Do Members have any say on the running of DVC?

[MJ6987]

Just curious, with DVC being a "members" organisation, normally in the UK that would mean members getting some degree of influence on the running of it, e.g.

- representation on the Board (usually elected by fellow members)
- the ability to put pressure on / influence decisions
- a "forum" (in the wider sense, not Internet sense) to be informed about what is happening and for members to voice their opinions
- etc

In some such organisations, the members have actually taken over the running of the organisation or even collectively bought it out.

 

[drusba]

The simple answer is no. The governing structure established by rules that members agree to when they purchase is that any right they may have to vote on directors or matters relating to the actual control of the resorts is assigned to Disney. There a few things that members still have the right to vote on but none of them are likely to ever happen, e.g., a decision to leave the DVC system or a proposal to raise dues in any one year by more than 15%.

There is also no formal members advisory group. Nothing prevents Disney from having one but it would have to approve one for it to actually be involved in anything. As far as forums and putting pressure, there is no formal DVC forum established for input to governing decisions. This forum is probably the one most followed by those at Disney. In the past, if members complained in enough numbers about something or begged enough for something, Disney actually sometimes listened although it often took years, e.g., members complained for years about the lack of any real discount program for park tickets before annual pass discounts came into being.

 

[RobDoc]

...

In some such organisations, the members have actually taken over the running of the organisation or even collectively bought it out.

As Drusba already suggested, DVC members at each resort do have the ability (although not an easy one) to take over management of their resort from DVC and find another company to manage or do it themselves.

However, this would effectively remove that resort from DVC and any exchanges to other DVC resorts would then be gone unless the new management negotiates such a relationship with DVC, RCI, II or any other organization. All current perks/discounts would disappear as well until renegotiated by the new management.

In addition, all operations (Front Desk, Reservations), maintenance, housekeeping, transportation, etc. would no longer be provided by DVC or Disney unless/until the new management either negotiated those options with Disney Resorts/Transportation/Textile Services/Maintenance/etc. or found new providers for those services.

While each resort does have this ability, the likelihood of a vote to remove DVC as managing entity would be minuscule, IMO.

Be careful what you ask for!

 

[Chuck S]

I think Disney/DVC does look at internet forums, including this one, to see the overall views of the members. For instance, a few years ago when real mugs and glasses were removed from studios (and I think we understood why) everyone was complaining here. They were not gone from the studios too long.

I do hope they are also getting the message that for the next OKW rehab, they get rid of those Roman shades on the patio doors - at least in studios, and put in a heavy pull across drape. Opening and closing those Roman shades is awful. They're pretty, but basically useless.

 

[LisaS]

I think Disney/DVC does look at internet forums, including this one, to see the overall views of the members. For instance, a few years ago when real mugs and glasses were removed from studios (and I think we understood why) everyone was complaining here. They were not gone from the studios too long.

I was going to mention "mug gate"! If I remember correctly, we not only discussed it here but many of us sent email to Member Satisfaction about it.

A similar thing happened when they decided to lower the temperature of the pools, making the pools unusable in the cooler months of the year. Again an email campaign seemed to have an impact and the decision was reversed.

But unfortunately many very important decisions are made without any input from members: the refurbishment of OKW and VWL in a way that negatively affected the theming and character of the rooms and removing the colorful dishes from all of the resorts and replacing them with generic white ones are two major changes that come to mind. These changes took away some of what makes DVC unique and we had no say in the matter.

 

[JimMIA]

In asking a question about the management of DVC timeshares, I think it's wise to remember that we follow the "Lumpy Pillow Rule" here on the DIS. If anything is the slightest bit below satisfactory, it will draw criticism -- which tends to feed on itself to appear to be a much bigger issue than it really is.

For example, you will read numerous threads criticizing the housekeeping of DVC, and some of them will include horrific anecdotal examples where things were not as they should have been. And there is no excuse for those types of shortcomings anywhere in the hospitality industry. Anyone who has spent more than a week in any kind of management can read these threads and tell you exactly where the problem is -- there is zero supervision of housekeeping personnel.

Having said that however, our family has spent at least 30 stays in various DVC resorts and none of us have ever had a housekeeping issue. Not one in 30 stays.

There have been, however, some significant changes that have upset many members -- all made with no input from the owners. Examples would be the change in banking rules, drastic restrictions on transferring (which probably contributed nothing to the solution of a perceived "renting problem"), points-cost redistributions, changing the reservation systems to almost require "walking" reservations in some time periods, etc.

There is also the persistent issue of an incredibly weak IT infrastructure, which lacks standard features than many hotel companies had 20 years ago.

Those are real things, and DVC owners have practically zero say in them.

Ongoing developer control of the timeshare is certainly not unique to DVC -- it is typical for timeshare developers to continue to make all of the decisions for the so-called owner associations. I don't believe there are any non-Disney people on any of the association boards. With Wyndham and others, there are sometimes one owner-member of a board, but it's likely 1 of 7 or 1 of 9, so they are completely powerless (and more importantly, harmless to the developer).