Be careful when banking points...

[David in Manassas]

The is the first time that this ever happened to me:

1. In fall of 2003 I banked 100 points into 2004 use year that began March 2004.
2. In December 2003 I made some reservations for May and July.
3. Yesterday when I called to make a change in my reservation, they told me I still had banked points to use. Apparently they took 2004 points FIRST instead of the banked points. I never thought to ask them to take the banked points first.

Luckily they were able to straighten it out, but if I had not called I would have assumed I only had 2004 points to use instead of banked ones and that might have been a problem later on in the year..

So..the moral is, if you have banked points and are making a reservation, be sure to ask that your banked points are used first.

David

 

[jarestel]

Good point! Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Cap]

From personal experience, AND from posts from others on this board, I've learned to end every reservation / banking / borrowing discussion with Member Services with a request to review my points balances after transactions, use year by use year and resort by resort. I have points at three resorts, and find that I have to be very specific on what point source to use for every reservation.

I really wish they would have on-line account access to at least look at account balances.

 

[Judique]

Originally posted by Cap
From personal experience, AND from posts from others on this board, I've learned to end every reservation / banking / borrowing discussion with Member Services with a request to review my points balances after transactions, use year by use year and resort by resort. I have points at three resorts, and find that I have to be very specific on what point source to use for every reservation.

I really wish they would have on-line account access to at least look at account balances.

This is exactly what I do. Strange things have happened to my account over the years, including a situation where MS borrowed points from my next year instead of using holding points. I have contracts at four different resorts which when you make multiple reservations in one year and sometimes stay at two resorts on the same trip, ie Vero and BWV, can get confusing for them. Not for me....I know where every precious point is supposed to be!

 

[erikthewise]

The last time I read such a thread, I thought "I didn't know that could happen. I'm glad it didn't happen to me. I'll be sure to mention this next time I make a reservation."

As it turned out, it had ALREADY happened to me and I didn't know it yet! They were good about straightening it out after the fact, but it is still an aggravation. As I pointed out to them (in a nice way of course), this is a gaping hole in the member guidebook, where they explain in detail how to bank points but say NOTHING whatsoever about how to use banked points. Instead members are left to guess DVC's method of accounting for points, or learn by unpleasant experience. It's not just the people with multiple contracts and multiple reservations that this affects, it can happen in simple scenarios too.

 

[DebbieB]

I also always end every transaction with a review of my points balances by use year. If you have a good cm, they will automatically give you the info without you even asking for it.

 

[Debby7]

Funny thing is that when I made my last ressie and reminded the cm to use my banked points first, she replied that the computer program always uses banked points first! If so, how come so many folks are having this problem?

 

[disneyberry]

Originally posted by Debby7
Funny thing is that when I made my last ressie and reminded the cm to use my banked points first, she replied that the computer program always uses banked points first! If so, how come so many folks are having this problem?

this happens to me too. sometimes the CMs i talk to seem irritated that i am specifying for them to use banked points first, and they insist that the reservation system always uses banked points first, so i have nothing to worry about.
seems like the system doesn't work that way 100% of the time after all.

 

[PamOKW]

Originally posted by Debby7
Funny thing is that when I made my last ressie and reminded the cm to use my banked points first, she replied that the computer program always uses banked points first! If so, how come so many folks are having this problem?

It's possible that someone can make a reservation 11 months out that is in the next Use Year. They will use the corresponding points. After the fact, that person banks points into the Use Year. If you don't go back and re-do the reservation with the banked points, it won't automatically happen.

It's always best to double-check everything. Also, be sure to write down the banking number and confirm how many pointsare being banked when you make the transaction.