Debit Card Deposit

[kayeandjim00]

I was considering putting one of the deposits of our upcoming trip on my debit card. Has anyone done this? If so, any problems - overcharges or authorizing more than the deposit? Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by kayeandjim00
I was considering putting one of the deposits of our upcoming trip on my debit card. Has anyone done this? If so, any problems - overcharges or authorizing more than the deposit? Any help is greatly appreciated!

I have not personally done it but I have read many a thread about people having issues when they have used their Visa or MC Debit Card instead of just a regular Visa or MC Credit Card. If you have a regular credit card I would advise using that and then just pay the charge off in full when the bill comes in.

 

[Gottalovedisney]

We used our Visa Debit card for our ENTIRE trip this past December. I charged the room deposit, paid off the room balance and used it as room charging credit card. Everything went through only once with no problems. I liked doing it this way because it was taken right out of my account, no interest charges. HTH

 

[DisneyObsessed]

No problems here. I put my deposit for CBR on my MC debit card. All is well!

 

[Pzor]

Hi -
There are two things you should consider before you use your debit card. Do you plan on using the debit card for all charges or do you just want to put the deposit on the card and pay the remaining balance in a different way?
If you plan on putting the whole trip on the debit card, then by all means, do so. However, if you just want to put a deposit on the card and pay the remaining balance another way, then you may run into double charges.
I am an operations manager for a large bank and I'll tell you what can happen: once you give the card for a deposit, the money is debited or held from your checking account. This is unlike a credit card, where your available CREDIT balance is reduced. You have to keep this in mind or you could bounce checks, incur fees, etc.
If you decide to use the card for the deposit and then pay in cash, the original charge may still go through. I have a colleague who just used his debit card for a rental car for the deposit. When he returned the car, he paid cash, but the company still put the original charge through. It is pretty simple to clear up, but to me it's not worth messing up your checking account.
When I check into a hotel, and they want a card for any miscellaneous items, I will never give my debit card, because I always pay cash. If a mistake is made on a credit card, it is less likely to affect you as opposed to a mistake that debits money from your checking account.

Hope this is helpful!

 

[bobcat]

I've never had a problem. Since Disney charges your deposit right away, it isn't held like a reantal car would be, it is run through like a regular charge.

 

[goofy4tink]

Of course there is the problem of limits. I had completely forgotton this. Tried to put my airline tickets on my debit card. Kept rejecting me. Seems I could only put $250 at once a day on it!!! Yikes. Went to the bank and changed that amount!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

We had the same problem with our debit card. We put the deposit down, no problem, but then tried to pay in full and couldn't. I think our limit is $1000 a day, or something like that. So we had to break it down into 2 payments on 2 separate days. Then when we arrived we gave our debit card for room charges, luckily we had no problems doing that.

 

[safetymom]

We use our debit card all the time for the deposit. I have two debit cards and use the other one for our car rental with no problems. I like knowing that the money is taken immediately. When I need to pay higher amounts than the $500 on our card I just call the bank.

We also use it for the room charges. I also stop every couple of days and get a copy of our bill to make sure there is no problems. Then when we leave we just do express check out.

 

[kayeandjim00]

Thanks for the help everyone! I think I'll use the credit card just to be on the safe side. Especially since I will want to charge the rest of the room on a credit card and I want to keep it as simple as possible to prevent any errors!!

 

[kdibattista]

I have always used my debit card for deposits at Disney and never had any problems. I actually also connected my debit card to room charge and also had no issues.

 

[freediverdude]

Just to add something here- one nice thing I've found about the Disney resorts vs. non-Disney-owned ones is that the non-Disney resorts always want to put what is called a "pre-authorization hold" on your account, often for much more than the room charge alone. So, for example, I'm staying at a hotel that is $100 a night, they want to put something like a $200 hold on my account until I check out, expecting me to charge some extra things to my bill, which means that that money is frozen and can't be used, whether it's credit (for a credit card) or cash in checking (debit card). Disney does not do this (front desk CMs have confirmed this, even though I already knew). Disney charges your room charge at check in, and then when you put either a debit or credit card down for room charging on the key, Disney is actually giving you credit during your stay without a hold placed on your account, either until you checkout and the actual charges are put through, or until you reach the limit on the room key, and it charges your card and starts over again. This is especially helpful if you're using a debit card, because Disney never places a hold on the real cash in your checking account. I don't hesitate to give Disney my debit card, but I certainly would not at a non-Disney resort, or at least ask how much of your cash they are freezing.

 

[IndyDisneyFan]

We too always use our debit card for deposits and all room charges. We have done this for several years, and have never had any problems. They tell you at check in if you get to your allowed charge limit(which is usually about as much as your package or room total) that they will then run the amount through on your account, then allow you to make more charges. I like the fact that there are no bills waiting for us when we return home from our trip. We totally trust Disney resorts and will continue to travel this way.

 

[jgates]

That is definitely good info, because yes-those authorzation charges can kill you. Often a motel will authorize the higher amount (including potential movies, room service, etc) and then when you check out the next morning the live charge goes thru at the exact amount you owe. If they don't handle it properly at checkout in the system the original authorization will remain out there for 5 business days. If you aren't running a large balance in your account this can be a problem.

Also in the 'big city' they can authorize virtually anything they want! My aunt stayed in DT Chicago. Her credit card was denied the next day and it turned out that for their $150 room the hotel had authorized around $2000.

 

[manning]

Two differences between debit and credit cards

Credit card. the money is the banks money. If a mistake has been made on any charges, the credit card company becomes your friend. You can challenge the charge and the company will remove the charge and investigate the problem. If justified they will not honor the charge and you are off the hook.

Debit card. It's your money and is taken out of your account immediately. If there is a disputed charge, it's your problem. it's up to you to get the money back.

Example. that company you bought something from and you used a debit card. They go out of business before the merchandise is shipped. Your out of luck, other than getting in back of the line for creditors. May be lucky to get a penny refund.

With the credit card you get the money back. The credit card company gets stuck with the loss.

No, Disney will not be going out of business any time soon.

 

[momof2OH]

My bank handles the Debit/Check card very similar to that of a regular credit card. I actually found this out today when I noticed this morning that I was charged twice for my sons hair cut he had done this past Fri. I called my bank and the first step they told me was to contact the place that double charged me. If I didn't get it resolved (which by the way I did), I had to call them back and sign a dispute resolution form and they would take care of it for me. I really wasn't too worried about using my card before but now I do feel safer using it knowing my bank will get things cleared up if there is a problem. Thank goodness...since I use it for eveything!!

 

[Snowlet24]

With my debit card when I dispute the amount I just call the bank and they look into it. They put the money back in my account while they were checking.

 

[freediverdude]

One experience to add to my faith in Disney..... One time I stayed at Coronado Springs, and when I got home with the express check out bill, I happened to look over it and found a double charge on one of my purchases. I called up the resort the next day and just left a voicemail, and by the following day a credit had already posted to my account! Now here's the kicker.... the credit was for the wrong amount, but since it was only a few dollars off, I didn't consider it worth calling and complaining about again. Lo and behold, a few weeks went by, and when I got my next bank statement, the people at Coronado Springs had even caught their error on the credit and done a second credit to my account for the rest of the amount! Without my even saying anything! Now if that's not enough to trust my debit card to Disney, I don't know what is....