Becoming Fed Up With DVC - Any Suggestions

[tomandrobin]

I think its those darn SSR people again taking up all the dedicated two bedrooms!

OOPS wrong thread!

 

[MEM]

To use DVC well you need to learn the system far better than they could have taught you. QUOTE]

As a new owner at AKV and SSR, this statement concerns me. As much as
I read these boards, I still feel clueless and think I need an "insider's guide to DVC". Is there such a thread or threads here folks can refer me to?

I really do not understand the need to book "day-by-day" (whatever that means) if I call exactly at the 11 month window.

DH is counting on me to learn "the system" at DVC the same way I learned about Ding! fares on SW, AP rates at resorts, etc. etc.

Thanks for whatever advice you can give me!!

 

[winski]

I am confused if when you initially called, you were told you had booked the two queens, why did they tell you need to book day by day, that makes no sense.
Either you are confused as to what you booked, or they messed up at the intial booking.
Did you check your reservation at booking to make sure you got the 2 queens?
Sounds like they are simply passing the buck. As to what you can do, not sure. DVC does not seem to like to admit they make mistakes when they book a room.
What did the supervisor offer.
QUOTE]

Sorry I typed this really late last night. When I originally called (June 2006) I was told I had a two queen beds in the 2nd room. They messed up the initial booking and are not taking responsibility for it. I made a mistake in not checking the 'paper' reservation right away as I didn't have a reason to believe it would be wrong. That was my part in all of this as it was wrong. The Supervisor bumped me on the waitlist yesterday and that is all I have to go on right now. I have written a letter today and am sending it off to WDW when I am off of work. I know it can't be fixed and it isn't fair to bump someone else at this point who thought they did what they needed too for the same room. I just hope they figure out some way to fix this from happening again. I liked someone's post in another thread who said emailed confirmations would be a good idea and much faster than the mail. Checking the website immediately is also a GREAT idea for our next trip.

I am usually very good with explaining exactly what I am looking for or needing which I why I blame the reservations person on this one. For last years trip we requested 2BR 2Q Beds, a balcony, and pool view exactly 11 months out, in fact I was told I was the first to book that morning so my request was okay for beds and noted for the balcony/waterview knowing that we may not get the last part. When we got there were were placed on the backside and found out more than 11 families with pool views got their reservations after ours and were not BVC home members, arrived/departed at the same days, and 4 other families were not even DVC members with the requests we made. The corporate office recognized my frustration with that one as I got a personal phone call from someone up above due to my suggestions to make some changes.

Thank you and everyone else who has responded to help me with my frustration. I appreciate the suggestions and the comments. I will check back in case anything else has comes up and I will post the outcome as well.

Have a great day and upcoming weekend!

 

[ashleydoc]

I am so frustrated right now screaming into a pillow hasn't helped! We had problems the past 2 years during a trip to WDW using our DVC points at BCV. We love BCV so that isn't the problem, it is the way we are being treated by DVC itself!
I always call in EXACTLY 11 months out from our check out date as this is what we have been told to do by DVC. Once again I did this as I have always done and we needed a 2 bedroom with 2 queen beds in the second room. I was told I would have this when I called, when I checked the reservation a couple of months later I found out we were booked for a 2 bedroom with 1 queen and 1 sofa bed. When I called immediately they told there there were no rooms with 2 queen beds available. So I was put on a waitlist. I have been calling fairly regularly since then to check to see if anything opened up. Today I ended up speaking to a Supervisor who was very helpful but I also emailed and got a not so nice response back. The response told me most DVC members call DAILY to reserve an entire weeks stay and link the stays together. WHAT AN INCONVIENCE! I **LOVE** going to and staying at Disney but DVC is becoming a HUGE Disappointment. I have been doing everything exactly as we were told to by a DVC representative and then get told I am in the wrong. I am beginning to think Disney isn't caring at all about the guests who come back time year after year or more often who belong to DVC. This is just one more way I have been blamed for doing what I was told. I don't feel like sending comments through the Disney website is even helpful. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I **HATE** feeling like this because I usually love the Disney Magic.....but this isn't so magical!!!!! Suggestions Please!!!!

The thing is you have to study what units are available before you purchase,BCV is a relatively small resort and with limited availability of your precise requirements you are not always going to be catered for.As stated and made clear by all Sales personnel at DVC ,reservations are on a first come first serve basis.If you bought into a different resort with more availability the problems would probably go away.We bought into OKW nearly 10 years ago,and so far touch wood have always got what we wanted other than at Xmas ,but that resort has a lot more units of accommodation.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

As a new owner at AKV and SSR, this statement concerns me. As much as
I read these boards, I still feel clueless and think I need an "insider's guide to DVC". Is there such a thread or threads here folks can refer me to?

I really do not understand the need to book "day-by-day" (whatever that means) if I call exactly at the 11 month window.

DH is counting on me to learn "the system" at DVC the same way I learned about Ding! fares on SW, AP rates at resorts, etc. etc.

Thanks for whatever advice you can give me!!

Particularly, if you are booking at a preferred time of year, you will have much greater competition for the rooms avaiable. You CAN book your whole trip with one call IF you call 11 months from the check-out day of the last day of the visit.

However, the longer your stay, the greater the risk is that the competition will have consumed all available rooms on one or more of the days during your planned stay. So the advice is to call day-by-day starting with the first check-out day and reserve one day at a time until you have booked all the days you want. This is not a guarantee, but certainly levels the playing field.

I think if everyone were allowed to book their entire stay at 11 months from the front-end then it would cause a real inequity between the members with great amounts of points and who book LONG stays versus members with small caches of points and who book shorter stays. Day-by-day is the only way to make it equitable among all members.

 

[UConnJack]

I think as several have mentioned the key is to check your written reservation as soon as you get it if you have certain specific criteria you want or need. If you make the reservation at 11 mo and get the wrong info on it you can call at 10 1/2 months and stand a better chance of getting it corrected than if you call at 8 or 9 months. I don't know if this info show up on the DVC website but if it does you can check it within minutes of making the reservation.

Exactly. Whether its for DVC reservations or dining, I go a step further and immediately call back to talk to another MS CM to confirm the reservation(s) I just made. I also check on-line immediately for my DVC reservations, followed by my paper reservation. I then call back every few weeks do reconfirm again.

Yes it's a lot and many think we shouldn't have to do it, but the reality is stuff happens, people miscommunicate, mistakes are make, and computers have glitches. I get annoyed when I seem to have an incompetent CM as well, but I don't give them a chance to screw my reservations up, I always double check their work.

 

[MEM]

Particularly, if you are booking at a preferred time of year, you will have much greater competition for the rooms avaiable. You CAN book your whole trip with one call IF you call 11 months from the check-out day of the last day of the visit.

However, the longer your stay, the greater the risk is that the competition will have consumed all available rooms on one or more of the days during your planned stay. So the advice is to call day-by-day starting with the first check-out day and reserve one day at a time until you have booked all the days you want. This is not a guarantee, but certainly levels the playing field.

I think if everyone were allowed to book their entire stay at 11 months from the front-end then it would cause a real inequity between the members with great amounts of points and who book LONG stays versus members with small caches of points and who book shorter stays. Day-by-day is the only way to make it equitable among all members.

To make sure I understand this...if my check out day is, for example, December 15th, I call on November 15th and book a one day reservation? Then I call on November 16th and book December 14th, adding it to my existing reservation? And so on? What if December 14th is not available but December 13th is? Do I book December 13th and waitlist December 14th? What part of this am I not understanding? This system may be a no-brainer to a veteran but to a newbie like me it seems wicked complicated.

What about strategy #2 that I have heard about where you book your enitre
stay at a larger resort like SSR or OKW and then change day-by-day to get what you *really* want, e.g. BWV or BCV. Would that also work for VB or HHI?

 

[dianeschlicht]

Sometimes these boards frustrate me. Someone posts a complaint, and a number of people jump on them implying they were either confused or placing blame in the wrong place. Where's the sympathy?(SNIP)

I don't see any lack of sympathy. What I see is folks trying to point out how these bad things happen. I totally agree that if the OP made a ressie specifying 2 queen beds and specified NO PULLOUT, that she should have gotten that. The problem here is that if you don't check for a couple of months and then find there was a mistake made, you have to take some responsibility for how the mistake happened. In 10 years of dealing with MS, I have only had a mistake made once, but I found it out as soon as my reservation sheets came in the mail, and I called and corrected it right away. The fact that a mistake was made is not being questioned. HOW it was made is what folks are trying to reason out.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

And that's indicitive of your personal bias. For whatever reason, it appears that DVC has screwed up a number of your reservations. But to imply that they make errors on 3 out of every 4 reservations is just not true.

Certainly mistakes are made, but whether that's the case here is still open to debate.

Come on now, I love DVC and just have 4 countracts including just adding on at the AKV, but when most of the constructive advice given from this thread involves double checking your reservation either online or your hard copy, I think that's a pretty good indication that there is a possibility that MS does make mistakes and you want to correct them ASAP. DVC works for me because I have my next two years of trips already laid out, and I book them at the 11 month window and keep constant check on my reservations. Some people don't. This poster you quoted didn't say they mess up 3 of every 4, but 3 of every 4 of their personal reservations. They have made mistakes in mine. Days I thought I was waitlisted for when I tried to extend stays weren't waitlisted or weren't waitlisted the way I wanted them waitlisted.

 

[Sammie]

Sorry I typed this really late last night. When I originally called (June 2006) I was told I had a two queen beds in the 2nd room. They messed up the initial booking and are not taking responsibility for it. I made a mistake in not checking the 'paper' reservation right away as I didn't have a reason to believe it would be wrong.

Mystery solved, MS messed up, not the OP, so booking day by day would have no affect on this particular situation.

She has learned the hard way that mistakes in the booking system do occur and will in the future check her confirmations immediately and online. I don't think she wants any sympathy; but I see no reason to put any blame on her. The only thing she can possibly be guilty of is not realizing sooner that MS screwed up.

Does the special situation at BCV of 2 queen bed, show up online? If not by the time you receive the paper confirmation you could still be out of luck.

 

[UConnJack]

Sometimes these boards frustrate me. Someone posts a complaint, and a number of people jump on them implying they were either confused or placing blame in the wrong place. Where's the sympathy?

Anyway, I totally believe that MS screwed up the reservation. They have screwed up most of mine over the last few years. In 2005, I made, for the first time, an actual request that we get a first floor villa at OKW due to a member in our parties' inability to use stairs (she had an ECV). I was told it was not a problem and it would undoubtedly be granted. When we checked in, we get a 3rd floor. They were able to change it, gladly, but it took us an hour at the desk at checkin. My most recent trip, which we just returned from, had the people in the party messed up. They didn't have 2 of my children on the reservation for some strange reason. By the way, when I called MS with a question several months ago, the reservation was missing them that time as well, and they said they fixed it. Lo and behold, at checkin time, it was still wrong. What you would think would be a quick fix lasted about 45 minutes at the checkin desk. The cast member had to make all sorts of phone calls to get the reservation straightened out so that everyone in our party was on the reservation and had correct adult/child annotations, etc. In fact, I think the names on my BCV reservation in 2004 was also messed up when I got there. So I totally believe they messed up this reservation. They're only batting about .250 with me.

Rarely to people get instant sympathy on these boards because usually the OP does not clarify the problem well enough, doesn't give any real evidence that is was some negligence on the part of DVC, and/or clutters the issue with irrelevant problems (see the VWL thread going on right now). This thread is no exception.

The OP didn't clarify whether they just requested a 2-br with 2 queens in the second room, or specified a dedicated 2-br with 2 real queen beds and no pullout. Unless this point was clarified with the CM, then it could have been just a miscommunication and nobody's fault. Until it is clear that this wasn't just a miscommunication, but rather a negligent mistake made by the CM, a computer error, overbooking, or mishandling of the reservation, only then will you see "your right, you got screwed, DVC should make this right for you."

 

[UConnJack]

I don't see any lack of sympathy. What I see is folks trying to point out how these bad things happen. I totally agree that if the OP made a ressie specifying 2 queen beds and specified NO PULLOUT, that she should have gotten that. The problem here is that if you don't check for a couple of months and then find there was a mistake made, you have to take some responsibility for how the mistake happened. In 10 years of dealing with MS, I have only had a mistake made once, but I found it out as soon as my reservation sheets came in the mail, and I called and corrected it right away. The fact that a mistake was made is not being questioned. HOW it was made is what folks are trying to reason out.

Well said.

 

[UConnJack]

I think its those darn SSR people again taking up all the dedicated two bedrooms!

OOPS wrong thread!

I'm sure it is, but we all just assume it's SSR's fault now and move on.

 

[disneynutz]

I am usually very good with explaining exactly what I am looking for or needing which I why I blame the reservations person on this one. For last years trip we requested 2BR 2Q Beds, a balcony, and pool view exactly 11 months out, in fact I was told I was the first to book that morning so my request was okay for beds and noted for the balcony/waterview knowing that we may not get the last part. When we got there were were placed on the backside and found out more than 11 families with pool views got their reservations after ours and were not BVC home members, arrived/departed at the same days, and 4 other families were not even DVC members with the requests we made. The corporate office recognized my frustration with that one as I got a personal phone call from someone up above due to my suggestions to make some changes.

Thank you and everyone else who has responded to help me with my frustration. I appreciate the suggestions and the comments. I will check back in case anything else has comes up and I will post the outcome as well.

Have a great day and upcoming weekend!

My understanding is that only the beds are part of the reservation. The other items are "requests" that are looked at a couple of days prior to, or upon your arrival. The CM filling your requests doesn't know and/or care that you were the first to book.

 

[tjkraz]

This poster you quoted didn't say they mess up 3 of every 4, but 3 of every 4 of their personal reservations.

I understand that, and that's the poster's personal bias.

Bear in mind that these comments were made before OP returned to clarify the situation further. The post that I was responding to included the statements "I totally believe that MS screwed up the reservation" and "they're only batting about .250 with me."

Disagree if you will, but that sure strikes me as "guilty until proven innocent" mindset.

I never denied that they made mistakes...I acknowledged it. However, I think it was very unfair to issue a blanket condemnation of every poster on this thread for not showing (in his/her estimation) enough "sympathy" simply because other possible explanations were being offered.

 

[tjkraz]

This doesn't impact the current situation, but I'm still curious...

For last years trip we requested 2BR 2Q Beds, a balcony, and pool view exactly 11 months out, in fact I was told I was the first to book that morning so my request was okay for beds and noted for the balcony/waterview knowing that we may not get the last part. When we got there were were placed on the backside and found out more than 11 families with pool views got their reservations after ours and were not BVC home members, arrived/departed at the same days, and 4 other families were not even DVC members with the requests we made.

So, did you get the room with the two queen beds? In your original post you said that DVC screwed something up two years in a row. What problem did DVC cause with regard to this reservation last year?

 

[lisareniff]

Does the special situation at BCV of 2 queen bed, show up online? If not by the time you receive the paper confirmation you could still be out of luck.

Yes it does specify the room type online. This was from a reservation we canceled..

Reservation #xxxxxxxx at Disney's Beach Club Villas on 02/15/07 - 02/23/07 for 2BR/2 Queenbeds in 2nd BR


It also shows our completed vacations as...

Resort / Experience: Disney's Boardwalk Villas
Accommodation: 2-Bedroom Garden/Pool

Resort / Experience: The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
Accommodation: Dedicated 2-Bedroom

with the upcoming reservations in the same format.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The online ressie will always show the things that are part of a booking catagory. The only thing that wont show up is the requests like Non-smoking etc.

 

[mochabean]

To make sure I understand this...if my check out day is, for example, December 15th, I call on November 15th and book a one day reservation? Then I call on November 16th and book December 14th, adding it to my existing reservation? And so on? What if December 14th is not available but December 13th is? Do I book December 13th and waitlist December 14th? What part of this am I not understanding? This system may be a no-brainer to a veteran but to a newbie like me it seems wicked complicated.

What about strategy #2 that I have heard about where you book your enitre
stay at a larger resort like SSR or OKW and then change day-by-day to get what you *really* want, e.g. BWV or BCV. Would that also work for VB or HHI?

You almost got it...

For a 5-night reservation checking in Dec 10, checking out Dec 15:
Call on Jan 11, reserve night on Dec 10; call Jan 12, reserve night of Dec 11; call Jan 13, reserve night of Dec 12, etc. Tell them each time you call
that you are booking day by day and they will hold off sending you a confirmation; tell them on the last call that you are done booking the reservation and they will send you one confirmation with the whole 5-night stay as one reservation #.

As to strategy #2, this works when you MUST stay somewhere at a specific time, so you book what you own (SSR or OKW) then change to what you want (BCV or BWV or VWL) day by day at the 7-month window. The benefit is that if what you want is not available at the 7-month window then at least you have a reservation somewhere. The drawback is that if what you want is not available for all of your days you will either end up with a split stay (potentially with multiple moves) or on the waitlist for specific days which may or may not come through.

Hope this helps.

As for the OP, I hope you realize that things are only going to get worse over time, as BCV is one of the smallest resorts, and as more and larger resorts come online (rest of SSR and all of AKV) there are going to be MORE people competing for those few number of BCV rooms. Not only will you need to book day-by-day, you'll need to call within an hour of MS opening to get what you want. The problem may get a little better when CRV and GCV come online, but that's a number of years in the future.

 

[wdwstar]

Here is alot of Pixie Dust to the OP I hope you get the 2BDR/2Q Beds

But if you dont, Please dont let it ruin your Trip "Home", sometimes we all have to roll with the punches and make the best out of every situtation.

I cant recall when the last time we had a great view, besides when we pay cash and now i just go with it and expect a bad view and if i ever get a good view i will consider it a bonus, cant please everyone.
Because i own DVC, Im just glad i can go three or more times a year ! I wouldnt give that up for nothing..... not even a good view!