I'm not generally a curmudgeon when it comes to progress. What I was trying to explain is how having a competing online booking system could adversely affect the way I have to book rooms.
Let's just say they did implement real time online bookings like say Marriott or Interval does. So members can book rooms beginning at 12:01am for their checkout day.
Because I need to wait until MS opens at 9am to call for rooms and confirm a HA room is available, I can't book a room in the middle of the night like other members.
Now when I book rooms, they only call for a HA room IF there is already availability in my chosen booking category (e.g. a BWV-view studio during F&W fest). If there are rooms left, then they put a hold on it and call up Special Needs. I'm put on hold for about 5-10 minutes while MS talks to Special Needs and gets me the room I need. If I've given MS the authority to confirm the room without getting back to me with my options then they'll come back to me with my confirmation number. Otherwise we do a hold shuffle with MS acting as the middle man. (They can't conference call apparently.)
But what happens if all those other members like you could have been booking for 9 hours ahead of me and booked up all the room type I'm seeking? The MS says "sorry we're full, would you like another room type or resort?". Usually this means I have to pay double points to bump up from a studio to a 1bedroom unit just so I can get the HA room I need.
Granted, in times of year when there is lower demand or in larger resorts, this is far less an issue. But what about when I'd like to travel for NYE and book a studio so as not to blow my entire spending budget? Or how about booking a BWV studio room during F&W at 7 mos.?
That's why I'm being curmudgeonly. Now if MS was advanced enough to keep the HA rooms out of circulation until guests who actually needed them could book, or if you could actually book an HA room online, I'd have no problem. But as yet MS can't even see an HA room. All they see is the basic booking categories. This is why the Wait List has become a bust for me. When I've used it (prior to the automatic switch), MS was attempting to kick me out of my confirmed HA room for a non-accessible room every time.
And in comparing my Disney vs. other timeshare/hotel experiences I find Disney to have a much higher demand for HA rooms. I guess it is just a popular place for the disabled to vacation. All I do know is that I won't plan a trip for Disney unless I'm sure Special Needs has blocked a room for me. I simply cannot leave that to chance for the Front Desk staff to deal with.
You've got a unique situation that needs to be address among others. In combination with low utilization, the ROI on adding web services less compelling.
Now, solutions exist, and three simple policies could address your situation. One is to go ahead and give web services priority and allow anyone equal access to reservations, including those needing HA rooms. Once the reservations are made, those needing HA rooms would call in to verify availability of HA room in the category you've reserved. Should the room be UNavailable, you would not be penalized for cancellation. Still, this doesn't address your wait list situation and may put you at a disadvantage in choosing a second option for category, so it's not a total solution. A second policy could start the clock for every reservation at the same time, so it's a little like equal access. This could still give those with quick fingers the ability to beat the phone representatives. Those on hold on the phone may be at a disadvantage. Finally, they could open up phone reservations first for a few hours, a few days or a week, doing things the usual way, then allow online reservations. This last answer I have suggested elsewhere, would not reduce the most crunch time reservation dates that are just coming online, but could relieve those calls that aren't for those crunch times, thereby still helping overall. Depending on the desired balance, any of these choices could be implemented.
Ultimately, it's the most expensive to support half the users online, while half the users go on the phone. As long as the website is self run, there's no problem, but tha majority of websites require some level of intervention. For example, I tried paying my dues online. After several days where the system was unable to process my payment (after I wasted time inputing several screens), I think it was the final page that gave me the error. It would have saved me time and aggravation by telling me upfront they were having problems. Ultimately, I called MS to make the payment, so it cost me more time and effort as well as all the time to develop, test and fix the website, but yielded NO savings this year. Next year, based on my poor experience, I might just dial the phone number first (or at least at the first sign of trouble).
Now all this isn't everything the site does, but does balance some of the potential benefits. For the time being, it's costing
DVC twice as much as before to collect member dues, and it will be a while before they (and we, since ultimately we are paying for it) will break even.
