Disney called

[POOH&PIGLET]

It was a weird call. I saw in my caller ID that the call was from DVC Member Services. When I answered the phone, the CM didn't speak. When I said hello, there was a slight pause because the CM was talking to someone else in the background. The CM verified some of the details of my upcoming trip. The questions actually caused me some (mild) stress. Thoughts of potential scams & identity theft were in my head as I gave my answers. The thrust of the conversation was if I needed help with anything. I did not feel for a moment that the CM was trying to sell me anything (that would have pissed me off). When I hung up, my first thought was it must be a slow day at Member Services.

I agree with Kathy and I hope DVC isn't wasting money paying people to make unsolicited phone calls to members to say have a nice trip.

 

[moethorne]

I remember being asked if there were any celebrations we needed to add but I said none that I could think of. We have a couple of character dining plans already, AP, magical express and memory maker already set up. We were there in Feb this year as well and did not get a call before that trip.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Zero questions on if you had tickets or dining? Or needed help planning your stay? We're not talking hard sell but leading questions that could lead towards it.

Yes, of course - they asked if I needed help with anything.

 

[patsal]

I got the call as well both this year and last year. Mine started the usual way we see you are coming in on...and staying at ... we also see you have no tickets or dining did you want to add them? Which I am fine with. I simply state I have AP's and that I do not need a dining plan as they do not have one that works for the way my family eats. While it is a nice touch, I felt it was really just to see if they could do an up sell on the room components.

 

[Dean Marino]

If this had occurred to me? I would say NOTHING, ask for a direct call back number, then INITIATE the call after verifying that it was a legitimate WDW phone number.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

If this had occurred to me? I would say NOTHING, ask for a direct call back number, then INITIATE the call after verifying that it was a legitimate WDW phone number.

No concerns - *they* had all of the right information - I wasn't asked to provide any

 

[jerseygal]

If this had occurred to me? I would say NOTHING, ask for a direct call back number, then INITIATE the call after verifying that it was a legitimate WDW phone number.

SAD to say, but this is the world that I guess we must "operate in" now...TOO MANY scams out there! NEVER can be too cautious!
ENJOY your trip!

 

[EvilDrPorkchop21]

Many of us would rather have the cost of doing this go towards lowering MS wait times or something else and don't find a value on paying CMs to say hi over the phone. As you say, to each their own, but to me it's unnecessary fluff that I'm helping to pay for.

In the few times I've called the MS wait times have never been ideal, but never beyond the line of something I'd describe as atrocious. Mostly everything can be done online anyway, so the rare few times I have to call I'd rather wait 10 minutes and get someone who knows what their doing, as opposed to getting someone in seconds who has no clue what I'm talking about.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

In the few times I've called the MS wait times have never been ideal, but never beyond the line of something I'd describe as atrocious. Mostly everything can be done online anyway, so the rare few times I have to call I'd rather wait 10 minutes and get someone who knows what their doing, as opposed to getting someone in seconds who has no clue what I'm talking about.

??? I'm afraid I don't understand the correlation of a shorter wait time equating to someone who doesn't know what they are doing vs a longer wait time and they know what they are doing. I'd expect MS CMs to all be trained.

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

It is my understanding that the amount of money we pay as DVC members for Member Services is fixed in the contract. It's always just Disney's "resort management fee" which is a flat percentage of the operating budget each year. It doesn't fluctuate.

My guess is that moving to online bookings have reduced the amount of staff needed to make reservations, online confirmations have reduced the number of mailings that go out, and other cost saving techniques has freed up money that member services is going to get anyway. So they are no taking a more proactive approach that they couldn't before given the fixed budget they had to work with.

 

[DVC4FUN]

I would prefer less than a 10-30 wait time when calling ms vs. a unsolicited call wishing me a happy vacation.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

I liked the call - As a DVC member, I like being recognized by "Disney". I felt the magic - DISNEY called ME!