If there's a problem with your room....

[bumbershoot]

Somehow it seems like others tend to get room refunds when we don't. Not sure if they just complain more about all the little stuff or what.

DH is the king of appropriate compensation. Be firm, be polite, be calm. If necessary, mention that you'd be happy to bring in the other spouse who is NOT calm or polite at that time, not to threaten, but just to remind them that you're being calm and polite and can stay that way until things are resolved. But do NOT give up if it's important to you.

Also, don't tell them what you want; let them come up with the compensation. Because they will usually (if you're a normal, realistic person) come up with much better compensation than you could come up with. When the housekeeping lady after our wedding (NOT at a Disney property, but at a Courtyard Marriot) went into hubby's room, where he had set up late checkout, hours before his checkout time, and cleaned out the fridge by trying to throw away a ton of leftover (delicious scrumptious and EXPENSIVE) wedding cake.....(by the way, he walked in, after we got back from the place where we actually spent our wedding night while keeping my Courtyard room for relatives and he kept his for tuxes and cake LOL, and was able to stop her, and salvaged about half of what he had in the fridge but hadn't made it into the garbage bag yet)......he let the manager come up with compensation. Which was a free weekend there whenever we wanted, and a new wedding topper cake for our 1st anniversary. We are reasonable people, so we had them get the cake from a different bakery, one that also does weddings and has a GREAT reputation, but one that was a bit more reasonable financially than our baker was.

While negotiating all of this (I think he got a refund on one of his 2 nights in that room as well), he stayed QUIET after telling his story to the manager. Let them get uncomfortable and talk, don't fill in the uncomfortable silence.

 

[TisBit]

As previously mentioned, DVC members do get compensation in varying degrees. We haven't had MAJOR room issues, but have had minor issues. But, I have heard of varying compensations from point refunds to room credits as mentioned here. Some things to consider, point refunds are not always the best thing in the world, if you don't have another trip planned in the allotted time to book them for, etc. Sometimes it is better just to get a room credit, etc.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I don't remember the year. It was when the South Point units were brand new.

Nope, that wasn't us then, because we were in a GV at Miller's Road that trip. It was pretty funny though when our son got a knock on the BATHROOM door!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We did get comped a full cleaning at AKV/Jambo a couple years ago. We arranged an extra full cleaning between guests, and to say they did as little as possible would be stretching it. I had to have them back TWICE to get the job done, and when I complained at the desk, they comped me the cost, so at least I didn't pay the extra $65 for it.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Opened our room (1BR) at Kidani only to discover that luggage and groceries from previous occupant were stll there. Cleaning was not completed as a result. We called the front desk, and within minutes a bellhop and the manager appeared. The bellhop removed the luggage, etc., and the manager asked if we were willing to wait a bit for another room with a better view. We said certainly, and he surprised us with a $300 credit on our room account. My wife and I both concluded that because we were "nice" and had a "mistakes happen" attitude, the credit was extended. If we were obnoxious and demanding, I believe we would have waited while the original room was cleaned, and received no compensation. Respect and civility are often rewarded.

We had a few problems at Kidani last winter, and when we spoke with the manager, he gave us the cost of 1 nights stay ($700ish for a 2br). One problem was minor (no bathroom door on the second bedroom's bathroom), and one was a bit more of a problem (no hot water in the third bathroom due to a plumbing problem that needed the walls opened up to fix). We were renting points, so crediting them back wouldn't have done anything for us then.

I'm not sure how crediting the points back would work for us. We bought enough to bank a year, and go every other year. Crediting the points back would probably just mean we would lose them by not using them in time.

 

[kristenrice]

Some things to consider, point refunds are not always the best thing in the world, if you don't have another trip planned in the allotted time to book them for, etc. Sometimes it is better just to get a room credit, etc.

We had a problem with our KV room in April 2010. Short version...they gave us a dedicated 2BR when we specifically booked a lock-off (and that is a guaranteed category, not a request), but they were able to move us after the first night. We were given a $200 credit on the spot which we used for an unplanned breakfast at WCC. When we got home, I politely e-mailed member satisfaction and explained what had happened. I respectfully asked that they "consider refunding my points used for the one night which we were in the wrong room". They called me the next day and said that we were "absolutely entitled" (his words, not mine) to those points back. It was 46 points which is HUGE for us since we only own 100!

So, we were able to borrow our 2012 points (going on Dad's dime that year) and use those returned points and now we are taking our first trip to HHI in April. We weren't even planning a trip in 2011 but since our points were returned, we are able to go now.

 

[rillsung]

So, what happened?

We had no problems with our room this year

 

[mumto3girls]

We have never asked for anything, but have been given vouchers twice.

The first time was several years ago at Hilton Head. We had bugs. They were those big huge flying bugs--I think they're called palmetto bugs. Anyway, the next day the exterminator came and we had to be out of the room for a few hours so they gave us some activity vouchers.

The second time was this past August. We checked into a 1 BR at Vero Beach. Shortly after arriving I noticed a wet spot in front of the bed. I first thought one of the kids had spilled something. I kept walking past the spot while unpacking and it seemed to be getting wetter. Finally I realized something was wrong and called. We had a bunch of people in the room quickly. It turned out that the room next door had the washer overflow while the people were out of the room and it was seeping over. They weren't able to get it dried and eventually told us late at night that they would be back the next day with industrial driers and would move the bed. We had to be out of the room for several hours and they gave us vouchers for breakfast the next day.

We didn't ask for anything, but it was inconvenient to be out of the room for a number of hours, so it was nice of them to compensate us.

We had a toilet overflow at Vero, have had a number of check-ins later than promised and some cleaning issues over the years and nothing was offered. I think it is just the manager at the time. Maybe if we had asked--but we are pretty happy people on vacation