Don't forget about Universal! (A customer service story)

Universal Orlando Resort
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It is kind of funny how like 99% of the conversations here revolving around trips and cancellations due to COVID all involve Disney. It is like Universal is the long-forgotten step-child or something!

Anyhow, last year, in anticipation of our May 2020 trip to Disney/Universal, I bought 3-day Park to Park tickets from Undercover Tourist. Those tickets expire June of this year, which would be a problem since we are no longer GOING in May.

So, we have a few choices. We are hoping to go in August 2020 now, but if that doesn’t work out, probably not until May of 2021. Either date is beyond the June 2020 expiration.

I decided to call Universal first to ask about this. Specifically, I wanted them to confirm that if we show up in August this year with the expired tickets that they will truly apply the value of the tickets to the current price of the same tickets. The lady on the phone put me on hold for a bit, and then came back and said that she can’t answer that question because I bought the tickets from Undercover Tourist. I said I wasn’t asking for a refund, only trying to find out about if I’ll just have to pay the difference once I get there. She said it isn’t a policy, but something guest services would decide when we got to the park. Hmm. Not a satisfactory answer.

So, then I called Undercover Tourist. Gotta say, the lady there couldn’t have been more helpful and pleasant. Absolutely amazing customer service.

Anyhow, first thing she did was send me, via email, the link to the page on Universal’s website that says this:

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I had already see this page for myself, but she said that is in line with what they have been told from Universal as well. But then she said that if we are at all uncomfortable with that, as long as we contact Undercover Tourist BEFORE the expiration date on the ticket, they can refund us the cost of the ticket.

Overall, it was much nicer working with Undercover Tourist than Universal directly, although both were polite and actually I had almost no wait time on the phone. But Undercover Tourist sounded like they actually cared, where as Universal sounded like they were giving the answer they needed to give to get me off the phone.

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Because nobody REALLY knows how long we’re going to be in this world, I don’t read too much into the short-term policies. Airlines have already started to extend their rebooking dates into early 2023, so be patient and don’t get overworked about the details. Policies WILL change, once the scope of what is happening becomes more clear.

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Agreed. There are no rules/laws at the moment. Only guidelines with varying degrees of flexibility that shift on an almost daily basis.