Odd booking issue with VGF

[jscottnc]

BTW, I see EXACTLY the same thing for December 12. This time I booked the villa.

 

[jscottnc]

January 1, I went online to book December 1 at 8 am, no luck, day was gone. Day two I got nothing. Day 3, snagged the first, modified and got the 30th day four got the second as a new reservation. Day five, got the 3rd and so on until I got all of my days. 30-8, called member service and combined both reservations.

Right. At the 11 month mark, no villa was available. (Sad but it happens.) You then picked up days at 11 month MINUS 3 days (walkers moving on). My issue is day one at 11 months was available but no days after.

 

[JETSDAD]

I did e-mail Terri and ask for an explanation for the availability pattern I saw on Jan. 5th. After a couple exchanges, here is her explanation for how it happens:
-----------------------
John –

This is a hard one to explain, let me try an example as you suggested. I’ll try not to be more confusing (but no promises ☺)

In this example we will assume there are 2 Grand Villa (GV) Accommodations, and it is important to remember that the 11 month rule is based on booking date.

Reservation #1 - Booking Date 1/2 Reservation was for 12/2 through 12/7
Reservation #2 - Booking Date 1/3 Reservation was for 12/3 through 12/10

Reservation #2 Modified Modified Date 1/5 Cancelled 12/3 – 12/5

Wait List Request Wait list for 12/3 and 12/4

In this case, prior to 1/5 both GV accommodations had already been booked, then early on the 5th Reservation #2 was modified to drop nights 12/3 – 12/5. At the same time, there was a wait list for this accommodation for 12/3 and 12/4 that was automatically fulfilled … thereby leaving 12/5 available but not the dates thereafter.

This is just an example of how this could happen. Adding complexity to this specific time period is that we are in the process of doing a room refurbishment at Grand Floridian, and we do have some Grand Villas out of order.

I hope this helped (versus confusing you). I have also asked Member Services to reach out to you to see if there is any way we can figure out a way to get you what you need accommodation wise.

Thanks so much.
Terri
----------------

This works if you ignore the fact that the modification was made on 1/5 for a reservation that starts 12/6. It is my understanding that a modify is equivalent to a cancel/rebook. In the case presented, 12/6 is not a valid start date on 1/5. Have I misinterpreted the rules? Has someone found a loophole in the reservation system?

Yeah, I would reply back to say that a reservation couldn't be modified on the 5th to begin on the 6th.

 

[jscottnc]

Yeah, I would reply back to say that a reservation couldn't be modified on the 5th to begin on the 6th.

I restarted the process with December 12 (today is Jan. 12 for those joining late) and ran into EXACTLY the same condition: December 12 is available but following days are not. This time I booked December 12 and wait listed December 12 through December 17. Then I dialed Member Services to find out what was going on.

Just got off with a wonderful CM at Member Services. She understood EXACTLY my issue and confirmed the reservation modification restrictions. (At least THIS is not proof of my insanity.) After hearing this I asked if the call was being recorded (Yes) and asked for a supervisor callback. This situation needs to be pushed up the chain.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Yeah, I would reply back to say that a reservation couldn't be modified on the 5th to begin on the 6th.

lol - I was also going to point that out. But "this is a hard thing to explain so let me try....."

Ok, bless her for trying but there's an issue that she needs to investigate if she's being responsible in her position.

 

[jscottnc]

For those that want to share my frustration, I have attached a PDF of my e-mail exchange with Terri to date. [I didn't block out my e-mail address since this is my spam bucket.]

As I wrote before, I hit the CM jackpot when I called MS. She not only understood EXACTLY my issue, she confirmed my understanding of the booking/modify rules. I have asked for a supervisor callback -- not that I expect anything to change but to push the issue up the chain.

Oh, Terri did mention that some refurb is going on at VGF (first I heard of it) that could take units offline. Mind you, scheduling outage 11 months in advance during the 50th anniversary year in peak DVC demand weeks seems, uh <BS>, ill advised.

 

[Matty B13]

For those that want to share my frustration, I have attached a PDF of my e-mail exchange with Terri to date. [I didn't block out my e-mail address since this is my spam bucket.]

As I wrote before, I hit the CM jackpot when I called MS. She not only understood EXACTLY my issue, she confirmed my understanding of the booking/modify rules. I have asked for a supervisor callback -- not that I expect anything to change but to push the issue up the chain.

Oh, Terri did mention that some refurb is going on at VGF (first I heard of it) that could take units offline. Mind you, scheduling outage 11 months in advance during the 50th anniversary year in peak DVC demand weeks seems, uh <BS>, ill advised.

This is the same thing they said about the AKV value rooms being taken out of service.......

 

[jscottnc]

This is the same thing they said about the AKV value rooms being taken out of service.......

Well sure, take the cheap rooms out of circulation. How else to encourage members to "expand their magic"? But taking the most expensive grand villas on property offline? Not to mention the weeks a VGF grand villa was hosting an open house.

 

[Sandisw]

Well sure, take the cheap rooms out of circulation. How else to encourage members to "expand their magic"? But taking the most expensive grand villas on property offline? Not to mention the weeks a VGF grand villa was hosting an open house.

They did announce at the annual meeting that VGF was being given a soft goods refurb in 2021.

They are also allowed to pull rooms for marketing.

Not saying any of this jives With her response. The waitlist answer started to make sense until the end when you realize it’s not possible!!

 

[jscottnc]

They did announce at the annual meeting that VGF was being given a soft goods refurb in 2021.

They are also allowed to pull rooms for marketing.

Not saying any of this jives With her response. The waitlist answer started to make sense until the end when you realize it’s not possible!!

My own fault for dodging the meeting. After I retire I'll be the cranky old man asking embarrassing questions.

 

[bobbiwoz]

My own fault for dodging the meeting. After I retire I'll be the cranky old man asking embarrassing questions.

The questioning that’s allowed is not meant to be embarrassing.

 

[jscottnc]

The questioning that’s allowed is not meant to be embarrassing.

Quite right. The question is not meant to be embarrassing. The answer may be embarrassing. (John, where's your homework? Uh, uh, the dog ate it?)

 

[Marionnette]

Oh, Terri did mention that some refurb is going on at VGF (first I heard of it) that could take units offline. Mind you, scheduling outage 11 months in advance during the 50th anniversary year in peak DVC demand weeks seems, uh <BS>, ill advised.

That’s a bunch of baloney. This is a soft goods refurb, not a complete refurb. Aside from taking rooms out of service during what is arguably the most busy time of year for DVC, they are taking ALL GVs out of service at one time (as well as dedicated 2BRs) even though those villas occupy various floors. But, remarkably (at least where 2BR villas are concerned) those same villas can be booked for weekends amid this supposed closure. Come Mondays in December, they are “wait list only” but Saturday and Sunday nights are available.

 

[Ssplashhmtn]

For those that want to share my frustration, I have attached a PDF of my e-mail exchange with Terri to date. [I didn't block out my e-mail address since this is my spam bucket.]

As I wrote before, I hit the CM jackpot when I called MS. She not only understood EXACTLY my issue, she confirmed my understanding of the booking/modify rules. I have asked for a supervisor callback -- not that I expect anything to change but to push the issue up the chain.

Oh, Terri did mention that some refurb is going on at VGF (first I heard of it) that could take units offline. Mind you, scheduling outage 11 months in advance during the 50th anniversary year in peak DVC demand weeks seems, uh <BS>, ill advised.

Thanks for the pdf of your conversation. Did you hear back from Terri on why (in her example) a reservation could be made/modified a day early on 1/5 for a 12/6 start?

 

[jscottnc]

Thanks for the pdf of your conversation. Did you hear back from Terri on why (in her example) a reservation could be made/modified a day early on 1/5 for a 12/6 start?

No. And no callback from a supervisor yet.

 

[mathelete87]

I just looked at the availability for VGF in December 2021 for both the standard view and lake view.

Both of them are already missing the 6th and 7th of December but the 4th and 5th are still available. How is that possible? - maintenance? if so its a weird time to conduct maintenance on

View attachment 548034

I've been getting up at 7 AM every morning for the last two weeks and still haven't been able to book a single night in December. Not sure what else to do.

 

[mathelete87]

Right. At the 11 month mark, no villa was available. (Sad but it happens.) You then picked up days at 11 month MINUS 3 days (walkers moving on). My issue is day one at 11 months was available but no days after.

Sorry I'm a bit confused. Does modifying a reservation make it more difficult to book when everything is booking so fast?

 

[jscottnc]

Sorry I'm a bit confused. Does modifying a reservation make it more difficult to book when everything is booking so fast?

In this thread I attached a PDF of the e-mail exchanges I had with Terri Schultz. That is probably the best background. Another member modifying a reservation does not make it more difficult to book per se. The issue is that the modification that Terri suggested, on 1/5 modifying a reservation to start on 12/6, is NOT allowed. If a villa is available at 11 months, then that same villa should be available for ALL days following the 11 month mark. The exceptions would be villas taken offline for maintenance/refurbishment (Really? Schedule 11 months in advance during the busiest DVC booking period of the year? Puh-leaze!) or pulling villas for marketing (seems counterproductive to me).

 

[jscottnc]

I've been getting up at 7 AM every morning for the last two weeks and still haven't been able to book a single night in December. Not sure what else to do.

The availability pattern I have seen so far is villas available Saturday and Sunday with the following Monday (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) being unavailable. You will likely have some success on January 18th.

 

[JOLT]

That’s a bunch of baloney. This is a soft goods refurb, not a complete refurb. Aside from taking rooms out of service during what is arguably the most busy time of year for DVC, they are taking ALL GVs out of service at one time (as well as dedicated 2BRs) even though those villas occupy various floors. But, remarkably (at least where 2BR villas are concerned) those same villas can be booked for weekends amid this supposed closure. Come Mondays in December, they are “wait list only” but Saturday and Sunday nights are available.

How do we know that ALL GV's and 2Bedrooms are out of service? Just taking 1 room out of service will cause this issue.

I don't see how taking a room out at 11 months is out of line. its easier to take rooms out before they can get booked than hope that room opens up or move/upgrade guests.