I thought I'd share my debacle because I believe there are some take-aways that can be helpful for traveling families.
Here is the complaint letter to Disney that pretty much sums up my issue:
Dear Disney Customer Service,
My children were fortunate to receive $1000 in Disney gift cards for a Disneyland vacation.
When I called to book a hotel reservation I spent more than 30 minutes with the reservationist going through tedious details regarding my children’s ages and descriptions of multiple rooms and extra services available (mostly through the agent trying to up-sell me).
When it came time to book the reservation I was told I needed to put a deposit of $420 on my credit card, and that I could not in fact use the gift cards. I was told the only way to secure the hotel room was to use a credit card. Further, I was told this amount would remain on my credit card and that they would not be willing to take this deposit off my credit card when I arrived at the hotel with my gift cards.
The Disney reservationist referred to two sales supervisors during our call, but did not let me speak to them or anyone else. When I asked if there was a corporate number or department I could further my discussion with I was told there was none.
I understand that as a hotel business you take a credit card number in order to protect yourself. What I don’t understand is your company’s lack of willingness to refund the money back to the credit card and apply it toward the gift card as you will be reaping the same amount of money in the end.
While $420 may seem like a small amount, for a family of four living month-to-month off one income, it is in fact a significant amount of money.
To me it seems ridiculous that we need to spend $420 out of our own pocket in order to use $1000 in gift cards at Disneyland.
I would appreciate any help you can offer in this matter.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Wicks
cc: Mike Hyland, Disneyland Director, Public Relations
Thomas O. Staggs, Walt Disney Company Chairman of Parks and Resorts
Catharine Hamm, Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
Christopher Elliott, Travel columnist
I received immediate responses -- as in same day (on Sunday nonetheless) -- from the two journalists I cc:'d on the letter. Ms. Hamm offered to contact Disney execs on my behalf for a column she writes. Mr. Elliott asked that I let him know how Disney responded.
The following business day I received a call from Anthony who said he headed the customer service department. He referenced the email I had sent "Tom," and stated that his call was to work with me to rectify the situation.
He said that in special instances like these they like to examine and help customers on a case-by-case basis. Upon his review he could in fact guarantee my reservations without a credit card and I could use my gift cards upon arrival at the hotel. He explained they normally don't do that, but he was "happy to get everything squared away." He also gave me a complimentary upgrade to a "preferred standard" room.
Anthony then proceeded to thank me for taking the time to write the letter saying it gave them an "opportunity to turn this experience around."
I was of course, satisfied with the outcome however, the bottom line is I had to go to the extent of writing a letter and cc: the likes journalists and a Disney executive to be noticed. Their policy remains the same, and unless you are prepared to take the next step of complaining -- buyer beware, a non-refundable deposit will be taken!
Long post - but the moral of the story is:
1) Don't be afraid to make a well-composed rational complaint to a company
2) It might help to cc: some "heavy weights" -- e.g., journalists, executives of the company, public relations staff of the company
