Had to call housekeeping/engineering for numerous things when we checked in to OKW

[MELSMICE]

Just returned from a stay at OKW in a 2 bedroom. We stayed in building 40 - room 4012.

When we arrived we found about 6 lights bulbs were out, the air conditioning wasn't working properly, a window blind was broken, one of the bathroom sink spouts sprayed water when you turned it on & the dryer was not working properly.

We called about everything & it was taken care of, but were disappointed that these things are not checked on a regular basis. We did voice our concerns to the manager on duty.

I love staying at OKW - that's why we own there, but I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed in the state of our room this time. Also, the carpet does need replacing. It's worn & spotted.

When DH spoke with the manger he said that after 15 years, with another 35 ahead of them, it's time to starting replacing things. He gave us an address of where to write to voice our concerns, which we'll be doing.

Do other people call when things aren't "just so" or are we being picky?

 

[DBBN]

I thank you as I suspect the next person checking-in to that villa would thank you for calling to have these things taken care of.

We always check the villa as soon as we check-in to confirm that all is in order, it takes only a few minutes. Yes, it would be nice if housekeeping checked everything as they cleaned but it doesn't seem to happen that way.

No, you are NOT being picky...you are being a responsible owner and respectful of your and my property.

 

[mikayla'sMom]

We just got back from our first stay at OKW. After taking a shower, I went to grab the towel from the shower door and saw this black stuff on the towel. I (stupid me) put my finger under the door to see what it was. My finger looked like I had just taken a huge finger swipe in a peanut jar. It was a huge amount of black mold! This is very dangerous stuff! I went to the front desk to let them know. The cast member looked at me with this great big smile and said she was sorry...that was it! She made no note of it, just remained smiling. The next day or so I saw this caked on dust on the fan in the living room and a little less dust on the lights in the bathroom. I siad this is crazy. I went back to the front desk. Guess what...the same smiling cast member. I told her again of the issue and again she looked very sorry for me. In the end she did ask me for my room number and I told her I just wanted the housekeeping manager notified. You have to realize, if it is that bad in my room, it is in all rooms. Later, fairly sure this woman was never going to tell anyone, we called a manager. We had gotten her name when we had check in issues. We called her and explained. She then had another manager call to speak to me. She said she was sorry and would send someone over. I explained that we were checking out the next day and just to make sure it was done for the next people and that the housekeeping staff needed to be notified. As it was, I basically cleaned under the door as best I could without a scrubrush and bleach. I was very dissappointed and felt that it would have been just let go had I not called a manager. Actually I would tend to bet if others go and check under their doors in the near future they will find the same thing. Very sad!

 

[MELSMICE]

We just got back from our first stay at OKW. After taking a shower, I went to grab the towel from the shower door and saw this black stuff on the towel. I (stupid me) put my finger under the door to see what it was. My finger looked like I had just taken a huge finger swipe in a peanut jar. It was a huge amount of black mold! This is very dangerous stuff! I went to the front desk to let them know. The cast member looked at me with this great big smile and said she was sorry...that was it! She made no note of it, just remained smiling. The next day or so I saw this caked on dust on the fan in the living room and a little less dust on the lights in the bathroom. I siad this is crazy. I went back to the front desk. Guess what...the same smiling cast member. I told her again of the issue and again she looked very sorry for me. In the end she did ask me for my room number and I told her I just wanted the housekeeping manager notified. You have to realize, if it is that bad in my room, it is in all rooms. Later, fairly sure this woman was never going to tell anyone, we called a manager. We had gotten her name when we had check in issues. We called her and explained. She then had another manager call to speak to me. She said she was sorry and would send someone over. I explained that we were checking out the next day and just to make sure it was done for the next people and that the housekeeping staff needed to be notified. As it was, I basically cleaned under the door as best I could without a scrubrush and bleach. I was very dissappointed and felt that it would have been just let go had I not called a manager. Actually I would tend to bet if others go and check under their doors in the near future they will find the same thing. Very sad!

This reminded me that we had also called housekeeping about 2 pair of dirty children's socks that we found & a men's dirty t-shirt behind the couch when they moved it to fix the blinds. Kind of gross to say the least!

They were very apologetic & sent a cleaning crew over the next day for a full cleaning of our unit. I loved the fresh, clean smell when we returned to our unit later in the day!!!

 

[MELSMICE]

No, you are NOT being picky...you are being a responsible owner and respectful of your and my property.

Thanks - sometimes I feel like we're continually complaining, but I figure we play a lot of money to belong to DVC & it should be up to the standards they set when they sell it to you.

 

[jekjones1558]

I am not too picky about the cleaning stuff but I am fussy about broken, torn or malfunctioning things. I admit to feeling a little embarrassed when I call housekeeping and/or maintenance. I hate to be labeled a complainer, but I do believe that if everyone reported problems then a few of us would not have to report so many.
I am not a fan of the new combined housekeeping/maintenance departments at OKW and SSR. These 2 resorts are just too big to have their operations in one big system. During our recent OKW visit our cleaning day was messed up and I REALLY needed it done because our guests were leaving and new ones coming. When I called to get it straightened out there was more concern about which cast member was to blame than there was about how to get the room cleaned. One person even called me to say "I just wanted you to know that it wasn't my fault and they're trying to blame me." I wanted to tell her that I really didn't care whose fault it was, just please clean the room.
I have asked this question before: Has housekeeping been outsourced at OKW? It just doesn't seem like the same somehow.

 

[lizziepooh]

One of my pet peeves is the lack of communication between housekeeping and maintenance. Housekeeping certainly should have noticed 6 light bulbs out, a faucet spraying water and a broken blind. Why don't they let maintenance know so some of these things could be fixed right away?

We also call right away on anything that is not working. I'm also not a clean freak, but I did call about the mold on the window sills in the living room a couple years ago. It was pretty bad. The shower doors look like they need to be cleaned with a scrub brush and bleach type cleaner to get the mold out of the cracks. I wonder sometimes if Housekeeping has the appropriate cleaning supplies and tools to do the jobs properly.

 

[drakethib]

Just returned from a stay at OKW in a 2 bedroom. We stayed in building 40 - room 4012.

When we arrived we found about 6 lights bulbs were out, the air conditioning wasn't working properly, a window blind was broken, one of the bathroom sink spouts sprayed water when you turned it on & the dryer was not working properly.

We called about everything & it was taken care of, but were disappointed that these things are not checked on a regular basis. We did voice our concerns to the manager on duty.

I love staying at OKW - that's why we own there, but I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed in the state of our room this time. Also, the carpet does need replacing. It's worn & spotted.

When DH spoke with the manger he said that after 15 years, with another 35 ahead of them, it's time to starting replacing things. He gave us an address of where to write to voice our concerns, which we'll be doing.

Do other people call when things aren't "just so" or are we being picky?

As an OKW member, I want to thank you for bringing the problems to the attention of the MOD.

To many only botch about problems when they find them and won't do anything to help the situation.

 

[mikron]

We own at OKW but stay at BWV with BWview, we give a list to the on duty manager when we find things wrong at any of the resorts we stay at. We have never got a response to date from anyone, even though the manager apologize at the time.

 

[RAD]

Since Dinsey calls DVC "Home Away from Home" resorts I treat them like my home, if something isn't right I call right away to get it fixed. I do wish that all other owners could call in all problems when they notice them so the next owner that uses the room doesn't start off their vacations with problems to get resolved.

 

[jarestel]

Since Dinsey calls DVC "Home Away from Home" resorts I treat them like my home, if something isn't right I call right away to get it fixed. I do wish that all other owners could call in all problems when they notice them so the next owner that uses the room doesn't start off their vacations with problems to get resolved.

That would be a good way to ensure some sort of quality control for the next guest. It's a good idea, but I think a lot of people just don't want to waste time on vacation dealing with housekeeping/maintenance issues they feel they can live with. Unfortunately, the issues one can live with varies from guest to guest.

Ideally, every issue, big or small, should be reported and resolved. You can bet if housekeeping is called back to re-clean rooms 2 or 3 times, eventually someone in management will take note of all of these unnecessary return trips and begin pushing for higher standards.

But as I said, this all takes up vacation time and many just aren't willing to make this trade off. So we clean up ourselves and fix the things that we can, ignore stuff that doesn't impact us too much and leave it to the next guest to "take care of it". Not a good recipe for long term success.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I am not too picky about the cleaning stuff but I am fussy about broken, torn or malfunctioning things. I admit to feeling a little embarrassed when I call housekeeping and/or maintenance. I hate to be labeled a complainer, but I do believe that if everyone reported problems then a few of us would not have to report so many.
I am not a fan of the new combined housekeeping/maintenance departments at OKW and SSR. These 2 resorts are just too big to have their operations in one big system. During our recent OKW visit our cleaning day was messed up and I REALLY needed it done because our guests were leaving and new ones coming. When I called to get it straightened out there was more concern about which cast member was to blame than there was about how to get the room cleaned. One person even called me to say "I just wanted you to know that it wasn't my fault and they're trying to blame me." I wanted to tell her that I really didn't care whose fault it was, just please clean the room.
I have asked this question before: Has housekeeping been outsourced at OKW? It just doesn't seem like the same somehow.

I totally agree. When SSR opened, our great housekeeping manager moved over to SSR. Then they added both to his load, and now things are falling down instead of getting done correctly. I know it might mean an increase in dues, but I think if they don't start fixing problems NOW, we wont have a place we want to stay soon. We have never had huge issues, but I have had to call about minor repairs lately, and that shouldn't be. Last trip, we had a light bulb out on the master bath. I called twice with no results, so when I saw a maintenance guy in the parking lot, I told him, and it was fixed in a few minutes. The problem is... the bulb was replaced, but there obviously was some wiring issue, because it then kept flashing on and off, and the bulb was tight in the socket.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Since Dinsey calls DVC "Home Away from Home" resorts I treat them like my home, if something isn't right I call right away to get it fixed. I do wish that all other owners could call in all problems when they notice them so the next owner that uses the room doesn't start off their vacations with problems to get resolved.

DVC resorts aren't called "Home Away From Home" anymore.

I'm glad they don't treat them like I treat my home some days. You'd move into your villa with a dishwasher full of dirty dishes.

 

[RAD]

That would be a good way to ensure some sort of quality control for the next guest. It's a good idea, but I think a lot of people just don't want to waste time on vacation dealing with housekeeping/maintenance issues they feel they can live with. Unfortunately, the issues one can live with varies from guest to guest.

It doesn't take that much time to pick up the phone can call the problems in, something that can be done while waiting for the rest of the family to get ready to go.

 

[jarestel]

It doesn't take that much time to pick up the phone can call the problems in, something that can be done while waiting for the rest of the family to get ready to go.

I agree. But in my case, you're preaching to the choir. If enough folks actually did this, we wouldn't be seeing 4-5 posts a week about room conditions. And as is always pointed out by someone, we (DIS members) are just a small number of the overall DVC membership. Imagine how many room issues there probably really are.

 

[DBBN]

That would be a good way to ensure some sort of quality control for the next guest. It's a good idea, but I think a lot of people just don't want to waste time on vacation dealing with housekeeping/maintenance issues they feel they can live with. Unfortunately, the issues one can live with varies from guest to guest.

Easily understood. For me - well my threshold of satisfaction is relatively high due primarily to the amount of time we spend in the villa while we vacation. It seems the more time we spend in the villa the cleaner and better maintained it needs to be for me to be satisfied. Thankfully housekeeping/engineering has always been friendly and prompt whenever they've responded to my requests to resolve these issues.

 

[Halle]

I totally agree. When SSR opened, our great housekeeping manager moved over to SSR. Then they added both to his load, and now things are falling down instead of getting done correctly. I know it might mean an increase in dues, but I think if they don't start fixing problems NOW, we wont have a place we want to stay soon. We have never had huge issues, but I have had to call about minor repairs lately, and that shouldn't be. Last trip, we had a light bulb out on the master bath. I called twice with no results, so when I saw a maintenance guy in the parking lot, I told him, and it was fixed in a few minutes. The problem is... the bulb was replaced, but there obviously was some wiring issue, because it then kept flashing on and off, and the bulb was tight in the socket.

I don't think that our dues would go up if they hired another housekeeping manager, after all they didn't go down when they had this manager overseeing two resorts.

 

[Nadine&Scott]

We recently had our first stay at OKW, 7 days from March 25- April 1. We stayed in studio 4620. When we arrived the AC was not cooling, called engineering and a repairman was at our door within 10-15 minutes and fixed the AC with a smile. The AC worked fine for 4 days then would not cool again, again we called and a repairman showed up in about 10-15 minutes again. This time after he got the AC cooling again we asked him why it went off. He politely told us the switch was not pushed all the way to cool even though it appeared to be. So the two "Broken AC" visits were just our unfamiliarity with the AC controls. So just a note to others. If the AC is not working at OKW make sure to push the slide switch VERY firmly to the cool position, even if it looks like it is set to cool it may not be.

Other than that our studio was very clean and in good repair, we enjoyed our stay but agreed that we do like SSR better than OKW.

Scott

 

[Sammie]

Disney is short hundreds of workers mainly in housekeeping and maintenance. The Orlando area, including Disney overbuilt the work force and yet they keep building. I only see this concern getting worse instead of better.

Basically what staff they do have are just doing cosmetic cleaning and not deep cleaning. Personally I think it is worse at the DVC resorts than the others especially the deluxe resorts.

I think the upper management at DVC right now is more about expansion than maintaining what they have.

I am not a fan of the new combined housekeeping/maintenance departments at OKW and SSR.

It is that way at all Disney resorts, for example the staff at Pop is also on staff at CBR, talk about a huge amount of rooms.

 

[jarestel]

Basically what staff they do have are just doing cosmetic cleaning and not deep cleaning. Personally I think it is worse at the DVC resorts than the others especially the deluxe resorts.

That makes me more than a little nervous to hear that. It seems we can expect things to get worse before they get better. Thanks for the info Sammie!