SSR room - a hot mess UPDATED WITH PICTURES

[Chic]

Good grief, I am not the statistic for Disney, just sharing my particular experiences. I really think some of you read way too much into these discussions.

I appreciate you sharing your experience. I wish my luck was as good as yours has been! I have owned DVC since 2007 and have no intentions of selling. I do get very frustrated when I walk into a room with my family and have dirty rooms with significant damage and lack of proper maintenance. This is not what makes the Disney name so popular! I think those who experience problems need to voice their concerns and make it known that this will not be tolerated. I've seen issues with Disney in the past (resorts, parks)where many guests would complain about the same issues. Eventually, Disney wants to maintain their good reputation and will fix it. This is changing the focus away from the resorts but Disneyland suffered a decline in upkeep and maintenance back when Paul Pressler was in charge. Not only did Pressler allow the Park to fall into disrepair, he was allowing classic attractions like the Submarine Voyage, Country Bears, People Movers to be shut down. Pressler was aiming at profits through merchandising which failed and caused him to be removed. As a result, many people wrote complaints into guest relations and he was eventually replaced by Matt Ouimet who immediately addressed these issues. Maybe all of the issues in the DVC resorts played a role in the removal of Jim Lewis. Let's hope Claire Bilby recognizes and resolves these issues soon.

 

[RobDoc]

92.5 % acceptability rating...not that great considering the buy in cost and maintenance fees. I would expect Disney to be closer to 98% satisfaction rating. Not sure what the industry average is though...

Going in at each visit with a 7.5% chance that my room is going to be sub par...not doin' it for me.

The DVC Member Satisfaction rate is 89% and DVC is the highest in the timeshare industry again this year. The industry average is 57%.

The satisfaction rate for MS is 93% and 89% for Member Accounting.

 

[Chic]

The DVC Member Satisfaction rate is 89% and DVC is the highest in the timeshare industry again this year. The industry average is 57%.

The satisfaction rate for MS is 93% and 89% for Member Accounting.

Maybe we are all spoiled and do not know it! One thing I can say in DVC's defense: When experiencing room issues, I have always been compensated generously.

 

[rock_doctor]

IMHO, it is not so much the room issue as the lack of concern from SSR personal. Managers who would not help, maintenance who could not get it fixed to housekeeping using room towels to wipe it up but not really cleaning it up... I can reset a toilet in ten minutes maybe an hour if I had to chip cement to replace the mounting flange. It is not rocket science and any homeowner could easily do it. No excuse, in my opinion.

 

[connorlevismom]

IMHO, it is not so much the room issue as the lack of concern from SSR personal. Managers who would not help, maintenance who could not get it fixed to housekeeping using room towels to wipe it up but not really cleaning it up... I can reset a toilet in ten minutes maybe an hour if I had to chip cement to replace the mounting flange. It is not rocket science and any homeowner could easily do it. No excuse, in my opinion.

This is exactly my issue too. It was really frustrating for my husband. He is a mechanical engineer and knew exactly what needed to be done to the toilet and tried to tell the maintanence person what needed to be done and he just said he could not do that. That "the person who does that is not in until the morning". DH was floored that this guy did not know how to do what needed to be done. He was a MAINTANENCE guy!

DH was about to go to Home Depot and get a new part and caulk the toilet himself! He laughed and wondered if SSR would pay him some dues back if he fixed his own toilet.

 

[Chic]

This is exactly my issue too. It was really frustrating for my husband. He is a mechanical engineer and knew exactly what needed to be done to the toilet and tried to tell the maintanence person what needed to be done and he just said he could not do that. That "the person who does that is not in until the morning".

We were told the same story during a visit to SSR over Martin Luther King Weekend a couple of years ago. We entered our room and immediately noticed the distinct odor of vomit. We found the wet spot in the carpet because my 4 year old daughter was walking around the room in her socks and screamed, "the floor is wet daddy"! The previous guest had obviously thrown up in front of the vanity area before we checked into the room so I called housekeeping. They said the person who cleans the carpet would be in first thing in the morning to clean. They sent someone in the room that afternoon and this person just laid a towel on top of the wet area of the carpet and left. We ended up sleeping in a room which smelled like puke all night. The dresser drawers also were beat up and the handles were broken. In addition, there was a big splat mark on the wall in the room by the phone which had not been cleaned. My guess is someone had a big party in this room over New Year's Eve which got a little out of hand. Regardless of what happened, this room should have been cleaned and repaired before any guests were allowed to enter.

 

[disneynutz]

But it is something that needs to be addressed, and now.

People spend thousands of dollars to buy into DVC with the intention of returning over and over for years to come. It becomes a problem if the resorts are so bad that people no longer want to stay in them.Then they have spent ALL this money on a place they no longer wish to use because it is not kept up to par.

For cash guests I can see your point but for DVC owners, we have no choice but to use our points or lose them. If a owner does sell due to issues, the next owner takes their place and Disney isn't out a thing.

If you needed to fix problems, who do you think will get fixed first. The cash guest who may not come back, or the DVC owner who will always come back?

 

[connorlevismom]

For cash guests I can see your point but for DVC owners, we have no choice but to use our points or lose them. If a owner does sell due to issues, the next owner takes their place and Disney isn't out a thing.

If you needed to fix problems, who do you think will get fixed first. The cash guest who may not come back, or the DVC owner who will always come back?

I know Disney won't be out a dime, but we will. I guess that is something they don't care about.

I would think, though, that torked off DVC members talking to people would result in less people buying into DVC. Maybe even less people spending cash to stay there, if the place has a reputation of being not well taken care of.

 

[disneynutz]

I know Disney won't be out a dime, but we will. I guess that is something they don't care about.

I would think, though, that torked off DVC members talking to people would result in less people buying into DVC. Maybe even less people spending cash to stay there, if the place has a reputation of being not well taken care of.

Disney seems to have zero problems selling to uninformed buyers. They aren't currently threatened by word of mouth or websites. If they were, they would take action.

There marketing ability is so strong and successful they would have buyers even if the buyers knew that it was a bad deal.

I'm not saying that we don't like our ownership, if we didn't we would sell, but the reality is a corporation will focus on the products that makes the most money and cash guests have a greater direct impact to their bottom line.

Bill

 

[rock_doctor]

This is exactly my issue too. It was really frustrating for my husband. He is a mechanical engineer and knew exactly what needed to be done to the toilet and tried to tell the maintanence person what needed to be done and he just said he could not do that. That "the person who does that is not in until the morning". DH was floored that this guy did not know how to do what needed to be done. He was a MAINTANENCE guy!

I wonder if an unmounted leaking toilet is a health code violation in Florida?

 

[Chic]

To a certain extent, DVC does need to keep the current owners happy even though the sell has already been made. Why? If enough of us were disgusted with our ownership and starting selling our contracts dirt cheap, Disney would end up having a "lower caliper" economic group owning their contracts. I'm not trying to be stereotypical but this would lead to negative consequences for Disney. DVC would end up with a huge amount of members not paying their maintenance fees. DVC would also end up entertaining the type of guests who typically vandalize rooms, get involved in domestic disputes, and steal things from the room such as hair dryers, towels, lamps, etc. All of these factors would lead to the decline of profits and deter future buyers. On a different note, I've never done this but been tempted: When staying at BLT last summer I received an unsatisfactory room. As I would see prospective DVC owners walking through the hallway taking the DVC Tour, I was very tempted to invite them into my room to see what they're really about to get themselves into if they decide to purchase. I've also considered approaching future buyers at the DVC Kiosk in the resort and inviting them to view the horrible room conditions they will encounter as a member. Just think, if you caused DVC to lose 3 sales during the week of your vacation, that's about a $50,000 loss for DVC. Hmmm....

 

[disneynutz]

To a certain extent, DVC does need to keep the current owners happy even though the sell has already been made. Why? If enough of us were disgusted with our ownership and starting selling our contracts dirt cheap, Disney would end up having a "lower caliper" economic group owning their contracts. I'm not trying to be stereotypical but this would lead to negative consequences for Disney. DVC would end up with a huge amount of members not paying their maintenance fees. DVC would also end up entertaining the type of guests who typically vandalize rooms, get involved in domestic disputes, and steal things from the room such as hair dryers, towels, lamps, etc. All of these factors would lead to the decline of profits and deter future buyers. On a different note, I've never done this but been tempted: When staying at BLT last summer I received an unsatisfactory room. As I would see prospective DVC owners walking through the hallway taking the DVC Tour, I was very tempted to invite them into my room to see what they're really about to get themselves into if they decide to purchase. I've also considered approaching future buyers at the DVC Kiosk in the resort and inviting them to view the horrible room conditions they will encounter as a member. Just think, if you caused DVC to lose 3 sales during the week of your vacation, that's about a $50,000 loss for DVC. Hmmm....

Room damages and theft are billed to the guest and/or paid with our dues, not money from Disney. Non dues payments and foreclosures cause the points to go back to Disney where they are sold again for pure profit.

Interference with Disney DVC sales would probably be met with the wrath of the Mouse and you would most likely be arrested for disturbing the peace. I was followed and stopped by Disney security for taking pictures at AKV a couple of years ago, not a good feeling.

Bill

 

[jcemom]

OP, I hope this is eventually resolved to your satisfaction. Personally, *I* would not be happy with only 1/2 my points back. Not only did you have to tolerate the poor condition and smell of the room for your entire stay, but you had to repeatedly waste your costly vacation time waiting for staff who never showed up, not to mention the time it took you to report the SAME problems again and again (which were still never taken care of). As if all of that wasn't bad enough, to be treated indifferently at best, rudely at worst...wow.

 

[connorlevismom]

Got a voicemail from member satisfaction team and it sounded to me like they are not going to do anything either about it. He just said he was sorry he did not reach me but that the management at SSR has been keeping them updated on the status of the situation and it sounded like they had resolved it.

He told me that if I wanted to talk about anything that I was supposed to call them. I don't even know if I am going to. I am not in the mood to argue anymore with people who CLEARLY have no problem putting guests in a room like this and they don't see anything wrong with it. I just hope that they fixed it before the next guest came, but I doubt it.

I don't know how to argue my case anymore seeing as I have talked again and again about the state of the room, sent pictures, talked about wasting vacation time.........they attitidue I am getting from them is that I am blowing it out of proportion.

 

[emilymad]

I have been reading this thread with much interest. We recently bought into DVC and haven't really stayed on points yet. It seems that the OP handled the situation in a logically manner and the issues still weren't resolved. I guess my question is if the room is so bad that you can't stay there but they won't move you what are your options? Camp out in the lobby and make a scene? To me that just seems like a crazy idea but I am not understanding what the options are.

We stayed on a cash reservation at AKL and had huge issues. Spoke with managers, asked for a new room, etc to no avail. It did get worked out once we got home but that didn't give back the vacation time spent on dealing with things you shouldn't have to.

 

[connorlevismom]

I have been reading this thread with much interest. We recently bought into DVC and haven't really stayed on points yet. It seems that the OP handled the situation in a logically manner and the issues still weren't resolved. I guess my question is if the room is so bad that you can't stay there but they won't move you what are your options? Camp out in the lobby and make a scene? To me that just seems like a crazy idea but I am not understanding what the options are.

We stayed on a cash reservation at AKL and had huge issues. Spoke with managers, asked for a new room, etc to no avail. It did get worked out once we got home but that didn't give back the vacation time spent on dealing with things you shouldn't have to.

I tried to handle it calmy and in a pleasant manner. Like you, I am not going to sit in the lobby and make a scene. That is just not me and I would not waste my vacation time doing so. But apparently that is what it takes!

 

[connorlevismom]

Travis from member services just called me and just wanted to ask me a couple more questions. He said that they were kept up to date on what was going on, even when we were there(not sure how, or why). I told him about the room and how it was disgusting and that I worried about the next person who got it. He told me that he could see the room had been taken out of circulation. So that RIGHT THERE tells me that SSR thought my pictures were bad enough to take the room out of circulation. But that I should not be refunded my entire points for having to stay in that room for an entire week?

I told Travis (who was super nice) that Brian at SSR told me that he would refund me 1/2 my points but that if I wanted anymore, I had to talk to member services. He was shocked and quite annoyed that Brian told that to me because he said that was not true. That it was up to BRIAN if I should get my full amount of points back, not them. I told him that the attitiude I got from Brian was completely blowing me off and acting like I was over-reacting. He told me that this was completely up to SSR if I get my points refunded back, or not. So he was going to call over there and talk to Brian. But it sounds like if this Brian decides that I don't deserve my points back, that is it, I am not getting them back.

I totally understand that it is up to the resorts themselves, but I am MORE than mad now that I found out that Briand flat out LIED to me and told me that 1/2 was all he could do and that anymore than that was out of his hands.

Quite frankly, he needs to be removed from his job, because he does not know that meaning of customer service. I have been more than polite through this whole thing and I DO NOT appreciate being lied to.

 

[bhodonne]

Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Maybe Brian didn't know who could give you what and when. Still lends itself to the same problem… people. I hope this is resolved to your satisfaction as a DVC member I want the best facility I can get knowing it can't be perfect all the time. This thread has certainly worked up a few folks and maybe it can be directed toward the people who can fix it. Good luck!

 

[Chic]

I told Travis (who was super nice) that Brian at SSR told me that he would refund me 1/2 my points but that if I wanted anymore, I had to talk to member services. He was shocked and quite annoyed that Brian told that to me because he said that was not true. That it was up to BRIAN if I should get my full amount of points back, not them. I told him that the attitiude I got from Brian was completely blowing me off and acting like I was over-reacting. He told me that this was completely up to SSR if I get my points refunded back, or not. So he was going to call over there and talk to Brian. But it sounds like if this Brian decides that I don't deserve my points back, that is it, I am not getting them back.

Just out of curiosity, did you have any success contacting Eli? Travis' position may be equivalent to Eli's position. When I received my compensation, Eli was working with the resort manager so I'm not sure who made the final authorization for my compensation. I do know that the hotel manager actually came to look at my room a few minutes after I went to the front desk to complain about the room issues. My issues were then validated when the manager saw the room in person. They really stuck the boot up their own rear end when they switched me to another room and it was in horrible shape too. After we switched to another room we had waited about 3 hours which took time away from our vacation time that could not be replaced. We decided to stay in the 2nd room and receive compensation so we could begin our vacation. Anyway, I know you're hoping for all of your vacation points to be returned and I feel you absolutely deserve that after the issues you experienced. If it doesn't work out this way, try looking at the positive. I think you were offered a little over 100 points and $400 credit. That combines to around $2,000 in value. Hopefully, that can be used for a future vacation which will be much more rewarding and will create some family memories. Best wishes.

 

[KBoopaloo]

Just out of curiosity, did you have any success contacting Eli? Travis' position may be equivalent to Eli's position. When I received my compensation, Eli was working with the resort manager so I'm not sure who made the final authorization for my compensation. I do know that the hotel manager actually came to look at my room a few minutes after I went to the front desk to complain about the room issues. My issues were then validated when the manager saw the room in person. They really stuck the boot up their own rear end when they switched me to another room and it was in horrible shape too. After we switched to another room we had waited about 3 hours which took time away from our vacation time that could not be replaced. We decided to stay in the 2nd room and receive compensation so we could begin our vacation. Anyway, I know you're hoping for all of your vacation points to be returned and I feel you absolutely deserve that after the issues you experienced. If it doesn't work out this way, try looking at the positive. I think you were offered a little over 100 points and $400 credit. That combines to around $2,000 in value. Hopefully, that can be used for a future vacation which will be much more rewarding and will create some family memories. Best wishes.

Eli was very helpful to me in resolving an issue we had at OKW back in late October. He said he was calling from the DVC Executive offices, I think. He was friendly, responsive and proactive and made me feel like my concerns were being addressed not just in regards to my situation but for future DVC guests as well.