Why do so many people have problems with DVC

[sajetto]

Once upon a time, I used to post on these boards regularly, as you can see by my post count. However, since then I've become far too busy to be posting on any sort of discussion board. With that said, I haven't read the other posts on this thread for lack of time, but I felt the urge to respond to this question?

Why all the problems?

Well, the fact is, life changes and many times people are looking for a good excuse to sell their contract when they realize that their lifestyle just isn't the same anymore.

My DH and I were married in Disney and LOVED all things Disney. We still do and we have a daughter that can enjoy WDW. However, career changes have turned us into international travelers and we now realize there are many more places to visit than just FL. Additionally, we have purchased a vacation home at the beach which we are now responsible for paying for all the upkeep.

With all the traveling we've done we've also learned that Disney customer service isn't all that it is cracked up to be. It's good, but there is better out there at a lower price.

We're still DVC members, but we intend to downsize our contracts drastically in the near future.

 

[mdphilps]

Maybe my wife and I are too easy going or dont complain as much as other people but DVC has been very good for us so far. We get our points, we make a reservation, we go and we come back. I have been reading a few different posts about people having problems and it just seems odd. They are not going to be perfect and every situation is different but they have been very positive for us so far.

I've had my share of problems.....but that doesn't stop us from going and enjoying it!

 

[Castillo Mom]

I don't have as much experience as a DVC member as some on the boards. Next Sept. will be our 4th trip to WDW and our 2nd as members. All of our trips so far have been fabulous and I feel very fortunate to own DVC. That being said, if we had any major issues I'd definitely let management know about it but I wouldn't let any negative experiences ruin a trip.

 

[mamian16]

In 10 Years. I have had only two issues and DVC took care of them right away

 

[18sprint]

I haven't read all the posts yet, so I'll guess it's already been said, but I wanted to chime in. We have been DVC members only for a couple years and have never had an issue. Any problems we had, we caused, not DVC. We own at OKW but have only been able to stay there once, the rest of our stays have been at SS, but that was our doing, not DVC. I think the system is pretty simple and works well if YOU keep it simple. The rules aren't that hard. But most of the complaints I read about seem to stem from "entitlement" issues. If you did your homework about DVC before you bought, then you know how it works and what perks there are. I just laugh when I read about people who complain and think that DVCers are entitled to so much more than everyone else simply because we are pre-paying for our hotel rooms on future trips. However, I will state that all DVCers' have the right to complain and be listened to if and when Disney decides to change the rules or take away what we purchased in the first place...IE taking away rights because we only have 150pts vs. some rich person with 1600.

 

[Tiger926]

We've had a few issues, at the fault of DVC/Disney, and some of them were handled appropriately, and some were not. Each and everytime, we were able to speak to managers, and in all cases of contacting DVC, we have had immediate follow up with a Disney executive.

We still enjoy DVC, but in the 6.5 years since we've been members, we are seeing some problem areas that are consistent across the board, but those seem to be more of Disney's new business model, which is cuts, cuts, cuts in most all areas.

I don't think it's fair to assume that anyone who has an issue, must have caused it themselves. Or, that we musn't understand how DVC works, or, that our expectations are too high. Quite the opposite for us, but depending upon how the guest and Disney handles it, this could make for some problems, or hard feelings.

We did not ask for compensation, nor receive any, despite having some major resort issues:

We've had the wrong room given to us, we've been lost in the system several times which makes for very long check-in and lost to family members who were trying to locate us as resort said we hadn't checked in, broken room keys at midgnight with babes in our arms after a long drive from Canada, lost packages, lost points, and a smoke-filled room at AKV with 2 of us with asthma, and a sold out resort with no other rooms available. None of these were our fault, and we were able to handle them all (the smoke one was a big problem), as we are calm and rational people. But again, it depends upon the level of problem - having a problem like Sammie's is a health and safety concern, not to mention it's downright nasty, so we might have handled things differently? It's hard to say...

I really don't think it's fair to assume that any concerns are at the fault of the guest, as in our case, it's been the opposite, and it was Disney who dropped the ball. Despite these few issues, we've had mostly excellent DVC stays, and look forward to them, but we are concerned that DVC is getting too big, and cannot handle the cleaning, maintenance and check-in issues with such a large membership.

Tiger

 

[jarestel]

As usual, and expected, there are plenty of "never had a problem" posts on this thread as there are on all threads of this nature. Which is a good thing, because if a large percentage of members were experiencing issues with their "deluxe" accommodations we'd all be up in arms. So thankfully, the numbers are still low enough to make the chances of any individual member receiving a lemon room pretty small. So comfort for all can be derived from that.

However, at the risk of being dismissed as a complainer with no Disney spirit who isn't "happy just to be there", I have noticed a decline in room maintenance and housekeeping over the years. And it doesn't give me hope for the future when posters on the DIS report conversations with resort managers who admit they know there are problems but lack the staff to adequately address them. Yikes!!! Right from the horse's mouth and not simply spew from a bunch of "entitled" DVC members on an internet forum.

As the older resorts age, I expect more of these threads to pop up until the focus changes. In the meantime, I'm counting on evading the long arm of the law of averages to avoid getting some of the rooms I've read about on this and similar threads.