should I fire my TA?

[tina_la]

I am very irritated by the lack of service I have recieved from my TA. Yesterday was the start of FD (Duh?) and she didn't even call and secure it. I sent her an email to secure it for me in the morning and send me an email when she did. Come 11:30 I still had not heard from her and called. I was told she was with "clients" (This happens a lot BTW) and that she would call me back. About 30 minutes I get an email saying that she called disney and the system is down and will be down 2-3 hours. OK I undrestand if Disney is having problems no big deal. I then call her at 2:00 (see a pattern) and again with a client and has one waiting. The girl says that my TA did try and call agin but the system was still down (whaat!!! ) So I tell her ok and decided to call Disney myself I get through with a hold time of 2 minutes and the CM tells me yes they were down but for like an hour. She said they were back up by 12:25. NOw of course I feel lied to and I make my own ressies as back up so I know I have free dining. She also told me about a month ago that she would make my ADR and when I asked her to make the one we really wanted she did not do so after a full day and I made it myself that evening when I got home. I always try and give her at least a day knowing she has other clients but My question is this normal.. I wouldn't think so. I could have done this all myself (did last year and will next year). I did email her and gave her until today to book me with free dining or that I would be expecting a full refund. I am just frustrated and wondering if I do cancel does Disney charge? I did not get insurance but wondering if there is a penalty for canceling? I am sure their are great TA out their but mine is the pits.

 

[janets]

My question would be...if you've done the booking before for your family, why did you use a TA? Sounds like you ended up doing everything you wanted on your own, got what you needed, and she didn't respond or do what was asked of her. Are you getting something from her that made it worthwhile to give up the control?

As for cancellation, some agencies have a cancellation fee, others don't. It should be on your confirmation paperwork. I know years ago, I booked through AAA because I wanted the discount and the dining plan and that agency had a cancellation fee, but it was close to our trip and I knew we were going. Other AAA agencies don't have a cancellation fee. You'll have to look over the paperwork to find out.

If there is one, I would dispute it with the agency manager/owner. You clearly gave your TA enough time to secure your FD but she failed to follow through. Everyone knew FD was opening up yesterday morning, so if a TA had clients and needed to deal with it, they should have blocked out time for that (and many reported here that TAs were able to deal with it a bit earlier than the public). The fact that at 2:30 or 3 in the afternoon, she had not gotten your reservation upgraded, didn't call you back and continued to say that Disney's system was down for hours (when in fact it was not) is reason enough to leave. Bring all of this to the attention of the manager/owner and say that you refuse to pay any cancellation fee when you had to do the work yourself due to an unresponsive agent. If you had waited, depending on where you were booked, you might have been shut out of FD, had to move your ressie, have no option.

 

[canadianmom2three]

Well it seems like you have done most of the work for yourself already, so I would just go ahead and tell her you don't need her services any longer. We don't ever really use travel agents, so I'm not sure what an acceptable "wait time" to hear back would be, but for something like free dining, I would assume that most travel agents would try to act more quickly to secure their client a space at their preferred resort. Unless she is securing you some better rates, or some other benefits, it really isn't much work to do it yourself anyway, I think I spent less than 15 minutes on my reservations, and then even less than that on my ADR's....Best of luck!

 

[tina_la]

the points you bring up are the exact same things I am thinking. I told her in my email if I canceled my ressies with her agency I would expect a full refund. Just didn't know if Disney would charge a cancel fee.

BTW I did think of doing it myself again but since I had never used a TA before and she was saying they would take care of this and that for me. BAsically wouldn't have to do anything (should have known better) that might be nice. won't make that mistake again.

Also from the ressie I made myself yesterday.. no added benefits. exact same price and everything unless she could pull out a preferred room at the Pop because when I called yesterday they did have some for the 7 days but not the full eight days we would be there. I have had more problems dealing with the TA than I ever did dealing direct with Disney. I know it's my own dumb fault!

 

[rt2dz]

I'm curious as to who your Travel Agency is. Is it a Disney specialist agency or at least agent? That could make a difference. Other than that, there should never be any kind of fees for a travel agency. If I ever encountered one, I wouldn't use them. Canceling or not, it's not what travel agency are supposed to be about and I would question one that charged any kind of fees.

OK, back more to the question at hand. Yes, I would fire your TA. I've done it before. Lying by any professional to a client is unacceptable, period. Not making a decent attempt isn't great service. I've been so busy that I tried to use one for Disney before and still ended up doing it myself and wasting time with them. I now only use a TA for international travel (depending) and cruises. Definitely not Disney, ever. Not worth it.

 

[LuvMickey36]

I say get rid of her. Her lack professionalism (sp?) is only going to have you stressing about your upcoming trip. Because of TA's like her is the reason I am doing my own ressies this year.

I used the same AAA TA 3yrs in a row & she was great! Last yr, the 4th yr. she stunk! I am very easy to get along with & don't have tons of requests. Basically you hear from me when I need to make a payment, a code comes out or free dining, & to give you my ADR's. She did not return my email about my ADR's for a week & then tells me she could only get some of what I wanted. By then I had already done them myself. I finally had to call the manager of the office on free dining day since it was like 4pm & she had not even called disney.

Good Luck!

 

[tina_la]

They are considered a disney agent here in my area (it is a local agency not any of the ones mentioned on the boards) To be honest though I knew a lot more than she did in most cases (not trying to blow my own horn or anything just get great info on these boards). I thought being local I would get better service (that's a joke).

I do feel like I have wasted more time calling to request something from her, waiting for a response, not getting one and just calling myself. I would NEVER reccommend this agency. And to be honest they really lost out we are planning on going hopefully every year they continue to offer free dining and I would have been a very loyal customer. Now they have lost my buisness forever and anyone else's I would have reccommended to them. All for a few requests (FD and ADR's ) that prob would have taken her a total of thirty minutes.

 

[rt2dz]

They are considered a disney agent here in my area (it is a local agency not any of the ones mentioned on the boards) To be honest though I knew a lot more than she did in most cases (not trying to blow my own horn or anything just get great info on these boards). I thought being local I would get better service (that's a joke).

I do feel like I have wasted more time calling to request something from her, waiting for a response, not getting one and just calling myself. I would NEVER reccommend this agency. And to be honest they really lost out we are planning on going hopefully every year they continue to offer free dining and I would have been a very loyal customer. Now they have lost my buisness forever and anyone else's I would have reccommended to them. All for a few requests (FD and ADR's ) that prob would have taken her a total of thirty minutes.

Dealing with Disney are saying they are a "Disney Agency" is very different from saying "Disney specialized". I have a friend who was a TA, not for an agency who was Disney specialized, but she was a Disney specialized agent. It was a very big deal. She had to attend special training classes and get certified, and certification expired after so much time. That *could be* part of your problem. She may just suck to. Like I said, I'd fire her.

 

[tina_la]

Quote: She may just suck to. Like I said, I'd fire her :Quote

Ok that made me laugh this morning. Thanks. You are right I didn't think about the specialized part. Well lesson learned I will do it myself here on out. Hopefully they will have a bounceback promotion again while we are there and I will book it. Which is what I should have done last year.

 

[SweetPeasMom2]

Why use a TA anyways? If you are well versed (and how can you not be after being on Dis ), not sure I'd waste the money.

 

[goofy4tink]

My first trip to WDW, way back in '99, I didn't know any better and booked through the TA in our town. I had all the literature that Disney hands out, so I thought I was prepared. And I thought the TA knew what she was doing. The one thing I really, really wanted was for my dd to have her 6th birthday breakfast with Cinderella in the Castle. That was back in the day that you had to call 60 days before the date, right at 7:00 am. Well, figuring this agent knew what she was doing, I stopped worrying about it. Well, about a month before we were to leave she called me, all apologetic. Seems she had called that afternoon and hadn't been able to get any breakfast, for any of the days we were there! She said she hadn't realized you had to call 60 days before. Man, I was peeved.
Now, I pretty much book my trips myself. When I went back to work (for a short time in the schools) I went with Dreams Unlimited since I couldn't be on the computer all day, watching and waiting for those specials to come out. I let them do the work. I have a great working relationship with the agent I used back then...still use her now if I get a chance. But, with owning DVC, and having an AP, I don't book all that many packages anymore.
But, I'm going in Sept..basically a quickie trip for Night of Joy..a surprise for my dd, 14. I decided to hand my reservation over to Shirley at DU again...that way she could watch for any specials. Well, she was right on top of things...got me POP (where I wanted to be), with free dining, for my 3 night stay. She had already gotten me my room with a AAA discount.

If you want to use a TA, that's fine. Just be very careful...be sure they truly are versed in all things Disney. There are several good agencies out there that deal with only Disney (all over the world, not just Florida). Those are the people you want to use.

 

[JuneCleaver]

Local agencies for the most part know a little bit about a lot of things because they have to book so many locations....caribbean, europe, disney, mexico, etc.

Authorized Disney Vacation planners that are earmarked such as Dreams Unlimited, Small World, Magic for Less, Magical Journeys,etc are Specialists who predominately book Disney and know all of the ins and outs. Even AAA, the company as an umbrella is Authorized, but that does not mean that all AAA agents are Specialists....this I and many others have found out the hard way.

My theory is if you want the best service go to the source that will know the most about what you are looking for...example, you would not go to a Podiatrist to deliver a baby...yes, they are a doctor, but they don't know about delivering babies...Same token, don't go to a TA that knows little about your destination to book a Disney trip...use a Specialist!

Just my 2cents worth...learned the hard way a few years ago!

June

 

[tina_la]

I agree I had to learn the hard way I guess. Just thought since I wasn't paying the agent (gets a kickback from Disney) that I would have less to do. Boy was I wrong. Won't happen again. If I ever decided to try again (not sure I would) I will use Dreams unlimited or someone comparable

 

[29apr00]

Ok, as a former TA, i have to stick up for the old girl here. It is entirely possible she was dealing with customers all that time. As you pointed out, FD was just released and maybe she had a lot of other disney clients in front of her that day. I can remember MANY days when i couldn't even leave my seat to go potty because I had a constant stream of clients. And Disney did say that phones were down. Yes, they told you they were down for 1 hr, she told you 2. How many times have we called and talked to a CM, gotten an answer, then called again and got a different answer. It happens! In the professional world, a standard reply is requestede in 24 hrs, some even say 48 hrs! I hate to say it, but you are not her only client. How soon do you expect a call from your DR?

And as for cancelling fees, nowadays most agencies DO charge a cancellation fee. My agency charged a $25-50 cancellation fee, in addition to what Disney's charge was. Now, if you're booking FD which is in Aug/Sept, I don't think you're in Disney's cancellion period, so that shouldn't be a problem. But think about it, Airlines don't pay a commission. AT ALL. Hotels and car rentals pay about 8-10%. Tour reservations are where they make their money. And if you cancel it, they are out that money they spent using their system to book your reservation, the paper to print out your itinerary, and their long distance phone charges to call WDW on a daily basis to chekc you your ADR's. $25 isn't much to recoup for their fees.

A TA is to help someone who either can't book the trip on their own, or doesn't want to. You obviously can and have done this before, so why did you decide on using the TA in the 1st place?

And we all know how difficult it is to get ADR for CRT! They don't give preferintial treatment to agents. You have to call at 7am or you don't get it. Well most TA's aren't working at 7am, certinaly not on a Saturday or Sunday! I called for CRT ressies for 3 clients, after I got the $45 long distance bill (before free long distance on cells) I decided to never to that again. The agency won't reimburse her for that you know.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I will say that I am VERY WELL versed in Disney but use Dreams Unlimited. I LOVE them. I do still do some of it on my own. But I like being able to hand some of the details over when necessary. I would "fire" your travel agent if I were you though. I booked before free dining was released and told my TA that I wanted it and the morning it was released to Visa holders I logged onto my computer at 8am and my TA had it already changed over to free dining - I mean I didn't even get the email from my Disney visa until after 11am By using DU I don't have to stress over releases or spend the time on the phone. And time saving is very important to me.

Sorry you had a bad experience.

OH....and DU definitely does start working at 7am (or before) to get those in demand ADR's. I have requested CRT multiple times and an Illuminations Cruise and my DU agent hasn't failed me yet. (of course those things are definitely limited and I know part of it was luck)

 

[missj1975]

I use a travel agent even though I am well versed in Disney too. My TA is Jessica at the magicforless.com and she is wonderful. Because of my day job, I don't have time to call to make ADR's, etc. I just email Jessica, she sets everything up and emails me back in the same day. She is wonderful She also takes care of my sister and even sent my nieces cute Disney stuffed animals for Easter.

 

[mamaLori05]

From what I was told when I booked our trip to Disney, there is no cancellation fee unless you are very close to your vacation. I don't remember exactly the time frame, but I think it was a month or two. I know because we specifically asked about the cancelation policy in case we decided not to go. Hopefully that helps?

As for your TA, sounds to me like she isn't doing her job. We've only gone through a TA once for a cruise, and she was very on top of things. She knew a lot about the cruise line we were taking and even some activities to do at the different stops. If we had a question or wanted her to do something, she took care of it right away. Maybe we just had an awsome TA, but I would expect all of them to be that way. That is their job! Since you already made all your reservations yourself, I see no reason why you shouldn't fire her. you've already done all the work! good luck and hope everything works out for you!

 

[tooh8ful]

I had the almost exact same situation last year. The only difference was, we were already booked for AKL long before free dining. All my TA had to do was call and upgrade/switch to fd. It took her 4 days and by the time she did it, there were no longer any savanah rooms left, we had to switch to a water view. That wasn't tragic but she was just really rude or short everytime I had a question. I didn't call often, she was even short when I took payments in.
I had to book ALL our ADRs (she never even offered and I didn't know she should have).
To me the worst part was having no control. I could have done everything myself, gotten the room I wanted, and been able to check on my ressie on Disney's website. I learned a hard lesson, never again. I am using DU for our cruise for next year, but no more local travel agencies. I would definately fire your TA.

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

Me personally, if 99% of it is complete and you paid for it, I would bite the bullet on it for this trip but as fas as using her again I would go all sorts of Donald Trump on her tush and tell her shes fired.
Im not saying shes wrong or a bad agent but you are not getting the service you would like so I would go else where or work on my own.

 

[lynetteSC]

as a travel agent who got up at 645 monday morning and thursday morning and literally spent 1hour and 30 mins on hold thursday from my home number
(thank goodness for unlimited long distance), i would speak to the manager or owner. not sure if i would cancel or not ...maybe depends on how they reacted. i would certainly let them know you were upset.

i will step up and say that it could be she had people walk in and sit down infront of her???? that would have taken up some of her time maybe???

good luck!