When you see something you want, you can grab the unit right then and there -- you just hit exchange, pay the fee, and it will go into "pending confirmation" status.
YUP
II holds the trade for roughly 14 days (don't quote me on that timing -- they send a postcard if Starwood doesn't confirm right away but I can't remember the exact timing of the "we're going to cancel on X date if your resort doesn't confirm" message).
I did not know this - my advice would be to call Starwood the next business day and start the process of them 'confirming the deposit'
Then, the tricky part begins -- getting Starwood to deposit something of equivalent trading value. When I do grab a trade, it's with a week I've reserved --- it helps my argument (and, believe me, I've had to argue). I tell them they have to deposit the exact week I've reserved or something equivalent that will qualify for the same trade. I've had to get supervisors involved, but it's worked successfully.
As Jersey said, it is your right to deposit the week u reserved - and believe me, we are educating Starwood reps one at a time...but it is working at least for me....so when u call, let them know that u have used your RESERVED week to make an II exchange and u would just like them to confirm the deposit - give them your reservation number and they will confirm it has been deposited...I had a rep put me on hold after I told him I had deposited my week online with II - he said, you can't do that, I politely said yes I can.....he put me on hold, and came back and told me "I learn something new every day'
As more and more resale owners become aware of their ownership entitlements, it will be easier for everyone
Although most of their employees are pretty clueless about II trading, you can get them to understand that you won't get the trade if they deposit a crummy week.
Yup! you have to tell them a week in the desert in August isn't as good as a week in the desert in March - after a while, they catch on
Important note: I don't wait for the postcard -- I start calling Starwood immediately after trading to begin the process of getting them to confirm the week. It's painful -- I had hopes it was getting better after Pat (GrayFal) reported successfully depositing reserved weeks.
RED
Then, there were a few reports of Starwood denying deposits ... so I don't know what to expect this year as I move into "prime reservation season" for BP. It's extremely frustrating ... I own lots of weeks ... several different mini-systems, and Starwood is the ONLY one that makes the exchange process painful. Although I don't like it that they control deposits for SVN weeks, I understand that they have the right to do so -- it's written into the contract you sign.
But -- they have no right to control deposits for non-SVN weeks -- they can't have have their cake (deny membership to SVN) and eat it too (try to enforce SVN's rules).
Double Yup!