Another Reason to Buy Where You Want to Stay

[Dancind]

I haven't seen this mentioned on the DIS boards before, and I'm sure it doesn't come up that often. But checking in at one of the busiest times WDW has had in a while, it came up. DD and I checked in yesterday for four nights in a studio at BCV. We got to the desk about 1:45 pm, and the CM swore that had nothing to do with it, but we had been bumped! She told me, "due to overbooking, we have moved you to OKW". I was a little shocked, since I was standing at BCV, and their bellmen had my luggage. Apparently, since I had booked this stay with OKW points, and had only recently made the reservation (or so they thought), they moved me. She pointed out that OKW is my home resort, after all. I pointed out (and believe it or not, I remained calm), that BCV is my home resort as well, and I had made the reservation 7 months ago. I revised the reservation by cancelling two nights about a month ago, maybe that's the date they were looking at. Anyway, I told them I wanted to be in the Epcot area, and would accept a room at BWV or Beach Club with a refrig etc. Everything was sold out, by then I had called MS and had them checking too. Maybe because they rechecked the date of my reservation, or maybe because I didn't just meekly say "OK", they miraculously found me a room. I guess someone that checked in later got to stay at OKW (I hope it was someone paying cash!). I hope they offered them an upgrade, too. We got a first floor room on the main hall, and went to Member Day in the entrance since it was raining. I won a nice DVC key chain for answering a trivia question. Other than the excitement at check-in, it's been great!

 

[anniet]

I have NEVER heard of them bumping a reservation like that!!!! (or trying to!) I can't even imagine. Glad you stood your ground though, I agree, a cash paying ressie should be bumped before a member and were they going to reimburse your points if you did move to OKW??????

 

[disneyberry]

wow, that's interesting!

has anyone else ever heard of a DVC member being bumped to a different resort?

i can't believe how booked they were that they would do that.

guess summer attendance is way up.

and it looks like maybe i have to be careful about which points to use for which ressie... just in case. although i imagine this probably hardly ever happens.

anyway, thanks for sharing. have a great rest of your vacation!

 

[DeeP]

Wow, that is really interesting. I did not know they could do that. I have a reservation for BCV in Sept, just under 40 days away--yahoo, I hope I don't get bumped because I really want to try out this resort but if I have to stay at my home resort at BWV that would be fine also. Now if they try to bump me to OKW, then there would be a major problem.

 

[lenshanem]

Wow, that could be a huge disappointemnt if you were planning on a BCV saty. Coudl totally change your vacation. I'm glad you stood your ground. My hubby is the type he woudl just say sure...I though woudl FREAK. I wouldn't leave that desk until the situation was settled to my liking.
I'd be interested too to know if thsi has happened to anyone else.
Glad all was taken care of andf have a nice time!

 

[DisneyHumbug]

I'm curious to know what they would have done with the points. What if you ended up using less points, but were beyond your banking window?
That's not a very nice thing to do!!! My DD checked into BCV on Monday - she would have been crushed if they tried to do that to her, but being a little shy, probably would have gone to OKW.

 

[jaysue]

I did not realise they could bump people either - having said that I would have settled for a 1BR at OKW as an upgrade for same points as BCV Studio or for a free points stay at OKW

1:45pm is not a late arrival time at all since the rooms are not ready until 4pm

Seems like another potential case of YC/BC flakiness

Thanks
jaysue

 

[timC]

Wow. I hope this was a one time glitch... I don't own any OKW point. If was me, I wonder what sorry solution they would have come up with... and you say it was only 1:45pm. Not even official check-in time!

Definately need to throw a bucket of pixie dust on this problem!

 

[nisiemouse]

I am glad things worked out for you. I love OKW but want to stay in the Epcot area occasionally and if this was what I had been planning I would have been very upset. As someone else mentioned I wonder what they would have done about the point difference. Luckily you did not have to find out. Have a great trip!

 

[Dean]

I've heard of this type thing but not exactly the same situation. We've seen posted about being bumped from VWL to WL using cash and getting BWI instead of BWV for a night or 2. We've also heard of getting a studio when reserved a 1 BR or standard view when reserved preferred; nothing quite like this though. More often it's the minor upgrade.

In situations that would come close, the member has frequently gotten all their points back plus the stay. Had you ended up with OKW instead, it's likely you would have gotten a free stay out of it. Still, I hope it's not a common occurance and am ashamed they treated the matter in this way. They should have been offering you an upgrade, not a downgrade. They should have made you an offer you couldn't refuse. Heck, I'd have gotten dinner and the room desired if they'd tried this with me.

 

[POLLY ANN]

I'm glad they were able to fix it for you and that you stood your ground.

We went in January and stayed at the BW for 3 nights in a 2BR and then over to our home resort for 7 nights at OKW in a GV. When we arrived at the BW they mistakenly gave us a 1BR (someone was already in the studio), and tried to offer us another 1BR for the night with a meal on them. I was so frustrated after being delayed 3 hours for the plane trip down (and it was very late!), that my dh had to talk to the front desk and he demanded that they fix this for us. So, they offered HIM the GV that overlooks the boardwalk! Other than it was freezing those 3 nights, it was great to look out and see the Epcot ball every evening. The best part was they didn't charge us any extra points, not that we had any left! lol

 

[Lesley]

I didn't think DVC could be overbooked like that....but I guess it happens occasionally! Yes, I'd insist on staying in the same area if that were important to me....though an OKW 1br and points refunded wouldn't have bothered me I guess! LOL Thing is, when we book BCV its specifically because we want to stay there...it takes extra planning. Probably my first question would be "what are you offering in return for my inconvenience?" I'm sure it helped that you stayed calm...I bet that was hard!

As much as I like OKW, being sent there from BCV would definitely be a downgrade in terms of location and ammenities. I'm surprised they tried to pull that one on you. So what that you own there? You reserved BCV and were confirmed with that reservation.

 

[jaysue]

Further comment - as noted above, I concur along the lines of what does where you own your points have to do with it. You reserved and were confirmed at BCV......simple...

What if your points were at HH or VB - would they have sent you there!!!!



Thanks
jaysue

 

[Disney Doll]

A few years ago we were booked at the BWI (not the BWV) and when we got there, we had been bumped to OKW. At the time,we were travelling with another couple, and the male counterpart of the couple had just had back surgery, and we thought being the BW would be easier in terms of access to where we wanted to go, since we were going to spend the bulk of our time at MGM and Epcot...we were kidfree and therefore popped into MK for a couple of hours, but that was it.

We, too, stood our ground and got rooms at the BWI. Granted, DH and I ended up with a queen size bed as opposed to the king size bed we had requested, but that was OK because we had our location that we wanted.

As a DVCer, I have never been bumped.

 

[MulanMom]

I'm not a lawyer, but I'm wondering if they can legally do this. Overbooking a resort for regular cash ressies through CRO is perhaps a practice common throughout the industry, but when the stay is booked via points, I thought the rules were a whole lot different. I could understand a mistake here or there, or an odd circumstance, but to move for overbooking??? I got a real problem with that.

 

[Mooobooks]

We have a lot of legal eagles and people who are extremely familiar with the ins and outs of the papers we've signed with DVC: is there a loophole in the language ANYWHERE that would allow them to bump you from a hotel where you have a valid reservation because it is not your home resort?
Someone should be able to give us a definitive answer on this question so we ALL know where we stand when they try this again.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by MulanMom
I'm not a lawyer, but I'm wondering if they can legally do this. Overbooking a resort for regular cash ressies through CRO is perhaps a practice common throughout the industry, but when the stay is booked via points, I thought the rules were a whole lot different. I could understand a mistake here or there, or an odd circumstance, but to move for overbooking??? I got a real problem with that.

I can't recall any language in the POS that would address this issue either way. Remember that there are always going to be some combination of cash and points reservations. If you eliminate Xmas and Easter, a fairly large contingent of cash guests on any single day. I'd guess they routinely overbook assuming some cancel or not show up though not likely to the extent of the airlines. My guess would be someone made a mistake OR a room(s) went out of service due to a problem. Or someone decide to stay longer that was staying on cash.

Still it was their problem and Disney is usually very good about recovering from this. I'm surprised they didnt' handle it better and make the OP an offer they couldn't refuse.

 

[jennypenny]

I'm sure there's some language in the contract for bumping people due to unforseen circumstances, or something like that. If there was a fire in a couple of units, or a flood, or bug problem , they would have to bump a couple of people if the resort was totally booked.

I would not be happy, but how they handled it would make a big difference in whether I accepted it or not.

Jenny

 

[dianeschlicht]

Originally posted by MulanMom
I'm not a lawyer, but I'm wondering if they can legally do this. Overbooking a resort for regular cash ressies through CRO is perhaps a practice common throughout the industry, but when the stay is booked via points, I thought the rules were a whole lot different. I could understand a mistake here or there, or an odd circumstance, but to move for overbooking??? I got a real problem with that.

This was my thought too! If there are X number of points available for the resort each day, how could they overbook?

 

[mbb]

I think my dh would have said.."hmmm...OKW, not bad, but we'd prefer the Walt suite at Grand Floridian..."