News Flash Ms Call Changes!!!

[Sammie]

I truly do not understand the false sense of security a renter gets by calling anyway, even if you call a week before; the Member still has control of the reservation and could cancel the day of.

I simply think it was a situation where a courtesy was extended to a few, and then it grew to become an out of control situation, that DVC had to stop.

As with so many things at Disney, this happens.

 

[MissD]

No, CRO cannot access DVC res. #'s (currently, different computer system), they do take our word for it - there's that word again - trust.

I thought Disney Dining-or WDW-DINE-or whatever it's called these days--could access/verify the DVC reservation.

I could swear they asked for my reservation # when I made my ADR's a few weeks back. Is that possible?

 

[Deb & Bill]

If owners choose to charge more for their points because they now have to do extra leg work, there will still be lots of non-members who will want that rental because of the savings. If they choose not to rent from a member for whatever reason, they are free to pay Disney the rack rate for a DVC villa. Or stay at the Value resorts for a bit less.

Theres bound to be DVC owners who will rip off a member, or EASIER, im sure those confirmation letters can be duplicated and altered by a non-member posing as a DVC member.

And there are still non-members who want to nickel and dime owners for cheaper and cheaper points. The "bottom feeders" referred to earlier.

 

[rinkwide]

...non-members who want to nickel and dime owners for cheaper and cheaper points. The "bottom feeders" referred to earlier...

I'd say that characterization is unfair and an insult to members of the cod and catfish species. In fact, I recently rented to a Mr. & Mrs. Plecostomus and they were a delight to work with.

You'll have to go down to invertebrates before finding something as slimy as low-balling renters.

 

[greenban]

I thought Disney Dining-or WDW-DINE-or whatever it's called these days--could access/verify the DVC reservation.

I could swear they asked for my reservation # when I made my ADR's a few weeks back. Is that possible?

[serious] <----I HATE this.

My understanding is that our DVC ressies do not get into the Resort systems (dining and resort room, and DME) until 7-10 days before our arrival. WDW-DINE just belives us, and links the ADR to the ressie # we provide them, they can not look it up themselves. Same for WDW-INFO, WDW-STYLE and WDW-PLAY.

[/serious]

I'd say that characterization is unfair and an insult to members of the cod and catfish species. In fact, I recently rented to a Mr. & Mrs. Plecostomus and they were a delight to work with.

You'll have to go down to invertebrates before finding something as slimy as low-balling renters.

RINK, not you too!, then fall Tony!

I was talking to the Plecos for a rental last week, even sent them a contract, when they cancelled said a member had PM'd them offerring points at $7.35 each, and would I match that?!?

But they said his name was Will Ferrel, not Rinkwide. Talk about invertebrates!

-Tony

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'd say that characterization is unfair and an insult to members of the cod and catfish species. In fact, I recently rented to a Mr. & Mrs. Plecostomus and they were a delight to work with.

You'll have to go down to invertebrates before finding something as slimy as low-balling renters.

Funny, rw, funny.

 

[ttepsich]

A member crook could change the reservation the morning of check in if they really wanted to. They could cancel or change the dates. They might not even care if the points went into holding. They could change the name on the reservation to a person who paid them more for a last minute reservation if they really wanted to.

So far, on the DIS, there has only been one member crook noted - went bankrupt, failed to pay his dues/fees, points were confiscated and reservations were cancelled. He left the renter holding the bag and no reservation in their name. He didn't change it, he just let it get cancelled. Plus, he might have been unaware that the reservation would be cancelled when his points were taken. And thought the non-member would still have a reservation when they checked in.

The member making a reservation for a non-member can still give them a copy of the confirmation with their name on it.

I, as a first time renter, am very happy to hear that there is only one documented case of crookery. I was EXTREMLY RELUCTANT to rent because of all of the obvious reasons....sending my hard-earned money to a stranger(yes, mowog, I too have a real job and am very careful how I spend my money and am not a bottom feeder.....water goes in my snorkel when I try to get to the bottom) the possibility of the ressie being cancelled before I got there etc. I did have some sense of security (even though it isn't security at all) by being able to call MS and checking my reservation. To all of you renter haters, I only called once. I still have to wait until November to see if the ressie exists at all. But the reason I'm a renter is I really , really , really wanted to go to Disney this Thanksgiving and FINALLY decided to take the plunge and buy into DVC ( we have stayed at the Beach Club every other year since it opened ) BUT I wasn't able to secure a BCV contract in time to make a ressie on my own(you know, the whole 11 month window thing). In fact, I'm still not officially an owner, but have a contract and am waiting to close.
Soooooooooooooo, even though Disney doesn't want to be in the "rental" business, I would hope a renter would have some way of checking their ressie. Maybe they could do it over the internet only. That way they wouldn't be the ones tying up the phone line for the members.
BTW Deb, how is your cuff rehab going? Hope you are pain free. My DH has to have surgery for the same thing and wants to time it so he can still enjoy Rockin' roller coaster, Space Mountain etc. or maybe he will have to wait until he gets home from WDW. Anyway...........hope you are doing well.
Tina

 

[TCPluto]

I truly do not understand the false sense of security a renter gets by calling anyway, even if you call a week before; the Member still has control of the reservation and could cancel the day of.

I simply think it was a situation where a courtesy was extended to a few, and then it grew to become an out of control situation, that DVC had to stop.

Good call Sammie.

 

[keishashadow]

I thought Disney Dining-or WDW-DINE-or whatever it's called these days--could access/verify the DVC reservation.

I could swear they asked for my reservation # when I made my ADR's a few weeks back. Is that possible?

They do ask for confirmation # but, once you tell them you're staying @ DVC they don't want the conf. #, at least not for Oct '06 nor when Jan '07 res were made beginning of this month.

Interestingly, @ least to me is when using ME if you start your trip @ DVC & end it @ a resort on a cash basis, that requires 1 call to MS & another to CRO for the return.

 

[TCPluto]

You'll have to go down to invertebrates before finding something as slimy as low-balling renters.

What??? You're not willing to pay someone to rent your points? That is truly cold...

How about the guy who wants to pay $5 pp, he was just on in the past couple of weeks. You can't/won't subsidize his vacation??

Or the sob story "take pity on our family, kids surgery, no insurance, birthday trip of a lifetime for 5 yr old....". Then she posts (on another board) about 2 wks vascation in the British Isles, about a dozen WDW vacations in tha past year (one in the past wk). You don't have the compassion to offer her the points at $5-7 like she asks????

Some people....

 

[TCPluto]

I, as a first time renter, am very happy to hear that there is only one documented case of crookery.

And this case was more a case of stupidity and irresponsibility on the part of the owner. He didn't intend to be a thief, but he was stupid and financially irresponsible.

He went bankrupt, Disney took his points back, for which he had outstanding reservations which he had sold. This all occurred in the weeks before the guests where to arrive.

He failed to notify the renter, and when she got to WDW... no reservation.

She posted the info here, after her return.

Long story short, the money paid for this reservation was returned. It did cause the renter a signficiant amount of distress though.

Not truly a thief, but truly stupid.

 

[JimMIA]

And this case was more a case of stupidity and irresponsibility on the part of the owner. He didn't intend to be a thief, but he was stupid and financially irresponsible.

He went bankrupt, Disney took his points back, for which he had outstanding reservations which he had sold. This all occurred in the weeks before the guests where to arrive.

He failed to notify the renter, and when she got to WDW... no reservation.

She posted the info here, after her return.

Long story short, the money paid for this reservation was returned. It did cause the renter a signficiant amount of distress though.

Not truly a thief, but truly stupid.

Actually, under Florida law this fact set would easily qualify as fraud. He took their money, clearly knew they had been deprived of their ressie, and did nothing.

He's a thief, and he could have been successfully prosecuted despite the restitution.

 

[MissD]

[serious] <----I HATE this.

My understanding is that our DVC ressies do not get into the Resort systems (dining and resort room, and DME) until 7-10 days before our arrival. WDW-DINE just belives us, and links the ADR to the ressie # we provide them, they can not look it up themselves. Same for WDW-INFO, WDW-STYLE and WDW-PLAY.

[/serious]



Tony

Thanks for the info, Tony.

It was about 2 weeks ago, which is also about 2 weeks before our arrival that I made the ADR's. It's a sort of last minute trip thing-we're leaving tomorrow.

When I called WDW-DINE, I didn't have my DVC confirmation handy--since I had all the DDP paperwork to deal with and I had to find that 'safe place I put the confirmation in' before we got started. Darn those safe places.


Sorry you had to be 'serious' again because of me. If you ask me, two days in a row is far too long to have be serious

 

[rinkwide]

...went bankrupt, Disney took his points back, for which he had outstanding reservations which he had sold...He failed to notify the renter...

Like crisi, I'm going to bet something similar happened again recently to precipitate this change in MS policy.

The equation:

renter called to confirm ressie +
renter checked-in and was informed of unfortunate complication +
renter screamed of a "confirmed reservation through Disney's 800 number" +
front desk manager explained the truth of the situation +
renter threw a potted plant through a plate glass window =

My Member's Only jacket is back in style.

 

[JimMIA]

Like crisi, I'm going to bet something similar happened again recently to precipitate this change in MS policy.

The equation:

renter called to confirm ressie +
renter checked-in and was informed of unfortunate complication +
renter screamed of a "confirmed reservation through Disney's 800 number" +
front desk manager explained the truth of the situation +
renter threw a potted plant through a plate glass window =

My Member's Only jacket is back in style.

I don't know about the potted plant (and I'm not sure I'd be allowed to wear the jacket out of the house), but I don't doubt that occasional mixups are one of the factors in the change. Not just horrendous situations like that one, but also the lesser ones like requests not being made, etc.

However, I'd bet the biggest reason is complaints from owners that their dues were being misused.

 

[TCPluto]

Actually, under Florida law this fact set would easily qualify as fraud. He took their money, clearly knew they had been deprived of their ressie, and did nothing.

He's a thief, and he could have been successfully prosecuted despite the restitution.

Not easily, by any stretch.

How do you prove he knew the reservation would/was cancelled? This would have to be proven, specific intent. He clearly had no specific intent.

Eventually he did do something, he paid the money back. Outside of a tremendous amount of aggravation and possibly a huge dent in the enjoyment of that particular vacation, the renter was made whole.

 

[Sammie]

Not truly a thief, but truly stupid

Well we never said all members are smart, just that most are honest.

 

[TCPluto]

Well we never said all members are smart, just that most are honest.

You are correct. I know a little about this particular situation and he was honestly stupid.

 

[JimMIA]

Not easily, by any stretch.

How do you prove he knew the reservation would/was cancelled? This would have to be proven, specific intent.

You are right that far. You would have to show that he knew his DVC account had been shut down. To do that, you'd subpoena DVC's records and I'm sure you'd find some documentation of DVC notifying him.

Once you show he knew that, the law assumes he knew, or should have known, the victim was exposed. Failure to act in that situation would constitute specific intent. It's the same legal principle as pointing a gun at someone and pulling the trigger -- you may have only intended to scare them, but their untimely demise is a direct result of your action.

Eventually he did do something, he paid the money back.

I'm talking about criminal fraud. Criminal fraud is a crime against the state, not the individual victim, and restitution is no defense. Often prosecutors will decline to prosecute a case if the victim has accepted restitution, but they certainly can prosecute under those circumstances. I've seen them do it many times.

I'm not saying the person set out to defraud anyone, but they certainly could be held criminally responsible.

Outside of a tremendous amount of aggravation and possibly a huge dent in the enjoyment of that particular vacation, the renter was made whole.

Now you're talking civil law, and I'm sure any attorney would argue forcefully that the victim was not even close to being 'made whole.'

 

[Boston5602]

these are just some of my thoughts.....

1- I should have kept my members only jacket

2-I only call to disney when I need to ,not to chit chat

3-as for saving money , I don't know . BUT long ago MS could have had 20 people working for them in the call center and you waited 30 minutes to have a person at ms pick up your call . They then hire 40 more people and calls get picked up in a couple of minutes. ( POSSIBLE senerio ) renters making calls requires 40 more people to maintain already set standard. Hey for all I know only 1 person rented out last year .

By limiting to Members only , one I think its the right thing and two maybe they wont have to hire 40 more people in the comming year and this helps keep dues down.

4-I always want a confirmation number, sorry but I don't trust us postal to always get me my mail.

5- doesn't breakage go toward the upkeep of the resort thereby keeping dues down.?

6-I do not see any problem utilizing any of the services MS offers members over the phone . Although I never even thought about calling MS for dining ressies I always call Disney Dining

7- For the record I have two frogs and one plecotonamous in my fish tank.

8- this is all from a new member this year.


Thank you and good night