[Question] Bad Experience with Disneyland Special Events

[Cookie Boat]

Anybody had something like this happen to them?

Signed the kid up for a musical theater workshop that was to take place at DCA this Sunday. Cost was a little less than a one-day/one-park - she was going to get walked in to the event, do some fun Disney song/dance for three hours, then get walked out. (We didn't pay to upgrade to include tickets to the park, we don't have APs, this was just a fun little workshop for the musical-theater-loving kid which we gave to her as a Christmas present) They sent us the ticket, which looked just like a regular park ticket but had the workshop details on the back.

Then they canceled the event - not enough people signed up. OK, too bad, we get it, how about a refund? "You need to mail the ticket back," they tell us. But the event isn't happening. It's a worthless piece of paper. "You need to mail the ticket back." OK, we mail the ticket back.Wait a few days. Only get a partial refund.

"You didn't mail everything back." No, we sent the entire envelope with all its contents back to you in a larger envelope. "You paid for an upgrade and didn't send the upgrade ticket back." (FYI, we had to pay an additional $12 "upgrade charge" because the event was longer than 2 hours. I have no idea why this was. There wasn't an option to not pay this. It was a single transaction. They sent us a single admission ticket. They didn't send the admission ticket PLUS an upgrade ticket.) "If you don't send back proof of the upgrade purchase we can't refund the upgrade cost." I mean, what proof can we offer that they only sent us this one ticket?

So now we're out the $12. I know that is a marginal expense. But it is enough to convince my wife that Disney is evil, we're never going back, they stole our money, etc. Even if they had refunded the entire cost, the whole thing was unnecessary - the event was canceled, it wasn't our fault it was canceled, they specifically stated when we made the purchase that it could be canceled, but in that event we would be refunded - why make us mail this stuff back? Just issue the refund and move on. I don't get the rationale for this behavior.

[whoever]

That's really weird. Do you have a creditcard record of the upgrade?

[Mr Wiggins]

...I don't get the rationale for this behavior.

Unfortunately, there is no rationale for it. The sad reality is that Disney's standards of customer service have dropped tremendously in the last two decades -- the result of cutbacks in training and quality control, and a rise in interdepartmental disorganization. The employees responsible for mis-handling your refund are likely overworked, underpaid, and woefully undertrained.

[biggsworth]

There has to be a better way to contact them but what a crock of S on their part. Even my company refunds thing pretty much with no questions asked. I don't know how you can complain about them and get attention but you should.

[Starcade]

Wow, that is seriously dropping the ball on their part. They obviously have record of each ticket holder and have the ability to nullify the ticket on their end so they should have automatically issued a refund without anything from you. You should have simply gotten an email stating the event is cancelled and your refund is currently being processed. Requiring you to jump through hoops is terrible CS and makes me wonder if this whole program was something that DLR is contracting out ? I have seen more and more that they seem to be using 3rd party contractors for various things involving guests and often these contractors are brought in not because they are shining examples of the WDC but because they promise to deliver on the cheap.

[Yamamoto364]

Anybody had something like this happen to them?

Signed the kid up for a musical theater workshop that was to take place at DCA this Sunday. Cost was a little less than a one-day/one-park - she was going to get walked in to the event, do some fun Disney song/dance for three hours, then get walked out. (We didn't pay to upgrade to include tickets to the park, we don't have APs, this was just a fun little workshop for the musical-theater-loving kid which we gave to her as a Christmas present) They sent us the ticket, which looked just like a regular park ticket but had the workshop details on the back.

Then they canceled the event - not enough people signed up. OK, too bad, we get it, how about a refund? "You need to mail the ticket back," they tell us. But the event isn't happening. It's a worthless piece of paper. "You need to mail the ticket back." OK, we mail the ticket back.Wait a few days. Only get a partial refund.

"You didn't mail everything back." No, we sent the entire envelope with all its contents back to you in a larger envelope. "You paid for an upgrade and didn't send the upgrade ticket back." (FYI, we had to pay an additional $12 "upgrade charge" because the event was longer than 2 hours. I have no idea why this was. There wasn't an option to not pay this. It was a single transaction. They sent us a single admission ticket. They didn't send the admission ticket PLUS an upgrade ticket.) "If you don't send back proof of the upgrade purchase we can't refund the upgrade cost." I mean, what proof can we offer that they only sent us this one ticket?

So now we're out the $12. I know that is a marginal expense. But it is enough to convince my wife that Disney is evil, we're never going back, they stole our money, etc. Even if they had refunded the entire cost, the whole thing was unnecessary - the event was canceled, it wasn't our fault it was canceled, they specifically stated when we made the purchase that it could be canceled, but in that event we would be refunded - why make us mail this stuff back? Just issue the refund and move on. I don't get the rationale for this behavior.

I had a similar issue however the person I dealt with seemed much better at handling it. They are making you send it back because although the event was cancelled the park ticket was still active and could have been used for admission even without the event being held. As to the extra $12, who knows what’s going on there.

[Eagleman]

Talking about money grab?

customer service have dropped to new low
and it is WRONG !

[CM08]

This seems very odd, and it was all done through official Disney park ticket office itself? Not a 3rd party handling payment etc...

Apologies if you have already, but I would also send in your post to Disney guest services just to see if they offer any additional help-
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/help/email/

Phone:
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/help/phone/

[Yamamoto364]

This seems very odd, and it was all done through official Disney park ticket office itself? Not a 3rd party handling payment etc...

Apologies if you have already, but I would also send in your post to Disney guest services just to see if they offer any additional help-
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/help/email/

Phone:
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/help/phone/

Yes. Anytime Disney mails you a theme park ticket they require the tickets to be mailed back to them before issuing a refund. The same thing happens with the Walt Disney Travel vacation packages.