Becoming Fed Up With DVC - Any Suggestions

[Sammie]

The only suggestion I could add to this thread, is that possibly when a newbie with less than 10 posts comes on and shares a DVC concern, we might show some compassion and not jump to the automatic conclusion that the OP messed up and MS didn't.

Mainly because if too many come across with suggestions that possibly the mix-up was the OP's fault without knowing for sure, the OP might feel inclined to not even come back and clarify the situation.

That would be a shame.

For any other new DVC members that might be leary of commenting on this one, the best advice is always check for mistakes as soon as possible, because Yes sometimes MS does make mistakes. Not often but they do happen and when they happen to you, it is one time too many.

Check your online account immediately and make sure what it says is what you booked and if not, deal with the mistake then. Your chances of a sucessful resolution are better the sooner you deal with it.

 

[tomandrobin]

I'm sure it is, but we all just assume it's SSR's fault now and move on.

I'm glad we all can share a laugh once in a while!

 

[Longhairbear]

Even though one has confirmation of everything they want or need, doesn't the time of check in also make a huge difference in availability? For us, late flights have caused us to check in around midnight, and we got what was left in our requested catagory.

 

[Boston5602]

As for the OP, I hope you realize that things are only going to get worse over time, as BCV is one of the smallest resorts, and as more and larger resorts come online (rest of SSR and all of AKV) there are going to be MORE people competing for those few number of BCV rooms. Not only will you need to book day-by-day, you'll need to call within an hour of MS opening to get what you want. The problem may get a little better when CRV and GCV come online, but that's a number of years in the future.

Not exactly true. 11 months to 8 months the SAME amount of people THE BCV owners are the only ones booking . It is the 7 months out that MANY more people may or may not be trying to book, that will be / has been the only change.

 

[tjkraz]

Not exactly true. 11 months to 8 months the SAME amount of people THE BCV owners are the only ones booking . It is the 7 months out that MANY more people may or may not be trying to book, that will be / has been the only change.

Exactly.

Not only that but new resorts should help mitigate demand at 7 months as well. Of the current population who may have BCV at the top of their list, some portion will find themselves drawn to AKV instead. And there will even be BCV owners who want to try AKV, which would result in a moderate increase in vacancies at 7 mos.

Since it's so small, BCV will always be somewhat difficult to book at 7 mos, but to imply that demand will continue to rise at the same rate as DVC adds new members is incorrect.

 

[rwodonnell]

I understand that, and that's the poster's personal bias.

Bear in mind that these comments were made before OP returned to clarify the situation further. The post that I was responding to included the statements "I totally believe that MS screwed up the reservation" and "they're only batting about .250 with me."

Disagree if you will, but that sure strikes me as "guilty until proven innocent" mindset.

Let's see, on the one hand I have an entity which has been "guilty" 75% of my personal experiences. On the other, I have an unknown poster (whose initial post I think was very clear, by the way - sheesh!) toward whom I have no bias. Of course I am going to find their story believable, and more than that, I consider it likely. What I find incomprehensible is that some posters in this thread don't seem to find it to be the likely scenario. Someone - either the OP or MS is "guilty" as you put it - I just chose a different one to assume than you did.

I never denied that they made mistakes...I acknowledged it. However, I think it was very unfair to issue a blanket condemnation of every poster on this thread for not showing (in his/her estimation) enough "sympathy" simply because other possible explanations were being offered.

Didn't mean to condemn all of them... just a few...

 

[psu4glory]

The only suggestion I could add to this thread, is that possibly when a newbie with less than 10 posts comes on and shares a DVC concern, we might show some compassion and not jump to the automatic conclusion that the OP messed up and MS didn't.

here, here...and i would take sammie's suggestion a step further and say that this attitude should not only apply to newbies - but to anyone who posts a legitimate concern.

another poster above assumed that the OP was holding MS 'guilty until proven innocent'...isn't that what we're all doing to the OP by blaming her for not being clear at the time the reservation was made, or not confirming the reservation online, or not verifying her paper reservation earlier?

yes - DVC/MS makes mistakes, and yes - we should take some responsibility for our own interactions with them to catch as many of those mistakes as we can. but DVC/MS is part of the service industry. if i were to ASSUME fault on any side in a situation like this, i would tend to (at least initially) blame the large, bureaucratic, service-providing company, not the consumer. sure...we can say we're "providing advice" all we want if it makes us feel better...but i'm sure all of our mothers have told us at some point in our lives "it's not what you say - it's how you say it"...

 

[mochabean]

Not exactly true. 11 months to 8 months the SAME amount of people THE BCV owners are the only ones booking . It is the 7 months out that MANY more people may or may not be trying to book, that will be / has been the only change.

Exactly.

Not only that but new resorts should help mitigate demand at 7 months as well. Of the current population who may have BCV at the top of their list, some portion will find themselves drawn to AKV instead. And there will even be BCV owners who want to try AKV, which would result in a moderate increase in vacancies at 7 mos.

Since it's so small, BCV will always be somewhat difficult to book at 7 mos, but to imply that demand will continue to rise at the same rate as DVC adds new members is incorrect.

True, didn't think that all the way through. Thanks!

However, I still think at 7 months, the more owners overall, the more demand at small resorts. Of course, the new resort will attract demand away from BCV for the first year or so, as some people may opt to try AKV instead of BCV (like me!). New members have to buy what's available (when they buy from Disney) but many will want to try new resorts after their first time home. So after the first year or so, when the novelty of the new resort has worn off to existing members, I believe that there will be more demand for BCV than before AKV opened. It may not rise at the same rate as DVC adds members, but it will rise somewhat. Just my opinion though.
(I do think that CRV will be different though - it very well might attract more demand than BCV!)

 

[lisareniff]

Sorry I typed this really late last night. When I originally called (June 2006) I was told I had a two queen beds in the 2nd room. They messed up the initial booking and are not taking responsibility for it.

I understand your frustration. It annoys me to no end when people do not take responsibility for their actions or inactions - no matter how small.

...For last years trip we requested 2BR 2Q Beds, a balcony, and pool view exactly 11 months out, in fact I was told I was the first to book that morning so my request was okay for beds and noted for the balcony/waterview knowing that we may not get the last part. When we got there were were placed on the backside and found out more than 11 families with pool views got their reservations after ours and were not BVC home members, arrived/departed at the same days, and 4 other families were not even DVC members with the requests we made. ...

When you say you were not given a pool view room that you requested, I was not surprised. I fell into the same trap last year. I reserved a 2bdrm w/2Q's and requested a pool view and was disappointed. After I got home I realized that the probability of getting a pool view in that room type is very very low. There are only ~25 2bdrm w/2Q's villas and from those there are only ~2 pool view rooms (and one of them is really a parking lot view room that I wouldn't want). So those 11 families most likely did not have the same room type reserved. It also should be noted that the 2 bdrm w/2Q's do not have balconies off the second bedroom, only a window.

Take a look at the floor plans on Diszip's web site. The 2bdrm's w/2Q's are noted on the rooms. These have been collected by many room reports. There may still be one or two missing.

http://www.parkinfo2go.com/dvc-bcv/

 

[jdg345]

I am so frustrated right now screaming into a pillow hasn't helped! We had problems the past 2 years during a trip to WDW using our DVC points at BCV. We love BCV so that isn't the problem, it is the way we are being treated by DVC itself!
I always call in EXACTLY 11 months out from our check out date as this is what we have been told to do by DVC. Once again I did this as I have always done and we needed a 2 bedroom with 2 queen beds in the second room. I was told I would have this when I called, when I checked the reservation a couple of months later I found out we were booked for a 2 bedroom with 1 queen and 1 sofa bed. When I called immediately they told there there were no rooms with 2 queen beds available. So I was put on a waitlist. I have been calling fairly regularly since then to check to see if anything opened up. Today I ended up speaking to a Supervisor who was very helpful but I also emailed and got a not so nice response back. The response told me most DVC members call DAILY to reserve an entire weeks stay and link the stays together. WHAT AN INCONVIENCE! I **LOVE** going to and staying at Disney but DVC is becoming a HUGE Disappointment. I have been doing everything exactly as we were told to by a DVC representative and then get told I am in the wrong. I am beginning to think Disney isn't caring at all about the guests who come back time year after year or more often who belong to DVC. This is just one more way I have been blamed for doing what I was told. I don't feel like sending comments through the Disney website is even helpful. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I **HATE** feeling like this because I usually love the Disney Magic.....but this isn't so magical!!!!! Suggestions Please!!!!

I don't understand ... when you received your written confirmation via the mail, didn't it say "Dedicated 2 Bedroom" ? If it did, they should be able to do something for you. If it didn't, then it might have been the delay of a few months that messed with the availability?

 

[jdg345]

OK, am I the only one reading that the OP was told when she booked the rooms were available only later to find out they did not book them.

Wouldn't MS have suggested the wait list if the 2 queen rooms had not be avilable for her dates at the time of booking.

Why is everyone saying she needs to book day by day, if what she wanted was available without doing that.

That makes no sense to me.

Unless everyone is reading something I am not reading booking day by day had nothing to do with this and more with MS messing up the initial reservation and using the day by day comment to try and cover up their mistake.

I'm reading it the way you are ... I think ... I just don't understand why it took 'a few months later' to confirm the reservation? We usually get our written confirms within a week. Do the BCV ones not list Dedicated 2-BR like the others do?

EDIT: Ooops ... I'm late to the party ... sorry ...

 

[fishermouse]

Or maybe, (just IMHO) we should all be more careful to check our confirmations as soon as we get them...just because we asked for something, and were verbally assured we had it, it doesn't make it so.

I've been caught in this too many times (not with DVC, but other stuff) - and it's hard to argue that you asked for something if it isn't in writing. And the OP said she/he checked the confirmation a couple of months later .

We have to expect that folks make mistakes, or misunderstandings happen with communication. The best way to assure you have what you want, and can argue the point better, is to have a written confirmation of what you asked for, in my opinion.

MS usually sends a confirmation in the mail within ten days, if OP has this original confirmation letter and it states dedicated 2 queens there should be no problem. Just inform MS you have it in writting and expect to be given the proper room at check in. Do not take no for an answer. If the confirmation is wrong then OP is at fault for not checking it when it arrived and calling a couple of months sooner posibly avoiding this inconvienence. We always make sure at the time of booking verbally and check our dates and room requests when we rec. our confirmation. Since this has happened two years in-a-row I would have been especially dilegent in checking my reservation. Brings to mind the old saying fool me once shame on you / fool me twice shame on me. It is not my intention to flame OP just stressing that reservations should be checked as soon as possible. I've seen post where members checked and the dates were wrong. It's up to US to confirm our travel information

 

[fishermouse]

Sometimes these boards frustrate me. Someone posts a complaint, and a number of people jump on them implying they were either confused or placing blame in the wrong place. Where's the sympathy?.

If you want sympathy call your mom or your preacher. I think most responses offewr usefull information.

 

[Sammie]

If you want sympathy call your mom or your preacher. I think most responses offewr usefull information.

As I stated earlier I don't think the OP wanted any sympathy, just wanted to know if this was standard practice that you have to make sure everything is correct, even though she was told it was when she booked.

I would certainly hate to think that at times when it is appropriate, sympathy is something we can only get from our Moms or our preachers and not from our friends here.

I travel alot with job and for leisure and I can honestly say my Disney reservations and DVC ones are the only ones I ever feel the need to check and recheck for errors. Their system is really pathetic for a company as large and successful as they are.

It is good that the OP shared her experience as others can learn, that with DVC, check and check again for mistakes and check early on. I just think sometimes the suggestions could be worded more like suggestions and less like scoldings. Just my opinion.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The easiest way to solve this problem is to get a two bedroom dedicated at OKW. You always get two queen beds in the second bedroom at OKW.

But what I think about most is the threads where people want to add the bunks in the master or second bedroom. How much more confusing could that get? It's too bad that BCV wasn't built all the same way to resolve the problems.

DVC tries to diversify the rooms too much and wind up making it way more complicated for their staff and for the members.

 

[crisi]

What can you do?

Unfortuntately not much. It was DVCs mistake, but the best you could hope for is that a supervisor would move you to the top of the waitlist. And even that is unlikely in a your word vs. theirs scenario. Perhaps worth a try, however.

You can, as has been suggested, learn the ropes. Make reservations early, check reservations online as soon as they are made. That helps - but it isn't foolproof - even then DVC can make mistakes and cancel your reservation.

For this trip, you can make the best of the sofabed, or move reservations to somewhere like OKW or SSR, where a 2 bedroom is more likely to have two beds.

Long term, you can toss in the towel. BCV points are worth a lot, and there are some nice timeshares off property that wouldn't have the hassles associated with them that BCV has - rooms that are more identical and have less demand. Or book cash either onsite or offsite. Personally, I think that is a little drastic - DVC isn't perfect, but I think its good deal.

 

[DebbieB]

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[Sammie]

The easiest way to solve this problem is to get a two bedroom dedicated at OKW. You always get two queen beds in the second bedroom at OKW.
But what I think about most is the threads where people want to add the bunks in the master or second bedroom. How much more confusing could that get? It's too bad that BCV wasn't built all the same way to resolve the problems.

DVC tries to diversify the rooms too much and wind up making it way more complicated for their staff and for the members.

Problem solved, right Deb. Also SSR and VWL offers this option, no way to mess it up, as long as you make sure you get the dedicated 2 bedroom. Another reason OKW and SSR are my favs.

 

[skelooch]

I would like to see MS sent an immediate e-mail upon making the reservation, it would seem to be a very simple thing to do. Airlines do it all the time why can't DVC.
Perhaps they could ask if you would like an e-mail confirmation or a hard copy mailed. Think of the paper and postage they could save, thus reducing costs and lowering our dues. yeah right!

How soon after making a reservation is it available to see on the member site.

Just another thought, suppose you call the first day as if you were going to do a day by day reservation and request a 2BR/2Queen and you get it, can you them wait till the last day (your checkout day) and then link it to your first day, therefore only having to call twice.

 

[Sammie]

Edited because the trash was taken out.