Resort complaints?

[decarop]

We're planning our first trip of the year for early May at SSR. We're new members and haven't been there since '07.
All of our family are DVC members and we've been going to WDW since OKW was opened.
Recently my son and his family stayed at OKW and was very displeased with the upkeep of the facilites and his experience checking in. The woman checking them in set the tone by being abrupt and bordered on beligerent according to my son and his very sweet wife. My daughter and her family just returned last night after a week at SSR and she too was unhappy with the maintenance of the facilities.
They did rave about the CMs at the parks and couldn't be happier with the way they were treated in that regard.
Both families complained of dirty rooms and various other problems. Kitchen facility not properly maintained. Bathroom fixtures rusty. Leaky refrigerator. Fire alarm going off every 15 minutes and waiting for over an hour before repairs were made keeping small children awake until after midnight.
I've suggested they write some letters to the appropriate folks to let them know of this decline in services. They say they will.
I'm a little concerned that things aren't what they should be at DVC.
Anyone else having these problems or are we just a lucky family?
We're still going in May. We need the break and it's our favorite place to take one.

 

[dtheboys]

I think people hold Disney to a higher level...I have no complaints and I have stayed at almost all of the DVC resorts...Is it perfect...NO, but what is nowadays?
I have stayed at Marriotts, Hiltons, etc. and have found problems..you can always find a problem to complain about if you are looking for a problem.

I love going to Disney....I have a clean room, and clean pool, and I feel they offer me the best value for my vacation dollar.

Don't worry...You will have a great trip in MAY!!! Enjoy the time with your family.....I hope the best for you....

 

[BostonDisneyKid]

I think people hold Disney to a higher level

"Be our guest. Be our guest. Put our service to the test..."

It was their slogan for quite some time...

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Anyone else having these problems or are we just a lucky family?

Can't speak about your luck, but we've never experienced any of the above since 1998. What is a leaky refrigerator? Is it leaking cold air or freon? I think the closest thing for us was thinking the carpets in BWV needed replacing. Other than that just the normal wear and tear issues.

 

[Chuck S]

I've had occasional rooms at OKW (and it can happen at any resort) that are abviously nearing the scheduled rehab time. In fact, a recet guest just reported that the "Peninsular Road cluster" of building were closed for rehab.

I've also had freshly rehabbed rooms at OKW.

Did your family make their problems/complaints known during their visit so that maintenance/housekeeping could fix the problems?

I know on our recent OKW stay in december that the one bedroom was in very good condition EXCEPT that the shower stall was badly in need of re-caulking. I did mention it to someon from maintenance that I saw driving a cart, and they made a note of it...but it was not repaired during our visit. I also followed up with an email to Member Satisfaction, explaining that I had told maintenance, and perhaps they lost the note (it happens, they're only human) or were waiting until we checked out to give the caulk time to cure properly, but that it needed to be fixed to avoid futher water damage.

I received a phone call within days, saying that the issue as being addressed, and I hope it truly was fixed.

It wasn't something that ruined, or even had much of any effect, on our trip...but it would cost more to fix later if ignored for too long.

Again, other than that, the unit was in fine shape.

 

[Disneypirate85]

Ive never really had a "bad" DVC stay. Nothing really to complain about, sure maybe a rehab issue, like Rob said, carpet paint, but no real issues
Rob, leaky fridge, we had one, but is was POR. Seemed to be in a defrost mode and drip pan spilled water on the carpet only thing I can think of DEF not a DVC issue. Shawn

 

[JimMIA]

Did your family make their problems/complaints known during their visit so that maintenance/housekeeping could fix the problems?

This is always the first question that comes to my mind...and the first criteria I use to judge these complaints. YMMV, but to me, if it wasn't serious enough to complain about while the guest was there, it isn't worth posting on the DIS after the fact.

[ETA - it does sound like OP's family did complain about at least some of the issues]

We have had minor issues at several resorts, but our experience just about every time was that any issues were promptly fixed after a simple call to housekeeping or engineering or the front desk.

Maybe we've just been lucky.

 

[Deb & Bill]

In all our stays, whenever we found a problem, we immediately called Maintenance or Housekeeping, whoever could resolve the problem. Everytime we called Maintenance, someone was at our villa within minutes to fix the problem. Patio doors that didn't lock, refrigerators that didn't cool, missing this, missing that.

 

[disneynutz]

We're planning our first trip of the year for early May at SSR. We're new members and haven't been there since '07.
All of our family are DVC members and we've been going to WDW since OKW was opened.
Recently my son and his family stayed at OKW and was very displeased with the upkeep of the facilites and his experience checking in. The woman checking them in set the tone by being abrupt and bordered on beligerent according to my son and his very sweet wife. My daughter and her family just returned last night after a week at SSR and she too was unhappy with the maintenance of the facilities.
They did rave about the CMs at the parks and couldn't be happier with the way they were treated in that regard.
Both families complained of dirty rooms and various other problems. Kitchen facility not properly maintained. Bathroom fixtures rusty. Leaky refrigerator. Fire alarm going off every 15 minutes and waiting for over an hour before repairs were made keeping small children awake until after midnight.
I've suggested they write some letters to the appropriate folks to let them know of this decline in services. They say they will.
I'm a little concerned that things aren't what they should be at DVC.
Anyone else having these problems or are we just a lucky family?
We're still going in May. We need the break and it's our favorite place to take one.

Send a email to: dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com

 

[tjkraz]

Just some general tips:

1. Absolutely send the comments along. It certainly cannot hurt!

2. Provide whatever details they can about the nasty CM. Name, if possible, or time of arrival + description. Give Disney some ability to identify the individual.

3. Include positive comments in the email. You said other aspects of the trip were great, so be sure to include mention of that.

4. Keep it short and concise--preferably one page.

5. If it were me, I would focus on the in-room maintenance issues and not so much the fire alarm issue. Yes, those things are annoying--had it happen myself at several hotels (not Disney.) But given the guest safety issues involved, it's not like they can pull the plug on the entire system even during a false alarm or malfunction.

6. As others have said, please reiterate to your family the need to call maintenance / housekeeping when they find such issues in the future. In a perfect world we shouldn't find these things when we enter rooms. But while we work toward that perfect world, we need to best make-do with what we have. Look at it this way: if they did not call maintenance about a refrigerator issue and maintenance didn't find it on their own, there is now ANOTHER DVC member experiencing the same problem. Additionally, if the guest BEFORE your family had reported these issues, they wouldn't have been problems for your kids.

Timeshares tend experience maintenance shortcomings more frequently due to the high volume of guest traffic and the fact that members foot the bill for all repairs. So I'm not sure how much we can reasonable expect Disney to improve in the long run. But if you take 5 minutes to survey the room upon arrival and immediately report any problems, you'll have a high degree of success in reaching a swift resolution.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Deb & Bill, totally agree!

and I believe that's the key to getting things repaired on a timely basis. The success rate of a repair declines the minute something is reported after departure. I do the same, If something needs to be fixed or replaced, I call immediately. I don't expect perfect, but I demand clean above all. I have also experienced what I would consider minor maint. problems over the years, but they have always been fixed to my satisfaction, after being reported.

 

[jbrowna]

But if you take 5 minutes to survey the room upon arrival and immediately report any problems, you'll have a high degree of success in reaching a swift resolution.

As a matter of fact, it has been my experience -- the last couple of times I've stayed DVC -- that I've gotten either a call or a visit from someone in housekeeping or maintenance, within a day of our arrival, asking if everything was alright, if we had any issues, needed anything, etc.

On our last visit, for some reason, the universal remote in the unit controlled the tv ok, but not the DVD player. I called housekeeping on that, and within an hour they had delivered a new remote (but they didn't take the old one). Unfortunately, the new remote had the same problem. Apparently the code for the DVD player had not been properly programmed into the remote. So my DS -- using our free internet -- looked up the programming codes for that brand of remote and player, and we got the code programmed in for both the remotes we now had. Worked great! Except that we now had warring remotes!

 

[jodifla]

We had a bunch of minor problems in our last OKW room, like none of the phones worked, burnt out bulbs, a few other things.


I called maintenance and all were fixed. It's a courtesy to the NEXT guest to take some responsibility from YOUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME.

 

[decarop]

Thanks all for your reponses.
The families involved did make their difficulties known to staff and they were handled appropriately. Didn't mean to convey disatisfaction to all. We are Disneyphiles and love all of our experiences at WDW.
I was curious to know if anyone had recently had any lapses due to growing and aging of DVC facilities.
We're going in May no matter what!!! And we will have a great time.
Thanks again.

 

[wulfekamp]

Before I get started I want to say I love DVC and disney BUT I saw a real problem at Bcv a few years ago and reported it. The next year there it was again not one thing had been done to correct the problem(exposed eletrical wires in the arcade) This was not just a danger its stupid to not fix it its in a area were children are. I reported it twice and nothing was ever done. we stopped letting our daughter go in there. On one trip I was walking around the room and stepped on the edge of the carpet going in the bath and the nail strip used to hold the carpet ran into the bottom of my foot. reported it never saw anyone. I will always report problems that way I have a clear consence.

 

[quentina]

Sometimes, I am amazed at the complaints.....dust bunnies under bed....one bug on lower right side of deck....etc.

Personally, I expect wear and tear, it is a hotel that is used by thousands of guests each year.

We are at the parks or pool and really don't have time to look for dust bunnies!

Poor customer service is not acceptable however, I also think that many people believe that they are at Disney and expect the clerk to go above and beyond (way above and beyond).

This is just my opinion and we all have different ones however, I think that if the front desk CM greets me, welcomes me home, processes my arrival in a knowledgable way, gives me my packet and sends me on my way with a smile, I feel that they did their job.

Just my 2 cents....

 

[BEASLYBOO]

This is just my opinion and we all have different ones however, I think that if the front desk CM greets me, welcomes me home, processes my arrival in a knowledgable way, gives me my packet and sends me on my way with a smile, I feel that they did their job.

Just my 2 cents....

I would agree, and in 30+ stays since 2000, I've nerver had an unpleasant CM welcome me home, no matter the resort!

 

[pkitty]

This is our 11th trip to WDW and we have been DVC members since 2004 at SSr. I have travelled extensively with work and stayed in all manner of accomodations. Wdw still does it best! Yes wear and tear is an issue and that's why there is a refurbishment schedule. Fire alarms happen....again small sacrifice for the greater good. Any issues that have ever occured during our stays have been promptly addressed. We witnessed an incident at BWV with a cast member at the bakery and her treatment of a guest who was on the dining plane (this was the first year it was ever implimented). She was rude, rude , rude. He was treated like he was trying to use food stamps or something.....listen up....350 plus US per night....no small beans. My DH complained to guest relations and we received a return call during our stay and a follow up letter. I have been in the customer service industry my entire working life and sometimes it can be difficult to be "on" all the time. I think that in comparison to the "real world" on the outside, WDW does a fantastic job. Sorry they had a bad experience but I wouldn't have let this set the tone for the vacation experience. I can tell you that if this was the case everyone one of my vacations would have been ruined by someone....mostly fellow guests and there rude behaviour. If I get run over by one more stroller........

 

[Judique]

Before I get started I want to say I love DVC and disney BUT I saw a real problem at Bcv a few years ago and reported it. The next year there it was again not one thing had been done to correct the problem(exposed eletrical wires in the arcade) This was not just a danger its stupid to not fix it its in a area were children are. I reported it twice and nothing was ever done. we stopped letting our daughter go in there. On one trip I was walking around the room and stepped on the edge of the carpet going in the bath and the nail strip used to hold the carpet ran into the bottom of my foot. reported it never saw anyone. I will always report problems that way I have a clear consence.

The nail strip going into the bathroom caused me to twist my ankle on one WDW visit. The nail sunk into my heel and of course I lurched and it hurt a lot. Maintenance did come and hammer the nails flat after I called.

 

[Sammie]

As Chuck said I am sure certain areas of each resort get more wear and tear and possibly you could end up in area that is close to being rehabbed. I know that is the case at BWV.

Recently at SSR I was in a room that literally looked like it had never been used. It was spotless, no stains on the carpet, a minor nick on on the living room chair was the only wear I spotted.

Bathrooms were very clean and everything worked. Staff was fantastic, going beyond their duties to make us feel at home. Even got a huge towel animal swan in the room.

Calls for assistance were answered professionaly and very quickly.

I guess I was very lucky.