[2/10/17 UPDATE] VSE charging for 3rd party reservation changes! [+Contact Info. for complaints]

[DavidnRobin]

2/10/17 Update:

Vistana revised the policy:

1) The guest confirmation fee only applies to Staroption reservations.

2) 4 & 5 Star Elite owners get one free guest confirmation per ownership, per year.

DeniseM

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Happy New Year! We look forward to serving your vacation ownership needs in 2017.

Please be advised that effective January 26, 2017, a $59 fee will be applied any time an Owner transfers their Vacation Ownership Interest reservation to a third-party guest. This is a result of the volume of requests we receive for these transactions and the resources required to provide this service.

A third-party guest is either someone not listed on the ownership contract or checking in prior to an Owner’s arrival.

As a valued Vistana Signature Network™ Elite Member, your fee is reduced from the standard $59:

• 5-Star Elite $39
• 4-Star Elite $49
• 3-Star Elite $49

Arrangements for third-party guests must be made by calling Elite Special Services directly at 888-786-3548. Any of our Vacation Planning Counselors will be happy to assist you. We ask that you please refrain from calling the resort directly to add a guest name, as the front office staff will be unable to provide this service for you.

We are working to enhance vistana.com in 2017 to enable Owners to facilitate third-party guest transactions online.

We hope you get to enjoy great vacations this year. We look forward to assisting you.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Clark
Vice President, Owner Services
Vistana Signature Experiences
Terms & Conditions
Third-party guest is defined as any guest that is not an Owner of record on the Vacation Ownership Interest account attributed to the reservation, or any guest checking in prior to an Owner arrival. Arrangements for third-party guest arrivals must be made by calling Owner Services directly. No online, email, or resort requests will be accepted at this time. Owners and third-party guests are responsible for any personal expenses incurred while occupying a Unit, as well as for any damage, theft, or loss incurred. For security purposes, keys will only be given to the name on the reservation and a valid government or state-issued photo ID is required at check-in.

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ADDED by DeniseM -

If you would like to submit a complaint, here is the Contact info. for:

Suzanne Clark, Vice President Owner Services at Vistana Signature Experiences:

Linked: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-clark-7786852/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.clark.357

Vistana Email: suzanne.clark@vistana.com

 

[DavidnRobin]

Just another reason to get to 5*...
{Sarcasm Alert!}

"Happy New Year!"
LOL

How are they going to charge? Take CC info over phone?
[Added: CC over the phone]
I just called - took ~10 min to answer.

In the T&Cs - it does not state that a credit card is required at check-in, only that a government or state-issued ID is required

 

[vacationhopeful]

WAY, Way, way cheaper than Wyndham's call in fee of $129 or online (you do it) fee of $99.

 

[DavidnRobin]

WAY, Way, way cheaper than Wyndham's call in fee of $129 or online (you do it) fee of $99.

Well... then that makes it okay.
{Sarcasm Alert!}

Why not make the fee $499, or raise VSN fee to $1000? VSE/VSN can pretty much control these fees without retribution or arbitration.
Where are the check and balances?

 

[grgs]

This is very annoying. If they let us make the change online (like we used to be able to), that would help this issue:

This is a result of the volume of requests we receive for these transactions and the resources required to provide this service.​

 

[grgs]

I missed this sentence:

We are working to enhance vistana.com in 2017 to enable Owners to facilitate third-party guest transactions online.
​

Will they take back the fee at that point?

 

[DavidnRobin]

So... they will only take name change (w/o other info) and not send reservation confirmation?

$39-$59 for that? Heck, takes more time to process CC charge... which I assume goes to justify the new fee.

Do I understand correctly?
1) Previously an Owner could call or request online to add 3rd party (with relevant information) and send confirmation to 3rd party w/o fee
2) Then, they change it to only calling in with a name change only (w/o relevant info) and will not send confirmation to 3rd party - w/o fee
3) Now, only by phone, and charging $39-$59 fee by CC

Yep... that makes total sense... {Sarcasm}

Does anyone have the new email extension for VSE employees since they switched from SVO?

 

[DeniseM]

My predication: They will also charge $59 when you process the transaction online yourself.

It's ludicrous to suggest that a 5 minute phone transaction costs $59 - that's $708 an hour.

Remember - anything that suppresses owner rentals, benefits Vistana, because they have the right to Hoover up any unreserved inventory for FREE, and rent it, and put it in their pocket.

So we pay ridiculous maintenance fees, plus SVN members already pay an additional fee, and now this - what a bunch of crap!

 

[Markus]

My predication: They will also charge $59 when you process the transaction online yourself.

It's ludicrous to suggest that a 5 minute phone transaction costs $59 - that's $708 an hour.

Remember - anything that suppresses owner rentals, benefits Vistana, because they have the right to Hoover up any unreserved inventory for FREE, and rent it, and put it in their pocket.

So we pay ridiculous maintenance fees, plus SVN members already pay an additional fee, and now this - what a bunch of crap!

Agreed! This is riduculous and unfair. We paid for our ownership interest, our VSE network, and we pay handsomely for our MFs. Hopefully the fee will be eliminated when we are able to do this on line. The fact that there is no option to change the name when the reservation is made also makes this a cash grab. The default is the owners name.

Markus

 

[letsgomets]

What is outrageous is that their entire justification is the resources it takes for them to do this. Well, until today, you could do it online so it took up no resources. It is a transparent money grab and nothing more.

Vistana's recent change to refuse to let third parties receive direct confirmations also seems to have no purpose other than to promote fraud and uncertainty. If you rented from an owner, you could always have the assurance of confirming directly with Vistana but with the recent change, now you have to rely only on the confirmation you get from the owner (and hope it doesn't later get changed).

 

[DavidnRobin]

I suggest to email Suzanne Clark and state your complaints (in a constructive manner...).
I have her old SVO email, but not new one.

What is current Vistana email extension?

 

[DeniseM]

Great idea: @vistana.com

If you don't mind sharing, please post your letter (and the email address) for a sample.

*I just called and asked (and this may not be correct) but was told this only applies to reservations made 1/26 or later. In other words, if you have a reservation made before 1/26, and change the name after 1/26, the fee won't apply.

 

[pacman777]

I have not received this notice for the fee yet and it's suppose to go into effect tomorrow? That's BS that they spring this on us with no notification. $60 seems way too much for simply adding a guest for check in.

What also bothers me and I have complained about this to the phone reps all the time is that when you call in to make updates or changes to your account and reservations, all you need to tell them is your phone number and address. There is not security code or password to verify it's actually the owner. Anyone with easily attainable info can call and access your account. They could at least implement a security question.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[baz48]

They could at least implement a security question.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A few years ago I asked them to add a password to our account. It was hit or miss as to whether the rep would ask for it. They had no special place to put the password in their data fields, so they added it to the address section. Of course, we started getting mail with the password as part of the street address! Brilliant.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Well... then that makes it okay.
{Sarcasm Alert!}

Why not make the fee $499, or raise VSN fee to $1000? VSE/VSN can pretty much control these fees without retribution or arbitration.
Where are the check and balances?

I have NO INTEREST in the your timeshare management company. I was trying to suggest this new fee for you ... with the 2 price point of fees ... looks a lot like Wyndham's. And via my Wyndham experience, your fees are cheap ... for now.

I will forecast in the next 18 months, YOUR guest fees will increase. After all, I am sure when "relatively free" money can be collected for a computerize function .... industry PRICE POINTS will cling/migrate to a common level (ain't price fixing if they don't work together and agree to a set price level).

And I know of NO WYNDHAM OWNER who thought our Wyndham guest certificate fees are FAIR. ... entering all the info on the computer ourselves and the resort checking the online reservations system for the inbound guest ... a inbound guest who is or is not owner ... same work for the resort to checkin ether parties.

 

[Helios]

Love being 5* Elite. Vistana just gave me another way to save some green. I'll come up ahead after ~$x0,000 reservations...

But, I am sure this will help to prevent owners from renting SO resies. {Sarcasm}

 

[dioxide45]

Odd how the base fee matches up exactly with what II charges to add a guest certificate to an exchange.

 

[dioxide45]

Not sure why they couldn't just give 5* elite the guest certificates for free.

 

[Helios]

Odd how the base fee matches up exactly with what II charges to add a guest certificate to an exchange.

Wonder why...

 

[mariawolf]

Not sure why they couldn't just give 5* elite the guest certificates for free.

Ridiculous==that means their phone people are making a ridiculous amount of money for a one to two minute typing of a name change

 

[daviator]

Just got the email from Vistana and I'm pissed. My ownership interests were sold to me with explicit statements that they could be used by anyone I designate, without any additional cost. I don't know what the contract says, but this certainly violates what was promised (verbal contract.) And the fee is completely unjustifiable ($40-60 to type in a name?)

This seems like a class-action lawsuit in the making and I hope there's an attorney in the group who will think so too.

What's to stop them from raising that fee, or adding additional fees for "services" which we all thought were part of what we were already paying for?

 

[rickandcindy23]

This does apply to any Vistana resort reservations, including weeks not in Staroptions. I just got my email for my SBP guest fee notification. This sucks. I cannot believe Vistana is going down the same road as Wyndham. It's sleazy.

 

[DeniseM]

What's to stop them from raising that fee, or adding additional fees for "services" which we all thought were part of what we were already paying for?

There is nothing to stop them - they could start charging for any services that they perform. Makes you wonder why we pay SVN (VVN) fees?

 

[SueDonJ]

Odd how the base fee matches up exactly with what II charges to add a guest certificate to an exchange.

Wonder why...

I'm probably missing the obvious sarcasm but, isn't VSE now owned by the same parent company (ILG) that owns II?

 

[dioxide45]

I'm probably missing the obvious sarcasm but, isn't VSE now owned by the same parent company (ILG) that owns II?

Yes, you were missing the sarcasm.