Positive DVA experiences?

[LISmama810]

So, I've read a lot about people's negative experiences with Disney Vacation Account. I'm wondering if that's the exception or the rule.

I'd like to hear about people's positive (or at least neutral) experiences, too. (I created an account a couple months ago and am trying to figure out if I should keep contributing or if I should forget the whole thing and request a refund.)

 

[Eandbmom]

We just used our DVA to pay off our trip in July. We did not have any issues with them at all. Now just waiting for the bonus gift card

 

[havaneselover]

Somehow I ended up with an extra $50 because of their technical problems. I called them to fix it but they couldn't understand what the issue was so I gave up.

But all in all it's okay if you understand it could be a huge pain in the butt. I paid for my cruise with it and the bonus is enough to cover one night at Pop Century before the cruise.

 

[Marionnette]

So, I've read a lot about people's negative experiences with Disney Vacation Account. I'm wondering if that's the exception or the rule.

I'd like to hear about people's positive (or at least neutral) experiences, too. (I created an account a couple months ago and am trying to figure out if I should keep contributing or if I should forget the whole thing and request a refund.)

I know that you're looking for positive or neutral experiences, so here's mine.

I opened a DVA for the purpose of putting all of my Disney GCs in one place and then using that account to pay for my DVC dues. At the time that I opened the account, there was no disneygiftcard .com website for combining Disney GCs. I used it to pay my dues and also to pay for a Food & Wine Premium Package and DVC AP voucher during that time period. It all worked just fine for making the purchases and I got my bonus GC (eventually). It took several requests.

I was among those who were locked out last year when the DVA website went bonkers and nobody could get in, but I did not need to get into my account at that time, so not a huge deal - just an annoyance. Neutral experience, since I had been proactive about making sure that I had ALL the numbers for my account (you actually need to sign in to your account to get the last 4? or 6? numbers).

I didn't use the auto-debit method for funding the DVA and boy was I glad I never did! A lot of people found that Disney double- and triple-debited their bank accounts last year. For some people, this caused their bank accounts to be overdrawn! Neutral experience for me, a big negative for others.

There have been posts by people who added Disney GCs to their account but their balances did not increase appropriately even though the GC was zero'd out. Another loss for someone else, not a loss for me. All of my GCs always went into the account correctly. Neutral experience...that's the way the website should always work!

Some people have canceled trips and it has triggered a big mess with their DVA as to where the refunded money went...bank account? GC? CC? Didn't happen to me, probably because I have never canceled anything associated with a transaction.

I closed my account this past spring after there were a few more rounds of the website being wonky and not allowing people to log in for several days. It didn't happen to me. It happened to other people who had multiple Disney online accounts that IT merged into one. again, a neutral experience. I have more than one Disney online account. So far, they have not been merged. If they did merge them, I'd hate to go through what those people went through to restore access to their DVA.

Overall, my reason for getting out of the DVA entirely is because of what happened to other people. I don't have to wait for it to happen to me. I'd rather avoid dealing with a system that has proven itself to be fraught with problems.

 

[momto4obkids]

I paid for our tickets and rooms last year with it and had no problems. I put our deposit down this year with it and so ar so good.

 

[happily single]

Jumping in here. I see that some people mention getting bonuses for adding funds. I was just on the disney vacation account page and do not see any mention of available bonuses. How does that work?

 

[Marionnette]

Jumping in here. I see that some people mention getting bonuses for adding funds. I was just on the disney vacation account page and do not see any mention of available bonuses. How does that work?

You don't get any bonuses for adding funds. You only get bonuses for spending what you have in the account. The DVA will send you a $20 Disney GC bonus for every $1K that you spend from your account. It's not automatic (in most cases). You have to request it after you have spent the money on qualifying purchases.

 

[iivye]

I've had my DVA since June 2014 and have not had any issues. I use mine mainly for cruises. I combine all my gift cards and take advantage of the $20 for every $1,000 used.

 

[dcfromva]

I haven't made any conclusions, yet.

I opened the account about a year ago with $10.00 to get the clock started (for the bonus). But, negative feedback prevented me from further funding 'til about Dec of last year. I decided to stick with only funding with a CC. Two reasons for this: 1. I don't like to keep the empty gift cards--it's too confusing for me. So, I wouldn't want any refunds to go to a gift card I may have thrown away. 2. I have the CC dispute protection if the DVA gets all weird on me and "loses" my funds. (I do think Disney should have a better customer service resolution for this product.)

I started using my account when I bought some annual pass vouchers. The Disney web site allowed me to enter my DVA number to make the purchase, so it was pretty easy. I figure--why not get a bonus for making the purchase? Right now I am saving up to add the DDP on to my OCT reservations. (Well, I think I am going to add the DDP on. )

 

[calypso726]

We've been using it from the beginning. We fund with Disney GCs and have received our bonuses with no problems. We save the email confirmation for each funding transaction. On each GC I write the date I loaded it and the amount loaded and I also save the gift cards. We've used the DVA to pay for cruises, annual passes, DVC dues, Adventures by Disney trips, special events like Club Villain and Senses of Africa all with no problems. There has been the odd tech glitch here and there but nothing major and no missing funds. I've read all the horror stories too but I don't mind risking of a bit of hassle if it will save me $500 when maxing out an account.

 

[daisy_77]

I have used DVA for 2 trips and had never, EVER had an issue. Until this 3rd round. I wasn't able to log-on for about a week. Finally I called for help. They said I deleted my email from the account. So I had to force close it and get a refund. A week later, I get an email saying I just earned my bonus. Weird, especially since I was forced to close it since it did not recognize my email. Anyways, long story short. They "closed" my account again and I should be getting a gift card for $2000 in the mail within 6 weeks. Thank goodness my trip isn't until next year.

Honestly, I really think there are other ways to save for a Disney vacation. It really isn't worth the headache, or risk.

 

[QVCshopper]

We've had ours for about 6 months with no issues. But, I read reviews and have been very careful: I have all of the gift cards I've ever put in saved, I have my email and password written down, and I have the entire number, too. Using it to pay off an upcoming trip and will hopefully get the bonus as well.

 

[Jing]

I have been using it since early last year and am totally satisfied. I initially used it as a way to combine gift cards, but since you can now combine them in increments up to $1000 per card on disneygiftcard.com, I combine up to the max first, then make one deposit in the DVA (fewer GCs to keep tract of that way). I like that the account has FDIC protection whereas gift cards do not. I was locked out the same week as everyone else last summer, but since I already had my account number and was not using an auto-debit, I was not bothered by it.

The DVA site is every bit as glitchy as any other Disney site, so I have "lost" my account once for about an hour. I got all my bonuses, plus a random one when I hit another $1000 spent when I made the deposits for 2 additional trips this year. I like that the bonus accumulates by the dollar spent in total, not by dollar spent per trip. While the 2% bonus per $1000 is not much in comparison to other saving methods, it is a little cherry on top that is worth the additional 5 minutes of time to load a gift card onto the site.

 

[ksh1111]

I opened mine shortly after they started, have used it for a cruise and a Disneyland trip. There have been technical issues, and lock outs, but since I fund it with gift cards I purchase at Safeway in order to get gas rewards, I find it worth a little hassle. We hope to cruise again next year, but are also going to Disneyland again next year. I find it worth the risk, but I am not on a short timeline, so if there are issues, hoping it all gets sorted out before I need it!