Do you still call Member Services?

[BLTLDZ]

LMAO at the pictures! I personally love the human interaction, and would prefer to talk to a live person as opposed to booking over the web. But that's just me, I am a people person in every way! Having said that, I do find it convenient to have the online booking option. I have found the wait times to be utterly insane as of late in comparison to what they used to be!

 

[DenLo]

Rarely do anything except via online with the exception of items that cannot be done online. We use a combination of emails and calling direct. I think the call wait times have dramatically declined, but then I don't call to get reservations either so I not trying to get through at the 7 month mark for popular times and venues.

 

[DVC Mike]

I rarely need to call anymore. I think the last time I did was to purchase MNSSHP and MVMCP tickets.

 

[ToddyLu]

90% online, 10% phone. I did email member satisfaction in Oct 2014 about our reservation and was called later that afternoon. They handled my problem and it was great.

 

[OKW Lover]

We are probably 50/50. There are occasions when doing it over the phone works best for us. Other times its easily done on line. For example; we are planning on a long stay at Aulani next year that will be combined with another member plus each of us will need to buy some one-time use points so that will all be done over the phone. OTOH, if we're just booking a couple of days at WDW and can easily find what we are looking for on line, then we book there.

 

[abner1776]

Also points that you obtained via a transfer will not show up on your on-line account, so you will need to call MS to use those points.

 

[BLLB]

I call every year to make our reservation. I have two contracts, with different use years, and even though I have been on these Boards (and a DVC member) for a long time, I really get confused. They help me figure out which contract to use and which points to transfer, when to bank/borrow etc.

 

[n2mm]

We can't do everything online. I needed to renew a annual pass today. While you can buy dvc passes online you still can't renew online. It even says you need to call. So I called. Sometimes I do emails for room request unless I have to speak to someone, then I do it while on the phone for another reason. I also call to add days. Most of my trips are more than a week, so call the next day, to add another day and repeat as necessary.

 

[suebeelin]

Reservations are online. Modifications through the phone.

 

[JWG]

We call as our reservations tend to be 8-10 nights so we have to add nights on.

 

[deedisneydream97]

Mostly on-line, but call for modifications and the like. I, too, like the interaction with a live voice. Plus, they have helped me when I didn't realize I was not maximizing my mixture of points and contracts for a recent trip that was cobbled together. I thought I had some points hanging out that I would need to use or lose, but I called about something else and she was looking at my account and said "hey...you DO realize that you can bank this and move that and blah blah blah and not worry about using up points". Not sure what she did, but really made my life easier! Having multiple contracts and membership numbers can sometimes be overwhelming.

I, too, just recently called to renew my A/P and as soon as I got thru the menu, the phone was picked up immediately. And seriously, I don't have a problem being put on hold for a few minutes. If I can hold for one hour and ten minutes to make reservations for events during F&W, I can hold for 10 minutes to ask a question about my points.

 

[Murron]

I do everything on line....BUT...I will also call member services on occasion to make "requests."

 

[MJTinNH]

I still call Member Services, however, I also use the online booking services. Wait times are still problematic on the weekends, but I have had shorter waits during the week.

I mostly call MS to modify any bookings I have. The reason is I once modified my reservation online and the points that should have just gone back to my use year were stuck into "Holding" the purgatory of points. The reservation was modified well out from the actual dates of arrival and should have caused no problems. MS did tell me at that time that it was not uncommon for that to happen from an online modification. They easily corrected the problem. I do not know if this is still an issue; but I will continue to call them for anyting for the reservation once I have booked it online.

 

[Micca]

Mike the photos in your first post are some of your best work yet! DW handles all of the DVC biz for us, but I think she still sometimes calls if there is something weird via the site or sometimes it's just easier to sort things out with a human.

 

[SarahInMN]

I prefer to do online but will call for modifications or help. The DVC folks in my experience have always been wonderful on the phone! Most recently we bought 1 time use points rather than borrowing forward to conserve our BCV points - I wish I could have done that online but oh well.

 

[bethifoody]

If I can do it online, I will. If I think there might be some sort of snafu if I try to do it online, I'll call. I called just this morning to switch a reservation from a sv studio at BLT to a 2br lo at OKW (same dates).

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Before reservations were online, it would take me an excruciatingly long seven minutes to call MS, make a room reservation, buy tickets, add room requests, and later add a week of restaurant reservations. Now I can do all that online in record speed that seldom exceeds four hours and, when doing so, get the benefit of twidling my thumbs while waiting forever for a page to come up because Disney has never devoted enough bandwidth to its sites to handle the traffic (apparently based on the theory that no one actually does anything online), and also have the additional privilege of being able to read, and verify that I have read, for each and every restaurant reservation and room reservation, a two page long legal disclaimer that I was inexcusably deprived of when previously using the phone. Because it is so much easier and quicker to do most things online (and because DVD apparently fired everyone who could actually answer a phone), I do most everything online now. I still have to call for some things such as to do discounted Hoop Dee Doo reservations, to modify a room reservation at 7 months out, and to make reservations when the site is, as it often is, not working correctly or at all (e.g., does anyone ever get online the 180 days "plus ten," or shorter length of trip, for restaurant reservations with a DVC room reservation?).

So true. But now that CRAP has replaced the RAT, I can't do anything in less than 4 hours.
It is a silly sales tool and newbies love it, but it takes up a rediculous amount of time for a task that could be completed in minutes before.
(Where is the smashing the computer in frustration icon?)

 

[OKW Lover]

What are the most common reasons why you've had to call Member Services?

If you want to make a reservation that requires you to purchase some one time use points you need to call MS. You can't do that on line.

 

[Sleepy Sheep]

Reservations are online. Modifications through the phone.

If you want to make a reservation that requires you to purchase some one time use points you need to call MS. You can't do that on line.

These and to make cash reservations.

 

[zavandor]

Rarely. The last time I called I had to remove a night from a reservation. I preferred to do it by phone rather than email, I wanted to be sure it was done correctly (BWV, early December, no room for errors).

Instead I prefer to send an email for this, because in the email I can write down exactly what I want and list the points I want to use (I have multiple contracts and often use banked points). On the phone I often forget to tell MS something.

Yesterday I used the chat to add a room request and it worked like a charm.