Response from Executive Offices

[problemchild718]

A few weeks ago I had posted about several maint. problems and housekeeping issues at OKW and the lack of action by the staff there. Many of you suggested I write to DVC and the executive offices. I did and today received an email response thanking me for taking the time to write and that my observations are being taken seriously. Nothing else-should I be happy with that or expect a partial refund, point credit or something else? I guess I expected a better solution a bit quicker (I emailed them the week of January 15) Should I drop it or call the # provided in the email for "questions"?

 

[offtheice]

A few weeks ago I had posted about several maint. problems and housekeeping issues at OKW and the lack of action by the staff there. Many of you suggested I write to DVC and the executive offices. I did and today received an email response thanking me for taking the time to write and that my observations are being taken seriously. Nothing else-should I be happy with that or expect a partial refund, point credit or something else? I guess I expected a better solution a bit quicker (I emailed them the week of January 15) Should I drop it or call the # provided in the email for "questions"?

crap happens . you serious about wanting points back or refund?? Guess what happens if that happens .It comes from my pocket . Deal with it.

 

[DebbieB]

Unless your room was practically uninhabitable, I would not expect a points refund.

 

[msmayor]

Unfortunately, the best time to obtain satisfaction regarding problems like this is "in the moment"...while you were physically present there.

Once you're home, time has passed and it becomes difficult for events to be reconstructed, for details to be remembered.

Chances are the e-mail response you received was a 'canned' letter.

You may get a letter/call where they acknowledge your frustration, but I wouldn't expect any more than that.

 

[SusanWasHere]

crap happens . you serious about wanting points back or refund?? Guess what happens if that happens .It comes from my pocket . Deal with it.

YIKES!!!

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

I would call. As far as the "deal with it" response. I couldn't disagree more. She gave them an opportunity to do something to make it right with the customer and they sent an email saying they are looking into it. How does that rectify her negative experience?

I would call. Even if you get a meal voucher for your next trip....anything...to show they care about your time. Customer satisfaction should be a priority and a letter stating they are looking into it seems like a blow off imo.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Points back is not something that can be done without taking them from somewhere else. In this case they would probably come from the 4% retained. I would call the number provided.

 

[Trishde]

We have had problems in the past but at BW. We are the ones that if the bad thing is going to happen it will be us. The last time was a plumbing & housekeeping issue (plus we were told at 1pm our room was being cleaned it would be done soon, room wasn't done until after 4:30pm - 3 hours to clean the one bedroom?, my house is a heck of alot bigger & I clean it thoroughly in 2-3 hours- and it wasn't even clean, I had to clean toilet & tub before I would even let my kids near it, plus wrappers were left on floor).
We called and the manager came in & got housekeeping back & made sure the room was clean.
The plumbing issue, ugh, they didn't even send up a plumber I think it was an electrician & we were told that they could get a plumber in the morning (it was my inlaws room) plus they needed towels to clean up the overflow, the best was when the electrician told my FIL that, well you know that disney is on swampland and that the toilet pressure isn't that great, well we told him the night before we were across the lake at BC and those toilets would have taken a small child down (I had to hold my 5 yo ds so he wouldn't be scared)
plus the fact that they have the pipelines & retention pond, etc to deal with the water situation.
Guess he thought we were idiots.
Then my dear MIL asked if she was supposed to hold it until morning, so he said well I guess I could snake it.

With both problems, they gave us housekeeping everyday.
I am a very understanding person and things happen but in good business, you take care of your customers (vacation club members have an investment so we are giving them our $$ every month, we should at the very least have problems rectified). We have been anytime there has been a problem.

Another thing we have done when we have had problems is call the rep that we bought the timeshare from.
He has been very helpful whenever we have had a problem.

 

[crisi]

I would call. As far as the "deal with it" response. I couldn't disagree more. She gave them an opportunity to do something to make it right with the customer and they sent an email saying they are looking into it. How does that rectify her negative experience?.

But the "deal with it" response does have a point. Once you are a member, you are in a system where profit is specified. All expenses, including the DVC "management fee" - their profit, come from revenues. The source of DVC revenues are our dues, breakage income, and investment income. So our dues work backwards - they figure their expenses, their profit, the other sources of revenue and send us a dues bill. Want a point refund - its coming from breakage income. Want dinner in a Disney restaurant? - DVC "buys" it as an expense from the Disney theme park division.

You are no longer a "customer" of DVC, you are a "member" of DVC. The distiction is subtle, but important. And while DVC is a division of Disney, and you remain a customer of Disney - each Disney division manages their P&L seperately - DVCs member dissatisfaction is only tangentally related to theme parks or hotels - if you have a problem at Sam's Club, Wal-Mart doesn't fix it.

 

[DisneyBaby!]

Call.

I disagree with the idea of deal with it. I understand we are members, and I don't know what the OP wanted, points back, free meal but I think people are missing the point. The problem seems to be the way that the situation was handled in the first place, that it took so long and that it was a form letter. "Member" or "Guest", the people at the resort are the ones running the show and have a responsibility to respond to problems. It does not cost DVC anymore to pick up the garbage that piles up in the halls, especially if it is from houskeeping. If it is from lazy "members" that can't bring themselves to take a bag to the end of the hall well that is just wrong. As for Maint, that is why we pay dues to cover those expenses.

I don't want people to BS me or blow me off. The OP stated that he did say something at the time and there was no action by the staff. That is a problem. I would want them to say sorry, we are addressing the problem, but they could do wonders for their image by having someone call or send Snail Mail- it always means so much more. We don't know how serious the problem was, If it was serious and they acted like it was no big deal or did not fix the situation, than as a member, I feel is is perfectly appropriate to compensate the member. Free Meal? Points Back? If DVC messed up than Membership has a responsibility-especially to other members to do something.

As to the it comes out of my pocket, If you stay at a hotel for cash and they comp a room for whatever reason, we all pay in higher room costs so to me that is non-issue. Don't want to pay, be sure the people that represent you as a member do the right thing and address the problem. You can't make people happy all of the time, but if we have done our part than there not much more we have to do.

 

[Doctor P]

Here is the original post about the problems:

"First Trip Home-disappointed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello all, my family and I just returned from our first trip home! We had a great time-great weather, no lines, enjoyed a bigger room. I must say I was very disappointed with OKW. Keeping in mind that we are used to small hotel rooms and staying at less expensive places, I really don't think I am overly critical.
We arrived via ME around 11 am. We didn't expect our room would be avail. and made plans to go to DTD and eat. We returned around 5:30 and our room was ready. No luggage though. (it arrived after 6 pm more than 7 hours after we did! When we arrived, I began to unpack our food. There were dirty dishes in the cupboard-ok not a huge deal. 2 cabinet doors were broken-when I opened them they nearly came off. I then found goldfish crackers in the pull out bed, wrappers on the floor next to the fridge-I let that go too. White stain on carpet in 2nd bedroom.Took a shower and found that the towel bar was broken and lying on the floor and the bathroom outlet didn't work-no blow dryer! Ok-use the one in the other bathroom, pick up the towel. Plug the curling iron in near night table in bedroom-no outlet cover. No vent cover in 2nd bedroom-just sheetrock with a rough opening. Blinds in the 2nd bedroom broken and hanging be one side. (2 windows) I immediately went back to the desk and asked to be moved to another room-no 2BR avail. Nothing avail at another resort, but the room assign. was going to continue to check. No call back. Next morning, I phone the desk, they verified nothing was avail.
I gave up and decided to suck it up and have a great time anyway. OKW will not be high on my list of places to stay again. To their credit, the staff was pleasant, the pool clean and well staffed. Bell services was friendly and accomodating our last day."

I'm sorry, but these seem like relatively minor maintenance issues. One's that should be dealt with, no doubt and no argument. But asking to move your room because of this???? IMHO, you have to be kidding. Yes, service could have been better. But I think you got the appropriate response--thanks for bringing these things to our attention, sorry it happened. I really think it is unreasonable to expect more. JMHO. Hope your next trip is better and that you give OKW another chance.

 

[DisneyBaby!]

Yes, those are minor maintainence issues, but the room should never have been in that condition in the first place. With no mouskeeping in the rooms every day, I could imagine that the room takes a beating and will take longer to get ready for the next guest, but the staff needs to comunicate when there are problems and they try to fix them before the next guest.

At the very least say sorry for the inconvienience. If there is another room avialble, than moving is perfectly reasonable-they would than have the time to fix the room, if there is not another room avilable, than have a drink on us. I'm not looking for a handout, but when you get infront of issues, it makes life easier on everyone.

 

[Pa@okw95]

If they gave points back for problems at OKW there would be a long line. The problem with OKW is it is being over used because of the low point situation. Renters are now using it. People who are DVC members but own elsewhere are using it. These units can only take so much activity. I have had problems with 5 of my last 6 units I used at OKW. If it is too much to bear try and have it fixed while you are there or get another room. I pay dues at OKW and I hate the fact that everyone under the sun is using OKW. Like one MS told me it is always busy at OKW. Problems with the rooms are happening more often. I just paid $100 plus dues increase this year to keep up with the demand on these rooms.

 

[crisi]

As to the it comes out of my pocket, If you stay at a hotel for cash and they comp a room for whatever reason, we all pay in higher room costs so to me that is non-issue. Don't want to pay, be sure the people that represent you as a member do the right thing and address the problem. You can't make people happy all of the time, but if we have done our part than there not much more we have to do.

A hotel figures their profit by subtracting their expenses from their revenue. They can't sell rooms for more than what the market will bear, so they have an incentive to keep costs down to maximize profit at the optimal price point, but they also have an incentive to retain business. That is the competative nature of the hotel business.

DVC has neither of those incentives. Members are relatively stuck (you can sell your contract), so they aren't worried about return business. And profits are fixed for a contract (new contracts can be very profitable). (Or in accounting terms, cost plus pricing aka "how the government gets bilked on contracts").

There is a downstream effect that higher expenses will drive up dues which will have some impact on sales. But I'd guess that the impact is relatively small, as we've seen over and over again with people who consider buying VB because of lower purchase price, many people (and I'd guess most) don't factor dues too much into their purchase decisions.

 

[Daitcher]

If they gave points back for problems at OKW there would be a long line. The problem with OKW is it is being over used because of the low point situation. Renters are now using it. People who are DVC members but own elsewhere are using it. These units can only take so much activity. I have had problems with 5 of my last 6 units I used at OKW. If it is too much to bear try and have it fixed while you are there or get another room. I pay dues at OKW and I hate the fact that everyone under the sun is using OKW. Like one MS told me it is always busy at OKW. Problems with the rooms are happening more often. I just paid $100 plus dues increase this year to keep up with the demand on these rooms.

We are all entitled to our opinions but this post isn't opinion. Your post couldn't be more incorrect. OKW has the lowest occupancy rates of any DVC Resort. SSR will take over that spot soon, but until SSR is complete we can't count it as yet. If your post said the same thing about BCV I'd agree. OKW HAS THE LOWEST OCCUPANCY RATES among DVC Resorts. Lets get the facts straight before we post. It isn't always b usy at OKW. I could call and get a room there right now for March or May maybe even April.

DAVE

 

[Daitcher]

If they gave points back for problems at OKW there would be a long line. The problem with OKW is it is being over used because of the low point situation. Renters are now using it. People who are DVC members but own elsewhere are using it. These units can only take so much activity. I have had problems with 5 of my last 6 units I used at OKW. If it is too much to bear try and have it fixed while you are there or get another room. I pay dues at OKW and I hate the fact that everyone under the sun is using OKW. Like one MS told me it is always busy at OKW. Problems with the rooms are happening more often. I just paid $100 plus dues increase this year to keep up with the demand on these rooms.

Sorry Pa,

Had to add one more thing here. You are very confused about the reasons behind your dues increase. It has nothing to do with what you are saying. The increases will start to get higher as the resorts age and require a little more than cosmetic maintenance. Age is the real reason among others, not over use. Sorry for the flames but if you choose to post in a public forum at least know what you are talking about.

DAVE

 

[problemchild718]

crap happens . you serious about wanting points back or refund?? Guess what happens if that happens .It comes from my pocket . Deal with it.

Sounds a little like you didn't get the entire thing and you are having a bad day!
Yes I am serious about expecting a room that I have reserved, booked and paid for to be ready, clean and in good working order when I arrive on time for my reservation. I would expect the room to be free of other peoples dirty dishes, undetermined liquid stains on the floor and crackers in the pull out bed my child is going to sleep in. I expect to be able to use a working outlet in the bathroom, hang my towel up on the towel bar and close the blinds at night. I would expect that in any hotel I stayed in. I expect that at DVC where I am paying dues and have paid a big chunk of $$$ to stay there. I am not reaching into your pocket-I PAID MY DUES for things to be maintained. I expect that when I go to the desk 10 min after noticing dirt in the bath tub, mold in the toilet and syrup on the silverware that housekeeping would get their butts to the room and clean it or I would be moved to another room. But mostly, I expect people employed by DVC to do what they say they are going do when they say they are going to do it. I expect people to call me back when they say they will. I expect not to wait a month for a canned response from DVC. Oh and I would expect a fellow DIS/DVC'er would not be quite so nasty. I did deal with it AFTER I attempted to calmly fix it when I was there. I didn't ask for a freebie or an upgrade just a clean place to vacation in.

 

[problemchild718]

Thank you all for your opinions and suggestions I wanted to see if I was off base. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Doctor P]

This is definitely a case where the problem needed to be dealt with aggressively while you were there. I suspect that you would have had better luck getting satisfaction. I don't disagree with many of your expectations, but some are unreasonable. Dirty dishes is just something that I think I would have dealt with, unless they were in the sink. It is unreasonable to ask housekeeping to go into the cupboards and check on the dishes and then take the time to run the dishwasher to take care of them. Think about it--you are taking the room out of commission for well over an hour or more just for the dishes. JMHO. In addition, the complaint about the sleeper sofa is also a bit of an overreaction, IMHO. Sofa beds are notorious for having stuff fall through the cracks. If the crackers were IN BETWEEN the sheets, that would be one thing, but if there were crumbs on top of the sheets, that would be an entirely different thing. The mechanical issues and the housekeeping issues should have been taken care of quickly for you, but the time to "re-complain" was when you were there. There is no way to confirm or disconfirm your experience once you left, at least as far as the housekeeping issues go (some of the maintenance issues may have a work ticket, so that there might be a record of).

 

[Pa@okw95]

We are all entitled to our opinions but this post isn't opinion. Your post couldn't be more incorrect. OKW has the lowest occupancy rates of any DVC Resort. SSR will take over that spot soon, but until SSR is complete we can't count it as yet. If your post said the same thing about BCV I'd agree. OKW HAS THE LOWEST OCCUPANCY RATES among DVC Resorts. Lets get the facts straight before we post. It isn't always b usy at OKW. I could call and get a room there right now for March or May maybe even April.

DAVE

I used to check in and there would be a max of two or three people in front of me, now the line is out the door or worse goes over to the library, one hour wait to check in. Please get your facts straight. OKW is over used by non members and members from other resorts. It has nothing to do with the fact that anyone can get a room two months from now. Years ago we had the place to ourselves now it is like grand central.