Just a couple of comments:
DVC will have about 100 or more CM's answering phones on a monday. It's the busiest call day of the week. If you were calling late in the day, the CM may have been fairly well taxed by then.
If you called back, the chance would only be 1% of getting the same person.
There are a number of people who basically have created a business of renting points. And often give the person renting incorrect information. Every incoming call to MS costs, and that cost is distributed to all members. Some who rent points may be calling 5 times a day just to check availability. Then they rent and the renters call to confirm. MS may be handling 5 to 10 times the call volume just for a single reservation.
For example, I may make a 7-day reservation in a 1-B/R at BCV for Magic season, for 270 points, and do it all with one call.
A professional renter may be splitting those 270 points into 5-day studio rentals at OKW during Adventure season, using 40 points at a time. Those 270 points will make almost 8 reservations. If he gets 5 requests from potential renters to check availability, and calls to check each time for his 8 annual reservations, that's 40 calls. And if each renter calls again to confirm, it's 48 total calls. compared to my one single call to use my 270 points!
As for smoking rooms, you can request a non-smoking room for medical reasons, although unfortunately so many have been doing that so much that it hasn't kept the importance of 'medical' as it use to. Also, rooms are assigned on a first come first served basis. If when you check-in the next available room is a smoking room, just don't take it, and wait for a non-smoking room to become available. You might also find it interesting that this very topic has been brought up a number of times at the annual member's meeting, and DVC management has indicated they're working on it. My guess is that it won't be long before non-smoking becomes a guaranteed category. (Or even better yet, DVC will go 100% non-smoking rooms)
As to the 'other nameless resort', that would be any resort that is not the particular poster's home resort.
As to whether you should buy or not, that's your decision. But if you look at the fact that there are 100,000 members, and the resale boards generally list only a few dozen for sale, that will tell you something. If as many as 100 members were selling their memberships right now, that would only be 1/1,000th the membership. I'll guarantee you that right now, in your home town, much more than 1/1,000th of all the homes there are for sale right now.
That might tell you something about how people feel about their DVC memberships.
(family of five)
.
