DVC should halt all Direct sales

[RoseGold]

I send a fifth (sixth?) complaint after the website, the phone line, all of it. Someone actually called me back to apologize.

So, maybe that's where all the staff is? Apologizing for having no staff because they are all apologizing...

 

[princesscinderella]

I spoke to my guide this morning and I was telling her the wait times were unacceptable for MS. I asked for my new points to be banked on their end as I decided to add 4 extra points to my new 30 pt RIV contract to account for fluctuations in the point charts over the years. She said she had to wait on hold to do something for a guest yesterday and her wait was 5 hours . She asked how I got the ones we just bought banked before and I told her I kept refreshing the member site until the chat option popped up and they did it for me. She asked if I could do that again on my end because the phone waits are so bad. She said it has been escalated to higher levels and is hoping things will change soon. I said Disney is known for its customer service and it’s totally blowing it right now for DVC members. She agreed.

 

[poofyo101]

Disney got rid of staff and used covid as an excuse.
Now they don't bring them back to save money.
So many other companies have done the same.
Sucks

 

[LillianBelle]

A minor success...while trying (and failing) to connect to MS at 9:00 sharp today, I was able to connect with an agent on Chat who solved my issue in just a few minutes. He says they can't do everything the phone agents can but was able to help me. For all I know it could be AI instead of an actual Cast Member but Chat at opening bell is worth a try.

 

[DVC Doctor]

Member Services is non existent. I was on hold 4 hours and 8 minutes today before they disconnected me today. I never spoke to anyone. They should halt all new direct sales until they can handle the current member needs. Our DVC dues paid for member services throughout Covid. They are under staffed. It’s not just today. Many days you just can’t get through to them.

Halting direct sales will have ZERO impact....the answer is simple....hire more people to answer the phones

 

[CarolMN]

Halting direct sales will have ZERO impact....the answer is simple....hire more people to answer the phones

Agree hiring more is part of the solution, BUT if sales took enough of a dive due to the MS issue, I suspect the MS and online booking issues would get fixed a lot faster.

That said, I managed an understaffed call center during some very challenging times. The "solution" may seem simple, but it isn't fast. Unrelenting pressure on the staff who do not have it in their power to fix the underlying problems is heartbreaking. Can't tell you how many mid to upper level managers (who never even set foot in the center) thought yelling at people to work harder or faster would fix things.

So I feel for the CMs and first level supervisors, and am angry at the managers who are making it worse by offering things that can't be booked online, and SEEM to be ignoring the website.

 

[LillianBelle]

Agree hiring more is part of the solution, BUT if sales took enough of a dive due to the MS issue, I suspect the MS and online booking issues would get fixed a lot faster.

That said, I managed an understaffed call center during some very challenging times. The "solution" may seem simple, but it isn't fast. Unrelenting pressure on the staff who do not have it in their power to fix the underlying problems is heartbreaking. Can't tell you how many mid to upper level managers (who never even set foot in the center) thought yelling at people to work harder or faster would fix things.

So I feel for the CMs and first level supervisors, and am angry at the managers who are making it worse by offering things that can't be booked online, and SEEM to be ignoring the website.

Well said...it's not the Cast Members fault and I also feel for their bearing the brunt of owners' frustrations. I actually just got a call from Member Services less than an hour after I wrote an email complaint to Member Relations about the waits and copied DVC executives. The CM was so gracious and professional.

 

[CarolynFH]

Well said...it's not the Cast Members fault and I also feel for their bearing the brunt of owners' frustrations. I actually just got a call from Member Services less than an hour after I wrote an email complaint to Member Relations about the waits and copied DVC executives. The CM was so gracious and professional.

So, what did the CM say?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

So I feel for the CMs and first level supervisors, and am angry at the managers who are making it worse by offering things that can't be booked online, and SEEM to be ignoring the website.

One is having a ticket offer that needs to be called in for and is such a huge drain on resources when there's a website that could be utilized. If they're incapable of getting the proper controls on the website to screen eligibility then I'd put forward that the controls are too tight and again, causing too much stress on a depleted MS division and members who are paying the same and having great difficulties in accomplishing things that used to be a 2-10 minute call wait.

 

[CSLucas]

One is having a ticket offer that needs to be called in for and is such a huge drain on resources when there's a website that could be utilized. If they're incapable of getting the proper controls on the website to screen eligibility then I'd put forward that the controls are too tight and again, causing too much stress on a depleted MS division and members who are paying the same and having great difficulties in accomplishing things that used to be a 2-10 minute call wait.

I think this perfectly sums up why I don't think this will get better - there are now 3 different classes of DVC members (Direct, Resale Legacy, Resale Riviera) and with each having its own set of eligibilities for booking and offers, I think it's likely that it will be harder and harder to do simple things through the website (such as many resale members reporting that they were restricted from borrowing online and had to do it via phone call and new resale owners trying to get points loaded quickly enough to meet banking deadlines).

I do feel for the CMs, though. It isn't their fault that the systems are structured the way they are.

 

[fumanchu2488]

I spoke to my guide this morning and I was telling her the wait times were unacceptable for MS. I asked for my new points to be banked on their end as I decided to add 4 extra points to my new 30 pt RIV contract to account for fluctuations in the point charts over the years. She said she had to wait on hold to do something for a guest yesterday and her wait was 5 hours . She asked how I got the ones we just bought banked before and I told her I kept refreshing the member site until the chat option popped up and they did it for me. She asked if I could do that again on my end because the phone waits are so bad. She said it has been escalated to higher levels and is hoping things will change soon. I said Disney is known for its customer service and it’s totally blowing it right now for DVC members. She agreed.

Completely unrelated but how did you purchase a RIV add on less than 50 points?

 

[princesscinderella]

Completely unrelated but how did you purchase a RIV add on less than 50 points?

I bought a fixed week too that was 196 points so my 34 points should get me one extra night in the same type of room if I wanted to make it a sat-Sunday trip instead of just Sunday-Sunday for the fixed week. I got a standard view studio for week 52 to hedge the resale restrictions in case I ever needed to sell it. So now I have 230 points total if I choose not to use the fixed week.

 

[AnnaS]

I bet a call for buying some points gets faster attention. There needs to be a balance.

Regardless of what is going on, I would never get frustrated with a CM on the phone or elsewhere. I feel for them too.

 

[Sandisw]

I bought a fixed week too that was 196 points so my 34 points should get me one extra night in the same type of room if I wanted to make it a sat-Sunday trip instead of just Sunday-Sunday for the fixed week. I got a standard view studio for week 52 to hedge the resale restrictions in case I ever needed to sell it. So now I have 230 points total if I choose not to use the fixed week.

Going to add that your situation of adding to buying a fixed week seems to be the one way DVD is allowing smaller contracts to be done.

Most other reports are smallest contracts are 50. It’s great that they allow this when people do fixed weeks!!

 

[Sandisw]

I bet a call for buying some points gets faster attention. There needs to be a balance.

Regardless of what is going on, I would never get frustrated with a CM on the phone or elsewhere. I feel for them too.

As mentioned, the sales division is not part of DVC. That’s DVD. So there is no way to crossover support.

Having said that, I agree that if the poor service we are getting from DVC impacts sales, then maybe the higher ups at DVD will put pressure on DVC to do something!

 

[princesscinderella]

Going to add that your situation of adding to buying a fixed week seems to be the one way DVD is allowing smaller contracts to be done.

Most other reports are smallest contracts are 50. It’s great that they allow this when people do fixed weeks!!

Wow I didn’t realize that was the case. They were going to let me buy the extra 4 points to get the fixed week up to the 200 points incentive but they said those 4 points would not be available if I chose to use the fixed week booking each year. Only if I opted out would I have the 200 points. That’s when I asked if they would let me do a smaller point contract to get an extra one or two nights in a studio depending on the season. This year it was 32 points for a Saturday for week 52 and 2022 point chart has it as 33 so I figured I should get 34. It makes it a nice round number of 230 points total, which coincidentally is the same amount of points we have for our BWV contract which was our first DVC purchase years ago.

 

[LillianBelle]

So, what did the CM say?

She was circumspect I suppose because the call is recorded, just that they are very busy and dealing with huge volume.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Disney got rid of staff and used covid as an excuse.
Now they don't bring them back to save money.
So many other companies have done the same.
Sucks

I 100% agree.

I, too, have been very frustrated by the wait times with DVC and not being able to get through. Rather than write what seems to be a useless email, I'm going to take my displeasure to social media. From past experience, it seems to get a lot more attention. Something along the lines of "anyone thinking about buying DVC, be aware of exceedingly long wait times (5 hours plus in some cases) due to inadequate staffing." Would be nice if one of the Florida papers decided to do a story on it or if one of the bloggers took up the issue.

 

[Evita_W]

Unfortunately these increased wait times aren't limited to just Disney, every major company seems to have this problem and they all blame COVID.

 

[Sandisw]

Unfortunately these increased wait times aren't limited to just Disney, every major company seems to have this problem and they all blame COVID.

I have dealt with it with several airlines too. Some have the call back feature and some do not and it has resulted of waking up at 2 am just to get through with a reasonable wait.

Its frustrating all the way around right now in so many ways.