TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Another reason I have no interest in buying DVC. That’s terrible.
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Looking for Recommended Course of Action (DVC Rental)
- Thread starter WildRide
- Start date
plutofan15
Well-Known Member
So everytime a third party screws up, Disney needs to correct the problem? The customer could have booked directly through Disney but decided to use a third party which apparently screwed up the reservation. This why I never use third party companies to book flights, hotels or car rentals. If there is a problem, you have to deal with the third party which is responsible to rectify the situation. I have heard of too many people having issues, it may cost a few dollars more to book with the company directly but issues are usually resolved quicker. I feel bad for the OP but to get the issue resolved falls with dvcreservations.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Honestly if there is a problem, it can go 50/50. I’ve had situations where the 3rd party helped me get my money back where the original hotel wouldn’t. Heck, Caesar’s messed up my reservation in Vegas and Priceline gave me a small credit, was only like $20 but a refund plus $20 was more than Caesars was gonna give me that’s for sure.
Marionnette
Well-Known Member
Yes. It was a horrible response by DVC but their hands were tied by the convoluted way that is involved when DVC points are used for Disney hotel reservations. In this particular case, the number of DVC points needed to book a single night in a BC hotel room was actually more than the number of points needed to book an entire 1BR villa at BWV for the same night. As DVC saw it, they were providing a member with more than adequate compensation by "giving" them a hotel room that was, on paper, worth more points than the 1BR villa at BWV.
plutofan15
Well-Known Member
So this has happened to you on more than one occasion? In the Vegas situation, how were able to determine the mistake was made by Caeser's and not Priceline? A legit question, not trying to be snarky.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Obviously Priceline and Caesar’s both blamed each other - no way to prove.
Another time it was a random local hotel that wouldn’t have given any money back but Expedia got me a partial refund.
I’ve also had situations where I booked directly with the hotel and not been helped at all. (One time I was eventually reimbursed but only because I’m Hilton diamond).
For me, I save enough money with Priceline each year it’s worth it.
I’ve always booked Disney hotels directly with Disney though so not sure how it works with them. But for Disney Springs hotels and Anaheim hotels Priceline has done me well.
plutofan15
Well-Known Member
The way that Priceline, Expedia, Orbitz , etc. work is that they negotiate reduced room prices with the hotel chains basically guaranteeing that they will book a certain amount of rooms. If they do not meet that number of rooms, they have to pay a certain rate for those unused rooms. When someone books a room through a third party, they are basically subletting rooms already booked by that third party. The person is then a customer of the third party booking companies and not the hotel. Any issues with the booking are the responsibility of the third party booking company and not the hotel. Hotels allocate a certain number of rooms to these third party companies, which is why a hotel might be sold out on Expedia but have available rooms when checking their direct website. While it might be a goodwill gesture on the part of the hotel to correct the problem caused by the third party company, it ends up costing the hotel money. If they give you a room at the rate on which you booked the room, they are taking a room out of the hotel rate inventory which more than likely would have sold at a higher rate. Then they would have to pay somebody to deal with the third party. Multiply that by the number of times that may happen nationwide and you have a rather significant cost.
While you say that Expedia got you a partial refund, they did not. They got you nothing from that hotel, they gave you a partial refund from themselves. More than likely the same thing with Caeser's.
Obviously, do whatever works best for you. I have heard too many horror stories about screwed up reservations and endless amounts of time trying to get issues resolved to not book directly. Not to say that issues won't happen booking directly but the chances of getting problems resolved are much better. And I can honestly say that I have never had any issues with hotels (at Disney or anywhere else) other than a random time or two when rooms have not been ready by check in time. Maybe I am just lucky.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
I travel a lot for both work and fun and have had all kinds of issues. The only issue I’ve had at Disney was when there was a “computer update” that went terribly wrong - check in line was crazy long at like 11 pm and not moving and managers were just shrugging shoulders saying “sorry for the inconvenience.”
We stayed at a holiday inn that night and the next day the manager we talked to took the night off from the original check in as well as an additional night and thanked us for being understanding.
But I guess if I was a DVC member I would have gotten nothing just cause that’s the way it is. Haha.
plutofan15
Well-Known Member
Why would you think that you would have gotten nothing if you were a DVC member???
You do realize that the OP booked through DVCreservations which is a third party company not affiliated at all with Disney.
DVC Reservations: Walt Disney World Rentals
Disney Vacation Club reservations and DVC rentals. Stay on-site with a dvc rental at Walt Disney world by renting a DVC resort from an owner. Up to 60% off Disney rates on deluxe studios and villas.
dvcreservations.com
