Looking for Recommended Course of Action (DVC Rental)

[WildRide]

Hi All,

I am looking for some direction on what to do with a DVC rental reservation that has gone sour....

We were renting points via dvcreservations.com for one night 2/14 at Bay Lake Tower. The reservation was set and we had linked it in My Disney Experience back in September. Yesterday I went to go check on the reservations I've made for this trip and the confirmation/reservation for this stay was gone.

I reached out to DVCreservations.com and they confirmed something was wrong. They also indicated 4 other reservations had the same issue where the confirmations mysteriously have disappeared.

I have been told that the DVC point owner who we are renting through was on the phone with Disney Vacation Services for 30 minutes and that they were told no rooms are available to fix this. DVCreservations is trying to find an alternative option but they also do not have any inventory in their system. We were also told Disney Vacation Services cannot tap into Disney's inventory of non-DVC rooms either because they are separate entities (which is crazy to me).

Does it make sense to call Disney directly and explain the situation to see what can be done? Has anyone else had a simiar experience? I'm looking for recommendations on a next step.

It's unbelievable that Disney could make a mistake and tell an owner "sorry, we can't help you".

Thanks in advance...

 

[nickys]

Sorry to hear this, it sucks to happen especially so close to the date.

It’s hard to tell if this is a system error or user (owner) error. And also to tell exactly what has happened. If it was an issue between DVC and MDE then the reservation would still exist on the DVC system. Which suggests either a DVC system error or the reservation was cancelled.

Either way I just checked and there are no studios available that night at any of the resorts. So there isn’t anything that the owner, DVC or the broker can do about finding a room.

I would still push for an explanation from the broker.

Your only option is to call Disney and ask if they can see the reservation anywhere. If not though then they won’t be able to do anything to resolve it.

Sorry this has happened.

 

[plutofan15]

Sorry that this happened. This is why I avoid dealing with any third parties at all costs. Whether it is for flights, car rentals or hotels it is not worth the extra hassle if something does go wrong. We always book directly with the airline, rental agency or hotel. It might cost a bit more but if anything does go wrong, no third party is involved. Hope you get your situation resolved.

 

[RSD Part Deux]

Disney won’t really talk to you about it. They will offer your rooms but just like any other customer.

I suspect the owner or the broker messed up. I’ve never had anything remotely close to this happen to me ever.

 

[Ayla]

That is unfortunately one of the cons about renting points. You have zero control or leverage over the reservation.

 

[lewisc]

We were also told Disney Vacation Services cannot tap into Disney's inventory of non-DVC rooms either because they are separate entities (which is crazy to me).

Not completely true, the broker can tap into Disney's non DVC inventory by paying cash for the room.

Disney won't talk to you. Tell the broker you want it fixed. You don’t care if the broker has to pay for the room.

 

[Marionnette]

I would check the Disney World website for availability for that night (I just checked and there is).

Since something can be booked for cash, I would insist dvc reservations make good by paying cash out of their pockets to secure a reservation for you. You can bet that they're going to go after the DVC owner to return anything they paid out to them.

DVC will not talk to you about the situation given that you are not the owner of the points. And Disney has no obligation to make good since you do not have an agreement with them. Your agreement is with dvc reservations and the owner whose points were used to secure the initial reservation.

The situation really stinks and its unfortunate that you have to scramble to salvage your visit. I hope it works out for you in the end. Let us know what the solution ended up being.

 

[Doberge]

We were also told Disney Vacation Services cannot tap into Disney's inventory of non-DVC rooms either because they are separate entities (which is crazy to me).

This part sounds strange. If it was Disney's error then guest recovery would result in finding a room, whatever that takes. Maybe not the same room (e.g. AKL club studio), but something. But that they're not going that routes leaves me with gut feeling that the owner messed something up. Reservations don't become lost and then opened again for someone else to book.

 

[lewisc]

I'm assuming you have the financial ability. Are there rooms available, cash, BLT or Contemporary. Ask the broker if they want to put it on their credit card or if they want to reimburse you. If you don’t like the answer ask for the carrier name and policy # of their errors and omission carrier.

 

[Marionnette]

This part sounds strange. If it was Disney's error then guest recovery would result in finding a room, whatever that takes. Maybe not the same room (e.g. AKL club studio), but something. But that they're not going that routes leaves me with gut feeling that the owner messed something up. Reservations don't become lost and then opened again for someone else to book.

DVC cannot tap into cash inventory of hotel rooms but they can, under certain circumstances, pull DVC rooms back from cash inventory.

 

[Doberge]

DVC cannot tap into cash inventory of hotel rooms but they can, under certain circumstances, pull DVC rooms back from cash inventory.

I'm not well versed to know those situations. The specific situation I was thinking about was if it was Disney's error that DVC pay is own cash (management fees?) to whatever arm of Disney it needs to secure a room. I'm unsure the exact accounting but there there has to be something Disney can do for guest recovery. In different businesses they have villas, hotel rooms, and park tickets.
Maybe it means paint for a hotel room + Disney gift card for recovery. Maybe it means getting the person into comparable room and returning points to the owner. Maybe there truly isn't anything comparable and available and DVC pays Ticketing for a few park day passes. If it's a Disney error... something.

 

[nickys]

@Doberge

I agree this sounds like an error on the part of the owner. But the reality is that lDVC have no obligation to put that right. There are times when Member Services mess up and lose a room. And even then if there isn’t availability - then it’s tough luck.

Now if a room is taken out of inventory for an emergency then DVC will find a room somewhere, even a regular room. What the financial arrangement would be I don’t know.

But DVC and CRO (Disney Reservations) are totally separate. If a member uses points to book a regular room DVC have to give up a DVC room in exchange.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Hi All,

I am looking for some direction on what to do with a DVC rental reservation that has gone sour....

We were renting points via dvcreservations.com for one night 2/14 at Bay Lake Tower. The reservation was set and we had linked it in My Disney Experience back in September. Yesterday I went to go check on the reservations I've made for this trip and the confirmation/reservation for this stay was gone.

I reached out to DVCreservations.com and they confirmed something was wrong. They also indicated 4 other reservations had the same issue where the confirmations mysteriously have disappeared.

I have been told that the DVC point owner who we are renting through was on the phone with Disney Vacation Services for 30 minutes and that they were told no rooms are available to fix this. DVCreservations is trying to find an alternative option but they also do not have any inventory in their system. We were also told Disney Vacation Services cannot tap into Disney's inventory of non-DVC rooms either because they are separate entities (which is crazy to me).

Does it make sense to call Disney directly and explain the situation to see what can be done? Has anyone else had a simiar experience? I'm looking for recommendations on a next step.

It's unbelievable that Disney could make a mistake and tell an owner "sorry, we can't help you".

Thanks in advance...

I haven't dealt with DVCreservations.com, but for other third parties through whom I've rented, there's been a written contract setting forth the terms and conditions of the points rental, and addressing some of the "what ifs" in the event of a problem.

I'd suggest going back to whatever communications and website information you have, just to see if your rights (or lack thereof), and the company's obligations, are spelled out anywhere.

 

[lewisc]

I haven't dealt with DVCreservations.com, but for other third parties through whom I've rented, there's been a written contract setting forth the terms and conditions of the points rental, and addressing some of the "what ifs" in the event of a problem.

I'd suggest going back to whatever communications and website information you have, just to see if your rights (or lack thereof), and the company's obligations, are spelled out anywhere.

Goodwill, with the alternative being.complaints and bad reviews, should motivate resolution regardless of exact terms.

The stated terms might attempt to limit the brokers exposure to just a refund. The broker is crazy if they attempt to use the fine print to weasel out.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Goodwill, with the alternative being.complaints and bad reviews, should motivate resolution regardless of exact terms.

The stated terms might attempt to limit the brokers exposure to just a refund. The broker is crazy if they attempt to use the fine print to weasel out.

You're absolutely right, and the threat of losing goodwill should be enough -- it's just that I'm a lawyer by day, and have seen enough corporations forsake goodwill and "doing the right thing" when it costs them the slightest effort, that I know sometimes a contract (and the threat of a lawsuit if the contract is not honored) ends up being the only effective weapon in a consumer's arsenal.

And as for the potential loss of goodwill... I'll be watching this thread carefully. As someone who has rented DVC points in the past and is likely to do so again if and when we stay on property in the future, I'll be scratching dvcreservations.com off of my list of potential sources, unless they come up with a very generous solution for the OP, very quickly! Surely the company realizes that from now on, anytime a potential renter Googles the name of their website to do some due diligence, they're going to see this thread: it's in their best interest to do what they can to make things right, so that this thread can have a happy ending, and be a commendation for the company instead of a warning. (Even if the problem in this case was caused by the owner and not the rental company, the appropriate thing for them to do is to provide a remedy for the renter themselves, and then seek their own recompense from the owner.)

@WildRide, please keep us posted! We're all pulling for you!

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I'm sorry. I hope it works out.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

This part sounds strange. If it was Disney's error then guest recovery would result in finding a room, whatever that takes.

Not the Disney of 2024 - guest recovery isn’t what it used to be.

DVC cannot tap into cash inventory of hotel rooms

Don’t let any corporation convince you of lies like that. It’s all Disney - if they wanted to make it right, they could.

 

[Marionnette]

Don’t let any corporation convince you of lies like that. It’s all Disney - if they wanted to make it right, they could.

Nice job of pulling part of my post and quoting it out of context. The full post was:
"DVC cannot tap into cash inventory of hotel rooms but they can, under certain circumstances, pull DVC rooms back from cash inventory."

Just because all money eventually funnels into the Walt Disney Corporation's pockets, that doesn't mean that every division is not responsible for balancing their own books. DVC Member Satisfaction cannot just give a hotel room to a guest. DVC has no cash to be able to book hotel rooms, cruises or ABD. All they have is points. There's a complicated process of changing a member's "vacation points" into "reservation points" and there has to be a hotel room on the cash side that can be booked with reservation points. If a DVC room is available on the cash side, it is sometimes possible for Member Services to pull that room back into DVC inventory for an owner to book using their vacation points by replacing that room with another DVC room of equal value. Not every room can be clawed back, not every DVC room that you see in the cash inventory can be clawed back and not every Member Services CM is versed in how to do this.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Nice job of pulling part of my post and quoting it out of context. The full post was:
"DVC cannot tap into cash inventory of hotel rooms but they can, under certain circumstances, pull DVC rooms back from cash inventory."

Just because all money eventually funnels into the Walt Disney Corporation's pockets, that doesn't mean that every division is not responsible for balancing their own books. DVC Member Satisfaction cannot just give a hotel room to a guest. DVC has no cash to be able to book hotel rooms, cruises or ABD. All they have is points. There's a complicated process of changing a member's "vacation points" into "reservation points" and there has to be a hotel room on the cash side that can be booked with reservation points. If a DVC room is available on the cash side, it is sometimes possible for Member Services to pull that room back into DVC inventory for an owner to book using their vacation points by replacing that room with another DVC room of equal value. Not every room can be clawed back, not every DVC room that you see in the cash inventory can be clawed back and not every Member Services CM is versed in how to do this.

and that’s not how it should be. That’s my point exactly.

 

[Marionnette]

and that’s not how it should be. That’s my point exactly.

However, that is how it is. That's how DVC works. That's how large corporations with multiple divisions work. And while Disney will bend over backwards to accommodate a cash-paying guest whose room was taken out of service or lost in Disney IT limbo, they will not do the same for a DVC member whose reservation was also lost in a similar IT hiccup. They are more likely to tell the member that they can use their points at other DVC rooms which are available (at another resort, another date, or different room type/view) or, in a worst case scenario, there's nothing that can be done.

There was recently a huge dust up because the refurbishment at BVW is behind schedule and several boardwalk-view rooms that had already been booked by members were being taken out of service. Members were given very little notification that their 1BR villa reservation was not going to be honored. The guests were being moved to single hotel rooms at BCV or other hotels. The members were given a "take it or leave it" attitude with no other compensation for the fact that they no longer had a full kitchen and laundry facilities in their room or that they were going from a villa with a master bedroom (with king bed) and livingroom area to a hotel room with 2 queen beds.