Trying to call MS....

[Tina]

We're new members planning our first DVC stay. I'm trying to call MS to make a change to our ressie, but it just rings and rings and rings and rings... is it always this hard to get through on a Monday morning?

 

[tjkraz]

... is it always this hard to get through on a Monday morning?

Yes. Nearly 100,000 members with no ability to book for the past 60+ hours equates to busy Monday mornings.

 

[Tina]

Yikes!!!
Well, luckily, I finally got through and made my changes. I was able to upgrade up to a 1 bedroom at VWL in November so now I'm very happy.

 

[JimFitz]

They really need to extend their hours.

 

[Disney Fanatic]

I second that!

I am not looking forward to not being able to book on weekends.

 

[JudithM]

They really need to extend their hours.

We've been down this road before ... keep in mind that extended hours will eventually increase our maintenance fees.

 

[vascubaguy]

I'd rather them get online booking as opposed to extending/adding hours. It would be a sizeable initial investment to get the system going, but could save money in the long run (maybe help out our MN fees too).

 

[Doctor P]

I really don't think online booking is feasible, as much as we would like to see it.

 

[wtpclc]

I really don't think online booking is feasible, as much as we would like to see it.

I find that hard to believe. Especially, because they are, as of last week, still asking in their surveys how you would most like to book in teh future. Online is an option. If it ansolutely coul dnto be done, why woudl they include it in the survey?

 

[vascubaguy]

I really don't think online booking is feasible, as much as we would like to see it.

I would disagree. As a programmer I can say that it is definately possible. They wouldn't have to make available total points management, but they could link up the room reservation aspect and have summary points information. I know it's a bit more involved than that, but it can be done and would not me a monumental undertaking.

 

[Chuck S]

I would disagree. As a programmer I can say that it is definately possible. They wouldn't have to make available total points management, but they could link up the room reservation aspect and have summary points information. I know it's a bit more involved than that, but it can be done and would not me a monumental undertaking.

While it would be complicated, I agree it would certainly be possible to allow online account management and booking. Another big problem would be to make the system "user friendly" aka "idiot proof"

Imagine how many calls MS will receive...Oh, I really didn't mean to bank/borrow...can you undo the transaction...or...I didn't mean for those points to go into "holding" status, etc., etc., etc. It may wind up being a fairly expensive option, at least in the short term, until everyone gets used to it.

I can just see many "Are you Sure, are you REALLY, REALLY sure?" pop up warning windows all over my screen.

 

[vascubaguy]

While it would be complicated, I agree it would certainly be possible to allow online account management and booking. Another big problem would be to make the system "user friendly" aka "idiot proof"

Imagine how many calls MS will receive...Oh, I really didn't mean to bank/borrow...can you undo the transaction...or...I didn't mean for those points to go into "holding" status, etc., etc., etc. It may wind up being a fairly expensive option, at least in the short term, until everyone gets used to it.

I can just see many "Are you Sure, are you REALLY, REALLY sure?" pop up warning windows all over my screen.

If I were planning this project, I'm not sure I'd allow members to bank points online. However, if that were to be a feature of the online application, I would create the disclaimer screens and require verification of a PIN as a "digital signature".

Similarily for "borrowing" points it would have to prompt you that there were not enough current year points to book the reservation and then walk you thru some disclaimers and "digital signature" requirement before it would borrow points to make the reservation.

Perhaps the biggest issue will be for those that have multiple contracts with different UY. The transfers between contracts, etc... I'd imagine that would remain a phone call required transaction.

There are just some things that are best left for MS to handle.

 

[Doctor P]

I believe that it will be next to impossible to program all but the simplest transactions correctly (and I am computer savvy, I might add). Here is just an example of the kind of transaction (a real one from my last reservation) that would be difficult: have an existing reservation made day to day for December 23, 2005 that is linked to reservations for December 24, different reservation for December 25, new reservation for December 26 at the 11 month mark. I now want to change the reservation for December 23 that is linked to the reservation for December 24, but I don't want to cancel the reservation for December 24. I wanted the reservation for December 23 to be linked to the reservation for December 25 since I will call on the next day to change the reservation for December 24 to be linked to the reservation for December 23. But you need to check the availability for December 23 and December 24 before cancelling the reservation, so that you know that you have a reservation once the points become available due to cancellation. I also want to change the points that were used to make the December 23 reservation once it is cancelled to utilize other resort points. In addition, I want to link the rooms to another reservation for another party that will be checking in on December 24 under a different name. Furthermore, I need to both bank and borrow some points to make these reservations. In addition, I have some points that were restored due to Hurricane Frances that will need to be reallocated to these reservations. This was very straightforward to do by phone with MS--can you imagine programming this to get the appropriate sequencing of prompts and the appropriate verification of points to make this work in a single transaction? Maybe you can, but I have difficulty in imagining it.

 

[CharlesTD]

I despise online booking and if they propose it I would definatley voivce my opinion as to that.

 

[CarolA]

They really need to extend their hours.

Prepare to pay... (you will also pay for online booking.. programming isn't free!)

 

[Caskbill]

If I were planning this project, I'm not sure I'd allow members to bank points online. However, if that were to be a feature of the online application, I would create the disclaimer screens and require verification of a PIN as a "digital signature".

Similarily for "borrowing" points it would have to prompt you that there were not enough current year points to book the reservation and then walk you thru some disclaimers and "digital signature" requirement before it would borrow points to make the reservation.

Perhaps the biggest issue will be for those that have multiple contracts with different UY. The transfers between contracts, etc... I'd imagine that would remain a phone call required transaction.

There are just some things that are best left for MS to handle.

Don't forget to throw in that points can have one of 5 different status settings: Regular, Banked, Borrowed, Reservation, Holding. So you have to handle each possible setting, plus all combinations. Don't forget the 60 day rule that applies, and that Reservation points can't be used for a DVC resort.

Don't forget to code in the home resort and non-home resort factors, and how all the add-on contracts interact, and also how other contracts under separate membership numbers interact.

For on-line banking don't forget that banking deadlines and percentages are based on use year months, and that how much can be banked depends on what was previously banked, how big the total contract is (including all add-on's), and what percentage window you're in.

The system is much more complex than most people realize. The number of iterations is huge. Can a system be developed? The answer is Yes, because I'm doing one right now. Of course my Point-Tracking program is just PC based and doesn't have to interact with a reservation system. But just to 'idiot proof' a PC based database point tracking system has turned into an enormous undertaking.

The only thing that counts for DVC is the time and money they're willing to put into it, and the expected return on that effort. Of the 100,000 members, if only 10% would use on-line systems, is that really worth it for DVC management to spend the money to develop?

The ability to go on line and check your current account is a nice first step (Last year they promised this would be available by this December, but haven't heard if they're still on track or not).

 

[Laurabearz]

I would love to check reservations and point totals online... I would also love to be able to see availible inventory. Since I have 5 contracts, 3 home resorts and 2 use year, I am not sure I would want to make reservations for myself!

 

[vascubaguy]

Don't forget to throw in that points can have one of 5 different status settings: Regular, Banked, Borrowed, Reservation, Holding. So you have to handle each possible setting, plus all combinations. Don't forget the 60 day rule that applies, and that Reservation points can't be used for a DVC resort.

Don't forget to code in the home resort and non-home resort factors, and how all the add-on contracts interact, and also how other contracts under separate membership numbers interact.

For on-line banking don't forget that banking deadlines and percentages are based on use year months, and that how much can be banked depends on what was previously banked, how big the total contract is (including all add-on's), and what percentage window you're in.

The system is much more complex than most people realize. The number of iterations is huge. Can a system be developed? The answer is Yes, because I'm doing one right now. Of course my Point-Tracking program is just PC based and doesn't have to interact with a reservation system. But just to 'idiot proof' a PC based database point tracking system has turned into an enormous undertaking.

The only thing that counts for DVC is the time and money they're willing to put into it, and the expected return on that effort. Of the 100,000 members, if only 10% would use on-line systems, is that really worth it for DVC management to spend the money to develop?

The ability to go on line and check your current account is a nice first step (Last year they promised this would be available by this December, but haven't heard if they're still on track or not).

As with any software there is always some complexity... conditions, exceptions... however, in this case they already have a system that handles these, so they don't have to reinvent the system. They can reuse the logic.

Now cost benefit analysis, that could be another story... but membership is growing and more and more people are likely to turn to the Internet rather than waiting for MS to open. Also with the growing number of membership, it is likely that they'd have to hire additional staff to handle the increase in calls.

Do we "need" it...? No. But it would be a nice option to have. If we don't get it, that's fine with me, as long as I can make my ressies I'm good to go.

Oh one other thing.... I was on the member site yesterday (for the first time)... and I'm wondering why it only gives the option to have 1 home resort!? That's just wrong making me pick between the 2!

 

[tjkraz]

As with any software there is always some complexity... conditions, exceptions... however, in this case they already have a system that handles these, so they don't have to reinvent the system.

Two comments about the above:

1. What you say really isn't true. There actually ARE things that MS' system does not handle correctly at this time. One item that immediately leaps to mind is retaining the home resort of transferred points. Transferred points tend to default to a home resort of the recipient, and using them to book at 11 months at their true origin resort requires supervisory overrides.

There may well be other examples of this to which we are not privy.

2. Even if it were true that the system already works as-is, the more important question is whether a front-end interface can be designed which a reasonably intelligent adult can navigate without outside assistance. If a high percentage of booking attempts result in tech support calls ("how do I do this"..."I didn't mean to do this"..."my other reservation just 'disappeared'"..."what happened to my points") then the system may end up costing more than what we currently have.

All it takes is one poor experience for many to say "this is too complicated--I'll just keep calling."