Will we ever see online booking for dvc resorts?

[dianeschlicht]

I consider myself somebody who has "embraced" technology. And yet "online reservation system" wasn't even on my radar in the scores of points I considered when deciding about DVC. I've read literally hundreds of discussion about the pros and cons of buying, and can't remember a single time it even came up, much less ever being a significant factor in somebody's decision.

Exactly.

 

[bookwormde]

You guys are probably right “embraced” was not the right word “enamored” would have been more accurate way to describe that group of customers. I fall into both of the first 2 categories and it did not stop me from moving forward on buying in, so it is probably not a deal breaker for very many. I will be very happy the day that I can use it to do a better analysis of my options and to avoid the “phone torture” version of the reservation system. (No negative implication of the phone MS people, I am just not a phone person no matter how helpful and nice they are.)

bookwormde

 

[moethorne]

You guys are probably right “embraced” was not the right word “enamored” would have been more accurate way to describe that group of customers. I fall into both of the first 2 categories and it did not stop me from moving forward on buying in, so it is probably not a deal breaker for very many. I will be very happy the day that I can use it to do a better analysis of my options and to avoid the “phone torture” version of the reservation system. (No negative implication of the phone MS people, I am just not a phone person no matter how helpful and nice they are.)

bookwormde

Well said bookwormde! I agree!

 

[JSTX]

Actually, the earlier posters are arguing that an online-reservation system will bring in millions of dollars in DVC sales.

Sorry... that is what I get for responding to the thread early in the morning. I misread the posts. I will admit that having online booking is something we would really like to see ourselves. It didn't stop us from buying, but it is definitely something that we asked our guide about. It is much easier with our Marriott property to be able to log in and see exactly what is available online without making a phone call.

I am sure that not having it is not really hurting the sales, but it would sure make our lives easier.

 

[DVC Mike]

The question is "Will we ever see online booking for dvc resorts?".

I think the answer is yes, we eventually will. The only issue is when that will happen. It may not be for quite some time.

 

[FLYNZ4]

As a technology savvy person... it drives me absolutely nuts that I cannot book my reservations online. Clearly it did not stop me from purchasing DVC... but I find the current situation to be primitive and barbaric. Maybe I should dust off an old rotary phone to make the nostalgic experience complete. I wonder if telegraph service is available?

But it doesn't stop there. They send reservation confirmations via US mail... and if I understand correctly (I havent actually done this yet), you get your wait-list notification via mail as well. This is not exactly a very "green" footprint.

Personally... I think it is time for DVC to boldly step forward into the 90's.

/Jim

 

[jade1]

As a technology savvy person... it drives me absolutely nuts that I cannot book my reservations online. Clearly it did not stop me from purchasing DVC... but I find the current situation to be primitive and barbaric. Maybe I should dust off an old rotary phone to make the nostalgic experience complete. I wonder if telegraph service is available?

But it doesn't stop there. They send reservation confirmations via US mail... and if I understand correctly (I havent actually done this yet), you get your wait-list notification via mail as well. This is not exactly a very "green" footprint.

Personally... I think it is time for DVC to boldly step forward into the 90's.

/Jim

Could not agree more.

 

[jade1]

The question is "Will we ever see online booking for dvc resorts?".

I think the answer is yes, we eventually will. The only issue is when that will happen. It may not be for quite some time.

Agreed.

 

[jade1]

Actually, the earlier posters are arguing that an online-reservation system will bring in millions of dollars in DVC sales.

Actually it was a combination of using such a site for educating a potential buyer on the DVC points sytem, and also showing them availability online-also to educate. Also it was millions of dollars of revenue. At $20,000 per buy in-thats only an additional 50 new contracts per million-certainly possible.

 

[FLYNZ4]

Actually it was a combination of using such a site for educating a potential buyer on the DVC points system, and also showing them availability online-also to educate. Also it was millions of dollars of revenue. At $20,000 per buy in-thats only an additional 50 new contracts per million-certainly possible.

I am not convinced that Internet booking would substantially change the sales side of DVC. It is possible, but I think that it is not a huge swing factor one way or the other.

I strongly disagree with other posters who feel that the complexity of DVC makes electronic booking infeasible. DVC simply is not that complex... and there are just a few fairly simple rules. In fact... if indeed the rules are too complex for a computer to follow... then leaving it to relatively untrained and error prone human beings would be MUCH worse.

I belong to other timeshare organizations which are more complex than Disney (at least in some dimensions)... and also have significantly more properties and room classifications to manage. They can do electronic Internet booking without problems... and there is always the "back-up" of requiring more complex operations to be done via phone.

In my experience, compared to other timeshares, the DVC reservation system is like riding through Spaceship Earth in reverse. It is time to mothball the current reservation implementation and give it spot in one of the opening scenes in the carousel of progress.

/Jim

 

[a Really Bad Egg]

I strongly disagree with other posters who feel that the complexity of DVC makes electronic booking infeasible. DVC simply is not that complex... and there are just a few fairly simple rules.

I think we should remember that a computerized DVC booking system is already in place - MS uses it every time we call to make a reservation.

Perhaps it needs to be more advanced - or not. I can't say for sure as I certainly have no experience with the code/expectations/results of the current system - but certainly the 'rules' were taken into consideration when that system was built.

What is needed is the customer interface that needs to be bolted on - along with enough infrastructure (server/network) capacity on the back-end to handle expected volume.

We should also remember that Disney is really pushing DVC sales and an online booking system would be a nice feature to tout.

My humble opinion is that going forward, prospective DVC buyers are younger, more technology savvy and very aware of the multiple choices they have when it comes to plunking down vacation dollars.

I think Disney is not blind to advances competitors are making and would really, really like to not be the last major timeshare to have online booking.

I think it will happen sooner rather than later...but don't ask me to define sooner vs. later.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I think we should remember that a computerized DVC booking system is already in place - MS uses it every time we call to make a reservation.

Perhaps it needs to be more advanced - or not. I can't say for sure as I certainly have no experience with the code/expectations/results of the current system - but certainly the 'rules' were taken into consideration when that system was built.

What is needed is the customer interface that needs to be bolted on - along with enough infrastructure (server/network) capacity on the back-end to handle expected volume.

We should also remember that Disney is really pushing DVC sales and an online booking system would be a nice feature to tout.

My humble opinion is that going forward, prospective DVC buyers are younger, more technology savvy and very aware of the multiple choices they have when it comes to plunking down vacation dollars.

I think Disney is not blind to advances competitors are making and would really, really like to not be the last major timeshare to have online booking.

I think it will happen sooner rather than later...but don't ask me to define sooner vs. later.

I agree with most of what you said except that the computer system in use right now by MS does NOT follow all the rules. That's why so many transactions end up being done manually. That always takes a few days and is frustrating for those of us who have had to suffer through it. If the current system were good enough, I think we would already have on line booking. JMHO.

 

[a Really Bad Egg]

I agree with most of what you said except that the computer system in use right now by MS does NOT follow all the rules. That's why so many transactions end up being done manually. That always takes a few days and is frustrating for those of us who have had to suffer through it. If the current system were good enough, I think we would already have on line booking. JMHO.

Ah...no worries...we put in a few extra lines of code to take care of those exceptions and poof, the frustration of those extra days is gone.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Ah...no worries...we put in a few extra lines of code to take care of those exceptions and poof, the frustration of those extra days is gone.

Somehow I doubt it is that simple. For example, one of the things that seems to not make it through the computer program is the home resort of transfered points keeping thier home resort and use year status. The program just will not accept that, so it has to be done by hand. I would think if that was such an easy fix, they would have done it long ago, because it takes several days to accomplish now.

 

[tjkraz]

Ah...no worries...we put in a few extra lines of code to take care of those exceptions and poof, the frustration of those extra days is gone.

Again, if it were that easy, we'd already be using it.

 

[bookwormde]

Just a thought about the cost, if DVC is sending all there confirmations out snail mail then what would be the savings if they emailed them to people who booked online?
Typical minimal mailing cost of say, $0.80 per mailing say 100k reservations. And 30 % book on line, that works out to 24k per year say for 10-year life span of the upgrades that’s 240k. Not all of what it would take, but not a small amount either.

bookwormde

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'm sure the reason they continue to send out confirmation sheets is because people ask for them. All those renters want proof!!! I could care less if I had a sheet sent to me. In fact, I'd prefer it to be emailed, because then I would KNOW where it is! When it's paper, I lose it!

 

[salmoneous]

what would be the savings if they emailed them to people who booked online?

Why would you just send them to folks who book online?

Emailing reservations is a great idea, but a separate one from online reservations.

 

[bookwormde]

Just because you could be sure that they are computer comfortable. I really do not know why they do not send them all out this way, except for those customers who still wish to get snail mail 2 weeks later.

bookwormde

 

[mjy]

Just a thought about the cost, if DVC is sending all there confirmations out snail mail then what would be the savings if they emailed them to people who booked online?
Typical minimal mailing cost of say, $0.80 per mailing say 100k reservations. And 30 % book on line, that works out to 24k per year say for 10-year life span of the upgrades that’s 240k. Not all of what it would take, but not a small amount either.

bookwormde

I'm sure the reason they continue to send out confirmation sheets is because people ask for them. All those renters want proof!!! I could care less if I had a sheet sent to me. In fact, I'd prefer it to be emailed, because then I would KNOW where it is! When it's paper, I lose it!

Just because you could be sure that they are computer comfortable. I really do not know why they do not send them all out this way, except for those customers who still wish to get snail mail 2 weeks later.

bookwormde

I think it could easily be taken care of by the DVC members on line selecting a "preference" as we often do when we register on other on line web sites -- even as we choose for credit card statements, cable television statements, phone bills, et cetera.

What would we prefer? Paper notification or Email notification?

If we select email, that is the way our confirmation would be sent to us.

I would think that would be a half-way easy module for Disney to employ. As soon as a CM saves our vacation, it would tell the system to send up a confirmation via snail mail or send it via email (or both, if we so chose.)

Would work for me!