Why do so many people have problems with DVC

[Sammie]

Count us in the "Happy" column. Even DH, who is not the Disney fanatic that I am, has fallen in love with DVC.

Sammie, I am sorry for your icky experience. We actually had some bad hotel experiences last summer, but they were not DVC.

Honestly it was so nasty, I just wanted to pack up and go home. The smell alone was enough to make you gag.

I will gladly give up all the perks, to get a clean, well maintained room, and honestly I don't think that is asking too much.

I don't make room requests, any location is fine with me, but I do want my room clean.

 

[Wedgeh]

My only wish is that flights were cheaper so I could stay more often. Delighted to be a DVC member

 

[photobob]

When I read about people who go over every little thing that went wrong in their trip and how it ruined their vacation or that it was a nightmare I am reminds me of something I heard a preacher talking about. When you have a person that has had failed relationship after failed relationship and can tell you what the problem was with each partner, the only common denominator in all the relationships is them. Everywhere you look there you are. Not sure everyone will agree with this analogy but I think it is appropriate.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We've been members since 1997, and consider our 3 purchases of DVC points to be one of the best things we've ever done for ourselves.

For the most part, DVC has been great for us, and we rarely if ever have any issues. When we do, we call and get them fixed right away.

The problem for many people and their issues with DVC is that they don't bother to learn the "rules and regulations" before they try to use it. If you know how it works, you shouldn't ever have unsurmountable issues.

I have a friend who has owned DVC for 8 years. She STILL doesn't understand any of it! She would never get her points banked or anything if I didn't call her and remind her that her banking window is coming up. I think those are the kind of people who have problems.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

We've gone on countless trips with our DVC since we joined in 2001....checked in various times of the day over the years....at BWV, BCV & VWL...sometimes the villa is ready early, sometime not...we don't expect it to be...store our bags and go on our way....."knock on wood" we haven't had an issue with the room ready text notification system...have there been issues with some rooms..yes....but we go to the front desk and get it taken care of.....yes sometimes it takes more than one trip to get this done...but I'm still happy with our DVC..stuff happens..people aren't perfect

 

[granmanh603]

ChiSox: don't count on it. Every other major timeshare developer has gone this route. Either there is something in it for them, or they are all foolish.

That said: discussion boards devoted to a particular topic are populated by the people who obsess over that topic. Strike up conversations around the pool at the resort next time you are there, and I'll bet you dollars to donuts that every Member you find is pleased as punch.

Ok last Oct we were at BWV for 3 weeks and at pool/hot tub almost every day...and talked with multiple people, only met 1 member!!!! all others rented or traded in or were evasive about answering and have had this experience in the last few years...used to find many members to talk with.

 

[maciec]

The problem for many people and their issues with DVC is that they don't bother to learn the "rules and regulations" before they try to use it. If you know how it works, you shouldn't ever have unsurmountable issues.

I absolutely agree. If you don't take the time to learn not only the rules and regulations of DVC, but the other in's and out's (like what is shared on these boards) then it's on you. Why buy a product and not learn everything you can about it?

 

[crisi]

There have been times when there have been real problems posted. Things I would be irate about if they happened to me (unflushed toilets would be one). And then there are the "but a tree blocked my view!" cases. And between that, there are a lot of in betweens. Things that aren't convenient to have to deal with on vacation, but are understandable - toilets break, sometimes in the middle of your trip. Housekeeping can't be expected to check for coffee rings in cups put away by guests.

 

[dcamdad]

We've been members since 1997, and consider our 3 purchases of DVC points to be one of the best things we've ever done for ourselves.

For the most part, DVC has been great for us, and we rarely if ever have any issues. When we do, we call and get them fixed right away.

The problem for many people and their issues with DVC is that they don't bother to learn the "rules and regulations" before they try to use it. If you know how it works, you shouldn't ever have unsurmountable issues.

I have a friend who has owned DVC for 8 years. She STILL doesn't understand any of it! She would never get her points banked or anything if I didn't call her and remind her that her banking window is coming up. I think those are the kind of people who have problems.

You couldn't have put it any better. We have been members since OKW was the only DVC property and have had very few issues on any of our many many trips, if there was a problem it was taken care of.

It amazes me how many people buy in without any knowledge of what they just purchased or how to use it then feel "entitled" to get their way because they "paid a lot of money" for dvc.

 

[WDWLVR]

We've been members since 2000 and have stayed in all the DVC resorts with the exception of AKV and SSR. We have never had any problems with DVC itself. Member Services has always been great and our rooms have always been clean and maintained. Sure there has been wear, but we'd find the same in hotels.

We have had some disappointments in things that have happened at Member events such as Member Homecoming and on some of the DVC Member Cruises. These were addressed in letters to management and both were acted upon with calls asking for more information.

I think for the most part DVC does listen to its membership. What make one member happy however might not make another member happy. Overall we are very happy with our DVC membership and we're glad that we became members 11 years ago.

The problem for many people and their issues with DVC is that they don't bother to learn the "rules and regulations" before they try to use it. If you know how it works, you shouldn't ever have unsurmountable issues.

I agree with this 100%

 

[OhioDVC]

After being a member for over 17+years and over 75 stays at DVC, it is the best overall experience I've had compared to any other hotel chains or vacation experience

 

[tgropp]

Easy going and don't complain much..... if you checked into your villa at 5pm because it was not ready before then, which was fine, we all know that check in is "after" 4pm, would you be easy going if your room was dirty.

Beds not made, toliets with the previous guest's poo, and not Winnie, left behind, glass broken on the kitchen floor, and leftovers in the frig and blood and hair.

I am a very optimistic person, too, I was optimistic that I bought a quality product and that my dues cover housekeeping to a standard at least equal to any other Disney resort.

I think some people that rave about Disney's quality and service simply have never experienced a major problem. Kinda hard to evaluate their stellar service until its put to the test.

We have made over 50 trips using our DVC and we only began to have problems with cleaniness and maintenance in the last couple of year.

If you were not a member that far in the past it would not be possible to know just how good it was.

People that think that they can make lemonade out of lemons HAVE NOT expeirenced a major problem at DVC/Disney. There are all kinds of big problems that vacationers are having at Disney due to cutbacks, system changes and customer relation. I know because I just had one over our Christmas vacation. It lasted the whole 7 days that we were there (It is posted on the planning threads) and I would NOT WISH that expeirence on anyone. If it does happen to you, you will know what we are talking about.

 

[kristie03]

I love my DVC!!! The only problem I have is having to GO HOME at the end of my reservation.....

Starting the countdown again!!!

 

[disneynutz]

We love Disney but I accept the DVC for what it is, a way to save some money on your hotel room.

That being said, we expect the accommodations to be up to par. We have found that the more we vacation at WDW and the more split stays that we have, the greater the number of problems that we seem to experience. Don't get me wrong, we don't have problems each and every stay, but we do have more than we should.

These were different rooms and separate reservation within the last two years.

Mousekeeping issues seem to be at the top of the list. Dirty room, rooms coded as cleaned when they weren't, rooms never coded so we never receive the room ready call.

Maintenance issues also bug me. No AC, no heating, broken toilet, 3 defective refrigerators, missing kitchen drawer, and broken dishwasher. According to Maintenance, the refrigerators, drawer, and dishwasher were known to be a issue before we checked in.

Most CM's will admit that they don't have the time necessary to do their job correctly and during that past two years, things have gotten worse.

To correct a earlier post, according to Disney Management the number of DVC Members is currently between 450,000 and 500,000.

Bill

 

[photobob]

The problem for many people and their issues with DVC is that they don't bother to learn the "rules and regulations" before they try to use it. If you know how it works, you shouldn't ever have unsurmountable issues..

Very well put. I have friends who have owned DVC longer than I that sent me an email wanting to know what in the world could be going on at WDW the first week on December since there was nothing available. He was checking less than a month out! I explained how popular time that is for DVC owners and also that there aren't many times in the year that you could find anything at three weeks prior.

Many think I am Disney/DVC obsessed with is probably true, but I just like to stay completely informed so that I can make the most of the benefits of ownership.

 

[AKLFan3]

We joined DVC in 2008 and the only time we had second thoughts about the purchase due to the sub-standard condition of the room was the first two trips, both were at OKW since we booked last minute. The rooms for those trips just didn't seem up to Disney standards...chipped tiles and wood, stains on the living room table, lots of dust and dirty floor. It was completely liveable but OKW just seemed OLD to us. However, the remaining DVC trips were wonderful! We've stayed at VWL, SSR, VB and multiple times at our home resort, AKV. Each of those trips, we've never had issues. So I would say overall, DVC has been a great purchase for us. Two average rooms and seven stellar rooms is a good rating, in my opinion.

 

[Sammie]

When someone complains about not getting their choice of resorts and they booked at 3 months out, then Yes that is a member not aware of the DVC process.

But getting a room that is not clean and is just well nasty, has nothing to do with how informed the member is.

Believe me I know poo when I see it and smell it.

tgropp said it best, its not about making lemonade out of lemons, its about paying for a service and not receiving it.

I seriously doubt if anyone would be happy to go to a Disney restaurant, order an expensive meal and be given only a dirty used plate, no food and still have to pay for it.

I don't like paying for clean, maintained rooms and not get one.

 

[wildernessDad]

Those who have issues, complain here. Those who did not have issues, say little. The problems tend to get broadcasted.

 

[Disney Todd]

I'm guessing that DVC members add on to their contracts at a higher percentage than any other timeshare out there. I don't have the data to back this up, but a strong suspiscion. We bought at AKV in 2008 and have already added on at BCV.

 

[mumto3girls]

We bought DVC in 1997 and I would say that we have been pleased overall with our membership. The issues we have had have mostly been minor and/or unavoidable and have been corrected when we brought them to the attention of the front desk. I would say, however, that we have noticed an overall downward trend in the cleanliness and overall maintenance of the rooms which has been disappointing to us.

I should note that the more than half of our trips are to Hilton Head or Vero Beach and not to the world itself.