Fines for smoking in rooms

[pb4ugo]

What do you think DVC will do with the $$$ that is collected as fines from smokers who smoked in the new non-smoking rooms?

Will DVC get to keep the $$$ or will it have to be turned over to the development company?

Will it be used to lower the maintenance fees at the DVC resorts?

Will it be used to rehab the resort villas without increasing maintenance fees?

Will it be used to design luxury smoking areas?

What are your thoughts on what to do with the $$$ collected from fines?

 

[Chuck S]

I have my doubts there will be much revenue. Enforcement will be a problem, I think.

I wonder how many more employees will be needed to implement this? Surely they won't fine people on the word of a single housekeeper, there would have to be documentation.

 

[CarolA]

I stay at Marriotts every week.

If they have EVER collected a "fine" I would be amazed. I expect Disney will be even less likely to collect the fine. Here's the problem according to the Marriott front desk clerk. They really have NO proof YOU smoked in the room, the guest can claim it was "housekeeping", "maintenance" etc. Even if they KNOW it wasn't they can't prove it.

Of course the way our country is going they will soon have cameras in the rooms to "watch" us and make sure we are doing ONLY approved behaviors so this won't be a problem, they will have proof!

 

[vwlvette]

A picture is worth a thousand words, Housekeeping should have digital cameras available to document offenders. just a thought.

 

[WendyinNC]

A picture is worth a thousand words, Housekeeping should have digital cameras available to document offenders. just a thought.

Now that would be a violation of privacy. Any lawyers want to take this on?

 

[vwlvette]

Pictures of ashes or evidence of smoking is not an invation of privacy, In the housing industry pictures are commonly used for evidence for damage to apartments. I am not saying to take pictures of the smokers, just the damage to help document the offense.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

Back to what Disney will do with the money it collects (if any) from smoking fines...clean the smoke stench out of the drapes and carpeting, etc?

It isn't a new source of revenue for Disney like a speed trap. Theoretically, they're fining someone because the room was damaged by the smoking that was done in it.

 

[CarolA]

A picture is worth a thousand words, Housekeeping should have digital cameras available to document offenders. just a thought.

They would have to be IN the room while you smoke, to "document the offenders" I guess they could "fingerprint" you and then compare your fingerprints to any butts they find.... (I forsee dues going UP. These big brother measures are costly!)

 

[jarestel]

Now that would be a violation of privacy. Any lawyers want to take this on?

I think you're incorrect on this. It would be no more an invasion of privacy than if DVC took pictures of holes in the walls and grafitti spray painted all over the unit to prove gross negligence on the part of a previous occupant.

Determining whether a unit has been smoked in or not would be quite simple anyway and definitely would NOT require photos of the actual smoking to prove the case.

The "fines" should go to restoring the rooms to their original conditions, whatever that takes.

 

[MrsNick]

I think the fines will not only need to cover the cost of cleaning the room, but also, depending on the level of contamination, cover the cost of taking that room out of service for a period of time.

If the required cleaning takes a long enough time, this could mean that a room would not be ready until an hour or more after the check-in time, or might not even be in condition to be occupied for the night. That means loss of revenue of that room, or the cost associated with providing alternate accomodations or compensation to the party who can't use the room that they reserved.

That's why I can see the fees being rather steep.

 

[cocoswife]

This new policy really worries me... I have a friend that works in corporate with Marriott and she tells me that people are smoking in their "non-smoking" rooms and are never fined. This is due to the vast majority are business travelers who are top tier in their Marriott rewards program and they don't want to drive them away. She also says that you will see people using their smoking designated areas and following the rules, but, they are also receiving a lot of complains about non smokers receiving a non-smoking room that has been smoked in. I love the non-smoking idea, but, I agree it will be very hard to enforce, as it will cost them a lot of $$$$ and will drive the smokers (and their families) offsite.

 

[Chuck S]

Since the non-smoking announcement thread has taken a turn towards the fees and usage, I'm closing this thread. You can continue the discussion on the other thread

All resort non-smoking