Member Services Lost My Reservation - Frustration Rant

[PaulW08]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to voice my frustrations and rant a bit....

Let me preface this by saying I had the holy grail of reservations that I had been walking since November 2021.

I had two reservations booked this morning. Two - 2 Bedroom Lock-Off Villa-Value rooms at AKL Jambo.

One reservation was for June 1st - June 6th, 2023.
The other was for June 1st - June 5th, 2023.

My travel days are June 4th - June 9th, 2023. Needed to do two more modifications to get me across the finish line. One today (July 3rd, 2022,) and probably one more on (July 4th, 2022). I had exactly 270 points and needed exactly 270 for the two reservations. Everything planned out perfectly.

Well I get on chat this morning, because I can't make the modifications myself (have been getting the 7 Dwarfs error for 3 straight days) with a simple request:

Move my June 1st - June 6th, 2023 reservation to June 3rd - June 8th, 2023 and move my June 1st - June 5th, 2023 reservation to June 3rd - June 7th, 2023.

I chat and they say it's done with the first reservation, but say the 2nd one had to be canceled and re-booked due to a technical issue. They promise me it wouldn't show up at first, but would eventually show up. I say thank you and they end the chat. I go to my dashboard to refresh and see they have changed the first reservation to June 3rd - June 8th, 2023, but changed my room category to a 1 Bedroom Savannah view.

My heart drops and I begin to panic. I immediately, get back on chat with another agent who checks and tells me there is no log for the last chat I just had and basically from what I get is them basically saying "There's no log so who knows what you requested, so it's not really our fault." They told me the last interaction I had with them was on 5/27/22 (Not true because I had to chat on 7/1/22 to move these reservations on Friday). Eventually we get to a point where they acknowledge what happened, but they can't do anything about it. The room is gone because someone else booked it.

We talk a bit more and I realize that the room the first agent booked was 167 points and my other reservation 108 points. This puts me at 275 points when I only had 270. So not only did the first agent change my room category, they also borrowed points without my confirmation. It gets to a point where their only solution is to switch the room to a 2 bedroom standard. So in order to do that, I have to borrow even more points. Eventually while on chat, my other reservation shows up and it's correct, but they recommend I add a day to ensure I get the original dates I wanted, but what do I need to do that? Borrow even more points! All in all I went from only needing 270 points to using 307 points, but don't worry, they will waive the 50% borrowing restriction because it was their mistake.

They told me to call on Tuesday, and they might be able to do some "pixie dust" but at this point I'm pretty gutted because I know the inventory is what it is. Getting that room back is almost impossible due to it being one of the most popular booking categories due to the fact I have to fight 1 bedroom value and deluxe studio value bookers.

So realistically now I'm looking at spending 25 more points for my big family trip in 2023 now. Not the end of the world, but just frustrating when I've been working on these reservations for almost 8 months fighting the glitchy site and the constant error pages when making modifications.

TLDR: Contacted member services to move dates for two reservations for my 2 Bedroom Lock-Off Villa-Value rooms, and lost one of them because of their mistake.

 

[KalamityJane]

Omg, how disheartening! I’m so sorry

 

[Narcoossee11]

You will walk a res for 20 months !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[sndral]

Unfortunate, but AKV should have been scheduled for a hard goods refurb. in ‘23 or thereabouts, so if that had been scheduled you would have lost both of those value 2 br.s. you were walking anyway.
DVC is first come/first serve, but there’s no guarantee that a walk will work, the more times you have to ‘update’ your dates the higher the chance there’ll be a mistake or computer glitch & in this case multiply that by two.

 

[kes601]

You will walk a res for 20 months !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Technically they walked it for 9 months — November 2021 until now. It’s not like they have to walk it for the next 11 months.

That said, I’d never want to deal with having to do it for that long.

 

[DaveNan]

That is a very long walk for one of those holy grail rooms. There are exactly 10 of those LO 2BR Value available. To put this into perspective, if everyone walking those rooms walked for 10 months, that would mean on average, 1 morning per month 1 would be available for booking at the 8AM drop. The other 29 days, there would be no availability before the next day and no one would have a chance to book on those days. So..... one day per month the 1000's of people wanting those value rooms anytime in the next year would be competing for the 1 opportunity to start a walk. This should be required reading for anyone buying at AKV for value and club rooms. I have been able to stay at each of these categories, but over the last 5 years it has gotten almost impossible to get the room. The longer members are walking, the more they impact availability. It is even more frustrating when I see members offering to rent fixed stay reservations during peak times in the value rooms for premium $ per point because it takes so few points. (one week for $2000 or almost $30 per point).

 

[RoseGold]

I am so sorry for you. This is SO disappointing. This is what happened to me with my BC reservation and the resale “glitch.”

But that 2BR value room, wow. This is just heartbreaking. I am legit sad for you. And angry. Because you jumped through all the hoops and followed all the rules and they still did this.

MS is an absolute joke. If this were my bank’s website, I’d get a new bank.

FIX THE WEBSITE BILL.

 

[DVCjj]

PaulW08: I'm very sorry this happened to you.
ALWAYS print out your Chats. I have little faith in some of the CMs.

 

[kristenabelle]

PaulW08: I'm very sorry this happened to you.
ALWAYS print out your Chats. I have little faith in some of the CMs.

I'm so sorry this happened. Seconding printing chats - for DVC, airlines, all of it. Any time there's a modification or adjustment

 

[RoseGold]

Track down bill’s email and sent an email in writing. Terri’s staff did follow up with my BC glitch and kind of make my issue right. I mean they didn’t actually fix the website, but they made an effort with my issue.

But that was garden variety BC, not holy grail AK.

 

[KalamityJane]

Thinking about this more, I’d ask that they give you the points to put you in the better room since they mucked up it all. I’ve had the best luck with letting CS know what sort of resolution I’m looking for and seeing if they can help. For instance, if they can’t get you a similar room back (so you can be close to each other), maybe ask to be moved to a standard or savannah view 2bdr with them eating the extra points cost. It shouldn’t be on you to have to bear the cost of their mistake. Another option might be to ask for access to club level if they are insistent on you using your points.

 

[RoseGold]

Thinking about this more, I’d ask that they give you the points to put you in the better room since they mucked up it all. I’ve had the best luck with letting CS know what sort of resolution I’m looking for and seeing if they can help. For instance, if they can’t get you a similar room back (so you can be close to each other), maybe ask to be moved to a standard or savannah view 2bdr with them eating the extra points cost. It shouldn’t be on you to have to bear the cost of their mistake. Another option might be to ask for access to club level if they are insistent on you using your points.

Yes, I think moving you to standard is a reasonable solution, and likely one they can actually do.

Or, you know, they could FIX THE WEBSITE.

 

[Drr10]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to voice my frustrations and rant a bit....

Let me preface this by saying I had the holy grail of reservations that I had been walking since November 2021.

I had two reservations booked this morning. Two - 2 Bedroom Lock-Off Villa-Value rooms at AKL Jambo.

One reservation was for June 1st - June 6th, 2023.
The other was for June 1st - June 5th, 2023.

My travel days are June 4th - June 9th, 2023. Needed to do two more modifications to get me across the finish line. One today (July 3rd, 2022,) and probably one more on (July 4th, 2022). I had exactly 270 points and needed exactly 270 for the two reservations. Everything planned out perfectly.

Well I get on chat this morning, because I can't make the modifications myself (have been getting the 7 Dwarfs error for 3 straight days) with a simple request:

Move my June 1st - June 6th, 2023 reservation to June 3rd - June 8th, 2023 and move my June 1st - June 5th, 2023 reservation to June 3rd - June 7th, 2023.

I chat and they say it's done with the first reservation, but say the 2nd one had to be canceled and re-booked due to a technical issue. They promise me it wouldn't show up at first, but would eventually show up. I say thank you and they end the chat. I go to my dashboard to refresh and see they have changed the first reservation to June 3rd - June 8th, 2023, but changed my room category to a 1 Bedroom Savannah view.

My heart drops and I begin to panic. I immediately, get back on chat with another agent who checks and tells me there is no log for the last chat I just had and basically from what I get is them basically saying "There's no log so who knows what you requested, so it's not really our fault." They told me the last interaction I had with them was on 5/27/22 (Not true because I had to chat on 7/1/22 to move these reservations on Friday). Eventually we get to a point where they acknowledge what happened, but they can't do anything about it. The room is gone because someone else booked it.

We talk a bit more and I realize that the room the first agent booked was 167 points and my other reservation 108 points. This puts me at 275 points when I only had 270. So not only did the first agent change my room category, they also borrowed points without my confirmation. It gets to a point where their only solution is to switch the room to a 2 bedroom standard. So in order to do that, I have to borrow even more points. Eventually while on chat, my other reservation shows up and it's correct, but they recommend I add a day to ensure I get the original dates I wanted, but what do I need to do that? Borrow even more points! All in all I went from only needing 270 points to using 307 points, but don't worry, they will waive the 50% borrowing restriction because it was their mistake.

They told me to call on Tuesday, and they might be able to do some "pixie dust" but at this point I'm pretty gutted because I know the inventory is what it is. Getting that room back is almost impossible due to it being one of the most popular booking categories due to the fact I have to fight 1 bedroom value and deluxe studio value bookers.

So realistically now I'm looking at spending 25 more points for my big family trip in 2023 now. Not the end of the world, but just frustrating when I've been working on these reservations for almost 8 months fighting the glitchy site and the constant error pages when making modifications.

TLDR: Contacted member services to move dates for two reservations for my 2 Bedroom Lock-Off Villa-Value rooms, and lost one of them because of their mistake.

Hi everyone. Just wanted to voice my frustrations and rant a bit....

Let me preface this by saying I had the holy grail of reservations that I had been walking since November 2021.

I had two reservations booked this morning. Two - 2 Bedroom Lock-Off Villa-Value rooms at AKL Jambo.

One reservation was for June 1st - June 6th, 2023.
The other was for June 1st - June 5th, 2023.

My travel days are June 4th - June 9th, 2023. Needed to do two more modifications to get me across the finish line. One today (July 3rd, 2022,) and probably one more on (July 4th, 2022). I had exactly 270 points and needed exactly 270 for the two reservations. Everything planned out perfectly.

Well I get on chat this morning, because I can't make the modifications myself (have been getting the 7 Dwarfs error for 3 straight days) with a simple request:

Move my June 1st - June 6th, 2023 reservation to June 3rd - June 8th, 2023 and move my June 1st - June 5th, 2023 reservation to June 3rd - June 7th, 2023.

I chat and they say it's done with the first reservation, but say the 2nd one had to be canceled and re-booked due to a technical issue. They promise me it wouldn't show up at first, but would eventually show up. I say thank you and they end the chat. I go to my dashboard to refresh and see they have changed the first reservation to June 3rd - June 8th, 2023, but changed my room category to a 1 Bedroom Savannah view.

My heart drops and I begin to panic. I immediately, get back on chat with another agent who checks and tells me there is no log for the last chat I just had and basically from what I get is them basically saying "There's no log so who knows what you requested, so it's not really our fault." They told me the last interaction I had with them was on 5/27/22 (Not true because I had to chat on 7/1/22 to move these reservations on Friday). Eventually we get to a point where they acknowledge what happened, but they can't do anything about it. The room is gone because someone else booked it.

We talk a bit more and I realize that the room the first agent booked was 167 points and my other reservation 108 points. This puts me at 275 points when I only had 270. So not only did the first agent change my room category, they also borrowed points without my confirmation. It gets to a point where their only solution is to switch the room to a 2 bedroom standard. So in order to do that, I have to borrow even more points. Eventually while on chat, my other reservation shows up and it's correct, but they recommend I add a day to ensure I get the original dates I wanted, but what do I need to do that? Borrow even more points! All in all I went from only needing 270 points to using 307 points, but don't worry, they will waive the 50% borrowing restriction because it was their mistake.

They told me to call on Tuesday, and they might be able to do some "pixie dust" but at this point I'm pretty gutted because I know the inventory is what it is. Getting that room back is almost impossible due to it being one of the most popular booking categories due to the fact I have to fight 1 bedroom value and deluxe studio value bookers.

So realistically now I'm looking at spending 25 more points for my big family trip in 2023 now. Not the end of the world, but just frustrating when I've been working on these reservations for almost 8 months fighting the glitchy site and the constant error pages when making modifications.

TLDR: Contacted member services to move dates for two reservations for my 2 Bedroom Lock-Off Villa-Value rooms, and lost one of them because of their mistake.

I don't think it's fair to walk a reservation. It takes away from others trying to get a reservation the honorable way. Some people can't be on the website 24/7 and miss out because someone or multiple people are walking reservations.

 

[RoseGold]

I don't think it's fair to walk a reservation. It takes away from others trying to get a reservation the honorable way. Some people can't be on the website 24/7 and miss out because someone or multiple people are walking reservations.

1. That's not how walking works. Only the first one has to be right on time. The rest you modify anytime, just extend a few more days. 2. Those are DVC's current rules. OP followed them to the T, and DVC screwed up the reservation. DVC has a lot of rules that are enforced quite harshly on owners.

 

[Bearval]

I don't think it's fair to walk a reservation. It takes away from others trying to get a reservation the honorable way. Some people can't be on the website 24/7 and miss out because someone or multiple people are walking reservations.

I don't feel sorry for anyone who loses a reservation they are walking actually it makes me happy. It goes against the spirit of how you are supposed to book a reservation and it forces others to pick up the days you are dropping by walking one by one for a time they actually want.

 

[PrinceRaki]

I am sorry.

Edit. Deleted off topic opinion

 

[RoseGold]

You don't like walking, I don't like the TP. Those are what we are working with right now. OP followed the rules, as currently set.

They could change the rules tomorrow, but it isn't fair to OP for their bad tech to cost him the reservation. If the website worked, he wouldn't have even had to post.

 

[Brian Noble]

Walking doesn't matter.

What matters is that there are room categories that have significantly more demand than supply. Once you get to that point, it is inevitable that some people will be disappointed not to get the room they want. The only question left is how that happens.

Right now, the distinguishing feature is how much effort someone is willing to put into getting it. The more effort you are willing to put in (by walking) the more likely you will get the room. The only other approach is to have some element of randomness. That could be random in the sense of "who pushed the button closest to 8AM exactly/has the lowest latency internet connection/etc." or it could be an actual lottery.

The advantage to the current system is that you have at least some control over the process. So if you want the room badly enough, there is something you can do about it. With a randomized scheme, you don't even have that. Instead, all you have is "maybe this year I will be lucky."

(One other possible benefit of walking: if you are early on the waitlist, as walkers "walk by" your dates, you have the room.)

 

[RoseGold]

What matters is that there are room categories that have significantly more demand than supply. Once you get to that point, it is inevitable that some people will be disappointed not to get the room they want. The only question left is how that happens.

Right. The system has always had imbalance by design, which can to some degree be offset by shifting around points. The problem gets worse as the charts inflate, and the legacy charts look better and better. And as peak travel gets more crowded, like December. AKL created this issue from the jump by making these valuable, limited room categories. And, to be fair, AKL value is a chart problem. If they made the value one point cheaper, or made club level bungalow level points, they would be the last thing to book. So, DVC does have a way to fix this "problem" if it wanted to, at least within AKL priority booking.

Walking is just first come, first serve. It doesn't change the charts or the peak seasons or how many rooms there are.

 

[CarolMN]

Let's not turn the OP's vent into a debate on walking. If someone wants to discuss walking, please start a new thread.

Going forward, off topic posts will be deleted.