Disappointing Experience with Member Services today

[GCM13]

Had a very disappointing experience this morning with Member Services that I just can't believe. We will be at Disney at the end of October for my daughter's softball tournament. Availability is slim so I booked what I could a few weeks ago and have been checking the availability tool several times a day for openings. I was fortunate to get a one bedroom lake standard view at VGF for the first night and a studio lake view at BLT. Our remaining three nights are at POR. This morning I checked and BLT had a one bedroom lake view available for my first two nights. I called member services immediately and had a 15 minute wait for the first available cm. Luckily the room was still showing availability but because I had two reservations and needed the points from the reservations, she had to cancel one of them to be able to book the one bedroom which I knew. She told me she always gets nervous when she has to cancel a reservation to book another one since the availability could be gone. I understood that risk. She started working on it then put me on hold. After a few minutes the call was disconnected. I had no idea if she canceled one of the reservations, if she was still working on getting the one bedroom or what. So I called back waiting another 15 minutes to talk to someone. I explained the situation and was put on hold again. When she came back she told me the studio at BLT was canceled and they can't do anything about it because I canceled it online! I wasn't aware you could even cancel online. Thought any changes needed to be made through member services. Plus why would I even cancel myself when I was on hold while the cm was canceling my reservation and making a new one?! I asked if she could see who I spoke to the first time (unfortunately I did not catch her name before we were disconnected). She said no so I asked to speak to a supervisor. After about 7 minutes on hold, Joy came on the line. Again she said that I canceled the reservation and nothing they can do. She did offer to put me on a waitlist and be prioritized which I appreciate but I feel so disappointed in member services. I understand that availability can change so quickly and I had that risk of losing the reservation with changing rooms but I just can't believe that they accused me of canceling and this is why they couldn't help me out. So now I'm out of a room for my second night and back to checking availability constantly.

A couple questions this has raised is if by chance that I bumped the cancel reservation link, wouldn't a box come up asking if I was sure I want to cancel like it does when you are deactivating a wait list request?

Also, wouldn't I get an email confirmation that I canceled my reservation or at least have it show up on my online account like it does when deactivating a wait list request?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Sorry sorry to hear that happened. Changing a very last minute reservation is extremely tricky and at least as you said you knew that something could go wrong. I tend to take a few of these types of "risks" with changes and understand it too but still would be bummed if it did go bad even though I'd understand. The bit from MS stating you cancelled online is definitely disappointing though.

And yes, there is a confirmation screen that pops up when you click on the cancel button. It takes a couple of clicks to initiate and confirm the cancel. There isn't an email though - or at least I've never received one.

 

[GCM13]

Thanks, that's what I figured. That's what leads me to believe they were just saying that I canceled it. The whole thing is just weird to me. I could accept if we were going through the process and the cm said that it was gone before she could complete the reservation. Makes me think they are just covering it up to say it was my fault.

Another think I asked the supervisor is if they ever call a member back if they are working on a reservation and the call is disconnected. She said no they don't make outbound calls and they will just stop working on that reservation.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks, that's what I figured. That's what leads me to believe they were just saying that I canceled it. The whole thing is just weird to me. I could accept if we were going through the process and the cm said that it was gone before she could complete the reservation. Makes me think they are just covering it up to say it was my fault.

Another think I asked the supervisor is if they ever call a member back if they are working on a reservation and the call is disconnected. She said no they don't make outbound calls and they will just stop working on that reservation.

Just stop working on it? That's also a disappointing thing to hear. I can understand about not calling back - to a point - but customer service kind of dictates that should depend on the situation and one like this would warrant a call. But the CM should also finish what they started and make notes of the disconnect.

 

[disneynutz]

Had a very disappointing experience this morning with Member Services that I just can't believe. We will be at Disney at the end of October for my daughter's softball tournament. Availability is slim so I booked what I could a few weeks ago and have been checking the availability tool several times a day for openings. I was fortunate to get a one bedroom lake standard view at VGF for the first night and a studio lake view at BLT. Our remaining three nights are at POR. This morning I checked and BLT had a one bedroom lake view available for my first two nights. I called member services immediately and had a 15 minute wait for the first available cm. Luckily the room was still showing availability but because I had two reservations and needed the points from the reservations, she had to cancel one of them to be able to book the one bedroom which I knew. She told me she always gets nervous when she has to cancel a reservation to book another one since the availability could be gone. I understood that risk. She started working on it then put me on hold. After a few minutes the call was disconnected. I had no idea if she canceled one of the reservations, if she was still working on getting the one bedroom or what. So I called back waiting another 15 minutes to talk to someone. I explained the situation and was put on hold again. When she came back she told me the studio at BLT was canceled and they can't do anything about it because I canceled it online! I wasn't aware you could even cancel online. Thought any changes needed to be made through member services. Plus why would I even cancel myself when I was on hold while the cm was canceling my reservation and making a new one?! I asked if she could see who I spoke to the first time (unfortunately I did not catch her name before we were disconnected). She said no so I asked to speak to a supervisor. After about 7 minutes on hold, Joy came on the line. Again she said that I canceled the reservation and nothing they can do. She did offer to put me on a waitlist and be prioritized which I appreciate but I feel so disappointed in member services. I understand that availability can change so quickly and I had that risk of losing the reservation with changing rooms but I just can't believe that they accused me of canceling and this is why they couldn't help me out. So now I'm out of a room for my second night and back to checking availability constantly.

A couple questions this has raised is if by chance that I bumped the cancel reservation link, wouldn't a box come up asking if I was sure I want to cancel like it does when you are deactivating a wait list request?

Also, wouldn't I get an email confirmation that I canceled my reservation or at least have it show up on my online account like it does when deactivating a wait list request?

I have a couple of thoughts, comments.

Using MS and waiting in queue didn't help you, cancel and book online when you can.

Joy is one of the best MS CM's, if she says that the system shows that you canceled the reservation you can trust that that is what they are seeing.

Send an email to member satisfaction explaining what happened, maybe they can help.
dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com

As you have learned contrary to some posts, MS does not have the ability to hold inventory while they are canceling and booking.

Good luck.

Bill

 

[GCM13]

Thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately I wasn't able to book it online because I had my points tied up in the other reservation and needed them in order to book new one. You are right that waiting in queue really hurt me. When the call was disconnected, I looked online to see if the first cm had completed my new reservation and that's when I saw that my studio at BLT was no longer there plus the BLT one bedroom I was trying to get was also unavailable. I had no idea if it was gone because she was reserving it or because someone else got it.

I considered emailing DVC. Not sure what they can do to help now. If the room is not available, it's not available. Plus Joy did prioritize my waitlist. But I guess it may help someone in the future to prevent this situation happening again.

Thanks again.

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately I wasn't able to book it online because I had my points tied up in the other reservation and needed them in order to book new one. You are right that waiting in queue really hurt me. When the call was disconnected, I looked online to see if the first cm had completed my new reservation and that's when I saw that my studio at BLT was no longer there plus the BLT one bedroom I was trying to get was also unavailable. I had no idea if it was gone because she was reserving it or because someone else got it.

I considered emailing DVC. Not sure what they can do to help now. If the room is not available, it's not available. Plus Joy did prioritize my waitlist. But I guess it may help someone in the future to prevent this situation happening again.

Thanks again.

Online you would have to cancel a reservation to get the points for the new reservation, no different than what MS has to do unless you are only canceling a couple of days from a reservation. The difference is that you are in control and the 30 minute less wait may have made the difference.

We had a similar experience when a MS CM made a mistake while booking a reservation a few years ago. By the time she got management help, our available nights at AKV CL were gone.

I wrote a complaint email to member satisfaction and Joy researched what had happened, put us on a priority waitlist and contacted us a month later when the waitlist came through.

Sorry that this happened to you, I don't use MS unless I have to and all non priority contacts like adding names or adding room requests I do via the contact form on the member website.

Bill

 

[supersnoop]

There's no such thing as a "lake standard view at VGF." It's either a lake view or a standard view.

It sounds like MS said that you cancelled the reservation. Not that you cancelled it online. When you told the CM to cancel one and book the other, you cancelled the reservation. This may be a semantics issue.

I've posted instructions on how to hold a room while cancelling a reservation to free up your points. Someone else quoted my instructions this weekend. I'll see if I can find them again for future reference.

My main complaint here, and where we probably agree, is that the CM should have kept working to secure the reservation even after the call dropped.

 

[supersnoop]

Instructions to hold and cancel:
Start booking the new reservation on your computer. Get to the point where it says the reservation is held for 20 minutes. There will be an option to borrow points on this screen. Now, on another device or a different browser on the same computer, cancel the current reservation. DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE. Don't search for availability or anything else on the ipad, just cancel the reservation. Go back to the computer and select the "Borrow points" option. Then click cancel. Your point totals will refresh without losing the "hold" on the new reservation.

 

[bumbershoot]

Another think I asked the supervisor is if they ever call a member back if they are working on a reservation and the call is disconnected. She said no they don't make outbound calls and they will just stop working on that reservation.

I have been asked what number to call me back at, if the call is dropped. Either something has changed or someone lied to someone.

I considered emailing DVC. Not sure what they can do to help now. If the room is not available, it's not available. Plus Joy did prioritize my waitlist. But I guess it may help someone in the future to prevent this situation happening again.

Thanks again.

If they are seeing that you cancelled it *online*, when that isn't the case, they *have to* know about this. I think we all know that Disney IT keeps doing weird things, and that the front line CMs don't know all of the changes, don't know that what they see isn't what we see, etc etc. On the themepark pages, how many times do CMs tell people that they must have done something wrong, when the person hasn't done something wrong? It's because IT is doing things wrong, and the CMs are trusting what they see, when what they see is wrong.

You would KNOW if you were cancelling something.

And if they did mean "you initiated the cancellation, so you cancelled it", they need to know that that is an absolutely WRONG way of describing such a situation. If CMs think "I want to change this reservation" means "I want to cancel it and if the call drops forget about making the new reservation" then that is WRONG. And if that's some new policy, that's wrong too. When I worked CS elsewhere, if the call was dropped I still kept working on things. Then I would send an email letting them know what I did and that it was because of their call, and I would mark the acccount up.

I also do not believe for a second that they don't have a view of the last CMs who touched your account. That's ridiculous.


They need calm, specific, exact feedback on what happened on your end, what seemed to happen on theirs, and how WRONG their wording/understanding of the situation, and perhaps their policies, are.

 

[GCM13]

Thanks for all your replies.

Supersnoop: That was a typo on my part. I have a standard view at VGF. I went back to correct what I typed but forgot to delete 'lake'.

dizneynutz and Supersnoop: I wish I had known the ins and outs on holding and canceling a reservation. Sadly we don't make it to WDW very often more and have sold most of our points so haven't kept up with the tips on reserving and canceling online. I will keep that in mind for the future. Thank you.

Also, both women I spoke with specifically said that I cancelled the room online. Gave me a specific time of cancellation to0 (10:10 this morning which is when I was on hold with them. Based on my phone records, the call was ended/disconnected at 10:17).

bumbershot: Everything you said is EXACTLY what I was thinking as far as I should know if I cancelled a reservation and they should be able to tell who spoke to me on my first call.

I appreciate all the feedback. I will email DVC and explain what happened.

 

[Nanajo1]

I had a ressie changed from HA with roll in shower to non HA villa. I only found out about it because a wait list came through. CM told me I made the change. I have been using a wheelchair since 1997, no way I changed it. Eventually MS admitted someone was not paying attention and inadvertently changed it. I lost my HH booking because of it and it took awhile for MS to find another HA villa close to HH. And it did bother me the first response was to blame me.

 

[GCM13]

Hopefully someone can help me. I just checked availability and the one bedroom lake view at BLT shows it is available for the two nights I need just like yesterday. I got to the screen that says I have 20 minutes. I haven't cancelled my existing reservation yet because I'm a little nervous about losing it. Yesterday Joy put me on the wait list for the exact same room type and dates that are showing available now. My question is why would that show as available and not given to someone on the waitlist? I'm on hold with Member Services again to make sure I don't screw anything up but it's a 16 minute wait so it's going to cut it close.

 

[CarolMN]

....(snip).....My question is why would that show as available and not given to someone on the waitlist? .......

The "matching" program for the waitlist is only run a few times per day. We really don't know exactly how many times or when it is actually scheduled. to run.

When a reservation is cancelled, the room nights go right back into inventory. That means that someone could boot them before the waitlist process captures them. That's why members are advised to check the website themselves as well as establish a waitlist.

Hope you get what you want - let us know so we can be happy for you.

 

[x5x5x5x5x5]

I am pretty convinced that this type of thing happens due to software updates or bugs. I had a wait list come through for one night in a studio at Beach Club. About a week later I noticed that I had 16 extra points back in my account . . . lo and behold, the reservation had disappeared. I called immediately and they told me that they had no idea what happened. I was put on a priority wait list and did get the night back about a week or two later. They were very nice but had absolutely no idea what occurred. At least they didn't tell me that I was the one that cancelled it. That would kind of tick me off. Anyway, my friend builds and maintains software for several companies and she told me that it's not uncommon during updates for reservation type stuff to get lost or messed up.

 

[kamik86]

It is my understanding that the wait list is only run once a day. So if the waitlist is run at midnight (not sure when it is done just an example) this can happen.

Midnight: No room available.
9:00 AM: Member cancels a room
9:20 AM: You go online and see availability
9:30 AM: You book the room
Midnight next day: No room available

This means that if you were not the first one in the waitlist you got lucky and skipped ahead and got the room. If you were the first one in the waitlist but someone else saw it during the day you lose out. The room has to be empty at the time the waitlist is run for anyone on the waitlist to get it. So if you check often you could book a room ahead of 3 others looking for the same room on the waitlist.

 

[supersnoop]

Hopefully someone can help me. I just checked availability and the one bedroom lake view at BLT shows it is available for the two nights I need just like yesterday. I got to the screen that says I have 20 minutes. I haven't cancelled my existing reservation yet because I'm a little nervous about losing it. Yesterday Joy put me on the wait list for the exact same room type and dates that are showing available now. My question is why would that show as available and not given to someone on the waitlist? I'm on hold with Member Services again to make sure I don't screw anything up but it's a 16 minute wait so it's going to cut it close.

The waitlist is not automatic. Personally, I envision someone who sits at a desk, clicking a button to match the next waitlist, then working through the reservation and moving on. Cancellations, however, get released immediately. It seems possible to "jump" the waitlist if you're quicker than whoever is processing requests.

 

[GCM13]

I just got off the phone with member service. Another 38 minute call but this time it was worth it! As I said in my earlier post I went to book the one bedroom BLT online and got to the page saying I had 20 minutes. I waited in the queue and then Lucy answered. She was very helpful. She didn't show it was available but I figured it was because I had it on hold so I quit out of that page to see if it would show available to her. I did it that way because I didn't want to cancel my VGF for the first night then the BLT really wasn't available. She put me on hold and said she'd wait a few minutes to see if it would come up available. In the meantime I checked my dashboard online and the one bedroom BLT waitlist was no longer showing up but my VGF reservation was still there. So when she came back I told her that. She looked into it and I did end up getting BLT! What a crazy couple of days but it all worked out thankfully!

 

[GCM13]

Another thing…before my call ended, the DVC site went down for maintenance. I'm so glad I checked early!

 

[Opie100]

Yeah, I had just cancelled a ressie online to choose another, only for the site to go down. lol - fingers crossed what I was changing to is still there...