JerJan~
I promise this is not a flame. lol You are absolutely correct that as owners at DVC paying a princely sum to be said owners, then we have a right to expect a certain level of service and an obligation to point out times when those expectations aren't met. In the case of the flag, you are again right that it should brought to their attention which you did. Was that particular episode enough to get "worked up" about? Probably not in most owners' minds, especially if they didn't see it to begin with. Which brings me to my first point. There are lots of owners out there who don't find any fault on their trips, or if they do, to THEM they are minor issues which don't detract from the value of their DVC purchase. For example, we've been three times to two different resorts and haven't found a thing to complain about. Perhaps there were some minor things, but if so, we didn't notice them. Thus, labeling "most owners" as being "unfortunately" lax in pointing out maintenance and service issues is a generalization that could only be solved by every owner agreeing on set criteria as to what constitutes poor maintenance, housekeeping, CM training, etc. Yes, some cases are obvious (dirty towels in the floor when checking in is one complaint I've heard), but many are not (tattered flag). In other words, to quote Paul Simon, "one man's ceiling is another man's floor." At any rate, if there is a problem during a vacation, then one should absolutely bring it to the attention of the manager.
Second, you indicate that you really weren't worked up when the opposite is true. Using all caps for some words indicates intensity with emails and postings as I'm sure you know, as does the use of multiple question marks, words like "crap" (also capitalized), italics, underlining, and the use of sarcasm. Your intent seems to be either enlist us in joining your crusade or alienate us if we don't. Thus, your entreaty "I know the flames will start now and so be it!" implies you're inviting conflict.
Actually, I hope it doesn't. We should be responsible owners, caring owners, and desiring that we receive quality service whenever we see it lacking. Perhaps in the future, those of us who might overlook something that should be corrected can make a point of civilly notifiying a CM about the situation to make sure the next owner doesn't face the same problem. That way, no one has to get worked up about anything.
