No more segmented vacations for ddp

[tjkraz]

I do not blame DVC for making the change. I do hold them responsible for the abruptness of the change and the lack of the communication in regards to it. There was no communication or warning whatsoever.

Disney Vacation Club has every reason to facilitate the wants and needs of the members it serves.

It seems clear that this change was forced upon them and they had no choice but to comply. If DVC had the power / authority to give its members a grace period or a heads-up to add the segmented DDP, why wouldn't they? Disney Vacation Club has no stake in revenues from the Disney Dining Plans.

I somewhat agree on the lack of email / website notice but that wouldn't have changed the situation.

Do you recall any formal announcement from DVC that it existed in the first place?

No, I don't believe so.

I first became aware of it from a conversation about the computer system upgrades. DVC was very forthcoming in detailing (to me) how members would be able to segment the trip into what they called multiple "Accommodations"--some with and some without a dining plan. And for the most part they have accommodated nearly unlimited configurations over the last 11 months.

But no, it was never explicitly communicated to members via the website, Disney Files or any other method I can recall.

 

[disneynutz]

Well, I saw this one coming. Looks like we go back to the old segmenting plan of changing resorts or running the risk of changing rooms if you stay at the same resort.

Obviously DVC Members segmenting the way that they did, reduced Disney's DDP profit which wasn't acceptable.

I don't believe that it caused computer problems, more work for the CM's yes, I also don't believe that DVC upper management didn't know about this before today, plausible deniability. If in fact DVC management has so little pull, respect and recognition with Disney, then DVC members have no one looking out for our interests and we can expect more of the same treatment.

Bill

 

[ftballfan7]

I also don't believe that DVC upper management didn't know about this before today, plausible deniability. If in fact DVC management has so little pull, respect and recognition with Disney, then DVC members have no one looking out for our interests and we can expect more of the same treatment.

Bill

Exactly

 

[DebbieB]

Well, I saw this one coming. Looks like we go back to the old segmenting plan of changing resorts or running the risk of changing rooms if you stay at the same resort.

Obviously DVC Members segmenting the way that they did, reduced Disney's DDP profit which wasn't acceptable.

I don't believe that it caused computer problems, more work for the CM's yes, I also don't believe that DVC upper management didn't know about this before today, plausible deniability. If in fact DVC management has so little pull, respect and recognition with Disney, then DVC members have no one looking out for our interests and we can expect more of the same treatment.
Bill

Considering what was discovered recently regarding the Jim Lewis management team, I can't help but think someone was going through DVC's books & procedures and found this "loophole". It's just too coincidental that this ended less than a month after key managers were fired. The fact that it was never in writing makes it fishy. Someone made a "discovery".

 

[ftballfan7]

Not exactly. You are doing business, as far as the DDP, with Disney parks and Resorts. DVC is simply the middle man, and again, it is by an agreement with Disney Parks and resorts that the DDPs are even available. Disney runs the DDP, not DVC. If Disney suddenly decided to pull the DDP from DVC completely, or not renew the contract, or enforce additional restrictions, DVC would have no choice, and no way of pre-informing members. The DDP with segmenting was not being booked/used in the way it was designed to be sold. As others said, it was a loophole, and Disney likely closed it. Maximizing the DDP, which segmenting allowed, cost Disney $$ in a way that was not intended.

Again, most "all-inclusive" type plans do NOT save $$, they make big bucks for the resorts that offer them.

If you buy an Olive Garden gift card at Walgreen's, would you expect the drug store to be resposible for policy changes Olive Garden may make? After all, you purchased the card from Walgreen's, not Olive Garden.

I couldn't disagree with you more. I am in fact doing business with DVC. If I call Disney to get DDP, they will tell me that they can't help me and I have to contact DVC Member Services. DVC may be a middleman, but make no mistake about it, they are who I am doing business with.

If I bought an Olive Garden gift card at Walgreens, went to the Olive Garden and they did not accept it you can bet your pixie dust that I will be taking my complaints back to Walgreens where they belong! If I go to Sears and purchase a Sony tv, get home and find it does not work properly, I will be returning the product to Sears(where I purchased it, not to Sony Corporation).

I also find it hard to believe that DVC new nothing about this change until this morning and were required to implement the change immediately upon being notified. If that is the case then there are big problems with the overall organization. I too feel they should go to bat for their customers, to ensure they are treated in a proper manner.

 

[CarolMN]

Two questions...

First, I arrive on October 13 and we're staying at BLT in a studio for 2 nights with the DxDDP already paid for. Then, on the same reservation number, we are moving to std 1BR at BWV for three nights without a dining plan. Am I to assume that this will not change?

Second, we have a segmented reservation booked for June 2012. Each night is in a 2BR but we have night 1: cash; night 2: points; nights 3-6: points; night 7: cash. Since we have not yet added a DP to any portion of this reservation, I am assuming that it will no longer be possible to do so, correct.

We will have 1 TIW card for the 15 of us so perhaps we will need to look into buying a 2nd one. We can recoup the savings on a meal at CRT alone!

1. If you've already paid for the DxDDP at BLT, I'm sure it will go as currently reserved. FWIW, I think you will be able to continue to do things like this (get the DP for one part of the stay if the other part is at another resort), because we were allowed to do so before the computer upgrades.

2. I believe you are correct. You won't be allowed to add any dining plan to the June 2012 reservation unless it is for the entire stay

Like Bobbi, I got the DxDDP for 1 night because I didn't want to pay so much for the CP Dinner package - it's almost $70 when you include 6.5% tax! The DxDDP is only $78.99 and with that I get the CP Pkg, another 1 TS meal, 2 snacks and a mug. It really did seem too good to be true. Glad I paid before they stopped allowing it.

I am thinking of this as an unadvertised sale that was terminated without notice. Snooze and you lose.

 

[tjkraz]

If in fact DVC management has so little pull, respect and recognition with Disney, then DVC members have no one looking out for our interests and we can expect more of the same treatment.

That's a realistic assessment.

DVC members aren't a particularly large group to begin with. Proportionately-speaking, we spend far less on dining at Disney restaurants--DDP or no DDP--than cash guests due to the kitchens in every villa room.

We're also a captive audience. Members will not simply boycott the parks en masse over a decision like this.

 

[disneynutz]

Considering what was discovered recently regarding the Jim Lewis management team, I can't help but think someone was going through DVC's books & procedures and found this "loophole". It's just too coincidental that this ended less than a month after key managers were fired. The fact that it was never in writing makes it fishy. Someone made a "discovery".

I don't think that it took a audit to find segmenting even if it was a loophole which I doubt. If you want to test a perk, how better than to not announce it, let DVC Members use it for awhile, look at it's costs or profit, then take it away and blame the stupid computers.

I am sure that Disney new exactly what was going on with the restaurants complaining, the resorts complaining, and even members complaining about the process. The restaurants and resorts actually received training on how to work with segmenting and they were just getting up to speed when the unofficial perk was removed.

Bill

 

[csmommy]

DH spoke with DVC this evening & they claim that if you have an upcoming segmented reservation it will NOT be honored in its current form. Your 2 options will be:

1. Same dining plan for all persons for entire length of stay.
2. Check in & out - including MOVING your room everyday to have different dining options.

From a customer service standpoint this does not make sense. So instead of people segmenting & trying different restaurants the people who did not use it before will go back to either making their meals in the room or going off-site I guess.

 

[tjkraz]

I also find it hard to believe that DVC new nothing about this change until this morning and were required to implement the change immediately upon being notified.

I agree...they probably had some advance notice.

If that is the case then there are big problems with the overall organization.

Welcome to The Walt Disney Company.

It's an enormous company with many different VPs and managers who have to answer for their own profitability. And no, the pieces do not always interact in a guest-friendly manner.

I too feel they should go to bat for their customers, to ensure they are treated in a proper manner.

We'll never know what happened behind the scenes but DVC certainly does not have the clout to put its proverbial foot down and insist that the change be handled in a certain manner.

As others have documented, allowing the segmenting was certainly costing Food & Beverage money. Giving advance notice of turning off this feature would have cost them more as dozens or hundreds rushed to take advantage.

DVC execs may well have tried to gain some flexibility but at the end of the day, they are entirely subject to the whims of the execs who run the parks division.

 

[Chuck S]

I couldn't disagree with you more. I am in fact doing business with DVC. If I call Disney to get DDP, they will tell me that they can't help me and I have to contact DVC Member Services. DVC may be a middleman, but make no mistake about it, they are who I am doing business with.

If I bought an Olive Garden gift card at Walgreens, went to the Olive Garden and they did not accept it you can bet your pixie dust that I will be taking my complaints back to Walgreens where they belong! If I go to Sears and purchase a Sony tv, get home and find it does not work properly, I will be returning the product to Sears(where I purchased it, not to Sony Corporation).
I also find it hard to believe that DVC new nothing about this change until this morning and were required to implement the change immediately upon being notified. If that is the case then there are big problems with the overall organization. I too feel they should go to bat for their customers, to ensure they are treated in a proper manner.

What if, you bought an Olive G card at Walgreens, and Walgreens activated it properly, you took it to Olive Garden, and they changed the policy and would not accept gift card for say "appetizers" but honored it for the rest of the meal. You would have no recourse with Walgreens, would you? That is what is similar to what is going on with DVC. You did not purchase the DDP yet, correct? Policy change happened, and DVC says you can not purchase the way you wish to by segmenting. How is that a beef with DVC? They are following the rules of the DDP as published in the official brochures, that it must be all or nothing. There was never an official segmenting announcement or anything in writing that allowed it in the first place. And again, the DDP was never intended as a money saver, it is a convenience item...all inclusive pre-paid for the whole reservation.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

So if I have already segmented a reservation for December but haven't added the DxDDP, it's too late, huh? I take it I won't be able to add it to just the first segment. That changes everything!

 

[Simba's Mom]

DH spoke with DVC this evening & they claim that if you have an upcoming segmented reservation it will NOT be honored in its current form. Your 2 options will be:

1. Same dining plan for all persons for entire length of stay.
2. Check in & out - including MOVING your room everyday to have different dining options.

From a customer service standpoint this does not make sense. So instead of people segmenting & trying different restaurants the people who did not use it before will go back to either making their meals in the room or going off-site I guess.

So nice of them not to let anyone with upcoming segmented reservations know. Or maybe I can hope that since the new rules went into effect this morning, no one has been called-yet. Pretty soon the phones will start ringing to notify people of the change. When you get called, please let us know. Meanwhile I'll still be bitter about the lack of communication (I'm reminded of the end of free valet parking-I don't remember an official notice about that one, either. Didn't some guests find out the hard way-AFTER they valet parked?)

 

[disneynutz]

DH spoke with DVC this evening & they claim that if you have an upcoming segmented reservation it will NOT be honored in its current form. Your 2 options will be:

1. Same dining plan for all persons for entire length of stay.
2. Check in & out - including MOVING your room everyday to have different dining options.

From a customer service standpoint this does not make sense. So instead of people segmenting & trying different restaurants the people who did not use it before will go back to either making their meals in the room or going off-site I guess.

It's not about customer service, it's about turning a profit.

The DDP makes Disney money because overall, the people who are on the DDP, spend more for the plan than they would if they bought the food out of pocket. Once purchased, people don't consider the credits as money, they are just credits. Using a TS credit to buy a hamburger can make sense when you have credits that you want to use up and you are sick of eating.

I would expect that millions of credits of all types are forfeited yearly. Tweaking the plans, reducing the cost of material (food) and increasing the cost of the plan is Disney's business plan.

As DVC Members our challenge is to get the biggest bang for our bucks while playing by Disney's rules.

Bill

 

[CarolMN]

So nice of them not to let anyone with upcoming segmented reservations know. Or maybe I can hope that since the new rules went into effect this morning, no one has been called-yet. Pretty soon the phones will start ringing to notify people of the change. When you get called, please let us know. Meanwhile I'll still be bitter about the lack of communication (I'm reminded of the end of free valet parking-I don't remember an official notice about that one, either. Didn't some guests find out the hard way-AFTER they valet parked?)

I don't believe anyone will get a call. It appears that those who already segmented their reservation and added/paid for whatever dining plan arrangement was chosen are not impacted.

But those who just segmented and were waiting to add/pay for their dining plans will not be able to do so anymore. They'll find out when they call to add. I've no doubt they will be disappointed.

 

[deej696]

We were on the fence about doing DDP for a trip next spring, but this just settled it. Curious to see what will happen with upcoming reservations as was just mentioned. It would be a serious bummer for them to force an extra night or more on people with pending segmented reservations...

 

[tanda4556]

DH spoke with DVC this evening & they claim that if you have an upcoming segmented reservation it will NOT be honored in its current form. Your 2 options will be:

1. Same dining plan for all persons for entire length of stay.
2. Check in & out - including MOVING your room everyday to have different dining options.

From a customer service standpoint this does not make sense. So instead of people segmenting & trying different restaurants the people who did not use it before will go back to either making their meals in the room or going off-site I guess.

I just got off the phone with MS, and I was told that if you already have segmented reservations, they will honor it. Hmmm... now I'm confused.

 

[wdrl]

Due to the fact it looked to the computer as if we were checking out and checking back in - we got full housekeeping twice in 4 days!

Extra housekeeping doesn't come free. If segmented dining plans caused some villas to receive extra housekeeping, it has an adverse affect on the entire membership in higher maintenance fees, as well as longer delays in getting truly vacant rooms ready for the next member.

By stepping in and stopping segmented dining plans at this time, management may actually be trying to look out for the interests of the membership. Added housekeeping costs, added front-desk costs to fix problems, and added costs to reconcile accounts between resorts and restaurants are costs that are absorbed by the members. In addition, the complaints from those members who had problems with segmented stays may have caused management to question whether segmented stays were viable. Maybe segmented stays worked fine 80% of the time, but the 20% of the time it didn't may have been too high of a failure rate.

 

[bobbiwoz]

As Carol mentioned, the deal really was a good one for the Candlelight Processional, and if I have to move, I will. Moving will involve getting another full cleaning. I was expecting to get a new key and check in and out of the same room.

 

[Sammie]

Since the ability to do this was never an official DVC announcement I have to wonder how many members that do not hang out on forums such as this, even knew about it.

For the majority of the membership, it truly might be no big deal.

We can't have things that just suit us we have to accept what is good for the majority of the membership.

As far as this being an example of them not looking out for our best interests. Our interest is a DVC villa, nothing else. Perks come, perks go. As long as I get what I paid for in the 90's I am a very happy DVC member.

I really think some of you are going to very unhappy for a long time if you feel DVC is always going to cater to your wants and needs outside of what you actually bought per your POS.

As to the clout DVC pulls right now in the Disney hierarchy, thanks to Jim, we are pretty much close to being the embarrassment of the company. In my 30+ plus years of being very close to many at Disney in management I can not remember another time a President was fired under these conditions.

I told you so about JL and many of you acted like I had some personal vendetta against him. I simply saw him for what he really was months before this happened.

If this is the only thing we lose I would say we are doing good.