Looking for a little sympathy

[las3888]

Hi all,

Normally I am pretty upbeat about things and let things roll of my back, but I have to say I am bummed today about our upcoming DVC vacation. We had booked a trip in August but unfortunately due to DH work schedule we have to change to Sept.

Well, despite it being LOTS more points (we have to go over weekend now), plus we have to buy new A/P and dining card (wouldn't have had to for August), I still just really wanted to go, so I was trying to get hyped up.

I called to get availability for some possible Sept dates and I did get really excited when I was told AKV savannah room was available. I hadn't even thought about it, but there it was! I talked it over with DH and we decided to go for it. Well, I called a few hours later and it was still there for the taking, but by the time we cancelled the other ressie (needed to free up those points), the AKV savannah room was gone.

I have been having a bad week in a number of ways, so I guess I took it harder than normal. I hung up and talked to DH. He wasn't thrilled with what happened, so he said to ask for a mgr. I called again and spoke to a Mgr for some time but while he was super chipper, he wasn't offering any sympathy for my plight and only wanted to offer a studio (we wanted a 1BR) or another resort, or wait-list with of course absolutely no guarantees. We don't want to go the wait-list route as I was told by my very chipper manager that if it didn't come through, I would have to be out of my one room by 11am and not be able to check-in until the other room was ready--no exceptions, all of this with a rental crib and 2 y/o and all of his gear, plus ours, in tow (not to mention the missed nap between 11am and 4pm for the 2 y/o). Not our idea of vacation, especially for only 4 nights. I guess there is just nothing they can do...rooms just can get snapped up that easily. I was and am super bummed. I ended up booking nothing. It was their closing time and I just couldn't think straight anymore. I was starting to get a bad taste in my mouth about the whole situation.

In the end, I just didn't like how the original CM handled the situation. When she lost the room, she never said sorry or anything, it was just like 'whoops!'

They do have AKV standard view available and it is less points, and I am trying to have common sense prevail since we are having to use alot more points to go in Sept anyways, but part of me feels like we will check in and I will be reminded all over again of how we almost had, but lost that savannah room. Who knows...by the time I call tomorrow AM the standard room will be gone too.

I just really feel bummed about Disney now and hate feeling that way because it's the one thing I usually can count on for making me feel better.

Well, if you have made it through my thread this far, I thank you! I am not looking for any kind of flames, just a little Disney cheer I guess...

 

[castleri]

Here's some PD for when you call tomorrow - hopefully you will find that a savannah view has opened up and you will get it. Have you considered a 1 BR at OKW? At least it would keep your points down for the weekend. Due to the way we planned out Sept vacation I have a 2BR over a weekend and am not so happy about that either. If we had done a Fri to Fri week I would have had to have had only a studo for the Fri-Sat and then the switch to the 2 BR when the other three people join us. Now my studio part is Wed-Thurs - I feel your pain about the extra points and hope you can find a happy solution when you call. Good Luck

 

[pilferk]

Hi all,

Normally I am pretty upbeat about things and let things roll of my back, but I have to say I am bummed today about our upcoming DVC vacation. We had booked a trip in August but unfortunately due to DH work schedule we have to change to Sept.

Well, despite it being LOTS more points (we have to go over weekend now), plus we have to buy new A/P and dining card (wouldn't have had to for August), I still just really wanted to go, so I was trying to get hyped up.

I called to get availability for some possible Sept dates and I did get really excited when I was told AKV savannah room was available. I hadn't even thought about it, but there it was! I talked it over with DH and we decided to go for it. Well, I called a few hours later and it was still there for the taking, but by the time we cancelled the other ressie (needed to free up those points), the AKV savannah room was gone.

I have been having a bad week in a number of ways, so I guess I took it harder than normal. I hung up and talked to DH. He wasn't thrilled with what happened, so he said to ask for a mgr. I called again and spoke to a Mgr for some time but while he was super chipper, he wasn't offering any sympathy for my plight and only wanted to offer a studio (we wanted a 1BR) or another resort, or wait-list with of course absolutely no guarantees. We don't want to go the wait-list route as I was told by my very chipper manager that if it didn't come through, I would have to be out of my one room by 11am and not be able to check-in until the other room was ready--no exceptions, all of this with a rental crib and 2 y/o and all of his gear, plus ours, in tow (not to mention the missed nap between 11am and 4pm for the 2 y/o). Not our idea of vacation, especially for only 4 nights. I guess there is just nothing they can do...rooms just can get snapped up that easily. I was and am super bummed. I ended up booking nothing. It was their closing time and I just couldn't think straight anymore. I was starting to get a bad taste in my mouth about the whole situation.

In the end, I just didn't like how the original CM handled the situation. When she lost the room, she never said sorry or anything, it was just like 'whoops!'

They do have AKV standard view available and it is less points, and I am trying to have common sense prevail since we are having to use alot more points to go in Sept anyways, but part of me feels like we will check in and I will be reminded all over again of how we almost had, but lost that savannah room. Who knows...by the time I call tomorrow AM the standard room will be gone too.

I just really feel bummed about Disney now and hate feeling that way because it's the one thing I usually can count on for making me feel better.

Well, if you have made it through my thread this far, I thank you! I am not looking for any kind of flames, just a little Disney cheer I guess...

I've been reading about these situations a lot recently, mostly in relation to AKV. Seems maybe MS needs to make some procedural/software changes so that MS can "lock" a room for, say, 10 min without booking it so they can cancel and rebook for members. Sorta like the way Ticketmaster holds your tickets while you type in your infor.

On the room....I'd book the standard and waitlist for the entire stay for savannah.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I've been reading about these situations a lot recently, mostly in relation to AKV. Seems maybe MS needs to make some procedural/software changes so that MS can "lock" a room for, say, 10 min without booking it so they can cancel and rebook for members. Sorta like the way Ticketmaster holds your tickets while you type in your infor.

Ditto... story after story of excitement turned to dissappointment.... I would think some software engineer could make that change today. Come to think of it... I am a software engineer, and I am sure of it. Doesn't make sense.

las3888, sorry for your experience. Remember... you're going to have many more trips to come. You just never know which trips are going to turn out to be the best. Personally, I don't want to visit AKV while it is under construction. I'd much rather see the finished masterpiece.

Smile... it helps.

 

[tomandrobin]

September is still a long way out. I am sure that something will come free for you and your family. Changing from August to September is a change in seasons, so maybe the extra points needed won't be so bad.

Best of luck to you!

 

[las3888]

Thanks for your reply, castleri. I was thinking of OKW, but that is where we stayed last time. It was absolutely beautiful and I love it, but we were hoping for something different this trip, just a change of pace. I hear what you mean on the low points though. I think it's a beautiful place to stay and what a bargain as far as points go too! I was a little bummed because we gave up a BWV standard view. I had booked it so far in advance because they are hard to come by. The good news is that almost all other resorts are available, so we do have some options. I appreciate your pixie dust and I'm hoping I can wipe the bad taste out of my mouth this AM.

Pilferk, that's interesting that you have heard this happening alot recently, especially with AKV. I had checked availability for a number of dates several times yesterday and they seemed to have lots of availability, and as I kept calling back, I did notice AKV inventory really was dwindling. The CM told me something interesting, and maybe this helps piece it all together. He told me that as construction continues, especially ahead of schedule, they get more rooms added to the reservation system to book. I think what happened is that I happened to call on a day when maybe a number of rooms were added to the reservation system, but maybe not too many, and they just went like hotcakes. I definitely agree that they need some kind of hold. I can't believe they can have a room up on the screen, and while she was in the middle of applying my just canceled points, the room just disappeared. That's why I asked for the Mgr. He said there is no 'hold' available. I just feel he could have been a little more sympathetic instead of trying to explain it's to be fair to all of the other DVC members. Hullo! What about the member who got her room snatched away right under her nose!!! How is that fair!? I guess I'm still angry.

I don't really want to wait-list because I have 3 separate contracts and wanted to combine points that way instead of borrowing from next year. It's complicated and it didn't help alleviate my frustration level, especially when reminded about how I can only transfer points from accounts once in a use year. I just had to get off the phone...my face was beet red when I got off, I was pretty steamed...

Thanks for your thoughts. I am hoping for good things this AM when I call. Today is my bday too...

 

[pilferk]

Today is my bday too...

Well happy birthday!

 

[Merylj]

I`m so sorry to hear of your situation
We were waitlisted for AKV for one night and that came through very quickly.
I hope things work out for you and

 

[vwlvette]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Let us know how this all works out. They should have a Hold for rooms.

Several years ago I had an issue, a serious issue come up at the Poly Club Level. Had to do with a medical issue and the way Disney handled it. I even got into an arguement with the Poly's night manager. After talking to the Poly's General manger the next day his solution to the problem was a one day pass for the two of us. That was just crazy, we are from NJ and had always booked the magic your way pass. the Concierge thought it was crazy too, so she gave me a number for the VP of hotel operation. I called a few weeks after when we got back. Talked to his PA, she told me she would get it to the right person and someone would call me back. I was not happy, was ready to sell all our Disney artwork! a day later I got a call from a man who asked me to go through the entire story. At the end he asked what he could do for me, I asked him what can you do? he said anything, it was the VP of hotel operations. he compt us a trip to any resort with the equal dollar amount we spent on the last trip, We stayed at the Grand, Had an endless fruit basket in our room, Choc covered straw berrys, His PA was acting as our personal Conceirge. It was an amazing trip, Since then we had bought into DVC, have spent well over 100K on disney over the past 8 or so years.
There is Magic in Disney, Hang in there!

 

[jakenjess]

I've been reading about these situations a lot recently, mostly in relation to AKV. Seems maybe MS needs to make some procedural/software changes so that MS can "lock" a room for, say, 10 min without booking it so they can cancel and rebook for members. Sorta like the way Ticketmaster holds your tickets while you type in your infor.

I agree, they need to do something about this. We've had a lot of posts lately about this exact thing happening. It would make me very nervous to try to change a reservation at this point.

I hope things work out for you!

 

[dclfun]

I had the same thing happen so can certainly feel your pain. I was trying to book a ressie that required banking points first, and by the time the points were banked, the room I wanted was gone. On another note I have had great luck with the waitlist procedure. My son decided he wanted to go to WDW for his birthday ( we live only about 40 min away ) but I was calling in mid-June for a late July stay. At the time we could only get SSR which I don't like ( long story) but wtl OKW and WLV. First we got OKW cleared then a week later got a call about WLV which was our first choice. I know someone else who always waitlists BCV for the long holiday weekends and her waitlists always clear.

I'd book the value room at AKL then be wtl for the savannah view room. People are always changing plans and I'd think most members would book something in case they DO want it if they're not certain of plans and then would cx before the penalty period. Also remember that others may have booked the AKL savannah view when they really wanted another resort and if their wtl comes through...there's one more room in inventory. I hope it works out.---Kathy

 

[RLRDA]

When we tried to reserve a 1BR savanna view for August 22-27 all we could get was standard view (which at this point in time seems to be a view of the pool (?), very nice also). We took that and waitlisted the SV and it came through several days later. It does so automatically, I didn't even realize it until I was checking the Disney DVC website for our vacation plans a few weeks later.

We have had to change our plans several times also this time around....so I know how frustrating it can be. Hope everything works out for you OP.

Happy Birthday!!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'm still a little confused about why it will cost more points in September, since that is a lower points season than August. Is it because of wanting a different resort?

 

[las3888]

dianeschlicht, it is costing us more points because we are going over a weekend now versus our August trip which was Sun-Thurs.

Well, good news - your well wishes have helped me and I got the savannah room. I just hung up and confirmed the ressie! Yea!

I told the CM a brief synopsis of how the room had been snatched and this particular CM was sympathetic. He explained how that has been happening alot and he seemed to think it had to do with their most recent computer upgrade about a month ago. He said things have been kind of crazy like that. He said he has seen rooms disappear and they usually come back, but sometimes it can take a week! I wasn't sure exactly how or where they disappeared to, but he seemed to understand and confirm that it is indeed a problem.

Now we are worried about the sound noise that we were just forewarned about. Oh well...always something to worry about I guess. I don't mind the noise during the day personally, but we have DS who naps still...at least I have the ressie and can cancel it if I want now though.

vwlvette, sounds like you had quite an ordeal. I should be thankful mine was very minimum. I am really glad to hear you were satisfied with the outcome. It is no fun when you have those down on Disney times.

 

[jakenjess]

I'm so glad it worked out for you!

 

[SandyCA]

I am so glad things worked out for you and your family. It's alway nice to have some on your Birthday!

 

[TEK224]

I'm glad it worked out for you. I had the same thing happen. Was switching to a 2 BR BCV room and before all the info could be entered, one of the nights became unavailable.

Seems to me that if they know they are cancelling one ressie to use the points for another, they should be able to hold the res. until the switch is made.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I'm glad you got your Savannah View room, but I still feel your pain. I am learning that the ms reps don't seem to be all that helpful or sympathetic as a bunch. I have made at least 20 phone calls in the last month trying to secure and finalize plans for July - I think I have encountered about 3 MS reps who have actually been helpful (or at least seemed pleasantly willing to go along with me when I developed a new strategy).

Ironically, the most helpful CM was when I was trying to make a AKV reservation - they had 5 nights of my studio stay, but were missing the second night - he suggested a one bedroom for the 1st 2 nights and a studio for the final night. I didn't have enough points for that, but he was very nice to suggest. I've talked to a couple that were like, "too bad lady!"

 

[spiceycat]

Happy you got what you wanted!

never had that problem myself - but if this is because of a new computer system. We probably all will at one point. I change alot!

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I agree, they need to do something about this. We've had a lot of posts lately about this exact thing happening. It would make me very nervous to try to change a reservation at this point.

Don't remember who it was, but someone posted a month or so ago that they cancelled their ressie at one to resort to get in another and lost the room like in this instance... dissappointing for sure

THEN, when they tried to get their cancelled days back half of those were already gone too.

It would make me nervous too.