Question regarding Ticket Refunds/Working Advantage

[joelanza5]

Hi,

This is my first post (apologies if it's in the wrong thread.)
I just want to say I found this site incredibly helpful in planning what was to be a friends 40th Birthday Disney Trip. I would've been leaving later tonight (sad face.)
Anyway...

I purchased a 4 day Park Magic with Waterpark and NBA ticket through Working Advantage. (also bought a Universal pass through them, but this is about Disney.). I wanted to save a few bucks, so I bought 3rd party, with obviously no foresight to what the future would hold.

My friends have been able to get FULL refunds from Disney and Universal, as they bought directly from the Parks. I, on the other hand, have been getting the runaround. Working Advantage say's they're not authorized to perform refunds until they receive authorization from their contractors (or something like that.). One WA rep suggested I contact Disney, since my Disney park tickets contain their own Disney reservation number. I did and was told that my information would be forwarded to a ticketing services rep. I called back a week later and Disney said that they would offer the refund, but Working Advantage would have to initiate it.

So I called WA again. And the rep basically said the same thing that previous reps have said to me.

I'm just extremely annoyed. These parks are not inexpensive, and i have NO IDEA when I'll be heading back down to the Orlando area. It is extremely doubtful I will get there by the 12/15/20 date. And i'd rather just have my money now, when times are tough financially.

I posted to Better Business Bureau and filed a complaint with the Florida State Attorney General today (not sure if that will do anything.). Has anyone had any luck in this area? Or am I just learning my lesson the hard way to never buy 3rd party again?

Best

 

[glocon]

I wouldn’t say the lesson is to never buy third party again, many reputable third party sites are giving refunds. But maybe never buy they WA again...

 

[MikeNamez]

Sorry this happened, but this is the exact reason I would never buy tickets from a third party. They could be free and I wouldn't take them.

 

[abg3]

Facing the same thing with 'Tickets At Work'. I've bought WDW passes from them many times over the years and never had problems, but then we never faced an issue like this before! They are pushing the hardline: no refunds.

Perhaps attempting a credit card dispute will be the next step. Since the WDW parks are closed 'indefinitely' with no clear anouncement for being closed for sure yet for my dated tickets (May 20-June1), I'll wait till May 20 and if the door are shut, start my credit card dispute. I'm sure the parks will not be open.

My lesson is learned as well. Will never ever use third party to buy a WDW ticket again. Hell, there may not be any of them in business after this is over with anyway.

I do know what Disney is offering for using the tickets for a later date. I can't go again till may mid/late 2021 so not really feeling the joy sitting in $1800 worth of tickets for more than a year. There's more pressing things going on that need that cash applied to right now!

 

[Sandiz08]

We have third party tickets as well, just wish Disney would at least go ahead and extend all date based tickets through the end of 2020 or offer refunds. I get they don’t know when they’ll be open, but being stuck in limbo is not cool. Yes, tickets are non refundable but you buy them for specific dates knowing theme parks will be open, not shut down.

 

[joelanza5]

Ugh, sorry to hear you're going through the same thing. It's frustrating -- thought I was saving a few bucks and now I'm in this mess. And I used Working Advantage (which links to TicketsAtWork) because it was offered either through my union (SAG-AFTRA) or one of my employers (Levy's - that owns Paddlefish @ Disney Springs), so it seemed entirely reputable to me.

I will say that the business responded to my complaint yesterday on the Better Business Bureau website. They responded with the following:

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to our customer. We were able to advocate on your behalf and obtain refunds for the Disney Villians special event. You will see two refunds, each for $149.98 for these tickets. Please allow up to 30 days for refund processing due the impact of COVID-19. The Universal Orlando and the Walt Disney World 4-Day Park Magic Tickets w/Waterpark & NBA are regrettably non-refundable. However, both parks have extended usage dates to allow the customer to return and enjoy the experience. Please reference the terms of sale that the customer accepted prior to purchase:

What's frustrating to me is that the customer service reps I've spoken to at Disney (and Universal) have said that they're offering Full Refunds, but as I purchased through Working Advantage, they would need them to initiate the refund.

So I responded with the following yesterday on the BBB website:

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This is not a satisfactory response: 1) You say you were able to "advocate on your my behalf and obtain refunds for the Disney Villains special event." This was a hard ticketed event and Disney had announced that they would be refunding anyone who had purchased tickets to these hard-ticketed events. So I don't believe there was any above and beyond "advocating" on my behalf. This is standard procedure, and had I not received a refund, there would have been real issues. 2) I will not be attending Disney or Universal in 2020, and I have no idea when I will return. Due to COVID-19, my vacation from 04/07/20 - 04/15/2020 has obviously been cancelled. I have no desire to make Orlando the first thing on my list to check off once the pandemic restrictions have eased. I am out of work due to the pandemic. And no idea when that will start back up again. The multiple customer service reps I have spoken to on the phone from Disney and Universal have said that a FULL REFUND is possible, it's just up to WORKING ADVANTAGE to reach out and to initiate the refund. I would love it if you would ADVOCATE on my behalf in this situation, and for any other of your customers who may be in the same boat -- just as you said you did for the Disney Villains tickets. ADVOCATE that in these truly unique times, a refund is warranted and the right thing to do. That would show that you truly cared about your customers. If not, I'd love to see documentation posted on your website from whoever your suppliers are, whether it be DISNEY or UNIVERSAL or somewhere else, that specifically states that in these unique circumstances, no refunds are being offered. And then I can take my complaint to your suppliers. If you could post the statements that you tried and you were denied by your suppliers on your website, that would be very informative. Just throwing the terms of sale link at me does not make me feel good as a customer. Just makes me feel like you're trying to swat me away. All in all, this has already left a bad taste in my mouth about Working Advantage. I've checked around on the Disney Message Boards, and posted about this issue with Working Advantage, and some have responded that this is the reason they will never buy third party. Some have also said that other 3rd party suppliers are actually offering refunds. Whether or not I use your website in the future and how I talk about it publicly, will be dependent on the dealing of this situation. You have the opportunity to go Above and Beyond and ADVOCATE for your customers in this situation. It's just will you, or won't you?

I've also filed a complaint with the Florida State Attorney General. May be a bit dramatic, but worth a shot...

 

[Sandiz08]

Wow, we also have the four park magic ticket from another third party . Our July trip is still on the table but we probably would have already postponed if we knew July would be extended.

 

[abg3]

Ok, maybe this shines a light on something. Working Advantage and Tickets at Work link to 'nearly' identical web sites. Many of the web pages are identical, but the customer service numbers are different! It's like the same business is running two different web fronts. Usually this would be a huge red flag to me, but in this case we've used TAW plenty of times and never had issues. Until now.

As you say, whomever is behind these web fronts doesn't want to deal with the whole refund side of this for their customers.

I read in other posts that Undercover Tourist was refunding minus 5%. I'd take that and be fine with it, if that's what these ticket brokers are really making for their part of handling the transaction.

 

[joelanza5]

Yeah, had COVID never happened, I'd be at Animal Kingdom today (w/a FOP FP no less) and then attending Villains After Hours tonight. (sad face). So in normal circumstances, Tickets At Work would've been fine, and I would've saved the $20ish/per pass.

Had one of us gotten sick on the trip, or some personal circumstance occurred that would've prevented us from using one or all of our days on these tickets, I would totally understand them being non-refundable. But this is a global event that affects so many people.

It appears as if Disney (and Universal) want to do the right thing and refund guests, should the guest request the refund. It's just frustrating that the 3rd party corporation won't take the additional step.

And although a 5% fee (not quite sure what for -- reaching out on my behalf??) would stink, I agree with @abg3 that I'd rather deal with that, than sit on tickets that I have no idea when I'm going to use. That money is better served in my bank account at the moment.

 

[gatour]

Ugh, sorry to hear you're going through the same thing. It's frustrating -- thought I was saving a few bucks and now I'm in this mess. And I used Working Advantage (which links to TicketsAtWork) because it was offered either through my union (SAG-AFTRA) or one of my employers (Levy's - that owns Paddlefish @ Disney Springs), so it seemed entirely reputable to me.

I will say that the business responded to my complaint yesterday on the Better Business Bureau website. They responded with the following:


What's frustrating to me is that the customer service reps I've spoken to at Disney (and Universal) have said that they're offering Full Refunds, but as I purchased through Working Advantage, they would need them to initiate the refund.

So I responded with the following yesterday on the BBB website:



I've also filed a complaint with the Florida State Attorney General. May be a bit dramatic, but worth a shot...

Have you contacted Levy's HR department? If this was a "benefit" they may be interested.

I worked for a major corporation that offered a similar benefit. Probably through one of these two companies. When I looked at the so-called discount and the terms and conditions, I declined purchasing through them.

 

[Lily408]

Hi,

This is my first post (apologies if it's in the wrong thread.)
I just want to say I found this site incredibly helpful in planning what was to be a friends 40th Birthday Disney Trip. I would've been leaving later tonight (sad face.)
Anyway...

I purchased a 4 day Park Magic with Waterpark and NBA ticket through Working Advantage. (also bought a Universal pass through them, but this is about Disney.). I wanted to save a few bucks, so I bought 3rd party, with obviously no foresight to what the future would hold.

My friends have been able to get FULL refunds from Disney and Universal, as they bought directly from the Parks. I, on the other hand, have been getting the runaround. Working Advantage say's they're not authorized to perform refunds until they receive authorization from their contractors (or something like that.). One WA rep suggested I contact Disney, since my Disney park tickets contain their own Disney reservation number. I did and was told that my information would be forwarded to a ticketing services rep. I called back a week later and Disney said that they would offer the refund, but Working Advantage would have to initiate it.

So I called WA again. And the rep basically said the same thing that previous reps have said to me.

I'm just extremely annoyed. These parks are not inexpensive, and i have NO IDEA when I'll be heading back down to the Orlando area. It is extremely doubtful I will get there by the 12/15/20 date. And i'd rather just have my money now, when times are tough financially.

I posted to Better Business Bureau and filed a complaint with the Florida State Attorney General today (not sure if that will do anything.). Has anyone had any luck in this area? Or am I just learning my lesson the hard way to never buy 3rd party again?

Best

Hello im not sure if you have gotten your refund but we are going through the same exact situation our vacation was going to be from June 20th - 25th due to the pandemic everything was shut down and we are still trying to get a refund back not only for our Disney tickets but for the hotel that we booked through them as well your absolutely right times are hard and we need our money . I hope you have had better luck than we have!

 

[abg3]

Hello im not sure if you have gotten your refund but we are going through the same exact situation our vacation was going to be from June 20th - 25th due to the pandemic everything was shut down and we are still trying to get a refund back not only for our Disney tickets but for the hotel that we booked through them as well your absolutely right times are hard and we need our money . I hope you have had better luck than we have!

Never got a refund. My 8 day tickets are showing up in My Disney Experience with an expiration date of Sun, Sep 26, 2021, so they were automatically extended. I've tried multiple times and Tickets at Work is not budging on giving refunds. I'm hoping we get to a better place in May 2021 when I can get the FULL value of my park hopper plus tickets. Definitely not worth using right now with no park hopping and no water parks!

 

[storey13]

Sorry this happened, but this is the exact reason I would never buy tickets from a third party. They could be free and I wouldn't take them.

That seem kind of a ridiculous statement. If they were free, what possible reason would you not take them? Even if they were fake tickets, you would know that way before your arrival if you added them to your trip plans in My Disney Experience. Just seems foolish to pass up on free tickets from a third party, even if they might cause you some trouble at some point.