disney vacation (club) leaves me feeling a little dirty

[saturnsuzie]

I've been a long time lurker and I want to first thank all the advice I got from these boards for my families recent vacation. We had a great time, but one experience we had has been bothering me for a few days and I wanted to ask peoples advice. Am I being too sensitive or do I have reason to feel this way.

We had a great vacation at the Caribbean beach hotel, but one incident has left me feeling uncomfortable and is casting a shadow over the whole trip. My husband thinks I am being silly and this is just the way things are in these tough economic times ( he works in sales for a car company).

Anyway this is the situation.

While waiting at the bus stop at the hotel we were approached by a disney employee who asked all those waiting for the bus who was going to Magic Kingdom and did they want "VIP fastpasses" for attending a show. All she wanted was our name and address and told us to go to tony's restaurant at 1:00 . When we got to this "show" we found out it was for a timeshare presentation ( disney vacation club) and it took almost an hour to finish. The presentation itself was fine and there was no one hassling us to sign up to anything but I feel we were misled by not being told what we were attending. I feel this type of tactic has no place at Disney, I thought timeshares had a legal duty to let us know that was what we're attending.

Am I being naive or is there some justification for the way I feel

thanks for your views

Suzie

 

[safetymom]

Moving to DVC

 

[traci]

What kind of show did you think you were attending?

 

[Inkmahm]

I've been a long time lurker and I want to first thank all the advice I got from these boards for my families recent vacation. We had a great time, but one experience we had has been bothering me for a few days and I wanted to ask peoples advice. Am I being too sensitive or do I have reason to feel this way.

We had a great vacation at the Caribbean beach hotel, but one incident has left me feeling uncomfortable and is casting a shadow over the whole trip. My husband thinks I am being silly and this is just the way things are in these tough economic times ( he works in sales for a car company).

Anyway this is the situation.

While waiting at the bus stop at the hotel we were approached by a disney employee who asked all those waiting for the bus who was going to Magic Kingdom and did they want "VIP fastpasses" for attending a show. All she wanted was our name and address and told us to go to tony's restaurant at 1:00 . When we got to this "show" we found out it was for a timeshare presentation ( disney vacation club) and it took almost an hour to finish. The presentation itself was fine and there was no one hassling us to sign up to anything but I feel we were misled by not being told what we were attending. I feel this type of tactic has no place at Disney, I thought timeshares had a legal duty to let us know that was what we're attending.

Am I being naive or is there some justification for the way I feel

thanks for your views

Suzie

Was the person who approached you wearing DVC clothing? A shirt with DVC on it or a name tag from DVC?

 

[DVCTiff]

Sorry, but, yes, I think you are naive to think it could have been anything else but that. You took the bait and now you may be feeling foolish, but many have probably made the same mistake. It cost you nothing but time and you got Fastpasses which I hope you enjoyed.

I hate salespeople just as much as the next person, but they have a job to do. Every encounter I have with one now (not DVC specifically, but I'm talking in my daily life) is an opportunity to flex my assertiveness muscles and stand up for myself.

I'm not trying to be hard on you, but you could have asked what you were going to and bowed out. Of course, you would have had to give the passes back.

Lesson learned.

 

[MermaidsMom]

If you were going to the MK anyway and you weren't a hostage during the presentation then it's no big deal. If you could walk out at any time then it sounds like a good deal. You have to go past Tony's area to get into the rest of the park, and if you wanted the VIP tickets you could choose to stay for the presentation. Your choice.

 

[chalee94]

yeah..."dirty" just seems a little strong.

you apparently wanted the fastpasses badly enough to sit through a boring "show" to get them. did they not tell you in the 1st 5 or 10 minutes that they were selling something?

this might have made you mad (and it sounds like the cast member definitely ought to have said "presentation" rather than "show") but if it makes you think twice the next time someone seems to be offering you something for nothing, then you definitely came out with something more valuable than fastpasses.

 

[CandleontheWater]

I think that sounds really misleading, and I'm sorry that it happened to you. I wouldn't have been pleased at being taken to a "show" and then finding out it was a DVC presentation. This seems very un-Disney like to me!

 

[tjkraz]

Well, it's certainly not illegal and given the effort involved in conducting a sales presentation at the MK, I don't see any involvement from "rogue" employees.

So that leaves:

1. It's OK
2. It's kinda OK
3. It's not OK

Those are all emotional reactions. Your reaction appears to fall under #3 and I doubt any comments here will change your mind. There really is no absolute right or wrong answer.

If you're that troubled by it, communicate your feelings to Disney. Put it in a letter. Make them aware that there are people who disapprove of the methods used.

The only thing I would ask is to be as clear as possible about what the CM actually said at the bus stop. Is there any chance that you missed part of her spiel? Did she have any sort of DVC identification that, in retrospect, you may have missed?

If I didn't know what I was getting into, personally I would have asked a few more questions. I mean, I can't imagine Disney offering free FastPasses to encourage people to sit throw Voyage of the Little Mermaid or Legend of the Lion King. But that doesn't forgive Disney if they are intentionally misleading people.

 

[tomandrobin]

While what he did was not illegal, I don't like that the "show" was done in the park. But at least it was no pressure, you were there on your on will, and you got the Fastpass as promised. I don't see a problem with what happened.

The only negative I see (besides this happening in the park) is that you lost an hour of time. But no one made you go to the presentation, or stay during the presentation.

Actually, it was a trade off. Stand in line to get on a ride, or sit in room to get a fast pass.

 

[suzimar57]

sounds like it was a low-pressure timeshare presentation, not as bad as most of them can be - not misleading, it would have been obvious to us what the CM meant by "show" - you were going to the MK anyway, all you lost was an hour - could have been worse!

 

[xipetotec]

That is weird, in all four trips I've done in the past 6 years, I've never been hassled by DVC. they seem to politely stand at their DVC kiosks and say hello and only approach you with DVC stuff if you ask what it's about. It's one of the reasons my parents bought!

When we went to WDW in 2002, my mother got curious and asked a DVC cast member what it was. Then, and only then, did they inform her and invite her to a presentation. But that's not all, she gave them an overview of costs and my father, before going, said "If they pull any pressure tactics, or if there are all sorts of hidden costs that have nothing to do with what they've told us already, I am SO out of there" .... anyway, long story short, they came back members that same day and felt totally happy with the experience ( my mother has added on points twice since then ).

so i dunno, maybe it was a fluke, I sure hope they aren't deciding to become more agressive in this way ( it's already bad enough that the "best kept secret" billboards are EVERYWHERE now )

 

[eliza61]

Hey suzy,
I voted "nothing wrong with it" because I'm going with the assumption that this employee was dressed in the normal "DVC" gear, meaning the shirt that says DVC, with the pin that says cm's name and DVC. Was this your first disney trip and didn't know what the dvc was?
Not sure of the how much they have to tell you before hand but one of the DVC's selling points is that they don't pressure or misinform you. Hope this isn't changing.

 

[bobbiwoz]

You could have walked out at any time. I would have asked what short of show it was, but that's only because I've been asked to answer a "few" questions by pollsters, and after that happened once, now I've learned to ask "how many, how long?" Why did you stay?

Bobbi

PS. I voted "its perfectly acceptable" but I would add that it would be perfectly acceptable to decline.

 

[Laxmom]

I seriously doubt DVC would condone this approach. I think I would have gotten the employees name and asked to see the sales manager. And I think there are disclosure laws that state you have to inform people that it is for soliciting timeshare sales. She could get DVC in trouble and they should know about it.

That said, I don't think DVC should be held responsible for this individuals actions. I agree with the previous poster when they said that the DVC people in the kiosks have never behaved like that. We have also toured DVC twice and have never experienced a situation like you did. I would have been angry but not at DVC. I think that individual needs to be reprimanded at the very least.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Suzie

I think you are justified and that is not something you expect at Disney. DVC has never conducted recruiting like this before and to me it is tacky and low class and has no place at Disney.

I would definitely complain and let your resort and DVC know how you feel. For all we know, this castmember overstepped their boundaries (and probably works on commission).

DVC does have a legal obligation to tell you that their marketing is for timeshare purposes. It is on the back of all their promotion material.

I would complain. Disney should not subject its guest to this type of tactic.

What's next? Porn Slappers at DTD? They gotta eat too!

Very unmagical and they would definitely be hearing from me.

No one should blame you especially since this is the YOAMD and guests are looking out for castmembers to approach them with special offerings.
Disney puts on all kinds of shows. Maybe they needed a pre-screen audience for a new show. Disney does these things all the time and we trust them.

To sell DVC in this manner is despicable and further evidence of the sheer lack of marketing skills the new regime has. Plastering billboards from WDW to New York and tricking guests is not marketing! On the member cruise, they held us hostage on the ship (docked at Castaway Cay) until they finished their "show" NEVER AGAIN will I pay to go on another DVC member event.

COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!!!!!!

 

[Jillpie]

Sorry, I'm not buying this. This is the first post from the OP, and this is NOT the way DVC operates. You approach them, they don't approach you. I'm smelling a troll here, anyone else? DVC is not devious, they are in every way honest about their dealings. They just wouldn't do this.

 

[msabol01]

It certainly sounds very uncharacteristic based on my experiences with WDW and DVC. DVC has always had a come to us position.

 

[Timmbco]

I don't think this post should have been moved to the DVC board. She was approached at CBR and it involves non-DVC members.

Also, I think it is quite reasonable in "Year of a Million Dreams" to maybe expect a dream if a CM approches you, not a solicitation!

This is not acceptable. I would have been really irritated and would definately complain!

 

[dcamdad]

Sorry, I'm not buying this. This is the first post from the OP, and this is NOT the way DVC operates. You approach them, they don't approach you. I'm smelling a troll here, anyone else? DVC is not devious, they are in every way honest about their dealings. They just wouldn't do this.

I tend to agree, isn't passing the smell test.