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

[norybell]

Actually, OP, the more I think about it, the more I think that I would turn down the gift card (though it would be SO HARD TO DO THAT) and write formal letters via email and registered mail to every high-up WDW contact I could get my hands on. I would begin the letters with a succinct description of events, and end them with something about how disappointed you are to have received such horrible service from a company you once loved and respected.

And then I would let it go and try to have a good vacation.

Just my two cents. Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[itchin2go]

I think what happened to OP sucks. It would be a rude awakening to think you booked your trip, and you're all good to go, and then find out you're 2 days short, and to get those 2 days, you owe extra money.

However, if it were me, and I then ran the numbers and realized that the numbers Disney is insisting on now are the right ones, I would personally be happy with my $200 gift card, my extra FPs and my ice cream. It's a windfall.

That said, when something is done wrong to you, I think you speak up ... but you don't spend your life beating a dead horse.

People who keep telling OP to fight, fight, fight. It's not your life. It's not your $200 gift card.

You can spend the next few weeks/months with your life consumed by this or you can let it go.

 

[laceyinwonderland]

I totally get the OPs frustration. Like many here, I have a Disney chase. I moved my Disney dollars to my rewards card, with out paying too much attention to what the balance was. I moved all that was available. Right before my trip, I checked the balance and it was aprox $300. At Disney, I go to pay off my room charges, and there is only $150 on the card. Im confused but go about my business. I get home and see that there is indeed a zero balance, so I start checking statements backwards. 2 months prior to trip, I see that I moved $150 to the rewards card, and had a $150 "courtesy adjustment." After many many calls to chase, it seems when I redeemed my dollars, on their end, the transaction was canceled. So they had to "give them back, then move them again" making it look to me that I had more than what I really had, double in fact. I was never notified by them about anything. Did I truly only earn $150 rewards dollars? Yes! Did it suck going to Disney thinking I had $300 and finding out I didn't? Yes. Did chase do anything to fix their mistake? No!! And I got reemed by folks on the budget board for wondering if it was asking too much for Chase to honor the mistaken dollars, or even offer something for their mistake.

To the OP, I am sorry that this is happening to you. Its really not fair since it wasn't your mistake, and it was a lucky find on your part to catch it before it really affected your vacation! Like showing up 2 days early, or them kicking you out 2 days too soon!! Just know your not alone in your frustration.

 

[ilovemk76]

I think what happened to OP sucks. It would be a rude awakening to think you booked your trip, and you're all good to go, and then find out you're 2 days short, and to get those 2 days, you owe extra money.

However, if it were me, and I then ran the numbers and realized that the numbers Disney is insisting on now are the right ones, I would personally be happy with my $200 gift card, my extra FPs and my ice cream. It's a windfall.

That said, when something is done wrong to you, I think you speak up ... but you don't spend your life beating a dead horse.

People who keep telling OP to fight, fight, fight. It's not your life. It's not your $200 gift card.

You can spend the next few weeks/months with your life consumed by this or you can let it go.

 

[wendy3]

I think what happened to OP sucks. It would be a rude awakening to think you booked your trip, and you're all good to go, and then find out you're 2 days short, and to get those 2 days, you owe extra money.

However, if it were me, and I then ran the numbers and realized that the numbers Disney is insisting on now are the right ones, I would personally be happy with my $200 gift card, my extra FPs and my ice cream. It's a windfall.

That said, when something is done wrong to you, I think you speak up ... but you don't spend your life beating a dead horse.

People who keep telling OP to fight, fight, fight. It's not your life. It's not your $200 gift card.

You can spend the next few weeks/months with your life consumed by this or you can let it go.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

The average satisfied customer tells 1-3 people about their experience. The average unsatisfied customer tells 10 or more. The OP has told 13,117 people, and counting, about her experience. The $700 savings Disney kept by not making this right yields a savings of 0.05 cents per negative social media impression, and counting. The final total will likely be twice that. Negative impressions stick harder and longer than positive ones do. Letting this fester without a positive solution says as much about the current status of the company as the original complaint. The sooner Disney makes this right, the sooner the bleeding stops. Disney reads this board. THIS thread merits the attention of your supervisor. And his. And hers.

Don't assume that everyone reading this thread agrees with the OP. I personally think that Disney owes the OP nothing and they are extremely kind to offer a gift card and the other treats.

 

[ziravan]

Don't assume that everyone reading this thread agrees with the OP. I personally think that Disney owes the OP nothing and they are extremely kind to offer a gift card and the other treats.

I don't assume that at all. Even if only half of the people reading this thread sides with the OP, that's still thousands of negative impressions Disney is making in order to save a few hundred bucks on a customer committed to spending thousands of dollars.

Disney used to have a reputation of outstanding customer service, going so far as to empower CMs to make things right, on the spot. The one CM in this thread that tried that had to apologize for overstepping her boundaries.

THIS thread is powerful advertising for Disney. They got got over sixteen thousand clicks (and counting) for pennies a click in savings they achieved by not making this right. A phenomenal advertising deal. It's just not the sort of advertising they should be proud to receive.

If the OP were to come back here and report that Disney made this right, it would change the whole character of this thread, and end it in short order. It would mitigate the negative somewhat.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I would be extremely easy to know it was wrong. Room is rack rate. Multiply by 9 and then 1.13 (for tax). Tickets are easy, look at All Ears Net and get the cost. Free dining is free. Total is easy to calculate.

I do this every time I book. I would know if the total was off by almost $700.

I really don't feel the average person should have to do that. When I order something in the thousands of dollars I don't go around verifying the cost by totaling all the components. I verify the # of nights, that the # of tickets I have is correct, and that dining is included. Then I pay the bill. In her case it never would have occurred to me that the total was 'off'.

That is great for those who are willing/able to spend time looking it all up, but why should I have to be double checking disney when I book with them online? I don't do that with any other hotel/car/resort reservations I make? Just like the OP, I would have accepted the price the DISNEY system spit out to me, and satisfied with that price, I would have purchased it.

Why wouldn't you prepare yourself by knowing the numbers in advance and double-checking? Rack rate pricing is readily available both here at wdwinfo.com and on Disneye own website. Especially if she/he hadn't selected any promotional rate before booking, there shouldn't be any difficulty verifying. I mean, I watch my $20 purchase at the drugstore; why wouldn't I verify my $5,000 hotel reservation?

The average satisfied customer tells 1-3 people about their experience. The average unsatisfied customer tells 10 or more.

The OP has told 13,117 people, and counting, about her experience. The $700 savings Disney kept by not making this right yields a savings of 0.05 cents per negative social media impression, and counting. The final total will likely be twice that.

Negative impressions stick harder and longer than positive ones do. Letting this fester without a positive solution says as much about the current status of the company as the original complaint.

The sooner Disney makes this right, the sooner the bleeding stops. Disney reads this board. THIS thread merits the attention of your supervisor. And his. And hers.

Disney has given their best offer to make it as right as possible. What they do or don't do won't have any influence on my staying at a Disney resort.

 

[over50visits]

What Disney did is completely wrong. PERIOD.

It sounds like Disney made an honest mistake. If that is correct, then trying to personally profit from their mistake (by paying less that the right amount) is completely wrong. PERIOD.

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

I think the problem here is the customer service on handling this. Op called and the first CM was downright rude, math lesson aside. I think most people would agree the rudeness shouldn't have happened. Especially for a company that charges a premium because they "supposedly" are above other theme parks(including the customer sevice department). Then guest services gets involved and admits this was a problem on their end. She offers to make it right with a GC for the amount. She then calls back later and well we changed our mind. This is ridiculous, if a company offers to make something right, they shouldn't call back and change it. That is horrible customer service and no one would think otherwise if the name Disney hadn't been mentioned.

OP I totally feel for you. We have had issues with WDW on our last trip and we were given extra FP'es but then when my mom went to pick them up from Guest Services, at MK, they couldn't find the record of them in the computer. We had waited in the long line and now the CM was downright rude and called my mom a liar. Now, my mom is religious and this was more damaging to her then it might have been to others. I was just in shock as I was a huge Disney fan and really couldn't believe how bad Disney had gotten until that moment. We did end up with the extra FPes from a supervisor who found the note on our account but that day was ruined for my mom which in turn colored the day for all of us.

 

[famy27]

My question for those who think the OP shouldn't receive the quoted price. What if she hadn't noticed the error? She checks in as planned with her nine-day confirmation in hand. Will Disney try to get payment for two more nights out of her? My guess is they absolutely would not. And if her room happened to be booked up, they'd probably end up upgrading her to something even better. It would be very hard for them to demand $700 extra when she checked in. So, her diligence in checking her reservation caused her to fix the problem and allow Disney to offer her a $200 gift card. For those that thought she should have checked her package pricing more carefully at the beginning to realize she had been undercharged, I would argue that she actually should have been less diligent and not checked. She could have wandered in on check-in day, and I would be 100% shocked if the resort didn't honor her printed reservation/confirmation.

Now, it's possible Disney might have realized the error at some point prior to check-in. I'm not sure what they would have offered in that situation, but I think that if the error hadn't been caught by check-in day, she would be paying $3899 and not a dollar more.

 

[Glenn]

I believe that the OP should get the price that was sent to her in writing. With the daily fluctuations who really is sure of the price. It is not like seeing a plane ticket for $1.
She was also promised the refund on a gift card in lieu of trying to change the larger price. No go on that one.
The bottom line would be to take was offered but inform them in writing that the OP will continue to press for a full refund of the difference. Then, as one poster said to do, file a complaint with Florida consumer service. If nothing else the complaint will be out in public record for everyone to see.
Last when you go take copies of all correspondence and records with you in case your standing at check in and they say sorry no extras, take it or take your bags and leave.
Hope you post what happens in the end after your trip is over.

 

[itchin2go]

My question for those who think the OP shouldn't receive the quoted price. What if she hadn't noticed the error? She checks in as planned with her nine-day confirmation in hand. Will Disney try to get payment for two more nights out of her? My guess is they absolutely would not. And if her room happened to be booked up, they'd probably end up upgrading her to something even better. It would be very hard for them to demand $700 extra when she checked in. So, her diligence in checking her reservation caused her to fix the problem and allow Disney to offer her a $200 gift card. For those that thought she should have checked her package pricing more carefully at the beginning to realize she had been undercharged, I would argue that she actually should have been less diligent and not checked. She could have wandered in on check-in day, and I would be 100% shocked if the resort didn't honor her printed reservation/confirmation.

Now, it's possible Disney might have realized the error at some point prior to check-in. I'm not sure what they would have offered in that situation, but I think that if the error hadn't been caught by check-in day, she would be paying $3899 and not a dollar more.

But that's not what happened.

The OP needs to know what to do now, not under some other possible scenario.

Disney dropped the ball here; no question.

The question now is what is the best course.

 

[maxiesmom]

Agreed, but there are thousands of readers here. So, if it ONLY disposes half of the readers negatively, then ONLY thousands of people will be reinforced with a negative impression by this.

Most of the people on the Disboards are people who really love Disney. And it takes an awful lot to get them to view Disney in a negative light. I'm not sure what level of horror would have to be reached to get those same people to stop going to WDW.

A negative impression on the boards doesn't matter much when everyone keeps taking their Disney trips.

 

[kesajen]

My friend is in WDW now and has seen a huge difference in the conditions at the parks and resorts. She walked past two trash cans near Pirates that were overflowing. A couple of hours later, she passed them again and they were still overflowing! Just one example of the missing magic.

 

[EMode]

So when the glitch was in your favor (paying for 7 instead of 9 nights) you were okay with the total amount due?
I think you and Disney are equally responsible for the mess and I think their way of "making it right" for you is more than generous.

 

[DVCMomBLT]

So when the glitch was in your favor (paying for 7 instead of 9 nights) you were okay with the total amount due?
I think you and Disney are equally responsible for the mess and I think their way of "making it right" for you is more than generous.

This. 100%.

 

[maxiesmom]

My friend is in WDW now and has seen a huge difference in the conditions at the parks and resorts. She walked past two trash cans near Pirates that were overflowing. A couple of hours later, she passed them again and they were still overflowing! Just one example of the missing magic.

 

[maxiesmom]

I think what happened to OP sucks. It would be a rude awakening to think you booked your trip, and you're all good to go, and then find out you're 2 days short, and to get those 2 days, you owe extra money.

However, if it were me, and I then ran the numbers and realized that the numbers Disney is insisting on now are the right ones, I would personally be happy with my $200 gift card, my extra FPs and my ice cream. It's a windfall.

That said, when something is done wrong to you, I think you speak up ... but you don't spend your life beating a dead horse.

People who keep telling OP to fight, fight, fight. It's not your life. It's not your $200 gift card.

You can spend the next few weeks/months with your life consumed by this or you can let it go.

You know for the longest time I couldn't decide how I felt about this whole thing. But I think you have summed it up perfectly.

It was a computer glitch. They won't give you those 2 days for free. You can either take the $200 and goodies and move on or you can let this consume your life and ruin your trip. The choice is yours.

 

[kaytieeldr]

My question for those who think the OP shouldn't receive the quoted price. What if she hadn't noticed the error? She checks in as planned with her nine-day confirmation in hand. Will Disney try to get payment for two more nights out of her? My guess is they absolutely would not.

It appears she has a package - so worst case, this error would have been caught at (or before) the time the final payment is due. But if another glitch caused that not to happen, most likely they would have arrived with a seven night fully paid reservation.

I believe that the OP should get the price that was sent to her in writing. With the daily fluctuations who really is sure of the price. It is not like seeing a plane ticket for $1.

When you're booking, or even searching for, vacations, there's a fairly large box on each resort's page telling you what the average cost per night is. Art of Animation in mid-December for a Little Mermaid room with th Dining Plan Free promotion is $162 average per night. So, yes, it takes some effort on our part but it's possible to check the pricing.

So when the glitch was in your favor (paying for 7 instead of 9 nights) you were okay with the total amount due?
I think you and Disney are equally responsible...

Well, in fairness the OP didn't create the glitch and wasn't aware the was one instantly. But given how you wrote what you wrote - it's somewhat like the cashier reading the display wrong and telling you your total is $125 (=online reservation system that made a mistake), when really it's going to take $152 to get the register open (actual cost of room for the right number of nights). I did notice in the original post she says she has a receipt, and while she may for the deposit, she couldn't for the package.