Bad experience I read about that makes me question buying DVC

[DonMacGregor]

To continue my random reporting on anecdotal accounts from FB, today I read someone and other posters complained that a dvc reservation was moved from a Poly studio, to a cash Poly theme park view room. Party of 5 (which to me is too big for either, but I understand that many and most max out occupancy.) This seems like a great upgrade for that room, the cash room is usually sold out and frequently not available for discounts most of the year and often over $1k a night, ( I've booked it, and love the view). So goes to show how complicated room preference and customer satisfaction is.

That is the more common occurrence. As has been said ad nauseum, there are a finite number of DVC villas, which we ALL know run at close to 100% occupancy (as is supported by the ubiquitous complaints about zero availability). How people can read and complain about a lack of availability, then complain if they can't be moved to an identical room in a sold-out resort due to an unforeseen event is beyond me. If there aren't rooms 5 months out, there probably aren't a great many sitting empty at 5 hours out. Plus, most of these conditions aren't discovered until mousekeeping enters a room at turnover (and that's assuming it's the first room they enter to flip). Four or five hours may not be enough to fix whatever your fellow DVC owner did to the room (or whatever other condition that may exist). In that Poly instance, there was still complaining about the cash room not having two bathrooms. What do people want, Disney to build a second bathroom in 3 or 4 hours? There were no more rooms, so they were offered something as close as possible to what they had booked.

Because people are rightfully passionate about their favorite resorts and work so hard to get the room that they want, either through booking way out, stalking, or walking, it's highly likely that the resort's first move is to try and get the room fixed if possible (which may take time and ultimately prove to be a fruitless effort), the second to try and at least get you into a room at the same resort (that Riviera Tower Studio or the Poly cash room for example), then finally look to other resorts for rooms.

I get the feeling that some of the "they didn't tell me until 5 o'clock that my room was unavailable" reports are the result of trying to get whatever issues exist in the room fixed. It's the solution that works out best for the member, and also for Disney. Maybe they should at least give some cautionary warning as soon as the issue is discovered, just to temper expectations. That way, if they can't get it fixed, the member at least sees it coming, and if they DO get it fixed, then all is good.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

I read this post, and it doesn't make me feel like my DVC purchase was a poor decision. People tend to post their bad experiences much more often than their good ones (although bragging about being pixie dusted seems to be an exception).

I wouldn't let this, or the Poly post, affect my decision of whether or not to buy DVC.

 

[Brian Noble]

most of these conditions aren't discovered until mousekeeping enters a room at turnover

We had a 1BR at BCV many years back that had its dishwasher pump fail, leaving a bunch of dirty dishwater in the bottom of the machine at the end of the cycle. If that had happened on a turn, we probably would not have gotten the room, but it happened a few days into our week, so we had to make do until it was fixed. Moving wasn't really an option, because this was during F&W/Fall Frenzy.

It took them two days to replace it, during which time the water fermented, but that's another story for another time.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

We had our worst room experience happen over this past 4th of July stay. A $200 room credit was given, accepted, and I do think if something like that happens again, I will be selling many, though not all, of our points. It happened at BCV, and they found us something at YC.

Would love to hear more about it.

 

[Jwaire]

You don’t have to accept their first offer. I wouldn’t have accepted a SS treehouse over a 1-bedroom at Rivera. The location is terrible, the rooms are outdated, transportation is horrible and the units desperately need an upgrade.

The chance of Rivera being at 100% capacity is pretty slim unless it’s a holiday. Not all the rooms are declared yet, so there’s a plethora of options on the cash side. They just wanted her to accept the easy way out. There are always other options (bungalows, 2-bedrooms, suites, accessibility rooms, etc.).

Sometimes you have to stand your ground.

 

[Sammie]

To me it shows how poor Treehouses are. If they had their own private bussing to the parks maybe I would consider trying it but SSR to me looks terrible for getting around and Treehouse is even worse because its not even close enough to easily walk to Disney Springs.

Every 1BR is inflated in DVC in my opinion.

Actually SSR and OKW are the most centrally located DVC locations to all 4 parks and definitely Disney Springs. If you are only going to one park or two, then yes other locations work better.

 

[DonMacGregor]

You don’t have to accept their first offer. I wouldn’t have accepted a SS treehouse over a 1-bedroom at Rivera. The location is terrible, the rooms are outdated, transportation is horrible and the units desperately need an upgrade.

The chance of Rivera being at 100% capacity is pretty slim unless it’s a holiday. Not all the rooms are declared yet, so there’s a plethora of options on the cash side. They just wanted her to accept the easy way out. There are always other options (bungalows, 2-bedrooms, suites, accessibility rooms, etc.).

Sometimes you have to stand your ground.

So you think that if there was an available room on the cash side, one that wasn’t going to see any occupants anyway, that it was somehow easier for them to make arrangements to transfer the reservation to a completely different resort, as well as transferring the point credit from one resort to another, rather than simply moving them into another room.

And they did offer a Tower Studio first, which I guess means they were fine offering a studio, but a one bedroom that was otherwise sitting empty anyway (assuming they had one) was just too much for them to offer?

 

[BeachClub2014]

I read this post, and it doesn't make me feel like my DVC purchase was a poor decision. People tend to post their bad experiences much more often than their good ones (although bragging about being pixie dusted seems to be an exception).

I wouldn't let this, or the Poly post, affect my decision of whether or not to buy DVC.

Indeed. It does, on occasion, cause one to scratch one's head and ask why some folks actually own DVC if they dislike it so.

I 100% agree with your last comment. The DIS can be a great place to become educated on DVC and to read the perspective of other folks, but I wouldn't allow opinions found here to drive that sort of economic decision. Sometimes the challenge is in differentiating between what is fact and what is opinion.

 

[Genie+]

My cautionary tale though is the one and only time we had a mishap with the bungalows we ended up at CCV in a 3BD and now I desperately want (but can't afford at the moment) CCV points as well to be able to stay there again. DVC upgrades can be dangerous...

Did they refund points after moving your Bungalow reservation to the CC Grand Villa? The Bungalows are between 20-25% more points a night. Doesn’t seem like an upgrade unless something else was traded.

 

[Jwaire]

So you think that if there was an available room on the cash side, one that wasn’t going to see any occupants anyway, that it was somehow easier for them to make arrangements to transfer the reservation to a completely different resort, as well as transferring the point credit from one resort to another, rather than simply moving them into another room.

And they did offer a Tower Studio first, which I guess means they were fine offering a studio, but a one bedroom that was otherwise sitting empty anyway (assuming they had one) was just too much for them to offer?

It's a vast resort. There's always options.

Even if there wasn't availability at Rivera (again, there's currently quite a bit of cash availability at this resort), there are much more equivalent accommodations property wide. Grand Floridian (cash side) and Poly (cash) are rarely at capacity. I don't know her specific situation (holiday, demanded certain room type, didn't want to move after the first night, refused to wait until a room's ready, etc.), however I find it hard to believe there were no other accommodations property wide that night but the Treehouses and a tower room.

Do I think it's easier to move points between DVC resorts versus having a guest move to the cash side of another resort? Absolutely. They're always going to offer the easy way out first. They don't want to deal with cash reimbursements (It comes out of DVC's pocket.). And some cast members and managers are more adept in dealing with situations like this than others.

The good thing is this rarely happens and if something does occur, they generally try to make you happy by placing you in an upgraded room. I've had many friends get bungalows, cabins and cash-side rooms because of problems. PVB has serious plumbing issues (they've been working on it by laying new pipe) and it's nothing for the them to move you over to the cash side there.

 

[Sandisw]

It's a vast resort. There's always options.

Even if there wasn't availability at Rivera (again, there's currently quite a bit of cash availability at this resort), there are much more equivalent accommodations property wide. Grand Floridian (cash side) and Poly (cash) are rarely at capacity. I don't know her specific situation (holiday, demanded certain room type, didn't want to move after the first night, refused to wait until a room's ready, etc.), however I find it hard to believe there were no other accommodations property wide that night but the Treehouses and a tower room.

Do I think it's easier to move points between DVC resorts versus having a guest move to the cash side of another resort? Absolutely. They're always going to offer the easy way out first. They don't want to deal with cash reimbursements (It comes out of DVC's pocket.). And some cast members and managers are more adept in dealing with situations like this than others.

The good thing is this rarely happens and if something does occur, they generally try to make you happy by placing you in an upgraded room. I've had many friends get bungalows, cabins and cash-side rooms because of problems. PVB has serious plumbing issues (they've been working on it by laying new pipe) and it's nothing for the them to move you over to the cash side there.

And without someone actually being there..the mom was not..so she was relying on what was shared by her son..we don’t know what was offered other than what was reported.

Maybe the other options at other resorts were just studios or hotel rooms.

Maybe it was “the only larger unit we have right now is a Treehouse Villa. And it was accepted.

Or maybe it was” we can get you in that room in a few days or we can move yoy to the treehouse for the whole time? And it was accepted.

I get why the tower studio was offered because it was at RIV and having been moved at the resort when they needed my 1 bedroom…I was moved to a 2 bedroom… I know they’ll keep you there if they can.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Did they refund points after moving your Bungalow reservation to the CC Grand Villa? The Bungalows are between 20-25% more points a night. Doesn’t seem like an upgrade unless something else was traded.

Not to set up unrealistic expectations but sufice it to say that we were VERY satisfied with the outcome.

 

[Genie+]

Not to set up unrealistic expectations but sufice it to say that we were VERY satisfied with the outcome.

That’s great to hear.

 

[WDWkristin]

The most alarming thing to me in that story is that a RIV 1BR is 44 freaking points so that it almost equals a treehouse.. That's crazy. Just shows you how inflated RIV's chart is.

DVC is massive. Each hotel is hundreds of rooms. And they are mostly aging hotels. Things happen, and rooms get shuffled. This happens in any hotel.

I can tell you a lot of issues I have with DVC's customer service, like my nightmare of a construction room. But this story doesn't make me think twice. If you are looking for a VIP/feel special/super good customer service experience, DVC isn't it.

Agreed! Some of the point charts are so crazy. I would rather do 2 weeks at Boardwalk than 1 week at RiV!

 

[Robbie Cottam]

So I recently joined the FB DVCfan group to learn more about DVC and just read a woman saying her son booked a 1bedroom preferred view at the Rivera and when they arrived the room wasn't ready and then at 545 they were notified the room had an engineering problem and were offered a Tower studio room, or a treehouse villa at SSR. They accepted the treehouse and were told they would get the 4 points difference back (49 vs 44). Her post was related to an even more stressful experience regarding getting those points back . But I was bothered by the whole first issue. Being double downgraded from a 1 bedroom preferred to a studio. Especially if you had special plans for the trip etc. Also, the fact they expected the person to essentially rebook on the spot to the only room available at the resort. Is this standard practice? I feel thats an exceptionally large risk to invest in DVC points at resort and then have them force you to use them on a room thats not what you selected. I would have expected the studio be comped and the points be retuned in whole and with an exception to banking deadline if needed etc.

Am I missing something about DVC? The scenario just seemed rather unfair and wondering how this has been handled otherwise. Are you treated like a valued guest, or no because you signed up for 50 years?

I have had issues with the room on there different trips over 16 years….. multiple trips per year….

each time the room I was schedule had been damaged by the previous guess. Twice by smokers, once by college kids, to many people in the room.

every time I was offered anything that was available at that resort. And usually, something better at another resort….

it was never Disney fault the room had been misused….

the always did the best they could to make the problem right….

 

[WDWkristin]

Good things happen, bad things happen. We have been upgraded to bigger rooms and nicer views and we have had our room ready before 9am. We’ve never hit a maintenance issue or got our room after 5:30pm. Sharing to add this into the anecdotal average of experiences.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

I just wanted to say, the original complainant followed up the post to say they went up the DVC food chain and had a very successful outcome with points refunded (after initially running into several reps on the phone who were NOT helpful.). OP, nicely, kicked it upstairs and the matter was resolved to her satisfaction with much apologizing from the higher-ups.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Just another data point... My wife checked into Saratoga Springs yesterday for a quick trip with a friend. The room was ready at 11:15 and it was immaculate.

 

[PalmettoPath]

I have owned for a decade and go twice (sometimes three times) a year and this has never happened to me.

Same here. We are 11 years in to DVC. We visit for three weeks each year. Never have had this happen (knocking on wood). We have inevitable other issues where points were returned to our account and even that went fine. It's not immediate, but it went through their admin hoops and I think about two weeks later everything was done.

 

[E2ME2]

The most alarming thing to me in that story is that a RIV 1BR is 44 freaking points so that it almost equals a treehouse.. That's crazy. Just shows you how inflated RIV's chart is.

DVC is massive. Each hotel is hundreds of rooms. And they are mostly aging hotels. Things happen, and rooms get shuffled. This happens in any hotel.

I can tell you a lot of issues I have with DVC's customer service, like my nightmare of a construction room. But this story doesn't make me think twice. If you are looking for a VIP/feel special/super good customer service experience, DVC isn't it.

In my 12 years with DVC I have encountered a few issues. Nothing major, but one was borderline major when our BWV room was flooded by the hallway sprinkler when a laundry room incident triggered the fire alarm.
In every issue, however, DVC was quick to respond and attempt to make things right.
Additionally, there have been several times when we received a pixie-dust upgrade or extra benefit without even asking.
I still feel like we are getting the VIP treatment, and 80% of the CMs provide that Super Good Customer Service.

Don't burst my bubble !