Target Gift Card Mishap Frustrates Vegas Family's Trip To Disneyland
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Plans to spend a few days at an Anaheim theme park turned into a frustrating ordeal for the Akbari family due to a gift card mishap.
The family from Las Vegas had spent the past day and a half inside a small Santa Ana hotel room, hoping Target would move quickly and activate hundreds of dollars worth of Disney gift cards purchased from the retailer's website.
But the Akbaris' said they had gotten the runaround.
"We try to be smart and do things the right way. We haven't tried to cheat anybody and here we are feeling cheated ourselves," said Kaaveh Akbari, a Target customer.
In order to save money on the trip, Akbari purchased Target gift cards during a Black Friday special and got a 10 percent discount.
He, in turn, used those cards on Target.com for another 5 percent off to buy Disney gift cards.
But when the family arrived at Disneyland, excited for 2-year-old Michael to visit his favorite "Cars" land, the gift cards didn't work and they were unable to purchase passes.
"We knew this time he would really understand everything and when we walked up and he saw Lightning McQueen posters, he says, 'Oh! Red car! Red car!' and we told him, 'You're going to go see him,' " Barbara Akbari said of Michael. "And then we had to tell him, 'Oh, no.' "
Target has responded to call and emails made by the Akbaris and CBS2, stating:
"We sincerely apologize to the guest for the frustration this has caused. As soon as this issue was brought to our attention, Target worked directly with the guest to apologize for the situation and quickly identify a solution. All of the guest's gift cards have now been fully activated, and we have provided the guest with additional compensation for his inconvenience."
Meanwhile, Akbari told CBS2's Michele Gile all but four of his gift cards have been activated and he's since taken his family to the theme park.