The down side of Developer Points :From MS

[sajetto]

I called MS today to make a change on a reservation I had for AKV next year. I upgraded the room and added additional days since my aunt's children will be there and need the additional space. The CM I was speaking with was very friendly, but I had to stay on hold for about 15 minutes. When she came back on she was very apologetic and went on to explain that because they were developer points they had to be found in the system, then the last reservation had to be cancelled and a form had to fill out for it and the new reservation had to be made with another form for it!

As soon as I made the small comment that it sounded complicated she told me that it was insane and started to "vent." She went on about how they had members making 4, 5, and 6 changes resulting in multiple forms and a huge back up there in MS. She said that many will be waiting weeks for their confirmation letters (not just those who made ressies on incentive points) and there has been a lot of frustration in the office because many DVC members don't understand how complicated a change becomes with those points.

She went on to say that for members it was a great incentive, but the sales department wasn't giving any thought to the issues it was causing with MS and that she prayed to God that they never offered the incentive again or come up with a way for the points to be in the same system as the annual allotment.


Anyway, it gave me a whole new respect for MS and I'm glad that is the last change I'll be making to my incentive point reservation.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Yep, I had this same issue with my Developer Points from our AKV purchase.

While I empathize with MS, these points should have never been allotted like they were. DVC created a sub-account in my membership that I have no access to and I cant view those points or ressies made online. Half the time, as you have experienced, MS cant even find them.

Then if you need to make a change, it is not an immediate change, everything with these points is done manually. Half the time, my manually did not get done and then I had to deal with another MS rep that could not find the points, could not find the form, and had to leave me on hold for another 20 minutes so they could find a supervisor to explain and fix it all and then it still took days to find out if my reservation was right and it took weeks for the confirmation, so another call to MS because I didnt have weeks to wait for the confirmation and I could not see the ressie online.

Add that they initially only gave 7 months to use them, and that my guide never mentioned that these points would be handled differently from all Developer Points ever offered, and I took the DP's instead of the $8, I was not happy! If I had known all the trouble these points were, I would not have taken them. Especially planning a family reunion, so you can imagine the changes I had to make with 42 people coming.

Then a month after I purchased, they offer Double Points and money off!

Sorry I had to vent too!

 

[sajetto]

Girl, I had no idea you added on at AKV too! What ya up to now 3000?

I totally agree with you. These points ARE a headache. With my intial reservation and 2 subsequent changes I've been on hold with them from anywhere to 15-20 minutes each time because they take so long to find the information. I know it may sound irrational, but I almost worry that if it is so hard to find it in the system how hard is it going to be to find it when I check in?

 

[grizbuzz]

Bad experience here as well. Waiting on hold forever, reservations requested never made, wrong point value taken for reservations made, no confirmation numbers available. Very time consuming and frustrating. And no one seems accountable to make sure that reservations are actually secured...MS just sends in "requests."

I went ahead and emailed a complaint. If Disney is going to give away so many developer points, I think they should have a reliable and user-friendly process for making reservations on these points.

 

[sajetto]

That is what scares me. There is no confirmation number so therefore you really don't have the reservation...yet. I know this isn't MS's fault, they don't call the shots in this. That is why I feel bad for all of those CMs trying to make these reservations, but I am unhappy with how disorganized it is. Someone really should have thought that through before giving out that number of points.

 

[Squidrific]

I was talking to my guide about this last night too. The other problem you don't mention is that they have to get a manager involved just to make the change request. The first time I tried to use them they said they booked it and when I called 3 weeks later since I didn't have the confirmation they found they didn't book it and I was out the room I requested. The second time they actually booked my reservation, but booked a 1 BR instead of a studio thus using a lot more points. I just said fine, because I don't want to mess with changing it again.

It is a huge hassle to use these points!

 

[sajetto]

Yep, that happened to me too. The first thing I booked was a studio and called in to change it to a 1 bedroom. Turned out that the studio reservation hadn't been made in the first place so all they needed to do was to add the extra days I wanted on the new "request." Then when I tried to make that request the CM told me that I couldn't book at AKV because it wasn't my home resort. At that point, I had to explain to her that AKV is precisely where I bought to get those developer points. After another 10 minutes she finally found where that was in the system.

I really want a confirmation letter so that I can rest easy knowing that I have the reservation.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Yikes!!!

I wonder why they decided to treat the developer points so differently this time?

When we received developer points for our SSR add-on, it was super easy to use and were like regular points.

Wait... I think we received developer points for the add-on at our first home resort (OKW) instead of for a resort that isn't fully open yet - maybe that's why?

I wonder how many developer points will just expire without being used, especially since they are so hard to use? Maybe that's what DVC is hoping for - like those mail-in rebates and many people forget to mail in afterwards.

Good luck with all your reservations.

 

[mommylo]

I just got my developer points on Friday and can't wait to make my first reservation. However, after reading all the posts, I am truly scared. Has anyone used the reservation form and has better luck with making a reservation with their developer points? Can it be done? I am thinking, paper trail...

 

[mommylo]

Bumping

 

[VLee]

True, I had a long wait, but a very pleasant experience with MS when I called to change two existing reservations to use the Developer Points.

They did give me a new confirmation number for each and said it would be a while before I got a letter--so no surprises there!

I am just glad that they allowed to use these Developer Points to replace 2007 points in existing reservations and therefore freeing up more points that we can bank til next year. I had already made three future reservations and would not have otherwise been able to use the developer points.

Now I have a great number to bank (429) to add to 2008 or use and then bank a great number next year. Heck! I might even have some to rent out if I decide to go on a cruise!

 

[Stinkerbell317]

I just got my developer points on Friday and can't wait to make my first reservation. However, after reading all the posts, I am truly scared. Has anyone used the reservation form and has better luck with making a reservation with their developer points? Can it be done? I am thinking, paper trail...

IT CAN BE DONE! I made a successful reservation with my 600 developer points, and even made some slight changes to my reservation without too much trouble. I just received my reservation confirmation letter in the mail and everything appears to be in good order!

 

[TEK224]

No problems here. I made my reservations with developers points. Haven't had to change anything. Just got my confirmation yesterday. Took about two weeks to get the confirmation.

 

[disneynutz]

I don't understand where they found this never empty pot of developer points. I also don't understand why DVD can't do a better job processing the developer reservations. You would think by now that they would have the bugs worked out.

 

[DMKEDM]

Another success story here (so far, anyway):

We used our 200 double developer points for a week in a 1-BR at BCV in January...made the reservation 7/19...MS told me the couldn't give me a confirmation number at the time I booked; that the points are in a separate system and wouldn't show up online (so I wasn't surprised when the reservation didn't appear)...she also told me I was welcome to call any time, as many times as I wanted, to check on this reservation, as it would take 2-3 weeks to get my written confirmation...

About 7 days later I did call (w/another reason for the call) and checked...MS put me on hold (for less than 3 minutes) and then told me the reservation hadn't been made yet--they were running a couple of weeks behind--but that her records showed that a 1-BR at BCV was being held for me...again, I was invited to call back if I found myself getting nervous...

ANother week later I called back again (again w/another reason for the call) and this time they found the reservation (less than a minute on hold this time), and gave me the confirmation number.

My written confirmation arrived in the mail on 8/6...

MS telling me each time I called that they knew the system was cumbersome and nervous-making and assuring me that they didn't mind in the least if I called to check and doublecheck really helped...but I was still nervous til they could give me a reservation number, and wasn't totally reassured til the confirmation arrived in the mail...

Not sure I'd want to risk making changes w/these points, tho...sounds like there are enough "trouble spots and stories" to rethink non-absolutely-necessary modifications!

 

[mommylo]

Thanks for all the good vibes and success stories. I will try to book and see what happens!

 

[mommylo]

Thanks for all the good vibes and success stories. I will try to book them, crossing my fingers very tightly!!

 

[3DisneyKids]

Thanks for the info...never knew this about developer points.

 

[grizbuzz]

I got my confirmations with confirmation numbers yesterday by phone and all seems to be in order now.

I think it's worthwhile to double check on these developer reservations (dates, room types, points charged) as this manual process with back log mean mistakes can happen.

Bad experience here as well. Waiting on hold forever, reservations requested never made, wrong point value taken for reservations made, no confirmation numbers available. Very time consuming and frustrating. And no one seems accountable to make sure that reservations are actually secured...MS just sends in "requests."

I went ahead and emailed a complaint. If Disney is going to give away so many developer points, I think they should have a reliable and user-friendly process for making reservations on these points.

 

[dunbarfamily]

Then a month after I purchased, they offer Double Points and money off!

When did you buy? We made our first DVC purchase in June, and at that point they were offering double your points or the money off. Do they have a better deal now?

OP: Sorry for the difficulty making changes. Sounds like the MS needed to vent, and I'm glad you let her. I get tired of hearing everyone complain about cms...they are people too after all!