Rising Costs of Dues and the Difference Between a Vacation Home and a Deluxe Resort

[BuddyWRH]

I haven't been on here in quite some time (it looks like it has been about two years). There are various inconsequential reasons, suffice it to say that life got in the way.

I felt compelled today to post after having some discussions with family and friends, as well as reading comments from various members on various membership pages on Facebook.

Some of become dismayed at the rising costs of our annual dues. However, I don't believe that anyone is taking a critical look at some of the causes of these dues. Likewise, and directly related, there seems to be a disconnect between a Vacation Home and a Deluxe/Luxury Resort.

I am constantly off put by some of the comments left by people on how they complained to the front desk and DVC management about some slight, whether perceived or not.

Now before venturing down the rabbit-hole here, a disclaimer: I recognize that there are some instances that demand attention by the front desk and management, and that all situations are not the same.

With that out of the way, I believe that there is a overarching sense of entitlement amongst many DVC members. I have been around since the very early days of the DVC, back when OKW was thee DVC. I have seen it grow and change, and grow some more. For those of us "old-heads" we have seen the DVC grow beyond what it was originally intended to be.

Now what I mean by this is that one of the selling points, then and now, is exclusivity. We were all sold on the idea of buying into an exclusive club. Now while this may still be true in some ways, over time the personal attention has necessarily degraded. Because, quite simply, it got too big to provide that sort of attention to every single member.

However, I do not place them blame for this solely on the DVC, cast members or management. We, as members, harbor some of the blame for this ourselves. We simply expect too much, and treat the DVC as a Deluxe/Luxury Resort, and not what it really is, a Vacation Home. Instead of complaining to the front desk about there not being enough towels in the room, why not take advantage of the provided washer and dryer?

Now this is but one example of what I am talking about, but there are many. We as members seem to expect to be "taken care of" as if it were a Deluxe/Luxury Resort, say the Grand Floridian. Well, I hate to break it to you all, but none of the DVC resorts are true Deluxe/Luxury Resorts by definition, or not in the sense that we seem to expect them to be. The DVC is a Resort Home. If you owned a beach house, would you complain to the HOA that there aren't enough towels in the room? No, you would either bring extra if you knew you required them, or you would wash them when needed. Now broken or missing appliances, and dirty rooms are one thing. These things are on the resorts to maintain. Everything else is up to us, the members.

Now the dues. Let's go back to the parallel of the beach house for a minute. Think of your dues as paying the utilities, (electric, gas, cable, insurance, etc.). However instead of these things, or dues go to, primarily, transportation costs (resort buses), maintenance, housekeeping, and overhead. Keep that last one in mind for a minute.

Now let's go back to that sense of entitlement for a minute. When we run to the front desk to complain about everything and anything, there is an unintended consequence. We have come to expect a lot, for sure, but are we expecting too much? Do we expect to be treated as though we are in a Deluxe/Luxury Resort, and not a Vacation Home?

Now remember my disclaimer, there are instances that require attention. That is not what I am talking about here. I am talking about complaining for the petty things, the situations that are either out of managements hands, or are unavoidable altogether. However, time and time again I have seen members complain until they are blue in the face and then boast about what or how they were compensated for the inconvenience. I have even come across discussions (not here) about what to say, or how to complete to get something free.

Remember, I told you to keep overhead in mind. We don't really get anything for "free" when we are "compensated for inconvenience". We are paying for that compensation by way of our dues. All of us, each and every member, is paying for that compensation. Whether it be a gift basket, or a meal, or whatever, we are paying for it. All of that is budgeted into the operations cost of the resorts, and passed on, at the very least in part, to us members in the form of dues.

So next time you want to storm down to the front desk and complain over petty issues, or those out of the control of management, consider the cost. Whatever you are looking for in compensation, it does have a direct cost to all of us. You know what I am talking about here - not the issues that absolutely require management attention, but those that are rather trivial, or inconsequential, in all reality.

I close by saying this, I absolutely love the DVC. I practically grew up there. I have met the closest people in my life that I am not actually related to through the DVC. I work solely to be there, and am on a constant countdown to when I go back. I am sure many of you feel the same as I do, I mean you are on a message board for it. Let's all do our part and taking better care of our home. Don't treat it like a hotel, treat it like it is your home. Because it is your home. It is our home. I think far too many of us have lost sight of that.

 

[Jennasis]

I read that FB thread too (the lady with the 2000 OKW points lamenting her hefty dues) and commented there. I take care of my villas as I would my own home (we clean it ourselves and don't particularly care to have mousekeeping in our room at all). BUT if something isn't really right (beyond what I can reasonably take care of myself) I expect it to be fixed. I can and do wash my own towels. Heck I bring my own from home. I don't use the little shampoos and soaps. I don't take towel animals home. But if something isn't right...broken appliances/lights/ac, things missing, bugs/mold/etc, then I expect those things to be fixed. I also expect DVC will continue to morph into a different animal than it is today (because history has shown it has and will). If the time comes that I cannot comfortably handle the cost of my dues, or I don't like what it has become, or it's value is diminished for what I get, then we'll sell.

But that's just me.

On a similar but different note...don't they also rent out rooms to cash paying guests? What happens when those guests use/abuse the rooms and then they need to be fixed? Do those costs come from our dues?

 

[disneynutz]

I read that FB thread too (the lady with the 2000 OKW points lamenting her hefty dues) and commented there. I take care of my villas as I would my own home (we clean it ourselves and don't particularly care to have mousekeeping in our room at all). BUT if something isn't really right (beyond what I can reasonably take care of myself) I expect it to be fixed. I can and do wash my own towels. Heck I bring my own from home. I don't use the little shampoos and soaps. I don't take towel animals home. But if something isn't right...broken appliances/lights/ac, things missing, bugs/mold/etc, then I expect those things to be fixed. I also expect DVC will continue to morph into a different animal than it is today (because history has shown it has and will). If the time comes that I cannot comfortably handle the cost of my dues, or I don't like what it has become, or it's value is diminished for what I get, then we'll sell.

But that's just me.

On a similar but different note...don't they also rent out rooms to cash paying guests? What happens when those guests use/abuse the rooms and then they need to be fixed? Do those costs come from our dues?

There is no way for Disney to bill wear and tear to cash guests so I assume that DVC owners pay for all cleaning, maintenance, and refurbs.

Bill

 

[Jennasis]

There is no way for Disney to bill wear and tear to cash guests so I assume that DVC owners pay for all cleaning, maintenance, and refurbs.

Bill

kind of what I figured.

 

[Dean]

There is no way for Disney to bill wear and tear to cash guests so I assume that DVC owners pay for all cleaning, maintenance, and refurbs.

Bill

They can bill damages but not wear and tear directly but they really can only address obvious issues where a specific group can be blamed appropriately. DVC tends to be lax in this area from what I see compared to other timeshares. Wear and tear comes under the dues for the points used and are paid by the owner whether DVD or an individual member.

Now in general DVC is about 20-30% more MF with a lower level of service and villa refurbishment than comparable systems (Marriott and the like). Dues have many components but some of the areas they could address are things that many wouldn't want. Drop check out to 10 am, enforce occupancy more strictly, establish minimum stays, change fee structure so that small owners pay a more representative amount, more pay to play options like change/banking fees, cut MS hrs, just to name a few. My view is there has to be a balance and I feel DVC has teetered on the brink of that balance ever since I've been a member. And the truth is that members will put up with about anything even when they say they won't and that there is a compromise to owning a timeshare, even a high end one (maybe esp a high end one). DVC dues have not gone up excessively long term and there have been no special assessments. Thus the idea that fees have risen and put someone in a bind is false. If someone is in a bind related to fees it's due either to their buy in choices or life changes but even when life happens, better choices up front often insulate one from such issues in large part thus the reason for my belief that many buy in that shouldn't.