# SDO full next March already! [Less inventory for resale owners?]



## patty5ia (Mar 12, 2016)

We usually stay at SDO at least one week in March each year.  We are here now and it is beautiful.  I tried to get a villa for this week next year at 7am yesterday and today.  They were already completely booked each day. Does Starwood have a waiting list?  Lesson learned - get up in the middle of the night to book at SDO.


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## DeniseM (Mar 12, 2016)

March is MLB Spring Training, and it has the most demand of the entire year.  To get a March reservation, you have to make your reservation as soon as the reservation window opens.

7:00 am is too late - the reservation window opens at  midnight Eastern, _the night before._

For instance, to reserve Saturday, March 11th, 2017, you should go online on March 10, 2016, at 12 midnight Eastern, to make the reservation.

Tonight at midnight Eastern, you can try for Sunday, March 12, 2017.



> Lesson learned - get up in the middle of the night to book at SDO.



It's actually not the middle of the night when you are in AZ - midnight Eastern is 10 pm, when you are in AZ.

Could you have accidentally looked at *2016*, instead of 2017?


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## pacman777 (Mar 12, 2016)

I just checked and I see plenty of availability at both SDO and WKV for the first two weeks in March. You can't book beyond one year out


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## grgs (Mar 12, 2016)

I'm also seeing availability for Mar. 10, 11, 12 check-in dates in all unit sizes at both SDO & WKV. Give it another try.

Glorian


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## patty5ia (Mar 12, 2016)

I called for reservations this morning.  No availability.  Anyone know if you can put your name on wait list if there are cancelations?


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## DeniseM (Mar 12, 2016)

patty5ia said:


> I called for reservations this morning.  No availability.  Anyone know if you can put your name on wait list if there are cancelations?



No - no wait list except for Elite Owners.

Did you go online and use the Villa Finder to check availability?  You can still do that now.

At 10 pm AZ time, the window for March 12th will open, and right now, you can check dates through March 11th.


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## GrayFal (Mar 12, 2016)

pacman777 said:


> I just checked and I see plenty of availability at both SDO and WKV for the first two weeks in March. You can't book beyond one year out





grgs said:


> I'm also seeing availability for Mar. 10, 11, 12 check-in dates in all unit sizes at both SDO & WKV. Give it another try.
> 
> Glorian





patty5ia said:


> I called for reservations this morning.  No availability.  Anyone know if you can put your name on wait list if there are cancelations?



Patty, two people said they saw inventory for your dates AFTER you looked. 

Are you booking with SO or are you a resale owner trying to book a floating week?


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## klpca (Mar 13, 2016)

I was casually looking for a week starting March 10 or March 11 last night, and after reading this thread I checked again, and I couldn't book anything for a full week for the first two weeks of March either. No big deal because I had booked March 4th last week, but I was hoping to change to a later week. 

Those of you that are seeing availability, was it with SO or your deeded week? I assume deeded since we're 12 months out, but I didn't see anything last night or tonight. What's your secret?


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

klpca said:


> I was casually looking for a week starting March 10 or March 11 last night, and after reading this thread I checked again, and I couldn't book anything for a full week for the first two weeks of March either. No big deal because I had booked March 4th last week, but I was hoping to change to a later week.
> 
> Those of you that are seeing availability, was it with SO or your deeded week? I assume deeded since we're 12 months out, but I didn't see anything last night or tonight. What's your secret?



Did you check for March 12th, exactly at 9 pm tonight?  The window opened for March 12th tonight.


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## klpca (Mar 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> Did you check for March 12th, exactly at 9 pm tonight?  The window opened for March 12th tonight.



I was looking for the 11th, but I just tried looking for the 12th (admittedly late since it's 10:30 my time). Still nothing. It shows low availability for most of the week. (the 9th - 15th, plus the 4th). I was just surprised that others saw availability. Seems odd, but since I am already holding a reservation, it's not a big deal. I guess that it's just a timing issue.


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## grgs (Mar 13, 2016)

I just checked again, and still see availability for a March 12, 2017 check-in. I have attached a screen shot.  I do own at SDO.  I did not click through to complete the reservation, since I don't actually want it. 

klcpa & patty5ia, can you post a screen shot of what you're seeing?

Glorian


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## klpca (Mar 13, 2016)

grgs said:


> I just checked again, and still see availability for a March 12, 2017 check-in. I have attached a screen shot.  I do own at SDO.  I did not click through to complete the reservation, since I don't actually want it.
> 
> klcpa & patty5ia, can you post a screen shot of what you're seeing?
> 
> Glorian



The first image shows my search, the second the results. This was about 7:45ish, pacific time. 










The other odd thing that I noticed is that the villa finder appears to show my reservation as 3/3 -  3/10, but in the system is states 3/4 - 3/11. Odd.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

That's interesting - it appears that there is availability if you own a mandatory week (with Staroptions) but no availability if you own a resale week (no Staroptions.)

That makes me wonder how much FlexOptions are coming into play here, because SDO can be booked as a home resort with FlexOptions from all the resorts in this group.

Based on this, either more voluntary week owners book their weeks in March, or Starwood puts less inventory in the voluntary pool, and more inventory in the SVN pool.

So the next question, is:  Does the availability fairly reflect the number of mandatory vs. voluntary deeds at this resort, or is Starwood is loading up the pool that is available with FlexOptions to support the new program.  

Or is the programming messed up because of the addition of FlexOptions.

We need some voluntary owners to check right at midnight when availability opens for Fri-Sat-Sun. next weekend.


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## grgs (Mar 13, 2016)

I think the issue may be that you don't have anything to reserve.  Is the SDO week that is currently reserved the only one you own?  I think if you cancelled your existing reservation, you would see the availability I am.

Glorian


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

grgs said:


> I think the issue may be that you don't have anything to reserve.  Is the SDO week that is currently reserved the only one you own?  I think if you cancelled your existing reservation, you would see the availability I am.
> 
> Glorian



No - you can see availability even if you are holding a current reservation.

There is no voluntary inventory - but there is still mandatory availability.

Staroption reservations available at 8 mos. are also showing.


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## klpca (Mar 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> That's interesting - it appears that there is availability if you own a mandatory week (with Staroptions) but no availability if you own a resale week (no Staroptions.)
> 
> That makes me wonder how much FlexOptions are coming into play here, because SDO can be booked as a home resort with FlexOptions.
> 
> ...



I'm curious how this is happening - restricting usage for resale owners? I have another resort that just announced that resale owners couldn't make a unit request until 30 days out vs 90 days for non-resale owners/resale owners who purchased onsite (Coronado Beach Resort). It didn't affect me directly because the effective date is subsequent to my purchase date, but I'm not happy to see resorts restricting an owners use, no matter how acquired, because again it devalues the ownership. Perhaps I would feel differently if they took deeds back upon request.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

klpca said:


> I'm curious how this is happening - restricting usage for resale owners?



They aren't restricting usage - they have created 2 or maybe 3 pools of inventory:

-voluntary owners
-mandatory owners
-FlexOption owners

The question is whether these groups accurately reflect the distribution of ownership at the resort.


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## grgs (Mar 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> No - you can see availability even if you are holding a current reservation.
> 
> There is no voluntary inventory - but there is still mandatory availability.
> 
> Staroption reservations available at 8 mos. are also showing.



Ok, thanks for clarifying that.


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## klpca (Mar 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> They aren't restricting usage - they have created 2 or maybe 3 pools of inventory:
> 
> -voluntary owners
> -mandatory owners
> ...



I was re-reading your post and I understand now. Thanks for clarifying.

Of course we'll never know if they are playing fair with everyone. It always works out best for them.


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## tschwa2 (Mar 13, 2016)

I've never thought about this for SVN owners.  If they are booking in March do they pay 148,000 for a 2 br unit or do they pay the 81,000 or is there some inventory at the higher point value and some at the lower point value.

There should also in general for non SVN owners be separate buckets for 1-52 owners and 1-21 or whatever the dates are.


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## grgs (Mar 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> They aren't restricting usage - they have created 2 or maybe 3 pools of inventory:
> 
> -voluntary owners
> -mandatory owners
> ...



It would be interesting to know what the percentage breakdown is between the categories.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

grgs said:


> It would be interesting to know what the percentage breakdown is between the categories.



I'm sure Starwood would be delighted to share that info. with us.  

Here's the other thing - instead of the distribution of availability, it may be that the programming is fouled up because of the addition of the FlexOption component.


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## grgs (Mar 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> I'm sure Starwood would be delighted to share that info. with us.



We can dream.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

If you are a voluntary owner at SDO (no Staroptions) and you see zero availability, even at midnight, you should question this.

You can email:

suzanne.clark@starwoodvo.com
Suzanne Clark 
Vice President, Owner Services

If you just call reservations/Owner Services, they will tell you that everything is fine, even if the building is on fire.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

tschwa2 said:


> I've never thought about this for SVN owners.  If they are booking in March do they pay 148,000 for a 2 br unit or do they pay the 81,000 or is there some inventory at the higher point value and some at the lower point value.
> 
> There should also in general for non SVN owners be separate buckets for 1-52 owners and 1-21 or whatever the dates are.



Using Staroptions, March is 148,100 for a 2 bdm. - Resv. window opens on 7/12/16.  

I "think" it's the same with FlexOptions.

Please clarify what you mean by 81,000?


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## tschwa2 (Mar 13, 2016)

If you own a 1-52 and get it requalified you would get 81,000 for for your unit.  I didn't know if Starwood separated out those units designated as gold plus year round and offered them for a similar points value. 

I know at SBP they actually made the two phases separate and designated they unit types differently.  I can book a summer 2 br unit in a plantation unit for less star options than  the palmetto section.  During March I can book a palmetto unit for less than the plantation unit.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

tschwa2 said:


> If you own a 1-52 and get it requalified you would get 81,000 for for your unit.  I didn't know if Starwood separated out those units designated as gold plus year round and offered them for a similar points value.
> 
> I know at SBP they actually made the two phases separate and designated they unit types differently.  I can book a summer 2 br unit in a plantation unit for less star options than  the palmetto section.  During March I can book a palmetto unit for less than the plantation unit.



I see what you mean.  If you own 1-52, and make a reservation, I think it would just be a home resort reservation - no points involved.


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## patty5ia (Mar 13, 2016)

Yes, I am a resale owner of several years. Never had trouble booking March weeks before. They are messing with us....


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 13, 2016)

I am now worried about availability for my SBP next year.  I better pay those fees early and get going on those reservations, especially those I want to get up to two years in advance with pre-payment of fees.  I guess I will be up late booking weeks for a lot of the summer.


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## tschwa2 (Mar 13, 2016)

I have 5 to book next year.  Somehow I have ended up with 2 odd units and 3 annual.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

patty5ia said:


> Yes, I am a resale owner of several years. Never had trouble booking March weeks before. They are messing with us....



Patty - Did you try at midnight Eastern last night?  (9 pm in AZ - maybe it was 10 pm last night, since the time changed, and AZ doesn't change.)


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## SMHarman (Mar 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> They aren't restricting usage - they have created 2 or maybe 3 pools of inventory:
> 
> -voluntary owners
> -mandatory owners
> ...


There should only be two pools. 

Weeks and SVN
Flex 

Flex would require a week in the trust. 

Week and SVN should be treated the sane at 12-8 month's. It's only what happens at 8 month's that changes.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

SMHarman said:


> There should only be two pools.
> 
> Weeks and SVN
> Flex
> ...



But that isn't what owners are seeing.

For the same date, "weeks" owners cannot see availability, but SVN owners can.


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## VacationForever (Mar 13, 2016)

I hit a similar issue at the end of last yesr.  I wanted to book a week in Feb of 2016.  Lots of availability using SO but none using a SDO week.  Spoke with the agent who told me that I really should not expect availabilty in the week inventory pool after 8 months.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

sptung said:


> I hit a similar issue at the end of last yesr.  I wanted to book a week in Feb of 2016.  Lots of availability using SO but none using a SDO week.  Spoke with the agent who told me that I really should not expect availabilty in the week inventory pool after 8 months.



This is different - a voluntary week owner can't see availability at 12 mos.

Within 8 mos., all bets are off.


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## VacationForever (Mar 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> This is different - a voluntary week owner can't see availability at 12 mos.
> 
> Within 8 mos., all bets are off.



Yes it is different.  But the issue that I am conveying here is that at 8 months, it appears that the week inventory gets moved into the SO bucket.


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## SMHarman (Mar 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> But that isn't what owners are seeing.
> 
> For the same date, "weeks" owners cannot see availability, but SVN owners can.


As someone else commented, a programming error. The OP should call to book. 

The ownership deeds entitle them to any non flex week. 1-52 not booked to anyone else.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

SMHarman said:


> As someone else commented, a programming error. The OP should call to book.



She did - no availability.



patty5ia said:


> I *called* for reservations this morning.  No availability.  Anyone know if you can put your name on wait list if there are cancelations?


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## SMHarman (Mar 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> She did - no availability.


Should escalate to resolution services then. 

SO is not a concept for a week owner until 8 months. I think the developers of the booking tool used them as a proxy but there are edge cases and I think sdo gold 1-52 week's are an example, where they can book 148k weeks prior to 12 months but are only worth 81k enrolled.


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## patty5ia (Mar 13, 2016)

Yes, I am a resale owner.  Never had a problem booking March weeks before.  I guess we are getting blocked.  I'll try calling at  10 pm on Thursday.  Or would it be 9 pm because of daylight savings?  ( I am in Az now). I like having 2 consecutive weeks.....  I learned something from this post and hope others did too.


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## krj9999 (Mar 13, 2016)

My small 1BR Plat resale unit shows availability for all the SDO March check-in dates available (low availability for March 3, and 8 thru 14 in the villa finder).  FWIW.


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## DeniseM (Mar 13, 2016)

patty5ia said:


> Yes, I am a resale owner.  Never had a problem booking March weeks before.  I guess we are getting blocked.  I'll try calling at  10 pm on Thursday.  Or would it be 9 pm because of daylight savings?  ( I am in Az now). I like having 2 consecutive weeks.....  I learned something from this post and hope others did too.



Patty - You cannot _call _at 9 pm - reservations is closed then.  

You have to *log into your Starwood Acct.* and use the Villa Finder and search online.

I highly recommend that you log in NOW and check availability, since other people are showing availability now, for the dates you want.

Link:  https://login.starwoodvacationnetwork.com/login


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## bizaro86 (Mar 14, 2016)

I think the villa finder is showing inventory correctly, but that voluntary/non-requalified owners are somehow being restricted. I can see the same inventory on the villa finder as mentioned above, but when I go to actually make a booking, it says no availability. (I have a 1-52 float purchased resale). 

I know it's not a technical issue on my end, because my dummy booking for August went through no problem.


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## YYJMSP (Mar 14, 2016)

SMHarman said:


> There should only be two pools.
> 
> Weeks and SVN
> Flex
> ...



I would think you have SVN weeks, non-SVN weeks, and Flex weeks in completely separate pools, as those deeded weeks shouldn't be mixing with each other.

SVN weeks would have to be segregated from non-SVN weeks, since any unused SVN weeks from the Home Resort period would then fall through to weeks available only to other SVN owners using SO's at 8mos out.  Non-SVN owners shouldn't be able to access those weeks.

And wouldn't the SVN pool have to be further split by season, since you can only book your season during the Home Resort period, and then unused weeks from that seasonal pool would fall through to "open to all SO's" pool at 8mos out from that week?

Or maybe it's just too late in the day and I'm overthinking this...


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## SMHarman (Mar 14, 2016)

YYJMSP said:


> I would think you have SVN weeks, non-SVN weeks, and Flex weeks in completely separate pools, as those deeded weeks shouldn't be mixing with each other.
> 
> SVN weeks would have to be segregated from non-SVN weeks, since any unused SVN weeks from the Home Resort period would then fall through to weeks available only to other SVN owners using SO's at 8mos out.  Non-SVN owners shouldn't be able to access those weeks.
> 
> ...


I think that's what it looks like at 8 month's in

At 12-8 month's a deed is a deed (with seasonality on the sales of the Starwood phase).  I'm not convinced that all the SVN pools above should be able to exist. And most of the resort was sold as gold plus anyway.


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## SMHarman (Mar 15, 2016)

patty5ia said:


> Yes, I am a resale owner.  Never had a problem booking March weeks before.  I guess we are getting blocked.  I'll try calling at  10 pm on Thursday.  Or would it be 9 pm because of daylight savings?  ( I am in Az now). I like having 2 consecutive weeks.....  I learned something from this post and hope others did too.


Have you succeeded in making a reservation yet?


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## patty5ia (Mar 15, 2016)

I have a week starting on March 4 but I wanted consecutive weeks and I couldn't get March 12 week.  I will use the villa finder on Thursday evenings or the next week .  Frustrating.  I don't think I should be penalized for being a resale owner because someone paid the high price at the beginning.


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## DeniseM (Mar 15, 2016)

patty5ia said:


> I have a week starting on March 4 but I wanted consecutive weeks and I couldn't get March 12 week.  I will use the villa finder on Thursday evenings or the next week .  Frustrating.  I don't think I should be penalized for being a resale owner because someone paid the high price at the beginning.



Please clarify - have you used the Villa Finder to try to get *March 11th?* 

I know you called, but did you try actually *searching with the Villa finder?*

Also - If you already have March 4-11, the check-in day for the next week would be March 11, not March 12.


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## patty5ia (Mar 15, 2016)

Yes, I used the villa finder.  Nothing available March 11, 12..


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## krj9999 (Mar 15, 2016)

Now see no availability for March 8 and 9; the other dates noted earlier as low still show low.  

Thinking there might be a separate pool for Plat owners.



krj9999 said:


> My small 1BR Plat resale unit shows availability for all the SDO March check-in dates available (low availability for March 3, and 8 thru 14 in the villa finder).  FWIW.


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## tschwa2 (Mar 15, 2016)

I would think there would have to be separate platinum inventory.  Otherwise owners of gold plus (1-52 float) -which i believe comprises more than half of the units for deeding purposes, could beat platinum  owners to  all of platinum season inventory each and every release day and thus have zero availability as they are not privilege to weeks 22-49 during their home reservation period if in SVN and at all if non SVN.

This wouldn't help the OP as she owns gold plus and not every gold plus owner will be able to get a platinum week especially during the highest demand weeks even if they attempt to book the moment inventory opens up.  There are just too many owners competing for those 3-5 weeks. That's just the way it is.


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## VacationForever (Mar 16, 2016)

I own a platinum week and I am also seeing full availability for March, 10, 11 and 12.


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## SMHarman (Mar 16, 2016)

tschwa2 said:


> I would think there would have to be separate platinum inventory.  Otherwise owners of gold plus (1-52 float) -which i believe comprises more than half of the units for deeding purposes, could beat platinum  owners to  all of platinum season inventory each and every release day and thus have zero availability as they are not privilege to weeks 22-49 during their home reservation period if in SVN and at all if non SVN.
> 
> This wouldn't help the OP as she owns gold plus and not every gold plus owner will be able to get a platinum week especially during the highest demand weeks even if they attempt to book the moment inventory opens up.  There are just too many owners competing for those 3-5 weeks. That's just the way it is.


I'm sure there is. 

*To be a true Platinum week at Sheraton Desert Oasis the unit number must be in this range-
1064, 1072, 1081-1100, 2064, 2072, 2081- 2100, 3064-3072, and 3081-3100
AND
the deeded week must be in this range: 1-21, 50-52]*

Now I've never been there to know the size. But the above indicates that there are 39 2 bed units in the platinum plus pool. The balance would be in the gold pool. The Starwood website counts 300 rooms. I'll assume 150 two bed villas. 
39 are plat plus. 111 are gold plus. 

But those 39 only have 24 weeks competing for them. The 111 have 52 weeks competing for them. 

39x24  gives 936 owners competing for 39 spots. 111x52 gives 5772 owners. Scaled that would be (52:24 the rest over complicates it. So 217% owners competing for the same week compared to plat plus. 



krj9999 said:


> Now see no availability for March 8 and 9; the other dates noted earlier as low still show low.
> 
> Thinking there might be a separate pool for Plat owners.


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 16, 2016)

sptung said:


> I own a platinum week and I am also seeing full availability for March, 10, 11 and 12.


There you go!  I cannot see availability with my 1-52.


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## youppi (Mar 16, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> They aren't restricting usage - they have created 2 or maybe 3 pools of inventory:
> 
> -voluntary owners
> -mandatory owners
> ...



You forgot the pool of unsold inventory kept for rental on starwoodhotels.com.
I saw the two 1bdrm size available for March 10, 11 or 12, 2017 but no 2bdrm.


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## SMHarman (Mar 16, 2016)

youppi said:


> You forgot the pool of unsold inventory kept for rental on starwoodhotels.com.
> I saw the two 1bdrm size available for March 10, 11 or 12, 2017 but no 2bdrm.


Technically its a sold out resort so this is sold to Starwood hotels and resorts who pay the MF and rent then sublet space. 

They should be pulling from the same pool as owners with the same ownership designation.


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## dsmrp (Mar 16, 2016)

SMHarman said:


> Technically its a sold out resort so this is sold to Starwood hotels and resorts who pay the MF and rent then sublet space.
> 
> They should be pulling from the same pool as owners with the same ownership designation.



and how is Starwood pulling the units that they own?  by a bot?  :rofl:
That checkbox to confirm you're a real person, seems to show up in the same place in relation to the application/browser window. 
Is it really much of a deterrent if the input entry is always the same?


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## SMHarman (Mar 16, 2016)

dsmrp said:


> and how is Starwood pulling the units that they own?  by a bot?  :rofl:
> That checkbox to confirm you're a real person, seems to show up in the same place in relation to the application/browser window.
> Is it really much of a deterrent if the input entry is always the same?


They have preemption rights written in the HOA docs. They can't trample the other owners and take all spring break availability though.


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## tschwa2 (Mar 16, 2016)

Starwood doesn't restrict themselves to the 12 months reservation rule.   There are units available on both starwood.com and RCI that were deposited well before the 12 month window when reservations open for owners.



> Sheraton Desert Oasis (#5247)
> Scottsdale,  AZ  85255,  USA  map resort
> 
> Rating:    (135)
> ...




Right now there are 366 different unit type/dates available on RCI beyond the 12 month reservation period for owners.  There may be more than one unit of each type available on some dates.  You can't tell unless you try to book multiple dates. 

Isn't it nice that Starwood vacation anticipates deposits so that RCI members can reserve prime and not so prime weeks sometimes months before they become available to those that pay the MF for those units.


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## hintok (Mar 17, 2016)

*NO units available at five minutes after midnight on 3/17*

I logged in at 12:05 am EST (which was 9:05 pm my time) last night to book a two bedroom exactly 12 months in advance.  There was no availability for Friday, March 17, 2017.  How could they be gone in five minutes?


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## VacationForever (Mar 17, 2016)

hintok said:


> I logged in at 12:05 am EST (which was 9:05 pm my time) last night to book a two bedroom exactly 12 months in advance.  There was no availability for Friday, March 17, 2017.  How could they be gone in five minutes?



Because the week is for 1-52.  I just checked my platinum week, full availabilty for all 3 sizes for 3/17/17 check in.


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## krj9999 (Mar 17, 2016)

If nothing else, this thread seems to clearly show there is value in owning a Plat week vs. a 1-52 week at SDO; especially if one wants to book a peak use week.


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## pchung6 (Mar 17, 2016)

rickandcindy23 said:


> I am now worried about availability for my SBP next year.  I better pay those fees early and get going on those reservations, especially those I want to get up to two years in advance with pre-payment of fees.  I guess I will be up late booking weeks for a lot of the summer.



I just called today to reserve my SBP deed week 28, 2017, 15 months from now.  They told me nothing is available and my best chance is to reserve at 12 months when window opens.  But I've tried at 9pm PST everyday since 2 weeks ago, nothing has been available even at 9pm.


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## vacationtime1 (Mar 17, 2016)

pchung6 said:


> I just called today to reserve my SBP deed week 28, 2017, 15 months from now.  They told me nothing is available and my best chance is to reserve at 12 months when window opens.  But I've tried at 9pm PST everyday since 2 weeks ago, nothing has been available even at 9pm.



Something is clearly wrong with the inventory system.  Deeded week owners at SBP have the absolute right to reserve their deeded week at the 24 - 12 month mark.  Only at 12 months do unreserved weeks go into the floating week pool.

I would take this up a level to get resolution.


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## bizaro86 (Mar 17, 2016)

hintok said:


> I logged in at 12:05 am EST (which was 9:05 pm my time) last night to book a two bedroom exactly 12 months in advance.  There was no availability for Friday, March 17, 2017.  How could they be gone in five minutes?



That's interesting. I was able to book a 2 bedroom at SDO for March 17 check in last night at 10:10 mountain time. I'm a resale 1-52 owner, so I doubt I'm getting special privileges. I wonder if its incompetent IT somehow.


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## pchung6 (Mar 18, 2016)

vacationtime1 said:


> Something is clearly wrong with the inventory system.  Deeded week owners at SBP have the absolute right to reserve their deeded week at the 24 - 12 month mark.  Only at 12 months do unreserved weeks go into the floating week pool.
> 
> I would take this up a level to get resolution.



I just tried again today at 9:00 and 1 second to reserve my SBP 2017 usage for 3/18/17 check in.  Again, nothing is available. I will call again tomorrow and I think it is going to be an ugly call.


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## hintok (Mar 18, 2016)

bizaro86 said:


> That's interesting. I was able to book a 2 bedroom at SDO for March 17 check in last night at 10:10 mountain time. I'm a resale 1-52 owner, so I doubt I'm getting special privileges. I wonder if its incompetent IT somehow.



I bet it was operator error due to using my iPad at a friends house.  I am more of a laptop person.  I just logged on to Starcentral.com with my laptop and got the check-in date of March 18th.


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## patty5ia (Mar 18, 2016)

I am the OP and I just got a larger one bedroom reservation right at the 12 am EST for one year out.  but when I tried to also get a separate smaller unit it says nothing available.  Never had issues in the past so definitely something is different.  I love coming to this small quiet resort!


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## patty5ia (Mar 18, 2016)

I went to bed after being confirmed my week for March 18 2017 had been confirmed.  Didn't notice I got no confirmation email. This morning the week does not show in my upcoming stays. Does starwood not like me because I posted my problems here on Tug?  What can I do?


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## DeniseM (Mar 18, 2016)

As soon as you make the reservation, you get a pop up showing your confirmed reservation w/reservation number.  It's a good idea to save a screen short of this info. for documentation, until the confirmation comes.


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## undrpar64 (Mar 18, 2016)

Don't give up on the reservation.  Very similar circumstances to what happened to me in Feb.  I called reservations the next morning and achieved nothing at first.  Then asked to be moved to her supervisor and still received no satisfaction.  I then asked for resolution services and after holding for 10-15 minutes finally spoke to someone in that department that assured me that if I had confirmed the reservation online that it would show on their end.  Later that afternoon I received a call that they had been able to track the history and that I had indeed confirmed the reservation and that it was now credited to my account.  Happy days!


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## patty5ia (Mar 18, 2016)

Yes, should have taken a screen shot.  But just got the confirmation email so all is good.


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## pchung6 (Mar 18, 2016)

pchung6 said:


> I just tried again today at 9:00 and 1 second to reserve my SBP 2017 usage for 3/18/17 check in.  Again, nothing is available. I will call again tomorrow and I think it is going to be an ugly call.



I just hanged up the call with SVN. Basically there is no help. They insist nothing is wrong in the reservation system even I tried at 9pm everyday in last 2-3 weeks. When I asked for IT help, they refused and said nothing is wrong.  

I mentioned I have another account purchased from developer that can see availability, they said it is developer purchase so I can see more.  Totally BS.

Not sure what should I do at this point.


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## DeniseM (Mar 18, 2016)

It's not IT that you want to talk to, it is Owner Resolution Services.

If they won't help, you can email:

suzanne.clark@starwoodvo.com
Suzanne Clark 
Vice President, Owner Services


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 19, 2016)

pchung6 said:


> I just hanged up the call with SVN. Basically there is no help. They insist nothing is wrong in the reservation system even I tried at 9pm everyday in last 2-3 weeks. When I asked for IT help, they refused and said nothing is wrong.
> 
> I mentioned I have another account purchased from developer that can see availability, they said it is developer purchase so I can see more.  Totally BS.
> 
> Not sure what should I do at this point.



You own deeded week 28, and there should absolutely be availability for weeks 28 now!  If they don't have availability, they gave way too much to RCI!  

I am concerned because I also have a week 28 and paid the fees.  I need to check availability on Monday.  I will let you know!  This is really freaking me out because I own mostly weeks 11-19 and hoped to get summer (9-43, 47 in Plantation phase).


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 20, 2016)

I cannot get my full lockoff, week 28, for 2017, Plantation phase, even though I paid my fees.  I talked to Owner Resolution Services, specifically Lou, and she said I cannot get my week because other people who own in the float season prime weeks have booked all of them ahead of me.


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## VacationForever (Mar 20, 2016)

rickandcindy23 said:


> I cannot get my full lockoff, week 28, for 2017, Plantation phase, even though I paid my fees.  I talked to Owner Resolution Services, specifically Lou, and she said I cannot get my week because other people who own in the float season prime weeks have booked all of them ahead of me.



I am confused.  For fixed week, system should automatically book the week for you 18 months ahead.  If it is a floating week, then you can only book at the 12 month mark.  Does SBP work differently from the rest of the SVN resorts?


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## tschwa2 (Mar 20, 2016)

SBP (plantation phase only) has a procedure where owners can reserve their deeded week 24-12 month plus day prior (after prepaying MF's).  At 12 months it opens up to all owners of that size and season.  I don't think many owners use it and it is not available as an online reservation option. Most phone reps seem fairly familiar with SVN procedures but are much less familiar with quarky non SVN older resort rules.  

The rules as stated in the guides don't go into a lot of detail so I am not sure if for example a week 26 owner would be eligible for any of the available check in days, Fri-Sun, when reserving deeded week in advance or would be restricted to the typical check in  associated with the unit on the deed.


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 20, 2016)

Lou said other people who own float season summer have booked all of the week 28's ahead of me.  These people supposedly have priority over me in booking, even though they don't own deeded week 28.  I am angry, needless to say, because I paid my fees and called to book my week ahead of the fray.


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## tschwa2 (Mar 20, 2016)

When did she say these other owners booked the week 28 and how did they do so.  My guess is the computer won't let the agents book week 28 and various levels of Starwood (Vistana Experience or whatever it is called) are just trying to come up with explanations as to why the week isn't available.  I would keep trying and try to get it in writing through email or messaging.  

Attached from the governing documents- 3. Fixed week Preference period


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## dioxide45 (Mar 20, 2016)

tschwa2 said:


> When did she say these other owners booked the week 28 and how did they do so.  My guess is the computer won't let the agents book week 28 and various levels of Starwood (Vistana Experience or whatever it is called) are just trying to come up with explanations as to why the week isn't available.  I would keep trying and try to get it in writing through email or messaging.
> 
> Attached from the governing documents- 3. Fixed week Preference period



I would be sending this document off to Lou if I were Cindy.


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 20, 2016)

tschwa2 said:


> When did she say these other owners booked the week 28 and how did they do so.  My guess is the computer won't let the agents book week 28 and various levels of Starwood (Vistana Experience or whatever it is called) are just trying to come up with explanations as to why the week isn't available.  I would keep trying and try to get it in writing through email or messaging.
> 
> Attached from the governing documents- 3. Fixed week Preference period



Thank you for posting this document.  I have been reading the documents non-stop to find exactly what you have there.  I am so grateful to you for clarifying for me what I knew to be true but didn't think I had the documentation to prove it.  

I am very concerned for my other weeks, deeded other than summer season.  I am really going to be disappointed in the inability to book summer at 12 months.  I know it will be close to impossible now.  I am so angry, I am fit to be tied.  Rick is trying to calm me, but no way can I be still when I know Starwood is doing this just to stick it to resale buyers of Plantation phase weeks.


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## tschwa2 (Mar 20, 2016)

I don't think you will have a problem if you book at midnight the night prior to opening of 12 month inventory.  I have 3 palmetto and 3 plantation weeks I need to book so you may be competing with me but none of mine are lock offs.  They are dedicated and small 1 br.  I do worry that on a single check in day I won't have time to book more than 1 or 2 on the holiday week Saturday check in.  Other than that I think there will be at least a half an hour to a few days before inventory runs out for other summer weeks.


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 20, 2016)

Rick cannot find the documentation [you have here] online at the Starwood website.  He says there is a clause that says, "The association has the right to change the use rules at any time...."  Which I think they have!


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## dioxide45 (Mar 20, 2016)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Rick cannot find the documentation [you have here] online at the Starwood website.  He says there is a clause that says, "The association has the right to change the use rules at any time...."  Which I think they have!



Not sure that you would find these types of documents on the website. If like Marriott, these are usually recorded at the county level. The board would have had to amend these documents and record the revised procedures. You can see that the document that tschwa2 posted was recorded in book 2043 page 805 in Horry County SC. Modifying these documents often also requires a vote of the ownership.


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## tschwa2 (Mar 20, 2016)

I downloaded it straight from the current association documents link from dashboard.



> ASSOCIATION INFORMATION
> All association members pay an annual maintenance fee for each interest owned. The maintenance fee billing represents operational expenses associated with your ownership. Items covered include utilities, insurance, security, housekeeping, and a fund to replace larger items within the units.
> 
> By paying your annual maintenance fees on time, it ensures that your Association can remain current with its financial obligations, as well as provide quality vacation experiences.
> ...


https://svo-web-static.s3.amazonaws.com/hoa/SBP/0440_BroadwayPlantation_Gov_Docs.pdf
It is labeled at April 2015 version.
I only made a pdf of page 369.


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## LisaRex (Mar 20, 2016)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Lou said other people who own float season summer have booked all of the week 28's ahead of me.  These people supposedly have priority over me in booking, even though they don't own deeded week 28.  I am angry, needless to say, because I paid my fees and called to book my week ahead of the fray.



That is not what the governing documents say.  They cannot change the governing documents ex post facto.  And if they did, they would have to do this in writing.  

I'd call and escalate again.  If you own a fixed week 28, you should be able to reserve that week now with NO competition, as you have exclusive rights to reserve it from months 24 to 12. 

Starwood customer service sucks.


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## DeniseM (Mar 20, 2016)

Cindy - I know that you have been struggling with this for a long time.  Have you tried escalating it up the food chain?

suzanne.clark@starwoodvo.com
Suzanne Clark 
Vice President, Owner Services


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## dioxide45 (Mar 20, 2016)

LisaRex said:


> That is not what the governing documents say.  They cannot change the governing documents ex post facto.  And if they did, they would have to do this in writing.
> 
> I'd call and escalate again.  If you own a fixed week 28, you should be able to reserve that week now with NO competition, as you have exclusive rights to reserve it from months 24 to 12.
> 
> Starwood customer service sucks.



I also don't understand how Summer Float owners could book more than 12 months out? Is that possible?


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## pchung6 (Mar 20, 2016)

dioxide45 said:


> I also don't understand how Summer Float owners could book more than 12 months out? Is that possible?



I think I'm not the only one having problem to reserve my deeded week 28.  I will call SVN again tomorrow and ask for owner resolution to give me my week 28.  I really thought only me can reserve week 28 between 24-12 months, and that was the reason I bought this SBP for summer week.


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## pchung6 (Mar 20, 2016)

tschwa2 said:


> I don't think you will have a problem if you book at midnight the night prior to opening of 12 month inventory.  I have 3 palmetto and 3 plantation weeks I need to book so you may be competing with me but none of mine are lock offs.  They are dedicated and small 1 br.  I do worry that on a single check in day I won't have time to book more than 1 or 2 on the holiday week Saturday check in.  Other than that I think there will be at least a half an hour to a few days before inventory runs out for other summer weeks.



I've been trying in last 3 weeks to book SBP plantation week at 12 months at 9pm pst.  I still not able to see any single availability.  I still try to believe it is system glitch that my resale purchase wasn't set up correctly.  But if anyone can try to look at availability 2017 gold plus week and let us know what you can see, that will be appreciated.  I hope it is system error instead of SVN is trying to stick SBP resales.


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## ValleyGirl (Mar 20, 2016)

*"Fixed Week" vs "Deeded Week"*

At the risk of saying the obvious:ignore:
Most tuggers know that starwood weeks are almost always annual float "deeded weeks" with a specific week and unit number that is for recording purposes only.  If you pay a 10% + 10% premium you can fix a specific week and a specific room.

Look at the dashboard under what I own and under your VOI it must say "Fixed Week".  If it says annual float your week will be treated as any other home resort week and you will compete with other owners.

Also unless the ownership states fixed week the villa finder will not allow 12-24reservation as it normally is automatically sched at about 18Mos plus or minus.

I'm guessing that the same problem would occur if a res rep looked at the week without the "fixed week" moniker.

If you ownership does not specifically show "fixed week" you should definitely call portfolio services and if it does contact owner resolution until your auto fixed week res is fixed.  By the way if it has been in error I would be asking for some kind of monetary resolution.


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 21, 2016)

Fixed Week Preference Period means the period during which similarly numbered floating unit week owners shall have the exclusive right to reserve their numbered floating unit week, in a Floating Unit of the same unit type as they own, without competing for such reservations with other Floating week owners who do not own the similarly numbered Floating Unit Week.  During the fixed week preference period, owners may only reserve Vacation Ownership Interests in the same unit type which they own.  The Fixed Week Preference Period begins twenty-four months prior to the first day of use of the occurrence of the Owner's numbered Floating Unit Week and lasts twelve (12) months.  

By way of example only, the Fixed Week Prefence Period for Floating Unit Week No. 1 shall begin twenty-four months prior to the first day of use of Floating Week No. 1, and last for 12 months.  During that time period, all Floating Unit Week 1 owners will have the exclusive right to reserve Floating Week No. 1 without competing for such reservation with the owners of Floating week No. 2 through floating week 53


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 21, 2016)

> At the risk of saying the obvious
> Most tuggers know that starwood weeks are almost always annual float "deeded weeks" with a specific week and unit number that is for recording purposes only. If you pay a 10% + 10% premium you can fix a specific week and a specific room.


You own Staroptions, and this is Myrtle phase of Broadway Plantation, taken over years ago by Starwood.  Starwood has to abide by the original rules of ownership for the Myrtle phase of Broadway Plantation.  

We have been in contact with Alexis who is now saying we do have use but it's not showing online as available, and so she is going to make sure we get our weeks, yes our multiple weeks 31, 27 and 28 of 2017.  She is saying that Starwood is holding them back for owners with those prime weeks so other won't book them.  

Of course, we all know they are holding back a lot of inventory from owners like us of SDO and SBP, and we are going to have a difficult time booking prime summer of next year SBP with deeds 9-23 and 33-43.  It's going to be a change over years past.  I could get any date I wanted at one year out, as long as I paid fees ahead.  

I warned on TUG that owners were going to be unhappy when fees were due in January because all of the summer inventory had disappeared already, well ahead of the mailing/ emailing of statements.  I knew this was going to make owners of summer deeded weeks angry because inventory was always there in January, even July 4th was available in January.  July 4th was gone last year by a few days after the window opened.


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## pchung6 (Mar 22, 2016)

I just called SVN this morning and asked for owner resolution rep.

The rep, Ashley, yelled at me from the beginning with terrible attitude, all the way to the end. Basically she just keeps repeating nothing is available at any summer week. The only week that is available is March 4th, 2017, which is not your season, so they cannot reserve anything for me.  She said that will be the way from now for resale.  I insist I have the full right to make my deed week 28 at 12-24 months, and she said that is correct upon availability but we have no availability for you.

I'm not sure what is going on with Starwood, perhaps the pending merger has made SVN employees nervous, but I am not very happy about their customer service. Horrible attitude and bad service.  So far, I enjoy the service I got from Marriott far more than Starwood, even I've purchased my week from Starwood.

note: this is the first time in my life ever, i was been yelled by a customer service rep.


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## DeniseM (Mar 22, 2016)

PLEASE send an email and report this:

1)  It is completely in appropriate for a Rep. to yell at you.

2)  Her statement about resales is incorrect and very concerning.

Please send a concise email to Suzanne Clark and be very specific about your experience.  Be sure you include the Rep's name.

suzanne.clark@starwoodvo.com
Suzanne Clark 
Vice President, Owner Services


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 22, 2016)

That is unacceptable behavior by a Starwood rep.  I hope she gets fired, I really do.  

The wording in the documentation is clear, and I typed it here for those who are trying to compare what they can do to what we can do as owners of a phase not developed or sold by Starwood originally.  There are different rules.  

Your deed states week 28, so you should get week 28, and you needed to ask for Owner Resolution Services, Alexis or Hector, to get this resolved.  

I should have made another thread on SBP issues because I think owners need to be warned of this hassle they will encounter from Starwood in reserving the weeks on their deeds.


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## pchung6 (Mar 22, 2016)

rickandcindy23 said:


> That is unacceptable behavior by a Starwood rep.  I hope she gets fired, I really do.
> 
> The wording in the documentation is clear, and I typed it here for those who are trying to compare what they can do to what we can do as owners of a phase not developed or sold by Starwood originally.  There are different rules.
> 
> ...



Thank you. I really feel I was nice and polite enough to just ask SVN for help. At one point, I was about to lose it and said I spent a lot money on my SVN timeshare, it is not the service I expected from you. I think now I just need to calm myself down a bit.  I will call Alexis / Hector maybe next week, after I get my cool back. 

Yes I totally agree we need another SBP thread for this type of issues.


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## DeniseM (Mar 22, 2016)

pchung6 - You need to email Suzanne Clark - Alexis and Hector have no more authority than Ashley.

Sent from my BNTV400 using Tapatalk


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## pchung6 (Mar 22, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> pchung6 - You need to email Suzanne Clark - Alexis and Hector have no more authority than Ashley.
> 
> Sent from my BNTV400 using Tapatalk



Thanks Denise.  I will definitely send email to Suzanne.  I am just still trying to calm myself down right now.  I have a life lesson if I do something I am irrational, I just make things worst.  So, I will definitely send Suzanne email and maybe call SVN back next week.


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## pchung6 (Mar 22, 2016)

Just to update.  This afternoon, SVN owner resolution rep, Ashley, called and offered me the reservation of week 28, July 15th, 2017.  I am not sure why SVN now has the availability after all the complaints and hassles to owners.  But I just received the SVN confirmation for week 28, and I think I'm good for now.

Thanks everyone for your advice and help.  I would suggest if anyone wants to have confirm SBP summer weeks, you need to do it at 12 months when inventory opens.


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## DeniseM (Mar 22, 2016)

Starwood reads TUG, so I suspect that she was directed to find something for you, by someone higher up the food chain, who read this thread.


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## DavidnRobin (Mar 22, 2016)

pchung6 said:


> Just to update.  This afternoon, SVN owner resolution rep, Ashley, called and offered me the reservation of week 28, July 15th, 2017.  I am not sure why SVN now has the availability after all the complaints and hassles to owners.  But I just received the SVN confirmation for week 28, and I think I'm good for now.
> 
> Thanks everyone for your advice and help.  I would suggest if anyone wants to have confirm SBP summer weeks, you need to do it at 12 months when inventory opens.



That was good to hear - so Congrats, but tbh - it was hard to follow...

Do you have a fixed week 28, or a float that has a week 28? If it was a float - then why would you think week 28 should necessarily be open? If a fix - then how could you not have it as long as reserved soon enough?

Do you have 2 SVN accounts? or was that another part of thread?

sorry to be confused - curious...


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## pchung6 (Mar 22, 2016)

DavidnRobin said:


> That was good to hear - so Congrats, but tbh - it was hard to follow...
> 
> Do you have a fixed week 28, or a float that has a week 28? If it was a float - then why would you think week 28 should necessarily be open? If a fix - then how could you not have it as long as reserved soon enough?
> 
> ...



I have SBP deeded week 28.  So I have the exclusive right to make week 28 reservation between 12-24 months.  My week turns to float week at 12 months.  This is what I know about SBP old phase.

I have 2 SVN accounts.  1 is SVV week purchased directly from Starwood (very expensive).  and this one SBP is resale week.


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 22, 2016)

DavidnRobin said:


> That was good to hear - so Congrats, but tbh - it was hard to follow...
> 
> Do you have a fixed week 28, or a float that has a week 28? If it was a float - then why would you think week 28 should necessarily be open? If a fix - then how could you not have it as long as reserved soon enough?
> 
> ...



David, you don't know how SBP, Myrtle phase, before Starwood took over, actually works. 

Here it is, from the governing documents:

Fixed Week Preference Period means the period during which similarly numbered floating unit week owners shall have the exclusive right to reserve their numbered floating unit week, in a Floating Unit of the same unit type as they own, without competing for such reservations with other Floating week owners who do not own the similarly numbered Floating Unit Week. During the fixed week preference period, owners may only reserve Vacation Ownership Interests in the same unit type which they own. The Fixed Week Preference Period begins twenty-four months prior to the first day of use of the occurrence of the Owner's numbered Floating Unit Week and lasts twelve (12) months. 

 By way of example only, the Fixed Week Preference Period for Floating Unit Week No. 1 shall begin twenty-four months prior to the first day of use of Floating Week No. 1, and last for 12 months. During that time period, all Floating Unit Week 1 owners will have the exclusive right to reserve Floating Week No. 1 without competing for such reservation with the owners of Floating week No. 2 through floating week 53


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## heathpack (Mar 22, 2016)

pchung6 said:


> She said that will be the way from now for resale.



This is the most disturbing part.  I get it when salesmen say stuff like this.  But customer service reps have no skin in that game.  Why would they suddenly have this attitude if that were not the tone they were getting from the overall Starwood organization?!

I guess maybe its just a hassle for them to solve things for people and it's easier to tell owners that they can't book if Starwood has decided to try to obstruct access to units.

Wow, I dread dealing with this stuff when the time comes to make my next reservation.


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## dsmrp (Mar 23, 2016)

pchung6 said:


> Just to update.  This afternoon, SVN owner resolution rep, Ashley, called and offered me the reservation of week 28, July 15th, 2017.  I am not sure why SVN now has the availability after all the complaints and hassles to owners.  But I just received the SVN confirmation for week 28, and I think I'm good for now.
> 
> Thanks everyone for your advice and help.  I would suggest if anyone wants to have confirm SBP summer weeks, you need to do it at 12 months when inventory opens.



Good that you got your week.
Sounds like there are several resorts phases pre-starwood which have unique rules. And Starwood is trying to fit various phase pegs into a new round "smaller" hole??  

While I empathize with others' frustration in getting their deeded weeks reservations, I think the customer and owner resolution reps are likely caught in the middle between many exasperated owners and the directives of their upper management.  Less synergy there....perhaps being absorbed into the Marriott and ILG deals LOL


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## heathpack (Mar 23, 2016)

Ok, so I just pulled up my deed.  I own week 19, which is Gold Plus season.

Based on the document posted up thread, it seems like at a very minimum, as long as I call to reserve my unit between 24 & 12 months ahead of time, I should legally always have the right to get a week 19 reservation?


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## tschwa2 (Mar 23, 2016)

Yes but week 19 isn't so in demand that you would need to reserve before 12 months.  Don't forget you also need to pre pay your MF before you can reserve your week.


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## DavidnRobin (Mar 23, 2016)

pchung6 said:


> I have 2 SVN accounts.  1 is SVV week purchased directly from Starwood (very expensive).  and this one SBP is resale week.



Why 2 accounts? 
I have resale and SVO purchased weeks in one account.
Seems like having 2 accounts would lead to issues.


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 23, 2016)

We finally, just this morning, got a call back from Starwood with dates for our 2017 use of our 5 weeks we own in prime summer.  What a hassle, and I would like to think this will no longer be an issue for other owners, but it will.  They are definitely going by unit number to give the specific check-in date for the week.  Confusing just a little?  

I have been on the phone with a rep currently for 12 minutes, just to add a guest's name to a confirmation for this year.  Starwood has my zip code wrong in the system, and this particular rep, didn't comprehend his name, thinks there is something terribly wrong about that and is trying to change it, I guess.  I just want to add a name, address and phone number to a reservation I already made.


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## DeniseM (Mar 23, 2016)

Cindy - Why do you call?  Why not request the guest confirmation yourself, online?


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 23, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> Cindy - Why do you call?  Why not request the guest confirmation yourself, online?



Last time I did that, it took more than 48 hours, and the rep accidentally left our names on the confirmation with our guest.  I know I said we would not be there, too.  I want to give my guests the assurance right away.


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## DeniseM (Mar 23, 2016)

Are you saying that your name was on the copy of the confirmation that they emailed to you, or just in the system?  I wouldn't care if it was in the system, as long as the guest's name was on the confirmation.

*On the online menu, you have to select the following, to take your name off the reservation:

"Will you be traveling on this reservation" - *NO*
"Will your guest be arriving before you"  - *YES*

It does take 48 hours, but to me that is worth every second, not to have to call.  

My experience is that you are FAR more likely to have errors if you call and have the Reps make the change for you over the phone.  When the Reps handle it over the phone, I would say that one out of ten confirmations have typos or mis-spellings.

I haven't called at all, since they started offering the online function.  I hate to call and listen to their inane chatter, and dumb comments and questions.  Whoever told Reps to chat up the guests is an idiot.


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 23, 2016)

I did three at the same time, one was wrong, so I may not have checked the box correctly on that particular one.  Ironically, my guest was also an owner at SBP who was angry he didn't get his reservation for this summer, so I got to hear all about his paying fees and not getting a reservation for the third week of July, like he had always been able to do in previous years.   Being an owner himself, he called immediately and discovered our name was first on the reservation, then his.  So it would be his I would make a mistake, if it indeed was me who did it.   

I should do these online and just wait, I guess.


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## jw0 (Mar 23, 2016)

Yikes. I'll have to try reserving my SBP 2017 week

We'll see what happens.


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## LisaRex (Mar 23, 2016)

heathpack said:


> This is the most disturbing part.  I get it when salesmen say stuff like this.  But customer service reps have no skin in that game.  Why would they suddenly have this attitude if that were not the tone they were getting from the overall Starwood organization?!



Starwood cannot legally change the terms of their Owner's Agreement ex post facto. They cannot arbitrarily decide to change the reservation rules of their own contract. If it says in the OA that SBP owners get 12-24 months to lock in their deeded week, without competition from others, then that is what they must follow.  If they don't like it, oh well.  It appears that they are systematically punishing and/or discouraging resale owners from using the week that they bought in the resort that they bought in the season that they bought.  And that is the ONE and ONLY aspect of timeshare ownership that they can never touch. 

IMO, Starwood had better get these CSRs re-trained pronto.  One bad apple can be explained away.  Several cannot.   How many owners have walked away without escalating when they were told that they can no longer reserve their deeded week at 12-24 months out?  Starwood has successfully and wrongly diminished their rights.  And they should tread very carefully here because they are setting themselves up for a class action lawsuit.  IMO.


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## topcop400 (Mar 23, 2016)

Denise:  This thread started out being about March reservations at SDO. I have a question regarding cancellations (and looking for them).  Do you think the original category for inventory has any effect on how units are returned to inventory after a cancellation is made?

I did a catastrophically stupid thing.  I was so very pleased that I scored an RCI exchange into SDO for March 2017 so that some friends could go with us to Spring Training.  Then, I forgot to go online at 9pm (West Coast) to reserve our unit—ugghhhh!  So now they are very excited to be going with us and we have nowhere to stay.  My post middle-aged memory is doing me wrong.

Do you have any suggestions regarding looking online for a cancellation?  The guy at Starwood tells me there are always cancellations, even during prime season, but I fear I’ll have a hard time finding one.

I own a resale week.


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## DeniseM (Mar 23, 2016)

There are cancellations, and the only way to find them is to search constantly with the Villa Finder.  Have the website open on your computer and hit the search button constantly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## heathpack (Mar 23, 2016)

tschwa2 said:


> Yes but week 19 isn't so in demand that you would need to reserve before 12 months.  Don't forget you also need to pre pay your MF before you can reserve your week.



Yes, I was mostly wanting to be 100% clear as to what I'm legally entitled to, should I get a hassle about booking at some point in the future.


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## heathpack (Mar 23, 2016)

LisaRex said:


> Starwood cannot legally change the terms of their Owner's Agreement ex post facto. They cannot arbitrarily decide to change the reservation rules of their own contract. If it says in the OA that SBP owners get 12-24 months to lock in their deeded week, without competition from others, then that is what they must follow.  If they don't like it, oh well.  It appears that they are systematically punishing and/or discouraging resale owners...



Yes, I totally agree they can't do this legally.  But they can effectively get away with it if people don't know clearly what they are entitled to.  Customer service reps can attempt to bully owners into believing "Well this is how it's going to be for resale owners from now on".  It will work on a fair number of people.  Most people won't want the hassle of arguing, or making multiple phone calls to get their reservation, or looking up the actual wording of the OA.

Probably more effective than a lawsuit would be to try to engage the SC State Attorney General's office in the issue.  But obviously first we just need to see if this is a few bad reps vs a new, systematic attempt by Starwood to limit owners' rights.

Owning timeshares is- to say the very least- interesting.


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 23, 2016)

> Owning timeshares is- to say the very least- interesting.



Which is why all of the "take-back-your-timeshare-and-relieve-you-of-the-burden" companies are doing so well.  

Honestly, this is going to be more competition for summer weeks at SBP, and I kind of doubt we will get the weeks we need in the future; although, currently for 2016 summer, there are some June and early August weeks that weren't there in January.  So maybe watching constantly is the trick in getting what you want.  If only I didn't have to pick all of those pictures with trees, lakes, coffee drinks and whatever else the captcha system throws at me.


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## baf99 (Mar 26, 2016)

I had been thinking about getting a couple of Sheraton Desert Oasis 2BR-LO so I could spend 4 weeks in Scottsdale in January-early February and then head off to some of the places that might have “jacket weather” most of the time for the rest of the winter. But there aren’t all that many true platinum weeks being sold (at least what I see on eBay as 2BR). I also considered just getting four 1BR deluxe, accepting the extra MF in exchange for the convenience of not having to move. Given the 1-52 booking problems described in this thread I might just do a month of VRBO. That way if I want to go somewhere else during that time I don’t have four weeks of exchange fees.

I'll probably wait for a while to see how the Starwood sale shakes out before I make any purchase decision. Since I was planning on doing a short snowbird stay somewhere, SDO had appealed to me as a way to get Starwood preference on trades (for times I didn't want Arizona) without the premium purchase price (even as resale) and higher maintenance fees of Star Options. But given the uncertainties at the moment waiting may be the best thing to do.


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 29, 2016)

baf99 said:


> I had been thinking about getting a couple of Sheraton Desert Oasis 2BR-LO so I could spend 4 weeks in Scottsdale in January-early February and then head off to some of the places that might have “jacket weather” most of the time for the rest of the winter. But there aren’t all that many true platinum weeks being sold (at least what I see on eBay as 2BR). I also considered just getting four 1BR deluxe, accepting the extra MF in exchange for the convenience of not having to move. Given the 1-52 booking problems described in this thread I might just do a month of VRBO. That way if I want to go somewhere else during that time I don’t have four weeks of exchange fees.
> 
> I'll probably wait for a while to see how the Starwood sale shakes out before I make any purchase decision. Since I was planning on doing a short snowbird stay somewhere, SDO had appealed to me as a way to get Starwood preference on trades (for times I didn't want Arizona) without the premium purchase price (even as resale) and higher maintenance fees of Star Options. But given the uncertainties at the moment waiting may be the best thing to do.


Definitely better to own Platinum season over 1-52, but sounds like SO's are going to get their pick of weeks over even Plat season owners.


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## vacatiionking (Mar 29, 2016)

patty5ia said:


> We usually stay at SDO at least one week in March each year.  We are here now and it is beautiful.  I tried to get a villa for this week next year at 7am yesterday and today.  They were already completely booked each day. Does Starwood have a waiting list?  Lesson learned - get up in the middle of the night to book at SDO.



I have watched this thread for two weeks hoping to see a reason or resolution to the problem of not being able book March 2017 in SDO.  Did I miss it?

Like OP, I have for years booked March SDO with my red 52 week float.  I also have a platinum SDO.  At 12 months to the day, there was no online red inventory, just platinum.  I waited for the next week and it took me 2 attempts to book at midnight before I booked March 19.  Each time I saw 1 red week and that disappeared within seconds.

It is apparent Starwood is putting up just 1 red unit for a given March FRI/SAT/SUN check-in.  Why the change?  When I asked a reservation counselor, she said "it depends on what an owner does with their week".  I told her I am not trying to book with StarOptions, I am the owner trying to reserve a week.  My question remains and it is not answered here...where did the red inventory go after being there for the last 13 years?


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## VacationForever (Mar 29, 2016)

vacatiionking said:


> It is apparent Starwood is putting up just 1 red unit for a given March FRI/SAT/SUN check-in.  Why the change?  When I asked a reservation counselor, she said "it depends on what an owner does with their week".  I told her I am not trying to book with StarOptions, I am the owner trying to reserve a week.  My question remains and it is not answered here...where did the red inventory go after being there for the last 13 years?



It may appear to you that only 1 red week was made aviallable, I bet you that alot more than 1 week was made available.  The real issue is that any owner only has 1/52 chance to book a particular prime week.  That is alot of competition.  Also, many owners buy SDO as a trader, which means Starwood gets to grab them, technically they should be done proportionally, and deposit them into RCI and II.


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## tschwa2 (Mar 29, 2016)

Also a fair number of true platinum units are bought to be re-qualified (not used at the home resort) and then exchanged elsewhere.  All of those owners end up no using their platinum weeks so those weeks carry forward as SO available reservations.


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## VacationForever (Mar 29, 2016)

tschwa2 said:


> Also a fair number of true platinum units are bought to be re-qualified (not used at the home resort) and then exchanged elsewhere.  All of those owners end up no using their platinum weeks so those weeks carry forward as SO available reservations.



Platinum week owners are not reporting issues making reservations at 12 months, just 1-52 week owners.


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## vacatiionking (Mar 29, 2016)

sptung said:


> It may appear to you that only 1 red week was made aviallable, I bet you that alot more than 1 week was made available.  The real issue is that any owner only has 1/52 chance to book a particular prime week.  That is alot of competition.  Also, many owners buy SDO as a trader, which means Starwood gets to grab them, technically they should be done proportionally, and deposit them into RCI and II.



Actually, for two nights in a row there only was 1 unit.  The first night when I saw it seconds after midnight I was not fast enough to book it.  The next night with new inventory, I did book a premium 1 bedroom and checked immediately afterward and there was no inventory left.   

Having booked these in past years, the inventory lasted for at least a week or longer before supply was exhausted.  I am talking red week inventory here.  Platinum weeks are still available precisely because savy owners retroed these weeks for use as SOs.

So the best answer to date to explain the missing inventory is SVO transferred March weeks to RCI/II?  If true, there is not much reason buy SVN property if you can't book owner weeks.


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## tschwa2 (Mar 29, 2016)

sptung said:


> Platinum week owners are not reporting issues making reservations at 12 months, just 1-52 week owners.


Exactly and thus the complaint that SO reservations are available where 1-52 reservations in March are not- leftover platinum  inventory vs non existent left over 1-52 inventory.


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## VacationForever (Mar 29, 2016)

vacatiionking said:


> Actually, for two nights in a row there only was 1 unit.  The first night when I saw it seconds after midnight I was not fast enough to book it.  The next night with new inventory, I did book a premium 1 bedroom and checked immediately afterward and there was no inventory left.



You are not the only one trying to book at midnight.  There is no way to know how many units were available.


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## lily28 (Mar 30, 2016)

I was able to book a small 1 bedroom for 3/19/16 and a large 1 bedroom 3/26/16.  When I booked the large 1 bedroom on 3/26, there was a small 1 bedroom for 3/25 still available almost 24 hours after reservation window has opened


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## JudyS (Mar 30, 2016)

Well, all of this is bad news!  I don't own at SDO, but I have wanted to own there, for quite a while.

But, it sounds very hard to get a peak week. And, unless a new resale purchase is fully closed by January or February, there seems to be no chance of getting a March reservation for the *next* year.  In other words, say someone bought a SDO week in 2016 and closed in May 2016. Not only would their reservation options be very limited during 2016 (assuming the 2016 week was available), but all the March weeks would already be booked up for 2017. The new owner would have to wait until 2018--and pay three years of MFs--before even having a shot at a March week. and even then, might not get one. 



vacatiionking said:


> I have watched this thread for two weeks hoping to see a reason or resolution to the problem of not being able book March 2017 in SDO.  Did I miss it?....?


Unfortunately, no, there has been no resolution reported here.


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## LisaRex (Mar 30, 2016)

JudyS said:


> But, it sounds very hard to get a peak week. And, unless a new resale purchase is fully closed by January or February, there seems to be no chance of getting a March reservation for the *next* year.



A savvy owner would have reserved a peak week in anticipation of the sale.  If they have, then they just need to transfer that reservation to your name.  If they haven't, then you negotiate that missed opportunity into the sales price. 



			
				JudyS said:
			
		

> The new owner would have to wait until 2018--and pay three years of MFs--before even having a shot at a March week. and even then, might not get one.



The 3 years of MFs are negotiable.  

SDO, like WKORV, is going to always have issues with spring break reservations because they sold a lot of their deeds as 1-52.  That means you potentially have 52 owners vying for the same peak weeks.   Contrast this to WKV, where you only have ~18 owners vying for the same March week (because they divided ownership into multiple seasons.)


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## vacatiionking (Mar 30, 2016)

JudyS said:


> In other words, say someone bought a SDO week in 2016 and closed in May 2016. Not only would their reservation options be very limited during 2016 (assuming the 2016 week was available), but all the March weeks would already be booked up for 2017. The new owner would have to wait until 2018--and pay three years of MFs--before even having a shot at a March week. and even then, might not get one.


True, but I have found the SDO trades incredibly well on II.  In the situation above, I would deposit in II ASAP.  You can deposit a 2016 and 2017 week and start looking for a vacation exchange immediately.  The villa and the premium 1 bedroom will exchange for prime season 1 bedrooms in Marriott, Hyatt and Starwood resorts.


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## JudyS (Mar 30, 2016)

vacatiionking said:


> True, but I have found the SDO trades incredibly well on II.  In the situation above, I would deposit in II ASAP.  You can deposit a 2016 and 2017 week and start looking for a vacation exchange immediately.  The villa and the premium 1 bedroom will exchange for prime season 1 bedrooms in Marriott, Hyatt and Starwood resorts.


For many people, that would be a good idea. But, I have WAY more weeks deposited into II than I know what to do with! And although I would love to use the Starwood preference to try for  a Westin on an island, or the Harborside, I don't know when, if ever, I will be healthy enough to travel that far. I suppose I could try to trade back to SDO, but the exchange fee ups the cost, and I don't know how hard it is to trade back to SDO in March.


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## JudyS (Mar 30, 2016)

LisaRex said:


> A savvy owner would have reserved a peak week in anticipation of the sale.  If they have, then they just need to transfer that reservation to your name.  If they haven't, then you negotiate that missed opportunity into the sales price.


That is a very good approach to try, although I'm not sure how many sellers will go along. To make a reservation for 2017, the seller would need to pre-pay the MFs for 2017. I haven't seen any SDO weeks for sale that include a 2017 reservation. 

To get a seller to reduce their price, the seller would have to acknowledge that the buyer will have trouble getting a good reservation, not only for   2016, but also for 2017. If it used to be easier to make a reservation, sellers might not believe that it's now hard to get a good reservation.





LisaRex said:


> SDO, like WKORV, is going to always have issues with spring break reservations because they sold a lot of their deeds as 1-52.  That means you potentially have 52 owners vying for the same peak weeks...


Right, 1-52 floating weeks typically have the problem of too many owners chasing too few desirable weeks. That would not explain why the problem has gotten worse this year, though. 


Can anyone who owns SDO 1-52, No StarOptions, tell me what availability in February and January looks like?


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## vacatiionking (Mar 30, 2016)

JudyS said:


> Can anyone who owns SDO 1-52, No StarOptions, tell me what availability in February and January looks like?



Since I own a red and platinum SDO I can see inventory throughout February marked "Red" and "Platinum" but outside of a red 1 bedroom villa in the first and last week of March, there are only platinum weeks available.


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## krj9999 (Mar 30, 2016)

Did you mean 2016 or 2017 for check-in?



lily28 said:


> I was able to book a small 1 bedroom for 3/19/16 and a large 1 bedroom 3/26/16.  When I booked the large 1 bedroom on 3/26, there was a small 1 bedroom for 3/25 still available almost 24 hours after reservation window has opened


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## djyamyam (Mar 31, 2016)

JudyS said:


> That is a very good approach to try, although I'm not sure how many sellers will go along. To make a reservation for 2017, the seller would need to pre-pay the MFs for 2017. I haven't seen any SDO weeks for sale that include a 2017 reservation.



You do not need to pre-pay MFs for the next year in order to make a reservation.



> Right, 1-52 floating weeks typically have the problem of too many owners chasing too few desirable weeks. That would not explain why the problem has gotten worse this year, though.



I posted about this declining availability a couple years ago when Starwood changed SVN booking guidelines with Staroptions.  I'm thinking there was some intermingling of inventory prior to that point because that was when 1-52 disappeared virtually overnight.  With the intro of the online booking, then it became even more pronounced.  



> Can anyone who owns SDO 1-52, No StarOptions, tell me what availability in February and January looks like?



There is availability for pretty much every week in all unit sizes until the beginning of March.


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## JudyS (Mar 31, 2016)

vacatiionking said:


> Since I own a red and platinum SDO I can see inventory throughout February marked "Red" and "Platinum" but outside of a red 1 bedroom villa in the first and last week of March, there are only platinum weeks available.


Thank you! So, of the first three months of the year, it seems only March is a problem. 



djyamyam said:


> You do not need to pre-pay MFs for the next year in order to make a reservation.


Oh! Some of the other Sheratons require prepayment before making a reservation. I stand corrected. 




djyamyam said:


> I posted about this declining availability a couple years ago when Starwood changed SVN booking guidelines with Staroptions.  I'm thinking there was some intermingling of inventory prior to that point because that was when 1-52 disappeared virtually overnight.  With the intro of the online booking, then it became even more pronounced.


Very interesting. I only started looking into SDO recently, so I didn't know this history. When did online booking become available?   




djyamyam said:


> There is availability for pretty much every week in all unit sizes until the beginning of March.


Thank you!


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## patty5ia (Mar 31, 2016)

I am the OP and I eventually reserved three weeks in March of 2017 with my 1-52 resale weeks.  Two of those reservations were made at midnight a year out, but I did manage to get the weeks. So it is possible!


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## ThreeLittleBirds (Mar 31, 2016)

djyamyam said:


> You do not need to pre-pay MFs for the next year in order to make a reservation.
> 
> 
> I was told yesterday that I did need to prepay to book 2017 (resale 1-52 owner)


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## DeniseM (Mar 31, 2016)

djyamyam said:


> You do not need to pre-pay MFs for the next year in order to make a reservation.


 



ThreeLittleBirds said:


> I was told yesterday that I did need to prepay to book 2017 (resale 1-52 owner)



Only if you are going to deposit it.


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## tschwa2 (Mar 31, 2016)

I believe SBP is the only resort in the system that requires owners to pre pay MF in order to make a reservation.  I am not sure if SVN members are required to do so in order to make home resort reservations.


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## LisaRex (Mar 31, 2016)

ThreeLittleBirds said:


> I was told yesterday that I did need to prepay to book 2017 (resale 1-52 owner)



Wouldn't it be nice if everyone at Starwood was on the same page? All these different rules and platforms must be a nightmare to try and implement.  If I tried to implement such a convoluted program, I'd have to hire a really good IT firm to create a customized system that would make build in rules so that there was no guess work. 

Let's hope that II can come up with a better system.  (I heard those snickers.)


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## Helios (Mar 31, 2016)

tschwa2 said:


> I believe SBP is the only resort in the system that requires owners to pre pay MF in order to make a reservation.  I am not sure if SVN members are required to do so in order to make home resort reservations.



I own two SBP units and I have never had to prepay MF to make a reservation, home or network...


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## tschwa2 (Mar 31, 2016)

moto x said:


> I own two SBP units and I have never had to prepay MF to make a reservation, home or network...



But you are part of SVN, booking during home priority.  That answers that than only non SVN (non requaled resale) SBP owners have to pre pay MF in order to book a home week reservation.


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