Sumrdog
Well-Known Member
We stayed in a dedicated 2 bedroom villa at the Beach club that had 2 queen beds in the second bedroom. But otherwise it was the same setup as one of the studios villas.
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BCV refurb starting March 2015
- Thread starter GoofGoof
- Start date
The refurb was rumored to start January 22. Today is Jan 25 and still no evidence of work beginning.
People are getting letters apologizing in advance for work being done during their upcoming visits but I got one of those a year ago for our trip last Nov/Dec. We already have another trip booked for that same time frame this year. I have no confidence we will get a refurbished room then. As an owner, this is disappointing. Hoping for the best.
People are getting letters apologizing in advance for work being done during their upcoming visits but I got one of those a year ago for our trip last Nov/Dec. We already have another trip booked for that same time frame this year. I have no confidence we will get a refurbished room then. As an owner, this is disappointing. Hoping for the best.
wdwfan100
Active Member
I completely agree. DVC is not what they claim it is, that's for sure.
No clue. I stopped even trying to guess. It's been almost a year since the original expected start date. Not sure what happened either since we did get a letter stating construction could be going on during our stay last August.
What do they claim DVC to be?
wdwfan100
Active Member
DVC claims to be a pre-paid Deluxe vacation with the legendary Disney service. In my experience they are not living up to that claim.
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17 DVC trips just in the last 6 years, and I completely disagree with you. Of course, I have not stayed at BCV as of yet.
wdwfan100
Active Member
17 DVC trips just in the last 6 years, and I completely disagree with you. Of course, I have not stayed at BCV as of yet.
I am pleased your experience is different from mine. I have been going to WDW at least once a year since 1993. We stayed in deluxe resorts during this time. In 2009 we bought DVC believing the sales pitch. We own 2 home resorts, BLT and BCV but have stayed in 6 different DVC's. OKW, SSR, BLT, OKW, BWV and of course BCV. When I compare my stays at Deluxe resorts with the DVC's the Deluxe resorts win by a mile. Disney is creating a class of guaranteed return visitors. They don't need to work too hard for their business and they know it. Like I said, this is my experience. if yours is different I am very happy for you. I am not trying to convert anyone. I am however getting very frustrated with my situation and will not pretend that things are something they are not.
So in exactly what way has yours been different? Have the CMs been any less helpful? Have the resort grounds been any less manicured? How have they treated you any less better than when you stayed at a deluxe resort?
wdwfan100
Active Member
Yes! On more than one occasion we have checked in to dirty rooms, dealt with rude and dismissive CMs, even been told after on particularly bad experience that since I was DVC there was nothing they could do to help resolve my issues. Basically sorry your trip stunk, see you next time sucker. Rooms do not get near the TLC that the resorts do. In the case of the BCV it is allowed to sink to deplorable conditions. Our last two trips we have brought guest with us, that not only are not interested in DVC, but look at us like we were crazy to spend the money. When staying at the deluxe resorts, the track record of good experiences was impeccable. I am not saying every DVC trip is horrible. Some have been great in fact. As a whole though, if I had it to do all over again, I can't say that I would.
Sorry that your experience has been that bad on occasion. We have yet to see a dirty room or meet a rude CM. Every one of them has always gone out of their way to help us, even knowing that we are DVC. The rooms have always been clean and in good shape.
The one time we had an issue was with the SSR Treehouses. The living room TV had a scratch on the screen, and the shower door handle was loose. We called them to let them know about the handle and the TV (so they wouldn't think that we had damaged it), and that it wasn't a big deal to wait until we left a week later to replace it. The maintenance guy was over in less than 30 minutes to fix the door handle, and a manager showed up 5 minutes later with a brand new TV in the box. Even though we told them that it could wait, they insisted on swapping it right then and there. They asked if everything else was good before they left. That is the type of service we have always received as DVC members.
I completely agree that they seem to have left a BCV refurb a lot longer than they should have. At least the new regime is recognizing that the old schedule was too far apart, and have now adjusted the refurb schedule for all resorts. This should help in the long run.
If you don't mind relating it, exactly what experience did you have that they were unwilling to do anything for you because of the fact that you are DVC members? If it's too personal, I completely understand.
wdwfan100
Active Member
We were staying at VWL (I may have omitted that from my above list of places we have stayed.) We were switching from a 1 BR to a studio. We decided to make. Pool day out of it since we didn't have anything to do until dinner. We grabbed a day bag for the pool and gave bell services our luggage. I went to check out of one room and into the other. The Studio wasn't ready yet, which was no big deal, since I know It could be as late as 4:00pm. CM at the front desk wasn't exactly rude, but wasn't exactly friendly either. I left the front desk around 10:15am with them saying they would text me when my room was ready. I hadn't heard anything by 3:00pm so I went to check one more time. Again, I was told I would get a text. 4:15 comes and still not text return to the front desk, some how They aren't sure what happened, but we should be getting into our room very soon. 5:00 pm Still nothing. 5:35 we get into our room and then have to wait for our luggage. The room was not clean. In fact trash cans still had trash in them and there was hair on the bathroom floor. Called the front desk to explain our situation and Frustration for the day's events in hopes of getting a new room. Was told no but they would send someone up to clean again. Waited an hour for a maid to show up. After all is said and done it is. Around 7:30 before we can even leave the room. I was pretty ticked by now and went to the front desk. The CM pulled up our information we were told that they were very sorry, but since we we're staying on DVC points there wasn't anything they could do. A manger was finally involved and offered us some fast passes. The entire time though I couldn't help but get the impression that they could not have cared less. Needless to say it left a really bad impression on us. The other time it happened we talked about in another thread and it had to do with insufficient towels in our room and them not being able to help us out because we are DVC members. All and all. Just two really crappy experiences
I think pictures along with a strongly worded letter to upper DVC management would ensue after a visit like that! Looks like some bad management at VWL.
wdwfan100
Active Member
It was frustrating to say the least. It was the first time it dawned on me that perhaps they don't value me as a customer as much as they used to. The sad thing is we have had some great vacations too. It just seems that the things that leap to the forefront of the mind is the negative ones. I guess in my mind, I took the good vacations for granted. When we started having bad experiences they really stood out.
That's always the case. Pretty much why I take any kind of reviews with a grain of salt. People are quick to write a review for a perceived bad experience, but not so much for a good one.
Timeshare condos vs hotel room stays are in a lot of ways very different even if the rooms are at the same resort. It's a bit misleading if they sold DVC to you as the equivalent of pre-paying for a deluxe hotel stay. It's not. There are many benefits to timeshare condos and some drawbacks too.
One problem with DVC is that they run at a very high occupancy rate 95%+. There typically are very few empty rooms so there is less flexibility with switching people to different rooms. The DVC and hotel room inventory is managed independently so they can't or won't just switch you from a DVC studio to a hotel room. At a hotel they can offer you a switch to another room or an upgrade easier since they typically have more flexibility. I'm not trying to make an excuse for bad service, but the economics of a timeshare are different from a cash hotel because of the maintenance fee structure. This isn't unique to DVC.
wdwfan100
Active Member
This serves to reinforce my point of "It's not what they claim it is". If I were a customer and not an owner there would be a method of resolution. There still should be, even within the DVC model. Disney does hold its own DVC room inventory (these are the rooms that are available to rent, when member services is booked up). So I do believe there is a method for them to at least attempt to "make things right". In fact, sometimes making things right does come at an economic impact to the business. My point is when staying in the hotels, there was a willingness to try. In the DVC, it's sorry about your bad experience. Disney hides behind this and uses it to not do anything. In my experience, I feel being a customer beats being an "owner".
The rooms available to rent are transferred from DVC to the hotel to be rented as cash rooms. Like when someone trades in DVC points for a Disney hotel room. This is why on occasion people complain that they are seeing no rooms available at a DVC resort when booking using DVC points but rooms are available through the regular Disney website if you are paying cash. They are 2 different pools of room inventory. DVC cannot just take a hotel room from the cash room inventory and give it to you to "make things right". From a legal entity standpoint they are 2 independent companies. DVC would need to pay the hotel division for that room. That's not in the budget. DVC has a budget and all expenses are paid for using our maintenance fees so it's not about an economic impact to TWDC or their hotel division it would be an economic impact to the collective of owners at that resort in the form of increased maintenance fees. There are also specific timeshare laws that govern what Disney can and cannot charge DVC for.
I don't disagree that the sales pitch is a bit misleading. A timeshare is not the same thing as a hotel room but they tend to sell it that way. I'm not sure how many people really understand what they are buying before they buy in.
wdwfan100
Active Member
I understand the differences in the rooms. I disagree that Disney couldn't have swapped my room with another villa that was in the cash inventory and then just rented mine out for cash once cleaned. They could have and should have. They should have done whatever was necessary to make the wrong right. The just know they don't have to.
Assuming they had a room in cash inventory that was vacant they should have been able to do that. The DVC rooms do run at a really high occupancy rate compared to the Disney hotels. There are also less of them. VWL has a little over 100 rooms total while the WL hotel has something like 800 rooms. I'm not trying to make excuses for bad service or CMs being rude, but there really might not have been anything they could do if they didn't have another room available. I booked a theme park view 1BR villa at BLT one of my trips and requested a high floor. I got stuck on the 3rd floor which I think has now been changed to standard view due to the fact that you are just above the front door. I asked, begged, pleaded to be moved to a better room, but the place was full. They had no other MKV 1BR villas available. I talked to 2 managers and both were very nice but they couldn't do anything for me.