Split up and existing reservation

[jamier2]

Hello all,

Maybe I can get some guidance here because after an hour and a half waiting for DVC phone assistance I'm not getting anywhere.

I have an 8 night reservation that I can't make it to now. I have two people wanting to rent this - obviously I'd have to split the reservation into two separate ones to do it. The cast member who answered said her only option is to cancel the reservation entirely then try to book it in two separate units - while hoping that no-one else gets it in the meantime.

I originally had this as two separate reservations but joined it into one via chat when I thought we would be able to take the trip. I am having a hard time believing this is the best that Disney (or DVC/DVD if you are a nit-picker) can do. This reservation is over the 50th (October 1 is in the middle of the stay) so there's no chance of cancelling and getting it back.

Really frustrated right now. How can they join reservations but not split them up without jeopardizing the availability? Seems crazy to me.

Just curious if anyone else has been in this situation and what outcome you had. After holding for over an hour I really don't like the idea of calling back to hope for a better castmember next time.

 

[Sandisw]

The CM is correct. A reservation can not be split. You have to cancel part and try to rebook it but given the timeframe, it most likely would go to a waitlist.

 

[jamier2]

Yeah that's what the woman said on the phone. I find it incredible that they can't do any more than I can do myself on the site (if and when the junk site even works).

I'm amazed that they can't adjust something like that without losing (or potentially losing) the reservation. Pretty sure it's not a common request but I did book this 11 months ago and just to lose it due to wanting to adjust is pretty disappointing. Basically at this point almost everything at DVC has been disappointing that way.

 

[sndral]

Before the modify tool existed if you wanted to change @ 7 months you risked losing your original reservation if you needed to use the points from the reservation you were canceling to make the new reservation & perhaps not getting the new one even if you called MS to have them do the cancel/new booking.
Since your goal is to rent your reservation perhaps someone will want to rent all of the nights thus solving your problem. At a minimum maybe you can rent to one of your interested parties & get the points back for the nights you cancel to rent out later or use yourself.

 

[jamier2]

Thanks for both of the thoughtful responses.

I was so fed up at that point. After another twenty five minutes on hold the cast member came back on the phone and said she had gotten through two supervisors and someone had been able to grant my request.

I couldn't believe it - and I'm starting to think that initial reaction was the correct one.

I had an eight day reservation and I had them split it into 4 and 4. I got the new "welcome home" email for one of them but not the other. Of course the DVC website isn't working for me all day so I can't check on there if the other reservation exists or if it got vaporized.

Hopefully sometime tomorrow the DVC site starts working or I can stomach another hour on hold just to verify they didn't erase half my reservation. The half that isn't accounted for is the part that maybe - if things go exactly right - our family could still use and be on the property for the 50th.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed they did what they said and I'm just being overly anxious.

 

[jamier2]

I was able to use another browser and got logged on to my DVC account and everything is as it should be. I am so glad that they were able to help me and things worked out.

Thanks for tolerating my little rant this afternoon.

 

[Narcoossee11]

You got your one YOUR SO LUCKY pass. Remember this will not happen again.

 

[jamier2]

Well I think that was one of two awesome things today!!!

I just clicked on park availability and was able to buy tickets and reserve Magic Kingdom on October 1st!!! What a day!

 

[zavandor]

I was so fed up at that point. After another twenty five minutes on hold the cast member came back on the phone and said she had gotten through two supervisors and someone had been able to grant my request.

I am happy they have helped you, but I find it frustrating that the policies depend on who you speak with or how long you keep complaining. It should be either allowed or not. leaving this open to escalations will cause havoc on MS. Why shouldn't I keep complaining with MS when they say they cannot do something until I get what I want? It seems supervisors have access to an advanced system that allows them to do things that are against the booking policies.

 

[jamier2]

I find it frustrating that the policies depend on who you speak with or how long you keep complaining.....It seems supervisors have access to an advanced system that allows them to do things that are against the booking policies.

I couldn't agree more. I have found the most irritating thing about DVC is that so much variation in how they handle things. Also I can't imagine why they ever thought that you shouldn't be able to split up a reservation in the first place.

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks for both of the thoughtful responses.

I was so fed up at that point. After another twenty five minutes on hold the cast member came back on the phone and said she had gotten through two supervisors and someone had been able to grant my request.

I couldn't believe it - and I'm starting to think that initial reaction was the correct one.

I had an eight day reservation and I had them split it into 4 and 4. I got the new "welcome home" email for one of them but not the other. Of course the DVC website isn't working for me all day so I can't check on there if the other reservation exists or if it got vaporized.

Hopefully sometime tomorrow the DVC site starts working or I can stomach another hour on hold just to verify they didn't erase half my reservation. The half that isn't accounted for is the part that maybe - if things go exactly right - our family could still use and be on the property for the 50th.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed they did what they said and I'm just being overly anxious.

Congratulations! You are the first person who I know of who was granted the request.

 

[Sandisw]

I am happy they have helped you, but I find it frustrating that the policies depend on who you speak with or how long you keep complaining. It should be either allowed or not. leaving this open to escalations will cause havoc on MS. Why shouldn't I keep complaining with MS when they say they cannot do something until I get what I want? It seems supervisors have access to an advanced system that allows them to do things that are against the booking policies.

I agree. This has been long standing policy and now what we will begin to see is more people simply complaining on an individual basis until they get them to change their minds for that owner and not others.

I don’t always agree with some of the policies but I do think consistency is important.

I understand for emergencies when things get done. If it was done it should become policy which is what my email will say. I book all my 11
Month trips split because they don’t split later. Which means two different windows.

 

[jamier2]

Honestly I don't see why it shouldn't be an allowed policy. If someone made the reservation at 11 months, why should they get penalized if they later want to split it up? It's not like it is taking days out of inventory that weren't already booked before or are affecting anyone else's chances at the room.

 

[Marionnette]

Honestly I don't see why it shouldn't be an allowed policy. If someone made the reservation at 11 months, why should they get penalized if they later want to split it up? It's not like it is taking days out of inventory that weren't already booked before or are affecting anyone else's chances at the room.

Because in theory if you have enough points, you could book an entire month in a hard-to-get villa right at 11 months by just adding nights after the first 7 as the rules allow. Then you could break it into chunks to rent out as spec reservations. Can you imagine someone doing this for CCV studios between Thanksgiving and Christmas? It would really put owners with small contracts at a disadvantage and encourage spec reservation renting.

 

[Sandisw]

Honestly I don't see why it shouldn't be an allowed policy. If someone made the reservation at 11 months, why should they get penalized if they later want to split it up? It's not like it is taking days out of inventory that weren't already booked before or are affecting anyone else's chances at the room.

I agree it would be a nice policy because many owners want split stays and can’t accomplish them because of it,

Technically, though, that room was gotten ahead of others because you used 11 + 7. Someone who wanted a split stay and knew they don’t split later had to wait to book the second part so it’s possible they lost the second part.

Again, this isn’t about you, but rather you getting them to do it because you complained. If it can be done like that, then it should be a policy change.

 

[jamier2]

Because in theory if you have enough points, you could book an entire month in a hard-to-get villa right at 11 months by just adding nights after the first 7 as the rules allow. Then you could break it into chunks to rent out as spec reservations. Can you imagine someone doing this for CCV studios between Thanksgiving and Christmas? It would really put owners with small contracts at a disadvantage and encourage spec reservation renting.

Well that is something I hadn't thought of. I'm sure that could definitely would put others in a bad place.

Also just to be clear I didn't make a huge fuss. When she said they couldn't do it I just said that I was surprised and obviously disappointed. I didn't try to beat the system or anything. She just asked to put me on hold then came back and said they did it.

As if things aren't complicated enough, maybe they could have a single split rule so a member could split one time per use year or something. I'm sure though that even that would allow professional point renters the ability to do just what you guys said and I can't see a way to keep it fair to all.

It's really tough, because if they hadn't split our stay I would have had to cancel the days of the trip that I personally can't go. Still someone who tried for that room after me (at 11 months) and didn't get it would probably be hosed - but some lucky person would have gotten it at 2.5 months out (in this case anyway). It's definitely not as black and white as I had thought.

 

[zavandor]

Honestly I don't see why it shouldn't be an allowed policy. If someone made the reservation at 11 months, why should they get penalized if they later want to split it up? It's not like it is taking days out of inventory that weren't already booked before or are affecting anyone else's chances at the room.

I agree, more flexibility is better. I own a timeshare that doesn't require banking and borrowing, points expire after 5 years and you just see all points available and after a stay the oldest points are used first. It seems all those complicated and restrictive rules exist just so members lose points.
But if there is a rule and one can get an exception just complaining for hours, it's going to be caos. Anyone reading your post will know they can get the to split a reservation. They'll keep CM on the phone for longer and continue to call until they get it. There are already hours long lines, it might get mad.

ETD: apologies if I make it seems I'm complaining about your behaviour. As I said I'm happy for you. I just hope they make it an option available to anyone, not something one should ask a supervisor

 

[Marionnette]

Well that is something I hadn't thought of. I'm sure that could definitely would put others in a bad place.

Also just to be clear I didn't make a huge fuss. When she said they couldn't do it I just said that I was surprised and obviously disappointed. I didn't try to beat the system or anything. She just asked to put me on hold then came back and said they did it.

As if things aren't complicated enough, maybe they could have a single split rule so a member could split one time per use year or something. I'm sure though that even that would allow professional point renters the ability to do just what you guys said and I can't see a way to keep it fair to all.

It's really tough, because if they hadn't split our stay I would have had to cancel the days of the trip that I personally can't go. Still someone who tried for that room after me (at 11 months) and didn't get it would probably be hosed - but some lucky person would have gotten it at 2.5 months out (in this case anyway). It's definitely not as black and white as I had thought.

People cancel or modify reservations all of the time. Sometimes at under 7 months. Stalking might pick up those dropped nights or, in a perfect world, the waitlist picks them up and awards them to someone who waitlisted right at 11 months.

Right before the shutdown, I dropped 2 nights from a VGF studio for the first week of December when we decided that it was too many nights to be away from home. Someone got those nights and whether it was a non-owner at VGF or a waitlist pick up is immaterial at this point. In a system like DVC it just comes down to those nights being filled by someone so that the room doesn't sit empty.

 

[n2mm]

Congratulations! You are the first person who I know of who was granted the request.

so true. I’ve tried too because we had a 10 night and wanted to put a 4 night cruise in the middle. It was a total “no go”. I had to decide which side I wanted to keep. Wasn’t successful in grabbing the other half, so had to make a new reservation

 

[sndral]

I think OP is in a slightly different position than someone who wants to break up a reservation that was originally booked as one stay in that she originally had 2 separate reservations which she merged via chat, so in essence has been returned to the position she was in before that merge via chat.
Plus I believe OP is a very new DVC owner, and DVC has always exhibited some flexibility towards brand new owners, especially direct buyer new owners, like the welcome home booking & the banking of new points after the banking deadline has passed.
DVC is a nuanced & complicated system, IMO, my solution is to keep my bookings as simple as I can, and to keep up w/ changes.