BAD EXPERIENCE - Stay Past check out time at SSR?

[dianeschlicht]

i have 2 issues with the arguments against this:

1) the person who told her upon checkin that she can stay past checkout no problem was dead wrong. if the rules are so tight then why did this person indicate it wasnt a problem>???

2) i can understand if you all disagree that my friend asked to say past checkout thats fine but the part that everyones missing is that the hotel is at low capacity. even if someone was supposed to stay in that room, big deal there were so many rooms that they could have easily been put somewhere else. my friend was undertstanding to the fact that if the resort is full she would have had to go but the resort was very empty.

Yes, I agree that the the checkin person was in the wrong, but two wrongs do NOT make a right.

Occupancy is first of all not always obvious to the guests, and secondly, if it was a high demand view, I can see why that room might have been assigned. Our contracts are VERY clear....NO late check out!!!

I for one am glad to hear at least they are standing behind that at SSR! Maybe they will start to do that at all the DVC resorts, and mousekeeping will be able to get done with the rooms on time so those coming in can actually check IN on time!!!

Sorry, but no sympaphy here for rule breakers. One person breaking a rule effects other people, so yes, she should have had the points deducted from her account.

 

[Brian Noble]

1) the person who told her upon checkin that she can stay past checkout no problem was dead wrong. if the rules are so tight then why did this person indicate it wasnt a problem>???

Because Disney Cast Members are notoriously inconsistent. It's also possible that your friend heard what she wanted to hear, rather than what the Cast Member was saying---easy to do, as a few Cast will work very hard to never say anything specific, and to give you the impression that "someone else" will fix your problem for you. I call this "hopeful deferment". I could swear that Traditions teaches them how to do this, based on how good many of them are at it.

Was it good to give the impression that it would be easy? No. Does that change anything? No. See the following.

2) i can understand if you all disagree that my friend asked to say past checkout thats fine but the part that everyones missing is that the hotel is at low capacity. even if someone was supposed to stay in that room, big deal there were so many rooms that they could have easily been put somewhere else. my friend was undertstanding to the fact that if the resort is full she would have had to go but the resort was very empty.

Doesn't matter. Late checkouts are always at the discretion of the resort. There are any number of reasons why, even if the resort had rooms available, they were not able to let your friend stay past check out time. One reason could just be that the CM your friend spoke to was feeling less than generous that evening.

Your friend was told to check the night before. She did. She was told she could not stay. She stayed anyway. They charged her the points. Seems pretty cut and dried to me. At most, the only Cast Member who seems deserving of a bit of blame is the first one with whom she spoke.

I'm in agreement with most everyone else, check out time is check out time, don't ask for an extension or expect one.

I have no problem with asking. I have no problem with the resort granting the request if they can do so conveniently. But, you're asking for a favor, and it might not be granted.

 

[MikeyNS]

It's not "penalty" points on a "whim". She stayed past checkout and they charged her an additional night. At that point, she could have stayed in the room that night.

The non-DVC resorts generally don't give late checkout either - they might give you a few hours w/o charge, but once you get past a certain time (like 2 or 3 PM), they charge you an additional night as well because they can't give the room to anyone else. But it's not a penalty - it's the price for the room for the night - whether it's points or $$.

I always perceived that to do anything with your points you have to contact MS. So conceivably you can just goto the counter without any reservations and say I was a room on points for a night? Interesting. Learning new things everyday!

 

[CarolA]

My friend had a pretty crappy experience at SSR where she wanted to stay past the 11am checkout time and she got a hard time.

When she checked in they told her she could stay past 11am no problem i thikn just pending availability but that the resort was not at capacity, just alert the front desk the night before she leaves.

She then tried to alert then she was going to stay later than 11am the night before as she was told and the front desk people told her no way even though the resort was not full they had already lined up someone to take her exact room when she left. they then proceeded to charge my friend 11 points for staying the extra few hours in her room.

Has anyone had experiences such as this for extended their stay by merely a few hours at a DVC resort?? this is terrible especially when the resort is barely being occupied.

OK Front desk 1 told her pending availabilty which is not normal, but let's just ignore that issue LOL!

So she then calls the day prior or the day of to check, gets told no and does it anyway? And then is upset when she is charged?

Ummm... I travel a lot of a living. Even in NORMAL hotels this is the standard and when you are told NO, you pay! Sorry that the word No to your friend meant "they really didn't mean it" but... perhaps next time she will not assume "they didn't mean me"

 

[rahrah]

One of the problems DVC has when assigning rooms is getting the right type of room that can be used for the correct number of days. So just because there were "empty rooms" does not mean they did not need her specific room to meet an arriving guests requirements.

When we arrive at a resort, my wife cannot do anything but sit and wait for the room. We often arrive around 2:00 and get lucky. If a room is not available until after 4:00 she starts to get upset. This is not a good way to start a vacation. This is what your friend was doing to someone by not vacating her room on time.

I would just let bell services deal with our luggage and go to the parks, however my wife has a lot of medications, and if they were to get lost we would have a real emergency on our hands. Any other lost luggage I could deal with.

 

[bobbiwoz]

They were told no, and stayed anyway? The check-in CM was mistaken, but your friends were set straight. I'm glad they were charged.

Bobbi

 

[keishashadow]

i have 2 issues with the arguments against this:

1) the person who told her upon checkin that she can stay past checkout no problem was dead wrong. if the rules are so tight then why did this person indicate it wasnt a problem>???

my experience is u can often ask the same Q 2 (or more) different times @ disney & get different answers, just the way they roll; bottom line "get the CMs name for reference"

2) i can understand if you all disagree that my friend asked to say past checkout thats fine but the part that everyones missing is that the hotel is at low capacity. even if someone was supposed to stay in that room, big deal there were so many rooms that they could have easily been put somewhere else. my friend was undertstanding to the fact that if the resort is full she would have had to go but the resort was very empty.

i see ur point, yet most of the reward programs i belong to @ different hotel chains require u to call the desk that morning to see if late checkout is available

additionally, not sure it would apply to SSR, yet if that specific room/type of room is delayed for arrival it does effect other members who make a point to check in early in order to increase their odds (say the better views of Epcot FW/BCV)

it's no fun to be waiting for ur room past 4 pm, especially if it's due to fact that another member dilly dallied as to checking out...think it warrants being charged 1 night's points as standard in the hotel industry.

 

[Chuck S]

I always perceived that to do anything with your points you have to contact MS. So conceivably you can just goto the counter without any reservations and say I was a room on points for a night? Interesting. Learning new things everyday!

Actually, yes. If MS is closed, you can go to a front desk, and if there is a room available, they can book it for you on points. They aren't really trained on all the nuances at the resorts, like holding points, reservation ponts, etc., but a DVC resort maager can access your points.

 

[lllovell]

We call these types of activities DNAers in my family....meaning that rule "does not apply" to me or my family.

You know...move all the way to the end of a row and they plunk themselves in the middle and wont shift expecting everyone to get by their legs and then act offended when you do say "excuse me" to get by.

I think that there might have been an exception in there for your friend if they had not needed her room. I think it is a rule that needs to be enforced but isn't always. She did what the first CM told her to do - check the night before. It wasn't available and she stayed anyway. Charging for an additional night seems appropriate to me.

Should someone be let back into MK on the next day because their flight doesn't leave until 6, even if they don't have a ticket? This feels the same to me. If there were reasons they truly needed the room then they needed to pay for it.

I am sorry they are angry and frustrated but fair is fair.

LLL

 

[BEASLYBOO]

She asked the night before, they said no. She stayed anyway, so they accomodated her, and it cost her 11 points. Don't see the problem! When was the last time you got something for nothing? Why should she be able to occupy a room later than 11am for free, the rest of us can't, or else we would all do it. Then of course the poor sap waiting to check in might be lucky to get his room by bedtime!

 

[dianeschlicht]

snip
Should someone be let back into MK on the next day because their flight doesn't leave until 6, even if they don't have a ticket? This feels the same to me. If there were reasons they truly needed the room then they needed to pay for it.

I am sorry they are angry and frustrated but fair is fair.

LLL

Good analogy!

 

[dvcbrad]

they then proceeded to charge my friend 11 points for staying the extra few hours in her room.

Has anyone had experiences such as this for extended their stay by merely a few hours at a DVC resort?? this is terrible especially when the resort is barely being occupied.

An extra few HOURS?! First of all, you didn't say how many, but usually a few implies greater than 2, so we'll assume at least 2 1/2. So that puts them checking-out at 1:30, earliest. I think that's overly excessive and shouldn't be regarded as a crappy experience - it should be viewed as your friend trying to take advantage of the resort, and consequently, but probably unknowingly, taking advantage of another member's stay.

As members, we all want to get into our rooms as soon as possible, and I've actually had times when we couldn't even have access by 4:00, as the room wasn't ready yet. Your friend most likely would have been irritated with that. No - sorry, but your friend is wrong. When they say 11:00, they mean and need 11:00 to be able to accommodate the next member.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

I think there must have been a miscommunication at check in or the CM was misinformed. Even at the regular resorts they don't know if they can let you stay later until check out day and it seems DVC policy is out by 11am, pretty much no exceptions.

Being fairly new to DVC (just over a year), I've stayed at 3 different resorts on points so far and was surprised to find out on my first trip that it is pretty much "no way" as far as staying past 11am (I was used to being able to get late checkout until noon without being charged at Disney resorts and didn't realize DVC was that different, what a newbie). They are adamant about 11 am although I wasn't quite prepared the first time, we were just running late and did go over about 1/2 hour after discussing with housekeeping that I'd be out asap. Part of that was also waiting for bell services. My mistake but I'll never expect to be past 11 again. I was not charged any points.

I kinda wonder if she was charged because she was aware she could not go over the night before? It sounds pretty intentional . If she had an "I don't care, I'm gonna do what I want anyway - what are they gonna do to me" attitude - now we all know what they can do. Live and learn and move on. I doubt your friend will make the same mistake again although I am sorry it cost her points if it was a misunderstanding.

BTW, I think the "barely occupied" argument is irrevalent when it comes to DVC. The problem is once they do it for one member, it isn't fair if they don't accomodate another member - it's to keep everything fair. However, just for the sake of that argument, even if SSR wasn't fully booked - it depends on what the demand was for her particular kind of unit - aren't studios the most popular?

 

[MILLZ]

This is not a bad experience this is a bad decision made by your friend. Rules are rules and they must be lived by otherwise imagine what would happen if they were not enforced none of us would check in on time.

 

[corky441]

An extra few HOURS?! First of all, you didn't say how many, but usually a few implies greater than 2, so we'll assume at least 2 1/2. So that puts them checking-out at 1:30, earliest. I think that's overly excessive and shouldn't be regarded as a crappy experience - it should be viewed as your friend trying to take advantage of the resort, and consequently, but probably unknowingly, taking advantage of another member's stay.

As members, we all want to get into our rooms as soon as possible, and I've actually had times when we couldn't even have access by 4:00, as the room wasn't ready yet. Your friend most likely would have been irritated with that. No - sorry, but your friend is wrong. When they say 11:00, they mean and need 11:00 to be able to accommodate the next member.

Ditto - I'm afraid I agree with most of the OP, your friend was wrong - period

 

[robinb]

DVC villas take longer to clean and have a higher occupancy level than the non-DVC resorts. Having been kept out of my villa until nearly 6PM while the housekeepers had to clean the mess left by guests who did not vacate by 11AM, I am very unsympathetic for requests for late checkouts.

We waited past 8:00 PM on 1/1/2006 for our OKW Grand Villa after checking in more than 10 hours before. The housekeeping manager was still cleaning the unit when we were finally allowed inside. It kinda warms my heart thinking that those bozos would be charged an additional 36 points for their rudeness.

 

[PutnamDS]

You came to the wrong place to find sympathy. There is no delayed checkout at any DVC resort. Her 11 point penalty was justly given.

This has been my understanding, as well.

Deb

 

[wildernessDad]

Check out time is 11 am.

We usually catch a 6 pm flight back home on our last day. We check out by 11 and then do the resort airline check in. Any bags left over after that are stored by Bell Services until we are ready to leave on the ME bus. We usually hit a park during the morning hours and get back to the resort before 3 for the bus.

So one can check out by 11 AND still enjoy that last day at WDW.

 

[gobofraggle]

I think it's totally unfair that she was charged an extra 11 points.


She should've been charged more as a penalty - another 5 minimum - on top of the 11. She was only charged for what she took without permission.

If I go into a supermarket and walk out with something in my pocket, should they let me just pay what the item costs when they catch me?

I'm exaggerating a bit, but still...

 

[Brian Noble]

We recently had an inbound II exchange, but we used only the first four nights---we were using an AC, so it was still a good deal. We had one of those evening flights home, and it was very nice to have the room to store our carryons, and to be able to freshen up a bit before leaving.

I don't know that I'd advise spending points on it, but it might make sense in the right circumstances.