Poll on Jim Lewis

[DisFlan]

I'm really not entirely sure that 'serving members' is his job description. He works for Disney as the corporate president for DVC. His primary responsibility is likely growth and sales of the DVC division.

I really would like to see a written description of what Disney considers to be his job description and responsibilities, it would be interesting. While member satisfactin would have to be part of it, I doubt it is the primary focus.

It might not be his focus, but as head honcho, it IS his responsibility to make sure he's getting the right info from the managers who have the jobs of making things run well. Disney emphasizes their ability to get necessary info up the chain of command - and acting on it. They even train other corporations how to do it (for a hefty fee). A good upward flow of info doesn't always seem to be the case at DVC. Which circles back to Jim Lewis' doorstep - the managers are his managers. If they aren't doing an adequate job, it's his problem.

DisFlan

 

[tjkraz]

One issue that I have with this discussion is really knowing how broad Jim Lewis' responsibilities may be.

I see a lot of people suggesting that he should be held accountable for things like room cleanliness and the quality of front desk CMs (and other resorts staff.) Does anyone really know that to be true?

My understanding of the organizational structure is that DVC basically leases resort services from Parks and Resorts. Housekeeping supervisors, resort management, transportation...none of these CMs report to Jim Lewis, nor does he have any direct authority to dictate change.

Some have suggested that there is a quality difference between DVC and cash. The one area where I would grant this may be true is in regard to maintenance. In cash guest rooms, if there's a problem it gets fixed. And there's typically more flexibility to take rooms out of service when problems will need a day or two to resolve.

In DVC, there are budgets to take into consideration and a near-100% occupancy limits the ability to deal with issues.

As for other services, most DVCs are combined cash/timeshare facilities serviced by the same housekeeping staff, same front desk staff, same bell services, same valet parking, etc.

If we want to compare Disney (as a whole) to other hotel chains, I will agree that they don't always stack up very well. But, having made multiple DVC and cash stays in recent years, I have yet to witness any major differences between the two aside from the perks that cash guests receive (daily housekeeping, turndown, etc.) to which DVC are not entitled.

While DVC may play a role in gathering feedback from members and relaying to other departments, I would question whether they have any ability to dictate day-to-day operations. And if that's true, it really doesn't matter who the President (or VP) of DVC might be since the outcome will be similar. It becomes not so much a criticism of the individual but of the system within which he/she must operate.

 

[gobofraggle]

A member of my family said that he found there to be increasing numbers of maintenance and cleanliness issues when arriving in a room at OKW - I pointed out that whenever we've noticed something it has been fixed or replaced very quickly... we all agreed on that.

People have correctly pointed out that 100% occupancy makes it hard to check functionality of everything before rooms are occupied - and, lets face it, keeping rooms out of service to check them over would increase the overall build and renovation costs per member in a way none of us would be tickled by... The main thing is that they do listen when we report maintenance issues and they are quickly fixed. I've never had to wait long for someone to come and repair or replace anything.

I too am a satisfied member. As the club grows, I just hope that the customer service quality is maintained and enhanced over coming years. There are always issues when organisations are scaled up quickly.

 

[Steve@BWV]

Jim Lewis is the head of DVC and as such he is responsible for ALL aspects of DVC. Any compliant I have with a housekeeper I have with Jim as well. It is up to him to put people in place to insure issue are first avoided and second resolved. I will break down the major sections of DVC and grade as I see it.

1. Reservations: Overall Grade D
* New rules are not an improvement. These changes are at best equal to the previous rules. Since members have to now learn a new system this is a net negative. C
* No online option. With this technology available it is a shame DVC can not get this implemented. I have seen many argue the difficulties with such system but that is all they are, difficulties. This problem is not impossible (and IMO not all that difficult.) Someone mentioned how much better the website is today. The only real difference is the ability to see point usage online. For the 10+ years I have been a member this is not an accomplishment to be proud of. F
* I have experienced more MS reps that have no idea what they are doing. With the size of DVC now the number of poorly trained will increase but the odds of getting one should not. It seems MS is going downhill. D

2. Rooms A
* Quality: In the past two years we have stayed at BCV (2) BWV (2) WLV (1) SSR (1). In each case the room has been clean and fully stocked There was some minor issues but never had a problem run the length of stay. The older resorts did show some wear but nothing I would not expect. We did have one issue waiting for a pack-n-play sheet. After 4 calls to housekeeping (starting right after check-in around 5 pm) we finally received a full sized sheet at 10 pm. A little late for a 1 year old) B
* Check In: Check in has always been without issue. During check-in we had the desk offer to call our cell phone when the room was ready. The room has always been ready in a reasonable amount of time. A

3. Resorts B
* All the resort facilities have always been in top condition and CMs at each resort have been fine. A
* Buses and boat transportation has always been hit or miss. Sometimes he timing is just wrong. But the major issue I have is the buses at BWV. It is ridiculous to have a single bus for BWV, Swan, Dolphin, Yacht Club and BCV. Out last stay at BWV the BWV was first to be picked up and last to be dropped off. I have no idea why they would flip the order but it makes for a miserable ride. Our one us of ME was not great. Our trip back the airport took 1.5 hours with a 50 minute wait at Port Orleans. The bus was standing room only. The driver then asked for a tip. D
* BWV continues to lack a basic counter service option. F

4. Amenitities C
* The AP discount is fine but I think there should be more. Yes, yes we did not buy DVC for the discounts. But it makes business sense to keep returning customers happy. The AP provides much better discounts. D
* DVC does now have the member social events. I have yet to take advantage of one of there though. B
* Lots of mailings encouraging me to press friends and family to buy DVC. D


Jim scores a fair. But with the size of DVC continuing to grow I think this will go down if recent trends do not reverse.

 

[Sammie]

He definitely has the authority to dictate change. Also the GM over all DVC resorts, which the GM of each resort reports to, reports directly to Jim.

So for example you have the resort GM, the DVC GM and then Mr. Lewis.

At the resort level you will have managers over each level of service such as food and beverage, front desk, recreation etc. who report to the resort GM.

All resorts have a certain percentage of rooms not rented to allow for maintenace. DVC should not be given any more leniancy for maintaining their rooms as any other resort. Many of the resorts occupany levels are higher than DVC.

One problem with DVC management on the resort level is we keep losing the good ones to other jobs at Disney. We just lost the GM at the Yacht and Beach and BCV.

 

[disneynutz]

I find it very easy to imagine that the sense of ownership which DVC brings - and the sense of entitlement some DVC members demonstrate, to a greater or lesser extent - could make some of them much harder to deal with than the average hotel guest, when you come across one of the 'idiots'.

Saying that a Cast Member should be in a different type of profession if they're made to cry by a DVC member's treatment... you let yourself down there. You give the impression that you're one of the entitled shouters and this is how you justify it to yourself. I'm not saying that you are - you probably aren't - but you give that impression.

No one should work at any job that gets you so upset that you go home and cry. It doesn't matter if your upset by a Guest, your boss, or a co-worker. If you can't handle it, change jobs, life is too short.

I am entitled. Not to shout at anyone, I'm not one of those idiots, but entitled to receive what I was promised and what I paid for. I don't expect to get my requests every time and I learned a long time ago that a friendly smile and treating people with respect goes a long way.

I don't want freebies, upgrades, or apologies. I want a clean, well kept room equivalent to other Deluxe Disney Resorts. I want my room ready by 4:00 PM. I want Cast Members that enjoy their jobs and pass on some of that Disney Magic. I want to feel good about our decision to become DVC Members and I want to feel good when I refer friends and family to the DVC.

 

[gobofraggle]

No one should work at any job that gets you so upset that you go home and cry. It doesn't matter if your upset by a Guest, your boss, or a co-worker. If you can't handle it, change jobs, life is too short.
...I want Cast Members that enjoy their jobs and pass on some of that Disney Magic. I want to feel good about our decision to become DVC Members and I want to feel good when I refer friends and family to the DVC.

Well I agree with you overall, but I think that if DVC members ("owners!") are too-often overly-demanding and aggressive, the kinds of people you'll find in those jobs - who can cope with the idiots - are less likely to be the kind who 'enjoy their jobs and pass on some of that Disney Magic'.

The less nicely cast members are treated (I don't mean by you, I mean by the idiots), the more you'll encounter the blank stare and the empty smile and the person who wants to get to the end of another working day.
That's something I blame the idiots for, not the cast members who've had to develop a thick skin to cope with them.

Anyway, I've seen way too many people be too bossy and blank to cast members in theme parks and throughout Disney - they take the positivity for granted, absorb the smile and give nothing back. I saw a similar concern mentioned on mousesavers.com.
I think we can all agree that we should remember to smile back and make them feel good about making us feel good - then we get a virtuous circle instead of a vicious circle. And we can make a big effort to do this when we're 'at home'. There should be a sticky on the forum: *Be Nice to Cast Members in your DVC Home!*

 

[keishashadow]

He's coming to run DVC??? Did that come from a credible source (bus driver, reservationist, Orange County Recorder's Office)? Maybe now guests will check out of Villas on time (I'm picturing a pretty awful penalty for late check out) . . .

re penalty - i nominate 1 day's worth of points as a reasonable fine
although they could just be forced to ride Small World for period of time equivalent to their transgression

Along with that one started seeing a huge difference in the upkeep and service levels of DVC resorts versus Disney resorts.

I am sure some DVC members don't stay anywhere but DVC so there is no level of comparsion but if you do, you too will notice a difference. That should not happen.

.

very true, i don't expect true "deluxe" accommodations; i do expect a level above "shabby chic" though & to be treated as a welcome guest...seems to be lacking last few trips.

I voted overall that he's doing a good job. He got us the annual pass discount - woo hoo. DVC has really exploded in growth since we joined and it's had some growing pains.

I think Orlando resorts in general have trouble with finding enough quality labor (housekeeping). Plus, high occupancy has to be rough on the units. I do hope that DVC doesn't forget the existing DVC resorts and continues to keep them fresh. Probably not an easy task with the high occupancy.

woo-hoo? it's nice, yet just a means to keep guests spending all their ticket budget @ WDW imo . I'd much rather see a $100 credit per year per guest towards 'what-ever' room charges, tix, food, etc.

supply & demand as to workers, problem everywhere...u must pay a living wage to attract & retain quality workers

all accommodations deal with refurbishment issues , they just have different standards as to implementation

No one should work at any job that gets you so upset that you go home and cry. It doesn't matter if your upset by a Guest, your boss, or a co-worker. If you can't handle it, change jobs, life is too short.

they shouldn't, yet many must in order to support their families. I've spoken to several CMs who work 2 jobs @ WDW in order to survive.

 

[Chuck S]

woo-hoo? it's nice, yet just a means to keep guests spending all their ticket budget @ WDW imo . I'd much rather see a $100 credit per year per guest towards 'what-ever' room charges, tix, food, etc.

Interesting proposal, but where would the $100 come from? The AP discount costs DVC nothing, it is simply a discount granted to DVC members by another Disney operating entity. In order to grant a $100 general use credit, that $ would have to come from a budget item, likely a budget item on our dues, meaning that smaller point owners would then be getting a benefit paid for by higher point owners.

 

[gobofraggle]

Interesting proposal, but where would the $100 come from? The AP discount costs DVC nothing, it is simply a discount granted to DVC members by another Disney operating entity. In order to grant a $100 general use credit, that $ would have to come from a budget item, likely a budget item on our dues, meaning that smaller point owners would then be getting a benefit paid for by higher point owners.

That's right.

I've seen the $100 discount more as bringing the cost (more) into line with the Florida Residents' price - which seems fair considering that we all technically own property in Florida!

Except our APs don't have the blackout dates which I think apply for Florida tix... which is even better.

 

[keishashadow]

Interesting proposal, but where would the $100 come from? The AP discount costs DVC nothing, it is simply a discount granted to DVC members by another Disney operating entity. In order to grant a $100 general use credit, that $ would have to come from a budget item, likely a budget item on our dues, meaning that smaller point owners would then be getting a benefit paid for by higher point owners.

wouldn't the $100 discount on MYW tix be from the same 'disney operating entity' If so, why not extend it to the more expensive MYW non-expiring, park hopping + water park tix...the 10 day ones are in the same ball park as the APs

it's true, one of the best kept secrets is that the percs r currently extended equally to all members (big & small)

it wouldn't surprise me to see that "loophole" closed with small resale purchases (i.e. smaller than 100 pts) restricted to current members wonder if it's in the bylaws somewhere already?

 

[Chuck S]

wouldn't the $100 discount on MYW tix be from the same 'disney operating entity' If so, why not extend it to the more expensive MYW non-expiring, park hopping + water park tix...the 10 day ones are in the same ball park as the APs

it's true, one of the best kept secrets is that the percs r currently extended equally to all members (big & small)

it wouldn't surprise me to see that "loophole" closed with small resale purchases (i.e. smaller than 100 pts) restricted to current members wonder if it's in the bylaws somewhere already?

But your original suggestion wasn't for a MYW ticket discount, it was for a general use $100 credit. "I'd much rather see a $100 credit per year per guest towards 'what-ever' room charges, tix, food, etc." That would be a budget item. Not at all the same as a ticket discount.

Disney could certainly grant a discount on a 10 day non-exp ticket, if they wanted to do so. BUT with an AP, they are just about assured you will spend at least 10 days that year within the parks, spending money. With a non-expiring 10 day MYW ticket, that only insures you'll spend 10 days in the parks during your entire lifetime. I certainly see Disney's advantage to giving a discount on APs and not general MYW tickets. I mean, would you spend more for a 10 day non-expiring ticket than an AP, if you were planning on spending 10 (or more) days in the parks during the year?

 

[keishashadow]

But your original suggestion wasn't for a MYW ticket discount, it was for a general use $100 credit. "I'd much rather see a $100 credit per year per guest towards 'what-ever' room charges, tix, food, etc." That would be a budget item. Not at all the same as a ticket discount.

Disney could certainly grant a discount on a 10 day non-exp ticket, if they wanted to do so. BUT with an AP, they are just about assured you will spend at least 10 days that year within the parks, spending money. With a non-expiring 10 day MYW ticket, that only insures you'll spend 10 days in the parks during your entire lifetime. I certainly see Disney's advantage to giving a discount on APs and not general MYW tickets. I mean, would u spend more for a 10 day non-expiring ticket than an AP, if you were planning on spending 10 (or more) days in the parks during the year?[/quote]

yes & no , since with DHs new job not sure exactly when he'll be able to get vacation time during the next calender year until early next year (which wouldn't necessarily co-ordinate with our next trip this October & another 1 or 2 usages before the pass expires). We've taken to cruising a week each year & have discovered Vegas , so i do believe we will be using combo of MYW tix & enjoying the waterparks a day or 2 for travel over the next few years.

I assume we r in the minority among DVCers , not sure what the % is of members here utilizing either the APs or MYW tix? Def don't begrudge the perc, more power to those who are able to utilize it! Just would like to see some flexibility

fyi, actually i did include tix, see above in my bucket list

and i also indicated the same rational as to why only APs are discounted...wanting a captive audience along with the ME bus currently offered:

"it's nice, yet just a means to keep guests spending all their ticket budget @ WDW imo"

don't get me wrong, we are stockholders; just would be nice to see some more inclusive percs (from my viewpoint lol)

 

[disneynutz]

Interesting proposal, but where would the $100 come from? The AP discount costs DVC nothing, it is simply a discount granted to DVC members by another Disney operating entity. In order to grant a $100 general use credit, that $ would have to come from a budget item, likely a budget item on our dues, meaning that smaller point owners would then be getting a benefit paid for by higher point owners.

The sad thing is that everything has a price. Disney is typical of most corporations. Their size makes dealing with other departments difficult. Some examples:

Our $100 AP discount is paid for by the DVC. It may be discounted but DVC still pays Disney Parks for the discount.

When DVD wanted to offer fast passes to Guests who spent their vacation time touring the DVC they were only given two per family by Disney Parks. It took six months and several meetings to increase the count to three per family. Since they are so hard to come by, some Guides keep the fast passes in reserve if the touring family doesn't seem interested in the DVC. We were in the Sales Center for a tour one day and our soon to be Guide told us that they no longer offered fast passes. We came back the next day, our Guide was off, but the guide that we met with, gave us three.

The promotions offered by the Dream Store are not offered by The DVC Tele Sales or the Saratoga Sales Teams because they were not budgeted for the same promotions. The Dream Store got the bigger piece of pie because DVD spent a lot of money setting up the store and they want to prove to Disney that it was the correct decision by generating a lot of sales.

 

[Chuck S]

The sad thing is that everything has a price. Disney is typical of most corporations. Their size makes dealing with other departments difficult. Some examples:

Our $100 AP discount is paid for by the DVC. It may be discounted but DVC still pays Disney Parks for the discount.

When DVD wanted to offer fast passes to Guests who spent their vacation time touring the DVC they were only given two per family by Disney Parks. It took six months and several meetings to increase the count to three per family. Since they are so hard to come by, some Guides keep the fast passes in reserve if the touring family doesn't seem interested in the DVC. We were in the Sales Center for a tour one day and our soon to be Guide told us that they no longer offered fast passes. We came back the next day, our Guide was off, but the guide that we met with, gave us three.

The promotions offered by the Dream Store are not offered by The DVC Tele Sales or the Saratoga Sales Teams because they were not budgeted for the same promotions. The Dream Store got the bigger piece of pie because DVD spent a lot of money setting up the store and they want to prove to Disney that it was the correct decision by generating a lot of sales.

I'm pretty sure that $100 AP discount is not paid for by DVC or even DVD. There is no advantage to DVC (the members) if the association has to pay for a discount promotion, as the association is funded by the membership dues.

There is a marketing advantage, but so slight, I doubt it would be worth it to DVD to pay for it, either.

Discounts, be they diing discounts granted by restaurants, or ticket discounts for parks, are generally granted as a courtesy to the membeship to encourage our patronage.

The FREE tickets early purchasers received were paid for by DVD, as they were a specific marketing promotion that could not be simply "discontinued" at will by Disney. They were contractually obligated to members to provide them.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Interesting proposal, but where would the $100 come from? The AP discount costs DVC nothing, it is simply a discount granted to DVC members by another Disney operating entity. In order to grant a $100 general use credit, that $ would have to come from a budget item, likely a budget item on our dues, meaning that smaller point owners would then be getting a benefit paid for by higher point owners.

That is true. Small point owners really don't get the AP discounts now because we are not at WDW enough to justify purchasing it.

 

[keishashadow]

That is true. Small point owners really don't get the AP discounts now because we are not at WDW enough to justify purchasing it.

i've transferred points into my "yet to be completed" DVC account twice (once for myself, once for DSs honeymoon trip), in no way am i an expert on the rental system...however, from trolling the rental board off & on, it seems there are plenty of DVCers both selling & looking for large amounts of points. Not a stretch to imagine that one could pick up a smallish contract, then transfer in enough points to visit several times to make the AP workable if you really want it.

 

[disneynutz]

I'm pretty sure that $100 AP discount is not paid for by DVC or even DVD. There is no advantage to DVC (the members) if the association has to pay for a discount promotion, as the association is funded by the membership dues.

There is a marketing advantage, but so slight, I doubt it would be worth it to DVD to pay for it, either.

Discounts, be they diing discounts granted by restaurants, or ticket discounts for parks, are generally granted as a courtesy to the membeship to encourage our patronage.

The FREE tickets early purchasers received were paid for by DVD, as they were a specific marketing promotion that could not be simply "discontinued" at will by Disney. They were contractually obligated to members to provide them.

I don't want to mislead anyone. The information that I received was from a conversation with a DVC Sales Manager. The person that I spoke to told me that DVD doesn't get anything for free from Disney. I assumed that ticket discounts were included in that statement. They are a separate business unit and are treated as such. They get some of their IT support from Disney but it was cheaper for them to outsource much of it to a outside company.

 

[keishashadow]

I don't want to mislead anyone. The information that I received was from a conversation with a DVC Sales Manager. The person that I spoke to told me that DVD doesn't get anything for free from Disney. I assumed that ticket discounts were included in that statement. They are a separate business unit and are treated as such. They get some of their IT support from Disney but it was cheaper for them to outsource much of it to a outside company./COLOR]

it would be nice to know, wonder how we could get a definitive answer as to whether it does get assessed to DVC?

 

[Alexander]

Jim Lewis? I thought he was just there for show? You know, has his picture on the front inside cover of the DVC publication that advertises all things Disney!