Vero Beach Resort lovers, someone had a horrible experience!!!

[luckytso]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=367291

Is the front desk there that terrible or this was just an exception? We would like to go down there one of these days, and I certainly would not want to have what this person experienced.

 

[Doug Wolfe]

I am sure people have bad experiences. Let's face it, you're dealing with humans. Most of the things I read here about Vero are wonderful. Some people you can never make happy. For example, at another web site, I read a very negative review of Beach Club Villas. The problem? The poster complained because their kid was sick and they had to wait at an Orlando hospital for six-hours. The poster felt it was not the hospitals fault, it was Disney's! Go figure. There was not a single negative thing listed by her about BCV, just the hospital and another complaint about cab service. Good Grief! I suspect Vero Beach is a wonderful place to stay, based on the fact it is virtually booked for the entire summer.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I am sure this is the exception. I am sorry that it happened, and while I am certain she had a bad experience, we all interpret interactions in a different way. Someone else may have been okay with the way things went.
I have a hard time figuring this one out, as I think a studio is pretty close to equal value of an Inn Room.

 

[vernon]

You can get negative reviews for just about every hotel in the world. Sometimes the higher the expectation of the resort, the louder the complaint. Sometimes that is because, as has been pointed out here, a guest gets a CM who's having a bad day. Shouldn't happen, but we're all human and sometimes you, me, we are the person to be on the receiving end. Sometimes it's because the guest, who ALWAYS thinks they are as sweet as apple pie, rubs the CM up the wrong way and sometimes the guest is just spoiling for a fight because they have had a bad day and someone's gonna get it.

I would say that in my experience of Vero, probably 7 or 8 visits, I've found the CM's there to be of the highest order and generally ( probably because they get less flows than the WDW resorts) better than the CMs at WDW. Maybe the person complaining was unlucky, maybe they were spoiling for a fight, maybe it's a little of both.

I would say, and the person does acknowledge this, that if you have a particular type of room that's going to "make or break" a stay then it is wise to take your copy of the reservation with you. This lady did not have supporting paperwork to back up her claim, and as such all the CM has to go on is the computer print out in front of her. I'm sure the CMs get this a lot "oh I should get X type of room, but I don't have my confirmation with me" , there may be sometimes it's genuine, but I would think in the majority of the cases it's people trying to get an upgrade.

Personally, I'd take an Inn room over a studio almost everytime.

 

[PamOKW]

My experience with CMs at Vero has been 100% wonderful. In fact, I wonder where they get these terrific people. I have found them to be more outgoing, friendly and willing to go the extra mile than even those at WDW.

Some things ring funny in the story being told. Vero does have a parking lot but hotel guests park in underground garages below each building. The room next to the elevator on the top floor is the laundry room. Of course, it's possible they had a room in that general area. While it's true these rooms look out over A1A they also look out over the Indian River and you get a fabulous sunset view. (I've seen it while doing laundry.)

Sounds like a big mix-up and bad weather conspired to make this person very unhappy. However, I would not consider it the "norm".

I just checked the rates and a studio and an gardenview inn room are comparably priced. Oceanview Inn rooms run about $40 per night additional. There is/was a promotion for 2 nights at $149 per night for a studio. In the description it says this could be 2 queen beds or a queen bed and sleeper sofa. The offer had to be booked by 4/20.

 

[Dean]

Obviously none of us were there but reading the posts I'd have to lay the majority of the attitude on the guest. VB has actually been the best I've experienced from a customer service standpoint.

 

[ncligs]

Vernon,Pam,Maistre Gracey and Dean,

Your giving away our VB secrets.

 

[ftmyersgirl]

Hello,

I am one of the posters who had a problem with the front desk staff at Vero Beach. (Yes, there is actually more than one).

I had spent three nights in Hilton Head and upon checking out I booked Vero with CRO for the next day because Hilton Head was such a positive experience. I was in South Carolina, not Florida where I live, so I could not bring my paperwork. I agree that this is crucial but I have yet to receive it. I asked for the queen bed and the couch in case there was bad weather I could sit in my room and read. I was told that is what I booked. It was guaranteed by CRO. I await the registration confirmation to see if I was incorrectly informed. Even if CRO messed up, what those two ladies subjected me to was beyond rude.

Upon checking in, thinking that I was goint to read, I asked for a room not too close to the elevator. I was given room 2301, which may not be on the very last floor, but it is RIGHT NEXT to the elevator. I was not informed that they were going to place me next to the elevator. All I was told over and over is that I paid 149.00 and I could make any requests (like the couch and not to be next to the elevator I assume because I made no other request). Please note that there were only 10 cars in the underground garage and this was Thursday.

I called the parking area, beneath the building, a parking lot and that seems suspicious to some, but believe me I was there albeit for less than 30 minutes.

I had decided to buy into DVC. I did not go there with an attitude. I went there to confirm my decision. Even though my home resort will not be Vero, vacationing there on my points was clearly something I was planning to do. I like Vero Beach and if it were not for the warmer winters in Fort Myers I would of relocated there when I decided to move to Florida from Manhattan.

I have spent countless hours on these boards since registering in March planning three trips to Disney resorts and one off premise vacation. I have also spent hours learning about DVC and getting suggestions from very supportive people. I have followed all recommedations to a tee and was not looking for any trouble.

I was treated by the front desk staff at Vero Beachas if I was stealing something or trying to get something for nothing. I think they are so used to people asking for such specific requests (room number, orientation to the sun, proximity to the pool and fireworks to name a few) that they were not even listening to what I was saying. All I wanted was a couch and not to be next to the elevator.

I paid 159.00 for a two bedroom villa at Hilton Head and my family and I were treated royally.

At Vero, my rate of 149.00 for a studio was repeated to me three times like some magic encantation to make me disappear. It worked. Poof, I was gone. It must be that Disney Magic I have been reading about.

Unless you are one of the two ladies who checked me in, you should not take this MINOR incident as a reflection on you. I was merely checking out the place. This was not my vacation. It was a location visit. But if you are going there on vacation and wish to avoid a possible hassle bring your written confirmation with you. I am addressing "cash" guests because I am sure that the timeshare aspect is handled appropriately. That was one point. Also, that the garden view room I got faced A1A in addition to some bushes.

The resort was lovely and had an old Florida quality to it that I value so much so that I relocated to Florida. I am sure I would have enjoyed it if I had been handled a little differently.

Lastly, I had previously posted that I had come back from Hilton Head and had a wonderful time and wanted to share my experience. No one asked any questions. But a post in response to someone's inquiry about Vero Beach does. I found this here because I was following the BCV v. Boardwalk Villa threads closely as I am soon to make my decision.

 

[ftmyersgirl]

PamOKW

The offer has been extended through August 23, 2003.

 

[Dean]

ftmyersgirl, I don't know you you were treated, only the few general specifics. Anyone aware of how VB is set up should assume the lowest price, especially a special discount code, would be a garden view Inn room. To a certain extent, VB treats Inn rooms and studios as the same. They are both essentially studios with different shapes, locations and bedding arrangements. On a points stay, the 2 cost the same number of points except the garden view rooms are less. On cash, the Inn rooms are actually more expensive but I think the Garden view and studios are the same cash price. Your gripe from a procedural standpoint is with CRO for giving you the wrong info.

From the resort standpont, I could also see their side of it in that you were asking for something you didn't pay for, even though you thought you did. How full the resort is had nothing to do with it. Timeshares do not operate like regular hotels in that by design they do not tend to upgrade guests or they do it for the price difference. As for their attitude, I wasn't there, and I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

 

[floridafam]

ftmyersgirl,

I'm sorry for how you were treated by the front desk CM's. There are some new ones the past year or so and they are less than "Disney" quality. We checked in last October-one stay of MANY-and I called twice from our room about something-only 2 times!!-on the second phone call the front desk CM picked up the phone and sighed loudly and said "what do you want now?" RUDE

Unfortunately, I have noticed when someone posts a negative report on these boards there instantly seems to be a "it was their fault, they were looking for a fight, there must have been something wrong with them" mentality that takes over.

I never say anything because it's a chat board and I try not to get worked up over something so trivial but I think you were trying to relay your bad experience and shouldn't be punished for it.

What's sad about the whole thing is that it could have turned out completely opposite. Let's say you didn't like your room location or set up and you went back down to the front desk. The CM offers to upgrade you to an ocean view inn room-assuming the resort was empty-you see it and are completely awed and you buy tons of pts at VB from DVC-a better situation for everyone.

The CM's at the front desk should have never kept saying your rate out loud over and over again. That is rude. That instantly suggests that they were somehow offended you received your room for such low price.

Your offer was completely valid and you should have been treated like any other guest at VB-whether staying on pts or paying cash. They have several offers available-DVC offers, Birnbaum, Disney Club that will allow people to stay there at quite a reasonable rate. They should do all they can to make sure your stay is enjoyable-because you may end up buying pts there. There would have been happy people all around and Disney would have made more money.

Yes, they do interchange studios with garden view inn rooms so maybe they didn't have any actual studios left. Who knows

I have been to VB more times than I can count. Most of the time, our stays are magical.

VB guests can park in the parking garage OR they can park in the parking lot. Sometimes when we have a big vehicle we always park in the lot instead of the garage. Not everyone parks in the garage.

Please don't be discouraged about posting on future stays at DVC properties. We need to hear the good and the bad. If we never hear the bad then things will never be corrected and more and more people will begin to experience poor customer service.

 

[vernon]

Ftmyers girl. Couple of things I don't understand.
1) If you called CRO from HH, why didn't you ask for either an email confo, or if you couldn't print that out ask them to fax one to DVC HH. I know it's easy with the benefit of hindsight, but if having a couch was such an issue for you, IMHO it's a sensible precaution.
2) Was bad weather likely? If so, why book into the resort to check it out? Surely it's more sensible to check it out when the weather's good. It's not like you couldn't take a weekend break at some time and drive from Fort Myers when the conditions were better.
3) If you've checked into DVC, then you'll know that an Inn room is certainly the equivelant of a studio ( IMHO better) , if the resort only had 10 people or so in it, I can't see the proximity to an elevator being an issue as there would be no one using it. If the weather was that bad, but the resort was so quiet there would be plenty of quiet places to sit and read other than your own room. While DVC has some very nice resorts, I don't think you'd get much of a feel for any of them by staying in your room for the whole day.
4) Did you call CRO yourself and ask them to verify the booking when you were at Vero having problems? You don't say what time of day this was at.

Sorry if you think I'm being harsh on you, but your complaint doesn't make much sense to me. I'm certain there was a number of ways you could have got round your problems, losing your cool and deciding to "take your custom elsewhere" probably wasn't one of them. Personally , I'd have taken the Inn room, maybe asked for a better view or location, asked if it would be possible to check out an unoccupied studio as I was thinking of buying into DVC and would like to see the different units. IMHO the way you appear to have handled the incident, didn't help you to get the outcome you wanted. It's quite possible that you did indeed get an impolite CM, but there are ways and means of handling people like that in order to get what you want out of the situation.From what you have said on this post, I'm led to believe your own attitude and actions will have contributed to any missunderstands and ultimately to your bad experience.

 

[ftmyersgirl]

vernon

1. I booked the Vero Beach resort upon checking out of Hilton Head from my cell phone. No opportunity to get a written confirmation which was the point of my original post. I made a big mistake not having the confirmation with me. I am truly sorry. Others should learn from my gross error and take their confirmation with them.

2. I knew the weather was possibly going to be bad because it was raining in Florida the evening I booked. There is always that possibility of afternoon showers in Florida. I had spent an action packed time in Hilton Head and was looking forward to just relaxing. Everyone said that Vero Beach was the place to relax.

3. You are right, the elevator would probably not been a problem since the resort was empty and it appeared I was the only room on that floor occupied. Please bear in mind that the trainee had put me into the room next to the elevator right after I said please have it not be so close to the elevator and that trainer told her "not that close" and then said "we will give you a nice room" and that nice room turned out to be right next to the elevator.

4. Since I work for myself I could always take a weekday break too. It was very stupid of me to book a hotel when it was raining to check it out. Or was it?

5. It was around 12 noon when I checked in. No I did not call CRO until last night and was told that I should not have been charged 30 dollars more for a studio with a couch in it. I did not consider this a "problem" that had to be solved immediately. I think repeating what happened on this board was a sufficient solution and I don't feel a need to report anyone specifically. What I am writing the organization about is the fact that it serves no purpose to have these promotions and then treat those who take advantage of the promotion like they are trying to get something for nothing. It does not sell points. From a marketing standpoint it was a disaster.

I did not mind that the room was at the inn. It was a lovely hotel. But the front staff was beyond rude.

No need to apoligize for your harshness. I was not expecting anything less from avid fans of the resort.

I did not lose my cool. I don't know where you got the quote "take my custom..." don't even understand what it means. As a matter of fact the staff did not lose their cool. Aside from repeating what I had paid in a loud voice three times, it was the most uninvolved transaction I have ever encountered. They could not care less if I stayed or left and no attempt was made to clarify the misunderstanding from either side. I did not want to upset my husband the week before we were to buy into DVC. I don't know what their motive for not seeking clarification was except they could not care less.

These boards are an invaluable source of information for those of us who are new to Disney and its Resorts and I felt compelled to give a little back since I have gotten so much information. Thank you for taking so much time out to make me focus and frame my experience. It will help when I write my letter to the marketing people at DVC.

Dean, I knew it was a "garden view". Did not expect anything else. I was merely pointing out to the orginal poster that the garden view rooms may face A1A. For those of us who live in southwest Florida that is equivalent to being on the Daytona race track. It's a Florida thing. The poster was asking for information on oceanview and since I had not even seen the ocean while there I was trying to explain what I had seen.

Dean, I was not trying to get an oceanview room without paying an upgrade if that is what you are suggesting. My complaint is with how the possible CRO mistake (and this has yet to be established) was handled by the front desk. Repeating out loud three times what I had paid for the room was uncalled for.

A balanced and measured approach to solving any problem is always important. I travel a lot and have never had encountered the attitude of these two ladies. Sure I made mistakes and perhaps my expectations of the serivce at the front desk had been elevated by the reviews on this board as well as my experience with the front desk at Hilton Head, who collectively had to be the most professional people I have ever encountered in the Hotel industry.

Floridafam

Sorry you had a taste of the attitude I encountered. Thank you for sharing it. I need as much information as I can get because I am taking this crash course on Disney as well as on time shares.
I hope my advise helps others not make the same mistakes I made. I hope my comments reach the front desk staff in a constructive way. I also thank you for recognizing the public relations problems that this poses for Disney when they are trying to sell timeshares in the resort.

 

[Dean]

ftmyersgirl, I got the impression you were lobbying for a studio with a couch, if I got the wrong impression, I apologize. Still the info I've seen clearly states that this is a studio and has a link to the DVC website info of studio which at VB can have either configuration and is clearly spelled out as such. I'd be curious if any member has had a studio reserved and received an Inn room instead.

This is one problem when renting through a third party. While not totally separate, DVC resorts are not truly part of Disney proper, there's sort of a simbiotic relationship. This situation makes for the possibility of misunderstandings, especially at off site resorts (VB and HH). Maybe it shouldn't be so but it is. It's not that much different than renting through Apple vacations, AAA or any similar travel company.

 

[Cruelladeville]

If there were two ladies there at check-in, were they a CM and a trainee, or were they a CM and a manager? If you encountered rudeness from a CM and a trainee, you should have immediately have asked to speak to their manager. If one of those people was a manager, then you have no choice except to communicate with Disney/DVC directly. I have always gotten satisfaction when I spoke with a manager, if you didn't, then there is a very serious problem with the front desk at Vero, and it is important to report it.