Not happy with Dreams Unlimited Travel

[jimbo56]

I'm not happy with the response I'm getting from Dreams Unlimited Travel. I requested a quote on Saturday, got a quote Sunday night, had some questions and changes....and never heard back from the agent. I contacted another agent referred to me by a friend. She has been somewhat helpful but trying to get this trip booked is taking forever. We were originally going in April but have now changed our plans to October. Since we're going sooner rather than later, I want to get this wrapped up as quickly as possible to take advantage of low airfare and obviously know that our accomodation choices are limited. Has anyone else had problems with them? Should I just go through Disney or another TA? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jennymouse]

I've used DU before and found them very responsive. I just had a hard time relinquishing the control to an agent. I believe most of us here on the DIS enjoy booking our trip ourselves. To most of us, it's a HUGE part of the enjoyment. If you read, read, read here on the boards, and ask questions of course, you'll find out all you need to know about booking the trip.

Just break it down into parts.

1. Decide your dates first, then book your resort. Use www.mousesavers.com to find out any discounts while you'll be there.

2. Once you know your dates, book your airfare.

3. Read up on what days is best for each park during your stay and plan a general itinerary for what park what day.

4. Once you have an idea about where you'll be what days you can decide if you'd like any special activities, sit down dinners, etc. You can call to make Advance Reservations for dining, etc. at 90 days out.

5. You also need to decide on ground transportation to/from the airport and book that.

After that, it's all in the waiting.

 

[jimbo56]

Jenifer,
A friend recommeded DU to me and was shocked at the lack of response we've received. I really wanted to go through them because of all the good things I've heard but so far, they haven't lived up to their reputation. You mentioned to book the resort. I assume you mean right through Disney. You mentioned making reservations 90 days out. Since we just decided to make trip in October instead of April, what does mean for us in terms of advance reservations for different activities? I already know that Breakfast with Cinderella is really not a possibility.

 

[angel's momma]

I am currently using DU, and unfortunately their server has been down for a few days. I know my TA has had a rough, busy week. ETA: The server was back up around 3:30 today
I've had our Sept/Oct trip planned since Jan., but my parents submitted a quote request the night before the server issues started, so they can join us for part of the trip. Barb was been wonderful to us even though she couldn't access the official quote request. She has done everything she possibly could have done & managed to secure a package for them.

However, if I wasn't already a client & emailing her about adding my parents, my parents would be thinking that DU ignored their request, so I understand your situation.

I would highly recommend DU, Barb has been great & has taken care of all of my requests.

As far as your ADRs are concerned, it's going to depend on where you want to eat, what time, and how many in your party. I'm now working with Barb to arrange dining for my parents at about 45 days out.

 

[DKx3]

The DU website was unfortunatley down or not working right for about 3 days. This is the first time since I booked in Jan. to experience a problem like this. It's up and working fine now.

 

[jimbo56]

I know about their server being down on Wednesday and Thursday. But that doesn't explain their lack of response to emails on Monday and Tuesday. I still don't have a solid quote from them since Sunday.

 

[tarmand]

I was disappointed as well. I ended up not booking through them. I could never get the girl to answer my emails and I thought that if it was that hard just to get a quote, then I wasn't entrusting my vacation to her.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

Hi Everyone

I want to apologize to anyone who has not received the level of customer service they come to expect from Dreams Unlimited Travel this past week.

We have had some server problems which caused some email issues. This resulted in some of our agents having spotty email access at best for the past few days.

Again, I am sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

If you wish to write to me directly at john@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com I would be happy to address any and all concerns you may have.

John

 

[trayletha]

We've used DU for all our trips - 3rd one scheduled for Sept . We've always gotten great service, with quick responses. I'd give them a second chance, after all we are all at the mercy of technology now. Good Luck!!

 

[Ardenne]

If you want to try another TA, I've had incredibly good luck with Missy Beaverson with Small World Vacations. She's answered every email I've sent (and I've sent a lot!) within 12 hours at the most. She got us CRT on the first day I had her try When the October hours came out and I emailed her on Friday night asking her to rearrange a bunch of my ADRs, I really wasn't expecting a response until the next day or maybe even Monday, since it was a Friday evening. She emailed back *half an hour later* with new ADR's for every reservation -- on a Friday night! She even noticed a couple days later that I had requested an ADR for the wrong day -- something I wouldn't have expected her to notice, but she knew my other plans and realized I must have made a mistake -- and emailed me with a replacement ADR before I even realized the problem existed. And when we decided we wanted to change our plans slightly, she talked to the appropriate Disney people and got them to waive the change fee for my parents, although they technically could have been charged one since they had already paid in full. I couldn't be happier with all of the help she's given us.

If you want to contact her, here's her info:

Email: Missywdwtravel@mindspring.com
Toll Free: 1-800-884-4574, pin 00
Local: 770-579-3091 (Atlanta)
Fax: 1-866-418-8586

 

[jimbo56]

Well, I'm done with Dreams Unlimited. After dragging things out over the weekend, they ended up costing me $320 more because airfare went up last week. In addition, they're email system is not functioning properly. On 3 occasions, I sent an email to them through my corporate email account only to get a response back that my email was blank. I know its not my email system because I manage it. I'm going with Wishes Travel...they've been timely in their response, very helpful, and came in with the exact same price as Dreams.

 

[cruiserkaren]

I couldn't ever get DU to email me back either. Went with MouseEarVacations. So far, service is great, very prompt. She got us all of our ADR's today at 3 weeks out.

 

[meandtheguys2]

When you are dealing with people and machines, stuff happens sometimes. It is surprising to me that people expect instant answers. My local TA takes time, has multiple clients, etc. I guess that I would assume the same from a TA on the net. Taking a couple of days while you change your plans doesn't seem out of line, or a reason to publicly criticize.

 

[lillygator]

duplicate

 

[lillygator]

I am another one not happy with them either. I requested a quote last week for a cruise on the 9th. I called Friday the 12th as I had not heard ANYTHING back from them other than the initial email of we've rec'd your request. I knew they had server problems so that is why I called. I left a messgae and a woman called me back and told me an agent was working on my quote. I check back Monday and the agents sends me an email saying "I do show the quote was sent to you on 8/09. The due date was 8-12 for the deposit. Did you receive this?

There are no longer cabins available for this sailing. There is one on hold and the deposit is due today but, I have no idea if they will pay it."

Ok A quote was sent on 8/9 - yet I called 8/12 and was told they were working on it?
Needless to say I missed out on their group bookings rates (which were still available when I called)...I called again yesterday and the woman I spoke with had the "your out of luck" attitude.



I had heard such great things about DU...but after this I am writing them off.