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Close Call – No Thanks to Owner Services Dropping the Ball

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In January this year, we booked back to back October weeks for Beachwoods (Kitty Hawk) & Turtle Cay (VA Beach). First week of March we received an email “About Your Upcoming Stay at Turtle Cay” notifying us that the resort would be undergoing courtyard balcony renovations during our stay, and that the balconies would be inaccessible. Although an inconvenience, this was not a deal breaker for us; no big deal or need to change our plans... so we thought.

According to the March email they “were sorry for the inconvenience” and “looked forward to welcoming” us. OK, great! The rest of the email went on to say we would continue to have full access to all amenities at the nearby Beach Quarters as well. Fast forward to last week, we received the standard resort/frontdesk email from Turtle Cay that opened with the following:

"Your well-deserved vacation is less than 14 days away, and we are excited to deliver an unforgettable experience that exceeds your expectations. Before you pack your bags, take a moment to review your reservation details — then imagine the memories you’re about to make."

With that in mind I read down thru the rest of the email, and after listing our reservation details were the following messages:

"Alert! RESORT CLOSURE
Turtle Cay Resort will be closed for balcony renovations beginning October 15, 2024, through February 28, 2025. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.


Alert! BALCONY RENOVATION ALERT

Currently, balconies in Suites with courtyard views are inaccessible to Guests due to ongoing renovations. Turtle Cay Resort’s other on-site amenities remain available, including those located at Beach Quarters Resort. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

Alert! 2-bedroom Penthouse
The 2-bedroom penthouse contains multiple stairs inside of the accommodation."


From my perspective, I read this as simply more of the standard communications we've come to see for all of our reservations, and thought nothing of it. A few days later my wife read it and sensing something more alarming, decided to make a call. Little did we know that the resort was in fact being closed! Fortunately we were able to secure a reservation for Beach Quarters for the exact dates, or we would have been showing up in a few weeks to find we would be out in the cold. While we are glad to not have our overall travel plans disrupted, the best they could do at BQ at this late date was a one bedroom w/2 double beds, but at least it's oceanfront - as ALL BQ units are.

I have begun an effort to find out WHY were we NOT notified back in MAY when the decision to close the resort was made. The folks at the resort were sympathetic and tried to be helpful, but said the issue was the responsibility of Owner Services; I requested that someone from OS contact us to explain what happened. They said we should have received such notice - of which we did NOT. We will see if we receive a call.

For a situations like this, we should have been receiving emails and phone calls alerting us to the need to change our reservation. We get far too many such efforts from sales always trying to book another "getaway" and presentation, but we received NOTHING. I cannot imagine what it would have been like to show up at the resort to find it closed. We did get a return of about 1200 points... so we had to pay $150 to move them to next year.

This is not the customer/owner service that is required. So we'll wait and see... and I won't let this just slide by.
 
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WaikikiFirst

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the balconies would be inaccessible
Yes, typical head-in-butt company with zero understanding of how to be proactive ... typical crappy customer service that dominates the USA today. Same as the threads about Delta Air.
HOWEVER, I have to say, if I read "balconies inaccessible", I would definitely call them ASAP, knowing how CYA these companies are and probably deserve to be about injuries, lawsuits, insurance. Definitely would have called. And then, if I read "Turtle Cay Resort will be closed for balcony renovations beginning October 15, 2024", I would most definitely not "think nothing of it". Are you serious? what do those words mean, if not Turtle Cay Resort will be closed?

Moral: you most definitely cannot assume you will get intelligent, proactive CS in the USA today. Not anywhere.
I actually got some intelligent, RE-active CS yesterday, which was 24 hrs after I had to tell the same people that they were "just making bleep up", at which point they hung up on me, which was fine with me, because I had already written them off as dead-from-the-neck-up. Well, surprise, surprise, 24 hrs later the same woman sent me an email with all the info she had previously said she wouldn't and even couldn't give me.

I'm just not sure if she decided I was right or if she complained to her manager and was told that I was right. Either way, I replied with a "Thank You" and a smile. but never assume you will get or are getting good CS.
 
Joined
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I would most definitely not "think nothing of it". Are you serious? what do those words mean, if not Turtle Cay Resort will be closed?
Uh, when you lead off 14 days before your reservation with a communication that is actually C O N F I R M I N G your dates and starts out saying "we are excited to deliver an unforgettable experience that exceeds your expectations. Before you pack your bags, take a moment to review your reservation details — then imagine the memories you’re about to make." ???

I suppose I should have used lemon juice and a candle to read what was written in their special invisible ink.

They had 5 months to clearly notify us of the closure that was decided in May, and that our reservation needed to be canceled... they did not.
 

WaikikiFirst

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News Flash: Big Companies are DUMB. And they make normal, avg people do DUMB things. Never rely on them doing anything better. "Trust but verify" has become "Verify & Verify", almost "Assume the worst & Verify". I was in my late 20s when I had completely internalized that. My solution? Make as much money ASAP and retire at an age that makes people think I must be a lazy sod.
They had 5 months to clearly notify us of the closure that was decided in May, and that our reservation needed to be canceled... they did not.
100% understand that. And they will say that the words "Turtle Cay Resort will be closed for balcony renovations beginning October 15, 2024" was your final notification. Yeah. It is DUMB. That is what big companies do. :shrug:
 

pedro47

TUG Review Crew: Expert
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Suggestion only...wou;d bound this complaint to a higher source in HGV.
 
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