Member Services Hours for West Coast Customers??!!

[SanDeeKath]

WOW, I tried to call member services around 4 today (PST) and it was closed! The hours are 9-5:30pm Eastern Time.

Now don't get me wrong because I love Disney, but if I was planning on selling all these Grand CA Villas to West Coast folks, I am thinking I would have to address this issue ASAP. Disney is going to have more and more people from PST calling for reservations, etc. as GCV sales grow. Being closed at 3:30 is frankly unacceptable.

Disney if you are reading this -- you GOTTA extend your hours for us lowly West Coasters!

Katherine

 

[M4travels]

Actually the hours work just fine for me. I'm quite happy with the hours of operation of MS.

 

[Longhairbear]

When VGC, and Hawai'i come online, they may have to extend MS hours, to be fair to all of the membership. Either that, or open an extended hours phone line in CA, for all members to call.

 

[tubtruck]

How will it be fair to all members ? And will all members have to pay for this or will the extra ms costs just be charged on GCV?

 

[CarolA]

As someone who spends a lot of time working on the West Coast I find the hours work very well. I can call in the morning before I go into the office. Something I can't do when working at home. For me it's better in that all the hours aren't while I am at work. I really dislike having to book this where folks can hear me LOL!

 

[Chuck S]

I'm thinking they may open a call center somewhere in the west, which would have the effect of extending MS hours, once sales of the CA and HI resorts reach a certain level.

 

[funatdisney]

I agree with CarolA. Even though I don't work, I like making my call to DVC before I start my hectic day. I tend to be an early riser and so the current hours of operation work just fine with me. I find myself forgetting to make a call after 1pm anyway. I'm just to busy to think about it. I'm always mad at myself when it rolls around 6pm and I have forgotten to make that call to the bank or whatever call I have to make.

 

[CarolA]

I actually don't think you will see many changes.

DVC has a LARGE number of European owners and they have to live with these hours.....It would surprise me if GCV brought more hours. Maybe Hawaii.

 

[bwvBound]

WOW, I tried to call member services around 4 today (PST) and it was closed! The hours are 9-5:30pm Eastern Time. <snip> Being closed at 3:30 is frankly unacceptable.

5:30pm Eastern will be 2:30pm Pacific. However, as others have said, I appreciate phoning early (6A Pacific) and moving on with my day.

 

[figment795]

It would be nice to have a west coast call center. But I must admit I enjoy calling at 6 AM getting my buisness done prior to going to work.

 

[CarolA]

Remember DVC used to have later hours a few days a week. I would bet that the change was due to a lack of utilization. They still have as many (if not more) hours so it wasn't a money saving change.

 

[Chuck S]

Remember DVC used to have later hours a few days a week. I would bet that the change was due to a lack of utilization. They still have as many (if not more) hours so it wasn't a money saving change.

Yes, but we'll just have to see if the VGC and Ko'Olina increases the percentage of West Coast owners substantially. If so, there will likely be justification for extended hours or a western call center. Right now, the vast majority of DVC ownership is in the Eastern Coastal states.

 

[Lexxiefern]

I always thought the hours were a little unfair to those of you on the west coast. But I guess being able to call early could be a perk, instead of having to wait until 9am like us east coasters do. But I bet DVC will change this in the future and make it more convenient for you. They seem to be changing alot right now.

 

[SanDeeKath]

You are right, it is 2:30.

So let me tell you about my morning:

6am get up, shower get ready to work
6:30am get older child up, get ready for school
7:00am get younger child up, ready for school
Make breakfast for everyone, including DH
8:00 drop off older child
8:30 drop off younger child
8:45 get myself to work
9:00-5:00 full time work


SOOOOOO, I can't call at 6am. I barely have time to go to the bathroom this time of the day, let alone sit on the phone waiting and submitting my info for a ressie. I usually work through lunch too so I can't usually call at lunch. Heaven forbid that they put me on hold for more than 15 minutes because then I have to hang up because my break is over.

I CAN call at 5:00 however and then sit on the phone while they help make my ressie. Soooo, it is unfair for those of us who work. Starwood, Marriott, II, RCI and Hyatt customer service is open till 5:30 at least each day. I can't believe that I am the only full time working mom customer of DVC. DIsney is going to have to give a little on this.

A west coast call center would be fantastic. Katherine

 

[bwvBound]

Well .... I'm up a bit earlier than you and am out the door by 6:30a. I've had a week of 14 hour days ... so return home at 8:30p and want to fall straight into bed. Sure was nice to be at BWV all last week ... can't wait to return!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

You are right, it is 2:30.

So let me tell you about my morning:

6am get up, shower get ready to work
6:30am get older child up, get ready for school
7:00am get younger child up, ready for school
Make breakfast for everyone, including DH
8:00 drop off older child
8:30 drop off younger child
8:45 get myself to work
9:00-5:00 full time work


SOOOOOO, I can't call at 6am. I barely have time to go to the bathroom this time of the day, let alone sit on the phone waiting and submitting my info for a ressie. I usually work through lunch too so I can't usually call at lunch. Heaven forbid that they put me on hold for more than 15 minutes because then I have to hang up because my break is over.

I CAN call at 5:00 however and then sit on the phone while they help make my ressie. Soooo, it is unfair for those of us who work. Starwood, Marriott, II, RCI and Hyatt customer service is open till 5:30 at least each day. I can't believe that I am the only full time working mom customer of DVC. DIsney is going to have to give a little on this.

A west coast call center would be fantastic. Katherine

Not to be too obvious, but one option for you would be to get up half an hour earlier to free your time from 6-6:30 AM pacific time. For difficult to get reservations, this is THE best time to call. Even if you could wait until 5 PM, the reservation you want may not be available by that time. I called on Jan 3 to book Dec 3 in a SV studio, but didn't call until 10 AM pacific and I was out of luck.

Another option, for less urgent business might be to call on your lunch hour or on a weekend. By adding full weekend hours, DVC may already feel that they have given a lot on the hours issue. Best of luck -- Suzanne

 

[funatdisney]

Not to be too obvious, but one option for you would be to get up half an hour earlier to free your time from 6-6:30 AM pacific time. For difficult to get reservations, this is THE best time to call. Even if you could wait until 5 PM, the reservation you want may not be available by that time. I called on Jan 3 to book Dec 3 in a SV studio, but didn't call until 10 AM pacific and I was out of luck.

Another option, for less urgent business might be to call on your lunch hour or on a weekend. By adding full weekend hours, DVC may already feel that they have given a lot on the hours issue. Best of luck -- Suzanne

SanDeeKath-- although I am very understanding about your situation, I do think that you will find yourself making an early call to MS for a reservation more often than not. This may be especially true for a GCV booking. With the low number of units available, there may be some difficulty in booking at GCV. Only time will tell.

I have done exactly SuzanneSLO has suggested- gotten up at 5:30am to get a head start on the day so I could make that phone call to MS at 6am. It works very well for me. You would have to wake up early anyway for an earlier opening call center. Luckily I have found the need to call MS isn't very often and the inconvenience isn't too burdensome.

 

[Tozzie]

You are right, it is 2:30.

So let me tell you about my morning:

6am get up, shower get ready to work
6:30am get older child up, get ready for school
7:00am get younger child up, ready for school
Make breakfast for everyone, including DH
8:00 drop off older child
8:30 drop off younger child
8:45 get myself to work
9:00-5:00 full time work


SOOOOOO, I can't call at 6am. I barely have time to go to the bathroom this time of the day, let alone sit on the phone waiting and submitting my info for a ressie. I usually work through lunch too so I can't usually call at lunch. Heaven forbid that they put me on hold for more than 15 minutes because then I have to hang up because my break is over.

I CAN call at 5:00 however and then sit on the phone while they help make my ressie. Soooo, it is unfair for those of us who work. Starwood, Marriott, II, RCI and Hyatt customer service is open till 5:30 at least each day. I can't believe that I am the only full time working mom customer of DVC. DIsney is going to have to give a little on this.

A west coast call center would be fantastic. Katherine

If you can't call while you are at work now, how would the opening of a West Coast call center help you? They are open 9-5 so they would only be open when you are at work. MS is open during buisness hours on the east coast and whle it may seem convient they are open when a lot of us are at work so we either do what we have to in order to make the calls or wait until the weekend and take a chance on getting the reservation.

 

[Starr W.]

Hey Kath!

How do you handle calling Starwood then for a hard to get reservation? Their call center is in Orlando also(just pulled the info local area code is 407)

Though unless they've changed since a year ago(last time I called)they are open 9am- 9pm ET M-F.

 

[tubtruck]

I actually don't think you will see many changes.

DVC has a LARGE number of European owners and they have to live with these hours.....It would surprise me if GCV brought more hours. Maybe Hawaii.

Yes and for the UK the opening time is in effect 2.00pm until 10pm.

The only places in the world that I would have thought the opening times would be a problem are places that are in excess of 8 hours time difference and due to massive distances I would not have thought there would be many owners.
The huge number of British members is probably the only exception to the long distance rule and even still the distance from London to Orlando is actually shorter than the distance from Honolulu to Orlando.