[ 2012 ] Problems @Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort

[leanukedude]

Just checked in to LTVR and to our surprise as owners of a two bedroom including a lockout unit we were told that they were "oversold" and that we were getting two (nonconnecting) studio units for my family of four. Meaning no full kitchen, no adjoining master bedroom, living room and studio lockout.
We demanded to see the front desk manager. She was apologetic and seemed sincere. We asked for the manager on duty, a very tall woman with glasses. She told us there was nothing she could do and instructed the staff outloud: "If they don't take a room, walk em." Then she walked out the resort front door! I assume what she meant was that if we did not take a room then we would be asked to leave without comping accomodations at another hotel. I then asked for her manager and was given the cell phone of "Jeff." Jeff explained that there was nothing he could do; that hotels all over the world overbook and that he could not guarantee us our owners' unit tomorrow. SO LET ME UNDERSTAND: I RESERVED THIS UNIT NEARLY A YEAR AGO; I AM AN OWNER AND I PAID MY MAINTENANCE FEE AND I END UP WITH TWO NON ADJOINING STUDIO UNITS? Unbelievable!!!

 

[nightnurse613]

Too bad you aren't DRI members!!

 

[california-bighorn]

Too bad you aren't DRI members!!

I don't understand the above statement. They said they ARE owners at this resort. If the same happened to me I'd be more than a little P Oed with the resort. This week, Presidents Week, is the number one ski week of the season and near the top of requested weeks during the year. But, why would DRI overbook owners?

 

[dwojo]

How can the resort tell you that the unit you own and reserved is not available for your use. That resort must have management issues.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Personally, I think it's always good to hear both sides of a story before making any conclusions. And the more outrageous a situation seems the more important it is to hear both sides.

I can recall some threads relating to some rentals, for example, where there was general outrage about the behavior of either the renter or the owner, until additional information came forth from the other side of the issue.

 

[Rent_Share]

As a former road warrior "Walk Em" in the hotel trade means put them up in a a competitors hotel as a result of an oversold condition.

 

[classiclincoln]

I'd sent a nice little to the CEO of Diamond Resorts. Search the site for the info; it was posted here when he was on Undercover Boss. I'm sure he won't be happy about this either.....

 

[Phill12]

Personally, I think it's always good to hear both sides of a story before making any conclusions. And the more outrageous a situation seems the more important it is to hear both sides.

I agree hearing both sides because this sounds strange. This is first post by a owner with a complaint that just doesn't happen often if ever. I know being a owner in Lake Tahoe that most if not all resorts work with the owners and if this did happen no manager would tell a owner to take it or leave.

If they did have reservations then over booking wouldn't have anything to do with the owner as they already have their reservation form with all the information they would need to checkin.

The only case I can think of would be if the owner showed up late and their unit was issued to someone else. Your always told if your checking in late to let your resort know this so you have no problem. A resort does have owners that just don't show up and never tell the resort figuring they paid for it so its theirs weather they show or not. A big ski holiday week in Tahoe and at some point the resort would rent it if they had a chance.

 

[nightnurse613]

Yes, why would DRI overbook OWNERS who had a reservation from a year earlier? It's hard to say without ALL the facts but, surely there must have been people who hadn't checked in yet or RENTERS who were sucking up DRI inventory that could have been "inconvenienced" so I have to presume this is a fictitious scenario just to stir up the masses. If not, I was alluding to the Undercover Boss segment when the desk clerk told Mr. Cloobeck about the overbookings and he acted so horrified. Obviously worked this problem out quickly AND told the staff exactly how to handle the situation (darn those maintenance issues)!

 

[Rent_Share]

This is the first post reqarding Timeshare overbooking I recall seeing in over seven years of hnging here.

The airlines and hotels have done it for years based on their historical no shows and cancellation rates.

However we are talking about DRI

 

[leanukedude]

Follow up

Yes, I am a real person not fictitious. I am a physician who lives on the Peninsula in the SFBA.

Thank you bighorn, yes nightnurse is wrong. We are DRI owners. And nightnurse you are wrong.

And yes I did email Mr. Cloobeck and the next day they moved us into our standard owners 2-bedroom lockout and comped us a week.

Yes, they righted their wrongs but this place could use some service educations for its employees. Do you know that I called when I was going to be late and no one on the phone told me they were going to do this? It was just, "Surprise!" when we arrived. The manager the next day told us that they were 110% booked. Even so, shouldn't the owners rooms be preserved and let the multiple timeshare presentation visitors and renters be downgraded?

Anyway, the resort did make good as I said. But you do not treat people like this and expect to stay in business. When we arrived we were told that the owners who got their first get the rooms. REALLY? While the manager at the front desk was apologetic and nearly in tears the aformentioned duty manager and the resort manager were hardly apologetic. Also, no one could assure us that we would get our usual room the next day. I discovered the next day that the master/living/kitchen adjoining one of our studios the "A" room had guests who were leaving that morning. Wouldn't it have been easy for the resort to tell us that the night we arrived?

Anyway, I will not sell my membership at this point but will expect an improvement in service.

For those of you who are owners I suggest you demand that service improve.
Go to YELP.com to see criticisms from non owners including one YELPER who says that the resort has a high employee turnover rate.

We can work to make our resort better or let its reputation slide.

 

[riverdees05]

Not good to hear, we own two weeks there. Floating 1-52, 2 bedroom lock out in the older section. One we can reserve 1 year out and the other we can reserve 2 years out. Glad they correct it, but they need better owner services. This is a timeshare and not a hotel, even if they do rent out units.

 

[classiclincoln]

We stayed there last summer and enjoyed it. It was our first time at a Diamond resort and when we left, we said we'd definitely stay at another Diamond resort. The only complaints we had were the internet sucked (don't think it was their fault) and they didn't enforce the "no kids in the pool after the specified time" rule. Other than that, we loved it.

We had heard that they harass you about going to a presentation. When we arrived, they politely asked us if we were interested and we told them no thanks. We also told them that we don't want to be harassed while we were there, and we were not. We just got "hellos" and sincere smiles when we walked by. I think that impressed me more than anything especially after just coming back from the Dominican Republic where they harassed the hell out of us.

Something must have changed since July...

 

[dougp26364]

I know that in Undercover Boss, Mr. C stated that overbooking happens due to a known amount of average cancellations. Sure, I can see that.

On the other hand, DRI needs to see it from the owners perspective. Owners view their timeshare vacations as pre-paid vacations. We view it as we OWN the time. This isn't a rental. Timeshares have been sold as vacation homes, not a hotel night rental. Owners view it as a guarentee and trust the resorts to deliver our accomadations without significant hassle.

Sure a problem can be made right but, it's not a good thing to start a vacation on a stressful note when you've booked relaxation. Part of the company moto is relaxation, simplified. DRI can not afford this sort of treatment of owners. Over booking should not occur in a timeshare world where owners can be penalized for cancelations.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I know that in Undercover Boss, Mr. C stated that overbooking happens due to a known amount of average cancellations. Sure, I can see that.

On the other hand, DRI needs to see it from the owners perspective. Owners view their timeshare vacations as pre-paid vacations. We view it as we OWN the time. This isn't a rental. Timeshares have been sold as vacation homes, not a hotel night rental. Owners view it as a guarentee and trust the resorts to deliver our accomadations without significant hassle.

Sure a problem can be made right but, it's not a good thing to start a vacation on a stressful note when you've booked relaxation. Part of the company moto is relaxation, simplified. DRI can not afford this sort of treatment of owners. Over booking should not occur in a timeshare world where owners can be penalized for cancelations.

If they want to do overbooking on their DRI-owned inventory (which is what is supposed to be available for general rental a la hotel) that is their business. There should never be a question of overbooking owner usage if they are maintaining the strict segregation between owner inventory and DRI inventory that they claim to be doing.

If the two pools of inventory are being kept separate, the only people who should ever face an overbooking situation are incoming guests using DRI inventory.


*****

[Added note]

After posting I realized another factor that can come into play. And that is the possibility that perhaps the timeshare program rules in place at the resort allow "no-shows" to go into the general rental pool. If that is the case - and I know that some resorts do have such a policy - than the bone to pick is with the homeowners association that enacted that rule, and not with DRI.

 

[nightnurse613]

leanukedude - Sorry you missed my sarcasm. I wasn't doubting your veracity; I was just pointing out that DRI (and others) DO overbook but this exact issue came up on the show and, I would have thought, that this issue would have been thoroughly addressed bynow but, hey, it's a big organization and clearly not everyone thinks like the Boss would want them to. I have a week coming up and I live in mortal fear that something like this will happen to me (and it won't be a short drive from Tahoe to SFBA if it happens to me!!)

 

[dougp26364]

If they want to do overbooking on their DRI-owned inventory (which is what is supposed to be available for general rental a la hotel) that is their business. There should never be a question of overbooking owner usage if they are maintaining the strict segregation between owner inventory and DRI inventory that they claim to be doing.

If the two pools of inventory are being kept separate, the only people who should ever face an overbooking situation are incoming guests using DRI inventory.


*****

[Added note]

After posting I realized another factor that can come into play. And that is the possibility that perhaps the timeshare program rules in place at the resort allow "no-shows" to go into the general rental pool. If that is the case - and I know that some resorts do have such a policy - than the bone to pick is with the homeowners association that enacted that rule, and not with DRI.

What DRI does with it's owned inventory is nothing I'm overly concerned about. No shows who do not call face cancellation of their reservations at pretty much any resort and risk having their rooms rented.

The more I think about owners being turned away due to overbooking, the more I question this practice. I paid a large sum of money to secure my "vacation home" and, when I follow the rules for making a reservation using the points I've spent a respectable sum of money on, I expect the reservation to be honored.

In over a decade of ownership I've never been turned away due to overbooking. Hearing that this is happening in the DRI system makes me less than pleased. I can not imagine the uproar that would occur should such a situation be reported at resort groups such as Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt or Disney. I know that I don't ever recall reading of such a thing as being turned away due to overbooking at either HGVC or Marriott.

While I know I'd be upset about such a situation, I'm positive you'd have to pull my wife down off the ceiling regardless of any accomadations or attempts to reconcile the event. Refunding the week would do us very little good since we own more points with DRI than we can reasonably use.

Surely DRI should be able to work this out so that owners are never turned away. While this is something I've read about with RCI exchanges (cancelations due to overbooking), I can't recall ever reading where owners at a resort where turned away from their reserved and confirmed reservation. Perhaps it's such a rare occurance that I just don't recall reading about it or, perhaps this is the first time I've read about it occuring with a resort group I own, thus I'm paying more attention.

 

[dougp26364]

leanukedude - Sorry you missed my sarcasm. I wasn't doubting your veracity; I was just pointing out that DRI (and others) DO overbook but this exact issue came up on the show and, I would have thought, that this issue would have been thoroughly addressed bynow but, hey, it's a big organization and clearly not everyone thinks like the Boss would want them to. I have a week coming up and I live in mortal fear that something like this will happen to me (and it won't be a short drive from Tahoe to SFBA if it happens to me!!)

I don't recall of this happening with any other resort group unless it was a cancelled exchange through RCI.

Can you name other instances where an owner of a resort was turned away due to overbooking?

 

[nightnurse613]

In this example, I am referring specifically to DRI and the segment where Mr. Cloobeck was told about how previous overbookings had occurred and were dismissed as "maintenance issues". I travel so infrequently that I don't have any PERSONAL examples, if that is what you are asking but, surely you aren't questioning the travel industry's practice of overbooking? Does this occur with other T/S companies; I don't read all the other forums so I can't say if this has ever happened with a Wyndham or a Marriott exchange but this OP did document a problem with DRI - a problem that was identified (at least once) before on national TV. Not that you mentioned this but, as a side note; just because you own property at a DRI managed timeshare, does not mean you are a DRI member.

 

[california-bighorn]

I don't recall of this happening with any other resort group unless it was a cancelled exchange through RCI.

Can you name other instances where an owner of a resort was turned away due to overbooking?

We never experienced anything close to getting turned away. Only time we encountered an overbooking issue was in Puerto Vallarta where the Manager explained they had overbooking issues in our category of room and if we would volunteer to downsize to the next level they would provide us with the all-inclusive package worth about $1000 for no charge. We took them up on that in a second.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I don't recall of this happening with any other resort group unless it was a cancelled exchange through RCI.

Can you name other instances where an owner of a resort was turned away due to overbooking?

I recall anecdotes from years past of owners at the infamous Sunset Lagoon/Royal Sunset resort groups being turned away from the resort where they had a reservation and being sent to one of the sister resorts. Mostly I think it involved owners being sent to Sunset Lagoon when they had reservations elsewhere.

 

[dougp26364]

In this example, I am referring specifically to DRI and the segment where Mr. Cloobeck was told about how previous overbookings had occurred and were dismissed as "maintenance issues". I travel so infrequently that I don't have any PERSONAL examples, if that is what you are asking but, surely you aren't questioning the travel industry's practice of overbooking? Does this occur with other T/S companies; I don't read all the other forums so I can't say if this has ever happened with a Wyndham or a Marriott exchange but this OP did document a problem with DRI - a problem that was identified (at least once) before on national TV. Not that you mentioned this but, as a side note; just because you own property at a DRI managed timeshare, does not mean you are a DRI member.

I thought maybe you recalled someone writing about a cancellation after arrival at their home resort or, within a ponits based reservations system they owned. I've read of RCI cancellations and those seem to happen more frequently towards the summer months but, I've never read of any other owner being turned away from their home resort or, from a reservation made within an internal exchange system.

To be honest, when I heard that part on Undercover Boss, I was shocked. I did not know that a timeshare, where "owners" pre-paid for their vacation homes, were ever turned away when they held a confirmed reservation. THe one exception to that rule was when they arrived a day or two late without calling the resort to let them know they would be late.

 

[dougp26364]

I recall anecdotes from years past of owners at the infamous Sunset Lagoon/Royal Sunset resort groups being turned away from the resort where they had a reservation and being sent to one of the sister resorts. Mostly I think it involved owners being sent to Sunset Lagoon when they had reservations elsewhere.

Aren't these some of the Mexican resorts? I believe I've read about issues with the Royal's in Mexico but, I also think that those were mostly exchangers.

 

[DeniseM]

I wonder if the main issue here is that reservations did not make a note of their late arrival. If they had recorded it when the owner called, I certainly hope the reservation would have been held for them. Of course, that's no excuse, and it's a heads up to owners that they should follow up with a FAX or email so they have something to print out and take to check-in to document the fact that they notified the resort of their pending late arrival.

 

[dougp26364]

I wonder if the main issue here is that reservations did not make a note of their late arrival. If they had recorded it when the owner called, I certainly hope the reservation would have been held for them. Of course, that's no excuse, and it's a heads up to owners that they should follow up with a FAX or email so they have something to print out and take to check-in to document the fact that they notified the resort of their pending late arrival.

Even if this was the case, we still have the issue in Undercover Boss that highlighted overbooking.

In a hotel chain I can understand it. They're trying to maximize profits and typically offer a very liberal cancelation policy (by 6:00 PM the night of arrival). But, with a timeshare, you've paid for your accomadations up front and the cancelation policy is not so liberal. With DRI, penalities begin at, I believe, 90 days. Since you've pre-paid for your future vacations (salesmens terms) and, since cancelation can potentially cost you a portion or all of your rights to reserve another vacation, then it's hard for me to accept that I could show up at my home resort (or resort managed by the group) and be told they overbooked. It's just not an acceptable practice with a timeshare IMHO. A hotel sure (not that I'd like it) but a timeshare where you lay out tens of thousands of dollars for the right to use, no.