Stayed at AKV-Kidani and was given credit for issues but now have another problem...

[ilovecoasters]

I take offense that people seem to say I am whining about this. I am not. I was just frustrated I was told one thing and then find out later that it wasn't explained to me correctly. I am grateful and unfortunately we love this resort so that is why we stayed there again. Will I stay there again next year - probably not anytime soon.

As far as the specific problems, we had segmented dining which did not work. Every day I went to the front desk and got a print out of our meals, snack credits, etc. and would take it with us. Four times at meals they said we had no dining plan attached to the card and over four times no snacks. We literally went from the front desk at Kidani, walked across to their gift shop and they swiped our card and it said we didn't have any snacks. When we left Saturday, I had 28 different room cards they had given us because of all the issues!

We were in the room on Tues and maintenance came by to say that they were upgrading the TV's and would we allow them to come in. We did - they upgraded ours in the King bedroom and the other bedroom and then the family room. The Family Room one didn't want to work. They said they would be back later that day. No one came Tuesday or Wednesday. I called Wed and they said that no problem was reported by the guys who were doing the upgrades and they would send someone. Again no one came. By Thursday night I went down to the front desk and they called. Once again they said they didn't know anything about it but would send someone. They came and it was finally fixed.

Doing the wash on Tuesday we selected Cold for the wash water. It was burning hot and almost burned my hand. It was also making noises. We reported it and someone came, but not for two days - hence lots of wash.

I stayed during this trip at two other DVC resorts on points and segmented dining and had no issues. Unfortunately this resort tends to have issues and I love it and the atmosphere but the 28 keys and the issues with things not getting fixed for days has put a bad taste in my mouth.

Thank you for the responses and please know that I am just frustrated but better today. I did not ask for a single dime from them, I was reporting it so things could be fixed. The manager said that because of all these issues he wanted to compensate us for the inconveniences, especially the TV's not working and children wanting to watch TV. I told him that when I get my survery that I will mention how helpful he was and the front desk staff. My main goal was to have these issues fixed for future tenants and for us to have the desire to come back.

To answer the question on a post - Refunding points I was told is never an option. The manager said the only thing he could do would be to compensate us for some of our dining plan expense.

We had problems at BWV a couple of years ago. Like you, we weren't looking for compensation - we just wanted the problems fixed. After enough problems that would make your stomach turn, we were told they could not refund points but could compensate us in another way. They first offered park tickets, but we have PAPs - so the manager offered us a credit. Again like you, we found out after we got home that because we never charged anything they had difficulty crediting us. It took about a month, and probably 4 or 5 follow up calls, we were finally credited. Believe me though, the cash did NOT make up for the bad stay. We have no pleasant memories of that trip and could not wait to go home. You are not whining. We all have put out a significant amount of money for our DVC membership and with that should come a certain level of expectations.

 

[kristenrice]

After enough problems that would make your stomach turn, we were told they could not refund points but could compensate us in another way.

To answer the question on a post - Refunding points I was told is never an option. The manager said the only thing he could do would be to compensate us for some of our dining plan expense.

I had a problem with a room assignment at KV back in April 2010. We were travelling with my parents and booked a 2BR lock-off. I requested a lock-off for various, specific reasons and I was told that it is a *guaranteed* booking category. That was perfect because I almost booked a studio/1BR to guarantee that our needs could be accomodated.

Well, we ended up in a dedicated. I went down to the front desk, confirmation in hand, and asked to be reassigned to the proper (lock-off) unit. Nope...can't do it....there's no guarantee that you can have a lock off...it's just a request. I asked to speak to the manager. She said we could move to a lock-off the next day....and they would waive the room switch fee (oh, gee, thanks!). So now, we have to check out by 11 and wait until after 4 to get a new room? Yup, but "maybe we can clean a room early for you." So, I deal with it since I can't really do anything, and I make a phone call to Member Satisfaction. Their manager puts me on a three-way call with the manager at AKV. Now, the manager at AKV Kidani (who, up until this point, offered nothing but an apology) was very quick to order an expidited room cleaning and a $200 credit to our account after the DVC Member Satisfaction manager got involved. We had a great trip, despite the moving around.

When we got home, I sent an e-mail to Member Satisfaction. I wanted to let them know what had happened. Since we plan on using our membership to take friends and family, I want to make sure that, in the future, when I book a *guaranteed* lock-off (or dedicated, for that matter), that is what I will be assigned. I politely asked if they would consider refunding my points that were used for the night we were assigned the wrong room type. Within 48 hours, I got a phone call saying that they would "absolutely refund the points". Since we were travelling in Peak season and we only own 100 points (that trip used up 2+ years of points), it was HUGE that they gave us 46 points back.

They knew what they were doing....those 46 points, combined with the remaining 2012 points left for borrowing, allowed us to take our first trip to HHI this past spring....which resulted in an add-on at HHI.

Throughout the whole process, I NEVER expected compensation and I NEVER raised my voice or "made a stink". I explained to the front desk what my situation was and asked what they could do about it. When they told me "nothing", I was a little perturbed. I had a feeling that since the room they'd assigned us was H/A, I'm guessing someone who checked in before us was originally assigned the H/A room and they were disappointed to they were probably given our dedicated 2BR. So, yes, at that point, there was "nothing" they could do about moving us, but they could have done something to prevent the issue from happening in the first place. That was my point in calling member satisfaction. Since the resort assigns the rooms, they need to know what the difference is between "requests" and "guarantees". If our room was given to someone who "requested" a non-H/A and it resulted in us not getting our "guaranteed" room, then there is a problem.

Overall, I was MORE than compensated (which I did not expect at all) for our "glitch". I look forward to our next trip to Kidani, which, unfortunately, is nowhere on the horizon yet...

 

[alicat07]

We had a huge problem with a segmented reservation at AKV Kidani this past December...what a nightmare it was for us to eat!!! And we only had 1 change, we had wanted to do Deluxe Dining for 2 days, then regular for the rest (or something like that, it was so many months ago I don't remember the exact break down), and it was a NIGHTMARE. And we also had a ridiculous amount of keys because they just could not get it right, and we were in a 3 BR Grand Villa with 9 of us!!! It all started at check in and the front desk told us our reservation had been booked completely wrong and we could not segment, so we even agreed after an hour at check in to just do deluxe dining for the entire trip to make it easier. Well, it still ended up being a nightmare for dining, in which after a long letter to Member Satisfaction upon return of our trip they did give us a good compensation back of our points, which we are using this September at AKV again! Though you can be certain we are NOT segmenting anything this time--one dining plan the whole trip!

It is disheartening to know that the problems with segmenting at AKV have not been resolved thus far!!!! I had hoped that after all this time it would have been figured out, but apparently it is a problem at AKV and not other resorts!!

 

[nunzia]

You have mis-read or mis-interpreted what has been stated. I think what most people have a problem with is her complaining about not getting a check quickly. It's like looking a gift horse in the mouth (now that's an old outdated expression, maybe it should be changed to, It's like looking for scratches on the outside case of a free Apple laptop.).

Also, I think DVC needs to stop this split dining plan stuff, it's just not working and causing wayy too many problems.

Agreed...I don't think they realized how many convoluted ways people would try and do this..although they should have..the things I read about people segmenting dining plans..what a mess.
That said, every single time I've gone to VGC or stayed the hotel rooms there, I've had the exact same issue with the tub..it WON"T hold water..maybe most people take showers so it never gets reported..they also have the over flow way to low, so you can't get much of a bath anyway, but I can see why they set it up that way. Still..EVERY time I just stuck a washcloth in it and then last time called maintenance and it took them 3 trips to fix it..and we've had a couple other odd ball issues, but really, I don't expect the room to be perfect and have never, anywhere I stayed, asked for compensation.