DVC MS Mayhem--can they take points without my authorization?

[lilpooh108]

A few weeks ago I rented a reservation to a very nice lady on the Dis.

She checked in this morning, and texted me that she "got an upgrade" from a 1 bedroom to a 2 bedroom at AKV b/c they were out of 1 bedrooms.

As you all know, this NEVER happens. I immediately jump on to dvcmember.com and I see that they've technically cancelled the original 1 bedroom booking, put the points in holding, then manually deducted the points in holding so that my point balance is zero (which is correct).

Here's my question---MS has not yet deducted the difference in points between a 1 bedroom and a 2 bedroom. Can MS do this (in conjunction with AKV front desk) without my authorization?

I have zero points left in my 2012 use year, so in order to make up for the point difference they'd have to borrow WITHOUT my permission.

I've done a google search on this topic and haven't seen anything this specific, and in most cases the member personally received/asked for the upgrade (which IMO may equal consent).

I specifically clicked "this person is not an owner" when making the reservation. I'm not sure how the renter/AKV front desk can borrow my points without my authorization.

Thanks!


P.S. (Off topic) I know that DVC is changing their website over this week....why do they do this during Christmas?!! Anyone remember Dec 2010 when all systems went down right around Christmas?

 

[drusba]

They do not have the authority to take or borrow your points without your consent. So far they have not done so, so you just have to wait and see what happens. However, it sounds like they have already done the transaction in their system by canceling the 1BR, sending points into holding and then applying those points to the 2BR and if they were going to take any additonal points, they likely would have done it as part of the same transaction so possibly nothing additonal will happen. Note it is possible at this time of year at Kidani for someone to show up and there be no 1BRs (all part of lock-offs) but a 2BR (dedicated) is open requiring the upgrade for no additonal points.

And my guess is knowing Disney and computer systems, the Christmas time update is simply a result of its normal planning: it planned to have it all done in August and due to constant screw ups, it took until Christmas time to actually do it.

 

[lilpooh108]

They do not have the authority to take or borrow your points without your consent. So far they have not done so, so you just have to wait and see what happens. However, it sounds like they have already done the transaction in their system by canceling the 1BR, sending points into holding and then applying those points to the 2BR and if they were going to take any additonal points, they likely would have done it as part of the same transaction so possibly nothing additonal will happen. Note it is possible at this time of year at Kidani for someone to show up and there be no 1BRs (all part of lock-offs) but a 2BR (dedicated) is open requiring the upgrade for no additonal points.

Thanks! It never occurred to me that they might have put her in a 2 bedroom dedicated because the lock off portion wasn't available. Lets hope MS is done messing with my points

 

[disneynutz]

They do not have the authority to take or borrow your points without your consent. So far they have not done so, so you just have to wait and see what happens. However, it sounds like they have already done the transaction in their system by canceling the 1BR, sending points into holding and then applying those points to the 2BR and if they were going to take any additonal points, they likely would have done it as part of the same transaction so possibly nothing additonal will happen. Note it is possible at this time of year at Kidani for someone to show up and there be no 1BRs (all part of lock-offs) but a 2BR (dedicated) is open requiring the upgrade for no additonal points.

And my guess is knowing Disney and computer systems, the Christmas time update is simply a result of its normal planning: it planned to have it all done in August and due to constant screw ups, it took until Christmas time to actually do it.

They may not have the authority but they do all kinds of things that they shouldn't.

They added the DDP for our guest at check in and they put the reservation points in holding, made a new reservation and borrowed points for the new reservation. It took a week and 6 plus phone calls to get things straitened out. On another occasion they added a software programmer to our account as an associate for test purposes. Took several days to figure that one out also.

Bill

 

[lilpooh108]

They may not have the authority but they do all kinds of things that they shouldn't.

This is true

 

[RobDoc]

A few weeks ago I rented a reservation to a very nice lady on the Dis.

She checked in this morning, and texted me that she "got an upgrade" from a 1 bedroom to a 2 bedroom at AKV b/c they were out of 1 bedrooms.

As you all know, this NEVER happens. I immediately jump on to dvcmember.com and I see that they've technically cancelled the original 1 bedroom booking, put the points in holding, then manually deducted the points in holding so that my point balance is zero (which is correct).

Here's my question---MS has not yet deducted the difference in points between a 1 bedroom and a 2 bedroom. Can MS do this (in conjunction with AKV front desk) without my authorization?

...

It sounds as though it truly was a free upgrade since they did not have the villa reserved available for your renter. This should not cost you any more points and the current status of your DVC account seems to support what happened. It might still be worth a call to MS to verify the status of your points and to verbally instruct them that you will not authorize any more points to be used than the original reservation required.

It sounds as though your renter truly ended up with some Disney magic!

 

[lilpooh108]

It sounds as though it truly was a free upgrade since they did not have the villa reserved available for your renter. This should not cost you any more points and the current status of your DVC account seems to support what happened. It might still be worth a call to MS to verify the status of your points and to verbally instruct them that you will not authorize any more points to be used than the original reservation required.

It sounds as though your renter truly ended up with some Disney magic!

Gosh I really hope so. I wanna be happy for her but the first thought in my mind was panic.

 

[vakamalua]

In October, despite booking a 1 BR with appropriate points deducted, we were put in a 2 BR at HHI since they had no more 1 BRs available (at that time of year, it is almost all couples rather than families). We called the front desk to be sure there would be no adjustment to our points and they assured us that there would not be. W checked when we got home and everything was fine.

 

[psac]

The panic of incidents like this is why we have no desire to rent out our points, thankfully we haven't been in the situation yet to need to.

 

[brucerob62]

man how lucky for her..i hope that happens to me in march ...and get a free upgrade at AKV

 

[penlanspice]

I does sound like they have had the upgrade as a result of their being on 1 bed available. If they were going to take the points they would of done so already.

Try not to worry and check back again in a few days.

 

[ErinC]

Why wouldn't DVC/front desk make an effort to upgrade a member instead? If your reservation specifically says the person is not the owner, I don't understand why they wouldn't save the upgrade for a member. I don't mean it to sound like sour grapes, but most members would understand the situation a little better than a renter anyway. That's an awesome upgrade for you guest though. Hopefully they won't mess with your points anymore.

 

[disneynutz]

Why wouldn't DVC/front desk make an effort to upgrade a member instead? If your reservation specifically says the person is not the owner, I don't understand why they wouldn't save the upgrade for a member. I don't mean it to sound like sour grapes, but most members would understand the situation a little better than a renter anyway. That's an awesome upgrade for you guest though. Hopefully they won't mess with your points anymore.

Maybe they have a never upgrade a owner policy? A renter who just got an upgrade is a great candidate for a direct sale.

I know in the past when we had room problems we were told to go to the front desk to get a different room. As soon as they see that we our owners, they change their tune and tell us that there are no other rooms available.

Bill

 

[Judique]

Why wouldn't DVC/front desk make an effort to upgrade a member instead? If your reservation specifically says the person is not the owner, I don't understand why they wouldn't save the upgrade for a member. I don't mean it to sound like sour grapes, but most members would understand the situation a little better than a renter anyway. That's an awesome upgrade for you guest though. Hopefully they won't mess with your points anymore.

It's not always going to be a renter. It could be the member's family or friend, getting the benefit of the room as a gift.

So why should another member get the upgrade over my family if I give them my DVC using my points that I a DVC member own and pay dues on?

The reservation has a check off for 'not a member' but that doesn't mean the person occupying the room should not benefit from an upgrade that occurs because of overbooking or out of service rooms. It's not a perk.

 

[pb4ugo]

Why wouldn't DVC/front desk make an effort to upgrade a member instead? If your reservation specifically says the person is not the owner, I don't understand why they wouldn't save the upgrade for a member. I don't mean it to sound like sour grapes, but most members would understand the situation a little better than a renter anyway. That's an awesome upgrade for you guest though. Hopefully they won't mess with your points anymore.

maybe members did get the upgrade due to rooms out-of-service/unavailable/etc and they don't use the disboards to tell about it?

 

[Sammie]

When someone gets an upgrade at a DVC resort, it really is not about that person and more about the fact that the room they had booked is out of service and they need to move the person.

Basically it's not personal, its business.

 

[PrincessSarah314]

Maybe they have a never upgrade a owner policy? A renter who just got an upgrade is a great candidate for a direct sale.

I know in the past when we had room problems we were told to go to the front desk to get a different room. As soon as they see that we our owners, they change their tune and tell us that there are no other rooms available.

Bill

We had a problem with our rooms back in June, while staying on points at SSR. The CMs had no problem moving us to a better room---at GF!

 

[lilpooh108]

We had a problem with our rooms back in June, while staying on points at SSR. The CMs had no problem moving us to a better room---at GF!

That is AMAZING!!!

Op here---well I checked my account daily since 12/30 and basically nothing has changed. The 2 bedroom reservation never showed up under vacation details, but the manual deduction of points is there in the transaction detail.

The point balance is the same, so hopefully MS will not go and mess with my points again.

I'm glad the renter got some pixie dust. I have not heard from her regarding her stay yet, so hope everything went well for her.

 

[brkgnews]

That is AMAZING!!!

Op here---well I checked my account daily since 12/30 and basically nothing has changed. The 2 bedroom reservation never showed up under vacation details, but the manual deduction of points is there in the transaction detail.

The point balance is the same, so hopefully MS will not go and mess with my points again.

I'm glad the renter got some pixie dust. I have not heard from her regarding her stay yet, so hope everything went well for her.

Odds are it wasn't MS "messing" with your points, but rather the front desk. I've had this happen to me personally when the room I booked wasn't available because of some type of problem (maintenance or something). I was supposed to be in a 1BR, but the CM said I'd been upgraded to a larger room. Later, when I looked at my account online, the original reservation had been canceled on the day of check-in, the points were in holding, and they were manually removed the same day. I never saw the larger room reservation show up, just the points having been removed. I got the bigger room, the points were the same, etc. So it doesn't appear that anybody took any points without your permission... you just saw the "sausage being made" in terms of how the front desk has to handle an upgrade.

 

[momtofour]

I am in Hawaii right now and will be checking into Aulani tomorrow. i looked at my account on member services and notice that I was upgraded from a standard view to an island garden view. lots of transactions with my three different contracts. however, I am 45 points ahead. are they giving back points due to the construction?