Contract Usage Question

[airjay75]

I'm being told by MS that I cannot modify the contracts being used for a particular reservation, and just want to make sure it's accurate and that I just didn't get an uninformed rep.

My reservation is for BLT. I do not own points at BLT and at no time was the reservation originally for one of my home resorts. I did make the initial reservation for dates earlier than what is currently booked, and made a number of modifications to get to my desired dates. It is currently using points from my RIV contracts and I chatted MS to see if I could switch it out to my CCV contracts.

MS said that, because the dates for which the reservation was originally made was a date before the 7-month window opened up for the dates that are currently booked, it is considered that I used home resort priority, and my contracts are locked. It doesn't matter that I never actually used home resort priority, only that the original reservation occurred on a date that is more than 7-months before the dates I currently have booked and that, as a result, they consider it to be a reservation made using home resort priority, and the contracts cannot be changed.

To give a little more background, I did some walking to get the first night of my reservation because the other nights were not available, and I was later able to modify and add all the nights.

Does this seem right?

 

[Add-On-Itis]

Does this seem right?

I had the exact same issue! I even argued over the phone. Makes no sense as I don't own there. I hung up called again, another agent was able to swap it for me.

 

[bakerworld]

My understanding is that rules are any booking prior to the 7 month deadline is locked to home points. I am surprised a resort was able to be booked prior to 7 months without using home points. I ended up cancelling my reservations to obtain the resort I wanted but I needed MS to perform the change. Something about cancelling didn't 'free' up the points fast enough to grab the resort I wanted.

 

[airjay75]

My understanding is that rules are any booking prior to the 7 month deadline is locked to home points. I am surprised a resort was able to be booked prior to 7 months without using home points.

Well, it wasn’t. The very first reservation I made was when the 7-month window opened up, it was just for days before the actual days I was targeting. It was modified forward until I got the days (in this case, a single day) I wanted. Then, I later modified it again when some other adjacent days opened up. At no point, was I making a booking with this reservation that used home resort priority.

 

[airjay75]

I had the exact same issue! I even argued over the phone. Makes no sense as I don't own there. I hung up called again, another agent was able to swap it for me.

Thanks. Maybe I’ll try calling. I suspect if I call and am very nice and play dumb on the phone, I may have better luck. It’s not the biggest deal either way - I’m not even sure I need those RIV points free, I’d just prefer those to be free since they’re my direct points.

 

[Brian Noble]

I think you may have managed to explain why some 7-month reservations are locked---the system goes back to "original date booked even after modifications" not "date this reservation was made."

And, that makes a certain amount of sense. It should not be possible for me to make a reservation in the home resort window, modify it in the 7-month window, and then switch out my points.

But, you did not make this reservation in the home resort window and you did not use home resort points to book it. So I cannot think of a reason why you should not be able to swap the points used.

 

[Tatebeck]

Yep, and they have the ability to "unlock" the contracts used as many of us have had the locked contracts problem with 7 month bookings.

So either:

The cast member you talked to didn't want to unlock it and misunderstood the rules
OR
They have been given new rules to follow in this area

Sounds like probably the first but the timing is interesting. We just need more data!

 

[airjay75]

Update.

I called and was very nice. Explained that I had to modify a bunch of times to get what I wanted and was very nice. The rep was happy to switch out my points to my CCV points for me.

 

[muppets3d]

I think when you book the reservation it locks the reservation to the contract(s) you pulled points from initially, even if you were within the 7 month window. It shouldn't do that, but I have experienced it doing it for me as well.

 

[Add-On-Itis]

Update.

I called and was very nice. Explained that I had to modify a bunch of times to get what I wanted and was very nice. The rep was happy to switch out my points to my CCV points for me.

Very nice! You are lucky you got it on the first call.

I really don't understand how the training can be so inconsistent. But can't complain

 

[Tatebeck]

That's what I figured

 

[muppets3d]

Very nice! You are lucky you got it on the first call.

I really don't understand how the training can be so inconsistent. But can't complain

Disney for some reason doesn't allow their cast to say "I don't know what's going on but hold on and I'll find out"

They tell them to have an answer even if it's wrong.

Or so I've experienced.

 

[Brian Noble]

The system is complicated, and the MS staff are not paid well enough to understand it as carefully as power-users do. I'm willing to give a lot of grace in these situations, but that's partly thanks to the Serenity Prayer.

 

[muppets3d]

The system is complicated, and the MS staff are not paid well enough to understand it as carefully as power-users do. I'm willing to give a lot of grace in these situations, but that's partly thanks to the Serenity Prayer.

Nobody expects everyone to have the answer to every question, but they should be willing to put the member on hold and ask someone else for help if they're not sure about something.

 

[airjay75]

I will say that the person I chatted with seemed very sure of himself that there was no way my points could be switched. Even seemed to have a lengthy explanation about the fact that the date I first made a reservation was a date before the current dates of the reservation, it is viewed as a reservation made using home resort priority. I explained that that doesn’t make sense to me because the reservation was always for BLT and I don’t own any points there, so how could I have made a reservation using home resort priority. I believe he replied something like, I understand it can be confusing, but that is the way the system works and your only option if you want your points switched is to cancel and rebook. He offered to give my full reservation history if I wanted (to which I politely declined).

Of course, words in chat don’t always convey the same tone or understanding as words over the phone.

 

[muppets3d]

I will say that the person I chatted with seemed very sure of himself that there was no way my points could be switched. Even seemed to have a lengthy explanation about the fact that the date I first made a reservation was a date before the current dates of the reservation, it is viewed as a reservation made using home resort priority. I explained that that doesn’t make sense to me because the reservation was always for BLT and I don’t own any points there, so how could I have made a reservation using home resort priority. I believe he replied something like, I understand it can be confusing, but that is the way the system works and your only option if you want your points switched is to cancel and rebook. He offered to give my full reservation history if I wanted (to which I politely declined).

Of course, words in chat don’t always convey the same tone or understanding as words over the phone.

Confidently incorrect people are difficult to train properly, I've learned in my life of working with other people. It's not a pay issue it's a hubris issue on their part.

 

[Brian Noble]

When I get a CM who is pretty sure of the wrong answer, I politely thank them for their time and call back. CM roulette is a lot faster than convincing a confidently wrong CM that they are wrong.

It's also worth remembering that most Members who call don't really understand the system all that well, so most of the time the CM and the Member disagree, the CM is probably correct. It's pretty easy to let that bleed over into other interactions, especially if one is not having the best day. And I don't know about you, but I am having Not My Best Day a lot more often these days.