I agree that problems can and will slip through the cracks but in my experience there are far to many DVC room issues. We average around 3 WDW vacations per year and 3 split stays per vacation, that's 9 DVC check ins per year. At least 1 out of three rooms have had a problem each vacation.
Then I would respectfully suggest you are either the unluckiest member who has ever joined or your degree of standards is not shared by the bulk of the membership.
Based upon my own experiences, personal friends who are members and the relative scarcity of public reports on forums like this, nothing leads me to believe that 1/3 of arrivals include some villa "problem."
After working with Front Desk, DVC, and Guest Show Managers, I am convinced that Disney knows about and accepts the room problems at DVC resorts.
Of course they do. That's how every business operates. Whether you're making burgers, cars or boxes of cereal, you know that sub-standard units will slip through all QA measures, and you have established protocol for compensating disgruntled customers.
As any business approaches 100% quality, the cost is exponentially higher to close the gap. In Disney's case you're talking about things like intentionally over-staffing every single day of the week to compensate for sick calls and no shows, adding more and more layers of management and supervision, spending more on screening of job candidates, spending more on recruiting and increasing wages to grow the pool of applicants.
In the abstract it's very easy for we armchair executives to suggest Disney should do all of the above and more. But it all costs money and most members are not thrilled with the amount they are asked to pay now.
Replacing furnishings, carpet, appliances, painting walls more often--again all costly improvements which members would pay for.
I don't think that the budget for room cleanings and maintenance at DVC resorts is the same as other Disney resorts and because of this, Disney accepts room problems as normal.
The biggest issue in cash vs. DVC is the high occupancy. Cash resorts are typically booked at 80-85% occupancy. That leaves dozens of vacant rooms every night of the week, rooms which can get a carpet cleaning or new paint without any impact on an arriving guest.
DVC's are near 100%. Every single room needs to be turned-over by 4pm for better or worse.
Standard hotel rooms don't have as many working parts to maintain. They don't have kitchens / appliances, no washer / dryer, one bathroom rather than 2-3.
Speaking for the other side of this coin, how many incidents happen and we DON'T hear about them? Just because they aren't posted doesn't mean these types of issues don't happen. I think BB's are a great sample of the total. I would not be taking a blind eye to these situations just because you aren't reading more of them. Again, just how many people even know about Disboards?
Of course there are many people who don't post publicly. But consider this...how many people DO post on the DVC forums alone? Hundreds? Thousands?
And of those individuals, how many posts do we see regarding room issues?
I'm not suggesting that the 2-3 negative reports posted per month is indicative of all DVC members. But it is indicative of what is likely several thousand people posting and lurking on the DIS DVC boards.
Venting on forums like this is therapeutic. Nothing wrong with OP sharing her experiences and receiving feedback from other members. But anyone who uses these sorts of random reports to influence their opinion of Disney / DVC is setting themselves up for a miserable ownership experience (IMHO.)
(There was a very old thread here were someone was INCENSED that his or her view was blocked by a tree!)
Bill
