Refunded points showing not able to Bank??

[1andrea]

Hi,

I can anyone help I am so confused with banking

Here is the situation
I have a December use year
At the time making my reservation I had 204 points banked from 2006
and in December 2007 I am allocated my contracted amount of 225 points
To give a total of 429 points.

I started booking BCV at the 7 month window day by day and in total booked 10 nights costing 162 points.

I then booked VWL at the 7 month window day by day and booked a further 8 nights costing 146 points.

This cost me a total of 308 points and this left me with 121 points from 2007 use year that are available to bank.

I had to cancel the last day of the stay at BCV resulting in a refund of 13 points. I made the cancellation 7 weeks before arrival.

Now I presumed that the 13 points (that would have been from the last few of my banked points) would be reallocated to 'pay' for part of VWL reservation and then the 13 points that were refunded would be part of my current use year and therefore be able to bank. I have just logged into mydvc site and it shows that 134 points are available to use but only 121 are available to bank.

Can I call and ask for 13 points that I have used for my VWL reservation that are from 2007 use year to be freed up to allow the 13 points that are left from the 2006 use year to be used up and then bank the 13 from the 2007 use year along with the remaining 121.

If this is possible is the latest I can do this 30 days before check in??? (as I am currently 33 days from checking in)


I hope this makes sense my brain is frazzelled with banking and use years

Thanks for the help

Andrea x

 

[CarolMN]

Call as soon as you can to ask MS to reallocate your points to use the banked points and free the current use year points. Do it at least 31 days prior to arrival (30 days is too late) or the points will go into a holding account and you won't be able to bank them at all.

Call tomorrow if at all possible - you may have to ask for a Supervisor if you get an inexperienced CM.

 

[bwvBound]

I had a similar experience - canceling an earlier reservation against banked points while a later reservation used both banked and current year's points. Yes, MS did try to reallocate the points for me ... but what they didn't tell me is that the resulting points would be in HOLDING as the 2nd reservation was w/in 30 days of my phone call.

Be careful where you go from here. You may have to decide which is better: 13 banked points to be used before Dec '08 or the same number as holding points to be used w/in 60 days of reservation with same expiration.

At least yours is only 13 points ... my mistake created 110 crippled points! Sigh!

 

[disneynutz]

Make sure that the Adviser understands that you are correcting their mistake. If you use the words "reallocate" they will only help you if the same reservation type is currently available. We have had several issues where the MS system is suppose to process transactions a certain way but it doesn't. Last week it or the Adviser borrowed points when we had plenty available. One Adviser finally admitted that they probably didn't check on the next page before processing our transaction.

 

[1andrea]

Thank you both for replying so quickly.

So i am right in thinking if I call tomorrow my 13 points will be able to be reallocated and NOT go into holding?

My first night is May 27th so tomorrow should be ok right??

 

[1andrea]

Make sure that the Adviser understands that you are correcting their mistake. If you use the words "reallocate" they will only help you if the same reservation type is currently available. We have had several issues where the MS system is suppose to process transactions a certain way but it doesn't. Last week it or the Adviser borrowed points when we had plenty available. One Adviser finally admitted that they probably didn't check on the next page before processing our transaction.

Thanks.

How do I best explain it to the CM I am not sure what to say to explan things properly and the last thing I want to do is mess up my reservation by him releasing days to release points and then trying to reserve the day using banked points only to find someone else has just reserved that day.... can you tell I am stressing...

 

[Dean]

Thank you both for replying so quickly.

So i am right in thinking if I call tomorrow my 13 points will be able to be reallocated and NOT go into holding?

My first night is May 27th so tomorrow should be ok right??

They will not automatically reallocate the best points to use nor should they. They may reallocate if you ask but it's technically a cancellation and rebooking and it's possible you could lose your reservation if you do so.

 

[1andrea]

I had a similar experience - canceling an earlier reservation against banked points while a later reservation used both banked and current year's points. Yes, MS did try to reallocate the points for me ... but what they didn't tell me is that the resulting points would be in HOLDING as the 2nd reservation was w/in 30 days of my phone call.

Be careful where you go from here. You may have to decide which is better: 13 banked points to be used before Dec '08 or the same number as holding points to be used w/in 60 days of reservation with same expiration.

At least yours is only 13 points ... my mistake created 110 crippled points! Sigh!

It wouldnt matter really if the points had to be used with 60 days or before Dec 2008 as we wont be back until June 2009 so we wouldnt be able to use either.

Did you manage to some way use or rent out the 110 crippled points?

Thanks again

 

[1andrea]

They will not automatically reallocate the best points to use nor should they. They may reallocate if you ask but it's technically a cancellation and rebooking and it's possible you could lose your reservation if you do so.

Why not?

I asked for all banked points to be used first, and when I amended the reservation I was not told the 13 points would be returned as banked points.

 

[Dean]

Why not?

I asked for all banked points to be used first, and when I amended the reservation I was not told the 13 points would be returned as banked points.

As stated above, any reallocation of points is technically a cancellation and rebooking. Any nights cancelled in that way would go to the wait list first and then back to you if there was no wait list. DVC can't and shouldn't simply stick the points into an existing reservation simply because the points are distressed, there are other factors.

 

[disneynutz]

They will not automatically reallocate the best points to use nor should they. They may reallocate if you ask but it's technically a cancellation and rebooking and it's possible you could lose your reservation if you do so.

Shouldn't the current points be returned before the banked points, just like banked points should be applied first before current year points?

 

[1andrea]

As stated above, any reallocation of points is technically a cancellation and rebooking. Any nights cancelled in that way would go to the wait list first and then back to you if there was no wait list. DVC can't and shouldn't simply stick the points into an existing reservation simply because the points are distressed, there are other factors.

Can you please explain why DVC cant and shouldn't put any banked points into the night or next reservation you have if you have asked them too?

What other factors are involved? I would like to understand.

Thanks

 

[Dean]

Shouldn't the current points be returned before the banked points, just like banked points should be applied first before current year points?

They will return the points designated for the nights cancelled as a rule.

Can you please explain why DVC cant and shouldn't put any banked points into the night or next reservation you have if you have asked them too?

What other factors are involved? I would like to understand.

Thanks

They could if they wanted but their stated rule is that any reallocation is a cancellation and rebooking. The truth is they can often do so if there are any nights not on a wait list. Let me give you an extreme example to make the point.

Lets say I own OKW and BCV points and make BCV reservations and OKW reservations at 11 months out for the same unit size. Then at 7 months out I call and cancel OKW and ask them to replace the BCV points with the OKW points. If they do so, I can then use those points to reserve another high demand unit at BCV. It's simply about where does DVC draw the line between the rights and benefit of a given owner vs the other owners. They have chosen, and I feel rightly so, to make any reallocation a cancellation and rebooking and thus those reservations would go to the waitlist likely to owners looking to use banked and borrowed points as well. In the past they have just swapped the points around but they've changed their official stance. But sometimes they are not consistent in this matter so if you call they may indeed do what you ask. Even if they are trying to accommodate your request, it's possible they'll lose your reservation while trying to do so.

 

[bwvBound]

Did you manage to some way use or rent out the 110 crippled points?

Mostly. I was able to book 3 nights at the Grand Californian over the Memorial Day weekend for a total of 102 points. The remaining 8 may be left to expire ... or perhaps we'll borrow some 2008 points to squeeze one more trip somewhere between now and Sept 30th (OCT UY). Who knows ... life is such a interesting ride.

 

[1andrea]

They will return the points designated for the nights cancelled as a rule.

They could if they wanted but their stated rule is that any reallocation is a cancellation and rebooking. The truth is they can often do so if there are any nights not on a wait list. Let me give you an extreme example to make the point.

Lets say I own OKW and BCV points and make BCV reservations and OKW reservations at 11 months out for the same unit size. Then at 7 months out I call and cancel OKW and ask them to replace the BCV points with the OKW points. If they do so, I can then use those points to reserve another high demand unit at BCV. It's simply about where does DVC draw the line between the rights and benefit of a given owner vs the other owners. They have chosen, and I feel rightly so, to make any reallocation a cancellation and rebooking and thus those reservations would go to the waitlist likely to owners looking to use banked and borrowed points as well. In the past they have just swapped the points around but they've changed their official stance. But sometimes they are not consistent in this matter so if you call they may indeed do what you ask. Even if they are trying to accommodate your request, it's possible they'll lose your reservation while trying to do so.

I must be completly missing the point as I dont see how there is an advantage. If you cancelled OKW reservation you made at 7 months you would be able to book the high demand unit anyway as any points at 7months be used at any resort without asking them to replace the BCV points with the OKW points.

I might be best not to bother calling incase they do try and help me and do accidently lose my reservation.

 

[1andrea]

Mostly. I was able to book 3 nights at the Grand Californian over the Memorial Day weekend for a total of 102 points. The remaining 8 may be left to expire ... or perhaps we'll borrow some 2008 points to squeeze one more trip somewhere between now and Sept 30th (OCT UY). Who knows ... life is such a interesting ride.

Thats good I know I will definatly NOT be able to use the 13 before the end of Nov so you might just have an extra 13 points to add to your lonely little 8! But even if I asked Member Services would probably miss the point of wanting to use up the previously banked points that are due to expire and borrow them from my next use year!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I would have assumed that MS would simply cancel the reservation and not reallocate my points. I have always been under the impression that I would have to ask for something like that to be done.

I am glad that you found this and hope that something can be done for you.

Bobbi

 

[1andrea]

I would have assumed that MS would simply cancel the reservation and not reallocate my points. I have always been under the impression that I would have to ask for something like that to be done.

I am glad that you found this and hope that something can be done for you.

Bobbi

I did ask for banked points to be used first and I thought it was done. I thought the CM would have said something along the lines of 'we are refunding 13 points that have already been banked and will have to be used by the end of your use year' but she didnt so I thought it was all fine!

This will be my 2nd trip using DVC and the first time I have had to make a cancellation /amendment to a reservation so I feel I am still only learning...and there is a lot to learn!

 

[RobDoc]

I did ask for banked points to be used first and I thought it was done. I thought the CM would have said something along the lines of 'we are refunding 13 points that have already been banked and will have to be used by the end of your use year' but she didnt so I thought it was all fine!

This will be my 2nd trip using DVC and the first time I have had to make a cancellation /amendment to a reservation so I feel I am still only learning...and there is a lot to learn!

Just call MS and explain that you wanted to make sure that your banked points are what was used for the remaining reservation. I'd tell them that it appears that they returned some banked points to your account instead of returning current points that you'd like to bank. If they say they cannot help, I'd ask to speak with a supervisor, but I'd expect that they will find a way to use the banked points and return your current points to your account.

Good luck and please report back!

 

[DebbieB]

One thing I've learned is anytime you make a reservation or make a change, ask for point balances by use year before you hang up. Have it figured out ahead of time what you expect it to be and make sure it matches.

I don't think they would automatically reallocate points from a cancelled reservation to another reservation. You have to ask for that.