I am getting really grossed out by the lack of cleanliness in DVC units

[kritter]

I was sort of told that they have the same products but where trained to use them. That was ok with me, just some dollar store stuff, and I would also open the windows if I could, if I felt like someone had smoked in my non smoking room.

Oh not a huge deal then...

 

[HUFF590]

You are right on, You might expect to see this at your interstate hotel chain, but from fellow Dvc club members? no way! renters? who knows? We will leave you guys a clean room, at least my dw will lol.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have been DVC members since 1997 and only had one problem with a dirty room this Jan'05. We got to are room and it had not been cleaned at ALL!! Whoever was in the room before us completely trashed the room. Trash and half eaten food everywhere(floors, counters, sofa, shower) it was unbelievable. The bed linens and sofa pillows all over the floor. The one chair and ottoman on the patio. I just could not believe that people would leave a room that trashed. We call the front desk and they said that housekeeping must have missed the room. Of course housekeeping came right away and said that it was not on their list to clean until tomorrow. We left for dinner and when we came back it was very cleaned!!! We got a called from management and our DVC guide about our complains about the room not being cleaned and not getting into our room until 9pm. We eventually got our first night point backs. It worked out in the end but I still can't believe how some people leave/treat the rooms.
My two cents.....Debbie

Your post brings up lots of questions for me. I just can not imagine an owner of DVC leaving things in that condition. I have often wondered if being able to rent points for basically the same cost as staying at All Stars might not be responsible for some of this. I don't rent out my points, I want them all to myself, but I also can't imagine anyone who pays dues leaving such a mess. When we leave, we strip the beds that were used, put the dirty towels in the tub, take out the trash and recylables, load the dishwasher, clean out the fridge, make sure the stove is clean, and try to leave everything in order. If we have any non-perishable food left, we either leave it out for the housekeeping staff or find someone who is just checking in and give it to them.

I guess finding a room in that conditions makes me understand why sometimes I don't get into our 2 bedroom until after 4:00. Several times we have gone in and the carpet was still damp from shampooing.

 

[jacalynt]

This message is response to dr. tomorrow's statements. Don't want to argue with you but read my post from yesterday about my experience. We have been visiting OKW for 6 years and only in the past year have we seen cleaning issues. Don't know about you but the maintenance fees are expensive - at least for my family - and you would expect that even if the room is not up to par - that you would at least receive kind words from the employees behind the desk in the hospitality house. Good for you that you don't seem to ever encounter any problems. Maybe you should share your secret.

 

[Safari Queen]

We had a leaking sink in an otherwise spotless 2-br villa at BWV this weekend. We called right away and were asked "Does this need to be fixed immediately or will sometime during the day be acceptable?" To me, that's exactly the right question, so they can prioritize according the guests' desires. It was all fixed when we returned that afternoon. At the risk of being redundant, please, all DVC members need to report anything unsatisfactory, whether it's a rude CM, dirty tub, or needed repair. We shouldn't accept anything less than excellent service and conditions but we need to take responsibility for making Disney aware. Do any of us want to pay for increased costs associated with double checking all work and having maintenance inspect everything in a villa after every visit?

 

[DrTomorrow]

There is NEVER an excuse to walk into a dirty hotel room... NONE!. You are saying there is NO reasonable way to correct this issue beyond the rate at which rooms are cleaned now? Are you serious? How about having an inspector walk into each room before the guest checks in? Is this really that difficult or that expensive? Do you really need a high-paid skilled person to do this? Would this really effect the P&L of the operation that much?

And your personal experiences are not necessarily the norm. Dont forget the few posters on this board where this wasnt a one time thing.
You could probably use a refresher on quality control/continuous improvement. It is more expensive in the long-run to have customers find defects than it is to correct them BEFORE the customer has discovered them. And regarding the insects in the flour analogy, does those insect rates in any way effect the customer satisfaction with that product?

This gets more hilarious by the post; it's so obvious when someone responds without actually reading - and comprehending - my post. (I actually had to check to make sure I hadn't fallen for some Troll bait! ).

First, there's one simple excuse for walking into a dirty room - human error. Housekeeping checked off the wrong room, front desk mis-read the screen, scheduler had a brain bubble, etc. Add in computer error, and it's obvious - at least, IMHO, to any reasonable person who's ever made a mistake - that the assignment of a dirty room will happen every now and then.

Now for the not-reading-my-post part: I DID suggest options - in fact, I suggested the more/better housekeepers and a DVC ROOM INSPECTOR. But not only will this increase cost (how many DRI's will it take to check SSR on Friday, when all the point-watchers move off-site/Value?) but still have that pesky old human element.

As for a refresher in QA/QC/CI - thanks, but not needed. I wrote statistical simulation software for manufacturing engineering / digital factory environments and yes, Six Sigma blah, W. Edwards Deming blah, process control blah. But that oft-quoted (and, to be honest, usually appropriate) comment about 'cheaper to find a defect before the customer does' really was meant to apply to manufacturing, at least originally - and doesn't ALWAYS apply, particularly when dealing with a service. Besides, from a more cynical POV, what happens to DVC's "P&L" when a DVC owner finds a dirty room? Nothing, AFAIK; a little lost goodwill, but DVC seems to be selling quite well - which is where DVC makes the $$$.

Again, I think it would really stink to open the door to my DVC Villa and see blood on the sheets (and hair in the fridge and CSI-type things in the closet). I'd also like to be guaranteed a non-HC room, and I'd like free DAILY HK. But how much extra is the group of DVC owners, as a whole, willing to pay to reduce (remember, perfection is an unattainable goal) the occurance of what appears to be (anecdotal evidence only) a small number of these unfortunate events?

Be well!

 

[DizWacko]

Dr.. Tommorow ... nothing more than excuses..... did you read the original post? These are REPEAT experiences of bad housekeeping, and Ive read a few on these boards. What is acceptable Dr Tommorow? 5%, 2%, .025% dirty rooms? Neither of us know the reality of what the "scummy room rate" is, but if it happens to a single family more than once (out of how many total ressies?), I would say its a safe bet that it isnt that rare.

Housekeeping is not a overly complex service process so far as I can tell, maybe you know better.

And I hope you are never in charge of quality control at any business that I purchase from, what company do you develop software for - Microsoft?? LOL

 

[manning]

If you reduce the repeat cleaning of rooms you can reduce personnel and thus reduce cost. And the way to accomplish this is to report every incident in hopes management will get on the ball and do what they are hired for....managing!!!!!!!

 

[dianeschlicht]

If you reduce the repeat cleaning of rooms you can reduce personnel and thus reduce cost. And the way to accomplish this is to report every incident in hopes management will get on the ball and do what they are hired for....managing!!!!!!!

That is a very good point that I think some are missing on this thread. It MUST be reported AT THE TIME.

 

[RAD]

When we stayed at OWK last month we had some issues with the condition of the room upon checkin. I called housekeeping right away and reported the issues and they sent someone over. I also followed it up with a detailed e-mail on exactly what was wrong to member services and received a phone call back from them yesterday. They thanked me for the information and said that they would be following up with the housekeeping manager to make sure that the person that has that room is coached on how to properly perform their job. Bottom line is if management doesn't know they can't fix the problem.

 

[DizWacko]

What you are all missing is that it is Management's JOB to know !!! Of course if you have a problem you should report it, this is a no brainer. But if the problem happens more than once to the same people, dont you think that there may be a trend present?

I agree with many others, if I walk into a disgusting room, it will definitely take some of the magic away from my room for the entire stay... whether they clean if after the fact or not.

 

[DeeCee735]

I am a clean freak, my family says I'm a fanatic. I have NEVER been in a DVC unit where it was dirty. Sometimes (because I am a fanatic) I'll put as many of the dishes in the dishwasher and run it as soon as I get there, so we start with "my" clean dishes, other than that I've never found a bathroom/shower/sink/toilet or any other part of the unit to be dirty. As a matter of fact, DVC units are the cleanest places I've stayed. I've read some of your past posts and I'm sorry to hear you have so many negative experiences with DVC, you must be regretting your purchase. We are very very happy with not only the clean, beautiful units, but the service, location and just about everything else associated with owning DVC.

 

[dianeschlicht]

What you are all missing is that it is Management's JOB to know !!! Of course if you have a problem you should report it, this is a no brainer. But if the problem happens more than once to the same people, dont you think that there may be a trend present?

I agree with many others, if I walk into a disgusting room, it will definitely take some of the magic away from my room for the entire stay... whether they clean if after the fact or not.

Sure it's management's job to know, but unless we are willing to increase our dues by leaps and bounds, one of the ways they will KNOW is if someone who finds a less than clean room tells them. There are 49 buildings at OKW and ONE manager can't inspect all of them personally each day, because they have more than that one job to oversee. the customer MUST be the quality control person in this case.

 

[DizWacko]

Sure it's management's job to know, but unless we are willing to increase our dues by leaps and bounds, one of the ways they will KNOW is if someone who finds a less than clean room tells them. There are 49 buildings at OKW and ONE manager can't inspect all of them personally each day, because they have more than that one job to oversee. the customer MUST be the quality control person in this case.

Wow, I am really surprised to hear you say this, esp. the last sentence. As an owner, your opinion is just as important as anybody elses, but still shocking nonetheless

 

[mickeysgal]

When housekeeping cleans the rooms, what exactly is required to prepare them for the next guest? Of course, change the sheets, disinfect the toilet, vacumn, clean up any obvious mess, but beyond this what do they do? I'm wondering if MY expectation is different than what ACTUALLy happens. For example, I would expect that the bathroom floor is cleaned with a disinfectant, however I'm not sure that this happens...maybe its only swept out. Same with the shower - are the tile walls and floor scrubbed and disinfected or simply rinsed? I think the word "clean" is too loosely used. When I mean clean, I mean disinfected. I'm just wondering what the standards are? I've heard that the blankets aren't changed between guests (so we place the spare crib sheet on top of this blanket so we don't have any contact with it). I can't imagine that they rewash every single item in the kitchen (every utensil, dish, pan, etc.). They may only be required to wash what they see left on the counter, or what is already preloaded in the dishwasher.

Regarding how people leave the rooms at check-out. We purposely don't make the beds, we leave them obviously used. To me, it would be too easy for housekeeping to forget to change the sheets if we leave a neat and tidily made bed. Same with the pull-out. If we've used it, we purposely leave it pulled out and unmade. So...to some that may look bad or "trashed", but we do it so that there is no question that something needs to be done with it.

 

[dianeschlicht]

When housekeeping cleans the rooms, what exactly is required to prepare them for the next guest? Of course, change the sheets, disinfect the toilet, vacumn, clean up any obvious mess, but beyond this what do they do? I'm wondering if MY expectation is different than what ACTUALLy happens. For example, I would expect that the bathroom floor is cleaned with a disinfectant, however I'm not sure that this happens...maybe its only swept out. Same with the shower - are the tile walls and floor scrubbed and disinfected or simply rinsed? I think the word "clean" is too loosely used. When I mean clean, I mean disinfected. I'm just wondering what the standards are? I've heard that the blankets aren't changed between guests (so we place the spare crib sheet on top of this blanket so we don't have any contact with it). I can't imagine that they rewash every single item in the kitchen (every utensil, dish, pan, etc.). They may only be required to wash what they see left on the counter, or what is already preloaded in the dishwasher. snip

I have often wondered what the REAL standards are as well. I was once told that ALL the dishes are run through the dishwasher, even if they are still in the cupboard when housekeeping gets there, but with the obvious language barrier with housekeeping, I wonder how much actually does get done. It might be interesting to get a definitive discription of what is supposed to be done.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Wow, I am really surprised to hear you say this, esp. the last sentence. As an owner, your opinion is just as important as anybody elses, but still shocking nonetheless

As shocking as someone going into apoplexy over the possibility of no towel animals at DVC?

 

[DizWacko]

As shocking as someone going into apoplexy over the possibility of no towel animals at DVC?

LOL !!!!!

 

[jaysue]

As shocking as someone going into apoplexy over the possibility of no towel animals at DVC?

C'mon no towel animals

So it ain't so!!!

 

[Disney-Kim]

In my opinion.....we are lucky if the bathroom is getting a "wipedown".
I would have to doubt that the dishes are being washed. If we folded the towels all fancy I would wonder if they would be changed.
I agree with the original poster...I have seen a lot more hair in the bathrooms upon check in. A damp rag/mop would take care of that...so makes you wonder what they do????

when we checked in the GCH at Dland this past Sept we found hair in our bed. it really makes you wonder if the sheets were even changed. you know????????