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A minor error while purchasing a gift card caused a family’s planned vacation to collapse, resulting in a loss of nearly £8,000.
In 2020, Andie Coston’s parents had planned a large group trip, but it was canceled due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Instead, the group of 16 individuals made the decision to travel and spend Christmas at a Disney resort.
Ms. Coston shared in a TikTok video that to cut costs, her parents purchased $10,000 worth of Disney gift cards for our tickets and restaurant reservations.
This weekend when I returned home, there were issues with loading the gift cards properly and buying the tickets.
At that moment, the issue was apparent. Instead of receiving vouchers for a vacation, her parents had purchased $10,000 (£7,916) worth of vouchers for Disney+, the popular video streaming platform owned by the media company.
A standard Disney+ membership in the UK currently costs £7.99 per month or £79.90 for a year. This means that if purchased annually, the stack of gift cards could provide a subscription for 99 years.
“We require assistance. It is not solely about finances. It is about obtaining the funds in the appropriate format,” she stated.
The error was not noticed until six days before the family’s planned vacation, causing Ms Coston’s mother to be upset as the parks were running out of tickets due to the holiday season.
The video has accumulated over 3.3 million views and has sparked numerous discussions on potential solutions for the situation.
Fortunately, a touch of Disney magic came to the rescue and saved their vacation.
Within a day of the video’s viral spread, Disney reached out to the family and successfully converted their Disney+ vouchers into gift cards for use at Disney Parks.
Ms Coston expressed her relief that the issue was resolved, especially for the sake of her parents. She also found comfort in knowing that her parents are not alone in facing this situation.
I have received numerous messages and comments from individuals sharing their or someone they know’s similar experiences. My intention is for this narrative to bring attention to the difference in cards, so that nobody else has to go through a similar situation.
Source: The website independent.co.uk
