Are people okay with disrepair?

[DenLo]

I always call maintenance for anything I notice doesn't work properly. My biggest peeves if the locks don't work on the sliding doors to the balcony. That is a safety issue IMO because of families with young children.

BTW, maintenance will come in a fix items while you are out of the room. So I'll call maintenance and then head out to a park. Sometimes I call maintenance the morning we are checking out so the items that didn't really affect us are fixed for the next guest.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

We just moved to our second resort of a 2-resort split stay. Our first stay was a 1BR value at Jambo and we just moved into a 1BR at BCV. When we arrived to our room at Jambo, one of the two ceiling lights had 2 burnt out bulbs, a bulb was missing from a lamp in the bedroom, and one of the louvre doors to the laundry closet was loose at the top hinge. I called maintenance, and all 3 problems were addressed within 24 hours. When we arrived to our BCV 1BR, a kitchen cabinet hinge was loose, the toaster was broken, a towel ring was not attached to the wall and a light bulb in the closet was flickering in an annoying fashion. Again, I called maintenance and all 4 simple issues were addressed, this time in less than 8 hours. I find it hard to believe that these things all happened while the previous family was in those rooms. Why don't people just call? It was so easy and it's nice to have a fully functional villa!

I think many don't want to bother. I've read many, many reports over the years where that is exactly what they said although some of them write MS after the trip - some how thinking that is going to get light bulbs replaced in room xxx. Our repairs have run quite the range - an oven that didn't unlock after the self cleaning cycle that housekeeping had started before our arrival, a kitchen faucet leaking water into the cabinet and out on the floor, a toaster that appeared not to function but it was the outlet, another outlet that needed wire tightened, a tub spigot that was dripping and they had to replace it and so on. IMO housekeeping is the easiest way to handle this but they either won't allow or haven't been asked to have a system to report things to maintenance. OH - I forgot - at VGC when we went to enter our new room the door handle was literally falling off and would not unlock. Housekeeping was still around and said they had meant to let maintenance know but forgot! Yes, forgot a door set that was literally falling off the door.

So we call, and yes, on average it's probably 75=80% of the trips. I never found it a bother but what I have noticed is that for example at Poly you don't have direct extensions for housekeeping and maintenance so then it's become more of a bother. VGC too. I hope that's not a trend that other resorts follow.

 

[ScubaCat]

We don't like the guests to have to change the lightbulbs themselves

I can understand that, though. Even something simple like a light bulb -- if there's a short or it's not screwed in all the way, it could cause a fire. Or perhaps the fixture is defective in another way. Granted, someone could mess with it later, but at least the certified light bulb engineer can say it was installed correctly and won't be personally liable. And the engineering department as a whole, including said engineer's manager, won't be liable either.

 

[Kidanifan08]

Well, for some of us, we just wouldn't notice.

I've never used a toaster other than my own. So as long as the toaster isn't already smoking, I wouldn't care.

Now, flickering lights? I would on top of that like a big dog. I HATE flickering lights.

Same with missing or burnt out lights. When I turn on a light I want it to turn on.

I would say that 80% of our stays have had bulbs missing or not working. We frequently stay at AKV, so a burnt out bulb makes the room even darker. We use the toaster quite a bit on vacation, but I'm not sure that my toaster at home is working -- LOL!

My wife always scans the room for broken missing things and then reports them. If we don't want to be interrupted she lets them know just before we go to a park and it's usually fixed before we come back. She does the same on the Disney Cruise Line with good results.

I check the lights as soon as we get there. I usually call early in the AM when we are heading to a park for 4-5 hours. Things are usually repaired when we get back.

One of the advantages to DVC for a lot of people is that housekeeping isn't in the room. They don't want maintenance there either. Things disappear. So you are making the choice - take the chance your things disappear, take time from your vacation to supervise maintenance, or ignore it. Lightbulbs and closet doors don't rate needing them fixed to me - if they rate needing to be fixed to you, then you make a different choice during your stay. We've had broken towel bars, broken drawers, torn curtains, lightbulbs out (we've been known to move lightbulbs from the fixture we don't use to the one we need). We have things fixed when they impact our vacation - the bathtub that wouldn't stay full.

I hate having people in my space when I'm not around, but on vacation, I don't worry too much. We lock up the iPads, phones, laptops and other valuables in the safe. All that's left is the contents of our OL and our clothes. Other than the Tanqueray, I am not sure anything else we leave out is very enticing.

I probably wouldn't even notice many of these things. I don't usually use the kitchens at all, except to put water bottles in the fridge and grab the occasional paper towel, I can't remember the last time I turned on a closet light while traveling, depending on the length of the trip I may never open the laundry closet door...

If I did notice these things, I probably wouldn't feel the need to have any of them addressed during my stay, and would call maintenance before we left, and also let the front desk know.

Actually, the kitchen cupboard hinge could have waited until we were gone. Since there were other issues, I threw it in with the rest. The towel holder that was not attached to the wall was very noticeable and had to be fixed. Every time I went to dry my hands it would fall off the wall. We're here fwe r 9 days, and that would drive us crazy. There are already too few places to hang towels into the villas and the sinks at BCV are too small to leave the towel (and towel holder) sitting on the vanity top.

I think many don't want to bother. I've read many, many reports over the years where that is exactly what they said although some of them write MS after the trip - some how thinking that is going to get light bulbs replaced in room xxx. Our repairs have run quite the range - an oven that didn't unlock after the self cleaning cycle that housekeeping had started before our arrival, a kitchen faucet leaking water into the cabinet and out on the floor, a toaster that appeared not to function but it was the outlet, another outlet that needed wire tightened, a tub spigot that was dripping and they had to replace it and so on. IMO housekeeping is the easiest way to handle this but they either won't allow or haven't been asked to have a system to report things to maintenance. OH - I forgot - at VGC when we went to enter our new room the door handle was literally falling off and would not unlock. Housekeeping was still around and said they had meant to let maintenance know but forgot! Yes, forgot a door set that was literally falling off the door.

So we call, and yes, on average it's probably 75=80% of the trips. I never found it a bother but what I have noticed is that for example at Poly you don't have direct extensions for housekeeping and maintenance so then it's become more of a bother. VGC too. I hope that's not a trend that other resorts follow.

Yeah, we're at about 75-80% too. But as Bill pointed out, we are paying for maintenance, so we might as well use it. I just prefer to use it upon arrival and have everything working well for our stay. Fortunately, we have not had any major issues. Although, I just found a missing stop cap on the right side rail of the top shelf of the dishwasher. The shelf falls out of the rail if pulled out too fast. I may wait on that one and just pull it out carefully.

 

[bwvBound]

When you call for repairs, if you are in the room at the time, do you feel you need to tip the person?

About 10 years ago, we were at a resort and the drawers wouldn't work. The track was missing a screw or something, which meant the second draw was leaning on the third drawer. We called maintenance. He was there about an hour. He almost took the whole thing apart. His thinking was, if there is missing screws, I better check the other, so I'm not called back.


We felt like we had to tip him. Didn't want to thinking this should be fixed before we got there, but it felt awkward. So we tipped him.

Ugh, I know and deeply understand the feeling of responding to an awkward position. Sorry you felt this way!
As a "rule" (meant to be broken, right?) we don't tip engineering/maint. However, yes, we've found ourselves in positions where we felt pressure to tip engineering. Ugh. For us, it was at the Poly, soon after re-opening as villas, on requesting a DVD player be brought to the room. Here is our mental process on that request:

1. The DVD player, in our opinion, should have been a default feature in the room.
2. We could have simply picked up a player at the same time as signing the check-out forms for the DVD. We could have quite easily connected the player to the TV on our own.
3. We returned to the room and waited for engineering to bring the DVD player.
4. Engineering made a big "display" about connecting the player. They gave us the impression that delivering and installing a DVD player was "above and beyond" their duty. (Which, of course, raised the hair on the back of my neck as I felt, equally strongly, that the darn player should have been a default element of the room. GRRRR)

So, somehow in the nature of mankind, I felt it necessary to tip the engineer ... as a means of calming my own angst over the ordeal. How does that work?!?! Oh, well.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

When you call for repairs, if you are in the room at the time, do you feel you need to tip the person?

About 10 years ago, we were at a resort and the drawers wouldn't work. The track was missing a screw or something, which meant the second draw was leaning on the third drawer. We called maintenance. He was there about an hour. He almost took the whole thing apart. His thinking was, if there is missing screws, I better check the other, so I'm not called back.


We felt like we had to tip him. Didn't want to thinking this should be fixed before we got there, but it felt awkward. So we tipped him.

Regarding tipping - goodness no. Their job is not a tipped position. Would never have even crossed my mind.

 

[alisonslp]

wow, I am really surprised by the amount of maintenance you all have needed. We have been owners since 2008 and I think we have had only 1 or 2 times where we needed something fixed. That's out of maybe 20-25 trips. We have stayed in all the WDW DVCs except poly and WL (which wee are going to in Sept). Maybe we just don't notice things. We don't use the kitchen much for cooking so we wouldn't notice if the stove or toaster weren't working but we certainly use the washer, all the lights, faucets, balcony, etc.

We also reported the issues to the resort and to MS, after several years it became apparent that their policies on housekeeping and maintenance were part of their plan. They don't really care if the guest has to deal with the issues otherwise they could hold housekeeping accountable and hire room inspectors. I guess it's less expensive to issue room credits. What I don't understand is that DVC owners pay for housekeeping and maintenance, why not just make sure that we are getting what we are paying for?

Housekeeping for most stays does a trash and towel and full clean when we check out. Our housekeeping bill for the points that we own was $1672.00 in 2016, Maintenance was $1044.00. The total for our resorts for the year was $27,626,993.00 for housekeeping and $17,609,067.00 for maintenance.

They can barely turn over the rooms in time for 4 pm check in on busy days. I can't see how they could inspect all the rooms in that timeframe. I suppose they could do an every other/third room or stay but then what's the point? Chances are someone is going to find something wrong with the room that wasn't inspected. As for your fees - wow! Our total yearly fees are less than your housekeeping.

 

[ScubaCat]

As for your fees - wow! Our total yearly fees are less than your housekeeping.

That's why they save the best rooms for Bill.

 

[RachaelA]

Unless it directly affects us (toaster would, don't care about hinges or towel racks), I don't want to deal with maintenance in our room.

And honestly in like 6-8 DVC stays, we've never had any real issues worth calling on.

 

[lovin'fl]

Interesting, this thread pops up right now. We just,today, got home from a trip to Myrtle Beach. We stayed in an oceanfront resort that cost us $250 a night. We had to stay there for DDs' softball tourney where the tourney makes you stay a specific hotels or the team pays a fine. While it seemed kinda expensive in our book, it really wasn't...due to being oceanfront and prime season. So the place was a dump. It was THE filthiest hotel we have EVER stayed in. Not only was it gross upon arrival, we also didn't get daily housekeeping that we were supposed to. And after playing softball and coming back to unclean room and wanting to shower...but no clean towels and we pick up phone to call desk and phone doesn't work....ugghhhh. We asked desk three times over 4 hours for clean towels before we got them. I typically would hang towels up and reuse but was grossed out hanging them against filthy wall and then reusing.

Anyway, I actually had conversation with DH on this trip about WDW and how I read bad reviews every now and again but WDW never makes me feel dirty and afraid to sit or lay my head on anything. I have no complaints after more than a dozen stays. One time, at BCV, we had a drippy tub faucet and we told CM at check out. We had a dryer at BWV that took like three cycles through to dry...we just ran three cycles and dealt with it. Overall pleased with WDW/DVC housekeeping and maintenance. The Myrtle Beach place even had dirty public spaces...disgusting elevators, barf in parking garage, carpeted outdoor hallways covered in filth. Disney would NEVER have that. Ick ick ick...I need to go take a 30 minute shower to wash it all away. When we checked into this place the check in desk actually had a big leaky spot on the ceiling that was dripping right over where the desk. Not being repaired, just dripping. Very odd.

 

[amccu18007]

Interesting, this thread pops up right now. We just,today, got home from a trip to Myrtle Beach. We stayed in an oceanfront resort that cost us $250 a night. We had to stay there for DDs' softball tourney where the tourney makes you stay a specific hotels or the team pays a fine. While it seemed kinda expensive in our book, it really wasn't...due to being oceanfront and prime season. So the place was a dump. It was THE filthiest hotel we have EVER stayed in. Not only was it gross upon arrival, we also didn't get daily housekeeping that we were supposed to. And after playing softball and coming back to unclean room and wanting to shower...but no clean towels and we pick up phone to call desk and phone doesn't work....ugghhhh. We asked desk three times over 4 hours for clean towels before we got them. I typically would hang towels up and reuse but was grossed out hanging them against filthy wall and then reusing.

Anyway, I actually had conversation with DH on this trip about WDW and how I read bad reviews every now and again but WDW never makes me feel dirty and afraid to sit or lay my head on anything. I have no complaints after more than a dozen stays. One time, at BCV, we had a drippy tub faucet and we told CM at check out. We had a dryer at BWV that took like three cycles through to dry...we just ran three cycles and dealt with it. Overall pleased with WDW/DVC housekeeping and maintenance. The Myrtle Beach place even had dirty public spaces...disgusting elevators, barf in parking garage, carpeted outdoor hallways covered in filth. Disney would NEVER have that. Ick ick ick...I need to go take a 30 minute shower to wash it all away. When we checked into this place the check in desk actually had a big leaky spot on the ceiling that was dripping right over where the desk. Not being repaired, just dripping. Very odd.

Which hotel was it? Sounds like a Hilton hotel at Myrtle we were in for a dance competition. Trash floating in one of the pools, yucky hallways, no towels, no housekeeping just a complete dump! I agree I have never felt that way at Disney. They at least have some accountability to its customers and things are being constantly maintained.

 

[Kidanifan08]

Interesting, this thread pops up right now. We just,today, got home from a trip to Myrtle Beach. We stayed in an oceanfront resort that cost us $250 a night. We had to stay there for DDs' softball tourney where the tourney makes you stay a specific hotels or the team pays a fine. While it seemed kinda expensive in our book, it really wasn't...due to being oceanfront and prime season. So the place was a dump. It was THE filthiest hotel we have EVER stayed in. Not only was it gross upon arrival, we also didn't get daily housekeeping that we were supposed to. And after playing softball and coming back to unclean room and wanting to shower...but no clean towels and we pick up phone to call desk and phone doesn't work....ugghhhh. We asked desk three times over 4 hours for clean towels before we got them. I typically would hang towels up and reuse but was grossed out hanging them against filthy wall and then reusing.

Anyway, I actually had conversation with DH on this trip about WDW and how I read bad reviews every now and again but WDW never makes me feel dirty and afraid to sit or lay my head on anything. I have no complaints after more than a dozen stays. One time, at BCV, we had a drippy tub faucet and we told CM at check out. We had a dryer at BWV that took like three cycles through to dry...we just ran three cycles and dealt with it. Overall pleased with WDW/DVC housekeeping and maintenance. The Myrtle Beach place even had dirty public spaces...disgusting elevators, barf in parking garage, carpeted outdoor hallways covered in filth. Disney would NEVER have that. Ick ick ick...I need to go take a 30 minute shower to wash it all away. When we checked into this place the check in desk actually had a big leaky spot on the ceiling that was dripping right over where the desk. Not being repaired, just dripping. Very odd.

That sounds awful! Actually, I didn't start the thread to complain about things not working or not being right. I primarily am surprised that minor service issues don't seem to be reported. In a condo the size of the DVC villas, things are going to eventually need service. I'm just surprised that members choose not to report those issues regularly, given the ease of reporting the problems and the expediency of the engineering team. After all, we are members of a "club" and perhaps should try to leave the unit in as good of shape as we would like it for the next guest. Maybe DVC should leave a form on the kitchen counter to report any deficiencies and housekeeping could pass it on to the maintenance folks after cleaning a room.

 

[lovin'fl]

That sounds awful! Actually, I didn't start the thread to complain about things not working or not being right. I primarily am surprised that minor service issues don't seem to be reported. In a condo the size of the DVC villas, things are going to eventually need service. I'm just surprised that members choose not to report those issues regularly, given the ease of reporting the problems and the expediency of the engineering team. After all, we are members of a "club" and perhaps should try to leave the unit in as good of shape as we would like it for the next guest. Maybe DVC should leave a form on the kitchen counter to report any deficiencies and housekeeping could pass it on to the maintenance folks after cleaning a room.

I know you didnt (the bolded above). I told CM at check out, at BCV about drippy tub, and my guess is many folks do so as well and I have a feeling it gets lost in shuffle. DVC should have some notification system so we can let them know...kinda like my townhome HOA has an online submission for repairs.They read it and either say 'not their issue' or 'pending repairs'....not in those exact words. And then once repairs are done it will say 'complete'.

 

[lovin'fl]

Which hotel was it? Sounds like a Hilton hotel at Myrtle we were in for a dance competition. Trash floating in one of the pools, yucky hallways, no towels, no housekeeping just a complete dump! I agree I have never felt that way at Disney. They at least have some accountability to its customers and things are being constantly maintained.

Bay Watch. I asked to check out early without penalty and they did agree to that....got money back for days we didn't stay. So I was happy they did that for us. We went inland to a chain hotel for remainder. Does dance do the stay to play stuff like softball....where you have to stay at the hotels they say or pay a fine?

 

[amccu18007]

Bay Watch. I asked to check out early without penalty and they did agree to that....got money back for days we didn't stay. So I was happy they did that for us. We went inland to a chain hotel for remainder. Does dance do the pay to play stuff like softball....where you have to stay at the hotels they say or pay a fine?

No pay and play fines however, you have to travel with huge suitcases full of costumes, crazy call times and the fact that you need to be in full costume with hair and makeup done means you need to stay at the "Host" hotel so it is basically the same thing
I was excited that they chose a Hilton but nope, it wasn't Disney. High turnover rates at a destination location plus no upkeep equals a slum hotel.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Interesting, this thread pops up right now. We just,today, got home from a trip to Myrtle Beach. We stayed in an oceanfront resort that cost us $250 a night. We had to stay there for DDs' softball tourney where the tourney makes you stay a specific hotels or the team pays a fine. While it seemed kinda expensive in our book, it really wasn't...due to being oceanfront and prime season. So the place was a dump. It was THE filthiest hotel we have EVER stayed in. Not only was it gross upon arrival, we also didn't get daily housekeeping that we were supposed to. And after playing softball and coming back to unclean room and wanting to shower...but no clean towels and we pick up phone to call desk and phone doesn't work....ugghhhh. We asked desk three times over 4 hours for clean towels before we got them. I typically would hang towels up and reuse but was grossed out hanging them against filthy wall and then reusing.

Anyway, I actually had conversation with DH on this trip about WDW and how I read bad reviews every now and again but WDW never makes me feel dirty and afraid to sit or lay my head on anything. I have no complaints after more than a dozen stays. One time, at BCV, we had a drippy tub faucet and we told CM at check out. We had a dryer at BWV that took like three cycles through to dry...we just ran three cycles and dealt with it. Overall pleased with WDW/DVC housekeeping and maintenance. The Myrtle Beach place even had dirty public spaces...disgusting elevators, barf in parking garage, carpeted outdoor hallways covered in filth. Disney would NEVER have that. Ick ick ick...I need to go take a 30 minute shower to wash it all away. When we checked into this place the check in desk actually had a big leaky spot on the ceiling that was dripping right over where the desk. Not being repaired, just dripping. Very odd.

When talking about Disney I have not really had any bad experiences with the housekeeping side itself. But I do think they ought to be used in a system to report any room issues they notice. I did get one room at BC (so hotel side) that icked me out enough to ask to move although I spent one night in it after having arrived after midnight after traveling from the West coast. The room they moved me to was pretty beat up but at least it was clean and no "maintenance" issues per se other than needing a full refurb.

Now I have family that could not quite match your tale but they found their rooms at one of the Disney moderates to be pretty dirty and disgusting so I'm afraid Disney doesn't have a clean pass on it all either.

 

[keishashadow]

Bay Watch. I asked to check out early without penalty and they did agree to that....got money back for days we didn't stay. So I was happy they did that for us. We went inland to a chain hotel for remainder. Does dance do the stay to play stuff like softball....where you have to stay at the hotels they say or pay a fine?

OT but from years of going to MB, will say the overall quality of properties is well, we call it up to beach standards to be kind.

A property like Baywatch, being so large & condos (privately owned units) run by several different management companies, can certainly be hit or miss. One condo can be perfectly satisfactory, the neighboring one in disrepair. Not there for a competition, we are able to pick from a handful of resort properties we know that are family-owned and have high standards

Shocked they did agree to early departure/refund of monies. Leads me to think it wasn't the first time somebody complained, yikes.

 

[jo-jo]

Ugh, I know and deeply understand the feeling of responding to an awkward position. Sorry you felt this way!
As a "rule" (meant to be broken, right?) we don't tip engineering/maint. However, yes, we've found ourselves in positions where we felt pressure to tip engineering. Ugh. For us, it was at the Poly, soon after re-opening as villas, on requesting a DVD player be brought to the room. Here is our mental process on that request:

1. The DVD player, in our opinion, should have been a default feature in the room.
2. We could have simply picked up a player at the same time as signing the check-out forms for the DVD. We could have quite easily connected the player to the TV on our own.
3. We returned to the room and waited for engineering to bring the DVD player.
4. Engineering made a big "display" about connecting the player. They gave us the impression that delivering and installing a DVD player was "above and beyond" their duty. (Which, of course, raised the hair on the back of my neck as I felt, equally strongly, that the darn player should have been a default element of the room. GRRRR)

So, somehow in the nature of mankind, I felt it necessary to tip the engineer ... as a means of calming my own angst over the ordeal. How does that work?!?! Oh, well.

That day was arrival day and DH always likes to rest for a bit (he was on balcony) before heading out. But as best as we can, if we need something fixed, we call and head out.

 

[disneynutz]

I suggested the "needs attention" form to Disney/DVC years ago, several times. Apparently it isn't important to them to fix the problems. For us we got more than our share of room issues because we were going to WDW several times per year with 3 split stays per stay. We would have 12 or more different rooms each year so we got to see it all.

Bill

 

[Rochester Disney Fan]

I do a quick walk through when we arrive no matter if its DVC or not and try to make sure everything is ok and that they don't think we were the family who broke it. This way I can have it addressed right away and hopefully not have to worry about it.