Not a good start to my Disney vacation.

[Magpie]

Absolutely not. But I still don't consider just correcting an error "good"--it's just the minimum required. If the person helping me were friendly and apologetic, I'd bump it to good. And that's my approach when I'M the one providing the customer service as well--I always want to make the customer feel good about the response, not just correct an error. Semantics, I guess.

It's hard to judge whether a customer service rep is being appropriately friendly and apologetic without hearing the call for ourselves. Some customers just aren't in a place to hear it, even if the rep is trying. Plus, if the customer starts off in any way irritable (ie, as one might reasonably be if one feels a "theft" has occurred), or demanding ("I want my Grand Floridian upgrade!" ), then that friendliness has a tendency disappear fast.

Fwiw, I don't think the OP should expect anything other than her money back. ie: For customer service to do their job. Anything else is pixie dust - nice if it happens, not to be expected, definitely not to be demanded.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If your genuine problem was that the customer service agent was rude, then you can report them to WDW guest services. There's an email although I don't remember it at the moment. You should have the date and time of the call and the name the agent gave you. But I wouldn't hold my breath for a formal apology.

 

[angierae]

When I needed to get a refund (DH got a new job and couldn't go with us on a big ten day trip with less than a week's notice) I took him off our reservation and dropped our dining down from DXDP to DDP on Monday, and before we left on Saturday, I had all the money back. (Which we then turned around and spent at DIsney anyway, hahahah.)

 

[maxiesmom]

Absolutely not. But I still don't consider just correcting an error "good"--it's just the minimum required. If the person helping me were friendly and apologetic, I'd bump it to good. And that's my approach when I'M the one providing the customer service as well--I always want to make the customer feel good about the response, not just correct an error. Semantics, I guess.

I don't think trying to gain something from a simple computer error is "good" behavior either.

 

[pktbMouse]

we cancelled a $450 reservation back in March and we are still waiting on the refund to our credit card...its kinda annoying yeah. Sorry this happened to you.

 

[GPC0321]

So, I bought five days worth of tickets for my family of five. After submitting the order I got an error message saying the order was not yet complete and I will receive another email when it is resolved. Got an email a couple hours later that was an order confirmation. I thought all was good at that point. Surprise! Disney charged me $1600 times two! I did not resubmit the order at all, this was entirely on them. Although the charge was immediately made to my account, a refund takes 7-10 days. Customer service wasn't even apologetic about basically stealing $1600 from me for over a week. Anyone else ever had this happen to them? I figured they would at least give me a park hopper upgrade based on hearing how great their customer service normally is. Not feeling the magic at all so far.

Computers make mistakes. So do people. Could it be possible you hit the "submit" button twice by accident? That could've been what caused the glitch in the system, the error message, and the accidental double charge. Or maybe it was a glitch that was out of your control. It was also out of Disney's control, and I doubt it's the first or last time such a thing will happen. It's happened to me before at the gas station. I didn't expect the cashier inside to give me a free soda and candy bar because of it. They fixed the problem and that was that.

I hope things improve for you.

 

[sscott87]

Well, scared off the OP...

 

[poppinspenguins]

Ugh..these boards get to me some times.

Should you have got free park hoppers, probably would have been nice- but probably a long shot and a bit extravagent

But I agree that they should have been apologetic at least.

I have had times where I have been charged incorrectly etc. Those times have often included an hour of my time fixing someone or somethings mistake.

In this instant the op may have sat on hold forever to clear this up...has to wait 10 days for refund which may or may not effect purchasing for next few weeks...and will probably have to spend some time checking balance and calling cc company.

I find it easy to believe it was a Disney mistake and not someone double clicking (even though anything is possible). Disney has some of the worst website I have ever seen.

Someone nailed it before. The response was adequate and possibly rude. When books are written about your stellar service...when you are (or were ) a business benchmark for service...adequate shouldn't be the goal.

Bad experiences are shared 10x more than good.

I am willing to believe an genuine cm would have went a long way in this situation. Or even something like a free fast pass for the trouble and time out of your schedule.

Just the other day I went through the drive thru only for a drink. There were only 2 cars in front of me but it literally took me 15 min to get through. The girl was so sweet and said honey don'worry about it you waited too long for a drink. It cost them 2 dollars to turn a bad into a good.

 

[dkrauss]

Well, scared off the OP...

I can be tough being new.............

Doug

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I worked in a call center for a large insurance company for 4 1/2 years and the most appreciated thing was empathy...did I get yelled at because someone's rate was too high (according to them)? Yes. Did I get yelled at by an agent (who I spoke to the most with) who was pissed off that the company was pricing them out or had rules/guidelines that meant it was tough to do business? Yes. But the thing that worked the most was just honest empathy..not fake empathy but true. I have no idea how the call went but I was just sharing a bit of personal experience.

Disney has some leway just like I did when I did certain things for people such as waiving a late fee they def should have paid but to ask for free money in way of hopper passes (because they do cost money) is just a way to abuse the system. I'm not the biggest fan of Disney offering FPs many times to smooth over the problem (because I feel like that can actually mask the problem without addressing it IMO) unless it is because a ride broke down because honestly someone might have had a FP for that ride planned out way in advance and Disney created that problem. As FP are included in your park admission Disney can give them away without an impact to them (monetarily speaking) however giving away hopper passes is another story. I'm sure the OP isn't the only one to have a double charge reflect on their account whether it was computer or human error.

The insurance company I worked for issued refunds in a 7-14 day period unless a specific state's Department of Insurance required a less time. The system automatically generated the refunds unless an agent or an insured requested by e-mail or phone the refund to be generated earlier. We all would love our money faster for sure but all sorts of businesses have differing refund policies; I absolutely love Costco but if I use my card as Debit (which I use all the time except for the like 3 times last year we used our Amex) I can only get the refund as cash back...which does annoy me cuz I used my card to begin with instead of cash but it is their refund policy (I'm sure it is related to transaction fees imposed by the card issuers) and in the grand scheme of things I am still getting the refund.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I might get flamed, but I'm team OP. If you had $1600 of my money "On Hold" I would be LIVID. And refunds are NOT processed by businesses automatically, they hold it as long as they reasonably can in order to make money off of MY money that they are holding. If I'm getting a refund, I don't so much mind. BUT if it's a $1600 refund for something I didn't even receive, I'm calling you up and I would expect you to compensate me in some way for my headache caused by your crappy IT system.

I totally agree with a PP a refund is adequate, but it is by no means what I consider good customer service.

Also OP, if you want something specific from a company, it helps the customer service agents if you let them know what you would like. I've noticed some people are reasonably upset, but they don't ask and then nothing is offered.

For a story of GOOD customer service at Disney: my daughter (15mo at the time) had a little minnie ears headband that she lost at some point when we asked a CM if it had been lost inside of their attraction, he called and let me know that they weren't there, but offered us a certificate to get new Minnie ears for my daughter. THAT is Disney customer service that sets them apart from other companies.

 

[Madame]

we cancelled a $450 reservation back in March and we are still waiting on the refund to our credit card...its kinda annoying yeah. Sorry this happened to you.

Good luck. They double charged us once. CM said a CC charge didn't go through & charged to our room too. Both went through.

Several international calls & months later, they swear they reversed it. Finally had to dispute it with our CC. Not the CC company's error either. My DH worked for our card's issuing bank & Disney never posted the credit.

 

[kaytieeldr]

And refunds are NOT processed by businesses automatically, they hold it as long as they reasonably can in order to make money off of MY money that they are holding.

No. This is wrong. That may be your occasional experience with some company or another, but any ethical firm will process a valid refund as quickly as humanly/electronically possible.

 

[cgattis]

No. This is wrong. That may be your occasional experience with some company or another, but any ethical firm will process a valid refund as quickly as humanly/electronically possible.

And you may think that's true, but I used to work for a major company who you'd know if I named, employs in the six figures of people, gives millions to charities, and often refers to employees as "the XYZ family." Every year our raises were calculated and told to us in March, but we never received them until May. Sure, we got the back pay, but no interest. They were still drawing interest on that money. So you can say what you think "ethical" companies do, but when it comes to money being moved around in any kind of banking, don't kid yourself that someone's not making money off of it. That's how banking works.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

And you may think that's true, but I used to work for a major company who you'd know if I named, employs in the six figures of people, gives millions to charities, and often refers to employees as "the XYZ family." Every year our raises were calculated and told to us in March, but we never received them until May. Sure, we got the back pay, but no interest. They were still drawing interest on that money. So you can say what you think "ethical" companies do, but when it comes to money being moved around in any kind of banking, don't kid yourself that someone's not making money off of it. That's how banking works.

Well...I can understand your take on it but a lot of companies do that when it comes to raises or bonuses and sure you may think it's wrong of them to do so but many times in my experience is it depends on the structure of the company and their pay schedule.

The past company I last worked for (the large insurance company I mentioned earlier) we got our raises calculated in late Feb/early March but they didn't apply until 4/1 and I didn't receive the actual pay for that raise (i.e paycheck) until 4/15 due to the paying schedule of the 15th of the month and the end of the month however if any of those days fell on a weekend or holiday then we would get paid the business day before.

Eff 1/1/16 they switched to a true bi-weekly pay period so I'm sure that shifted the pay dates a tad for those raises. Sounds like you had a better deal that I had as I was only back-paid for my raised wage for a period from 4/1 to 4/15 (as the company actually pre-calculated that you would be working that 15th of the month) as for interest...I can't speak to that as I don't have any experience of anyone around me receiving interest on their raise for the time in which it begins calculating to the time in which they actually begin being paid for it but that's just my experience.

Our bonuses were a tad different in that we were told if we would get one and how much by mid-march and paid the last day of March (again if that fell on a weekend or holiday we would get paid the business day before).

My husband on the other hand gets paid every Thursday (and actually as of 4/1/16 they switched it to Wednesday to coincide with a new payroll software). His raises are told to him in mid to late March but he isn't paid that new amount until May. Bonuses do not follow a schedule as they can be given out multiple times of the year depending on for what reasons though he usually gets a bonus around April/May each year as a normal bonus. He works for a company that builds and retrofits powerplants.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

And refunds are NOT processed by businesses automatically, they hold it as long as they reasonably can in order to make money off of MY money that they are holding.

I guess I'm not understanding your statement when you say businesses do not process refunds automatically.

 

[momtotaryn]

I haven't read through all the replies, but I wanted to post my experience when I booked our upcoming June trip. I am coordinating the Disney packages for both my family and my sister's family's accounts. I was having some issues online, so I called to get help. The CM was friendly and helpful, but when it came time to charge my account for the deposit (it was for my sister's package), instead of $800, she charged $8000! She was very apologetic, but she did say that the refund would take 7-10 days. I was a bit horrified that the $8000 charge would take up much of my credit limit (lucky thing I pay off my credit card account every month!), and I kept watch daily to see when the refund came through. I felt as long as it was within the same billing cycle, it was OK. The refund did come through, and it took less than the 7-10 days. Now this was not a computer error, but a human error. I realize mistakes do happen, and I didn't feel the need to ask for compensation in some other form. Sure, it would have been nice if she offered, but I didn't expect it.

I totally sympathize with you, regarding the duplicate charge and less than stellar customer service. I know how upsetting it can be. I hope you can get past the negative experience, like I did, and look forward to a magical Disney trip!

 

[Nancyg56]

You're not going to find a lot of sympathy by using words like "stealing" for a computer error which was corrected. You can also call your credit card company who will see the duplicate charge and issue a provision credit while the one from Disney is pending.

I did just that. I made a huge mistake when paying for our last trip, realized it as it was happening, but too late to stop it. I called my CC company, the one that I sent over my credit line with my big mistake.... Something I have never ever done..... And while they could not rescind the charge, they just kept it pending. It was an honest mistake, and they did not penalize me for it. Disney refunded the change in less than one nerve wracking week. I did not need additional credit, but I look at an over credit line as an over draft on a checking account, and did not want that.

And you may think that's true, but I used to work for a major company who you'd know if I named, employs in the six figures of people, gives millions to charities, and often refers to employees as "the XYZ family." Every year our raises were calculated and told to us in March, but we never received them until May. Sure, we got the back pay, but no interest. They were still drawing interest on that money. So you can say what you think "ethical" companies do, but when it comes to money being moved around in any kind of banking, don't kid yourself that someone's not making money off of it. That's how banking works.

Apples and oranges, IMO. How a company treats bonus monies for employees and how they process reruns for customers are two entirely different situations.

 

[Nancyg56]

OP- if the duplicate charge is really a hardship, call and ask to be transferred to Guest Services. They can sometimes expedite transactions.

 

[AnnaS]

OP- if the duplicate charge is really a hardship, call and ask to be transferred to Guest Services. They can sometimes expedite transactions.

This.

I just wanted to say - it was a mistake. I personally don't think this is something that justifies compensation. Disney is pretty good when something goes awfully wrong to make it right. Not always but they do. If you plan on still going, do not go with a negative attitude. They are not perfect or always as magical as many of us like to think or wish it was (wether it's the CMs or tech issues, etc). You will be disappointed very easy. Enjoy, get away from our hectic life each day and you make and create your wonderful memories. If all goes well - great!!! Even more special.