Pricing inquiry on Dining plan.. Frustration with about Member Services.

[Henrys Dad]

Here is something I do NOT understand.
We are in the planning phase for another visit. I've never used the Disney Dining plan before. I called during my lunch break wanting to see what they charge to add the dining plan to a reservation, as we are thinking of using some points in a few months. I stated the member name and said that I was at work, I didn’t have my card on me, and all I wanted was what the pricing would be per day to add the dining plan to a stay. I told them I would answer any question they had in order to verify the ID, but I just didn’t have my DVC card or membership number with me.. But NOOOOOOOOOOO they will ONLY give out info if you have the membership number. I told them that was silly, it was a GENERAL question having NOTHING to do with reservations (adding or changing any reservation), it has NOTHING to do with our account specifically. They said no, they are a financial institution so cannot give out info. I told them I understood and greatly appreciate their policy IF if I were asking about the account, but I am not – I am simple asking a generic pricing question-- For example if I WERE calling a financial institution and was asking then what their current rates were on a CD or a passbook savings account. ANY bank would tell you that information. PLUS I offered to answer any question to verify my account! NO- -they cannot tell me ANYTHING.. This is HORRIBLE customer service. (what if we lost the card??? What if the house burned down with our DVC card and member ID in it? Sure, I can wait until I get home and get our member number, but withholding this info under these circumstances is just dumb. I have the time to do some planning right now! I am not complaining about the individuals I spoke with, they are following their policy. I just don't understand why they can't answer a generic pricing question having nothing to do with a specific account or reservation.

 

[erionm]

Why didn't you just log on to the member website and read them the member number from there.

As for why they won't answer the questions, our dues pay for incoming calls so they want to make sure you are a member before they talk with you.

 

[Henrys Dad]

Why didn't you just log on to the member website and read them the member number from there.

As for why they won't answer the questions, our dues pay for incoming calls so they want to make sure you are a member before they talk with you.

I was on a cell phone in the parking lot, so i couldn't log on.... They asked for my member name, I gave them my member name, they seemed ok with that.. because they did look up to see if it was a valid member name. or they would have cut me off immediately.

 

[LisaS]

There have been problems in the past with non-members calling the MS toll free number. MS is firm about not talking to anyone who cannot provide their member ID. If you had been someone renting a reservation from a DVC member (but not a member yourself) you could easily have had the member's name, address and phone number from your interactions with that person.

As Michael suggested, you can get your member ID by logging in to your account on the member website.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

There have been problems in the past with non-members calling the MS toll free number. MS is firm about not talking to anyone who cannot provide their member ID. If you had been someone renting a reservation from a DVC member (but not a member yourself) you could easily have had the member's name, address and phone number from your interactions with that person.

As Michael suggested, you can get your member ID by logging in to your account on the member website.

I've always thought the last for digits of the social security number is to verify it's really the owner since that's quite unlikely to be given out. I do think that they should be able to look up an owner - and I think they can, although I don't have any great issue that they require the member number for everything. I even think some CM's probably would look up the owner based on the other info. The variety of "rules" between CM's is pretty wide.

I have 2 memberships. Sometimes if I'm switching between the two I've had a CM just look it up. Others are sticklers that I give the second one to them.

 

[Henrys Dad]

I appreciate all your comments, and I understand the need to protect individual member info, but this was just a generic pricing question. You would think they'd be able to give out generic info. I KNOW they looked up my name when i gave it to them because they asked, I heard them type something in, and then they said OK, ( which I took as recognition that they found me as a member) , and THEN asked what is your member ID#? I was in no way trying to steal/use any other member info-- or even my OWN member info for that matter! My question had NOTHING to do with a reservation or person info. It was just convenient for me to have the info at the time I called them. I have since been able to get online and look up the info I needed, but I'm still scratching my head as to why they can't give out generic info at that time -- Especially when I gave my name to them, and offered to verify my ID in some other way besides my member #- -not just name and address but anything else they could ask.. i.e. part of my SS#? Mom's maiden name? I think the policy should be its ok to give out generic info if you have a valid member name, but Don't give out any info related to a reservation, or member specific info without the valid member ID #. I think the number of people who would cheat and "borrow" someone's member name to get generic info would be miniscule at best.. and even then there's not much harm in asking a generic question unless I am incorrect and they say there are MANY people who would do this and waste the CM's time. if that's the case, then I am sorry...

 

[DebbieB]

I would have hung up and called back, you may have got someone who would look it up.

 

[disneynutz]

Can you just Google for the price?

 

[LisaS]

I appreciate all your comments, and I understand the need to protect individual member info, but this was just a generic pricing question.

I don't think it was a question of protecting member info but rather not allowing Member Services' time to be tied up by anyone other than a verified member. Member Services is paid for by members so I suspect they just want to be sure you are really a member before they allow you to use the service and they choose to verify you by your member number and either the last four digits of your SS# or a password you have set up. Perhaps they could be more flexible and allow you to use your name and last four digits of your SS# (or password) but that's not the policy and it sounds like you got a CM who followed the policy to the letter.

To use your bank analogy, imagine your bank has a special phone number for customers who maintain a very high balance and qualify for special services such as a shorter wait time when you call or more highly trained customer service reps. They have another phone number for everyone else. If you call the special number to ask about CD rates but you cannot provide an account number to verify your status, they won't allow you to tie up the line and will tell you to call the regular number.

 

[DisDadDVC]

I don't think it was a question of protecting member info but rather not allowing Member Services' time to be tied up by anyone other than a verified member. Member Services is paid for by members so I suspect they just want to be sure you are really a member before they allow you to use the service and they choose to verify you by your member number and either the last four digits of your SS# or a password you have set up. Perhaps they could be more flexible and allow you to use your name and last four digits of your SS# (or password) but that's not the policy and it sounds like you got a CM who followed the policy to the letter.

To use your bank analogy, imagine your bank has a special phone number for customers who maintain a very high balance and qualify for special services such as a shorter wait time when you call or more highly trained customer service reps. They have another phone number for everyone else. If you call the special number to ask about CD rates but you cannot provide an account number to verify your status, they won't allow you to tie up the line and will tell you to call the regular number.

This.

 

[surran12]

I have worked for 3 different banks over the past 15 years. You can call a financial institution and get information on you're account without your account number. You will need to verify a few pieces of information first. They will not provide your account number out over the phone but will supply you with a lot of other information. So put me in the camp of not understanding the need for the account number when they can easily verify an owner, especially to answer some general questions.

 

[hopeful4fl]

The banks have a motive to ensure they can provide a certain level of courtesy information cause their profit is dependent on you as a customer. They also have access to make sure they can provide you with the information based on things "other" than your account number. This is done through a MAJOR spend in IT $$$$ to ensure they can provide this as a courtesy to members who do not have their account number handy.
DVC, on the other hand is like a co-op, paid for by DVC members (you and I). Disney has other numbers you can call to get General questions answered. You, as a DVC owner, are paying for the G&A expenses and Customer service is a sizable chunk of that. I would be as frustrated as some callers for not getting the information, but if I put my fiscal hat on, I would like to make sure the people I was serving were my customers and if you could not verify yourself by providing you the account number AND having a crappy system (if the one we use for DVC is any indication, though recently it has been better) that makes it hard to verify you as you , i would not want to waste my expense on non members.
Is it frustrating? For someone in your situation, yes. Is it understandable? In my opinion, yes.

 

[DebbieB]

2016 prices from the member website:

Disney Dining Plan Pricing The price of the Disney Dining Plan is $61.84 per night, per Guest ages 10+ and $20.96 per night, per Guest ages 3-9.
Disney Deluxe Dining Plan Pricing The price of the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan is $111.73 per night, per Guest ages 10+ and $32.56 per night, per Guest ages 3-9.
Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan Pricing The price of the Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan is $42.84 per night, per Guest ages 10+ and $17.47 per night, per Guest ages 3 to 9.

 

[bumbershoot]

Eh, privacy is privacy. You gave the name; I could call and give a friend's name who owns DVC...should they give me the info? The pricing, to that rep, was private.

Googled "dvc dining plan 2016 price", got some excellent results...