Strange incident with Disney Dining phone reservations...

[mgc]

Wondering if anyone has had something similar happen and if I should be concerned...Also, wanted to vent
I will try to make the long story short:

Back in July I started looking for reservation for 6 at H&V for 12/1...I wasnt able to get 6 together but I spoke with someone over the phone at Disney reservations who was able to book a party of 4 at 6:35 + party of 2 for 6:40...not ideal but fine. They gave me confirmation numbers which I kept. I did not bother linking them to my MDE as it was still pretty far out AND I was hoping that I would be able to find a reservation for 6 together at some point....

Well, yesterday I was able to score the reservation for 6 together at 6:30 (Thanks TouringPlans!) so today I called to cancel the other reservations.When I called they had the reservations, with the correct confirmation numbers and MY credit card BUT it was under a different person's name (someone I have never heard of and have no connection to). The first CM I spoke with told me she couldnt cancel the reservation since it was not under my name and that I should cancel my credit card...As I woudl prefer not to cancel my card if I dont have to, I assured her that it was, in fact, me who booked the reservation but somehow someone else's name got attached to the reservation. She then connected me to another CM who was pretty rude and accusatory towards me ( Why did you not link it to your MDE? This was booked a long time ago? Why are you just cancelling now? This person lives in NY and you live in MA!...I'm still really confused about why she was being so unpleasant) She told me she could not cancel the reservation without the permission of the person whose name the res was under (even though it was my credit card!)...Ultimately, she ended up calling the other person who, apparently, told them she had no upcoming reservations at Disney and it was an error ...so they eventually cancelled the reservation for me but could provide no explanation as to how this happened.

Should I be concerned about this? All of my other reservations seem to be ok. I was really annoyed by the way I was treated over the phone and that it took 2 hours of my day to get this resolved!!

 

[supersnoop]

You could have linked the reservations to MDE and simply cancelled them online.

 

[mgc]

little late for that advice but thanks... I’m more concerned about how some random person’s name got attached to my reservation and why The CM was treating me like I had done something suspicious

 

[Aimeedyan]

Oh man! How frustrating! I have heard of people logging into their MDE and seeing other people's account but that seemed to be an MDE glitch that was easily resolved with a log out/log in. This was clearly a CM mistake.

I would send an email to guest services so they can track where the misstep took place + I think they need to hear about your poor encounter with the CM. No reason for anyone to be rude. The phone reps have every call recorded and tracked and they pull any call back up if needed (and will). It might also help give them a retraining opportunity in not making the mistake of assigning a reservation to the wrong person again.

So glad it all worked out in the end!

 

[mgc]

Oh man! How frustrating! I have heard of people logging into their MDE and seeing other people's account but that seemed to be an MDE glitch that was easily resolved with a log out/log in. This was clearly a CM mistake.

I would send an email to guest services so they can track where the misstep took place + I think they need to hear about your poor encounter with the CM. No reason for anyone to be rude. The phone reps have every call recorded and tracked and they pull any call back up if needed (and will). It might also help give them a retraining opportunity in not making the mistake of assigning a reservation to the wrong person again.

So glad it all worked out in the end!

Thank you! I hate to get anyone in trouble but the conversation and way it was handled was just so odd, maybe I will email guest services...I mean,my situation aside, shouldn't the person whose credit card is holding the reservation be able to cancel the reservation (since that is who will be paying for it) regardless of whose name is on it?
Thanks for the helpful advice

 

[kaytieeldr]

little late for that advice but thanks... I’m more concerned about how some random person’s name got attached to my reservation and why The CM was treating me like I had done something suspicious

Simple: WDW IT. Not that someone in IT did this, but the entire system is so bad.

but if you have the name of the second CM, I would email Disney and let them know about your interaction.

 

[DIS_MERI]

You could have linked the reservations to MDE and simply cancelled them online.

Actually, you have to have the last name of the party the reservation was made under in order to link it online. Since it was made under someone else's name, OP would not have been able to link the reservation to MDE and would have had to call anyway.

 

[LovesTimone]

While you have everything straighten out now... In the future... Link everything right away... this way you can tell, I like that visual of the ADR's, and whats going on, and can cancel without having to call...

 

[RealBlast3]

That's terrible. I'm sorry you had that experience and that the cast member seemed to have forgotten to take her daily dose of pixie dust, apparently.

I have very, very seldom had a rude cast member on the phone, but at least once, I do recall getting someone who seemed to get up on the wrong side of the bed and that I didn't enjoy speaking with.

But I agree that that is an awful mistake for Disney or the Disney computer system to make and totally unacceptable and inexplicable how it could happen. It definitely raises a concern over identity issues and Disney should be apologizing to you and investigating the matter. If you felt like it, I think it would be worth pursuing further by you either sending some letters/emails to Disney headquarters about the matter or calling again to speak to higher management, if you feel like devoting more time to it, which, it would be understandable, if you didn't, but Disney should be contrite and embarrassed over such a mistake and over the behavior of that cast member who seemed to have forgotten that the customer is always right (within reason) and that you were a victim of their mistake, not the maker of it.

 

[AngiTN]

2 comments

1. I wonder if what happened is that somehow when the CM made OPs reservations to start with they didn't properly close out the reservation so when their next call came in the name of the next caller got connected to OPs reservation. And halfway through they realized it, closed the reservation but it was too late, and the name had already gotten switched. I can see how this could happen. It's sort of how you get someone else's photos in your Photopass account when the photographer doesn't properly do whatever it is they are supposed to click between guests so that each set of photos go to the proper MDE account. This isn't a MDE error it's a user error. Just my guess mind you. Not that it's good that it happened, it shouldn't, but it doesn't necessarily mean it was a security glitch. But a sloppy CM

2. I've called and booked many a thing on the phone. Never once had to connect it to my MDE myself. The reason, the CM on the phone took my name and my email address, which then connects everything to my MDE account already. Am I the only one that happens to? Well, not counting things that don't connect to MDE at all, like tours and such.

 

[crabbygal902]

Some random person was assigned to *your* ADR with *your* credit card number and the Disney rep wanted *you* to cancel your credit card?

It sounds as if the original CM forgot to close out a window or something when making your ADR. Mistakes happen. It would've been appropriate for Disney to apologize, fix it, learn from it, and move on. You got someone on the phone who forgot that they were in the business of customer service. If that were my employee you were describing, you bet I'd want to know. Don't feel bad for getting someone into trouble, they did that all on their own. Contact Disney and explain what happened.

This is a good reminder for all of us to keep a close eye on our accounts.

I'm sorry this happened and I hope that your upcoming trip is problem-free.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

You have every right to want to vent. Yes, I agree, write guest services. For them to suggest you cancel your credit card .!!!
I am sorry the CM was so rude and accusatory. I hope guest services does see to some retraining.

 

[mgc]

Thank you everyone...your support and advice are much appreciated!

 

[kiford]

I mean,my situation aside, shouldn't the person whose credit card is holding the reservation be able to cancel the reservation (since that is who will be paying for it) regardless of whose name is on it?

No, that's not how it works. The ADR is under someone's name or MDE account (in this case, the incorrect one) and the site is very clear that they are the only one who can cancel it. I sometimes use DH's credit card to book ADRs and sometimes my own. Some consistent control has to be used to prevent accidental cancellation and the account holder (or booking name) is generally the most reliable way, especially if the cancellation is being done online. Using my account information, I can verify who I am by logging in with a password and, if the system wants additional verification, it can send an automated message to my e-mail. You can't do that kind of automated checking using just credit card information. And you don't want two different methods of verification depending on whether it's done online through an account or just verbally on the phone so there is one policy to be followed: person who booked it does the cancellation, not the credit card holder. It does not, however, prevent "pilot error" which is what it seems like in this case as opposed to fraud because there wasn't an actual charge on it and might never have been since you might have shown up for the original booking.

It's a known method by scammers to charge small amounts on a credit card hoping the owner will not note it and then, when sufficient time has elapsed without any alerts, to charge larger amounts. This has happened to me at least 3 times. Each time I have had to cancel the card (and the company which charged my card was unable due to privacy laws to give me the name of the account holder that my card was attached to beyond confirming that it wasn't me and presumably noting on their system that the account was likely bogus). So I'm not surprised that the CM told you to cancel the card because of assuming that this was the case. Again, unlikely to be this kind of situation since they'd have to know the exact booking you'd made plus since there was no charge to the card, it wouldn't give them any useful information. Still - I'd keep an eye on all charges going forward just as a precaution. If you see an unfamiliar small dollar charge, cancel the card immediately.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Can you even link 2 ressies for the same time period? I currently have a split party reservation.... one is linked to MDE but the other I had to make while logged out and used my D's name and email. She doesn't have her own MDE. I was afraid to try to link it. Which in unfair because we should be able to each have separate ressies if we want, but it kept trying to make me cancel the one when I was booking. (I was not assigning people to the res in duplicate.)

 

[AngiTN]

Can you even link 2 ressies for the same time period? I currently have a split party reservation.... one is linked to MDE but the other I had to make while logged out and used my D's name and email. She doesn't have her own MDE. I was afraid to try to link it. Which in unfair because we should be able to each have separate ressies if we want, but it kept trying to make me cancel the one when I was booking. (I was not assigning people to the res in duplicate.)

If you don't repeat guests in the ADR, yes. You just have to put someone else in charge of the first booking and yourself in charge of the 2nd one

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Wow. I’m so sorry that happened. It’s clearly a mistake on WDW’s end. I would definitely contact guest services and let them know of your experience. As PP’s have mentioned, they have a record of every call that is received by dining CM’s so should be able to figure out where the breakdown took place.

For future reference, you can cancel a dining reservation through the automated phone system simply by inputting the reservation number. The automated system doesn’t care whose name the ADR is under.