Problem with Undercover Tourist and need advise please...

[winniedapooh]

Hello, Let me preface this by saying I have never had a problem with Undercover Tourist until now. I am unsure what to do or who to call and am looking for help please. If this does not belong here can the Mods please move it?

Here is our scenario:

My daughter purchased two Park Hopper tickets for WDW in late August for a December 2024 trip. Meanwhile, she got pregnant, they moved to another state and closed their bank account to a bank in their new state, and then the pregnancy became a high-risk pregnancy resulting in an abruption, clot, and bed rest. She canceled the tickets in early December as soon as this happened. She explained everything and offered a doctor's note, which they declined. They were very understanding in fact. She explained she had moved and had gotten a new bank account. They assured her it would be reissued to her in a check in January of 2025. She received an email saying a physical check would be sent to her by January 30th. If it was not received, she should call them immediately.

She waited and waited and called them again in early February. They apologized and then began the run-a-round. She has spoken to them no less than ten times since then. I have been on the calls with her and have explained it to them with her. I have asked them how they might feel if a business did this to them? They have told her twice they mailed it to her. They have told her they have reissued it. They have told her it was sent back to her bank twice and given her reference numbers to go go to the bank with. She has explained again again she does not have that bank any longer. She tried calling her bank, but because her account was closed they asked her to come in. She has gone to the bank an hour and half away three times to be told they never received anything and if it had come in they would not have or could not accept/ed it. They tell her a different thing every time she calls. She asks to speak to a supervisor. They assure her one will call back within two hours--they never have. They have disconnected her. She has offered a new bank account to use offered a new card number to use. I am at a loss and do not know what to tell her to do.

Fast forward to today she called again and the employee kept telling her she was talking to a supervisor about it, then she said there was no supervisor available, when my daughter said you just told me you were talking with a supervisor, she said no I said I was chatting with one, when my daughter said that is talking, she said no I am trying to contact one, my daughter again asked for clarification and refused a call back explaining again that she has been told that in the past and no one calls back. Finally, she was able to be transferred to a supervisor. He "apologized and said if he had the power he would get her a check today, he assured her he would call her right back". Sitting her three hours later waiting for a call back.

My daughter has been a lot more patient on the phone than some people might be. Does anyone have any suggestions at all on what to do? I am truly at a loss. Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Genie+]

Is anyone in your family going to WDW within the next year or 18 months?

It’s not as good as the cash back option, but you could apply the credit of the two unused expired hoppers bought to 2 new tickets purchased through Disney.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Can she re-open the old bank account with it's old account number?

 

[LoveToDisney]

I had a cancelled ticket that took a LONG time to credit back to my cc card. Not sure what happened. I just stayed nice to them and kept emailing back the chain of emails showing it had not been resolved. Once it finally was, they credited back the FULL amount. I think it took 3 months.

 

[lanejudy]

So sorry to hear of your DD's pregnancy complications.

It's unlikely the bank cashed a check that was made out to your DD. Did the check ever clear UT's bank account? If not, it's UT who still has the refund monies, whether or not they actually cut a check. If said check hasn't cleared, it's still in their account.

If by some fluke the check has been cashed... she needs to find out where it went. To some kind of holding account? To her old account? Where?

Can she ask UT to re-instate the tickets? I don't know if that's possible after-the-fact but might be worth a try. Then she'll have a credit with WDW to use towards future tickets. If that isn't possible, maybe UT will grant her a credit to buy new tickets through them -- which I would do immediately and then hold for a WDW credit.

 

[reddog21]

You can also check if the money was returned to your state treasurer as unclaimed. There's a website out there that tracks unclaimed money that ends with .org across the country so you don't have to find the individual state treasurer website. Usually the money has to be in limbo for longer than a couple of months to end up there but it's worth a check.

 

[LoveToDisney]

I assume they still acknowledge they owe the money to you and have not said the check is cashed. One time I had a check coming from somewhere and it never arrived after 3 weeks. A year later, a torn piece of the original check showed up in the mail from the post office…things can happen.

 

[winniedapooh]

Is anyone in your family going to WDW within the next year or 18 months?

It’s not as good as the cash back option, but you could apply the credit of the two unused expired hoppers bought to 2 new tickets purchased through Disney.

We already had our tickets ourselves when she canceled.

 

[winniedapooh]

Can she re-open the old bank account with it's old account number?

Tried that and no, not to mention they live 1 1/2 hours away now.

 

[winniedapooh]

So sorry to hear of your DD's pregnancy complications.

It's unlikely the bank cashed a check that was made out to your DD. Did the check ever clear UT's bank account? If not, it's UT who still has the refund monies, whether or not they actually cut a check. If said check hasn't cleared, it's still in their account.

If by some fluke the check has been cashed... she needs to find out where it went. To some kind of holding account? To her old account? Where?

Can she ask UT to re-instate the tickets? I don't know if that's possible after-the-fact but might be worth a try. Then she'll have a credit with WDW to use towards future tickets. If that isn't possible, maybe UT will grant her a credit to buy new tickets through them -- which I would do immediately and then hold for a WDW credit.

They have not cashed anything--it was an electronic transfer per both UT and the bank. The bank thinks she is crazy and cannot understand why she keeps asking. It is actually UT that keeps asking her to check. UT has acknowledged it has been sent electronically to them. The bank then says they cannot, will not, and would not accept something for a closed acct.

 

[winniedapooh]

You can also check if the money was returned to your state treasurer as unclaimed. There's a website out there that tracks unclaimed money that ends with .org across the country so you don't have to find the individual state treasurer website. Usually the money has to be in limbo for longer than a couple of months to end up there but it's worth a check.

Checked and nothing, but that is a good suggestion!

 

[winniedapooh]

I assume they still acknowledge they owe the money to you and have not said the check is cashed. One time I had a check coming from somewhere and it never arrived after 3 weeks. A year later, a torn piece of the original check showed up in the mail from the post office…things can happen.

They do acknowledge they owe her money, have sent an email stating they would send her a physical check (January 2025), then sent it electronically to a bank she has no account with. If we could get one supervisor over there that did not tell her five different things and seemed as though they cared...not to mention NO ONE EVER CALLS BACK. We are still waiting for Wednesday's call back.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

it was an electronic transfer per both UT and the bank.

The bank then says they cannot, will not, and would not accept something for a closed acct.

These two things contradict each other. If the bank acknowledged it was an electronic transfer how can they turn around and say they don't have the capabilities nor if they did would they accept an electronic transfer from a closed account? That would come across that the bank would have the information that a transfer was attempted but stopped on their end because the account the funds were intended for was closed. Have they stated this? It would point to attempts on UT's side of getting your daughter the money.

email stating they would send her a physical check (January 2025)

Couple of things come to mind that perhaps they did send a physical check but it was to her old address and either they had to stop the check on their end or it came back to them as the person no longer lives at that address. That can cause delays.

IF indeed they actually sent a physical check I did want to mention in my metro they are having a big big big problem with checks being taken out of USPS mail drop boxes and the checks being washed (names or other information changed on the check where someone else is cashing it out) so much so that they are telling people to not use the mail drop boxes after hours, the last collection of the day and to just use the mail box directly attached to the post office as well as police patrolling post offices (which seems to have helped quite a lot), but ultimately sending paper checks is not advisable at the moment in my area. So far they've been able to state more than $2million in my county alone has been fraudulently stolen from people by means of washing and in a very short time period.

It is possible for a business to electronically request a physical check be sent out (the bank sends the check on behalf of the customer rather than the customer doing the check themselves) but I'm assuming you mean they requested a electronic transfer from their account directly into her account.

 

[lanejudy]

They have not cashed anything--it was an electronic transfer per both UT and the bank.

They do acknowledge they owe her money, have sent an email stating they would send her a physical check (January 2025)

Unless the timeline is backwards, this indicates that UT attempted an electronic transfer that was rejected by the bank, and thus UT acknowledges they owe a physical check.

Or is that timeline backwards? Instead of a physical check they attempted an electronic transfer to a closed account and the result is currently "unknown" because the bank says they didn't/wouldn't accept but the funds were removed from UT's bank account?

I'm guessing the purchase was made by debit card rather than a credit card. I understand many people don't want to use credit cards but this is one instance where purchasing with a credit card would/could have resolved the matter weeks ago.

Is she sure the tickets (credit) are no longer in her MDE? Can she call WDW and see if she has a ticket credit?

 

[gottalovepluto]

They do acknowledge they owe her money, have sent an email stating they would send her a physical check (January 2025), then sent it electronically to a bank she has no account with. If we could get one supervisor over there that did not tell her five different things and seemed as though they cared...not to mention NO ONE EVER CALLS BACK. We are still waiting for Wednesday's call back.

Her only options then are consumer advocacy type things like Elliott or BBB as she's too late to chargeback and I doubt she wants to take them to small claims court.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Instead of a physical check they attempted an electronic transfer to a closed account and the result is currently "unknown" because the bank says they didn't/wouldn't accept but the funds were removed from UT's bank account?

Which would seem logical to me and could actually mean it's on the bank's side to refund the money which could have been held in basically a limbo account for the bank.

Unless the funds from that rejected transaction was simply put back into UT's system but that is not a given just because the refund was rejected. It does vary bank to bank on this process.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Her only options then are consumer advocacy type things like Elliott or BBB as she's too late to chargeback and I doubt she wants to take them to small claims court.

They don't really have the same clout as one would think these days. The BBB doesn't really get the ball rolling anymore meaning the threat of using them doesn't carry as much weight. I wouldn't go the consumer agency (or attorney general) nor claims court route without really trying to figure out just who I am supposed to hold accountable which I feel is hard to pinpoint at this moment and from the discussion it's a bit hard to figure out the order of things and just what went down. My gut says the bank has more involvement than what might initially be thought.

 

[gottalovepluto]

They don't really have the same clout as one would think these days. The BBB doesn't really get the ball rolling anymore meaning the threat of using them doesn't carry as much weight. I wouldn't go the consumer agency (or attorney general) nor claims court route without really trying to figure out just who I am supposed to hold accountable which I feel is hard to pinpoint at this moment and from the discussion it's a bit hard to figure out the order of things and just what went down. My gut says the bank has more involvement than what might initially be thought.

The have .01% worth of clout. But it's time for a Hail Mary so why not? (And the bank doesn't have the money, UT has already said they owe the lady a check.)

And 100% I'd file a consumer complaint to their state's AG if that is an option (it is in CA, idk about other states) that is an excellent idea! No cost and a little fire under their rears when the letter rolls in. Issuing a physical check is not rocket science, the entire situation is absurd.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

And 100% I'd file a consumer complaint to their state's AG if that is an option (it is in CA, idk about other states) that is an excellent idea! No cost and a little fire under their rears when the letter rolls in. Issuing a physical check is not rocket science, the entire situation is absurd.

I'm normally an advocate for doing this but I think in this case, which was the point of my comment, more time is needed to figure out just who is responsible and what the steps should be, it can also be both the bank and UT failed who knows. I've been hoping that the new address was provided when the daughter started with the whole process and hoping it's not just that. While I do think the daughter has at least attempted here (which shows good faith effort on her part) there is still some pretty glaring iffiness on just what is what.

And the bank doesn't have the money, UT has already said they owe the lady a check.)

Er well that wasn't completely clear on the order of things which is sorta the point.

The OP mentioned that back in January (the 25th to be exact) UT said they owed her a refund and they would send a physical check and that they would send it and to contact them if she didn't receive it by the 30th. The daughter didn't and in early February contacted them back. I'm hoping that the check, if indeed they actually sent a physical check, was sent to the correct address but that doesn't solve the bank account being closed issue.

• What isn't clear, to me at least, is what happened after that because there are conflicting details provided that relate to an electronic transfer or check. That's the part that I'm honing in on and speaking to because it sounds like that occurred AFTER Undercover Tourist sent a physical check.
• Was the address correct on the physical check? Assuming one was sent
• What is the BANK's procedure on checks made out to customers who no longer have an active account with them which is important to know all of what is going on.
• Then there's the questions of the electronic sending of the monies because the OP says the bank can't and won't accept funds to a closed account but then says the bank confirmed there was at least an attempt to send monies electronically which means they can see something happened on their end. It varies by bank on just what happens to that money. Some banks remit that money right back to the sender in this case that would be Undercover Tourist, other banks hold onto the money but in a more limbo account awaiting the prior customer to collect it some other ways and there could be other steps. If the money has cleared on UT's side that presents a problem as then they would be double refunding her.

So in a nutshell I'm saying hold the horses here and that the BBB is unlikely to get you where it used to give you which IMO is mostly due to changing consumer protection laws surrounding the credit cards, they've become less used and don't hold sway. Hopefully for the daughter it's actually just a big but very frustrating misunderstanding and they are able to get the refund but who they get it from and how is pretty unknown at this point IMO.

 

[TCRAIG]

You can also check if the money was returned to your state treasurer as unclaimed. There's a website out there that tracks unclaimed money that ends with .org across the country so you don't have to find the individual state treasurer website. Usually the money has to be in limbo for longer than a couple of months to end up there but it's worth a check.

That won’t happen for years - escheatment rules vary by state but most are at least 5 years.