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

[JimmyV]

Ok I have followed this thread a bit. Let me start off by saying hi, I am an attorney However, I am not a licensed FL attorney and therefore I will not be offering legal advice or a legal opinion as I am not licensed to practice contract law in FL and I feel that would be inappropriate. I will just point out some facts you may find helpful should you choose to contact an attorney, not argue the merits or opinons that have gone back and forth here.

I understand it as you called Disney reservations, were given a price that seemed on par with what you usually pay for WDW trip packages for your family and agreed and provided a deposit. You then received your reservation confirmation in the mail, it (and the dates) matched what you requested and agreed to on the phone. You then noticed the error on MDE later and looked into it. And here we are.

Generally, law favors consumers. There are many, many factors in contract law. One word can change everything. But, I will say again, the law favors consumers. Think of how tenant law favors the renter as opposed to the landlord. The commercial entity is generally held to a higher standard.

I am looking at my own WDTC statement for my October trip and I do not have a breakdown. It gives me the dates of check in and check out, with the final price. If your statement shows the full dates of your stay (9 nights), especially if it shows 9 nights under "quantity" you may find it worth it to schedule a meeting with an attorney. Many attorneys offer a free initial consultation and it couldn't hurt to check if you can find one offering such. I know for a fact that packages are discounted a bit. We saved hundreds by booking a package vs. booking separately last May. I will also note there is a notation in the terms "all prices are...subject to change until package is paid in full." Arguments off the top of my head are the rates have not actually changed, it was in fact a mistake on the commercial entity's part; or, "price" is a term that encompasses both rates and other items. A lawyer familiar with FL law (or your home state law, because BTW that is an additional legal issue going across state lines and there may even be a mediation clause in the terms) will know what legal precedent applies to this case. Like I said, contract law is a very complex area.

You have many options - calling and taking the dispute further up the chain with guest relations; contacting an attorney; small claims court; etc. Keep in mind the amount in dispute - effectively $400 - could be eaten up easily and cut in half even if an attorney simply writes a letter. You could also accept the $200 gift card and express your feelings over the snafu once you arrive on site. I suspect that would likely ease your frustration with how it was handled. I do hope it works out and you have a fantastic trip! Another way to ease your nerves could be to think WDTC is not the CM's you will be interacting with when you arrive! They will be at their desks while you are riding dumbo

There was no meeting of the minds. There was no offer for a stay of 9 nights. Disney sent a confirmation for 7 nights priced accordingly. The buyer was trying to buy 9 nights. No meeting of the minds, and at best a mutual mistake, and no binding contract. When the OP tried to make additional reservations such as ADRs, the system showed 7 nights. At no time did Disney think that it sold a 9 night package. To allow a buyer to get 9 nights for the price of 7 would be unjust enrichment. Contract law seeks to do equity. It does not enforce "gotcha" when an error is caught.

 

[over50visits]

Ok I have followed this thread a bit. Let me start off by saying hi, I am an attorney…...I will not be offering legal advice or a legal opinion…...I will just point out some facts you may find helpful should you choose to contact an attorney……....

(Followed by a lengthy exposition of contract law)

Sigh.

Someone (Disney) made a mistake, and someone else can profit from it. We all know what's right, yet many would like to profit from a company's mistake. Kind of "stick it to the man." We need legal advice for such a situation? This is complex?

Nothing personal at all, sir. You wrote eloquently. I'm commenting on our system of laws.

OP: Have a great time at Disney Your visit will be filled with CMs helping you have a magical visit.

 

[Planogirl]

There was no meeting of the minds. There was no offer for a stay of 9 nights. Disney sent a confirmation for 7 nights priced accordingly. The buyer was trying to buy 9 nights. No meeting of the minds, and at best a mutual mistake, and no binding contract. When the OP tried to make additional reservations such as ADRs, the system showed 7 nights. At no time did Disney think that it sold a 9 night package. To allow a buyer to get 9 nights for the price of 7 would be unjust enrichment. Contract law seeks to do equity. It does not enforce "gotcha" when an error is caught.

Did the original confirmation show 7 nights then? If it showed 7 and not 9 then I'm way less sympathetic too.

A PP said that her booking by phone (if she did) made her opinion of the OP less favorable but I'm not sure if that would for me. It really depends on what the original confirmation said no matter how it was booked.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Did the original confirmation show 7 nights then? If it showed 7 and not 9 then I'm way less sympathetic too.

A PP said that her booking by phone (if she did) made her opinion of the OP less favorable but I'm not sure if that would for me. It really depends on what the original confirmation said no matter how it was booked.

It's my understanding the OP received a confirmation stating dates and it was for 9 nights. She thought she booked 9 nights. I don't understand why online vs phone makes a difference either.

 

[AThrillingChase]

There was no meeting of the minds. There was no offer for a stay of 9 nights. Disney sent a confirmation for 7 nights priced accordingly. The buyer was trying to buy 9 nights. No meeting of the minds, and at best a mutual mistake, and no binding contract. When the OP tried to make additional reservations such as ADRs, the system showed 7 nights. At no time did Disney think that it sold a 9 night package. To allow a buyer to get 9 nights for the price of 7 would be unjust enrichment. Contract law seeks to do equity. It does not enforce "gotcha" when an error is caught.

The entire point of this thread was the OP received a confirmation for 9 nights.

 

[monaleigh70]

I've read all the posts and I still cannot wrap my head around why so many people think the OP is 'unreasonable, should have known better, just wanted to get a fabulous deal'....

I have a girlfriend who is booking a trip for 2015. She has never been to disney. She has NO clue what a value resort costs, or mod or deluxe. So say she goes online and books her trip for 9 nights...and comes to a price- 3900...she pays the bill. Not everyone is nearly as disney savvy as DIS members. Is she also not reasonable because she didn't price check each item individually?

We aren't talking about $8 computers here or $5 dishwashers....in those instances everyone knows it's a mistake. I believe in this disney scenario a good portion of society would genuinely not know a mistake was made.

I don't understand how someone would pay for a trip without having any clue at all as to what the cost should be. Surely, your friend would be asking other people about trips, checking out websites, reading about specials, etc. before hitting that button. If she has no clue then she sets herself up for disappointment.

If I'm going to buy a car or a new washer and dryer I'm not going to purchase the first thing I see, I would be checking out prices to see what deals I could get. A couple of years ago my daughter and I were on the WDW website looking at specials on our own computers at our respective homes messing around with dates, resorts, DDP's trying to get the best deals while we were on the phone to each other.

I don't really understand this whole situation. People, corporations, and computers make mistakes. It happens all the time. And I don't see why someone thinks that a glitch means they are entitled to a deal. If a bank computer error accidentally deposited 5000 dollars into your bank account and you knew it wasn't yours, would you expect them to honor the mistake if you decided to spend it? Of course not. If you spend what is not yours then you have to pay it back. The 200 dollar credit and FP's are a fair and equitable way of dealing with the situation. It's called compromise.

 

[Palendat]

More to the point, honest mistake or not, it should cost the business money, if for no other reason than to provide an incentive to correct.

What he said.

 

[leebee]

Here is the ORIGINAL post from OP; bolding is mine.

My family and I decided to go Disneyworld during the holidays. I figured we had missed out on free dining for our dates, but after continual checking online I finally found our dates available. I quickly booked and all was well. Shortly thereafter I got a confirmation email with our dates, names, resort, amount paid and balance due.

I linked my res with My Disney Experience. While looking at dining options in the app I noticed our vacation dates were different. I called Disney and explained the problem. Figured it was issues with the new app. They said no it was booked for two days less than what I was telling them. I asked how that could be when we had a confirmation email? The rep said she had to call Disney and check into it further. Silly me, I thought I was talking to Disney.

After a 40 minute phone call I was told no there had been a computer glitch but they had added the two days on and I would now owe another $681.
I reminded them that I had a receipt. Didn't seem to matter. Thank you have a good day. Click

Of course they didn't ask if there was anything else I needed that day, or even a short survey at the end. Just we will send out a new email with the new details. I'm at a loss.

SO… OP had an emailed confirmation from Disney for a vacation package for the nine nights she wanted at $XXXX dollars. It showed what she paid towards that and the outstanding balance due. It was only when she went into MDE to make ADRs that she noticed that the reservation information Disney's computer (via MDE) was now showing on her package was TWO DAYS SHORTER than the package reservation she had actually made and had a confirmation for. Basically, Disney's computer originally gave OP a reservation for a 9 night package at a 7 night package price. She has an email from them confirming this 9 night reservation at the 7 night price.

These long threads are like playing the old game of "Telephone." As more and more people post their opinions of what happened, what they think probably happened, etc., people forget what the original situation was. Disney did NOT sell her 9 nights at $X per night. They did not sell her a package for 7 nights but now she wants 9. They NEVER give anyone an actual breakdown on costs of each component of these packages. Disney put together her vacation package and CONFIRMED 9 nights at the 7 night price. It somehow got changed in the computer to be 7 nights at the 7 night price, but the original vacation package that Disney put together, offered to OP, accepted a downpayment for, and sent a CONFIRMATION DOCUMENT, was for 9 nights at the 7 night price.

 

[Planogirl]

SO… OP had an emailed confirmation from Disney for a vacation package for the nine nights she wanted at $XXXX dollars. It showed what she paid towards that and the outstanding balance due. It was only when she went into MDE to make ADRs that she noticed that the reservation information Disney's computer (via MDE) was now showing on her package was TWO DAYS SHORTER than the package reservation she had actually made and had a confirmation for. Basically, Disney's computer originally gave OP a reservation for a 9 night package at a 7 night package price. She has an email from them confirming this 9 night reservation at the 7 night price.

These long threads are like playing the old game of "Telephone." As more and more people post their opinions of what happened, what they think probably happened, etc., people forget what the original situation was. Disney did NOT sell her 9 nights at $X per night. They did not sell her a package for 7 nights but now she wants 9. They NEVER give anyone an actual breakdown on costs of each component of these packages. Disney put together her vacation package and CONFIRMED 9 nights at the 7 night price. It somehow got changed in the computer to be 7 nights at the 7 night price, but the original vacation package that Disney put together, offered to OP, accepted a downpayment for, and sent a CONFIRMATION DOCUMENT, was for 9 nights at the 7 night price.

Thank you for summing it up so well. I kept seeing people stating that she originally had 7 nights and knew it and so on and I was starting to wonder if I was way offbase somehow.

Her original confirmation was for 9 nights and this is all on Disney.

 

[AThrillingChase]

Sigh.

Someone (Disney) made a mistake, and someone else can profit from it. We all know what's right, yet many would like to profit from a company's mistake. Kind of "stick it to the man." We need legal advice for such a situation? This is complex?

Nothing personal at all, sir. You wrote eloquently. I'm commenting on our system of laws.

OP: Have a great time at Disney Your visit will be filled with CMs helping you have a magical visit.

I'm a Miss Thank you for the compliment. All of these factors are taken into consideration by a court to prevent as you say sticking it to the man, but when both are at fault they tend to side with the less sophisticated, less knowledgeable of the two. If you start a corporation you are expected to know your business more than Joe down the street does, so you should be able to avoid such mistakes. It is the same with anything else, if you don't set a rule someone will try to get around it. This situation here is particularly sticky, but I think I'd personally be happy with the gift card. I can see why it is frustrating though, it reminds me of the overzealous Disney bus driver announcing all these secret projects...that never happen. lol. OP was told a bunch of different things and got excited and then they changed the gift card etc. It sounds like WDTC was confused as well. And if a trained representative was confused I'm not sure what hope there was for OP!

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Thank you for summing it up so well. I kept seeing people stating that she originally had 7 nights and knew it and so on and I was starting to wonder if I was way offbase somehow.

Her original confirmation was for 9 nights and this is all on Disney.

Her email stated an arrival of 9 days. Each reservation has Area arrival dates and Resort dates. Both should match, this is a old part of the system, but area arrival does not equal resort nights.

 

[Luckybee]

There was no meeting of the minds. There was no offer for a stay of 9 nights. Disney sent a confirmation for 7 nights priced accordingly. The buyer was trying to buy 9 nights. No meeting of the minds, and at best a mutual mistake, and no binding contract. When the OP tried to make additional reservations such as ADRs, the system showed 7 nights. At no time did Disney think that it sold a 9 night package. To allow a buyer to get 9 nights for the price of 7 would be unjust enrichment. Contract law seeks to do equity. It does not enforce "gotcha" when an error is caught.

Jimmy...where did you get the idea that D sent her a confirmation for 7 nights ?
When I read the op's post I read that she got a confirmation for 9 nights. That's what I based my opinion on in my previous posts.

Perhaps I misread what the op stated but if you are correct then my opinion certainly changes.

 

[Luckybee]

Ok I have followed this thread a bit. Let me start off by saying hi, I am an attorney However, I am not a licensed FL attorney and therefore I will not be offering legal advice or a legal opinion as I am not licensed to practice contract law in FL and I feel that would be inappropriate. I will just point out some facts you may find helpful should you choose to contact an attorney, not argue the merits or opinons that have gone back and forth here.

I understand it as you called Disney reservations, were given a price that seemed on par with what you usually pay for WDW trip packages for your family and agreed and provided a deposit. You then received your reservation confirmation in the mail, it (and the dates) matched what you requested and agreed to on the phone. You then noticed the error on MDE later and looked into it. And here we are.

Generally, law favors consumers. There are many, many factors in contract law. One word can change everything. But, I will say again, the law favors consumers. Think of how tenant law favors the renter as opposed to the landlord. The commercial entity is generally held to a higher standard.

I am looking at my own WDTC statement for my October trip and I do not have a breakdown. It gives me the dates of check in and check out, with the final price. If your statement shows the full dates of your stay (9 nights), especially if it shows 9 nights under "quantity" you may find it worth it to schedule a meeting with an attorney. Many attorneys offer a free initial consultation and it couldn't hurt to check if you can find one offering such. I know for a fact that packages are discounted a bit. We saved hundreds by booking a package vs. booking separately last May. I will also note there is a notation in the terms "all prices are...subject to change until package is paid in full." Arguments off the top of my head are the rates have not actually changed, it was in fact a mistake on the commercial entity's part; or, "price" is a term that encompasses both rates and other items. A lawyer familiar with FL law (or your home state law, because BTW that is an additional legal issue going across state lines and there may even be a mediation clause in the terms) will know what legal precedent applies to this case. Like I said, contract law is a very complex area.

You have many options - calling and taking the dispute further up the chain with guest relations; contacting an attorney; small claims court; etc. Keep in mind the amount in dispute - effectively $400 - could be eaten up easily and cut in half even if an attorney simply writes a letter. You could also accept the $200 gift card and express your feelings over the snafu once you arrive on site. I suspect that would likely ease your frustration with how it was handled. I do hope it works out and you have a fantastic trip! Another way to ease your nerves could be to think WDTC is not the CM's you will be interacting with when you arrive! They will be at their desks while you are riding dumbo

I gave my opinion earlier without indicating what I do for a living. Lets just say that based on our professional rules in order to do so I would have to draft a 10 page disclaimer prior

 

[Disney Frenhines]

Perhaps OP could clarify to us all what the issue was by posting on here the confirmation email with personal details blanked out of course, but, showing dates booked and deposit paid as this is turning into a game of 'Chinese Whispers'.

 

[Disney Frenhines]

From my understanding the OP booked 9 nights and her confirmation showed 9 nights but the system suddenly showed 7 nights later on. That is wrong and it's hardly fair to blame the OP as some here seem to be doing. It's not up to her to calculate the cost of a package and then ask reservations if a mistake was made.

I'm glad that she is getting something for her trouble at least.

Uh, yes it is if she wants to avoid scenarios like this. If something is priced and it seems too good to be true then it probably is, this is why, when I saw my most recent booking so much cheaper than anywhere else I double and tripled checked despite this company persistently, but not always, being much cheaper to make sure it is not an error(I saved £400 with them in 2011 on FQ and £250 with the November trip) they are owned by Virgin Holidays and that difference appears between holidays booked with VH.
As I said before don't do anything like this in haste, that is how mistakes are made.

 

[Luckybee]

As an aside...why is anyone truly surprised by confusion on Disney's part. My experiences thus far in booking our Sept trip have included at least 10 calls just to get our Dolphin ressies linked, misinformation about ADR's on 2 calls, and the topper was today when I tried ( note tried) to call to get some further info on Private Dessert parties at Epcot I got the following from Cm's(this is btw the readers digest version)

I ask for event catering...the automated system wont get me there so I ask for dining...I ask to be put through to event catering and she asks me what I need . I tell her and am told " We don't have those"
I tell her that I know they do because I've read reviews, and spoke with event catering a few months ago about them and ask if she could put me through to them.
She say's no I'll connect you to the right department.
She connects me with resort reservations.
I start again. CM 2 tells me I need to speak to dining .
I explain that I just spoke with dining and I need event catering.
He finally relents and tells me he'll connect me with the switchboard and proceeds to promptly disconnect me.
I call back .
I finally get connected with the switchboard where I clearly tell her that I wished to speak with someone in event catering for a private dessert party at EPCOT !!! (this becomes important in a sec)
I get put through. Im finally on the right track.
After being on hold for 5 minutes I get a rep in catering who doesn't have a clue about what Im calling about.
No wonder...I've been connected with catering in California !!!!!
Sadly I gave up.
I subsequently found a direct number to event catering and called only to find out they are not opened on Saturdays.
This would have been comical if I wasn't wasting an hour of my life. It was like a bad Laurel and Hardy routine.
And anyone here is surprised that Disney messed up the OP's confirmation ? Really?

 

[Luckybee]

Uh, yes it is if she wants to avoid scenarios like this. If something is priced and it seems too good to be true then it probably is, this is why, when I saw my most recent booking so much cheaper than anywhere else I double and tripled checked despite this company persistently, but not always, being much cheaper to make sure it is not an error(I saved £400 with them in 2011 on FQ and £250 with the November trip) they are owned by Virgin Holidays and that difference appears between holidays booked with VH.
As I said before don't do anything like this in haste, that is how mistakes are made.

You would be correct ...if this seemed to good to be true. This isn't !

The discount she got is a typical discount off travel for booking a pkg.

We have friends meeting us in Aruba later this yr. We're staying at our Marriott timeshare. They are planning on staying at the hotel next door.
To book separately the flights were $1050 ea and hotel was $2200. They paid $1200 ea for the exact same thing by purchasing a pkg. which was a savings of $2000. They didn't ask the agent if they were absolutely 100 % positive that price was correct. That was the quote they got. That is what the confirmation shows, and by your account they should not have accepted the price until they tripled checked it ? The onus is not on the consumer to do so unless it does seem to be too good to be true. I think you've misunderstood the term . Too good to be true pricing is as an example a hotel that might normally price in the range of say $300 to $500 a night being offered at $ 50 per night. That should trigger due diligence on the part of the consumer. Otherwise travel prices in North America vary dramatically , not just from company to company, but from hour to hour. Imho the discount provided for booking the pkg was not only not huge but rather modest quite frankly.

 

[maxiesmom]

Given the glitchiness of Disney's computers lately, I think it wouldn't be that difficult to establish a pattern of behavior...

The reason companies have to give on price issues is to avoid trying to impute if a practice was an honest mistake or a pattern of behavior. When "honest mistakes" of this nature cost a business money, they tend to rapidly disappear.

More to the point, honest mistake or not, it should cost the business money, if for no other reason than to provide an incentive to correct.

Businesses are not charged for a one time mistake. After all people forget that computers for a large part only spit out what a human has programmed into them. If the error is brought to the attention of the business and then still isn't corrected, that is when they show an intent to defraud and will be fined.

I side with Disney now, when it has been one poster that has had this problem. If others start posting about having the exact same thing happen, then it becomes time to get out the pitchforks. Not now when it was one glitch.

 

[JimmyV]

Jimmy...where did you get the idea that D sent her a confirmation for 7 nights ?.

Because of the price. The confirmation that was sent was priced for 7 days. Disney's system showed 7 days. When the OP went to link the reservation to MDE it showed 7 days. Everything points to 7 days except perhaps for the dates on the confirmation. But even if that shows 9 days, if the price shown is for 7 days then the buyer owes the difference. If Disney offers a package priced at $340 per day and the buyer wants 9 days, then the buyer owes 9 x $340. If a mistake is made and the confirmation shows a price calculated based on 7 x $340, then the buyer either accepts the deal for fewer days or pays the difference to bring the deal up to 9 days. Look at it like this. You go to the grocery store and place 4 apples in a clear plastic bag. The price is $0.30 a piece. At checkout the cashier initially thinks that there are only 3 apples in the bag and rings up $0.90. As she places the apples on the bagging belt she notices that there are actually 4 apples. At this point you have a choice. Either remove an apple so that the amount you buy corresponds to the price paid or agree to pay $0.30 more. You don't get to say: "gotcha! You only saw 3 so I get a free apple". Now, if the apples had been mispriced at the point of sale and were offered at 4 for $0.90 and the cashier tried to say that the price was wrong and they were really 4 for $1.20, then you would be within your rights to get the apples at the lower price. Indeed some state laws mandate that result. But here I have seen nothing that suggests that the unit price was wrong. Every system reflected 7 units at $340 per unit. When the confirmation came in and showed a price that was $681 shy, then the OP should have known that only 7 units had been charged and that there was an unpaid apple in the bag.

Look at it another way. You want to buy tickets only. You know that they cost $350 each. You place 4 in your on line shopping cart. At checkout your total shows $700 because of a glitch. When the tickets arrive in the mail there are only 2 in the envelope. You call Disney and they tell you that their system shows that you only bought 2. You tell them that your screenshot shows 4. The CM says that tickets are $350 each and that if you want two more you will have to pay $700 more. Pretty simple. Do you really think that Disney was offering you a contract to buy 4 for $700?

Now flip this so that in the example the computer showed a price of $175 per ticket. You buy 4 thinking that the total should be $700. Under this scenario, I side with the buyer (and so does the law).

To me it all comes down to whether the unit price was misrepresented (in which case the buyer wins) or whether there was a mistake in the number of units the buyer and seller thought was part of the transaction (in which case an adjustment is warranted).

 

[kaytieeldr]

The discount she got is a typical discount off travel for booking a pkg.

No, it's not. The discount she got is the dining plan free promotion.

We have friends meeting us in Aruba later this yr. We're staying at our Marriott timeshare. They are planning on staying at the hotel next door.
To book separately the flights were $1050 ea and hotel was $2200. They paid $1200 ea for the exact same thing by purchasing a pkg. which was a savings of $2000. They didn't ask the agent if they were absolutely 100 % positive that price was correct. That was the quote they got. That is what the confirmation shows, and by your account they should not have accepted the price until they tripled checked it ? The onus is not on the consumer to do so unless it does seem to be too good to be true. I think you've misunderstood the term . Too good to be true pricing is as an example a hotel that might normally price in the range of say $300 to $500 a night being offered at $ 50 per night. That should trigger due diligence on the part of the consumer. Otherwise travel prices in North America vary dramatically , not just from company to company, but from hour to hour. Imho the discount provided for booking the pkg was not only not huge but rather modest quite frankly.

Frankly I'd be triple-checking a package quote giving me air and hotel for minimally more than just the airfare. That's over a 60% discount.

This would have been comical if I wasn't wasting an hour of my life. It was like a bad Laurel and Hardy routine.
And anyone here is surprised that Disney messed up the OP's confirmation ? Really?

Yes, really. Disney processes several thousand reservations daily. They allegedly made a mistake with one confirmation.