Requesting a refund from the Disney Savings Account

[ML_LovesDisney]

I requested a refund on mine and it was back on my card within a couple of days (we used our CC in order to get the points). THe hard part was getting a hold of someone there. No one seemed to know where to connect me to. Eventually I got a very helpful cast member, and everything was smooth from there.

 

[TeamEvansGo]

I requested a refund on mine and it was back on my card within a couple of days (we used our CC in order to get the points). THe hard part was getting a hold of someone there. No one seemed to know where to connect me to. Eventually I got a very helpful cast member, and everything was smooth from there.

Hmm, glad to hear it was as quick a refund as they say it will be, but sucks that it was hard to find someone to help process it. At least I know to devote a good amount of time if I need to call them! Thanks.

 

[TeamEvansGo]

I answered your question in my first post...5 days for Disney to process the refund request and then the rest is up to your financial institution. Since every bank is different in the way that they handle these things, there isn't a definitive answer. One person's experience is not necessarily going to be the same as yours. What you do with your money is your business. I really don't care whether you put it in a DVA or in a shoebox shoved under your bed. Whatever you choose, I hope that it works out for you and that you get to Disney as planned.

This is the last I'm going to say about this, because it's pointless and I'm not even sure why you keep responding.

No you didn't answer my question. I asked for personal experiences, not a cut and paste of the FAQ from the official site. Others have responded and helped me, so at this point you don't need to keep this up.

Once again thanks for stopping by, and have a great day.

 

[CluelessDisFan]

I'm glad you got a good answer to your question finally OP. I've been looking into DVA a little and have a question. Does the amount of time your money is in the account make any difference? I would put the bulk of our vacation package amount into the account at the beginning of September then I'd have to pay off our package in October. Would that money be eligible to receive the 2% back in gift cards if it's only been a month?

 

[TeamEvansGo]

I'm glad you got a good answer to your question finally OP. I've been looking into DVA a little and have a question. Does the amount of time your money is in the account make any difference? I would put the bulk of our vacation package amount into the account at the beginning of September then I'd have to pay off our package in October. Would that money be eligible to receive the 2% back in gift cards if it's only been a month?

You have to have the money in the account for at least 120 days to get the gift card bonus. You also have to have used the money saved on a vacation. So for every $1000 you spend from the account, after the 120 days, you are eligible for a $20 card. Hope that helps!

 

[SarahSummer]

I'm setting this up right now. I wish I had heard about this sooner. We have a trip planned next month as well as a Christmas trip planned December 8th so all the money I spend on both those trips would not be eligible for the gift cards I guess. But there is still a lifetime of Disney left so better late then never.

Not to hijack the thread,... but how do you actually spend the money? Can you link it to your magic band or something?

 

[TeamEvansGo]

I'm setting this up right now. I wish I had heard about this sooner. We have a trip planned next month as well as a Christmas trip planned December 8th so all the money I spend on both those trips would not be eligible for the gift cards I guess. But there is still a lifetime of Disney left so better late then never. Not to hijack the thread,... but how do you actually spend the money? Can you link it to your magic band or something?

When you want to spend it, you request a special code that you then enter as payment. When I booked for WDW, it was listed under "Disney Gift Card or Disney Vacation account". If you book over the phone, you just give them the code. If you have money left over, you can request a Disney Gift card for the balance or request a refund to the account you used to make deposits.

 

[cattywampus]

You don't need a special code. Your account number works as a gift card. So, if you are online, there are two options:

1) For some purchases, DVA will actually be a payment option -- enter your account number;

2) If no DVA payment option appears, just enter your account number in the space for gift card

3) On the phone, the CM can also use your account number as a gift card. Some CM's don't know that and you may have to tell them. It seems like more are becoming familiar.

I am using DVA solely as a way to consolidate Disney GC's that I buy at Target with my Redcard, thereby saving 5%. Initially, I was having trouble making larger purchases with my stack of $50 gift cards, because they only want to take two forms of payment online and on the phone, in some cases (Target only carries $50 increments so you have to use a lot of cards to make larger purchases). I have since seen info on this board of the procedure that you may have to educate CM's on, in order to use more than two forms of payment. Still, I would rather use DVA (assuming it works well) to enter the cards at my leisure. I entered 30 cards last night at home, while watching The Little Mermaid on TV (double Disney tasking!).

I leave for DL in one week, and am using it as a test case, because I did have some lingering concerns about DVA and want to make sure it is widely accepted before purchasing and loading enough cards for our much longer/more expensive WDW trip in November.

I plan to charge everything to the room and pay off using DVA. There is no advance payment option on Room Only Reservations. They will also not take GC as payment for your first night stay requirement to book. The only option is to ask the front desk in person to credit back the credit card you use to book and then reapply the charge to GC. Again, I am hoping for both my sake and the CM at the front desk that "one and done" works with DVA account number and we aren't standing at the front desk entering individual GC, especially since I will likely have to stop by several times to pay on the account to avoid them auto charging credit card on file. Again, if that happens, they can reverse the charges on your credit card and reapply GC/DVA.

It seems like a lot of work, but if it performs as advertised, it saves a significant amount of money and lets me enter GC's on my time. I will report back after next week!

 

[TeamEvansGo]

You don't need a special code. Your account number works as a gift card.

By "special code" I meant the account number. But getting that requires a request for the entire number. You get the first part of the account number on the site, and the second part of the number is emailed to you. I guess that's why it seemed "special" to me!

 

[cattywampus]

By "special code" I meant the account number. But getting that requires a request for the entire number. You get the first part of the account number on the site, and the second part of the number is emailed to you. I guess that's why it seemed "special" to me!

I gotcha.
Yes, it is kind of annoying the way they break it up. I have the account number entered into my phone now, so I can access it. Of course I was on the phone trying to use it and couldn't remember how I coded it!

 

[JanaDee]

Not quite true.

You're getting 2% back on $1000 spent. You are not getting 2.00% APR. There is no interest on this account. It's just a bonus on every $1000 spent. If you spend $999, you get nothing. If you spend $1,999 you only get $20. If you leave the money in your account for 2-3 years while you save, you are not getting 2% per year on the account. There is a big difference between the compound interest on a savings account and a bonus gift card offered for spending $1000 on a vacation.

Thank you for clearly stating the difference and correcting the poster on his misinformation.

 

[JanaDee]

This is the last I'm going to say about this, because it's pointless and I'm not even sure why you keep responding.

No you didn't answer my question. I asked for personal experiences, not a cut and paste of the FAQ from the official site. Others have responded and helped me, so at this point you don't need to keep this up.

Once again thanks for stopping by, and have a great day.

It's a discussion board. If you don't like people pointing out your errors and misinformation, I suggest you stay off discussion boards or the internet in general.

 

[SarahSummer]

Now and then I book our hotel room by renting DVC points. In this case I usually write a check directly to ********** company. So, am I right to assume that in those cases I would not be able to use the DVA money to pay for those rooms. Thank you!

 

[Elevationist]

Now and then I book our hotel room by renting DVC points. In this case I usually write a check directly to ********** company. So, am I right to assume that in those cases I would not be able to use the DVA money to pay for those rooms. Thank you!

You would have to have the DVA refunded, but it only refunds back to the original forms of payment.

So. If you had paid into your DVA using a Debit card linked to your checking account, then yes you could, after your refund hits. Otherwise, no, because the money would just go back on whatever credit cards or gift cards you paid into it with.

 

[TeamEvansGo]

It's a discussion board. If you don't like people pointing out your errors and misinformation, I suggest you stay off discussion boards or the internet in general.

And thanks for just being snide and not adding anything to the conversation. I hope you feel awesome about yourself. Have a great day!

 

[CluelessDisFan]

You have to have the money in the account for at least 120 days to get the gift card bonus. You also have to have used the money saved on a vacation. So for every $1000 you spend from the account, after the 120 days, you are eligible for a $20 card. Hope that helps!

Thank you for this info! I didn't see this as I scanned through the agreement.

 

[askstratman]

We needed to pull $300 from the fund for an emergency and it took 4 business days to appear back in the account. At first we were told to refund the whole thing and then put back the part we didn't want (a glitch I think) but one agent was able to just refund the $300 out of the over $1000 we had in there. It is comparable to a bank transfer. Hope that actually answered your question.

 

[TeamEvansGo]

We needed to pull $300 from the fund for an emergency and it took 4 business days to appear back in the account. At first we were told to refund the whole thing and then put back the part we didn't want (a glitch I think) but one agent was able to just refund the $300 out of the over $1000 we had in there. It is comparable to a bank transfer. Hope that actually answered your question.

Thanks!

 

[kristinlynn]

I just successfully loaded and used $2,000 into the DVA I set up. Problem is I set up the account less than 120 day from my next trip and won't get the 2% bonus. I did it so I could consolidate gift cards and purchase annual passes. Right now I still have a balance of $1 in my account. If I wait the 120 days, then load more money in for my next trip, will I start earning the 2% bonus? Or did I screw things up by spending before the 120 waiting period. Wondering if I need to cancel the account and start over.

Also, to clarify, you don't have to have $1k savings sitting in the account for 120 to get the bonus, you just have to have the account open with money in it for 120 days? So if it sits open for 120 days with only $10 dollars in it, and on day 121 you add $990 and pay for tickets, you'd still get the gift card bonus?

For those who received their bonus gift cards, how does that process work? Did you have to request them or was it automatic?

Another question for DVC members -- since it works like a gift card number, think we'll be able to use this for dues payment?

Really hope Disney's long term plan with this is to connect it to our magic bands. That would finally provide a solution for all the $50 target cards.

 

[JanaDee]

And thanks for just being snide and not adding anything to the conversation. I hope you feel awesome about yourself. Have a great day!

I am having a great day, thanks.

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