I Believe Comcast Will Be BAD For DVC

[Stinson]

I have had the unfortunate experience of being a Comcast customer since it recently took over the cable company in our area, and I have come to feel that there is nothing good about Comcast. Comcast has stripped our cable company of customer service and is the worst company I have ever dealt with. I can only expect that the service we now receive from DVC will vanish as it has vanished from our cable service after Comcast took over. Comcast never (well, seldom) answers the customer service phone line . Comcast now has a monopoly in our area and, as a customer, I feel this company treats me with total indifference. The same will be true of our beloved DVC. Because Comcast will essentially own DVC members, as they do cable customers, they will be free to provide as little customer service to DVC members as they provide to cable subscribers in my area. If this take-over/merger goes through, it will be the end of my DVC days.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I must be the ONLY comcast customer who has not had a problem with customer service or the service in general.
I do find the phone prompts to be a PITA, but, I find that with any robot system.
After the cable company we had in our old town, this is a real improvement.
I refuse to get my knickers in a twist about this UNTIL it happens and UNTIL I see degredation in service. With any luck it will improve, which would be nice.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Normally I would agree that an outside company taking over would be bad for DVC. On this one, after reading much material, and factoring in the "Save Disney" campaign, I think I am all for it... :happy1:

MG

 

[Bill K]

I think Comcasts offer will come up short, I do feel Eisner should go! Bring in Roy Disney.

 

[crisi]

Gail, you aren't. We've had Comcast for a few years and they've been exceptional. They just sent out a note informing us that they were able to increase bandwidth for their cable modem customers in our area - and won't be charging us. Some of our previous cable or internet vendors have been MUCH worse.

 

[RobDoc]

The DVC Board is not the proper forum to discuss local cable company service. Please feel free to continue such comment on the Community Board.

 

[jimmytammy]

If a company like Comcast were to take over at Disney we would probably see changes with our DVC and all other aspects of Disney. I get the feeling the Disney magic would be gone forever

 

[David in Manassas]

If you read enough of the various Disney related boards, one rumor that keeps poking its head up is that DVC could be sold to Marriot.....I wonder if that would be good or bad?

 

[palmtreegirl]

The DVC Board is not the proper forum to discuss local cable company service. Please feel free to continue such comment on the Community Board.

Thank you Doc.

 

[tfc3rid]

Agree Doc, yet DISagree...

While yes cable talk doesn't belong here, we have to really face the possibility that DVC will no longer be DVC with a year and half time. There are many questions that DVC members may have to consider in the near future. We can't just act as if this will not impact us.

 

[RobDoc]

Originally posted by tfc3rid
While yes cable talk doesn't belong here, we have to really face the possibility that DVC will no longer be DVC with a year and half time.

If you have some information to support such a statement, please share it. I've seen no mention of DVC not being DVC within 18 months other than the idle speculation offered right here.

I have a contract promising ownership of a specific resort until January 31, 2042- and nothing more. To suggest that will be invalid prior to 2042 certainly deserves some supporting documentation rather than the "sky is falling" comments thus far.

 

[tfc3rid]

As do I Doc...

I know wat my contract says... My contract is with Disney Vacation Development. While I don't see that being voided, I could see some contractual issues coming up IF...whomever owns Disney decised to start spinning portions of the Company apart, which they may have to do because of the sheer $$ involved in this deal.

I'm not selling or giving up any of my DVC. But it is prudent to keep a very watchful and concerned eye on this.

 

[RobDoc]

OK- I'll ask more directly-

Do you have a link to any suggestion by Comcast that DVC would be spun off ??? ( ... or is that simply your personal fear without anything to document the speculation?)

I'll be very interested in reading those plans when you can direct us to your source.

 

[tfc3rid]

No direct news. Just listening to Bloomberg radio here in NYC and listening to indusry folks talking.

 

[MermaidsMom]

I saw an interesting point on another Disney board. What if there is a takeover and the new owner takes full advantage of things in the contract like the 15%/yr maintenance fee increases? It also noted there are probably other things in the contract that would seem to be no biggie if Disney owned it because they wouldn't stick it to the owners, but if someone else is in charge they may become an issue.

 

[tfc3rid]

Right, which is why this has a potential impact on all of us.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Originally posted by MermaidsMom
I saw an interesting point on another Disney board. What if there is a takeover and the new owner takes full advantage of things in the contract like the 15%/yr maintenance fee increases? It also noted there are probably other things in the contract that would seem to be no biggie if Disney owned it because they wouldn't stick it to the owners, but if someone else is in charge they may become an issue.

Well, I suspect that doing such things would make it very difficult to sell the last 10 buildings in SSR....

Until I see some evidence (heck, I'll settle for well-documented, well-thought-out opinion), I'm simply going to continue to enjoy my DVC ownership, and not worry about who's name is in the box at the top of the Org Chart.


PS I still don't understand why people think that Disney is any less likely to "stick it to [DVC] owners" than Comcast. Search the DVC threads and see all the complaints about Disney mistreating DVC owners - starting with the Member Homecoming cost.

 

[palmtreegirl]

I have a contract promising ownership of a specific resort until January 31, 2042- and nothing more. To suggest that will be invalid prior to 2042 certainly deserves some supporting documentation rather than the "sky is falling" comments thus far.

Agree! All these *what if's* are just that, *what if's*. Nothing has been decided, it's far from being a done deal.

I just don't understand why people appear to be getting themselves all worked up over a bunch of rumors and possible outcomes.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by MermaidsMom
I saw an interesting point on another Disney board. What if there is a takeover and the new owner takes full advantage of things in the contract like the 15%/yr maintenance fee increases?

The maintenance fees are based on the actual operating, reserve, and tax expenses. The management fee component (profit for the management company) of the mainentance fees is about 1%.

A new management company could not raise the fees by 15% unless they have to because the budget legitimately goes up 15%. Even then, the management company would not pocket the increase.

Originally posted by WebmasterDoc
Do you have a link to any suggestion by Comcast that DVC would be spun off ???

I've certainly haven't seen such a suggestion in print or on a news website. In fact, Comcast has said they plan to keeps the parks.

That said, it's common, after a large acquisistion, to spin off assets to raise cash and retire debt. I could see Comcast looking at the WDW lodging buildings and operations (including DVC) as a potential source of cash.

 

[floridafam]

DrTomorrow,

Very well said