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

[okwiater]

Given that [the "E-mail My Confirmation"] option currently exists, I can't see how Vistana could legitimately justify removing it.

Hmmm... it's a stretch, but I suppose Vistana could remove the "e-mail my confirmation" feature from the website and force owners to call Owner Services for confirmations instead. Then, after a few weeks, they could charge $59 per confirmation "due to the volume of requests."

Nah, on second thought, that seems pretty far fetched. Right?

 

[Helios]

Hmmm... it's a stretch, but I suppose Vistana could remove the "e-mail my confirmation" feature from the website and force owners to call Owner Services for confirmations instead. Then, after a few weeks, they could charge $59 per confirmation "due to the volume of requests."

Nah, on second thought, that seems pretty far fetched. Right?

They would never do that...it would be like removing the ability to request a name change online...

 

[DavidnRobin]

Update: VSN intends to send Owners a clarification regarding the name change fee by the end of the work week.
It will be interesting to see Vistana's response. It does reflect that an email campaign gets a response - whether it is one with a positive outcome is another matter...

 

[JudyS]

This is probably related to what David just said. I called VSE about an hour ago to put a reservation into a guest's name. The person I spoke to said they couldn't do that until Friday. She said there was a specific reason, but she wasn't allowed to tell me what it was. All will be revealed Friday, she said!

 

[Helios]

This is probably related to what David just said. I called VSE about an hour ago to put a reservation into a guest's name. The person I spoke to said they couldn't do that until Friday. She said there was a specific reason, but she wasn't allowed to tell me what it was. All will be revealed Friday, she said!

Excellent, I love mystery...

 

[dsmrp]

Excellent, I love mystery...

Ditto!

IMO, any change they make is due solely to legal conflicts to the governing docs.

 

[Scotten]

Thanks for the heads up, I was not happy to get the email from Vistana. This is crap - I don't own at Vistana resorts to make money but want to rent them in years that I can't use it. After my last (unrelated) call and the long hold times (versus 4-5-6 years ago), I assume they've reduced their call center staff but now realize they went too far in reducing headcount.

I'll be firing off an email later today.

 

[DeniseM]

This is probably related to what David just said. I called VSE about an hour ago to put a reservation into a guest's name. The person I spoke to said they couldn't do that until Friday. She said there was a specific reason, but she wasn't allowed to tell me what it was. All will be revealed Friday, she said!

Someone just let me know that they just got a guest confirmation a few minutes ago, they were not told they had to wait until Friday, and they paid $59 - so as usual, the Reps. who answer the phone are providing inconsistent info.

It is pretty amazing how poor the training/communication is in this office.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Someone just let me know that they just got a guest confirmation a few minutes ago, they were not told they had to wait until Friday, and they paid $59 - so as usual, the Reps. who answer the phone are providing inconsistent info.

It is pretty amazing how poor the training/communication is in this office.

Or it may be resort dependent, or reservation type?


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[DeniseM]

Or it may be resort dependent, or reservation type?

I don't know - is that a hint?

 

[DavidnRobin]

I don't know - is that a hint?

It was a question to potential responses from VSN (for example: HomeResort reservations vs. SO/FO reservations; or WKORV/N but not WSJ-VGV) - I have same information as everyone here (which are unfortunately extremely under-representated %-wise, but the most-informed).

 

[Dawnwrey]

I received this email from VSE this morning:

Dear Elite Owner,

Recently you received an email about the application of a third-party guest fee for members of the Vistana Signature Network (VSN). We’d like to provide additional information to help answer any questions you may have.

Most notably, you will not be charged the fee to transfer your reservation to a third-party guest during the Home Resort Reservation Period (12–8 months prior to arrival).

The fee only applies to a third-party guest reservation booked within the VSN Network Float Period or the VSN Network Priority Period starting at eight months prior to arrival. Our intent is to ensure all Owners have a fair opportunity to secure reservations at VSN villa resorts during this period.

Once the fee has been applied to a specific reservation, any further name changes to that reservation will not incur an additional fee. Third-party guests include friends and family members not listed on the ownership deed or contract.

As a valued Four- or Five-Star Elite Member, you receive one complimentary third-party guest reservation transfer per each Elite-qualifying Vacation Ownership Interest annually.

Please contact Elite Special Services at 888-786-3548 should you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Clark
Vice President, Owner Services
Vistana Signature Experiences

 

[ciscogizmo1]

I received this email from VSE this morning:

Dear Elite Owner,

Recently you received an email about the application of a third-party guest fee for members of the Vistana Signature Network (VSN). We’d like to provide additional information to help answer any questions you may have.

Most notably, you will not be charged the fee to transfer your reservation to a third-party guest during the Home Resort Reservation Period (12–8 months prior to arrival).

The fee only applies to a third-party guest reservation booked within the VSN Network Float Period or the VSN Network Priority Period starting at eight months prior to arrival. Our intent is to ensure all Owners have a fair opportunity to secure reservations at VSN villa resorts during this period.

Once the fee has been applied to a specific reservation, any further name changes to that reservation will not incur an additional fee. Third-party guests include friends and family members not listed on the ownership deed or contract.

As a valued Four- or Five-Star Elite Member, you receive one complimentary third-party guest reservation transfer per each Elite-qualifying Vacation Ownership Interest annually.

Please contact Elite Special Services at 888-786-3548 should you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Clark
Vice President, Owner Services
Vistana Signature Experiences

Yay! Gonna call today to get my refund...


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[canesfan]

I think it's a good resolution.


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[Xanadu]

I received this email from VSE this morning:

Most notably, you will not be charged the fee to transfer your reservation to a third-party guest during the Home Resort Reservation Period (12–8 months prior to arrival).

The fee only applies to a third-party guest reservation booked within the VSN Network Float Period or the VSN Network Priority Period starting at eight months prior to arrival. Our intent is to ensure all Owners have a fair opportunity to secure reservations at VSN villa resorts during this period.

My question is what happens if you book 12 months out as a home resort reservation, but then finally rent that reservation at 7 months out?
The first paragraph above makes me believe that I'd have to pay the fee, while the second paragraph seems to contradict that. What gives?

 

[pathways25]

My question is what happens if you book 12 months out as a home resort reservation, but then finally rent that reservation at 7 months out?
The first paragraph above makes me believe that I'd have to pay the fee, while the second paragraph seems to contradict that. What gives?

I had that same reaction. I think they phrased that second paragraph poorly. It should probably read "Most notably, you will not be charged the fee to transfer your reservation to a third-party guest for reservations booked during the Home Resort Reservation Period (12–8 months prior to arrival)." The third paragraph makes clear that only SVN bookings are to be subject to the fee.

My question is what happens for home resort reservations that are split (like with a lockoff) within the SVN booking period. When I've done that in the past, I was told that the rebooked split portion of the lockoff would continue to be treated as a home resort reservation (despite the reservation showing as a SVN reservation) and would keep also hold any fixed unit that it had before.

 

[bizaro86]

Interesting. I haven't received an email of any kind yet (not an elite owner!) but I wonder how it works for voluntary resale owners. I can only make a home resort reservation, but I can do so after 8 months as well. You'd think logically that still wouldn't have a fee, but I'm wary about applying logic to anything Vistana does...

 

[osman]

My question is what happens if you book 12 months out as a home resort reservation, but then finally rent that reservation at 7 months out?
The first paragraph above makes me believe that I'd have to pay the fee, while the second paragraph seems to contradict that. What gives?

I was also confused when I read the new email. It's clear that a fee won't be charged if you transfer a home reservation 12-8 months prior to arrival. However, I would bet that almost all reservations are transferred 0-6 months before arrival. The wording is vague about whether a fee will be charged in this case. If VSE wants to be clear, this is what is should say:

"The fee only applies to a reservation booked within the VSN Network Float Period or the VSN Network Priority Period starting at eight months prior to arrival. Reservations booked during the Home Resort Reservation Period and transferred to a third party during the VSN Network Float Period or the VSN Network Priority Period will not be charged a fee."

Is that what VSE meant to say?

 

[pathways25]

I was also confused when I read the new email. It's clear that a fee won't be charged if you transfer a home reservation 12-8 months prior to arrival. However, I would bet that almost all reservations are transferred 0-6 months before arrival. The wording is vague about whether a fee will be charged in this case. If VSE wants to be clear, this is what is should say:

"The fee only applies to a reservation booked within the VSN Network Float Period or the VSN Network Priority Period starting at eight months prior to arrival. Reservations booked during the Home Resort Reservation Period and transferred to a third party during the VSN Network Float Period or the VSN Network Priority Period will not be charged a fee."

Is that what VSE meant to say?

You know, after reading that third paragraph several times, it is also imprecise in it's wording. The phrase "third-party guest reservation" could mean a reservation created during the SVN booking period (< 8 months before arrival) or it could conceivably mean a reservation transferred to a guest during the SVN booking period. The word "booked" seems like it should mean a reservation created in the SVN period, but it could also conceivably mean the act of transferring the reservation to a guest. The intent sentence would suggest that "booked" means a reservation created during the SVN period since transferring reservations in the SVN period would do nothing to ensure that all owners have a fair opportunity to secure reservations.

I'm sure several people at Vistana reviewed this email before it was sent out. How could they end up with wording that is so vague and imprecise??

 

[okwiater]

The wording is a bit clumsy, but the 2nd paragraph makes pretty clear that the fee will only be charged on VSN reservations: "The fee only applies to a third-party guest reservation booked within the VSN Network Float Period or the VSN Network Priority Period starting at eight months prior to arrival."

In any case, I am very happy with this resolution. As stated from the beginning, the fee should have only applied to VSN reservations. And, making it harder (i.e. more expensive) to transfer to a third-party guest should also help cut down on prohibited rentals of VSN reservations. It would've been nice if the e-mail had started out "I apologize..." but one can't be too picky.

 

[VacationForever]

I am reading the underlying implication that VSN is not prohibiting rental to 3rd party guests for SOs reservation by collecting guest fees.

 

[DeniseM]

More info. from an owner's phone conversation with Owner Services: As applicable, Vistana is going to automatically refund any confirmation fees that owners have already paid, and owners don't have to call and request it.

 

[okwiater]

Interesting. I haven't received an email of any kind yet (not an elite owner!) but I wonder how it works for voluntary resale owners. I can only make a home resort reservation, but I can do so after 8 months as well. You'd think logically that still wouldn't have a fee, but I'm wary about applying logic to anything Vistana does...

As stated in the first paragraph, the fee only applies to VSN members. It would not be permissible for them to charge a fee to a voluntary resale owner since you can't make a VSN reservation.

 

[okwiater]

I am reading the underlying implication that VSN is not prohibiting rental to 3rd party guests for SOs reservation by collecting guest fees.

What about the language that says rental of VSN reservations is strictly prohibited? Just because they collect a guest fee doesn't mean rentals are allowed. II also collects fees for guest certificates, and you're still not allowed to rent them.

 

[Dawnwrey]

Call me an optimist, but even with its poor wording I think they mean that you won't be charged if it is a HO reservation, but will be charged if it is a SO reservation.

(BTW, I don't know why my profile is identifying me as a guest. I am a TUG member! )