Updated w/ Disney response. Confirmation email and reciept are jokes! Beware

[sharadoc]

Back in Fall of 2013, Walmart had a glitch in their online pricing on their website of several items.

Computer Monitors were being sold for $8.85 each
Large flat screen TVs which would normally sell in the 1000s of dollars were now going for anywhere from $300-$500.

Now people that jumped in early and where able to pick up items in the store where able to capitalize on this error and received some extraordinary deals. However, when Walmart learned of their error they notified all their stores and people who had paid online for a product listed on the website at that price where turned away when they arrived at the store and online orders with the erroneous pricing were canceled. Later, Walmart sent $10 gift cards to anyone that had ordered online that day.

This is applicable to this situation because people had confirmation emails/transaction receipts for products that they had bought online listed at a price but then denied the product when they arrived.

Did these people really think that they should get a PC monitor regularly priced at $200 for $8.85 just because they had a confirmation email?

I would love to see these people if they owned a small business and made some pricing error or had a computer glitch. I doubt very seriously they would honor something that was a mistake that would do irrepetible harm to their business even if customers had confirmation emails.

No, but this situation is more like a $200 monitor was advertised for $175, then when they went to pick it up they were told to pay another $25. Not the same as $8 vs. $200. That $681 is the equivalent of a 20% discount added onto the package. And that's not unheard of, especially since a British/European guest can get room discounts AND free dining.

OP, you are in the right. Don't let the negative posters get you down. Maybe take it out to social media. Take a photo of your receipt and tweet it to Disney and some news sites with "Disney refuses to honor price on confirmation" type tweet.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

For those who feel that the OP is out of line (I do not BTW):

So, if you had a reservation for a car rental at $200 total with all taxes and fees and you went to pick the car up, with your confirmation, printout, and total quoted to you and they say sorry, it is now $300, you would pay it, smile and not say a single word about it?

Like others had said, just think of this mess if the OP had not found the glitch and arrived expecting 9 nights during a busy Holiday period where the property is packed. What would they have done then?

 

[AngiTN]

Maybe take it out to social media. Take a photo of your receipt and tweet it to Disney and some news sites with "Disney refuses to honor price on confirmation" type tweet.

Not a bad idea.

 

[PlutoMars]

For those who feel that the OP is out of line (I do not BTW):

So, if you had a reservation for a car rental at $200 total with all taxes and fees and you went to pick the car up, with your confirmation, printout, and total quoted to you and they say sorry, it is now $300, you would pay it, smile and not say a single word about it?

Like others had said, just think of this mess if the OP had not found the glitch and arrived expecting 9 nights during a busy Holiday period where the property is packed. What would they have done then?

Not quite, more like having a reservation for a compact car for $200 and then me expecting to be able to rent the Escalade for the same price without the car rental company asking me for more money.

 

[Kalea]

What points are being argued? It seems Disney made a mistake and made a reasonable attempt to fix it. Perhaps it was not what the OP wanted, but who knows what that is? Disney cannot turn back the clock.

Is the issue whether $700 is a reasonable price for their mistake? Was the OP inconvenienced by $700? How many hours has she spent addressing the issue? I'm not sure how many hours I would have to spend on something to feel like I'd undergone $700 worth of inconvenience.

It sounds to me like a supervisor nixed the offer of a ~$700 gift card and felt that $200 (plus the extras) was suitable.

 

[atp]

Not quite, more like having a reservation for a compact car for $200 and then me expecting to be able to rent the Escalade for the same price without the car rental company asking me for more money.

More like making a reservation for a week, printing out the confirmation and then when you arrive there to pick up your car they tell you that you only have 5 days reserved. Even though your confirmation says otherwise.

And that you need to pay extra if you want the whole week you had reserved and received confirmation for.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

No, you can't keep tweeking the scenario. She put in her dates, picked her options, hit the "Buy Now" button, got a reply back confirming all her options, price, etc and then Disney pulled the NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND card. Disney is 100% at fault as I have purchased numerous vacations via the Disney website, just like the OP did and expected Disney to honor what I put in. With all the codes, promos, rate changes, seasons, options, etc....no two vacations are going to be the same price, so why would I, as a consumer, ever question the quote I got?

I will help you out again, since you want to change the options when presented with a scenario. Rented a car online, was quoted $200 for the full size SUV, came to the counter, they said my quote was wrong and it is now $300 for the same full size SUV. You would chalk it up to "bad luck" and pay it and be happy right?

Not quite, more like having a reservation for a compact car for $200 and then me expecting to be able to rent the Escalade for the same price without the car rental company asking me for more money.

 

[PlutoMars]

Not a bad idea.

Oh yes, everything on Social Media is accurate. Just ask KFC as the latest example.

 

[Sailing Queen]

I don't see from anything the OP has written that they knew they had 'got a bargain' ie 9 nights for the price of 7. I would be annoyed if I had booked, paid and received confirmation of a 9 night holiday to then be told well actually we only charged you for 7, so if you do want to stay for 9 pay us more ! If there had been a well known glitch, like the Walmart one or the occasional flight ones, then you know there's a good chance of it being declined, but this doesn't seem to be the case here. If the OP had not looked on MDE, I wonder how Disney would have explained it at check in ? And would the OP be booked in for the first, or last 7 days out of the 9 ? Very bad customer service. Mistakes happen, it's how they are dealt with that shows how good a company are.

 

[asmit4]

and here they go....comparing a computer for 8 bucks that should have been 800....to a huge vacation package that was 3900 instead of 4500....REALLY???

Any REASONABLE person KNOWS 800 computers don't sell for 8 bucks....

I can tell you right now- I don't KNOW what the going rate is for disney hotels- especially when booking a package deal. It was not 9 nights for 200 bucks = 1800. We are NOT talking about round numbers here. We are talking a package.

The package came to 3900...I'd have paid that 3900 and had NO idea WHATSOEVER that disney normally charges 4500 for it. This analogy of the $8 computer is RIDICULOUS!

 

[ilovemk76]

Which resort did you book?


With free dining you always pay rack rate.

 

[asmit4]

Which resort did you book?


With free dining you always pay rack rate.

Looks like the room was around 340 a night if they wanted another 681 out of her for the extra 2 nights. Had to of been a deluxe. I know values tend to run around 100-125, mods around 200-250...but deluxes vary widely.

 

[flatlandcycle]

Which resort did you book?


With free dining you always pay rack rate.

Why didn't the Disney machine tell the customer that in the confirmation? Does Disney want us to tell them what things cost? How on earth would we change this if their price-quote-machines are spitting out something else?

 

[asmit4]

Why didn't the Disney machine tell the customer that in the confirmation? Does Disney want us to tell them what things cost? How on earth would we change this if their price-quote-machines are spitting out something else?

Disney PURPOSELY does not do a line item account of things on your confirmation. Something fishy? hmmmm.....

 

[ilovemk76]

Disney PURPOSELY does not do a line item account of things on your confirmation. Something fishy? hmmmm.....

Our deluxe we stayed in last May, absolutely showed the cost per night. Weekend nights were one price and weekdays were another.

 

[ilovemk76]

Why didn't the Disney machine tell the customer that in the confirmation? Does Disney want us to tell them what things cost? How on earth would we change this if their price-quote-machines are spitting out something else?

When I know the item should be $X and it comes back as $X-20%, I always check to make sure I really got what I wanted. It could have been a cheaper model, with less features, the wrong number of days or a number of other problems. I have had this happen and it was not a discount but the wrong item or quantity.

 

[leebee]

Which resort did you book?


With free dining you always pay rack rate.

It's still not that straightforward. Park tickets are included, and then you have to ask how many days? What kind of options (you know, Magic Your Way and all that)? Taxes? Also (and I don't know how it'd effect things here), every single time we've purchased an on-site stay, the total is NEVER the same as adding up the actual room rate and the actual ticket price. It's always been less, whether we've gone for free dining or during a different promotion/time, which leads me to believe that there is a built-in incentive for buying a Disney package rather than booking room-only and purchasing your own tickets.

Speaking of tickets… OP, were your park tickets included on your original confirmation, for the entire 9 night stay, or did you only get 7 day tickets? This might be how the glitch occurred; when you ordered two fewer park days, maybe Disney's computer somehow keyed into that and changed your reservation to 7 days, also.

I still think that as you have a confirmed reservation for 9 nights at $XXXX, you should push the issue. At least file your complaint with the Attorney General's office, and maybe Better Business Bureau also. They quoted and charged you a price for an item (a vacation package); they should honor that.

 

[aaarcher86]

If I understand it right, the OP stated that the price she has is the price that she expected for 7 nights. That for 9 nights she did expect a higher price. Or something like that. At least that's how I understood it when she said To me, the above indicates that the price for 9 nights should have been the new total, not the total for 7 nights. We all know this answer was pulled out of her ***. That is simply impossible and ridiculous for them to even put it out there. I can't imagine what the person who said it was thinking. Disney has no means to determine the dates you are in the area, yet not staying at Disney. At no time do they ask for the dates you plan to arrive in FL or the date you plan to leave FL. They ask what date you want to check in and what date you want to check out. If the problem was something that happened all the time this would not be the first time it's been posted of here. Something very unusual went on, as in has never happened before and likely never going to happen again. But if folks continually booked 9 nights and got recorded by Disney as 7 we would have heard about it before.

That's actually completely not pulled out of her ***. There are 2 sets of dates. I don't know WHY there are in their system since they could easily have everything associated with the trip dates, but they are. The only purpose they serve on their own is advising of split stays since you're in property longer than one reservation is actually for. You certainly don't have to believe with your vast amount of knowledge with their system, but the CM wasn't lying to her.

I'm sure there are plenty of people that can attest to changing their dates (removing or adding a day) and the confirmation email shows the original dates (and MDE shows accurate dates). It's because they didn't change both sets. They call in and Disney says 'oh no problem' and fixes it. It's because the trip dates are fine, so it's not a situation like the OP has, they just need to update those area dates.

 

[I<3MyGoldMiner]

What Disney did is completely wrong. PERIOD. I am by no means a lawyer but understand certain "legal situations" due to my background in banking and collections... There is a law in Florida called Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA). Disney world would be under Florida state law. What they did would qualify under this law because they did quote you 9 nights at $xxx price, and that is what you agreed and paid for. I would speak to an attorney and file a suit. If they are not reprimanded for their illegal actions then they well keep doing it until they are caught.

It is not trying to get something for free. It is ensuring that you are getting the product that you were promised and agreed to purchase at that price.

 

[asmit4]

When you book a package deal- it does NOT show the pricing. I just did it 'for fun' on the disney site. It tells me that I booked saratoga springs, dining plan and 2 day tickets all for ONE price. Nothing is broken down AT ALL.