vanishing perks

[jagson]

Has anyone noticed that perks are dwindling, while costs are rising? MFs, price per points, parking, park tickets prices, etc. continue to escalate. I bet the old timers from OKW have seen alot of previous perks vanish; not to be replaced by equal, or better, perks. Has the loss of perks diminished the value of your membership? Is this going to be an ongoing practice, to the point of no perks left? Who grants, or eliminates perks?
Any feedback welcome. I've only been a member since 2006. Lets hear from the real vets.

 

[vicki_c]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2307402

See this locked thread for a recent discussion on perks.

 

[Chuck S]

We purchased in 1992 at OKW. At that time there were very few, if any, real perks/discounts. The free park ticket program was not a true "perk" but was a purchase incentive, it is what they offered at the time instead of the current $X off per point-type incentives, and we knew it was a limited program.

Dining discounts, when offered, have generally always been in the current 10% to 20% range and varied a lot by location. So no major changes there.

There used to be a few more shopping discounts at DtD, but they were never really anything much, either.

We currently enjoy the AP discount, prior to that the only park ticket discounts were 10% on a length of stay pass, so for those that can use an AP, it was a great improvement.

So really, overall, all the perk changes have been pretty minor.

IMO, a true "perk" should not be financed by dues, it should be offered by a vendor as a courtesy, as an encentive to do business with them while at the same time increasing traffic and profit for the vendor.

If it is subsidized by dues, it really isn't a perk, is it?

 

[CarolAnnC]

With the U.S. in a recession, the likes of which I have not seen in my lifetime, it cannot be a surprise that some perks are reduced or not being offered at all.

I am very happy with the perk discounts as they are and am appreciative for what we do have.. Now, if anyone wants to offer more perks, I will more than happily accept!

 

[DebbieB]

While perks are nice, the most important thing to me is that they maintain what is in the contract, which is the resort itself. I really don't have any complaints there. The part about perks that I do expect is that they communicate any changes, which they have failed on recently.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We've taken advantage of some of the perks, but not most of them. Most of the dining/shopping perks were equal to or not as good as the AP perks.

If you compare a few of the copies of Portable Perks from quarter to quarter, they change all the time. Sometimes it's just to get people to start visiting a shopping venue or dining venue that is newer or less frequently traveled by guests.

 

[Lynne M]

Has the loss of perks diminished the value of your membership?

Not in the least. I bought DVC for only one reason - because I wanted to save money on lodging. I wanted to stay in deluxe-level resorts without paying deluxe prices. And I've gotten precisely what I wanted out of the membership, and would do it again in a minute.

I read the contract and other membership materials thoroughly before I bought, and it was abundantly clear that I was buying the right to stay in DVC resorts at predetermined costs, and nothing else. There was nothing in the contract about discounts, or perks, or special treatment, therefore DVC owes me none of that.

Is this going to be an ongoing practice, to the point of no perks left?

Certainly could be. As I said, DVC has promised us absolutely nothing in terms of perks. They don't have to give us a single one.

Who grants, or eliminates perks?

It's my understanding that many of the perks come from outside entities. The restaurant discounts, for example, are offered by the restaurants. If they decide they don't want to continue to offer the discount, not much DVC can do about that. Same goes for golf, tour, and ticket discounts.

I think there's a general misunderstanding about the reasons businesses give discounts. The theme park division doesn't give DVC members $100 off APs because they think we're nifty people. And they certainly don't give us the discount because we paid DVC a lot of money......they didn't get a dime of the money that we paid to DVC. They give us the discount because they hope we'll come to the parks more often and spend MORE money. As long as they see that happening, the discount will continue. If they don't feel the AP discount is getting them much back, it will go away.

 

[DisneyMim]

Another "old timer" here, bought in 1991. No we never factored in any perks because we knew that in reality we are paying for them anyway. As Chuck said the passes that we had in the early years were not perks (at least to us) but just part of the purchase price. For us the biggest "perk" that we enjoy is the AP discount. We've had APS since our passes stopped in 2000. The discount is very much appreciated by us. We usually do the Dining Plan and/or Tables in Wonderland, so we've never really used any DVC dining discounts.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

This is reason #253 why both my contracts are listed for sale at the TIMESHARE STORE. Nothing else need be said.

 

[Chuck S]

This is reason #253 why both my contracts are listed for sale at the TIMESHARE STORE. Nothing else need be said.

I would say you likely purchased for the wrong reasons, if perk changes led you to sell.

 

[jctwizzer]

I would say you likely purchased for the wrong reasons, if perk changes led you to sell.

Amen brother,,,,anyone who bought because of free passes or other
amenity not related to the bldgs. was short sighted...

 

[DVC-Don]

We purchased for the accomodations. Perks are nice, but they come and go.

 

[tjkraz]

I would say you likely purchased for the wrong reasons, if perk changes led you to sell.

Agreed.

We could certainly quibble about changes to WDW itself over the years, but nothing has changed dramatically since AKV points went on sale a couple of years ago.

IMHO, the addition of free Internet and removal of free valet are pretty much a wash. Factor in the Annual Pass discount which came into being in 2005 and I'd say members are still doing better than when I first joined. Recreation perks are pretty much identical (tours, golf program, boat rentals, spa), and dining & shopping discounts have always been hit-or-miss.

 

[disneynutz]

As I have said before, it's not a specific perk or other policy that has changed or been taken away, it's the way that Disney implements the changes. No notice, no explanation, no honesty.

I don't really understand their thought process. Allowing the membership to vote on the changes that affect all of us only makes sense. Sure not everyone will be happy but at least we should have a say in the things that make up the membership.

I don't feel that Disney looks out for our best interest and I am getting to a point where I have lost my trust in them. I wonder what would be uncovered if we had a audit of all of the elements of our membership. Wait lists, booking system, RCI, dues, and management fees?

Bill

 

[Chuck S]

I don't really understand their thought process. Allowing the membership to vote on the changes that affect all of us only makes sense. Sure not everyone will be happy but at least we should have a say in the things that make up the membership.

How would we vote...one vote per membership? One vote per point? One vote per member, as some memberships have multiple owners? If you want these votes to be legally binding, they need to be set up in such a way that ALL members are legally notified, not just those with email addresses on file.

Voting method, internet only? (again, what about members that may not have internet) Internet and phone; Internet, phone and mail? Who pays for the postage, if mailed? Who pays for the phone calls, especially expensive oveseas calls?

I really don't see allowing a vote on anything as being productive. I see it as time consuming (time is money), expensive, and frankly, a general waste of assets. And we all appearently agreed with that when we signed the paperwork, not having any voting rights was pretty well covered in the POS.

 

[mjy]

IMO, a true "perk" should not be financed by dues, it should be offered by a vendor as a courtesy, as an encentive to do business with them while at the same time increasing traffic and profit for the vendor.

If it is subsidized by dues, it really isn't a perk, is it?

Well said!

I agree 100%

 

[jagson]

I appreciate the feedback from the Vets, as I am relatively new to DVC. It puts things in better perspective, having the "way it used to be" explained. I did my research before purchasing, and new ahead of time that perks were just that, and not indefinite. However, it seems to me that there is a focus on what we've lost in perks, and oversight on what we've gotten in perks. As a study on human emotions done several years, or decades ago, showed a loss is perceived around twice as traumatic as a win; so losing a dollar bet was twice as emotionally heart-wrenching as winning a dollar. Some perks are gone, but others have come along, and we just don't appreciate them as much. Us young pups in DVC need to be told the way it was, and not be so reactionary to change. Bottom line, I enjoy my membership, despite recent changes, and I'm not going "Wiley Coyote" over it, ie jump off the cliff to get the Roadrunner. Stop and think. In and of itself, DVC is a good deal, irregardless of the bells and whistles. I just needed an education.

 

[kangaroodle]

We purchased in 1992 at OKW. At that time there were very few, if any, real perks/discounts. The free park ticket program was not a true "perk" but was a purchase incentive, it is what they offered at the time instead of the current $X off per point-type incentives, and we knew it was a limited program.

We bought in 1995 and also got the free passes. I definitely thought this was a perk but also an incentive to buy. Yes, we knew it was limited and that being said, we used the heck out of it! We used it so much that by the end of 1999 when our "perk/incentive" was over, we had already stayed and gotten free tickets so many times that when we figured out what we paid, we had already gotten more than we paid for! IMHO the free park passes was the best perk/incentive the DVC has ever given!

 

[Sammie]

Perks to me are like fancy decorations on a cake. I see DVC as the cake. I bought the cake and as long as the cake is good, I don't have to have the decorations, they are nice and I like them but I can manage.

However when the cake gets bad, then I am upset.

And lately the DVC cake is not as good as it was when I bought it. We went for years without ever having problems with clean rooms and things in the room not working. I am not talking about dust bunnies, I am talking about really dirty rooms; and stoves and the dishwasher, major things not working.

I complained during our stay and it was taken care of, but my dues pay for clean rooms and things that work, I expect that to be a standard.

I also think the villas are getting really worn prior to rehabs. They are either buying cheaper materials which don't last or waiting too long to replace. Recently I think thier focus has changed from the current membership to sales and expansion.

 

[jctwizzer]

To put some other comments in perspective, in 14 years we've had one
issue that required a complaint, and that was five years ago....guess we're
just lucky, but have had no other negative experiences.,..