Did anyone get a call from MS today regarding the Members Cruise?

[tammymacb]

I sent an email to Member Satisfaction regarding the phone line issue on Saturday.

Today I got a call from them apologizing for their admitted phone issues and was put on a "Priority Wait List". Not quite sure what they meant by * priority * but my guess is that I won't be high enough up the list to actually take the cruise.

Did anyone else get this phone call?

 

[FLWIDisneyFan]

I did not get a call but I got an email the Sunday after Oct 2nd. I must admit the email came off very poorly to me. The general theme was too bad we had too much volume and you just have to deal with it. I was actually on the phone with Member Services when they sold out so any sort of Priority Wait List that goes beyond the normal wait list would be very disturbing to me. I dialed from 7 a.m. CST until 4:20 p.m. CST and selectively moving people to a Priority Wait List would be a slap in the face to people who spent a Saturday dialing to a number and even when reaching member services you still get your call dropped 7 times.

 

[quirty30]

Wow - how do they even know who tried to call? Anyone could complain and get on the priority wait list. They obviously need to come up with a better system that's not so random. Good luck to you both.

 

[tammymacb]

I don't think my *priority* waitlist will get me anywhere. And, for the record, I don't think it SHOULD bump me past those who are on the waitlist already after calling all day and missing their opportunity.

I simply sent an email letting DVC know that IMO if they are going to role out something as big as their MS cruise, they should have their technical ducks in a row.

My guess is that the * special waitlist * is a key word MS is giving to make those who complained a feel like DVC is doing something. Like I previously stated, I don't think I'm a bit closer to actually sailing on that cruise.

I wish everyone who had a crappy call day good luck.

 

[dj~merlin]

either way, i can understand how someone feels when dvc
"perked" anyone making an observation. it truly was a frustrating
day.

i don't know your situation; was you not on a wait list & /or
wasn't calling on oct.2 ? did you just decide to go on the waitlist
when dvc made this offer? if that is the case, then i feel it is
unfair, like grossly. [ not toward you, but toward dvc.]

while i also agree with your thinking that it is just a dvc "comfort
measure", if by chance they acted on it, how will they respond
to all the others on the waitlist? [ i think it would be nice if you
let others know].

glitches, i don't think they were all dvc fault. so many reported using
up to 5-phones. i think any system would be overloaded.

 

[FLWIDisneyFan]

I don't think my *priority* waitlist will get me anywhere. And, for the record, I don't think it SHOULD bump me past those who are on the waitlist already after calling all day and missing their opportunity.

I simply sent an email letting DVC know that IMO if they are going to role out something as big as their MS cruise, they should have their technical ducks in a row.

My guess is that the * special waitlist * is a key word MS is giving to make those who complained a feel like DVC is doing something. Like I previously stated, I don't think I'm a bit closer to actually sailing on that cruise.

I wish everyone who had a crappy call day good luck.

I apologize if my comments came off as if you did something wrong. You did not. My comments were definitely directed toward DVC and not you. Personally, I think there are much better ways to determine who gets to go on the member cruise. Why subject your members and member services to a stressful, frustrating day that overloads your systems, when you could give members a window to express interest and then randomly select members who are then given a window to make their reservations in a regulated manner which does not overload the system. I realize that when demand exceeds supply some people will end up on a wait list. I think DVC could have done much better on this one.

 

[erionm]

Why subject your members and member services to a stressful, frustrating day that overloads your systems, when you could give members a window to express interest and then randomly select members who are then given a window to make their reservations in a regulated manner which does not overload the system.

I would rather take my chances dialing in, than relay on some random picking order by DVC in determining if I'm able to book the member cruise. DVC has already tried a lottery system which obviously didn't work or it would still be in place.

 

[tammymacb]

either way, i can understand how someone feels when dvc
"perked" anyone making an observation. it truly was a frustrating
day.

i don't know your situation; was you not on a wait list & /or
wasn't calling on oct.2 ? did you just decide to go on the waitlist
when dvc made this offer? if that is the case, then i feel it is
unfair, like grossly. [ not toward you, but toward dvc.]

while i also agree with your thinking that it is just a dvc "comfort
measure", if by chance they acted on it, how will they respond
to all the others on the waitlist? [ i think it would be nice if you
let others know].

glitches, i don't think they were all dvc fault. so many reported using
up to 5-phones. i think any system would be overloaded.

I did call on Saturday morning. Unfortunately I was at work in the Emergency Room. I began calling around 0757 and called a couple times while they were still closed. Right at 8 I actually got through and got a ring. I hit *1* for MS and that's when the lines must have opened and jammed. I got a quick busy signal and disconnected. After that I was unable to get through and I didn't have the ability to call all day. I also would have been unable to to hold for 1-2 hours so I was out of the game. So, my email to DVC was the complaint of getting through and getting disconnected and now I'm out.

I'm surprised that more emails to MS didn't get a phone call yesterday.

 

[FLWIDisneyFan]

I would rather take my chances dialing in, than relay on some random picking order by DVC in determining if I'm able to book the member cruise. DVC has already tried a lottery system which obviously didn't work or it would still be in place.

They didn't try a full lottery, they gave members who had never cruised on a member cruise an earlier timeframe to call and ticked off all the people who sailed on the member cruise previously. I'm not suggesting that they rank the people based on any criteria (Total Points, # of member cruises, last member cruise, etc.). Just each year give members a window to express interest and then in a completely random fashion pick who gets a slot. Less stress for members, less stress for member services, and you don't blow out your telecom and IVR capacity.

Why would you prefer to call rather than a lottery? The only reason I can see for people wanting to call instead of a lottery would be the feeling that they are doing something rather than waiting for the selection. I think most people would rather not spend 8+ hours trying to book the cruise even if they succeed (even the people who got through early spent 2+ hours on the phone). The fairest way would be a lottery especially when you start thinking about international members and done right these calls would only take as long as a normal call to book a cruise.

Following the posts last Saturday, it did seem that people in the Chicago area and the southeast (especially Florida) had better luck getting through. Not scientific I admit but I know we got through both times we tried to get the member cruise when we lived in Jacksonville.

 

[cdmickey]

I'm guessing a lottery would be tough (as you have to book so many different kinds of staterooms and other variables) that it might be a nightmare in logistics for the people trying to book reservations. I don't know; just a thought.