WOW - lots of reports lately of pushy Guides!

[disneynutz]

When we bought last Sept, our guide had told us to be sure to call her when we were booking our first trip as 'owners'. So, we did ... and she told us basically not to call her anymore but to go through owner services for all business. Our family is die-hard Disney fans, and we know the value of owning and staying on-site. We really wish we would have known about DVC 4 years ago when we began staying on-site at GF. (My husband says that he will call the guide when we purchase our season passes in the next couple of months --- because she is 'supposed' to be our point of contact. We'll see what happens ...)

She is your point of contact if you want to buy more points, that's all. I guarantee you that she will refer you to MS.

Bill

 

[dansamy]

Did I forget to mention that they weren't very consistent in applying the deadline?

Like I said, I can't remember exactly when it was phased-out. Approx 3 years ago sounds about right, but it could have been further back. .

There definitely was a time when most people touring were given a time limit by which they needed to commit or would lose the incentives. Every couple of weeks people would start threads on the DIS asking if there was a way to get incentives reinstated, or if there was a way to extend the time limit that was communicated.

I still remember one poster who ended up adding the name of a sibling to the contract and having all of the paperwork sent to the sibling's home address because it was the only way to get the $8-10 discount applied.

They gave me a 3 or 4 day window after our tour. I thought it was "standard" practice, like most sales tactics are. However, I worked that "deadline" to my advantage to convince DH to buy now.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Did I forget to mention that they weren't very consistent in applying the deadline?

Like I said, I can't remember exactly when it was phased-out. Approx 3 years ago sounds about right, but it could have been further back. .

There definitely was a time when most people touring were given a time limit by which they needed to commit or would lose the incentives. Every couple of weeks people would start threads on the DIS asking if there was a way to get incentives reinstated, or if there was a way to extend the time limit that was communicated.

I still remember one poster who ended up adding the name of a sibling to the contract and having all of the paperwork sent to the sibling's home address because it was the only way to get the $8-10 discount applied.

This limited time offer deadline also used to apply to special financing rates. If you purchased after the deadline (was 3 days I believe when I bought) you would not receive the special lower interest rate. I, too, am glad that offer is no longer in service. Too stressful..

When we bought last Sept, our guide had told us to be sure to call her when we were booking our first trip as 'owners'. So, we did ... and she told us basically not to call her anymore but to go through owner services for all business. Our family is die-hard Disney fans, and we know the value of owning and staying on-site. We really wish we would have known about DVC 4 years ago when we began staying on-site at GF. (My husband says that he will call the guide when we purchase our season passes in the next couple of months --- because she is 'supposed' to be our point of contact. We'll see what happens ...)

Sometimes Guides can work "magic" for an upcoming vacation but at time of purchase only. When making your plans down the road, they would not be able to help. That being said, many times the Guides will ask to let them know of your travel plans in case they perhaps want to call or get together with you. Always an opportunity for an add on, lol.

 

[Starr W.]

When we bought last Sept, our guide had told us to be sure to call her when we were booking our first trip as 'owners'. So, we did ... and she told us basically not to call her anymore but to go through owner services for all business. Our family is die-hard Disney fans, and we know the value of owning and staying on-site. We really wish we would have known about DVC 4 years ago when we began staying on-site at GF. (My husband says that he will call the guide when we purchase our season passes in the next couple of months --- because she is 'supposed' to be our point of contact. We'll see what happens ...)

Guides are "point of contact" if you want to buy more points, end of story. If you call about AP's she'll tell you to stop calling again.

Call MS to make reservations, I just go to the link via the member website to buy my AP's(all you get is a voucher, which means you'll have to go to guest services when you get to WDW to get your actual AP, might as well just buy it there).

 

[CleoPahd]

We took the tour this past June. We had done some research on DVC and were interested, but didn't quite understand the entire process at that time. We were very interested in the new tree houses at Saratoga Springs and said so to our guide. She made it seem to us that they were not even available to purchase at that time, which we later found out was not the case. She told us that the properties currently available for sale were AKV & BLT. We weren't really "sold" on either, but felt that if they were our only options we'd really have to think it over. We were up front and told her that it would be a cash sale, but that we would have to think over how many points we would need and figure out what we could afford to spend. Our guide gave us 48 hours, which ended the day we returned home. To me that wasn't sufficient time to look over our finances and figure out our budget. She made it to sound as though if we didn't give her the ok in that time frame that we would not be allowed to purchase and was sure to tell us how upset she would be if we jumped on it to give her the "ok to proceed" and then decided to change our mind.

Thanks to finding out about the DIS boards we came home, did tons of research and ended up purchasing Saratoga Springs through resale within a few weeks of our visit. We saved a ton, so I guess I'm glad she misled us into thinking it was unavailable and that we had to make our decision asap. She was a nice enough person, but she left us no room to think and was so misleading. She's now our guide even though we purchased resale. I recommended 2 people to her through the refer a friend and she kept missing them by phone even though they left her numerous messages with time frames when they would be available to talk.

 

[Just Granny]

Sometimes Guides can work "magic" for an upcoming vacation but at time of purchase only. When making your plans down the road, they would not be able to help. That being said, many times the Guides will ask to let them know of your travel plans in case they perhaps want to call or get together with you. Always an opportunity for an add on, lol. [/QUOTE]

I appreciate your verification on this. Like I said, our family loves Disney and our guide does not change that. At the time that we were signing our papers, she was adamant that we call her to book our first trip, so that's what we did. Her lack of follow through on certain things she had promised will not deter us from Disney. We are planning 2 trips this year -- one off-site and the at BLT, and we are looking forward to both trips.

 

[tjkraz]

If the first reservation is booked shortly after the initial deposit is given (say 24-48 hours), many times it is necessary for the Guide to intervene. If the contract has not been fully entered in DVC's reservation system, the Guide will have to assist with the booking.

But after that point, all communications related to points usage should go through Member Services. That's what they are there for.

If a Guide held him/herself out as the infinite point of contact for using points, it was a very poor decision. Perhaps a rookie mistake made by a new Guide, poor communications or just a misunderstanding.

I wouldn't waste time contacting the Guide for anything other than buying more points. You will just get passed off to someone else more qualified to assist. Guaranteed!