Are BWV owners being shorted?

[RAD]

Last week I was at BWV for six days. I booked a number of rooms in the 10 to 11 month range and got none of my room request. This got me to thinking, are BWV owners being treated unfairly this year due to all the construction going on? My understanding was that DVC held back 5% of the rooms from member inventory for a number of reasons, maintence being one of those reasons. But looking at the number of rooms that they had shut down for work it looks like a much larger number then 5%. Out of a total of 383 rooms there should have been no more then 20 out of service for maintence but anyone that's been there recently can see that more then 20 rooms were shut down.

So my question is should DVC have been allowing BWV owners to book at other resorts at the 11 month window vs. 7 since more rooms were taken out of member inventory then there should have been?

 

[lampy]

RAD, you did get a room right?

I don't see what the 11v7 month window has to do with your view, they are never guaranteed.

 

[RAD]

What started me thinking about this was that I thought room requets were supported to be met based on how early you booked your room, aka someone booking at the 11 month window asking for a boardwalk view had a better chance of getting it then someone booking at 7 months. Now if DVC takes more the 5% of the rooms out of inventory then you have even less of a chance of getting a room close to what you asked for.

This would also impact folks being able to get a room at all. BWV has always been a hard resort to get a room at. So if a member called at 8 months and was told there was no availability how much of that would have been caused by more rooms being worked on then there should have been?

 

[lampy]

I see your point now.

It is possible, plus the 4% that they hold back from member inventory could make it difficult to book. I wonder if they would hold back less?

It is best to book at 11 months now, even more.

 

[MarkRG]

I was just there. They don't have that many rooms closed. Some things to keep in mind - nearly the entire building is dvc, not just the half from the lobby to the swan & dolphin. Also, only the rooms whose view is directly blocked are closed, not the ones across the hall from them, as the only work is what is happening to the exterior of the building, not the rooms themselves. The only parts blocked when we were there was a section of the rooms with the family pool view and a bunch with the swan & dolphin view.

 

[carone0318]

MarkRG,

I never knew that about DVC also being on the other side. If that is true, why do they refer to that side being the Inn and the side towards the Swan & Dolphin the Villas. Their map doesn't make any reference to the Inn side also being part DVC by labeling it Villas. I'm just curious because this is the first time that I have heard your comment. Have you stayed on the Inn side?

 

[RAD]

The white/Inn part of the resort is NOT DVC, only the red/yellow part. Plus while I was there last week a number of rooms that didn't have any scaffolding in front of them also appeard closed. There were stickers on the windows of the door to the deck/patio that showed the room number on the outside. Also, I didn't see guests in those rooms, but I did see some folks with hard hats on every now and then on the decks.

 

[CarolMN]

Earlier this year, I asked a similar question and was surprised by the answer. I think you will also be interested in reading the thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=192663

According to drusba, there is no guarantee that we will be able to use our points in some situations. As I understood his posts, periods of rehab is one of those situations. In this case, "the early bird really does get the worm"!

 

[PamOKW]

If there is a problem with the resort, there is a problem with the resort. They try to fix the rooms and get them back into service as quickly as possible but, unfortunately, "that's life". If they gave BWV members an advantage over other DVC members at other DVC resorts, that would impact those members. Why should a VWL member lose his/her home resort advantage so that a BWV member can book because something is wrong at BWV?

I know it's frustrating but there isn't any way to really compensate BWV members. You'll just have to live through it and hope it doesn't happen again. Shutting down rooms is making it very difficult for non-BWV members to book there also. All of DVC is at a disadvantage.

There is wording somewhere in our papers about how if our home resort is unavailable because of damage, etc., we are not given anything special at other DVC resorts.

 

[DVCDAVE]

I am not aware that DVC has any obligation to accomodate room request beyond the catagory of standard or preferred view.

Is it in any of our timeshare documents that requests can be made and MS will accomodate such requests ?

 

[RAD]

OK, OK, OK, I understand that you request a Boardwalk view, maybe you get it maybe you don't, I don't question that at all. My original posting may not have truely expressed what I was trying to say which was with more then the normal 5% (4% or whatever) inventory out of commision it's making it harder to get into the resort and if you do get a reservation it reduces the number of rooms available making it harder to get a specific type of room.

I will go home tonight and look through the paperwork to see if what's in there that might address this situation. I can perfectly understand that if there was a fire, flood or whatever that took a number of rooms out of service that there would be problems getting availability, but I don't think repairs caused by poor workmanship should impact the value or our purchase by limiting availability. OK, rant over.

 

[DVCDAVE]

I may be wrong, but if my memory serves me right, the rapairs that are being conducted are from a lawsuit that Disney won over the builder. Apparently the material used was not up to the spec's that Disney issued before the contract was signed. Now the builder is replacing the material. Maybe DEAN can add more to this or clarify more. DEAN is good at that stuff........

 

[Dean]

I'm sure others will have more info. My understanding was it was related to poor quality of materials used. It's really no different than if a hurricane damaged the property. The fact that the repairs have a negative impact on the percentages of certain room types and chances of getting them is simply tough. If members couldn't use their points for a year or they had to raise fees to cover the costs, that's the breaks. I'm not saying I'm unsympathetic, only explaining the realities of the situation.

As a matter of fact, if there aren't enough rooms at BW to go around for the members, the way I read the POS, they aren't supposed to be able to exchange out at the 7 month window either.

 

[DVCDAVE]

My understanding was it was related to poor quality of materials used.

Then we agree, my recolection was correct.

It's really no different than if a hurricane damaged the property.

Unfortunately, I agree. Better that the problem is corrected and made right, than be left with inferrior materials and the problem ignored.....then we BWV members are left with the bill down the road to correct the problem with higher dues.

As a 275 point BWV owner, I'll put up with the inconvienance (as long as it has been), but I'll be happy that the problems are corrected and us owners didn't pay the bill.

 

[zurgswife]

I've made may past few ressies at the 11 month window and other then getting my view I've never gotten any specific requests for position of that room.....So, I don't think the number of rooms that are closed has much bearing on the requests that members make....

 

[DaveH]

A guess by me about more than 5% closed at any time, is there are times they may not have any rooms closed at all. So DVC may have banked the points so to speak to cover times when they need to take more rooms than 5%. Just a guess on my part.

 

[DeeP]

I am about to take my 4 trip to BWV since they have started the renovations and yes there are a sizable amount of rooms closed off, but there are still plenty of rooms open. BWV is a big place, heck we have the long hallways to prove it. LOL!!! Seriously though there are a lot of rooms down each of those hallways. I have not had a problem getting a room the past 4 trips since the renovations have been going on. I have had to take a preferred view once and I did have to waitlist 3 of the days for my upcoming Dec trip, but I still got a room at BWV.
I also agree with the previous posters, it is just life, resorts need to be renovated and unfortunately BWV had to undergo a massive renovation due to building problems, but as a member I am thrilled that they are being fixed and it did not cost the members money. As far as BWV members being offered anything special for booking, we can still book at BWV and can still book at the other DVC resorts; it is not like we can't use our pts so there is no need for any special arrangements nor would we be entitled to them.