Major porblems at SSR for first trip home - LONG!

[manning]

Of course, that's not a problem that's exclusive to SSR. The front desk is usually a high turnover position at any resort or hotel so you can usually expect some level of incompetince nearly anywhere you stay.

Why just last week during our check-in at OKW we were mistakenly given a couple of slices of sharp cheddar instead of room keys. (Made a terrible mess of the door slot but they were delicious.)

Looks like the only thing sharp here is the cheese

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I definitely learned a lot on this last trip! I will try to make my next trip home less complicated for everyone! I don't think I took any pics of SSR with holiday decorations! I'll have to go back I guess!

D4D

 

[Sammie]

I definitely learned a lot on this last trip! I will try to make my next trip home less complicated for everyone! I don't think I took any pics of SSR with holiday decorations! I'll have to go back I guess!

D4D

A very positive attitude and please do not think anyone thinks any of this was your fault. It's just as you go more you learn how to the make the system work for you and avoid alot of inconvenience by preplanning. It would be nice if it were not that way but I guess when you hire 55,000 employees not all are the tops.

No insult to any Disney employee if you are reading this but I try very hard to view most of them as I would small children, don't give them too much information, don't ask for much, and don't make too many changes. It works very well.

 

[crusader]

I'm reading this post and I'm wondering why nothing like this happened to our group of 20 at the BW - two studios/grand villa - various linked rsvps and everyone going to the front desk when they arrived from all over the U.S. throughout the entire day to get their room keys.

The only difference I can see is that I didn't have my name assigned to the studios as a guest staying there and did not have any passes or charging privileges on the keys and I gave specific name assignments to the rooms so that we all came up in the system when we arrived at random times. I checked in as the DVC owner first thing in the morning but only took a few keys for the grand villa.

Nobody said they ever had a problem when we met up with them late that evening so I never gave this a second thought until now.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Interesting, crusader. I take it then that those in the Studios actually went to the front desk and checked in without you being there?

 

[crusader]

Dr. Tomorrow that's exactly right.

I believe I had to be the first to "officially" check-in so to speak as the DVC member with the rsvp. (which I did first thing in the morning) but took no keys for the studios. I knew our group would immediately head to the front desk upon arrival throughout the day, so it was basically set up that way ahead of time. They were all in the system and given keys as they came in.

I actually was offsite that entire day (riding Spidey the Hulk and Dueling Dragons) and there was no way I could be the point of contact for check-in. Being this was my first actual DVC trip, I honestly thought this was how it normally gets handled. It worked excellent.

 

[sloneta]

The same thing happened with our points in May 2003 when a BCV CM "upgraded" our dedicated 2 BR with 2 Queens to a dedicated 2BR with a sofa bed and a queen bed. Because of how the system works, the CMs have to cancel and rebook, and there is no system to make sure that points do not get messed up in the process. I posted here about my experience when it happened, and a spoke with Jackie Lueders at the time. I expressed my extreme dissatisfaction that a CM was able to access my points without my authorization to do so or my knowledge and that there was no verification process in place to make sure that point totals are accurate. Apparently the problem has still not been fixed.

I strongly encourage you to voice your concerns to whomever is the current Member Satisfaction manager. This problem really needs to be addressed.

Tara

 

[OneMoreTry]

I expressed my extreme dissatisfaction that a CM was able to access my points without my authorization to do so or my knowledge and that there was no verification process in place to make sure that point totals are accurate. Apparently the problem has still not been fixed.

Tara

I didn't realize this! That is a MAJOR problem. Even MS will not access our points without verbal authorization. The system is too complicated for resort staff to deal with.

Is there any way to request a "lock" or notation on an account requiring verbal authorization for any use of points?

 

[sloneta]

OneMoreTry -

I don't know if there is any way to "lock" your account. From my discussion, the resort CMs need to be able to access your points in this manner when they are assigning rooms and give you something other than what you booked when you booked something with a specific booking code. At BCV going from 2BR 2 Queen to the other configuration in my case, but I would imagine going from dedicated to lockoff would require the same thing. There are supposed to be quality controls in place where the resort CM contacts MS to verify point totals after the transaction, but it sounds like these are still not in place.

 

[Chuck S]

Front desk CMs have access to our points and ressies for several reasons, not the least of which is folks that arrive at the resort last minute and try for a ressie, or need extra days on a weekend using points after MS is closed.

I had 10 points go into holding once that should not have (still don't know why, as there weren't any changes to the ressie), but MS fixed it.

Front Desk people are not trained on all the nuances of banking, borrowing, holding account, ect. The simply loook to see if you have points somewhere and apply to any any changes you may make. MS should later be able to go in a fix any point problems that happen.

As for what happened at SSR, it is anybody's guess. Mistakes, while frustrating, happen occasionally. People make mistakes, computers go down, when keys are reprinted the system burps. Man is not perfect, and neither are our machines. It just sounds like everything snowballed against the OP at the wrong time.

I would contact MS/Member satisfaction and relay my concerns, but I think this was a series of unfortunate events.

 

[sloneta]

Chuck -

I understand your point that resort CMs often need to access points. But, in the scenarios you mentioned the difference is that the member has asked for the transaction to take place. In my situation, the change to my ressie was done completely without my knowledge and the overall point total for the stay was exactly the same on a per day and total stay basis. I had no reason to need to verify my point total after my stay because, in essence, nothing should have changed. It wasn't until months later when I went to bank my additional '03 points that the error was discovered. Yes, MS was able to restore everything, but it was not done simply nor without my time to ensure that things were being taken care of. The computer does not automatically state why the resort CM did what they did, and the member's input is most definitely needed.

My entire point to the Member Satsifaction manager was that a check needs to be in place after these transactions occur so that point totals are verified and that these situations do not have to be investigated and fixed later.

 

[pentex]

I don't think you need to write a letter to complain...just give a call to Member Services. If some of your points are in holding and shouldn't be, they will be fair about it and adjust all.

Once they made a big mistake with my points (they forgot to cancel out one reservation when a waitlist came through) and they apologized very kindly, and adjusted the points back to regular points. I couldn't ask for more; mistakes happen!

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I just happened to call MS for ressie's when I learned that I had points in a holding account. I mentioned that I was glad I called when I did otherwise what would have heppened to those points! MS assured me that they would have fixed it - but do all of you go home and call MS to check and see if your points are all there?

It was a snowball of errors in our favor. I've been thinking about it and when we got home we had a reservation confirmation arrive while we were away. I didn't look at it closely and just thought it was a little late to send that; and threw it out. Then I was cleaning the office and found the confirmation letters for the trip we just had - all the scheduled cleanings were listed and everything. The letter we received while we were away was for the rebooked vacation with the borrowed points! Which, of course, didn't have any scheduled cleanings and is why we had to call mousekeeping and beg/insist/threaten to come and clean our room It's all making sense now.

D4D