Just Back from BWV-Nightmare at Checkin

[jjohnson]

This is a common topic. We stay at BWV most often and rarely had to wait much past 4 pm. However, they're at 100% capacity during F&W. Florida has a law that prevents hotels from throwing anyone out of a room, even if it's past checkout. No matter how many mousekeeping staff members you have, you just need a few selfish idiots to vacate late to make it impossible for others to start their vacation. I've even heard of people going off to the parks and leaving all their stuff in the villa until later in the day when it's time to go to the airport. Disney can't remove them. So while I agree that it stinks, some of the fault has to be laid on the state of Florida for the stupid law and the morons who can't see that their actions affect others.

Disney definitely removes luggage. They did it to us at BC before 11:00 am while we were at breakfast in 2005. The manager had quite a time trying to locate it before we had to leave for the airport.

 

[zalansky]

Definitely write the letter. Rooms not being ready BY 4pm is completely unacceptable. They expect us to be out by 11am so they better have those rooms ready by check in time. And if people are not checking out by that time, then like someone else said, they need to do something about it. Charging another nights points would do the trick.

By the way, we just were at BWV this past weekend and I made that reservation only 3 weeks before we went - and there was not much activity around our room, so I find it hard to believe the hotel was anywhere near capacity.

 

[goofy4tink]

One thing I have noticed in my more recent stays at BWV. The housekeeping carts don't seem to move from area to area nearly as quickly as they used to. Not sure why..perhaps each housekeeper has more rooms to clean than before? It used to be that if the cart was a few doors down from you, when you came back to your room after breakfast, your room was done, and the cart had moved a few doors past yours. Not anymore.
We have been able to get into our villa early just one time. That was in mid-Oct last year. It was about 1:00, and I have to say I was in shock when I was told my villa was ready!!! I don't mind waiting until 4, but when 4 comes and then goes, and it's getting to be 5, I get a bit nudgy. I want to freshen up before dinner and get settled. Yes, I know that by arriving at noontime, I am going to be without a room until 4...that is my choice. But, with the start of checkin being after 4, it just seems to be getting longer and longer.

When we were at BWV in August, we checked in at about 2:00. Obviously our villa wassn't ready yet..I didn't expect it to be. I headed to Epcot to get our passes in order. Then, we got a bite to eat. We returned about 3:30, called the number we had been given. I was told our villa was ready. So, up we went. Opened the door, and what do we find? The housekeeper doing dishes! She was very flustered to see us. We told her we just wanted to drop off our bags and we would come back later. We returned about 45-50 mins later, she was still there. She told us to come in, but be very careful because the bathroom floor was still wet, and that she had put towels on the floor so that we wouldn't slip. She was very nice and we felt badly about barging in on her repeatedly. It was about 4:30ish when we were alone in our villa. My issue??? That we were told at 3:30 our villa was ready for us, when it obviously was not. Where did they get the info that it was ready? A few years ago the exact same thing happened. We were given a not acceptable villa, so asked to move. No problem. We were then given a different room number with room keys. Opened the door and found it to still be inhabited...it was 4:30 at this point!!! Seems the 'guests' had decided to stay an extra night (it was Thanksgiving Day by the way!!). But, why did it show as available and cleaned when it wasn't??

I don't know if housekeeping is saying rooms are done when they aren't, or if they are just understaffed. Whatever the reason, it sure would be nice to be able to get into our rooms as close to 4 as possible.

 

[alldiz]

Please write a letter to Jim Lewis.

I am getting a little anxious with all the new DVC's.....

I hope that the magic dosen't die with all the hoopla over
the new DVC's....

Lets not let our beloved WDW DVC's go down in quality
KEEP THE CUSTOMERS YOU HAVE NOW HAPPY Mr Lewis.
Kerri

 

[Lenc324]

None of the Disney Resorts should ever be left to go down in quality.

 

[Checkers]

This is of concern to us as well. By all means write a letter! We have had experiences both ways (getting room early and late) and when you are checking into your room at 6 o'clock or later, you essentially are not getting your "points" worth for that day. In our case (OKW GV), it was after 6 o'clock and caused us to miss our ADR's that evening. It was very disheartening and to top it off we were assigned a handicapped GV and we were traveling with a toddler who could reach all the stove, H/AC controls, etc. We did complain immediately and were moved the next day but it got our vacation off to a sour start. I agree that for "late checkouts", there should be some type of penalty, perhaps a half-days points?

Anyway, I think as members when something like this happens to us, we should all start to make our concerns known to Mr. Lewis.

 

[CharlieTuna]

Jean,

DJ is still at All Star. I have noticed have slid a bit since he left. Glad to see I'm not his only fan.

 

[jekjones1558]

DJ is still at All Star. I have noticed have slid a bit since he left. Glad to see I'm not his only fan.

Darn. He thought that he would be back at BWV by the end of September. Our next trip to BWV isn't until January, but I am not very optimistic about him ever being reassigned to BWV. He is really amazing, so I am not surprised that Disney is spreading him around.

 

[Topper]

Florida

FSA 509.141


Hotel owners may remove any guest who, while on the premises, illegally possesses or sells controlled substances; is intoxicated, profane, lewd, or brawling; disturbs the peace of other guests; injures the facility's reputation, dignity, or standing; fails to pay the agreed upon rent at checkout time; or fails to checkout at the agreed upon checkout time. The hotel owner must give the guest notice of his desire for the guest to depart and return the unused portion of any advance payment. Guests who refuse to leave are guilty of a second-degree misdemeanor. Hotel owners may call any law enforcement officer to arrest illegal guests. Arrested guests are deemed to have given up or abandoned their right to occupy a room, thus the hotel owner may make it available to other guests.

 

[Talkingwoody]

I sent an email to the contact info on the DVC member website. I also called my account representative and was given the following email address where the complaint can be sent. I sent the same concern to this email address:
dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationcub.com

I'll update this thread if I get a response.

 

[AKV707]

Looking forward to seeing if you get a response and what that response is.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

Florida

FSA 509.141


Hotel owners may remove any guest who, while on the premises, illegally possesses or sells controlled substances; is intoxicated, profane, lewd, or brawling; disturbs the peace of other guests; injures the facility's reputation, dignity, or standing; fails to pay the agreed upon rent at checkout time; or fails to checkout at the agreed upon checkout time. The hotel owner must give the guest notice of his desire for the guest to depart and return the unused portion of any advance payment. Guests who refuse to leave are guilty of a second-degree misdemeanor. Hotel owners may call any law enforcement officer to arrest illegal guests. Arrested guests are deemed to have given up or abandoned their right to occupy a room, thus the hotel owner may make it available to other guests.

well its good to know they CAN remove them

but there seems to always be that line that is questionable to cross for management

do you throw em out and risk having a big stink and bad relations or do you bite youp lip and hope to get mostly everyone in without much of an issue

 

[mark&sue]

We had a nightmare at SSR this past August. I was really not feeling well all day and needed to lie down and it was so hot. All day from 9.00 a.m I kept checking to see if our room was ready. We did not want to go to a park as if we got too hot we would not have a room to change and we tried to just sit in Downtown Disney or the cooler check in area of SSR.

By 5.00 I was almost in tears as I felt so ill. Finally by 5.45 p.m we are told our room is ready and just can't wait.

As soon as we enter it is clear this room as not been cleaned at all. Towels on the floor. Sofa bed out with all the dirty linen. Garbage everywhere. I am far too tired to go anywhere and ask if housekeeping can clean while I sit out of the way on the balcony.

Someone eventually knocks on the door to ask if all is okay and wants to leave I make her come in and see that it is far from alright.

Eventually three cleaners arrive. I am so embarrased that the previous occupants have not left a tip I feel obliged to give a tip and I only have a $20 note on me. (DH has gone to the shops whilst me and DD sit on the balcony)

By the time the room is cleaned it is gone 7.00 and we are too tired and exhaused to go out. A whole day is wasted

We had a split stay as we went on the cruise (using DVC points and well worth it). The day we returned our room was not ready again until 5.00 but at least it was clean.

I thought it was because they had given free upgrades to some people and they were having housecleaning every day and the resort could not cope.

Could this have been an explanation?


Susan

 

[mikron]

We live about 80 miles from Disney, stay 4 to 6 times per year. Since 2004 when we bought in to DVC we have never got our room before 4 PM. My sister & brother both DVC members have had there rooms ready before 2 PM or earlier. Just the luck of the draw I guss.

 

[boBQuincy]

Darn. He thought that he would be back at BWV by the end of September. Our next trip to BWV isn't until January, but I am not very optimistic about him ever being reassigned to BWV. He is really amazing, so I am not surprised that Disney is spreading him around.

I know about 6 people who will be glad to see DJ anywhere except Boardwalk (or any other DVC resort). It took us over an hour to check in one trip and all DJ would do was make excuses, saying these were his best people. It took a lot of pressure to get DJ to come up with any compensation for the time we lost.

 

[ktbugsmom]

Last January we switched from BWV to BCV. I went over in the morning to check in, then we went to the parks. We came back about 3pm - no room available yet. Oh well... I know they have until 4pm - so I wasn't bent out of shape. What we did was go over to the little quiet areas in the BCV lobby area (there is a room with a TV and some couches) - and kids took a break and watched TV and my husband took a nap. So - if you are "homeless" at BCV - check that out. It really helped us. There is also a house phone there, so at 4pm I called and our room was ready and we went upstairs.

 

[Halle]

We have experienced late checkins at VB twice in the past year and BWV three times in the past year. After our past stay in August I believe it is the fault of the mousekeeping management. Twice during our stay I witnessed mousekeeping watching tv instead of cleaning. I believe that management has to have a presence, by that I mean check repeatedly on their staff.
I know there are circumstances that someone may check out a few minutes late and understand that but checking out late because you think you're entitled to it is just plain rude and arrogant in my world.

 

[AKV707]

Any reports on how check in is going at AKV and OKW? Is the problem as prevelent? They are the nesy ywo trips for us. OKW first.

 

[Talkingwoody]

I had no idea that this happened so frequently. I encourage all that this has affected to email dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com to report your concerns. After sending the email a reply came back saying an investigation will take place and that I should receive a response within 3-5 days. Very curious as to what that response will be. Lip service or something meaningful with a root cause of why this happens and how DVC will address it going forward.

 

[eporter66]

I would write a letter also. We do pay good money to be membes, and it seems like sometimes that is forgotten. You do not sound like you were unreasonable in the least. We have never had a problem or wait for any check-in, but when you have a long day like you described and have to wait beyond 4:00, that is getting out of hand. They should have plenty of time between check-out (11:00 I think) to get rooms ready by 4:00.