Where to send letter?

[marko]

Hi,
Can someone let me know where I send a letter of complaint/concern regarding our Christmas stay at BWV. I'm not sure if I contact MS or the resort directly.
Thanks, Deb

 

[wdw1972]

You should have spoken to the manager while you were there if you had problems. Otherwise, they can't make it right.

Member Services isn't involved with the running of the resorts, so you can either write to the resort or write to Guest Communications. I've seen the address (& email address) on allearsnet.com

 

[Uncle Remus]

Hi,
Can someone let me know where I send a letter of complaint/concern regarding our Christmas stay at BWV. I'm not sure if I contact MS or the resort directly.
Thanks, Deb

Someone will come along shortly with the address, but in the meantime you could fill us in on the details if ya want.

 

[marko]

Warning: Very Long
I did speak with the manager during our stay. We were in a 1 bedroom boardwalk view on the fifth floor, checked in on Sunday before Christmas through Friday. On Christmas Eve we awoke to a very, very, very strong smell of some type of paint fumes. My husband was even bothered by it and he has no sense of smell. Anyway, we spoke to the front desk about it in the morning and they said it would be gone... by the afternoon. When we came back in the afternoon it was actually worse. I again spoke to the front desk who explained the problem to me, that they had done something on the outside of the building and the fumes were seeping into some rooms, especially at the far end and upper floors, of course our villa was the very last one and on the 5th floor, (beautiful view though). We were told again to go out to the parks or something for the evening and it would be fine by the time we would get back. They had the stair doors propped opened and said fans were running for ventilation... At this point I probably should have insisted that we get moved to another room because it would have been easier to do in the afternoon. My younger daughter and myself were nauseated by the smell and felt a little dizzy when we were in the room for about 15 minutes, and my asthma was triggered. So we went out again for the evening, (even though this was not what we had planned for Christmas Eve) and we came back around 9:30. The smell was a bit better, especially in the hallway, but it was still bad in our room. After about 45 minutes I couldn't take it anymore and went downstairs to speak to the manager. We slept down the hall for the night, and the manager was gracious about the situation. He was apologetic about it and understanding, and completely aware of the problem also. I do not understand what was absolutely necessary that had to be painted or varnished on one of the busiest days of the year. Anyway, when we woke up on Christmas morning, my son didn't remember that we switched rooms at 11 the night before and came into our bed crying that someone took our Christmas tree and Santa didn't come. After I calmed him down we went back to our room to open presents on Christmas morning and planned a hot breakfast in the room. My sister and brother-in-law walked over from the Swan and the first thing they said was What the H---is that smell? They wouldn't stay and have breakfast with us, (which we didn't cook anyway). We actually left Disney for the day and went to Tampa, and when we got back Christmas night it was fine. Again, I should have insisted that we be moved that afternoon, but I hoped it would be better and I didn't want to pack up the tree... and everything else for the last couple days of our stay. My husband was very upset and didn't even want to come back to Disney for our second part of our vacation, but I talked him into it. (New Years at SSR, which was very nice). They did offer us a free night, but that could not even come close to the trouble that this caused. Looking back at the situation, the manager should have moved us first thing in the morning, but instead they tried to avoid that hassle and we ended up not having the Christmas that we planned on for the year.

 

[Chuck S]

You may send an email to the address below:

DVCmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com

 

[marko]

Thanks

 

[bzzelady]

Walt Disney World
Guest Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista FL 32830-0040

 

[marko]

Thanks again

 

[Laurabearz]

I am so sorry that happened to you.

May I suggest breaking your letter up into paragraphs so it will be easier for them to read

((hugs)) for your son, I bet he was so freaked when he woke up, poor kid.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I agree about the paragraphs, and also be sure you keep your message short and to the point. Wordy things and ranting will likely not get you as far as simple facts about how this effected you.

One thing that probably was an issue is that they probably had nowhere to actually move you to on such a busy day. It might be why you ended up in a smaller unit for the night.

 

[disneynutz]

Since your stay was at a DVC resort, WDW Guest Communications isn't the correct unit to contact, DVC Member Satisfaction is.

You can also contact them during your stay by calling the regular MS number if you can't get satisfaction elsewhere.

We stayed in the exact same room last November and they were painting the Atlantic Dance Hall exterior and moving towards the Villas building. Smells like they are now working on the Villas building.

Please post the result of your communication.

 

[lugnut33]

I'm not saying you should be happy about it at all, but it sounds like they tried to help you out best they could. And you are right, probably by the time you complained at night there was nowhere to move you since I'm sure it was jammed packed.

Plus they offered you a free night as compensation.

Can I ask, what did you want them to do? Or what do you think they should have done?

 

[ladycop67]

We were in the same area. Did not notice the smell in our room but did take the back steps to go outside and the smell was terrible in the stairwell. I thought I was going to be sick too before we made it down 5 flights of stairs.

 

[marko]

"lugnut33

Posts: 642 I'm not saying you should be happy about it at all, but it sounds like they tried to help you out best they could. And you are right, probably by the time you complained at night there was nowhere to move you since I'm sure it was jammed packed.

Plus they offered you a free night as compensation.

Can I ask, what did you want them to do? Or what do you think they should have done?"


Looking back at the situation, I don't think they did the best they could. I spoke with the manager in the morning, afternoon, and at night on Christmas eve. I was not offered a different room until I went down the third time. I just trusted management and took it at their word that the problem would be cleared up when they stated it would.
I suppose I could have complained louder, screamed, whatever... and moved earlier in the day, but should I have had to have responded in that manner or should management have addressed a problem without having a customer have to insist upon it. This was not a leaky ceiling or a dirty room..., this was inhaling chemicals that lasted for more than 24 hours.

 

[Scott]

I'm not saying you should be happy about it at all, but it sounds like they tried to help you out best they could. And you are right, probably by the time you complained at night there was nowhere to move you since I'm sure it was jammed packed.

Plus they offered you a free night as compensation.

Can I ask, what did you want them to do? Or what do you think they should have done?

I can't speak for Marko, but I would have expected them to be responsive the 1st time I told them about the unbearable smell/fumes...not the 3rd. The guest shouldn't have to propose the solution to the problem...that is what customer service is all about. They put a guest in a difficult situation and should not have been slow to respond to the situation or have waited to symbolically atone for their error. The free night was a nice gesture, but it missed its mark because of the lack of initial responsiveness and apparent concern for the guest.

 

[kimberh]

I can't speak for Marko, but I would have expected them to be responsive the 1st time I told them about the unbearable smell/fumes...not the 3rd. The guest shouldn't have to propose the solution to the problem...that is what customer service is all about. They put a guest in a difficult situation and should not have been slow to respond to the situation or have waited to symbolically atone for their error. The free night was a nice gesture, but it missed its mark because of the lack of initial responsiveness and apparent concern for the guest.

I totally agree. If it had been our family, my poor husband and DGD, age 6 have severe Asthma. We would have probably have made a trip to the hospital. She is so sensitive to smells. I would think Christmas is not the time to make such repairs, then not to respond is uncalled for.

 

[disneynutz]

I think that most of us don't want special treatment or something free, we just want what we paid for. A clean room, well maintained, and friendly and courteous Cast Members.

If my room isn't right, I expect it to be made right without inconveniencing me or my family. Disney holds in reserve "breakage room inventory" at all of it's properties. If you can't fix my room, take it out or service and move me to another room that I find acceptable. You say that you can't because you overbooked, that's not my problem.

DVC points are the same as cash, but I think that sometimes the Cast Members and Owners forget that. Prior to becoming DVC members, we always got acceptable rooms staying on cash at WDW. If there was a problem, things were made right, period.

Everybody wants to be nice now days, "don't make waves", "accept a sub par room and be happy about it", "your too demanding". That's not me and it never will be. I expect to get what I paid for, nothing more and nothing less.

 

[tjkraz]

I can't speak for Marko, but I would have expected them to be responsive the 1st time I told them about the unbearable smell/fumes...not the 3rd. The guest shouldn't have to propose the solution to the problem...that is what customer service is all about. They put a guest in a difficult situation and should not have been slow to respond to the situation or have waited to symbolically atone for their error. The free night was a nice gesture, but it missed its mark because of the lack of initial responsiveness and apparent concern for the guest.

That may be a little harsh. The manager was described by OP as being "gracious", "apologetic" and "understanding." I don't see any evidence of a lack of concern for the guests.

Perhaps it was a bad time to perform this repair / coating (whatever it was.) But we don't really know what was done, much less if there was an urgency to the task.

Regardless, it's the facilities people who make these decisions and management is left to clean up the (metaphorical) mess. When OP was told that the scent would dissipate within a few hours, that information was likely based upon past history (when the same process was performed before) or it was based upon what the facilities told management to expect. I don't read any malice into the story. This doesn't appear to be a "you're a DVC member so suck it up" situation.

Nevertheless the ventilation apparently did not respond as expected. That certainly doesn't relieve Disney of blame in the situation. However it sounds like they responded reasonably well by offering the room switch plus additional compensation.

Disney absolutely needs to know about this to hopefully avoid similar situations in the future. There is a 2% maintenance allocation in our points for a reason. But I hope that the gracious, apologetic and understanding manager will also get some praise in the report.

 

[cpdwiz]

That may be a little harsh. The manager was described by OP as being "gracious", "apologetic" and "understanding." I don't see any evidence of a lack of concern for the guests.

Perhaps it was a bad time to perform this repair / coating (whatever it was.) But we don't really know what was done, much less if there was an urgency to the task.

Regardless, it's the facilities people who make these decisions and management is left to clean up the (metaphorical) mess. When OP was told that the scent would dissipate within a few hours, that information was likely based upon past history (when the same process was performed before) or it was based upon what the facilities told management to expect. I don't read any malice into the story. This doesn't appear to be a "you're a DVC member so suck it up" situation.

Nevertheless the ventilation apparently did not respond as expected. That certainly doesn't relieve Disney of blame in the situation. However it sounds like they responded reasonably well by offering the room switch plus additional compensation.

Disney absolutely needs to know about this to hopefully avoid similar situations in the future. There is a 2% maintenance allocation in our points for a reason. But I hope that the gracious, apologetic and understanding manager will also get some praise in the report.

Although I would be upset over the smell, they did seem to take you seriously and were not hiding from the problem...They probably had nowhere to move you to...I think maybe some fans and open windows and doors in your room would have been a good move..I would still write and express the displeasure, and lets hope they would not do something like that again UNLESS it was something absolutely neccessary....

 

[disneynutz]

Although I would be upset over the smell, they did seem to take you seriously and were not hiding from the problem...They probably had nowhere to move you to...I think maybe some fans and open windows and doors in your room would have been a good move..I would still write and express the displeasure, and lets hope they would not do something like that again UNLESS it was something absolutely neccessary....

They should always have somewhere to move Guests to and if they don't it's because they aren't doing their job, they are lazy, or Disney has become too greedy and they aren't holding back enough inventory for breakage.