Member Satisfaction... Not Really

[ytzking]

A little background information:
08/13/08 I checked into BWV for a 7 night stay in a 1 bedroom. I was told that the floor I requested 11 months earlier was unavailable. After protesting, I was informed that a room had "SUDDENLY" become available. Sorry to say the room smelled like a sewer and the BWV manager Simon from Tasmania became involved. He offered me another room that I felt was unacceptable. He then offered a VIP cleaning ( isn't every room cleaned to the same standards? ) to be done in a matter of hours. We returned to the room to find the same odor ( mixed with pine ). I again spoke to Simon who stated that he would have an acceptable room available the following day. I agreed and told him I would pursue a points refund through member services. He advised me that that would never happen because he had offered me an alternative.
Fast forward two days, I got my 52 points for Saturday night refunded along with apologies that I was ever offered the odorous room. I was also assured at this time that the BWVs were scheduled for extensive room refurbishments before the end of the year. I was also informed by Sheila at Member Satisfaction that they would keep on top of this.
I booked a 5 night stay at OKW for Jan. 24-29 ( wait list at BCV ) because I was hesitant to stay at the BWV again.
Today I called to check the status of my wait list at BCV and, as expected, it had not come through yet. I inquired as to the BWV re-furbs and was told that NO INTERIOR REFURBS WERE DONE OR SCHEDULED. I immediately called Sheila at Member Satisfaction and she assured me she would contact Simon at BWV to inquire. I received a call about ten minutes ago from Sheila stating that Simon at BWV had informed her that SOME interior renovations would begin AROUND the middle of this month. She also informed me that Member Services and Member Satisfaction have only the information that the individual resorts choose to provide them with. No exact dates or details.

Am I crazy?????:mad: I know Disney is putting spending on hold but why can't they treat the DVC owner's with a little bit of respect and just say that.
Having been an owner for 9 years I am truly disgusted with the BWV management and the way that DVC chooses to treat the owners.
If you agree let me know.
Thank you for letting me rant.

[DVC Mike]

I was also assured at this time that the BWVs were scheduled for extensive room refurbishments before the end of the year. .... I inquired as to the BWV re-furbs and was told that NO INTERIOR REFURBS WERE DONE OR SCHEDULED.

A soft refurb of BWV is scheduled for 2009.

[lockedoutlogic]

Renovations to all Disney owned properties are tentatively scheduled at all times....

There is no contractual obligation on them to complete renovations at a specific time...

That's why everything is tentative. Refurbs are often delayed for varying lengths and often several times for financial and operational issues.

I understand your frustration....but to get renovations on demand is not something that any disney entity is every going to provide you...

Getting your points back is a minor miracle...in my opinion. Disney has the ability to basically say "like it or leave it"...and they often do, knowing that everyone who threatens not to comeback - in fact - does come back (almost immediately). Even with DVC.

DVC's focus is always about generating more memberships so the numbers people can guarantee more purchases associated with it anyway....it is pretty evident in their strategy of overflowing the membership pool as is....

They aren't going to provide spectacular service because of loyalty and tenure...but watch what you get if you add on 150 points at Contemporary....

[Ian]

I'd have to agree, for the most part, although I haven't owned as long as you have.

Thus far I've been mostly underwhelmed by the (lack of) dedication DVC seems to have regarding member sat.

On my very first DVC stay on points I had a simply horrible experience with a front desk staff member (who I later learned had been the subject of numerous prior complaints, yet was still working there anyway :mad:) and basically all I got was a, "Sorry 'bout that. We'll try and do better next time."

I had another bad experience on check-in at OKW in December of '07 and, again, management and staff seemed completely disinterested in correcting their own mistake. In fact, they actually tried to make me feel guilty for all the extra work they had to do for my check-in since their own people forgot to notate the reservation with the DDP!

It was just fortunate that I had enough foresight to bring my confirmation paperwork with me that showed the DDP on it, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten the situation corrected at all.

[ytzking]

The refund of my points was not due to a minor miracle but due to the fact that the room I was assigned was not habitable and they knew they were at fault. Based on my interaction with Member Satisfaction I would guess that this is not an uncommon occurrence. It's obvious that refurbs are not guaranteed and I'm sure DVC will have no problem filling the BWV rooms with all those people who bought SSR and are unhappy with the location. Unfortunately the BWV could be on a par with a Motel 6 and they would have no problems filling the rooms. ( Location, location, location ) I for one will take a wait and see attitude. I'll bank my points for 2009 and if I do decide to make a summer trip, I'll take advantage of discount offers, ( AP, 7 for 4, etc.) If I don't see an improvement, I'll travel elsewhere with my points and start to look into resale.

[vorpalswrd]

Sounds you had a rough time, no doubt about it. Hope you have a better year this time around :)

[DizneyRox]

... If I don't see an improvement, I'll travel elsewhere with my points and start to look into resale.
OUCH! Take a look at our sponsors resale page (http://www.dvc-resales.com/dvclisting.cfm)! Looks like a ton of people are trying to dump their DVC Membership. I'd be interested to know if the majority is the economy, or just plain getting sick of it.

While really I don't have much exposure to the staff at the resorts after I check in, but even the check-in in recent years has been more problematic than usual. I don't have any requests either, I usually jsut show up and ask for my room, whatever they give me is usually fine, luck of the draw!

[lockedoutlogic]

It might be the economy that is reason for a spike in resales....

It makes perfect sense...considering buying on credit (without the means to repay it) is the MAIN culprit for the decline in financial systems...it would make sense that many who had no clue what type of house they could pay for would also have no clue if they could pay for their midlevel purchases- cars and timeshares....

But i did a little spot math when we bought our DVC. Basically, we bought 160 points out of a possible 5925 available for one unit of saratoga....

roughly 35 memberships of 1 unit....which is a studio...by the way.

So there are 34 other people out there vying for the same block in now 6 locations at WDW...two outside of WDW...Cruiseline and exchange through other third party operators....

I'm sure that system works fine in theory:

The theory being that all people book the different types of categories equally...and the different sites equally (with an assumed preference and overload at the home), and exchange out equally, and cruiseline...and in a few months more locations....

It's all great....if it weren't chunks of the most popular family destination on earth with huge repeat business....

The formula breaks down and won't hold. And what will happen in the future? let's assume the average purchase brings the per unit committment down to 25 to 1.....

Can anything be sustained at that amount? Will not the whole year be blocked at the 7 month window? will not movement to non-home resorts be effectively ended or scrapped at like vultures at 7? Will not rehabs and room conditions take a heavier beating? Will not maintenance fees then become to little and therefore the cost rise?

Hey....I know what i bought....
But i also know what disney thinks...it's a corporate philosophy that is permeated (thinly veiled) in every word, thought, and shovel...

They will not be able to control themselves....it won't happen...it's already sliding.

What they should do is build more units at WDW and sell NO memberships.....it would thin out the strain and increase buyer satisfaction by 300%....

And it wouldn't cost that much.....

But what will happen?
More mailers in a volatile global economic system about "hurry and buy more before the price goes up!"

Wait...I'm wrong.....they do emails now too:thumbsup:

[ytzking]

I think Lockedoutlogic is on the money. The strain is obvious and corporate is wearing blinders. What improvements has Disney made to the basic infrastructure in anticipation of the new BLT?
Last summer I spent a few days at the WL and I can tell you, every time I passed through the MK parking gates there was a back up getting to the access road toward WL and the Contemporary. Is that one lane road expected to be able to handle the increased traffic? Are the monorail operations being expanded or updated? No community in the U.S would be alloweed to expand in this manner without updating basic infrastructure.
This may seem off topic but it does come back to the subject of Disney not coming across with the experience they promised the buyer at the time of purchase.

[Ian]

They will not be able to control themselves....it won't happen...it's already sliding.I'd have to agree. They've proven time and time again that, once they find something that makes them a little cash, they climb in that saddle and ride that pony until it drops dead from exhaustion. By that time, they've found a new pony and they just move on.

They did it with Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and Stitch, and Princesses, and Hannah Montana ... etc. etc. etc.


What improvements has Disney made to the basic infrastructure in anticipation of the new BLT?In fairness, though, remember that they demolished a whole bunch of hotel rooms in that annex to make room for BLT, so even though I'm certain BLT will hold more people it's not like it's a completely new resort there.

But really your point is still very valid. They keep hauling in more and more guests, all the while cutting back, back, back on routine maintenance. Something has to give eventually.