Please, no flames...

[Peepster]

We're just back from a 12 day stay at our beloved VWL. We had a marvelous Christmas trip, but I must ask if anyone else is noticing a laxness on the part of housekeeping in the Villas? Perhaps it was just that we hit a studio that is ready for rehab, but it was not very clean. I did hear that we lost Gianna Terzi as our Operations Manager (she went to the Beach club or Boardwalk, I can't remember which) but we know even from our limited contact with her that she was very well respected by the employees and she cared a great deal about our Villas.

We feel strongly about DVC and talk it up whenever possible. We talked a couple into taking a tour of the villas and were very dismayed to find half the lights on the Christmas tree were out for two days and construction was being done during the holidays right outside our window. (We woke up on the third floor to find three men leaning on our balcony, painting.) There was also a water fountain that was missing in the VWL lobby during our entire stay. When I went to do two loads of laundry there was only one washing machine and the agitator was broken, the dryers were filthy and one actually stopped working on me. This did not present the best of first impressions to our guests, although they did schedule a formal DVC tour. And we were thrilled to discover that our next door neighbors in the Villas were a couple we had talked into taking a DVC tour two years ago and they purchased.

Before I write a letter or talk to DVC Member Services, I would like to hear from anyone else that might have been in the Villas over the holidays and if you think my criticism may be out of line. Believe me, we have never had occasion for negativism before on our many stays.

Hope you all had great holidays and have a blessed New Year (with many happy Disney moments). Thanks.

 

[dianeschlicht]

No flames here, but I do think you need to present this information to member quality control. Did you speak with anyone there at the time? It sounds like your observation is mostly a generalized one, but I agree that impressions are important in this industry. The way you worded your post leads me to believe you would be able to write a good letter to quality control too.

 

[Muushka]

I could never flame someone who uses the term

Our Beloved Wilderness Lodge!

We were also there over Christmas. I did notice a few things

a quarter of the VWL lobby tree lights were out the first 2 days we were there (as you also noticed)

work being done right outside our patio (landscape 1st floor)

lights on the falls in the back by the pool were not lit

no beautiful wreath over the bed (kidding-the window seat) in the Iron Spike Room (or as we now call it the Carolwood Pacific Room)

However, our villa was clean and honestly we did not notice anything else. Would I have loved to have the outside completed, you betcha. Do I think they didn't plan the repairs very well? You betcha. Did it impact our enjoyment of VWL, well a little tiny bit, but not enough to do anything about. The tree lights being out was a puzzling thing to me, but I just hoped that it would get fixed and it was.

As Carol mentioned, you have great writing style. I, for one, would appreciate it if someone like you, whose vacation was impacted a little more than mine by these things, would write that letter to member QC. It really didn't bother us that much, but if it had, I too would write a letter.

Thanks for the thoughtful post!

 

[hag7]

We're just back from a 12 day stay at our beloved VWL. We had a marvelous Christmas trip, but I must ask if anyone else is noticing a laxness on the part of housekeeping in the Villas? Perhaps it was just that we hit a studio that is ready for rehab, but it was not very clean. I did hear that we lost Gianna Terzi as our Operations Manager (she went to the Beach club or Boardwalk, I can't remember which) but we know even from our limited contact with her that she was very well respected by the employees and she cared a great deal about our Villas.

We feel strongly about DVC and talk it up whenever possible. We talked a couple into taking a tour of the villas and were very dismayed to find half the lights on the Christmas tree were out for two days and construction was being done during the holidays right outside our window. (We woke up on the third floor to find three men leaning on our balcony, painting.) There was also a water fountain that was missing in the VWL lobby during our entire stay. When I went to do two loads of laundry there was only one washing machine and the agitator was broken, the dryers were filthy and one actually stopped working on me. This did not present the best of first impressions to our guests, although they did schedule a formal DVC tour. And we were thrilled to discover that our next door neighbors in the Villas were a couple we had talked into taking a DVC tour two years ago and they purchased.

Before I write a letter or talk to DVC Member Services, I would like to hear from anyone else that might have been in the Villas over the holidays and if you think my criticism may be out of line. Believe me, we have never had occasion for negativism before on our many stays.

Hope you all had great holidays and have a blessed New Year (with many happy Disney moments). Thanks.

Yikes. Seems to be a Disney trend. We just had a similar experience at Saratoga Springs- Stinky smoker room with cig butts, dirty toilets, rings in tub, broken ping pong table, etc. You would think our annual fees would cover these repairs and mousekeeping in a timely manner. Sorry you had a bad trip. We had guests as well- and I'm not sure Disney management is listening- DVC could soon be perceived as a watered down timeshare plan if they don't get their QC together....

 

[wildernessDad]

My 1-br villa was clean and the Xmas tree in the atrium was full of working lights. We were there from 12/16 - 12/21.

I did get a notice in my room about construction work and the possible need to close my blinds, but I did not see any construction work during my stay.

 

[drakethib]

Simply Put.

DVC needs to hear when things are not right.

I would have went directly to the front desk and let them know of the issues.

We as members do no to understand things happen from time to time but we should expect our resorts to be in order when we vacation.

Hopefully this was just a quirk.

 

[alldiz]

Please write that letter.....

Reading way to many posts about housekeeping and maintenance
issues

I didn't even see WLV on the rehab schedule.
Kerri

 

[Peepster]

Thanks to all of you for your helpful replies. I will write a short letter stating our concerns. I've never sent a letter to anyone in DVC before and it sounds like this should be addressed to quality control...is that right? Where would I find an e-mail or snail mail address, please? Thanks in advance for your help. And overall, our vacation was more than wonderful...sure stinks to be back at work!

 

[MinnieFan]

I won't flame you either - in fact, I posted about this yesterday.

We really enjoyed spending the holidays at VWL, our favorite resort. Our room was ready when we checked in at about 11:45 a.m., which was a very nice surprise. We only experienced one issue while we were there, with housekeeping. We always request daily trash and towel service when at WDW. This has never been a problem in the past. I make the request when I make the reservation, but it has been my experience that Member Services does not always pass this along to housekeeping at the resort. Therefore, I always call housekeeping when we check in to confirm this request. I did this as soon as we checked in this time, and was told "no problem" by housekeeping. They even called me back to be sure that I knew there was an extra charge for this service, and I told them I was aware of this. Well, when we returned from the parks the following day, no trash and towel had been done. It was late at night at that point, so I called housekeeping and asked them to do it the following day. Next day, same thing. I called housekeeping again and spoke to the manager of the department, who said that they would be sure we received trash and towel for the remainder of our stay. The following day was our regularly scheduled full cleaning, then after that we did receive the trash and towel for two days. However, after those two days, it was not done for the remainder of our stay, even after more calls to housekeeping. I did not want to get a reputation as a DVC member who complains too much, so I gave up and ordered an extra set of towels and washed towels for the rest of the stay.

This is probably not a very big deal, and it did not by any means ruin our stay, but it was not up to the level of service that we have received in the past and have come to expect at VWL. It may just be that the staff was overwhelmed by the number of guests at the resort while we were there. We stayed at BWV in February 2007 and found the housekeeping service there to be superior to that at VWL. I think I may send an e-mail to DVC to make them aware of this.

We love VWL as well, and we are also going to make member satisfaction aware of this issue. DVC can and should do better.

 

[smjj]

Great, we arrive for our first stay at VWL in late Feb. I too am reading more and more complaints here and other boards about the lack of good housekeeping. Hopefully this was just a fluke at VWL and not an ongoing problem..smjj:

 

[hrsmom]

Great, we arrive for our first stay at VWL in late Feb. I too am reading more and more complaints here and other boards about the lack of good housekeeping. Hopefully this was just a fluke at VWL and not an ongoing problem..smjj:

I'm feeling the same way! Our first visit to VWL is the first week in February and now I'm quite nervous about it. I'll keep my fingers crossed that things are improved by then!

 

[3DisneyKids]

We are hearing about lots of issues with Mousekeeping throughout WDW--not just DVC resorts. I think the more folks they hear it from, the better.

 

[eliza61]

As a customer service manager for 10 years a while back, please write. The only way a company knows if there are problems is if some one reports them. Big problems usually develop because little problems go on for a long period of time.

 

[alldiz]

Yes keep those letters going to the higher ups....

EVERY resort has had complaints.....not just WL....
they really need to do something about this.
Kerri

 

[hag7]

Thanks to all of you for your helpful replies. I will write a short letter stating our concerns. I've never sent a letter to anyone in DVC before and it sounds like this should be addressed to quality control...is that right? Where would I find an e-mail or snail mail address, please? Thanks in advance for your help. And overall, our vacation was more than wonderful...sure stinks to be back at work!

Well, I sent 2 e-mails on January 2, 2008 to the following e-mail addressess, but have not heard back after nearly a week. Very disappointing. Let me know if they respond to you.

dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com
wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

Hope this helps

 

[hag7]

Thanks to all of you for your helpful replies. I will write a short letter stating our concerns. I've never sent a letter to anyone in DVC before and it sounds like this should be addressed to quality control...is that right? Where would I find an e-mail or snail mail address, please? Thanks in advance for your help. And overall, our vacation was more than wonderful...sure stinks to be back at work!

Well, I sent 2 e-mails on January 2, 2008 to the following e-mail addressess, but have not heard back after nearly a week. Very disappointing. Let me know if they respond to you.

dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com
wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

Hope this helps

 

[Peepster]

Okay, gang, I sent an e-mail off tonight. I tried to be polite, upbeat and non-threatening , yet concise. (I'm making myself sound like either a pound cake or a politician, aren't I?) I hold out little hope of a response, but feel better for having voiced our concerns. Should anything come of it, I'll let you all know post haste!

Thanks for the kind words and support from all. I think what all of us want is just to have them address the small issues before they become major problems! Or, as a friend of ours used to say (in all seriousness) "Let's nip it in the butt!!!"

 

[Muushka]

I have no doubt that it was well written! Yes, please let us know if you hear anything. Thanks!

 

[eliza61]

Well, I sent 2 e-mails on January 2, 2008 to the following e-mail addressess, but have not heard back after nearly a week. Very disappointing. Let me know if they respond to you.

dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com
wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

Hope this helps

Don't get discouraged. This is very normal. I worked in Consumer complaints for 2 major nationwide department stores all through college & many years after. Some times it does take a long time to reply, you may get just a standard reply saying your complaint was recieved. Many major corporations have software and system designs to track & trend complaints-thats why its always important to write. Even if you don't hear immediately back your complaint could be the one that makes the "powers to be" realize there is a systematic problem.

 

[tomandrobin]

Taking action on your dissatisfaction is the best thing you can do for all of us. Whenever DVC lets "us" down or does not deliver what is expected of them, we should let them know of it.