Working with a TA; not going well

[Jessica14]

First off, I am very greatful that we will be returing to WDW in Novemeber! We were fortunate to be able to get WL due to a lovely gift from my parents. I understand how lucky we are.

Now for the issue. I decided to work with a TA who is part of an agency that books Disney trips almost exclusively. I got the referral for a particular TA from friends who raved about her. Long story short, she has dropped the ball on almost everything from not letting me know about free dining to missing my 180 day ADR window. Now I think she may be lying to me regarding certain things.

Are either of the following true;

This agency "owns" my reservation, so I have to get any info on my package through them. Can I just check via Disney to see how my credit card and gift card were used? I understand about adding days or moving a trip, but I'm not sure that my money was used in the way I wanted it to be.

I was told by TA 5 days after my window passed (I had not heard form her at all), that she "made some reservations" but I wouldn't see them on my account because she had to put them in her name. She would be e-mailing them to me in the morning (nope, didn't do it). Called a CM and she turned the system upside down looking for any sign of ADRs and there were none. The CM said that the only reason that the TA's name would be required was for something like CRT or a dinner show. Needless to say, I made all my own ADRs and got almost everything we wanted (will continue to check for BOG).

Also, all my reservations and ADRs have different tickets for my kids-on the ADRs they are both adults, in the reservation confirmation they are listed as one adult and one child (correct), on the MDE they are both listed as children for the package. Is this normal? My son will be celebrating his birthday one day in so I didn't know if that had anything to do with it.

I just don't know what my next step is. I'm now doing as much as I can on my own. I only went with this TA because I heard such great things about her and I thought it might be a bit more convinent because of FP+. Guess not. Would you try to talk to her first, suspecting that she is lying (I think she lied about my friend's reservation too by the way) or go to the owner of the agency. I don't even know what I would say.

Any ideas would be welcome! I'm trying not to be too annoyed because, hey! I'm going to Disney!

Thanks!
Jessica

 

[DisneyDude71]

With the new mde the ta does have to put the dinner reservations under her own mde account, and them you should be linked together as if you are traveling together. You should at least be able to set up your mde account and link your tickets to it. Some ta s are better then others
And yes they own the reservation

 

[HM]

Sounds like you need to cancel this reservation with the TA and start over on your own. How can you go on 'working' with someone that you don't trust?

You might not get the same room, but Free Dining is still available to reserve, so you should be able to get that still. I think is sounds like you know enough about everything to do it on your own with no TA, but if you need a good one, PM me and I'll tell you someone I've used twice and found great....she works with people all over the US.

 

[DisneyFive]

So do you have free dining? If not, I would check with Disney directly if there is any availability. If there is, personally I would book a new stay yourself and cancel your trip (and get the full refund) that was booked through your TA.

You're still outside the window for any cancellation fees I believe, and dining reservations aren't tied to your package per se. ...at least that's how it was, not sure how it is with MDE if the TA booked it and they "own' the reservation. They should still be there even if you book a new vacation package. The only time dining reservations get tricky is if you book a location that required you to prepay (like CRT) and then you get the free dining plan. You'll need to call and get your prepaid amount refunded, but they'll still use your card number to guarantee the reservation.

Not sure what happens with any gift cards you used to pay with though.

We always do all our own bookings, but I just like to have control of all that stuff.

Dan

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

I recommend contacting the owner or management of the travel agency and let them know what is going on, and ask if you can be assigned to a different agent. I have had to do this in the past and I am very happy with my TA now.

 

[Jessica14]

Thanks for the help! I have considered canceling and rebooking. My reservation, made in my name, not TA's, is linked to MDE. The CM tried looking for ADRs under her e-mail, address, phone number, name, agency name, restaurants, times, dates, plus my info. Nothing. The ADRs I made linked immediately to my page.

I may contact the owner because of the mistrust.

 

[Jessica14]

Yes, I do have free dining. My one thought on rebooking is that I have a room with a bunk bed. It was important to have that since my DD and DS are getting older. I'm more concerned about losing out on that then any dining issues.

 

[Dancing Queen]

Do you have the confirmation #s for the ADRs? I asked my TA for those. I tried to link them but they did not link. But if I put the confirmation number in, I can view the ADRs. Just not change them or link them.

 

[nkereina]

You don't need to cancel and re-book. There is a form the TA can complete to transfer the reservation over to WDW, at which time you would retain the the rights to the booking as if you had booked it yourself. The hard part is having the initial conversation with the TA expressing that you want to do this. Not only is that awkward, but the TA will lose the commission which may cause some tension. He or she will likely give some push back at first, so you may need to stand your ground.

 

[susank76]

You don't need to cancel and re-book. There is a form the TA can complete to transfer the reservation over to WDW, at which time you would retain the the rights to the booking as if you had booked it yourself. The hard part is having the initial conversation with the TA expressing that you want to do this. Not only is that awkward, but the TA will lose the commission which may cause some tension. He or she will likely give some push back at first, so you may need to stand your ground.

This. I would contact the owner of the agency, explain the situation to him or her and request that the reservation be transferred to Disney. If you aren't getting the service you expect and deserve from the TA, you don't have to give her the benefit of having the conversation directly with her. Let the boss handle that.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyFive]

If you got free dining, then really all you need to worry about are the ADR's and it looks like you're getting that taken care of.

No need to cancel. I imagine you'll do all your FP+ reservations on your own too. I would. I can't imaging going through a "middle man" for that.

Dan

 

[Jessica14]

Do you have the confirmation #s for the ADRs? I asked my TA for those. I tried to link them but they did not link. But if I put the confirmation number in, I can view the ADRs. Just not change them or link them.

No, she only said she "made some" and would e-mail the info in the morning. That didn't happen.

 

[Jessica14]

You don't need to cancel and re-book. There is a form the TA can complete to transfer the reservation over to WDW, at which time you would retain the the rights to the booking as if you had booked it yourself. The hard part is having the initial conversation with the TA expressing that you want to do this. Not only is that awkward, but the TA will lose the commission which may cause some tension. He or she will likely give some push back at first, so you may need to stand your ground.

Great info! I agree about this being awkward. My friend is having a similar issue with her. She was told by the TA that she would add two days to her reservation and then never did it. She found this out last night and TA told friend that Disney messed up. But of course, my friend never would have known this had she not tracked her down. I never get contacted; I have to initiate all contact for info she needs to be e-mailing me.

 

[handicap18]

Great info! I agree about this being awkward. My friend is having a similar issue with her. She was told by the TA that she would add two days to her reservation and then never did it. She found this out last night and TA told friend that Disney messed up. But of course, my friend never would have known this had she not tracked her down. I never get contacted; I have to initiate all contact for info she needs to be e-mailing me.

This is why you need to have the TA turn the reservation to you. Even if everything went fine from here on in they don't deserve the commission for this booking. The TA is, based on what you've written here, NOT doing her job. If you don't do your job you don't get paid. Plain and simple.

 

[budafam]

The agency does not "have to" release the reservation if they don't want to. I used to work for an awful agency... the leader fired me to take all of my commission and then refused to let go of one of my client's reservations. Turns out she's a felon for theft. When the client wanted to cancel, the leader threatened to cancel all of her dining as well. Of course you wouldn't have this issue because of the dining. Just make sure she didn't use your credit card info for the dining... if she did, you'll be charged $10 per person fees for not showing up.

I hate reading stories like this Gives us good TA's a bad rep. It's a shame Disney is not more active in making sure their agencies are doing a good job.

 

[arihillfarm]

Your TA should not have had to use her own MDE account to make your dining reservations. In order to do that (for 180+10 ADRs) she would have to link every client's resort or package reservation to her own MDE account. What a mess that would be!! I ask my clients if they already have an MDE account and if they do, I ask that they share their log-in info. with me so that I can link their resort reservation and make their dining reservations, FastPass+, customize their bands, etc. If they don't have an account, I make one for them and share the log-in info. with them so they can check it and be as involved with the MDE part of planning as they like.

You should have received a confirmation every time that she made a payment for you. My agency has a client system database that sends out an e-mail to the client as soon as a new payment is recorded showing the date, amount, payment method and remaining balance due. I also send a .pdf of the latest reservation confirmation from the Disney TA site showing the same information.

There's no excuse for what you've been through and I'd definitely speak with the owner and ask to be transferred to another agent if they won't release the reservation to you. You could also just cancel and re-book on your own or with another agency. Just be sure that the agency you are with now doesn't charge a cancellation fee before you go that route.

-Astrid

 

[manateesmom]

I don't mean to derail - OP, I've had some bad experiences with TAs (one who screwed up my 40th birthday cruise!), so I totally sympathize.

But a question - if I'm working with a TA, do I have the OPTION to book my own ADRs and link to MDE? Or does my TA have to make those reservations for me? It sounds like not, from OP's experience, but I want to be sure. Thanks!

 

[kmb584]

I don't mean to derail - OP, I've had some bad experiences with TAs (one who screwed up my 40th birthday cruise!), so I totally sympathize.

But a question - if I'm working with a TA, do I have the OPTION to book my own ADRs and link to MDE? Or does my TA have to make those reservations for me? It sounds like not, from OP's experience, but I want to be sure. Thanks!

You have the option to book your own ADRs if you so choose.

 

[GovieMom]

But a question - if I'm working with a TA, do I have the OPTION to book my own ADRs and link to MDE? Or does my TA have to make those reservations for me? It sounds like not, from OP's experience, but I want to be sure. Thanks!

I always use the same (amazing) TA to book our resort and package, but make all dining ADRs and FP+s myself. Much easier that way, since I always end up re-arranging my itinerary, and changing my mind about where we'll eat or what we'll ride.

 

[Jessica14]

Thanks so much for all the input! I thank the TAs who responded! I'm trying to decide now what I should do exactly. I'm making sure that I'm not seeing things negatively and maybe it's OK. but I tend to think not. I believe I'm done giving her the benefit of the doubt.

I think I may jot her a quick note that is not accusatory and then see what the response is and then go from there. I never even thought about the credit card holding certain reservations. Got to get on that!

Thanks again!
Jessica