Who'll stand with me...outside the DVC 'member' lounge?

[DisDadDVC]

We are at VGF now and I bought a table in wonderland card. We have been here 15 Nights and so far I have saved a grand total of $60 after I paid off the $150 purchase fee. We have actually decided not to buy it again as the savings just aren't there anymore.

Yeah, the move from $100 to $150 is a deal breaker for me as well. This will be our last TIW unless something changes.

 

[JimMIA]

OP here. Do you think it would be possible for you to show even just a little sensitivity toward those of us who didn't quite make the cut-off? Yes, I bought a timeshare but due to bad timing, the welcome mat was pulled out from under me. I already got kicked in the gut by Disney-I don't need those who of you who are not going to feel the sting of being excluded from the 'club' to pour salt in my still-fresh wound.

Nothing in any of my posts was directed at people like yourself who Disney wronged. They did kick you in the teeth, and it was not accidental. They meant to do it. I'm sorry they treated you the way they did.

I'm as disappointed as anyone else over the heavy-handed way Disney has handled this. It's completely unnecessary, of very questionable value from a business perspective IMHO, and a crappy way to treat their customers and prospective customers. But they don't care. Nor do they care what any of us here think. Their sole focus is the folks walking into the sales center to explore DVC for the first time.

If they had handled this the way they did the change back in 2011, the responses would have been much different, and I think better for Disney. Resales would have been stimulated and prices would have risen, as people tried to get in grandfathered and owners wishing to divest took advantage of the increase in demand. That would have helped Disney's sales point of resale value, and would have made little difference in anything else in the long run.

One of the things you learn about Disney after watching them for a few years is that there are quite a few things they really don't do very well. How did a supposedly big-league timeshare developer get into such a mess that the State of Hawaii halted their sales operation to protect consumers? Why don't their websites work? Why is there no supervision of basic things like housekeeping? The list goes on and on.

 

[mynameisnobody]

OP here. Do you think it would be possible for you to show even just a little sensitivity toward those of us who didn't quite make the cut-off? Yes, I bought a timeshare but due to bad timing, the welcome mat was pulled out from under me. I already got kicked in the gut by Disney-I don't need those who of you who are not going to feel the sting of being excluded from the 'club' to pour salt in my still-fresh wound.

What welcome mat? You were coming in the back door by purchasing resale. As has been repeated many, many times on this board and elsewhere, nobody, not even direct purchasers are guaranteed any of the membership extras. Yes it sucks that they changed the rules and their communication is so far lousy. They just waived ROFR for my loaded BWV contract yesterday so I know it's frustrating but there's nothing you can really do to have an impact. In the overall scheme of things relatively few people were impacted by the change.

 

[CarolMN]

It makes me sad to see all the posts telling posters how they should feel or that they are not entitled to feel frustrated or sad or disappointed or angry.

Everyone knows that perks and discounts and all the "Membership Extras" are not part of our contract. Knowing that does not stop the disappointment when the availability of those things disappear without warning - and disappear just for you, not the entire membership. (That would still disappoint, but at least you'd have a lot more company).

If this has happened to you, you have my sympathy. But please don't make any rash decisions while you are upset. The reasons you bought are almost certainly still valid. After things settle a bit and you can quantify the value of the perks that are important to you, it will be easier to decide if a direct purchase of 25 points will be worth it to have access to them.

 

[Cinderella624]

I am so extremely disappointed right now. I just received the email from my broker that I have been misinformed, that I will not be receiving the member extras after all. All this after I had spend all day running around, getting the cashiers check and mailing in the closing docs. We bought a small contract and waited 31 days to pass ROFR which it finally did on March 30. I was jumping up and down yesterday when I was first told that I am grandfathered in and now, I just got the wind knocked out of my sails.

I initially thought that my timing was just right in buying into DVC since we have a land-sea-land vacation coming up this August. We had rented points and we have reservations at Poly and AKL. In the middle of the trip, we have a 3-day Dream cruise. So, in February, I finally convinced my DH that we should buy a small contract and he finally agreed. I told him that we could purchase the TIW card and save on our upcoming dining which includes 15 TS restaurants that do accept the TIW card. I enticed him with the TOWL and the new Epcot lounge and member activities on the cruise.

And now, poof. I don't even know what to tell him now. Yes, we just spent $9,000 so we can be turned away and not enjoy any perks whatsoever.

This experience has soured me on Disney. On the other hand, this is definitely a cure for my Disney-itis. At this point, having just received the bad news, the excitement I had for our upcoming trip has gone out the window as well.

So, who else got shafted?

And for existing DVC members, how soon I can turnaround and sell this contract back to Disney?

What is the contact information for Potrock? I want to write to him directly.

I found this posted:
Ken.potrack@disney.com
1-800-800-9800 option 2
Also another contact is:
Karl.hilz@disney.com

 

[DisDadDVC]

It makes me sad to see all the posts telling posters how they should feel or that they are not entitled to feel frustrated or sad or disappointed or angry.

Everyone knows that perks and discounts and all the "Membership Extras" are not part of our contract. Knowing that does not stop the disappointment when the availability of those things disappear without warning - and disappear just for you, not the entire membership. (That would still disappoint, but at least you'd have a lot more company).

If this has happened to you, you have my sympathy. But please don't make any rash decisions while you are upset. The reasons you bought are almost certainly still valid. After things settle a bit and you can quantify the value of the perks that are important to you, it will be easier to decide if a direct purchase of 25 points will be worth it to have access to them.

Actually, based on the posts here, I don't think that is true at all. People are trying to get out of their signed contracts based on these changes. But this has been a wake up call for a lot of people IMO and a harsh reminder for everyone else.

But absolutely, even if Disney is "right" to do this, people have every right to be disappointed by it.

 

[gr8tdame]

It makes me sad to see all the posts telling posters how they should feel or that they are not entitled to feel frustrated or sad or disappointed or angry.

Everyone knows that perks and discounts and all the "Membership Extras" are not part of our contract. Knowing that does not stop the disappointment when the availability of those things disappear without warning - and disappear just for you, not the entire membership. (That would still disappoint, but at least you'd have a lot more company).

If this has happened to you, you have my sympathy. But please don't make any rash decisions while you are upset. The reasons you bought are almost certainly still valid. After things settle a bit and you can quantify the value of the perks that are important to you, it will be easier to decide if a direct purchase of 25 points will be worth it to have access to them.

The reasons I bought was because Of Disney's reputation. The way they have handled this policy change has made me lose faith in Disney.
I was excited at becoming a DVC member and thought I would be treated the same as any other member....not as a second class member.
The reason I went the resale route was not trying to get in the back door but the properties I was interested in as a home resort were not available for direct purchase.
If I knew that Disney was going to treat me this way... I would not have signed an offer of purchase.

I only hope that ROFR will not pass..

 

[DisDadDVC]

The reasons I bought was because Of Disney's reputation. The way they have handled this policy change has made me lose faith in Disney.
I was excited at becoming a DVC member and thought I would be treated the same as any other member....not as a second class member.
The reason I went the resale route was not trying to get in the back door but the properties I was interested in as a home resort were not available for direct purchase.
If I knew that Disney was going to treat me this way... I would not have signed an offer of purchase.

I only hope that ROFR will not pass..

FYI, you can still buy many of the older properties direct. You may have to get on a waiting list. What resort are you buying?

 

[bwvBound]

I found this posted:
Ken.potrack@disney.com
1-800-800-9800 option 2
Also another contact is:
Karl.hilz@disney.com

Curious-- but I think both are incorrect due to typos in the surnames: Potrock, Holz

 

[gr8tdame]

FYI, you can still buy many of the older properties direct. You may have to get on a waiting list. What resort are you buying?

I was told these were sold out and no one at Disney Direct Sales mentioned anything about a waiting list.
They said I could buy @ the Poly, WL or SSR everything else was sold out .
200 pts BWV
125 pts AKV

 

[Cinderella624]

T

Curious-- but I think both are incorrect due to typos in the surnames: Potrock, Holz

thanks! I wrote it from another post yesterday. Looking at the post it note I copied it to thank you for your correction

 

[DisDadDVC]

I was told these were sold out and no one at Disney Direct Sales mentioned anything about a waiting list.
They said I could buy @ the Poly, WL or SSR everything else was sold out .
200 pts BWV
125 pts AKV

As usual, the guides are not 100% forthcoming. You should have very little problem getting AKV direct. I believe BWV is available as well, but you might be on the waitlist longer for that one.

 

[JimMIA]

Just heard a rumor that they have changed Disney's official theme song from "When You Wish Upon A Star" to MJ's "They Don't Really Care About Us."

Anybody know if that's true?

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

When we bought our first DVC contract ( all ours direct ) at SSR in 2008 we did not even know there were perks. We just wanted to stay at Disney world resort when we were on vacation once a year there. We loved staying on world and fell for SSR and the other resorts at the time. The guide told us, it is not an investment. Buy where you love to stay. That's it. When we then found out discounted APs , events this was just a bonus. But we get the joy from knowing we have our vacation secured every year. That is what DVC is to us. A place for us to stay. We once bought premium passes because they had 20% discount on merchandise then Disney changed it 1 month later to 10%. That's when we realised stuff changes and they don't honour those already bought in. But it's pass to get in the parks. That is what I have learnt.

Please keep your DVC think about your actual accomodation. It is a pure joy. You get to stay at BWV every year! It is a delightful resort. I am sorry the message was mixed up. That was bad. I hope you do get Grandfathered but if you don't the core of DVC you still have in your hand. Don't let this anger stop you for enjoying years of seeing a zebra over breakfast at AK, the lights of the BW, the monorail at BLT , Firework view at VGF and the pure delight of VWL. Turtles at Vero beach! Good luck.

 

[Gillyrose779]

A lot of things have disappointed me with Disney lately- this is one of them.

Instead of adding perks to make buying direct more enticing they found it easier to take away perks.

I can do the numbers and see the "perks" are not worth the cost to buy direct and I can rationalize that perks can be taken away at any time... but when you walk by a DVC member lounge and know you can't go in, see an announcement to a DVC summer bash but know you are not invited, be asked if you have a DVC discount but have to say no b/c you are not that kind of DVC-- it just plain sucks.

 

[DisDadDVC]

A lot of things have disappointed me with Disney lately- this is one of them.

Instead of adding perks to make buying direct more enticing they found it easier to take away perks.

I can do the numbers and see the "perks" are not worth the cost to buy direct and I can rationalize that perks can be taken away at any time... but when you walk by a DVC member lounge and know you can't go in, see an announcement to a DVC summer bash but know you are not invited, be asked if you have a DVC discount but have to say no b/c you are not that kind of DVC-- it just plain sucks.

Mission accomplished. That's exactly what they wanted.

 

[2thdr]

Oooh Oooh hi OP I have been angrily posting on other forums regarding this but saw your post and wanted to hug you. Your story is almost EXACTLY mine. After months of getting to convince DH to go for DVC be finally relented but still didn't fully understand it and definitely could live without it. We passed ROFR the end of March and had a closing date of 4/13. Then we got the email... (I've been in a psychotic state of rage ever since) I disliked sheepishly telling my husband we don't get to do any of the cool things I sold him on (discounted ap, member lounge ). I did write an email to Mr. PetRock . I also put it on their FB page. It was up there for like 3 whole hours before they removed it, carefully leaving posts from nut jobs who praise the change since they paid so much for their DVC and should be getting more perks . Anyway, here's my email :


I wanted to share how disappointed I am in the way Disney Vacation Club handled the policy change on 4/4/16.

As avid Disney fans we finally made the decision to purchase DVC via resale. We made that decision because, other than not having access to the Disney Collection, the vacation ownership was otherwise the same. We put in an offer and were excited when we passed Right of First Refusal on 3/25/16. Our closing date is scheduled for 4/13/16. You can imagine my disappointment when I read that this new policy change would affect me. Initially, there was little detail provided about who would be included in regards to pending purchases. Hours later phone calls made by our brokers to staff at DVC indicated that because we (and many others) had already passed ROFR we would not be affected by this change. The next morning I was both disappointed and angered to learn that further communication with DVC revealed that anyone who had not closed by 4/4/16 would have their benefits reduced and effectively be treated as a second class DVC member. Had we been given advanced warning about this change we could have decided that the direct buy benefits were worth it to us and made the decision to buy from Disney direct. Unfortunately there was zero notice, just a vaguely worded email sent late in the night with no details regarding how this would affect those already under contract followed by misinformation.


A company as customer service based as Disney should have the forethought to know this would cause some bad feelings to those of us not yet closed on our DVC purchases. Many of us are long past our ten day period to rescind. As such, we are ‘stuck’ buying a product that is not at all what we thought we were getting when we locked into our contracts. The money that Disney will save on discounts withheld to the few with pending contracts can’t possibly be enough to justify the sour taste we now have in regards to our new purchase. You effectively took away the right of many to make an informed decision. While Disney does reserve the right to remove incidental benefits without notice, it’s hardly the way to start a relationship with your most loyal clientele, the ones who have and will continue to spend thousands per year at Disney Parks.


I sincerely hope that in the coming days there will be clarification on this policy change and that you will reconsider your decision to exclude those of us who have invested a significant amount of money becoming members but are just a few days shy of being acknowledged as such.

So to answer your question.... Me! I'll wait outside the lounge with you! We can get t shirts that proudly announce to the world that we are "Half DVC Members"

 

[rangermom]

I was told these were sold out and no one at Disney Direct Sales mentioned anything about a waiting list.
They said I could buy @ the Poly, WL or SSR everything else was sold out .
200 pts BWV
125 pts AK

I'm curious... Did you ask for a particular use year? We discussed an add on a while back with HH, but we have Sept use year and they were sold out of that particular use year but not others. We decided against having multiple use years. Even if you did not ask for a particular year, did you mention when you typically travel because they might have calculated what use year work work best for that resort based on the 11th month window advantage.

I don't know what is available currently direct for AKV, but if they don't have too many people requesting that resort, it makes sense for them to pass on ROFR for AKV contracts. There seems to be a lot of resale contracts out there. The dues are higher than most due to animal up keep. It makes more sense for Disney to keep those contracts on the resale market since they will receive the dues no matter it sells or not since the current owner is still responsible, but if they enact ROFR and they don't have a direct buyer lined up already then they risk potential lost of dues until it sales.

 

[disneynutz]

When we bought our first DVC contract ( all ours direct ) at SSR in 2008 we did not even know there were perks. We just wanted to stay at Disney world resort when we were on vacation once a year there. We loved staying on world and fell for SSR and the other resorts at the time. The guide told us, it is not an investment. Buy where you love to stay. That's it. When we then found out discounted APs , events this was just a bonus. But we get the joy from knowing we have our vacation secured every year. That is what DVC is to us. A place for us to stay. We once bought premium passes because they had 20% discount on merchandise then Disney changed it 1 month later to 10%. That's when we realised stuff changes and they don't honour those already bought in. But it's pass to get in the parks. That is what I have learnt.

Please keep your DVC think about your actual accomodation. It is a pure joy. You get to stay at BWV every year! It is a delightful resort. I am sorry the message was mixed up. That was bad. I hope you do get Grandfathered but if you don't the core of DVC you still have in your hand. Don't let this anger stop you for enjoying years of seeing a zebra over breakfast at AK, the lights of the BW, the monorail at BLT , Firework view at VGF and the pure delight of VWL. Turtles at Vero beach! Good luck.

The issue isn't so much the new rules, it's the way that Disney made the changes, not caring about the owners and owners in process involved. In addition all of the other Disney changes, price increases and reduction in amenities and product, cutting back on CM's, and two major executives leaving the company has given guests something to think about. Many were caught up in the Disney magic and thinking that there was a Disney difference but now they realize that Disney is just like other companies who put profit ahead of the guest relationship.

Bill

 

[2thdr]

Hours later phone calls made by our brokers to staff at DVC indicated that because we (and many others) had already passed ROFR we would not be affected by this change.

Your broker passed you bad information, and you're holding DVC accountable. There's no way to confirm exactly what your broker did or didn't do, only what they told you they did. They had motivation to pacify you so you'd keep your contract, while at that point DVC wasn't even involved to communicate directly with you. It could be that your broker gave you assurance before checking with DVC, and then realized they were wrong and had to backpedal. Maybe they read this on forums and blogs (I did, and it was wrong!) Your beef is with your broker. That said, I feel for you and the position you're in.