At AKV Kidani right now - what would you do?

[TagsMissy]

OP... Just want to say when we were at Kidani not long after it opened we realized we weren't getting cold water in our cold cycle... we too contacted maintenance and they were dumbfounded, not certain if they checked the lines or not. They said it was fixed, our next load didn't require cold water washing so we never retested it, just trusted the maintenance guys that it was done... need to wonder if the whole resort has been connected like that -- hot to cold, cold to hot.

We were in a 2BR standard.

EDIT: Just adding I see now others are making comments about the washer too and apparently it's a quite wide-spread problem...

 

[Brian Noble]

I would write a list down of all of these things (on a the notepad in your room, if necessary), and leave it for the resort manager with your name, room number, and a "for your information".

You could ask for something, but then it becomes a "did I get what I want" situation, and that could well end up worse. If you treat this as a "I need you to know what is wrong with your resort so you can fix it" situation, you will likely feel better about the whole experience in the end.

Of course, the resort might offer you some token as well, and that couldn't hurt. But if you don't count on it, you can't be disappointed further.

 

[disneynutz]

For us it's not about compensation, it's about not getting what you are paying for and having it affect our vacation. We had some cleaning issues at SSR last December and I was asked by the Front of House manager, "what would it take to make us happy". I told him that we would be happy if the Disney CM's would do their job correctly. He gave a pre-rehearsed Disney answer and credited our account $100.

Bill

 

[dianeschlicht]

We didn't complain about the room because we had traveled 14 hours from Seattle with a delay and were just happy to get in our room, but next time I won't be so shy.

Next time don't be shy. The ONLY way to get things corrected is to let them know what isn't right. Some housekeepers are better than others, and at OKW there is one housekeeper assigned to each building. I found that out once when I had an issue. There is no way for OKW to know which housekeepers are slacking if you don't speak up AT THE TIME.

 

[hellerjw]

We too stayed at Kidani about a month after they opened and had the issue with reversed water lines on the washer. We reported it and they came and swapped them. Maintenance apparently knows this is a widespread issue and it should have been resolved within a few months of the opening. I can't believe its still happening. I can't imagine it taking more than 5 minutes to check a single washer for this issue (either visually or by actually starting a cold cycle to check the water temp) and maybe another 5 to fix it if they find its reversed. They could do a sweep of every unit in less than a week and have this fixed for good but apparently they prefer to be reactive not proactive.

This reactive, not proactive approach seems to permeate most aspects of a DVC resort's day-to-day management these days which is what disappoints me the most. Why not have housekeeping and maintenance managers actually do random spot checks, or even better, systematic checks of every unit over the course of a month? Many of the issues are rather obvious to the guests staying in the units so you would think someone who does it for a living would know right away there were problems. If its an incompetence or laziness issue, get rid of that person and find another. We all have to do more with less these days but that doesn't mean you can't do the best job possible with what you have to work with. I think as members we deserve clean, functioning rooms on each trip rather than having to act as DVC's health and safety inspectors.

 

[utahkennedys]

I have to say I am surprised at all of the issues I read about at various resorts here on the boards. We frequently stay at Marriott Vacation Club properties all over as well as Westin villas (and even a few Wyndham resorts)-- all without maintenance or cleanliness issues. It is making me a bit wary of my investment after this last trip. We also had a serious cleanliness issue at OKW about 4 stays ago, so I guess it's hit or miss? I would expect more consistency with Disney quality because of the premium being paid.

 

[marynvince]

there right now, in a 1 bedroom. Hope they are not having electrical issues. Yikes. It's there first trip to WDW with 3yodd.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I have to say I am surprised at all of the issues I read about at various resorts here on the boards. We frequently stay at Marriott Vacation Club properties all over as well as Westin villas (and even a few Wyndham resorts)-- all without maintenance or cleanliness issues. It is making me a bit wary of my investment after this last trip. We also had a serious cleanliness issue at OKW about 4 stays ago, so I guess it's hit or miss? I would expect more consistency with Disney quality because of the premium being paid.

I think there is some merit to your observation. We haven't had a lot of problems over the past 14 years of ownership, but I do think the turn over at Disney in general does make for some less than stellar housekeeping issues. FYI, that was not at all the case when we first purchased. I'd say the problems came up in the last 8 years or so.

 

[TisBit]

Someone else commented on the warranty on the building, etc. Of course there will be problems, but we didn't pay for problems, whether cash or membership.

That is where I digress into unreasonable expectations. If you never leave room for a problem and always have an expectation of perfection you will always be disappointed. Not the OP's situation, where there was a number of issues and some preventable.

I am not saying that I feel that it is ok to have mistakes and often contractors make mistakes and try ot cover them up instead of fixing them, but there are a lot of honest mistakes from hard workers that might make something less than acceptable.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Last August the bees wer SO BAD!!! We could not sit out on our balcony, and we repeatedly requested for them to spray for the bees. I have bee allergies, so this was really important to us. Well, we got a $75 credit due to the fact we could not use our balcony. They offered to put us in a new room, but we were only there for 4 days, and this was already day 2. So we declined, and took the credit. The bees were so bad throughout the main building, pool areas, etc. They really need to get their act together with pest control.

Went over to my beloved BWV during out stay....not a single bee!!!

 

[Jen_in_NH]

We had the same problem with the water when we stayed in December 2009. I don't know if the water was reversed for the washer, but it was for the bathroom off the kitchen in a 2BR. We mentioned it to the desk, and when maintenance came to look, they told us the lines were backwards, and there was no hot water to that bathroom. Ironically, the bathroom door for the second bedroom was missing too.... We just posted one of the kids as guard if someone needed to use the bathroom for a day, until they found a new door

 

[lundve]

We are back in our original room now.

The manager that was put in charge of our case was no short of amazing. I went and spoke to her in person this morning. She let us have both rooms for as long as we needed. We received a call from her on our cell phone that the electrical issues had been resolved around 2 pm. When we returned to our original room after packing the old one we also found she had ordered a full clean and save for some piles of our stuff it was in immaculate condition, a big improvement from check-in.

Save for the hours missed packing, moving, and unpacking, plus the stress I felt, things are good now. Our vacation hopefully is more normal now. And even though I feel I was compensated fairly monetarily I am going to speak to Member Services on my return home. I am DVC member and I like the other poster do hold DVC to a higher standard than others.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I am so glad they were able to get you back into your original room after all that hassle!

We were at Kidani two weeks ago and did have an issue where the power went out briefly in one of our villas in the middle of the day. They told my cousin and his wife who were in the room at the time that it was an issue affecting more than just our room as well but it was fixed quickly. It's strange that they are having multiple repeated electrical issues at the resort. I hope they get it all resolved quickly.