My First DVC booking experience

[JPL]

So here goes

I find out that I am going to a conference in January right after MLK weekend and I see a nice for day of WDW before the coonference> I said perfect I can use my DVC for the first time.
I call them up and book a studio at OKW and I was extremely happy. Fast forward to today when I open my DVC confirmation. I look at the dates on the confirmation It's Arrival January 18th Departure January 20th :confused: So I call for clarification to see if this is how they do things or did she only book for 2 nights instead of 3. Turns out she only booked for 2 nights and yet confirmed 3 :mad: So after an hour on the phone trying to find me a place to stay for my 3rd night I am stuck with moving to Coronado at twice the amount of the points :(
Add to that the fact I have to move resorts for one night . I speak with a supervisor who offers to let me stay in the same room at a member discounted cash rate of $213. I felt like I was talking to CRO all over again. The room is available just not to me unless I want to pay cash what kind of scam is this :mad: She offers to wait list me but then states the 16 points from Coronado will stay as reservation points I have to use at another resort and it will cost me even more points if the wait list comes through. All of this because they screwed up. Almost makes me wonder if I made a giant mistake here buying DVC :(


Thanks for the vent

[dlpmikki]

Hmmmm, has some similarities with the problems I had earlier this year when they cancelled half the stay I had booked for someone else due to how member services had listed a waitlist request.

I do understand how a cash room can be available when a points room isn't as there are several reasons this can happen. Not sure why you were not offered that as an alternative when you first discovered what a mess they had made. Maybe that is an avenue you could explore with them in an attempt to get your points out of reservation status (but don't hold your breath).

Do write/email and complain as it will get passed on to a member satisfaction unit. They rang me and said couldn't do anything but within an hour the waitlist miraculously found the missing rooms.

The above is the long answer. the short answer is I sympathise with you!

[Ian]

Hattie must have taken your reservation. :rolleyes:

Based on the response I got from Member (Dis)Satisfaction, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for anything to get fixed. They were less than helpful.

Can't say I've been thrilled with DVC's service thus far either, Jeff. I feel for you. Write and complain anyway, but don't expect much.

[JPL]

I mean in my eyes there were so many simple things they could have done to make me happy and they did nothing.

1. Let me stay in OKW after they said the room was available for cash to me that was a slap in the face.

2. If they must move me charge the same amount of points or less for Coronado Springs just for the inconvenience of 1 night move especially since it's my last night of the stay.

3. Given me the wait list option and saying if you get in this way you points will simply go back into your account as regular points.

Afterall this was Their mistake not mine.

[LibertyTreeGal]

Customer service-wise, this is a no brainer. They confirmed three, they need to make it right -- at their expense, not yours.

[Ian]

The only thing I will say, after thinking about this for a bit, is that this does put Disney in a bit of a bad spot.

I mean if they in fact did hook you up with an extra night for normal points or whatever, it might set a bad precedent. I mean all there is to go on that your ressie was supposed to be for 3 nights not 2 is your word vs. theirs.

Not that I mean to say I'm doubting you, Jeff, because I'm not. But you have to admit, this might be a big loophole in their process if they weren't careful. I call and make a DVC ressie for 7 nights. At the last minute we decide we want to stay 8 nights instead of 7. I call, no availability for the 8th night, so I claim my ressie was supposed to be for 8 nights in the first place, etc.

Could be messy and trust me ... there's people out there who would exploit it.

[JPL]

I understand there are some people that would exploit any loophole in any system.
I guess what really got me was the fact the room is available if you want to pay cash. The whole reason I bought into DVC is because I already paid my cash upfront and shouldn't have to worry about paying extra money when I have points.
Now normally I would say maybe I wasn't clear and give them the benefit of the doubt on the miscommunication I know these things happen. I mean it happened and it was my fault (an e-mail problem) with Wendy at MJ and she fixed it at the last minute no problems. But due to their closing at 5PM I called from work and had no point chart in front of me and was quoted 3 nights at 48 points which I wrote down along with confirmation number and when I got the confirmation it said 40 points when I later looked at charts and figured it out 48 points was the correct number for 3 nights. I do understand it is my word against theirs but just would have liked to see a little more effort to resolve the situation in a favorable manner.

[DisneyGiant]

Well - this post just made me look at my confirmation to assure that the right dates were on there!!

Sorry for your frustration. If this were to happen to me - the first place I would start would be the person who sold me the points - I've been told they are still my agent. Maybe they could offer some assistance?

[Ed]

Jeff, the suggestion re: contacting your sales agent is a good one.

We had a problem early on after our first purchase (with accounting, not reservations) and we called our "guide"; we really played up the aspect of "Gee, we were considering buying more points, but if this is the way things are run, we're having second thoughts..."

She got the problem resolved in about 45 minutes.

[Horizon93]

I agree, call your guide. They have a vested interest in your being happy with DVC.

[JPL]

Unfortunately I purchased resale and have no idea who or what my guide is :confused: :(