WARNING: Disney Vacation Account took money without permission

[Dean Marino]

Wow - just saw this. We don't have an account of this nature....

But I do have a good 27 years in IT, including transaction systems. My advice would be to Abandon this system. Use the phone if needed, inform banks that this system is not allowed to process electronic transactions.

Perhaps one day WDW will get an operational CIO (chief information officer). A good one would be firing people left and right... because a REAL CIO is the one responsible for this behavior. Fake CIO's bring donuts at meetings.

 

[mavlax20]

While I was not happy with the recent events, they did try to charge me but I had less in my account that what is taken out, therefore the amount was not taken out. I am a horrible saver, so that is why I have this account. If I request a refund, I can pull the money out and be tempted to spend it. In my view, out of sight out of mind. I have chosen to keep the account, but hoping that future issues do not arise.

 

[angierae]

While I was not happy with the recent events, they did try to charge me but I had less in my account that what is taken out, therefore the amount was not taken out. I am a horrible saver, so that is why I have this account. If I request a refund, I can pull the money out and be tempted to spend it. In my view, out of sight out of mind. I have chosen to keep the account, but hoping that future issues do not arise.

This is why I have a Capital One 360 savings account. It takes DAYS to get it back, unlike my regular savings which I can transfer at a moment's notice.

 

[Elevationist]

This is why I have a Capital One 360 savings account. It takes DAYS to get it back, unlike my regular savings which I can transfer at a moment's notice.

Do you have a link for setting up a Capital One 360 savings acocunt? Maybe I should be using that instead of DVA...

 

[dkrauss]

I got in at 5:30am ET!!! Now the next test...........do they take the right amount on Friday . I'm not bailing yet.............this concept works for me........don't want to change for 1..........really annoying glitch.

Doug

Test PASSED!!! My account was updated as expected this morning.............correct amount! Hopefully the upgrade has been upgraded and things can get back to normal.

BTW The website is up

Doug

 

[jenny105]

Is anyone having trouble using their account? I keep trying to pay on my WDW package and it won't go through!

 

[MrInfinity]

It's been working fine for me as of yesterday. Got several emails indicating it was up, and all seems good. Even did a payment from it.

 

[Bree]

Is anyone having trouble using their account? I keep trying to pay on my WDW package and it won't go through!

I can't log in. I enter my email & password, the suitcase shows up then I get the message "For your security, you have been automatically logged out of your Disney Vacation Account.".

ETA: It is just doing that on Chrome. I can log in fine on Safari.

 

[kitkat4622]

Is anyone having trouble using their account? I keep trying to pay on my WDW package and it won't go through!

I booked my package on Monday the 26th and had no problem using the funds in my account...

 

[jenny105]

I booked my package on Monday the 26th and had no problem using the funds in my account...

It went through fine on my DCL reservation but not for WDW. I don't know if it's DVA or WDW to blame.

 

[Elevationist]

Is anyone having trouble using their account? I keep trying to pay on my WDW package and it won't go through!

Anytime I try to use a DVA account or a gift card to apply payment online for my Disney bookings, it gives me an error message. I have no idea why, but when I call in, they are able to process it just fine. Give Disney a call.

 

[MinMou]

If you are having trouble using your account, it may be the browser. Try Safari or Firefox.

 

[Rhetts1stWDW]

I don't have this kind of account but I have been following along with y'all. I am glad they got their ish together!! I wonder how much damage this has done to a product that I think most people are hesitant to buy in the first place (like me). I think like some have said previously that I will just stick to my bank's short term savings accounts. A couple $20 gift cards are not worth the hassle and stress that I have seen the last few weeks.

 

[CinderElsa]

I was finally able to apply my GC balance to a future trip & have the cash balance sent back to my CC. My card issuer is probably looking at the negative balance like... ???

I'm so glad I kept track of how much I had added in GCs & would definitely suggest that to anyone who has an account.

Hilariously, I spent enough to be able to request a bonus. Let's see if it comes.

 

[rwdavis2]

I wonder if Disney's new foreign-replacment IT guys had a hand in this?

 

[MrInfinity]

I don't have this kind of account but I have been following along with y'all. I am glad they got their ish together!! I wonder how much damage this has done to a product that I think most people are hesitant to buy in the first place (like me). I think like some have said previously that I will just stick to my bank's short term savings accounts. A couple $20 gift cards are not worth the hassle and stress that I have seen the last few weeks.

If you want to do it, I wouldn't let the hassle and stress depicted on the internet deter you. I've used the system, well, for the last two trips. No problems. If you think about it, Disney handled this exactly the way I'd want them to.

They identified a flaw, pointed out by some users losing gift cards here and there. (good)
They took the system down to work on it. (good)
They sent out several emails about the work so ppl are not in the dark. (good)
They did probably a massive overhaul in about a week (good)
The brought it back online and notified everyone again (good)
They comped back anyone who lost any money (good)

I work in IT, so I know that coding anything takes a long time if you're doing it from scratch, and much longer if you're trying to detangle a problem.

So in the end, nobody lost anything, no trips were cancelled, and Disney stood by their product. What more could you ask for? They probly ate some loss on this, but took care of the customer. Some customers got impatient and withdrew their money and Disney even honored those.

The initial problem could happen to any company. Target and many other stores and credit card companies have all been victim of computer flaws, hacking, etc. Disney handled this well in my opinion. If nothing else I'd think it would reassure you that if there was a problem in the future you'd be in good hands. I certainly won't stop using it. The benefits make it worth it: Easy place to accumulate gift cards. Easy way to apply a balance to your trip, in such a way that if your trip is refunded it all goes to one place for you to reapply later. And 2% for having your money there a very short time. If you play the timing right it's a win-win... convenient and profitable too. I do not walk away from this feeling like I might lose my money or that it's a bad place to save.

 

[jaccceee]

If you want to do it, I wouldn't let the hassle and stress depicted on the internet deter you. I've used the system, well, for the last two trips. No problems. If you think about it, Disney handled this exactly the way I'd want them to.

They identified a flaw, pointed out by some users losing gift cards here and there. (good)
They took the system down to work on it. (good)
They sent out several emails about the work so ppl are not in the dark. (good)
They did probably a massive overhaul in about a week (good)
The brought it back online and notified everyone again (good)
They comped back anyone who lost any money (good)

I work in IT, so I know that coding anything takes a long time if you're doing it from scratch, and much longer if you're trying to detangle a problem.

So in the end, nobody lost anything, no trips were cancelled, and Disney stood by their product. What more could you ask for? They probly ate some loss on this, but took care of the customer. Some customers got impatient and withdrew their money and Disney even honored those.

The initial problem could happen to any company. Target and many other stores and credit card companies have all been victim of computer flaws, hacking, etc. Disney handled this well in my opinion. If nothing else I'd think it would reassure you that if there was a problem in the future you'd be in good hands. I certainly won't stop using it. The benefits make it worth it: Easy place to accumulate gift cards. Easy way to apply a balance to your trip, in such a way that if your trip is refunded it all goes to one place for you to reapply later. And 2% for having your money there a very short time. If you play the timing right it's a win-win... convenient and profitable too. I do not walk away from this feeling like I might lose my money or that it's a bad place to save.

Is this sarcasm?

 

[MrInfinity]

Is this sarcasm?

No. Would you have done something differently?
They handled it fine.

 

[CinderElsa]

No. Would you have done something differently?
They handled it fine.

They initially sent out no emails & did not communicate with customers at all. Customers had to seek help from the media before any form of communication from Disney was received - many days later.

They made multiple false statements. For example, they indicated that automatic contributions would not be made - for some people, they were. A Disney spokesperson also indicated that the site was again operational when it was not.

They did not take the system offline but instead allowed it to operate with spotty outages and, again, did not acknowledge that there was a problem with the site by posting a message to customers until quite some time had passed.

I suggest you read back over the thread as the statements you have made relative to how this was handled by Disney are, for the most part, inaccurate.

 

[MrInfinity]

They initially sent out no emails & did not communicate with customers at all. Customers had to seek help from the media before any form of communication from Disney was received - many days later.

They made multiple false statements. For example, they indicated that automatic contributions would not be made - for some people, they were. A Disney spokesperson also indicated that the site was again operational when it was not.

They did not take the system offline but instead allowed it to operate with spotty outages and, again, did not acknowledge that there was a problem with the site by posting a message to customers until quite some time had passed.

I suggest you read back over the thread as the statements you have made relative to how this was handled by Disney are, for the most part, inaccurate.

Did this end up costing you a trip?
Did this end up costing you money?
Did they take care of you in the end?
Do you even use the DVA?

When I first had a problem I called them and they assured me it would be taken care of. A few days later, the system had the down-notice, and a couple days later I got email explanations that it was going to be a longer outage. That is the way to handle it. I don't expect they'd take the system down for what might be a one-off problem. This is the classic lose-lose. If you leave it up, ppl will complain that you didn't take it down, but if you take it down ppl will complain that you took it down. IT work is that way. Really, it's a balancing act. You have to weigh if it's something you can fix quickly, and assess your risks (Disney's risks) to not taking the system down. When the risks are too great, you take it down. This is exactly what they did. They tried to resolve the one-off instances, until it got too widespread, then they took it down. When they knew it would take more than a day or two to fix, they emailed the customers.

In the end, as I said, they righted everything, at their own expense, and it was no skin off my back. This customer was well taken care of. If you had a different experience, like, if say you lost money in the system and they are refusing to right it, that would change my opinion. But you haven't said that happened.

As to your expectation of complete transparency from Disney... business doesn't work that way. Every company will (and should) try to minimize the perception of down-time or risk as much as possible. All other companies that were subject to hacking attacks only go public w it when it's too late. Disney was pretty proactive here. At least to me. I never felt like my money was at risk. No moreso than it being in any other bank.

Now, my $180 in bonus gift cards are happily on order. This will pay for a dinner in December!