11 vs 7 month reservation window.

[Cyberc1978]

I NEVER take the first cast member's word for it. Way too often, I have found that one cast member says one thing, but if I call back 20 minutes later and get a different cast member, they say something else. So, I usually keep trying until I either get what I want, or until it becomes abundantly clear that I am NOT going to get what I want.

Not all, maybe not even most, of the Cast Members are DVC owners themselves. So, they don't have the experience and knowledge base that you have. Very few of them frequent boards such as this one, so they don't get exposed to the accumulated wisdom and expert opinions of the people here. Add that to the fact that MOST of their training is actually something they get on the fly, as they get experience solving problems for members, and you can realize that many of them do not know as much as some others. And then, of course, you need to factor in that some of them are smarter, or more committed to helping, or more dedicated and harder working than others. Never accept the answer that doesn't make sense to you. Keep trying.

I tend to agree, I normally also calls multiple times if I dont agree on the answers. However in this situation I spoke to a supervisor - which I rarely do - and he confirmed the CM first approach to denying my request.

I had my doubts obout him being correct, but also doubts about my own thinking in all of this. Another lesson learned is that even if you speak to a supervisor it does not necessarily mean that he knows more than a regular CM - he just got more access within the system.

 

[CarolMN]

.....(snip).........I had my doubts obout him being correct, but also doubts about my own thinking in all of this. Another lesson learned is that even if you speak to a supervisor it does not necessarily mean that he knows more than a regular CM - he just got more access within the system.

Having managed several very large customer centers in a past life, I know that it isn't uncommon for Reps to pass off requests for a Supervisor to another Rep. There's really no way for the customer to know without an organization chart and direct TNs. No idea of DVC's operating practices, though.

 

[Cyberc1978]

Having managed several very large customer centers in a past life, I know that it isn't uncommon for Reps to pass off requests for a Supervisor to another Rep. There's really no way for the customer to know without an organization chart and direct TNs. No idea of DVC's operating practices, though.

Im surprised that its a practice that anyone utilize. But OTOH they each get to close a call within their KPI limits.

 

[luckyman_apd]

It definitely sounds like a "system" issue and either the first CM didn't know how... Or was misunderstanding and still believed you were skirting the system. Either way glad it worked out.

I had a brain fart and had my neighbor book a room with his 11 month advantage and we'd just call a few days later and switch it to my points when my 7 month window opened.... Duh... Can't do that haha... So now I have to book him a room for 2 nights at my resort with my points to "pay him back" the points.... It's gonna cost me an extra 4 points. Small price to pay for guarantee a room for myself.... It my 7 month window date the rooms were gone so hey... It's worth it lol. I consider myself well versed on the rules and can't believe I forgot about that lol.

 

[TitusPullo]

The initial reservation was made within the 11-7 month reservation window and as per the rules only home resort points are allowed. The come the 7 month window and within that the initial reservation was moved to dates that fall within the 7 month window. As per the rules non home resort points are allowed.

So to answer you question I did not cancel the initial reservation and rebooked. I called in and had MS do the modification as the reservation uses transferred in points.

Basically i'm doing or did what a lot a ppl are doing. They make a 11 month reservation to ensure they have a reservation and then at 7 month they modify the same reservation to another resort - most likely they keep the dates. I my situation I kept the resort but modified the reservation so the checkin dates was within the 7 month window.

I don't think you are doing what most people are doing. You didn't change the initial reservation at all other than swapping out BLT points for SSR points. The issue seems to be that for your room category and dates when MS was looking at 6 months and 15 days, which I assume is for a standard view, none were available. If a room was available they would've simply made a new reservation and canceled the old one. This is why MS said we can cancel and rebook but no guarantees that room will be available due to the waitlist and such. So you did in fact 100% take advantage of the 11 month home resort booking window because using those SSR points you wouldn't have been able to obtain the reservation. I own at BLT so I know how difficult it can be to get standard view rooms. I think MS was correct initially.

 

[Cyberc1978]

I don't think you are doing what most people are doing. You didn't change the initial reservation at all other than swapping out BLT points for SSR points. The issue seems to be that for your room category and dates when MS was looking at 6 months and 15 days, which I assume is for a standard view, none were available. If a room was available they would've simply made a new reservation and canceled the old one. This is why MS said we can cancel and rebook but no guarantees that room will be available due to the waitlist and such. So you did in fact 100% take advantage of the 11 month home resort booking window because using those SSR points you wouldn't have been able to obtain the reservation. I own at BLT so I know how difficult it can be to get standard view rooms. I think MS was correct initially.

Sorry but did you read the entire thread?

Initially I used the 11 month window. Then a few months later I moved the reservation to dates well within the 7 month window. I did move the reservation to other dates at the same resort. Btw I booked lake view rooms.

All other DVC members therefore had a 15 day head start to the same dates I picked.

I ended up with a CM which was willing to help as she should. So some of the BLT points was replaced with SSR points

 

[TitusPullo]

Sorry but did you read the entire thread?

Initially I used the 11 month window. Then a few months later I moved the reservation to dates well within the 7 month window. I did move the reservation to other dates at the same resort. Btw I booked lake view rooms.

All other DVC members therefore had a 15 day head start to the same dates I picked.

I ended up with a CM which was willing to help as she should. So some of the BLT points was replaced with SSR points

I apologize if I misunderstood what happened. I seem to have been confused with the exact timeline and misunderstood the quote from my previous reply.

 

[laura-k]

Quick update.

I called MS today and spoke to a friendly and knowledgeable CM she reallocated all of my borrowed SSR points without questions. So I now have a bunch of bankable BLT points instead

Unfortunately this once again shows that some CM’s get better training than others and also you shouldn’t take the first answer for the correct one.

Thanks everyone for voicing your opinions.

Regards

CONGRATULATIONS !
But really should it have to take all that , they are "member" services and I totally agree with Kat4disney
after my own issues with the system this week a " then they are trusting the system way too much. "

 

[Cyberc1978]

CONGRATULATIONS !
But really should it have to take all that , they are "member" services and I totally agree with Kat4disney
after my own issues with the system this week a " then they are trusting the system way too much. "

Thanks.

In the past when I have called it never took multiple calls to get basic member tasks or requests done.

But it seems that the new normal is that if you don’t know what to expect from MS then you risk that they might railway you. If you do know what to expect you just hang up and call again later. Cumbersome indeed.

 

[Chrisizzle]

Similar but different problem here. I couldn’t get a full week booking during the January marathon. So, I kept checking the site and cobbled together the time, day by day.

I booked most at about 8-months but the last day wasn’t available until 6-months. I would also need 6 more points than I owned. I planned to buy DVC one-time-use points rather than borrow from the following year.

Although I could do that, I would not have been able to merge that final date with my other days for a single reservation. In order to merge an “11-month” booking with a “7-month” booking, they all had to use “11-month” eligible points. Purchased one-time-use points can only be used for 7-month bookings.

So, I needed to borrow those 6 needed points to create my week long stay.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Sandisw]

Similar but different problem here. I couldn’t get a full week booking during the January marathon. So, I kept checking the site and cobbled together the time, day by day.

I booked most at about 8-months but the last day wasn’t available until 6-months. I would also need 6 more points than I owned. I planned to buy DVC one-time-use points rather than borrow from the following year.

Although I could do that, I would not have been able to merge that final date with my other days for a single reservation. In order to merge an “11-month” booking with a “7-month” booking, they all had to use “11-month” eligible points. Purchased one-time-use points can only be used for 7-month bookings.

So, I needed to borrow those 6 needed points to create my week long stay.

I hope that makes sense.

That does make sense but i am not sure you got the right info. I booked 2 nights at BWV for December at 11 months. Using my SSR points , and stalking I was able to get 2 more nights in the same room type after the 7 month window. So I had 4 reservations. I did the email chat and they had no problem taking the 4 and combining them into one continuous reservation for me.

 

[Cyberc1978]

That does make sense but i am not sure you got the right info. I booked 2 nights at BWV for December at 11 months. Using my SSR points , and stalking I was able to get 2 more nights in the same room type after the 7 month window. So I had 4 reservations. I did the email chat and they had no problem taking the 4 and combining them into one continuous reservation for me.

In this situation are you sure that merging a 11 month reservation with a 7 month is allowed?
I mean the points could come from two different home resorts.

At least the reservations should have been linked to avoid moving.

If merging a 11 month ressi with a 7 month would IMO make the entire ressi a 7 month ressi.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Similar but different problem here. I couldn’t get a full week booking during the January marathon. So, I kept checking the site and cobbled together the time, day by day.

I booked most at about 8-months but the last day wasn’t available until 6-months. I would also need 6 more points than I owned. I planned to buy DVC one-time-use points rather than borrow from the following year.

Although I could do that, I would not have been able to merge that final date with my other days for a single reservation. In order to merge an “11-month” booking with a “7-month” booking, they all had to use “11-month” eligible points. Purchased one-time-use points can only be used for 7-month bookings.

So, I needed to borrow those 6 needed points to create my week long stay.

I hope that makes sense.

I understand what you say but it doesn't make sense for DVC to not be able to do that and keep the appropriate point usage when for years they have. It's amazing how linking and merging seems to be getting worse over the years. It used to work very well.

 

[Sandisw]

In this situation are you sure that merging a 11 month reservation with a 7 month is allowed?
I mean the points could come from two different home resorts.

At least the reservations should have been linked to avoid moving.

If merging a 11 month ressi with a 7 month would IMO make the entire ressi a 7 month ressi.

All I know is night 1 and 2 were booked at 11 months with my BWV points. Nights 3 and 4 were booked within 7 months using SR points that I got at different times. Once I had all 4 nights booked in 3 different reservations, I asked that it be combined into one reservation. Now on my dashboard, I have one reservation from Dec 8 to 12th., instead of 3. I think because the nights were booked within the valid time frames, combining was easy.