AP Only Info Thread Reservation System /Extensions / Refunds

[KristinU]

1.5 hours later I got through to someone who is now filling out forms to route to somewhere to have someone call me back to discuss cancellation. I am supposed to give them between 72 hours and 1 week to call me back. This is fun stuff.

 

[hertamaniac]

Sooo just got off the phone with Disney regarding seeing if our annual passes could be extended again due to the renewed quarantine restrictions and she did say that while there is nothing new *at this moment* she did hear that they are working on getting *other options* together for passholders affected by the quarantine restrictions, including talk of a second pass extension. She doesn't know when these other options would be announced though, and that until they are announced the only two options are the refund or whatever extension you got in the first place . While talking about the other options she did use the phrase "pausing your annual pass", so hopefully we will be taken care of

Can anyone else see the writing on the walls? Deflection 101 at it's best. Anyone that can defend this lack of information, as far as I'm concerned, hasn't worked for a larger, publicly listed company. We are orders of magnitude smaller in terms of quarterly/annual revenue than Disney, but I get the sense our infrastructure was so much more well positioned to address our customers. Yes, we didn't have the millions/gabillions of customers, but we were intelligent enough to put algorithms into place that let the system address the customer's concerns....holistically.

So I love WDW, the CM's and the Imagineers and the incredible creations. I take issue with the complete and utter disconnect (I think it is by design) between customer service for those that have paid (or are contracted to pay) and trying to reel newbies in.

I apologize for nothing.

 

[kelpricer]

I think it’s crazy that they are already refunding some people before they have all the options out there. All the options should have already been laid out. And it seems like they are coming up with new ideas as things go. I think if freezing passes becomes a choice a lot of people who chose to cancel or extend may be upset. (Possibly me depending on how they are refunding cancelled passes)

 

[disneypharm]

Just received an email regarding our AP cancellation I requested:
"Thank you for your patience as we processed your request to receive a partial refund in lieu of an extension of your pass expiration date.
Your refund has been processed by Disney but it can take approximately 7 to 10 business days to receive. This timeframe may vary from one financial institution to another. Please note that we will issue refunds to the original form of payment where possible. If you paid via cash, gift card or if your original form of payment is no longer valid, we will send a check to you in the mail and that may take approximately 6 to 8 weeks to receive. "

I thought they are talking about partial refund for the closure period only, so I just called them and was only on hold for about 15 min! The CM told me that the refund is for the remainder of our APs, so basically about 8 months (March 16 until Nov 12)! I asked her if a AP freeze is available, and she said not at this time.

Edit: Just to add, I don't trust the above information until I see the actual $ in my account!

 

[JayMunOne]

Just received an email regarding our AP cancellation I requested:
"Thank you for your patience as we processed your request to receive a partial refund in lieu of an extension of your pass expiration date.
Your refund has been processed by Disney but it can take approximately 7 to 10 business days to receive. This timeframe may vary from one financial institution to another. Please note that we will issue refunds to the original form of payment where possible. If you paid via cash, gift card or if your original form of payment is no longer valid, we will send a check to you in the mail and that may take approximately 6 to 8 weeks to receive. "

I thought they are talking about partial refund for the closure period only, so I just called them and was only on hold for about 15 min! The CM told me that the refund is for the remainder of our APs, so basically about 8 months (March 16 until Nov 12)! I asked her if a AP freeze is available, and she said not at this time.

Edit: Just to add, I don't trust the above information until I see the actual $ in my account!

Troubling to me that I just spent 90 mins on hold and did not get that option. Further, I was told it will be several "weeks" before that email comes out.

 

[lorenae]

God I hope they don't refund to the GC used at time of purchase....those disappear after use for me.

I finally got my partial refund! It appears on the credit card statement as "EPCOT customer service" and each AP gets refunded as a separate item. I have not yet received the refund on the AP I bought using the gift card, though (I still have it so I was able to check)

According to the email, gift cards will be refunded via a check to your address.

I just got the following email from Disney (note that I want to cancel my AP, but originally asked for the partial refund):

Dear Valued Annual Passholder, Thank you for your patience as we processed your request to receive a partial refund in lieu of an extension of your pass expiration date. Your refund has been processed by Disney but it can take approximately 7 to 10 business days to receive. This timeframe may vary from one financial institution to another. Please note that we will issue refunds to the original form of payment where possible. If you paid via cash, gift card or if your original form of payment is no longer valid, we will send a check to you in the mail and that may take approximately 6 to 8 weeks to receive. This is a truly unprecedented time for all of us and we thank you for being important members of our Walt Disney World community. If you have any questions, please contact V.I.PASSHOLDER Support at (407) 939-7277. Walt Disney World Passholder Team

That is the email I received as well- however, they didn't say how much they refunded me. I would like to know, as if it's say, $200, I'd probably just keep it and hope to go in November or December.

But since I activated mine on December 4, and the parks closed in March, I had about 100 days available to me to use it. Is the refund for 2/3 of the cost? Or more? Less? No idea at all. I guess I'll find out when Chase shows it on my statement.

That's the part that bugs me. In the email, say "We refunded you XXX dollars", or better- "You have a choice- would you like $450, OR to keep it and have it extended 111 days?"

 

[disneypharm]

Troubling to me that I just spent 90 mins on hold and did not get that option. Further, I was told it will be several "weeks" before that email comes out.

Ugh! That's terrible! I actually repeated the words full cancellation several times to make sure she understands my question. Finally, I mentioned "cancellation from the closure time in March until November", and she said yes. It is possible that she was more knowledgeable than other CMs or she got the information completely wrong!! I asked her to check my account to find out more and she said she couldn't!! Overall, she was very nice.

 

[disneygrandma]

I've posted several times about asking AP holders to email Disney and request that the pause/freeze be added as an option. That's a good way for Disney to make many AP holders happy without having to pay out refunds. My main goal was to be able to have our AP's to use on our 2 rescheduled trips in 2021.

In my emails, I told Disney that we didn't feel comfortable traveling to WDW right now due to the Corana virus. I explained that my husband and I were both in the vulnerable categories, and CDC had advised against it. I also said that the extension wouldn't work for us because our passes would expire in early April 2021 (early May with the one mo additional), and our rescheduled family trip would not be until June 2021. We had also planned a Dec 2020 trip which we had cancelled, and we wanted to reschedule that for Dec 2021.

In addition, I told them that I did not want the refunds. What I wanted was to be able to use our AP's on our 2 rescheduled 2021 trips. I didn't want to have to buy new tickets because I doubted that the refund would be enough to buy comparable tickets. I asked for a freeze or pause on our AP's so we could use the remaining 9 months of time when we felt comfortable to travel again.

I received a phone call from Disney the other day. What they offered us was an extension that would allow us to use our AP's for both of our planned 2021 trips. I told the CM that there were other AP holders that had the same kinds of problems and issues as us. The CM was very nice, and said I should let those AP holders know to email Disney so they could handle each case individually. The CM then sent me an email confirming everything that she had told me on the phone about our extensions.

Yes, I'm happy that we got our extension so we can use our AP's in June/Dec 2021, but I really wish that Disney would offer the freeze/pause as an option for every AP holder to choose from. If not that, then a voucher for a new AP to be used at a later date. Or do for the WDW AP holders what Shanghai did for theirs. We as AP holders shouldn't have to be calling and emailing to get answers and satisfaction.

I do suggest emailing rather than calling about your AP's. Here's the email address:
wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

 

[disneypharm]

I do suggest emailing rather than calling about your AP's. Here's the email address:
wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

I did email them about a pause about 3 weeks ago, but received an email telling me no pause is available. I guess if I had trips scheduled in 2021, I would have called them about it too, but I don't trust things to go back to normal anytime soon, so I don't want another headache of having to cancel more vacations. If what they are saying about refund for the remainder of our passes is true, then I should be getting close to $1600 back. This will definitely cover more than another trip or can go towards another set of annual passes (but DH refuses to get more APs - he says our first and last time - Had to deal with DVC rental refunds)!

 

[zebrastreyepz]

back in May when they presented the option to refund or extend, I called to vote for refund. The CM at the time told me since I used a Sams certificate, they would refund me via check, snail mail. Who knows if that's still accurate now or not. So check your mail carefully, especially sneaking in between those damn ads/coupons.

I can verify after a one hour chat today that the check is still in play.

I finally had someone who was able to look at what I used to pay for my renewal so I know where to look. That cast member today was a gem.

 

[disneypharm]

Just wanted to add that I created a separate thread on Disboards about 3 weeks ago specifically for pausing APs. I even mentioned that I hope Disney will see the thread and all the people interested, but my thread was closed immediately because we have too many AP threads. Oh well, I guess I tried. If they send me the money for 8 months (we shall see!), I will definitely be happy.

 

[married2mm]

Those with partial refunds:

How long has it taken from request to actually receiving payments?

I would love to know how they’ll process the refund for my dh.
We are in the U.K.
Dh transferred a U.K. ultimate ticket to an AP.
Paid the upgrade difference in cash.

We have already stated a cheque would be no good to us & requested GC instead.

I think they may just continue to ignore us.

 

[Eastern]

The way they are handling this is very disappointing. Surely they should have their act together by now. Complete disregard for their loyal passholders.

 

[focusondisney]

The CM told me that the refund is for the remainder of our APs, so basically about 8 months (March 16 until Nov 12)! I asked her if a AP freeze is available, and she said not at this time.

I hope she is wrong!! I requested the partial refund. Our APs are supposed to be good thru December & I have not decided that I want the rest of the pass cancelled. I was never given that option & didn't request that. Especially not knowing when we will be able to get new ones. This is turning into one big disaster. (I was thinking something else, but decided to use Dis friendly language.)

 

[disneypharm]

I hope she is wrong!! I requested the partial refund. Our APs are supposed to be good thru December & I have not decided that I want the rest of the pass cancelled. I was never given that option & didn't request that. Especially not knowing when we will be able to get new ones. This is turning into one big disaster. (I was thinking something else, but decided to use Dis friendly language.)

Just to clarify. Our APs expire in November 2020. So, basically, the refund is from the date parks closed until our expiration, March until November (based on what she said). So, if your passes are good through December, the cancellation should give you about 9 months of refund or extension for the closure period (for you until April). Of course, I might have misunderstood what she said or she really didn't understand what the rules are!!

 

[focusondisney]

Just to clarify. Our APs expire in November 2020. So, basically, the refund is from the date parks closed until our expiration, March until November (based on what she said). So, if your passes are good through December, the cancellation should give you about 9 months of refund or extension for the closure period (for you until April). Of course, I might have misunderstood what she said or she really didn't understand what the rules are!!

Right, I understood what you meant. However if they actually refunded you from March til November, that is not what they had offered & what most people are expecting. We were all offered a refund of the time the parks were closed, so 117 days. I called & accepted that. I didn’t ask them to refund the remaining 5 months on my pass beyond that time. How can they do that without permission?

 

[KristinU]

The wildly inconsistent message that we're all getting is just so disappointing. They clearly have no solid plan or direction. I understand that this is unprecedented, but to be caught so completely off guard is just surprising for such a large company.

 

[disneypharm]

Right, I understood what you meant. However if they actually refunded you from March til November, that is not what they had offered & what most people are expecting. We were all offered a refund of the time the parks were closed, so 117 days. I called & accepted that. I didn’t ask them to refund the remaining 5 months on my pass beyond that time. How can they do that without permission?

Ok, Got it. Maybe they offered me the full cancellation, because I requested it. My understanding is that the default option is an extension. If you called and asked for a partial refund for the closure period, then you will get that.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Does anyone know if the ticket sales beginning tomorrow also apply to upgrading APs?

 

[PrincessP]

On the website it says August 11

@yulilin3. Do you have a link to where the 8/11 date is on the website? I can’t find it. I have an AP that now expires in November and I am still deciding whether to keep a September trip using the AP or cancel the trip and ask for the partial refund for AP. Thank you. ( I have heard rumor we have to call AP line by 7/11 to ask for refund. )