Annoyed with Member Services

[Kevin&Randall]

This is a bit of a rant, but I need to express my frustrations with DVC!

We have been a member for 11 years, sharing OKW and VB points with my parents. Until December, my parents were the primary users so I did not have much interaction with Member Services. When DCL announced the Panama Canal cruises , I was able to convince my parents to let me use the points (2 1/2 years worth) and book the Westbound cruise. Yes, I have read much about renting out the points and using the cash to book the cruise, but didn't think I could get all that accomplished in time.

Member Services was extermely helpful in booking the cruise, deducting our points and taking our $75 transaction fee. Member Services was extremely helpful in upgrading our stateroom, deducting our points and taking our $75 transaction fee.

Now that the "care and feeding" of the reservation is all that is needed, Member Services has become a nightmare. The communication between DCL and DVC is almost non-existant. Everyone on the DCL board talks about mailings they received from DCL, but we did not get them. DVC claims DCL mails directly to us. DCL claims they mail to DVC (since DVC acts as our travel agent).

We booked on a guarantee status. DVC said we could not put in any requests (location, deck, etc.), that DCL won't accept them. Now we got our stateroom assignment, and we don't like the room at all. It has a solid white wall verandah. So I called Member Services and they say there is nothing that can be done. The room we have been assigned is the room we will have. Period. While they put me on hold and say they are calling over to DCL, my gut says they are just putting me on hold and waiting a few minutes then coming back and saying, "Sorry. Nothing available."

I called DCL, and they won't even talk to me, saying requests and stuff must come via DVC. DVC says these are the policies of DCL and I need to talk to them about it. When I did call DCL, and generically asked a question about requests, they said they will take them on guarantee status bookings. Again, DCL won't talk to me about my specific booking because communication must come from DVC.

Bottom line -- no one wants to talk to me. Member Services isn't providing much service. Friends we are travelling with even got a call back from Emily at Member Services and tersely told him (and I paraphrase) this is what it is, it won't be changed, stop calling.

Is this just a phenomenon with DCL or am I going to be treated this way on any exchange outside of the DVC resorts? Because now that we live in the Orlando area, needing DVC resorts is not as common, and almost everything we do will be an exchange. If this is the level of service, then selling DVC and buying someplace else may be what I need to do.

Does anyone have similar experiences -- or hopefully words of encouragement that this is out of the ordinary,

Thanks for letting me vent.

Randall

 

[Scoootch]

Ugh! How awful Maybe you could do a 3 way call with both MS and DCL? That way they can't blame each other and the right people would all be on the line to take care of the requests?? Hope they do something to rectify this for you...keep trying and be persistant...and best of luck and pixie dust

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[Tramp68]

Ugh! How awful Maybe you could do a 3 way call with both MS and DCL? That way they can't blame each other and the right people would all be on the line to take care of the requests?? Hope they do something to rectify this for you...keep trying and be persistant...and best of luck and pixie dust

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Great suggestion Scootch! I have done this before with 2 conflicting parties. I call one while my wife calls the other on the fax line and then we conference the calls. Usually things get worked out since noone wants to take the blame for it. (I never had to do this with Disney though)

 

[CarolMN]

This sounds like something that you might like to talk about real time with the Member Satisfaction Manager. Her name is Carli D'Agostino. I don't have a phone number for her, but perhaps you could send her an email and ask her to give you a call.

Carli can be reached by email at: members@disneyvactionclub.com (subject: Attn: Carli D'Agostino)

or you can use snail mail - Disney Vacation Club, Attn: Carli D'Agostino, 200 Celebration Place, Celebration, FL 34747 .

Best wishes -

 

[Dean]

You booked a guarantee cabin and now are unhappy with the assignment you got. That's the reason they do guarantees, to allow them to fill in the units that don't get taken otherwise. It's try you sometimes get an upgrade but the odds of getting a cabin you don't want are infinitely larger from what I've heard. I suspect it's the same as any other TA, usually DCL won't talk to you then either.

I would call DCL do a conference call with DVC OR call DVC and ask them to keep you on the line. Ask for a supervisor if need be. If you must, tell them that you doubt they are doing what they say they are, but only as a last resort. See if you can upgrade again and pick the cabin this time. And never book a guarantee unless you are willing to gamble on the cabin and be happy with what you get.

And I just have to say it but, I told you so! You would have been better off renting out the points. You could have always rented out the points over the next 12 months or so to recoup the costs. You'd have had points and/or cash left over.

 

[DISNEYWORLDBORN2SHOP]

We sailed DCL using points 2 years ago. Basically you don't have any control over your reservation like you do if you book directly through DCL. I was assigned a cabin that I was quite content with until I opened the Passporter for DCL and it was listed as the noisiest cabin on the ship. I called DVC and was told "sorry". When I got to the port I was fortunate to be able to upgrade to a much better room with a verandah for a small amount of money.

We had other others traveling with us who booked directly through DCL and they got mailings with perks that were not available to us since we booked with points. One such mailing offered them a $50 stateroom credit for every friend they got to book a cabin and a $50 credit for their friends stateroom. Well, it was the 2 staterooms booked with points that got their friends to book the other 4 cabins with cash. One of the cash staterooms ended up with a $150 credit and all the others had a $50 credit while the points cabins got nothing.

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and were treated like everyone else once we got to the port. And will definitely cruise again. I think next time we will rent our points and pay cash. This was the first time I felt we were treated as second class citizens because we paid with points.

 

[CarolAnnC]

The cruise line books a "guarantee" status room when all the rooms for that particular category have already been reserved. Knowing that there will be cancellations, the ship then assigns to you either a room in that category, or a higher one at no extra charge. They do not accept any requests on guaranteed categories since they will be assigning whatever becomes available.

That being said, I would have to say that I would truly be happy with any stateroom on board DCL. Put me in a lifeboat with a pillow and blankie and I am good to go!

I hope it all works out for you and that you have a marvelous cruise!

 

[CherCrazy]

"We booked on a guarantee status. DVC said we could not put in any requests (location, deck, etc.), that DCL won't accept them."

That's what a guarantee stateroom is. It's a gamble, you never know where you are going to end up on the ship. Cruise lines have been offering guarantees for years. It's a great way to save some money if you don't care about your stateroom's location. From what you have said, DVC told you upfront that you could not put in any requests, so it seems to me that they did their jobs.