Looks like I’m about to LOSE the value of my 200 points!

[CanadaDisney05]

People don't buy timeshares to learn life lessons. No one who had a reservation cancelled or is under threat to lose their upcoming reservation made any kind of mistake. No one understood the risk that a respiratory illness from China 5 months ago would eventually grind life in the U.S. to a halt. So what's the "harsh lesson"? Don't buy a timeshare in the future due to the risk of a future global catastrophe?

The issue isn't losing a reservation over Covid 19. It's learning how the system works and the risks of travelling in the last 4 months of your use year. It's also about understanding that a timeshare is a real estate purchase and not a hotel rental. All risks transfer from property management to the owner. Not just a specified list.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The issue isn't losing a reservation over Covid 19. It's learning how the system works and the risks of travelling in the last 4 months of your use year. It's also about understanding that a timeshare is a real estate purchase and not a hotel rental. All risks transfer from property management to the owner. Not just a specified list.

IMO there is quite a distinction between Covid 19 reservation loss and just the possibility when traveling in the last 4 months of the UY. With the second it is your choice to cancel even if it's forced because of illness etc. With Covid 19 the resorts were not open. Zero choice.

 

[LAX]

I wonder about RCI being the "savior". I don't know how they work out exchanges there but it is an "exchange" program, correct? Maybe, just maybe, Disney should take the responsibility themselves and offer up a special exchange option into their own hotels and not pass the buck for not taking care of their customers themselves. There's zero doubt IMO that their hotels will have vacancies for awhile following this.

I wasn't trying to suggest that DVD/DVC should try to pass the buck. While Disney may offer some kind of help in the end, it's certainly no guarantee at this point. Like I mentioned before, the less points involved, the more likely and more manageable a solution. While RCI may not be an attractive solution now, the ultimate solution to be offered by DVD/DVC may not be any better.

LAX

 

[CanadaDisney05]

DVCM already made their money off of my purchase and the dues that I will pay every year until 2057.

There is NO MISUNDERSTANDING about my purchase of DVC.

DVCM doesn't make any money off of your dues. It's simply a pass through. Our dues simply cover the expenses.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I wasn't trying to suggest that DVD/DVC should try to pass the buck. While Disney may offer some kind of help in the end, it's certainly no guarantee at this point. Like I mentioned before, the less points involved, the more likely and more manageable a solution. While RCI may not be an attractive solution now, the ultimate solution to be offered by DVD/DVC may not be any better.

LAX

It was kind of a question about that being a proper solution for DVC to hold up to members (not really that you were endorsing it). And a question about DVC having to "pay" for that exchange just like they'd have to pay for any other exchange. So why not keep their own Disney customers happy with a sort of emergency/temporary trade option into their own hotels.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

IMO there is quite a distinction between Covid 19 reservation loss and just the possibility when traveling in the last 4 months of the UY. With the second it is your choice to cancel even if it's forced because of illness etc. With Covid 19 the resorts were not open. Zero choice.

Same thing could happen if there's a hurricane, flood, terrorist attack, any other natural disaster, etc.... It's like blaming your home builder because a tornado came through and destroyed your house.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

DVCM doesn't make any money off of your dues. It's simply a pass through. Our dues simply cover the expenses.

That's actually not a correct statement.

DVCM is a management company and does make a profit. It's fixed amount of the proposed budgets, overages over the allowance for breakage rentals. I also suspect there's profit off the rooms they own even though theory is that that they are supposed to cover room's out for maintenance but there's been little to make one believe that is 2% of the inventory. And probably a few other things.

 

[LAX]

It was kind of a question about that being a proper solution for DVC to hold up to members (not really that you were endorsing it). And a question about DVC having to "pay" for that exchange just like they'd have to pay for any other exchange. So why not keep their own Disney customers happy with a sort of emergency/temporary trade option into their own hotels.

While it may not be a "proper" solution, it would certainly help with the situation, IMHO. That's why I said "encourage", which implies the decision remains owners to make. It's really up to the owners to decide whether it's worth canceling a reservation that is currently not affected and have available options (ie: bankable points, points can be deposited into RCI, etc.).

I think until DVD/DVC has a better handle on how many total points will be involved, it's difficult to make a decision on what's the best solution. Hence, emergency/temporary trade options may not even be feasible.

LAX

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Same thing could happen if there's a hurricane, flood, terrorist attack, any other natural disaster, etc.... It's like blaming your home builder because a tornado came through and destroyed your house.

And they've made exceptions for points in those cases. History has been a helpful DVC management. However I don't know that anyone would argue that this current management has shown themselves to be exactly member friendly. At best it's been neutral - some give, some take but it's probably more correct to say they've been more antagonistic to members than any other management team in the past 15+ years.

 

[Sandisw]

IMO there is quite a distinction between Covid 19 reservation loss and just the possibility when traveling in the last 4 months of the UY. With the second it is your choice to cancel even if it's forced because of illness etc. With Covid 19 the resorts were not open. Zero choice.

True, but in theory, making the choice in the first place
put the points at a higher risk and left them vulnerable in the slim chance something happened outside their control.

I don’t think anyone is saying it is their fault, and it would be great if DVCM reverses the rule to allow late banking.

But, dont you think that this situation has taught all of us that traveling late in the UY is even risker than any of us imagined?

 

[CanadaDisney05]

And they've made exceptions for points in those cases. History has been a helpful DVC management. However I don't know that anyone would argue that this current management has shown themselves to be exactly member friendly. At best it's been neutral - some give, some take but it's probably more correct to say they've been more antagonistic to members than any other management team in the past 15+ years.

As far as I'm aware, they've never run into a situation where they've had to close all of the resorts for more than a couple of days. But as we've seen here, it's in the realm of possibilities.

The point I am trying to make is that we are the owners. Just like when you own a house you don't look to the builder to compensate you for a natural disaster, you can't look towards the management company here to compensate us for something that was outside their control.

At the end of the day, no matter what decision DVC makes, someone will take a loss. The question is, who should be the one taking the loss? IMO, it is our responsibility to take the loss. If Disney is willing to share that loss, or completely absorb it, then good on them

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

As far as I'm aware, they've never run into a situation where they've had to close all of the resorts for more than a couple of days. But as we've seen here, it's in the realm of possibilities.

The point I am trying to make is that we are the owners. Just like when you own a house you don't look to the builder to compensate you for a natural disaster, you can't look towards the management company here to compensate us for something that was outside their control.

At the end of the day, no matter what decision DVC makes, someone will take a loss. The question is, who should be the one taking the loss? IMO, it is our responsibility to take the loss. If Disney is willing to share that loss, or completely absorb it, then good on them

As a home allows one to have homeowners insurance I can't say that I see the comparability. I believe that the insurance that is suggested/sponsored by DVC did not cover pandemic or loss due to closure.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

True, but in theory, making the choice in the first place
put the points at a higher risk and left them vulnerable in the slim chance something happened outside their control.

I don’t think anyone is saying it is their fault, and it would be great if DVCM reverses the rule to allow late banking.

But, dont you think that this situation has taught all of us that traveling late in the UY is even risker than any of us imagined?

I've actually been one who's always strongly suggested buying a good UY to protect against last minute cancellation. Never had a situation like this cross my mind though where the resorts would be closed and it wouldn't be due to a natural disaster where DVC probably would have insurance coverage that would support the members loss.

 

[zumfelde]

The harsh lesson that owning DVC is not the same as staying a cash guest and not being able to get the same level of support.

The harsh lesson that traveling late in your UY can be even more risky than you think because things can happen outside of your control that one never heard of or expected,

The harsh lesson that TWDC is not responsible to support DVC in any way and we as owners have no right to demand they do, no matter how we feel,

The harsh lesson that we have to trust that DVCM is making decisions based on whats best for the system, even when it’s a hard pill to swallow personally, especially when we have no real say in the ultimate decsion,

But DVCM is not making decisions based on what is good for the system if they are returning all borrowed points back to the use year they came from because next year the system will be loaded with points that have been banked already plus all the returned borrowed points.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

As a home allows one to have homeowners insurance I can't say that I see the comparability. I believe that the insurance that is suggested/sponsored by DVC did not cover pandemic or loss due to closure.

There are plenty of things home owners insurance doesn't cover..... This Covid 19 is the one in a million. But like I said, somebody is going to take a loss on this. Who?

 

[CanadaDisney05]

But DVCM is not making decisions based on what is good for the system if they are returning all borrowed points back to the use year they came from because next year the system will be loaded with points that have been banked already plus all the returned borrowed points.

That is an argument that could be made...

But an argument that can't be made (or atleast I haven't heard a logical argument for this yet) is that DVCM is not changing the banking rules for their own gain.

In their minds, they clearly believe this is the best decision for the membership. We can argue till the end of time about their strategy, but we can't argue about their intentions.

 

[Sandisw]

But DVCM is not making decisions based on what is good for the system if they are returning all borrowed points back to the use year they came from because next year the system will be loaded with points that have been banked already plus all the returned borrowed points.

Since we don’t have all the data, that statement may or may not be true,

Sending borrowed points will free up more rooms this UY to be available for booking, for those with expiring points.

Sending borrowed points may indeed overload the system next year but DVC May have decided that based on actual numbers, the effect later was less impactful then keeping them in the UY that is already losing 20% of their rooms,

The reality is we, as owners, don’t really know what it looks like in both short term and long term with all the points involved, because we are not privy to all those numbers and statistics.

Which is why one has to decide to either trust, when this is over, they made the best decisions they could with all the factors, or decide to not trust what they did,

My point was that regardless of it all, we have to accept thsir decision, unless they violate the contract of the law, regardless of belief or feelings.

Not everyone will agree that their decisions are in the best interest of the membership. So far, I believe what they have done make some sense.

Having said that, I think they would be taking less heat if they had not done anything because It would have appeared fairer, regardless of what the fall out was in terms of booking.

 

[sethschroeder]

If this is a big issue for you resale prices are still up to sell DVC. I am just saying expect Disney to do nothing here and be happy if they do.

Travel insurance is a thing. This isn't a hotel with last second cancelation.

I know it sucks, I would be disappointed and upset myself. I would also be kicking myself if I hadn't bought travel insurance that covered pandemics.

Voice your opinion with Disney. This is just another reason on why you possibly shouldn't buy DVC.

Easy for me though I didn't have a trip planned until January and my trip in September I only have a flight and normal hotel reservation for Paris.

 

[Aussie RJ]

I wonder if the the same "bad luck" attitude will be had if COVID-19 closures continue through September / October.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I wonder if the the same "bad luck" attitude will be had if COVID-19 closures continue through September / October.

I think that largely depends on how many people are using borrowed/banked points for their Fall reservations (and whether they are traveling early or late in their UY).

For those who borrowed points for Fall reservations, I suspect most would prefer for DVC to remain consistent in their current policy of returning the points to the original UY. Even for those who are traveling early in their UY, that would give them the most flexibility since they could still borrow those points for a trip later in the year once resorts open, or just leave them where they are for future use.

If, like me, you have some banked points tied up in your reservation, then your attitude probably depends on how many banked points and what UY you have. I have 42 banked points that will expire at the end of August in 2021. So, even if resorts are still closed in the Fall, I'm optimistic that I'll be able to use those points sometime in the months before they expire. And let's be honest, if resorts remain closed until August of 2021, we've got bigger issues!

The majority of our points for the Fall reservation are 2020 points (SEP UY). I intend to make a call about cancelling at the 31-day mark to ensure points don't go into holding (even though DVC is currently waiving holding, I probably wouldn't rely on hope that they still do this in the Fall). That way, we have about 6 more months to use the points or still bank them on time to use in 2021. In fact, if we cancel our Fall trip, we may wait until 2021 anyway and then book a Grand Villa. That would at least be one silver lining from all of this. And maybe booking the Grand Villa also helps out other members by freeing up studios/1BRs in 2020 and 2021?