Couple of questions from a new member...

[Alysa]

Hi there, I signed up last year as a DVC member while in WDW over the new year celebrations (magical trip) and this evening while planning a trip to BW in December I found this website. I was just wondering a couple of things - I have taken one trip so far and it went really badly - I don't want to go into details but it was so dreadful the operations manager of the BW refunded all my points. He asked my husband and I not to sell our ownership and to give the hotel one more try. We have had one nightmare after another trying to book the trip we are planning with our family this December. So far we have found the DVC reservation cast members to have been unorganized and unknowledgeable. Our sales guy has been really unhelpful (he put an ownership interst purchase on our credit card without telling us after we hadn't heard from him for 3 months) and the staff at the BW were really well, not so nice (but maybe that was because we were there during an American long weekend). My husband has been urging me to sell but I thought this would be a great thing for our family and our marriage (mini honeymoons - that sort of thing). I don't mean to sound like a whiner because I so want to be pleased and happy with our purchase. I need some hope here - has anyone had consistantly good experiencces at the BW or with DVC in general? Also - any Canadian members out there? Are there any tricks to making your loonies go further? I just really, really want Disney to come through for us! Is a little pixie dust too much to ask for? Thanks for your time..

[KKlecknerWray]

You own a piece of the Disney magic. I'd give it another try. My husband and I had our share of troubles with our first trip (our honeymoon, in fact) at BWV. After writing to management, we received a few "free nights" to make up for it. My husband and I just returned from our "spring break" at BWV and it was a wonderful experience!! We couldn't have been happier! Everything went so smoothly, and everyone was so helpful.

I would give it another try. Everyone deserves a second chance. I think you'll see that investing in DVC was one of the best decisions you've ever made!

Believe in the magic!

Kara

http://www.russellwray.com/kara/donald.gif

[wdwnut]

hi: maybe it runs in spurts; for a while there last year, i seemed to be catching the cms on "bad days". we've all had them at work and know that sometimes we're not at our very best. the last 4 times i've spoken with the cms at ms have been absolutely wonderful. i've spoken with jeanne marie, barbara, jeanne, and jane. i even talked to a cm supervisor about how great jeanne marie was this past fall. i would give it another shot. it's usually not too terribly hard for us because we tend to go during the slower times.

[Lesley]

I'm sorry to hear of your bad experience. We haven't yet stayed on our own points, but have made ressies for next Jan. and stayed one night on rented points on our last trip. For the most part our experiences have been positive and we're about to add on points at VWL.

I think you'll find that almost everyone here is happy with DVC, and that BWV members are very happy with their home resort. For every bad experience there are many who report never having anything go wrong.

Hope your December trip is magical!


Lesley


1979 Contemporary
1992 Off-site
1994 Caribbean Beach
1999 Fort Wilderness & Coronado Springs
2000 Polynesian and Old Key West
2002 Boardwalk Villas

[valeriekc]

Sorry to hear about your rough trips.
We have been members at Boardwalk since 1998 and have been every year to stay using our points.
All of our trips have been basically good.
We think Boardwalk is the best DVC resort at WDW.
We have had a few bumps here and there but I stay on the staff until things are fixed to our satisfaction. I think it is a sign of the times,(sigh..) but service is not what it should be anywhere, but I believe overall it is pretty good at WDW.
So hang in there, the odds are with you to have a fabulous trip!
Good Luck

[dianeschlicht]

I find it mildly interesting that most of these complaints come from BWV. We have been members at OKW for 5 years, and never have had a problem. I would be interested in knowing what kind of problems you experienced.

Disneydiane http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/vltdisney/mickey36.gif http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/images/official_logos/keywest.gif

[Louise-Montreal]

WE bought at BWV. We have been down twice on points. Once at Xmas time at OKW and again at March break at BWV. Both times we had a great time! There was one small incident at BWV with waiting for our luggage to arrive, but other than that it was wonderful!

As one Canadian to another I think your first step in trying to stretch your loonie is buying into DVC. Who knows where the dollar is going to go and at least you have secured your accomadations at a rate you know! One tip is from someone else- Open up a US account and every time you have somw extra dollars throw it in; then the exhange rate is not such a killer because you have bought when the dollar is up and when it is down. We are also close to the border, so every once in a while we head down to Vermont and buy some Disney Dollars at the Disney Store in Rutland. I am also beenzing for some DD, but the beenz are pretty slow. so I am not making too much with da beenz. Hope this helps!

Louise

[PKK/MJK]

Alysa, so sorry you have had so many problems!!! We have been DVC members since 1993 and overall have had wonderful experiences. Once or twice , I have had Member Services person who doesn't seem to know all the rules--but most of the time they are very knowledgeable. If you are talking with someone who seems vague, hang up and call again to get a different person. When making your next ressies, know exactly how you want to do things--dates, which points you're using etc. If you have any questions, just put them here on the Board before you call. The people here know exactly how things work and they are always willing to help out. At the Resorts, if things don't go the way they should, report the problems immediately. Disney will usually bend over backwards to correct things. Please give it another try. DVC is really one of the best investments we've ever made. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phil and Mary Jo
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/vltdisney/dvclogo.gif
WDW--82,83,85,87,89,93,95,96, 97,98,99,00,01
DVC/OKW

[RamVA]

I can't imagine what could have happened to you so bad that they would have refunded all your points, but obviously it had to be a nightmare, and I feel very badly for you. However, don't let that sour your opinion about what was basically a really smart decision if you love vactioning in WDW, and plan to do it often, because economically it is still the smartest way to go unless you're independently wealthy! We have been members almost since the very beginning--June of 1992--and we have NEVER had a bad experience. We do belong to OKW though as our home resort(that's all there was!)and have never experienced BW, and the two resorts from what I've read and seen are really two different "animals". Have you given any consideration to staying at OKW instead? I'm not trying to criticize BW, but we have never had a rude CM at OKW; the pace is much more low-key at OKW, and maybe if the stress level based on activity at BW is higher that could explain customer service problems. We have also always had wonderful helpful people when we call for reservation at member services, except for the last year or two, and then I just hang up and get someone else. Our experience is people at member services usually jumping through hoops to help us get what we want as we usually wait til the last minute to plan! Bottom line is give it another chance before you decide to sell; and think about giving OKW a try. Good luck whatever you decide. :)

Ruthie
DVC'92

[ez]

Alysa, I know you didn't want to go into what went horribly wrong with your trip, but I for one, having had only great experiences on all my trips, am dying of curiosity. I guess I am just wondering what can go so badly wrong. If you get the time, a brief synopsis would be appreciated.

[Disney Doll]

I am so sorry to hear of your bad experiences...I have had nothing but good experiences since joining the DVC. I've never had a problem booking, have always gotten exactly what I wanted in terms of location,room style etc. One teeny thing a couple of years ago was that I felt that our room wasn't up to snuff...nothing major, just little things. I notified Housekeeping when we left(it wasn't enough to even bother with during the stay)and got a call the next week from the housekeeping director at OKW telling me that the room I had styaed in had been taken out of circulation and was going to be refurbished, because when she looked at it, she felt that it was showing too much "wear and tear". Give it one more chance...perhaps you can speak to whomever runs the DVC division with your concerns.

Disney Doll

[msdis]

Sorry you had such a bad experience :(

[This message was edited by ? on 04-26-01 at 11:44 PM.]

[This message was edited by ? on 04-26-01 at 11:45 PM.]

[Alysa]

I have been debating answering requests for info about what happened. I don't like to whine and I woud rather forget the whole thing. Can I just say that I had many stupid little things happen but our complaint arrose when I was in terrible distress and t he CM's at the front desk were not only unhelpful but also rude and blatently lied to us twice? Imagine the worst thing that could happen, and the rudest possible response from the CM's - now double it. On a positive note I left the hotel and booked a room for that night at OKW and they were nice as nice could be to my husband when he checked in at 2 am and he got a welcome home there from a CM at the front desk!

I am going back to try and get a new experience to wipe the old from my memory. If this trip isn't wonderful as the operations manager at BW asured me he would make sure it was, I don't think I will return. I will probably try to stay at WL or OKW instead. Has anyone here stayed at WL - did you enjoy it? What were the rooms like? Were the CM's nice? I only saw it while it was under construction but I love the lobby of the original hotel!!

[Dean]

I'm a very skeptical and somewhat demanding individual with high expectations. I can't say everything has been perfect over the years, actually there have been quite a few problems. What I have found is that in every case where DVC or one of their components was truly in the wrong, they have gone above and beyond. Because of my earliest experiences, DVC offered to repurchase my ownership even though I had bought resale. We decided not to accept their offer and I am glad be are still DVC members. I'd definitely give them another chance.

I'd sure love to know specifics but I respect your decision not to disclose them. It does give my imagination a bit of a workout to think about this. I've found over the year, WITH ANY TIMESHARE, that knowing and understanding the system is the cricical point to making it work for you.

I would bet your upcoming trip will be great. Keep in touch and let us know how things go.

Dean

[LauraS]

I too think that we are pretty demanding vacationers and we've had nothing but good experiences staying at BWV. Before joining the DVC we always stayed at the Yacht or Beach and honestly we don't notice any difference in the level of service whatsoever. In fact, our friends accompanied us to WDW for our last trip and stayed at the Yacht. We were in a BWV studio. Our room was ready when we checked in at 1:00pm and our friends had to wait until 4pm for their room at the Yacht.

Getting so incredibly distressed over the fact that your room isn't ready until 4pm is an unreasonable complaint IMHO. 4pm has always been Disney's check-in time and I know that we always plan on *not* getting into our room until 4pm. If we do happen to get lucky, then that's great! Requesting an early check-in or late check-out is just that....a request. And if you don't get lucky with that request I just don't think it's any reason to flip out. These properties are running at full capactity for most of the year and it's impossible for Disney to grant ever room request that they receive.

I don't feel that because Disney "already has my money" that I can't get anywhere with them if I do happen to have a complaint. I think that DVCers are among the best customers that Disney has. We spend tons of money on tickets, food and souvenirs year in and year out. We go on their cruises and see their broadway shows. In fact, I think being a DVCer gives me more leverage to complain if that becomes necessary.

I have spoken to a couple of folks at MS who seem a bit clueless, but I've also talked to plenty of CMs at CRO who are also slightly clueless. So is a clueless CM strictly a DVC phenomenon.... no, of course not. Generally I find the folks at MS quite helpful and knowledgeable.

The two posters here who had major complaints about the DVC and BWV said that *every* BWV CM is terrible and that every MS CM that they spoke to was totally clueless. I guess I'm a bit of a skeptic, but I find it hard to believe that lots of people have had those same experiences unless they had a sort of negative attitude to begin with. If you go down to stay at the BWV or OKW and are looking for things to be wrong or for negative CM attitudes there's no doubt in my mind that you'll find some of both. We visit BWV with a really postive attitude because we're on vacation!! And 99% of the time we get great service and very, very little to complain about. Just a little perspective.

[msdis]

Hope your next trip is more pleasant! :)

[This message was edited by ? on 04-26-01 at 11:46 PM.]

[LauraS]

I wasn't even going to reply, but I just wanted to clear a couple of things up.

First of all, you said that you checked in at 11am and called every hour on the hour to see if your room was ready. At 3pm you "got the surprise of your life" when your room wasn't ready. My point here was that nobody really can yell at Disney for this one. You made a "request" for an early check-in. All requests can not be met. We've all lucked out with Disney at one time or another, but hey, but some of the time you don't get that view you wanted so much or that check-in time. 4pm has always been the check-in times at Disney resorts. If we're lucky enough to get into our room earlier, fine. If not, well that's the time that we expect to get in.

You said that finally a CM asked you to stop calling on the hour and that your room would be ready by 4pm. You said you were "horrified". Well, that's not exactly something that I'd be "horrified" about. I was just trying to add some perspective.

I feel the same way about folks who are "horrified" that they are asked to leave Luna Park even though they are BWV owners. Surely, I think that Disney should not treat DVCers that way. If I was asked to leave would I be a bit peeved? Surely I would, but "horrified", no, I reserve that term for something truly awful. I certainly wouldn't use it to refer to the fact that I got into my hotel room when I supposed to get in. Sorry, again, just my perspective. I sincerely think that because Disney has such high standards all the time that guests expect everything to go perfectly for every Disney trip that they may take. It's just not possible.

In reference to CMs, you said, "we love Disney and to tell you the truth, BW CMs do seem to be the worst on property." Sorry if I misinterpreted that, but it sounded like you were bashing all BW CMs to me, and I just wanted to voice my opinion on that topic. I don't feel that they're the worst CMs on property, at least not in my experience. I really do think that they do a great job.

This board is a great place to voice opinions. I was merely stating that sometimes going into a situation with a positive attitude will dictate the type of service and feedback you get. If you go to WDW looking to have a bad time or problems, you'll most likely find both. That's just life.

We're heading down to BWV in a week and we can't wait. We're expecting great service and excellent accommodations. Will we have a bump or two in the road? Perhaps, but it will never be enough to get me so upset that I proclaim that the BWV stink or that all BW CMs are the worst. I certainly can't ever imagine feeling horrified over *anything* at Disney. If I can't get into my room until 4pm, I'll hang out with my family at the pool or go to a park. If there's something wrong with our room I'll call and have it taken care of. Maybe I'm just too laid back to get all worked up over what my family calls "the little things". Life is too short and who needs the aggravation. Afterall, we're going on vacation.

I didn't mean any offense msdis, so I'm truly sorry if you took my comments personally. I was just voicing my perspective on what I read.

[msdis]

You still don't get it, and you still haven't read my posts. And you are still attacking me! I was horrified by the way I was treated and spoken to by the CM; NOT by the fact that my room was not ready. The CMs kept telling us to call back and led us to believe our room would be ready "soon". Since you were not there and those words were not spoken to you, I guess I can use my OWN judgement as to whether I was horrified by the way I was treated! And, no, I did not "yell" at anyone as you stated. The fact of the matter was I said nothing, nothing at all. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, re-read my post and STOP adding things to what I said!

Have a nice trip!

[This message was edited by msdis on 04-22-01 at 11:44 PM.]

[slp87]

We are new DVC members and just reserved 2 standard studios at BWV for Spring Break '02. This will be my 10th trip to WDW and I have stayed on property many times. Everything went so well making reservations that I can imagine there being problems. Should I do any follow throughs? And what are some things I can do to be sure the trip runs smooth?

[LauraS]

The main reason that I even bothered to reply to this thread at all is because it had such a negative tone for new DVCer who might be reading these boards for the first time. Always keep in mind that the vast majority of DVCers who post here are very, very happy with their overall experiences with the DVC.

If you're like me and read lots of posts around here you are bound to come across some negativity from time to time. You just need to learn what to take seriously and what to take with a grain of salt. Again, for the most part you'll find that the people around here are more than happy with the DVC. As someone who stayed in deluxe resorts before joining I can tell that we are not disappointed in the least.

The only advice that I would give you ahead of time is to call 1-2 days in advance to confirm you ressies and to let the controller of your resort know of any requests that you may have. We lucked out the last time we headed down to BWV with respect to our room view, but we weren't expecting to get anything other than a "preferred view". We asked for Boardwalk view and lucked out. As long as you view "requests" that way, you'll be just fine. Don't worry. If you love Disney, you'll love being a DVCer even more!! Enjoy!!

Laura

[JohnG]

Wow..............this thread is really starting to turn ugly!

Let's face it......the world is not perfect and some people have experienced less than perfect service from Disney and DVC. I for one think we should thank them for bringing them to our attention and we should look to learn from them. Getting these issues out in an open forum like this is good for us..........it's good for Disney (and don't think for a minute that DVC doesn't know what gets aired in this forum) and it's good for the people who had the bad times because maybe they'll get some good ideas from other DVC'ers and also maybe see the same issues in different ways, based on other peoples' responses. Let's not try to "shout them down".

I'd like me try to add a little additional overall perspective to the BWDVC situation, at least from my limited experience.

First, we've been members since '97 and have taken several vacations in our "Homes away from Home" - all at BW. Maybe we've just been lucky, but our reservations have always been in order, the CM who checked us in has always been courteous and competent and the accomodations have always ranged between 95-100% clean and in working order. The one thing we learned is that when DVC says your room will be ready after 4PM, then that is what you should expect. We've had about a 50/50 split between getting in as early as 2PM and getting in as late as 4:30.

I know the original poster on this thread was ill, tired and experiencing really miserable weather, and I feel terrible that DVC did not bend over backwards to help her out. On that point....and I could be wrong here and I know this has been a thread before....I believe the "Room Controller" assigns you your actual room number up to 3 days before your arrival. If that is indeed the case, realize that when you ask for early access it's not as simple as getting the first room cleaned in your category - you're waiting for YOUR room to be ready.

Maybe I'm just guilty of being a polyanna re DVC, but I don't think so. I travel EVERY week of the year now, and on average I stay in at least two hotels (primarily Hyatts, Marriotts and Hiltons - in that order of preference) each week. I'd estimate I'm averaging 100-125 nites per year at these properties. The problems and issues I have personally experienced at these top-quality chains (and with their reservation systems) makes most things I've read on these boards re the deficiencies of DVC pale in comparison.

And, every one of these hotel nites has been on a "Cash" basis. Personally, I don't think Disney sees us as "second class" citizens because they "already have our money". It seems to me that Disney wants to keep selling DVC-type deals for a very long time to come. If they screw this up by mistreating their best customers, they will lose that opportunity.

Just my $.02, hope I haven't missed anyone's point or offended another DVC'er here!

JohnG
Offsite 73,74,75,76,77,79,80, 82
Poly 82,83,85,86
Carribean Beach 87,88,89,90
Beach Club 91,92,93,95,96
Yacht Club 94
ASM 99
BWDVC 97,98,99,2000 (3 Times)2001 (New Year's for the REAL Millenium!)

DLand 74,78,84,88,92,94,95,96,98

[This message was edited by JohnG on 04-23-01 at 11:04 PM.]

[Alysa]

As the original poster I was not negative, ill or expecting bad weather. I am a very positive person and I was just looking for some assurance from others that I had made the right decision to keep my membership by hearing some of their good experiences. I so want things to go well. In my case we had police cars, ambulance and firetrucks and I could have died because of the BW. The operations manager at the BW said he had never in his entire career heard of anyone being treated as badly as I had been. I am sorry to have caused such bad feelings. Please accept my apologies.

[jfulcer]

Good air in, bad air out.. breath deeply....

Now, obviously what other people have obviously stated is that nobody, every time, can expect for things to go 100% their way every time. Things are going to happen, and generally I have heard DVC has been more than willing to try to rectify the situation. I'm even more intrigued to find out that so many emergency personnel were involved, but certainly happy that everything turned out ok.

When we called MS to book our reservations this past March, honestly I wasn't sure really what I wanted to book. The CM was very helpful and checked many dates at OKW, BWV, and finally WLV. It took me four calls to get my whole vacation straight (my fault) and every CM I talked with was more than happy to do anything for me that I wanted to. The last one even spent well over 40 mins on the phone trying to set me up with Priority Seatings, and was nothing but happy and cheerful the whole time.

Alysa, I sincerely hope that your next vacation will be a lot happier than your previous one, even considering you may be getting rude CM's at MS a couple of times. Odds are you've just had a string of bad luck - it should improve in your favor.

Jeff <img height="80" width="55" src="http://www.angelfire.com/art/jfulcer/goofhead07.gif"> <img height="80" width="125" src="http://www.angelfire.com/art/jfulcer/vacclub01.gif">
8/95 WL - Honeymoon!
3/97 Offsite
3/99, 3/00 Offsite - Premier Vacation Homes (http://www.pr-vacation.com)
11/99 Offsite (Tampa!)
8/00 Wilderness Lodge
9/00 Offsite - MOWC
3/01 VWL (DVC points)

[sgtdisney]

I would really like to understand more exactly what happened with the original poster to make the experience at BVW so horrible that they would refund her points. I know that she said she didn't want to go into it, but it would help in understanding exactly what went wrong and possible solutions to any future problems.

[SueOKW]

Please don't give up your DVC yet.... Like Diane - I think it was Diane - said, OKW has been marvelous... every time.... I haven't had one negative issue, or if I did, I've clean forgotten it.

To me, my DVC vacation is such a great thing to look forward to. Trust that manager to do the right thing for you this time.

Sue

<img width="200" src="http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/disstuff/cleveland.gif">

[PKK/MJK]

We have points at both OKW and BW. My DH and I have only stayed at BW once. We had polite CM's and a lovely studio overlooking the Boardwalk which we really enjoyed--except for those miserable birds which dive-bomb you every time you try to sit on the balcony. We then made reservations for a BW one-bedroom for our daughter's honeymoon. They had horrible CM's at check-in, waited well past 4:00pm for a room--and when they finally were taken to their room found not only wasn't it cleaned but also people were still staying in it!! The CM's refused to believe the beel-person when he said the room was still occupied. They insisted he was wrong because their computer said the room was ready. They actually made him go back and check. Eventually, the honeymooners got a lovely room at the end of a hallway with a great view of Luna Park etc. They were very happy until the next morning when they were awakened at the crack of dawn by a terrible racket. It seems, BW closed that entire wing for renovations and they were the only ones left in it. For the next 9 days they awoke to the pounding of hammers and workmen yelling to each other. They decide to "suck it up" since they like their room. When they returned home, they wrote a letter of complaint and received two free nights at BW for a future visit. While it definitely was not amusing at the time, they now have a funny honeymoon story to tell their future kids. Oh, and a few months ago they bought their own BW points!!!! They were there at the same time as the big pool-hopping situation but they had no problems whatsoever. They still love the place. Give it a second chance!!

Phil and Mary Jo
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/vltdisney/dvclogo.gif
WDW--82,83,85,87,89,93,95,96, 97,98,99,00,01
DVC/OKW

[Peggy Sue]

Give it another try. We own at BWV and OKW, and we have enjoyed our vacations at both resorts. We too have been on the receiving end of rooms not being ready until after 5 PM, but we were patient and eventually got into our room and the frustration that comes from a long day of travel and having to wait was instantly washed away as we unpacked and began our Disney vacation. Each stay we have always had one or two things we've had to call housekeeping to fix, they were immediately attended to, with excellent service. No matter what resort you stay in, in or outside of WDW, chances are you will run into a bad experience somewhere along the line. Sorry you had such a bad initial DVC vacation and I hope your upcoming December trip will be picture perfect! We've been members since 1997 and have enjoyed each and every DVC vacation.

<marquee direction = "right" align = "middle" behavior = "alternate">http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/rmdan/dvcanim.gif </marquee> <center>Have a Wonderful day!</center>