Unhappy With Our "Upgrade"

[n2mm]

OP, sad to hear this. You should've at least gotten your laundry comped. Hope you get your points back. I've had issues in the past and MS has always made it right. Good luck.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The most important lesson here, for everyone: Complain when it happens. The phone chain after the fact is terrible.

 

[Dancind]

"they" were my 25yo daughter, who hates to make waves. I'm going to write an email and say that I think DVC members are being taken advantage of at VGC this way on a regular basis, but I don't expect any personal benefit from it.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Should have immediately returned to front desk to voice concerns. Whenever encountering problems at a hotel, giving management the opportunity to rectify should always be paramount. Right now, they have no idea there are dissatisfied guests in the hotel.

The situation is not ideal for either party but compensation was offered and compensation was accepted. As far as Disney is concerned, the matter is closed and the guest was made whole.

I think it's pretty easy to understand young adults who wouldn't necessarily know how to handle this or might not want to cause waves. And I picture that the "selling" of the upgrade by the front desk was likely quite good.

I'm also unaware of the rule that you must complain immediately or forget about it. When one goes to check in they are not going there with a planned response in mind if they don't have the room you were booked into. One is excited about arriving and getting to the parks. It might only be after closer inspection and comparison that one realizes it wasn't all that it was painted to be. One can also think "sure, it sounds similar and they need to move me so ok." Then later see it wasn't quite what one thought.

 

[susan137]

I think it's pretty easy to understand young adults who wouldn't necessarily know how to handle this or might not want to cause waves. And I picture that the "selling" of the upgrade by the front desk was likely quite good.

I'm also unaware of the rule that you must complain immediately or forget about it. When one goes to check in they are not going there with a planned response in mind if they don't have the room you were booked into. One is excited about arriving and getting to the parks. It might only be after closer inspection and comparison that one realizes it wasn't all that it was painted to be. One can also think "sure, it sounds similar and they need to move me so ok." Then later see it wasn't quite what one thought.

That perfectly sums up how I feel! We were under the impression that we were getting our points back, so why make a big fuss/waves when we thought we already knew the end result.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I am confused. When moved to the YC suite, did you think all your points would be refunded, and that your stay would be FREE? That does not seem reasonable to me. I understand the room did not meet your needs, and you did not like it. I could understand a partial point refund, perhaps the amount equal to the difference between a 1 and 2 BR at BCV, but to get all the points back? That seems unreasonable.

 

[bumbershoot]

"they" were my 25yo daughter, who hates to make waves. I'm going to write an email and say that I think DVC members are being taken advantage of at VGC this way on a regular basis, but I don't expect any personal benefit from it.

(You used the plural to begin with FYI. In case it's just her and you aren't liking our use of "they", that's how you put it)

Perfect time for a lesson that telling management something isn't right isn't "making waves".

I'm a total introvert and saying things like that isn't second nature to me. I force myself to when necessary though. And I teach my son to do the same. If something isn't right but you don't tell anyone, how do you have the right to complain later?

At 25 I moved x-country and the valets broke the clutch in my car. (Fairly certain they had a gorilla move my car) I had them take it to be fixed. I was all along in New Orleans where I had stopped for a few days, but didn't let my being 25 stop me. My mom had taught me how to behave when things aren't right. And while I'm sure I talked with her when it happened, she didn't call the hotel. I was there and I took care of it.

Glad she taught me the way to be because she died suddenly only 5 years later. If she hadn't taught me early I might never have found that backbone.

 

[Dancind]

Bumbershoot, good for you. My daughter does just fine when something is important to her. I'm the one who paid for the points, and it matters to me.

 

[lbwilliams]

Actually flooding issues, was one of the reasons for the removal of jetted tubs. Some guests just did not understand jetted tubs and bubble baths do not mix.

My eight and four year old boys just had that experiment in the 1BD villa.

 

[tjkraz]

I think it's pretty easy to understand young adults who wouldn't necessarily know how to handle this or might not want to cause waves.

First post here from parent was same day as checkin. Rather than investing a lot of time in phone calls to MS, writing emails and forum posts, IMO the better approach was to advise the 25 year old to return to front desk to discuss concerns. Life lessons.

If the guest expected a second bathroom, free laundry facilities and/or a full kitchen, those expectations are easy to communicate and the resort staff certainly would not dismiss the concern. But if they had no plans to cook or do laundry during the 2-night stay, and the single bathroom was not a major issue, receiving free meals and fast passes was an attractive bonus.

Bottom line: In Disney's eyes, the guest was satisfied.

 

[susan137]

Final update (OP)....I received a call yesterday from Member Services. They apologized that we were ultimately unhappy with our "upgrade" and agreed that we were told initially that our points would be converted back to us.

I checked this morning and my points have been deposited back into my original use year (not holding).

I'm pleased with the final outcome, but I've learned some lessons along the way.

The biggest thing being - If you are unhappy, speak up while on property. My mistake was assuming I was getting my points back (as told by front desk manager), so I didn't make a fuss.

Thanks for all of your advice that got me to this resolution!!

Susan

 

[disneynutz]

Glad that it worked out. Keep in mind that the resorts don't do points well, and that the resorts are a separate business unit from the DVC. We have had the resort modify our reservation which resulted in points going into holding and then they somehow borrowed points to re-book the reservation. We saw the holding points while still there and when we brought it to their attention, they said, "what's holding points". We have also had MS tell us that they could call the resort on our behalf but that we had a better chance of getting things done if we contacted them ourselves.

Bill

 

[AnnaS]

Glad it all worked out for you.