Back from BWV......Very Disappointed and Disgusted

[Crissup]

I guess I'm different then. I much rather pay the price and have excellent service

I agree. I'm all for controlling costs, but I still expect the quality that I bought into during my stay. There's a point where cost cutting just doesn't make sense anymore. If the current staff isn't doing their job, retrain them or replace them. If the issue is insufficient staff, then increase the staff. If I want cheap cost and cheap quality, I'll stay offsite.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

The past few months I have been reading all kinds of "rare event, rare happening, etc". Suddenly all of these rare occurances have become very common place. I don't want my dues increased because someone doesn't feel like doing thier job. It takes all of 1 minute to look in the washer and dryer. How about another 2 minutes to take a clean cloth and wipe down the washer drum.

So we keep sending Member Satisfaction disgruntled letters, emails. No action is being taken. What other avenues do we as owners have?
So glad I have sold off half of my points, with 25% left to go. Gotta hold onto my VWL. I had a bad CM experience there, though as well. They only had one washer working for the entire week. I called on a Monday, Friday still not fixed. Called several times, spoke with managers, etc. Same old response "It's been called in." This is getting old people.

 

[Splashboat]

We have not had one vacation yet where we did not experience problems with housekeeping - cash or point reservation. Once, on the second night of vacation at a moderate, I felt something at my feet. I looked down and found some little Barbie accessories. I am can only assume that meant the sheets were not changed - talk about disgusting!
We stay on property because of everything that comes with the experience of staying on site. I now basically enter the room with the assumption it has not been cleaned at all. I clean everything - including running all the kitchen items we will use through the dishwasher. We put a do not disturb sign on the door the whole trip because I don't want to have to clean after housekeeping - again. (Lack of housekeeping was high on our list of reasons to buy DVC). It is unfortunate it has come to this but keep in mind, blood you can see, imagine all the things that happen you can't see?

 

[Alexander]

Rooms are not inspected any longer which is another problem.

We have had our room inspected recently. We arrived and were assigned our room. When we got to the room we could hear voices inside. We were hesitant to go in thinking maybe we had been assigned an occupied room (this has happened before). However, when I opened the door, the housekeeping supervisor apologized and said she was just going over the checklist with the housekeeper. Maybe it was a new housekeeper, but she was definitely inspecting the room.

 

[Alexander]

I agree. I'm all for controlling costs, but I still expect the quality that I bought into during my stay. There's a point where cost cutting just doesn't make sense anymore. If the current staff isn't doing their job, retrain them or replace them. If the issue is insufficient staff, then increase the staff. If I want cheap cost and cheap quality, I'll stay offsite.

They need to start by paying their employees a fair wage. Why do you think there are so few Americans actually getting their hands dirty at WDW? They have to hire people who will work for next to nothing. Sometimes this means people who have lower standards of acceptability or are simply college kids in the intern program (have you seen their apartments or dorms?).

If someone is compensated a fair wage, they may just be willing to work harder, or you may be able to hire others who will.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

If someone is compensated a fair wage, they may just be willing to work harder, or you may be able to hire others who will.

I don't buy that. Whether I feel I am compensated enough or not, if I don't do my job, I get fired. These people need to be supervised.

 

[crisi]

I guess I'm different then. I much rather pay the price and have excellent service then this piss poor crap that disney calls mousekeeping. I'm sick of having to call the desk because of basic cleaning issues. It took disney 3 freakin days one trip to clean the cigarette butts off of the balcony. 3 days AFTER I complain. and yes it was an issue because we love to end the day sitting on our balcony.

Why can't housekeeping check the washers and dryers at the beginning of each day? My son did when he worked at the laundrymat. That was part of his duties, to keep the machines clean. people leave clothes all the time in the dryers and washers. Seems like a simple thing. not like they are 500 machines in the laundry rooms. what are there 10 tops.

Very easy. Open lid, remove any left over clothes, wipe out drum with clean cloth, close lid.

LOL and people tease me about double checking the appliances when I get to a disney villa, I know they aren't cleaned. Yuck.

Op, sorry about the issues. I would have been p.oed also.

I actually agree, my only point of disagreement is that the washer and dryer aren't basic cleaning issues. My point however, is that this isn't Disney having plenty of money to do this with, it's us. And if Disney, and some of us, want the program to grow (and frankly, it my opinion that it is too big), dues have to stay low to drive sales.

And to continue to be frank, I don't think DVC cares about this sort of thing and all the member griping in the world isnt going to change it. If they were to raise dues to improve housekeeping, I don't think we'd actually get improvement. But DVC will happily take their our money plus the 15% management fee to try, if they didn't think it would hurt sales.

It would be great if I'm wrong, but there have been these stories for too long.

 

[Tinker Bell Fan]

We stayed at BWV June 18-21 in a 2 bedroom pool view room. We were so excited about staying there for the first time, but unfortunately we were very disappointed. ... Some might not agree with me, but as a DVC member, my expectations are a little higher. I expect things to be clean and in order, and I expect exceptional customer service. IMO, we as members, pay too much for anything less. My DH and I talked about it and will be calling DVC to talk with them about this. We feel this is something that needs to be brought to their attention.

OP - I totally agree with you.

As DVC members we pay a lot and should have exceptional customer service and the room should be clean and in order. DH & I have said the same thing, because as DVC members we will visit more than just once in a while - we're members - we should be treated special. And I'm not saying we should get "free" things - so please don't construe "treated special" with "getting free things"; like having our room ready & cleaned before the 4pm check-in - that is what I mean by being treated "special". simple little things can mean a lot.

OP - hopefully your next trip will be much better!

 

[lilpooh108]

OP- we also had a poor experience with our BWV 2 bdrm. It was disgusting and I did a long posting here last October 2011 about it. We had just closed on our BWV contract...Suffice it to say it was a disappointment.

I can't believe some ppl here would tell you to wipe off the blood yourself. That's disgusting. That's why at the Doctor's offices there are trash bins for regular trash and trash bins for "biohazard" waste. Yuck.

I didn't read through all of the posts but I hoped you contacted member satisfaction. They really need to know about this stuff.

 

[deegack]

my sister arrived today and reserved a 2 bedroom. Not only did she not get a two bedroom but a one bedroom lock off, but it was not cleaned from the previous guests.
She asked them to try and find her a two bedroom to move into tomorrow anywhere but SSR, and so far received some VIP fast passes. I told her to sleep on it tonight and talk to the manager in the morning. She had been up since 3 am and was too tired to think straight.

 

[DebbieB]

my sister arrived today and reserved a 2 bedroom. Not only did she not get a two bedroom but a one bedroom lock off, but it was not cleaned from the previous guests.
She asked them to try and find her a two bedroom to move into tomorrow anywhere but SSR, and so far received some VIP fast passes. I told her to sleep on it tonight and talk to the manager in the morning. She had been up since 3 am and was too tired to think straight.

Was this at BWV? BWV only has 2 bedroom lockoffs, no dedicated. Or did she only get a 1 bedroom?

 

[Deb & Bill]

my sister arrived today and reserved a 2 bedroom. Not only did she not get a two bedroom but a one bedroom lock off, but it was not cleaned from the previous guests.
She asked them to try and find her a two bedroom to move into tomorrow anywhere but SSR, and so far received some VIP fast passes. I told her to sleep on it tonight and talk to the manager in the morning. She had been up since 3 am and was too tired to think straight.

So she reserved a two bedroom and only got a one bedroom?

 

[Sammie]

We have had our room inspected recently. We arrived and were assigned our room. When we got to the room we could hear voices inside. We were hesitant to go in thinking maybe we had been assigned an occupied room (this has happened before). However, when I opened the door, the housekeeping supervisor apologized and said she was just going over the checklist with the housekeeper. Maybe it was a new housekeeper, but she was definitely inspecting the room.

That is great, hopefully they are bringing this back. They used to have someone walk through the rooms before releasing them to the guest.

It was cut during budget cutting. Hopefully they do it now, as some housekeepers just do not seem to do as good a job as others, which is why you will get different reports of room cleaning at the same resort.

 

[deegack]

So she reserved a two bedroom and only got a one bedroom?

Yup reserved a two bedroom and there were none available when she arrived so ended up with a one bedroom. They didn't even mention it at check in just gave her a room number.

 

[goodferry]

Yikes! Did she have a cash or points reservation?

 

[deegack]

Yikes! Did she have a cash or points reservation?

Points. She said they didn't give a reason ie maintance issue in the room just said they were booked up. Still doesn't excuse giving them a dirty room.

 

[tjkraz]

Just a couple of general comments:

1. The problem should have never happened but glad to hear it was addressed quickly and amicably.

2. 100% quality assurance is never, ever, EVER going to happen. Walt Disney World employs nearly 70,000 people. Not every CM can be screened, cross-checked, supervised and otherwise managed such that their work is impeccable every single minute they are on the job.

3. In addition to the number of CMs, it's worth noting that there are something like 5000 - 7000 DVC check-ins every single week. One or two or ten or twenty bad reports in a week still equates to a level of quality and satisfaction that most businesses could only dream of achieving.

4. With all of the above said, folks who live and die with every third-person account posted to an Internet forum are needlessly adding to their own aggravation, IMO. No matter what DVC does. No matter how positive of an impact Clair Bilby has. No matter how many levels of room inspections and supervision are added, problems will slip through the cracks.

It's very unfortunate that this happened to OP and again I'm glad it was resolved quickly and with a nice credit offered. But this discussion is of no value when trying to evaluate Disney's success or failure in dealing with thousands of arriving guests per week. 10 threads like this tell us nothing. 100 threads like this tell us nothing. We just don't have the data to determine the extent of such problems occurring at the resorts.

Best thing any Disney guest can do--DVC member or not--is to approach their trip with high expectations and deal with any issues as they occur. Contact housekeeping. Walk to the front desk and speak with a manager. Disney still has high standards for its staff and will typically bend over backward to help resolve any issues if/when they occur.

 

[iluveeyore]

Yup reserved a two bedroom and there were none available when she arrived so ended up with a one bedroom. They didn't even mention it at check in just gave her a room number.

But if all 2 bedrooms are a lock-off, then she would have to open the door in between the studio and the one bedroom, making it a two bedroom - maybe they didn't explain it to her? I find it incredible you can reserve a 2 bdrm and only get a 1 bdrm without a credit or being moved immediately. Let us know how she makes out!

 

[debbieandroo]

Just a couple of general comments:

1. The problem should have never happened but glad to hear it was addressed quickly and amicably.

2. 100% quality assurance is never, ever, EVER going to happen. Walt Disney World employs nearly 70,000 people. Not every CM can be screened, cross-checked, supervised and otherwise managed such that their work is impeccable every single minute they are on the job.

3. In addition to the number of CMs, it's worth noting that there are something like 5000 - 7000 DVC check-ins every single week. One or two or ten or twenty bad reports in a week still equates to a level of quality and satisfaction that most businesses could only dream of achieving.

4. With all of the above said, folks who live and die with every third-person account posted to an Internet forum are needlessly adding to their own aggravation, IMO. No matter what DVC does. No matter how positive of an impact Clair Bilby has. No matter how many levels of room inspections and supervision are added, problems will slip through the cracks.

It's very unfortunate that this happened to OP and again I'm glad it was resolved quickly and with a nice credit offered. But this discussion is of no value when trying to evaluate Disney's success or failure in dealing with thousands of arriving guests per week. 10 threads like this tell us nothing. 100 threads like this tell us nothing. We just don't have the data to determine the extent of such problems occurring at the resorts.

Best thing any Disney guest can do--DVC member or not--is to approach their trip with high expectations and deal with any issues as they occur. Contact housekeeping. Walk to the front desk and speak with a manager. Disney still has high standards for its staff and will typically bend over backward to help resolve any issues if/when they occur.

My thoughts exactly, Tim, although you were far more clear than I would have been.

 

[jekjones1558]

Just a couple of general comments:

1. The problem should have never happened but glad to hear it was addressed quickly and amicably.

2. 100% quality assurance is never, ever, EVER going to happen. Walt Disney World employs nearly 70,000 people. Not every CM can be screened, cross-checked, supervised and otherwise managed such that their work is impeccable every single minute they are on the job.

3. In addition to the number of CMs, it's worth noting that there are something like 5000 - 7000 DVC check-ins every single week. One or two or ten or twenty bad reports in a week still equates to a level of quality and satisfaction that most businesses could only dream of achieving.

4. With all of the above said, folks who live and die with every third-person account posted to an Internet forum are needlessly adding to their own aggravation, IMO. No matter what DVC does. No matter how positive of an impact Clair Bilby has. No matter how many levels of room inspections and supervision are added, problems will slip through the cracks.

It's very unfortunate that this happened to OP and again I'm glad it was resolved quickly and with a nice credit offered. But this discussion is of no value when trying to evaluate Disney's success or failure in dealing with thousands of arriving guests per week. 10 threads like this tell us nothing. 100 threads like this tell us nothing. We just don't have the data to determine the extent of such problems occurring at the resorts.

Best thing any Disney guest can do--DVC member or not--is to approach their trip with high expectations and deal with any issues as they occur. Contact housekeeping. Walk to the front desk and speak with a manager. Disney still has high standards for its staff and will typically bend over backward to help resolve any issues if/when they occur.

Well said. I was freaked out to read OP's experience but I am reminding myself that we have stayed at BWV at least 30 times and have always had clean rooms. In fact it seemed to me that our stays the last year or so there was an uptick in service. We even had our beds made and dishwasher loaded for trash and towel and others in our party had the GV's floor swept for trash and towel! We also have seen a supervisor monitoring. Still I am sure that the odds will one day catch up with us and have a problem like OP. I hope I remember to not lose my cool and instead handle it on the spot.
Glad you got some credit, OP. Thanks for the well thought out post, tjkraz.