We're in the middle of a split stay right now and I need to vent a bit about Member Services.
We arrived at Aulani on 8/2 for the first three nights of our Hawaii vacation. We then hopped over to Molokai for a planned three night stay. With the approaching storm we decided to cut the Molokai portion short and see if we could get into Aulani a night earlier than planned. The forecast for Molokai calls for flash flooding which could potentially wash out the one road that could get us from our rental to the airport... possibly stranding us for days.
We called the resort last night at about 10PM Hawaii time, and they said there were plenty of rooms available, so we went to bed planning to call MS in the morning when we woke up.
This morning, I called MS and got the royal run around! I was put on hold for a long time, then the representative got back on the line and asked about the fact that we had previously had the night wait listed, then confirmed and then cancelled... all true, but the wait list and reservation all happened in February and the cancellation happened about 12 weeks ago... as I'm sure most people can understand an island vacation can be about flexibility and finding what works... the great thing about
DVC is the ease with which you can take advantage of that flexibility without any costs.
After another long hold, the rep got back on and said that there were NO rooms available at all... not for points, not for cash. I was frustrated and asked why he had needed an explanation about the previous wait list, reservation and cancellation... he said that his manager had wanted "their whole story"!
I was upset that the previous gyrations had had any impact on our situation at all... the manager smelling a fish that there was some gaming of the system going on.
I hung up, called the Aulani cash booking line and after explaining the situation, was again put on hold and this time told that cash reservations were available... for $470 for a studio for the night.
Knowing that there was a way around the block on new reservations, I decided to call the front desk and speak to guest services. A third time I explained our situation... calmly and clearly, and this time, the guest services manager worked some Disney magic and within a half hour we got a call back directly from the resort that we were confirmed for a 1-bedroom in our same category for the extra night... we won't even need to change rooms.
Overall, I feel like I just got stuck with an uncaring manager in Member Services who is too removed from the scramble on an island destination when a hurricane is coming. I understand that there are lots of things going on, but feel like MS met us with suspicion and a lackadaisical attitude rather than trying to help out people who have been members in good standing for 20 years. We were told that they had contacted the resort directly and that there was nothing they could do to help us.
The folks in the resort were gracious and quick to help.
I've never had a less satisfying interaction with MS, but ultimately I'd say to be polite and be tenacious if you need help with something special at DVC... be prepared to explain yourself multiple times if necessary and keep your cool.
Now we can relax and not worry about getting stranded on Molokai with no where to stay... and hey, there may be a hurricane coming, but we'll be at Aulani for 5 more nights!
Ted
Thanks .
Hope that MS can give you more information...Would think
And yes, I've done 3 Disney cruises and always purchase trip insurance although thank God I've never had to use it... Thanks for the advice and well wishes !
