PSA if you're modifying a ressie with the spring discount

[crusoe2]

I haven't been on here in a few weeks but I know lots of people were having issues trying to get the discount on both room and tickets when the spring discount first came out. Thought I would post my experience with trying to modify one of those reservations, just in case the info can help someone else.

I just got off the phone with Disney reservations. Not one of my better experiences. When the spring discount first came out a few weeks ago I booked online and got a family suite at All Star Music for 7 nights, room only. We decided to add a couple nights in the suite and make it a package with park hoppers. So I called a little while ago to make the modifications. The CM initially told me that I would have to cancel the existing room only reservation, have that deposit refunded, rebook with the package, and pay a new deposit. I told her that would be ok, I was expecting that. Then she told me how much more it was going to cost for the extra nights and how much my new deposit would be. Again, I told her that was fine. Then she quoted me the ticket price and it was WAY too high - over $2000 for 4 adult 8-day park hoppers. I pointed that out, she double checked and discovered she had entered non-expiring tickets. She fixed that and gave me a quote of over $1500 for the tickets (which is regular price). I told her again what the website was showing as the GRAND TOTAL for a package including the 8 day hoppers and that, according to my math, the tickets were coming to about $1390. She insisted that the website just hadn't added tax yet. On the grand total for a package quote. I tried to explain that the spring discount deal I'd booked the room online with could also be used for packages and gave a discount on tickets. She interrupted to inform me that Disney NEVER gives discounts on tickets. She also informed me of my options for having the tickets shipped to me and wanted to know which way I'd like them sent. At that point, I said okie dokie I'd just like to cancel this reservation please. She gave me some guff and tried to make me think I'd lose my family suite if I did that. But as soon as she confirmed the cancellation, I hit the Book Now button online and got exactly what I wanted.

As best I can figure, despite what the CM told me at first about cancelling the room only and rebooking a package, all she did was add a couple nites to my exisiting room-only reservation and then tried to sell me the tickets seperately. Which would probably have resulted in the full ticket amount being charged on my card TODAY. Not to mention missing out on the discounted rate for the tickets. I shudder to think what kind of mess she might have made of my deposits if I han't just cancelled and started over. Hopefully I made the right call and my original deposit will be refunded as it should be.

So I guess the PSA part of my post is - DEFINITELY price the ressie on their website before you call and deal with the CMs. And, if possible, be prepared to cancel the original ressie and rebook online.

 

[aaarcher86]

I haven't been on here in a few weeks but I know lots of people were having issues trying to get the discount on both room and tickets when the spring discount first came out. Thought I would post my experience with trying to modify one of those reservations, just in case the info can help someone else.

I just got off the phone with Disney reservations. Not one of my better experiences. When the spring discount first came out a few weeks ago I booked online and got a family suite at All Star Music for 7 nights, room only. We decided to add a couple nights in the suite and make it a package with park hoppers. So I called a little while ago to make the modifications. The CM initially told me that I would have to cancel the existing room only reservation, have that deposit refunded, rebook with the package, and pay a new deposit. I told her that would be ok, I was expecting that. Then she told me how much more it was going to cost for the extra nights and how much my new deposit would be. Again, I told her that was fine. Then she quoted me the ticket price and it was WAY too high - over $2000 for 4 adult 8-day park hoppers. I pointed that out, she double checked and discovered she had entered non-expiring tickets. She fixed that and gave me a quote of over $1500 for the tickets (which is regular price). I told her again what the website was showing as the GRAND TOTAL for a package including the 8 day hoppers and that, according to my math, the tickets were coming to about $1390. She insisted that the website just hadn't added tax yet. On the grand total for a package quote. I tried to explain that the spring discount deal I'd booked the room online with could also be used for packages and gave a discount on tickets. She interrupted to inform me that Disney NEVER gives discounts on tickets. She also informed me of my options for having the tickets shipped to me and wanted to know which way I'd like them sent. At that point, I said okie dokie I'd just like to cancel this reservation please. She gave me some guff and tried to make me think I'd lose my family suite if I did that. But as soon as she confirmed the cancellation, I hit the Book Now button online and got exactly what I wanted.

As best I can figure, despite what the CM told me at first about cancelling the room only and rebooking a package, all she did was add a couple nites to my exisiting room-only reservation and then tried to sell me the tickets seperately. Which would probably have resulted in the full ticket amount being charged on my card TODAY. Not to mention missing out on the discounted rate for the tickets. I shudder to think what kind of mess she might have made of my deposits if I han't just cancelled and started over. Hopefully I made the right call and my original deposit will be refunded as it should be.

So I guess the PSA part of my post is - DEFINITELY price the ressie on their website before you call and deal with the CMs. And, if possible, be prepared to cancel the original ressie and rebook online.

Yeah, definitely sounds like she wasn't quoting a package since you wouldn't be able to have them shipped separately.

How strange. Glad you were on top of it though! That could have been a disaster for a noob!

 

[crusoe2]

Yeah, definitely sounds like she wasn't quoting a package since you wouldn't be able to have them shipped separately.

How strange. Glad you were on top of it though! That could have been a disaster for a noob!

Yep, I am SOOOO glad I took the time to price the whole thing out online before I called. And that I priced it out with both regular prices and the discounted prices. That's what made it so easy to spot the discrepancy and figure out what she was doing wrong. But mistakes like that could make a mess out of someone's bank account. It's bad enough that I have to tie up money for 2 deposits for a few days. But I was NOT prepared to pay in full for the tickets today. That would have been very bad.

 

[persnickity]

The castmember I got at the beginning of the month had soooooooooo much trouble with this discount, as well. We had an existing reservation too, and the price she came back with was more than what I was finding online. I told her the tickets should be discounted as well, but she was seriously clueless. She finally figured out how to do it, tried to upsell me on a few things, then asked how I'd like to pay for my deposit. I guess we'd been talking so very long that she forgot she was supposed to be modifying my existing reservation??

So then she said she'd have to cancel the existing reservation and place a new one. Then she disappeared and came back again and said she had altered the reservation. I checked to be sure that she had also switched us from the general Themed FAmily Suite at AOA to a Finding Nemo suite, and she said she had but that I should remember that they couldn't guarantee we'd get that suite, but they would try their best.

Next day I got a brand new confirmation number rather than an updated invoice and it did show the Nemo suite. Then their website took forever to update, and that new confirmation number never did appear, so the website still showed Themed Family Suite. So I called again. New CM says the system was showing her the same as what showed online. She was able to fix it for me, and thankfully the room we wanted had not sold out in the intervening two weeks.

I dont' know what the heck that original CM had done to our reservation, but it was a mess. And I'm pretty sure she knew it based on her strange comment about the room not being guaranteed.

 

[Marthasor]

Yep, I am SOOOO glad I took the time to price the whole thing out online before I called. And that I priced it out with both regular prices and the discounted prices. That's what made it so easy to spot the discrepancy and figure out what she was doing wrong. But mistakes like that could make a mess out of someone's bank account. It's bad enough that I have to tie up money for 2 deposits for a few days. But I was NOT prepared to pay in full for the tickets today. That would have been very bad.

Are you sure your original room-only reservation was cancelled? I would call back and double check. From your description, it doesn't sound like she actually cancelled it.

Both situation descriptions are unbelievable to me. Those CM's need some serious training. I'm sorry, but that's basic stuff. There is ONE general public discount available right now. How could she possibly get that wrong? And telling someone a Finding Nemo Suite isn't a guarantee? Glad you guys caught the problems. yikes!

 

[crusoe2]

Are you sure your original room-only reservation was cancelled? I would call back and double check. From your description, it doesn't sound like she actually cancelled it.

Both situation descriptions are unbelievable to me. Those CM's need some serious training. I'm sorry, but that's basic stuff. There is ONE general public discount available right now. How could she possibly get that wrong? And telling someone a Finding Nemo Suite isn't a guarantee? Glad you guys caught the problems. yikes!

You make a good point. It "should" be cancelled because I was very emphatic about it and, by the time the conversation was over, she did say she had cancelled it for me. However she did not give me a cancellation number and I have usually gotten one when I've made cancellations in the past. But I also recently cancelled a ressie I made before the discount came out and I didn't get a cancellation number for that one either. So I'll just have to watch my account closely and if the refund doesn't show up in a reasonable amount of time, I'll call again.

You're also right that this should be basic "Reservations 101." Honestly tho, I don't know if this was a case of the CM not knowing what to do or if she just didn't want to bother. I was very clear at the beginning of the call that I had a room-only reservation and would like to do 2 things - increase the number of nights reserved and add park tickets to make it a package. I also made sure to tell her that I booked under a discount and wanted to be sure that the additional nights were at the same rate. Her response was that in order to do that she would have to cancel the room-only reservation and start a new one and I told her that would be fine. She then checked for availabilty and checked the rate and got that part right. That all sounds to me as if she knew what needed to be done. But essentially what she tried to get away with was just adding a couple nites to my existing ressie and selling me the tickets separately. I can't think why else she would have needed to know how I wanted them shipped. And I can't begin to express how po'd I would have been if I'd been charged for the full cost of those tickets today.

 

[emhoyes]

I also called to have the Spring Discount applied to my room and ticket reservation. Thank goodness I researched the discount codes because I had to actually supply the CM with the codes. I believe it was P92 for Room only and P93 for the Package.

 

[padawans]

CM errors are the norm not the exception. Always be prepared when you call.

 

[RickyMouseMom]

I had the same problem also when changing an existing reservation to include the spring discount. Was told a higher amount than what was quoted online, then told that the online amount didnt include tax. I always do my research first before calling, so it was a no-brainer. I asked for a manager. The CM did not put a manager on the phone, but came back and told me she did me a 'favor' by honoring the online price. I thought that comment was ridiculous.

As a side note, I always call in prepared with website quotes, as in the past I have had to clarify with CMs about NOT adding insurance, or hoppers, which I have had some automatically do.

Interesting that others have had the same problem as I did using the code.