Disney/DVC Customer Service

[DVC Mike]

Disney has a long tradition of legendary service, from the smiling cast members to the whimsical and magical experiences available at its parks and resorts.

Disney's record of customer loyalty, satisfaction, and repeat business has made them the number one tourist destination in the world.

The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) consistently scores the best rating in the timeshare category in the Market Metrix Hospitality Index. Yes, DVC has the highest hospitality ratings of any other timeshare.

91 percent of DVC members described their overall membership satisfaction as "excellent" or "very good".

This exceptional customer service, whether it's a cast member going above and beyond or a simple "Welcome Home" greeting, is one reason that many people buy into DVC.

If you're on INTERCOT, you were most likely wowed by the magical vacation experiences at WDW and you decided to become a repeat customer.

Do you view Disney's customer service as above average or below average? If below average, why do you continue to schedule Disney vacations?

I own 1,250 DVC points because I believe that Disney vacations are above average, and I keep on enjoying the magical experiences year-after-year.

How 'bout you?

[TennesseeTink]

I have been a DVC member for just one year. During that time, I have used DVC Member Services to plan 5 vacations, two of which involved booking at other than my home resort. I have called Member Services atleast a dozen times and each time I had exceptional customer service. And this is coming from someone who has worked in the travel industry in a customer service capacity for over 10 years. Everyone that I ever spoke with was knowledgeable, friendly, and willing to assist me with all my travel needs. I have always felt that DVC goes above and beyond my expectations from my guide to Member Services.

[Ian]

I have been a DVC member for just one year. During that time, I have used DVC Member Services to plan 5 vacations, two of which involved booking at other than my home resort. I have called Member Services atleast a dozen times and each time I had exceptional customer service. And this is coming from someone who has worked in the travel industry in a customer service capacity for over 10 years. Everyone that I ever spoke with was knowledgeable, friendly, and willing to assist me with all my travel needs. I have always felt that DVC goes above and beyond my expectations from my guide to Member Services.

The poll talks about "Disney's" service ... not just DVC.

My experiences with Member Services have all been fine. My DVC resort experiences have most certainly not been fine and my overall experiences with Disney as of late have been slightly below average at best.

Many times I can't tell if I'm at Disney World, McDonald's, or Wal-Mart. Except for the fact that most of the Wal-Mart and McDonald's employees in the stores near me speak English.

[TennesseeTink]

The poll talks about "Disney's" service ... not just DVC.

ALL of my Disney customer service expeiences have been wonderful, with the possible exception of one waiter 2 years ago. After every Disney vacation, I write a letter to WDW to let them know the Cast Members who went above and beyond so that they may be recognized for great service. After my one bad experience, I mentioned in my letter about the slow service and received a phone call thanking me for my letter, apologizing for the incident, and assuring me that it would be addressed. I was floored to receive this call and, for me, it confirmed what I had always believed, that Disney values its customers and wants them to be happy and return. I stand by my vote.

[JPL]

Overall Disney Customer has been on the decline for years and is quickly falling off even further. My experience with DVC has been hit and miss and not really that impressive. I often get the feeling that DVC feels that I am locked into this contract so they don;t need to go the extra mile for me. My most recent experience booking a trip for December proved that to me when I called 5 minutes after I received an e-mail saying on SSR and OKW were available for the accomadations and dates I wanted only to find out that exactly what I requested was available.

[ytzking]

Disney's overall customer service is definitely not on the same level as it was in the late 80s and early 90s. As far as DVC goes, I'm sorry to say, the bad outweighs the good. I've been a member for 10 years and I've seen a steady decline in the level of ALL services associated with DVC.
This coming week I'll be travelling to the BWV and I am praying that things are better than last year. My room was horrible, ( I had over 50 points refunded to me, that should tell you something) and management at BWV were poor at best when making excuses. ( "Renovations are coming." "We have no control over housekeeping." ) This trip will definitely shape my vacation habits for the next few years. I really hope that I'm pleasantly surprised but, I'm not getting overly optimistic.

[Ian]

"We have no control over housekeeping."

This is exactly the kind of stuff I'm talking about. The fingerpointing. The lack of accountability.

Nobody cares if housekeeping is outsourced!! If Disney chooses to outsource a customer facing guest service position (simply to save a few bucks, I might add) then they had darn well better be prepared to stand behind it! Not just pass the buck, which is what they always seem to do. They want their cake and eat it too ... the money savings and a complete absolution from all responsibility when the company they choose to represent them turns in a sub-standard performance.

Shabby ... very, very shabby.

[DizneyRox]

I think everyone knows where I stand. Disney is a follower right now. Nowhere near a leader in the service industry in just about everything they do and in many cases don't do.

Yes, I did buy into DVC, but now it's dissapointing that I may just have many years in front of me watching the service decline further and further. Everytime I don't think it can get worse, it does!

[JPL]

Just looking at the responses to the poll is very telling. only 6 out of the 11 people think Disney has exceptional Customer Service

[Tinkermom]

Even though the poll seems to be for Disney in general I am going to comment mostly on DVC as this is the DVC board.

We own another timeshare through Bluegreen and I can tell you that I HATE dealing with them so much that I have turned over the scheduling of our Bluegreen trips to my husband who has more patience with them. Every time we call we are told a different "rule". Their right hand never seems to know what their left hand is doing. When you check in to your resort you are pressured to attend an "update" (aka sales pitch to try to get you to buy more points). In fact at our last stay at "The Fountains" in Orlando the gal was downright rude when we said we did not want to attend an update saying something like "I do not understand why you do not want to participate when we are giving you free tickets" - as if they were doing us a FAVOR! (btw they were offering two one day passes to WDW which we of course did not need! - NO offer of anything else either - not that it would have swayed us). They make you pick up your key from this person who is trying to get you to attend the update and this gal just took her good ol' time getting us our key after we said no. She was awful! Our room was also not ready at the check-in time and we ended up waiting close to 2 hours AFTER check-in before we could get into our room. Some of the places we have stayed through Bluegreen have been very nice and others have been pretty bad. I could give you more examples of our experiences at several other Bluegreen resorts but most are similar to what I have already posted. We would love to sell but would unfortunately owe more than we could sell it for right now. We use it now as "filler" in between DVC trips. For those who are concerned about a decline in service with DVC you can always sell and probably get more than what you paid.

For us DVC and Disney offers consistent exceptional service. No pressure, no sales pitches, just a place to come and relax and enjoy time with friends and family. Sure, there is the occasional CM who is rude or not friendly or appathetic but for the most part WDW is still our "happy place" where we are welcomed with smiling faces and DVC is our other "home" where the amenities are top-notch (rooms with jacuzzi, plasma tv's, kitchen, not to mention square footage!, architecture, themeing, landscaping, food, etc., etc). We are looking forward to the many years with Disney and DVC.

[Hammer]

Our room was also not ready at the check-in time and we ended up waiting close to 2 hours AFTER check-in before we could get into our room.

Lisa, the same thing happened to us both times we have stayed at Villas at Wilderness Lodge (though not at any other DVC property), so it happens at WDW as well.

For those who are concerned about a decline in service with DVC you can always sell and probably get more than what you paid.

Not for most DVC properties. A quick look at the Timeshare Store listings show that there are sales pending where people are selling their timeshares at AKLV for $15-$20 less per point than what they paid when buying through DVC.

[dlpmikki]

I have owned DVC since 1992. When I joined it was absolutely great. Member services were high quality. the resorts immaculate. I have had some terrific examples of good customer service from Disney and also some awful ones (most memorable with a CM called Harmony who caused anything but). There have been some good recoverys by Disney to bad situations but not always. I ring member services now and often know more than the CM.

I have no regrets over my DVC purchase but if I was starting now I would not be buying in. I don't find Disney as magical as I used to but it makes me appreciate them more when I do find magical nuggets here and there.

[DVC Mike]

I have a few follow-up questions for those of you that voted "Disney provides mediocre/poor customer service ".

(1) If you feel you receive poor customer service from Disney, why do you keep going to WDW? Why don't you give your hard-earned cash to another company that provides exceptional service?

(2) If you're a DVC member, why don't you sell your membership?

(3) If you're unhappy with the customer service provided by Disney, why spend hours a week on discussion forums such as INTERCOT talking abot Disney?

[Ian]

(1) If you feel you receive poor customer service from Disney, why do you keep going to WDW? Why don't you give your hard-earned cash to another company that provides exceptional service?

Because my kids love WDW. They're too young to have to deal with the hassles (or even recognize that they exist), so until they get too "old" for Disney World (if that ever happens) we'll keep taking them down.

And trust me ... Disney knows that and exploits it to full advantage.

(2) If you're a DVC member, why don't you sell your membership?

See above. If we're going to keep going down, we might as well do it economically. Not to mention that DVC is so far in the toilet right now we'd lose our shirts.

(3) If you're unhappy with the customer service provided by Disney, why spend hours a week on discussion forums such as INTERCOT talking about Disney?

Because I love what Disney used to be. And maybe ... just maybe ... if I spread enough of that around to other folks, they'll stop being so willing to accept the mediocrity/sub-mediocrity that Disney is peddling these days.

But probably not ... Willing acceptance of mediocrity seems to have become the new American way of life.

[DVC Mike]

being so willing to accept the mediocrity/sub-mediocrity that Disney is peddling these days.

But probably not ... Willing acceptance of mediocrity seems to have become the new American way of life.

Ian,

I was wondering why, if you feel so strongly that Disney is offering mediocrity, why did you add-on at Bay Lake Tower (BLT)?

[DVCDisneyMom]

WOW! This is quite a string and makes for very interesting reading. We joined DVC last year and are very happy with our purchase and the services we have received so far. Maybe we don't have a past decade to compare it to, but I've been going to Disney my whole life and still cry when I leave, knowing full well I'll be back again soon. It is still magical for me and I love seeing the magic in my kids too! We're addicted, happy, and satisfied customers!!!

[Ian]

Ian,

I was wondering why, if you feel so strongly that Disney is offering mediocrity, why did you add-on at Bay Lake Tower (BLT)?

Again ... I don't really see what's so confusing about this ... if we're resigned to the fact that we're going to be going a few times a year, we might as well stay somewhere we like.

SSR is okay, but we wanted another option so we didn't have to stay in the same place every time. We also needed more points to adequately accomodate the number of trips we take each year.

But I can tell you this ... 10 years ago we went a couple times a year because we wanted to go. If we didn't have kids, though, I can tell you with 100% certainty that we might visit once every few years tops. There are just way too many other vacation destinations out there these days that are doing it better than Disney is.

[Priority Four]

I can not imagine another place on earth that enjoys the scrutiny that Disney is subjected to. Think about it. What are You and I doing right now. Like many of You, we are a "Disney Family". I love disney, I read about it, dream about, can't wait to get back there. I get out our personalized map of the world and study it and have been known to break into a chorus of "a great big beautiful tommorow" in the car.

I have been a DVC member since '02. Many of the CM's at member services were probably in junior high when i joined. It would be difficult for them to stay ahead of me but they do for the most part.

My expectations are high, but they are almost always met or exceeded by Disney CM's. My point is that even though we pay so much attention to the subject, we rarley find a problem.

[PlutoPlanet]

I voted "Exceptional Service" at Disney.
We find the customer service way better at Disney than at other places. My DW teaches corporate training classes in customer service and uses examples from Disney.

[tink'72]

I think everyone knows where I stand. Disney is a follower right now. Nowhere near a leader in the service industry in just about everything they do and in many cases don't do.

Yes, I did buy into DVC, but now it's dissapointing that I may just have many years in front of me watching the service decline further and further. Everytime I don't think it can get worse, it does!

You know I feel the exact same way. I am new to DVC purchased last July. The first time I called in to make reservations and had questions I the rep was just blah not rude but certainly NOT helpful in way shape or form. I thought it was just an off day. Well I've called numerous times since then and only once have I been pleased and delighted with the service. For the most part the service is not fantastic , I feel like I was bothering the person on the phone. I was and am very disappointed. I have a trip planed next week and have to call and order my passes and quite frankly I am not looking forward to the phone call.

After reading further into the above posts I decided to add a few things:

1) We love Disney- hands down- from the minute we arrive to the minute we leave we get great service.

2) My issues stem with the 800 DVC member phone line. It's them that I have an issue with.