Bad experience I read about that makes me question buying DVC

[PinkPixel]

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?

 

[Marionnette]

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?

It's rare but happens. DVC runs at nearly 100% capacity, so there is almost no wiggle room when a room needs to be taken out of commission as a result of maintenance issues. Many times there aren't any other rooms at the same resort to move a guest to. So yes, it's possible that the Tower Studio was the only room available at Riviera and was offered because the reservation was only for 2 people, just in case the guests had strong feelings about staying at Riviera.

Any time that the hotel side gets involved with changing a DVC guest's reservation, it can mess up the member's points. Eventually, it gets ironed out but I'm not surprised that the woman is dealing with a headache trying to get her account straightened out.

 

[gmi3804]

The plural of anecdote is not data.

Guests need to be redirected on rare occasions. Almost all the time it turns out in the guest's favor. I don't think anyone else reading this is questioning their DVC purchase (based on this); I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

 

[Nursemanit]

100% of this can and does happen without DVC - It is just your refund that gets affected. I have been "walked" ( the hotel term for finding you another room when overbooked / maintenance issues) from Swan to Off site , and from a moderate to a value. This is not a DVC issue. Also in this case it was a mistake by a cast member the person was trying to profit from. In my opinion, she only deserved the 4 point difference.

 

[sethschroeder]

I suspect if they were firm that they would take the Tower Studio for the night but expected a 1BR the next day they would have gotten it. There is enough 1BRs that someone was likely checking out. The issue would have been passed to someone else unless the room was fixed.

Worst nightmare possible is what they went through.

 

[Bucketfoot]

This happens in hotels all the time and would have zero impact on my buying DVC or not. Would I be or have I been disappointed when things like this happen... yes. But some things are simply out
of everyones control.

 

[Minniesgal]

Things happen I think a treehouse is pretty good compensation I’d have been happy with that

 

[DonMacGregor]

As others have said. DVC is a timeshare, and as such, operates at close to 100% occupancy most of the time. Yes, DVC has a few rooms available from their own inventory, and some from "breakage", but the business model demands that every room be rented out every night. This can be a problem, especially if there is occupant damage or the inevitable mechanical/plumbing/electric issues that plague every hotel and resort. It's no fun and no one wants it to happen to them. but it does happen and when it does, there's a good chance you may be moved to another resort.

It's also a possibility (but less likely), that you'll be moved to a room on the hotel side of things, and that's where things can get sticky. Eventually, you're made whole, but it does require some back and forth between resorts and Member Services.

ETA: I read that post, and to be honest, allegedly offering 11 points seems like a pretty random number.

 

[RoseGold]

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.

 

[TinkB278]

I had a similar situation in June. I was booked at BCV for three nights. Our flight landed around 5 and I was expecting to turn on my phone and get a text with a room number. By the time we got our bags and got to the hotel in our mears shuttle, it was a bit past 8pm. I went to the front desk and stood there for about an hour while the CM talked to someone on the phone. Finally a manager came out and said there was a water leak in the room and he was so graciously not going to put us in the room since the carpet was wet (he made it sound like he could put us there it he wanted to but was doing us a big favor). Instead, they put us in a club level studio for the night on the hotel side. He thought this was a fantastic deal for us, even though we would have to pack up and move again in the morning, and it was 8pm so basically all the club level services were done for the day. He kept going on and on about how desserts and alcohol was still put and we should go and enjoy some drinks and what a great deal that was. However, I’m pregnant (I guess he didn’t notice?), so having a few bites of cake was not worth the hassle of having to move rooms. I think he could see we weren’t happy so he offered to let us use the club lounge the next day as well.

In the end we loved getting the club snacks the next day but I was still annoyed. I think the fact that he was not going to originally give us access and made it seem like he was doing us a giant favor by not putting us in a room with wet carpet really bothered me. I wouldn’t not buy dvc based on this experience, our room at riviera was ready early three days later and in a nice location. Just sharing another example of a time this situation happened.

 

[havoc315]

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?

That is certainly not a common experience. But I suppose it can happen with ANY hotel rental -- Fully booked, a pipe explodes, and the guest needs to be provided with an alternative.

But no, it certainly wouldn't be a common experience. The thing is, DVC is often nearly 100% booked up, so there may be less wiggle room for emergencies than typical hotel bookings.

 

[havoc315]

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.

Looking for a day that would match.. mid-May.... RIV preferred 1 BR would be 44, GFV 1BR would be 46, BLT would be 41 points, and the SSR treehouse would only be 43... So the treehouse is actually 3 less points than GFV, 1 less than RIV, and only 2 points more than BLT.

 

[Sandisw]

We have had something happen and get moved. Fortunately it was always ti a larger room.

But, even with a hotel reservation these things happen.

Now, I have and do stay in 1 bedrooms by myself all the time so being offered a tower studio as an alternative to moving to a different resort would have been something I would have accepted so I do get why they may have suggested it if that was all they had.

Glad they offered an alternative for a larger room elsewhere.

Not sure I would have spent that much time trying to get an extra 7 points I wasn’t entitled to but glad it all worked out for them.

 

[Sandisw]

Looking for a day that would match.. mid-May.... RIV preferred 1 BR would be 44, GFV 1BR would be 46, BLT would be 41 points, and the SSR treehouse would only be 43... So the treehouse is actually 3 less points than GFV, 1 less than RIV, and only 2 points more than BLT.

And I am going to add that all those options for 1 bedrooms are worth it for those of us who love those resorts.

 

[PinkPixel]

That is certainly not a common experience. But I suppose it can happen with ANY hotel rental -- Fully booked, a pipe explodes, and the guest needs to be provided with an alternative.

But no, it certainly wouldn't be a common experience. The thing is, DVC is often nearly 100% booked up, so there may be less wiggle room for emergencies than typical hotel bookings.

Good to hear this is not common. The thing about it that concerned me was that at a hotel if this happened and they offered you a downgrade and refund, the refund would be cash in the bank and you could also decide if you want to try the hotel again. With DVC and going for a big point room that you booked with all the rules and regulations, getting those points back in the use year and then having to use them by a certain time, sounds like a headache and maybe loss of money if you can't travel again. If this happened after your banking window, would they allow them to be banked?

 

[kanerf]

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

 

[Sandisw]

Good to hear this is not common. The thing about it that concerned me was that at a hotel if this happened and they offered you a downgrade and refund, the refund would be cash in the bank and you could also decide if you want to try the hotel again. With DVC and going for a big point room that you booked with all the rules and regulations, getting those points back in the use year and then having to use them by a certain time, sounds like a headache and maybe loss of money if you can't travel again. If this happened after your banking window, would they allow them to be banked?

I would tend to think that they would…but I think it would still depend on the situation and be handled case by case.

As I said , I was upgraded and I think more often than not, that is what they try to do when they can’t give you the room you reserved.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

I have found that DVC tries its best to make things right. So I can't see them saying to you "sorry, you're outside of your banking window on these points so you lose them." They can and do make exceptions for things, especially if they are at fault. Also you might also ask for some anytime LL passes or a comped Genie+ day for your trouble if you are super inconvenienced (eg. going from a walkable resort to one that you bus to plus a downgrade in room). Worse they can say is no, but you may get lucky, especially if you are polite and understanding about things.

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...

 

[CarolMN]

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

We've owned for more than 20 years and it's never happened to us, either. It's a rare occurrence.

 

[NHLFAN]

We are just about done with DVC as we feel ripped off with the amenities we received on our last two 1 bd stays as we are given ADA rooms with roll-in showers and modified kitchens instead of jetted tubs and a full size kitchen.
Both stays they claimed those were only rooms available and someone has to get the inventory as they are sold out. They should have all the ADA rooms listed as a separate category like Grand Californian.