Is this what we have to look forward to?

[Aussie RJ]

Wait. There’s perks?

 

[CWTC]

Don't they assign a guide while closing even a resale? That may be a piece of it.

We bought resale 2008, direct 2013, and resale 2021. To our knowledge we do not have a guide nor has anyone ever contacted us beyond standard, add on mailings. We don’t want a guide but is it standard that everyone is assigned a guide?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

We bought resale 2008, direct 2013, and resale 2021. To our knowledge we do not have a guide nor has anyone ever contacted us beyond standard, add on mailings. We don’t want a guide but is it standard that everyone is assigned a guide?

You have a guide. You may not know them but one was assigned.

 

[Suzabella]

Don't they assign a guide while closing even a resale? That may be a piece of it.

Not sure if they still do but they used to.

 

[zavandor]

I have a guide but never talked to her in nearly 10 years of membership. I just received her business card once with the annual statement or something like that. I do not miss having talked directly to salesperson as I will never buy direct, it would be a waste of everyone time.

 

[Imkarlawithak2005]

We have purchased twice direct and both times we just purchased from the first person we speak to.

 

[RoseGold]

If you hated that conversation, wait until you try to use the booking website LOL.

 

[ldo]

as others have said, at the resort, treatment is the same, resale or direct. Enjoy your 30%+ resale savings.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Kinda glad I didn't enter the sweepstakes, though that is because I detest cold calls.
What you can expect, either direct or resale;

1. a clean room in Deluxe accommodations
2. A bill for maintenance fees, annually
3. if you are the primary, the entry gate thingy at the parks turns purple rather than green, and a CM might say "welcome home" when it does.

You get to use the pool, the gym, all the common spaces, the bus picks you up and takes you to the parks, all the bells and whistles. resale does not get discounts, (except some very rare instances like at Award Wieners in DCA) you do not get to use the EPCOT DVC lounge, you do not get invited to the rare, DVC only events, and you do not get the privilege of over-paying using your points on cruises or ABD. You do not get a guide, but then that is just a salesperson and, se above, hard pass from me. You do save about $10k per average contract.

I think you made a good choice. WELCOME HOME!

 

[bumbershoot]

And unlike so many other salespeople on the phone with a prequalified customer, she didn't move down her "script" to try to sell any add-on points either.

Yep. I would be very happy about that.

She may not have even been able to help you at all because she would have been poaching from the person already assigned to you.

Yep.

When you hear the differences between direct/resale contracts are treated, you don't expect it to bleed over to how they interact with you,

She is a salesperson trying to sell you something because you marked that you hadn't purchased. Once she found out you already owned, she knew you didn't need a salesperson. Her change was appropriate and would have been very much appreciated by me.

The reason we (my then-husband and me) purchased was because the "guide" I had met (during a tour of DVC a disboards member arranged for a bunch of us) was so incredibly laid back. He would never have tried to sell more after someone said they were a new member.

Don't they assign a guide while closing even a resale? That may be a piece of it.

Yep.

We bought resale 2008, direct 2013, and resale 2021. To our knowledge we do not have a guide nor has anyone ever contacted us beyond standard, add on mailings. We don’t want a guide but is it standard that everyone is assigned a guide?

Yep. You can call and ask. Your original guide probably left; once our guide left we were assigned a new one and heard from him by email every so often. Haven't heard from him in years, but then I don't want to.

 

[PirateBrigade]

People answer the phone in 2021? I let it go to voice mail, which transcribes it to an email, and I leisurely read it. Google voice number is good to have, I use that exclusively for companies (highly recommend one if you're doing online quotes for refinancing, among other things). There's a switch you can toggle to let the call through to your phone or shunt it straight to voice mail, if you're expecting a call (like when I submit offers on DVC resale contracts -- I turn it on and know to answer area code 407 #'s of the broker).

 

[Brian Noble]

People answer the phone in 2021?

Whenever I am able to, whether I recognize the number or not.

I've given my number to a lot of people over the past few years, and told them to call me anytime they needed help. It does not take more than a few seconds for me to hang up on a telemarketer, and I do so without remorse. It's a small price to pay to be able to be there when someone needs help.

 

[CSLucas]

Much like how I can't seem to "win" with you either, but that's okay. I'm just trying to learn what reasonable expectations are now that we're DVC I get that DVC is low pressure, unlike other timeshares, etc. All I'm saying is that the palpable difference in her demeanor once she found out we were resale customers really rubbed us the wrong way. You've been a member for 20+ years, put yourself in our shoes. This was our first interaction with anyone from Disney after closing. When you hear the differences between direct/resale contracts are treated, you don't expect it to bleed over to how they interact with you, but that's exactly how it felt and made us second-guess our decision to join because we don't want to spend this much money to be treated like second-class citizens. A simple "welcome home!" and this whole thread could've been avoided. As others have noted, sounds like this is a one-off thing and that staff at the resorts themselves aren't like that.

Happy Friday!

I think maybe you just got your guide on an off day - our guide knows that we bought resale initially (we were going to buy direct initially and then switched to resale, and she was still super friendly and helpful even after we told her that - we have since added on direct and gotten rid of the resale contracts, but she has never been more or less friendly based on what we were doing) and has always been cheerful and nice and super willing to answer questions. Try to put it out of your mind and enjoy your vacations! If that is the guide who is assigned to you and you want to deal with someone else going forward (in the event you decide to add-on) then you can always request a new guide!

 

[ScubaCat]

We bought resale 2008, direct 2013, and resale 2021. To our knowledge we do not have a guide nor has anyone ever contacted us beyond standard, add on mailings. We don’t want a guide but is it standard that everyone is assigned a guide?

Do you get any of the marketing emails from time to time? They'll often show who your guide is at the bottom (or at least they used to). That's how I figured out who mine was.

 

[CWTC]

Do you get any of the marketing emails from time to time? They'll often show who your guide is at the bottom (or at least they used to). That's how I figured out who mine was.

We do get emails. I really don’t care who our guide is but more find it fascinating that we in 11 years have never heard from him/her while others do apparently.

 

[pianomanzano]

quick update - had two conversations with member services today, one to get points loaded after we got our activation e-mail (which they loaded while we were on the phone), and another call to schedule our first stay. I'll add that it required some pixie dust (trip is in less than 30 days and we had 100+ points that are set to expire at the end of November). The website only showed availability for one of the nights, but MS was able to find availability for additional nights. Both cast members were very nice and accommodating!

Appreciate the welcomes from everyone, and I'll admit that we were a bit harsh in our initial assessment/reaction. We were just so excited after having closed on our contract a couple days before and thought that we were getting some welcome call or something, so just kinda surprised in the change of tone/attitude. Glad to know that was a one-off/unrelated thing!

 

[crisi]

Have a great trip!

 

[pianomanzano]

Have a great trip!

Thanks! Going for my daughter's first birthday and bringing both sets of grandparents, very excited!

 

[myth2001]

quick update - had two conversations with member services today, one to get points loaded after we got our activation e-mail (which they loaded while we were on the phone), and another call to schedule our first stay. I'll add that it required some pixie dust (trip is in less than 30 days and we had 100+ points that are set to expire at the end of November). The website only showed availability for one of the nights, but MS was able to find availability for additional nights. Both cast members were very nice and accommodating!

Appreciate the welcomes from everyone, and I'll admit that we were a bit harsh in our initial assessment/reaction. We were just so excited after having closed on our contract a couple days before and thought that we were getting some welcome call or something, so just kinda surprised in the change of tone/attitude. Glad to know that was a one-off/unrelated thing!

Congrats!

Side comment regarding: "The website only showed availability for one of the nights, but MS was able to find availability for additional nights. "
MS is not suppose to be able see more availability than we do on the website. I would guess it was just an availability that popped up at that moment.
Unless MS pulled inventory from cash side? Seem very unlikely for a resale first stay...

 

[pianomanzano]

Congrats!

Side comment regarding: "The website only showed availability for one of the nights, but MS was able to find availability for additional nights. "
MS is not suppose to be able see more availability than we do on the website. I would guess it was just an availability that popped up at that moment.
Unless MS pulled inventory from cash side? Seem very unlikely for a resale first stay...

Yea, MS said that as well. Perhaps something just became available at that time because I was looking at the website while on the call and I still didn't see that availability. Not really sure what happened, but I'll take it!