Not happy with Reservation sytem

[Dano1182]

OK here is my story.

I had a reservation at BWV for 1 bdrm standard views for 5 days.

I made this at the 11 month window .

I was hoping to get into VGF at 7 month window. I called on the morning of the opening of seven day window. Explained I had existing reservation at BW and wanted to check to see if studio was available at GF for the same period. The rep informed me that there was availability .Good so far right?

Here is where it gets frustrating .She told me that she would have to release my current reservation in order to book the new one. She was very pleasant than she said oh I need to put you on hold for a minute.

Apparently in the time she released my old reservation and tried book new one the room at GF was taken . SO I say no problem just put me back in original . She then informed me that the only rooms now available were pool or boardwalk view .So now through no fault of my own I hade to borrow more points.

I cant believe that DVC does not have a system when rooms can be parked for a brief time to avoid things like this from happening .

 

[bobbiwoz]

You cannot hold two reservations with the same points. What happened to you has happened to me, once.

 

[CarolMN]

Sorry that happened. Feel for you. For future reference, consider using this procedure and doing it online yourself:

Change at 7 months without losing your "back up" / existing reservation

You might also waitlist and if it comes through, ask to have the extra points returned as current use year points. If you aren't beyond your banking deadline, you could bank those. Not as good as not having to borrow at all, but better than using more than you need. Good luck!

P.S. If you haven't already, consider sending feedback to MS. I've heard that MS does have a way to do this, but not everyone has the experience/training to do so. I do not know if that is really true, though. AFAIK, they all use the same system.

 

[chalee94]

I cant believe that DVC does not have a system when rooms can be parked for a brief time to avoid things like this from happening .

Ah, you must be fairly new.

Disney's IT systems don't measure up to the glorious promises discussed in the Epcot rides. Even the online booking system is pretty recent.

There is a 2 computer system for trying to hold one reservation while canceling the other in a thread somewhere (edited to add: Carol linked it) but for the most part, there continues to be some risk during a cancel and rebook process.

 

[Dano1182]

Not new .

I have waitlisted.
Just never had this issue before. Does not seem too complicated to build into the system a way to do this without completely losing original until new request is confirmed

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The problem is that it would not be a build, but a patch.

Be careful what you wish for. Most patches have unintended consequences, and Disney have not shown good signs of understanding business requirements planning for new systems.

 

[disneynutz]

Despite what some may post, not all DVC advisors can hold reservations while making a new one. This happened to us at AKV CL.

Bill

 

[crisi]

The problem is that it would not be a build, but a patch.

Be careful what you wish for. Most patches have unintended consequences, and Disney have not shown good signs of understanding business requirements planning for new systems.

And they miss basics - like usability and capacity planning. I spent parts of two days trying to make dinner reservations for an upcoming trip - to finally pick up the phone and call and get them all made in ten minutes. It took me a week to link tickets for my last trip. Those aren't DVC issues - but Disney IT is still Disney IT.

My husband - who is something of an expert in this field (eCommerce, microservices, APIs, CMS systems) - got a call from a headhunter for a VP job with Disney IT. They decided to hire from within. We looked at each other and said "they have zero desire to fix it, if what they are going to do is promote the idiots who are responsible for the systems in the first place" Don't look for change.

 

[disneynutz]

There are many things that Disney and DVC can do better, like an idiot for several years I would accept when they would tell me, "thanks for letting us know, we weren't aware", in reality they know much more than we do, they only fix the issues that can be proven to reduce their profit. Everything they do is a study in cost versus reward.

Bill

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Next time book one only in your name and one only in your spouses name which is what I have done.

 

[Marionnette]

Next time book one only in your name and one only in your spouses name which is what I have done.

That only works if you have enough points to hold two concurrent reservations, regardless of whose names are on them.

 

[CMNJ]

Next time book one only in your name and one only in your spouses name which is what I have done.

This wouldn't have worked for the OP if I understand the problem correctly. They needed the points released from the first reservation in order to make the second one.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I actually don't think DVC get much say in IT decisions, truth be told. I suspect they pay for IT stuff, but don't get to be involved in infrastructure or architecture - and cannot opt out of the mother ship's systems.

 

[crisi]

I actually don't think DVC get much say in IT decisions, truth be told. I suspect they pay for IT stuff, but don't get to be involved in infrastructure or architecture - and cannot opt out of the mother ship's systems.

I'm certain of it.

 

[cvjw]

It has happened to me too. I now use the two browser method and change the reservations myself.

People are always saying that member services can hold your old reservation while they make the new one. Maybe some can, but this situation still happens, so who really knows? I always expect the worst out of member services, and I am generally right

 

[Wakey]

Bad luck, I'd heard it could happen. 2 browser trick is perhaps best bet.

 

[LisaDKG]

I made a change for one day on my reservation in Dec and the CM told me there was no way she could hang on to a reservation at the same time that she was trying to release mine to free up the points. We both had to hold our breath for an uncomfortable amount of time before it all went through in my favour. I think it is pretty ridiculous.

 

[kniquy]

I went through the same stress a couple weekends ago when i dropped my first 3 nights in a 2 BR AKL to switch to 3 nights to 2 poly studios. The CM did warn me she had to release my room to free points to then book the studios -- it did look at that moment that there were plenty of studios.

It was a stressful time holding as she booked one room and then had to book the second room. It felt like it took forever to secure the 2 rooms.

I agree - there should be a temporary hold on a room. Like when you buy tickets on ticketmaster -- there is usually a timer that will note the tickets will be released after a certain amount of time. This seems like a reasonable thing DVC could do in their booking process. You are not holding a room for even days or hours, it is just for a few minutes to complete the reservation. I can't see that anyone on here would have an issue with this if it were to be implemented.

With that said -- as members and owners of these properties -- what can we do to request/encourage/be the squeaky wheel that would get something like this in place?

 

[disneynutz]

I went through the same stress a couple weekends ago when i dropped my first 3 nights in a 2 BR AKL to switch to 3 nights to 2 poly studios. The CM did warn me she had to release my room to free points to then book the studios -- it did look at that moment that there were plenty of studios.

It was a stressful time holding as she booked one room and then had to book the second room. It felt like it took forever to secure the 2 rooms.

I agree - there should be a temporary hold on a room. Like when you buy tickets on ticketmaster -- there is usually a timer that will note the tickets will be released after a certain amount of time. This seems like a reasonable thing DVC could do in their booking process. You are not holding a room for even days or hours, it is just for a few minutes to complete the reservation. I can't see that anyone on here would have an issue with this if it were to be implemented.

With that said -- as members and owners of these properties -- what can we do to request/encourage/be the squeaky wheel that would get something like this in place?

Nothing, years ago I was told that they are working on a fix. Until Disney decides that it saves or makes them more money, I don't expect a change.

Bill

 

[crisi]

Nothing, years ago I was told that they are working on a fix. Until Disney decides that it saves or makes them more money, I don't expect a change.

Bill

And honestly, it isn't a huge problem on a population level - it probably affects less than 100 people a year - a drop in the bucket for a timeshare with more than 100,000 members. Its a big problem for those 100 people every year, and probably adds to CM dissatisfaction (because who wants to be the CM at the other end of that transaction), but neither of those problems is big enough to spend money on to an organization like Disney. Not when they have a limited technology budget and the pace of change is enough to keep them hopping just on money making shopping apps.

And there may be things about the system we don't know - fixing this issue might have other repercussions. It might create exploitable loopholes Disney doesn't want created.