(9/6 - Still can't send a confirmation) The Vistana/Marriott Reservation System is a disaster.

[daviator]

I thought the system was working fine back in November or were you looking to make the reservation in March? How do you know there was availability for Thanksgiving Week at the 8 month window? Typically there isn't.

We are usually at WKOR at Thanksgiving and I always have to make the reservations at 12 months; when I've waited and tried to do it later, there is never availability, including right at 8 months. You might get lucky of course, there's always a chance of that, but I think it's likely that there was no inventory available at 8 months there.

I reserved for this November at 12 months and had no trouble doing it online, the system was working fine then.

 

[pchung6]

I thought the system was working fine back in November or were you looking to make the reservation in March? How do you know there was availability for Thanksgiving Week at the 8 month window? Typically there isn't.

It was there. I checked 20 minutes before 9pm that day. The system went straight to timeout at 9pm and 1 second. It was Friday, so I couldn’t call until Monday, then nothing available. Think how pissed I was…

 

[pchung6]

We are usually at WKOR at Thanksgiving and I always have to make the reservations at 12 months; when I've waited and tried to do it later, there is never availability, including right at 8 months. You might get lucky of course, there's always a chance of that, but I think it's likely that there was no inventory available at 8 months there.

I reserved for this November at 12 months and had no trouble doing it online, the system was working fine then.

For this year thanksgiving Westin Maui, Homeresort for OF reservation wasn’t available since 9 months, but SO reservation was available at 8 months, even 1 br oceanview. This was the one I aimed at 9pm that day, but I was fine with island view. I’m positive because I was checking it almost every few days last few weeks.

 

[The Haileys]

For those who are changing the reservation guest name - to a renter, or family member, etc. to use - such requests are not always going through. I changed the name on a booking at SVR so my daughter and her family can use it, checking in today. I just got a call from owner VIP to see what time *I* am expecting to check in. I tell her that I changed the reservation to my daughter's name. She said that it is not in the system!

ETA because I didn't intend to submit the post quite yet ...

I double checked that I had the confirmation of the change, and that I had forwarded it to my daughter - Yep. Then I logged into Marriott, and sure enough, it's still there in My Trips. But the name change is in the Dashboard.

Luckily, my "renter" is family, and I called her while she was still on the way to let her know there might be some issues at check in. But if it were a rental to someone else, that could present some very unpleasant issues.

Also, SVR is still directing owners to the VIP check in back in the Lakes section, which is only open from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm, so if you arrive at other times, you can't get checked in. You can "enjoy the resort" and come back later. We ran into this before - we arrived at 10:00 am, and had plans that wouldn't get us back until late that night. I had to pitch a bit of a fit to get them to agree to check us in at the Welcome Center when we got back, on our schedule, not theirs.

 

[rickandcindy23]

For those who are changing the reservation guest name - to a renter, or family member, etc. to use - such requests are not always going through. I changed the name on a booking at SVR so my daughter and her family can use it, checking in today. I just got a call from owner VIP to see what time *I* am expecting to check in. I tell her that I changed the reservation to my daughter's name. She said that it is not in the system!

I have been sounding the alarm on this for some time. Guest names are not showing up. The owners' names show on reservations, even with guests added. You have to call the resort, give them the Bonvoy number, and they can look it up and add your guest's name.

 

[tstiv1996]

not looking for a reservation till '23, but have been invested in when this website will start functioning... was able to get through on two occasions today searching all 3 maui resorts exactly 8 mo out (Dec 11). not saying its fixed, but first time in 2 months I've made it that far. Saw some OF Units in maui which is rare at the 8 mo mark.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Wow!
I was just checking HomeResort availability for 1Bd OFD at WKORV and a villa was actually available (for 3/25/23).
I didn’t take it as I was just checking (like I sometimes do), and plan to reserve later this year like normal.

Big difference from the endless Time Outs. Nice to see some action on Marriotts part.


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[vacation dreaming]

Wow!
I was just checking HomeResort availability for 1Bd OFD at WKORV and a villa was actually available (for 3/25/23).
I didn’t take it as I was just checking (like I sometimes do), and plan to reserve later this year like normal.

Big difference from the endless Time Outs. Nice to see some action on Marriotts part.


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Thanks for posting - I had no luck at midnight that night and ended up with a sunday checkin. I just went back and grabbed the Saturday check-in. I am still disappointed that I could not get the full 2 bedroom but at least I got the correct dates now.

 

[rcv82]

Thanks for posting - I had no luck at midnight that night and ended up with a sunday checkin. I just went back and grabbed the Saturday check-in. I am still disappointed that I could not get the full 2 bedroom but at least I got the correct dates now.

I booked a WKORV OFD 1 BR last night at midnight ET for a year out with no issue. The dial swirled for about 10 seconds a couple times in the process, but otherwise everything was smooth. I received one of the new-style confirmations at 10:01 pm MT.

While this was good, I’m not sure whether this is just a result of booking in a lower demand part of the year or if they have actually made some improvements in the web site performance. Or both.


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[daviator]

I booked at WDW yesterday (a year out) with absolutely no problem, the site worked perfectly. I don’t know if that indicates that they have solved the problem they were having or if it was just a fluke. This was in the middle of the day, btw, not right at midnight eastern.

 

[10spro]

I was one of the ones complaining several weeks ago, but I've logged in at different times, and the system seems to be working for me now where it wasn't before.

 

[Ken555]

I spent about 30 minutes on the site a couple days ago and only received one time out error.


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[EnglishmanAbroad]

Is the general consensus that Vistana/Marriott should be restored to a BUY rating now the website problems seem to be fixed?

 

[DeniseM]

Nope - It is only partially fixed, and there is still a major problem: Our overlords are sending Marriott format reservations with 8 digit reservation numbers to the front desks, and Westin format reservations with 6 digit reservation numbers to owners. When you call the front desks with your Westin confirmation info. they just say they don't have your reservation and act like it's not their problem. Recently, one of the Maui front desks told my renter that they would not be allowed to check in to the Westin resort with a Westin confirmation and my renter was in a panic! I'm sure the front desks are pulling their hair out too, but it's unprofessional to take it out on owners and guests!

 

[jabberwocky]

All of my Vistana reservations since December have been 8 digits and show as such in the Bonvoy App. Even reservations made before the transition have an 8 digit confirmation number that should be visible to you as the owner.

It would probably be a good idea to provide the latest to renters one rather than pulling the one sent from the legacy Vistana system. I know it’s a pain, but I should be a know “feature” by now for anyone who has done any number of reservations in the past 5 months.

 

[DeniseM]

You are very fortunate, because that is certainly not the norm. I help a lot of people with their reservation problems, and most Vistana owners are not receiving Marriott format guest confirmations. Going to your Bonvoy Acct and looking up the Marriott number is not the same as receiving a legitimate looking confirmation which you can send to your renter. Renters want a confirmation that looks like the real deal, and they want to be able to call the front desk and confirm it. Renters are not comfortable with excuses about problems with the Vistana/Marriott merger.

 

[daviator]

You are very fortunate, because that is certainly not the norm. I help a lot of people with their reservation problems, and most Vistana owners are not receiving Marriott format guest confirmations. Going to your Bonvoy Acct and looking up the Marriott number is not the same as receiving a legitimate looking confirmation which you can send to your renter. Renters want a confirmation that looks like the real deal, and they want to be able to call the front desk and confirm it. Renters are not comfortable with excuses about problems with the Vistana/Marriott merger.

it’s a mess, I’ve received as many as four different confirmation emails for the same reservation, each with a different number. So it’s a bit like Russian roulette, which one to I forward on to a renter? Do I send them all (because that looks really legit, lol…). I can only hope that it gets better now that the migration is apparently complete.

 

[jabberwocky]

I am getting an email from reservations at res-marriott.com (this is for six different reservations at six different resorts) it looks pretty official to me. I’m not sure why that email confirmation would not be acceptable. Is it because it doesn’t have the renters name?

 

[VacationForever]

I have a SO reservation and it shows up in my marriott.com as 8 digits, booked using "Westin Flex". I also received an email which shows the same 8 digits reservation when I made the reservation.

 

[DeniseM]

1. Most owners (me included) are not getting Marriott confirmations - that's what I'm trying to say here!

2. Recently I ran a little test and called owner services and told them I was not getting the Marriott format confirmations with the 8 digit numbers - they said, "No problem, we will send them right now" - and they sent me standard Westin confirmations. (Which leads me to think they "thought" they were sending the Marriott versions, and didn't know that weren't going out.)

3. Renters absolutely want to receive an official looking confirmation with their name on it - who wouldn't?

 

[daviator]

3. Renters absolutely want to receive an official looking confirmation with their name on it - who wouldn't?

Absolutely agree. There is a lot of trust inherent to renting a timeshare from an owner, and if you can’t give them an official confirmation with their name on it after they’ve paid you thousands of dollars, they’re going to be pretty understandably nervous about whether they’ve been scammed.

 

[rcv82]

It seems to vary with where you reserve. For WKORV, I got the new Marriott format. For WPORV, I got the Vistana format. When I went online and requested another confirmation for WPORV, it came in the Marriott format.

One problem for renting is that the Marriott confirmation still shows a parking charge like it was a hotel night, not complementary as it really is for owners or their guests, including rental guests. I use Redweek full service, so they then post the parking charge.

I haven’t yet ran into the name issue, so that may be the next thing I hit.


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[wjarcher]

The customer service can tell you the Marriott reservation number that is associated with the Vistana confirmation number.

I had two weeks with the same check-in and check-out, so I had to call to figure out which Marriott confirm was associated with which.

I also found that if you changed your guest name before their migration happened, the Marriott reservation will have the correct guest name. Otherwise, only the Vistana side has the right information. I was told that eventually both systems will be consistent, which I highly doubt. So I am also updating the Marriott reservation at marriott.com with the guest name myself after I requested the name update on vistana.com

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[Mauiwmn]

I received this Marriott Survey in response to my executive complaint, post #117-118 in this thread. There was just a “yes or no” link at the bottom of of this email. I was pleased to provide my feedback regarding their lack of response/action regarding owner concerns during 3 months of reservation web site issues.

 

[grgs]

I'm now experiencing the dreaded "Your villa is no longer available. Please modify search and try again" message after getting all the way through the reservation process. Is it worth calling in to try to get a reservation? Or, is that a waste of time?