First Time MS call

[BeccaG]

Spoke to a very helpful woman named Angela at MS. She handled my somewhat complicated situation beautifully and was a joy to talk to! Thanks Caskbill for your help, I was very prepared for the call because I had heard so many frustrated stories on this board. I had everyone's names and addresses all ready to go and when I said I was ready with all that info Angela nearly fell out of her chair. It sounds like there are probably many people who call who simply aren't as anal retentive as I am, and for once this served to be a positive for myself! So for you Disney Co. lurkers here, give Angela a raise!!!!!!

MODS feel free to close this post!

OK, so tomorrow I place my first call to MS to book my family vacation for next Christmas. I realize MS is very busy and I understand that sometimes they can get a little, shall we say, perturbed, if you don't know what you are doing. (Even though we are paying their salary and good customer service would dictate it shouldn't be that way. ... . ., but I digress.) Anyhow here are my questions:

1. I know upfront MS will need my member number and I should be ready to verify my identity with SSN, address etc. and I should tell them I will be booking day by day. Anything else I should tell them "up-front?"

2. Although this trip is a gift, my family and friends decided we should go a day early and stat at the Pop Century so we can have a full day at the park on the 30th (a night I booked but they are paying for-again extra info!). I also registered to be a "Grand Gathering." Will sharing my grand gathering # "link" all these reservations and my DVC reservations or do I need each individual reservation number? (And at what point to I share this information and is linking the proper term?)

3. I will be booking multiple rooms for my party of 15, when should I specify that I will be booking multiple rooms? I already have everyones addresses etc. for each room, which I know sometimes they ask for! And will each room have its own number or will they be linked by the Grand Gathering ID?

4. Any other helpful hints for calling MS?

Thanks everyone for helping me through my "issues!"

 

[Caskbill]

First, 99% of the CM's you talk to will be pleasant and professional.

As to what to tell them, simply say you're going to begin booking late December 2007, starting with a day by day reservation, and that you will be booking multiple rooms for a party of 15 people.

Then give your initial Check In date

Next, you'll need to provide the resort, and the rooms you want for the first date.

Are you saying you're staying at Pop Century the night of the 30th? Or are you staying at Pop on the 29th and checking into DVC on the 30th.

If your first night at DVC is Dec 30th, then you can call tomorrow Jan 31st for that night.

If your first night at DVC is Dec 31st, then you can't call DVC until Feb 1st to reserve the night of the 31st.

Can't help with the questions about Grand Gatherings, sorry.

 

[BeccaG]

F
Are you saying you're staying at Pop Century the night of the 30th? Or are you staying at Pop on the 29th and checking into DVC on the 30th.

Our first DVC night will be the 30th, thanks for your help! I expected most Cast Members to be friendly, I just don't want to be the poor soul that calls them first thing in the morning and ruin their day!

 

[chainkid]

I just went thru this process with member services. You need to ask for a grand gathering # once you have finalized all the day to day reservations. They will spend about a half hour going over everyone in your party. Next they will tell you that you will be emailed with the number in a couple of days. After a week I called and the first person said to call back later in the day which I did and I was given a number. You also need to tell them what you want the name of your group to be. They will link all your reservations together and will try to get the rooms as close as scheduling allows. I've done this twice and both times We were very close. Once I didn't get a number and even though I requested close together, we were not close at all.

If you are an experienced DVC member, you might find them annoying to deal with , as you will know alot more than they do and will have to have them keep checking to make sure what you tell them is correct. They are useful if you want to book a special event. Once you have a reservation # for each type of Villa you are using, you can check with them to be sure they are all under the Grand Gathering #.

I hope you have a wonderful time with your family and friends. We have made such happy memories with these large gatherings. One piece of advice,
some people may want the dining pkg and some may not. I plan to rearrange the people in my villas once I know who wants what as each villa is treated seperately. If you want it then everyone in THAT VILLA only must get it. your whole group doesn't have to get. Joan

 

[BeccaG]

Thanks Joan, since we were staying at the Pop Century the night before on our "travel day" I already had a Grand Gathering # from them so that in someways simplified that part! Thanks for the warm wishes!