The good the bad the ugly of OKW reservations

RobDoc

DIS Legend
Joined
Aug 14, 1998
Messages
34,195
(With apologies to Diane for borrowing and abusing her thread title!)

Last Friday, I called MS and made a reservation at OKW for next January. We wanted a reservation for an 11 night stay and I knew I could only reserve the first 7 nights. (I don't agree with the artificially selected 7 night limitation and have voiced that opinion to the deaf-ears of the Member Satisfaction Team , but that's another discussion.)

I told the MS rep I would be adding more nights to the reservation. I recorded my confirmation number and received a confirmation email a short while later. I was planning to add 4 more nights from a different OKW account and was told I could add those nights today.

I called MS today and spoke with 'Gladys' - asking her which member # she wanted first. She told me she wanted to know the one I would be using to add the additional nights. When she tried to add those nights the system would not allow it and she told me I'd need to wait until Saturday to complete the reservation. When I challenged her about adding 4 nights to an existing reservation she said it was because I was using a different member number. Rather than go through any more with 'Gladys' who was rather difficult to understand, I thanked her for all of her help and hung up (although I should have stayed on to complete the phone survey).

I immediately called back and spoke with 'Curtis' who couldn't have been more helpful. I explained what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it and he said "No Problem".

I made a new reservation for the first 4 nights using the 2nd account and he simply modified the original reservation for the final 7 nights of the reservation, linking both together into one reservation. No need to even cancel the original reservation. So, instead of a 7 night reservation and a 4 night reservation, I now have a 4 night reservation and a 7 night reservation. In retrospect, I should have done it that way in the first place and that was my fault.

The moral of the story is, if you get a MS rep who is unable/unwilling to accomplish something you know you should be able to somehow do under the DVC reservation policies, don't hesitate to hang up and call back. The chances are great that you will get a more experienced or more helpful CM on the 2nd call (and if not, a third call might just do the trick). :)
 
I have to agree with the accent part too. I try real hard but sometimes I just can't understand the person and have to call back.
 
The moral of the story is, if you get a MS rep who is unable/unwilling to accomplish something you know you should be able to somehow do under the DVC reservation policies, don't hesitate to hang up and call back. The chances are great that you will get a more experienced or more helpful CM on the 2nd call (and if not, a third call might just do the trick). :)

Didn't we determine awhile back this was in fact the actual "Best Kept Secret"?
 
Couldn't agree more. If a CM starts taking a way the joy of planning, be polite, say goodbye, and try again :)
 

I sometimes think that those cast members we have trouble understanding might also be having some trouble understanding us. I suspect that's where part of the problem comes in. That might also mean they don't truly understand the "product" and all the ins and outs of their duties. Language can be a huge barrier when some things just don't translate the same way.

Oh, and no apology needed, Rob!
 

















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