WDW PINS that mean nothing..

[mikkishelles]

Is this something that Disney sends out on a regular basis? I received a promo flyer in the mail, with a price for a family of four and a PIN code. When on I went on the WDW website to price the deal, the price was the same. I initiated an online chat with a WDW rep to ask what the PIN would do for me. She told me that it was just an advertisement and the PIN held no value. I feel a little deceived by this. Is this a normal practice?

 

[jdcthree]

Is this something that Disney sends out on a regular basis? I received a promo flyer in the mail, with a price for a family of four and a PIN code. When on I went on the WDW website to price the deal, the price was the same. I initiated an online chat with a WDW rep to ask what the PIN would do for me. She told me that it was just an advertisement and the PIN held no value. I feel a little deceived by this. Is this a normal practice?

Hmmm, this is the first time I've heard of this. What did the "pin" look like?

 

[mikkishelles]

It said, "Mention Code XXX". Maybe I am wrong in assuming it was a PIN?

 

[jdcthree]

It said, "Mention Code XXX". Maybe I am wrong in assuming it was a PIN?

Well, a personal pin code is a much longer series of numbers. A 3 digit letter code is usually a broad discount for a certain time period. It still should have been some type of discount or promotion, though. I don't know why they would send something that was useless.

 

[jmartinez1895]

Was it the one where the mailer looked like a game board? The one I got last week was and it had a " discount code". I called my TA and she called me back about an hour later and said that it was not discount and that it was the current rate. It seems like a marketing gimmick to me. In the past when we have gotten PINs they are for free dinning or for a really good discount. This mailer looked nothing like what the PIN mailers look like.

 

[mikkishelles]

It didn't look like a game board; it looked like an advertisement. Either way, I expect more out of Disney than borderline deceptive marketing.

 

[bpesch]

It's nothing new, Disney has been doing it for a while now. I'm not really sure what the rational is behind it. It just aggravates me to think that they send out stuff like that and it really has no value. It makes me feel like they're trying to pull a fast one. Or that Disney thinks people aren't smart enough to figure it out.

 

[sjs314]

Disney is sending these out thru email and snail mail just a useless booking code, so disappointing

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Is this something that Disney sends out on a regular basis? I received a promo flyer in the mail, with a price for a family of four and a PIN code. When on I went on the WDW website to price the deal, the price was the same. I initiated an online chat with a WDW rep to ask what the PIN would do for me. She told me that it was just an advertisement and the PIN held no value. I feel a little deceived by this. Is this a normal practice?

This happened to me the last time I got a pin code. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a pin mailer since then.

 

[scjo68]

I got this last year in the mail. It was an "offer" to pay rack rate. It "expired" within a couple of weeks from the time I received it.

I had to rush to book before the chance to pay full price passed me by. Wouldn't want to miss that....

I found it more annoying than receiving nothing at all.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It didn't look like a game board; it looked like an advertisement. Either way, I expect more out of Disney than borderline deceptive marketing.

Not even close to deceptive marketing. Simple marketing. As a previous poster stated, three-letter codes have been used for years (at least ten, in my experience) to indicate, or 'name', a discounted offer. It clarifies the offer for the booking CM/TA ("I'm calling about offer XYZ" is more reasonable than "I'm calling about the special discount mailer...").

 

[rock_doctor]

Just trying to get you to call so they can hard sell you. I suspect if the caller is on the fence it may give them a sale. I bet they send out 10s of thousands of these...if it generates 100 sales then it was worth it. Remember junk mail costs a few cents each for postage not what you would pay to mail something.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Just trying to get you to call so they can hard sell you. I suspect if the caller is on the fence it may give them a sale. I bet they send out 10s of thousands of these...if it generates 100 sales then it was worth it. Remember junk mail costs a few cents each for postage not what you would pay to mail something.

Well, postcards do cost less to mail than letters. Bulk (not junk from the marketers' aspect) mail costs a few cents less per piece - not "a few cents" - than standard mail. Disney uses a variety of marketing tools, not just mailers.