The Costco rep I’m on the phone with is horrible

[emmabelle]

I was on hold this morning with Costco for an hour and a half and they hung up on me. Flash forward to tonight and I call Costco back. I literally get this agent who clearly does not want to book me a cruise.

Me - Hello I’d like to book a Disney Cruise and I have a place holder

Costco agent - if I call Disney now it could be a half hour wait

Me - well I waited for an hour and a half this morning and got hung up on and I don’t want to do that again tomorrow morning. I booked a place holder and named Costco as the TA, so I have to call to do this.

Costco - what is your reservation number?

Me - I didn’t receive one because the future cruise manager was busy. He put the request in a box and processed it later.

Costco - well I can’t get it. You’ll have to call Disney and get it.

Me - well Disney will not give me any info since I unfortunately named you as my TA.

Costco - fine, I’ll call and get it but it will be probably a half hour wait. Can I have a number to call you back in case we get disconnected...


It was like I was annoying him by asking for him to do his job, I get it that they are probably tired, but really don’t be rude to me. Jeesh...

 

[dclpluto]

I was on hold this morning with Costco for an hour and a half and they hung up on me. Flash forward to tonight and I call Costco back. I literally get this agent who clearly does not want to book me a cruise.

Me - Hello I’d like to book a Disney Cruise and I have a place holder

Costco agent - if I call Disney now it could be a half hour wait

Me - well I waited for an hour and a half this morning and got hung up on and I don’t want to do that again tomorrow morning. I booked a place holder and named Costco as the TA, so I have to call to do this.

Costco - what is your reservation number?

Me - I didn’t receive one because the future cruise manager was busy. He put the request in a box and processed it later.

Costco - well I can’t get it. You’ll have to call Disney and get it.

Me - well Disney will not give me any info since I unfortunately named you as my TA.

Costco - fine, I’ll call and get it but it will be probably a half hour wait. Can I have a number to call you back in case we get disconnected...


It was like I was annoying him by asking for him to do his job, I get it that they are probably tired, but really don’t be rude to me. Jeesh...

Yep you lost control when you named a travel agent. I never want to lose control.

 

[Dug720]

Yep you lost control when you named a travel agent.

Or more specifically, an agency. A personal travel agent - where you are working with the same person - is going to be much more invested in working for you than someone in a big call center.

I adore my agent. But that is because she works for a small agency and is the person I will always deal with (unless she is out of town and gives me the name of a colleague to deal with). I'm a person and not just a number to her. I doubt I could say the same if I was going with a company where I did not have a dedicated agent.

 

[UVAWahoo]

I was on hold this morning with Costco for an hour and a half and they hung up on me. Flash forward to tonight and I call Costco back. I literally get this agent who clearly does not want to book me a cruise.

Me - Hello I’d like to book a Disney Cruise and I have a place holder

Costco agent - if I call Disney now it could be a half hour wait

Me - well I waited for an hour and a half this morning and got hung up on and I don’t want to do that again tomorrow morning. I booked a place holder and named Costco as the TA, so I have to call to do this.

Costco - what is your reservation number?

Me - I didn’t receive one because the future cruise manager was busy. He put the request in a box and processed it later.

Costco - well I can’t get it. You’ll have to call Disney and get it.

Me - well Disney will not give me any info since I unfortunately named you as my TA.

Costco - fine, I’ll call and get it but it will be probably a half hour wait. Can I have a number to call you back in case we get disconnected...


It was like I was annoying him by asking for him to do his job, I get it that they are probably tired, but really don’t be rude to me. Jeesh...

Emmabelle, I am so sorry you got a bad agent.

Costco is not a "real" travel agent in the sense that they work for you and make things happen. Just like Dug720 said. I use Costco, because I do everything myself down to the specific stateroom and I just run it through Costco to get their cash card, because honestly, I have not found any travel agent that can beat Costco's incentive. And I am picky enough that a personalized TA still wouldn't get everything I wanted. If DCL offered similar kickbacks, i would always book directly with DCL.

Sounds like you are doing the right thing being firm with the Costco Agent. Our Costco Agent was awesome. Sounded like a young guy, was extremely wanting to please me, gave me status every 5 mins, telling me he is still on hold with Disney and will stay on all day if need be. You should get the agent's name and file a complaint with Costco Travel, he should be making sure you get your request fulfilled.

Well anyway, I sure hope you finally get your cruise booked.

Oh, I was looking at some other posts, and it looks like you can book DCL online and then call DCL later and transfer it to Costco. If that is true, going that route would be the least painful and you get the Costco Cash Card.

 

[emmabelle]

Yup!

He got my placeholder number very easily once he got Disney on the phone. Then he didn’t ask me who was going on the cruise, he just put me on hold before I could tell him. He seemed annoyed again when I told him there was 3 of us after he priced it out with Disney for 2.

Oh well got it done and got what I want so all’s well that ends well.

 

[emmabelle]

Oh, I was looking at some other posts, and it looks like you can book DCL online and then call DCL later and transfer it to Costco. If that is true, going that route would be the least painful and you get the Costco Cash Card.

I wish it could’ve been that easy! I booked a placeholder on our recent cruise and named Costco as the TA thinking it would be easier than adding them later. I had no choice but to book with Costco after that.

I will get back $190 in a Costco card so it was worth the aggravation. Haha

 

[lilsonicfan]

I haven't had a bad experience with Costco at all (although I'm in Canada - maybe the agents are different) - in March, the one agent I had kept me on the line for 3+ hours (I was on hold) while she tried calling Disney. She had tried Disney 850+ times by the time 2 or so hours had rolled around. I'm really sorry your experience was frustrating. For what it's worth, I called DCL before opening day to get my placeholder # as I didn't think Costco would be able to do it otherwise - I thought I had the email but maybe I lost it. For me the cash card is the big feature, we are getting back around $925! (CAD).

 

[lilsonicfan]

Oh, and we didn't lose any control over the booking either.

I do think you did right in terms of putting the placeholder in Costco's name as TA because if you hadn't, you wouldn't be able to later transfer the placeholder-turned-cruise reservation to Costco.

 

[emmabelle]

Oh, and we didn't lose any control over the booking either.

I do think you did right in terms of putting the placeholder in Costco's name as TA because if you hadn't, you wouldn't be able to later transfer the placeholder-turned-cruise reservation to Costco.

That’s what I was afraid of.

 

[Billinaz]

Yep you lost control when you named a travel agent. I never want to lose control.

I always transfer my reservation to Costco. I just get a Cash card for $1045 for my May 5 cruise.

There is really no need to "lose control", the only things you need them to help you with is a date or passenger change.

 

[Billinaz]

Oh, and we didn't lose any control over the booking either.

I do think you did right in terms of putting the placeholder in Costco's name as TA because if you hadn't, you wouldn't be able to later transfer the placeholder-turned-cruise reservation to Costco.

Not true. You just need to do it within 30 days. Several people on the cruise I just got off of did just that.

 

[MillauFr]

Costco is not a "real" travel agent in the sense that they work for you and make things happen. Just like Dug720 said. I use Costco, because I do everything myself down to the specific stateroom and I just run it through Costco to get their cash card, because honestly, I have not found any travel agent that can beat Costco's incentive. And I am picky enough that a personalized TA still wouldn't get everything I wanted. If DCL offered similar kickbacks, i would always book directly with DCL.

Agree 100%. Only reason to use Costco is to maximize your kickback. It is a loophole in the system. I think it is crazy the travel agents actually have to call a live person at Disney to make changes. It is 2018 not 1975. Why on earth do you even have to call a live person? Why can't you just log in and make all of the changes yourself without calling anyone.

 

[UVAWahoo]

Not true. You just need to do it within 30 days. Several people on the cruise I just got off of did just that.

Billinaz, question for you.

If you have an OBB placeholder, then I assume you are stuck calling your TA in order to transfer the OBB to one of these 2019 cruises. In other words, you would not be able to book online and then have Costco work with Disney to transfer the OBB to this cruise that was booked online even if it were within 30 days. That only works for new bookings. Is that correct? Thanks

 

[UVAWahoo]

I wish it could’ve been that easy! I booked a placeholder on our recent cruise and named Costco as the TA thinking it would be easier than adding them later. I had no choice but to book with Costco after that.

I will get back $190 in a Costco card so it was worth the aggravation. Haha

Awesome. I am so glad you finally booked your cruise and still got everything you wanted.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Not true. You just need to do it within 30 days. Several people on the cruise I just got off of did just that.

Yes. I wasn’t clear. If emmabelle had waited until she turned the placeholder into a cruise before trying to transfer it to Costco, it would have been too late.

 

[Mousequake]

Agree 100%. Only reason to use Costco is to maximize your kickback. It is a loophole in the system. I think it is crazy the travel agents actually have to call a live person at Disney to make changes. It is 2018 not 1975. Why on earth do you even have to call a live person? Why can't you just log in and make all of the changes yourself without calling anyone.

Travel agents can make most changes online. There are a few things they have to call in for, but a lot of things like stateroom changes and changes to itineraries can easily be handled online.

 

[missyp]

Wow! I have only had great experiences using Costco. I have booked opening day numerous times with them and I have often used a placeholder. The agents understood my urgency and were very patient and have stayed on hold waiting for Disney for up to 2 hours for me, always checking back with me and becoming my friend by the end of the conversation. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

 

[Shanti]

Yup!

He got my placeholder number very easily once he got Disney on the phone. Then he didn’t ask me who was going on the cruise, he just put me on hold before I could tell him. He seemed annoyed again when I told him there was 3 of us after he priced it out with Disney for 2.

Oh well got it done and got what I want so all’s well that ends well.

Next time just hang up and call back to get a different agent. I have had good experiences with using Costco Travel for DCL, but one agent I spoke to sounded very inexperienced yet also too confident that she "knew" things that as a DCL veteran I knew were incorrect. I quickly terminated the call and called back, to get a better agent. I've had no problems with anyone else at Costco Travel.

The occassional bad agent experience isn't limited to Costco, btw. I use a personal travel agent for WDW, and once she responded to a query with a sentence IN ALL CAPS. I still don't know if she was mad or thought I was dumb (I was always polite & reasonable to her, btw), but I made a mental note to switch agents for future trips.

 

[owensjro]

Yeah, sounds like you just got a bad agent or someone having a bad day. We've used Costco for both DCL and Celebrity cruises and always had amazing service. In fact, one time they ended up calling us back because they realized they had made a mistake with a pricing and then worked with Celebrity to get us an even better deal. They do warn us about the potential wait time when calling DCL, but I appreciate that.

Jim

 

[Minnie368]

Yes. I wasn’t clear. If emmabelle had waited until she turned the placeholder into a cruise before trying to transfer it to Costco, it would have been too late.

Unless Costco is different than other travel agents this wasn’t my experience. On our first cruise last month I booked a placeholder. When we got home I called Disney and put it on a specific cruise for next year. I later transferred that reservation to Dreams Unlimited. I did get the reduced OBC through DU because it was transferred but kept all the perks I got through DCL. I had not used a TA for my first cruise or named on when I booked my placeholder.