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View Full Version : Upset with Safeway & Disney Store selling hopper tickets that expire today! [May 29]



ktrm
05-28-2012, 11:16 PM
Don't know if this belongs in trip planning or in current events but anyhow heres the deal. My brother is going to DL June 1st and was about to buy DL 3 day hoppers at the Disney Store for $189? He did not buy the tickets because he thought they were to expensive(ha, ha he did not know of the increases) and decided that he needed to call me(the resident family DL expert) before he purchased. I told him that that was actually a great price because the prices had gone up but told him not to buy them until he looked at the expiration. They expired today! the very day he was looking to purchase them in Northern CA. I subsequently went to Safeway today and noticed a lot of these tickets with todays expiration on them on the rack. I also noticed some two day hoppers that were cheaper($176?) and did not expire until Dec 2012. I told my brother to go buy those...which he did because I knew they would not last.

I find this ridiculous that both Safeway and the Disney store still had all those tickets on the racks. What person thinks to look at the expiration on the back(in not the biggest print) and expects to find the day you are buying them they expire. No excuses this is bad customer service. I really don't know who to fault but ultimately I think it is Disneys responsibility to make sure the vendors that are selling their tickets to their resort to pull them at an appropriate time. I have a feeling that Disney may have a few upset customers who arrive at the park only to find out their tickets are expired. Even if Disney works with the customers(which I am pretty sure they would) this makes for a bummer of a start to a summer vacation.

3Princesses1Prince
05-28-2012, 11:21 PM
I agree. And your brother needed to look a little closer because the $189 was for a CHILDS tickets. In defense of the supermarkets....they don't stock the gift cards, an outside merchandiser does. They have no clue about the expiration dates unless the checker happened to personally look at them.

disneyobsessed
05-29-2012, 06:23 AM
I'm not sure what you're so mad about. The "today" of your post I assume was May 28. Those tickets specifically said on Disney's website they were for purchase between Nov. 1, 2011 and May 28, 2012, so they were supposed to be sold through yesterday. I presume they have to be used almost immediately, but perhaps somebody went to Safeway seeking tickets exactly for that purpose. Add to that that it was a holiday weekend, so the vendors who supply these stores with these tickets probably weren't working. Add to that that Disney hasn't even taken those tickets off their website ticketing page today (now that is ridiculous since they're apparently no longer for sale). I won't even buy a box of cereal or carton of eggs in the grocery store without checking the expiration date, so I would never buy expensive tickets for something without doing the same and possibly reading the other terms and conditions as well. As you say though, the tickets would probably not be worthless. Whoever made the mistake of buying them could work it out with Disney at the ticket booth or guest relations and pay the price difference for valid tickets, and it would be a bummer of a way to start a trip, but I still see all of that as avoidable.

tea4two
05-29-2012, 11:11 AM
I don't think the expired ticket would be worthless, as long as it is unused. Once expired it would no longer be a great deal, but it would certainly have some value. The ticket booths would honor the ticket, but the guest would have to pay the difference between the promotional and the current price.

kaybee2
05-30-2012, 08:12 AM
I agree that it would be a bummer of a way to start a trip, even with Disney making good on the expiration date and allowing to pay the price difference. I just went to my local Safeway to see if they had any APs left at the old price (they did, hurray!), and found they had a bunch of the expired park hoppers on the rack. I've been shopping there for over 15 years, and would hate to see someone angry at them for this, so I pointed it out to them. With the holiday weekend, the merchandiser who handles the gift cards hasn't been in yet, and once I told them, they searched the rack and checkstands and pulled them all. I agree with the previous poster who said they check the expiration date/terms of gift cards - I do the same on my food too!

houseofmouse
05-30-2012, 09:17 AM
That was nice they pulled them off and was great you pointed it out. I probably would have done the same. :)

3Princesses1Prince
05-30-2012, 01:04 PM
That was nice they pulled them off and was great you pointed it out. I probably would have done the same. :)
I've said something before and they just left them.

shna
05-31-2012, 04:15 PM
I wonder if they're still selling them now that they've expired.

danyoung
05-31-2012, 04:38 PM
I don't think the expired ticket would be worthless, as long as it is unused. Once expired it would no longer be a great deal, but it would certainly have some value. The ticket booths would honor the ticket, but the guest would have to pay the difference between the promotional and the current price.

I'm not entirely sure the above is true. Can anyone verify? Seems to me that once a ticket is expred, its value would go to zero.

Malcon10t
05-31-2012, 04:52 PM
I'm not entirely sure the above is true. Can anyone verify? Seems to me that once a ticket is expred, its value would go to zero.No, even expired, they will retain their value. But instead of a 2 day pass for $99, you would have the equivalent of a $99 gift card towards a higher valued pass.

3Princesses1Prince
05-31-2012, 06:09 PM
No, even expired, they will retain their value. But instead of a 2 day pass for $99, you would have the equivalent of a $99 gift card towards a higher valued pass.

Correct. Specifically in the state of California gift cards cannot legally expire.

danyoung
05-31-2012, 06:14 PM
Good to know - thanks.

candles71
06-01-2012, 07:33 AM
I'm not entirely sure the above is true. Can anyone verify? Seems to me that once a ticket is expred, its value would go to zero.


Correct. Specifically in the state of California gift cards cannot legally expire.

This is what I was going to say. I'll add a bit more. The fees some gift cards charge for inactivity is not legal either. Also, if the balance of the gift card is under $10 you can request a cash refund of the balance. I used a goft card a couple of years ago that my mom had been given about 8 years before and had never used, so she gave it to me. The weird thing was I called to double check the balance on a $50 gift card and the balance was $51.62. It was a weird amount higher than the $50. I could never figure it out.

Hannahbelle
06-01-2012, 07:40 AM
This is what I was going to say. I'll add a bit more. The fees some gift cards charge for inactivity is not legal either. Also, if the balance of the gift card is under $10 you can request a cash refund of the balance. I used a goft card a couple of years ago that my mom had been given about 8 years before and had never used, so she gave it to me. The weird thing was I called to double check the balance on a $50 gift card and the balance was $51.62. It was a weird amount higher than the $50. I could never figure it out.

Would it be possible that the balance of the card was $1.62 and than was "reloaded" with $50.00? Just a thought since I reload cards all the time and sometimes that happens.

candles71
06-01-2012, 08:12 AM
I don't think so, she had received it as a gift from my aunt. My mom just doesn't shop at Nordstrom's. (I took it to the rack and got me some shoes. ;))

ktrm
06-04-2012, 11:42 AM
I won't even buy a box of cereal or carton of eggs in the grocery store without checking the expiration date, so I would never buy expensive tickets for something without doing the same and possibly reading the other terms and conditions as well.

I choose not to patronize grocery stores that consistently sell expired products or even sell products that are close to the expiration date at full price. Once in a while I understand but not consistently. It is not good customer service.

My Safeway clearances products that are close to the expiration date(1 month or so to go). When I am in the clearance basket, I expect expired or close to expired items and always check the dates. I expect Safeway(or the Disney gift card reps or whoever) to show the same care with their gift cards.

3Princesses1Prince
06-04-2012, 05:48 PM
I choose not to patronize grocery stores that consistently sell expired products or even sell products that are close to the expiration date at full price. Once in a while I understand but not consistently. It is not good customer service.

My Safeway clearances products that are close to the expiration date(1 month or so to go). When I am in the clearance basket, I expect expired or close to expired items and always check the dates. I expect Safeway(or the Disney gift card reps or whoever) to show the same care with their gift cards.

You can't compare gift cards to food. It's apples and plastic (can't even say apples and oranges because they aren't even that close). How many gift cards have expiration dates? You honestly expect most people to know that these are limited time tickets? Also how do you know that the expiration dates isn't flagged in the computer so it gives the checker an alert if it's sold past the date?

ktrm
06-04-2012, 09:09 PM
Yes, I expect Safeway and the Disney Store to know that these are limited timed tickets. They are being sold in their store and any problems with the tickets reflect on how people feel about their store and whether or not they will continue to shop there in the future. This is good business. Safeway should work with the people who represent the Gift Card Mall in their store and insist on better service and not let expired or close to expired tickets to be sold.

Disney should know that expired or close to expired tickets are being sold in some venues and that this also reflects badly on them. Someone is stocking these tickets and gift cards in these stores. Someone is responsible or else old tickets would never be replaced and new ones would never be stocked.

I honestly don't know if the expiration date is flagged in the computer because I prevented my brother from buying it. Thank goodness. I doubt in his case it would have been flagged because it expired the very day he was looking at buying it.

AVP
06-04-2012, 09:17 PM
I'm less concerned about the still-valid but soon-to-expire tickets than I am about the Annual Pass cards one reader found at her local grocery store with 2011 expiration dates! It makes sense for Disney to allow promotional tickets to be sold as long as the offer is still valid (after all, where else will people buy them?), but I do wish the valid dates were a bit more prominent on the face of the card.

AVP

ktrm
06-04-2012, 09:28 PM
I do wish the valid dates were a bit more prominent on the face of the card.
AVP

Great point. Probably would take care of 99% of the problems.