Terrible experience just now

I dont think some of you should be so quick to blame the OP here. Sometimes the CM's do make mistakes, and they do forget to mention things.
Something similar happened to me. In May of last year we thought we were going to go to WDW in October 2007, but when I called there was not a one bedroom WL villa available on the dates we wanted. They were apparently going fast, because I had just checked a couple of days before and there was one. So the CM asked me about alternate dates for the week after my first choice. I said I was not sure, I would have to talk to my husband and see if we could work it out. She suggested that I go ahead and put a reservation down for those days, just in case. And her exact words were "you can call tomorrow to cancel if those dates will not work out".
She did not mention anything about a package or insurance (I had requested a room only reservation at the begining of the call, because we always do room only). So I put down the reservation, but after talking to DH that night, we decided that January 2008 would be better for us.
So the next day I called Disney back to change my dates. I was told by a very rude cast member that I would have to book a room only since package prices were not out yet for 2008, and I said that is fine, because that is what I want anyway (we always do room only).
She said, no....your October reservation is a package, and we can't refund the $200 insurance. I was like WHAT??? I just made the reservation yesterday, and was told by the CM yesterday that I could call back the next day to cancel. And I had no idea that the CM had booked a package.....I specifically asked for a room only. I can assure you that there was NO mention of insurance during that phone call, and I had no idea she was booking a package, especially since I started off the conversation by saying I wanted to book a room only. Anyway, after an extremely rude (on her part) conversation with this CM, and a LONG time on hold, they finally refunded the money to me.
I went back to the numbers I had written down the day before, and sure enough it was $200 too much. I just had not caught it. My DH has always booked the trips before, so I was also not aware of the differences in the deposits for room only vs. packages, so there was no way for me to catch the mistake based off that info either.
So anyway, my point is that CM's are not perfect, and they can leave out important info during phone calls, make mistakes while booking your trip, and some of them can really cause confusion. I'm sure that most are great and tell you about the insurance and are clear about it, but I can assure you there are those that slip up occasionally.

Kwit35 said:

Almost the exact thing happened to us. We are going tomorrow and we ended up booking through AAA because when we originally booked through Disney they tried to charge us for the insurance, without telling us. I do not blame Disney, I blame the call takers. I think it is their responcibility to disclose ALL charges. We booked through AAA and not only got cheaper rates but we were able to say, 'no' to the insurance.

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You can say no to the insurance thru Disney, you just have to know about it.
They ended up settling a class action suit because they didn't disclose, seems they are heading that way again. You have to be a very smart consumer these days unfortunately, with everything. :zipit:

I really don't remember having this problem before. Is this something that they have just started? By that I mean not telling the caller about the insurance.

tigsmom said:

That is if you cancel the trip. Thats what the insurance is for, so you are not out hundreds (or thousands) of dollars should you need to cancel because of illness, etc.

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I've had to cancel trips before (I've never gotten insurance), and I have always gotten a full refund of whatever was paid as long as it was more than 5 days before the date of arrival.

Did they change that policy? If so, I don't think that's very fair, since some people book their trips 2 years out...plans change. That's why there was the 5-day rule. If you cancel less than 5 days before arrival, you lose your deposit.

As long as that policy has not changed you should be able to just cancel the whole thing, get all your money back (as long as you're not arriving in 5 days) and just re-book it (unless you had a special discount code).

Again, this is just my experience. If the policy has changed, I'm sure someone will post it here (if so, I'd like to know myself for future reference). I'd call back and speak to someone else to clarify.

Good luck, and I"m sorry you had a hard time

Just call Disney, tell them the CMs name, then cancel your trip. Get your money back, then start over. You'll get the revenge want on the sole person your frustration lies with, and you'll get your vacation without paying for the insurance.

cococola44 said:

She said then "fax me your email and I will think about it." then she gave me the number to fax it and then hung up...

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I'm sorry, but your whole story sounded very exaggerated. I just can't believe that a guest services representative would say "I will think about it" and then hang up on you. I think you've twisted the facts a bit here.

I've always booked over the phone and never had insurance added in. They ask if I want it and I say no. :shrug:

If insurance was erroneously added to your bill then it should take a simple phone call and they'll reverse the charges. There is something that you're leaving out of your story or misrepresenting.

Call again. The same exact thing happened to me....except when I called the CM immediately refunded my insurance fee. Not only that they told me that in September it would most likely be fee dining although they weren't sure yet but they advised me to call back in the spring and if they do have free dining they'd add it to my plan with no hassles. Sounds like you got a bad CM with control issues.

as many times as i have called disney to book my vacations, not once has a cm mentioned insurance. i know of the insurance because i read these boards and knew about it ahead of time and "I" asked about it.

i also just recently called to make my plans for a jun trip, and at the time i was only calling to get prices (if i got a good price i would have booked), but the cm was insistant about selling me more ticket days than i wanted, insisted i book at a moderate vs a value (10 of us are going), there were other things also. well i told her i would just have to talk it over with my hubby, i thanked her for her time and was done with the phone call.
..i called back to make my ressies with another cm, and she tells me that i already have a package booked at a moderate with additional days tickets. it took a while but the new cm changed everything for me.

so cm's are rude and not as helpful as others. but this does not stop me from loving disney and enjoying my vacations.

cococola44 said:

So I called on the phone to book my vacation disney in june back in january...
they didn't tell me on the phone about this insurance they were charging me


So when i changed my resort yesterday they emailed me the rest of what i owe...

i went online to see how much other resorts would cost during that time and saw what my online booking would have cost for the cbr and it was about 2107 (with park hopper)

So when i looked at my email that they sent me it was about 200 dollars more...and they didn't really show me what the extra charge was.

I just called them and asked them what the charge was (on top of that the dates that i told the lady about yesterday was wrong in the confirmation which the guy today said was a "misprint"

And he said "well the online cost doesn't add on the insurance"

I said "I didn't want the insurance..."

So the guy had me on hold for a long time and then transferred me to guest relations b___ch with a nasty attitude of "well it was documented that they informed you of the insurance and you agreed to it."

NO...nothing was mentioned.

Then she said "we emailed you three times" (getting nastier from her)

No ma'am i am looking at my email right now and it says NOTHING about insurance. Seriously..i can post it up.

So then she paused and then said "THe insurance is non-refundable" then I was done with my nice tone and started to get mad "then why don't you tell your vacation planners to tell guests that on the phone that it is non-refundable or have it somewhere that they know. Insurance if i am not mistaken is supposed to be optional"

She said then "fax me your email and I will think about it." then she gave me the number to fax it and then hung up...





The many times I went to disney i never really needed the insurance...yea it is nice to have but I really didn't want it. I was treated like ________ and had proof against what they said.

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Sorry this happened, but as in any business dealing, there is always a supervisor. You just have to perservere and do the extra work (that yes, you shouldn't really have to)
You have your proof from the email, so it will only be a matter of time before it is resolved. Hopefully you also have the names of the people you dealt with.

Because of these kinds of bumps, the finality of doing this on line, and the possible inconsistency of phone ressies, I always go through KingdomKonsultants for my arrangements. They deal with the nonsense and I always get just what I want. (not to mention that they watch out for possible discounts down the road, so that I'm confident that I always get the best price)

I had a HORRIBLE experience while I was making the reservation for my last vacation, and I wrote to this email address:

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

My problem was addressed with great efficiency, and since I was able to give details of the call (such as times and dates) they went back and listened to the call that was in question.

I am not sure what they might be able to do, but at least you have a way to let them know how you are feeling!

I am sorry that you had such a bad experience, but hopefully this may help:wave:!

Laura said:

I'm sorry, but your whole story sounded very exaggerated. I just can't believe that a guest services representative would say "I will think about it" and then hang up on you. I think you've twisted the facts a bit here

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Wow, a bit harsh, dont you think? Telling the OP she is exaggerating and twisting the facts (in other words, accusing her of lying)? What exactly are you basing this judgement on.....the fact that YOU have never had a CM be rude to you, or that YOU have never had a problem arise like this while booking a trip? Trust me....there ARE CM's who are capable of saying this, and of hanging up on a guest. I've had to deal with at least one of them, as I mentioned in my post above. Maybe the CM was just a _itch, or maybe she was having a really bad day....who knows.
Sorry, not trying to be rude here. It is just a HUGE pet peeve of mine when someone accuses someone of lying when they have no facts to back up their accusation.

Laura said:

I'm sorry, but your whole story sounded very exaggerated. I just can't believe that a guest services representative would say "I will think about it" and then hang up on you. I think you've twisted the facts a bit here.

I've always booked over the phone and never had insurance added in. They ask if I want it and I say no. :shrug:

If insurance was erroneously added to your bill then it should take a simple phone call and they'll reverse the charges. There is something that you're leaving out of your story or misrepresenting.

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I agree 100%. This story is either exaggerated OR the O.P. is one of those people that simply cant be satisfied. I believe this story is poppycock.

aleckendyl said:

I agree 100%. This story is either exaggerated OR the O.P. is one of those people that simply cant be satisfied. I believe this story is poppycock.

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Be carefull....you may be accused of being a meanie as well....

From what I've been told when I book our packages is that if you add insurance, you have 14 days to cancel the insurance before it is non refundable. You also have to be so many days out from your trip. I can't remember the exact number but it has to be at least 14 days. I've always been asked about it when I call to book or even just price trips. I choose the insurance to be on the safe side since last minute things can happen, plus it'll be applicable if dates change because of dh being active duty and I guess I figure that little bit extra isn't so bad when you are already paying 5000 on a trip. I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure I was told that it also covers your flight now, even if you don't book the flight through them. I may be getting confused on that issue though.

Directly from the Disney site...

Vacation Insurance protects you against covered unexpected events. Our vacation insurance policy continues to offer great benefits covering many emergency and unexpected situations prior to and during your vacation. The policy includes the following coverage and benefits, subject to certain exclusions and limitations:

• Trip Cancellation/Interruption (Up to the total cost of your vacation package. This now includes airfare purchased as part of a Walt Disney Travel Company package, through your travel agent, or on your own.)
• Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) ($25,000)
• Emergency Medical Transportation ($20,000)
• Medical Expenses ($10,000)
• Lost baggage ($2,000)
• Travel Delay ($600)
• 24-hour Travel Assistance via LiveTravel
• Baggage Delay ($500)

Most importantly...

Please note that payment for vacation insurance is non-refundable.

$66.95 per adult in your party, and children ages 17 and under are at no additional charge when all adults in your party purchase
the vacation insurance.

there is an option to decline the insurance should you book online. We have always been given that option anytime we have book via the phone, but we always take it because you never know what will happen.

cococola44 said:

The many times I went to disney i never really needed the insurance...yea it is nice to have but I really didn't want it. I was treated like ________ and had proof against what they said.

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Reason #25 to book through a Travel Agent! (And I am NOT one)

There is no way I would have allowed some phone operator to talk to me that way. She's be feeling some "magic" from me pretty quickly and so would her supervisor, no matter how high up I had to go.....

I have a feeling we're not hearing the whole story... and it seems to have been sensationalized to some degree.

I've never had the insurance added to any reservations when they haven't asked first... and I've been asked several times whether I wanted the insurance. I also understood it was non-refundable.

hakunamatata said:

Be carefull....you may be accused of being a meanie as well....

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*jumps on the meanie bus*:wave:

I think that IF the person at reservations was that rude..(which to me is odd about saying "I will think about it" and hanging up..Considering the calls are monitered I believe) then the OP should have just gotten the name and got off the phone and called back and let someone know what she said or asked to speak to a supervisor and tell them how she was speaking to her instead of getting rude back.

Just because someone was rude to you does not mean you should be the same way.Be the bigger person and do something else to fix it.

By the way..I just had an AMAZING!...Yes AMAZING! conversation with Disney reservations the other day..

happymom52003 said:

Sorry, not trying to be rude here. It is just a HUGE pet peeve of mine when someone accuses someone of lying when they have no facts to back up their accusation.

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I didn't accuse anyone of lying. I said that I think the story was exaggerated. It actually doesn't even make any sense. And now YOU are exaggerating.

Laura said:

I didn't accuse anyone of lying. I said that I think the story was exaggerated. It actually doesn't even make any sense. And now YOU are exaggerating.

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Ummm....so "twisting the facts" and "exaggerating" are not considered lying? Okay.