not so happy with TGM

[abbyandangel]

After all the posts about TGM, I signed up today. I leave for Disney on Friday. I figured it's not too late to learn a few things. Well it is if the AVP isn't working. How annoying! I paid my $21.95 and have nothing to show for it. Anyone else have this experience?

 

[Grumpy_Disney_Dad]

YES i am havingthe exact same issue. I emailed both addresses at TGM and have received nothing but the automated response back.

 

[hockeygirl]

sorry to hear you are having problems...you should head over to the separate thread that states why you may be having problems.

Good Luck!

 

[dacky041208]

There is apparently some sort of virus on the TGM site that people have been posting about here on the dis for the last 3 or 4 days. I have subscribed and think it is wonderful, but I've been laying off that site until I have multple confirmed reports everything is taken care of. I think if anything its just a shame you signed up just a few days before your trip (with this virus messing things up), cause the site can be extremely helpful in planning everything out.

 

[GoofyBaby]

TGM's site was hit by a hacker over the weekend and he's in the process of fixing it. . .could be why the AVP isn't working. Try emailing him and asking when your AVP might be back up. In my opinion, TGM is really worth the money!

 

[dacky041208]

After all the posts about TGM, I signed up today. I leave for Disney on Friday. I figured it's not too late to learn a few things. Well it is if the AVP isn't working. How annoying! I paid my $21.95 and have nothing to show for it. Anyone else have this experience?

PS:

If you signed up because of all the posts on the dis, I'm surprised you missed the link at the top of some of the pages with the $3 code to save a few bucks.

 

[tchrrx]

Since you are leaving so soon & the TGM site has been down, I'm sure that Mike will refund your money. Once the site is back up and working (soon I hope!), email him and let him know of your situation. I can assure you that he isn't any happier about what's going on then you are.

 

[ellenmiele]

Here's the link to TGM's statement about what's happened -

http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=25053960&postcount=25


And there are a few threads near the top of this section about it too.

 

[simonmary]

After all the posts about TGM, I signed up today. I leave for Disney on Friday. I figured it's not too late to learn a few things. Well it is if the AVP isn't working. How annoying! I paid my $21.95 and have nothing to show for it. Anyone else have this experience?

Mike has an ironclad policy about refunding the entire amount paid, no questions asked if you are not satisifed. You can do this once the site comes back up, or you can even do it after your trip, if you feel that you didn't get your money's worth from it.

Personally, I find it reassuring that Mike is willing to take the site down to protect the computers of his guests. I suppose he could have simply put a notice on the site that told us to check our anti-virus status and run a scan. Instead, he chose to be protective of us. KUDOS TO MIKE!!!

But, I wish it would come up - I am in TGM Forum withdrawals - I might have to clean or something!

 

[TourGuideMiKE]

Abbyandangel, I am very, very sorry that this has been your experience with my web site and service. If you don't have time to utilize the AVP for this vacation because of our downtimes, by all means PLEASE let me provide you with a full refund. And, btw, this applies to anyone else out there who purchased over the last few days and will not have time to plan before you leave. On top of that, no one has to provide a 'reason' why they would like a refund at any time no matter the circumstances. If you're not satisfied you simply request the refund and we get you taken care of.

I understand anyone's frustration concerning our Chinese hacker attacks that began on Saturday, and yes, he or she is back again tonight as I type this. The 'small' good news is that we were able to contain them to only one remaining section, and that is being taken care of right now. We should be back online in a few more minutes.

The other good news that was explained to me tonight is that they have never had any access to our database. What this means is that at no time has anyone's name, email address, address, username, etc. been shared with the hacker. And as I hope is clear in our User Agreement, we never store anyone's financial information. Instead, your credit card info is sent to a third party banking site through encrypted text, and its one of the oldest and most trusted processing sites on the Internet (Authorize.Net). Even I, the owner of the site, can only see someone's last four digits of their credit card, and that's only done if I need to search for their transaction.

I will report back here tonight once I have received the 'all clear' phone call again from our IT folks. I'm sorry.

TourGuideMiKE

(P.S. Our 'Contact Us' form link is at the bottom of any page on the site, both public and while logged in. Please use it once we're back online if you need to request a refund.)

 

[skipperkim]

Abbyandangel, I am very, very sorry that this has been your experience with my web site and service. If you don't have time to utilize the AVP for this vacation because of our downtimes, by all means PLEASE let me provide you with a full refund. And, btw, this applies to anyone else out there who purchased over the last few days and will not have time to plan before you leave. On top of that, no one has to provide a 'reason' why they would like a refund at any time no matter the circumstances. If you're not satisfied you simply request the refund and we get you taken care of.

I understand anyone's frustration concerning our Chinese hacker attacks that began on Saturday, and yes, he or she is back again tonight as I type this. The 'small' good news is that we were able to contain them to only one remaining section, and that is being taken care of right now. We should be back online in a few more minutes.

The other good news that was explained to me tonight is that they have never had any access to our database. What this means is that at no time has anyone's name, email address, address, username, etc. been shared with the hacker. And as I hope is clear in our User Agreement, we never store anyone's financial information. Instead, your credit card info is sent to a third party banking site through encrypted text, and its one of the oldest and most trusted processing sites on the Internet (Authorize.Net). Even I, the owner of the site, can only see someone's last four digits of their credit card, and that's only done if I need to search for their transaction.

I will report back here tonight once I have received the 'all clear' phone call again from our IT folks. I'm sorry.

TourGuideMiKE

(P.S. Our 'Contact Us' form link is at the bottom of any page on the site, both public and while logged in. Please use it once we're back online if you need to request a refund.)

Now that's service!! It's a sad world we live in when people would want to ruin other peoples happiness, especially at the happiest place on earth

 

[mdoc]

..

 

[VMK_Mouse]

They will gladly refund your money. Mike does not like being down anymore than we like it. Please do not stress about it, he will give you a full refund, no questions asked. They are wonderful over there.

 

[TourGuideMiKE]

Concerning the unhappiness/refund concerns: I would, of course, prefer that you have full access to the site, 24 hours per day, any day, and be able to plan a wonderful vacation to Walt Disney World. After all, that's why anyone decides to make the purchase -- because they believe they'll be able to do so ...

I'm reporting back as promised to let everyone who reads this to know that the site is now back up again after more thorough searches and revisions. It did take longer than anticipated, but I believe the research and changes will definitely be worth the extra wait. It's basically come down to 'us vs. them,' but my IT gentleman believes he found their only remaining way in this evening and has protected us further with additional 'shield' coding.

If you're on the fence about using or purchasing access to tourguidemike.com, and I soooo easily understand if you are, let's wait for at least 48 hours and see if we have any more issues. We basically want to get past the 24-hour period, but two days will be an even better indication that we have finally ridden ourselves of this hacker and he or she will most likely move on to an easier target. It is frustrating on our end to say the least ...

We honestly believe the problem has been solved completely, but please do whatever is best for YOU.

Again, thank you to the DISboards.com Forums for allowing me to address these issues publicly. Happy planning to everyone!

TourGuideMiKE

 

[Sir Ron]

Great customer service as usual, TGM!

 

[Jordan'sMom]

TGM is back up!

 

[Grumpy_Disney_Dad]

Parts of the site are back up , but it still wont let you create an AVP if you just joined

 

[TourGuideMiKE]

The code that was put in place to block the hacker was not allowing the AVP's to process, unfortunately. That is now fixed as of about an hour ago. I am going through each one affected and processing them myself. Each AVP requires 4 to 5 minutes to process its Questionnaire.

To ensure I don't miss anyone I am processing them by their purchase time/day. I'll do yours next "GrumpyDad" and report back here in about 10 min. to let you know you can login. Thanks for your patience, and I apologize.

Any new AVP's purchased since the fix have been fine, and so far our Chinese friend or friends has/have been blocked successfully. On a 'really weird' news point: The hacker is originating from an anti-General Motors / anti-American web site based out of China. Why TGM was picked to hack & hurt, I have no idea. I've been really nice to every Chinese person I've ever met, including all of those employed at Epcot's Chinese pavilion ...



TourGuideMiKE

 

[Brian Noble]

You mean TGM isn't The General Motors?

 

[TourGuideMiKE]

GDD, you're all set!