Well, certainly the very last thing in the world I'd want to do is get my guide in trouble...so if in fact his responsiveness to me (the customer!) is putting his employment at risk, I'll stop emailing him...
And at the risk of cutting off my nose to spite my face, I'm inclined to think I'll probably stop adding on, too. I find I'm even thinking about getting out of
DVC.
I find it annoying in the extreme that DVC would not allow the guides to accommodate a customer's express preference for email communication.
Perhaps there's an explanation which would dissipate my annoyance? But altho I understand the need to be careful about what you put in writing, I'd say a guide shouldn't say on the phone what he/she couldn't put in an email, either! Either the guide is giving accurate information or he/she isn't. Whether that information is transmitted via phone or email shouldn't matter.
But rules are rules. If DVC has a rule against email, I'll comply with it. But it's strike two against DVC. (Strike one is changing the rules in the middle of the contract. Eliminating the smoking option for people who smoke also struck me as completely unfair to those folks. Fortunately for me it's a non-issue, but for someone who cares it is strike one against DVC. It's just not fair to change the rules after they've already collected someone's money. I don't have a problem with the rule, mind you--just with the abrupt and in your face and "who cares about you" attitude behind the new rule.)
Kind of sad...I've only owned DVC for a bit more than a year. I've been very happy with my guide's service. But to find out that his accommodation of my very clear request that we communicate via email may be putting his job at risk troubles me a whole lot. I'm going to have to think through carefully whether the benefits of DVC outweigh this fairly awful situation.
