Payment via Gift Card (Target Deal) - ERRORS. Help!

[MindyMouse76]

Hello!

Not sure if this is the right board to post this or not. I heard about the deal that you can purchase $50 Disney Gift Cards at Target and save the 5% RedCard Discount. I thought this would be perfect for me. Target is under a mile from my house and I have a Target RedCard. So on Friday I purchased four $50 Disney Gift Cards at Target. I paid $190 for it. I was so happy. Came home and verified the balance online. Everything was correct. Then a few hours later I called Disney to make a payment on my vacation. I told the CM that I had 4 Gift Cards. He said no problem. I gave him the first Gift Card Number. He said he confirmed the $50 balance on it and then goes ahead to make a full $50 payment. He then says "oh". Apparently he then received a "Communication Error". The balance was then down to 0, but would never apply to my vacation. He was clueless. He then goes ahead and tries the other three. The other three work fine. He said there is nothing he can do and that I have to call the Disney Gift Card number. I was very upset. Thought I could be treated better than that. Maybe like a three way call or something. I then go ahead and call that number for Disney Gift Cards. They wrote down my information, but said Accounting would have to follow up on Monday since it was late in the day on Friday. Have you ever heard of this before? Any suggestions? I really want to purchase more Gift Cards at Target to save the 5%, but VERY nervous after the situation that happened on Friday. Especially with my full balance is due in about a month. Any chance Disney will take additional money off or compensate me at all for what happened? Currently I am still without the $50 from that one gift card. I received an invoice via email from my payment on Friday and only shows the other three gift cards.

Any suggestions would be great. Not sure what to do.

Thanks again!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Usually there is an 800# on the card to check the balance. Have you tryed to call and see what the balance is?

 

[jgreco]

Hello!

Not sure if this is the right board to post this or not. I heard about the deal that you can purchase $50 Disney Gift Cards at Target and save the 5% RedCard Discount. I thought this would be perfect for me. Target is under a mile from my house and I have a Target RedCard. So on Friday I purchased four $50 Disney Gift Cards at Target. I paid $190 for it. I was so happy. Came home and verified the balance online. Everything was correct. Then a few hours later I called Disney to make a payment on my vacation. I told the CM that I had 4 Gift Cards. He said no problem. I gave him the first Gift Card Number. He said he confirmed the $50 balance on it and then goes ahead to make a full $50 payment. He then says "oh". Apparently he then received a "Communication Error". The balance was then down to 0, but would never apply to my vacation. He was clueless. He then goes ahead and tries the other three. The other three work fine. He said there is nothing he can do and that I have to call the Disney Gift Card number. I was very upset. Thought I could be treated better than that. Maybe like a three way call or something. I then go ahead and call that number for Disney Gift Cards. They wrote down my information, but said Accounting would have to follow up on Monday since it was late in the day on Friday. Have you ever heard of this before? Any suggestions? I really want to purchase more Gift Cards at Target to save the 5%, but VERY nervous after the situation that happened on Friday. Especially with my full balance is due in about a month. Any chance Disney will take additional money off or compensate me at all for what happened? Currently I am still without the $50 from that one gift card. I received an invoice via email from my payment on Friday and only shows the other three gift cards.

Any suggestions would be great. Not sure what to do.

Thanks again!

Frustrating, I am sure you will get it straightened out. I would not expect any additional compensation from Disney. "Stuff" happens and the guy on the phone works in a call center and has no means to fix your card. It is likely a 3rd party company like a bank that manages their gift cards. He was powerless, accounting was closed, but at least you are saving 5%! I would not be too worried about buying more cards. I am sure its an isolated incident.

 

[dvcnewgirl]

This happened to me. Call the number on the back verify that the money is there. Then call Disney back in a day or two. It will be fine

 

[brekin67]

Check the gift card balance on the Disney website. Maybe it will show the error more quickly. http://www.disneygiftcard.com/manage/

Is it possible the CM made a mistake when putting in the numbers?

I would try to enter the gift card number again on the Disney website and see what happens.

Good luck, I know that can be stressful.

 

[bearloch]

try contacting target? you have the receipt that you bought the gift cards! you still have them! maybe they can reissue a new one?

 

[yeahdisney]

It also happened to me with $800 worth of gifts Target Disney gift cards cards. The CM but them in wrong. I was in town without the purchasing receipt. I was going pay my DVC dues while waiting for the kids at the dentist. Went to target he said he couldn't do anything without a receipt. Remembered about the 800 number, that person said they were fine. Next day called got a different CM and they all worked fine.

 

[MindyMouse76]

Thanks for the quick reply's.

I had called the 800 number on the back of the card on Friday. That is how she verified the balance was now 0 and just went to 0 a few minutes earlier (when I was attempting to make the payment). She is the one that said Accounting will work on it on Monday.

Glad to know I am not the only one with the issue.

 

[MindyMouse76]

This happened to me. Call the number on the back verify that the money is there. Then call Disney back in a day or two. It will be fine

Did you continue to purchase additional GC's for your payments? I feel nervous buying any more for my payments that are still outstanding.

Very interesting that I was not the only one that this happened to.

Thanks again!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Interesting! I hope it works out for you soon and I know it must be frustrating! I've used thousands of dollars doing it this way and luckily, I've never had an issue.

Please update us and let us know what happens. It sounds like even though he keyed it wrong, it still went through somehow but yet didn't give you the credit for it since you mentioned it dropped to 0 right after you called? I hope they can see that it was "used" by DCL and get it straightened out for you!

Ps. Since you mentioned this was fairly new to you as well - make sure you keep EVERY card until after your trip. I'm not sure you knew that if you have to cancel for any reason, the refunds will be refunded back to the gift cards. Each time I redeem one I write on the back in a red sharpie, the date, the sailing and the amount of the card.

Heather

 

[msmayor]

In the retail store I work in, we handle third party gift cards just like these.

I hate them.

Unfortunately, as soon as the card is 'swiped' or the number keyed for processing, the funds are stripped from the card electronically. If the merchant (in this case, Disney) has a communication error or processing error on their hardware, the transaction may not complete on their end but as far as the issuer of the card is concerned, the money is now off the card.

Fortunately, it only takes a little bit of time and effort on the part of the issuer (with cooperation from either the merchant or the card owner) to remedy the situation.

When we've had this type of thing happen where I work, we get on the phone with the card issuer and after a few minutes they are able to 'see' that the transaction did not complete. They can then restore the balance to the card and the transaction can be re-done.

It should be fine.

 

[MindyMouse76]

In the retail store I work in, we handle third party gift cards just like these.

I hate them.

Unfortunately, as soon as the card is 'swiped' or the number keyed for processing, the funds are stripped from the card electronically. If the merchant (in this case, Disney) has a communication error or processing error on their hardware, the transaction may not complete on their end but as far as the issuer of the card is concerned, the money is now off the card.

Fortunately, it only takes a little bit of time and effort on the part of the issuer (with cooperation from either the merchant or the card owner) to remedy the situation.

When we've had this type of thing happen where I work, we get on the phone with the card issuer and after a few minutes they are able to 'see' that the transaction did not complete. They can then restore the balance to the card and the transaction can be re-done.

It should be fine.

Thanks for this information. This is very helpful. I wish the CM I was on the phone with on Friday would of done this. He didn't seem willing to do anything. That is what was so frustrating. I will keep everyone posted. The more I think about it, I am just going to use my Credit Card for the remainder of the balance. The cost savings isn't that much (for the balance I have left).

Thanks.

 

[msmayor]

Its always tempting to find ways to get the most discount possible...and under normal circumstances where everything goes as planned its a great way to save some money.

But unfortunately, as soon as there is a change to a reservation that results in money needing to be refunded, or a cancellation of the trip...the resulting transaction can be frustrating.

Merchants are generally ALWAYS going to refund monies in the same manner they were paid, so while folks using these gift cards have saved initially you have to (a) save the card until you know for sure the funds are actually spent without a chance of any refund and (b) make SURE they are in fact re-loadable.

Many of today's third-party gift cards actually say on the back "NON-RELOADABLE" which means the money only goes one-way. It comes off the card, it can't go back in the form of a refund. Merchants resist refunding in any other manner. My retailer will only provide store credit...we will not refund on another card or in cash. It can create a real hassle.

I personally only use third-party gift cards to buy groceries. The chances of me returning them are slim to none.

 

[SUSIEQ]

Its always tempting to find ways to get the most discount possible...and under normal circumstances where everything goes as planned its a great way to save some money.

But unfortunately, as soon as there is a change to a reservation that results in money needing to be refunded, or a cancellation of the trip...the resulting transaction can be frustrating.

Merchants are generally ALWAYS going to refund monies in the same manner they were paid, so while folks using these gift cards have saved initially you have to (a) save the card until you know for sure the funds are actually spent without a chance of any refund and (b) make SURE they are in fact re-loadable.

Many of today's third-party gift cards actually say on the back "NON-RELOADABLE" which means the money only goes one-way. It comes off the card, it can't go back in the form of a refund. Merchants resist refunding in any other manner. My retailer will only provide store credit...we will not refund on another card or in cash. It can create a real hassle.

I personally only use third-party gift cards to buy groceries. The chances of me returning them are slim to none.

Great info to keep in mind! Thanks!

 

[dvcnewgirl]

Did you continue to purchase additional GC's for your payments? I feel nervous buying any more for my payments that are still outstanding.

Very interesting that I was not the only one that this happened to.

Thanks again!

Yes it only happened on one and I used and I bought $1800 worth of giftcards. It did not process the first and then it showed the error. I waited a day and it cleared up. If you have the reciept you should be fine. Mine did show $50 when I called to check, but I am not sure if I checked right away.. I used the 5% and the pharmacy rewards for 10% off.

 

[dvcnewgirl]

Also the CM told me specifically to keep all of the giftcards because if a cancellation happens all of the money will be returned to the cards.

 

[robinb]

Did you continue to purchase additional GC's for your payments? I feel nervous buying any more for my payments that are still outstanding.

I bougt and used used over 50 gift cards from Target to pay for my December trip and DVC dues. I did not have a single problem. Everything will work out fine for you and they will track down your missing $$. No need to be nervous about buying more. Just make sure to save your used cards and receipts.