2020 Ticket debacle <rant>

[americanv8]

I have 2020 Disney Universal Switch tickets booked with OrlandoAttractionTickets for our visit in August this year. The liklihood of that happening is slim to none, and when TUI start dealing with people in August i'll be moving the dates into 2021 anyway.
I had a look on OAT website to see what they're doing for 2020 tickets and it says that anyone who has 2020 tickets in hand the validity has been extended to 2021 (Sept 2021 for Universal, Dec 2021 for Disney). So far i've paid £40 deposit and the balance is due 18th June - i'm quite happy to pay the balance as long as the tickets will be valid into '21 - after all the parks are currently closed with no firm date for reopening ... which was my question to them.
This is where things get slighty annoying, i've been told that they've suspended balance payments until they work out what's going on with the industry and my choices are
1) I cancel the booking and lose my £40 deposit
2) Move the booking to 2021 and have to pay the difference between the 2020 & 2021 tickets + £25 admin fee.
I've told them i'll pay the balance as long as i'm guaranteed my tickets will be valid into 2021. From what i'm reading it would appear that tickets purchased before 11th April will automatically be extended, I booked these tickets in November 2019 on a deposit.
As it happens this is the 2nd booking i've had with them, the first one i cancelled because there was a significant drop in price on the tickets and it was cheaper to rebook and lose the £40 ... this is where what i've just mentioned is important. They told me that when you pay your £40 deposit you secure the tickets at that price, they place the order with the supplier therefore they cannot pass on any price reductions.
So on that basis i've reserved my tickets in November 2019 and therefore i should be entitled to pay my balance and have the tickets with the same validity as someone who has the tickets in hand?
As it stand they're saying i can't pay my balance, but they'll happily keep my deposit, or i lose my deposit, or i have to pay a huge markup between 20-21 ticket prices + an admin fee!

[Nimbus]

I suspect the problem here is that OAT has not bought your tickets from Disney and therefore, as far as Disney is concerned, the tickets will not have been purchased before 11th April 2020.

Instead, you simply took out an account with OAT, paying money into OAT's account at intervals, and when the balance reached the price of the tickets then OAT would use your money to purchase your tickets from Disney.

At the end of the day, it comes down to what's in your Ts&Cs and/or whether you're willing to fight your case. At the moment, there's nothing official to say you can't use the ticket in August - in fact I suspect the parks will be open by then so the ticket could be used (*if* you could get over to Florida, which is unlikely, but that's neither Disney's nor OAT's fault). So, in reality, you are asking to change your current order of 2020 tickets to 2021 tickets, which means OAT is within it's rights to ask for the 2021 ticket prices.

It's a pain, I know. But think about it this way - anyone booking to go in 2021 would usually have to pay 2021 ticket prices. And anyone who would usually have to delay their holiday by a year would normally have to pay the later year's ticket prices.

ETA: I do think the extra £25 admin fee to move from 2020 to 2021 is a bit of a cheek though!

[americanv8]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

I suspect the problem here is that OAT has not bought your tickets from Disney and therefore, as far as Disney is concerned, the tickets will not have been purchased before 11th April 2020.

Instead, you simply took out an account with OAT, paying money into OAT's account at intervals, and when the balance reached the price of the tickets then OAT would use your money to purchase your tickets from Disney.

At the end of the day, it comes down to what's in your Ts&Cs and/or whether you're willing to fight your case. At the moment, there's nothing official to say you can't use the ticket in August - in fact I suspect the parks will be open by then so the ticket could be used (*if* you could get over to Florida, which is unlikely, but that's neither Disney's nor OAT's fault). So, in reality, you are asking to change your current order of 2020 tickets to 2021 tickets, which means OAT is within it's rights to ask for the 2021 ticket prices.

It's a pain, I know. But think about it this way - anyone booking to go in 2021 would usually have to pay 2021 ticket prices. And anyone who would usually have to delay their holiday by a year would normally have to pay the later year's ticket prices.

ETA: I do think the extra £25 admin fee to move from 2020 to 2021 is a bit of a cheek though!

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But basically as it stands now they wont let me pay my balance so they've effectively kept my deposit, then told me i can either cancel and lose my deposit or pay more + admin fee for next year.
I either lose, lose or lose which isn't acceptable really.

[shack69]

As they are not taking final payments I would hold fire. Let them tell you they want the final payment , at that point if its before August and you intend to travel pay it. If they don't ask you for the payment before then and you have offered it which you appear to of done you are within your rights to ask for your deposit back. I don't think there is anything contractual which enforces them to give you next years tickets at this years prices.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by americanv8

But basically as it stands now they wont let me pay my balance so they've effectively kept my deposit, then told me i can either cancel and lose my deposit or pay more + admin fee for next year.
I either lose, lose or lose which isn't acceptable really.

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I thought you said that you were going to move your holiday to 2021 and OAT have therefore given you two options: either cancel your current booking and lose the deposit -or- change your booking to 2021 tickets and pay the increased cost.

Is that right?

Or are you saying you still want to go in 2020 and they aren't letting you pay off the balance of your 2020 tickets?

As I said earlier, if this coronavirus wasn't happening and you had decided to move your holiday to next year for some other reason (can't go this year due to health problems, for example) then OAT would offer you the exact same options. So, although it's not what you want, it is part of their standard Ts&Cs that you signed up to.

[americanv8]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

I thought you said that you were going to move your holiday to 2021 and OAT have therefore given you two options: either cancel your current booking and lose the deposit -or- change your booking to 2021 tickets and pay the increased cost.

Is that right?

Or are you saying you still want to go in 2020 and they aren't letting you pay off the balance of your 2020 tickets?

As I said earlier, if this coronavirus wasn't happening and you had decided to move your holiday to next year for some other reason (can't go this year due to health problems, for example) then OAT would offer you the exact same options. So, although it's not what you want, it is part of their standard Ts&Cs that you signed up to.

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As far as moving the holiday is concerned its in the lap of the gods, if TUI cancel August then i have no choice, if the FCO advise against travel then TUI will have to cancel.

My point is i ordered these tickets in November 2019 and i was specifically told that placing an order means they order the tickets from their supplier at that price - if the price changes then tough (as i already found out with the first price drop, lost the deposit and reordered at the cheaper price). So if they've ordered the tickets on that date then thats well before the lockdown began, and i'd be entitled to the same extension everyone who has tickets already in hand are entitled to. If they haven't ordered the tickets then they've lied to me.

[Rac20]

Our balance is in 5 days. I’m going to ring OAT today and ask what my options are. We’ve decided we don’t want to take the risk of going this year. There are just too many variables around what will and won’t be open and currently we are supposed to be paying £3,000 for tickets. That’s not pocket change. I don’t want to spend that money and not be able to access half of what we normally could.
OP. Are they not accepting balance payments then? So I could just lose my deposit? (I paid £4).
This would probably be the best outcome for me.
I’m finding it all mega stressful - the unknown!

Edited to add: OMG... the extra cost between this year and next.😢😢

[blades]

Great thread I would be better of loosing my deposit as I can get the tickets cheaper elsewhere - check out the other post though as they have told one Dibb member they have to pay more to cancel. I did query if they have not already bought the tickets would they register on the Disney system.

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...1#post14471211

[bighal]

The disney tickets are only being extended to September 2021 not the December.for those bought direct from Disney. Disney do state that you have to speak to your ticket seller if you bought from a third party.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by americanv8

My point is i ordered these tickets in November 2019 and i was specifically told that placing an order means they order the tickets from their supplier at that price - if the price changes then tough (as i already found out with the first price drop, lost the deposit and reordered at the cheaper price). So if they've ordered the tickets on that date then thats well before the lockdown began, and i'd be entitled to the same extension everyone who has tickets already in hand are entitled to. If they haven't ordered the tickets then they've lied to me.

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Yes, I suspect they misled you. As I said earlier, I suspect they took your money and would only buy the tickets once you'd paid the full amount.

However, there is a difference between ordering something and purchasing something. I can order something now and not pay for it (i.e. purchase it) until later. You ordered the tickets from OAT in November and that fixed the price as it was shown on OAT's website at that time. Disney will only extend tickets that have been purchased (perhaps direct from them, as bighal says), not ordered.

But, yes, it's not good news to hear.