Almost Disaster at BCV

[SimbaCub]

A bit long but here is my report: Just returned from a trip staying at BCV--22 - 30 May. I have reservations about the management of the staff there after my stay. Upon arrival I went to the front desk to inquire about my rooms and was told nothing available yet. Not a problem so I went back to my party and we agreed to have Bell Services take our stuff and put the cooler stuff in the refrigerator so the food wouldn't go bad. I asked the gentleman 3 times if they could do this and he said yes, they do it all the time. I left the things in his capable hands and went on my merry way. I went back to the front desk twice to ask about the room after eating and was told in about 45 minutes as it was being cleaned “now” so I told my party we would wait around the resort and then get our stuff and go to the room. I went back an hour later—we lost track of time walking around as I showed them the resort and pool and Beaches and Cream. Now the front desk tells me the room isn’t even being cleaned and they have no idea why I was told it was!! The Front Desk Manager came out and asked me who told me it was near ready and I pointed out the CM and that was that. We went to EPCOT for a few hours. Then our stuff comes to the room but the cooler items were never chilled. The paper from Bell Services says to put things in refrigerator but nothing had been placed there so I had spoiled dinner. The Front Desk told me to go eat somewhere and they would replace the things the next day as it was so late. Not a problem. I then discover all my calls are going to the studio side of the 2 bedroom lock-off so I call down and ask to have them go to the 1 bedroom. Then 2 days later I discover the calls are still going to the studio AND am told I have an outstanding balance from dinner charged to my room from the guests in the studio! I do down to speak to the Manager now, not a “generic” one and tell her I am not happy about the calls nor am I happy about a message from Bell Services telling me we owe money for dinner. She said she would take care of it. Guess what, calls still going to studio side the next day. I go back down and speak to another manager and tell her 3 requests shouldn’t be needed to fix a phone problem. I find Bell Services leaving a message intolerable as well as the need to have to request 3 times to have messages sent to me not my guests. I realize this was a busy week but there are some things only a single request should resolve. It wasn’t the dinner getting ruined that bothered me but Bell Services telling me I owed them for the dinner. Housekeeping is also not performing up to par—not the cleaning itself but coming to the rooms on the proper day. I had called when I arrived to move the days around and they messed it up beyond belief and the poor maid who showed up was startled when I told her it was not the correct day. I had to call them twice as well to get it fixed. It makes me wonder who is taking care of members and if they even know their job. I would like to write a letter but don’t know the address. Does anybody have the address? Should I just write Mr Jim Lewis or the person who is the customer satisfaction individual for us through MS or both of them? I don’t want points back or anything like that, just letting them know the GM of Beach Club and Bell Services and Housekeeping Managers need some additional training or just a fire lit under their butts to do their jobs.

Rooms were great and pool was awesome. Trips to parks were great so overall a wonderful time.

SimbaCub

 

[wdwstar]

That week was very busy, i had to move three times and my rooms were not ready until 5pm. one time i had to go down to the workout and take a shower with my luggage. i was not happy but we had to go along with the program.
as far as your calls, i would have assume all your calls would have been going thru the 1 bedroom since your made ressies for a 2 bedroom. did bell service replace your food? and the maid service, im sure they try their best to fullfill everyones request, but being very busy its hard to clean, this room this day and that room that day.

 

[tjkraz]

Yikes. Sounds like a real nightmare.

If it were me, I'd write a single letter and "CC" it to everyone that you can think of, including DVC and Jim Lewis by name. And if you list the parties you are "CC-ing" at the bottom, everyone involved will know that you've gone to pretty great lengths to get the matter addressed. IMO, they will also be a lot less likely to "blow you off" since any one person included in your distribution list could really take the others to task if they drop the ball.

Keep it simple and concise. With all of the effort you expended, maybe a timeline would be the best approach:

11:00am - Checked-in, room not ready.

11:30am - Told room was being cleaned and would be ready in 45 minutes.

12:30pm - Told room cleaning had not even been started and it would not be ready for several hours.

...and so on...

I have to believe that DVC and Disney both want to see problems like these addressed as much as you want to tell them about the problem. Good luck and let us know the outcome.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Disney has always prided itself in "customer service" and that was clearing lacking in your case. I agree that a letter addressed to Jim Lewis and CC to EVERYONE you can think of is a good idea. Mentioning that it is a departure from the usual expected "good customer service" from Disney.

 

[Lexxiefern]

Wow, so sorry about all the problems you encountered on your trip. I find it very strange that bell services would call you to say you had an overdue account due to dinner. Very odd.

Let us know if you get any response.

 

[ErinC]

I'm feeling your pain. We had a less than desirable stay at BCV last week too. I'll be posting about it this evening when I get the chance. I too plan on letting Customer Satisfaction at DVC know about all out issues. It's nice to read your post, and not feel like I was the only one who thought there were some problems. Erin

 

[palmtreegirl]

We had a similiar check in problem in Feb at the BCV.

We checked in at 9am room wasn't ready, didn't expect it to be- no problem. We were told it would be ready around noon.

Came back to the resort at 1pm told room was being cleaned right now and it would be ready in 30 minutes tops. So we decided to wait in the lobby and check out the gift shop.

2:00pm Checked again and then decided to eat at Beaches and Cream, told it should be ready real soon.

3:00 offered smoking room as alternative declined because our niece has asthma. Still told it would be ready any minute.

It ended up not being ready until 4:15pm.

Now if we were told from the start it wouldn't be ready till 4:15 it would've been no problem at all because technically check in isn't till around there anyway. But they kept stringing us along with oh it'll be any minute now, that was aggravating.

Lesson learned next time we won't wait and will just plan on it not being ready before 4pm.

 

[ear_poppin]

What a night mare ...hope you get it sorted out!! Did they pay you for the meal you had after your dinner was ruined?

Just a little point. I am used to receiving long letters with immense detail. You may wish to break each incident down to a paragraph so the reader can follow your complaints as opposed to them all in one block.

Good luck

Denise

 

[rocketriter]

Everybody who's had a dubious experience at BCV in the last few weeks, please contact management! Heavy business is no excuse for poor service. The resorts have plenty of warning when they'll be busy and they should know how to balance their staffing appropriately. I'm a BCV owner myself, and I think anyone who has a complaint (or special praise) should make themselves heard.

 

[manning]

That is just as bad as our experience in March. On the same day as checkin I called MS and was able to get a couple of extra days added on, and got new cards (it was a 10 day stay, up from 7). On the original check-out date we couldn't charge anything at MGM. They said we had checked out the day before. CM there spent 20 minutes getting it straightened out and told us the front desk said to come and get new cards as the original won't work. Out of curiousity I went to the room first and tried them. They worked. Went down to the front desk and they said new ones would be issued the next morning. They were and got double the cards we needed.

On day of check out we got an incorrect bill. After the first trip to the car with luggage I went to get corrected bill at 10:00 am While wife went back to the room. I got back to the room about 15 minutes later and couldn't get in. They deactivated the card. I called the front desk and complained. Of course I had to wait for my wife to finish showering (couldn't hear me knocking) to let me in. This delayed us packing the car as one of us had to wait in the room. By the time I finished packing it was 11:15. I called the desk and told them we wouldn't be out of there until noon at the earliest because I had to shower. Surprisingly they didn't complain.

Also when we hit the $1500.00 limit they put on the charge card, (they run the charge and start over again), The wife couldn't charge anything at Downtown Disney (4th day) and the CM had to call over to get THAT straightened out. Front desk called and apoligized as that should not have happened.

WHAT A MESS!!!!!!! THEY NEED A COMPLETE MANAGEMENT CHANGE !!!


Whoops!! Wrong trip. It was nov. 2003 trip.

 

[TwingleMum]

WOW!! Please write and let the proper people know what went on.

 

[JudithM]

I would contact the Beach Club General Manager & the DVC Member Satisfaction Manager (I forget his name). Jim Lewis' office will probably send your comments to either or both of the two CMs mentioned above. I wil ltry to get specific names for you or you could contactl Member Services.

 

[sandieb]

We also stayed at the BCV in May...I had a 16 month old grandson who was very tired. We were waiting for our room. The fellow at the bell service desk saw the situation and personally went up to the room and checked to see how far along it was in being cleaned. He came back and said it was ready. He retrieved our stuff (included refrigerated items) and escorted us to our room.
While I am sad to hear of so many problems, at least sometimes the system still works.
Sandie

 

[jmminarik]

Not looking to start a resort debate, but I wonder how much of this can be tied into economizing at the hotel resorts and the fact BCV is kinda nailed onto the tail end of the BC. OKW and BW (as primarily DVC resorts), our dues pays for most of the staff and there is little true reason to cut back on staff since we're paying for them with dues. BCV and VWL on the other hand, share staff with their predecessor hotel and the best I could get out of Disney when I asked if we have our own dedicated DVC paid employees was 'All CM's are Disney Employees'. Makes me wonder if we're not subsidizing the hotel by paying part of the staff salaries but allowing the hotels to decide staffing.

-Joe

 

[Figment2]

Sometimes I wonder if BCV is having a hard time going from strictly hotel to hotel plus DVC.

A coworker bought into BCV last year (bought close to 1,000 points). Her daughter took the "first" ever DVC trip in March. When they walked into the room the carpet was sopping wet. The front desk didn't see the problem and it took a couple of calls to get fans sent up (personally I would have asked for a new room). She brought back pictures of the room - scuff marks and dents in the molding; someone had ripped the top off the dryer screen; torn up door jam. Coworker kept saying she thought this was a new resort! There were a couple of other problems which I've since forgotten but apparently DVC thought it was bad too. They refunded a couple of nights points.

Cyn

 

[patsal]

I only have a 100 point add on contract at BCV, but noticed many things amiss on my first stay there. At that time the resort was under 1 year old. I was surprised at how worn and broken many things were, but I assumed that since I had booked so close to the arrival date I'd been assigned what was left after others requests were met. I also didn't spend much time in the room so I wasn't too bothered by it. This resort seems to get an unusual amount of wear and tear. I, by far, was most disappointed in the lack of little things I found so impressive about the other DVC resorts and the reason I had purchased DVC in the first place. Had I been staying for an extended period of time, this would have been unacceptable and I would have complained. My vacation time is too precious to waste on little quirky things, but then those grow to really big issues that should have been nipped. This July I will point out anything that is way out of control immediately. It is only when we all let them know we see the difference and are not pleased with it that change will occur.

 

[JudithM]

The General Manager of the YC/BC including the Beach Club Villas is Sam Penzula.

The Member Satisfaction Manager is temporarily Jackie Lueders (again ). The CM who replaced Jackie late last year has transferred to the Disney Cruise Line.

I would contact either Sam &/or Jackie with Beach Club Villa concerns.

 

[Kelly Nelly]

Your letter to Jim Lewis will go through his paper shredder very well, along with all the other letters people write with all of there complaints.

 

[JudithM]

Originally posted by Kelly Nelly
Your letter to Jim Lewis will go through his paper shredder very well, along with all the other letters people write with all of there complaints.

Kelly, I beg to differ with you.

Last Friday while I was at OKW, I left a phone message late in the day (a Friday of the holiday weekend) to a DVC CM in management. It wasn't a complaint, but a request for something the CM told me he/she could help me with. Earlier today I received a phone call from this CM. I am impressed that the call was made, & I thought the response was timely since Monday was a holiday. I assume this CM had some catching up to do on Tuesday (yesterday) considering this CM spent a lot of time last week involved with MH as well as his/her regular job. My request was not urgent, but this CM took the time to call me. In addition the CM & I discussed the good & not so good (what could be changed/improved) of MH.

This CM also took the time to give me the information that I posted above to hopefully help SimbaCub & others who have had concerns at BCV.

I personally met Jim Lewis last December at the OKW annual meeting. He was also an active participant in last week's MH. He comes across as a very genuine CM who (as most DVC CMs) DOES care about members, cares about what we as members like & what we do not like.

However, I do not feel Jim Lewis is the first person a member should contact about issues at the BCV. Let's use the chain of command. DVC has a Member Satisfaction Manager & each resort has a General Manager. Either &/or both of these CMs should be contacted first not the Senior VP for DVC. Example ... should I contact my county executive if I have a problem/issue/concern with my local public library (a county system)? No, I would start with the branch manager. Just an example ...

 

[pmcpmc]

a post like this draws so much negative thought.
Problems do arise and yes in busy times things very often don't get done in the timeframe we would like.
There are thousands of guests staying at the Bcv and the majority have a wonderful time.
On another post the question was posed as to whether the cause of some of their problems were caused by the constant demand for early entry to rooms.
Very often the rooms are not fully cleaned because of this demand.
Phone calls going to a studio rather than a main room is annoying but not the end of the world(I don't remember the last time I used the phone except to dial out)
A mistake was made with your food ,it happens and you were offered recompence.
God only knows why someone felt the need to charge you for dinner.
Certainly you require an explanation for these chain of events.
A letter to the appropriate authority is in order so that improvements in communication can be made.
I know you will have better trips .