Terrible experience buying an AP at the Disneystore

[jenpace]

I just wanted to share with anyone who might be buying their AP voucher card at a Disneystore.

We live 1 hr away from the closest Disneystore. Because I'm a stay-at-home Mom we are on a budget and are buying the APs one at a time.

I made the drive with my two dd's to get an AP today. I brought the plastic voucher card for the Deluxe AP to the register and the clerk ran my Visa card and all was well until she tried to activate the voucher. It kept coming up with an error message for her. After a while she called somewhere and they told her that the price had increased by $10.00...nobody at the store knew so the old price was in the register when she scanned the bar code. She then went on to void my transaction and run it through again. I'm not exactly sure how it happened but my card was charged for the AP a total of three times (to the tune of almost $800) and I had no credit available on the only card I had with me. And no cash either. And two very hungry and tired kids. Needless to say, it was not a good day for us. The whole thing took almost 4 hours out of our day.

If anyone is considering buying their AP at a Disneystore, do yourself a favor and make sure they have the current prices in their system.

 

[chickyann]

Ouch, I'm a SAHM too so I totally understand how much that would have hurt. Is it all sorted out now?

 

[BillyFan]

I see you live in Santa Cruz, so I'm assuming you're going to Oakridge Mall to buy your APs. I've had similar experience at that store, when the CMs just don't really have much information, and they tell me to call the store at Valley Fair.
I'd suggest purchasing the rest of your APs from the Disney website. You can still buy them one at a time, but you'll print them from your computer and save yourself a tank of gas.

 

[audrabolster]

Yikes, I would skip the whole thing altogether and buy it online!

 

[jenpace]

I see you live in Santa Cruz, so I'm assuming you're going to Oakridge Mall to buy your APs. I've had similar experience at that store, when the CMs just don't really have much information, and they tell me to call the store at Valley Fair.
I'd suggest purchasing the rest of your APs from the Disney website. You can still buy them one at a time, but you'll print them from your computer and save yourself a tank of gas.

Yes! I went to Oakridge Mall. We had a Disneystore here in town but it was closed a couple of months ago. I always bought my AP's there and never, ever had any problems.

Clearly Oakridge Mall's Disneystore sells very few AP's or they would have realized the mistake over a week ago when the new prices went into effect.

I thought if you bought them online they had to be used within 30 days

I am just exhausted after the ordeal today but tomorrow I will be calling the number for corporate that they gave me in the store...the store employees kept referring to them as the "Rescue Rangers". Great.

 

[Hester]

I went to the Disney Store in Valencia, CA about a month before "Wall-e" came out. I asked when they were getting their Wall-e stuff in and the girl replied, "What's that? I have no idea." and then walked away.

 

[Hofmanns4]

I believe if you purchase AP's online now, you will need to activate them by 1/5/09.

I bought mine last year in September (before the price increase...thanks to the DisBoards)and they needed to be activated by January 08.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

im sorry op that happened.
But Heter-thats just so wrong i would of been like "you work here and dont know when a movie comes out, you so shouldnt be working here.

man thats just so bad

 

[biolabetty]

I went to the Disney Store in Valencia, CA about a month before "Wall-e" came out. I asked when they were getting their Wall-e stuff in and the girl replied, "What's that? I have no idea." and then walked away.

I went to this very store to buy a WDW 10 day hopper in January. They told me that it would cost the same as an AP so why not get that? Well sure it was the same as an AP once you added on the Waterparks and more, and the no expiration fee which I didn't want. I bought mine online for $300 less than they were trying to get me to do.

I also bought my DL APs there a few years ago, and I had read online that the prices were due to go up the next day. When I mentioned that at the store, the employee was very adamant that the prices weren't going up since they would be the first to know. She actually got a bit upset with me. The prices went up the next day.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

Oh my Gosh! Seems like the manager should have at least attempted to contact the credit card company directly to release the bogus funds hold on your account. They wasted your time and tied up your funds. What if you needed to buy groceries or gas after that? And as you said, no cash and hungry kiddos. So sorry for your issues. Hope corporate comes through.

 

[jenpace]

Oh my Gosh! Seems like the manager should have at least attempted to contact the credit card company directly to release the bogus funds hold on your account. They wasted your time and tied up your funds. What if you needed to buy groceries or gas after that? And as you said, no cash and hungry kiddos. So sorry for your issues. Hope corporate comes through.

Oh the manager did. We were at the counter at the store for 90 minutes all together. After the 1st time Capital One was called it appeared that everything was taken care of...but of course it was not. I have to say, the assistant manager was very nice and seemed to be genuinely concerned over what was happening. It was the actual store manager (who was wearing workout clothes for some reason) who upset me the most. When I came back in the store to tell her that the situation was still not resolved she told me "M'am...I don't know what to say to you" and turned away from me. My youngest dd was in tears by then.

I need to call the credit card company this morning and also speak with the folks at corporate Disneystore. ...not really feeling any magic right now. It's too bad because going to get the AP's had always been a fun thing for me and the kids, one step closer to being at DL, you know?

 

[bzkds]

Sorry to hijack.. but HEY! I'm at Oakridge ALL the time! lol My ds17 has been working at the theater.

I don't go into the Disney store often, last time I was looking for some cute hair bows or something. All they had was toys and infant/toddler clothing mostly. I was disappointed they aren't carrying more of the "fun" stuff (like the hair accessories, etc). But I love the sparkly red floor!


Beth

 

[pycees312]

I'm so sorry to hear about what happened. I will say I have traveled the few extra miles to go to Valley Fair a few times. There is a really nice guy who works there (don't know his name) but he is very knowlegable about the goings on at Disney ETC. He told me about Pixie Hollow( before it was posted on the boards) while i was checking out with Tinkerbell stuff.

 

[dizneekrazee]

Yes! I went to Oakridge Mall. We had a Disneystore here in town but it was closed a couple of months ago. I always bought my AP's there and never, ever had any problems.

Clearly Oakridge Mall's Disneystore sells very few AP's or they would have realized the mistake over a week ago when the new prices went into effect.

I thought if you bought them online they had to be used within 30 days

I am just exhausted after the ordeal today but tomorrow I will be calling the number for corporate that they gave me in the store...the store employees kept referring to them as the "Rescue Rangers". Great.

I work at the SunValley Disney Store in Concord CA. The price change was effective in our stores yesterday. I was off yesterday, so I just found out today. They would have found out yesterday at opening. The opening manager is supposed to check their computer system "in-box" and check the daily messages. That is where they will see the price change. And it was there, cause I checked today, and saw it with yesterday mornings date and time. I am sorry for the time and frustration they caused you. If you, or anybody else for that matter, has any disneystore passport questions, please feel free to contact me. I have only worked at this specific store for 2 months, I used to work at Hilltop which also closed in June. At Hilltop, we had out own little rule that only managers/leads could sell park passports because of issues like this. I like that rule, and my new store does not have this rule. Just hope everyone is educated!!!

 

[Mililani Mouser]

i feel sorry for the kids. same thing happened to me (well kind of), in the old days when the car dealerships used to take your keys and registration to see how much of a trade in you would get on your car. my son was hungry and crying and those people still insisted on me buying their car. all i wanted to do was to get the hockey puck out of there. it ruins your whole day, but with a lesson learned.

 

[tink2dw]

I worked at the Disney Store many moons ago before the sale to
the children's store.

However. "Rescue Rangers" was not a public number.
Mangers and Assistant Managers were the only ones who had
anything to due with the "Rescue Rangers". They were for in
store problems!

Has that changed??

 

[jenpace]

I worked at the Disney Store many moons ago before the sale to
the children's store.

However. "Rescue Rangers" was not a public number.
Mangers and Assistant Managers were the only ones who had
anything to due with the "Rescue Rangers". They were for in
store problems!

Has that changed??

I'm guessing that it has changed. I did call the number for "Rescue Rangers" that I was given in the store and there is an option to be routed to Guest Services. I left a message but haven't heard back yet. Here's what I don't get: Apparently there is only ONE person (whose name is Angie) that handles Guest Relation calls for all of North America.

I would like to speak with the appropriate person, tell them what happened and put the whole thing behind me.

 

[heatherleigh]

That is awful! I sure hope they give you a gift card or something, after they get your card resolved. I have 4 kids, so I can relate. Plus, it's dangerous to be out w/out any money these days. Please let us know when they fix it.

 

[jenpace]

That is awful! I sure hope they give you a gift card or something, after they get your card resolved. I have 4 kids, so I can relate. Plus, it's dangerous to be out w/out any money these days. Please let us know when they fix it.

Thank you. I wasn't happy with the prospect of being 1 hr away from home with no $$. What I was also uncomfortable with was being on the phone with the CC company in the middle of the busy store having to recite over and over all my personal info. (my social security #, my husband's, our zip code, phone #, CC #, etc...)

 

[Lasty K]

When I went into a Disney Store yesterday, I was told about the price changes. Pretty much every AP went up $10 dollars, but they haven't received their new brochures w/ the price changes yet.

Gluck to ya on the situation.