VWL Owners being ripped off

[Chic]

I have returned from my VWL trip and have an update. After reporting the maintenance issues to front desk cast members Ryan, Amanda, and Marie, I called MS to ask what to do since the problems were not being addressed. I was put on hold for 45 minutes and finally gave up so I wouldn't be late for my dinner reservation in EPCOT. Later that night, I went to the front desk and had the night manager walk down to the Villas building with me so I could show her personally that all of these issues existed and had not been addressed in over a week. She said she was sending out an e-mail immediately and would resolve the issues. Two days later, the two dryers in the laundry room had "temporarily out of order" signs posted on them but they were not repaired. The LG washer had stopped leaking water, the eliptical machine in Sturdy Branches was still broken, and I was told that the automatic door button just unlocks the door from the inside when it's past 11:00pm and it's not supposed to make the door open on its own. I'm returning to VWL in August so I'll be curious to see if repairs have been completed by that time.

 

[Chuck S]

As other have said, the front desk and Member Services are not the proper people to whom to report problems. Problems should be addressed to Housekeeping/maintenence while at the resort and the contact person after you return home would be Member Satisfaction.

I only had one instance of a problem not being fixed while at a resort, once it was reported to maintenance, and that issue was caulking around the shower. They may have been waiting until we checked out, as caulking (depending upon the type) can have fumes and require quite some time to cure properly before use. I did follow up with an email to member satisfaction to be sure the problem was addressed.

 

[Chic]

I did report the issues to a maintenance worker in the lobby who assured me he would report the problems immediately and they would be corrected. The front desk employees assured me they would write up a report and have the issues resolved. I was never told that I needed to contact maintenance by a Wilderness Lodge cast member so I accepted their statements and did not question the matter any further.

 

[jekjones1558]

I did report the issues to a maintenance worker in the lobby who assured me he would report the problems immediately and they would be corrected. The front desk employees assured me they would write up a report and have the issues resolved. I was never told that I needed to contact maintenance by a Wilderness Lodge cast member so I accepted their statements and did not question the matter any further.

If ANY CM says s/he will take care of an issue and does not follow through, that is not acceptable. It should not be members' responsibilities to memorize the proper department and then use vacation time to check up repeatedly to see if a CM has not followed through on a promise. I am thankful that you are willing to address these issues. You are doing all DVCers a favor.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I did report the issues to a maintenance worker in the lobby who assured me he would report the problems immediately and they would be corrected. The front desk employees assured me they would write up a report and have the issues resolved. I was never told that I needed to contact maintenance by a Wilderness Lodge cast member so I accepted their statements and did not question the matter any further.

I work in the Engineering Dept in a large hospital and I get people telling me about problems all the time. When they tell me, I ask them to enter a work order so I don't forget the problem and get the right person sent to the job. When you tell a maintenance person in the lobby, they may forget just as easily as I would. That's why they have the button on the phone labeled Maintenance. Everytime I have had a maintenance problem, I push that button and tell them. They enter the work order and 9 times out of ten, the problem is resolved in an hour or less.

If I have my radio with me, I'll call my maintenance people on the radio, give them the issue and ask them to fix it now. If the person you talked to in the lobby didn't have a radio to call someone right now, I'd bet they forgot.

When you "call the front desk", you get the call center, not the front desk. So your problem can be delayed there, too. And sometimes the people working at the front desk, unless you see them pick up the phone and call Maintenance right that minute, they may forget about your problem as well.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I don't own DVC but a friend of mine does and I have to say that if I was paying the kind of money you all pay for maintenance fees I would be quite upset if issues weren't being resolved in a reasonable time frame either!

 

[Bob Price]

I'm not a complainer but I thought I would share some information with owners at the Wilderness Lodge Villas. I'm an SSR owner who is currently staying here at VWL and have encountered several maintenance issues. I'm on the 8th day of my vacation and have reported these problems 4 times at the front desk but nothing has been done. The washer in the Villas public laundry room has a severe water leak which leaves an inch of water on the entire laundry room floor, two out of four dryers in the laundry room are broken, the swinging exit door on the Villas building has a handicapped button to push which automatically opens the door for you but it's broken, two of the three eliptical machines in the Sturdy Branches fitness center are broken and not functioning. It looks like DVC is not using your maintenance fees to maintain the resort in a proper manner. I'm getting ready to call MS with my concerns and will post a follow up here soon.

Another great reason to stay at SSR, besides the spa and the golf.

 

[ransom]

Granny, from over on the groupies thread is there right now. He's posting live reports every other day so I'll post the question to him. see if he'll take a peek.

Thank you, Eliza!

 

[Chic]

When you "call the front desk", you get the call center, not the front desk. So your problem can be delayed there, too. And sometimes the people working at the front desk, unless you see them pick up the phone and call Maintenance right that minute, they may forget about your problem as well.

I reported these issues to the front desk in person during all 3 instances, not over the telephone.

 

[Granny]

Granny, from over on the groupies thread is there right now. He's posting live reports every other day so I'll post the question to him. see if he'll take a peek.

I just saw this thread for the first time and just went downstairs to the first floor of VWL to look at the laundry room (my first time in there!).

The floor looks like it had some water on it but is mostly dry right now...just a couple of spots where the tile is still a little wet. There is one of the five dryers out of commission with the plug pulled out and a sign on it.

I agree that the laundry room seems to be an issue that's been around for a while and there is no excuse to have non-functioning exercise equipment. These are both part of the resort amenities that should always be kept in prime condition.

I wasn't really aware of the laundry issue since we always stay in a 1BR or 2BR. And I guess I haven't hit Sturdy Branches much this trip either.

I appreciate the efforts of the OP to get someone to look at the issue. And for those who are concerned about VWL in general, I can only say that we have found everything to be well kept and in good order as far as we could tell.

 

[mikeandkarla]

I love the title...
"Let's create a stir on the DIS boards"

And of course based on ONE report we have posters (A) panicing (B) considering changing thier reservations and (C) blaming Disney for all kinds of sins... Hmmm.

could you elaborate? I don't understand what the op said that was wrong. As dues paying DVC members, we should all properly report these issues to the proper authoities immediately so they will be repaired before the next guest checks in. I like when members present there issues on the Dis, good or bad. That is why this is such a great forum.

 

[BethA]

with the dues all the members pay there should not be things always broken or in bad shape-if something needs to be fixed t should be addressed right away-we can't wait to pay our dues, so they should not wait to fix something

 

[Deb & Bill]

with the dues all the members pay there should not be things always broken or in bad shape-if something needs to be fixed t should be addressed right away-we can't wait to pay our dues, so they should not wait to fix something

With all the dues members pay, it behooves the member to know the best way to resolve a problem. If there is a problem with your villa, you need to contact maintenance by phone, not the front desk, not a passer-by. The OP thought she was using the best method to get her problems resolved, but there are better ways as other members have noted on this thread and on other threads. From my own personal experience where I work, I know that grabbing someone as they are walking down the hallway may not be the best way to resolve something that takes tools to fix. Again, though, the OP thought what she was doing was going to resolve her problem.

Sometimes something does take time to fix because it needs a part that they don't have on hand, because they don't want to inconvenience the guest while they are in the villa, because the person who needs to do the fixing may be off on another job or just not at work. Sometimes there is only one person who can do a specific task. And with cutbacks (I certainly hope maintenance isn't something they think they can do away with) that person may not work there any more and they need to call an outside contractor/vendor.

Let me restate. The OP thought she was doing the right thing to resolve the problem, but there are better ways.

 

[disneyistheone]

With all the dues members pay, it behooves the member to know the best way to resolve a problem. If there is a problem with your villa, you need to contact maintenance by phone, not the front desk, not a passer-by. The OP thought she was using the best method to get her problems resolved, but there are better ways as other members have noted on this thread and on other threads. From my own personal experience where I work, I know that grabbing someone as they are walking down the hallway may not be the best way to resolve something that takes tools to fix. Again, though, the OP thought what she was doing was going to resolve her problem.

Sometimes something does take time to fix because it needs a part that they don't have on hand, because they don't want to inconvenience the guest while they are in the villa, because the person who needs to do the fixing may be off on another job or just not at work. Sometimes there is only one person who can do a specific task. And with cutbacks (I certainly hope maintenance isn't something they think they can do away with) that person may not work there any more and they need to call an outside contractor/vendor.

Let me restate. The OP thought she was doing the right thing to resolve the problem, but there are better ways.

Exactly!! On my last stay , which was at Kidani, we had a ceiling light in the master bath that didn't work. I pushed in the "maintenance" button on the phone, gave the CM the repair request and left for the day. When I returned that afternoon, the light was working. Everything worked as it should have.

Randy

 

[Chuck S]

And there are so many different maintenance departments. On my last stay at OKW, the phone was static-y because of a short in the receiver cord. I called and reported it. In turn, that person has to turn it over to a different department. Telecommunications repair is different from the guy that changes a light bulb (another issue I had), or fixes plumbing and A/C.

I saw a maintenance cart and did tell that guy about the light bulb, he came and fixed it. Usually the people you see around the resort are minor maintenance folks...light bulbs, drippy faucets...that sort of thing. Major repairs, like caulking, phone, A/C, appliances...all have their own people that are familiar with that repair.

The person on the maintenance line on the phone knows which person needs to get the repair order.

 

[MaryJ]

All I can say is I hope they have these issues fixed by the time we are there in November! We'll be staying in a studio, so the laundry room will definitely see me at least once during our stay. And, DH and I will be training for the WDW Half Marathon, so we will probably be going into Sturdy Branches a time or two to work out.

I have to say that in the past we have always had nothing but good things to say when we have had to contact maintenance about a problem. (Housekeeping is another story). I hope that all these problems get resolved soon.

 

[ransom]

All I can say is I hope they have these issues fixed by the time we are there in November! We'll be staying in a studio, so the laundry room will definitely see me at least once during our stay. And, DH and I will be training for the WDW Half Marathon, so we will probably be going into Sturdy Branches a time or two to work out.

I have to say that in the past we have always had nothing but good things to say when we have had to contact maintenance about a problem. (Housekeeping is another story). I hope that all these problems get resolved soon.

I'll be there in October, so I'll let ya know how things are going then. I just wrote it in my itenerary that I should post about the laundry room in the VWL Groupies thread.

I agree about the VWL maintenance folks. They've been great every time. So has Housekeeping for us. Well, they've made some mistakes, but they were corrected (no hand towels one time, but when we called about it, they sent up enough towel packs that we didn't have to worry for the whole two weeks). And everyone's always been very friendly to us.

That said, last November there were two of the four dryers not working at all, plus one dryer barely getting warm. That was backing everyone up quite a bit. So I hope it's better this year. Even two properly working dryers would be an improvement!

 

[pirateparrot]

Like someone else said, I am sure some of the repairs require specialized outside help or items are under contract for repair and non-critical items like an ellipical machine, the vendor may have a few days to come fix it. I am guessing the regualr maintenance guy does not fix the execise equipment.

Now issues of water on the floor or multiple dryers being out of commision should be escalated, I don't find it unreasonable that a single washer or dryer be temporarily out of order something to say that members are "being ripped off". If they are not fixed in a reasonable period of time or the guest experience is seriously impacted than it is unacceptable.

 

[safetymom]

I stayed at VWL last Wed- Saturday and didn't have a problem with the laundry room.

 

[pilferk]

And I suspect that DVC is seeing a large decrease in dues collection. There are probably a lot of people sitting on overdue dues right now. There are probably a lot of points owned by Disney due to foreclosure and non-payment. And then we are also complaining when they try and create revenue for those points because $164 is "too low" for SSR.

It certainly wouldn't surprise me if the dues were not coming in as they should. We live in a subdivision with an HOA, and we're seeing MUCH more delinquency than we have in the 8 or 9 years, prior. It stands to reason, given the economic climate.

I wonder how "forgiving" Disney is before leveling liens and finally taking the points back....