3 men scam thousands on Disney Loophole

[security officer]

this is why stupid people should be arrested for just being stupid

[delsdad]

Well Carl Hiaasen's books are all based in Florida and he claims he gets his inspiration from real events. It must be.
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The wackos in Hiassens books are positively tame compared to those in Tim Dorseys books (turn on your sound before clicking the link). While Hiassen writes for the Miami Herald, Dorsey writes for a Tampa paper. Both authors crucify those who continue to despoil Florida for their own selfish ends. They are 2 of my favorites, along with John D MacDonald, Randy Wayne White, and Tom Corcorran. Every one of these authors embraces the weirdness that seems to be attracted to Florida.

[Zazu]

My favorite remains "Deep Water" by S.V. Date (ISBN: 0399148159). It's the story of Waldo Wipple World and the nearby planned community of Serenity. You'll laugh so hard it'll hurt, and you may just recognize a few of your co-workers!

Don't do your mandatory "porch time" without it!

[hobie16]

Hawaii needs to develop a writer that could capture the wackiness that's surrounded by 2500 miles of water. I could spend hours listing the different whack jobs that plots could be developed from. And that's just the ones in government.

[BRWombat]

So... these guys might have gotten away with it if they hadn't of been smokers??? Maybe that should go onto the Surgeon General's warnings.

[Cheshire Figment]

I guess the merchandise computers all need reprogramming. In ATS if there is not enough money remaining on deposit in the room account the transaction will reject.

[Shorty82]

I guess the merchandise computers all need reprogramming. In ATS if there is not enough money remaining on deposit in the room account the transaction will reject.

The merchandise registers will come back "At credit limit" if there isn't enough balance left on the card. According to the article these scammers were staying below the limit so their deceit wouldn't be noticed.

[kurtisnelson]

I guess the merchandise computers all need reprogramming. In ATS if there is not enough money remaining on deposit in the room account the transaction will reject.

The difference is in how the room is being billed. If it's on a credit card, the limit is set by disney, but if they are paying with cash they can leave a deposit to charge against.
Zazu will probably correct me if I said something wrong.

[Zazu]

The difference is in how the room is being billed. If it's on a credit card, the limit is set by disney, but if they are paying with cash they can leave a deposit to charge against.
Zazu will probably correct me if I said something wrong.

I would, but you're not.

I've been trying to figure out how their scam worked, and best I can tell, it was the result of front desk cast not changing their credit limit when changing from a credit card to a debit card. The former has a Disney-set limit of $1500/$1000/$500 depending on resort category. Debit cards aren't considered a guarantee at all, and thus should only be used to make cash deposits.

If Disney was at some time in the past permitting debit cards to be a guarantee for charging privileges, then that was an ill-advised policy (though I would expect that such bad debts would be sold off to collection). My training, seven years ago and since, was that debit cards could not be used for charging privileges, except as they could add cash to the account.

My thinking is that the distinction between debit and credit cards moust not have been covered adequately in front desk training. The alternative is to think that the crooks found an incompetent CM each time they checked in. Yeah, some of them, but not that many in a row.

I'm expecting an email reminding us in great detail of the existing policy any day now.

Back to the case at hand, we're talking about Interstate Wire Fraud (as they book originally by telephone), and Defrauding an Innkeeper (or whatever that's called in Florida law). Both serious charges, and those three will likely spend more time behind bars than they ever did at WDW.

[drcorey]

I would, but you're not.

I've been trying to figure out how their scam worked, and best I can tell, it was the result of front desk cast not changing their credit limit when changing from a credit card to a debit card. The former has a Disney-set limit of $1500/$1000/$500 depending on resort category. Debit cards aren't considered a guarantee at all, and thus should only be used to make cash deposits.

If Disney was at some time in the past permitting debit cards to be a guarantee for charging privileges, then that was an ill-advised policy (though I would expect that such bad debts would be sold off to collection). My training, seven years ago and since, was that debit cards could not be used for charging privileges, except as they could add cash to the account.

My thinking is that the distinction between debit and credit cards moust not have been covered adequately in front desk training. The alternative is to think that the crooks found an incompetent CM each time they checked in. Yeah, some of them, but not that many in a row.

I'm expecting an email reminding us in great detail of the existing policy any day now.

Back to the case at hand, we're talking about Interstate Wire Fraud (as they book originally by telephone), and Defrauding an Innkeeper (or whatever that's called in Florida law). Both serious charges, and those three will likely spend more time behind bars than they ever did at WDW.

I thought debit cards are treated like cash.
if they cant get the bank to say ok now, you dont get it now.
also, dont use DLR ATMS to get your cash balance, they charge you 2.50 a pop.