Passes NOT a good deal...

[jenergy]

I need to start taking notes off this thread...I am HORRIBLE with money!

 

[southlake]

I've disputed a handful of charges in my years of having credit cards, and not once have I ever lost a dispute. The credit card companies tend to rule in the consumer's favor - but I've also had a legitimate claim for every dispute I've made, which is why I've won them all. This is why I have faith in my credit card companies, they've always backed me up when a company was making "errors" in their own favor. I've never had a problem with them.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I've disputed a handful of charges in my years of having credit cards, and not once have I ever lost a dispute. The credit card companies tend to rule in the consumer's favor - but I've also had a legitimate claim for every dispute I've made, which is why I've won them all. This is why I have faith in my credit card companies, they've always backed me up when a company was making "errors" in their own favor. I've never had a problem with them.

I have to say I've never had any trouble with my various CC companies either. They take off the item without anything more than a phone call and then send me a new card and number if the number was stolen. And I've never had any odd or random fees charged either. Not that things couldn't happen. It could. But if it did, it still isn't money out of my account until I decide to pay it.

Anyway, I didn't mean to start a whole new topic of CC vs debit cards. I just thought I'd offer another idea to other people who are thinking of using a debit card for a purchase like this that involves a series of payments or even a large one time purchase.

 

[larina]

Went to my Credit Union and had to pay the 120.00 in fees.. We have never had a overdrft so I guess my credit union is not one that "forgives". I will now be contacting Disney to let them know how unhappy I am with the mistake they made...

You need to talk to someone else!

I did talk to the branch manager.. she basically said it is Disneys responsibility to cover the charges.. I called Disney and was transfered 4 times.. now they will call me back.. This sure takes the "magic" out of Disney for me.. Something tells me I am just flat out stuck paying that 120.00...

I don't understand. Just keep at it. It will be a 'process' but it can be handled.

...this is all because of Disney.. if they had not taken the 998 out I would not have had any overdraft charges.. we shall see what they do but I am almost positive it will be nothing..

Ummm, no way! Would you really accept that? I'm a take no prisoners sort and just would not accept this. The bank needs to reverse the fees and then Disney needs to handle the rest (perhaps paying back the fees, but your CU should have returned them yesterday for you. You have paperwork, right?

... Guess I am in a pity party mood.. that was a lot of money to waste!

Again you say it like it is over. Keep at it and it will get fixed.

OP...knowing and having proof are two different things. You need the proof to help you through this problem. Your printed receipt will tell you how you set up buying the tickets, and the price you should have been charged.

 

[pixiewings71]

We recently went away on an overnight trip. Upon returned we discovered the hotel charged us for two nights, one at the promotional rate and one at the rack rate. It was an error. I called and called and called and got it straightened out with them. It was just an error in their system where both rates were applied for one night each instead of one rate overriding the other. BUT... and my point... it had to be discovered before they could fix it.

- Dreams

OK I edited, but wanted to quote this part for my response here. We had this happen at the API once, we were booked to check in on Friday and check out on Sunday, we decided to leave Thursday night and drive as far as we could before we had to stop to sleep. Well we ended up making it all the way so we called the API and asked if they had space for us, they said yes so we went and checked in. Once there we explained that we were one day early and just wanted to "add on" to our stay, they did have a room but the same room we were going to be in, we said that was fine, checked in and fell asleep. The next day we switched rooms to our originally reserved room. Stayed until Sunday, checked out and went home. A few days later I checked my cc and there was an additional charge for 1 night. I called the API directly and they said we hadn't checked in and that was the standard fee for no shows, I explained what happened and that we had actually checked in 1 day early. They immediately processed a credit, I didn't even have to dispute it with my cc.

I actually don't agree, you can end up with a mess of charges from traditional credit cards.

My recommendation is to use a prepaid card that has no monthly fees and no fees for adding money via direct deposit. You can usually deposit to these from your bank's website. Deposit just enough money to cover the appropriate monthly charges, then there is no way that they can take more money.

You are not out the money and don't end up with late fees and intrest charges that the credit card companies will find a way to charge you, even if you dispute some or all of the charges.


Now, as for what to do:

1. Print out ALL documentation that you have.
2. Call your bank and contest the charges.
3. Take that to the bank and speak with the bank manager, asking nicely to reverse the charges.
4. Call the Disneyland Resort and ask by name for the Vice President (You should be able to find this through a Google search). I say ask for vice president, as very few actually do this and you will usually get a better response.
5. Send an email to all Disney and Disneyland CEOs and copy the consumerist tip line at tips@consumerist.com

These steps should work with any company, you may sometimes skip the calling part; however, it has worked every time that I have had an issue. Be sure to be nice in all correspondence, but be firm about what you expect to be done.

For example in this instance, I think the following is reasonable to ask of Disney:

• They immediately refund all money
• They repay all overdraft fees that the bank refuses to refund
• They skip the first two monthly payments for the hassle that this has caused. After that they will deduct the monthly payment amount as agreed, meaning that your payments will not be higher, but they will eat the cost of the first two payments.
• They contact your bank and get them to erase allr ecords of there ever having been an overdraft charge, explaining that it was their fault and not yours.

Get all promises in writing though (email is acceptable, but a letter mailed to you would be preferred)

Just for the record, this happens a lot with the online system, which is why I will only renew in person now when doing the monthly payment plan.

I've never had any problems with disputes on my CC's, I've never had additional charges or anything of the kind, the dispute has always been settled in my favor. Now, I don't go crazy and dispute things all the time, so maybe that's why, but I've always had a favorable result with that. I do agree with the list of what Disney should do, I would use the 2 months of no payments as a bargaining chip but it's a good list! And thanks for the info on it happening a lot with the online system. My trans was OK so far, they only charged me for the down and first month, my plan is to call them before this months payment is due and change the card it's auto-billed to.

This is incorrect. When you dispute a charge on a credit card, you do not owe payment on the charge while it is in dispute. You also do not owe interest on any charge that is separated by dispute. There is no late fee or interest charged on a disputed charge - which is why it's to a consumer's benefit to put purchases such as these on a credit card instead of a debit card.

This has been my experience as well

Good luck OP, please don't give up on this!!!!!!

 

[OctoberDisney]

I ordered our APs on the same day that you did, OP. I chose the payment plan option as well. Later that night I received our confirmation email with both the e-tickets AND the payment plan contract attached.

I haven't seen where you have answered that question. Do you have the contract showing what you agreed to pay and when? If so, I can't see where you should have an issue with either Disneyland OR your bank. If you are persistent with both, you should end up getting what you ordered without paying additional fees.

Don't give up!

 

[furb & dez]

Seeing as the OP still hasn't shown any proof that she has a receipt stating that she actually did sign up for a payment plan (despite MULTIPLE posts from others about asking why she just doesn't get her receipt and show the CU...), I'm guessing she didn't sign up for the plan and is glossing over that to make herself look better.

 

[dana278]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how a bank/credit union is going to care what box you checked when you bought the tickets. Just because your receipt says you opted for a payment plan doesn't mean they have any obligation to refund your fees. If anything, her issue is with Disney.

Like others have said, this is why I don't use my debit card online. I use credit and then immediately do a transfer from my checking account to pay off the "bill." Just one little error, like a computer somewhere along the line adding an extra 0 onto the end of the transaction, can cause all sorts of problems with your checking account.

 

[sonnyjane]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how a bank/credit union is going to care what box you checked when you bought the tickets. Just because your receipt says you opted for a payment plan doesn't mean they have any obligation to refund your fees. If anything, her issue is with Disney.

.

I think what we are getting at is that the OP hasn't yet confirmed that they DID in fact sign up for the payment plan and not the option to just pay in full accidentally. Others that signed up for the payment plan also received a contract stating that they did so. The OP hasn't said yet if they got that contract. If the OP simply thought that they signed up for the payment plan but didn't really, then the issue is with neither the credit union nor Disney...

 

[pixiewings71]

I think what we are getting at is that the OP hasn't yet confirmed that they DID in fact sign up for the payment plan and not the option to just pay in full accidentally. Others that signed up for the payment plan also received a contract stating that they did so. The OP hasn't said yet if they got that contract. If the OP simply thought that they signed up for the payment plan but didn't really, then the issue is with neither the credit union nor Disney...

Yes, this. I signed up for the payment plan and had no issues, I also received my contract via email immediately. If there had been a problem I would absolutely have gone to my CU right away, and yes, I would have expected them to help me with this issue. I also would have contacted Disney, and would have continued to contact Disney until I spoke with someone. Hopefully the OP has her contract and will be able to get the charges fixed.

 

[southlake]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how a bank/credit union is going to care what box you checked when you bought the tickets. Just because your receipt says you opted for a payment plan doesn't mean they have any obligation to refund your fees. If anything, her issue is with Disney.

Exactly. Why should the CU cover for another company's error? They legitimately did their job, which was to cover OP in the case of her account going in to the negative. There are posts on this thread telling OP to request a refund of her OD fees from her CU, AND telling her to ask Disney for reimbursement. Well you don't get both. If this is truly Disney's fault, Disney owes OP compensation for the OD fees, not the CU. In no way is the CU at fault in this so they shouldn't be expected to take a loss!

Legally, if OP were to take the CU to court over not reversing her OD fees, she'd lose. The CU has done nothing wrong here. Disney has (supposedly).

 

[cmwade77]

Yes, this. I signed up for the payment plan and had no issues, I also received my contract via email immediately. If there had been a problem I would absolutely have gone to my CU right away, and yes, I would have expected them to help me with this issue. I also would have contacted Disney, and would have continued to contact Disney until I spoke with someone. Hopefully the OP has her contract and will be able to get the charges fixed.

I have not had this issue myself, but I always renew in person. I have known enough people that have renewed online or via mail that have had this problem to make sure that I am extremely careful when it comes to renewing on the payment plan. This is a common occurance from what I have seen. Yes, lots of people have no issues but a lot do, so I see no reason to doubt the OP.

And actually the bank has a duty to reverse the charges and the fees if they we're made fraudulently. In other words if they have the contract that shows the monthly payment amount and then Disney took the full amount, they committed fraud. Since this is done on a credit (debit card with the Visa, MasterCard, etc. logo), the bank is responsible to take care of fraud and then go after the company that committed the fraud, providing you tried to resolve it with the company. My earlier suggestion covers both parts. Remember to file the claim within 60 days though.

 

[cyclenut]

Exactly. Why should the CU cover for another company's error? They legitimately did their job, which was to cover OP in the case of her account going in to the negative. There are posts on this thread telling OP to request a refund of her OD fees from her CU, AND telling her to ask Disney for reimbursement. Well you don't get both. If this is truly Disney's fault, Disney owes OP compensation for the OD fees, not the CU. In no way is the CU at fault in this so they shouldn't be expected to take a loss!

Legally, if OP were to take the CU to court over not reversing her OD fees, she'd lose. The CU has done nothing wrong here. Disney has (supposedly).

CMWade covered it well. The point is, the CU determines when it will and will not charge fees. It can opt to reverse those charges and, when the member shows that the initial charges that subsequently caused the overdraft were in error, the CU has an obligation to reverse those charges.

Aside from that, it is good customer service to ensure that the member is made whole when the member makes the CU aware that an error occured. The CU incurs very little cost related to an overdraft and therefore suffers little "damage" when those overdraft charges are reversed.

 

[fctiger]

Seeing as the OP still hasn't shown any proof that she has a receipt stating that she actually did sign up for a payment plan (despite MULTIPLE posts from others about asking why she just doesn't get her receipt and show the CU...), I'm guessing she didn't sign up for the plan and is glossing over that to make herself look better.

Well I can tell you without a doubt I DID sign up for the payment plan and I have not recieved a reciept either! Trust me, I carefully picked over everything before I clicked send and I'm in the exact same boat as the OP!

BUT, as I said waaay earlier I sent Disney an email about it about 10 days ago now and if I didnt get anything today I was going to call them again. Sure enough I didnt get an email so I called for the THIRD time, I got through 3 people this time and FINALLY the operator simply told me that YES the computer has had problems in the past with this sort of thing and ALL I need to do is just go to the ticket booths at the park the day I plan to go to the park and they can switch it over no problem! In fact she said they have switched over people who DID want to pay in full and changed their minds later the first few weeks! I'm guessing people who realized that huge investment later on. She said it wont be a problem, just as long as I am a California resident and even less so since I'm just renewing anyway and I will be refunded through my bank. And I'm going on Sunday since I have to work on Saturday to get it corrected. I will be there next Thursday but I dont want ANY red flags on the day I go so I will go on Sunday and get it straighten it all out then.

So OP, YES you can at least switch it to back to the payment plan and no you dont even need a receipt saying that you asked for that in TERMS of switching it back and getting your money back. Now the overdraft thing I dont know and obviously thats a bit different. But at least you will not be charged nearly $800 even if you will lose some money sadly. Anyway when I come back Sunday I will let you know if they took care of it and if you want, I can ask them any questions on your behalf. Just type it here by tomrrow or send me a PM!

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how a bank/credit union is going to care what box you checked when you bought the tickets. Just because your receipt says you opted for a payment plan doesn't mean they have any obligation to refund your fees. If anything, her issue is with Disney.

Like others have said, this is why I don't use my debit card online. I use credit and then immediately do a transfer from my checking account to pay off the "bill." Just one little error, like a computer somewhere along the line adding an extra 0 onto the end of the transaction, can cause all sorts of problems with your checking account.

Yeah I learned my lesson lol. ALTHOUGH I had no plans to even order it online! I was originally going to just show up at the park last week before my old pass expired. But then I read here about the price jump in two freakin days, PANICED and litterally 20 mins later just ordered it online! If it wasnt for that, I wouldve just did it at the ticket booth. And of course I read later on they were accepting renewals at the old price until July anyway. Oh well!

 

[larina]

I'm not suggesting she get both refunds. In my experiences with two different banks the bank refunded the overdraft AND helped deal with fixing the funky charges. I can't believe this CU doesn't have the same, if not better, customer service policies.

 

[Bob763]

I did notice when signing up that even though I selected the payment plan it did not carry over when I went to checkout. So its possible they selected it but not notice that the amount being charged was actually full price.

 

[fctiger]

Ok so I went to the park today JUST to resolve the issue of the full payment as I was TOLD to do!

So got to the ticket booth, explained the situation, for litterally the 12th time and they felt bad of course. So the attendent got her manager who explained to me A. DONT use the online services to renew or buy tickets because apparantly it happens alot and B. that what happened was when I put in my order to renew, it was the same time ALOT of people renewed online to get their orders in before the price increase (which I was doing as well) and it backed up all the orders! So there was a lot of confusion and long story short, the computer did list me as paying full price.

So I thought, ok, I'm at the window, talking to a (very nice) human being, it will take 5 mins to clear it up and the pass will be fine, money returned, lots of sorrys and maybe a free room for a week at GCH to ease my pain. Yeah, not exactly lol. So I was told that the 'issue resolution' team have to look at it first and decide 'the next step'. Yeah, seriously! And of course they already went home for the day. So basically going to the window was a waste of time in one way, but on the other, NO MORE useless emails and being passed from one operator to the other. Now my situation is on 'high priority' and they will call me tomorrow. I asked them who can I call if they dont, and I was told 'they will call you!" Oookay!

I mean this has gotten comical at this point. Three phone calls, two emails, showing up AT the park and 12 people later and its still not resolved! I told the attendant ALL I care about is its resolved by Thursday, period. I'm not really worried and I know they will comp me in if they have to, as they were willing to do today, but I passed. But its still the principle! THEY messed up and I been as patient as I could and I done everything they have said to no prevail. So we'll see what happens tomorrow. But I cant believe nearly 3 weeks on, I'm still dealing with something as simple as just switching an AP over to a montly payment program. Its a bit insane.

Anyway, will keep you posted tomorrow!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

good luck

 

[pixiewings71]

Exactly. Why should the CU cover for another company's error? They legitimately did their job, which was to cover OP in the case of her account going in to the negative. There are posts on this thread telling OP to request a refund of her OD fees from her CU, AND telling her to ask Disney for reimbursement. Well you don't get both. If this is truly Disney's fault, Disney owes OP compensation for the OD fees, not the CU. In no way is the CU at fault in this so they shouldn't be expected to take a loss!

Legally, if OP were to take the CU to court over not reversing her OD fees, she'd lose. The CU has done nothing wrong here. Disney has (supposedly).

No one said the CU did anything wrong. However, my CU would give me a "good faith" deposit to refund the fees temporarily until I could get the refund from Disney. All I would have needed to do was take the contract in to the bank and the funds would have been replaced. The refund from Disney would be deposited into my account at the bank, thus giving the bank their money. It isn't a double refund, altho I can see how it may sound that way to you.

Well I can tell you without a doubt I DID sign up for the payment plan and I have not recieved a reciept either! Trust me, I carefully picked over everything before I clicked send and I'm in the exact same boat as the OP!

BUT, as I said waaay earlier I sent Disney an email about it about 10 days ago now and if I didnt get anything today I was going to call them again. Sure enough I didnt get an email so I called for the THIRD time, I got through 3 people this time and FINALLY the operator simply told me that YES the computer has had problems in the past with this sort of thing and ALL I need to do is just go to the ticket booths at the park the day I plan to go to the park and they can switch it over no problem! In fact she said they have switched over people who DID want to pay in full and changed their minds later the first few weeks! I'm guessing people who realized that huge investment later on. She said it wont be a problem, just as long as I am a California resident and even less so since I'm just renewing anyway and I will be refunded through my bank. And I'm going on Sunday since I have to work on Saturday to get it corrected. I will be there next Thursday but I dont want ANY red flags on the day I go so I will go on Sunday and get it straighten it all out then.

So OP, YES you can at least switch it to back to the payment plan and no you dont even need a receipt saying that you asked for that in TERMS of switching it back and getting your money back. Now the overdraft thing I dont know and obviously thats a bit different. But at least you will not be charged nearly $800 even if you will lose some money sadly. Anyway when I come back Sunday I will let you know if they took care of it and if you want, I can ask them any questions on your behalf. Just type it here by tomrrow or send me a PM!



Yeah I learned my lesson lol. ALTHOUGH I had no plans to even order it online! I was originally going to just show up at the park last week before my old pass expired. But then I read here about the price jump in two freakin days, PANICED and litterally 20 mins later just ordered it online! If it wasnt for that, I wouldve just did it at the ticket booth. And of course I read later on they were accepting renewals at the old price until July anyway. Oh well!

My plan was to simply buy hoppers from AAA and then upgrade at the park, when they announced the HUGE price increase I decided to buy the APs online instead. I bought the Saturday before the increase and I got my contract via email in less than 10 minutes. I wish everyone had received theirs that quickly!

 

[Briarrose1306]

Slightly off topic but to insure this doesn't happen to me as well, would it be a better idea to just go to the window once I get there to get my AP on a payment plan rather than doing it online? I've always done it online in the past to save time but the last thing I want is to have $800 less in my account because of an error that apparently can't be fixed immediately. I know people have said in the past to never buy passes from the window because that's where they're most expensive, but I'd imagine the APs are the same price everywhere, correct? Has anyone had the same problem previously talked about when setting up a payment plan at the ticket booths?