New waitlist policy?!

[Lisa and Alan]

I booked a 9 night stay at my 7 month window for a 1 bdrm. at BC from 10/15-10/24. They had every night available except the 17th, so we booked OKW for that one night and asked to be wait listed. The DVC cast member suggested we wait list as follows:
1st choice- BC 1 bdrm
2nd- BC studio
3rd- BW studio
4th- BW 1 bdrm
She said that if the BW came available first, we would be automatically switched there, but would remain on the wait list until our 1st choice possibly came through. When I called the other day to check our wait list status, that cm said that as of June 1st the policy has changed for wait listing. Now, if any of your wait lists come through and you accept it, the other wait lists that you have for that day would be dropped from their system. So if BW became available and I accept it to get closer the the BC resort area, I will no longer remain on the wait list for my first choice of 1 bdrm at the BC. I would then have to re- request to be wait listed for my 1st choice of BC 1bdrm. and be placed at the bottom of the list. Has anyone else been told this? I was just wondering why DVC had not sent out any info pertaining to this change in policy, as I would have been very disappointed if I would have found out that I got dropped from the list by accepting anything other than my 1st choice. So I obviously have removed the BW 1bdrm and studio from my wait list as well as the BC studio, but now feel that I am limiting my possibilities of a quick resort change for that one night if the BC 1 bdrm does not come available.

[GAN]

That sounds crazy. I'm not sure why Disney would do this -what's the benefit to them? There certainly is no benefit to the member. Did you double check this with another CM?

[dlpmikki]

This news item in Yahoo DVC news seems to confirm the change but I haven't heard anything from DVC:

Member Services representatives have begun communicating with members about changes to the waitlist process effective on June 1, 2007. The most noteworthy change is that DVC will no longer contact members via telephone giving them the opportunity to accept or decline the available room. All waitlist requests will be set-up to automatically confirm when (if) the requested accommodation becomes available. If the member already holds a reservation for the same dates at another resort or in a different room class, that reservation will be cancelled as the new room is reserved. The changes will then be visible on DVCMember.com and a printed confirmation sent to the member's home.

Reportedly this change is being made due to the volume of waitlist requests ultimately declined by members. It certainly should get members thinking twice about whether or not they wish to waitlist for other resorts or room classes when making a reservation.

In addition, members logging multiple waitlist requests for the same dates (i.e. BoardWalk Preferred, BoardWalk Standard, Beach Club, etc.) will have all other pending requests cancelled when the first request is made available. In the example above, if a member's request for a BWV Preferred room is granted, the requests for BWV Standard and BCV will be cancelled. Members may contact Member Services and request that the other waitlist requests be reinstated if they still wish to wait for alternate accommodations.

Reports are that any waitlist requests currently on file will be grandfathered in under the old process. Those who had previously requested to be contacted when one of their requests becomes available will still be contacted and given an opportunity to accept or reject the room offered.