Member Services Hassle Factor....

[PBB]

This is an irritation from a conversation with Member Services......Hopefully they read the boards!

A few weeks ago my wife and I were watching our son compete in a college swim meet. We were discussing future travel plans to Charleston,SC for another swim meet weekend. During these discussions, we talked about how close we would be to HHI and maybe we should sneak away for a night at HHI.

I called member services on the cell phone. (by the way, we are pleased they are now open on the weekends). I got through to an agent to see if a Saturday night stay would be available. She asked me for our Member number and I explained I did not have the number and all I wanted to do was check the availability for Saturday Night.

She proceeded to ask me ....

My Name
Last 4 digits of my SS number
My Wifes Name
Last 4 digits of her SS number
Our Addresss
Our Telephone Number
What Home Resort we purchased ?
When we purchased ?

At this point, Mr. Sarcasm came out of me and told her my blood type was A positive if DVC needed to know that as well. I got several seconds of silence to say the least.....LOL

I understand that we should have had our number when we called. However, we did not have the card. All we wanted to know if there was availability on Saturday Night in a Studio. She could have checked and said we have one night available on points or cash or we don't. It is that simple

If I chose to make the reservation I can understand the 10 questions but why waste her time and mine asking me questions that are not meaningful.

Let me say it again.....If a reservation was made I agree all information should be verified. I don't have a problem with that. I have a problem having to ask all those questions just to check availability.

Also, when is DVC going to have a web based reservation system so we dont have to call into DVC to make reservations it would seem easier for everyone.

Thanks for letting me vent.......

 

[dandave]

Last year I rented points from DVC members twice. On one occasion, I was uncertain as to which days the DVC member had managed to secure for me. So, I called some number I found. It was late, I got transferred around, then was connected to the resort directly. I gave them my name and the possible days, and BAM! They gave me, the renter who then had no connection to DVC, all the info I wanted. It wasn't until later that I found out they weren't even supposed to have talked with me about the reservation.
If I now, as a new DVC member have more trouble with MS than I did as a renter, I'm gonna be a bit upset. I dare say I might get a bit *sarcastic* with them, as well.
I love, love, love historic Charleston, but did you ever make it to HH?

 

[mikeandkarla]

I suppose they have a protocol to follow.

 

[DMKEDM]

I'm actually surprised they agreed to go thru the ID info w/you instead of just telling you that they can only talk to members...all the posts on these boards about non-members who try to and cannot "just check availability" or "confirm reservations" suggest that MS is pretty strict about not taking MS time to provide service to nonmembers...

And while you're a member, how would they know that if you don't have your number and/or they go thru the ID list of questions w/you?

Having said that, I have my own (probably unreasonable) annoyances w/"the system"--having to sit through all the "boilerplate" every time I call drives me nuts (I KNOW I have to have park admission to eat at an Epcot restaurant; I KNOW that if I cancel w/in 30 days of a reservation my points go into holding; and the canned "have you tried dvcmember.com" spiel before they'll connect you to MS tries my patience ... I do wish there were a "workaround" so I didn't have to listen to that (admittedly important) info EVERY time I call...

OK...now everyone else can find me unreasonable just as I find unreasonable annoyance at having to "prove" who you are (in the absence of a member number) when trying to talk to MS

Sure hope you got your night at HH despite the "grilling" you got from MS...

 

[Ed T]

If they stopped and started to just check availability for anyone that called they would be having all those people looking to rent points from members calling them asking what was available so they could then negotiate a rental with a member. I have a password on my account so that if anyone happens to get my member id they would have to know the password to get to the next step.

In todays society I don't have a problem with them asking questions. Once you are a victim of identify theft you will understand and appreciate the questions.

 

[CarolA]

If you have a real complaint I would email them instead of just venting here.

I have had to verify myself because I didn't have my member number with me and understood the purpose and didn't feel the need to be rude to the CM, but to each thier own!

 

[paults]

you have a member # for a reason. I'm sorry but I have to side with MS on this one. I too am supprised they even talked to you without your #.

If they ever get on-line ressie set up ( and I hope they don't JMHO) just wait an see all the problems members will complain about.

I keep my card with me all the time ,you just never know when you'll need it.

I hope you got your ressie.

 

[fers31]

Your DVC fees pay for MS. If they're busy fielding inquiries from non DVC members, our costs would go up as would all of our wait times. I'm glad they did what they did. They handled it perfectly. Thank you MS.

 

[tjkraz]

Let me say it again.....If a reservation was made I agree all information should be verified. I don't have a problem with that. I have a problem having to ask all those questions just to check availability.

Member Services cannot even check availability until they have accessed the record of a member and confirmed the identity.

 

[Chuck S]

I understand it was a hassle. But I would really want MS to be sure they are talking to me before giving out an info on my account. Even if they have a caller ID system that shows your name, phone number, etc., someone else could have used (or stolen) your cell phone. And with privacy laws being what they are it really is in our own best interest for them to verify that the person on the other end of the line is the member on the account.

 

[Kmango]

My simple solution to the not-having-the-card-handy problem: memorize the number. It's only 12 digits, completely doable.

 

[the who #3]

i have to say that i love having the personal touch of someone on the phone to help with my reservations. i do not like making reservations on the internet and usually the member webb site will not let me sign in anyway. do not know the exact reason, but ms always answers the phone and makes my day more pleasant.

i feel that dvc members pay a hefty price for the services and i would not like to see those services given to non members free of charge. that is one of the luxuries we pay for.

unless ms questions someone they do not know for sure if you are members or not. i prefer the security of quesioning and it could not take more that 5 minutes to answer those quesions. so whats the problem?

my children were involved in national swim meets every week-end for many years and we were very lucky if we had a spare moment to vacation but we were able to spare a couple of minutes to follow procedures and be polite to people along the way. spread a little and enjoy your membership. i feet very privaledged to have those luxuries in my life.

 

[CaptHomer]

I store my number in an e-mail on my phone

 

[BEASLYBOO]

It's no different than when you call to make a payments on a credit card or for your mortgage, you're not past due, you have your account number, your payment amount and you're the one calling, not them, but they still ask you to confirm your phone number and address etc.. I consider it a waste of my time. As previously stated it's a matter of protocol and it's what they have been instructed to do, unfortunately, getting upset or sarcastic serves no purpose but to ruffle someone's feathers, who hopefully won't take it out on the next caller.

With all that said, sometimes we're just not in the mood and even though we know we're acting out we can't stop ourselves!

Personally, I could never work for MS nor would I be a good customer service rep, it's a thankless job!

 

[dis-happy]

My simple solution to the not-having-the-card-handy problem: memorize the number. It's only 12 digits, completely doable.

Even easier, store the number in your phone!


I don't feel that MS was out of line. I have to give nearly all the same info (name, 4 digits, address and phone number) each time I call with my member number....and we go through the entire list BEFORE they can check availability.

Don't forget that they also have to establish who you are verbally so that if the information during the call goes into dispute, they can pull those tapes. I know a few people have posted this happening to them.

 

[Mom B]

I guess I don't mind giving MS the information they ask for, even though they do it every time, because, after all, it is for MY protection!

 

[kdepot]

Even easier, store the number in your phone!


I don't feel that MS was out of line. I have to give nearly all the same info (name, 4 digits, address and phone number) each time I call with my member number....and we go through the entire list BEFORE they can check availability.

Don't forget that they also have to establish who you are verbally so that if the information during the call goes into dispute, they can pull those tapes. I know a few people have posted this happening to them.

Mine is in mt phone as well!!!

 

[the who #3]

i still think the security is important.

most people who can not hold their temper or deal with groups don't be long to a club as large as dvc and prefer to belong to small groups that they can control.

ms personel are hired to do a very specialized job and, yes, my personal security information is on file with them and i feel that it is extremely important. i do not want my identity threatened just because you had a bad day or don't have patients with people who have a job to do.

sorry if that sounds a little blunt. it is, after all, a very large club and the ms personel are trained to take care of all of the members, not just a few.

 

[jbrowna]

The only problem I see is that Disney needs to improve their data infrastructure. We have run into problems where they have imported data from another reservation, including security information, which made it almost impossible for us to correct things.

An example: over a year ago our CM DD had made a reservation for a friend. She entered their address and number, and had all the ME information for their reservation sent to them. This year, when I made a BCV reservation for DW and myself, even though we had entered our own information, the ME information was sent to this friend! On a cash reservation, this friend's phone number had somehow gotten attached to the reservation (and we didn't know it), so when we tried to call and make changes, their security kept telling them that we were giving them the "wrong" phone number, and they wouldn't let us access the reservation -- even though I had a printout from the confirmation they had sent us that had our phone number on it. "Look," I said "I'm holding the reservation right now, and this is the phone number that's on it!" "Sorry, that's not the phone number I have!"

Even though Disney assured me that there was no way information could leak from one database to another, it happens! And that experience makes me really leary about any online reservation system.

 

[PBB]

Everyone is worried about security, security, security.........LOL Checking to see if a Saturday night at Hilton Head is available is not a breach of security. Geez..........

Why should I play 20 questions because some Disney control freak is writing a script for a member services agent to follow.

Like I said in my original post, I can understand if i wanted to use my points for the reservation. I have no problem providing this information.Di

Let's look at this way.......what I am suggesting is a method of streamlining the process so Disney can handle more calls and help more members instead of playing 20 questions.

Putting the number in the phone is a good idea. However, what if I lose my phone then someone could breach the security and rent my points without my knowledge. In fact, I could lose my wallet and the same thing could happen. Sorry for the sarcasm........but what happens if someone used my account and made a reservation what would happen ? Member service sends me a confirmation and I call them back and say I did not make this reservation what is going on ?

So it goes back to.......Disney wasting my time for no apparent reason but to follow a script......