REALLY PO'd with AAA $386 trip insurance + package price?

[Terry's Angels]

Hi everyone,

Here are the questions in case you don't want to read the whole story;
1. Can I change AAA offices without having to cancel and then re-book my vacation? (e.g. can my ressie be transferred to another AAA or is it unique to the agent)
2. If I can't transfer it, can I pay (make payments) WDTC directly or must I go through AAA?

3. Do all of my documents need to go through AAA or can they be sent to me directly?

Well yesterday I was super happy that we were finally booked through AAA for our May 2007 trip. When I spoke to the agent yesterday (2x) she said that she would email me the invoice with all the information. During this conversation we discussed the total price of the package (again) and I authorized a $200.00 deposit from my CC. We also talked about trip insurance and she said that WDTC didn't have great insurance for the price and their (AAA) price as $146.00 which included flight insurance. I was a bit hesitant but went ahead wth the AAA. Well 2hrs later she calls back to confirm that I want trip insurance and I said yes and she said that she would be sending the e-mail shortly. This time I asked for the confirmation number to package as well. I never received the e-mail. I checked wdw.com to check on the ressie, but their system was down (and still is)

Well this morning I check my CC account and there is an pending authorization for $586. WHAT?!!!! I called the CC company and they said their was a $200.00 for WDW and $386 for AAA. The only thing I could figure is that AAA agent is charging that for trip insurance, which is CRAZY. If I paid that, the cost of the trip through AAA would be $200.00 more that if I went rack rate through DTC!!!!

So this morning I'm going to call, fax and e-mail the AAA office and explain that I did not get the invoice (as promised) and that I did not authorize that amount of money. I know that I'll file fraud charges with my CC company if they refuse to reverse it.

I also know that I share responsibility because I should not have authorized a thing without having my invoice (something I have never done before). But I thought I was very clear and understood clearly what I was being charged. I would NEVER agree to pay nearly $400 for trip insurance for a domestic trip that only will cost us about $3000 in total (including airfare). Our overseas trips trip insurance doesn't cost that much.

Now I REALLY don't trust the agent and I don't want to work with her anymore. I'm wondering what you all think of my questions above.

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[dbmarie]

You shouldn't have to pay the trip insurance up front and I can't imagine it being more then $150.00 for your trip anyways. I know that we have had different problems with AAA in NY. Usually if you call and talk to a supervisor it can be worked out. Good Luck.

 

[laura001]

Hi everyone,

Here are the questions in case you don't want to read the whole story;
1. Can I change AAA offices without having to cancel and then re-book my vacation? (e.g. can my ressie be transferred to another AAA or is it unique to the agent)
2. If I can't transfer it, can I pay (make payments) WDTC directly or must I go through AAA?

3. Do all of my documents need to go through AAA or can they be sent to me directly?

Well yesterday I was super happy that we were finally booked through AAA for our May 2007 trip. When I spoke to the agent yesterday (2x) she said that she would email me the invoice with all the information. During this conversation we discussed the total price of the package (again) and I authorized a $200.00 deposit from my CC. We also talked about trip insurance and she said that WDTC didn't have great insurance for the price and their (AAA) price as $146.00 which included flight insurance. I was a bit hesitant but went ahead wth the AAA. Well 2hrs later she calls back to confirm that I want trip insurance and I said yes and she said that she would be sending the e-mail shortly. This time I asked for the confirmation number to package as well. I never received the e-mail. I checked wdw.com to check on the ressie, but their system was down (and still is)

Well this morning I check my CC account and there is an pending authorization for $586. WHAT?!!!! I called the CC company and they said their was a $200.00 for WDW and $386 for AAA. The only thing I could figure is that AAA agent is charging that for trip insurance, which is CRAZY. If I paid that, the cost of the trip through AAA would be $200.00 more that if I went rack rate through DTC!!!!

So this morning I'm going to call, fax and e-mail the AAA office and explain that I did not get the invoice (as promised) and that I did not authorize that amount of money. I know that I'll file fraud charges with my CC company if they refuse to reverse it.

I also know that I share responsibility because I should not have authorized a thing without having my invoice (something I have never done before). But I thought I was very clear and understood clearly what I was being charged. I would NEVER agree to pay nearly $400 for trip insurance for a domestic trip that only will cost us about $3000 in total (including airfare). Our overseas trips trip insurance doesn't cost that much.

Now I REALLY don't trust the agent and I don't want to work with her anymore. I'm wondering what you all think of my questions above.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Wow! I guess you should be upset. That is one of the main reasons I don't deal with AAA, they seem to know nothing about anything.

When it comes to insurance....you can always change your reservation with Disney etc., and as far as plane tickets, if you feel that you must have insurance just put it on the plane tickets, it will be a lot less than 150.00....just my thoughts

 

[Alicnwondrln]

i think if you book thru AAA you have to pay thru AAA and your agent has to make the payments

 

[eliza61]

Call your CC company immediately and tell them that these were unauthorized charges!
Cancel your reservation with AAA. With any service agency, trust is an important factor especially if it involves a large sum of money. This agent is not trustful, she/he did not follow through on standard business practice (an invoice before billing) and definitely was not truthful about the trip insurance.

I would not give her any more business and definitely would not rely on her for my vacation.

 

[ilovejack02]

i am booked with AAA for a trip in Jan, now we arent flying but we did get trip insurance for incase something happened last minute and we wouldnt lose all the money on the room. It was 100.00 and my total deposit i paid was 200.00, sounds like your agent doesnt have a clue what she is doing. Because you have a flight it might be a little more, but i cant imagine that much. Tell her you dont want to speak to her anymore and get a supervisor on the phone. I did the math several times and it was a better deal for us to go through AAA even with insurance.

 

[my3kids]

You can deal with any AAA person. Just call the 800 number 1-800-436-4222

 

[NancyIL]

Before calling the credit card company, etc. - call your AAA agent and ask why the higher than expected charge. I would tell the agent to cancel the insurance, and then shop for your own at www.insuremytrip.com.

 

[plutolovr]

If I'm not mistaken I believe you have 48 hours to cancel trip insurance without penalty. I would also ask that your reservation be transferred to a different agent.

 

[mousebit]

The first thing I would do is call the CC company and stop the charge. Then call the AAA agent. It looks like she made a major error - maybe put the charge for the deposit thru first, then the charge for insurance + deposit thru second time. It would be easier to stop it before charge is posted than try to reverse the error later. Don't get too discouraged, I'm sure she'll want to fix her mistake and keep your business. Good luck!

 

[rie'smom]

Why don't you cancel the trip with AAA and book direct through Disney? They will apply any AAA discount to your reservation. I've done this everytime I book. Disney has everything right in front of them.Of course,I'm not saying that no one has ever had a problem,but the probelms are pretty few and far between.

 

[NancyIL]

Why don't you cancel the trip with AAA and book direct through Disney? They will apply any AAA discount to your reservation. I've done this everytime I book. Disney has everything right in front of them.Of course,I'm not saying that no one has ever had a problem,but the probelms are pretty few and far between.

Disney can book room-only with a AAA discount, but I think only AAA can book AAA packages.

 

[Terry's Angels]

Well here's where things are so far. I called the AAA agent and she had a VERY NASTY attitude about the whole thing. Before I began to even ask her about the extra $386.00 she started talking over me about the fact that she forgot to send my e-mail yesterday. When I finally was able to get a word in and explain why I was really calling, she said, "Oh, I didn't process that - that must have been my co-worker." What?!!!! Then she said "I guess you want me to void that out?" At that point I was even more PO'd. I told her that I didn't think that I would be able to continue to work with her and I wanted to speak with the manager. She said, "fine". Now in my opinion, she should have been really apologetic about this and tried to at least discuss this with me. Instead it seemed to me that she could care less. Then she put me on hold and told me that the manager was on a conference call. Through the whole conversation she was short with me. At that point there was absolutely no way I would continue to work with her or trust that she would do anything correctly with my account. So she finally e-mailed me and then said that they would immediately reverse the charges. I'm in the process of calling my cc company now. This sucks

 

[ilovejack02]

Why don't you cancel the trip with AAA and book direct through Disney? They will apply any AAA discount to your reservation. I've done this everytime I book. Disney has everything right in front of them.Of course,I'm not saying that no one has ever had a problem,but the probelms are pretty few and far between.

Only problem with that is you dont get the AAA diamond card and there are goodies that come with that. Also not sure you would get the AAA storyhour voucher and from what i hear that is a real nice event.

 

[ilovejack02]

Well here's where things are so far. I called the AAA agent and she had a VERY NASTY attitude about the whole thing. Before I began to even ask her about the extra $386.00 she started talking over me about the fact that she forgot to send my e-mail yesterday. When I finally was able to get a word in and explain why I was really calling, she said, "Oh, I didn't process that - that must have been my co-worker." What?!!!! Then she said "I guess you want me to void that out?" At that point I was even more PO'd. I told her that I didn't think that I would be able to continue to work with her and I wanted to speak with the manager. She said, "fine". Now in my opinion, she should have been really apologetic about this and tried to at least discuss this with me. Instead it seemed to me that she could care less. Then she put me on hold and told me that the manager was on a conference call. Through the whole conversation she was short with me. At that point there was absolutely no way I would continue to work with her or trust that she would do anything correctly with my account. So she finally e-mailed me and then said that they would immediately reverse the charges. I'm in the process of calling my cc company now. This sucks

I would def. call back and get the manager on the phone to let them know about her crap attitude. Ive been really happy with my AAA lady, so there must be a few good ones out there lol, even though looks like not everyone loves dealing with AAA

 

[InstImpres]

Wow, sorry to hear this, it is a bad situation. I assume since you mention air for the insurance you booked your air with them? If so, you usually pay the $200 deposit + the air. If you didn't book air, I would recommend not booking insurance right now. Insurance is non-refundable. As long as there is no air, you can add insurance with your final payment and still have the same coverage (this way if you have to cancel for any reason, you are not out the insurance money).
All of your payments and room requests do have to go through the TA. Disney will also only send the docs to the TA.
I would give the supervisor a couple of hours to call back and if not, call the office and ask for the supervisor. I am sure they would rather transfer the reservation to another agent and keep your business.
Good luck

 

[Terry's Angels]

Well I finally got off of the phone with AAA. I did speak to the supervisor after learning from my cc company that I had been charged $386 TWICE!!!!! The manager apologized and explained that it was possible while they were processing the refund (which was $186.00 for trip insurance + $200.00 for WDW ) that they mistakenly charged me at the same time. Fortunately, the issue was resolved and the charges were dropped following a 3 way phone call with the manager, cc company and me.

OT - I must have been having a "crazy WDW excitment moment" when I was talking with the first TA for trip insurance at that cost. It was like that Jerry Seinfeld bit where he says at the beginning of a meal and you're hungry you tell the waiter - more food, more wine, ect... and then you get the check and you're like WHAT??!!! I guess I need this vacation so badly that I would agree to anything - more trip insurance? sure, platinum package? sure. ..

back OT - Ok, so the manager apologizes profusely about the "errors in judgement" made by my first AAA TA and asked me if I want to be transferred to a more experienced TA in the same office - I said NO WAY, especially if the first TA would have any access to my information. So she told me about a 2nd office (a little further away from me) that she was also the branch manager and personally called the TA and explained about my previous experience. The new TA seems pretty nice and appears to know what she's doing - She called WDW and confirmed that my previous ressie was correct and then e-mailed me the confirmation information. She also sent a second email with all of her contact info and said that she was happy to be working with me. I guess I want to stay with AAA for the discount at this point.

So lessons learned ( method learned from GMAX's TRs)
1. Never authorize your credit card over the phone without an invoice
2. Shop around for Trip insurance
3. Don't make disney (finanical) decisions on an "empty" stomach

Thanks everyone for your advice and support, especially those that PM'd me.

 

[rdsx28]

I just want to note that I have a wonderful AAA agent who has been nothing but SUPER! She has gone out of her way even in the busiest of times with the new package plans coming out to make time to answer my silly questions and I have always received e-mail confirmation right away and 2 days later have had my written confirmation.I guess it is like anything else there are good and bad and it seems as if your new agent is on top of things.It stinks you had to go through all that but at least in the future you can contact the great agent you have now.Have a Wonderful trip!

 

[Alicnwondrln]

Well I finally got off of the phone with AAA. I did speak to the supervisor after learning from my cc company that I had been charged $386 TWICE!!!!! The manager apologized and explained that it was possible while they were processing the refund (which was $186.00 for trip insurance + $200.00 for WDW ) that they mistakenly charged me at the same time. Fortunately, the issue was resolved and the charges were dropped following a 3 way phone call with the manager, cc company and me.

OT - I must have been having a "crazy WDW excitment moment" when I was talking with the first TA for trip insurance at that cost. It was like that Jerry Seinfeld bit where he says at the beginning of a meal and you're hungry you tell the waiter - more food, more wine, ect... and then you get the check and you're like WHAT??!!! I guess I need this vacation so badly that I would agree to anything - more trip insurance? sure, platinum package? sure. ..

back OT - Ok, so the manager apologizes profusely about the "errors in judgement" made by my first AAA TA and asked me if I want to be transferred to a more experienced TA in the same office - I said NO WAY, especially if the first TA would have any access to my information. So she told me about a 2nd office (a little further away from me) that she was also the branch manager and personally called the TA and explained about my previous experience. The new TA seems pretty nice and appears to know what she's doing - She called WDW and confirmed that my previous ressie was correct and then e-mailed me the confirmation information. She also sent a second email with all of her contact info and said that she was happy to be working with me. I guess I want to stay with AAA for the discount at this point.

So lessons learned ( method learned from GMAX's TRs)
1. Never authorize your credit card over the phone without an invoice
2. Shop around for Trip insurance
3. Don't make disney (finanical) decisions on an "empty" stomach

Thanks everyone for your advice and support, especially those that PM'd me.