Why won't Disney talk to customers?

[bytheblood]

OP, I am sorry to hear you are so frustrated. This is why I always do all of my own reservations. I sure prefer to be in control of my vacation planning.

Is there a way to take control of your reservation back from Westjet?

 

[Magic2000]

Sorry you're having a tough time - but it will probably be just fine. I usually book my own vacations too. But about two years ago, we decided to go the week after Thanksgiving and when I called Disney, all the values and moderates were booked, as well as any decent price with the deluxes. I saw availability through Expedia and booked. When I went to check with Disney about a week before the trip, they couldn't tell me anything either. But when we arrived, everything was fine and our room was ready and waiting!

Have a great trip!!!!!!

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

Is there a way to take control of your reservation back from Westjet?

Sounds like a package so most likely, not unless the OP cancels the entire thing, forfeits cancellation charges (next week) and starts over his/herself.

I'm guessing the OP got some airfare based on a Westjet Vacation and probably prices negotiated by the vendor with Disney. A package not available to the general public, won't be given to an individual. Understandably, Westjet put that package together and negotiated the rates - travel vendors don't just give their business away.

 

[wannabeTinkerbell]

Not to worry, everything is most probably in order. I spent 35 years in the travel industry and the others are right. Your travel agent actually owns this booking and as such is the only one who can talk to Disney on your behalf.

Do also take their advice to take with you copies of all the reservations info that you've received from your travel agent. If you've got that in hand and problems do arise, it will be much easier for the CMs to get everything straightened out.

I noticed that you said that you were looking into DVC and, as a fairly new member of that program, I'd like to heartily recommend it. In fact, I'm kicking myself for not getting into it years ago! Dealing with their reservationists is a dream - much easier to plan your stay and know you're getting exactly what you want.

Hope y'all have a fabulous time!

 

[dizneyluv]

We booked directly with Disney last year for our September trip. I called and booked, confirmed, everything. Remember...I did this directly with Disney.

We check in at ASMo and there is NO RESERVATION for us. It was there a few days before.

Thank Goodness I had every single piece of paper Disney had ever mailed me. They immediately blocked off our rooms (adjoining not connecting which split us up) and went to work on the problem.

The CM's and the Mgr were terrific but it took 2.5 hrs to check in.

So even dealing directly with Disney can be problematic. It DID NOT ruin our trip or even start it off wrong. They did everything they could to take care of things. Had the resort been full they would have put us up somewhere else.

I had my documents with me and I am not sure what would have happened if I didn't.

I'm a Type A planner but with flexibility and good humor. I booked last year's trip the day the Disney Visa card opened up reservations for free dining. It was not last minute or anything special. It was "hidden" in the system. Once a senior supervisor "unhid" our reservation (this is what took 2.5 hrs) we were fine.

I say take your travel docs, write down your reservation number somewhere else in case your travel doc's get lost and go knowing it will be fine whatever happens.

Take Care

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, that's just it. We don't have a TA. You phone Westjet, pay the fees, get an email back in confirmation. That's it for interaction. They won't phone Disney for you for anything.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but when you call an airline and book anything more than airfare, you are booking a package. Even if WestJet has only one telephone number and you were not transferred at all, you booked your package with WestJet Vacations, i.e. a Travel Agency. That Travel Agency “owns” your reservation as is standard practice throughout the travel industry and which has been explained here several times.

So, finally on one call I get given the info that once we get within five days of our stay, I can call Pop Century, and confirm they have the correct dates, number of people in the room, and if available, I can request adjoining rooms without too far of a distance to go for our grandmother in a wheelchair, etc.

The business with which you booked your trip (since you don’t feel it’s a Travel Agency) should have, have access to, and/or be able to confirm that the various components of your reservation are correct.
As for requests – you want to request connecting, not merely adjoining rooms. The former have a door between the rooms which allow access to both rooms without going outside; the latter merely means rooms that are next to or near each other.

Is there a way to take control of your reservation back from Westjet?

Probably not, without cancelling it and incurring steep penalties. It appears they’re starting their trip very early next week?

I say take your travel docs, write down your reservation number somewhere else in case your travel doc's get lost and go knowing it will be fine whatever happens.

Conversely, I booked through a Travel Agent last year on the first possible day for the Free Dining Package (April something) to check in on the last eligible date of the promotion - September 29 - and I NEVER got my paperwork. Ever. Disney had six months to get it right, and couldn't. My TA called Disney. It was mailed to some entirely different state from hers. They sent it out again. Same thing happened. They told her not to worry, everything I needed would be at the resort when I checked in. Not. Ever. Not the night I arrived. Not the next morning. Not that evening. Not the next day. Not the next day. Now, granted, they did have my reservation in the system, but I didn't get any of the 'extras' (vouncers) everybody else got with packages - and I spent about two extra, futile hours at the Front Desk.

 

[chickenskin]

We book through AAA all the time, many times as a matter of fact and have had absolutely 0(zero) problems with any Disney trip. And they save us a bunch of money. Just a thought.

 

[stitchlover]

We seriously considered going with a TA this trip....our third. But I just couldn't do it. The kicker for me was that Disney wouldn't talk to me direct if I did. At 9:45pm the other night when my daughter decided "You know what, I think I do want to do the bunk beds after all." I was able to call Disney, make the change and have piece of mind that it was done. Within 12 hours I got an email confirmation from them showing the change to my reservation. I know sometimes a TA can save you a few dollars but it is worth the piece of mind for me to book everything myself!

 

[peyjax]

We learned the hard way. If you want control of your vacation, book it yourself! We had possibly the worst travel agent ever when we booked last year. The worst part was she was constantly boasting on herself about what a great TA she was. After many futile attempts at calling Disney, they recommended calling her agent. They were somehow able to get that info for me and I called them to get things straightened up. She of course played innocent when confronted about the problems. She was charging us $100 + for the vaca than she should have and had everything screwed up. It was a nightmare. I definatly thought that our vacation was going to be ruined. It all worked out though and when we got there, Disney had everything in order. So try to relax and not think about the negative too much. You should have recieved all your paperwork from Disney with your hotel and flight information along with your vouchers. This definatly should ease your mind if the correct info is on that!

 

[shellbelle]

Do you have your final documents from your TA? It should have all your reservation information on it.

 

[eeyore_is#1]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but when you call an airline and book anything more than airfare, you are booking a package. Even if WestJet has only one telephone number and you were not transferred at all, you booked your package with WestJet Vacations, i.e. a Travel Agency.

The point of my paragraph was not to dispute the legal status of said entity, it was to point out that advice of "The company will call Disney on your behalf" is simply not true in this case.

As for requests – you want to request connecting, not merely adjoining rooms. The former have a door between the rooms which allow access to both rooms without going outside; the latter merely means rooms that are next to or near each other.

Good advice. Too bad I can't use it, since no one will call Disney.

People keep mentioning "taking control" of the vacation. I really have no interest in doing that. All I wanted to do was confirm that Disney has the correct dates and number of folks in the party entered into their computers.

We've already seen several stories here about messed up reservations, both through TA's and through Disney. So allowing customers to double check things and prevent mistakes is a *good* thing, right? Both Disney and customer benefit. It preserves the agent relationship, as you have to go back to them to get updates and changes made, since the consumer would be "read only".

 

[bavaria]

OP, several people have tried to explain that you have indeed booked via a travel agency, but you don't seem to understand how this impacts your ability to confirm and/or manage your booking with the supplier.

May I suggest that next time you book your travel yourself, or take the time to understand the implications of booking via a third party. It appears that using a travel agent may not be the best option for you, based on your posts.

The majority of travellers using travel agents to book rooms for their vacation do not have issues, so I would not be overly concerned. Best of luck.

 

[eeyore_is#1]

Do you have your final documents from your TA? It should have all your reservation information on it.

Final documents? Sorry. Too funny. There are no "final" documents. A few minutes after you book, you get an email message listing the flights, the payment made, the resort name, a note that the package includes Magic your Way and Magical Express.

That's it. That's all you get. Take your email message to the airport, get on a plane, show up at Disney and say "Hi Mickey!". And hope Mickey doesn't say "Who the @#$%^ are you?"

If you booked a year out, there won't be a single bit of communication from the company to you in the next year. It was five months in our case, and thus the source of the "Gee, maybe confirming this would be a good idea" feelings.

I've since learned that if you call them and ask them to re-send the email message, the second one will have the Disney confirmation number in it. That was from a Westjet employee who posted on here, but disboards management canceled their accounts and deleted all their messages.

 

[eeyore_is#1]

OP, several people have tried to explain that you have indeed booked via a travel agency, but you don't seem to understand how this impacts your ability to confirm and/or manage your booking with the supplier.

I understand it perfectly. I even support the need to limit changes to the bookings etc to the TA.

I dispute the need for Disney and others to hide the current status and information from the end consumer.

 

[bavaria]

I dispute the need for Disney and others to hide the current status and information from the end consumer.

This statement shows that you do not understand the situation. I suspect that my time here is wasted so I am unsubscribing.

 

[cherylp3]

You may want to ask this on the WestJet flyertalk forum at
http://flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=606

-Cheryl

 

[TINKB72]

On my last trip to Disney in 2005 I booked thru AAA (as I did for the previous trips in 2002, 2003 & 2004 as well as this year's upcoming trip in December. ) I've always had luck with faxing my confirmation/requests to the resort directly. I just write a nice little letter confirming my arrival date, who's in the party and any of the requests (in order of importance) I have asked for when I booked the trip. I've never had any problems and usually get at least 1 if not all of the requests I've made.

 

[eliza61]

I understand it perfectly. I even support the need to limit changes to the bookings etc to the TA.

I dispute the need for Disney and others to hide the current status and information from the end consumer.

They are not "hiding" any thing from you. Until you check in, you are not their customer. WDW has privacy issues and regulations to adhere too just like any other business. Until you check in and the transfer takes place, their business is with WestJet NOT you and that is who they will legally deal with.

 

[4MY2BOYS]

For our last WDW trip we booked through AAA. I called and confirmed all my ADRs and my reservation at the Wilderness Lodge. I am not sure which number I used. However, at the time I did not know that WDW would not confirm TA resrvations. The very nice CM did check for me and confirmed that our dates and location were in the WDW system -- I had to tell her exactly what we had booked and all she said was yes you are in the system. I was told that any other info, etc. I wanted I would have to go thru my TA.

 

[diznyfanatic]

The reason that people must deal directly with the party responsible for booking their travel is in large part, to protect the traveler (so that not just anybody can call the resort when they are filled to capacity and cancel someone's reservation in order to obtain a room for themselves) as well as to protect the travel provider from someone messing with a client's reservation for which they would ultimately be responsible for.

As has been pointed out here, this is the standard procedure in the entire travel industry and has nothing to do with Disney policy. You'd run into these same issues if you were staying at Universal, the Ritz or the Four Seasons if travel had been booked with a third party.

It really sounds like your beef here is with how WestJet handles their communications and confirmations. Have you tried calling WestJet's "Travel/Vacations" (or whatever department they call it) directly to discuss your issues and displeasure?

There has to be some sort of telephone number for them if they are booking travel for people and accepting payment for it.

This is the information and number I found for "WestJet Vacations" on their own website: Please phone 1-877-737-7001 during business hours.
Monday-Friday 6 am-7 pm MT, Saturday & Sunday 8 am-4:30 pm MT, closed on Canadian statutory holidays.

I would suggest calling that number, request them to have Disney FAX them the room confirmation information and in turn, have WestJet fax it to you so you'll have a copy to take with you.