DVC Tour Frustration

[Keels]

Hey, y'all - I'm not really sure where this should go, but I figure I'll post it here. Warning: it's a rant.

Anyway. I've been thinking and researching buying into DVC for a little over a year now, but was kinda just waiting for the right time/a sign that it was time to pull the trigger.

Well, I thought today was it. I'm going to be at Disneyland in 10 days and today I received an offer for a $100 gift card if I did the tour when I'm at Disneyland. The timing is perfect - I have a free day with nothing scheduled, financially I'm in the perfect situation to do it and year-wise, it would line up perfectly for me to take the tour and start the purchase process.

So, I call to schedule the tour and go through all of the basic questions - including if I was married. Of course, I said yes. I told the scheduling gal that my husband would not be with me (he doesn't "do" Disney as often as I do and will be somewhere else for work that week anyway), and she replied that she couldn't schedule me for a tour unless the decision-maker in the family was present. I nicely explained to her that I was the decision-maker in the family when it came to something like this, that the purchase would be in my name only, I would be paying for it exclusively by myself and she said she would need special approval to schedule the tour since my husband wouldn't be with me.

At that point, I told her never mind. She offered to extend the offer to another time when my husband could join me, and that just made it worse. The gift card wasn't the point - though, it certainly would have been a nice bonus.

Is this something normal or am I just being overly sensitive by feeling that this is all pretty sexist? This was my first extended encounter with anything having to do with potentially becoming a DVC owner and it's left a pretty poor taste in my mouth.

 

[bwvBound]

This is entirely common in the timeshare sales industry!

Sorry you faced this -- but please know that nearly every timeshare attempts to tour married couples together rather than separately. From their perspective, history tells them there is a greater chance of closing a sale when both spouses join the sales tour together than when only one attends. It is, for them, simply a matter of Return On (their) Investment. They don't want to go through the entire sales pitch only to hear, "Hey, sounds great. Now let me go home and convince my spouse."

 

[Keels]

This is entirely common in the timeshare sales industry!

Sorry you faced this -- but please know that nearly every timeshare attempts to tour married couples together rather than separately. From their perspective, history tells them there is a greater chance of closing a sale when both spouses join the sales tour together than when only one attends. It is, for them, simply a matter of Return On (their) Investment. They don't want to go through the entire sales pitch only to hear, "Hey, sounds great. Now let me go home and convince my spouse."

Completely makes sense, so I'm sure I'm just being oversensitive. Thank you!!

That said - letting me tour by myself would be like shooting fish in a barrel for the salesperson! My husband would be the one totally kiboshing the whole deal.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You probably don't want to buy direct from Disney anyway. They will tell you all sorts of fibs about resales, like you can't use them for anything but the home resort. Or you aren't entitled to anything if you buy resale.

I'd just walk up to a kiosk while there, see about taking a tour and do it on your own.

 

[Keels]

You probably don't want to buy direct from Disney anyway. They will tell you all sorts of fibs about resales, like you can't use them for anything but the home resort. Or you aren't entitled to anything if you buy resale.

I'd just walk up to a kiosk while there, see about taking a tour and do it on your own.

Thanks, I'll probably do that. I have an AP for Disneyland and don't really have anything planned (no ADRs) for my arrival day on Wednesday because I thought I'd be volunteering at the Half Marathon Expo, but they didn't need me.

 

[brittanidp]

That would've ticked me off too and I'm pretty easy going, but that grinds my gears

 

[Matty B13]

Should have told them "you wear the pants in your family!!!"

 

[Keels]

That would've ticked me off too and I'm pretty easy going, but that grinds my gears

Exactly - I like to think I'm pretty easy-going as well, but that got me pretty riled up. I told my husband and his immediate response was "Uh oh ... what did you say?".

Should have told them "you wear the pants in your family!!!"

When she said (for the second time) that the decision-maker in the family needed to be there, I know I said "You obviously haven't talked to my husband because I'm the one that makes these decisions in my family!"

 

[Babydreamz]

Wow I would definitely be offended by that too. I don't feel like a man needs to be present for decisions to be made. How rude! Did you get her name? Is there a higher up you can speak to? Maybe I'm overreacting but that isn't something I would let go. I mean, I get that its all about the bottom line for them, but after you told her that you can make the decision, she shouldn't have done it again.

 

[PSUDinsey]

Hey, y'all - I'm not really sure where this should go, but I figure I'll post it here. Warning: it's a rant.

Anyway. I've been thinking and researching buying into DVC for a little over a year now, but was kinda just waiting for the right time/a sign that it was time to pull the trigger.

Well, I thought today was it. I'm going to be at Disneyland in 10 days and today I received an offer for a $100 gift card if I did the tour when I'm at Disneyland. The timing is perfect - I have a free day with nothing scheduled, financially I'm in the perfect situation to do it and year-wise, it would line up perfectly for me to take the tour and start the purchase process.

So, I call to schedule the tour and go through all of the basic questions - including if I was married. Of course, I said yes. I told the scheduling gal that my husband would not be with me (he doesn't "do" Disney as often as I do and will be somewhere else for work that week anyway), and she replied that she couldn't schedule me for a tour unless the decision-maker in the family was present. I nicely explained to her that I was the decision-maker in the family when it came to something like this, that the purchase would be in my name only, I would be paying for it exclusively by myself and she said she would need special approval to schedule the tour since my husband wouldn't be with me.

At that point, I told her never mind. She offered to extend the offer to another time when my husband could join me, and that just made it worse. The gift card wasn't the point - though, it certainly would have been a nice bonus.

Is this something normal or am I just being overly sensitive by feeling that this is all pretty sexist? This was my first extended encounter with anything having to do with potentially becoming a DVC owner and it's left a pretty poor taste in my mouth.

Just say you are not married and make whatever the salary range is by yourself- actually not even sure they ask the salary question anymore.

 

[Mmw37]

I would have been livid. Yes, that's a horrifically sexist comment. My salary is 5x my husband's, and I make all of our financial decisions. I am also our family vacation planner, because I'm type A and I enjoy researching things. I'm planning to buy our first resale contract sometime soon, and his involvement consisted of saying, "sure, that sounds great!" when I told him about it the other night. I'll probably let him know when I make an offer, but he has zero interest in being a decision-maker. I'd call or email DVC and let them know that this is how reps are talking to potential buyers, and ask them to be retrained. No way would that person get one cent of my money.

 

[Keels]

I would have been livid. Yes, that's a horrifically sexist comment. My salary is 5x my husband's, and I make all of our financial decisions. I am also our family vacation planner, because I'm type A and I enjoy researching things. I'm planning to buy our first resale contract sometime soon, and his involvement consisted of saying, "sure, that sounds great!" when I told him about it the other night. I'll probably let him know when I make an offer, but he has zero interest in being a decision-maker. I'd call or email DVC and let them know that this is how reps are talking to potential buyers, and ask them to be retrained. No way would that person get one cent of my money.

Yeah, I was pretty taken aback at how sexist it was. I tried to explain to her that even though I was married, I would be ME and ME ALONE buying the membership. I don't make more than my husband (I'm a SAHW, so if you ask him technically I make a negative salary ... oops!), but I was blessed enough to receive a healthy trust via inheritance that right now can be used for purchases of this nature (real estate, etc.).

When I first brought it up to him, he thought I was being ridiculous - but the more I looked over things and presented them to him, the more he was on board. We don't have kids, but we have eight longtime best couple friends that all have kids between two and seven, and they're all starting to plan trips and it would just be nice if we had a nice, larger place to offer them for a Disney stay that wouldn't break the bank. But yeah, ultimately it's my decision.

I'm going to call back tomorrow and speak to someone else. Mostly because I really would like to take the tour and see what they have to say for themselves before I dive in to the resale market for myself.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I'm guessing if the roles were reversed they wouldn't let your husband tour alone unless you were there either.

That said, the "decision maker" comment does seem odd. I could understand something more like "we want you to make the decision together", but to single one out doesn't sound right.

MG

 

[Keels]

That said, the "decision maker" comment does seem odd. I could understand something more like "we want you to make the decision together", but to single one out doesn't sound right.

And I would've had no problem with that. None at all. But even after I stated that it's my decision, my money and will only be in my name she told me she got special approval for me to take the tour even though the decision-maker in my household wouldn't be there. It was weird.

 

[disneynutz]

Their actions should send the message to everyone that it's all about the money and not about the guest or owner. As posted they do not want to waste their time on someone who's partner might reverse the purchase. They also don't want to waste their time on someone who intends to buy resale. In fact when the guide that you tour with later gets the info that you bought resale, it won't be a happy day at Disney.

Bill

 

[stratus]

I would be really irritated by this reaction as well, I don't feel you are being unreasonable regardless of "industry" standards.

Regarding resale versus not, I have done both, and for small ish contracts of 150 or less, I probably would buy direct again. I didn't enjoy the resale process, maybe i was the exception but it was a big hassle for us! Of course the preceding statement depends on where you are buying, we bought resale at BLT, and for the cost difference between resale and buying direct on the small number of points it wasn't worth it. Sure I saved maybe a bit of money, but it also tied up a good chunk of my time.

Anyways, sorry to hear about your experience, I would be cheesed as well!

 

[disneynutz]

I would be really irritated by this reaction as well, I don't feel you are being unreasonable regardless of "industry" standards.

Regarding resale versus not, I have done both, and for small ish contracts of 150 or less, I probably would buy direct again. I didn't enjoy the resale process, maybe i was the exception but it was a big hassle for us! Of course the preceding statement depends on where you are buying, we bought resale at BLT, and for the cost difference between resale and buying direct on the small number of points it wasn't worth it. Sure I saved maybe a bit of money, but it also tied up a good chunk of my time.

Anyways, sorry to hear about your experience, I would be cheesed as well!

I find it interesting that Disney causes most of the resale buying delays and restricts resale buyers to drive direct buyers to pay a higher price.

Bill

 

[stratus]

I find it interesting that Disney causes most of the resale buying delays and restricts resale buyers to drive direct buyers to pay a higher price.

Bill

They absolutely do. I am in no way saying disney is blameless. There was more lawyer work buying resale for us as well. It wasnt expensive but they required 2 witnesses... sometimes trying to coordinate 4 people's schedule as well as get a lawyer who does this sort of thing in a small(ish) town can be quite difficult. It took 10 days to get everyone all lined up and even then we almost missed our window due to tight timelines with the lawyer

 

[disneynutz]

They absolutely do. I am in no way saying disney is blameless. There was more lawyer work buying resale for us as well. It wasnt expensive but they required 2 witnesses... sometimes trying to coordinate 4 people's schedule as well as get a lawyer who does this sort of thing in a small(ish) town can be quite difficult. It took 10 days to get everyone all lined up and even then we almost missed our window due to tight timelines with the lawyer

I just check several of our resale transactions and as a buyer we have never needed witnesses, a lawyer, or a notary.

Bill

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I recall they wanted my wife and I to be present also. We are same sex marriage so I bet that made their head spin who makes the decisions in our house lol...

Of course it's me but I allow my wife to think it's her.

We have bought all direct and been very happy with the process. Both just released and older resorts. We just find the direct process easier. But it is personal preference. Doing the research is the biggest hurdle. I don't believe anyone has the right to say those who buy direct or those who buy resale are right or wrong. It's up to them. What you feel comfortable with and what you can afford.