I respectfully disagree. First, this is a major sales tactic used by Wyndham and if not at time of booking then at what time and of what benefit is it?
Second, you state that, " As others have said, some resorts pay attention to the room requests and others do not ". So this confirms that in my opinion this top Wyndham sales tactic and written words within the directory mean absolutely nothing. Also, does this mean that the verbal promise that we received from not only management but also Wyndham sales is false. As far as the basic concept of inventory management, computers can do this if a problem then why promise it. The only exceptions that was mentioned to my wife and I was if the building and/or unit was down for repair or their was an Act of God prohibiting the specific unit request.
Yes -that's exactly what it means -
anything that sales says is meaningless. Most of us here on TUG have accepted this premise a long long time ago and therefore we don't pay any heed to anything sales ever says. In point of fact - our best practice recommendation for owners is to
never attend sales updates - partly because of the deceptive tactics often used that produce confusion like this. If you or anyone else wants answers to policy questions or to understand how to use a product - whether with a timeshare company or any other company - does anyone ever reach out to the sales person? I don't - I contact the customer service/support department - in Wyndham terms this is the Owner Resolution/Care team. I
never reach out to the sales division. The job of any sales division is to sell product/service - it's not to be experts on the products/services. The service/support division has the responsibility to know and give advice on how to use the product. This is universal across all industries really - so it's surprising to me that you seem to believe that whatever the sales division says means anything, especially within the timeshare industry - which is legendary for employing deceptive sales practices to sell a product that is literally almost worthless post-sale.
It really doesn't matter whether you agree or disagree - the fact is that the systems used to manage the timeshare inventory don't allow for room assignments to be set in stone far in advance - as the resorts typically don't download inventory for room assignment purposes until within a 30 day window of the reservation start date - and the vast majority of resorts don't start room assignments until 14 days out from the reservation start dates - because doing so make cancellations much less likely since almost no one uses the trip insurance to allow for reservation cancellations less than 15 days out. This is also why whenever overbookings occur - the owner or renter is never informed until typically within 15 days of the reservation start date - because it's only when the inventory data for room assignments is downloaded and the room assignment process starts that the resort has to remediate overbookings. Policy and system process are almost always disparate in some respects - there's the policy - and then there's how the actual computer systems really work behind the scenes. If you don't believe me - go ask a resort manager at any of the Wyndham resorts - they will tell you how things really work if you ask them to explain things like this. I know, I have, many times. This is how I know that different resorts also use different inventory system software locally - which is also why some resorts are better than others about honoring room requests. For example- I happen to know that the inventory management software in use at Skyline Tower in Atlantic City displays the room request right on the room assignment screen when they are actually making room assignments - I've seen it with my own eyes. I've also seen other resorts that don't see the room assignment at all in comparison - and are essentially dependent upon "notes" within the reservation which aren't really given much attention when making room assignments. Again - go ask the resort managers - ask them to show you how the software works - that's what I've done to better understand the inconsistencies when it comes to issues like this.
Lastly, I have used the specific room benefit over the years and have most of the time been successful in obtaining a like unit in at least the building with the like view of the room requested. This is reasonable and fair to me. But I have recently rum into situations where a non-VIP and non-home resort owner has been given room in the building we requested and we were told there was no longer availability in that building. If allocating the specific unit at time of booking is not possible why pretend that this is a VIP benefit?
The VIP room request function has nothing to do with what you're talking about here - obtaining a like unit or a view preference or building preference - unless you call into the resort and have them make a note on your reservation - which is only a best effort type request. There's no fields on the reservation screen to record this data explicitly - other than the "notes" area - which again tends to be better observed and honored at some resorts vs others. The specific unit request when making the reservation is "subject to availability" because of the process I've already outlined above. The reservation system that Wyndham, as the resort manager, uses - doesn't actually translate into any explicit assignments at any resort until the room assignment process starts within the 30 day window - which uses different software than the reservation system - the reservation system dumps the reservations via an export file of sorts into the local inventory management software systems at each resort. This doesn't mean your VIP room request isn't recorded when you make the reservation - it is recorded - but it also isn't in any way validated by the actual system.
Sit back and think about this for a minute. You can literally type anything into that room request field - text or numbers - etc. It's not validated - you could request a room that doesn't even exist at the resort in question - or you could request a room number that doesn't match up to what you actually reserved. This type of thing happens all of the time - people input room numbers for a two bedroom when they only reserved a one bedroom (or any other combination thereof) - so when the room assignment download process occurs from the reservation system to the local resort inventory management system - this data doesn't even download. VIPs sometimes request a room number for an upgraded room - hoping they will get the free upgrade - and when they don't - the room request becomes moot. The system cannot interpret intent - nor does it in any way attempt to validate the room request at the time of booking - because it's not possible in the current system. I know at some resorts where I've spoken to the resort managers - when they download the room inventory - the download process simply tosses out any room requests that don't match up with the resort system requirements - they validate the data upon import - tossing out any room requests for rooms that don't exist - or have unsupported characters, etc. I've heard from quite a few VIP owners over time who get to the checkin counter and ask if they are getting their requested room assignment - only to be told the system doesn't show any requested room assignment - and I've come to find out over time that it's almost always because the data input into the room request field wasn't valid and was tossed out during import.
You may kick me out of this forum for stepping on toes but I am pointing out things that potential buyers along with now present Wyndham owners should know before they consider VIP. Deceptive sales tactics are not allowed in other industries and should not be within the timeshare industry.
Legislation is needed. Also, as a moderator, I don't know why you let other regular poster, some who are not even owners, attack the new guy on the block. The new guy only wants an unbiased debate about the good, the bad and the ugly of Wyndham. What's wrong with that? If this never ending attack by the same old posters did not occur I am sure you would see more good TUGGERS participating in forums that are designed to give both sides of the picture and to obtain knowledge from the site.
*** MODERATOR POST ***
From a moderator standpoint - please report any posts that you feel are in clear violation of forum rules. Moderators don't read every post - we're doing this job for free and most of us also have full time jobs in the real world. That's why we have the "Report post" functions - to draw attention to posts that forum members feel violate forum rules. TUG encourages healthy debate and disagreements are extremely common on public forums. I'd also encourage forum members to make use of the "Ignore" function for those members that rub you the wrong way. I don't have this option as a moderator - but the rest of you sure do - please make use of it when appropriate based upon your own good judgment.
