Has anyone else been getting gift card offers?

[DizMe]

Not long ago, I got a card in the mail inviting me to call and hear about DVC and they would send me a $25 Disney gift card. I had gotten one of these a few years ago and knew it was painless, so I called and not long after, the gc came in the mail.

Day before yesterday, I got another card inviting me to take a House Tour at the DVC office in DLR and they'd give me a $50 gc. I called and made a reservation for a time during my upcoming trip.

My friends and family want to know why I get these and they don't. I really don't have an answer. Is this common? I hope they keep sending me these offers, lol.

 

[5forMickey]

Yes I received one but it was for an online presentation. I haven't signed up yet but was thinking about it.

 

[FantasyIsland]

If you are in Aulani and do the tour you receive a $100 gift card! The best 90 mins I spent!

 

[FantasyIsland]

Sorry, to answer your question, I have never, ever received an offer by mail for a gift card presentation.

 

[DizMe]

If you are in Aulani and do the tour you receive a $100 gift card! The best 90 mins I spent!

Really???? Wow...I'd love to do that!

 

[FantasyIsland]

As a FYI we have been to Aulani 3 years in a row. The first year as a whim my DH took the tour... he received , nada , nothing zero.... maybe it was too new. The second year we stayed in a 2 bedroom villa with my daughter who is dvc. My other daughter was in a hotel room and received a letter invite to tour, for a $100 GC. The 3rd year we rented DVC points from Davids and received the invite! So, you must receive the invite to tour and get the $100. You must go sometime, Aulani is amazing!

 

[Disneyluvr2]

I'm one of DizMe's friends that has never received an invite to take a survey or do a tour. I WISH they'd pick me!!

I was at Aulani in February for the day and would have LOVED to have taken a tour! That $100 sure would have helped soften the blow of what I spent in one gift shop!! LOL!

 

[Sherry E]

Two years ago (December) I got the offer from DVC and got the $50 GC! My December 2012 hotel stay had already been booked and was in the reservations system, so I suppose DVC scanned the list of people who were booked and sent me the 'during your upcoming trip, come and see us' postcard and gift card offer, inviting me to make an appointment to see them when I was at DLR. A couple of weeks after I received the offer I called and made the appointment for a Monday morning.

So I marched from the PPH over to the DVC office on the DLH property. I met with a lovely DVC rep/CM. I was given free Starbucks coffee and free Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. I was also given a free blue DVC tote bag and their assorted information books and brochures.

I sat in a quiet room and watched a short video, then met with the CM. She showed me how the whole DVC system works. She gave me my $50 Disney gift card, She then took me on a tour of the beautiful model of an Aulani villa/room, which was fun.

All in all, it was time well spent and very worthwhile!

ETA: I did notice that DVC called me in the last week or two -- I had stepped out and missed the call, but I saw the Caller ID info. I wondered if they were just doing a 'touching base' phone call to see if I was ready to become a DVC member, or if there was another gift card offer in the works.

 

[mzspaz]

We got the $50 GC offer with our travel package the other day.

As we have been kicking around the idea of DVC for awhile, this offer was tempting me. My only concern was how much time this would eat up. We have 4 nights at DL and I don't want to waste any time in a long drawn out time share presentation.

However I would like a better understanding of how DVC works and the GC would be great.

What is the estimate for how long the presentation takes?

 

[Sherry E]

We got the $50 GC offer with our travel package the other day.

As we have been kicking around the idea of DVC for awhile, this offer was tempting me. My only concern was how much time this would eat up. We have 4 nights at DL and I don't want to waste any time in a long drawn out time share presentation.

However I would like a better understanding of how DVC works and the GC would be great.

What is the estimate for how long the presentation takes?

I am trying to remember how long it all took. I think that the video I watched in the quiet room (with my Starbucks coffee and Milano cookies in hand) must have been about 10 or 15 minutes long, at most. Then, the DVC CM/rep sat down and chatted with me (going over all the points and benefits of DVC) for maybe 20 minutes or so. It didn't seem too long, but it was 2 years ago so I might be forgetting something. The tour of the Aulani model villa was just a few minutes.

I am thinking that you could probably be done with the whole thing in one hour, give or take 10 minutes, unless the presentation or video has gotten longer.

 

[mzspaz]

Thanks.....that might be worth it then! I will have to call and talk to them. Need to see if they need both DH and I or just one of us. I don't think the 7 year old would appreciate that!

 

[krispin41]

I just got a postcard last week...I threw it in a pile on my desk...need to go check it out.

DizMe did you recently book a trip or planning a trip?

The wording on my card makes me think that they got my information from that.

It says, "Before you finish packing for the magic at Disneyland Resort...(and when you open the card) Discover how you can make a lifetime of memories with Disney Vacation Club."

 

[Dasha Hermosilla]

We got the $50 GC offer with our travel package the other day. As we have been kicking around the idea of DVC for awhile, this offer was tempting me. My only concern was how much time this would eat up. We have 4 nights at DL and I don't want to waste any time in a long drawn out time share presentation. However I would like a better understanding of how DVC works and the GC would be great. What is the estimate for how long the presentation takes?

I'd poke around on the DVC board here for a little bit before going. You'll get the sales pitch on the tour, but people on the boards will tell you the real scoop. For example, they play up you can stay anywhere after the 7 month mark and they always have a property they are pushing to sell. The truth is, the more constraints you have the more difficult it might be (like studies which there are less of and peaks times such as holidays and monorail/Epcot resorts during F&W).

 

[Sherry E]

....The wording on my card makes me think that they got my information from that.

It says, "Before you finish packing for the magic at Disneyland Resort...(and when you open the card) Discover how you can make a lifetime of memories with Disney Vacation Club."

That's exactly how DVC gets the info. I had a PPH reservation booked, and DVC must have scanned the DLR reservations system to find out who would be at DLR so they could target onsite hotel guests. Then I received the same 'during your upcoming trip, come and see us' sort of postcard and gift card offer.

 

[pindecisive]

I got this yesterday and almost threw it out. I'll probably do it on my lunch hour. I've always heard about DVC but never really looked into it.

The $25 dollars doesn't hurt either.

Anyone done this recently? I'm curious how painless the 20 minutes will be.

 

[Minnie Loves Mickey]

After reading this thread, I went to the DVC website and put in my address and phone number to have a free DVD mailed to me, lets see if that gets me an offer

 

[Sherry E]

After reading this thread, I went to the DVC website and put in my address and phone number to have a free DVD mailed to me, lets see if that gets me an offer

The gift card offers don't appear to go out to people who simply request a free DVD -- at least I've never heard of that happening. The most you might get for a free DVD request is a discounted hotel offer before the year is out, and some DVC info books.

The gift card offers from DVC seem to mainly go out to certain people (not everyone) who have a current reservation in the Disney system, and have not yet begun their trips. In other words, if you were already booked at a Disney hotel or property of some kind, your info would be in the system and then DVC could decide whether or not to send you the gift card offer. They want to see that the guests are already willing to spend the money to stay onsite, as that might mean that the guest would be staying onsite enough to warrant buying into DVC.

However, sometimes people have reported being approached by DVC folks in the lobbies of or in front of the assorted hotels around DLR -- not just the Disney hotels, but I think someone said they saw DVC people in front of a couple of Good Neighbor hotels too. Whatever the case, DVC seems to go for the people (via mail) who are already going to be Disney hotel guests of some kind, and in person they go for the people who are on or near the hotel properties.

 

[pindecisive]

It only took about ten minutes actually, if that was in fact the "tour." Very simple very straight forward. Not sure if someone is going to call and follow up and actually go over the promotional items they send, but hey... a $25 dollar gift certificate is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[Sherry E]

It only took about ten minutes actually, if that was in fact the "tour." Very simple very straight forward. Not sure if someone is going to call and follow up and actually go over the promotional items they send, but hey... a $25 dollar gift certificate is nothing to sneeze at.

There seem to be a couple of different versions of "the tour." There is the shorter, over-the-phone one for $25, and then there is the in-person one for $50, which takes slightly longer. Seeing that DVC has moved into DTD (I don't know if that means that their office location at the DLH is closing) and they will be more visible, I wonder if they will be approaching more people to do this... or fewer people.

Mine was just a one-time deal. The DVC people still call me and send me books and what not -- but the $50 gift card was a one-time only thing. Still, though, I was delighted to get it and it was an interesting experience in general.

 

[pindecisive]

The DVC people still call me and send me books and what not -- but the $50 gift card was a one-time only thing.

I'm curious if I'll be contacted again as once I heard the price I had no interest in the Timeshare. $16,500. I haven't done the numbers as to what the dollar/point value is but I don't travel often enough to make that worth it for me.