BCV annual meeting info

[ATCMickey]

Thanks for the detailed report, Beca.

So how are room assignments done now? If it is not by date of reservation nor room ready, what is going on?

Thanks again for your report.

BCV23,

FWIW...I'm not Beca but can try to answer your question as I recently made inquiry with DVC and addressed this in another post. There was a time years back where the resort attempted to honor requests based on who made their reservation first. Approximately 2 years ago they changed their procedures to a different philosophy. In response to what Disney believed to be customer preference, they began to allocate rooms based on trying to get guests into their rooms ASAP. As a result, when you check in DVC tries to accomodate your request based on the inventory available at the exact time you check in (i.e. they don't hold a room that meets your request and they don't do pre-assignments to rooms that meet your request). It may be that you made a request but that request now takes second priority to getting guests into rooms ASAP (so the room that met your request may be given to someone who got to the front desk at just the time that room came available).

I spoke with Carli D'Agostino about a month ago in an attempt to understand the policy. Before anyone flames me let me be clear...my issue was NOT with the policy and I understand that requests are just that...REQUESTS. I can even see the benefits to changing to this policy. My issue was that DVC never communicated the change to its members. We had a pleasant conversation where Carli told me first that this was an internal policy and that DVC had no obligation to poll its members and additionally that space in the media that DVC uses to communicate with its members was at a premium and that they didn't see the need or have the space to communicate the change.

I tried to communicate to Carli that even though requests aren't guaranteed and that DVC probably does have the right to use whatever policy they see fit without member polling, that people still should be informed when a change is made. In short, I can live with the rules...just let me know what they are. I'm not one of those people that request specific rooms and usually limit my requests to non-smoking and occasionally to "near the hospitality house" if our kids are with us. Still, I just didn't think it was asking too much to request that DVC take a small amount of space in one of their print or email publications to explain the change. No offense to those that love the EPCOT flower festival, but I would contend that if there's space to highlight the flower festival there should be space to take a little time to educate owners on changes to past procedures. In the end I don't know that my feedback was taken seriously but at least I can say I made the effort to communicate it with someone in a position of influence. I just see members all too often on this board not understand how things work and get frustrated unnecessarily when a little communications effort could alleviate inaccurate expectations. But I'm not naive enough to think I'm anything more than a little fish in a very big pond......

ATCMickey

 

[Simba's Mom]

As far as putting room #s on requests, I had a rather odd check-in issue that made me wonder if I should have. I'd requested "courtyard view", and when I got there, was told my room wasn't ready. As a matter of fact, the CM who checked me in turned to another CM (I think one was in training) and said, "Let's put her in this room" and pointed to the computer monitor after restating my requests. So my room didn't seem to be preassigned, but it wasn't ready either. Gotta be a courtyard view, I thought/hoped. But when I called later and got my room #, it wasn't-it was a quiet pool view, which was probably very nice. I went back to the front desk to double-check on courtyard view rooms, I wasn't complaining but I wondered if it would be possible. "I had Room #305 last time and I was wondering if there was anything available with a similar, courtyard view". Well, the CM seemed very surprised-"Oh, you liked #305? Would you like that one again? It's available." I've couldn't help but wonder why I hadn't gotten it in the first place, and if I'd have been better off putting my request as "A room with a view similar to #305." However, I agree with Beca-I wouldn't feel right putting a specific room # in a room request.
By the way, what rooms was everyone else in that week? I'd forgotten and left all my contact info at home, but was hoping to run into some other DISers at SAB or the Marketplace. Did anyone else notice the BCV collared shirts that were on sale-1/2 price!?

 

[Beca]

BCV23,

I spoke with Carli D'Agostino about a month ago in an attempt to understand the policy. Before anyone flames me let me be clear...my issue was NOT with the policy and I understand that requests are just that...REQUESTS. I can even see the benefits to changing to this policy. My issue was that DVC never communicated the change to its members. We had a pleasant conversation where Carli told me first that this was an internal policy and that DVC had no obligation to poll its members and additionally that space in the media that DVC uses to communicate with its members was at a premium and that they didn't see the need or have the space to communicate the change.

I tried to communicate to Carli that even though requests aren't guaranteed and that DVC probably does have the right to use whatever policy they see fit without member polling, that people still should be informed when a change is made. In short, I can live with the rules...just let me know what they are. I'm not one of those people that request specific rooms and usually limit my requests to non-smoking and occasionally to "near the hospitality house" if our kids are with us. Still, I just didn't think it was asking too much to request that DVC take a small amount of space in one of their print or email publications to explain the change. No offense to those that love the EPCOT flower festival, but I would contend that if there's space to highlight the flower festival there should be space to take a little time to educate owners on changes to past procedures. In the end I don't know that my feedback was taken seriously but at least I can say I made the effort to communicate it with someone in a position of influence. I just see members all too often on this board not understand how things work and get frustrated unnecessarily when a little communications effort could alleviate inaccurate expectations. But I'm not naive enough to think I'm anything more than a little fish in a very big pond......

ATCMickey

Yikes!!! Or...more than likely....the change was not communicated because DVC would've expected a lot of backlash from the members. I know I am cynical, but I never expected the "wall" that I felt when talking to DVC reps at the meeting...I always thought we were on the same side! I love my DVC, and tell people about it constantly. I almost got the sense that the DVC people saw me as the enemy....this perception REALLY threw me off-balance.

Oh...one more thing I forgot to mention....the BC/BCV GM mentioned that he had tried to expand B&C into the Lafferty Place arcade, but the alterations required in the grill to do this were way too expensive. He said the $1.5 million spent on refurbishing the Marketplace was a drop in the bucket as to what it would be to enlarge B&C. So, as of now the menu at Hurricane Hanna's has been changed to the EXACT same menu as B&C!!! He said they even replaced the grill to make it taste exactly the same!!! I was VERY excited to hear this. I think sitting around SAB is much better than sitting inside at B&C (of course....ask me about this in July!!! ). And, I don't think Hanna's has the same ice cream treats, but if you are hungry and looking for a good burger....now, Hurricane Hanna's can fill the bill as well.

Simba's mom....I'm so sorry we didn't get to meet up!! This last week was crazy!!!

And, thanks everyone for your comments!! I really enjoy hearing your experiences. Seriously, after the meeting....I'm not sure what to think!!



Beca

 

[BCV23]

Oh, we love those collared shirts Simba's Mom. Both my sons and my husband have them.

Thanks for your reply ATCMickey. So they are using "room ready?" I thought I had read that it was discoutinued? I agree that communication about policies is very important to us all. And info on what's coming up in the parks isn't all that helpful since we must plan so far out. Fun but not too enlightening.

But in this case not being more open about the way rooms are assigned is perhaps because they need to leave some wiggle room?

 

[BCV23]

Great news about Hurrican Hannah's, Beca.

Amazing that the BCMarketplace improvements cost that much!

 

[LIFERBABE]

I really appreciated all the details.

I get a different take on the strange feelings you received from the CM's. I don't think there is a wall but accountability.

JL listens to members and holds his staff accountable for complaints. That's why he had them all there. I got the feeling that he expects nothing less than excellence and that can make for a stressful job for management. I look at the changes that have taken place just since 2003 and most of the changes that have occured have been things we have been passionate about here on the Dis.

Especially for BCV management, because they have had issues for some time. Even when we enjoyed our first stay in the BC, we had issues and we have at least 1 nagging issue every time we stay. Nothing to keep us from coming back, but it is there. I too love BCV's and have attended the Managers breakfast in the past to let them know the positives and the negatives.

It's not easy being #1 and DVC was built on referrals and although they are advertising much more, it still is very referral based. They know we are organized and thorough and very involved. Most timeshare owners are not. They show up for their stay and pay their dues. Not us, we actually read every dot in the literature they send and compare numbers.

That is great news about HH's!!

 

[JCW]

Thanks for the info Beca. I was hoping someone on the Dis attended the BCV meeting and would be able to report for us.

Great info. Wish I could have been there.

 

[mbb]

for the great report

That's amazing that Disney would actually consider turning away 3rd time guests for a member cruise....

It boggles the mind to think that they can sell out a boat in hours - in hurricane season - and rather than just adding extra sailings, they would tell those that jammed the phone lines - forget it, you're not getting on.

Better yet, build a DCL DVCExclusive Boat..I'm thinking it would sell out faster than BCV! "Cruise points add on" has a nice ring to it

Well, maybe not - but adding more sailings seems to be the smart thing to do..(and planning the dates a couple of years in advance wouldn't hurt, either!)

Thanks again, Beca!!

 

[BCVOwner2002]

Beca,

Thanks so much for posting. I have to agree with Liferbabe. Jim Lewis has made a lot of changes since his arrival and I think he wants his staff to hear first-hand and be able to respond to members questions or complaints. I believe there are now over 90,000 members and I'm sure DVC can't please everyone but member satisfaction is extremely important to a company's success.

I'm glad to hear the changes at Hurricane Hanna's. This is good news. I just wish the new Marketplace would fix their hot water dispenser so that mugs can fit under it. Someone is going to get burned badly! I have brought this up at three breakfast meetings since the Marketplace was upgraded and each time I was told it would be addressed but as of September '05, they had not!

 

[Scotch]

Thank you for the detailed reports, Beca. And thanks, Debbie in Seattle, for your added comments.

We're going "home" to BCV this Saturday -- our first stay since we bought into DVC. I am super excited and a bit nervous at the same time. After only one stay at OKW we made the decision to sell a couple of other nice timeshares and use the money buy into DVC (BCV, OKW and VWL), which currently has the highest maintenance fees of all of our timeshares and DVC is the only one that does not allow us to guarantee non-smoking units upon reservation, so I'd hate to walk into our room and be super disappointed with the condition.

As for view, I, too, can't believe the CMs allow those other members to list up to 20 specific unit #s! Geez. I'd be super happy if we could get a non-smoking room.

I'm bummed to hear your observations about Jim and the CMs who attended the board meeting. It is frustrating to not have some elected board members who are just owners without corporate ties to DVC.

 

[JABEAR]

Thanks for the update. As you know, we are new members and love reading all that there is about BCV. Less than 6 months left until our first trip "home".

 

[PatMcDuck]

Thanks for the report-- we are BCV owners. We will be returning to BCV in August. We are excited to see the new snack/food area; what a great improvement for us.

Our room requests are limited to the 2BR with the 2 queen beds in 2nd BR, and non-smoking. I am also amazed at the people who list room numbers. I feel bad asking for the 2 things I mentioned, I even thought at one time that we could only have 2 requests listed on a reservation, and non-smoking takes up one of the 2........... then one time a reservarion agent told me, no, I could make as many requests as I wanted. (But I don't)

 

[SoCalKDG]

I was shocked....they don't own at BCV, attended the BCV meeting (she said they did not attend the OKW one), and were VERY upset at the state of the BCV's. She said, "Well, if I were an owner at that resort, I would be REALLY upset at the way DVC was taking care of my resort. After all, the resort has only been opened 4 years and it looks terrible." Again I said, "Why blame DVC? They are not the ones tearing it up....it's the people who stay there, and occupancy rates being so high." Once again, she said..."Occupancy rates aren't the problem, and people cause wear and tear....it's DVC's job to fix it." She was right....but, I still found it shocking.

The more times DVC must fix problems, the more our dues will go up. Break a TV, destroy a table, spill food on the carpet, scratch paint, destroy a shower stall, etc., it all comes out of our dues. Its the biggest downfall of letting renters in, they won't be affected in the future for anything they do.

 

[jade1]

The more times DVC must fix problems, the more our dues will go up. Break a TV, destroy a table, spill food on the carpet, scratch paint, destroy a shower stall, etc., it all comes out of our dues. Its the biggest downfall of letting renters in, they won't be affected in the future for anything they do.

Agreed. I dont think this was a renter (unless you also mean non BCV owners). The high volume does seem like a rip off to BCV owners.

Beca did anyone ask about this?

 

[uwate]

great report, so much detail it was almost like being there. thanks alot!

 

[DisneyKidds]

Not a BCV member, but I thought I'd ask anyway since we stayed there last week.

Any mention of maintenance on the BCV hot tub and pool? The condition of the hot tub was apalling. Trust me, I'm a huge DVC fan and it's hard for me to say something like that. However, the tile border was cracked extensively in addition to being filthy, the hot tub wasn't even filled enough that water was entering the skimmers, and there was black mildew all over the place.........extensive amounts of it in the corners. It was really kind of gross. The tile border in the pool needed a good scrubbing as well, and there was also lots of black mildew in the corners. Other than that our stay and our villa were fine. I did take note of the carpeting, so I'm glad they are addressing that issue.

After our stay at BCV we moved over to one of our home resorts, VWL. The room and all the facilities (pool, hot tub) were impeccibly maintained and clean. It does seem that BCV needs to do a little better job with maintenance.

When I get around to it I will send a note to DVC regarding the condition of the BCV hot tub/pool. While I'm not a BCV member, we all have to do our part to protect ALL of the DVC resorts and make sure they are taken care of.

 

[Beca]

Agreed. I dont think this was a renter (unless you also mean non BCV owners). The high volume does seem like a rip off to BCV owners.

Beca did anyone ask about this?

No...I really wanted to, but I guess I kind of knew what the GM or Jim Lewis would say...."That's not the way DVC is set up. Freely being able to trade resorts is what makes DVC so wonderful." Plus, the GM's displeasure with the question I did ask was evident....I wasn't EVEN sticking my foot in that bowl of water.

I agree that the high volume of occupancy at BCV does seem like a "rip-off" to BCV owners, because our dues will have to go up to cover the constant wear and tear (as I mentioned in another thread, all the BCV's are getting new fridges after only 4 years), but I guess that is just the price we have to pay to get the additional 4 months of booking time. I can't say that I much like it, though.

Disney Kidds - I didn't notice the problems with the hot tubs (I am allergic to chlorine and cannot get in the water. The chlorine level at SAB on the day we arrived was so high, that even sitting in a beach chair around the pool made me all stuffy), but the interesting thing is, the GM of BC/BCV made a point at the meeting of going into great detail about how much money was spent at SAB last winter to bring the pool up to a "almost brand new" standard. He spoke of how they closed it in sections to restore it. As a BCV owner, I would really appreciate it if you would bring this to their attention. If he prides himself so much in the shape of the pool....then, maybe he really doesn't know, and would make sure it was fixed.

Oh, he also mentioned that owners were complaining about the way the Villa's hallways were looking, so they have hired a full-time painter/wallpaper installer whose job it is to repair the hallways all-day, every day. I found that very interesting.

CaliforniaDreaming....the only timeframe they gave on the mattresses and sofas was 2006...I wish I had more info for you.



Beca

 

[disney4me4ever]

Oh, he also mentioned that owners were complaining about the way the Villa's hallways were looking, so they have hired a full-time painter/wallpaper installer whose job it is to repair the hallways all-day, every day.

I'm curious as to why they needed to hire a full time painter/wallpaper. Most of the complaints I see about the hallways at BCV relate to GARBAGE being left out. Maybe they need to hire more housekeepers! And being as housekeeping is one of the constant issues at BCVs, it would have been nice to hear what progress is being made on that front. I went to one of the member updates last year and made my feelings known. And the condition of the pool tiles is also something we noticed on our visit last April. They were filthy; both at the quiet pool and the whirlpool.

I think JL is doing a fine job, but they do need to address member satisfaction issues at BCV. Thanks, Beca, for posting the information.

Nancy

 

[manning]

Oh...one more thing I forgot to mention....the BC/BCV GM mentioned that he had tried to expand B&C into the Lafferty Place arcade, but the alterations required in the grill to do this were way too expensive.


Beca

Wonder how much additional revenue this cost them???

 

[Smile]

Hi Beca,

We just passed ROFR and really appreciate all your feedback from the meeting. Can't wait to book our trip.