Member Services

[antnee]

I wish they kept later hours

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

I wish they had an on-line reservation system that allowed us to make reservations 24 hours a day. You know, kinda like..........the rest of WDW reservations.

HBC

 

[Tony-NJ]

I finally made time yesterday to call and change some resies from cash to points as I just closed on a resale!!! I've been wanting to do it for a couple of weeks!

 

[JudithM]

Keep in mind that later/longer hours would directly affect our annual dues.

If you cannot reach Member Services by phone, have you tried emailing them?

 

[antnee]

Keep in mind that later/longer hours would directly affect our annual dues.

I am sorry this is unacceptable to me, they cant use dues as an excuse for everything. If they had the web working a little better they would have to stay past 7 each night or more then 1 late night a week.


Yes I do email but that wont do in some situations

 

[FLYNZ4]

Originally posted by antnee
I am sorry this is unacceptable to me, they cant use dues as an excuse for everything. If they had the web working a little better they would have to stay past 7 each night or more then 1 late night a week.


Yes I do email but that wont do in some situations

I totally agree. The hours of MS are totally inadequate, and non-competitive. It is especially impactful to us on the west coast, as MS closes mid-afternoon for us. Also, the lack of weekend coverage less than stellar.

/Jim

 

[linco711]

I strongly agree! There are working people who are DVC Members. There is not much time to call after I get home from work, and no weekend coverage is really poor! Disney gets a lot of our money in dues and trips. It wouldn't hurt them at all to give a few more considerations. Most of the perks we get are also offered to the general public in one way or another. Magic Kingdom club membership sells for alot less than DVC Memberships, and they have toll free 24 hour reservation service!

 

[starwood]

Magic Kingdom club membership sells for alot less than DVC Memberships

There is no more MKC.

 

[antnee]

yeah I miss MKC too

 

[jd99]

I feel like I'm Mr. Question today...but now that I am official, I need to know everything. How do you email member services? And can you do that to try to make reservations, get put on a waiting list, etc. ?

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Originally posted by Happy Birthday Cat
I wish they had an on-line reservation system that allowed us to make reservations 24 hours a day. You know, kinda like..........the rest of WDW reservations.

HBC

There is a place to make ressies on the DVC member website--or am I misunderstanding you?

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by idratherbeinwdw
There is a place to make ressies on the DVC member website--or am I misunderstanding you?

The current web site offers little more than a glorified email request. Last time I checked, you were asked to specify multiple room types, resorts, even dates. And even then they indicate it could take 48-72 hours to get a response.

What we need is realtime access to room availability, point balances, banking / borrowing, etc. You know--basically a DVC version of the functions hotels have offered on web sites for years now.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Remember, on Thursdays MS is open late. I think it's until 8 or 9 EST, not great for West Coasters, but fine by me.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Originally posted by tjkraz
The current web site offers little more than a glorified email request. Last time I checked, you were asked to specify multiple room types, resorts, even dates. And even then they indicate it could take 48-72 hours to get a response.

What we need is realtime access to room availability, point balances, banking / borrowing, etc. You know--basically a DVC version of the functions hotels have offered on web sites for years now.

Here I agree with you, it would be great to have a real time reservation service for DVC. And yes, if I want to reserve at a non Disney hotel I can easily do so online.

But I was responding to HB Cat who said we need the same access online that non members have when reserving at WDW. Unless it has changed (and if it has my apologies) non members also have to specify everything you mentioned and wait for a response.

Am I wrong? Can one now reserve a WDW resort on the public Disney website without them getting back to you to confirm?

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by idratherbeinwdw
Can one now reserve a WDW resort on the public Disney website without them getting back to you to confirm?

Sure can.

I remember the setup that you refer to--where you would issue a request and wait for a reply. But if you go through the booking process on-line for WDW, it will tell you in realtime whether there is availability or not. It will even recommend alternative resorts in the same class (moderate, deluxe, etc.) if your first choice is not available.

It's been that way since at least Fall '03.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Originally posted by tjkraz
Sure can.

I remember the setup that you refer to--where you would issue a request and wait for a reply. But if you go through the booking process on-line for WDW, it will tell you in realtime whether there is availability or not. It will even recommend alternative resorts in the same class (moderate, deluxe, etc.) if your first choice is not available.

It's been that way since at least Fall '03.

Thanks for the info. I have been renting points since early in '03, and got my own DVC membership as of this month. So I haven't had the need to use CRO in quite some time. I only remember the "old" way online thatyou mentioned. Never liked it and never used it, too inconvenient to wait when I could call and see what was available right away. Nice to know they've finally joined the 21st Century.

Now I am joining you all who wonder when DVC will follow suit and why they haven't as of yet! Harrumph!

 

[JudithM]

Originally posted by antnee
I am sorry this is unacceptable to me, they cant use dues as an excuse for everything. If they had the web working a little better they would have to stay past 7 each night or more then 1 late night a week.


Yes I do email but that wont do in some situations

So where would the money come from then to keep MS open longer? what does the web working better have to do with CMs staying past 7 p.m.?

 

[FLYNZ4]

Originally posted by JudithM
So where would the money come from then to keep MS open longer? what does the web working better have to do with CMs staying past 7 p.m.?

DVC is just about the most expensive TS on both initial cost and especially MFs. If virtually every other similar TS organization on the planet can provide longer hours, web based real time scheduling, etc... then DVC has no excuse. I do not buy the "increases our MF" argument. DVC is terribly uncompetive in this area. In my (short) experience... the workers are great... but their hours are too short, and the tools (web) are inadequate.

/Jim

 

[MrsToad]

Does anyone know how many Member Services CMs there are? Until the website is more robust, would it be possible to reschedule some of the current CM positions to a later shift, say to 12 - 8 rather than 9 - 5 or a Tuesday - Saturday schedule rather than Monday - Friday schedule? This shouldn't result in too great of an added expense (maybe just utilities if the office is open later) as staff would not be added, just shifted.

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by FLYNZ4
DVC is just about the most expensive TS on both initial cost and especially MFs. If virtually every other similar TS organization on the planet can provide longer hours, web based real time scheduling, etc... then DVC has no excuse. I do not buy the "increases our MF" argument. DVC is terribly uncompetive in this area. In my (short) experience... the workers are great... but their hours are too short, and the tools (web) are inadequate.

/Jim

I agree in principle, but the harsh reality is that DVC runs as a non-profit. An increase in costs means that WE foot the bill. Certainly we could all throw out our own little suggestions for things we'd be willing to sacrifice in the current operating budget to make this happen, but that's an exercise in futility.

More than anything, I think people need to make sure they are voicing their concerns through the proper channels. I've never really had any issues with the current schedule, but those who do should share their feelings. I, for one, certainly wouldn't balk at the penny or two dues increase (which would be quite a tidy sum with the tens of millions of points in circulation) that would be necessitated.

In DVC's defense, I do believe that the recent changes in the web site (individual IDs, and so on) are just a prelude to on-line booking. Hopefully we'll see further improvement in that area by the end of the year.