Spitting Mad at DVC

[rstackjd]

Been promising my son and future DIL that we would give them a week at Aulani for their wedding present/ honeymoon. 7 month window opened yesterday - can't book because the 1st day (6/19) not available. Try this morning first thing, can't book - first day (6/20) not available. Trying to call MS and the system is down.

THEN just for grins I go to see if I could book a studio for cash via Disney reservations. GUESS WHAT! If I want to PAY for the rooms I can get all 7 days in just about any catagory I want.

What kind of BS is that? A DVC MEMBER can't get a room there because they are all "full" but if I want to pay cash I can?

I can't wait to get through to DVC and see how they try to explain away that one.

I love Disney and DVC, but I'm really getting tired of DVC MEMBERS being treated like second class citizens. It sure seems we got much better customer service from Disney before we invest $20K in DVC.

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[drusba]

Inventory available for rent through Disney is not inventory available to DVC members. That is true for all DVC resorts. Disney always retains ownership of a percentage of the resort (and with Aulani it still has many units not yet even designated for sale and use by DVC), gets an additonal percentage of room reserve time to rent when members trade out, and recaptures inventory for its own use through foreclosures, and it can rent those portions freely since they are not part of the DVC inventory available to members.

As to time in June, it is one of Aulani's highest DVC demand times of the year and thus it can be difficult to get anything 7 months out.

 

[disneynutz]

Disney room inventory is different than DVC inventory.

The only way to pretty much guarantee a room is to own that resort.

You can save some money with the DVC but you have to put up with other issues like availability, rules, restrictions, point requirement changes, rooms that need a better cleaning and more frequent maintenance.

Good luck getting your room.

Bill

 

[rstackjd]

Inventory available for rent through Disney is not inventory available to DVC members. That is true for all DVC resorts.

If the property is built as, sold as, and touted as a DVC property, then how do they think they are creating goodwill among their members by saying "oh gosh, sorry but you can't have THOSE ROOMS - even though they are the SAME ROOMS"

Realize they are two different entities but if there are DVC type rooms available, DVC members should have the right to book them.

There's no reasonable or logical excuse to the contrary

 

[erionm]

If the property is built as, sold as, and touted as a DVC property, then how do they think they are creating goodwill among their members by saying "oh gosh, sorry but you can't have THOSE ROOMS - even though they are the SAME ROOMS"

Realize they are two different entities but if there are DVC type rooms available, DVC members should have the right to book them.

There's no reasonable or logical excuse to the contrary

If the room is not declared into member inventory, it can't be booked with points. DVD retains ownership of the rooms not declared into member inventory. As the owner of those rooms, DVD is free to turn them over for cash reservations.

 

[rstackjd]

If the room is not declared into member inventory, it can't be booked with points. DVD retains ownership of the rooms not declared into member inventory. As the owner of those rooms, DVD is free to turn them over for cash reservations.

I understand the LEGAL distinctions - my problem is the practical issue - DVC and DVD are not creating any good will with that kind of behavior. I'm pretty sure when they were selling us on all the good things we get as DVC members, they never said "of course it's possible that there will be rooms available to pay for but that won't be available to you on points"

As I said - I love Disney and DVC (but not today) so I just want to whine. I know they won't change, and I know I won't quit, but they are not playing fair by their Members.

 

[disneynutz]

If the property is built as, sold as, and touted as a DVC property, then how do they think they are creating goodwill among their members by saying "oh gosh, sorry but you can't have THOSE ROOMS - even though they are the SAME ROOMS"

Realize they are two different entities but if there are DVC type rooms available, DVC members should have the right to book them.

There's no reasonable or logical excuse to the contrary

You do have the right to book them, using cash.

Disney is all about selling DVC contracts, not making too much of an effort to support owners after the sale.

Bill

 

[gonzalj1]

If the room is not declared into member inventory, it can't be booked with points. DVD retains ownership of the rooms not declared into member inventory. As the owner of those rooms, DVD is free to turn them over for cash reservations.

Exactly. One needs to understand that we are dealing with separate legal entities here. Its all very straightforward when you think of it in that sense.

Once the points are declared into inventory then, and only then, are they considered part of the timeshare and available to members. Before that time DVD owns them and is looking to recoup their capital costs to build so the rooms are available to Cash guests. If they didn't do this points costs would be even higher as the capital being recouped by these cash stays would have to come from members buying points and paying dues.

Keep in mind, that even at completely sold out resorts, DVD retains a small percentage of points in their inventory for breakage and other issues. If these room will not be required for maintenance issues etc then they are also made available to the general public as cash rooms.

Its all in the documents we all received when we purchased and, once you get past the legalese, pretty simple.

 

[Jaaron2]

We are goingto Aulani at the same time. I was trying for days before our "planned" arrival date to get in so I could get that all important first date set (and had no luck). On the 7 month mark I called in right at the time they opened and we were able to get a 2 bedroom ocean view begining on 6-17 (now through the 26th) Now we have been calling in daily to add a night every day and we have had no problem doing that.

My suggestion would be to waitlist for the time you want right away (to get higher in line on the waitlist) because a lot of people switch their dates around once they get in. I also have been tryingto call in all morning today with no success due to the "system outage" theuy are having.

 

[rstackjd]

Disney is all about selling DVC contracts, not making too much of an effort to support owners after the sale.

Bill

Sadly that is starting to appear more and more true.

 

[elaine amj]

I'm no timeshare expert (and am not a DVC owner) - but isn't this the same system all timeshares use? Isn't that the perk of owning at a particular resort? You can book much further ahead and thus increase likelihood of snagging a premium week?

I can certainly understand your frustration though - I've thought about DVC but have since decided I prefer the flexibility of cash bookings (or renting points from someone).

 

[tjkraz]

It's the nature of the beast where timeshares are concerned.

Simply put, if only 25% of Aulani has been sold into the timeshare program, only 25% of the rooms are bookable by members. The other 75% are still Disney's. Disney pays for maintenance and upkeep on those unsold rooms.

There's nothing illegal about it. There's nothing unethical about it. It's happened with every resort added to the DVC program since 1991.

Disney Vacation Club is still a vehicle which allows owners to save 65-75% off of standard room rates over the life of the ownership. Unfortunately those savings come with certain terms and conditions.

 

[drusba]

I can fault Disney for many things but not this one. This is not a "hidden" issue. That Disney can rent out the percentage of the units/reservation time for which it still has ownership and that such inventory is not available for DVC members to reserve on points is something that has been explained in the public offering documents/contracts that every new purchaser from Disney has gotten since DVC first went on sale in the early 1990s. And yes, this is very typical of other timeshares.

 

[Lynne M]

You do have the right to book them, using cash.

Disney is all about selling DVC contracts, not making too much of an effort to support owners after the sale.

Bill

I'm not sure how this is about Disney "not supporting owners after the sale."

Should they be giving inventory that they own and pay maintenance on to owners for free? Because that's what would be required in the OPs case. He can't pay with points, since it's not member inventory. So Disney would have to give up the room and eat the maintenance costs.

OP, this isn't about poor customer service, or not supporting owners. Disney is simply operating according to the rules of their timeshare, as stated in the POS that we all signed off on. They have their inventory, we have our inventory. We pay for and use our part of it, they pay for and use their part of it. Of course, it's frustrating if you want a room after our part of the inventory has been booked by others, but there's nothing to be done about it.

If it were me, I'd book the stay on cash and rent my points to recoup at least some of the money. There's more than one way to use your points.

 

[RSWA2]

What kind of BS is that? A DVC MEMBER can't get a room there because they are all "full" but if I want to pay cash I can?

Thanks for letting me vent.

Yes, it does suck that you can't get a room, but you can for cash, but as others have said, the % of rooms available is the % of rooms that were sold for DVC. You can't get a DVC room if no DVC rooms are available and availability drops after 11 months. At 7 months, all owners at Aulani, could have gotten their rooms already 1 day before 7 month window opened and nothing would be available to other non-Aulani owners. I own at AKV and I tried to get a value studio at the 11 month mark, I signed on 15 minutes after online reservations opened and missed the first day. So the next day, I woke up 5 minutes before and just waited online and I was able to get my room, just 1 day later than what I wanted. So it happens, even to a home priority owner.

Maybe next time you can rent points from an Aulani owner? Then you would get an 11 month advantage?

But I would waitlist, things change, people's vacations change. Check every day, multiple times a day, someone may cancel and you can immediately reserve the room. I've seen rooms that shouldn't be available, (AKV value studios, GCH studios) that are available at DVC peak times.

 

[rstackjd]

I'm not saying it's illegal, unethical, immoral or anything else.

I'm saying it is simply poor customer service in company that prides itself on exceeding expectations.

As was pointed out - there's more than one way to skin a cat - the question is, who should be jumping through the hoops - DVC or the member (who are, I think the biggest cheerleaders Disney has).

I'm not, NOT asking for something for free, or for "special treatment" (you know, like free meal plans or things). I'm saying "There's available space at a DVC resort. Shouldn't DVC do everything it can to make those rooms available to the Members? Not because they must, not because they have an obligation, but because it creates goodwill for the brand"

 

[disneynutz]

I'm not sure how this is about Disney "not supporting owners after the sale."

Should they be giving inventory that they own and pay maintenance on to owners for free? Because that's what would be required in the OPs case. He can't pay with points, since it's not member inventory. So Disney would have to give up the room and eat the maintenance costs.

OP, this isn't about poor customer service, or not supporting owners. Disney is simply operating according to the rules of their timeshare, as stated in the POS that we all signed off on. They have their inventory, we have our inventory. We pay for and use our part if it, they pay for and use their part of it. Of course, it's frustrating if you want a room after our part of the inventory has been booked by others, but there's nothing to be done about it.

If it were me, I'd book the stay on cash and rent my points to recoup at least some of the money. There's more than one way to use your points.

Rules and policies seem to be in favor of Disney, not the owners/members. An example would be the 60 day rule that lets DVC inventory move to Disney 60 days before any given date. Even though Disney now has the DVC inventory, they would rather let rooms go empty than allow members to book those rooms.

Occasionally MS will pull a room back but it depends on who you talk to. I have been told several times that once inventory moves to Disney, it is lost forever, but I have had MS pull a room back for us on occasion if you can find the right MS adviser who will make the call.

Bill

 

[bwvBound]

... - the question is, who should be jumping through the hoops - DVC or the member (who are, I think the biggest cheerleaders Disney has).

In my 13+ years experience with timeshare, it is always the owner/member who is jumping through the hoops. Much of timeshare is a game and owners/members who are skilled in appropriate game strategies do best. Those who pine for "timeshare to act like a hotel" do poorly.

Strategies for this reservation:

• Waitlist the desired dates and unit type. You have a very strong chance of getting your first wish. Hawaii reservations are often booked as "a dream" but then fall apart when when the traveller faces sticker shock on airfare and other travel logistics. I fully expect lots of cancellations on Aulani reservations -- similar to the cancellations I've watched in Worldmark and other timeshare systems.
• You might have considered, from the very start of the 7 month reservation window, being flexible on your target unit size. It would have been good to "hope for the studio" but be prepared to book a 1BR instead.
• Look for a unit type (size/view combo) that has the greatest number of units. Don't set your heart on the least expensive view if there are limited number of units -- shoot for the higher probability.

Again -- use the Waitlist. In fact, use BOTH waitlists -- for different unit types (size or view). I'm quite confident it will come through.

 

[tjkraz]

I'm saying "There's available space at a DVC resort. Shouldn't DVC do everything it can to make those rooms available to the Members?

It may be a "DVC resort" but the rooms you are referring to are not "DVC rooms."

Not because they must, not because they have an obligation, but because it creates goodwill for the brand"

It's a compelling argument but the question becomes: where does it all end?

You want the ability to book rooms which are not part of the timeshare program. Another owner wants "free dining." Another owner wants daily housekeeping. Another owner wants extra FastPasses. Another owner wants free valet parking. Another owner wants merchandise discounts.

All under the guise of "it creates goodwill for the brand."

 

[chalee94]

I'm saying it is simply poor customer service in company that prides itself on exceeding expectations.

I'm saying "There's available space at a DVC resort. Shouldn't DVC do everything it can to make those rooms available to the Members? Not because they must, not because they have an obligation, but because it creates goodwill for the brand"

The thing is that this situation has come up often - even at wdw resorts. Had you done your homework, you wouldn't have expected Disney to give up the inventory they own to suit your plans.

But it's common for people to buy in without looking at the details and assume that Disney will take care of you regardless of the cost to them. That's unrealistic. But now you know better...