strange payments due from DU

[dvcdisney]

Based on my one and only experience with a TA booking a Disney cruise, she told me that she set the date based on the fact that I'm Gold...if I wait to pay at the actual PIF date, I would not be able to do online check in and book for excursions, dining etc at my time as a Gold CC. So I do believe they want to you to have the best opportunity to book since sometimes things are sold out by the time new cruisers can book. However, I do feel that they should tell you when they do set the date. But if you ask them, they'll let you know why and if you want to change the date to the actual PIF date, they'll be fine doing it. I don't think they are trying to be dishonest.

 

[squirk]

@squirk -- I think you are taking the situation quite personally. The TA's terms aren't personal to you as an individual, those terms have been set for the their business with the public in general. The TA doesn't say to herself "oh, I don't trust or respect mr. squirk so I'm going to make him pay early." The agency sets those policies, potentially after years of experience dealing with many different types of customers, unfortunately some who aren't quite as conscientious to deadlines and final payments. Those people are the reason for such terms. A TA's business is largely built on reputation, and one loud-mouth jerk who had a "good" reason for making his payment late can wreak havoc on a reputation.

You are welcome to take your business to another TA with different terms or book directly through DCL. I just suggest that you try not to look at business policies as personal attacks.

Enjoy your cruise!

On the contrary, I don't take it personal at all. I don't think the padding was assigned specifically to me because odds were high that Squirk would screw something up if I waited until DCL's PIF to pay.

I can assure you that if I had taken that personally, she would no longer be my TA. I know she does this with everyone as a policy, and it has nothing to do with me specifically.

Again, I have no trouble with the padding. It's a very good idea. I simply expect the fact that the date is padded, and not the true DCL PIF date, to be disclosed to me. At the very least, tell me it's the agency's PIF. Just don't pass it off as DCL's PIF.

I totally get there are people who will wait until the very last minute to pay, and that they will do so despite the TA warning them over and over of the ramifications if something goes wrong. If you wait until 5:00 p.m. on DCL's PIF, despite the warnings from your TA, and something goes wrong, you have no one to blame but yourself.

I also appreciate that when something like that goes south, people will often want to find someone to blame other than themselves, and the obvious and convenient target is the TA, who did absolutely nothing wrong. So I understand how the "padded PIF" protects the TA from the baseless and undeserved bad-mouthing and complaints of a bad client.

At the end of the day, I'm just saying, based on my experience, and apparently that of the OP, there could be better disclosure about the origin of the PIF date given.

However, I do feel that they should tell you when they do set the date.

Precisely.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

I noticed this with our DU reservation we have on an upcoming DCL cruise for next year. I wasn't curious enough to ask my TA why ( and to be truthful, really don't care). And now after reading it's common practice for other TAs to do the same thing and why, it makes sense to me. The only way we will cancel our cruise is for a catastrophic event. Pray that doesn't happen!!!

 

[truck1]

Another reason for a pif date to be different from DCL is what happens when your pif happens to fall on opening day when the wait time is 2 hours plus, the shear vomume crashes the system,or someone makes a mistake and forgets to credit your account. Id rather have the extra day or so to correct the issue. Normally were paid up at least 3 months out but not everyone is that fortunate.