You won't believe the conversation I had with my sister (as DVC members, you might)

[Disney1fan2002]

A little back story, in 2007, I put together a huge family trip. I invited anyone who wanted to go, and booked a studio at OKW for them. I ended up booking 5 studios and a GV. I let them know, even during the planning stages, that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, because I was not going to do it again. They all appreciated the free room, and I thought it was clear that it would not happen again.

I get a phone call from my sister a couple of months ago. We are having a nice conversation, when all of a sudden she asks me "When can I get a room with your disney points?"

Me: Excuse me?

Sis: When can I take A down to Disney? He saw a commercial for Animal Kingdom and he really wants to go. (She is a single mother to my 5yo nephew)

Me: I don't know where you got the idea that I had points to get you a room, but I used all of our points through 2012 to take the Disney Cruise in April. Sorry, I can't help you., but I can probably find someone willing to rent you the points you need if you really want to go.

Sis: (hesitating) Uh, OK...it's just he saw the commercial and has been bugging me to take him.

Me: Well, points rent at around $10/point. If you book a Sun-Fri stay, a value studio at AKV will be about 50 points, so $500. A bargain!

Sis: Ok, I'll let you know when I want to go, probably on May for his birthday.


So, I go ahead and look at different dates for her, price out what Disney charges for the value resorts and her staying at AKV. I call her back about a week later and tell her what her options are.

A few weeks go by, and I find out Disney has a promotion where kids are free! It's just her and her DS, so it would be cheaper for her to book this package, because the kids MYW ticket is free. I tell her all about it, I even got the price for her to take him for his birthday. She would be saving over $400 to book the Disney package.

I have not heard anything about it since. I haven't brought it up. The only plans I know of that she has, is a trip to Hershey Park in July, so I can only assume she tossed the Disney idea.

I know it's because when she originally brought it up, she was thinking I would "hook her up" with a room. She is in no financial position to be going to Disney right now. I am glad that she decided not to pay, but I am not giving her a room!

 

[MaryPA]

You did more for her than I would have. By checking into prices of rooms or renting points!

 

[jforever52]

Your story is just the reason why my DH does not want to tell any of my family members that we have a DVC! He's convinced that the minute our families find out about the time share we are going to be hit up big time for "free" rooms!

I think you handled the situation very well. I'm going to keep it in mind for when my family does find out about our DVC. I'd be more than willing to price out vacations for them but we pay good money for our membership and should not be obligated to give it away for free.

 

[dawne98]

each year I would pay for my mom dad and dd and then my sis would fly out to go so all she would have to pay for was her flight from CA. we did that for 6 years. now my mom and dad got each us 100 pionts for each of us into to BLT but we told them we want to keep it as a all together family vaction but she is not all into Disney like I am so I think the only time she would ask for my pionts is if she wanted to go on an adventure by Disney lol

 

[ccgirl]

A little back story, in 2007, I put together a huge family trip. I invited anyone who wanted to go, and booked a studio at OKW for them. I ended up booking 5 studios and a GV. I let them know, even during the planning stages, that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, because I was not going to do it again. They all appreciated the free room, and I thought it was clear that it would not happen again.

I get a phone call from my sister a couple of months ago. We are having a nice conversation, when all of a sudden she asks me "When can I get a room with your disney points?"

Me: Excuse me?

Sis: When can I take A down to Disney? He saw a commercial for Animal Kingdom and he really wants to go. (She is a single mother to my 5yo nephew)

Me: I don't know where you got the idea that I had points to get you a room, but I used all of our points through 2012 to take the Disney Cruise in April. Sorry, I can't help you., but I can probably find someone willing to rent you the points you need if you really want to go.

Sis: (hesitating) Uh, OK...it's just he saw the commercial and has been bugging me to take him.

Me: Well, points rent at around $10/point. If you book a Sun-Fri stay, a value studio at AKV will be about 50 points, so $500. A bargain!

Sis: Ok, I'll let you know when I want to go, probably on May for his birthday.


So, I go ahead and look at different dates for her, price out what Disney charges for the value resorts and her staying at AKV. I call her back about a week later and tell her what her options are.

A few weeks go by, and I find out Disney has a promotion where kids are free! It's just her and her DS, so it would be cheaper for her to book this package, because the kids MYW ticket is free. I tell her all about it, I even got the price for her to take him for his birthday. She would be saving over $400 to book the Disney package.

I have not heard anything about it since. I haven't brought it up. The only plans I know of that she has, is a trip to Hershey Park in July, so I can only assume she tossed the Disney idea.

I know it's because when she originally brought it up, she was thinking I would "hook her up" with a room. She is in no financial position to be going to Disney right now. I am glad that she decided not to pay, but I am not giving her a room!

First of all, it was AMAZING what you did for your entire family. Even if someone in my family did that I would've paid for their food or drinks or something but that is just me. Second, I have a close friend with DVC. I asked her how much I could rent her points for; never assumed I could use them for free. She ended up not having points and I went thru someone else. No skin off my back.

That was also very nice of you to price out the options for your sister. SO nice of you! Sounds like she just wants something for nothing, unfortunately!

 

[bobbiwoz]

How dreadful that she tried to put you on the spot, with guilt over your nephew. You did a good job taking care of it!

 

[Disney1fan2002]

First of all, it was AMAZING what you did for your entire family. Even if someone in my family did that I would've paid for their food or drinks or something but that is just me. Second, I have a close friend with DVC. I asked her how much I could rent her points for; never assumed I could use them for free. She ended up not having points and I went thru someone else. No skin off my back.

That was also very nice of you to price out the options for your sister. SO nice of you! Sounds like she just wants something for nothing, unfortunately!

The funny thing is, I extended the invitation to close friends outside the family also.

I let my boss and his family share the GV with us because he had a family of 5 so he would not have fit in a studio at OKW. He paid our room bill at check out! He went to take care of his portion of the room bill and he just paid it in full and thanked us for the vacation. I did not expect that.

My sister's friends who are a couple. I got them a room. They sent us a Visa gift card for $50 as a thank you.

As for the family? I don't even know if I got a verbal thank you. One of the reasons why that conversation with my sister was so easy.

 

[twinboysmom]

I feel your pain. We are going in May and bringing another family (close friends) for their 3rd and last free room. They are staying with us in a 2 bedroom. I mentioned we are going in December again so we wouod be getting annual passes for this trip. They went and stayed offsite with their own family over Thanksgiving (another free room in their brother's timeshare) so they have annual passes that will expire in November. So when I mentioned this trip our friend asks us if we can move the trip up to October so they can use their annual passes again. Uh, no you can go and get your own room. The shock on their faces! My DH told them that maybe they need to invest in their own DVC. For our December trip we are bringing my in laws and my mil invited her brother and his wife before asking me. We are staying in a THV so we do have the room although it will be a little tighter than I planned on but she had no idea what size room I booked. No matter what many, many people just don't get it.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Ungrateful! That's what your sister really is. We have had guests with us many times. We too always treat them to the room without charge, but I am always surprised at how some of the do or do NOT say thank you.

Usually family or friends take us out for a nice meal at one of the signature restaurants, but not always. We once had a co-worker of DH's with us in a 2 bedroom. He and his wife had the second bedroom and used the living room and toured with us etc. etc. etc, They had no problem eating the meals we prepared or anything else we did. The problem was that at the end of the trip there was nothing as a "thank you". I mean...They didn't even say the words!!! Needless to say, we have not invited them back.

My points are precious, and I am the one who chooses if, when and to whom I will gift or rent them.

 

[dianeschlicht]

For our December trip we are bringing my in laws and my mil invited her brother and his wife before asking me. We are staying in a THV so we do have the room although it will be a little tighter than I planned on but she had no idea what size room I booked. No matter what many, many people just don't get it.

WOW! What if you had booked a smaller room???? Unbelievable!

 

[raenyny]

We wanted to plan a family trip...I invited my brother and sis inlaw and my parents ....my brother declined to come then a few weeks later he calls me to ask about my "FREE" rooms...he has a friend who wants to take his kids to Disney but can't afford it and since he(my brother) isn't using the room I offered him can I book it for his friend! I almost dropped the phone and uh NO!!!! So I almost think that people don't realize how much we actually pay for the points and how giving them away takes away from our own family vacation....anyway I had to have my mom speak to him about it because no words could come out of my mouth

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

We wanted to plan a family trip...I invited my brother and sis inlaw and my parents ....my brother declined to come then a few weeks later he calls me to ask about my "FREE" rooms...he has a friend who wants to take his kids to Disney but can't afford it and since he(my brother) isn't using the room I offered him can I book it for his friend! I almost dropped the phone and uh NO!!!! So I almost think that people don't realize how much we actually pay for the points and how giving them away takes away from our own family vacation....anyway I had to have my mom speak to him about it because no words could come out of my mouth

Our problem is my Aunt and Uncle have a boat load of Marriott points and they hadn them out to their kids, my mom & sister like their candy. So far we haven't taken anybody with yet. We have just enough points to cover the trips we want to take. Maybe someday we'll have more.

 

[diding]

Wow, I can't believe that, i have reserved rooms for my in-laws and it has never crossed their minds that this has been free. We as DVC owners must pay for our point and also for maintenance fees every year. You did a lot by inviting that big group for free.

 

[Dean]

There really are two main issues that I see as the heart of this matter. One is that some people think timeshares are free once you own them, they're wrong of course, but often you can't successfully educate them. The other is that some family are just leeches. I don't know if your sister is one or both. In general I'd suggest people refraining from putting too much energy or emotion into such situations. OTOH, we do a family trip on average now about 2 out of 3 years. We provide the accommodations, we set the rules, we determine the dates (considering the limitations of those we're inviting) and then we determine who we are inviting. These have all gone extremely smoothly with only a couple of very minor glitches. We actually have the other side of the problem in that we have plenty of timeshare options and can't use them all right now, at least until retirement. We'd be happy to hook them up simply for our cost. In general, our family does't ask when they should or they ask far too late to have choices. The other thing that tends to turn them off is the fact they're committed once we make the reservation. I just got my Brother and his family a week at Marriott's Grande Vista in June, total cost under $300 (bonus week) for a 1 BR. They could have likely gottem something at a 2 star for the dates they needed for around the same price but there's no comparison between a basic hotel room and a luxury timeshare 1 BR.

 

[RadioFanatic]

We had a similar situation but with paying - not DVC. We were talking about our disney trips and said maybe one time with could bring dh's sister's son who is close in age to our son - SIL's eyes opened wide and said "you aren't taking me too?" We said sure if you pay your way. Needless to say, that conversation stopped quickly.

 

[jrbarnes]

I think you handled it very well. Your original trip was very gracious.

We decided that when we do things for families or friends, we charge them half of the going rate per point for their rooms. It is a great deal for them and also works for us to give us some food/spending money.

 

[n2mm]

For our December trip we are bringing my in laws and my mil invited her brother and his wife before asking me. We are staying in a THV so we do have the room although it will be a little tighter than I planned on but she had no idea what size room I booked. No matter what many, many people just don't get it.

Been there! We use to rent a beach house and while I never cared if my kids would invite a friend, we stopped after my relatives would just "show up". The shore is within driving distance (4 hours) from our home and you can imagine my surprise as I walked from the beach one afternoon to see my relative with her new boyfriend walking towards us, and then informed us that she invited a neighbor "who might be showing up" (they didn't). After that we started going to WDW exclusively....no one shows up now! And no one asks for our points....I think they would know my answer.

BTW -- just recently we ran into someone my DH knows (casual) who knows we are Disney fans and he actually asked if he could borrow our annual passes for his next trip....what the? I think no came out of my mouth before he could even finish his sentence....

 

[mdsd8700]

Wow, reading this thread amazes me although it probably shouldn't. We just joined DVC last June so we haven't had the opportunity to take anyone with us, but is one of the things I look most forward to. We have a trip planned for June, but thought possibly of including some others in a possible November trip. I would hate for it to cause problems down the road. In the past we have bought points from a friend of ours because they were not using them. I would have never dreamed he "give" them to us and this was before we owned DVC.

I think the OP was very generous as have others who have posted as well. I am sorry to hear how the OPs sister acted, but hopefully she will get the point now.

Definately something I guess I will have to think about going forward.

Enjoy your weekend!

 

[palaemon]

OMG. That's all I got.

 

[Greysword]

I LOVE these stories and this thread

Half the fun of DVC is being able to treat some of our family and close friends, but we have not really had these problems yet (that I remember). Our family & friends don't go to Disney nearly as much (once every so often if that), and I think they just look at us like this most of the time. of course, my response is a blatant .