of the moment to change our trip dates and go over Christmas so our trip wouldn't conflict with ds' finals. Obviously, calling a month ago, there wasn't any DVC availability. Fine; we wanted to use our points at the Grand Floridian then. Nothing was available, so we settled on the Poly. Paid the $95 fee; all set.

Two days ago, we checked back and the GF was now available for our dates. We decided to go ahead and change, and they told us we had to pay another $95 fee. Dh and I both thought that was stupid -- the points were already allocated for the Disney Collection, so why would there be another fee? They insisted that since it was a "new" reservation, we had to pay it. We chalked it up to a stupid tax on our part and paid it.

Today, we have 3 new charges on our credit card from DVC for $95 each. There should only be one, for the change from the Poly to the GF. We called in and were told at first that they had only charged our card once; they weren't showing 3 charges. When dh pressed the matter, the MS rep told him that one of the "extra" charges was for cancelling the Poly for the Grand. In essence, we were supposed to be charged $95 for the initial reservation fee, then $95 to cancel it, then $95 to change to the Grand, even though it was all the same dates. And she couldn't explain the 4th $95 fee (the first Poly booking fee was on last month's statement so that's not it).

A supervisor wasn't any more helpful. They insist they only charged our card once, despite the "info" given by the initial CM about the "cancellation" fee.

We have to print out our statement and fax it to them and they'll look into it.

Dh and I are beyond frustrated at this point. I can understand the initial $95 for the Poly (again, posted to last month's CC statement), and even sort of accept the $95 to book the Grand on the same dates, but no way can I believe they can charge us another $95 to cancel the Poly and change to the Grand! And of course that still doesn't explain the last "phantom" $95 charge.

I can't find any info about this in our paperwork, and I was hoping someone might have had a similar situation and
can shed some light on it.

Anyone know?

 

[emma'smom]

That's a habit of Disney's I guess....

At HHI, they charged me for my incidentals--- SEVEN TIMES!! All of the purchases made on the first day were charged to our card...and the balance carried to the second day. Then that balance and all of the purchases made on the second day were charged to my card..and that total balance (first and second day) was carried over...and so on and so on....

It was a mess to straighten out and the good folks at the front desk admitted the problem, but couldn't figure out how to fix it.

However, they went out of their way to try to make it right in the end.....

 

[Chuck S]

You should have been charged twice. Once for the initial reservation at the Poly, and then for the reservation at the GF. It sounds like there may be a computer glitch in their system, or if manually charged, the CM didn't know what they were doing. I know working in retail for years, that sometimes those CC machines freak out. We wouldn't get a transaction authorization number occasionally, and would have to re-do the transaction, yet it would charge out and we'd have to do a refund, all of which costs the retailer processing fees.

I'm sure once they receive a copy of your statements they'll be able to correct it for you.

 

[DiznEeyore]

I certainly expect them to correct it. I guess the crux of my irritation is with the CM who was telling us we had to pay an additional $95 for the cancellation. That was ridiculous, especially when she couldn't explain the other fee. Seems like some folks at MS need a refresher course in their own policies as well as customer service.

 

[dis-happy]

I wouldn't wait for Disney to reverse the charges. Instead, dispute the extra charges on your cc. They'll ontact Disney and get it handled. I'd also try to dispute the $95. cancellation fee while you're at it---that's crazy (especially if it was never disclosed to you).

 

[kimberh]

One thing about the dispute, they can cancel the whole reservation without bothering trying to figure out why the four charges are there. I had a $300 and some change change, one month on my card from Buena Vista..., Well I knew I had not been to Fl, for the life of me I could not figure out what the charge was for. I called my CC and the operator said," I had one of these recently, but I can't remember what it was for." We disputed it, nothing back from Disney for a explantation. Months go by... We go to Disney with our MNSSHP tickets, go to the gate, not one ticket was any good. Go to the window, they said, " I had cancelled the CC ordered!" The night before had been sold out, I almost fell over. I only wanted to know what the CC charge was for. This ticket order never crossed my mind. Not one time. There happened to still be availability, so we were able to still purchase tickets. The kids were all dressed up, I would have felt horrible, I felt like Disney could have said, it was for tickets, they should have known. Talk about having to keep good notes on every thing, I do from now on.

The point I am making is: I would not dispute anything, first. Try to work it out, if you dispute, they don't even check, they just cancel. I would fax the bill, get someone in accounting to look at it, then go from there. Look in our Member handbook and see if there is a fee for changing resorts. The CC machines are funny, I had one stick on me at our office, I accidently double charged someone. I felt terrible about it. I don't think they belived me.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Well, we just called back with the proof that they charged us 3 times, but the first MS rep just went around and around with my dh. He had to insist on speaking to a supervisor, and after explaining the entire thing again was put on hold forever. The supervisor came back on insisting that they'd only charged us once. Dh offered to email a pdf of our charges from the CC company, but she finally said that we'd "have to take it up with Member Accounting". So they're more than happy to charge our credit card, but to get it credited, they pass the buck.

It would've been nice to be told that yesterday but now we have to wait until Monday and go through the whole thing again. Dh is fit to be tied at the runaround and general "we didn't do it, and we don't care" attitude the MS CMs are giving him.

Ugh.

 

[Merilyn]

They charged us 2 times for our last meal plan. They charged my card and the person who checked in first card. They didn't even let him start the meal plan before I got there but charged him anyway. Disney was quick to fix it so I am sure you will be OK. I it amazing to me how you get so many wrong answers from Disney. If they don't know the rule, they should say so and not make stuff up! Good luck.

 

[ladycop67]

This is from the members website and it is also listed in your handbook.

A change to a reservation is considered a cancellation and rebooking. Any change to a The Disney Collection reservation (with the exception of the Disneyland Resort in California) requires an additional non-refundable $95 transaction fee.
One Reservation Point is equivalent to one allotted Vacation Point.
Cancellation guidelines are subject to change without notice.
Returned Reservation Points will be deposited in to the Use Year in which the cancelled reservation falls. Returned Reservation Points may not be used for Disney Vacation Club Resort reservations or for World Passport Collection exchanges and will expire at the end of your Use Year. Returned Reservation Points cannot be banked.

I think the only $95 charge you could question is the 4th one.

 

[Alexander]

This is from the members website and it is also listed in your handbook.

A change to a reservation is considered a cancellation and rebooking. Any change to a The Disney Collection reservation (with the exception of the Disneyland Resort in California) requires an additional non-refundable $95 transaction fee.
One Reservation Point is equivalent to one allotted Vacation Point.
Cancellation guidelines are subject to change without notice.
Returned Reservation Points will be deposited in to the Use Year in which the cancelled reservation falls. Returned Reservation Points may not be used for Disney Vacation Club Resort reservations or for World Passport Collection exchanges and will expire at the end of your Use Year. Returned Reservation Points cannot be banked.

I think the only $95 charge you could question is the 4th one.

So you pay $95 for the original booking...$95 to cancel...and $95 to book something else? The rules sound like it is $95 to cancel AND rebook. A change to a reservation is considered a cancellation and rebooking.

 

[dvc at last !]

So you pay $95 for the original booking...$95 to cancel...and $95 to book something else? The rules sound like it is $95 to cancel AND rebook. A change to a reservation is considered a cancellation and rebooking.

This is all good info to remember.

 

[CarolMN]

I think you are misinterpreting the statement on the website and planner. Members do NOT have to pay a $95 fee to cancel a non-DVC reservation. The fee paid to make the non-DVC reservation is nonrefundable, however.

If there is now a fee to cancel a non-DVC reservation, that is brand new. Never heard that before.

 

[fishermouse]

I think you are misinterpreting the statement on the website and planner. Members do NOT have to pay a $95 fee to cancel a non-DVC reservation. The fee paid to make the non-DVC reservation is nonrefundable, however.

If there is now a fee to cancel a non-DVC reservation, that is brand new. Never heard that before.

A change to a reservation is considered a cancellation and rebooking. Any change to a The Disney Collection reservation (with the exception of the Disneyland Resort in California) requires an additional non-refundable $95 transaction fee
Sounds pretty clear to me, I've never been in this situation but it clearly states a change requires anadditional $95. .. Don't know why the 3rd and 4th fee were charged.

 

[Dean]

I assume there was only one room involved, if so, two fees would have been correct, not four.

 

[DiznEeyore]

So, the saga continued today.

(Just so I'm being clear: We know we should be paying $95 2x, not 4x. There is no dispute about that.)

Today dh called Member Accounting as instructed by the MS supervisor he spoke with on Saturday (the one who said that MS couldn't take care of the refund, it had to be done through Accounting). He goes through the entire story AGAIN, only to have the Accounting person say, "We can't do anything about that. Member Services has to take care of that."



My dh said that no way was he speaking to anyone at MS again unless it was the top MS person because clearly even their supervisors were unable to handle the problem competently.

He was finally connected to a gentleman who listened to the story (dh was thrilled to tell it for a sixth time ) and said he would look into it and get back with us before the end of the day.

He just called, and has resolved the issue. The extra charges are finally being credited back to our card.

So, the deal is, there is a $95 fee for each new reservation you make with the Disney Collection using your points, whether or not you are simply changing resorts and not dates. There is no "cancellation" fee as the first MS CM stated. Dh mentioned to the gentleman who helped us that they just might need to look into some further training with their CMs giving out such bad info.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Glad you to it taken care of. Sometimes it just amazes me how people make up stuff based on what they THINK.