Did I get bad info?

[MarBee]

I am headed to Pop Century in 7 days. I had originally booked the Play Stay and Dine package, but then got an Annual Pass, so I changed the reservation to a Room only.
While perusing the Annual Passholder deals, I came across a $195/night POFQ deal for my dates and decided to upgrade. However, after a long time on the phone with my cast member (she constantly went to check with her “team leader” on things), I was told that
1) since I originally booked as part of a package, it was impossible to upgrade
2) I would have to book a completely new reservation and cancel the old
3) doing this would cause me to forfeit all of the money I paid for the Pop room (paid in full)

Of course I didn’t book. However, the CM was shocked that I didn’t want to. I had to say, “why would I pay you money for a room I’m not staying in in order to give you MORE money for another room?”

Did I get bad info here? I know CMs can all give conflicting answers, but she constantly checked with her team leader for answers. It was super late after I got off the phone (about 40 min phone call), so I didn’t bother to call back. The next morning, that offer was gone. Sigh.

Also, since getting off the phone with her, I’ve received emails as if I’ve just booked (info about fastpasses, online check in, asking about magic bands...) Did this CM do something wrong to my reservation?

Sorry for the vent/rant/questions. Anyone have any input?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sue M]

They wouldn’t keep your money, they would cancel your current reservation, refund you, and re-book you. If I understand, you currently have a room only Pop res? So you can cancel that and change to the AP discount for POFQ.
You wouldn’t be forfeiting any money unless you are doing this last minute. You would pay a late change penalty.
Sounds like you got a new CM, I’d phone back to get someone else.

 

[MarBee]

They wouldn’t keep your money, they would cancel your current reservation, refund you, and re-book you. If I understand, you currently have a room only Pop res? So you can cancel that and change to the AP discount for POFQ.
You wouldn’t be forfeiting any money unless you are doing this last minute. You would pay a late change penalty.
Sounds like you got a new CM, I’d phone back to get someone else.

Thanks! It is last minute since I arrive in 6 days. What kind of penalty am I looking at here?

 

[Disneylover99]

If you originally had a package, don't you have to cancel that 30 days in advance to get your deposit back? I would think you'd lose your package deposit, if you wanted to change it.

 

[MarBee]

If you originally had a package, don't you have to cancel that 30 days in advance to get your deposit back? I would think you'd lose your package deposit, if you wanted to change it.

Well I changed from a package to room only after buying an AP weeks ago. Now I was just looking to upgrade from a value room only to a moderate room only (with the Passholder discount).
Not sure what the deal with that is...?

 

[starry_solo]

Was it changed from a package to a room only 30 days prior to check in?

 

[Tigerlulu]

Room only has to be canceled like 5 days in advance. So you should be just fine. They should refund it all.

Packages have to be canceled like 30 days in advance or they keep your deposit. You don’t forfeit everything you paid, I’m pretty sure. Call back and try another CM.

 

[Disneylover99]

Well I changed from a package to room only after buying an AP weeks ago. Now I was just looking to upgrade from a value room only to a moderate room only (with the Passholder discount).
Not sure what the deal with that is...?

How long ago did you change from package to room only?

 

[MarBee]

Was it changed from a package to a room only 30 days prior to check in?

Yes

 

[MarBee]

How long ago did you change from package to room only?

About 4 weeks ago

 

[dansdad]

Well I changed from a package to room only after buying an AP weeks ago. Now I was just looking to upgrade from a value room only to a moderate room only (with the Passholder discount).
Not sure what the deal with that is...?

It sounds like they did not switch you to Room Only and just applied the AP discount to the room portion of your package.

Did you get a new reservation number? Did you have to make a new deposit of 1 night's rate? If the answers are no, then you still have a package .

 

[Bree]

Do you have dining attached to the room reservation? That would make it a package and they have different change/cancellation policies versus a room only reservation.

 

[starry_solo]

About 4 weeks ago

I think that's the problem. If it was less than 30 days, you forfeit the deposit.

 

[dansdad]

I think that's the problem. If it was less than 30 days, you forfeit the deposit.

For a package, yes. @MarBee was under the impression they switched to a room only. Which if true, there would be no issues.

 

[starry_solo]

For a package, yes. @MarBee was under the impression they switched to a room only. Which if true, there would be no issues.

Yes, except it was still done (the switch) less than 30 days ago (or 30 days prior to the reservation start time) - @MarBee doesn't seem to have exact dates about the switch.

 

[dansdad]

Yes, except it was still done (the switch) less than 30 days ago (or 30 days prior to the reservation start time) - @MarBee doesn't seem to have exact dates about the switch.

Right. Which is why I feel that when the OP applied the AP discount the CM did not switch the reservation to a room only and just applied the discount to the room portion of the package.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I am headed to Pop Century in 7 days. I had originally booked the Play Stay and Dine package, but then got an Annual Pass, so I changed the reservation to a Room only.
While perusing the Annual Passholder deals, I came across a $195/night POFQ deal for my dates and decided to upgrade. However, after a long time on the phone with my cast member (she constantly went to check with her “team leader” on things), I was told that
1) since I originally booked as part of a package, it was impossible to upgrade
2) I would have to book a completely new reservation and cancel the old
3) doing this would cause me to forfeit all of the money I paid for the Pop room (paid in full)

Of course I didn’t book. However, the CM was shocked that I didn’t want to. I had to say, “why would I pay you money for a room I’m not staying in in order to give you MORE money for another room?”

Did I get bad info here? I know CMs can all give conflicting answers, but she constantly checked with her team leader for answers. It was super late after I got off the phone (about 40 min phone call), so I didn’t bother to call back. The next morning, that offer was gone. Sigh.

Also, since getting off the phone with her, I’ve received emails as if I’ve just booked (info about fastpasses, online check in, asking about magic bands...) Did this CM do something wrong to my reservation?

Sorry for the vent/rant/questions. Anyone have any input?

Thanks in advance!

Wow. Did you check your MDE account to see if anything changed with your reservation?

I'm a little confused with the timeline and what you switched to. Did you switch from Play, Stay, Dine to an AP Room (with discount) + Dining? If so, you went from package to package which, if you simply wanted to switch to POFQ with the AP discount + Dining should have been an easy upgrade. Or, did you cancel Play, Stay, Dine and just book a room (with no dining) with the AP discount? Even then, you should have been able to simply upgrade your Pop room-only to POFQ room-only. It sounds to me that the CM you spoke to had no idea what he/she was doing and also didn't explain what you were trying to do to the "team leader" properly.

Also, if you have a package and she somehow was trying to switch you to a room-only, you wouldn't have forfeited all of your money. It would have been a $200 penalty, but there is zero reason why they couldn't have made a lateral modification - either room-only to room-only or package to package unless the CM who originally changed from Play, Stay, Dine did something funky with your reservation.

Please let us know if you have a room-only or a package (room + dining) and maybe we can help you from there.

 

[Sue M]

Thanks! It is last minute since I arrive in 6 days. What kind of penalty am I looking at here?

So many ifs here after reading the other posts. As dansdad said, if you have a room only you won’t loose your 1 night deposit until 4 days before arrival, and it’s been my experience that if you’re upgrading you won’t loose it, but that happened a few years ago. Rules may have changed.
Sounds like you should phone reservations ASAP and find out what you have. If you don’t have a room only as you have asked them, and still have a package and they can’t seem to fix without a penalty ask to speak with a manager.

 

[MarBee]

Hello all!
I’m all settled now, but I just wanted to clear up any confusion for anyone who was so kind as to offer their advice.
So just to clarify: original package was Play, Stay, and Dine (room at Pop, tickets, and dining package) and purchased about 6 months ago. When I bought the annual pass about 4-5 weeks ago, I called to drop the tickets and dining portion of the package. There was no AP discount available on the room, but I still requested a room only reservation.
The CM who handled this change simply (as @dansdad suspected) subtracted the dining and tickets, rather than changing to a “room only.” So even though I had just a room, my reservation still read “basic package.”
Despite all this, however, the CM I talked to about upgrading to POFQ was wrong.
I called today and wound up upgrading to AKL. No forfeit of deposit or anything! The CM today explained that Guest Services needed to handle it but it was 100% doable. She said the CM from the other night should’ve just contacted Guest Services and it would’ve be no problem.
So after all of that, I’m super ready for my vacation, which is now at AKL instead of Pop

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Hello all!
I’m all settled now, but I just wanted to clear up any confusion for anyone who was so kind as to offer their advice.
So just to clarify: original package was Play, Stay, and Dine (room at Pop, tickets, and dining package) and purchased about 6 months ago. When I bought the annual pass about 4-5 weeks ago, I called to drop the tickets and dining portion of the package. There was no AP discount available on the room, but I still requested a room only reservation.
The CM who handled this change simply (as @dansdad suspected) subtracted the dining and tickets, rather than changing to a “room only.” So even though I had just a room, my reservation still read “basic package.”
Despite all this, however, the CM I talked to about upgrading to POFQ was wrong.
I called today and wound up upgrading to AKL. No forfeit of deposit or anything! The CM today explained that Guest Services needed to handle it but it was 100% doable. She said the CM from the other night should’ve just contacted Guest Services and it would’ve be no problem.
So after all of that, I’m super ready for my vacation, which is now at AKL instead of Pop

That's awesome! I'm glad it all worked out!