"Guest Advised of Room Move"

[SueDonJ]

Here's a new one on me about which I tried to get answers from a Marriott Rewards phone rep but after telling me she was going to ask her supervisor and would be back, she instead transferred me to Vacation Club Customer Care and that person also turned out to be useless. Before I call in tomorrow maybe someone here knows something?

I just made a cash reservation on marriott.com for five nights in May at Harbour Point. On the "Reservation Step 3 of 3 - Your Booking is Confirmed" page, under "Your Requests/Pending Request(s)" it says "Guest Advised of Room Move." Has anyone else seen this? If you're holding DC, cash or Marriott Rewards reservations at any of the fixed-week Vacation Club properties, would you mind taking a look at your confirmations? {Edited to add - On the email confirmation it's noted under "Room Details/Request Noted."}

For my reservation there's nothing in any of the room or rate details that might be related, there wasn't any notice prior to the reservation being confirmed, and both phone reps that I talked with had no clue what I was looking at or asking. I asked them both if this means we may have to change rooms midway through the stay and both were adamant, "No!" I have a feeling this might be related somehow to this thread - Can we refuse to change room in the middle of week's stay? - because Harbour Point has a fixed-week calendar. But the five-night reservation doesn't cross a Saturday check-in so maybe not?

If this is MVW's way of giving notice that they're unable to correctly book and place guests into breakage inventory at fixed-week Vacation Club properties, it fails miserably on a number of levels with the most important IMO:

- if it's going to be noted on a confirmation AFTER a reservation is confirmed that "Guest [was] Advised ..." then the guest should have actually BEEN advised during the process; and,

- if the telephone reps for both marriott.com and customer.care@marriottvacationclub.com have no clue what we're talking about when we quote a notation from a reservation confirmation, that notation shouldn't be in use.

GGGGGRRRRRR. At this point I don't even know how to phrase the questions when I call back tomorrow.

 

[Travelmore]

I don't think I can be of much help, but I did have the same notice show up on one of my Aruba Surf Club reservations in 2014. I called to inquire and was told that it was auto populated on all Aruba Surf Club reservations. I did not argue this answer, although I knew this was not the case, as each year we have several Aruba Surf Club reservations and this was the only one with the notice. I asked for an email, thinking I may get a "better" response. Below is what I received.

Greetings,

It was a pleasure speaking with you today.

As for your confirmation XXXXX at the Aruba Surf Club on March 14th, 2015, there is a note on your confirmation stating aware of room change. Unfortunately this is populated on every Aruba Surf Club reservation and we have no way of deleting this note. You are guaranteed an Ocean Front 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit. Since you are checking in on Saturday, you should not have to change rooms during your stay.

The property itself will be assigning the rooms. For any other specific questions, please call the Aruba Surf Club at (297)-58-69000.

Please let us know if you have any other questions,

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I just did a test reservation attempt at Sea Pines for 5/25-6/7 and I got the notice in the "your requests" prior to confirmation. It makes very good sense. Instead of only allowing reservation windows for a single unit it is allowing the window to cross available unit numbers.

 

[tiel]

I just did a test reservation attempt at Sea Pines for 5/25-6/7 and I got the notice in the "your requests" prior to confirmation. It makes very good sense. Instead of only allowing reservation windows for a single unit it is allowing the window to cross available unit numbers.

Yes, but normally, who would want to be required to move one or perhaps more times during a single stay? I suppose unit assignment staff would do their best to keep your moves to a minimum, but I wouldn't be happy about having to move unless I knew upfront, before I reserved and certainly before check in, exactly when I would have to move during my stay. We have done it voluntarily before, because of special circumstances, but it is not something I would want to do again...it's a pain in the wahzoo!

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Yes, but normally, who would want to be required to move one or perhaps more times during a single stay? I suppose unit assignment staff would do their best to keep your moves to a minimum, but I wouldn't be happy about having to move unless I knew upfront, before I reserved and certainly before check in, exactly when I would have to move during my stay. We have done it voluntarily before, because of special circumstances, but it is not something I would want to do again...it's a pain in the wahzoo!

Nobody would want to be required to move but that is beside the point. The property in question and the one I tested have fixed units. When fixed units are involved it is either block multi units from the booking or disclose the move. As long as people notice the move disclosure it is best to go that route. There isn't any other option when you have fixed units. I agree it would be better if they took it one step further and disclosed the move days but perhaps they are reserving the option based on priority and the move may not be certain.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I did tests on other properties and I am only getting that message at Harbour Point and Sea Pines which have fixed units. It is actually overwriting my saved preferences with the "Guest Advised of Room Move" so if I want my normal preferences I have to manually put them back in but "Guest Advised of Room Move" is retained.

The message it automatic no matter what you choose. Even a one night reservation has the same message for those two properties. Apparently not much thought was put into it. It is a very lazy way of saying you might possibly have to move. Logically the longer the reservation when it crosses timeshare check-in/out days the higher chance of a move.

To SueDonJ, if your 5 nights does not cross a check in/out day I don't think you have anything to worry about. Even then, I do not know the fixed week ratio at Harbour but I didn't think it was nearly as high as Sea Pines.

 

[SueDonJ]

While this is a "new one on me" it's obviously not new in the system according to Travelmore. It's interesting that we went through that whole GR-Tahoe thread without somebody mentioning it, isn't it?

Today I repeated the same search that I booked last night and this time, the Rate Details has the notation "may require a move" prior to confirmation. I could swear it wasn't there last night - and I looked over the details very carefully because there's a good chance this reservation will be cancelled. Of course it's possible I missed it but I don't think so ...

I'm not worried about the upcoming stay because we won't be there on the Fixed Week changeover day. I've decided based on the responses here and what I'm seeing today that it would be as useless for me to call today as it was last night, but if they do move us I'll be taking this further. What's still curious is if it's true that the system has included related notations as far back as 2012, shouldn't the reps with whom I spoke have known something? I don't think that's too much to ask although I expect some here will say they're not surprised.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I have never seen it either but then again my reservations are not that varied.

 

[spottie]

That is very interesting. Since I just went through the GR-Tahoe drama being forced to move, I went back to my reservation email and there wasn't anything like this mentioned.

I never check these confirmation details in the email other than the date. If this is the only way to get notified of a room move, I think most people will still be unpleasantly surprised upon check-in.

While this is a "new one on me" it's obviously not new in the system according to Travelmore. It's interesting that we went through that whole GR-Tahoe thread without somebody mentioning it, isn't it?

Today I repeated the same search that I booked last night and this time, the Rate Details has the notation "may require a move" prior to confirmation. I could swear it wasn't there last night - and I looked over the details very carefully because there's a good chance this reservation will be cancelled. Of course it's possible I missed it but I don't think so ...

I'm not worried about the upcoming stay because we won't be there on the Fixed Week changeover day. I've decided based on the responses here and what I'm seeing today that it would be as useless for me to call today as it was last night, but if they do move us I'll be taking this further. What's still curious is if it's true that the system has included related notations as far back as 2012, shouldn't the reps with whom I spoke have known something? I don't think that's too much to ask although I expect some here will say they're not surprised.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I checked Aruba Surf Club and no message shows up when booking.

 

[suzannesimon]

Perhaps the unit they select for you(or the system selects for you) is good for the entire stay, but when you check-in you don't like it and want a different location. Maybe this is just a disclosure to cover behinds in case they put you in a unit accidentally that requires a move.

 

[dioxide45]

I checked Aruba Surf Club and no message shows up when booking.

I would have no idea why Aruba Surf Club would contain such a disclosure. It is a floating week floating unit system. Even for those fixed holiday weeks, the units still float, as does the checkin day. There would be no reason for a unit move there unless you are booking two different villa types.

 

[SueDonJ]

I would have no idea why Aruba Surf Club would contain such a disclosure. It is a floating week floating unit system. Even for those fixed holiday weeks, the units still float, as does the checkin day. There would be no reason for a unit move there unless you are booking two different villa types.

I hate when they answer a question with something that's obviously not the truth, as was the case when Travelmore asked in 2012 why one of his Aruba Surf Club reservations had the notation while others did not. He TELLS them it's an anomaly and they respond that it's auto-populated on every reservation. He probably wanted to respond the same way I would with, "NO. IT'S. NOT!" but sometimes you just have to face the futility. And that's what's so dang aggravating.

 

[PHLarry]

Why not just contact the rooms controller for Harbour Point? They would likely be in the best position to answer your question.

 

[SueDonJ]

Why not just contact the rooms controller for Harbour Point? They would likely be in the best position to answer your question.

As far as whether I'll have to move midway during my stay, I already know it's very unlikely because the stay doesn't cross a Fixed Week Saturday check-in day. But regardless the Rooms Controller won't be able to answer that question with 100% certainty until a few weeks out from check-in and we're still a few months out.

As far as the notations generated by the reservation system on confirmation notices, I wouldn't expect the Rooms Controllers to know much more about how that process works than we do! That's not a knock on them - they're onsite personnel and their focus should be on the guests and inventory under their control.

I do expect that contacting Marriott reps to ask questions about a notation on a confirmation issued by their system should result in a much less irritating experience than the one I "enjoyed" the other night. But in the grand scheme it's not that big a deal, certainly not worth inviting more irritation if Travelmore's and Spottie's experiences are considered.

 

[SueDonJ]

I got a telephone call this afternoon from a Customer Care rep who's been very helpful with TUG matters in the past. He asked me to explain my phone calls and if my email confirmation could be forwarded to help with understanding the situation, which I did, and said that this will be escalated to the proper MVW personnel for coordination with the proper MI personnel.

We're both in agreement that there needs to be much more transparency in the process of booking intervals that result from breakage inventory at Fixed-Week resorts, and, we're both in agreement that what appears to be happening now is not working. He didn't confirm that this is a change from what was happening prior to Spottie's GR-Tahoe thread (which I suspect may be the case but I didn't come right out and ask) although he did say that thread generated interest at the exec level.

We're also both in agreement that owners/guests should not be left feeling irritated by interactions with Customer Care telephone personnel. To that end I'm once more reminded by his phone call that MVW genuinely wants us owners to have good experiences.

 

[StevenTing]

I got a telephone call this afternoon from a Customer Care rep who's been very helpful in the past. He asked me to explain my phone calls and if my email confirmation could be forwarded to help with understanding the situation, which I did, and said that this will be escalated to the proper MVW personnel for coordination with the proper MI personnel.

We're both in agreement that there needs to be much more transparency in the process of booking intervals that result from breakage inventory at Fixed-Week resorts, and, we're both in agreement that what appears to be happening now is not working. He didn't confirm that this is a change from what was happening prior to Spottie's GR-Tahoe thread (which I suspect may be the case but I didn't come right out and ask) although he did say that thread generated interest at the exec level.

We're also both in agreement that owners/guests should not be left feeling irritated by interactions with Customer Care telephone personnel. To that end I'm once more reminded by his phone call that MVW genuinely wants us owners to have good experiences.

Very nice. I've never spoken to a rep enough to remember their name after a week, let alone have one call me back when I was having trouble. Was this something you spoke to him about previously? Or did he just happen to see the TUG post and called you up.

 

[SueDonJ]

Very nice. I've never spoken to a rep enough to remember their name after a week, let alone have one call me back when I was having trouble. Was this something you spoke to him about previously? Or did he just happen to see the TUG post and called you up.

He's the same rep I've contacted a number of times to flesh out questions/answers that come up in various TUG threads about issues that relate to all owners so we have some history, but I haven't (and don't plan to) take advantage of the connection for any issues that come up related to my personal ownership. The reason being, I think it's more important to have a contact for TUG purposes and I don't want to jeopardize that (which I think I've told him.) When he's been able to give me info for TUG I've posted that the info comes direct from an MVW contact.

In past dealings I've shared my name/contact info and my Marriott accounts info with him so he knows how to find me, and Spottie's thread came up as an aside in one of our recent conversations - that they were aware of it and looking into it. This phone call came unexpectedly and it's much appreciated. We've all read on TUG about other people having issues and being contacted this way - now I know how it feels.

 

[davidvel]

We're both in agreement that there needs to be much more transparency in the process of booking intervals that result from breakage inventory at Fixed-Week resorts, and, we're both in agreement that what appears to be happening now is not working.

In an effort to help Marriott with transparency, I've updated their promotional materials, at no charge.

How Vacation Club Points Work.
When you become a timeshare Owner in the Marriott Vacation Club Destinations™ Ownership Program, you make a one-time purchase for an annual allotment of Vacation Club Points — flexible "vacation currency" that can be used each year toward your choice of timeshare vacations.

Owners in the Marriott Vacation Club Destinations™ program can choose from any location and any size villa, check in on any day they wish and stay as long as they want.
* However, note that because this points program is an overlay over deeded weekly interests, your points reservation may require you to move rooms during your glorious vacation, which is a really big hassle. And, if you want to go anywhere popular, or when the kids are out of school, better plan on calling in at 9am ET, 12 months in advance of your vacation, just like traditional timeshare owners. Or, we can sell you more points at tens of thousands of dollars, and you can call in at 13 months.

Marriott Vacation Club takes care of maintaining their resorts. All you have to do is relax and enjoy! (See *, above.)

 

[nakyak]

He's the same rep I've contacted a number of times to flesh out questions/answers that come up in various TUG threads about issues that relate to all owners so we have some history, but I haven't (and don't plan to) take advantage of the connection for any issues that come up related to my personal ownership. The reason being, I think it's more important to have a contact for TUG purposes and I don't want to jeopardize that (which I think I've told him.) When he's been able to give me info for TUG I've posted that the info comes direct from an MVW contact.

In past dealings I've shared my name/contact info and my Marriott accounts info with him so he knows how to find me, and Spottie's thread came up as an aside in one of our recent conversations - that they were aware of it and looking into it. This phone call came unexpectedly and it's much appreciated. We've all read on TUG about other people having issues and being contacted this way - now I know how it feels.

I have learned through past experience that contacting Customer Advocacy and posting it on TUG gets them to act and act fast.

I don't think there is anything wrong with using that service and knowing how they react to TUG postings. I usually go right to Customer Advocacy regardless of how minor the problem. It is much easier than going through the layers of employees and supervisors to get a situation resolved.

 

[SueDonJ]

FYI, as expected this reservation's been cancelled so I won't be able to follow up on anything that happens with it. (Luckily, despite me waiting far too long to book it, a Week in May opened so we're using one of our 2016 Weeks instead of this cash reservation.)

I also don't expect to hear any follow-up from Customer Care - for me it's enough to know that there are eyes on the issue. If they think it's important enough they'll fix it.

If I see the same notation again someday I'll be back to this thread, and I hope that other TUGgers will do the same.