The Colossal Disney Flew-Away Offer

Back on November 6, 2007, I scooped a story on a Disney Movie Rewards promotion for a Limited Edition Blu-Ray Lightning McQueen. The offer was simple...purchase Cars on Blu-Ray disk, join Disney Movie Rewards, enter the Code in the package and pay $3.50 shipping and handling and you got an LE 15,000 die cast McQueen. The promotion would last until January 31, 2008, or until supplies ran out. They never turned away orders saying supplies were out. Weeks passed and people started getting their McQueens at the end of November. January came and people wondered about the confirmation numbers and if they correlated to the actual inventory. I personally called and had my second conversation with Disney Movie Rewards supervisor Regina. She was aloof, evasive, and after much pressure, told me the confirmations didn't correlate to the numbers of Cars sold. In early February people started receiving numerous Cars they didn't order or pay for. One man boasted he got 20 sent to him and even pictured them all lined up on his discussion board posts. This was the point at which I knew a major problem was going to happen. So, on January 31, 2008 I called and spoke to the same robotic person Bonnie. All she did was assure me my orders were in process and would be fulfilled. I was skeptical and my suspicions came true today. I started the day reading a post by a gentleman who received the first bomb...

"I ordered 4 Blu-ray Lightning McQueens the first week of January - one for each of my sons and of course one for me! I spent $120+ on those blu-ray Cars dvds and then I wait 5 weeks and what happens? Disney Rewards sends me this "wonderful" email below stating they can't fulfill my order!!!!

I have a lot of reasons why I am a little angry (ok, very very angry). First, I ordered mine the 1st week of January and my credit card was charged (they are lying in the email when they said my card was not charged...I can show them statements). 2nd, I read on the board that there were several people who received WAY more than they ordered (someone orders 6 and receives 26?!?! Come on now!). I am really happy for whoever those people are who received their extras but I think Disney needs to look into this and figure out what went wrong and compensate equally the people who ordered their toys in advance of the offer end date (4 weeks ahead of time!). Their counter-offer are old DVDs they probably have stock-piled in a warehouse. I don't think these will make up for the $120 + tax I spent on getting those Blu-ray DVDs. The only compensation I could imagine would appropriate would be the actual Car, considering the mess they created.

A Father's Plea
I know I am reaching out on a limb here, but is there anyone who has a kind enough heart who received MORE than their order that would be willing to sell me 3 of their Blu-ray Lightning McQueens? I only need them for my sons (the 4th one was for me and I can live without one). I will be willing to pay for them, however, I hope you can find it in your heart to be fair and understand that I did already spend $120+ on trying to get these and received nothing. I know you may have also bought 3 or 4 or even possibly 6 blu-ray disks as well, but if you received more than you ordered, I am asking to please help.

I can provide all the information necessary that will show that I did indeed order 4 cars and the time frame I ordered them (January 10, 2008).

Email from Disney saying they cannot fulfill my order

Dear Disney Movie Rewards Member,
Recently you were offered the opportunity to receive a Blu Lightning McQueen car for entering the Disney Movie Rewards Magic Code found inside Pixar's Cars on Blu-ray Disc.

Due to an overwhelming response to this promotion and the limited availability of inventory we regret to inform you we will be unable to fulfill your order. Your credit card has not been charged the $3.50 shipping and handling fee.

You are a valued customer and we would like to take this opportunity to offer you a replacement product. Please select one of the titles listed below for the same $3.50 shipping and processing fee.

· Eight Below

· Chicken Little

· Bridge to Terabithia

· Sky High

· Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

· Remember the Titans

· The Wild

· Dinosaur

· Glory Road

· The Haunted Mansion

· Meet the Robinsons

· Underdog

· Invincible

Simply reply to this email with your selection and your preferred format (DVD or Blu-ray Disc). If no preferred format is provided, the default will be DVD. Your credit card will be charged the $3.50 for shipping and processing.

The offer for a replacement product is only valid until March 31, 2008. Please remember to make your selection by this date.

Again, we apologize for this matter and value your loyalty.

Disney Movie Rewards Consumer Relations Team

Confirmation email of order on 1/10/08
Thank you for shopping with the Disney Movie Rewards!
We appreciate your membership and we know you'll enjoy
your new titles.

Your order will be promptly processed and shipped as
detailed below.

Order Information:

=======================================================
MEMBER#:

Web Order#: XXX766
Reference#: XXXXXX87
Order Date: 01/10/08

Billing Address:
Kevin XXXXX
XXXX XXXXXX ROAD
XXXXXXX XXXXXX, IL XXXXX


Shipping Address:
XXXXXXXXX
XXXX XXXXXX ROAD
XXXXXXX XXXXXX, IL XXXXX



Item Qty Unit Price Extended Price
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Blu-car 1 $.00 $.00
SHIPPING & PROCESSING 1 $3.50 $3.50
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sale Amount: $3.50
Tax: $.00
Total: $3.50"

I called Disney Movie Rewards and started off with the same robot Bonnie. I then requested to speak with the supervisor Regina again. I spoke with her for about a forty-five minutes. She initially came out of the box giving me the same old corporate garbage, "I apologize, but our supplies ran out. "I told her that I was outraged at the fact that they confirmed my orders back on January 11, 2007, that I hadn't received them, and that I was aware that they had idiots fulfilling the orders who were sending multiple McQueens to people who hadn't ordered them, or paid for them BEFORE FULFILLING OTHER LEGITIMATE ORDERS!! This went on as recently as the second week of February. She said, "We had some anomalies and not a large number of these happened." I retorted, "I'm aware of one man who received 20 toys he didn't order of pay for! There were many more who received multiple toys that shouldn't have received them. I pointed out I also heard that people who placed orders as far back as November still hadn't had their order fulfilled! There is no excuse for this! I mentioned how I even received five pin sets I didn't order or want." She said, you can send them back, and I told her I would once I saw the manner in which Disney would handle this massive screw-up.

I told her that offering us a lame DVD was a totally unacceptable resolution. She asked if my card was charged and I told her yes it was. She said it wasn't because it was a debit card, and would only be had the item been shipped. As far as I'm concerned, the order was accepted and confirmed. She was trying to make weak excuses for not fulfilling the order. The discussion continued where she said I didn't adhere to the terms of use by ordering more than one. I told her as far as I understood, it was one car per account. Their system didn't prohibit setting up other accounts, cross-reference payment from the same card, or stop you from setting up other accounts for friends or family. It is also incredibly hypocritical when they didn't care while people were buying their Blu-ray disks and paying for the toy car! As long as they can try to wiggle out of doing the right thing, it is clear to me Disney doesn't give a damn about customer satisfaction, public image, meeting their obligations, or most importantly fixing their royal screw-ups!

This woman stone-walled me when I asked who was above her, that I wanted to talk to the people who were responsible for the promotion, and that I was far from done expressing my intense disgust. She told me that no matter who I spoke with that it wouldn't matter! She started in on me saying, "Don't you ever make mistakes?" I shocked her by telling her that I had built my business for 17 years to be the biggest, most successful of it's type in Central Florida. I told her that when my company screwed up, that I dealt with complaints head on and did what I needed to fix the problems. I told her that in 17 years I could count on one hand the number of times I've had to comp or refund a client's money. I continued to express strong opinions and offer her resolutions...

1. I told her the resolution they offered was horribly inadequate.
2. I scoffed at the point that they even want us to pay them $3.50 for the lame DVD!
3. I pointed out that I, along with 95% of those who purchased the Blu-ray disk don't even own a player or Play Station, and purposely bought the disk just to get the Blu-ray McQueen! I told her they should reimburse us for the purchase of the Blu-ray disk for failing to fulfill the orders they confirmed.
4. I told her that if they cared about their customers and want to do the right thing, that they should contact those they shipped all those Cars to erroneously and ask them to return them. She admitted that they had done that with some of those people and they refused to send them back. I told her the reason those people wouldn't cooperate was because of the company's arrogance and poor treatment of their customers! I reiterated that if they will do the right thing by us, I'd gladly feel compelled to return the extra pin sets. Why the hell would I do anything for a company that wants to do the least it can to resolve their massive screw-up?! They create feelings of combativeness, uncaring and plain dismissiveness in dealing with their customers! This is not the company Walt Disney built!
5. I continued to tell her that the company should either go and manufacture more of the Cars to complete the orders, or literally go on Ebay and buy them to fulfill the orders they royally messed up. She simply kept with the canned corporate lines, "I apologize, I'm sorry that we can't fulfill the orders, and we've come up with the resolution." I told her that she could expect big problems ahead. That we would never accept such an inadequate resolution. I told her that if the resolution was reasonable that I certainly wouldn't be as upset and feeling dismissed.

The Issue is this simple, Disney had idiots fulfilling their orders who did an incredibly horrendous job tracking the number of Blu-Ray McQueens sold! They sent out numerous Blu-Ray McQueens to people who weren't supposed to get them, thus creating a huge shortage! Finally, they are trying to cover their proverbial ass by saying they simply ran out, instead of admitting their incompetent fulfillment and inventory tracking was the problem. Now, their stance is take this lame DVD and pay us for shipping and handling. This is an arrogant, short-sighted, and insulting offer that is par for this company.

I ask you this simple question, "Do you feel Disney's screw-up to fulfill their CONFIRMED ORDERS is rectified by offering you a DVD that you have to pay $3.50 Shipping and Handling for is an adequate Make Good?!" If not, I say that they haven't done enough to satisfy the dozens, if not hundreds of customers who bought a Blu-Ray disk so they could get the Limited Edition McQueen! Don't accept this pathetic treatment, make them see how this will cost them more in a damaged public image, time spent to deal with us, and ultimately money in lost sales because they have refused to treat us with respect by offering a reasonable resolution to THEIR POOR MANAGEMENT and PERFORMANCE!

http://carsdiecasttoys.blogspot.com/