MS hours of operation not convenient for me

[sueandyong]

Hi all DISers!

My DW and I recently purchased at BLT and are excited for its opening. In the meantime, I find the hours of operation for MS inconvenient. Living on the west coast, translates to 3 hours earlier for us when they close E.S.T. Struggling to make reservations and changes with MS at times. Hopefully we'll be able to utilize online ressies for RCI and future DP usage. Anyone else find the hours for MS inconvenient?

 

[disneynutz]

You can always call on Saturday or Sunday.

 

[CarolA]

Be glad you aren't a European owner.

They did use to be closed on Sunday and were open later on Thur.

However, since I have traveled a lot to the West Coast I actually like calling from out there. I can call before I go to work and generally it's not a busy time on the lines.

 

[bwvBound]

No trouble to me! I love that I can call at 6A ... long before heading off to work. Gives ample time for having to "hold" if needed without feeling the pressure of phoning from the office.

 

[jbrowna]

I'm an early riser, so I don't mind calling at 6am either. I do wonder, however, once VGC opens, if they will adjust hours for the West Coast, or even open a West Coast reservation center.

 

[La2kw]

Yes, another west coaster here. I don't care for the hours, but we've been members for so long, we're used to it. I don't mind calling at 6:00 am, but not being able to call past 2:30 is what is inconvenient to me.

 

[MagicalPins]

I really hope that once the Grand Californian is available for bookings that they have hours that match business hours at Disneyland.

(Lets hope they expand the perks at Disneyland to closer match the perks offered over at WDW)

 

[zulaya]

It is what it is. Not meaning to be harsh, but our dues pay for that call center to be staffed. I don't want to be paying for more time for them to be open.

Honestly, I don't think they'll have a reservation center in CA. That's a lot of overhead to pay for when you only have 60 units to reserve out there.

And do remember that they are open 7 days a week, not just M-F. So if you have a rigid work schedule that won't allow you to make a phone call during the week, you have the entire weekend to call in on.

Personally, I think they are very generous in the time they are available. It use to just be M-F, with longer hours on Thurs.

But I know I also think of the advisors working there. I know I wouldn't want to be working more than the normal 9-5 day. Why should they have to be any different? But that's JMHO.

 

[MagicalPins]

It is what it is. Not meaning to be harsh, but our dues pay for that call center to be staffed. I don't want to be paying for more time for them to be open.

Honestly, I don't think they'll have a reservation center in CA. That's a lot of overhead to pay for when you only have 60 units to reserve out there.

And do remember that they are open 7 days a week, not just M-F. So if you have a rigid work schedule that won't allow you to make a phone call during the week, you have the entire weekend to call in on.

Personally, I think they are very generous in the time they are available. It use to just be M-F, with longer hours on Thurs.

But I know I also think of the advisors working there. I know I wouldn't want to be working more than the normal 9-5 day. Why should they have to be any different? But that's JMHO.

With a California resort being adding and member fees coming in from that resort. Some of those fees should go to the reservation system. And if it does, they should go to hours that work for the resort that is now kicking in $$$ into the pot to keep the reservation lines open.

I could understand point of "I'm paying for the reservation line. I don't want to pay for longer hours." if there wasn't extra fees coming in from other members.

Also, no member is better than any other. Everyone pays fees. If extra hours makes it easier for a member to use their points, they are still paying fees on those points and

 

[JW9DVC]

I agree, they need to be open until at least 5. California Time. They could open 2.5 hours later than earlier. I would be ok with this. It would benefit both sides of the spectrum.

Seems more like business hours to me than what we currently have. JW

 

[bobbiwoz]

You would really hurt the European people if you opened later, wouldn't you? We're happy to have the weekend hours now...people did complain about only weekdays and Thursday evening. Maybe some tweaking could be done.

Bobbi

 

[Anal Annie]

At least they're open all day on the weekends now! When we first joined I think they were only open from 1-5:00 on Saturdays. I used to call on Thursday nights when they used to be open later...but I think adding all day on the weekend has been a really good thing. I like having 7 day access to call.

 

[Starr W.]

Hey west coast Starwood owners have the same issue(a lot of them own at the HI resorts) and have to get up as Starwood's call center is in Orlando also.

When I joined it wasn't 7 days per week, I was glad I had a speakerphone if I had to call in on Saturdays. If you didn't call right on the dot at 1pm you were in for some nice Disney music for about 15-20 min.

 

[La2kw]

It is what it is. Not meaning to be harsh, but our dues pay for that call center to be staffed. I don't want to be paying for more time for them to be open.

Honestly, I don't think they'll have a reservation center in CA. That's a lot of overhead to pay for when you only have 60 units to reserve out there.

And do remember that they are open 7 days a week, not just M-F. So if you have a rigid work schedule that won't allow you to make a phone call during the week, you have the entire weekend to call in on.

Personally, I think they are very generous in the time they are available. It use to just be M-F, with longer hours on Thurs.

But I know I also think of the advisors working there. I know I wouldn't want to be working more than the normal 9-5 day. Why should they have to be any different? But that's JMHO.

As already mentioned, DVC members who are on Pacific time are paying dues as well. I've been paying dues for 15 years. Not every DVC member is on East Coast time, so just because the majority of DVC resorts are on Eastern time doesn't mean their hours need to be. There will soon be one on Pacific time and another on Hawaii time.

If the MS hours were longer, they could have staggered shifts. Many, many businesses are open more than the hours of 9-5. Worrying about cm's working more than 8 hours is a weak argument, IMO. If Disney is selling points in more than one time zone, having customer service hours that are a little longer is not an insane request.

That said, I'm okay with the hours, but it would be nice if they were open later.

 

[shellybaxter]

I live on the west coast and really don't mind the the current hours. However, I think it would be fine for the call center to be open at ten on the east coast and then stay open for three hours later.

 

[marynvince]

That's the way it is. The hours are the hours. If I work the night shift and sleep in the morning should I expect that member services be open in the evening to accomodate me? I applaud those that have replied that they accept the hours and work with them.

 

[La2kw]

That's the way it is. The hours are the hours. If I work the night shift and sleep in the morning should I expect that member services be open in the evening to accomodate me? I applaud those that have replied that they accept the hours and work with them.

Who's talking about the night shift? The hours haven't always been the hours. They have changed more than once. What's wrong with altering them once more to address more members, not just those on the east coast?

 

[kikiq]

Another west coaster here. It would be nice if they extended the hours. I do what I have to do to make my ressies, but today when I was suppose to call 11 months out it just happen to be the day both of us had to leave early and I didn't get lunch until 2:30 pm when school was done. Calling this weekend would have been too early to call and calling next Saturday just might be too late for Christmas. I will be dialing at 6 am tomorrow morning.

Just saying that staying open to 7 pm/8 pm would benefit all DVC members.
(Yes I know, it would cost money from somewhere) Just saying it would be nice that's all. Until then up early and ready to dial at 6 am, hopefully getting it done before 7:15. If not, dialing during lunch recess.

 

[Fortywinks]

No rock throwing but another perspective.
MS available 59.5 hrs per week. (7 days).
Website is available 24 hrs for most activities (banking, online reservations)
This is paid for through MF so any expansion would be an additional cost. Would everyone be willing to pay 6-8 cents per point annually to expand hrs just for convience. I'm on east cosat time and work 8-5 ET and find it difficut to call . I just call on my days off (Sat and Sun).

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Like fastpasses, the only time I really care about is the opening time. If something is time sensitive, like booking at 11 months or 7 months, I want to be able to call right when MS opens in the morning. For everything else, waiting until it is convenient (lunch time or weekends) or even sending an e-mail works just fine.

For this reason, I see no benefit to adding hours later in the day to accomodate those like me on the West Coast. Personally, I like that I can call at 6 AM West Coast time. I would hate it if MS opened at the same time as Dining: 4 AM on the West Coast. -- Suzanne