Disney Vacation Club Meeting on Board - Drawing Rigged?

[zymurgy1999]

So we were on the Magic recently and decided to attend the DVC presentation. We were given a card to fill out with our name and other information and placed it into a box with others who attended. We enjoyed the presentation and scheduled a personal presentation with one of the presenters for later in the day. After the presentation was completed they announced that they would be randomly drawing a person's name from the box for a $200 on board credit, however, when I looked to the back of the room where they had placed the box one of the presenters had opened it and was going through the cards one by one, seemingly looking at the names. I guess she then found one that she liked and announced the winner.

This seemed a bit odd, but thought nothing of it and then went to our private presentation later in the day. A day or two later our friends that we were cruising with came up to us at dinner and told us that they had been to the DVC presentation that day and that the person who did the drawing did the same exact thing and they were really upset about it. We both went to the next meeting to see if it happened again and lo and behold she did it a third time.

This left a terrible taste in our mouths as it is not the "Disney" way. I wanted to know if this is how something like this is supposed to be done and if anyone else had seen something like this themselves. It had no effect on our absolute enjoyment of the trip. Was still magical as always, but this just does not seem right. Anyone?

 

[mousehockey37]

Interesting.

So this was a meeting that was selling DVC's? Any chance the cards they were after were people who bought in from the meetings? I'm just trying to think of ways to "rig" the winners because just looking at cards with names doesn't do too much... unless they bought in, then those people would be remembered.

 

[zymurgy1999]

Interesting.

So this was a meeting that was selling DVC's? Any chance the cards they were after were people who bought in from the meetings? I'm just trying to think of ways to "rig" the winners because just looking at cards with names doesn't do too much... unless they bought in, then those people would be remembered.

Yes, this was the meeting where they sell DVC membership. I know what you mean and I thought about that. The answer is definitely no in the two that I went to because they ask at the outset of the meeting who the members were and no one raised their hands.

 

[mousehockey37]

Yes, this was the meeting where they sell DVC membership. I know what you mean and I thought about that. The answer is definitely no in the two that I went to because they ask at the outset of the meeting who the members were and no one raised their hands.

Ok, but was the drawing from THAT specific meeting? Did DVC members have the ability to just pop in, fill out a card and leave? (Kinda like things you fill out a mall or grocery store contest). I'm just trying to use a process of elimination, lol.

 

[MsJiminyCricket]

So we were on the Magic recently and decided to attend the DVC presentation. We were given a card to fill out with our name and other information and placed it into a box with others who attended. We enjoyed the presentation and scheduled a personal presentation with one of the presenters for later in the day. After the presentation was completed they announced that they would be randomly drawing a person's name from the box for a $200 on board credit, however, when I looked to the back of the room where they had placed the box one of the presenters had opened it and was going through the cards one by one, seemingly looking at the names. I guess she then found one that she liked and announced the winner.

This seemed a bit odd, but thought nothing of it and then went to our private presentation later in the day. A day or two later our friends that we were cruising with came up to us at dinner and told us that they had been to the DVC presentation that day and that the person who did the drawing did the same exact thing and they were really upset about it. We both went to the next meeting to see if it happened again and lo and behold she did it a third time.

This left a terrible taste in our mouths as it is not the "Disney" way. I wanted to know if this is how something like this is supposed to be done and if anyone else had seen something like this themselves. It had no effect on our absolute enjoyment of the trip. Was still magical as always, but this just does not seem right. Anyone?

We have seen this done on a couple sailings. And we have wondered about it as well.

 

[apathetic]

Well, I doubt they could pick the card of who they thought would buy. And if it was someone who bought in a previous presentation they would have recognized them (they recognize all of the members they meet) and just kept their card out. And for those that are already DVC, they have a different presentation. The general sales gathering, as described above, would be all new customers. I don't know how they would identify 1 person and look for their card to give them money. And you have to be present to win, so it wasn't someone just dropping in a card and leaving.

Chances are they already picked the winner and were now sorting through the cards to do whatever they do with them. Or they just grabbed one when they asked for a card. The DVC people can be busy on the cruises, so they were probably just getting a head start on working the cards. I've seen them sorting the cards before, but I thought it was after they picked all of the winners. Bad optics for sure, but I don't think it is anything rigged.

 

[owensjro]

As someone who has won OBC at one of the DVC gatherings I can say ours definitely wasn't rigged. Or if it was, they didn't get what they were looking for because we certainly didn't make it worth their time/effort to give us free money!

Jim

 

[IrishEye]

the presentations we attended, the box was up front and when you finished your card brought it up front and put in box. they reached in and mixed the cards, pulled out winners, must be present to win.

 

[jlynch924]

I won $300 OBC a time one of those a few years ago and I am neither a DVC member nor did I sign up for a personal appointment. I do think a lot of people fill out the card then leave the presentation, but I don’t know how they’d know who is who by the cards. I’ve also been in there when the person whose name they call isn’t there and they move on to another name.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

the presentations we attended, the box was up front and when you finished your card brought it up front and put in box. they reached in and mixed the cards, pulled out winners, must be present to win.

^This.

I actually won once, at a members’ presentation on the Magic that was held at 2:30 pm on embarkation day. There were only seven of us in the room, so the odds were really good. Haven’t been so lucky since, and the presentations on our most recent cruises have been at 7:30 pm on embarkation day so better attended.

 

[bravestmerida]

My husband and I are convinced it was rigged.

We were on the Magic in early February and went separately to the DVC presentation on different days and had the exact same experience. We independently came to this conclusion and were surprised as we discussed what happened at the end of our presentations. In both situations the names pulled were people that were late to the presentation (i.e., missed at least half) and represented during the presentation that they wanted an appointment.

 

[magicmommy]

We are members who won the OBC on our last cruise on the Dream. This was cruise #9 and the first time we've won. There was a room full of members and we did not sign up for anything, so I doubt it was rigged in any way.

 

[NS8VN]

My guess would be they are assuring that the card they picked is properly filled out. If someone just writes their name on the card and leaves the rest blank then the DVC personnel probably disqualifies them.

 

[Dug720]

My guess would be they are assuring that the card they picked is properly filled out. If someone just writes their name on the card and leaves the rest blank then the DVC personnel probably disqualifies them.

And probably checking to make sure there was only one entry per person.

 

[taaren]

Odd I've never seen them do this. I've won the DVC OBC twice (on two different cruises) by going to every presentation and both times it was at a presentation with <10 people there. I've seen them looking through the box mid-presentation, but usually they pull the name of the winner on stage at the end in case anybody walks in towards the end of the presentation.

 

[DisneyNurse19]

As someone who has won OBC at one of the DVC gatherings I can say ours definitely wasn't rigged. Or if it was, they didn't get what they were looking for because we certainly didn't make it worth their time/effort to give us free money!

Jim

Same here. I have also won the OBC, which i was totally shocked by as we are not a lucky family usually (still waiting for that big win on the lottery. Lol. ) We said thank you and enjoyed spending it on the ship. Plus the card was pulled out of the box at the end.

Members can't pop in and fill a form out and leave as you have to be in the room to win it. If someone is not there they then pick another card out.

 

[tlynk]

I went to a presentation with my aunt who in not a DVC member, but wanted to find out what it is about and we both saw the guy pick through the names before drawing. This happened on the Wonder this past October. He tried to be sneaky about it. It was sketchy. I was disappointed and embarrassed since I'm a member and bragged to her about it. I've been to several DVC presentations and have never experienced this before.

 

[JW9DVC]

Great, knowing this. I will “split” the profit with the person choosing. I will let them know to “call” my name so this can be done.

Thanks for letting us know the trade secret!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We won once. We go often just to embarkation day presentation. Never noticed any sort of improper behavior.

 

[Dug720]

I went to a presentation with my aunt who in not a DVC member, but wanted to find out what it is about and we both saw the guy pick through the names before drawing. This happened on the Wonder this past October. He tried to be sneaky about it. It was sketchy. I was disappointed and embarrassed since I'm a member and bragged to her about it. I've been to several DVC presentations and have never experienced this before.

Are you sure he was not checking for duplicates?