Conflicting info between TA and DCL site

[squirk]

So, my TA - who I’ve worked with for years - booked me on a cruise for next Feb.

I’ve been playing the Sam’s Club/Disney gift card game with a rewards credit card to shave 3%-8% off my cruise cost. When I fill up three Disney gift cards, I ask my TA to apply them to the cruise and give me an updated outstanding balance.

I just made a big payment, and my TA told me that I have a remaining balance of $468. However, when I logged into the DCL site to view my reservation, it said that I was “paid in full.” My TA said that the site is “messed up.”

Has that happened to anyone else? Seems very unlike Disney to make an error like that in the customer’s favor vs. its own.

 

[scgustafson]

So, my TA - who I’ve worked with for years - booked me on a cruise for next Feb.

I’ve been playing the Sam’s Club/Disney gift card game with a rewards credit card to shave 3%-8% off my cruise cost. When I fill up three Disney gift cards, I ask my TA to apply them to the cruise and give me an updated outstanding balance.

I just made a big payment, and my TA told me that I have a remaining balance of $468. However, when I logged into the DCL site to view my reservation, it said that I was “paid in full.” My TA said that the site is “messed up.”

Has that happened to anyone else? Seems very unlike Disney to make an error like that in the customer’s favor vs. its own.

Were you also pre-paying your gratuities? If so, that may be your remaining balance with the TA, but since it is not part of the cruise fare and port fees and taxes, it does not count for the DCL balance.

 

[squirk]

Were you also pre-paying your gratuities? If so, that may be your remaining balance with the TA, but since it is not part of the cruise fare and port fees and taxes, it does not count for the DCL balance.

Nope.

I have three staterooms/reservations. I paid cash deposits on them back in October, and since then, I have been paying down on one of them using GC’s. No pre-payment of anything.

 

[Weedy]

How much have you paid? How much was the cruise?

 

[squirk]

How much have you paid? How much was the cruise?

Around $4,900 for the first stateroom. I’ve paid ~$4,400, leaving that $468 balance.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Is it possible that the $468 is owed on one of the rooms but not the other two ?

 

[squirk]

Is it possible that the $468 is owed on one of the rooms but not the other two ?

The other two rooms have larger outstanding balances of their own. They are nowhere near being paid off yet. They don’t show as “paid in full” on the DCL site. So, no discrepancies with those two.

The first res is the only one DCL lists as “paid in full”, even though I still (think I) owe the $468.

 

[FigmentSpark]

There's no chance your TA charges for her services, is there? They shouldn't, but you never know.

 

[squirk]

There's no chance your TA charges for her services, is there? They shouldn't, but you never know.

Not to my knowledge. She’s with a big well-known Earmarked agency.

And even if she was, she couldn’t get paid off of my Disney gift cards, could she? Those can only be redeemed by a Disney company, correct?

 

[LAX]

Have you done any calculation on your own? I personally keep track of my payments and know exactly how much I still owe unless DCL adjusts the price on the cruise for whatever reason (changes in port taxes or other things).

LAX

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I'm going to guess the difference is between gross and net. You may have paid net and, because it's a TA booked trip, DCL may show paid in full, but you still owe on the gross rate which accounts for the $468 difference - which is your TA's commission. It's just a guess.

 

[Dug720]

Could someone in one of the other rooms made a payment and it got erroneously applied to your room?

 

[Dug720]

I'm going to guess the difference is between gross and net. You may have paid net and, because it's a TA booked trip, DCL may show paid in full, but you still owe on the gross rate which accounts for the $468 difference - which is your TA's commission. It's just a guess.

The commission comes from DCL, NOT from the client. Travel agents normally do not charge for their services - I'd be very skeptical of one who did.

 

[squirk]

Have you done any calculation on your own? I personally keep track of my payments and know exactly how much I still owe unless DCL adjusts the price on the cruise for whatever reason (changes in port taxes or other things).

LAX

Yes, I’ve been keeping a running total. My numbers (based off the price originally given to me by my TA) indeed show $468 due.

The change in port taxes is a good thought. But that would be an almost 10% adjustment in the fare.

 

[squirk]

Could someone in one of the other rooms made a payment and it got erroneously applied to your room?

No. I’m in charge of paying for all three rooms. If someone else had paid, my TA would have told me.

 

[squirk]

I'm going to guess the difference is between gross and net. You may have paid net and, because it's a TA booked trip, DCL may show paid in full, but you still owe on the gross rate which accounts for the $468 difference - which is your TA's commission. It's just a guess.

You mean, gross and net as far as the standard commission goes? Or are you thinking she added an additional commission amount above that?

If the $468 represents the commission amount, I didn’t think commissions were that high (10%).

 

[cvjw]

OP, I had that happen with our May, 2019 cruise. We had 2 cabins booked thru Costco, and I knew how much I owed on both cabins. I called to pay in full, and Costco told me one of the cabins was already paid in full. It was about a $350 variance. I had Costco check their records and they swore the cabin was paid in full.

I didn’t believe it, so I called Disney and they also said the cruise was paid in full and I just must have forgotten I made the extra payment. I never figured out where the extra $350 came from, but the cruise went off without a hitch.

 

[squirk]

OP, I had that happen with our May, 2019 cruise. We had 2 cabins booked thru Costco, and I knew how much I owed on both cabins. I called to pay in full, and Costco told me one of the cabins was already paid in full. It was about a $350 variance. I had Costco check their records and they swore the cabin was paid in full.

I didn’t believe it, so I called Disney and they also said the cruise was paid in full and I just must have forgotten I made the extra payment. I never figured out where the extra $350 came from, but the cruise went off without a hitch.

Interesting. Thanks for the heads-up.

Sounds like DCL talked to you, even though you were working through Costco. I wonder if DCL would talk to me, if only to confirm numbers.

 

[ADS2508]

Interesting. Thanks for the heads-up.

Even though I am working through my TA, I wonder if DCL would still talk to me, if only to confirm my numbers.

It is the gross/net amount discussed before. You are not paying extra for the TA, but once you cross over the threashold of what the travel agency makes in commission the website will show paid in full - but you have not really paid in full. Your TA will earn somewhere between 10-16 percent, a portion of that to the agency and a portion to the actual agent. If you are getting on board credit - your agent will use part of this amount to fund your on board credit. If you don’t pay the amount your agent will not get paid.

 

[squirk]

It is the gross/net amount discussed before. You are not paying extra for the TA, but once you cross over the threashold of what the travel agency makes in commission the website will show paid in full - but you have not really paid in full. Your TA will earn somewhere between 10-16 percent, a portion of that to the agency and a portion to the actual agent. If you are getting on board credit - your agent will use part of this amount to fund your on board credit. If you don’t pay the amount your agent will not get paid.

So, using cowboy math, what you’re saying is:

• My TA quotes me $4,500 for the res.
• Agency/agent’s cut is, let’s just say, $450.
• DCL considered itself “made whole” once it received $4,050, which is why the site shows me “paid in full”.
• Had I booked myself, DCL still would have quoted me $4,500, and would not have shown me “paid in full” until they received the whole $4,500, because they (not an agency/agent) were the ones on the hook for pre-cruise support - phone calls, e-mails, processing payments, etc.

Is that it?