Problem with Add On

[kteic]

Wondering if any of the experts that have done an add on can help me. I bought 70 pts VB last year resale with a Feb use year. I had read that someone suggested the best time to buy an add on is the month before your use year so you can get the prior year points in addition to the current year.

I missed buying in January but was thinking about adding a small 25 pt contract on now so contacted the DVC sales office. They told me I couldn't get my use year with prior year points, but I could buy a separate April contract that would allow me to have April 2010, April 2011 and April 2012 available on April 1st so totalling 75 points. Today is March 20. So agreed to do that. Gave cc info for payment in cash.

Guide emails me back saying that I can only buy a seperate contract with a minimum of 50 pts. I email him no thanks, I will wait until Jan. He emails me back that he went ahead and processed my payment for Feb. with only 2011 and 2012 points. Is this right? Can a guide assure you that you can buy April with 2010 points and then turn around and process Feb with no 2010 points without your consent?

I have no experience buying directly from Disney, but was wondering if this is right and what can I do to cancel.

Any ideas?

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Couple of words of wisdom. When we cancelled a contract a few years ago, Disney was wonderful. I'm sure they will work it out with you. If not and you charged it to your card, there's something called a "chargeback" in the credit card company world. They will encourage you to work it out with Disney first, but if your attempt fails, they will ask you for "your side" of the story. They will act as an arbitrator between you and Disney, and the credit card companies are very consumer friendly. I would use that as a last resort, but you do have it in your hip pocket if need be.

Now for the unsolicited words of wisdom! I would avoid 2 separate UYs if at all possible. It's a pain in the backside. We had 2 UYs, and I just sold two contracts to get rid of one, and repurchased points with the UY we kept. It's not impossible, just makes it a little more difficult when making reservations. You can't combine points between the two unless you transfer, and you're only allowed 1 transfer in/out of a contract per year. Once you transfer, you still have to pay attention to any banking deadlines and expiration dates, as the points transferred retain their original UY. I would give up 2010 points in order to keep the same UY. Especially since we're talking 25 - 50 pts. JMHO.

Best of luck with your situation. I'd give your guide a call tomorrow, and I'm sure things will work out fine.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If you still haven't signed the contract for purchase there's no dispute at all. Just call quality assurance once you receive the contract and tell them you are not signing and would like the refund processed. If they need anything they will let you know.

Even if you have signed you have 10 days to recind the purchase from the date you signed and would call quality assurance about it.

As for the guide I'd say they got way ahead of themselves. I also would not recommend buying a second UY with such small contracts. If the extra year points are important then wait. Or - you could even buy later in the year and the dues on your 2011 points would be prorated depending on the date and you would be close to getting your 2012 points. Your timing might depend on when you need to points to use.

 

[hellerjw]

As mentioned just give them a call and you shouldn't have any problem canceling and getting your deposit back. I think it was just a miscommunication somewhere.

 

[kristenrice]

Wondering if any of the experts that have done an add on can help me. I bought 70 pts VB last year resale with a Feb use year. I had read that someone suggested the best time to buy an add on is the month before your use year so you can get the prior year points in addition to the current year.

I missed buying in January but was thinking about adding a small 25 pt contract on now so contacted the DVC sales office. They told me I couldn't get my use year with prior year points, but I could buy a separate April contract that would allow me to have April 2010, April 2011 and April 2012 available on April 1st so totalling 75 points. Today is March 20. So agreed to do that. Gave cc info for payment in cash.

Guide emails me back saying that I can only buy a seperate contract with a minimum of 50 pts. I email him no thanks, I will wait until Jan. He emails me back that he went ahead and processed my payment for Feb. with only 2011 and 2012 points. Is this right? Can a guide assure you that you can buy April with 2010 points and then turn around and process Feb with no 2010 points without your consent?

I have no experience buying directly from Disney, but was wondering if this is right and what can I do to cancel.

Any ideas?

I'm confused....did he actually give you 25 points with a FEB UY?

I just did what you originally described...

We have a Feb UY and I waited until January 2011 to add on. We added on 50 points at HHI. Since it was still the 2010 UY, I got 50 points to bank immediately and my 2011 points "arrived" 10 days later. The best part is that, since dues are based on a calendar year, by waiting until January, there are no MF's on the 2010 points.

If you aren't in immediate need of the points, I would cancel now and wait until January.

Good Luck!

 

[Dean]

You can cancel but you will not get 2010 points retroactively, it will not happen is the info I've been given. If you don't need the points now, you might wait until the end of the year and add on and still get 2011 points and for lower dues. However, the price might go up in the interim.

 

[LisaS]

We have a Feb UY and I waited until January 2011 to add on. We added on 50 points at HHI. Since it was still the 2010 UY, I got 50 points to bank immediately and my 2011 points "arrived" 10 days later. The best part is that, since dues are based on a calendar year, by waiting until January, there are no MF's on the 2010 points.

You will owe some dues on the 2010 points but not much. You will pay pro-rated dues starting from your purchase date. The dues you pay for the remaining days in January are for your 2010 points. The dues from Feb 1st onward are for your 2011 points. If you truly owed no dues for the 2010 points then your dues would be pro-rated from Feb 1st instead of your purchase date.

 

[Dean]

You will owe some dues on the 2010 points but not much. You will pay pro-rated dues starting from your purchase date. The dues you pay for the remaining days in January are for your 2010 points. The dues from Feb 1st onward are for your 2011 points. If you truly owed no dues for the 2010 points then your dues would be pro-rated from Feb 1st instead of your purchase date.

Technically dues are on a calendar year basis not a UY basis anyway so it really doesn't matter where the points are or where you are in the UY.

 

[LisaS]

Technically dues are on a calendar year basis not a UY basis anyway so it really doesn't matter where the points are or where you are in the UY.

But it does matter in how the dues for the first year are calculated. If they were out of Feb 2010 points at the time she added on, her first points would have been Feb 2011 points and her dues would have been pro-rated from Feb 1st, not the purchase date. In this case it makes little difference since we're talking about less than 31 days worth of dues. It would be more significant if someone purchased new construction (Aulani for example) with a UY much later in the year than their purchase date.

 

[kteic]

Thanks for everyone's advice. I did contact Quality Assurance and they did cancel my contract. I actually wanted to go forward and was hoping they would just honor my original 25 pt contract with April use year, but they stood their ground and said they would not issue a 2nd membership for less than 50 points. Too bad my guide had missed that class and I wouldn't be upset.

So as was suggested. I will wait until January when I can get the 2011 points for my February use year. I just wanted to use them for August and now will just pay out of pocket for my extra two nights.

I was very upset with the guide for getting ahead of himself and for not understanding this add on policy or at least verifying it before he put a contract in for a different UY without consulting me. I did file a complaint with the dvc member satisfaction website. I avoided resale because I wanted a quick, stress free process and it was quick, but I guess nothing is stress free.

 

[LisaS]

So as was suggested. I will wait until January when I can get the 2011 points for my February use year. I just wanted to use them for August and now will just pay out of pocket for my extra two nights.

If you add on anytime between now and Jan 31, 2012 Disney will start you off with a full set of Feb 2011 UY points with your purchase because you are in your 2011 UY until Feb 1, 2012. Be careful about waiting too long to add on since it puts you at some risk that DVC will sell out of current UY points and you will be out of luck. It's tempting to add on as late as possible in your UY to minimize the dues you pay on that first set of points but if they run out of points and don't get more before your UY ends, you will miss out on a year's worth of points in the quest to save a few bucks worth of dues.

You might want to start checking in November or December about the supply of Feb 2011 points still in inventory in case you have to go on a waiting list to get them. If you purchase in Dec 2011 instead of Jan 2012, you would pay only one additional month's worth of dues to lock in those Feb 2011 points.

 

[Dean]

But it does matter in how the dues for the first year are calculated. If they were out of Feb 2010 points at the time she added on, her first points would have been Feb 2011 points and her dues would have been pro-rated from Feb 1st, not the purchase date. In this case it makes little difference since we're talking about less than 31 days worth of dues. It would be more significant if someone purchased new construction (Aulani for example) with a UY much later in the year than their purchase date.

Dues are calculated from the latter of the dates of when you sign, when the UY opens (if you don't get current UY points) or when the "unit" comes on board if latter. Since we were talking Jan with a Feb UY, that's why I said it didn't make any difference, it doesn't make any real difference.