Marriott or Interval Cancelled Our Grande Ocean Exchange

[JIMinNC]

We just found out that Marriott (or Interval, both are saying the other did it) has cancelled our II exchange to Grande Ocean for this coming week. We were supposed to check-in today, but had been told by GO on Wednesday it was fine for us to check in a day late on Saturday when the resort re-opened after the closure. But today, we get an email from Interval saying our week is cancelled. They are apparently cancelling all Friday interval check-ins for the full week, even though the resort is opening tomorrow.

I'm getting different stories from all parties involved.

I received the email from Interval early this afternoon saying GO could not accept our arrival (even though we received the welcome call and email two days ago, and had even set up a sales presentation for Tuesday AM). I immediately called Interval and they said, no, our exchange was not showing as cancelled in their system and should be good. I then called GO to ask about check-in time, and they told me that "Interval had cancelled all Interval exchanges," so our reservation was indeed cancelled.

I eventually wound up talking to both Interval Customer Service and Marriott Customer Care (including being elevated to a supervisor at Marriott) to no avail. I was then told by someone at GO during a second call to the resort, that because other resorts in HHI are still closed, Marriott is accommodating owners from those resorts at GO and displacing Interval exchanges. Marriott Customer Care denied that was the case and said GO had damaged units and could not accommodate II exchanges. So, I'm not sure what the truth is.

Bottom line, we're apparently screwed and won't be going to HHI. All Interval is offering is a replacement week that can be used either 30 or 59 days out. Not happy...at all.

 

[kds4]

Yikes. I would not be happy either (both with no one accepting responsibility as well as only getting a flex-change replacement week instead of a fully exchangeable one). Sorry to hear this is happening to you.

 

[davidvel]

We just found out that Marriott (or Interval, both are saying the other did it) has cancelled our II exchange to Grande Ocean for this coming week. We were supposed to check-in today, but had been told by GO on Wednesday it was fine for us to check in a day late on Saturday when the resort re-opened after the closure. But today, we get an email from Interval saying our week is cancelled. They are apparently cancelling all Friday interval check-ins for the full week, even though the resort is opening tomorrow.

I'm getting different stories from all parties involved.

I received the email from Interval early this afternoon saying GO could not accept our arrival (even though we received the welcome call and email two days ago, and had even set up a sales presentation for Tuesday AM). I immediately called Interval and they said, no, our exchange was not showing as cancelled in their system and should be good. I then called GO to ask about check-in time, and they told me that "Interval had cancelled all Interval exchanges," so our reservation was indeed cancelled.

I eventually wound up talking to both Interval Customer Service and Marriott Customer Care (including being elevated to a supervisor at Marriott) to no avail. I was then told by someone at GO during a second call to the resort, that because other resorts in HHI are still closed, Marriott is accommodating owners from those resorts at GO and displacing interval exchanges. Marriott Customer Care denied that was the case and said GO had damaged units and could not accommodate II exchanges. So, I'm not sure what the truth is.

Bottom line, we're apparently screwed and won't be going to HHI. All Interval is offering is a replacement week that can be used either 30 or 59 days out. Not happy...at all.

Wow. Now the "priority" issue really comes to a head. I am sure most will assert that owners (or their renters) should always get priority over II guests of owners that traded, but is this "right" set forth anywhere? You had a confirmed Marriott reservation (through II). It certainly matters who and why it was cancelled.

 

[JIMinNC]

Wow. Now the "priority" issue really comes to a head. I am sure most will assert that owners (or their renters) should always get priority over II guests of owners that traded, but is this "right" set forth anywhere? You had a confirmed Marriott reservation (through II). It certainly matters who and why it was cancelled.

Their rationale seems to be that our exchange was cancelled because our check-in was supposed to be today, and since the resort is still closed today, Marriott was not able to accommodate us on our scheduled check-in day, so the exchange was cancelled. Marriott says it's an Interval issue; Interval says it's a Marriott issue. I got the impression that if our check-in was tomorrow (Saturday), it would have been honored since GO opens tomorrow. Not 100% sure about that though. Maybe Marriott used that as a loophole to cancel the exchanges and they are indeed using those vacated rooms to accommodate people from Monarch or other resorts that are still closed. Bottom line...we're not going to Hilton Head.

 

[aka Julie]

I feel for you, especially with the finger pointing between Marriott and Interval.

We had II exchanges at Barony for September 9 and 16. Luckily I was able to re-trade both weeks for the beginning of October.

I'm sure the same thing would have happened to us with the Sept. 16 reservation since it was announced that Barony was only partially opening tomorrow.

 

[windje2000]

Their rationale seems to be that our exchange was cancelled because our check-in was supposed to be today, and since the resort is still closed today, Marriott was not able to accommodate us on our scheduled check-in day, so the exchange was cancelled. Marriott says it's an Interval issue; Interval says it's a Marriott issue. I got the impression that if our check-in was tomorrow (Saturday), it would have been honored since GO opens tomorrow. Not 100% sure about that though. Maybe Marriott used that as a loophole to cancel the exchanges and they are indeed using those vacated rooms to accommodate people from Monarch or other resorts that are still closed. Bottom line...we're not going to Hilton Head.

Jim

My res at Monarch started 9/9. Now they are saying Monarch may reopen 9/24. (I am not taking your res at GO.)

Interval says how high when Marriott says jump.

Join the mushrooms - kept in the dark and fed BS.

PM me if you want Steve Weisz's email address.

Windje

 

[dioxide45]

You should email the II Tug Mailbox. You still won't be going to Hilton Head, but you should get back a full unrestricted deposit.

 

[Fairwinds]

It seems to me the pecking order for available rooms at a resort should be owners, traders, and finally guests of other resorts unable to accommodate them.

 

[JIMinNC]

It seems to me the pecking order for available rooms at a resort should be owners, traders, and finally guests of other resorts unable to accommodate them.

Agree, but just to be sure that we're clear, I'm not 100% sure that Marriott is assigning people displaced from other resorts to Grande Ocean. The people with Marriott Customer Care said explicitly that they were NOT doing that, and the only people being assigned to the rooms that were assigned to Interval exchanges were displaced GO owners. It was someone at Grand Ocean who answered the phone that told me that the issue was owners from other HHI Marriott resorts that were yet to open. So, I'm not sure if what the person said at GO is the real truth or what Customer Care said. I'm not happy either way, but I don't want to ding Marriott for something if that's not what is really happening. If it really is what Customer Care said, and it's GO owners occupying their week that displaced us, I am more sympathetic to Marriott's dilemma than if they are allowing Monarch or Harbour Point owners to occupy our confirmed GO exchange week.

 

[dioxide45]

So, I'm not sure if what the person said at GO is the real truth or what Customer Care said.

I would have the tendency to believe the person at the resort than someone in the call center hundreds of miles away...

 

[JIMinNC]

I would have the tendency to believe the person at the resort than someone in the call center hundreds of miles away...

Yeah, me too. The person who answered the phone was at the front desk and was probably less likely to spin the corporate line.

In any event, as it turns out, we're still going to Hilton Head, but it's costing us some $$$. We were able to book six nights at the new Hilton Grand Vacations Ocean Oaks for a little over $1700. We have been looking forward to this trip for too long to let this stupid situation keep us at home. We will pursue this further with Marriott and Interval. I hate spending the $$$, but sometimes the money is less important than the experience.

The ironic thing is we had scheduled a sales presentation with Marriott for Tuesday in HHI to discuss buying more Marriott points/weeks to help us go to Maui EOY. After this fiasco, my wife isn't sure she ever wants to deal with Marriott again - and that's from a frequent business traveler with over 1.1 million Marriott Rewards points.

From my perspective, I recognize that Marriott was in a difficult position if they had limited HHI inventory due to the storm. The fact that they place keeping their owners whole with their owned weeks over II exchangers does resonate with me as a positive, even though, in this case, we were screwed by that policy. The next time, we might benefit. What this does for me, however, is reinforce my long-standing opinion that I truly despise timeshare exchanging. I hated it under our previous ownership with an RCI affiliated resort, and this experience has done nothing to improve that impression. When you exchange, you will always be at the bottom of the barrel in priority - for room assignment and, in this case, to get a room at all. In the future, even though exchanging can frequently generate more value per $$ than electing for DC points, I will probably choose points over exchanging. An II exchange will be my absolute last resort, not because of anything II necessarily did wrong that cost us our exchange - I truly believe they were in a no-win position - but because exchangers are the low man on the totem pole in the timeshare world. Also, II's response of offering just a flex change week seems totally inadequate since I am also a Marriott owner, even though I wasn't using my ownership week.

 

[Dean]

If the resort were unavailable for a portion of the stay (even one day), I would expect the exchange to be canceled if it could not be adjusted.

 

[windje2000]

We have an ongoing Monarch res. Asked if any chance of another resort and told emphatically no.

Number of reservations is not greater than number of units, unless they overbooked, which I don't think is likely.

Only reasons I can think of for more guests than units are 1. an excess of guests (refugees from other resorts) or 2. a reduction in available units owing to storm damage.

Sounds like someone with a res at another resort (that was closed) who simply showed up in HHI and said "I am here where are you going to accommodate me?" got your unit.

Enjoy your time on HHI.

 

[JIMinNC]

Only reasons I can think of for more guests than units are 1. an excess of guests (refugees from other resorts) or 2. a reduction in available units owing to storm damage.

Sounds like someone with a res at another resort (that was closed) who simply showed up in HHI and said "I am here where are you going to accommodate me?" got your unit.

Enjoy your time on HHI.

#2 was the "official" explanation given; #1 was the "unofficial" explanation given by the Grande Ocean front desk. I don't think it was a one-off situation like you describe in your last sentence because we were told by both II and Marriott that all inbound II exchanges for Sept 15 check-in (at least, not sure about other dates) were cancelled.

In any event, we're off to HHI shortly - going to be $1700 poorer than we thought we would be - but we feel fortunate to have found six nights at HGVC Ocean Oak on hilton.com for only $249/night + taxes. Looking on hilton.com there is only spotty availability for individual nights over the next two months or so, and those are generally $350 - $400/night plus. We must of picked up a last minute cancellation or something.

 

[Fredward]

We were supposed to check in to Barony today and have been checking the Marriott Crisis Hotline message for days. We were using a combination of DC points, an encore package and $$, so we didn't fit into any of the categories detailed on the message. The first statement on the message was for owners who were using their week to contact their travel insurance company, so I am not sure if the opening resorts are going to be filled with owners. I think Marriott is trying their best to accommodate as many people as possible, but with at least 24 resorts impacted by Irma (FL, SC and STT), they had to come up with an algorithm for who gets cancelled first. II exchangers would be the easiest way to electronically eliminate a group of people without evaluating weeks owners vs. Points vs. everyone else with plans, especially when some of the resorts apparently aren't going to be fully reopened.

Our friends who were coming in from Oregon to stay with us have cancelled but we've been able to reschedule the encore package, checking into SurfWatch for 4 days on Monday, reschedule our flight down and we'll stay in Charleston for 1 night. Its all ok. We're not unhappy with Marriott, will continue to use II for trades and will definitely look into getting a travel insurance plan for the next unforeseen crisis.

 

[sb2313]

Just spoke with Surfwatch to check on our exchange for next Friday. They indicated as of now we are good to go, but they also did do some cancellations for yesterday's checkin so it was not limited to grande ocean. Perhaps this is why the larger resorts opened Saturday vs Friday in order to absorb guests from the smaller resorts to give them another week to get ready. Certainly an interesting item to monitor going forward.

 

[Dean]

We were supposed to check in to Barony today and have been checking the Marriott Crisis Hotline message for days. We were using a combination of DC points, an encore package and $$, so we didn't fit into any of the categories detailed on the message. The first statement on the message was for owners who were using their week to contact their travel insurance company, so I am not sure if the opening resorts are going to be filled with owners. I think Marriott is trying their best to accommodate as many people as possible, but with at least 24 resorts impacted by Irma (FL, SC and STT), they had to come up with an algorithm for who gets cancelled first. II exchangers would be the easiest way to electronically eliminate a group of people without evaluating weeks owners vs. Points vs. everyone else with plans, especially when some of the resorts apparently aren't going to be fully reopened.

Our friends who were coming in from Oregon to stay with us have cancelled but we've been able to reschedule the encore package, checking into SurfWatch for 4 days on Monday, reschedule our flight down and we'll stay in Charleston for 1 night. Its all ok. We're not unhappy with Marriott, will continue to use II for trades and will definitely look into getting a travel insurance plan for the next unforeseen crisis.

IMO travel insurance is a poor choice for most people but it can be a good choice for certain situations. I'm not sure that just Hurricane season is enough risk to justify the expense but health and personal situations can alter the playing field significantly. Sometimes a policy that covers a longer period and multiple trips can be a better value.

 

[klpca]

Wow. Now the "priority" issue really comes to a head. I am sure most will assert that owners (or their renters) should always get priority over II guests of owners that traded, but is this "right" set forth anywhere? You had a confirmed Marriott reservation (through II). It certainly matters who and why it was cancelled.

As it is, they way that they have done it has given the boot to a loyal Marriott customer who is a week/points owner, not someone who has exchanged in from outside of the Marriott umbrella. Not cool. I wonder if Marriott is making sure that they accommodate people who have cash reservations booked through Marriott.com? Why aren't they using a reservation date stamp as the criteria for cancellations?

My personal opinion (for whatever that is worth, lol) is that exchangers should always be stepping into the shoes of the owner. I hate it when management companies (Marriott, Starwood, Hyatt, Hilton etc) play games with the units as if *they* owned them. (Everyone has their hot buttons )

At this point, I would try escalating this through Mark DelCampo at Interval to at least get an unrestricted week with Marriott preference. That really doesn't cost them anything and would be the right thing to do. Cancelling the day before arrival, even under these circumstances, is cruel. Giving you a flex restricted week is adding insult to injury.

 

[Dean]

As it is, they way that they have done it has given the boot to a loyal Marriott customer who is a week/points owner, not someone who has exchanged in from outside of the Marriott umbrella. Not cool. I wonder if Marriott is making sure that they accommodate people who have cash reservations booked through Marriott.com? Why aren't they using a reservation date stamp as the criteria for cancellations?

My personal opinion (for whatever that is worth, lol) is that exchangers should always be stepping into the shoes of the owner. I hate it when management companies (Marriott, Starwood, Hyatt, Hilton etc) play games with the units as if *they* owned them. (Everyone has their hot buttons )

At this point, I would try escalating this through Mark DelCampo at Interval to at least get an unrestricted week with Marriott preference. That really doesn't cost them anything and would be the right thing to do. Cancelling the day before arrival, even under these circumstances, is cruel. Giving you a flex restricted week is adding insult to injury.

I don't necessarily disagree for most situations but then you have the issue of who is going to be cancelled and someone is. Marriott clearly does not see a member exchanging in as a true member. I do think canceling an exchange over an owner using their week is reasonable place to draw a line if that's sufficient to care for the problem. I'm not sure it's overly applicable for exchanges starting yesterday as the exchange would automatically be canceled as I understand it if the resort isn't operational for the first day of the exchange. Also, technically under II's rules, any deposits from a resort that was not available would also lose their exchange elsewhere as I understand it. Has anyone heard of this happening either this time or in the recent past? Since Marriott treats DC members essentially as exchangers, I wonder if those with DC points reservations were also canceled if they started during the time the resort was not open.

 

[Carta]

My situation:::::I had reservations at Marriott Ocean Pointe, Palm Beach Shores as an Exchange through Interval; 9/22 to 29...I was given a Hotline# 1-800-306-9506.....Hotline stated "reservations through 9/22 are cancelled. MOP sent an email confirming Hotline. Now I'm left high and dry cuz they don't tell when resort will be open..Very Pissed

 

[taterhed]

Knowing your ownership, I think Marriott would definitely want to make this right for you.

I'd hit them up locally (sales dept) and via the cust care department (Marriott) and tell them how you (or your wife!) feel about this. I'd think they would find a 4 nite 5 day for $1 at your choosing to make things right.

 

[klpca]

I don't necessarily disagree for most situations but then you have the issue of who is going to be cancelled and someone is. Marriott clearly does not see a member exchanging in as a true member. I do think canceling an exchange over an owner using their week is reasonable place to draw a line if that's sufficient to care for the problem. I'm not sure it's overly applicable for exchanges starting yesterday as the exchange would automatically be canceled as I understand it if the resort isn't operational for the first day of the exchange. Also, technically under II's rules, any deposits from a resort that was not available would also lose their exchange elsewhere as I understand it. Has anyone heard of this happening either this time or in the recent past? Since Marriott treats DC members essentially as exchangers, I wonder if those with DC points reservations were also canceled if they started during the time the resort was not open.

If you have a week booked at a resort that is closed, I don't see why someone (anyone!) with a confirmed reservation at an open resort should be bumped. Can you imagine if the airlines started bumping non-status people off of flights to accommodate status passengers from other flights?? Yikes! (Who knows, maybe they are already doing that?)

If this is happening because there are damaged rooms that can't be occupied, then I am more understanding.

I feel sorry for Jim. What a way to start your vacation.

 

[BocaBoy]

If the resort were unavailable for a portion of the stay (even one day), I would expect the exchange to be canceled if it could not be adjusted.

Yes, I would expect nothing less. II could not accommodate the reserved week because the resort was closed the day of check-in so they had little choice. The simple explanation is usually the right one and I am quite confident that this is the case here. II could not deliver the reserved week so they cancelled and replaced it. The issue I see is that the replacement week should not have been restricted to check-in within 60 days. Jim was apparently the innocent victim here but I don't see a "bad guy" behind what happened. And Jim, I understand how this experience impacts your view of exchanging. Since DC and especially since the demise of XYZ's, we seldom do an II trade any more. Getaways yes, exchanges no.

 

[bazzap]

There are clearly different views we all hold on this issue.
As an enrolled weeks owner who stays on home weeks, points and Interval exchanges, at times a combination of all three, my personal take on this is:-
If I had a confirmed Interval exchange reservation for a week and the resort I was booked into was open during that week, even if not on the check in day, I would expect to be allowed to stay there on the days it was open.
I just don't understand how anyone with a "home" weeks or points reservation at another resort, even if closed, could be given preference at a different resort over a confirmed Interval reservation at that resort and I wouldn't expect that if I were the owner losing out as a result.

 

[Panina]

There are clearly different views we all hold on this issue.
As an enrolled weeks owner who stays on home weeks, points and Interval exchanges, at times a combination of all three, my personal take on this is:-
If I had a confirmed Interval exchange reservation for a week and the resort I was booked into was open during that week, even if not on the check in day, I would expect to be allowed to stay there on the days it was open.
I just don't understand how anyone with a "home" weeks or points reservation at another resort, even if closed, could be given preference at a different resort over a confirmed Interval reservation at that resort and I wouldn't expect that if I were the owner losing out as a result.

I agree with you. This just sounds wrong and doesn't make sense. Someone screwed up big time. I personally would not let it go. I would persue with Mark our tug contact at TUG and Marriott, write corporate, if you can't get someone to help interact with interval. Between the two companies they should figure out how to compensate you to make it right.