"Strange" comment from MS CM this morning...

[Paula H]

Background: DH and I own at VWL with December use year. With banking and borrowing, we have ressies for a 3 night Wonder cruise this December and today was my day to start calling for the "land" part of our vacation. We LOVE VWL, but decided we wanted to try something different. I had planned to call earlier and make a VWL ressie just in case, but never got around to it. The computers at MS were down all day yesterday, so my attempts to get a sense of availability failed. This morning, I called for a studio at BCV - all sold out and the CM wouldn't give me any information re how it looked for the rest of the week we need since it's not our day to make a ressie yet (first time that's happened, but whatever). Second choice was BWV studio or 1 bed. standard - all sold out. I had her try a one bedroom at OKW, which is available. She also volunteered that both 1 bedrooms and studios are available at SSR. At that point she made an interesting comment - she said rather annonyingly, "we really encourage members to book at their home resorts." Well, I fell silent - I had no response. Obviously, as a member, I would understand they "encourage" that, but that doesn't mean I HAVE to if there's availability elsewhere at the 7 mo. window, and I'm sure that at one time or another most members book outside their home resort. As a matter of fact, if it gets to the point that we can only book at VWL because of availability, we might not even want to be members anymore! I needed to vent - after having the MS computers down all day and then a somewhat abrupt and not very helpful CM, I'm feeling disappointed. We're going to keep calling day by day and probably wait list for BCV.

 

[wtpclc]

Wow. Maybe MS should talk to the guides, because that's definitely not what the guides sell.

 

[CarolMN]

She was probably just frustrated with having to tell members that there is no availability. Try not to read anything into it - it's just one CM's "bad moment". I bet 99.9% of them don't care one bit where we all book.

Best wishes -

 

[MagikMom]

I wouldn't be happy with the comment either. The whole reason I joined DVC was that I wasn't "locked into" one place or time. I enjoy staying at different resorts. That's half the fun!! I don't think the CM should have said that to you at all.

 

[Paula H]

I recognize that the CMs at MS probably are having a very busy morning since they were "down" all day yesterday, and I also recognize that they may get tired of telling people there's no availability. I also realize that early December has become very popular, and that I should have just made my ressies 3 mos. ago at VWL to "be safe." But I know what I "bought" and being locked into to only one resort was not what we were sold.

 

[spiceycat]

you got a new person, I bit, and she wasn't use to having to do to many searches - give her time - she will adjust - or DVC will get rid of her. She was probably getting confused.

don't worry I have been a member for years - most MS will happily search all the WDW resorts for you.

DVC seems to have a lot of new people lately - I got one lady when I was making a day by day reservation that was under the impression that I need a different reservation for each day.....

well I called back a few hours later and got a professional she had been there for 10 years - she laughed at what the other lady had done - and fixed it all. It took her quite a while - because the first lady had linked everything.

I really think you got a newcomer and she just isn't as familiar with the system yet.

most MS are very, very happy to help members in anway they can.

 

[goofy4tink]

Yep, what spiceycat said!!! I talked to a great girl at MS this morning. When she asked me if it was okay to borrow 22 pts from 2006, I told her of course. Just because I wouldn't have any points left in my contract's final year was no biggie. Her response was...well, so many people let their points expire that most of us have no problem with borrowing!! It makes much more sense to borrow than to let 'em expire. Boy, expiring points will never be a problem for my family!! All in all, a great experience this morning. Even yesterday, all the CMs were pleasant when they must have been pulling their hair out by noon with those computers being down!!

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

Background: "we really encourage members to book at their home resorts." Well, I fell silent - I had no response. Obviously, as a member, I would understand they "encourage" that, but that doesn't mean I HAVE to if there's availability elsewhere at the 7 mo. window, and I'm sure that at one time or another most members book outside their home resort.

Maybe the CM was eluding to booking at your home resort during the 11 month window and switching at 7months?? I'm sure MS has to deal with many clueless members who don't understand the basics of their membership...like booking windows, and that may be the cause of such a comment. I wouldn't let the comment get me bent out of shape.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Maybe the CM was eluding to booking at your home resort during the 11 month window and switching at 7months?? I'm sure MS has to deal with many clueless members who don't understand the basics of their membership...like booking windows, and that may be the cause of such a comment. I wouldn't let the comment get me bent out of shape.

I was thinking the same thing when I read the comment. She could have been nicer about it and explained it better, but I do know that DVC encourages you to use your 11 month window to secure your ressie and then switch at 7. At least that's how our guide explained it to us.

 

[SoCalKDG]

Just remember that the larger DVC grows, the harder it will be to get into the smaller resorts at 7 months or less.

It sounds like you were frustrated that you couldn't get BCV or BWV while SSR was available. Its possible she saw the same frustration and was letting you know that "we really encourage members to book at their home resorts" thus avoiding this frustration in the future.

 

[Dean]

Wow. Maybe MS should talk to the guides, because that's definitely not what the guides sell.

The guides sell timeshares, nothing more and nothing less. They have no say in how things are run and frequently don't know it as well as the members. Anything a guide implied or even promised, that's not in writing, isn't enforceable.

As to the comment, I too suspect the CM was telling the OP to book at 11 month at their home resort as a backup, something we tell people on DIS all the time. Of course it's frequently how something is said, but I can promise you that if you'd posted something to he effect of "I tried to book X, Y & Z at the 7 month window and nothing was available"; we'd have told them to book home resort at 11 months out and change over if possible at 7 months. Don't forget about the wait list.

Lets see, OKW and SSR available but not the rest; I guess those owners either didn't book anything OR they booked at the destination resorts. Slam Dunk I'd say for who's trading where. I can bet we'll see more and more posts like this over the next few years.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Pixie Dust that you get your waitlist! I imagine that even with December being a busy time, lots of plans will change and you'll get what you want!

Bobbi

 

[jade1]

Lets see, OKW and SSR available but not the rest; I guess those owners either didn't book anything OR they booked at the destination resorts. Slam Dunk I'd say for who's trading where. I can bet we'll see more and more posts like this over the next few years.

 

[wdwstar]

sorry to hear you had a problem with ms, i hope your waitlist comes thru and you can stay where you wanted to stay. when are you going? DH told me to use the 11 month booking to get a room for our trip in dec. before our cruise and after our cruise staying at ssr and then switching over to bcv at the 7 months. we own at both places, but dh doesnt want to borrow the bcv points since we have plenty of current ssr points to use. i better call tomorrow. i was just wondering if bcv was booked up in the beginning of dec, middle or the end of dec.

 

[Paula H]

WDWStar - I was calling for the week of Dec. 4. Like I said in my OP, though, the CM wouldn't give me availability info since I could only make the ressie for one night, so I don't know how much further is sold out.

The CM clearly was in a rush, probably because of the busy phones due to yesterday's problem, and she didn't seem interested in really helping me. In hindsight, I should have called back and talked to a CM who had more patience.

Was I disappointed that we didn't get our first choice? Yes. Did I take it out on the CM? No. I don't even think I let on how I felt, since we had alternative plans in mind, and I politely asked her to check BWV and then OKW.

I agree that the smaller resorts are going to get harder and harder to get into, and not just at popular times of the year, but all year round. That makes me sad, too, and may at some point prompt us to sell. We love VWL, but don't want to spend every WDW vacation there.

Thanks for all the pixie dust - hopefully a waitlist will come through.

 

[fkj2]

There are two big problems with waiting until the 7 month window to book the first few weeks of December:

1. Because of the low point requirement for rooms at that time, everybody wants to utilize DVC, esp. VWL, BWV and BCV.

If you decide to travel again during the same time frame, you might want to consider booking the week at your home resort of VWL and then attempting to trade it out with an owner from BCV or BWV or wherever you want to stay. There are enough of us who own at the other resorts who are willing to work a trade.

2. WDW does some incredible holiday decorations. That is itself enough to draw larger park/resort attendance during that time.

VWL is a great location and I imagine if you allow yourself plenty of planning time in the future, you'd be able to find owners at alternative resorts who are looking for VWL (etc.) owners to trade with. I agree with the other posters who felt that the CM was probably implying that you might have wanted to book your time initially at VWL and then try a different DVC at the 7 month window. Please don't let this one (unfortunate) communication taint your viewpoint of VWL or DVC.

 

[JimC]

She was probably just frustrated with having to tell members that there is no availability. Try not to read anything into it - it's just one CM's "bad moment". I bet 99.9% of them don't care one bit where we all book.

Best wishes -

Agree with Carol. My experiences have been that CMs offer suggestions on using the points or getting a reservation so that we can enjoy our points.

 

[wdwstar]

whoops sorry if i didnt catch your dates early. thank you for posting the dates again. we are traveling after christmas and i really only need 2 nights before my cruise and one night after, so i may have a chance, but with all the renting of bcv points lately makes me wonder if i have a chance unless i borrow my bcv points instead of using my current ssr points.

 

[DebbieB]

Maybe the CM was eluding to booking at your home resort during the 11 month window and switching at 7months?? I'm sure MS has to deal with many clueless members who don't understand the basics of their membership...like booking windows, and that may be the cause of such a comment. I wouldn't let the comment get me bent out of shape.

That's how I took it too.

 

[las3888]

I spoke to a few different CMs today myself and none of them were happy campers...I suspect part of it was their business due to the systems being down yesterday. I didn't let them rattle me and went ahead with my business, but it does irk me sometimes because there are a few less than desirable agents on the phones (but so goes it everywhere)...